#46, #69, #78
Burn
WC: 665
He’s standing at the stove, stirring the pasta with a wooden spoon, when he hears the telltale creak of someone sneaking across floorboards.
“Don’t think about it,” Ryeowook grumbles, knowing Donghae is just behind him. He hears a disgruntled breath of air and feels it ghost over the back of his neck before arms wind securely around his waist.
“You ruin all my fun,” Donghae complains, a whine in his voice. He noses just behind Ryeowook’s ear and the smaller man feels goosebumps raise on his arms. Ryeowook does his best to ignore Donghae (it’s just easier, sometimes) and continues stirring.
“I’m just trying to make dinner,” Ryeowook defends. He reaches out to turn the other burner on as he moves the sauce pan into place and plops butter into the pan. He’s doing exceptionally well at ignoring Donghae this time around, stirring the sauce slowly while pouring in the cream. Until, that is, Donghae’s lips find the bump at the top of his spine. He shrugs, hoping to dislodge Donghae as he begins whisking in cheese and garlic, but Donghae just tightens his embrace, pulling Ryeowook more firmly against himself. Ryeowook grunts and struggles a little bit, knowing exactly where Donghae thinks this is going, but Ryeowook knows, from experience, that it will only end in a burned dinner and a mess. Donghae’s lips move to the side of his neck and part to allow teeth to worry a little mark onto the skin.
He’s about to elbow Donghae off when Donghae’s fingers settle over his hip bones and his thumbs brush up over his sensitive sides. He jerks in Donghae’s arms and his hand slips on the spoon he’d been stirring with. The side of his smallest finger brushes the side of the saucepan. It takes a second for the pain to register, his mind still hazy with thoughts only for Donghae, but when it does, he shoves Donghae away with a yelp.
Donghae is quick to whirl him around, hand tight around Ryeowook’s wrist. He holds the burned finger up into the light and examines it closely.
“Are you okay?” he asks apologetically.
“It hurts,” Ryeowook grumbles, trying to pull his hand back. He knows Donghae didn’t mean it, but he also can’t let Donghae get away with every little thing. He already spoils him too much. “Go away.”
“I’m sorry!” Donghae whines. He brings Ryeowook’s hand closer to his face. He pecks the tender skin and murmurs against it, “Let me kiss it better.”
“It still hurts.” Ryeowook shakes him off and turns to the sink to run his finger under the tap.
Donghae catches his elbow and draws him in close. He leans in and growls into Ryeowook’s ear, “I said, let me kiss it better.” Ryeowook’s eyes widen at the demand and a shiver runs down his spine. Before he can react, Donghae’s lips are on his. He stumbles back against the sink, hands clutching the countertop, but Donghae just steps forward and crowds him against it. Donghae’s hands come up to his face and cup his jaws, tilting his head to fit more comfortably. He licks at Ryeowook’s lips until they fall open under his and he can slip his tongue inside. His hands slide down to Ryeowook’s sides, drawing little noises as his thumbs find hipbones, their sharpness dulled by a loose pair of sweatpants. Sweatpants that belong to Donghae, he notices with a smirk. Ryeowook moans softly against his lips, hands twining in his hair and drawing his attention back to where it should be. He loves kissing Ryeowook. Feeling him melt against him, boneless and limp. Feeling his tongue flick against his own, starting out hesitant then quickly moving towards demanding.
When he finally pulls away, he has to hold Ryeowook’s hips against the counter to keep him from moving in for seconds. With a laugh, he pecks Ryeowook one more time on the lips before stepping away.
“Don’t want dinner to burn,” he warns.
Castle
WC: 1344
It’s childish, for certain, but they had joked about it for months and it only seemed appropriate that their last weekend together before summer vacation was spent building a blanket fort. They decide to build it in Luna and Amber’s room because they have the cleanest floor and the most snacks. Propped up by the two sets of dorm-standard beds and chairs, the sheets stretch across the entire room, canopying the floor that Ryeowook and Henry meticulously lined with blankets and pillows.
The five of them, Luna, Amber, Henry, Ryeowook, and Donghae, crawl under the sheets and settle down on their stomachs to watch movies. They pick light-hearted cartoons from their childhoods, something to distract from the looming threat of finals and the thought of three-month-long separation.
Henry conks out after the first movie. Amber after the first ten minutes of the second. The other three manage to make it through another before they call it a night. They talk for a bit, discussing summer plans, but it’s mostly sleepy grumbles as they drift off.
Ryeowook had been excited for the fort. He was the one to suggest it and push it into motion. He forgot, however, how uncomfortable dorm floors are. His space, between Donghae and Amber, had somehow, over the course of three movies, become devoid of pillows. Henry, on the far side of Amber, has a monopoly on most of the blankets, leaving Ryeowook with the very corner of Donghae’s. As the breathing around him evens out to the deep rumbles of sleep, he lies awake, shivering. He can’t get comfortable, either. His hipbones and knees ache where they’re pressed into the hard, unforgiving ground, and grumbles and wishes he hadn’t lost quite so much weight. A little padding would be nice for these occasions. He falls into a fitful sleep, half aware of his surroundings as he rotates like a rotisserie chicken, never settling on one side for longer than ten minutes. After rolling onto his side for the hundredth time that hour, he debates climbing up onto one of the girls’ beds and hoping to get more comfortable. He blinks his eyes open, however, and falls still. He is face-to-face with Donghae.
He has a confusing relationship with Donghae. One moment, they are friends, doing normal friend things, like watching TV, then the next, Donghae has his arm around Ryeowook’s shoulder and is holding him close, petting his side and nuzzling into his hair. Donghae is handsome, fit, athletic, smart when he needs to be, friendly, loyal, funny-all the things Ryeowook finds perfect. Were Donghae anyone else, some random on campus, he might peruse him in the hopes of establishing a relationship. Donghae is not, however, just anyone. He is one of Ryeowook’s closest friends. Ryeowook doesn’t know how to bring the situation up, not wanting to make their relationship awkward. He likes Donghae and is comfortable, for now, with toeing the line between friendship and more than that. He isn’t even sure if Donghae is aware of the turmoil his actions bring Ryeowook. Donghae is friendly with a lot of people, but he likes to think he is a little more tender with only Ryeowook.
It’s to these thoughts that Ryeowook falls asleep again. He dreams that he is walking along a boardwalk, hand in hand with Donghae. It’s peaceful and he wishes it could last forever. It doesn’t, however, and he wakes from his restless sleep with a jerk. It seems only minutes have passed since he fell asleep, everyone in the exact same position as when he drifted off. He closes his eyes again and tries to reach that peaceful calm he’d felt while dreaming. That is when he realizes the warmth in his hand was not imagined. His fingers are locked in Donghae’s grip. It’s a grip that seems too tight for Donghae to be sleeping, but he looks otherwise unconscious. Ryeowook sighs through his nose, wishing he would just get used to the fact that he will never figure out Lee Donghae. Instead he indulges in the hold, how tightly Donghae is clutching at him, and smiles softly.
It’s only a few minutes later that his hips cry out in pain and he has to, again, roll onto the other side. He tries to ease his hand out of Donghae’s but the older boy won’t have it. He gives up and hopes that when he rolls over, Donghae will let go. He counts to three before turning over. Donghae doesn’t let go, and Ryeowook has done nothing less than inadvertently wrap Donghae’s arm around his waist. Donghae shifts around him to find a more comfortable position, his other arm sliding beneath Ryeowook’s head and his leg slipping between Ryeowook’s. His forehead rests against the back of Ryeowook’s head, his breath fanning out over his neck, and Ryeowook knows he won’t be sleeping anymore.
He still cannot tell if Donghae is awake or not. His movements are sluggish and self-serving to Donghae’s comfort. Ryeowook tries to argue that if he were awake, Donghae would be tenser. His breathing wouldn’t be so even and slow. When Ryeowook shifts his hips forward again, finally settling into a comfortable position, though, Donghae rolls nearly on top of him. His chest is pressed flush against Ryeowook’s back, and he can feel his heart beat pounding against his spine. Donghae’s head is leaning on his shoulder and his arms are wound tightly around his waist and chest. It’s comfortable, Ryeowook decides. He likes lying with someone, with Donghae, so tightly pressed along his back. He’s never shared a bed with someone, and he thinks indolently that he may be able to get used to this.
His eyelids begin to droop and Ryeowook feels himself slipping into a deeper sleep, finally warm and comfortable. He hardly notices Donghae’s fingertips brushing across his shoulder, sleepily tracing out patterns. He doesn’t really notice them until Donghae tugs him closer still and his fingertips move from his shoulder to his collarbone. His fingers dip beneath his shirt’s collar, still moving as lazily as before, and rub along the hollow of Ryeowook’s throat. Ryeowook’s heartbeat quickens, pounding heavily against Donghae’s fingertips. He half expects Donghae to say something, to ask why his heart is racing and why he’s stopped breathing. Donghae doesn’t though. He remains silent and lethargic. His fingers finally cease their movement, and his hand falls still pressed against Ryeowook’s throat, oddly possessive. Ryeowook’s heart is still racing, but he can’t find the sensation unpleasant. It’s calming, still, and he begins to drift off again.
…
When he wakes in the morning, Henry is gone and so is Amber. Luna is buried under three blankets, but is shifting around like she’s waking as well. Donghae is still glued to his back, arms wound tight as ever around his waist, and face buried in his hair. Ryeowook blinks against the sunlight that is filtering through the half-destroyed fort and watches as Luna finally emerges from her cocoon, hair wild and sleepy. She gives their compromising position a once over before smiling at Ryeowook and climbing out of the fort.
Ryeowook frowns, wondering how exactly he is going to extract himself from Donghae’s arms when he knows Donghae can easily sleep past noon. Before his ponderings get too far, however, Donghae leans over him, propped up on an elbow, and shows him an easy smile.
“Morning,” he says, voice still sleep-roughened.
“Good morning,” Ryeowook squeaks back. Donghae rolls him onto his back and stays propped over him. Donghae glances around for a second, as if making sure no one is peeking into the fort, then leans down.
It’s not the kind of first kiss Ryeowook imagined. It tastes like morning breath and faintly of stale popcorn and soda. It’s in a sheet-fort on the floor of his friend’s dorm room. Hardly the romance of his dreams, but as his arms slip around Donghae’s neck and his spine aches and creaks from lying on the hard floor all night, he decides it is good enough.
Childhood
WC: 466
Ryeowook totters into dining room, his attention no longer captured by his play kitchen in the living room. He drags a mangy, stuffed giraffe with him, its floppy neck clutched in his small hands. He finds Youngwoon, his father, at the table. He has glasses perched on his nose and is bent over papers. Ryeowook pouts at the sight. He knows not to bother his father when he is working, but he is bored.
Youngwoon hears the patter of socked feet against the linoleum tiles and sighs. It’s not long after that he feels Ryeowook’s tiny hand pulling at his pant leg. He drops his pen and reaches under the table to haul Ryeowook up onto his lap.
“What’s the matter, bunny?” he asks, petting Ryeowook’s wild hair back into order.
“Play with me!” Ryeowook whines, tugging on his father’s shirt.
“I’m busy, Wook,” he groans. “Playtime after Daddy finishes his work.”
Ryeowook pouts and whines and squirms when he’s set back on the floor and sent on his way back to the living room with a light pat on the butt. He takes a few steps and turns. He sits down and stares up at Youngwoon, eyebrows furrowed and bottom lip stuck out determinedly. After a few minutes, Youngwoon sets his pen down again, defeated.
“Do you want a snack?” he asks. His wife would be disappointed to see him bribing the child with food, but Youngwoon figures what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
“Snack!” Ryeowook squeals. He scrambles to his feet and follows Youngwoon into the kitchen, dragging the poor giraffe behind him.
“We eat at the table, Ryeowook,” Youngwoon reminds as he digs through the cupboards. He smiles and shakes his head at the sound of Ryeowook slipping and sliding back to the dining room. When he returns to the dining room, he presents Ryeowook with a plate of cheerios and a juice box, hoping it will be enough to keep him quiet for a half an hour more. Just long enough to finish his paperwork.
Ryeowook sits in his chair, giraffe under arm, and slurps at the juice box, taking momentary breaks to scoop cereal into his mouth with sticky fingers.Youngwoon smiles and reaches over to ruffle the kid’s hair, happy to get back to work. Ryeowook swings his legs under the table and hums happily as he eats, watching Youngwoon put the finishing touches on his work.
“All done,” Youngwoon yawns, stretching.
“Play?” Ryeowook perks up, clutching his giraffe close.
Youngwoon cracks his neck and slides off his chair to the floor beside Ryeowook’s. With a playful growl, he reaches out to tickle him. Ryeowook, knowing this routine by heart, shrieks and rolls off the chair, then dashes out the door giggling, Youngwoon chasing after him on hands and knees.
Adorable fanart by douliette.