Fic: Roman Holiday [TVXQ RPS | AU]

[glitterburn]

Title: Roman Holiday
Fandom: TVXQ
Pairing: Changmin/Yunho
Rating: NC17
Summary: Yunho takes Changmin to Rome for his birthday-and discovers that Italian really is the language of love.
Notes: Fashion designers AU. Falls somewhere between Perfect Fit and For Fashion’s Sake. A knowing wink and tip of the hat to A Fish Called Wanda.

Roman Holiday
i

Comments

[diagon]

And almost a month later I realise I've not left you proper feedback on this one.
Don't blame me - I've been re-reading Sunflowers in every spare moment, that I did sort of shuffle this one backwards on my "Homin fics I think about constantly" rotation :)

The thing with this one is that I'm stuck between deciding if you capture the atmosphere of Rome or the atmosphere of Homin better. ;)

As much as I love how you expand on their relationship and show us just how crazy-incredible Yunho is as a boyfriend, I also love how you write the character of the city of Rome and how crazy-incredible it is too.

From the flight delay, to the noise of Navona (you forgot the sheer cacophony of outraged gasps of shock at tourists seeing the fountain was not as deep as DaVinci Code suggested!), to the whole La Bella Figura concept and how open people on the streets are at paying silent compliments to those who look so good and how the flashiness open boulevards of the city is at such odds to the ancient, grimy side-alleys.
You make the city such a character in itself - and it works well in making Yunho and Changmin seem smaller and cosier and more intimate than perhaps they would in Seoul where they are celebs.
I think it's the "intimate" nature that comes across in this piece that impresses me most considering the other three in the series have them played out against such an audience - this one is truly just about them together, special and complete.

Yunho. Where to start with that big romantic, darling fool. Flying so far for just a few days and being so adorably zonked out on the flight and the cab ride and through their first hours in the hotel - but oh my Changmin can't complain if he's going to be woken up like that when Yunho is fully conscious again!

And as if the trip surprise wasn't enough (it should be) the big lovaduck did the whole suit surprise and everything from the Latvian translated conversation, to the time it took to plan ahead to the final finish and the redingote (how sexy would that collar look against Changmin's neck?) it's so much incredible effort - and yet you could imagine this Yunho doing it 100 times over if it made his Changmin smile.

And yet Yunho is still worried that he might let Changmin down, or that Changmin might not be quite as pleased as he hoped. Poor daft Jung. He's going to learn to trust his Changmin instincts better (as evidenced in Sunflowers).

His whole speech about knowing Changmin is the one, but at the same time thinking he was aiming too high was beautiful, and realistic and romantic and such a perfect summation of Perfect Fit.

Because Happy Daddy is more like Mopey Daddy while Grumpy Daddy is away.” I shouldn't like grown men indulging in baby-talk, but somehow this Yunho just makes it right. Poor Mopey Daddy!

And then to Changmin. Poor lad had everything sorted in his head about how he had to be in constant battle to get what he wanted (fashion, no hotel stuff, respect of his father etc, etch, and then it turns out that he doesn't have to fight at all for the one thing he truly needs - his Yunho.

So Changmin tries and fails to keep up the front and stop the mush from rolling out: and-though he’ll never admit it-desperately aware of how precious Yunho was to him. except for all that he thinks he's keep a cool exterior it's blatant to everyone else, including Yunho, how head over heels Changmin is too.

Changmin dips his head and smiles and smiles. ... and he does this more often than he realises.

***more in comment 2

[diagon]

You've continued so many of my favourite narrative threads - Changmin's jealousy of Siwon; Yunho trying to distract Changmin when Changmin asks direct questions that Yunho thinks he won't like the answer to; Changmin going straight for his tie whenever Yunho gets that look in his eyes.

But also new exciting ideas too, like Yunho losing it when Changmin speaks Italian, and while using office terms and fabric terminology while they are making love should be hilarious, you bring the reader so much into the emotion that it's only in hindsight that I realised what Changmin was saying and able to giggle at it. The idea is so strong that it overwhelms the words used. Then again, if Yunho ever found out that Changmin said "Cuttlefish, braised beef, crayfish" or "This package is fragile" or my personal favourite: "I ironed these clothes", while shagging him, I'm not sure if Yunho wouldn't be a little boggled.

But after the stripping on the staircase and the adrenaline of nearly getting caught? I think Yunho would forgive anything. What I wouldn't do to see the hotel's CCTV footage of that one :p

Then after the hottest sex you end with a proper romantic cinematic scene at the Pantheon: “This,” Yunho says, turning them in a careful, dancing circle over the wet marble, “this is like my love for you. It goes around and around. It goes on forever. It’s eternal.” They don't call Rome the Eternal City for nothing.

And yet I think the thing that impresses me most is that this isn't just a "take your favourite Homins on an outing" - you develop their characters, you show us more about their relationship and how they've changed since Stitched Up and bridge the gap between how they'll be in All Stars - after this trip, the sheer audacity and romanticism of the proposal feels like a natural step, rather than a massive lead for the two of them.

This fits perfectly between the two and I really should re-read it more often than I have recently.

[glitterburn]

The end of October seems like SO LONG AGO already. Then I remind myself that I started writing Sunflowers while C. was here and that feels like so long ago, too!

Dan Brown will never not be funny. Stupid man with his bragging rights about papal tours around the Vatican (possibly it was Pope Kyu, that would explain a lot) and he *still* manages to get it wrong in so many ways.

I like the thought that this one is more intimate. It was time to take them away from the big stage and see how they function off-screen, as it were. Changmin overseas is a different beast to Changmin in Korea; Yunho is the one who changes least, probably because he's always known who he is and Changmin changled himself in duty and familial expectation. But it takes us until Sunflowers to see that happy-go-lucky Yunho does have emotional needs, too, and they're no less deep than Changmin's; he just deals with it differently.

I'm glad that old phrasebook had so many gormless phrases and foodstuffs that I could nick. Although I recall the Spanish phrasebook being more hilarious. If only I knew the correct Italian for 'my postillion has been struck by lightning', that would surely have made an appearance.

after this trip, the sheer audacity and romanticism of the proposal feels like a natural step
Yes, it does. And it wasn't a conscious decision on my part that this should be such a bridging 'chapter', because tbh I did just want to write about them in Rome, but... well, these things grow legs, and what started out as an idea to write a PWP wherein Yunho gets off to Changmin speaking Italian, it ended up being far more romantic than I expected. But I'm glad it did, because of all my HoMins, these two are total fluffs and they deserve all the mush.