(build me up, buttercup)
sekai | 3;579~ | nc-17
Love is different for everyone.
To Kim Jongin, love is 181 cm of skin stretched tight over bones. Love sticks his tongue out when ecstatic. Love is named Oh Sehun. On his good days, love hums his favorite song with matching finger-snaps. Love is a bastard who irritates Jongin without even trying to. Love is a sucker for bubble teas and love is someone Jongin never expected. But now, love is wearing nothing but a headband with cat ears sticking up the stack of blonde hair.
Sehun licks his lower lip. "Come here and touch me."
Jongin recognizes a miracle when he sees one. He closes the gap between them, heart beating in deafening thuds, blood sliding down somewhere in his jeans. "You didn't have to tell me that."
But no, not this. The author is getting ahead of herself. The story doesn't begin with a pair of buck naked men inside a toy store. The story starts off two weeks ago. Let's rewind past bathroom emergencies and sloppy pick-up lines:
Jongin and Sehun are fully clothed, juggling fabric and headbands in their hands.
"For this month, we'll be going for the friendly-cat theme. Kids will love it." Junmyeon smiles a mega kilowatt smile charged enough to light up the whole mall. As an example, he takes a headband with cat ears and tries them on. And in case you're wondering, Jongin doesn't think Junmyeon looks friendly in them. "You'll start wearing them tomorrow. Any questions?"
Jongin shakes his head; no. Chanyeol keeps quiet. On the other hand, Sehun points to his left. "Why is Tao wearing that?"
That is a low, v-neck tank top with unflattering cheetah prints that are very painful to look at. Especially when it burns in contrast with Tao's burgundy hair. Tao glances at Sehun, resting his left hand on his hip. "Excuse you, a cheetah is a part of the cat family. Know your Algebra."
"Isn't that Biology or Environmental Science? What with the genetics and all." Sehun mumbles.
Jongin rests a hand over Sehun's shoulder, ignoring the fizzing static from where skin meets skin. "Don't argue with Tao, Sehun. He's not worth your brain cells."
"Okay," Sehun looks down. "Okay."
Things slither back to normal after that. Sehun rushes to the counter. Chanyeol trips on his own feet as he makes his way to the entrance. Jongin and Tao goes back to their assigned sections. Are you KIDding me is a shop owned by Junmyeon, who claims to have wanted to run his own toy store ever since forever. It's a place where magic happens, Junmyeon would tell the new employee with unsure smiles and wide eyes.
Two years ago, it was Chanyeol with his uncontrollable hair who was the newbie with unsure smile. A year later, Tao sashays inside the store with his fur scarves and empty credit cards, hoping that Junmyeon can slowly roll in the money he needs for his monthly Prada bags, Chanels, Louis Vuittons-- and no, not Guccis. They're so overrated. Come summer and you have Sehun who was pushed into this part-time work business by his parents who wanted him to do something else aside from 'dancing half-naked'.
Jongin tumbles into the scene a month after Sehun, when everyone else is comfortable with their routines and own sets of rules others must respect. Sehun has a lot and Jongin doesn't mind them. It wasn't Junmyeon's generosity when it comes to cash and time that swindled Jongin into daydreams, overtimes. It was Sehun and his infallible charm that never failed to hit Jongin right where it hurts.
He maneuvers through rows of remote-controlled helicopters and cars, closer to where he can have a better view of the counter. And by the counter, he means Sehun's ass, Sehun's neck, Sehun's face, Sehun's mouth and Sehun's everything. Under the yellow lights, Jongin takes all Sehun has to offer like one of those office-guys who drowns their systems in eight o'clock coffees before work.
(Sehun is a cup of hotness, two tablespoons of cute, just a dash of everything Jongin needs.)
"Sight-seeing, aren't we?" Chanyeol says, resembling a mushroom in the way he sprouts out of places where he's not wanted.
Jongin shrugs and peers through the legs of some Winnie the Pooh stuffed toy. Sehun is leaning into the counter, crossed hands supporting his chin. He blows air into his cheeks, release them, and puffs them up again. Jongin can think of something else Sehun can blow. Something more than eager to be blown. "Yeah, Sehun is a landmark alright."
Chanyeol observes the way Jongin looks at Sehun, like thrown darts hoping to land on the red bull's eye. "Eeew, Jongin, eew. Whatever you're thinking, don't think much of it."
"Why? Don't act as if you're so innocent. I'm sure you have similar thoughts like these about Byun Bacon from the bubble tea shop next to us."
"I don't like him! I don't have thoughts like that about Baekbaek! And his name it's Byun Baekhyun okay." Chanyeol reacts negatively, but the bites of pink on his cheeks and larger-than-average ears betrays his feelings.
"Whatever you say, Chanchan." Jongin winks, echoing the nickname Baekhyun laid upon Chanyeol.
Jongin walks away, from the tomato-red Chanyeol, from the praises about Sehun he could have shared to the lanky, clueless man.
Sehun is flipping bills by the cashier, looking adorable while he's at it. Tao is searching for imaginary dirt underneath polished nails before checking the rows of their new supplies. Chanyeol lurks over a rack of Transformer robots, itching to strike up a conversation with someone who understands--a ten-year-old kid, preferably. Meanwhile, Jongin is rooted in places where he can gawk at Sehun in peace.
Yup, it's work as usual.
/ - /
Burning leaves are dancing around him before kissing warm gravel. Jongin is making his way home, crushing red and golds and yellows underneath his feet. Before him, Seoul goes on with being Seoul--metallic gray skyscrapers and glamorous malls camouflaging the real Seoul; a city composed of run-down restaurants with flaking paint, spilled soju over mantled tables. Not to mention the dirty alleyways cramped with street performers nursing secret thoughts of fame and prestige.
In a way, Jongin finds autumn whispering in his ear romantic. He crosses the final intersection he has to cross before arriving to his apartment. With flickering greens behind him, Jongin begins playing a mental montage of his moments with Sehun because nothing tops the romance of autumn than a compilation of sweet thoughts.
The first time Sehun introduces himself to Jongin: Hello, I'm Oh Sehun and I work behind the cashier and I like working behind the cashier. I'm telling you this because Junmyeon is nice and he might let you take my place if you ask. So please, I like what I'm doing.
"I won't." Jongin had been too staggered to say anything more than two syllables. He tried finding the rest of the alphabet in the crook of Sehun's neck, in the edge of his pinks lips. But no, they weren't there and even until now, one full year later, letters are still knocked out of Jongin whenever Sehun breathes his way.
The first time Jongin touched Sehun they were arranging doll houses until they look pretty in the racks. Fingers against thin wrist. His tanned skin beside Sehun's ivory whites had been Jongin's favorite color combination.
"Watch where you're going!" An angry voice slices the cloud of daydreams hovering over Kim Jongin. Hurriedly, he gets off the road and closer to the side.
/ - /
Torture is seeing Sehun wear the headband with the cat ears and-oh god. Jongin never had a fetish, but with each glance at Sehun and the friendly-cat ears, he thinks he might start developing one.
"How do I look?" Sehun asks when Jongin walks near the counter (no, he swears it isn't because he wants to inhale a whiff of Sehun's faded cologne one more time).
Sentences evaporate, leaving Jongin to scamper for all that's left. "You look purrrr-fect."
Just when Jongin is about to go on a mental debate about his idiocy and how stupid purrrr-fect is, Sehun laughs. Sehun laughs. Sehun laughs and Jongin stares at Sehun's shining eyes and bared lips, thinking that this must be what an art enthusiast must feel when they're face-to-face with the Monalisa right in the Louvre. "You're purr-fect."
And Jongin is willing to say it seventy-eight more times until the joke stops tickling Sehun. Until the image of Sehun laughing because of something he said is imprinted on his brain. Jongin reaches for Sehun's cheek and pinches it, never realizing what he's doing until folds of flesh are between his fingers and it's too late to pull back because, if possible, Sehun's grin stretches even wider.
So wide it fills the spaces of Jongin's heart and--wow, he might burst any second by now. Sehun winks at Jongin, lifting a hand with fingers curled to imitate a cat's paw. He bares his teeth. "Grrrrrr."
"Excuse me." Jongin drops his hand.
/ - /
"Bacon! Bacon! Show me the comfort room, quick! This is an emergency." Jongin rushes inside the bubble tea shop; wide eyes and heaving lungs that looked like they can't be quelled by anything.
Baekhyun doesn't know what to be offended of first: Jongin's straight order, or how Jongin doesn't know his name. He clears his throat. "It's over there."
"Thank you, Bacon. I'll tell Chanchan you said hi."
"But I didn't say hi."
"You did now. Bye."
After locking the door behind him, Jongin wasted no time in unzipping his jeans. He tugs them down to his thighs along with his underwear, hands immediately gripping his already-wet cock. Beyond closed lids, he pictures Sehun earlier: all cute and tempting with his headband. Jongin jerks off to the thought of those ears sliding down his navel, imagining Sehun on his knees, purring Jongin's name in long syllables.
This isn't new. He does this all the time. However, it's the intensity of his desire to fuck Sehun with those cat ears on that pushed Jongin into kissing the tiled walls because goddamnit, it won't be too good to have anyone hear him moaning. Not Baekhyun who might tell Chanyeol who might let Sehun know. The web of connection baffles him, but he's too out of it to even think properly.
Ten minutes later, Jongin is back in the store. Clean hands, dry lips, wearing an expression on his face that wouldn't make anyone think he just did what he just did ten minutes earlier. It's at this point when Tao approaches him. Smiling. Jongin doesn't like it when Zitao smiles. His smile translates to I know what you did, motherfucker.
"Ahem," Tao is still smiling and Jongin still doesn't like him. "I know what you did, motherfucker."
Jongin thought so. "It's none of your business."
"I know. I just like bothering you." Tao perpetually smells like cigarette and Jongin finds it weird because they have a strict no-smoking policy inside the store and he's never seen Tao caressing a cancer stick. The plausible conclusions Jongin developed is that there's a tobacco plantation growing from Tao's armpits or Tao smokes before work.
Jongin thinks it's the tobacco plantation on Tao's armpits.
The two of them stay quiet. Jongin looks at the counter. Sehun is saying thank you to a tall woman with a toddler on her arms. The toddler, obviously made up of fluff and milk, reaches his hand to touch the triangular ears atop Sehun's head. Sehun grins at the little boy and aah, Jongin remembers the reason for all of those plucked buttercup petals, (he likes me, he loves me) on his mattress. One flower after the other until his room reeks of a garden in spring.
Tao looks at Jongin and grins, no not the I know what you did, motherfucker grin. Something softer, kinder even. "Sehun's going to be the one closing the store tonight. You might want to wait for him. I also heard he stops by at Starbucks after his shift. He's allergic to daffodils and fresh paint. He likes the sound of rain."
"Thanks, why are you telling me this?"
"You look at Sehun the same way I look at Yifan."
"Who's Yifan?"
"My sugar daddy for the month." Tao chuckles.
Jongin rolls his eyes. "Are we all gay here?"
"Not Junmyeon. You see that lady with the cute kid?"
Jongin squints at the departing woman. He recognizes her. She's pretty, like how clouds are pretty: pale, soft and seemingly blurred at the edges. "That's Jieun, the woman he's in love with."
"Is that his son?"
"No, that's his best friend's son. Junmyeon is in love with his best friend's wife. And this store?" Tao's hands glide around him, showcasing colorful displays of a child's paradise. "He didn't set this up because it's a dream of his. He started this the year he heard that Jieun is going to give birth to her child."
"That's so sad."
"It'd be sadder if it was real. I was shitting on you, man." Tao laughs, slapping his thigh loudly. "You believed in me oh god. This is so good. Why am I not an actor yet. No don't punch--oh, dude!"
/ - /
Jongin waits for Sehun that night. Forty minutes after his shift, Jongin waits outside of the store. He's accompanied by two cups of Java Chocolate Chips, cold palms, buckled knees and a digital wristwatch blinking neon green, telling him he still has five more minutes before Sehun closes the store and retires for the evening.
The drink on his hand tempts him; drink me, drink me and Jongin literally shakes his head at the green and black logo. He plans to sip his drink alongside Sehun, as they walk side by side (he planned everything, you see). "No, I am not Alice in Wonderland."
"You're the mad-hatter."
Jongin drops both of plastic containers out of surprise. There goes all my plans; spilled over polish marble like the amount of dignity he has left. Sehun, guilty but not really, jumps to Jongin's side. Jongin frowns, wondering how Sehun can move so silently. He must have been a thief in his past life. Sehun clucks his tongue. "Ooooh. Yixing won't like this. Our poor janitor's got enough problems of his own."
Jongin finds courage buried in the dip of Sehun's clavicles. He offers a hand, tilts his head to the left. "Who says Yixing has to know?"
Sehun accepts the invitation in his exhausted state, taking Jongin's hand in his.
/ - /
Things go on smoothly after that. By each hour, Jongin moves closer and closer to the Sehun until three days later, his fingers are interlaced with Sehun's under the counter. Thankfully, the alphabet comes back to Kim Jongin. They don't cower away anymore whenever Sehun is near. Now, Jongin serves Sehun words on a silver platter--a slick, ugly silver platter of pick-up lines.
"You're like a dictionary, you add meaning to my life."
"I would say God bless you, but it already looks like he did."
"Do you work part-time for NASA? Because you're out of this world."
"If you were a booger, I'd pick you first."
Cheesy, but they do the trick in painting Sehun's cheeks red. "I wish we weren't this close. I prefer the silent and shy Jongin."
It goes without saying that the deeper their relationship progresses and the more skinship takes place, the more often Jongin visits the shop Bacon works at. Bacon doesn't even bat an eyelash whenever Jongin quickly slams the bathroom door shut during his break time.
/ - /
This brings us to the present day, when Sehun and Jongin are comfortable in their own skin. Jongin accompanied Sehun in closing the store tonight, the plot twist occurs when Jongin dragged Sehun inside and locked themselves in.
"You're fucking nuts." Sehun whispers as Jongin flicks the lights near the entrance off.
Jongin walks behind Sehun, gripping Sehun by his hips. His hipbones are sharper than Jongin imagined they would be like. Sehun is leaner, warmer, more concrete than any daydreams Jongin can ever conjure. He exhales right into Sehun's ears, loving the way Sehun gulped. "We'll be fucking with our nuts, yes."
"You're such fail at talking dirty."
"I'd like to hear you try to do better."
"Challenge accepted." Sehun faces Jongin with a smirk that Jongin thinks matches the cat ears on Sehun's head. He lifts Jongin's shirt up until Jongin gets the message and takes it off. Sehun wraps both arms around Jongin's neck and nibbles the patch of skin just below Jongin's ear. "You look so good in this light."
"But it's so dim!" Jongin whines, yet it comes out tinged with a moan.
"Exactly." Laughing, Sehun kisses Jongin and that's when things stopped making sense.
Heat and saliva and the awkwardness of teeth knocking against teeth drawls identical chuckles. Jongin cups Sehun's cheek, licks his bottom lip and waltzes them to the section where animal plushies can be found. Even with his eyes half-closed, half-peeking at Sehun's face, Jongin can tell where they are.
They kiss as they peel layers of clothing off each other, like elementary kids undressing oranges. Jeans and shirts limp on the floor. Jongin's fingers are rougher than what Sehun likes, but his skill with his tongue (especially when they swirl around his nipples, causing Sehun to nearly forget his last name) makes up for it. Sehun groans and Jongin likes the sound of that. He shivers when Jongin's fingers trail down the length of his spine.
"Do you know," Jongin huffs in between hungry kisses, sweat beginning to form on his temples. "There's a certain angle that makes my face flattering? Want to see?"
When Sehun nods, Jongin flattens both hands on Sehun's shoulders, pushing them down until Sehun is on his knees and just right where Jongin painfully needed him to be. "If you wanted to be blown, you could have just said so."
"Naw, where's the fun in that- oh god yes." Jongin throws his head back when Sehun takes a tentative lick before taking more of Jongin's cock. Hollowing his cheek, bobbing his head back and forth in a way that suggests he isn't new to this. Jongin's loud groans drowns out Sehun's muffled moans, and as if deciding that it isn't enough to induce Jongin in this kind of euphoria, Sehun lifts a finger to drench it in the mixture of his saliva and Jongin's precome.
"Little bitch," Jongin manages to choke out after Sehun inserts a finger inside him and then another one, matching it to the pace of his sucking and licking. With difficulty, Jongin opens his eyes and grabs the cat ears along with a handful of Sehun's hair, pulling him closer until his cock hits the back of Sehun's throat and he comes: all trembling thighs and ragged breathing.
"Purrr-fect, right?" Sehun's hoarse voice and swollen, pinkish lips where cum drips down, gravitates Jongin's mouth until he's leaning down and they're back to kissing again. Tongues trying to familiarize the crevices of each other's mouth, Jongin tastes himself and Sehun and something salty, short of desire. He pulls back rather unwillingly, staggering over the display of Puss 'N Boots stuffed toys. The question on the back of Sehun's mind is answered as Jongin brings out a bottle of lube from somewhere in the branches of felt and cotton.
"Oh god, do you hide lubes everywhere here?" Sehun asks as Jongin twirls his index finger, motioning Sehun to turn around. Sehun drops to all fours, knees slightly quivering as he feels the head of Jongin's cock sliding inside him after a short while; slow, slowly, slower as if he's porcelain that would break with a single touch. "Jongin, I don't want to be your china doll tonight. I won't shatter if you fuck me hard."
Despite Sehun's hushed, broken sentences, Jongin enters him with the same, careful pace earlier. It isn't until he's fully inside when he starts moving. Beyond the sore palms and knees, Sehun is filled with a warm, buzzing sensation that isn't just from his groin. As he fucks Sehun faster and faster, Jongin bends down to drop scattered kisses on Sehun's back, forming a constellation only they could recognize. Shredded grunts flies off Sehun's mouth. He wonders how Jongin's still got the energy for this. Jongin begs. "Meow for me, please."
It's hard to refuse when Jongin's cock is hitting him in the perfect spot so Sehun meows, replacing moans with meows and purrs. Jongin digs his fingernails into Sehun's shoulder--he imagines they'll be half-crescents tomorrow--and strokes Sehun's neck up to the goddamned triangular cat ears that lead the two of them doing each other on the floor of their workplace. Jongin will never be able to look at cats the same way again.
Sehun comes first with a deafening meow, followed by Jongin who pulls away after a strong thrust, only to collapse on the cold ground. Almost naturally, Sehun fits himself in the curve of Jongin's arm. They remain still; inhaling, exhaling until their blood circulates at normal pace, hearts beating in sync. "Sehun?"
"Hmm?" Sehun mumbles into Jongin's neck; sticky and permeated with the stench of sex.
"You still have to wear the sexy headband for two more weeks. Just reminding you."
f i n.
~one little secret: i like categorizing my fics as nc-17 because i feel so bad-ass 'yo.
~/facepalms because this is my first time writing smut like this ._.
~written for nelle over twitter because yes for sekai and cats
Love is different for everyone.
To Kim Jongin, love is 181 cm of skin stretched tight over bones. Love sticks his tongue out when ecstatic. Love is named Oh Sehun. On his good days, love hums his favorite song with matching finger-snaps. Love is a bastard who irritates Jongin without even trying to. Love is a sucker for bubble teas and love is someone Jongin never expected. But now, love is wearing nothing but a headband with cat ears sticking up the stack of blonde hair.
Sehun licks his lower lip. "Come here and touch me."
Jongin recognizes a miracle when he sees one. He closes the gap between them, heart beating in deafening thuds, blood sliding down somewhere in his jeans. "You didn't have to tell me that."
But no, not this. The author is getting ahead of herself. The story doesn't begin with a pair of buck naked men inside a toy store. The story starts off two weeks ago. Let's rewind past bathroom emergencies and sloppy pick-up lines:
Jongin and Sehun are fully clothed, juggling fabric and headbands in their hands.
"For this month, we'll be going for the friendly-cat theme. Kids will love it." Junmyeon smiles a mega kilowatt smile charged enough to light up the whole mall. As an example, he takes a headband with cat ears and tries them on. And in case you're wondering, Jongin doesn't think Junmyeon looks friendly in them. "You'll start wearing them tomorrow. Any questions?"
Jongin shakes his head; no. Chanyeol keeps quiet. On the other hand, Sehun points to his left. "Why is Tao wearing that?"
That is a low, v-neck tank top with unflattering cheetah prints that are very painful to look at. Especially when it burns in contrast with Tao's burgundy hair. Tao glances at Sehun, resting his left hand on his hip. "Excuse you, a cheetah is a part of the cat family. Know your Algebra."
"Isn't that Biology or Environmental Science? What with the genetics and all." Sehun mumbles.
Jongin rests a hand over Sehun's shoulder, ignoring the fizzing static from where skin meets skin. "Don't argue with Tao, Sehun. He's not worth your brain cells."
"Okay," Sehun looks down. "Okay."
Things slither back to normal after that. Sehun rushes to the counter. Chanyeol trips on his own feet as he makes his way to the entrance. Jongin and Tao goes back to their assigned sections. Are you KIDding me is a shop owned by Junmyeon, who claims to have wanted to run his own toy store ever since forever. It's a place where magic happens, Junmyeon would tell the new employee with unsure smiles and wide eyes.
Two years ago, it was Chanyeol with his uncontrollable hair who was the newbie with unsure smile. A year later, Tao sashays inside the store with his fur scarves and empty credit cards, hoping that Junmyeon can slowly roll in the money he needs for his monthly Prada bags, Chanels, Louis Vuittons-- and no, not Guccis. They're so overrated. Come summer and you have Sehun who was pushed into this part-time work business by his parents who wanted him to do something else aside from 'dancing half-naked'.
Jongin tumbles into the scene a month after Sehun, when everyone else is comfortable with their routines and own sets of rules others must respect. Sehun has a lot and Jongin doesn't mind them. It wasn't Junmyeon's generosity when it comes to cash and time that swindled Jongin into daydreams, overtimes. It was Sehun and his infallible charm that never failed to hit Jongin right where it hurts.
He maneuvers through rows of remote-controlled helicopters and cars, closer to where he can have a better view of the counter. And by the counter, he means Sehun's ass, Sehun's neck, Sehun's face, Sehun's mouth and Sehun's everything. Under the yellow lights, Jongin takes all Sehun has to offer like one of those office-guys who drowns their systems in eight o'clock coffees before work.
(Sehun is a cup of hotness, two tablespoons of cute, just a dash of everything Jongin needs.)
"Sight-seeing, aren't we?" Chanyeol says, resembling a mushroom in the way he sprouts out of places where he's not wanted.
Jongin shrugs and peers through the legs of some Winnie the Pooh stuffed toy. Sehun is leaning into the counter, crossed hands supporting his chin. He blows air into his cheeks, release them, and puffs them up again. Jongin can think of something else Sehun can blow. Something more than eager to be blown. "Yeah, Sehun is a landmark alright."
Chanyeol observes the way Jongin looks at Sehun, like thrown darts hoping to land on the red bull's eye. "Eeew, Jongin, eew. Whatever you're thinking, don't think much of it."
"Why? Don't act as if you're so innocent. I'm sure you have similar thoughts like these about Byun Bacon from the bubble tea shop next to us."
"I don't like him! I don't have thoughts like that about Baekbaek! And his name it's Byun Baekhyun okay." Chanyeol reacts negatively, but the bites of pink on his cheeks and larger-than-average ears betrays his feelings.
"Whatever you say, Chanchan." Jongin winks, echoing the nickname Baekhyun laid upon Chanyeol.
Jongin walks away, from the tomato-red Chanyeol, from the praises about Sehun he could have shared to the lanky, clueless man.
Sehun is flipping bills by the cashier, looking adorable while he's at it. Tao is searching for imaginary dirt underneath polished nails before checking the rows of their new supplies. Chanyeol lurks over a rack of Transformer robots, itching to strike up a conversation with someone who understands--a ten-year-old kid, preferably. Meanwhile, Jongin is rooted in places where he can gawk at Sehun in peace.
Yup, it's work as usual.
/ - /
Burning leaves are dancing around him before kissing warm gravel. Jongin is making his way home, crushing red and golds and yellows underneath his feet. Before him, Seoul goes on with being Seoul--metallic gray skyscrapers and glamorous malls camouflaging the real Seoul; a city composed of run-down restaurants with flaking paint, spilled soju over mantled tables. Not to mention the dirty alleyways cramped with street performers nursing secret thoughts of fame and prestige.
In a way, Jongin finds autumn whispering in his ear romantic. He crosses the final intersection he has to cross before arriving to his apartment. With flickering greens behind him, Jongin begins playing a mental montage of his moments with Sehun because nothing tops the romance of autumn than a compilation of sweet thoughts.
The first time Sehun introduces himself to Jongin: Hello, I'm Oh Sehun and I work behind the cashier and I like working behind the cashier. I'm telling you this because Junmyeon is nice and he might let you take my place if you ask. So please, I like what I'm doing.
"I won't." Jongin had been too staggered to say anything more than two syllables. He tried finding the rest of the alphabet in the crook of Sehun's neck, in the edge of his pinks lips. But no, they weren't there and even until now, one full year later, letters are still knocked out of Jongin whenever Sehun breathes his way.
The first time Jongin touched Sehun they were arranging doll houses until they look pretty in the racks. Fingers against thin wrist. His tanned skin beside Sehun's ivory whites had been Jongin's favorite color combination.
"Watch where you're going!" An angry voice slices the cloud of daydreams hovering over Kim Jongin. Hurriedly, he gets off the road and closer to the side.
/ - /
Torture is seeing Sehun wear the headband with the cat ears and-oh god. Jongin never had a fetish, but with each glance at Sehun and the friendly-cat ears, he thinks he might start developing one.
"How do I look?" Sehun asks when Jongin walks near the counter (no, he swears it isn't because he wants to inhale a whiff of Sehun's faded cologne one more time).
Sentences evaporate, leaving Jongin to scamper for all that's left. "You look purrrr-fect."
Just when Jongin is about to go on a mental debate about his idiocy and how stupid purrrr-fect is, Sehun laughs. Sehun laughs. Sehun laughs and Jongin stares at Sehun's shining eyes and bared lips, thinking that this must be what an art enthusiast must feel when they're face-to-face with the Monalisa right in the Louvre. "You're purr-fect."
And Jongin is willing to say it seventy-eight more times until the joke stops tickling Sehun. Until the image of Sehun laughing because of something he said is imprinted on his brain. Jongin reaches for Sehun's cheek and pinches it, never realizing what he's doing until folds of flesh are between his fingers and it's too late to pull back because, if possible, Sehun's grin stretches even wider.
So wide it fills the spaces of Jongin's heart and--wow, he might burst any second by now. Sehun winks at Jongin, lifting a hand with fingers curled to imitate a cat's paw. He bares his teeth. "Grrrrrr."
"Excuse me." Jongin drops his hand.
/ - /
"Bacon! Bacon! Show me the comfort room, quick! This is an emergency." Jongin rushes inside the bubble tea shop; wide eyes and heaving lungs that looked like they can't be quelled by anything.
Baekhyun doesn't know what to be offended of first: Jongin's straight order, or how Jongin doesn't know his name. He clears his throat. "It's over there."
"Thank you, Bacon. I'll tell Chanchan you said hi."
"But I didn't say hi."
"You did now. Bye."
After locking the door behind him, Jongin wasted no time in unzipping his jeans. He tugs them down to his thighs along with his underwear, hands immediately gripping his already-wet cock. Beyond closed lids, he pictures Sehun earlier: all cute and tempting with his headband. Jongin jerks off to the thought of those ears sliding down his navel, imagining Sehun on his knees, purring Jongin's name in long syllables.
This isn't new. He does this all the time. However, it's the intensity of his desire to fuck Sehun with those cat ears on that pushed Jongin into kissing the tiled walls because goddamnit, it won't be too good to have anyone hear him moaning. Not Baekhyun who might tell Chanyeol who might let Sehun know. The web of connection baffles him, but he's too out of it to even think properly.
Ten minutes later, Jongin is back in the store. Clean hands, dry lips, wearing an expression on his face that wouldn't make anyone think he just did what he just did ten minutes earlier. It's at this point when Tao approaches him. Smiling. Jongin doesn't like it when Zitao smiles. His smile translates to I know what you did, motherfucker.
"Ahem," Tao is still smiling and Jongin still doesn't like him. "I know what you did, motherfucker."
Jongin thought so. "It's none of your business."
"I know. I just like bothering you." Tao perpetually smells like cigarette and Jongin finds it weird because they have a strict no-smoking policy inside the store and he's never seen Tao caressing a cancer stick. The plausible conclusions Jongin developed is that there's a tobacco plantation growing from Tao's armpits or Tao smokes before work.
Jongin thinks it's the tobacco plantation on Tao's armpits.
The two of them stay quiet. Jongin looks at the counter. Sehun is saying thank you to a tall woman with a toddler on her arms. The toddler, obviously made up of fluff and milk, reaches his hand to touch the triangular ears atop Sehun's head. Sehun grins at the little boy and aah, Jongin remembers the reason for all of those plucked buttercup petals, (he likes me, he loves me) on his mattress. One flower after the other until his room reeks of a garden in spring.
Tao looks at Jongin and grins, no not the I know what you did, motherfucker grin. Something softer, kinder even. "Sehun's going to be the one closing the store tonight. You might want to wait for him. I also heard he stops by at Starbucks after his shift. He's allergic to daffodils and fresh paint. He likes the sound of rain."
"Thanks, why are you telling me this?"
"You look at Sehun the same way I look at Yifan."
"Who's Yifan?"
"My sugar daddy for the month." Tao chuckles.
Jongin rolls his eyes. "Are we all gay here?"
"Not Junmyeon. You see that lady with the cute kid?"
Jongin squints at the departing woman. He recognizes her. She's pretty, like how clouds are pretty: pale, soft and seemingly blurred at the edges. "That's Jieun, the woman he's in love with."
"Is that his son?"
"No, that's his best friend's son. Junmyeon is in love with his best friend's wife. And this store?" Tao's hands glide around him, showcasing colorful displays of a child's paradise. "He didn't set this up because it's a dream of his. He started this the year he heard that Jieun is going to give birth to her child."
"That's so sad."
"It'd be sadder if it was real. I was shitting on you, man." Tao laughs, slapping his thigh loudly. "You believed in me oh god. This is so good. Why am I not an actor yet. No don't punch--oh, dude!"
/ - /
Jongin waits for Sehun that night. Forty minutes after his shift, Jongin waits outside of the store. He's accompanied by two cups of Java Chocolate Chips, cold palms, buckled knees and a digital wristwatch blinking neon green, telling him he still has five more minutes before Sehun closes the store and retires for the evening.
The drink on his hand tempts him; drink me, drink me and Jongin literally shakes his head at the green and black logo. He plans to sip his drink alongside Sehun, as they walk side by side (he planned everything, you see). "No, I am not Alice in Wonderland."
"You're the mad-hatter."
Jongin drops both of plastic containers out of surprise. There goes all my plans; spilled over polish marble like the amount of dignity he has left. Sehun, guilty but not really, jumps to Jongin's side. Jongin frowns, wondering how Sehun can move so silently. He must have been a thief in his past life. Sehun clucks his tongue. "Ooooh. Yixing won't like this. Our poor janitor's got enough problems of his own."
Jongin finds courage buried in the dip of Sehun's clavicles. He offers a hand, tilts his head to the left. "Who says Yixing has to know?"
Sehun accepts the invitation in his exhausted state, taking Jongin's hand in his.
/ - /
Things go on smoothly after that. By each hour, Jongin moves closer and closer to the Sehun until three days later, his fingers are interlaced with Sehun's under the counter. Thankfully, the alphabet comes back to Kim Jongin. They don't cower away anymore whenever Sehun is near. Now, Jongin serves Sehun words on a silver platter--a slick, ugly silver platter of pick-up lines.
"You're like a dictionary, you add meaning to my life."
"I would say God bless you, but it already looks like he did."
"Do you work part-time for NASA? Because you're out of this world."
"If you were a booger, I'd pick you first."
Cheesy, but they do the trick in painting Sehun's cheeks red. "I wish we weren't this close. I prefer the silent and shy Jongin."
It goes without saying that the deeper their relationship progresses and the more skinship takes place, the more often Jongin visits the shop Bacon works at. Bacon doesn't even bat an eyelash whenever Jongin quickly slams the bathroom door shut during his break time.
/ - /
This brings us to the present day, when Sehun and Jongin are comfortable in their own skin. Jongin accompanied Sehun in closing the store tonight, the plot twist occurs when Jongin dragged Sehun inside and locked themselves in.
"You're fucking nuts." Sehun whispers as Jongin flicks the lights near the entrance off.
Jongin walks behind Sehun, gripping Sehun by his hips. His hipbones are sharper than Jongin imagined they would be like. Sehun is leaner, warmer, more concrete than any daydreams Jongin can ever conjure. He exhales right into Sehun's ears, loving the way Sehun gulped. "We'll be fucking with our nuts, yes."
"You're such fail at talking dirty."
"I'd like to hear you try to do better."
"Challenge accepted." Sehun faces Jongin with a smirk that Jongin thinks matches the cat ears on Sehun's head. He lifts Jongin's shirt up until Jongin gets the message and takes it off. Sehun wraps both arms around Jongin's neck and nibbles the patch of skin just below Jongin's ear. "You look so good in this light."
"But it's so dim!" Jongin whines, yet it comes out tinged with a moan.
"Exactly." Laughing, Sehun kisses Jongin and that's when things stopped making sense.
Heat and saliva and the awkwardness of teeth knocking against teeth drawls identical chuckles. Jongin cups Sehun's cheek, licks his bottom lip and waltzes them to the section where animal plushies can be found. Even with his eyes half-closed, half-peeking at Sehun's face, Jongin can tell where they are.
They kiss as they peel layers of clothing off each other, like elementary kids undressing oranges. Jeans and shirts limp on the floor. Jongin's fingers are rougher than what Sehun likes, but his skill with his tongue (especially when they swirl around his nipples, causing Sehun to nearly forget his last name) makes up for it. Sehun groans and Jongin likes the sound of that. He shivers when Jongin's fingers trail down the length of his spine.
"Do you know," Jongin huffs in between hungry kisses, sweat beginning to form on his temples. "There's a certain angle that makes my face flattering? Want to see?"
When Sehun nods, Jongin flattens both hands on Sehun's shoulders, pushing them down until Sehun is on his knees and just right where Jongin painfully needed him to be. "If you wanted to be blown, you could have just said so."
"Naw, where's the fun in that- oh god yes." Jongin throws his head back when Sehun takes a tentative lick before taking more of Jongin's cock. Hollowing his cheek, bobbing his head back and forth in a way that suggests he isn't new to this. Jongin's loud groans drowns out Sehun's muffled moans, and as if deciding that it isn't enough to induce Jongin in this kind of euphoria, Sehun lifts a finger to drench it in the mixture of his saliva and Jongin's precome.
"Little bitch," Jongin manages to choke out after Sehun inserts a finger inside him and then another one, matching it to the pace of his sucking and licking. With difficulty, Jongin opens his eyes and grabs the cat ears along with a handful of Sehun's hair, pulling him closer until his cock hits the back of Sehun's throat and he comes: all trembling thighs and ragged breathing.
"Purrr-fect, right?" Sehun's hoarse voice and swollen, pinkish lips where cum drips down, gravitates Jongin's mouth until he's leaning down and they're back to kissing again. Tongues trying to familiarize the crevices of each other's mouth, Jongin tastes himself and Sehun and something salty, short of desire. He pulls back rather unwillingly, staggering over the display of Puss 'N Boots stuffed toys. The question on the back of Sehun's mind is answered as Jongin brings out a bottle of lube from somewhere in the branches of felt and cotton.
"Oh god, do you hide lubes everywhere here?" Sehun asks as Jongin twirls his index finger, motioning Sehun to turn around. Sehun drops to all fours, knees slightly quivering as he feels the head of Jongin's cock sliding inside him after a short while; slow, slowly, slower as if he's porcelain that would break with a single touch. "Jongin, I don't want to be your china doll tonight. I won't shatter if you fuck me hard."
Despite Sehun's hushed, broken sentences, Jongin enters him with the same, careful pace earlier. It isn't until he's fully inside when he starts moving. Beyond the sore palms and knees, Sehun is filled with a warm, buzzing sensation that isn't just from his groin. As he fucks Sehun faster and faster, Jongin bends down to drop scattered kisses on Sehun's back, forming a constellation only they could recognize. Shredded grunts flies off Sehun's mouth. He wonders how Jongin's still got the energy for this. Jongin begs. "Meow for me, please."
It's hard to refuse when Jongin's cock is hitting him in the perfect spot so Sehun meows, replacing moans with meows and purrs. Jongin digs his fingernails into Sehun's shoulder--he imagines they'll be half-crescents tomorrow--and strokes Sehun's neck up to the goddamned triangular cat ears that lead the two of them doing each other on the floor of their workplace. Jongin will never be able to look at cats the same way again.
Sehun comes first with a deafening meow, followed by Jongin who pulls away after a strong thrust, only to collapse on the cold ground. Almost naturally, Sehun fits himself in the curve of Jongin's arm. They remain still; inhaling, exhaling until their blood circulates at normal pace, hearts beating in sync. "Sehun?"
"Hmm?" Sehun mumbles into Jongin's neck; sticky and permeated with the stench of sex.
"You still have to wear the sexy headband for two more weeks. Just reminding you."
f i n.
~one little secret: i like categorizing my fics as nc-17 because i feel so bad-ass 'yo.
~/facepalms because this is my first time writing smut like this ._.
~written for nelle over twitter because yes for sekai and cats