[Fic] Let Me In - 1/1
Title: Let Me In
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff, romance, accidental home invasion
Summary: Kyuhyun climbed in the wrong window, but Zhou Mi caught more than just an invader.
Based on the request to me that I'm not sure where it originated (possibly on tumblr) of: "i accidentally broke into your house/apartment because my friend lives next door to you and i was in the area, drunk, and i thought i was climbing into the right window and falling asleep on the right couch (and i did wonder when my friend got two cats but i didn’t question it) so now i’m hungover and shirtless in your living room so um hi howya doin"
***
It was a strange sound, but not one he hadn’t heard before. The dogs woofed a little bit and settled, and so Zhou Mi snuffled into his pillow and went back to sleep, assured of his own security. Or at least, he was, until he got up, scratching his belly and squinting because the sun existed.
And he stopped in his doorway at the sight of a leg dangling off of his couch. A man’s leg, attached to a man’s body. A man, who was asleep. A man Zhou Mi didn’t know, asleep on Zhou Mi’s couch, in Zhou Mi’s apartment. Zhou Mi’s locked apartment. With Zhou Mi’s dogs curled politely on the floor beside him like there was nothing amiss. He could be a murderer. A burglar. A window was open in the living room, and Zhou Mi hissed to see it, tiptoeing back to his room to grab his cell phone. And then he tiptoed past the couch, trying to reach the door without one of the dogs greeting him with stranger-waking joy.
He’d call the police, he decided. Strange men in apartments seemed like a thing police would take care of. He craned around before undoing the final lock, taking a picture of the man’s sleeping face in case identifications needed to be made. And Zhou Mi shuddered, feeling like his castle had been invaded as he slipped into the hallway.
And he nearly shrieked when his next-door neighbor came barreling up to him.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re home,” Ryeowook said, sounding like he was shouting in the hallway as everything in Zhou Mi tensed. “Have you seen a strange man? I noticed your window was open and I wondered if he got into your apartment instead? He texted me that he was coming to my place, and I showed him how to get in but he wasn’t there when I got up and-“
Ryeowook inhaled and it gave Zhou Mi time to start parsing some of the words.
“He was probably drunk,” Ryeowook said, sighing. “Have you seen him?”
Zhou Mi held up his phone, a picture of the sleeping man on it, and Ryeowook hung his head.
“That’s him.”
“He’s on my couch. I thought he was a robber or something. I was going to call the police.”
“He’d deserve it,” Ryeowook said, wrinkling his nose. “His name is Kyuhyun, I- I’m going to be late hospital for my shift, or I’d shovel him into my place. You can just toss him back out the window? I’m so sorry. I’m- I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
“It’s okay, go,” Zhou Mi said. “At least I know he’s not going to kill me.”
Ryeowook winced, waving as he darted down the hallway.
Zhou Mi took a moment and gathered himself, turning back in to his apartment and not worried by the tinkling of the dogs’ tags as he stared at his surprise guest. Shirtless, dead to the world. Zhou Mi spread a thin blanket over his charge. He wasn’t just going to heave Kyuhyun outside or into the hall. He’d get dressed, put the window back on, eat. In some kind of order.
***
It took two hours for Kyuhyun to half rouse, and another thirty minutes past that for him to sit up. Zhou Mi glanced up every so often to make sure Kyuhyun wasn’t going to just roll off or start vomiting. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do as he sipped his tea and played on his phone at the table. But Kyuhyun definitely had his full attention when he stood, swayed a bit, and started walking forward. When he focused on Zhou Mi, the dogs dancing around Kyuhyun’s feet, he stopped.
Kyuhyun squinted blearily at him. “Are you a friend of Ryeowook’s?”
“His next-door neighbor,” Zhou Mi said as blandly as he could.
“Oh,” Kyuhyun said. “Did he send you over to look after me?”
Even if his head had to have been in pain, Kyuhyun leaned down and delighted the dogs utterly with pettings and scratching that had them wriggling against his hands and legs. It had Zhou Mi smiling. Zhou Mi didn’t say anything as Kyuhyun proceeded to the kitchen, reaching for a refrigerator that wasn’t there before turning around and realizing it was across the kitchen. He watched as Kyuhyun shook his head and crossed the kitchen, opening the fridge door and staring into the lighted depths.
He stared into it for a decent fifteen seconds before turning and walking back to the table Zhou Mi was sitting at.
“Ryeowook doesn’t have two dogs,” Kyuhyun said. “And his fridge is in a different place. This isn’t his apartment.”
Zhou Mi inclined his head, raising his eyebrows, not agreeing or disagreeing. They were making progress.
“Why am I in your apartment?” Kyuhyun asked. “This is yours?”
“It is. And you climbed in my window last night.”
“Oh. Oh, fuck,” Kyuhyun said, all succinct about it, his hand freezing on his bare belly as he seemed to realized just what was going on. “Wait. Why are you not freaking out?”
“Ryeowook caught me when I was on my way to safety to call the police,” Zhou Mi said, laughing as he leaned back in his chair. “He said I could throw you out, but you weren’t hurting anything sleeping there. Now I know how to keep robbers out.”
Kyuhyun started edging back toward the couch. Searching for, Zhou Mi assumed, his shirt. “This isn’t some kind of prank?”
As pranks went, it’d be good one. “Not this time,” Zhou Mi said.
“I remember wondering when Ryeowook got another dog,” Kyuhyun said, his last word muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Did I put the window back at least?”
Zhou Mi shook his head and Kyuhyun winced. He got up, pouring another cup of the still-warm tea he’d been sipping. “Tea?”
“Oh.” Kyuhyun stepped forward like he’d been offered an extra year of life. “Yes. Thank you. And… I’m sorry. I’d have freaked out finding a strange guy sprawled on my couch. I hope I don’t…”
Kyuhyun smelled his shirt as he sat and cupped the tea. It smelled a bit like soju, Zhou Mi knew from experience from where he’d rescued it from the floor. He’d inspected it in case it needed to be cleaned of any noxious fluids or anything like that. Nothing they couldn’t recover from, as it was.
“So, my name is Cho Kyuhyun, and I apparently get drunk and crawl through the windows of strangers. Never again,” Kyuhyun said, his voice grim. “But really I just work as an analyst and I like my computer?”
Kyuhyun smiled as one of the dogs put hopeful paws on Kyuhyun’s leg, petting gently. It was a nice smile, and he wasn’t objective about that.
“I’m Zhou Mi, and I write magazine articles, and spend time with these two monsters,” Zhou Mi said, reaching down to pet a fluffy head himself.
And sometimes cute guys passed out in his apartment.
“We were celebrating a coworkers retirement, and that’s why I…” Kyuhyun mimed drinking. “I don’t do that a lot.”
“Probably good, so you didn’t end up in a drunk tank.”
Kyuhyun chuckled, wincing, and sipped more tea. He seemed clearer by the end of the cup, standing up to make sure he had found everything he’d crawled in with including his shoes.
“You could’ve just showed me right out,” Kyuhyun said, fidgeting. “So. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Take care of your head,” Zhou Mi said, and grinned at Kyuhyun’s dark look.
With the door closed, he had his apartment back to himself, just the way it had been before. But as it always felt after anyone left, just a bit emptier.
***
Ryeowook was the one who issued the invitation, obvious from the way he phrased it that Kyuhyun had shared the fact that Zhou Mi hadn’t thrown him out on his backside the second he woke up or otherwise. It was thanks, not that Zhou Mi felt he really needed any, but any excuse for a night out eating was a good excuse in his opinion. Plus he’d get to see what Kyuhyun looked like without bloodshot eyes and sleep-tousled hair.
There were a couple of guys besides Ryeowook and Kyuhyun, Donghae and Sungmin. They all got introduced, seated around a big round table and immediately digging into the menu to see what there was to eat. He took in Kyuhyun’s casual t-shirt, the way he laughed at one of Donghae’s suggestions. He was bright-eyed and alert, a kind of sparkle there that was appealing in a way it really shouldn’t have been. Drunk guy, his brain reasoned, and everything else rationalized that he was cute. And he wasn’t drunk then as they made their order and really settled in.
“So you live next to Ryeowook, right?”
“Same apartment, opposite layout,” Zhou Mi confirmed, twisting his empty glass. He didn’t know how much to say, as Ryeowook finished his tale of woe of how he’d ended up moving into the apartment, a tale of missing movers, incompetent former landlords, and the joy of not having to climb ten flights of stairs after a twelve hour shift.
“Plus it has nice windows. Kyuhyun didn’t even crawl in one to get here,” Donghae teased, and Kyuhyun scoffed. Apparently everyone knew exactly how it was that Zhou Mi had met Kyuhyun.
“Seriously, Zhou Mi, you were too nice letting him stay.”
“I gave him permission to push him back out the window,” Ryeowook said.
And Zhou Mi just laughed helplessly. “I could’ve poured him into a cab but I didn’t know that he’d know how to get home.”
Kyuhyun groaned, and then perked up as the food arrived. There were sounds of pleasure from all of them as the dishes were placed out on the table, and Zhou Mi didn’t even get to reach for one before pieces of meat were being shoved onto his plate by Kyuhyun.
Either it was a peace offering or Kyuhyun was trying to get him to shut up. It didn’t really mater since he took a bite and grinned, his stomach clutching as Kyuhyun grinned back at him.
Kyuhyun toasted Zhou Mi with his glass at one point, mouthing “soda” at him as though Zhou Mi didn’t know they’d all shared a bottle. At least he could make fun of himself, too.
Even if the person he knew best was Ryeowook, or even possibly Kyuhyun, it was a nice meal. Good food, interesting conversation once they’d gotten away from teasing Kyuhyun to death. It felt like regret when they all parted, Zhou Mi and Ryeowook sharing a cab back to their building. Ryeowook hadn’t let him pay, needling Kyuhyun a little more that they owed Zhou Mi more than that. No amount of gentle arguing on his end made a difference.
“I hope you had a good time,” Ryeowook said.
“I did. Kyuhyun is definitely more charming when he’s not hungover. Everyone was great.”
“I’ll let you know next time we get together, if you’re free,” Ryeowook said, and Zhou Mi was charmed by the generosity of the offer.
“I’d like that.”
***
Ryeowook was as good as his word, passing on invitations in sticky notes or when he caught Zhou Mi in the hall. They ended up swapping phone numbers, feeding each other’s dogs, joking about windows being secure even then. It was less of a joke to Kyuhyun’s face, who tended to get a bit sulky when it was brought up. Though inevitably it did, like when Heechul joined them for dinner, or Henry, and they hadn’t heard the story about how everyone had met. Zhou Mi just laughed, clearing his throat as Kyuhyun sent him a look that seemed ike betrayal.
“And he hasn’t crawled through any windows since,” Zhou Mi concluded, leaving Henry in stitches, half out of his chair as Donghae tried to rescue him.
“Every time someone brought up the window guy, I thought he was someone Zhou Mi hired to clean his windows!”
“I did clean it before I put it back together,” Zhou Mi said. “So maybe.”
“At least ten other drunk guys didn’t crawl in after,” Kyuhyun said, and Zhou Mi just barely missed getting kicked in the shin.
“Just one sleeping beauty,” Zhou Mi said, and the others cooed which embarrassed Kyuhyun into silence and had Zhou Mi looking away and grinning.
It wasn’t all teases, glued hip to hip as everyone squeezed onto a couch and gamed, sharing tea with Kyuhyun as they waited for the latecomers to arrive at the coffee shop they’d been meant to meet at. It was nice to talk to him, about anything. He only mocked Zhou Mi’s accent a little, though he thought he was well in line there, but Zhou Mi liked the way that Kyuhyun listened. He liked the way Kyuhyun took his arm as they were maneuvering around passerbys and the way he laughed at Zhou Mi’s jokes. He liked the way that being around Kyuhyun made him want to get closer, wanted to know when they’d see each other again, to sit together, talk, whether it was together or alone.
“What does a guy have to do to get an invitation through your front door?” Kyuhyun asked, bumping Zhou Mi’s shoulder.
Zhou Mi looked over at him wondering if it was a request or a demand. “Usually as long as they have my phone number, they’re fine. Most guys I invite over don’t have to crawl through the window.”
It sounded a little risqué like that, like he had a habit of inviting guys in for maybe more than a chat and a cup of tea, and Kyuhyun caught onto that just as quickly.
“Do that much, do you?” Kyuhyun asked. And Zhou Mi wondered about the root of Kyuhyun’s curiosity.
“Not lately. Just waiting for someone to show up who’s worth it.”
“I’d still crawl in if you’d let me,” Kyuhyun said, and then his eyes widened like he’d just realized what he’d said. Maybe he wanted to take it back. Maybe he wanted to look away.
“Bring some wine if you do,” Zhou Mi teased, and it was… It was invitation, no two ways about it.
“Maybe I will,” was all Kyuhyun said.
And Zhou Mi held out his hand, wordless, Kyuhyun staring at it and almost extending his own hand until he realized that Zhou Mi was asking for his phone. It made them both laugh, giggling and ignore the chatting of the others as Zhou Mi put in his phone number. The moment Kyuhyun had it back, he pushed call, and the hum of a phone on vibrate sounded between them. One more step.
***
Zhou Mi sucked sauce from his thumb, humming as he puttered getting his rice and vegetables onto a plate. It had been all he’d had the energy for, and it tasted pretty good, considering. The dogs’ sharp yapping in response to a knock had his head lifting. He wasn’t expecting anyone, he didn’t think, and he was halfway to the door before he realized that the knocking wasn’t coming from there. He knew, really, before he lifted the curtain, but a laugh still tickled him when he saw Kyuhyun smiling outside and brandishing a bottle of wine. Zhou Mi gestured that Kyuhyun should come around, and Kyuhyun pretended not to understand before gravely nodding and making his way around the building.
Zhou Mi put his hand on the window frame, realizing that Kyuhyun had come through it once, and would soon be entering Zhou Mi’s apartment in a more official way for the first time. But the warmth in his chest, and in his cheeks, told him it probably wouldn’t be the last.
Kyuhyun offered the bottle of wine as soon as he got through the door, and Zhou Mi hummed over it, like he knew what it was or how good it was. It had a nice label, there was that, and the bringer of it looked nice as well.
“Sorry I didn’t call first,” Kyuhyun said, gesturing in a circle as he stepped up beside Zhou Mi. “I was just. You know.”
In the neighborhood, Zhou Mi guessed. He could’ve used Ryeowook as an excuse but he didn’t, just looking at Zhou Mi like he was trying to figure out what was next, how they went from there. They’d see if Kyuhyun remembered anything from his previous visit, if he still liked the dogs. They’d see a lot of things. When Zhou Mi leaned in, he wondered, oh he wondered.
Kyuhyun didn’t gasp or try to pull away, just lifting his face, steady, as Zhou Mi pressed an inquiring kiss against his lips. Soft, like he wondered, but firm enough with a promise of more behind it. There would be no more dancing around it, no wondering. What he saw from Kyuhyun as he pulled away was stunning, approval and joy mixed.
“Welcome back,” Zhou Mi said, and let Kyuhyun in.
***
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff, romance, accidental home invasion
Summary: Kyuhyun climbed in the wrong window, but Zhou Mi caught more than just an invader.
Based on the request to me that I'm not sure where it originated (possibly on tumblr) of: "i accidentally broke into your house/apartment because my friend lives next door to you and i was in the area, drunk, and i thought i was climbing into the right window and falling asleep on the right couch (and i did wonder when my friend got two cats but i didn’t question it) so now i’m hungover and shirtless in your living room so um hi howya doin"
***
It was a strange sound, but not one he hadn’t heard before. The dogs woofed a little bit and settled, and so Zhou Mi snuffled into his pillow and went back to sleep, assured of his own security. Or at least, he was, until he got up, scratching his belly and squinting because the sun existed.
And he stopped in his doorway at the sight of a leg dangling off of his couch. A man’s leg, attached to a man’s body. A man, who was asleep. A man Zhou Mi didn’t know, asleep on Zhou Mi’s couch, in Zhou Mi’s apartment. Zhou Mi’s locked apartment. With Zhou Mi’s dogs curled politely on the floor beside him like there was nothing amiss. He could be a murderer. A burglar. A window was open in the living room, and Zhou Mi hissed to see it, tiptoeing back to his room to grab his cell phone. And then he tiptoed past the couch, trying to reach the door without one of the dogs greeting him with stranger-waking joy.
He’d call the police, he decided. Strange men in apartments seemed like a thing police would take care of. He craned around before undoing the final lock, taking a picture of the man’s sleeping face in case identifications needed to be made. And Zhou Mi shuddered, feeling like his castle had been invaded as he slipped into the hallway.
And he nearly shrieked when his next-door neighbor came barreling up to him.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re home,” Ryeowook said, sounding like he was shouting in the hallway as everything in Zhou Mi tensed. “Have you seen a strange man? I noticed your window was open and I wondered if he got into your apartment instead? He texted me that he was coming to my place, and I showed him how to get in but he wasn’t there when I got up and-“
Ryeowook inhaled and it gave Zhou Mi time to start parsing some of the words.
“He was probably drunk,” Ryeowook said, sighing. “Have you seen him?”
Zhou Mi held up his phone, a picture of the sleeping man on it, and Ryeowook hung his head.
“That’s him.”
“He’s on my couch. I thought he was a robber or something. I was going to call the police.”
“He’d deserve it,” Ryeowook said, wrinkling his nose. “His name is Kyuhyun, I- I’m going to be late hospital for my shift, or I’d shovel him into my place. You can just toss him back out the window? I’m so sorry. I’m- I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
“It’s okay, go,” Zhou Mi said. “At least I know he’s not going to kill me.”
Ryeowook winced, waving as he darted down the hallway.
Zhou Mi took a moment and gathered himself, turning back in to his apartment and not worried by the tinkling of the dogs’ tags as he stared at his surprise guest. Shirtless, dead to the world. Zhou Mi spread a thin blanket over his charge. He wasn’t just going to heave Kyuhyun outside or into the hall. He’d get dressed, put the window back on, eat. In some kind of order.
***
It took two hours for Kyuhyun to half rouse, and another thirty minutes past that for him to sit up. Zhou Mi glanced up every so often to make sure Kyuhyun wasn’t going to just roll off or start vomiting. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do as he sipped his tea and played on his phone at the table. But Kyuhyun definitely had his full attention when he stood, swayed a bit, and started walking forward. When he focused on Zhou Mi, the dogs dancing around Kyuhyun’s feet, he stopped.
Kyuhyun squinted blearily at him. “Are you a friend of Ryeowook’s?”
“His next-door neighbor,” Zhou Mi said as blandly as he could.
“Oh,” Kyuhyun said. “Did he send you over to look after me?”
Even if his head had to have been in pain, Kyuhyun leaned down and delighted the dogs utterly with pettings and scratching that had them wriggling against his hands and legs. It had Zhou Mi smiling. Zhou Mi didn’t say anything as Kyuhyun proceeded to the kitchen, reaching for a refrigerator that wasn’t there before turning around and realizing it was across the kitchen. He watched as Kyuhyun shook his head and crossed the kitchen, opening the fridge door and staring into the lighted depths.
He stared into it for a decent fifteen seconds before turning and walking back to the table Zhou Mi was sitting at.
“Ryeowook doesn’t have two dogs,” Kyuhyun said. “And his fridge is in a different place. This isn’t his apartment.”
Zhou Mi inclined his head, raising his eyebrows, not agreeing or disagreeing. They were making progress.
“Why am I in your apartment?” Kyuhyun asked. “This is yours?”
“It is. And you climbed in my window last night.”
“Oh. Oh, fuck,” Kyuhyun said, all succinct about it, his hand freezing on his bare belly as he seemed to realized just what was going on. “Wait. Why are you not freaking out?”
“Ryeowook caught me when I was on my way to safety to call the police,” Zhou Mi said, laughing as he leaned back in his chair. “He said I could throw you out, but you weren’t hurting anything sleeping there. Now I know how to keep robbers out.”
Kyuhyun started edging back toward the couch. Searching for, Zhou Mi assumed, his shirt. “This isn’t some kind of prank?”
As pranks went, it’d be good one. “Not this time,” Zhou Mi said.
“I remember wondering when Ryeowook got another dog,” Kyuhyun said, his last word muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Did I put the window back at least?”
Zhou Mi shook his head and Kyuhyun winced. He got up, pouring another cup of the still-warm tea he’d been sipping. “Tea?”
“Oh.” Kyuhyun stepped forward like he’d been offered an extra year of life. “Yes. Thank you. And… I’m sorry. I’d have freaked out finding a strange guy sprawled on my couch. I hope I don’t…”
Kyuhyun smelled his shirt as he sat and cupped the tea. It smelled a bit like soju, Zhou Mi knew from experience from where he’d rescued it from the floor. He’d inspected it in case it needed to be cleaned of any noxious fluids or anything like that. Nothing they couldn’t recover from, as it was.
“So, my name is Cho Kyuhyun, and I apparently get drunk and crawl through the windows of strangers. Never again,” Kyuhyun said, his voice grim. “But really I just work as an analyst and I like my computer?”
Kyuhyun smiled as one of the dogs put hopeful paws on Kyuhyun’s leg, petting gently. It was a nice smile, and he wasn’t objective about that.
“I’m Zhou Mi, and I write magazine articles, and spend time with these two monsters,” Zhou Mi said, reaching down to pet a fluffy head himself.
And sometimes cute guys passed out in his apartment.
“We were celebrating a coworkers retirement, and that’s why I…” Kyuhyun mimed drinking. “I don’t do that a lot.”
“Probably good, so you didn’t end up in a drunk tank.”
Kyuhyun chuckled, wincing, and sipped more tea. He seemed clearer by the end of the cup, standing up to make sure he had found everything he’d crawled in with including his shoes.
“You could’ve just showed me right out,” Kyuhyun said, fidgeting. “So. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Take care of your head,” Zhou Mi said, and grinned at Kyuhyun’s dark look.
With the door closed, he had his apartment back to himself, just the way it had been before. But as it always felt after anyone left, just a bit emptier.
***
Ryeowook was the one who issued the invitation, obvious from the way he phrased it that Kyuhyun had shared the fact that Zhou Mi hadn’t thrown him out on his backside the second he woke up or otherwise. It was thanks, not that Zhou Mi felt he really needed any, but any excuse for a night out eating was a good excuse in his opinion. Plus he’d get to see what Kyuhyun looked like without bloodshot eyes and sleep-tousled hair.
There were a couple of guys besides Ryeowook and Kyuhyun, Donghae and Sungmin. They all got introduced, seated around a big round table and immediately digging into the menu to see what there was to eat. He took in Kyuhyun’s casual t-shirt, the way he laughed at one of Donghae’s suggestions. He was bright-eyed and alert, a kind of sparkle there that was appealing in a way it really shouldn’t have been. Drunk guy, his brain reasoned, and everything else rationalized that he was cute. And he wasn’t drunk then as they made their order and really settled in.
“So you live next to Ryeowook, right?”
“Same apartment, opposite layout,” Zhou Mi confirmed, twisting his empty glass. He didn’t know how much to say, as Ryeowook finished his tale of woe of how he’d ended up moving into the apartment, a tale of missing movers, incompetent former landlords, and the joy of not having to climb ten flights of stairs after a twelve hour shift.
“Plus it has nice windows. Kyuhyun didn’t even crawl in one to get here,” Donghae teased, and Kyuhyun scoffed. Apparently everyone knew exactly how it was that Zhou Mi had met Kyuhyun.
“Seriously, Zhou Mi, you were too nice letting him stay.”
“I gave him permission to push him back out the window,” Ryeowook said.
And Zhou Mi just laughed helplessly. “I could’ve poured him into a cab but I didn’t know that he’d know how to get home.”
Kyuhyun groaned, and then perked up as the food arrived. There were sounds of pleasure from all of them as the dishes were placed out on the table, and Zhou Mi didn’t even get to reach for one before pieces of meat were being shoved onto his plate by Kyuhyun.
Either it was a peace offering or Kyuhyun was trying to get him to shut up. It didn’t really mater since he took a bite and grinned, his stomach clutching as Kyuhyun grinned back at him.
Kyuhyun toasted Zhou Mi with his glass at one point, mouthing “soda” at him as though Zhou Mi didn’t know they’d all shared a bottle. At least he could make fun of himself, too.
Even if the person he knew best was Ryeowook, or even possibly Kyuhyun, it was a nice meal. Good food, interesting conversation once they’d gotten away from teasing Kyuhyun to death. It felt like regret when they all parted, Zhou Mi and Ryeowook sharing a cab back to their building. Ryeowook hadn’t let him pay, needling Kyuhyun a little more that they owed Zhou Mi more than that. No amount of gentle arguing on his end made a difference.
“I hope you had a good time,” Ryeowook said.
“I did. Kyuhyun is definitely more charming when he’s not hungover. Everyone was great.”
“I’ll let you know next time we get together, if you’re free,” Ryeowook said, and Zhou Mi was charmed by the generosity of the offer.
“I’d like that.”
***
Ryeowook was as good as his word, passing on invitations in sticky notes or when he caught Zhou Mi in the hall. They ended up swapping phone numbers, feeding each other’s dogs, joking about windows being secure even then. It was less of a joke to Kyuhyun’s face, who tended to get a bit sulky when it was brought up. Though inevitably it did, like when Heechul joined them for dinner, or Henry, and they hadn’t heard the story about how everyone had met. Zhou Mi just laughed, clearing his throat as Kyuhyun sent him a look that seemed ike betrayal.
“And he hasn’t crawled through any windows since,” Zhou Mi concluded, leaving Henry in stitches, half out of his chair as Donghae tried to rescue him.
“Every time someone brought up the window guy, I thought he was someone Zhou Mi hired to clean his windows!”
“I did clean it before I put it back together,” Zhou Mi said. “So maybe.”
“At least ten other drunk guys didn’t crawl in after,” Kyuhyun said, and Zhou Mi just barely missed getting kicked in the shin.
“Just one sleeping beauty,” Zhou Mi said, and the others cooed which embarrassed Kyuhyun into silence and had Zhou Mi looking away and grinning.
It wasn’t all teases, glued hip to hip as everyone squeezed onto a couch and gamed, sharing tea with Kyuhyun as they waited for the latecomers to arrive at the coffee shop they’d been meant to meet at. It was nice to talk to him, about anything. He only mocked Zhou Mi’s accent a little, though he thought he was well in line there, but Zhou Mi liked the way that Kyuhyun listened. He liked the way Kyuhyun took his arm as they were maneuvering around passerbys and the way he laughed at Zhou Mi’s jokes. He liked the way that being around Kyuhyun made him want to get closer, wanted to know when they’d see each other again, to sit together, talk, whether it was together or alone.
“What does a guy have to do to get an invitation through your front door?” Kyuhyun asked, bumping Zhou Mi’s shoulder.
Zhou Mi looked over at him wondering if it was a request or a demand. “Usually as long as they have my phone number, they’re fine. Most guys I invite over don’t have to crawl through the window.”
It sounded a little risqué like that, like he had a habit of inviting guys in for maybe more than a chat and a cup of tea, and Kyuhyun caught onto that just as quickly.
“Do that much, do you?” Kyuhyun asked. And Zhou Mi wondered about the root of Kyuhyun’s curiosity.
“Not lately. Just waiting for someone to show up who’s worth it.”
“I’d still crawl in if you’d let me,” Kyuhyun said, and then his eyes widened like he’d just realized what he’d said. Maybe he wanted to take it back. Maybe he wanted to look away.
“Bring some wine if you do,” Zhou Mi teased, and it was… It was invitation, no two ways about it.
“Maybe I will,” was all Kyuhyun said.
And Zhou Mi held out his hand, wordless, Kyuhyun staring at it and almost extending his own hand until he realized that Zhou Mi was asking for his phone. It made them both laugh, giggling and ignore the chatting of the others as Zhou Mi put in his phone number. The moment Kyuhyun had it back, he pushed call, and the hum of a phone on vibrate sounded between them. One more step.
***
Zhou Mi sucked sauce from his thumb, humming as he puttered getting his rice and vegetables onto a plate. It had been all he’d had the energy for, and it tasted pretty good, considering. The dogs’ sharp yapping in response to a knock had his head lifting. He wasn’t expecting anyone, he didn’t think, and he was halfway to the door before he realized that the knocking wasn’t coming from there. He knew, really, before he lifted the curtain, but a laugh still tickled him when he saw Kyuhyun smiling outside and brandishing a bottle of wine. Zhou Mi gestured that Kyuhyun should come around, and Kyuhyun pretended not to understand before gravely nodding and making his way around the building.
Zhou Mi put his hand on the window frame, realizing that Kyuhyun had come through it once, and would soon be entering Zhou Mi’s apartment in a more official way for the first time. But the warmth in his chest, and in his cheeks, told him it probably wouldn’t be the last.
Kyuhyun offered the bottle of wine as soon as he got through the door, and Zhou Mi hummed over it, like he knew what it was or how good it was. It had a nice label, there was that, and the bringer of it looked nice as well.
“Sorry I didn’t call first,” Kyuhyun said, gesturing in a circle as he stepped up beside Zhou Mi. “I was just. You know.”
In the neighborhood, Zhou Mi guessed. He could’ve used Ryeowook as an excuse but he didn’t, just looking at Zhou Mi like he was trying to figure out what was next, how they went from there. They’d see if Kyuhyun remembered anything from his previous visit, if he still liked the dogs. They’d see a lot of things. When Zhou Mi leaned in, he wondered, oh he wondered.
Kyuhyun didn’t gasp or try to pull away, just lifting his face, steady, as Zhou Mi pressed an inquiring kiss against his lips. Soft, like he wondered, but firm enough with a promise of more behind it. There would be no more dancing around it, no wondering. What he saw from Kyuhyun as he pulled away was stunning, approval and joy mixed.
“Welcome back,” Zhou Mi said, and let Kyuhyun in.
***