#101: Quidditch With a Touch of Gravity
►username: anonymous
►prompt #:101
►title: Quidditch With a Touch of Gravity
►pairings: Kai/Xiumin
►rating: nc-17
►word count: 7815
►warnings: -
►summary:Jongin’s a rising quidditch star new to the Montrose Magpies, but quidditch isn’t all that’s on his mind when he meets team healer Minseok and Minseok’s amazing abs.
Montrose isn't anything Jongin expected when he made the move to Scotland. He's twenty-four and already dominated the Asian quidditch leagues. Now he's moving on to bigger and better things, and getting signed to the Montrose Magpies is supposed to be the move that'll really make his career. At least that's what his coach told him, fondly hugging the star chaser goodbye when Jongin last visited the training facility for the Seoul Suns. His bags already packed, ready to disapparate as soon as he's ready and reappear halfway across the globe. Others might be nervous at such a feat, but Jongin's always been good at apparition. Almost as good as he is at quidditch.
The landscape he appears in is kind of bleak at first glance. A deserted beach roundabouts where he's supposed to meet his new manager, or whoever they send to greet him. There's a hut near the shore, a cold salty wind blowing into his face, and when he turns around he gets a glimpse of the city in the distance, made distinct by the tall church spire and hundreds plus year old architecture.
Jongin pockets his wand, wraps his wizard robes a little tighter around his frame to block out the breeze, steadies the hand holding onto his trunk and inhales deeply. Then he walks towards the small hut, around which a security fence blocks part of the view. It's rather ordinary, a little run-down, but Jongin doesn't doubt he apparated into the right spot. He knocks on the door of the hut and gets a hollow echo for response. He's expecting a quiet greeting, a couple of wizards only. Probably another bleak view of beach and a cold welcome. Instead, the moment the door opens he's practically whipped inside, bombarded from all sides by witches and wizards, and instead of a blank terrain or a rickety hut, a massive quidditch arena stands, towers piling high into the air adorned by the black and white colors and black magpie of the quidditch team he now represents. A bustling arena full of people speaking all manners of languages.
Jongin barely gets a moment to take it in before somebody is already greeting him by name, taking his trunk, and dragging him by the wrist through a sea of faces as probably the entire population of the region's wizards gather before a match.
"You're late!" the tiny wizard cracks with a quick whip at his head, not really looking at Jongin but happy despite his words. "You're late, but that's okay! Today's just a pre-season friendly with the Wigtown Wanderers, so no need to play. We'll get you settled in soon enough."
Jongin is assaulted by the sights and sounds, the colors and the bursts of magical displays, a mini-circus of activity. Who is this wizard, and who is we?
"I... okay..." Jongin gasps as he's pulled through the crowd. "But... who..."
"I'm Baekhyun! And yes, I'm Korean. Assistant to the assistant manager, but otherwise important." The wizard with his unnaturally maroon hair flashes a wide grin over his shoulder, still imploring Jongin to come along. "Before you get swallowed up! Heard you were somebody important too back in Asia, but hey-this is the Montrose Magpies! You're playing for the big wigs now! Oh wait, I don't mean the Wigtown Wanderers. They're actually playing pretty poor right now, but that's good for us. Just remember Puddlemere United. They're our historical rivals, so don't forget that. And I don't care if you came here idolizing their 'legendary' chaser Oh Sehun. Good for Korea's prestige, but not for us. We're the Magpies!"
Jongin actually does know the name, but dutiful to Baekhyun's instructions, he doesn't admit he kind of admires the older player more than he probably should as a newly transferred Magpie. Anyways, the assistant to the assistant manager doesn't give him a chance to reply before he's being dragged through a players-only entrance beneath the stands and Jongin guesses this is when he gets to meet the rest of the team, until he hears the chants and swelling music being pumped magically into the stands of an arena that's probably completely invisible and soundproof to the entire muggle population.
"Here we are!" Baekhyun sings. "Now you wait here, because I gotta go out and do important things now. Someone will come collect you." And then Baekhyun is off.
It's an empty locker room he leaves him in. Outside the crowd is cheering, chanting for the players who sound like they've just flown into the pitch. He's studied his teammates by reputation only; through stats he knows them by name, but not in face. It's an international bunch with a handful of natives and supposedly Jongin won't be the only Korean-born member on the team. There's some guy by the name of Park Chanyeol who plays beater, but he's not usually on the starting lineup. Jongin also didn't expect to find more of his countrymen on staff, but at least that's good if it'll ease his transition.
He explores the room, noting where the showers are, distinguishing junk cabinets from quidditch equipment. He tries one of the unmarked lockers and nearly jumps back in shock when the cupboard emits a sound like a mixture of a magpie and a lion. The end result is not pretty and dissuades him from trying any others. He drops his trunk in the center of the room, discontent as he circles the room silently, waiting.
Then a small wizard comes through one of the outer doors, small but sturdily built and halfway caught between ripping his shirt over his head and snarling because the shirt is too tight. The man halts when he sees he has company, Jongin watching him with wide open eyes, appreciating the view of 8-pack abs and soft brown hair.
"P-Park-Chanyeol?" Jongin studders, voice already faltering at the glorious image of the obviously Korean man before him.
The abs-heavy man, however, freezes completely, head swiveling curiously around the room as if looking for someone else and when he realizes Jongin is addressing him, he frowns. "No? I'm Minseok. Head Healer of the Magpies. If your name is Jongin, then welcome. You'll be living with me for the time being." Minseok - not Chanyeol - then proceeds to free himself from the shirt which Jongin finally notes is covered in blood and mud, body stretching in the process.
"Sorry for the mess," he says, chucking his official team undershirt onto the floor. "One of the players has already been hexed by a psycho Wigtown supporter. His bloody nose ran all over me, and then someone hit me with a dung bomb."
He smirks when he sees Jongin still staring at him, but what else is Jongin supposed to do. Here before him is the most perfect image of a man, apparently intent to strip and change clothes right in front of him.
"Th-that's okay. Sorry, I didn't know your name." Jongin utters.
"It's fine," says Minseok without looking at him. "Hey have you found the cupboard with quidditch robes yet? Do you mind getting one for me? I'm going straight for the bath and don't want to track any of this blood through the training room."
Jongin had sort of found it earlier through an archway on the other side of the room. He shuts his open-hanging jaw, forces his feet to move, and strides towards the cupboard, pulling out a stock Magpie robe in stripes of black and white. Also, a towel, since Minseok said he was going for the baths. Jongin heads back through the doorway, happy to be of use when he catches sight of the other man, their healer and his future roommate, standing fully nude and glorious, waiting for Jongin's return.
He promptly misses the doorway and walks right into the wall instead.
Jongin really expected his first few months in Scotland would be him learning how to adjust to the city, the culture, and the team. There is that of course-because for all that he practiced his English before moving, most of the witches and wizards including half the Magpies' players and staff speak in a dialect that may as well be ancient Egyptian to Jongin's comprehension. He also has to learn a whole sleuth of foreign sounding names that confuse him by the unnatural way they roll off his tongue. Like Shaun Gordon, their seeker. Or Susanna Lewis, an especially pretty red-headed chaser. Or Morrison - really that's a hard one - a beater. Lucky though that somebody is usually there to help him out with pronunciation. Someone like Park Chanyeol or that sly little wizard Byun Baekhyun. And so what if he occasionally takes off by himself to rove around the muggle parts of the city and ignore the weird looks people give his black and white 'cape'. In between rounds of Firewhisky and Knotgrass Meade at the local magic-users-only pub, it's easy for Jongin to pretend he fits right in.
What's not easy is when Minseok drags his drunk ass home and Jongin is too inebriated to be allowed to apparate and also can't ride a broom, his or Minseok's. He finds himself holding on dearly to the smaller wizard's hard, toned stomach muscles, a little drool staining the shoulder of Minseok's pretty, blue robes. He finds himself doing this a lot lately.
"How do you not know how to take your alcohol?" Minseok complains cutely each time he tucks Jongin in bed (each time he throws Jongin in his bed and kicks a blanket over the top of him).
"M-meadde... grasssss-knot...." Jongin slurs, dreaming lazily about the substance he's just not used to, before sleep takes him completely.
To his old friend Kyungsoo every few weekend mornings, Jongin sings a different tune.
Kyungsoo's head floats bizarrely in the middle of Minseok's fireplace, sparks flying about and the whole thing smokes a bit and stains the grate because Minseok doesn't live in the lap of luxury, but at least he's connected to the Floo Network which is more than Jongin would have had if he'd tried to strike out on his own. Beside the fireplace, two cats stretch and meow, Minseok's pets who Jongin swears aren't animagus, but every now and then he catches them - Junmyeon and Yixing - looking at him funny while he changes clothes, and so Jongin always locks them out of his room. Voyeuristic cats, and a super hot roommate, and Jongin just doesn't know what he's gotten himself into.
"Tell me again, why did I agree to live with a stranger instead of finding my own place?"
His friend sighs amusedly. "Because, for all that you were some big shot in Asia, you're taking a pay decrease to play internationally on the other side of the world and you secretly love the Magpies-"
"You're right!" Jongin interrupts, before Kyungsoo can finish.
"-the Magpies' hot little healer with the eight pack abs you love to fondle on drunk flights home from the pub?"
Jongin doesn't bother to respond. He's too busy willing his heart to quit pounding like a marching band, searching the flat, and praying the healer isn't actually awake and party to this crass, ignorant lie!
But he also doesn't have the heart to deny it. Jongin expected his first few months in Scotland to be him learning the lay of the city, the culture, and quidditch quidditch quidditch. Somehow all he's managed to do is fall a little bit in love.
He makes his quidditch debut against the Kenmare Kestrels. It also happens to be Jongin's first time flying to the tune of harp music their obnoxious fans bring with them. Also, leprechauns. Not just pictures or mascots, but real life leprechauns. The little green-and-yellow clad men (in the colors of the Kestrels) occupy a whole tower in the stands and cause quite a lot of distraction. As do the Kestrels' beaters, one of whom manages to knock a distracted Jongin off his broom during a particularly ear-splitting harp chord.
Jongin wakes up after his first game in the Magpies' infirmary to a bandaged head and shoulder and Minseok sloshing putrid potions down his throat.
"Welcome to the British and Irish Quidditch League," says the healer with a smile and a chuckle. All he accomplishes is to make Jongin especially miserable.
"Please-th tell me I di' somethin' decent at leaseeee', 'fore I f-fell?" Jongin's tongue is numb, that's his only excuse for puking his guts a few seconds later onto Minseok's lap.
"You put the quaffle through the hoops three times and baffled the Keeper by your beauty, so... well done." Minseok pretends his lap isn't covered in brown slime, instead humoring Jongin through his delusion before sliding away from the gurney.
In the final seconds before Jongin passes out again, he's blessed by the sight of Minseok stripping again. That night (and for a few nights after) he dreams of flying while strumming the harp with Minseok's abs, and they play such a sweet, sweet tune.
Several months later, after a couple of successful matches against both the Ballycastle Bats and Caerphally Catapults, Jongin decides he's learned a few things. For one, he doesn't like bats. Secondly, that Minseok has a secret. At least once a week he disappears in the evening or afternoon, leaving the flat with a smile and a wave, and Jongin doesn't see him for a few hours. He's nowhere to be found, not in the invisible Magpies quidditch pitch, or in any of the wizard alleyways of the town of Montrose.
He might have accidentally mentioned his chagrin to Chanyeol one day in the pub over a brimming mug of Firewhiskey.
"Wait, you haven't seen Minseok all day?" the beater exclaims extra loud.
"Shhhh shhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" Jongin almost falls off his chair. He has a hunch Minseok has secrets for a reason, and it's none of his business to go around blasting rumors of his flatmate's suspicious comings and goings. Except, too late.
"Wait, you mean Minseok's still-!" Baekhyun catches onto the subject before Jongin and Chanyeol both wave their hands and shush him too. Baekhyun chokes on his drink but covers his mouth with his hand, simultaneously sliding closer to Jongin to form a huddle around their table. The assistant to somebody important's assistant elbows Jongin in the ribs and winks oddly at Chanyeol, whose elbow pokes Jongin from the other side. Both look around the pub to see if anybody's listening, and then Baekhyun switches to Korean, whispering, "So you mean Minseok goes out by himself like, every week?" He looks frightened.
"Yes...?" Jongin doesn't know what the conspiracy is, but he he's willing to bet both Baekhyun and Chanyeol know, and that it can't be good. "Every week, but not always at the same time or the same day. Sometimes twice a week!"
Chanyeol clucks his tongue disapprovingly, and Baekhyun shakes his head in solidarity. "I thought he'd quit doing nonsense like that. If he gets caught-"
"If he gets caught," Chanyeol continues, "he could get himself fired! Remember what happened to Maddock?"
"Maddock...." Baekhyun practically shivers saying the name.
Neither of them deem it fit for Jongin to know who was Maddock, what happened to him or why, so Jongin goes home with dread in his heart. He wakes up the next morning with a hangover, but absolutely determined to do whatever necessary to protect Minseok from himself! The next time the healer goes out, Jongin vows to follow him.
There's a strong wind and clouds promising rain when Jongin peeks around the corner of a building, waiting for Minseok to disappear down the next block before Jongin can proceed to tail him. He wishes he could use magic to help, but his wand is pocketed firmly into the inside of his robes as he tries to fit in with the muggle crowd around him. Apparently his robes still cause a bit of confusion, but at least he thought this through enough to remove his wizard's hat. He feared the pointy object would stand out if Minseok happened to look behind himself and catch him.
The healer, however, is making quite a bit of headway. His usual blue robes that he wears off-duty fly about carelessly as he slips down an alleyway, and it's then that Jongin makes his move. Where is his flatmate heading, and why are there so many muggles!? By the time Jongin follows him another few blocks and around several more turns, the streets are positively flooded with men and women of all ages old and young in blue shirts, whooping and cheering like they're going to a party.
Jongin turns a final corner, freezes, and is almost knocked over by the surge of people behind him. It's a stadium, not as grand as the Magpies', and not as high off the ground. But there are definitely stands and a pitch, players warming up on the field that he can see through the low shrubbery wall and gates. A sports arena as unlike quidditch as Jongin can imagine but... the atmosphere feels the same.
A moment later he realizes he's forgotten the object of his goal: Minseok. He turns all about him, panicking because the wizard is nowhere to be seen and Jongin is now thoroughly lost and being elbowed from all sides. He almost considers apparating home immediately except that it would likely cause chaos in the middle of a crowd of muggles, and he doesn't need any reason for the Ministry of Magic to try to ship him out of the country for good. He's yet to really make a name for himself here in quidditch; he doesn't want to disappoint his parents. Plus there is...
"Minseok!" Jongin jumps a whole foot in the air when the wizard taps his shoulder from behind, giggling almost when Jongin spins around and gasps.
"Jongin," says the healer, smiling. "Fancy seeing you here. Did you enjoy the walk? Lovely part of town isn't it? Felt like you were drawn here, right?" he teases, and Jongin's stomach starts churning out of embarrassment, his face flushing hot even though the afternoon is cool.
"I..."
"Well, anyway you're here. Why don't you come along? See the game with me!"
"See... the... game...? What is this?"
"Football! Jongin, it's football! It's like quidditch with gravity, and you can't use your hands. Come on, you'll love it!"
Montrose FC, Minseok explains to him, isn't one of the super big football teams. They're semi-professional, "and not as amazing as the Premier League! But it's as good as you can get here without making a trip to Manchester!"
Jongin doesn't know what the Premier League is or what is special about Manchester, but he has a hunch he might like it. It takes a full half game for him to understand the rules of football, his enthusiasm picking up only because Minseok is so passionate about it. Unfortunately, his black and white robes stand out accidentally marking his as an enemy fan to many of the Montrose locals. To protect him, Minseok keeps close by his side, practically glued to him really, even going so far as to cover him with his own robes like a blanket to disguise his traitorous colors.
"Next time you can borrow some of my clothes." Minseok winks at him, and Jongin's eyes almost fall into the back of his head.
By the end of the game, Jongin is thoroughly enraptured, both by football and Minseok and he barely makes it back to their flat alive. They get stuck in a downpour, their robes drenched and puddling in the doorway when Minseok does his typical striptease.
"Can't you just... dry yourself magically?" says Jongin, his wand already sucking all the moisture from his robes and underclothes. Minseok only laughs, his torso already bare, and Jongin is only saved because he decides to keep his pants on before disappearing into his room. They spend the rest of the evening comparing quidditch to football, Minseok relaying great plays from memory about each of the games he's seen while Junmyeon and Yixing cuddle up in between their laps. It's late into the evening when Jongin remembers there was supposed to be something taboo about the whole thing.
"Why... why do you keep it a secret? Going to muggle sports games?" Jongin asks. He mentions Chanyeol and Baekhyun's hushed worries in the pub a few days past, and Minseok grows quiet.
"Don't... don't tell anyone else about this, okay? It can be our little secret, right?"
Jongin promises, but he's too scared to ask Minseok any more questions.
He secretly asks Chanyeol a few days later, and sober, the beater finally tells him about a Alasdair Maddock, the famous Magpies chaser from a decade ago, who was fired for trying to incorporate muggle sports into quidditch. The results had been disastrous and after a couple spectacular losses, including once when Maddock tried to dribble the quaffle off the stands and then spike it through the goal posts with his head, he was kindly told to seek employment elsewhere.
"Really, I don't know why it was such a scandal. I mean, given some more practice it might have worked," Chanyeol confidentially whispers to Jongin, "but then Maddock was starting to experiment with some stupid thing called golf, and the manager fired him real quick! Nobody talks about muggle sports anymore, for fear of Maddock's untimely legacy. The way the managers talk, it was like he was a dark wizard! Quidditch players and their quirks," Chanyeol sighs, conveniently forgetting that he is one himself.
Minseok dresses him in red one day instead of blue and then spins his wand around the back of Jongin's robe so that a symbol and some writing appears there. Jongin can't quite see what it says but it looks vaguely like Man- before he whips his half-stretched neck back around to see Minseok throwing on a robe as well.
"We're not going to see Montrose FC?" Jongin asks stupefied.
"Not today, we're not. Come on, quidditch player, we're going to see a real game today!"
Jongin is used to being in charge of apparating places. But since he doesn't know exactly where they're going, he lets Minseok hug him close and flick his wand wrist silently. After a pop and a gust of air, they wind up squashed in a stall on top of a toilet seat in the men's restroom where all around them are the roars of a stadium Jongin guesses must be twice as packed as the Magpies' ever is.
"Oops," says Minseok, when Jongin stumbles off the porcelain throne and almost flushes half of Minseok's robes down the toilet. "Sorry, I got a little carried away. Usually I don't land in or on top of the thing!" He uses his wand now to siphon the damp robes dry and then pushes Jongin out of the stall, accidentally patting his bum on the way out. If any of the other restroom patrons think anything unusual about two men stumbling out of a cramped spot, Jongin doesn't notice. He's so embarrassed by Minseok's brilliant smile that he stares at the ground and pointedly doesn't look up until daylight accosts them. Minseok drags him by the hand past crowds of excited muggles looking for their seats.
"Where...?" Jongin starts to say.
"Welcome to Old Trafford! Home of Manchester United, the best football team in the world!"
He continues to drag him as Jongin wonders where they're going to sit since they didn't exactly come in the main entrance. Just as he asks though, Minseok drags him by a food vendor who greets him by name.
"Minseok! You made it!" The two hug in an excited way that makes Jongin almost jealous. That is, until he's officially introduced.
"Jongin, this is my cousin Jongdae! He doubles as staff when he's bored and gets us into the game whenever I want." The man is also wearing wizard robes that blend in with the colors all around. He's a cheery wizard who sneaks Minseok a pair of tickets and tries to ask him impertinent questions like, 'Oh this is Jongin??? Jongin???' before Minseok swats him on the face with the palm of his hand before dragging Jongin off again.
"We'll visit later! Maybe. Come on!"
Their seats in the stands aren't very close. In fact, they're so high off the ground near the back of the stadium that Jongin can barely see what's going on on the pitch. That is, until Minseok thrusts a pair of plastic-y round glasses into his hands and pulls out a similar pair himself. As he jams them across the bridge of his nose, looking well like a nerd or a really unfashionable professor from Jongin's school days, Minseok explains in a whispered, excited titter.
"Put them on! They're enchanted!"
They don't look very enchanted. In fact they look like something that's been rattling around a children's toy box for all the scratches across the plastic lens, but they're bright red and Minseok looks adorable, so Jongin figures he can look as good too. He nearly falls back in his seat when his eyes focus in, the lens magically enhanced that he can see every blade of grass and the pores on the footballers' noses.
"Muggles don't know what they're missing," says Minseok, elbowing Jongin in the side. Those turn out to be the last words he spares for Jongin explicitly for the next ninety-ish minutes. Most of that time his roommate is whooping and hollering at refs and cheering loudly whenever his faves do something spectacular on the field.
"I saw my mate the other day!" Minseok chants loudly, while Jongin just struggles to keep up with what's going on. He knows the rules, but not always the finer details of the games or tactics. Although he is rather taken with how the other team plays. It's a shame he's dressed up all in red.
"He said to me, he's seen the white Pele!"
Jongin squints his eyes as a blond-ish striker goes tearing down the field towards the opposing team's goal post.
"So I asked, who is!"
He frowns, actually hoping the shot gets blocked.
"He goes by the name of Lu Hannie!"
But the striker kicks it straight through the goalkeeper's outstretched hands, and the stands go wild.
"Lu Hannie! Lu Hannie! He goes by the name of Lu Hannie!"
For a few seconds, Jongin forgets that Minseok brought him here to cheer for Manchester United. The game has been scoreless up until now, and Jongin was really starting to root for the other team, Chelsea. Minseok obviously doesn't realize though, on his feet, jumping up and down screaming, "Goal! Jongin! Finally we scored!!! Goal!!" He tugs at Jongin's arm to pull him to his feet as well, and for a moment Jongin is taken right up in the excitement, not because he's happy but because Minseok is. He smiles wide, trying to pretend, and nearly chokes on his spit when Minseok grabs him tight.
It happens so very fast. First Minseok is hugging him, and jumping up and down, his hair cascading across Jongin's face. His glasses slide askew, half on half on, and his heart pounds, Minseok's chin burying itself into the crook of his neck and their bodies collide roughly, frenetically. Maybe Jongin isn't thinking about football any longer but actually about the secretly hidden abs of Minseok's torso, now embroiled together.
It ends before Jongin can even breathe, Minseok pulling away, still ecstatic about the goal and the entire stadium is still cheering wildly. "Lu Hannie! Lu Hannie!" Minseok's face is bright red, gummy smile and teeth full on display. Jongin can't breathe when their eyes meet and catch. Then Minseok drags him close one last time and kisses him!
Jongin gasps, but Minseok doesn't realize it. Instead he takes it for consent, wrapping his arms low on Jongin's waist as he slots their faces at a better position to deepen the kiss. Jongin freezes, every muscle alert, arms flailing and his robes caught between his and Minseok's body. His mouth feels assaulted, lips prying on top of his own, and just because he is freaking out doesn't mean it's entirely unpleasant. He just can't school his features into calming down quickly enough before Minseok pulls back, sees Jongin's petrified expression, and it's like a bucket of cold water pools over them both.
"J-Jongin..." Minseok squeaks, suddenly terrified and guilt-ridden. "I... I didn't mean to- Jongin, oh my God, I'm sorry."
"Lu Hannie! Lu Hannie!" the chants continue all around, but Jongin no longer registers where they are. All he sees is Minseok freaking out, and it's a lot more important than whether or not the muggle team he likes scored or not.
"Min-seok..."
But Minseok is bright red, face awash in mortification. "Let's get out of here," he says, swallowing so hard Jongin can't help but be drawn towards his bobbing Adam's apple. Then the smaller wizard is brushing past him, barely even waiting for him to catch up. Jongin dashes across the laps and figures of the other cheering fans, hurrying behind Minseok and absolutely mortified himself that Minseok thinks he did something wrong. That perhaps Minseok thinks Jongin doesn't like him like that.
"Minseok, wait!"
The wizard spares him one quick glance before continuing forward, and when they're out of the stands on the walkway behind it, he grabs Jongin by the wrist and drags him even faster down the corridor in the search for a private spot.
"Minseok, I-"
"Ahh, forget it even happened, Jongin!" Minseok shouts behind him. "I got carried away- I'm sorry if that upset you!"
"What? Wait, but it didn't-"
Minseok actually cackles, like he can't believe himself or his own actions. "Forget it, Jongin! It was my fault!" He practically shoves Jongin into the men's bathroom, checking if the coast is clear and no muggles are around.
"It wasn't- I mean, I was just shocked!" Jongin starts to exclaim, as Minseok pulls out his wand, clutching onto Jongin preparing to disapparate. "I- I wanted to kiss you before, but I was kind of rooting for the other team by the time that goal... happened!"
Minseok's turnaround look of shock is the last thing Jongin sees before they are sent into a spiral of magic, bodies disintegrating into a moment of limbo, and Jongin doesn't know where his body ends off and Minseok begins. The echoes of the stadium vanish into nothingness with a little pop, and the next thing Jongin knows, he's back up against a wall in Minseok's flat, and the silence still holds.
Minseok, holding him in the same position as before, but twice as petrified and completely speechless.
The sound of a cuckoo clocks breaks their reverie, followed by the two cats' meows as they scowl and demand their dinner. Jongin holds his breath, Minseok holds his, and then slowly the wizard releases him, his hands falling away from Jongin's hips as he steps back and frowns, almost ready to cry.
"You... you were rooting for Chelsea?" he says, looking utterly betrayed.
Apparently, rooting against United is worse than not reciprocating a kiss and Jongin now knows the true miseries of a football fan's life.
Jongin flies so badly at practice the next day and practically everybody notices. Even Baekhyun, although Jongin's always thought the assistant sports person was too clever and/or too inquisitive for his own good. He corners Jongin in the changing room after everyone else has gone out, causing Jongin to accidentally flinch and fall back into his open locker door. Baekhyun fishes him out, using a few more hands than is probably necessary and Jongin is blushing by the time he's on his feet again, holding his previously discarded Magpies robe up to his collar bones in some semblance of modesty.
"Hey!" says Baekhyun, like they just ran into each other, and the previous debacle never happened.
"What," says Jongin nervously.
Baekhyun's smile is tilted, off-kilter, probing. "Nothing...."
"Okay, then."
Jongin tries to move past him but Baekhyun holds him back, a hand to Jongin's bare shoulder and Jongin flinches again like he's been shocked. He shrugs off the hand and tries to act cool instead. "What is it?" he asks again.
Baekhyun licks his lips. "You and Minseok..."
"What about Minseok," Jongin deadpans.
"I didn't say Minseok, I said, you and Minseok." He arches his eyebrows simultaneously up and down. "Have you... I don't know... done anything. Is that why you can't fly very well? I mean, you can barely even sit on your broom very well, so I just thought..."
It takes Jongin a couple seconds of staring at Baekhyun like he has harpies crawling out of his ears before, "What? No! What are you even- No!" This time he ignores Baekhyun's protests, pushing the smaller wizard out of his way as he strides across the room, throwing on his still sweaty robes because he doesn't feel like hitting the baths with Baekhyun still in the room. He barely admits that he's looking for Minseok as well, but since the ManUnited-Chelsea fiasco, Minseok has been avoiding him. Acting professional in public, and polite during the few moments where they find themselves in the same shared living room of Minseok's flat. Apart from that though there's a definite chill between them where Jongin assumes Minseok is still mad and embarrassed, and Jongin is too chicken to do more than vaguely apologize. Minseok always just waves it off, smiles, and then finds something else to conveniently go do. Jongin doesn't tell him that he keeps falling asleep at night to the feeling of Minseok's lips on his. It doesn't matter if that one perfect moment was punctuated by chants to a certain Chinese striker, or the fact that most of Jongin's pleasant dreams are squashed under the dual cock-blocking forces of Junmyeon and Yixing purring on his head and suffocating him with their entwined tails.
Cats... he thinks, still walking away from Baekhyun before the guy can interrogate him further.
He's not flying well because he's depressed. It's that simple. He wishes it wasn't. More than one of his teammates has been heard whispering about how the new guy doesn't quite seem worth the galleons spent on the trade. Chanyeol overhears them once and gives Jongin a quick pat on the back before zipping off with the other beaters.
The thing about feeling depressed is that it makes him appear kind of ill. Sallow and glum, and even if he forces himself to step it up mentally and focus more on the reason he came here - quidditch - off the pitch, he knows he still looks bad. They barely lose to Tutshill Tornados by virtue of Shaun Gordon being a second too late to catching the snitch. Therefore it almost doesn't matter that Jongin played well and scored 50 points all by himself. The entire team, managers, staff and supporters disapparate after the match to return to Montrose before Jongin is even halfway ready to go. He pokes around the other teams' guest wing picking up his things, says goodbye to a few of the stragglers, and doesn't even see Minseok watching him darkly from outside the hallway.
His and Minseok's flat is dark when Jongin pops into being. The fireplace has a low glow from this morning's embers, and it feels overly warm. Jongin tosses off his robes, untucks his shirt and kicks off his shoes and socks. Minseok is often particular about the angle of shoes in the entryway, but today Jongin doesn't care. He shoves a cat off the couch, another one from the headrest and sinks into the deep cushions, thinking about life and quidditch and not even about Minseok, because that's a dead end, probably.
He shrieks when the healer materializes suddenly right in front of him. Minseok even looks scared at his reaction, jumping back a half step from the couch and dropping his wand in the process. Wizards should never lose their wands in Minseok's flat. Junmyeon and Yixing have a thing for chewing on them, and the last time Jongin let his go for a few seconds one morning, they'd dragged it halfway into Minseok's room. Jongin had to crawl on the ground to avoid accidentally seeing Minseok's practically nude body sleeping between the covers.
Now though, the possessed cats are sleeping soundly near the warm grate, so Minseok only scrambles to fetch it and by the time he stands up again he looks flushed, while Jongin sits as still as a gargoyle, ready to spring at a moment's notice - not to attack, but just to flee.
"Minseok?" he asks warily.
The healer composes himself, breaths shallow. "I... sorry I frightened you."
Jongin counts to ten seconds, five seconds really, because he's impatient and kind of on edge. "Likewise... Hey look, am I bothering you by staying here? It's been a couple months already. Maybe I should move out-"
"No!" Minseok suddenly yelps, eyes a fright.
"No?"
"Yeah, no... I mean, you don't have to..."
Jongin counts down another five seconds. "Yeah, but if you'd like your space again, I understand."
Minseok worries his lower lip between his teeth, frowning slightly, but a moment later he nods decisively and says again, "No. Stay, please."
He doesn't add that he thinks Jongin looks ill, sickly, or sad, or that that's the reason why he starts devoting more time to Jongin over the next few weeks. Jongin only finds out when Chanyeol lets it slip that Minseok is worried about him. The beater immediately claps a large hand over his loud mouth and looks guilty. Jongin, upon prodding him, discovers that Minseok is worried about his mental health being in a foreign environment, and he hates hoping it's not Minseok the healer who is worried for him, but Minseok the man. Either way though, the results are good. Minseok talking to him again, teasing him again, dragging him to see Montrose FC again. And when they're wrapped up in matching blue robes cheering for the same team again, it's almost possible to forget about what happened at the other game, when Minseok wrapped his arms around him and kissed him.
Almost. It's not exactly easy to forget... when it comes down it... Minseok's smiling, bubbly face, and the way his eyes sparkle and crinkle, how his lips stretch out across his face and his teeth catch Jongin's eye. A lot of things catch Jongin's eye. Arms pumping into the air for joy after a goal, elbows knocking against each other, the surge of their fellow fans shoving them together, hip to hip, thigh against thigh. The slope of Minseok's nose, his beautiful small face in profile, skin sweating slightly from the heat of the excitement.
Jongin catches himself staring.
Minseok catches him staring.
And for a moment, the roar of the crowd is forgotten. Jongin swears he can hear himself gulp.
The match isn't even over. There are still fifteen minutes on the clock and the game is tied. Minseok though doesn't wait. He grabs Jongin by the hand, wringing their fingers together and... tugs. They practically sprint back home, laughing, Jongin almost crying because he's so confused by what this... means. It starts to drizzle before they near the flat, but they don't let that stop them. They just run faster, cloaks whipping behind them until they near the building overhang and Minseok drags Jongin out of the rain.
Minseok's hands steady him low around his waist inside his open cloak, thumbs rubbing slightly over his pelvic bones over the soft material of his pants. Jongin holds his breath, but his eyes are watching Minseok. Specifically, his mouth.
"Is this..." Minseok starts to say, "Okay?"
Whatever this is, Jongin is more than okay. He nods, not trusting his voice to form words, and Minseok leans into him. He expects it to be like last time, all fiery and passion-driven. However, Minseok is slower this time, more hesitant. As if he's afraid Jongin might melt away.
Jongin slides his arms around him, just to reassure him. Just to get closer, tighter, more leverage with which to kiss him back. Minseok's lips are cold from the rain but his breath is warm and comforting when he parts his lips and nuzzles. It draws a moan from Jongin, a swallowed-choke sound that he doesn't know how else to address except through pulling him closer, right on top of each other with not even the faintest bit of space. And thus, the air feels suddenly very hot, and the spot suddenly very public...
At the risk of scaring Minseok into backing off, he withdraws one arm to reach for his wand. Minseok though is faster. There's a crack and a pop and a heaving gasp and when the world materializes again, they're upstairs in the flat. Jongin falls against the couch cushions, and all pretenses vanish when Minseok falls on top of him, body crawling over his lap as their lips find each other and separate, kiss, and then separate again as Minseok drops his robes away from his shoulders and then starts on Jongin's.
"Please tell me..." Minseok's voice is hesitant for just a moment.
"That I like you?" Jongin supplies, his grin stupid and crooked, but it's all worth it to see Minseok's lovely smile in response. Lovely, and predatory.
"Yeah," Minseok sighs.
Jongin squirms from the relief, and then realizes just where Minseok is sitting: right on his crotch. And, it feels great.
Minseok has the same idea apparently. He leans forward to kiss Jongin anew, this time grind up against him and yes, that's a bulge Jongin feels in reply. A low heat starts to build in his navel, the rest of his body going tense from the feeling, toes arching up and out inside his shoes because Minseok was always hot, but when did he become dynamite in his lap!
The only problem now is that Jongin is perfectly happy to sit here and stay like this forever. He almost squawks however when Minseok starts to pull away. Afraid that he's going to stand up and leave, Jongin reaches for him, a moan of disapproval already echoing up his throat, and that's when he realizes Minseok isn't going away. He's going down... He's sliding off Jongin's lap, off the couch, down in between Jongin's legs which part automatically to give him room.
In slow motion, he watches Minseok's gaze lower away from his eyes to the bulge in his pants, and Jongin hisses when Minseok slides one delicate hand over it, and down, then up again to the button and zipper.
"Minseok..." Jongin whispers roughly, his head falling back when Minseok pops the button, teething clashing against each other when he slowly, agonizingly slowly, pulls down the zipper. There's still his briefs to go, but Jongin is already quivering from anticipation. He lifts his head back to watch what Minseok is doing, practically hyperventilates from the way the man is licking his lips. He can't wait much longer. Using the floor as leverage, he pushes up, elevating his hips off the couch, and Minseok pick it up quickly. Four hands pull and shove at his pants and briefs. Jongin sinks down again in relief while Minseok pulls them down to his ankles and then kneels closer.
Jongin's cock is already halfway up into the air, pulsing. He braces himself for impact, swallowing a whine when Minseok palms him, leans forward and breathes in the musky scent. His hand is warm, but dry against the silken skin of his cock, a light touch that does nothing to alleviate the tension and only serves to build him up. He quickly unravels, thighs quivering as his lower back sinks further into the groove of the cushions behind him, hips opening wider and serving himself up. Jongin gropes the couch, then squeezes his fists tight, aching to do something, anything with them other than sit there and wait. He wants to touch Minseok. He just doesn't know where.
In the end, it's a moot inner discussion, because the second Minseok parts his lips to lap eagerly at his cock, Jongin wails, softly.
He's had hand jobs before. He's given a couple blow jobs before. He's even had sex on a few occasions, but somehow none of his partners have ever done this before: licking and nibbling around his vein-lined dick like it's the best meal of the day. One hand wrapped low around the base meshing into the coarse hairs there while his mouth swallows half of him at once. Jongin's hands immediately fly to Minseok's head, gently, delicately, in exact contrast to to the motion of Minseok's tongue and mouth, bobbing up and down and picking up speed. He wants to push up into his mouth so bad, absolutely craving the friction and the heat.
It's so good he almost forgets to warn Minseok he's about to come. He gets out about a second's warning before he's coming inside his mouth. Minseok belatedly pulls up, surprised but not revolted, and as Jongin shudders precariously on the edge of life itself, he continues to pump his cock up and down in uneven strokes until he's satiated, gasping, twitching, sweating, and about to pass out, although perhaps he's being a little dramatic. There's a sly smile on Minseok's face, eyes still heavy and sultry, but evidently satisfied with the wreckage Jongin has obviously become. Through hazy eyes, Jongin watches as Minseok swipes his lips against the inside of his sleeve, then palms Jongin's fallen pants to clean off his hand.
Jongin can't even respond, barely even moves his lips when Minseok leans across him to kiss him once more, a light press that is sweet and promising, and just a little bit... overwhelmed. His eyebrows arch up when he sits back, reclining on his shins now still before Jongin and his happy, spent cock now laying up against his abdomen, parallel to the couch for how far Jongin's hips slid forward.
"Minseok..." Jongin whispers again. He tries to sit up and fails.
"Want up?"
Jongin nods, but Minseok doesn't move towards him again. He stands up, and then palms his own straining cock. "Want this?" he asks, and again Jongin nods, even more eagerly. And still Minseok doesn't move to help him. Instead, he reaches over to a side table where earlier he'd thrown his pointy wizard's hat. Jongin blinks wildly when Minseok tosses it into his lap, chuckling as he walks away towards his bedroom. He stops in the doorway and turns his head back around, eyeballing Jongin in his exhausted state, flagging hat perched over his otherwise bare crotch, and grins. "Then you'll have to come get me."