[Fic] Something Special
Title: Something Special
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: R
Genre: fluff, AU
Prompt: a sequel to " Something He Needs". Zhou Mi preparing something special~~ for their 1 year anniversary.
***
The thing about anniversaries was that sometimes they were hard to plan for. Plus, there was the question of which date to choose. Their first date, or the day they met, or- Zhou Mi felt they had a lot of days to choose from, but he knew which anniversary he put most weight on. He remembered, observed, the day they met. The day he’d walked into a hotel room to find a man he hadn’t expected to like, much less love. But there had been the day Kyuhyun had come for him, and that was so much more. Because it wasn’t the start of something temporary, but of something permanent. They’d spent that night together just getting to know each other again, and starting to trust.
I couldn’t have shared you, Kyuhyun had said one night, with his face pressed against Zhou Mi’s neck. You needed so much more than you were getting.
There had been intimacy between them in a matter of a week that Zhou Mi hadn’t had since he had begun his job as an escort. The way Kyuhyun had held his face, touched him, kissed him. He hadn’t been the only one hungry for something more. Kyuhyun had found his release, and found something more than that that he wanted. Zhou Mi knew that - or Kyuhyun would never have come looking for him.
***
“Looks like we traded up this time,” Kyuhyun said, as he walked into the hotel room.
Zhou Mi let the door close behind his suitcase, and then followed Kyuhyun in.
“I thought we deserved that,” Zhou Mi said, coming up behind Kyuhyun at the wide window. Kyuhyun had endless supplies of frequent flier miles, so Kyuhyun had graciously donated those. But the hotel room had been Zhou Mi’s choice - and he’d allowed Kyuhyun to contribute reluctantly. It had been his hope that he could whisk them away for a romantic weekend, but he’d also concluded that they’d both had a part in deciding that. And having Kyuhyun feeling like he was shorting Zhou Mi wasn’t the reaction he’d been going for. So it was being split down the middle. Their gift to each other.
“We did. No business to take care of this time, except for us-business,” Kyuhyun teased. “When’s our dinner reservation?”
“About forty minutes,” Zhou Mi said. His eyes were on Kyuhyun’s ear, the curve of it outside of his thick hair. He imagined leaning forward, taking a little nibble. He’d done it before, usually getting a wicked glance and a roll in bed. But with forty minutes, they barely had time to take turns washing up a bit and changing their clothes. And in Kyuhyun’s case, check his email.
“I can almost hear you thinking dirty thoughts,” Kyuhyun said, turning his head a fraction.
“I’ll wash up first while you unpack your laptop,” Zhou Mi said, drilling a finger into Kyuhyun’s jacket and just barely poking him. The third party in their relationship. Or maybe the fourth if they counted Zhou Mi’s also. It was a comfortable arrangement.
But he didn’t go before Kyuhyun turned, letting their lips rub together. A promise. A greeting. Not that they’d been apart in the past eighteen hours.
And then they only had thirty-five minutes to get ready, and Zhou Mi and his toiletries and clothes disappeared into the bathroom with its long two-sinked counter and enormous shower. He whistled his appreciation, and eyeballed the robes in the closet. For later, for sure. Kyuhyun would look very nice wrapped in one.
And then unwrapped.
***
Kyuhyun had taken Zhou Mi to his door after their first date, and left him there with a kiss and a sheepish smile. That had been the moment, he thought, when he’d leaned back against his door and known beyond doubt that there would be a future there. And when, an hour later, they were on the phone together again.
“I kind of wished you’d stayed,” Zhou Mi said, his voice soft, almost letting the words float into the phone.
“You know why I didn’t.”
Because he hadn’t wanted Zhou Mi to think he was dating him for sex.
“Yeah. I think it’s sweet.”
And he let Kyuhyun roll in the embarrassment of the words, which he could tell by the little gurgles that came through the phone line. He wished he could kiss the embarrassment from Kyuhyun’s cheeks. He could just imagine the smile he could tease from Kyuhyun, and it made his heart squeeze.
“Can I take you home on the next date?”
“You’ve seen my apartment,” Kyuhyun pointed out. “You want to plan it, too?”
Zhou Mi smiled against the phone. “Please.”
***
The air as the sun set was warm, a breeze cooling them right off the water. They were on the paved path, and not the sand right then, wanting to wait for the daylight do that. But after hours in the airport, on the plane, and sitting at dinner, it felt good to get out, stretch their legs. His hand gripped Kyuhyun’s arm, pointing out a bird on a low-hanging branch, or people still playing by the water. They did not hold hands so much as touch with them, Kyuhyun’s fingers sliding over his palm or lacing briefly with his as they talked. Pleasantly full, he was just glad to be there. They were used to not being physically demonstrative in public. Sometimes he wondered if that was because they were not that way, or if they had just become accustomed to it. But that didn’t mean they avoided touch. Kyuhyun’s hand on his back, or him gripping Kyuhyun’s arm in excitement. He thought, no matter what, that was what Kyuhyun would have been comfortable with. There were things that were private, things that were for them. Stolen kisses in elevators, flirting looks as they waited in lines. Those were things they had no matter what, and were special because of it.
Still, as they meandered off the path and onto a wooden deck overlooking the beach, he wound his arm around Kyuhyun’s shoulders and reeled him in.
“Did you think we’d still be together after this long when you found me again?” Zhou Mi asked, tone vaguely teasing.
Kyuhyun thought for a moment before nodding and looking up at Zhou Mi. “Yes.”
Just simply that. One word. Nothing else. And Zhou Mi’s eyebrows rose.
“Oh?”
Kyuhyun couldn’t fault him for being curious.
“You’ve got a soft heart,” Kyuhyun said, Zhou Mi nearly started cooing. “So I knew you couldn’t stand the thought of me being alone and scared in some hotel room after we split.”
“Ah!” Zhou Mi got out, indignant all over as Kyuhyun grabbed him by the neck and hauled him in so Zhou Mi could hold him up while he laughed.
Maybe it was the lure of the wind pushing them together, or the setting sun. But Kyuhyun’s arms snugged tight around Zhou Mi’s waist, and the rustle of leaves said more than they did, leaning together and watching the water.
“I knew,” Kyuhyun said, after a while. “I fought it for a while, because I was afraid. But I knew. I thought I’d have this great realization, some accidental meeting in an ordinary place. Then I saw you again in that grocery store. There was no way my decision could’ve been wrong.”
“I believed your intuition,” Zhou Mi murmured against his hair. “At least, once I got over the shock.”
“Surprising Zhou Mis is what I like best.”
“How many do you have?” Zhou Mi asked, and when Kyuhyun cackled, he kept squeezing until Kyuhyun pulled him down and kissed him.
“Just one. He keeps me pretty busy.”
Kyuhyun took the opportunity to deliver a well-placed swat to Zhou Mi’s backside.
“I thought about going back to the same hotel, the same room,” Zhou Mi murmured, and waited until Kyuhyun nodded. “But I realized we’re different people now. We don’t have to go back. We can just go forward.”
“Smart. Exactly what I think.”
“Are you complimenting yourself or me?” Zhou Mi asked, chuckling.
Kyuhyun blinked at him like a little owl. “I don’t know. I’m smart for thinking that, and smart for being here with someone smart…?”
“Are you smart enough to help us find our way back to the hotel?”
“Think so. But…not yet.”
He wished they could vault the railing and walk on the sand, or pull up a chair, but standing there leaning together like two tent poles was the best next option. One of Kyuhyun’s hands was rhythmically squeezing his waist, and the other tapping at his fingers on the rail.
“We’ll rest well tonight.”
“No worrying about getting to the airport on time,” Kyuhyun agreed.
“Whose fault was that?”
Kyuhyun just hummed, not taking any responsibility for not wanting to wake up that morning. Zhou Mi was only taking partial responsibility, because he’d slept over so they could leave together, and that meant he’d thought they were going to sleep only to have lecherous fingers sliding into his underwear.
“I have something for you back at the room,” Zhou Mi said. A little anniversary gift of sorts. And he was met with Kyuhyun’s rather mercenary grin.
Still, they didn’t rush back, stopping by the store to buy drinks and snacks, and kicking against each other’s shoes as they waited for the elevator to lift them up to their floor.
“I might have something for you too,” Kyuhyun said, after they had everything put away.
“No sense waiting, right?”
The packages he brought were wrapped in solid paper, green and blue. He’d done the wrapping himself, which he thought counted for something, even if it wasn’t pristine. They both paused, looking at each other and wondering where to sit before settling on the bed beside each other.
“Looks like Christmas,” Kyuhyun said.
“Even better. Happy anniversary,” Zhou Mi told him, and put the packages in Kyuhyun’s lap. Sometimes quantity was better than quality, though he thought he’d done a pretty great job.
There were clothes, of course, because he couldn’t help but want to dress Kyuhyun. A couple of shirts and ties, and a bottle of Kyuhyun’s favorite cologne. And the best, a gift card to Kyuhyun’s favorite electronics store. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t know what Kyuhyun liked, as it was he knew Kyuhyun bought himself what he wanted as soon as it was out. So Zhou Mi was just trying to stay ahead of it.
“Clever,” Kyuhyun murmured. “How’s it look?”
Cheeky, holding up a tie on one side of his face and a gift card on the other.
“Best new style of the season,” Zhou Mi said, and felt his heart do that little thing it always did when Kyuhyun grinned at him. It seemed kind of weird to think that there was even more than love in that. Everything love was. Need, affection, adoration, exasperation. Everything Kyuhyun was to him. More than he could have ever expected.
***
“I like seeing you wear stuff I’ve bought you,” Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun could hear all the wickedness in that without even looking up at Zhou Mi.
“Marking me. I see how it is.”
And Zhou Mi of course knew exactly what brand of shirts to buy him, what colors he liked. He ran his fingers down the dark blue tones in the tie, and thought it’d look really nice with his gray suit. And the gift card would bring him something very nice as well. Still, Zhou Mi’s satisfied smile told him everything. He’d probably been planning the gifts as long as he’d been planning their whole trip. He’d thought it’d been a good idea when Zhou Mi had brought it up over dinner. They’d been able to plan it together, which he thought spoke a lot to why they were still together.
He didn’t have quite as many things for Zhou Mi, but he figured he had something that was worth it. He’d deliberately changed the box, so that Zhou Mi wouldn’t know what it was when he was opening it. But the gold tones of the watch shone over the black tissue paper that it was packaged in.
“Oh, Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi said, sounding like he’d unpackaged a fairy or something instead of a metal watch.
“You remember that?”
Zhou Mi’s knee banging against his, and his glare, told him to not be stupid. Of course he did. It’d probably been two months before, and they’d been window shopping on a date and ended up in a jewelry store to kill time before a movie. Kyuhyun would’ve wondered how that had happened, but he also knew who it was he was on a date with. If there was something Zhou Mi loved more than chatting at his friends on the phone, it was browsing in stores. And the thing was, Zhou Mi either bought things himself, or just browsed. He couldn’t think of one instance of Zhou Mi looking to him with any kind of look or expectation - even back when they’d started dating and Zhou Mi had been a little bit tight on cash. He’d still bought Kyuhyun cups of tea, or a meal. Maybe it’d been to show Kyuhyun he wasn’t just dating him because he had money, not that Kyuhyun had ever thought that. But they’d both had areas they’d been extra careful of. Money, for Zhou Mi, and sex for Kyuhyun. Still, when they had shopped together, Kyuhyun had swept in and bought something for Zhou Mi every so often. It was fun to listen to Zhou Mi sputter when he snatched Zhou Mi’s book away and paid for it himself, or paid for one of Zhou Mi’s bottles of face goop.
He was allowed to give his boyfriend gifts, was the the thing. And Zhou Mi gave him the helpless puppy dog looks in response.
He then didn’t protest when Zhou Mi pulled the same tricks on him. What was good for one was good for the other, it seemed.
But when they were trying on watches, he could tell Zhou Mi’s partiality to one watch in particular, one with a half-eyebrow-raising price tag. He listened with half an ear while Zhou Mi discussed its merits with the salesman. In his head, though, he was cataloging the brand and model for when he came back. Otherwise, he’d have had to play some kind of charades with the guy behind Zhou Mi’s back, so the guy would know to put the watch away for Kyuhyun to come back for.
As it was, he’d hurried Zhou Mi out so they could get to the movie on time, and then had spent the next two months hiding the watch and hoping Zhou Mi wasn’t going to get a harebrained idea to go buy it for himself. He might’ve been extra jumpy every time Zhou Mi spotted a watch counter after that. Kyuhyun had never been so interested in looking at clothes or cologne when they went out together.
“I can’t believe you remembered this,” Zhou Mi said, his voice higher, breathier than normal.
“I didn’t. I went back the next day and bought it before I forgot what it looked like,” Kyuhyun said, clearing his throat. “And then I made sure we never went to look at watches after that.”
Zhou Mi laughed against Kyuhyun’s neck, leaning into him so far he had to brace himself to keep from being bowled over.
“Oh, Kyuhyun.”
“If you’d rather have another kind, we can exchange it.”
“No!” Zhou Mi said, pulling the watch against his chest as though Kyuhyun was going to try and snatch it. “No. I liked this one then, and I still like it now.”
“Let’s see it on you, then,” Kyuhyun said, and watched as the metal closed around Zhou Mi’s wrist. Gold, with a pretty, white face and dark hands. It was a compliment against Zhou Mi’s skin, and - well, so was the smile that Zhou Mi wore as he admired himself. Or the watch, possibly that too. “Handsome.”
“Yeah,” Zhou Mi said. And then looked up, to see that Kyuhyun wasn’t looking at the watch, but at him. Zhou Mi’s lips curled up at the corners, leaning in close with his voice low and soft. “Thank you.”
He kissed Zhou Mi as his answer, and that time was just fine with losing his balance. He rolled back on the bed, Zhou Mi braced half over him as they kissed and laughed. His hand covered Zhou Mi’s wrist, and the watch, and shuddered as Zhou Mi nudged eager against his mouth. He kissed like he spoke, and while his speed could be quick, his endurance was key, lingering until Kyuhyun was breathless, flushed. Zhou Mi could calm him, amuse him, turn him on, all with the press of his lips, heady breaths, the tease of his tongue.
But each kiss left him wanting more. More of that lush mouth, and the moans Zhou Mi gave him.
“Seems like we both like to see each other wearing something we bought,” Kyuhyun quipped, his teeth just barely catching at Zhou Mi’s lip.
Not that it was a surprise. They’d known it for months, probably nearly even the whole year. And it hadn’t been something he’d bought, but the first time he’d seen Zhou Mi in his bathrobe, he’d had that proprietary feeling roaring up in him.
“You have everything we need in the bedstand?” Kyuhyun asked, convulsively swallowing as Zhou Mi kissed wet against his throat.
Zhou Mi just tsked, as though Kyuhyun was doubting him.
“What do you want?” Zhou Mi asked, pressing a prim little kiss to Kyuhyun’s mouth.
In response, Kyuhyun curled his hand behind Zhou Mi’s neck.
“Come get me, big boy,” he purred, and muffled his laughter in Zhou Mi’s neck.
And he breathed hard, bracing his feet against the sheets as he gripped Zhou Mi’s shoulders. They were so broad, so sturdy compared to the slimness of Zhou Mi’s hips. But he confessed right then, it wasn’t slim anything that he was concentrating on as Zhou Mi pushed inside him. Lovely, slick and warm, he let out a slow breath. Not some conquering hero, but the man who fit him utterly. The pull of their lips together as Zhou Mi nudged deep and palmed his ass and made him laugh.
His. Only his, willingly his. He tasted Zhou Mi’s sweat, the curve of his shoulders and hollow of his throat. He’d put on muscle, muscle he was proud of, and oh, Kyuhyun wasn’t complaining. He thought nothing would be unsuited where Zhou Mi was concerned, as long as he kept lifting Kyuhyun’s hips and pressing into him. The smile when Zhou Mi had finished kissing zig zags all over his chest, and the gently mocking, definitely pleased, echo when Zhou Mi had begun to tease Kyuhyun’s erection with his fingertips.
Zhou Mi breathed an endearment against his mouth, one he never explained and Kyuhyun never asked. It was mystery, and Kyuhyun knew what it was without knowing for sure.
“Darling, are you ready?” Zhou Mi asked, still teasing even as he was sappy.
“You tell me-ee,” Kyuhyun half groaned, his voice breaking on the last word as Zhou Mi urged his pleasure up. Lifting it like a helium balloon, as Zhou Mi stroked him, kissed him, took him. He was wrapped around Zhou Mi’s body, incoherent as he came for Zhou Mi, babbling acceptance and urgings, and gasping at Zhou mi’s desperate little growls. It was hot, hotter than it had any right being in a man who was so-
Zhou Mi.
Zhou Mi was puffing against his shoulder, spent, and Kyuhyun was still getting his heart under control as everything throbbed in the aftermath of delight.
“Good to know a year later that hasn’t changed,” Kyuhyun mused into Zhou Mi’s hair.
He got a honk, a stand-in for laughter, which made him laugh in return.
It was a rustle, the slide of skin and sheets as Zhou Mi pressed into his side and kissed him again. Now that Kyuhyun could see his face, he could see how pleased Zhou Mi was, eyelids half open and just looking. He was going to make some joke about racing Zhou Mi to the shower later but it was so much more interesting to kiss Zhou Mi’s skin, and drift off with him.
***
A year was quite a while to be dating someone.
At first, it seemed like sometimes when Zhou Mi looked at him, he looked so amazed. LIke he was wondering how Kyuhyun was there. And the answer to that was simple, because he was there because Zhou Mi was. The first time he’d told Zhou Mi he loved him, had been when they were waking up from a nap after an afternoon romp. Zhou Mi had been smoothing back his hair and smiling at Kyuhyun with his eyes a bit wonky after sleep. It wasn’t the kind of announcement he’d meant, thinking maybe it’d be over champagne or something. And he’d felt like a prince whose castle had fallen away as Zhou Mi’s eyes went wide. Zhou Mi was a human body pillow, a vine. And Zhou Mi enfolded him, and Kyuhyun let Zhou Mi admire him as long as he wanted.
“I loved you before I left you,” Zhou Mi whispered to him.
Before they had hugged, and the hotel door had parted them.
And somehow, it seemed Kyuhyun had known. Maybe, because they’d been the same. It was sappy, sentimental and strange. But it was real, for them. So real he had no idea what his life had looked like before Zhou Mi had been in it.
Zhou Mi’s clothes in his closet, in a drawer, and things on his bathroom shelf. Preferred food and drinks in his kitchen, and books on his shelf. The first time Zhou Mi had met his friends, he’d dressed up with no little apprehension until Kyuhyun had told him he looked like a model and if he looked any better they couldn’t leave. It was only partly an empty threat, because the pants Zhou Mi put on fit him perfectly.
Ryeowook’s eyebrows had shot up when he’d seen Zhou Mi, and it seemed like he’d finally understood just why Kyuhyun had been wanting to find him again. Yeah, Zhou Mi was gorgeous. There wasn’t any doubt about that. He was striking, tall, intelligent, friendly. And those were just the things Ryeowook had told Kyuhyun later, not just the things that Kyuhyun thought himself.
Not that he’d been smug about it or anything.
They had a background, but they learned each other from the ground up.
And so Kyuhyun laughed, on their anniversary trip, when Zhou Mi revealed that he’d packed the little travel chess set they’d played together during that first week together. They didn’t shy from it, and it made them stronger.
“Who’s going to win this time?” Kyuhyun asked, as they set up the game on their little balcony so they could enjoy the sea breeze as the night outside grew darker.
“Whoever has better luck?” Zhou Mi suggested.
Kyuhyun just glared at him. As though luck had something to do with it.
Maybe bad luck, he conceded, because Zhou Mi won.
But they watched TV with their ankles knocking and laptops balanced on their laps, until Kyuhyun started to fall asleep. They had another day. To wake together like they did most weekends anyway, and eat. To walk the beach, and take a boat ride. Sometimes people were so draining to Kyuhyun, that he felt like he needed to get away. Even on vacation, he felt like he needed a vacation from his vacation. Not with Zhou Mi. He wanted to see his frantic face as Kyuhyun lobbed an orange at him, and laugh as they got sand in their shorts, and doze in the warm sand as Zhou Mi read to him from his little e-reader. He loved to watch Zhou Mi learn, and think, and be amazed with how he learned languages.
He loved that when he woke the day they were leaving, it was not to uncertainty. He didn’t want their vacation to be over, but returning to reality and work, what they had they weren’t leaving behind. He still got those little vacations with Zhou Mi every weekend.
And he fiddled with the tiny box he’d kept in his suitcase. There was one more surprise.
“You got all your stuff together?” Kyuhyun asked, as he zipped up the last compartment.
“Yep. I just checked the bathroom, and nothing’s in there. I think we’re good,” Zhou Mi said, his voice muffled for a moment as he pulled a thin sweater over his head.
“Good. Hey, I think you forgot this,” Kyuhyun said, holding out the little box.
“Did I?” Zhou Mi stepped up in front of Kyuhyun and frowned down at it. “What’s this? Another gift? Kyuhyun.”
Kyuhyun just raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t going to say anything, and he knew there was no way Zhou Mi could divine what it was. It was just a simple paper box, no markings. Too small to be most jewelry, or much of anything else, he was pleased as Zhou Mi frowned and looked it over.
But he knew exactly what Zhou Mi would see when he opened it. It was a key, painted in red and blue flowers, and green vines. A little jungle on a piece of metal. But he could see he’d really confused Zhou Mi then.
“I already have a key to your apartment,” Zhou Mi said slowly.
“Yeah, you do. I found this at this little art gallery, and thought it was a good stand-in.”
“A stand-in?”
Kyuhyun could only grin at Zhou Mi, too pleased with himself, and apprehensive as well.
“Yeah, a stand-in. I know we’ve been to hotels and back before, but since this is the anniversary trip and all… My place is a little small for two, so I thought you could have this key until we found one together.”
Zhou Mi nearly choked the life from him, stepping up and squeezing him as hard as he did. But Kyuhyun’s arms were gentle, snugging around Zhou Mi’s ribs and holding on.
“I’ll absolutely move in with you,” Zhou Mi burbled, bending them side to side as Kyuhyun wheezed.
“Good.”
And that satisfaction led to a number of kisses, and Zhou Mi admiring the key while still holding Kyuhyun tight.
But they couldn’t stay forever. He held the door for Zhou Mi, so he could wheel out his suitcase, and hooked a couple of their fingers together as they walked away down the hall from their little getaway.
But in Zhou Mi’s pocket was the promise that no matter if they left separate or not, they’d always find home together.
***
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: R
Genre: fluff, AU
Prompt: a sequel to " Something He Needs". Zhou Mi preparing something special~~ for their 1 year anniversary.
***
The thing about anniversaries was that sometimes they were hard to plan for. Plus, there was the question of which date to choose. Their first date, or the day they met, or- Zhou Mi felt they had a lot of days to choose from, but he knew which anniversary he put most weight on. He remembered, observed, the day they met. The day he’d walked into a hotel room to find a man he hadn’t expected to like, much less love. But there had been the day Kyuhyun had come for him, and that was so much more. Because it wasn’t the start of something temporary, but of something permanent. They’d spent that night together just getting to know each other again, and starting to trust.
I couldn’t have shared you, Kyuhyun had said one night, with his face pressed against Zhou Mi’s neck. You needed so much more than you were getting.
There had been intimacy between them in a matter of a week that Zhou Mi hadn’t had since he had begun his job as an escort. The way Kyuhyun had held his face, touched him, kissed him. He hadn’t been the only one hungry for something more. Kyuhyun had found his release, and found something more than that that he wanted. Zhou Mi knew that - or Kyuhyun would never have come looking for him.
***
“Looks like we traded up this time,” Kyuhyun said, as he walked into the hotel room.
Zhou Mi let the door close behind his suitcase, and then followed Kyuhyun in.
“I thought we deserved that,” Zhou Mi said, coming up behind Kyuhyun at the wide window. Kyuhyun had endless supplies of frequent flier miles, so Kyuhyun had graciously donated those. But the hotel room had been Zhou Mi’s choice - and he’d allowed Kyuhyun to contribute reluctantly. It had been his hope that he could whisk them away for a romantic weekend, but he’d also concluded that they’d both had a part in deciding that. And having Kyuhyun feeling like he was shorting Zhou Mi wasn’t the reaction he’d been going for. So it was being split down the middle. Their gift to each other.
“We did. No business to take care of this time, except for us-business,” Kyuhyun teased. “When’s our dinner reservation?”
“About forty minutes,” Zhou Mi said. His eyes were on Kyuhyun’s ear, the curve of it outside of his thick hair. He imagined leaning forward, taking a little nibble. He’d done it before, usually getting a wicked glance and a roll in bed. But with forty minutes, they barely had time to take turns washing up a bit and changing their clothes. And in Kyuhyun’s case, check his email.
“I can almost hear you thinking dirty thoughts,” Kyuhyun said, turning his head a fraction.
“I’ll wash up first while you unpack your laptop,” Zhou Mi said, drilling a finger into Kyuhyun’s jacket and just barely poking him. The third party in their relationship. Or maybe the fourth if they counted Zhou Mi’s also. It was a comfortable arrangement.
But he didn’t go before Kyuhyun turned, letting their lips rub together. A promise. A greeting. Not that they’d been apart in the past eighteen hours.
And then they only had thirty-five minutes to get ready, and Zhou Mi and his toiletries and clothes disappeared into the bathroom with its long two-sinked counter and enormous shower. He whistled his appreciation, and eyeballed the robes in the closet. For later, for sure. Kyuhyun would look very nice wrapped in one.
And then unwrapped.
***
Kyuhyun had taken Zhou Mi to his door after their first date, and left him there with a kiss and a sheepish smile. That had been the moment, he thought, when he’d leaned back against his door and known beyond doubt that there would be a future there. And when, an hour later, they were on the phone together again.
“I kind of wished you’d stayed,” Zhou Mi said, his voice soft, almost letting the words float into the phone.
“You know why I didn’t.”
Because he hadn’t wanted Zhou Mi to think he was dating him for sex.
“Yeah. I think it’s sweet.”
And he let Kyuhyun roll in the embarrassment of the words, which he could tell by the little gurgles that came through the phone line. He wished he could kiss the embarrassment from Kyuhyun’s cheeks. He could just imagine the smile he could tease from Kyuhyun, and it made his heart squeeze.
“Can I take you home on the next date?”
“You’ve seen my apartment,” Kyuhyun pointed out. “You want to plan it, too?”
Zhou Mi smiled against the phone. “Please.”
***
The air as the sun set was warm, a breeze cooling them right off the water. They were on the paved path, and not the sand right then, wanting to wait for the daylight do that. But after hours in the airport, on the plane, and sitting at dinner, it felt good to get out, stretch their legs. His hand gripped Kyuhyun’s arm, pointing out a bird on a low-hanging branch, or people still playing by the water. They did not hold hands so much as touch with them, Kyuhyun’s fingers sliding over his palm or lacing briefly with his as they talked. Pleasantly full, he was just glad to be there. They were used to not being physically demonstrative in public. Sometimes he wondered if that was because they were not that way, or if they had just become accustomed to it. But that didn’t mean they avoided touch. Kyuhyun’s hand on his back, or him gripping Kyuhyun’s arm in excitement. He thought, no matter what, that was what Kyuhyun would have been comfortable with. There were things that were private, things that were for them. Stolen kisses in elevators, flirting looks as they waited in lines. Those were things they had no matter what, and were special because of it.
Still, as they meandered off the path and onto a wooden deck overlooking the beach, he wound his arm around Kyuhyun’s shoulders and reeled him in.
“Did you think we’d still be together after this long when you found me again?” Zhou Mi asked, tone vaguely teasing.
Kyuhyun thought for a moment before nodding and looking up at Zhou Mi. “Yes.”
Just simply that. One word. Nothing else. And Zhou Mi’s eyebrows rose.
“Oh?”
Kyuhyun couldn’t fault him for being curious.
“You’ve got a soft heart,” Kyuhyun said, Zhou Mi nearly started cooing. “So I knew you couldn’t stand the thought of me being alone and scared in some hotel room after we split.”
“Ah!” Zhou Mi got out, indignant all over as Kyuhyun grabbed him by the neck and hauled him in so Zhou Mi could hold him up while he laughed.
Maybe it was the lure of the wind pushing them together, or the setting sun. But Kyuhyun’s arms snugged tight around Zhou Mi’s waist, and the rustle of leaves said more than they did, leaning together and watching the water.
“I knew,” Kyuhyun said, after a while. “I fought it for a while, because I was afraid. But I knew. I thought I’d have this great realization, some accidental meeting in an ordinary place. Then I saw you again in that grocery store. There was no way my decision could’ve been wrong.”
“I believed your intuition,” Zhou Mi murmured against his hair. “At least, once I got over the shock.”
“Surprising Zhou Mis is what I like best.”
“How many do you have?” Zhou Mi asked, and when Kyuhyun cackled, he kept squeezing until Kyuhyun pulled him down and kissed him.
“Just one. He keeps me pretty busy.”
Kyuhyun took the opportunity to deliver a well-placed swat to Zhou Mi’s backside.
“I thought about going back to the same hotel, the same room,” Zhou Mi murmured, and waited until Kyuhyun nodded. “But I realized we’re different people now. We don’t have to go back. We can just go forward.”
“Smart. Exactly what I think.”
“Are you complimenting yourself or me?” Zhou Mi asked, chuckling.
Kyuhyun blinked at him like a little owl. “I don’t know. I’m smart for thinking that, and smart for being here with someone smart…?”
“Are you smart enough to help us find our way back to the hotel?”
“Think so. But…not yet.”
He wished they could vault the railing and walk on the sand, or pull up a chair, but standing there leaning together like two tent poles was the best next option. One of Kyuhyun’s hands was rhythmically squeezing his waist, and the other tapping at his fingers on the rail.
“We’ll rest well tonight.”
“No worrying about getting to the airport on time,” Kyuhyun agreed.
“Whose fault was that?”
Kyuhyun just hummed, not taking any responsibility for not wanting to wake up that morning. Zhou Mi was only taking partial responsibility, because he’d slept over so they could leave together, and that meant he’d thought they were going to sleep only to have lecherous fingers sliding into his underwear.
“I have something for you back at the room,” Zhou Mi said. A little anniversary gift of sorts. And he was met with Kyuhyun’s rather mercenary grin.
Still, they didn’t rush back, stopping by the store to buy drinks and snacks, and kicking against each other’s shoes as they waited for the elevator to lift them up to their floor.
“I might have something for you too,” Kyuhyun said, after they had everything put away.
“No sense waiting, right?”
The packages he brought were wrapped in solid paper, green and blue. He’d done the wrapping himself, which he thought counted for something, even if it wasn’t pristine. They both paused, looking at each other and wondering where to sit before settling on the bed beside each other.
“Looks like Christmas,” Kyuhyun said.
“Even better. Happy anniversary,” Zhou Mi told him, and put the packages in Kyuhyun’s lap. Sometimes quantity was better than quality, though he thought he’d done a pretty great job.
There were clothes, of course, because he couldn’t help but want to dress Kyuhyun. A couple of shirts and ties, and a bottle of Kyuhyun’s favorite cologne. And the best, a gift card to Kyuhyun’s favorite electronics store. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t know what Kyuhyun liked, as it was he knew Kyuhyun bought himself what he wanted as soon as it was out. So Zhou Mi was just trying to stay ahead of it.
“Clever,” Kyuhyun murmured. “How’s it look?”
Cheeky, holding up a tie on one side of his face and a gift card on the other.
“Best new style of the season,” Zhou Mi said, and felt his heart do that little thing it always did when Kyuhyun grinned at him. It seemed kind of weird to think that there was even more than love in that. Everything love was. Need, affection, adoration, exasperation. Everything Kyuhyun was to him. More than he could have ever expected.
***
“I like seeing you wear stuff I’ve bought you,” Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun could hear all the wickedness in that without even looking up at Zhou Mi.
“Marking me. I see how it is.”
And Zhou Mi of course knew exactly what brand of shirts to buy him, what colors he liked. He ran his fingers down the dark blue tones in the tie, and thought it’d look really nice with his gray suit. And the gift card would bring him something very nice as well. Still, Zhou Mi’s satisfied smile told him everything. He’d probably been planning the gifts as long as he’d been planning their whole trip. He’d thought it’d been a good idea when Zhou Mi had brought it up over dinner. They’d been able to plan it together, which he thought spoke a lot to why they were still together.
He didn’t have quite as many things for Zhou Mi, but he figured he had something that was worth it. He’d deliberately changed the box, so that Zhou Mi wouldn’t know what it was when he was opening it. But the gold tones of the watch shone over the black tissue paper that it was packaged in.
“Oh, Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi said, sounding like he’d unpackaged a fairy or something instead of a metal watch.
“You remember that?”
Zhou Mi’s knee banging against his, and his glare, told him to not be stupid. Of course he did. It’d probably been two months before, and they’d been window shopping on a date and ended up in a jewelry store to kill time before a movie. Kyuhyun would’ve wondered how that had happened, but he also knew who it was he was on a date with. If there was something Zhou Mi loved more than chatting at his friends on the phone, it was browsing in stores. And the thing was, Zhou Mi either bought things himself, or just browsed. He couldn’t think of one instance of Zhou Mi looking to him with any kind of look or expectation - even back when they’d started dating and Zhou Mi had been a little bit tight on cash. He’d still bought Kyuhyun cups of tea, or a meal. Maybe it’d been to show Kyuhyun he wasn’t just dating him because he had money, not that Kyuhyun had ever thought that. But they’d both had areas they’d been extra careful of. Money, for Zhou Mi, and sex for Kyuhyun. Still, when they had shopped together, Kyuhyun had swept in and bought something for Zhou Mi every so often. It was fun to listen to Zhou Mi sputter when he snatched Zhou Mi’s book away and paid for it himself, or paid for one of Zhou Mi’s bottles of face goop.
He was allowed to give his boyfriend gifts, was the the thing. And Zhou Mi gave him the helpless puppy dog looks in response.
He then didn’t protest when Zhou Mi pulled the same tricks on him. What was good for one was good for the other, it seemed.
But when they were trying on watches, he could tell Zhou Mi’s partiality to one watch in particular, one with a half-eyebrow-raising price tag. He listened with half an ear while Zhou Mi discussed its merits with the salesman. In his head, though, he was cataloging the brand and model for when he came back. Otherwise, he’d have had to play some kind of charades with the guy behind Zhou Mi’s back, so the guy would know to put the watch away for Kyuhyun to come back for.
As it was, he’d hurried Zhou Mi out so they could get to the movie on time, and then had spent the next two months hiding the watch and hoping Zhou Mi wasn’t going to get a harebrained idea to go buy it for himself. He might’ve been extra jumpy every time Zhou Mi spotted a watch counter after that. Kyuhyun had never been so interested in looking at clothes or cologne when they went out together.
“I can’t believe you remembered this,” Zhou Mi said, his voice higher, breathier than normal.
“I didn’t. I went back the next day and bought it before I forgot what it looked like,” Kyuhyun said, clearing his throat. “And then I made sure we never went to look at watches after that.”
Zhou Mi laughed against Kyuhyun’s neck, leaning into him so far he had to brace himself to keep from being bowled over.
“Oh, Kyuhyun.”
“If you’d rather have another kind, we can exchange it.”
“No!” Zhou Mi said, pulling the watch against his chest as though Kyuhyun was going to try and snatch it. “No. I liked this one then, and I still like it now.”
“Let’s see it on you, then,” Kyuhyun said, and watched as the metal closed around Zhou Mi’s wrist. Gold, with a pretty, white face and dark hands. It was a compliment against Zhou Mi’s skin, and - well, so was the smile that Zhou Mi wore as he admired himself. Or the watch, possibly that too. “Handsome.”
“Yeah,” Zhou Mi said. And then looked up, to see that Kyuhyun wasn’t looking at the watch, but at him. Zhou Mi’s lips curled up at the corners, leaning in close with his voice low and soft. “Thank you.”
He kissed Zhou Mi as his answer, and that time was just fine with losing his balance. He rolled back on the bed, Zhou Mi braced half over him as they kissed and laughed. His hand covered Zhou Mi’s wrist, and the watch, and shuddered as Zhou Mi nudged eager against his mouth. He kissed like he spoke, and while his speed could be quick, his endurance was key, lingering until Kyuhyun was breathless, flushed. Zhou Mi could calm him, amuse him, turn him on, all with the press of his lips, heady breaths, the tease of his tongue.
But each kiss left him wanting more. More of that lush mouth, and the moans Zhou Mi gave him.
“Seems like we both like to see each other wearing something we bought,” Kyuhyun quipped, his teeth just barely catching at Zhou Mi’s lip.
Not that it was a surprise. They’d known it for months, probably nearly even the whole year. And it hadn’t been something he’d bought, but the first time he’d seen Zhou Mi in his bathrobe, he’d had that proprietary feeling roaring up in him.
“You have everything we need in the bedstand?” Kyuhyun asked, convulsively swallowing as Zhou Mi kissed wet against his throat.
Zhou Mi just tsked, as though Kyuhyun was doubting him.
“What do you want?” Zhou Mi asked, pressing a prim little kiss to Kyuhyun’s mouth.
In response, Kyuhyun curled his hand behind Zhou Mi’s neck.
“Come get me, big boy,” he purred, and muffled his laughter in Zhou Mi’s neck.
And he breathed hard, bracing his feet against the sheets as he gripped Zhou Mi’s shoulders. They were so broad, so sturdy compared to the slimness of Zhou Mi’s hips. But he confessed right then, it wasn’t slim anything that he was concentrating on as Zhou Mi pushed inside him. Lovely, slick and warm, he let out a slow breath. Not some conquering hero, but the man who fit him utterly. The pull of their lips together as Zhou Mi nudged deep and palmed his ass and made him laugh.
His. Only his, willingly his. He tasted Zhou Mi’s sweat, the curve of his shoulders and hollow of his throat. He’d put on muscle, muscle he was proud of, and oh, Kyuhyun wasn’t complaining. He thought nothing would be unsuited where Zhou Mi was concerned, as long as he kept lifting Kyuhyun’s hips and pressing into him. The smile when Zhou Mi had finished kissing zig zags all over his chest, and the gently mocking, definitely pleased, echo when Zhou Mi had begun to tease Kyuhyun’s erection with his fingertips.
Zhou Mi breathed an endearment against his mouth, one he never explained and Kyuhyun never asked. It was mystery, and Kyuhyun knew what it was without knowing for sure.
“Darling, are you ready?” Zhou Mi asked, still teasing even as he was sappy.
“You tell me-ee,” Kyuhyun half groaned, his voice breaking on the last word as Zhou Mi urged his pleasure up. Lifting it like a helium balloon, as Zhou Mi stroked him, kissed him, took him. He was wrapped around Zhou Mi’s body, incoherent as he came for Zhou Mi, babbling acceptance and urgings, and gasping at Zhou mi’s desperate little growls. It was hot, hotter than it had any right being in a man who was so-
Zhou Mi.
Zhou Mi was puffing against his shoulder, spent, and Kyuhyun was still getting his heart under control as everything throbbed in the aftermath of delight.
“Good to know a year later that hasn’t changed,” Kyuhyun mused into Zhou Mi’s hair.
He got a honk, a stand-in for laughter, which made him laugh in return.
It was a rustle, the slide of skin and sheets as Zhou Mi pressed into his side and kissed him again. Now that Kyuhyun could see his face, he could see how pleased Zhou Mi was, eyelids half open and just looking. He was going to make some joke about racing Zhou Mi to the shower later but it was so much more interesting to kiss Zhou Mi’s skin, and drift off with him.
***
A year was quite a while to be dating someone.
At first, it seemed like sometimes when Zhou Mi looked at him, he looked so amazed. LIke he was wondering how Kyuhyun was there. And the answer to that was simple, because he was there because Zhou Mi was. The first time he’d told Zhou Mi he loved him, had been when they were waking up from a nap after an afternoon romp. Zhou Mi had been smoothing back his hair and smiling at Kyuhyun with his eyes a bit wonky after sleep. It wasn’t the kind of announcement he’d meant, thinking maybe it’d be over champagne or something. And he’d felt like a prince whose castle had fallen away as Zhou Mi’s eyes went wide. Zhou Mi was a human body pillow, a vine. And Zhou Mi enfolded him, and Kyuhyun let Zhou Mi admire him as long as he wanted.
“I loved you before I left you,” Zhou Mi whispered to him.
Before they had hugged, and the hotel door had parted them.
And somehow, it seemed Kyuhyun had known. Maybe, because they’d been the same. It was sappy, sentimental and strange. But it was real, for them. So real he had no idea what his life had looked like before Zhou Mi had been in it.
Zhou Mi’s clothes in his closet, in a drawer, and things on his bathroom shelf. Preferred food and drinks in his kitchen, and books on his shelf. The first time Zhou Mi had met his friends, he’d dressed up with no little apprehension until Kyuhyun had told him he looked like a model and if he looked any better they couldn’t leave. It was only partly an empty threat, because the pants Zhou Mi put on fit him perfectly.
Ryeowook’s eyebrows had shot up when he’d seen Zhou Mi, and it seemed like he’d finally understood just why Kyuhyun had been wanting to find him again. Yeah, Zhou Mi was gorgeous. There wasn’t any doubt about that. He was striking, tall, intelligent, friendly. And those were just the things Ryeowook had told Kyuhyun later, not just the things that Kyuhyun thought himself.
Not that he’d been smug about it or anything.
They had a background, but they learned each other from the ground up.
And so Kyuhyun laughed, on their anniversary trip, when Zhou Mi revealed that he’d packed the little travel chess set they’d played together during that first week together. They didn’t shy from it, and it made them stronger.
“Who’s going to win this time?” Kyuhyun asked, as they set up the game on their little balcony so they could enjoy the sea breeze as the night outside grew darker.
“Whoever has better luck?” Zhou Mi suggested.
Kyuhyun just glared at him. As though luck had something to do with it.
Maybe bad luck, he conceded, because Zhou Mi won.
But they watched TV with their ankles knocking and laptops balanced on their laps, until Kyuhyun started to fall asleep. They had another day. To wake together like they did most weekends anyway, and eat. To walk the beach, and take a boat ride. Sometimes people were so draining to Kyuhyun, that he felt like he needed to get away. Even on vacation, he felt like he needed a vacation from his vacation. Not with Zhou Mi. He wanted to see his frantic face as Kyuhyun lobbed an orange at him, and laugh as they got sand in their shorts, and doze in the warm sand as Zhou Mi read to him from his little e-reader. He loved to watch Zhou Mi learn, and think, and be amazed with how he learned languages.
He loved that when he woke the day they were leaving, it was not to uncertainty. He didn’t want their vacation to be over, but returning to reality and work, what they had they weren’t leaving behind. He still got those little vacations with Zhou Mi every weekend.
And he fiddled with the tiny box he’d kept in his suitcase. There was one more surprise.
“You got all your stuff together?” Kyuhyun asked, as he zipped up the last compartment.
“Yep. I just checked the bathroom, and nothing’s in there. I think we’re good,” Zhou Mi said, his voice muffled for a moment as he pulled a thin sweater over his head.
“Good. Hey, I think you forgot this,” Kyuhyun said, holding out the little box.
“Did I?” Zhou Mi stepped up in front of Kyuhyun and frowned down at it. “What’s this? Another gift? Kyuhyun.”
Kyuhyun just raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t going to say anything, and he knew there was no way Zhou Mi could divine what it was. It was just a simple paper box, no markings. Too small to be most jewelry, or much of anything else, he was pleased as Zhou Mi frowned and looked it over.
But he knew exactly what Zhou Mi would see when he opened it. It was a key, painted in red and blue flowers, and green vines. A little jungle on a piece of metal. But he could see he’d really confused Zhou Mi then.
“I already have a key to your apartment,” Zhou Mi said slowly.
“Yeah, you do. I found this at this little art gallery, and thought it was a good stand-in.”
“A stand-in?”
Kyuhyun could only grin at Zhou Mi, too pleased with himself, and apprehensive as well.
“Yeah, a stand-in. I know we’ve been to hotels and back before, but since this is the anniversary trip and all… My place is a little small for two, so I thought you could have this key until we found one together.”
Zhou Mi nearly choked the life from him, stepping up and squeezing him as hard as he did. But Kyuhyun’s arms were gentle, snugging around Zhou Mi’s ribs and holding on.
“I’ll absolutely move in with you,” Zhou Mi burbled, bending them side to side as Kyuhyun wheezed.
“Good.”
And that satisfaction led to a number of kisses, and Zhou Mi admiring the key while still holding Kyuhyun tight.
But they couldn’t stay forever. He held the door for Zhou Mi, so he could wheel out his suitcase, and hooked a couple of their fingers together as they walked away down the hall from their little getaway.
But in Zhou Mi’s pocket was the promise that no matter if they left separate or not, they’d always find home together.
***