# 34, 57, 60, 64
Festive
WC: 370
Someone brings a couple bottles of soju and some imported beer from Japan and the whole dorm calls it a party. They open a bag of greasy chips and Ryeowook cooks something up past six o’clock. It doesn’t happen often enough to garner any attention from the management, but it happens less often than most of them would like. In fact, it happens rarely enough that Ryeowook watches the members fall into faux-drunkenness off only a few gulps here and there. It’s only a can or so of beer later that Jongwoon is cackling loudly at anything and everything. Ryeowook would normally be one of the more responsible members, always looking out for the others and making sure no one did anything illegal or to attract the attention of the managers too soon, at least.
When Jongwoon slaps a can into his hand and slings an arm around his neck, though, Ryeowook decides he’s earned one night of letting his image slip (especially because he’s pretty certain some of his money went into the purchasing of said alcohol). He hastens down the first beer and chases it down with a gulp of soju, a warmth settling in his belly and a grin stretching his face.
The next day, they’d blame it on the alcohol, the stress, the frustration of having to be so discreet, but at the time they have no excuses. Somewhere between the third round of karaoke and the last of the snacks, Jongwoon grabs Ryeowook solidly by the face and pulls him in for a kiss. Their lips crash together way too hard and Ryeowook’s tooth cuts the inside of his lip, but he clings just as greedily to the back of Jongwoon’s t-shirt as Jongwoon’s tongue slips into his mouth, bitter from the beer and a little tangy from the blood. Ryeowook moans when Jongwoon’s tongue flicks against the ridges of the roof of his mouth, eyes slipping shut.
Someone shouts at them to get a room and they do just that. The door to Ryeowook’s bedroom slams shut a little harder than either one of them meant and they giggle against each other’s lips before falling onto the bed and returning to their sloppy kiss.
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Merriment
WC: 369
Just as Jongwoon’s leaving the dorm to visit his parents, Ryeowook walks into the living room. He’s stuffing the last bit of a sandwich into his mouth and Jongwoon can’t help but stop and grin at him.
“I’ll be back by five okay?” he calls, waving to attract Ryeowook’s attention. Ryeowook just kind of nods and grabs the remote off the coffee table before plopping onto the sofa. Just because a few other members are scattered around the room, reading or messing around on their computers, Jongwoon smooches his hand and blows a big, sloppy kiss at Ryeowook. His grin, however, slides right off his face when Ryeowook dives out of the line of his flying kiss. “Hey!”
Ryeowook narrows his eyes in mock challenge and flashes a big, toothy smile. Jongwoon growls quietly in his throat and charges into the living room. Ryeowook’s eyes widen in fear and he scrambles off the couch with a shriek. His socks slip on the hardwood and he careens into the wall with a thump. Jongwoon is upon him immediately and he grabs Ryeowook by the back of the jacket he’s wearing. Before he can get a better grip, however, Ryeowook slides out of the jacket and takes off down the hallway again, slipping again and having to catch himself with a quick hand to the ground, towards his bedroom. The hallway is lined with things, mostly Donghae’s, and they trip the entire way until Jongwoon finally leaps into the air and tackles Ryeowook to the bed. Ryeowook screams with laughter, twisting madly beneath him to free himself, but Jongwoon has him pinned with his entire body weight.
They wrestle until Jongwoon has Ryeowook turned over onto his back and he’s sitting heavily on Ryeowook’s stomach, wrists caught in his grasp. Ryeowook’s gasping for breath, face red from the chase, but he has no time to catch it before Jongwoon swoops down and connects their lips in a sweet kiss. Ryeowook melts under him, arms falling to the sheets beside his head as he lets Jongwoon’s tongue sweep through his mouth gently. Jongwoon finally pulls away with a final peck to his lips.
“I’ll be back by five,” he says again.
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Hesitation
WC: 356
Ryeowook’s had a handful of first kisses. Naturally occurring after a few months of dating and skirting around formalities and the press. They’re always simple and feel right just as they come up. She’s wearing a cute dress, or has a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, pulled all the way up to her ears, and he leans in when the timing feels just right and she tips her head back, lets the scarf fall slightly, and their lips meet in a chaste pressure. He’s never done more than that at the first go, always a gentleman, pulling back after a few seconds with a shy smile that she reciprocates. They grin at their toes and after a few seconds, she nestles her hand in his, and they continue their shy little love until the stress of keeping their secret safe eventually pulls them apart.
When he’s walking back from the river with Jongwoon one night, he finds himself the one wearing a cute coat with a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, pulled all the way up to his ears, while Jongwoon leans in slowly. He’s never been on this side of a kiss before, and his heart leaps into his throat and the sudden displacement of such a vital organ has his knees going weak, or so he’d claim later, because surely they didn’t go weak for someone as stupid as Jongwoon. Jongwoon stops, though, when he sees Ryeowook stiffen.
“Isn’t this when I kiss you?” he asks quietly. His eyes are blacker than the sky and brighter than any star and Ryeowook feels lost gazing into them. He can’t find his own voice, instead focusing on the way the moonlight highlights Jongwoon’s hair shockingly white in some places. Jongwoon doesn’t seem bothered by his sudden loss of voice and leans down farther to connect their lips. It’s a light brush of skin on skin, but electricity jolts through Ryeowook’s body like never before. Jongwoon pulls back and ruffles his hair, an awkward laugh escaping his lips. Ryeowook stares up at him, eyes huge and angelic, before raising on tiptoe to kiss Jongwoon himself.
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Relax
WC: 222
Ryeowook loves to do laundry. It’s his favorite part of keeping their apartment clean. He adores the smell of detergent and softener, especially when it lingers on the fresh sheets he spreads over their bed. He’s tried to explain it to Jongwoon before, how relaxing the sounds and scents of the laundry room are, but Jongwoon always scoffs and calls it a “boring chore.”
Sometimes, when he’s not quite so busy, Ryeowook likes to throw a load of laundry into the dryer, sit against the machine on the floor, his back pressed against the smooth metal, and read a book. The gentle rocking of the machine coupled with the soft thump-thump-thump of the towels being tossed around inside relaxes him even more than a nap on the couch and a warm cup of tea. He loves waking up half an hour later, slumped sideways on the floor, to Jongwoon’s small hand on his cheek. Jongwoon smiles at him, calls him a moron, then helps him climb to his feet. He drags him to their bedroom where they collapse on the bed and wrap up in the sheets, which always smell cotton-fresh. Ryeowook drifts off again, bundled up in Jongwoon’s arms, the scent of softener wafting along his senses, and the muffled hum of the dryer going in the other room.
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