Fic Exchange: Before It's Too Late
Title Before It's Too Late
Author rilakumabear
Pairings: omin
Rating PG-13
Warnings Unbeta-d, minor language.
Prompt:Set is 2010: Lunar New Year falls on Valentine's Day, and Jung Yunho decides that it's the perfect day to finally make a move on his dongsaeng. Unfortunately, that dongsaeng is none other than Shim Changmin...
For the lovel light_on_oceans orry if this isn't what you wanted ;_; But I hope you like it anyways? ^_^v
It was Fate, Yunho was sure of it. After all, what else could explain it? For a long time, he’d been building up the courage to confess his feelings to a certain special someone, and being the romantic sap he was, Yunho was determined to make it perfect- down to the very date of confession. After a lot of soul searching and browsing the internet, he’d finally narrowed his choice to either Valentine’s Day or the Lunar New year.
For a start: Valentine’s Day. The fourteenth of February basically existe for onfessions. Moreover, it would be easier to buy things like a dozen red roses or a fluffy teddy bear holding a heart shaped plushie between its paws. Not to mention there are sure to be plenty of Valentine’s Day deals going on at restaurants, and Yunho’s more than happy to snap up a good bargain.
But then again, he doesn’t want to seem cheap: confession is supposed to b special, so what better day than the Lunar New Year, symbolising a new beginning, a fresh start for the two of them? For a long time, the moral dilemma ate away at Yunho, until he realised that this year, the Lunar new Year is on the ame day as Valentine’s Day. t wa perfect. He had spent weeks planning out the whole day down to the last minute, and now, clutches a crumbled itinerary in his hand as he gazes at the calendar. Nothing could go wrong.
“Fate,” Yunho mumbles to himself.
“Talking to yourself is the first sign of going crazy, hung,” comes a drawl from across the hall.
Ah. There is one tiny problem though. Yunho is confessing to his beloved dongsaeng, the one and only Shim Changmin, who walks out from his room, to enter the kitchen.
“Why are you still staring at the calendar? You’ve been standing there for twenty minutes!” Changmin nags as he walks past.
“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Yunho says, as if this is a logical explanation.
Changmin sighs, and chooses to ignore this fact. “Yes, and it’s also the new year.”
“Are you going home for it?” Yunho quizzes. He’s already asked this, but there’s no harm in double checking.
“I already told you no,” Changmin mutters. “There’s no point.”
For a moment Yunho allows the familiar squeeze around his heart, but quickly brushes it aside, knowing that he’s about to make Changmin’s day. “Well, it’s lucky I have the whole day planned out!” he grins, bouncing over to Changmin, who’s busily rummaging through the fridge.
“What are you talking about?” Changmin asks, settling for a banana milk drink.
“I have something special to tell you,” Yunho says, trying to sound mysterious. It doesn’t seem to work though, as the younger man in front of him frowns. Yunho tries again. “And I have lots of things planned to celebrate this special day! Changminnie, aren’t you excited?”
“Um,” Changmin replies, sipping carefully at his banana milk. “Hyung, I have lunch plans with the SHINee members in half an hour, so whatever it is, you can just tell me now, right? You don’t need to dedicate the entire day to tell me something. Unless you’re planning on reciting the entire Harry Potter series to me.”
Yunho flails. Of course he had checked if Changmin would be going home for the New Year, but it hadn’t occurred to him to see if the younger man would be spending time with anyone else. “But... I wanted to spend the whole day with you!” Yunho protests.
“You spen all our time with me,” Changmin points out. “It’s not that big of a deal, I’ll only be gone for a couple of hours.”
“But this is important!” Yunho insists, panicked. The crumpled itinerary in his hand falls pathetically to the floor.
“If it’s really that important, surely you could tell me now?” Changmin says. His mouth is pressed into a thin line, a certain sign of his growing frustration. Yunho gulps. And then, with perfect timing, an idea pops into his head.
“Hey, Changmin, I’ll come with you!”
“You’re... inviting yourself to lunch? Well, I guess they won’t mind.”
Yunho grins, bending down to pick up his itinerary. The day is saved!
*
Lunch is kimchi jiggae in a local restaurant not far from the SM headquarters, and Yunho allows himself to catch up with his cute juniors, whilst Changmin focuses on his food, occasionally surfacing from his bowl to insert a snarky response.
“How come you decided to join us, hyung?” Jonghyun asks, leaning forward. “I mean, it’s great that you’re here, but I thought it was just Changmin-hyung coming today.”
“Today’s a special day, dongsaeng,” Yunho replies, trying to sound wise.
It doesn’t really work though, as the entire table pauses to exchange confused glances. “I just wanted to spend time with my loveable juniors, of course!” Yunho says quickly. “We don’t really get the opportunity to eat together, so why not make the most of it, right? Here, Changminnie, sa aaaah!”
“What the hell?” Changmin exclaims, dodging the spoonful of spicy broth. His face is burning red with embarrassment. “Hyung, I have my own food, why are you trying to feed me yours?”
Because it’s romantic.
“I’ll eat it!” Taemin chirrups, opening his mouth like a baby bird. Yunho carefully feeds the younger boy, making sure not to spill a drop.
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Yunho tuts, pulling a face at his bandmate. “Why can’t you be a cute polite dongsaeng like Taemin?”
“That’s- you can’t compare me with SHINee!” Changmin splutters. Instantly, his voice is drowned by indignant protests from the said members.
“Why can’t we be compared?” Onew protests, and Key slyly replies: “Well, in Yunho-hyung’s eyes, we’ll never be on the same level as Changmin-hyung, if you know what I mean.”
Taemin grins as Changmin chokes on his tea as gracefully as possible. “I can’t imagine why, though. You’re not that special!”
“That’s not true,” Yunho immediately defends his bandmate. “Changminnie is very special! He’s such a caring person. Do you know he leaves me notes in my pockets reminding me to eat? All because he knows how forgetful I am. And once when I was sick, he made me porridge and ate it with me, even though he hates it! And-”
“That’ enough!” Changmin cuts in, looking mortified. He glares at the SHINee members, who are not-so-discreetly snickering behind their hands. “No one wants to know.”
“Well you hould know,” Yunho replies softly. He smiles fondly at the younger man. “You’ve always been beside me, after all these years, through the ups and downs. Always taking care of me, always making sure I was okay... I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you, Changdola. So if anyone needs to know how special you are, it’s you.”
The people on the table around them are staring, but Yunho doesn’t care. He feels like his heart is about to burst with adoration for the other man, who surely, after that loving speech, would understand his hyungs’ true feelings, and accept his confession!
Except Changmin doesn’t look like he particularly enjoyed Yunho’s little declaration of love. He looks... rather pissed off.
“Changmin...?” Yunho asks timidly. He wonders if that other man can hear him over the wolf-whistles and whoops of laughter from the SHINee members. Maybe he should repeat himself? “Changminnie, did you hear me? I said-”
“I know what you said!” Changmin snaps, slamming him chopsticks onto the table. “And not only me, but our little audience here heard every word! In fact, I’m pretty sure everyone in the restaurant heard it!” He stands up, grabbing his coat, and makes to leave.
“Wait, Changmin, where are you going?” Yunho asks, alarmed. He tries to grab the younger man’s wrist, but shrinks back in fear as his dongsaeng glares laser daggers at him.”
“I’m going to Kyu’s,” Changmin snarls. “And don’t even think about following me, you understand?” Yunho nods meekly as the younger man storms away.
“Well, that was unfortunate,” Key says after a moment of awkward silence. “Sorry, hyung.” He doesn’t look particularly sorry though, if the barely-concealed smirk on his face is anything to go by. “Maybe you should go after him?”
“What?” Minho exclaims. “But Changmin-hyung just said- OW.” There’s a loud bang as his knee hits that table. “What was that for?”
“Key’s right,” Jonghyun says. His lips are pressed together sombrely, but somehow he looks like he’s trying not to laugh. Yunho frowns, confused.
“You...you think I should go after him?” he asks doubtfully. Changmin had looked pretty annoyed...
“Of course!” Taemin says, nodding vigorously. “You need to tell him your true feelings! I’m sure he’ll accept your confessions, you just need to persuade him more.”
“That’s right,” Minho joins in. “You know, it’s romantic to confess publicly, right? But Changmin-hyung’s not the type to appreciate that, he’ll be too embarrassed. You should try a different tactic.”
Yunho thinks about it, and decides his hoobaes are right. How could he not have realised? Of course Changmin will run away from a public confession, he’s shy like that, but hides it by being rude and angry. Yunho mentally slaps himself. He’s going to have to really make it up to Changmin now.
“Hyung?” Onew interrupts his thoughts. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry, you guys,” Yunho says. “I have a plan!”
*
Outside, the weather is freezing, and the snow is so heavy that Yunho can barely see in front of him. Still, he runs as fast as he can, all the while on the phone to Kyuhyun, who’s sounding pretty bewildered.
“Candles? Rose petals? Where the hell am I supposed to get these things last minute?”
“Kyuhyun, I’m begging you, just do what I tell you, Changmin will be there in twenty mintutes!”
Over the howling wind, he can hear Kyuhyun sigh. “Alright, fine. I’ll see what I can do. But you owe me big time!”
Yunho sighs in relief. “I do, I swear I’ll make it up to you. Just remember, a heart shape! That’s the most important!”
“Yeah, yeah, you told me sixty times already. I’ll talk to you later, hyung, good luck.”
Yunho imagines he’s in a movie scene, running through the airport to find his true love before he leaves. He has to get to Changmin before it’s too late!
By the time he reaches the Super Junior apartment, Yunho feels like his lungs are about to burst, and his so cold his hands are numb. The elevator seems to be ascending at a torturously slow pace, but by the time the doors ping open, he can hear Changmin’s voice.
“Kyu, are you there? Open up already.”
Yunho quickly texts Kyuhyun to open the door.
“Dude, what the fuck. Did you do this?”
“Hell no! Well, okay, I did, but that’s not important.”
“I am seriously re-evaluating our friendship right now.”
“What! Hey, don’t flatter yourself, it’s not what you think!”
Yunho takes this as his cue, stepping into the hallway. Kyuhyun spots him immediately, visibly relieved. “Yunho-hyung! Oh, thank God.”
Changmin spins round, stunned. “Wait, why are you here? Did you tell Kyuhyun to make..this?” He gestures to the middle of the dorm, which is lit only by a number of candles arranged in a heart shape. Around them, Yunho can make out a light sprinkling of pale pink flower petals. They’re not from roses, but Yunho can forgive Kyuhyun for that. He didn’t exactly give the man a lot of time.
“Yes, I told to him make this. I... I was going to do this at our apartment, but that didn’t exactly work out.”
“Hyung...” Changmin exhales, looking adorably lost, and a little guilty.
“Erm, I think it’s time for me to leave,” Kyuhyun grins. He mutters as he brushes past Yunho: “I stole the flowers from the reception lobby. And also, Mrs Kim in Number 36 wants the candles back when you’re done. She’s worried there’ll be a blackout.”
“Duly noted,” Yunho whispers back. “Thanks.”
Kyuhyun claps him on the back, then disappears from sight. Yunho takes a deep breath. “Changmin. We should go inside.”
“R-right,” Changmin mutters awkwardly. Inside the apartment, he shifts his weight from one foot to another. “You... you did this. For me. Why?”
“Don’t you already know?” Yunho asks. Changmin flushes. “I tried to tell you before, but you kind of... ran off.”
“Sorry,” Changmin mumbles. “It’s just, in front of everyone like that, it was too embarrassing.” He gesticulates wildy. “I can’t deal with things like that, y’know?”
“I should be the one saying sorry,” Yunho refutes. “I’ve known you for so long, I should have realised you wouldn’t appreciate me running my mouth off in front of other people. I was trying too hard to make this special, all I focused on was the stuff I’d planned, instead of you.”
“Me,” Changmin blushes. “You had other stuff planned?”
“I was going to take you to the theme park this morning, but I suppose it would have been closed because of the weather anyway.” He takes hold of Changmin’s hand and leads him to stand in the middle of the candle-lit heart. “And I was going to take you to dinner. I even booked a four-string quartet to accompany our meal. And then I was going to take you home, let you shower first and when you stepped out of the bathroom, you were supposed to see this,” He gestures at the petals and candles, “O our partment floor.”
“Oh, why did you tell me all that,” Changmin whines. “Now I feel like crap.”
“Changmin, there’s another thing I need to tell you,” Yunho quirks a smile at the younger man. Changmin flushes even more, but mumbles. “I think I’m ready to hear it now.”
“I love you. I think I always have. You’ve always stuck by me, even now, when I need you more than ever. It’s going to be a rough road ahead of us, but you know what? I’m not scared, because I know you’ll be next to me all the way.”
“Hyung...” Changmin says. He looks embarrassed, but there’s a steely glint of determination in his eyes too. “I- I love you too.”
“You do?” Yunho asks, ecstatic. He squeezes the younger man’s hands.
“Yeah, I do, you stupid idiot. You drive me crazy with your forgetfulness and clumsiness and you worry me sick when you do something stupid like forgetting to eat three times a day. But I guess, that’s just the way you are. And I wouldn’t change a thing.” It’s possibly the most emotional, vulnerable thing Changmin has ever said before, so Yunho takes those words and tucks them away safely into a pocket in his heart. “And hyung...”
“Mm?”
“This is so sappy, I think I’m going to puke hearts and rainbows soon.”
Yunho laughs. It’s certainly not the perfect confession he planned, what with the stack of Kyuhyun’s video games threatening to fall over next to them, or the fact that Changmin points out the dinner reservations must still be available. But still, when he kisses Changmin inside the candles shaped in a wonky heart, Yunho thinks it’s possibly the most perfect thing he’ll ever experience.
Author rilakumabear
Pairings: omin
Rating PG-13
Warnings Unbeta-d, minor language.
Prompt:Set is 2010: Lunar New Year falls on Valentine's Day, and Jung Yunho decides that it's the perfect day to finally make a move on his dongsaeng. Unfortunately, that dongsaeng is none other than Shim Changmin...
For the lovel light_on_oceans orry if this isn't what you wanted ;_; But I hope you like it anyways? ^_^v
It was Fate, Yunho was sure of it. After all, what else could explain it? For a long time, he’d been building up the courage to confess his feelings to a certain special someone, and being the romantic sap he was, Yunho was determined to make it perfect- down to the very date of confession. After a lot of soul searching and browsing the internet, he’d finally narrowed his choice to either Valentine’s Day or the Lunar New year.
For a start: Valentine’s Day. The fourteenth of February basically existe for onfessions. Moreover, it would be easier to buy things like a dozen red roses or a fluffy teddy bear holding a heart shaped plushie between its paws. Not to mention there are sure to be plenty of Valentine’s Day deals going on at restaurants, and Yunho’s more than happy to snap up a good bargain.
But then again, he doesn’t want to seem cheap: confession is supposed to b special, so what better day than the Lunar New Year, symbolising a new beginning, a fresh start for the two of them? For a long time, the moral dilemma ate away at Yunho, until he realised that this year, the Lunar new Year is on the ame day as Valentine’s Day. t wa perfect. He had spent weeks planning out the whole day down to the last minute, and now, clutches a crumbled itinerary in his hand as he gazes at the calendar. Nothing could go wrong.
“Fate,” Yunho mumbles to himself.
“Talking to yourself is the first sign of going crazy, hung,” comes a drawl from across the hall.
Ah. There is one tiny problem though. Yunho is confessing to his beloved dongsaeng, the one and only Shim Changmin, who walks out from his room, to enter the kitchen.
“Why are you still staring at the calendar? You’ve been standing there for twenty minutes!” Changmin nags as he walks past.
“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Yunho says, as if this is a logical explanation.
Changmin sighs, and chooses to ignore this fact. “Yes, and it’s also the new year.”
“Are you going home for it?” Yunho quizzes. He’s already asked this, but there’s no harm in double checking.
“I already told you no,” Changmin mutters. “There’s no point.”
For a moment Yunho allows the familiar squeeze around his heart, but quickly brushes it aside, knowing that he’s about to make Changmin’s day. “Well, it’s lucky I have the whole day planned out!” he grins, bouncing over to Changmin, who’s busily rummaging through the fridge.
“What are you talking about?” Changmin asks, settling for a banana milk drink.
“I have something special to tell you,” Yunho says, trying to sound mysterious. It doesn’t seem to work though, as the younger man in front of him frowns. Yunho tries again. “And I have lots of things planned to celebrate this special day! Changminnie, aren’t you excited?”
“Um,” Changmin replies, sipping carefully at his banana milk. “Hyung, I have lunch plans with the SHINee members in half an hour, so whatever it is, you can just tell me now, right? You don’t need to dedicate the entire day to tell me something. Unless you’re planning on reciting the entire Harry Potter series to me.”
Yunho flails. Of course he had checked if Changmin would be going home for the New Year, but it hadn’t occurred to him to see if the younger man would be spending time with anyone else. “But... I wanted to spend the whole day with you!” Yunho protests.
“You spen all our time with me,” Changmin points out. “It’s not that big of a deal, I’ll only be gone for a couple of hours.”
“But this is important!” Yunho insists, panicked. The crumpled itinerary in his hand falls pathetically to the floor.
“If it’s really that important, surely you could tell me now?” Changmin says. His mouth is pressed into a thin line, a certain sign of his growing frustration. Yunho gulps. And then, with perfect timing, an idea pops into his head.
“Hey, Changmin, I’ll come with you!”
“You’re... inviting yourself to lunch? Well, I guess they won’t mind.”
Yunho grins, bending down to pick up his itinerary. The day is saved!
*
Lunch is kimchi jiggae in a local restaurant not far from the SM headquarters, and Yunho allows himself to catch up with his cute juniors, whilst Changmin focuses on his food, occasionally surfacing from his bowl to insert a snarky response.
“How come you decided to join us, hyung?” Jonghyun asks, leaning forward. “I mean, it’s great that you’re here, but I thought it was just Changmin-hyung coming today.”
“Today’s a special day, dongsaeng,” Yunho replies, trying to sound wise.
It doesn’t really work though, as the entire table pauses to exchange confused glances. “I just wanted to spend time with my loveable juniors, of course!” Yunho says quickly. “We don’t really get the opportunity to eat together, so why not make the most of it, right? Here, Changminnie, sa aaaah!”
“What the hell?” Changmin exclaims, dodging the spoonful of spicy broth. His face is burning red with embarrassment. “Hyung, I have my own food, why are you trying to feed me yours?”
Because it’s romantic.
“I’ll eat it!” Taemin chirrups, opening his mouth like a baby bird. Yunho carefully feeds the younger boy, making sure not to spill a drop.
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Yunho tuts, pulling a face at his bandmate. “Why can’t you be a cute polite dongsaeng like Taemin?”
“That’s- you can’t compare me with SHINee!” Changmin splutters. Instantly, his voice is drowned by indignant protests from the said members.
“Why can’t we be compared?” Onew protests, and Key slyly replies: “Well, in Yunho-hyung’s eyes, we’ll never be on the same level as Changmin-hyung, if you know what I mean.”
Taemin grins as Changmin chokes on his tea as gracefully as possible. “I can’t imagine why, though. You’re not that special!”
“That’s not true,” Yunho immediately defends his bandmate. “Changminnie is very special! He’s such a caring person. Do you know he leaves me notes in my pockets reminding me to eat? All because he knows how forgetful I am. And once when I was sick, he made me porridge and ate it with me, even though he hates it! And-”
“That’ enough!” Changmin cuts in, looking mortified. He glares at the SHINee members, who are not-so-discreetly snickering behind their hands. “No one wants to know.”
“Well you hould know,” Yunho replies softly. He smiles fondly at the younger man. “You’ve always been beside me, after all these years, through the ups and downs. Always taking care of me, always making sure I was okay... I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you, Changdola. So if anyone needs to know how special you are, it’s you.”
The people on the table around them are staring, but Yunho doesn’t care. He feels like his heart is about to burst with adoration for the other man, who surely, after that loving speech, would understand his hyungs’ true feelings, and accept his confession!
Except Changmin doesn’t look like he particularly enjoyed Yunho’s little declaration of love. He looks... rather pissed off.
“Changmin...?” Yunho asks timidly. He wonders if that other man can hear him over the wolf-whistles and whoops of laughter from the SHINee members. Maybe he should repeat himself? “Changminnie, did you hear me? I said-”
“I know what you said!” Changmin snaps, slamming him chopsticks onto the table. “And not only me, but our little audience here heard every word! In fact, I’m pretty sure everyone in the restaurant heard it!” He stands up, grabbing his coat, and makes to leave.
“Wait, Changmin, where are you going?” Yunho asks, alarmed. He tries to grab the younger man’s wrist, but shrinks back in fear as his dongsaeng glares laser daggers at him.”
“I’m going to Kyu’s,” Changmin snarls. “And don’t even think about following me, you understand?” Yunho nods meekly as the younger man storms away.
“Well, that was unfortunate,” Key says after a moment of awkward silence. “Sorry, hyung.” He doesn’t look particularly sorry though, if the barely-concealed smirk on his face is anything to go by. “Maybe you should go after him?”
“What?” Minho exclaims. “But Changmin-hyung just said- OW.” There’s a loud bang as his knee hits that table. “What was that for?”
“Key’s right,” Jonghyun says. His lips are pressed together sombrely, but somehow he looks like he’s trying not to laugh. Yunho frowns, confused.
“You...you think I should go after him?” he asks doubtfully. Changmin had looked pretty annoyed...
“Of course!” Taemin says, nodding vigorously. “You need to tell him your true feelings! I’m sure he’ll accept your confessions, you just need to persuade him more.”
“That’s right,” Minho joins in. “You know, it’s romantic to confess publicly, right? But Changmin-hyung’s not the type to appreciate that, he’ll be too embarrassed. You should try a different tactic.”
Yunho thinks about it, and decides his hoobaes are right. How could he not have realised? Of course Changmin will run away from a public confession, he’s shy like that, but hides it by being rude and angry. Yunho mentally slaps himself. He’s going to have to really make it up to Changmin now.
“Hyung?” Onew interrupts his thoughts. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry, you guys,” Yunho says. “I have a plan!”
*
Outside, the weather is freezing, and the snow is so heavy that Yunho can barely see in front of him. Still, he runs as fast as he can, all the while on the phone to Kyuhyun, who’s sounding pretty bewildered.
“Candles? Rose petals? Where the hell am I supposed to get these things last minute?”
“Kyuhyun, I’m begging you, just do what I tell you, Changmin will be there in twenty mintutes!”
Over the howling wind, he can hear Kyuhyun sigh. “Alright, fine. I’ll see what I can do. But you owe me big time!”
Yunho sighs in relief. “I do, I swear I’ll make it up to you. Just remember, a heart shape! That’s the most important!”
“Yeah, yeah, you told me sixty times already. I’ll talk to you later, hyung, good luck.”
Yunho imagines he’s in a movie scene, running through the airport to find his true love before he leaves. He has to get to Changmin before it’s too late!
By the time he reaches the Super Junior apartment, Yunho feels like his lungs are about to burst, and his so cold his hands are numb. The elevator seems to be ascending at a torturously slow pace, but by the time the doors ping open, he can hear Changmin’s voice.
“Kyu, are you there? Open up already.”
Yunho quickly texts Kyuhyun to open the door.
“Dude, what the fuck. Did you do this?”
“Hell no! Well, okay, I did, but that’s not important.”
“I am seriously re-evaluating our friendship right now.”
“What! Hey, don’t flatter yourself, it’s not what you think!”
Yunho takes this as his cue, stepping into the hallway. Kyuhyun spots him immediately, visibly relieved. “Yunho-hyung! Oh, thank God.”
Changmin spins round, stunned. “Wait, why are you here? Did you tell Kyuhyun to make..this?” He gestures to the middle of the dorm, which is lit only by a number of candles arranged in a heart shape. Around them, Yunho can make out a light sprinkling of pale pink flower petals. They’re not from roses, but Yunho can forgive Kyuhyun for that. He didn’t exactly give the man a lot of time.
“Yes, I told to him make this. I... I was going to do this at our apartment, but that didn’t exactly work out.”
“Hyung...” Changmin exhales, looking adorably lost, and a little guilty.
“Erm, I think it’s time for me to leave,” Kyuhyun grins. He mutters as he brushes past Yunho: “I stole the flowers from the reception lobby. And also, Mrs Kim in Number 36 wants the candles back when you’re done. She’s worried there’ll be a blackout.”
“Duly noted,” Yunho whispers back. “Thanks.”
Kyuhyun claps him on the back, then disappears from sight. Yunho takes a deep breath. “Changmin. We should go inside.”
“R-right,” Changmin mutters awkwardly. Inside the apartment, he shifts his weight from one foot to another. “You... you did this. For me. Why?”
“Don’t you already know?” Yunho asks. Changmin flushes. “I tried to tell you before, but you kind of... ran off.”
“Sorry,” Changmin mumbles. “It’s just, in front of everyone like that, it was too embarrassing.” He gesticulates wildy. “I can’t deal with things like that, y’know?”
“I should be the one saying sorry,” Yunho refutes. “I’ve known you for so long, I should have realised you wouldn’t appreciate me running my mouth off in front of other people. I was trying too hard to make this special, all I focused on was the stuff I’d planned, instead of you.”
“Me,” Changmin blushes. “You had other stuff planned?”
“I was going to take you to the theme park this morning, but I suppose it would have been closed because of the weather anyway.” He takes hold of Changmin’s hand and leads him to stand in the middle of the candle-lit heart. “And I was going to take you to dinner. I even booked a four-string quartet to accompany our meal. And then I was going to take you home, let you shower first and when you stepped out of the bathroom, you were supposed to see this,” He gestures at the petals and candles, “O our partment floor.”
“Oh, why did you tell me all that,” Changmin whines. “Now I feel like crap.”
“Changmin, there’s another thing I need to tell you,” Yunho quirks a smile at the younger man. Changmin flushes even more, but mumbles. “I think I’m ready to hear it now.”
“I love you. I think I always have. You’ve always stuck by me, even now, when I need you more than ever. It’s going to be a rough road ahead of us, but you know what? I’m not scared, because I know you’ll be next to me all the way.”
“Hyung...” Changmin says. He looks embarrassed, but there’s a steely glint of determination in his eyes too. “I- I love you too.”
“You do?” Yunho asks, ecstatic. He squeezes the younger man’s hands.
“Yeah, I do, you stupid idiot. You drive me crazy with your forgetfulness and clumsiness and you worry me sick when you do something stupid like forgetting to eat three times a day. But I guess, that’s just the way you are. And I wouldn’t change a thing.” It’s possibly the most emotional, vulnerable thing Changmin has ever said before, so Yunho takes those words and tucks them away safely into a pocket in his heart. “And hyung...”
“Mm?”
“This is so sappy, I think I’m going to puke hearts and rainbows soon.”
Yunho laughs. It’s certainly not the perfect confession he planned, what with the stack of Kyuhyun’s video games threatening to fall over next to them, or the fact that Changmin points out the dinner reservations must still be available. But still, when he kisses Changmin inside the candles shaped in a wonky heart, Yunho thinks it’s possibly the most perfect thing he’ll ever experience.