[Fic] Company Time - 7/10
Title: Company Time
Author: Coley Merrin
Pairing: Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi (either/or)
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU
Summary: Kyuhyun's new coworker brings new challenges to his stuffy cubicle life. And the only problem bigger than realizing that Zhou Mi is living denial, is actually starting to believe him.
***
Chapter One * Chapter Two * Chapter Three * Chapter Four * Chapter Five * Chapter Six * Chapter Seven * Chapter Eight
***
Zhou Mi’s confession made so many things more clear. Why Zhou Mi had encouraged him. Why he’d seemed eager. Not having to be coaxed into things. Not like Kyuhyun really knew how to talk someone into sucking him off, but maybe he’d have figured it out eventually. It wasn’t like Kyuhyun thought he was capable of just seducing people right and left. He was, as so many people were, his own worst critic. He didn’t exactly think he was unappealing to the extreme, however. And so Zhou Mi had not been experimenting, in a strict sense, then. But experimenting with acknowledging his own desires. Something he’d locked away, and rediscovered. The lid of the Pandora’s box of lust irreversibly opened, inspired by himself. Everything they’d done, Zhou Mi had probably done years ago. Knew he liked it, wanted. Knew he couldn’t have it. Until he suddenly did have it, and freely. And it had been a decade ago when Zhou Mi had shut himself off? He tried to imagine bottling himself down for a decade. He knew women he admired, too, but he didn’t exactly want to date them. Zhou Mi had gone the other way, though, trying to become some kind of perfect boyfriend. Doing all he could to make himself and others believe in what wasn’t real.
The desperation, like Zhou Mi was trying to shed a skin. Who would want to go back to denying themselves? Maybe he wasn’t exactly the model of imaginary boyfriends, but he figured they got along pretty well. Letting Zhou Mi rediscover why he’d been attracted to men in the first place by using Kyuhyun’s body. Ah, what a martyr he was. It wasn’t like he’d intended anything else at first. He hadn’t thought he'd been looking for a relationship more serious than friends with a few benefits. He swallowed and stared at Zhou Mi’s ass wiggle in front of him in between the shelves of books. Okay. Maybe more than a few benefits.
Hey Zhou Mi, want to go steady? had read more in his head like Hey Zhou Mi, how fast can I scare you away? Not that he’d have ever asked like that anyway. Sex without strings was like asking for food without calories. Great on the surface, maybe, but with some side effects not on the label.
He was buttoning his jacket and adjusting his bag as he waited for Zhou Mi to get into his coat. He hadn’t forgotten that Zhou Mi had asked him to do something together that night, since Zhou Mi had made sure he was still free at lunch. The same elevator ride down, hanging up their badges, huddling together beside the building in their usual manner of wondering what to do.
“Want to get something to eat?”
It was what they tended to do after leaving work together. And Zhou Mi was shuffling next to him, hands in his pockets and looking like a child who’d asked for candy. He almost looked around as though Zhou Mi was asking someone else, and not him. They’d been to eat so many times already, and now Zhou Mi was getting shy on him?
“Did something change between the last time we ate out and now?” he asked, eyeing Zhou Mi’s pursed lips. Besides the obvious, that was. But it wasn’t like they were different people just because they were “official.” To themselves anyway.
“Am I over-thinking it?” Zhou Mi asked, the smile creeping onto his face.
“You think?”
“Okay. Dinner, and then we’ll see? First date.”
The little fist pump Zhou Mi did had him choking on his own spit. Zhou Mi leaned in, still laughing in little puffs.
“If we were alone, I’d kiss you,” Zhou Mi told him.
“If we were alone, that’s probably not all.”
He was pretty sure the grins on their faces matched after that comment. And they had a small elbow fight as they decided where to eat. But Zhou Mi had relaxed, and that was the important thing. Same guy he was planning on kissing, same as he had yesterday. First date or whatever, he shoveled down his food and ordered more. Watching Zhou Mi’s fingers on his chopsticks, occasionally following them up to Zhou Mi’s mouth. It wasn’t like watching was a crime, if he was actually paying attention. And he was, listening to Zhou Mi talk about his childhood, and injecting his own memories. Being That Kid with the glasses and the awkward body, and Zhou Mi trying to talk at him with his mouth full to assure him he was adorable.
Of course, Zhou Mi accepted when he threatened to show him pictures. Though he couldn’t claim he was surprised by that. He’d been expecting it. And was secretly pleased, even though he intended to hide those pictures away as long as humanly possibly anyway. It was one thing for Zhou Mi to enthusiastically want to see pictures of him and his ears, and it was another to actually put them in front of Zhou Mi’s face. He tried to think if he’d actually showed anyone he’d dated pictures of himself. And he was still half considering it, which was probably the reason his mouth ran off before his brain could catch up.
“Ah, so is that when you figured out you were into guys?”
The question sort of hung out there after Zhou Mi had been telling him about a group of his friends who would go to watch older guys play basketball and dream about what they’d be doing when they were older.
And he realized that it wasn’t exactly the best topic for, say, their first date. In a crowded, albeit loud and paying-them-no-attention, restaurant.
“And in other news,” he said, trying to change the topic.
“Well,” Zhou Mi said. “I knew before that, actually. My friend, and I, we’d already been, um. Trying stuff. When did you know?”
He blew out a breath, and kind of wished he’d never opened his mouth. But Zhou Mi was curious, and had a right to be. They just could’ve chosen a better time, and maybe for him, a better mental state. Never clearly wasn't an option. If he wanted the truth from Zhou Mi, then Zhou Mi deserved the truth as well. He leaned in, speaking low, generically as he could.
“I knew before high school. It was pretty obvious to me, anyway. I had a girlfriend, because every other guy did, but the next girl turned me down. I never did anything with guys until college. There was an upperclassman who liked getting blown, and I was apparently obvious to him. But I ended up dating one of his friends until I realized he was dating me, and another guy, and a girl as a decoy.”
“So the first guy used you, and the second guy cheated on you?”
“That’s a good summary.”
He actually looked up, because Zhou Mi was staring so hard at him. “So everything with me, I was pushing all those buttons for you.”
Maybe he had been,and there was a certain amount of apology on Zhou Mi’s face. He’d known it had been hard for Zhou Mi, but even when they’d been “using” each other, it hadn’t felt exactly like that to him. Not like it had before. And when he’d been unsure? They had both been pushing each other’s buttons and hadn’t really even known. Maybe he was just prone to repeating his mistakes, but they were both different. He wanted to believe that.
“All that’s in the past,” he said, shrugging. At least as far back in the past as yesterday and his insecurity could be.
“Then, to the future,” Zhou Mi said, smiling cheekily. A little cheers to them both, as their bottles clinked. They had a lot of crap behind them. And judging by Zhou Mi’s expression, a lot of possibility. And it wasn’t just because he had a thing for Zhou Mi’s jawline.
“Ready to go?” Zhou Mi asked.
He definitely was, but when made for his wallet, Zhou Mi intercepted him.
“No,” Zhou Mi said, laughing and pushing his hand aside. “It’s on me tonight.”
Oh. The date. It had apparently been too long since he’d dated anyone, much less a guy who seemed thrilled to be able to pay for his food.
“It’s such a nice night,” Zhou Mi said, hands in his pockets again. Of course, it was getting cold enough at night that they could see their breaths, so he wasn’t sure how that factored into the niceness of it. But if Zhou Mi said so. “What do you want to do now?”
“What would you normally do?”
“I supposed I’d… Suggest walking around a while, and window shopping? Then taking you to your door and kissing you goodnight.” And when it was clear Kyuhyun was going to laugh at him, Zhou Mi continued on. “But it’s way too early for that. And we never did get to go see a movie together. Maybe we can find something we want to see.”
“Dinner and a movie. Wow, I’m impressed.”
“Hey, I’m not a cheap date,” Zhou Mi protested.
If they hadn’t been in the middle of the sidewalk, Kyuhyun would have kissed the smirk right off of those curving lips. But he let Zhou Mi prove it.
***
By the time the movie had gotten out, it was late, he thought, eying the clock. But Zhou Mi hadn’t made any noise whatsoever about not coming with him, even leading him off the train toward Kyuhyun’s apartment. And it wasn’t like he didn’t want to get off, because he did. And he figured they could accomplish that quickly enough so that Zhou Mi wouldn’t be dead for work the next day. Zhou Mi followed him, bodily and with his eyes, and he opened his work shirt. Didn’t remove it, just left it open. Unzipping his pants, and ever so gracefully laying back on his couch. Half hard just knowing Zhou Mi was watching, knowing Zhou Mi would climb over him. He breathed in, closing his eyes a moment as he imagined Zhou Mi over him on his bed, shoulders tight from holding himself up, body bucking. It was a thought far too appealing.
But he had a man who needed attending to now. Watching Zhou Mi catch his own zipper and tug it, and then his pants down onto impossibly trim thighs. He wanted to touch, wrap his hands around those thighs, and settled for arching his hips in invitation. Wriggling down his underwear as Zhou Mi got closer. The couch dipped as Zhou Mi’s knee sank down beside Kyuhyun’s hip. He wasn’t really watching Zhou Mi climb on though, more distracted by the underwear and hidden arousal.
Kyuhyun touched the red waistband. “Are any of your underwear the same color?”
“You noticed!”
He looked up, frowning. “You were testing me to see if I noticed your underwear?”
Zhou Mi kissed him, the press of those lips taking any remnants of that frown away. “No, I was hoping you’d notice because you liked it.”
“It’s underwear. You look good in it. You look better out of it. What’s not to like?”
Of course Zhou Mi was just staring at him like he’d proposed that they quit their jobs and use the proceeds for a round the world vacation.
He squirmed. “What?”
“You are amazing,” Zhou Mi laughed. “You don’t even know you said something incredibly nice. I like you in your underwear, too. And you out of it.”
Okay, the couch was potentially not quicker if they were going to discuss their clothing in the process.
“You know,” Zhou Mi said, running his thumb across Kyuhyun’s lips, before teasing the lobe of his ear. “You’re really sexy.”
He settled back with a satisfied grin. “I know.”
The only words he wanted right then were ones relating to how they were getting Zhou Mi’s underwear out of the way, because as fun as it was to run his fingers down what he assumed was a very fashionable seam, what he really wanted his fingers on was what was straining against it. Zhou Mi was a trooper, only about three quarters of the way on the couch, one leg holding him up as he pressed Kyuhyun down into the plush arm for the first of a marathon of brain-stealing kisses. Their hands meshed, rubbing their erections together, and he all but devoured Zhou Mi’s bottom lip. He was going home looking well used if Kyuhyun had a say in it. He even gave up prime stroking real estate to get Zhou Mi’s collar open so he could lay a mark down on that shoulder. Sucking and listening to Zhou Mi grunt. Whether from Kyuhyun’s mouth, or the urgent rubbing, he didn’t know. It was all feeding together, losing his breath as Zhou Mi licked a path along his neck.
It shouldn’t have been sexy. Instead it made him even harder, frustrated that he couldn’t open his thighs without sending Zhou Mi to the floor. And with a wet palm, he assisted Zhou Mi in stroking them straight to the edge. He felt Zhou Mi let go, a throbbing against him, Zhou Mi’s breath catching, and he strained to conquer Zhou Mi’s mouth, driving the pleasure up, and up, until he shuddered himself. Zhou Mi kissed him steadily until the rush faded, and he stroked Zhou Mi’s hair. Sighing. Satisfied. His stomach was generously a mess between the efforts of the two of them, but he didn’t care. His body was buzzing with satisfaction, and he felt Zhou Mi’s head jerk. Nearly losing himself to sleep for a moment.
“Want on the couch a little more?” he asked, voice a little rough.
He inched toward the edge, and Zhou Mi’s not inconsiderable body wedged into the space he vacated. It took a little maneuvering, but when he turned onto his side, they fit all right. It was a good thing they were friendly. He lapsed into a half consciousness, breathing in the familiar scents of home and sex and Zhou Mi. Until he shifted.
He felt gravity grab him when his leg slipped off the couch. Luckily he was snatched from the two foot fall by a laughing Zhou Mi, who with arms and a carefully hooked leg, dragged him back to safety.
“Nice catch,” he said, grinning after his heart stopped pounding.
Zhou Mi nuzzled close. “It’s hard to have sex with someone with a broken butt.”
For some reason he nearly choked himself with laughter, the mirth shaking him as he clung to Zhou Mi’s ribs and tried not to snort into his arm.
“Whoo.” He wiggled experimentally. “And I thought my bed was too small.”
“Why did we end up here instead of the bed?”
“Seemed closer.”
Zhou Mi’s fingers tickled through his hair. “We’re closer.”
“Hmm. We are,” he agreed, and settled back in for another kiss. He pitied the person who wasn’t into kissing. Or maybe he just pitied the person who didn’t have Zhou Mi’s mouth to kiss. For some reason the man knew how to make Kyuhyun nearly break himself with laughter, and then infuse him with heat from a series of kisses so epic they could’ve had their own movie. And not all of that heat was arousal, but he pushed that realization far away. All he could smell was Zhou Mi, taste, feel. Precariously perched, Zhou Mi holding them both up. If he let go, they’d fall. And that was an apt representation of everything else they were doing as well.
“I should probably go so we can sleep,” Zhou Mi said, sounding a little put out by that fact.
“Probably good for our work productivity. But so was this.”
He thought he could be a little smug about that fact when he still had a man against him with his pants open. But he managed to get off the couch without falling, tossing Zhou Mi a washcloth and towel. Probably a little nicer to go home without feeling sticky. Somehow they managed to accomplish that with each other without much trial. Still he kept a subtle eye on the arranging of that red underwear, and the zipping up of Zhou Mi’s slacks.
“Thanks for tonight,” Zhou Mi said, getting arms around him. He leaned into the hug, because not doing it seemed awkward. And breathing into Zhou Mi’s shoulder just seemed a lot more fun.
“Thanks for dinner. Though I guess you did that once before already.”
“Oh. I did.”
He kissed back into the stuttering laugh, swatting at Zhou Mi’s side.
“Go, get your train before you have to sleep on a bench.”
He eased away from the thought of Zhou Mi sleeping over. The couch was one thing, but staying in Kyuhyun's bed was another. That was a step he wasn't sure he was ready to take, no matter how many kisses, or dinners, they'd had.
They’d survived the first date. And he’d gotten kisses for his trouble of unlocking the door. By the time his phone vibrated, Zhou Mi letting him know that he’d made it home, he’d firmly ensconced himself on his couch and has his little lap warmer going. Zhou Mi, a little couch wrestling, and gaming. Definitely a perfect date.
***
Hanging out in a bookstore on Zhou Mi’s request wasn’t so bad. Whether it was their second date or third. He didn’t care that Zhou Mi seemed to enjoy the role of “planning” where they went. It made more sense than him trying to figure out what to do, besides them just sitting in his apartment like usual. And he was cognizant of the fact that Zhou Mi probably wanted more than hanging out with him in his pajamas. And the idea of attempting to agonize over it made him want to hit himself in the head. But he also appreciated that Zhou Mi knew what Kyuhyun enjoyed as well, since he’d never complained about staying in. Striking some kind of balance, or trying to. And there was still that awkwardness, trying to find equilibrium. It was easier some times than others, but never to the point where he felt it had become not worth it. He had a lot of reasons to not walk away, even if he didn't spend a lot of time naming them. Still, he wasn’t complaining about watching as Zhou Mi poked through the magazines and showed him things. And then seriously reading the back of a few books and humming, and thinking, and humming some more.
Zhou Mi enjoyed it, the whole going-out-together experience. Maybe not an actual date. But an outing. An excursion. A campaign on the whatever it was that Zhou Mi needed to buy. Targeted strikes, strategic backup, well-placed reserves.
And ogling Zhou Mi’s ass.
“I’ve been looking for this book forever,” Zhou Mi said, motioning Kyuhyun closer.
He didn’t really understand what the title was, but he took it anyway, inspecting it. Opening the hardcovers to see what the print looked like. Inhaling at its spine. Wood pulp, glue, ink, and all sorts of mysterious things. A precious thing, even if he hadn’t held too many actual books lately.
Then he realized that Zhou Mi was staring at him.
“What?” he asked, defensive hackles raising.
“You… It was cute, the way you were making friends with the book,” Zhou Mi told him, smiling again.
And then he had to be cute about it? He fixed his eyes on the book that he was trying to shove back into Zhou Mi’s hands.
"I think I owned a bookstore in another life."
“Did I make you go shopping with me in that life, too?” Zhou Mi asked.
“You didn’t make me do anything,” he grumbled.
Zhou Mi’s face poked closer, voice light and teasing. “Then you wanted to?”
“Look, they’re on sale!” he said, pointing to the side and easing away.
“Kui Xian,” Zhou Mi chided, laughing, and not fooled in the slightest. “I know it’s taking you away from your computer time. So I hope… I really enjoy spending time with you, so I hope you do, too.”
“I enjoy spending time with myself, yeah,” Kyuhyun said, smirking, and getting a smile in return. “You ready to check out?”
“I am.”
They’d been in line behind a few other people for a few moments when he turned as though he had a thought. “Oh, yeah, and there’s this guy with an accent who’s pretty fun to hang out with, too.”
Both Zhou Mi’s eyebrows rose. “You like accents?”
“Maybe. A little.”
Zhou Mi cleared his throat almost silently. “Is there anything else you like?”
“I never liked tall guys.”
Zhou Mi’s eyebrows rose. “But now you do?”
“Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.”
And that was absolutely enough flirting for one line-standing experience. He waited off to the side while Zhou Mi bought his purchases, and followed Zhou Mi’s hopeful finger to the cutesy, clearly dessert-having cafe across the street.
“Are you always hungry?”
Zhou Mi laughed and got an arm around his neck just in time to maul him all the way across the street. If by maul, he meant shake him back and forth. And it wasn’t as though he liked it.
He got hot chocolate because he felt like it, and some kind of raspberry cake. And eyed Zhou Mi with his sweet coffee and tiramisu. Almost hovering over it as though he expected some bird to swoop out of the sky and snatch it. And then that face that face looked like he wanted to cry, assumedly because it was good.
“I take it you don’t want to trade then?” Kyuhyun asked, smirking as Zhou Mi squinted at him in the middle of his ecstasy.
“Maybe a bite,” Zhou Mi hedged. “We have to remember this place so we can come back.”
“Hmm. How do we feed each other without looking like, well…”
Like they wanted to make out with each other.
A quick plate to plate transfer was the answer, and he sort of regretted not actually having Zhou Mi feed him. Still. He had to admit the smooth coffee flavor was nice. And Zhou Mi looked a little bit greedy as he considered Kyuhyun’s cake, too, so it couldn’t have been that bad.
It was an accident, he thought, the first time. Moving his food and thinking Zhou Mi and his legs were stretching a little too far. The second time, though, it was like Zhou Mi had actually tried to. He actually stopped in the middle of an I-was-an-idiot-in-high-school story to frown at Zhou Mi.
Whose eyebrows winged up, and lips curved, and eyes danced. Touching his foot on purpose then. He smirked, thinking two could play that game, lightly stepping on the edge of Zhou Mi’s foot. He got almost a pout for his effort and finished eating with a slow burn in his belly. Zhou Mi was going home with him, he thought really no matter what. He didn’t think it was even a matter of discussion, laughing as Zhou Mi nearly dropped his bags going down into the subway.
They were packed close enough together in the train car that he felt comfortable. Bending his fingers and letting a knuckle take a small, slow, deliberate circle in Zhou Mi’s lower back over his shirt. Biting back a grin when Zhou Mi’s head turned to try and see what he was doing. Foreplay. Even if it was only turning him on to feel that back under his fingers. But it was definitely for them both.
***
Author: Coley Merrin
Pairing: Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi (either/or)
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU
Summary: Kyuhyun's new coworker brings new challenges to his stuffy cubicle life. And the only problem bigger than realizing that Zhou Mi is living denial, is actually starting to believe him.
***
Chapter One * Chapter Two * Chapter Three * Chapter Four * Chapter Five * Chapter Six * Chapter Seven * Chapter Eight
***
Zhou Mi’s confession made so many things more clear. Why Zhou Mi had encouraged him. Why he’d seemed eager. Not having to be coaxed into things. Not like Kyuhyun really knew how to talk someone into sucking him off, but maybe he’d have figured it out eventually. It wasn’t like Kyuhyun thought he was capable of just seducing people right and left. He was, as so many people were, his own worst critic. He didn’t exactly think he was unappealing to the extreme, however. And so Zhou Mi had not been experimenting, in a strict sense, then. But experimenting with acknowledging his own desires. Something he’d locked away, and rediscovered. The lid of the Pandora’s box of lust irreversibly opened, inspired by himself. Everything they’d done, Zhou Mi had probably done years ago. Knew he liked it, wanted. Knew he couldn’t have it. Until he suddenly did have it, and freely. And it had been a decade ago when Zhou Mi had shut himself off? He tried to imagine bottling himself down for a decade. He knew women he admired, too, but he didn’t exactly want to date them. Zhou Mi had gone the other way, though, trying to become some kind of perfect boyfriend. Doing all he could to make himself and others believe in what wasn’t real.
The desperation, like Zhou Mi was trying to shed a skin. Who would want to go back to denying themselves? Maybe he wasn’t exactly the model of imaginary boyfriends, but he figured they got along pretty well. Letting Zhou Mi rediscover why he’d been attracted to men in the first place by using Kyuhyun’s body. Ah, what a martyr he was. It wasn’t like he’d intended anything else at first. He hadn’t thought he'd been looking for a relationship more serious than friends with a few benefits. He swallowed and stared at Zhou Mi’s ass wiggle in front of him in between the shelves of books. Okay. Maybe more than a few benefits.
Hey Zhou Mi, want to go steady? had read more in his head like Hey Zhou Mi, how fast can I scare you away? Not that he’d have ever asked like that anyway. Sex without strings was like asking for food without calories. Great on the surface, maybe, but with some side effects not on the label.
He was buttoning his jacket and adjusting his bag as he waited for Zhou Mi to get into his coat. He hadn’t forgotten that Zhou Mi had asked him to do something together that night, since Zhou Mi had made sure he was still free at lunch. The same elevator ride down, hanging up their badges, huddling together beside the building in their usual manner of wondering what to do.
“Want to get something to eat?”
It was what they tended to do after leaving work together. And Zhou Mi was shuffling next to him, hands in his pockets and looking like a child who’d asked for candy. He almost looked around as though Zhou Mi was asking someone else, and not him. They’d been to eat so many times already, and now Zhou Mi was getting shy on him?
“Did something change between the last time we ate out and now?” he asked, eyeing Zhou Mi’s pursed lips. Besides the obvious, that was. But it wasn’t like they were different people just because they were “official.” To themselves anyway.
“Am I over-thinking it?” Zhou Mi asked, the smile creeping onto his face.
“You think?”
“Okay. Dinner, and then we’ll see? First date.”
The little fist pump Zhou Mi did had him choking on his own spit. Zhou Mi leaned in, still laughing in little puffs.
“If we were alone, I’d kiss you,” Zhou Mi told him.
“If we were alone, that’s probably not all.”
He was pretty sure the grins on their faces matched after that comment. And they had a small elbow fight as they decided where to eat. But Zhou Mi had relaxed, and that was the important thing. Same guy he was planning on kissing, same as he had yesterday. First date or whatever, he shoveled down his food and ordered more. Watching Zhou Mi’s fingers on his chopsticks, occasionally following them up to Zhou Mi’s mouth. It wasn’t like watching was a crime, if he was actually paying attention. And he was, listening to Zhou Mi talk about his childhood, and injecting his own memories. Being That Kid with the glasses and the awkward body, and Zhou Mi trying to talk at him with his mouth full to assure him he was adorable.
Of course, Zhou Mi accepted when he threatened to show him pictures. Though he couldn’t claim he was surprised by that. He’d been expecting it. And was secretly pleased, even though he intended to hide those pictures away as long as humanly possibly anyway. It was one thing for Zhou Mi to enthusiastically want to see pictures of him and his ears, and it was another to actually put them in front of Zhou Mi’s face. He tried to think if he’d actually showed anyone he’d dated pictures of himself. And he was still half considering it, which was probably the reason his mouth ran off before his brain could catch up.
“Ah, so is that when you figured out you were into guys?”
The question sort of hung out there after Zhou Mi had been telling him about a group of his friends who would go to watch older guys play basketball and dream about what they’d be doing when they were older.
And he realized that it wasn’t exactly the best topic for, say, their first date. In a crowded, albeit loud and paying-them-no-attention, restaurant.
“And in other news,” he said, trying to change the topic.
“Well,” Zhou Mi said. “I knew before that, actually. My friend, and I, we’d already been, um. Trying stuff. When did you know?”
He blew out a breath, and kind of wished he’d never opened his mouth. But Zhou Mi was curious, and had a right to be. They just could’ve chosen a better time, and maybe for him, a better mental state. Never clearly wasn't an option. If he wanted the truth from Zhou Mi, then Zhou Mi deserved the truth as well. He leaned in, speaking low, generically as he could.
“I knew before high school. It was pretty obvious to me, anyway. I had a girlfriend, because every other guy did, but the next girl turned me down. I never did anything with guys until college. There was an upperclassman who liked getting blown, and I was apparently obvious to him. But I ended up dating one of his friends until I realized he was dating me, and another guy, and a girl as a decoy.”
“So the first guy used you, and the second guy cheated on you?”
“That’s a good summary.”
He actually looked up, because Zhou Mi was staring so hard at him. “So everything with me, I was pushing all those buttons for you.”
Maybe he had been,and there was a certain amount of apology on Zhou Mi’s face. He’d known it had been hard for Zhou Mi, but even when they’d been “using” each other, it hadn’t felt exactly like that to him. Not like it had before. And when he’d been unsure? They had both been pushing each other’s buttons and hadn’t really even known. Maybe he was just prone to repeating his mistakes, but they were both different. He wanted to believe that.
“All that’s in the past,” he said, shrugging. At least as far back in the past as yesterday and his insecurity could be.
“Then, to the future,” Zhou Mi said, smiling cheekily. A little cheers to them both, as their bottles clinked. They had a lot of crap behind them. And judging by Zhou Mi’s expression, a lot of possibility. And it wasn’t just because he had a thing for Zhou Mi’s jawline.
“Ready to go?” Zhou Mi asked.
He definitely was, but when made for his wallet, Zhou Mi intercepted him.
“No,” Zhou Mi said, laughing and pushing his hand aside. “It’s on me tonight.”
Oh. The date. It had apparently been too long since he’d dated anyone, much less a guy who seemed thrilled to be able to pay for his food.
“It’s such a nice night,” Zhou Mi said, hands in his pockets again. Of course, it was getting cold enough at night that they could see their breaths, so he wasn’t sure how that factored into the niceness of it. But if Zhou Mi said so. “What do you want to do now?”
“What would you normally do?”
“I supposed I’d… Suggest walking around a while, and window shopping? Then taking you to your door and kissing you goodnight.” And when it was clear Kyuhyun was going to laugh at him, Zhou Mi continued on. “But it’s way too early for that. And we never did get to go see a movie together. Maybe we can find something we want to see.”
“Dinner and a movie. Wow, I’m impressed.”
“Hey, I’m not a cheap date,” Zhou Mi protested.
If they hadn’t been in the middle of the sidewalk, Kyuhyun would have kissed the smirk right off of those curving lips. But he let Zhou Mi prove it.
***
By the time the movie had gotten out, it was late, he thought, eying the clock. But Zhou Mi hadn’t made any noise whatsoever about not coming with him, even leading him off the train toward Kyuhyun’s apartment. And it wasn’t like he didn’t want to get off, because he did. And he figured they could accomplish that quickly enough so that Zhou Mi wouldn’t be dead for work the next day. Zhou Mi followed him, bodily and with his eyes, and he opened his work shirt. Didn’t remove it, just left it open. Unzipping his pants, and ever so gracefully laying back on his couch. Half hard just knowing Zhou Mi was watching, knowing Zhou Mi would climb over him. He breathed in, closing his eyes a moment as he imagined Zhou Mi over him on his bed, shoulders tight from holding himself up, body bucking. It was a thought far too appealing.
But he had a man who needed attending to now. Watching Zhou Mi catch his own zipper and tug it, and then his pants down onto impossibly trim thighs. He wanted to touch, wrap his hands around those thighs, and settled for arching his hips in invitation. Wriggling down his underwear as Zhou Mi got closer. The couch dipped as Zhou Mi’s knee sank down beside Kyuhyun’s hip. He wasn’t really watching Zhou Mi climb on though, more distracted by the underwear and hidden arousal.
Kyuhyun touched the red waistband. “Are any of your underwear the same color?”
“You noticed!”
He looked up, frowning. “You were testing me to see if I noticed your underwear?”
Zhou Mi kissed him, the press of those lips taking any remnants of that frown away. “No, I was hoping you’d notice because you liked it.”
“It’s underwear. You look good in it. You look better out of it. What’s not to like?”
Of course Zhou Mi was just staring at him like he’d proposed that they quit their jobs and use the proceeds for a round the world vacation.
He squirmed. “What?”
“You are amazing,” Zhou Mi laughed. “You don’t even know you said something incredibly nice. I like you in your underwear, too. And you out of it.”
Okay, the couch was potentially not quicker if they were going to discuss their clothing in the process.
“You know,” Zhou Mi said, running his thumb across Kyuhyun’s lips, before teasing the lobe of his ear. “You’re really sexy.”
He settled back with a satisfied grin. “I know.”
The only words he wanted right then were ones relating to how they were getting Zhou Mi’s underwear out of the way, because as fun as it was to run his fingers down what he assumed was a very fashionable seam, what he really wanted his fingers on was what was straining against it. Zhou Mi was a trooper, only about three quarters of the way on the couch, one leg holding him up as he pressed Kyuhyun down into the plush arm for the first of a marathon of brain-stealing kisses. Their hands meshed, rubbing their erections together, and he all but devoured Zhou Mi’s bottom lip. He was going home looking well used if Kyuhyun had a say in it. He even gave up prime stroking real estate to get Zhou Mi’s collar open so he could lay a mark down on that shoulder. Sucking and listening to Zhou Mi grunt. Whether from Kyuhyun’s mouth, or the urgent rubbing, he didn’t know. It was all feeding together, losing his breath as Zhou Mi licked a path along his neck.
It shouldn’t have been sexy. Instead it made him even harder, frustrated that he couldn’t open his thighs without sending Zhou Mi to the floor. And with a wet palm, he assisted Zhou Mi in stroking them straight to the edge. He felt Zhou Mi let go, a throbbing against him, Zhou Mi’s breath catching, and he strained to conquer Zhou Mi’s mouth, driving the pleasure up, and up, until he shuddered himself. Zhou Mi kissed him steadily until the rush faded, and he stroked Zhou Mi’s hair. Sighing. Satisfied. His stomach was generously a mess between the efforts of the two of them, but he didn’t care. His body was buzzing with satisfaction, and he felt Zhou Mi’s head jerk. Nearly losing himself to sleep for a moment.
“Want on the couch a little more?” he asked, voice a little rough.
He inched toward the edge, and Zhou Mi’s not inconsiderable body wedged into the space he vacated. It took a little maneuvering, but when he turned onto his side, they fit all right. It was a good thing they were friendly. He lapsed into a half consciousness, breathing in the familiar scents of home and sex and Zhou Mi. Until he shifted.
He felt gravity grab him when his leg slipped off the couch. Luckily he was snatched from the two foot fall by a laughing Zhou Mi, who with arms and a carefully hooked leg, dragged him back to safety.
“Nice catch,” he said, grinning after his heart stopped pounding.
Zhou Mi nuzzled close. “It’s hard to have sex with someone with a broken butt.”
For some reason he nearly choked himself with laughter, the mirth shaking him as he clung to Zhou Mi’s ribs and tried not to snort into his arm.
“Whoo.” He wiggled experimentally. “And I thought my bed was too small.”
“Why did we end up here instead of the bed?”
“Seemed closer.”
Zhou Mi’s fingers tickled through his hair. “We’re closer.”
“Hmm. We are,” he agreed, and settled back in for another kiss. He pitied the person who wasn’t into kissing. Or maybe he just pitied the person who didn’t have Zhou Mi’s mouth to kiss. For some reason the man knew how to make Kyuhyun nearly break himself with laughter, and then infuse him with heat from a series of kisses so epic they could’ve had their own movie. And not all of that heat was arousal, but he pushed that realization far away. All he could smell was Zhou Mi, taste, feel. Precariously perched, Zhou Mi holding them both up. If he let go, they’d fall. And that was an apt representation of everything else they were doing as well.
“I should probably go so we can sleep,” Zhou Mi said, sounding a little put out by that fact.
“Probably good for our work productivity. But so was this.”
He thought he could be a little smug about that fact when he still had a man against him with his pants open. But he managed to get off the couch without falling, tossing Zhou Mi a washcloth and towel. Probably a little nicer to go home without feeling sticky. Somehow they managed to accomplish that with each other without much trial. Still he kept a subtle eye on the arranging of that red underwear, and the zipping up of Zhou Mi’s slacks.
“Thanks for tonight,” Zhou Mi said, getting arms around him. He leaned into the hug, because not doing it seemed awkward. And breathing into Zhou Mi’s shoulder just seemed a lot more fun.
“Thanks for dinner. Though I guess you did that once before already.”
“Oh. I did.”
He kissed back into the stuttering laugh, swatting at Zhou Mi’s side.
“Go, get your train before you have to sleep on a bench.”
He eased away from the thought of Zhou Mi sleeping over. The couch was one thing, but staying in Kyuhyun's bed was another. That was a step he wasn't sure he was ready to take, no matter how many kisses, or dinners, they'd had.
They’d survived the first date. And he’d gotten kisses for his trouble of unlocking the door. By the time his phone vibrated, Zhou Mi letting him know that he’d made it home, he’d firmly ensconced himself on his couch and has his little lap warmer going. Zhou Mi, a little couch wrestling, and gaming. Definitely a perfect date.
***
Hanging out in a bookstore on Zhou Mi’s request wasn’t so bad. Whether it was their second date or third. He didn’t care that Zhou Mi seemed to enjoy the role of “planning” where they went. It made more sense than him trying to figure out what to do, besides them just sitting in his apartment like usual. And he was cognizant of the fact that Zhou Mi probably wanted more than hanging out with him in his pajamas. And the idea of attempting to agonize over it made him want to hit himself in the head. But he also appreciated that Zhou Mi knew what Kyuhyun enjoyed as well, since he’d never complained about staying in. Striking some kind of balance, or trying to. And there was still that awkwardness, trying to find equilibrium. It was easier some times than others, but never to the point where he felt it had become not worth it. He had a lot of reasons to not walk away, even if he didn't spend a lot of time naming them. Still, he wasn’t complaining about watching as Zhou Mi poked through the magazines and showed him things. And then seriously reading the back of a few books and humming, and thinking, and humming some more.
Zhou Mi enjoyed it, the whole going-out-together experience. Maybe not an actual date. But an outing. An excursion. A campaign on the whatever it was that Zhou Mi needed to buy. Targeted strikes, strategic backup, well-placed reserves.
And ogling Zhou Mi’s ass.
“I’ve been looking for this book forever,” Zhou Mi said, motioning Kyuhyun closer.
He didn’t really understand what the title was, but he took it anyway, inspecting it. Opening the hardcovers to see what the print looked like. Inhaling at its spine. Wood pulp, glue, ink, and all sorts of mysterious things. A precious thing, even if he hadn’t held too many actual books lately.
Then he realized that Zhou Mi was staring at him.
“What?” he asked, defensive hackles raising.
“You… It was cute, the way you were making friends with the book,” Zhou Mi told him, smiling again.
And then he had to be cute about it? He fixed his eyes on the book that he was trying to shove back into Zhou Mi’s hands.
"I think I owned a bookstore in another life."
“Did I make you go shopping with me in that life, too?” Zhou Mi asked.
“You didn’t make me do anything,” he grumbled.
Zhou Mi’s face poked closer, voice light and teasing. “Then you wanted to?”
“Look, they’re on sale!” he said, pointing to the side and easing away.
“Kui Xian,” Zhou Mi chided, laughing, and not fooled in the slightest. “I know it’s taking you away from your computer time. So I hope… I really enjoy spending time with you, so I hope you do, too.”
“I enjoy spending time with myself, yeah,” Kyuhyun said, smirking, and getting a smile in return. “You ready to check out?”
“I am.”
They’d been in line behind a few other people for a few moments when he turned as though he had a thought. “Oh, yeah, and there’s this guy with an accent who’s pretty fun to hang out with, too.”
Both Zhou Mi’s eyebrows rose. “You like accents?”
“Maybe. A little.”
Zhou Mi cleared his throat almost silently. “Is there anything else you like?”
“I never liked tall guys.”
Zhou Mi’s eyebrows rose. “But now you do?”
“Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.”
And that was absolutely enough flirting for one line-standing experience. He waited off to the side while Zhou Mi bought his purchases, and followed Zhou Mi’s hopeful finger to the cutesy, clearly dessert-having cafe across the street.
“Are you always hungry?”
Zhou Mi laughed and got an arm around his neck just in time to maul him all the way across the street. If by maul, he meant shake him back and forth. And it wasn’t as though he liked it.
He got hot chocolate because he felt like it, and some kind of raspberry cake. And eyed Zhou Mi with his sweet coffee and tiramisu. Almost hovering over it as though he expected some bird to swoop out of the sky and snatch it. And then that face that face looked like he wanted to cry, assumedly because it was good.
“I take it you don’t want to trade then?” Kyuhyun asked, smirking as Zhou Mi squinted at him in the middle of his ecstasy.
“Maybe a bite,” Zhou Mi hedged. “We have to remember this place so we can come back.”
“Hmm. How do we feed each other without looking like, well…”
Like they wanted to make out with each other.
A quick plate to plate transfer was the answer, and he sort of regretted not actually having Zhou Mi feed him. Still. He had to admit the smooth coffee flavor was nice. And Zhou Mi looked a little bit greedy as he considered Kyuhyun’s cake, too, so it couldn’t have been that bad.
It was an accident, he thought, the first time. Moving his food and thinking Zhou Mi and his legs were stretching a little too far. The second time, though, it was like Zhou Mi had actually tried to. He actually stopped in the middle of an I-was-an-idiot-in-high-school story to frown at Zhou Mi.
Whose eyebrows winged up, and lips curved, and eyes danced. Touching his foot on purpose then. He smirked, thinking two could play that game, lightly stepping on the edge of Zhou Mi’s foot. He got almost a pout for his effort and finished eating with a slow burn in his belly. Zhou Mi was going home with him, he thought really no matter what. He didn’t think it was even a matter of discussion, laughing as Zhou Mi nearly dropped his bags going down into the subway.
They were packed close enough together in the train car that he felt comfortable. Bending his fingers and letting a knuckle take a small, slow, deliberate circle in Zhou Mi’s lower back over his shirt. Biting back a grin when Zhou Mi’s head turned to try and see what he was doing. Foreplay. Even if it was only turning him on to feel that back under his fingers. But it was definitely for them both.
***