Department Store Love: Final Chapter!!!!!! (finally)
Title: Department Store Love
Authors: Kalchan and Sheepieluv
Chapter: 12/12
Rating: Pg/Pg-13
Pairing: Qmi (Main)
Featuring: the other usual suspects Kangteuk, Eunhae, Hanchul, Yehwook, and Shimin Rating: PG Genre: Romance/Humor/Crack (Comedic good humor for all!) Summary: Kyuhyun works in a department store. His life was fine until Zhoumi came along. Now he is forced to confront his sexual tendencies in ways he’d rather not. Of course his co-workers are no help whatsoever.
Previous Chapters: One / Two / Three/ Four/ Five/ Six/ Seven/ Eight/ Nine/ Ten/ Eleven/
A/N: So here it is: the final chapter of Department Store Love. Its been almost a year in the making (Kalchan and I actually started writing it last year if you can believe it). This was the first attempt at a chaptered fic for both of us and it's been quite an adventure. I'm sorry that it took so long for us to post this last chapter. Life kinda has this way of getting in the way and changing your plans. Thanks so much to all our readers (silent and otherwise) Your support has been wonderful. I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as we've enjoyed writing it! It's been a crazy crazy ride. Love and Happiness to all of you!
Kyuhyun grumbled and rolled over reaching for his alarm clock which was yelling at him to wake up, but instead of hitting the hard plastic snooze button for 10 more blissful minutes of sleep, his hand hit something warm and squishy that went “arghasfsdfc”.
“Sorry Mimi,” Kyuhyun mumbled sleepily. Even after a week of waking up with Zhoumi in his bed Kyuhyun still wasn’t used to it.
“It’s ok Kui Xian,” Zhoumi cheerfully replied rubbing his nose where Kyuhyun had smacked him. “I’m getting used to getting woken up like this.”
Kyuhyun stretched and groaned. He really hated morning classes that forced him to get up early, but what he hated the most was about to happen.
Zhoumi now wide awake and smiling bodily grabbed Kyuhyun and pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Hmmmph,” Kyuhyun’s voice was slightly muffled by Zhoumi’s shoulder. “Do we have to do this every morning?”
“Hmmm. Yes.”
Kyuhyun protested “You’re horrible. I’m gonna be late. Some of us have class.”
Zhoumi snorted. Kyuhyun fixed him with a look. “What? I’m a classy guy!”
“Sure whatever you say,” Zhoumi said with a grin, releasing Kyuhyun from his embrace. Kyuhyun took the opportunity to quickly get out of range of Zhoumi’s reaching arms. “Cuddle monster,” Kyuhyun muttered on his way to the bathroom to get ready.
After dressing and brushing and primping for the day (Zhoumi had been a bad influence, Kyuhyun actually cared a little about his appearance now) Kyuhyun grabbed his bag for class, poured a cup of water into the fern’s pot and headed for the door, just as Zhoumi was starting to stir.
“Hey, you working later?” he called as he slipped on his shoes.
“No. I have the afternoon off.” Zhoumi stretched luxiouriously and lazily got out of bed. He wandered over to the entry way and leaned casually against the wall.
“Oh. Well I guess I’ll see you at the party then?” Kyuhyun asked. Today was the day of the annual Christmas party at SM Wards. There would be drinking and holiday cheer and most importantly PRESENTS! They had all drawn names. Kyuhyun had gotten lucky, he had picked Ryewook’s name. He got his friend a book of piano music. In addition to Ryewook’s present he had bought Zhoumi something special as well.
Zhoumi was silent for a moment. “Yeah I’ll see you there. But I’m going to be late. I’ve got that thing to do this afternoon remember.”
“Oh yeah. That thing,” Kyuhyun echoed. Despite his best pleadings, pouting and plotting Zhoumi would still not tell Kyuhyun what he had to do this afternoon. Kyuhyun had thus deduced that it was some sort of secret.
“Hey don’t look at me like that,” Zhoumi pleaded, wrapping his long arms around Kyuhyun in a warm hug, “I’ll be there before you know it.”
Kyuhyun snorted, releasing himself from Zhoumi’s grip he grabbed his bag and made for the door. “I’ll see you there later then.”
“Bye Kui Xian~” Zhoumi called out as the door closed behind Kyuhyun.
Zhoumi looked at the clock, and at the mess in the kitchen left over from last night’s dinner. Kyuhyun wasn’t one for housework even if his apartment was the size of a closet. Which made the mess look even worse.
He folded up the futon and rearranged the blankets with care. But towards the mess in the kitchen, he shook his head and said, “I’ll do that later.” He grabbed his own bag and from the dark depths of the murse brought out the fresh set of clothing he had brought with him. Whistling cheerfully to himself, Zhoumi stepped into the bathroom and cleaned up. It was going to be a long day.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kyuhyun nervously shuffled out of his last class of the day, shifting his bag on his back to a more comfortable position. The snowfall on the ground made the sun shine down and glare back into his eyes. He adjusted his hat; a gift from Zhoumi when the other had found out he didn’t own any warm winter accessories. Zhoumi, being the fashion addict he was, gladly took it upon himself to outfit Kyuhyun with the warmest and stylish winter wear he could find. All from SM Wards of course since he got a good discount there.
He checked his phone, 2:13 PM. Blowing out a long breath of air that instantly froze, he made his way to the bus station. That morning the weather hadn’t been very forgiving, so he had taken the bus to class. Unfortunately, by the time he had reached the bus stop, his face was tinged red in the cold December air.
The party didn’t start until five that night, giving Kyuhyun a few hours to finish wrapping his gifts and get himself to Leeteuk’s place. He had wanted to wrap Zhoumi’s gift, but the older man always seemed to be at his apartment. In fact, he swore that the other man was living at his place for the past week. Kyuhyun hadn’t been able to have time alone to himself to wrap the murse he had so painstakingly picked out with Heechul.
“What about that one?” Kyuhyun asked, pointing to a large black and silver bag.
Heechul rolled his eyes, giving Kyuhyun an ‘are you serious stare,’ “Kyuhyun, that is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Kyuhyun scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know what you are talking about here. Zhoumi likes black and silver.”
“He likes black and silver sure, but this style and design just don’t go well together,” remarked Heechul, steering Kyuhyun over to a different section of the store.
There it was, sitting on the display innocently, being all sable and tan, calling out to Kyuhyun. The murse all but glimmered in the artificial lightening, standing out from the other murses on display. It was like a sign from the higher powers, sending down a sign to Kyuhyun that this was the murse that would lead him to victory. Victory in Zhoumi’s heart.
“Oh,” Kyuhyun gaped.
Heechul nodded his head, “Now we are getting somewhere.”
“OH” Kyuhyun exclaimed after catching sight of the price tag. Victory in Zhoumi’s heart perhaps but definitely not victory in Kyuhyun’s pockets.
Just to be sure he turned to Heechul and asked, “So this is acceptable?”
Heechul nodded his appreciation. “Fashionably acceptable yes. Financially acceptable…well that’s up to you.”
Kyuhyun sighed. It was a lot of money, but then everything related to Zhoumi seemed to cost a lot of money. Going out to dinner, going to movies, going bowling (Zhoumi seemed to have developed a passion for the game) going to shows, going to clubs, even the fern Zhoumi had given him ended up costing him more money than expected when it had developed a mite infestation. So far everything had been worth it, and if he were to be perfectly honest with himself Kyuhyun was sort of excited to see the look on Zhoumi’s face when he opened the present.
“Alright good.” Without another word Kyuhyun grabbed the bag and stalked towards the checkout. While the sales clerk was ringing up his purchase Kyuhyun was giving Heechul the death glare, silently daring him to say something.
For once Heechul kept his mouth shut. He just smiled knowingly.
Kyuhyun shook his head to clear it of the memories. Boy his hyung sure was strange sometimes. He got off the bus and made his way into the apartment building.
He swung the door open to his tiny apartment. “Zhoumi? Are you here?” He called. There was no answer. Clearly Zhoumi was still off on his mysterious mission, whatever it was.
Kyuhyun’s curiosity was killing him. What was Zhoumi up to? A surprise surely, but a surprise for who? And what sort of surprise took all afternoon to prepare?
Kyuhyun’s mind wandered without him telling it to. Maybe it was something really sweet and romantic? A rooftop dinner for two under the stars, with violins and roses. Or maybe Zhoumi was going to rent out a skating rink just for them and then have their song played through the PA system. Or maybe he was going to serenade Kyuhyun accompanying himself on a baby grand strewn with tulips. Or maybe Kyuhyun just watched too many romance dramas and was kidding himself.
He fished out the murse from its hiding place, the one place he knew Zhoumi would never go, one of his game compartments. Kyuhyun gathered the supplies he would need, wrapping paper, scissors, and tape. With a sigh he got to work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Twenty minutes later Kyuhyun sat back to survey his work. It looked….like crap.
The package was all lumpy, and he had cut the paper too short in some places and had to tape some other paper on because he didn’t have enough of the first kind.
Frustrated he ripped off the wrappings and sat back down to work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Meanwhile Zhoumi was indeed on his mysterious mission, although he was currently stuck in traffic.
He kept nervously flipping open his phone to check the time. He didn’t want to be late. The traffic was moving at snails pace, but he still had thirty minutes before he would be late. Most of the snow from the night before was cleared away, but it was still causing the intersections to clog where the snow wasn’t removed.
Zhoumi turned the radio up, let out the breath of air he was holding, and put the heater on high.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kyuhyun, frustrated once again, had at least managed to wrap the gift in the wrapping paper with minimal damage to him and the gift. But, he was having another difficulty in putting the bow on, or any of the ribbon for that matter.
Every which way he tied it, it still looked floppy and sad. He wasn’t sure what to do since he was new to this whole wrapping and giving gifts thing. Though, he knew there was one person to whom he could count on.
He whipped on his phone and looked up Ryeowook’s number, cutely named Wookie Hyung, and patiently waited for the man to pick up. “Hey hyung?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Oh hey Kyuhyun, what’s up?” responded Ryeowook, a little confused to be getting the call.
Kyuhyun fumbled with the ribbon, “I need some help. I’m trying to tie a ribbon on my gift but I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Ryeowook sighed, “Is the ribbon long enough?”
“What do you mean is it long enough? Of course it is!” scoffed Kyuhyun.
“You need to wrap the ribbon around the package and tape it in place,” Ryeowook patiently explained, “then you can make a bow.”
Kyuhyun hadn’t even thought about taping the ribbon, no wonder it kept sliding off and failing miserably at looking nice. “Oh hyung! I think I understand now.”
“Good job Kyuhyun,” Ryeowook said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Kyuhyun wanted to stick his tongue out at the phone, “Bye hyung.”
Ryeowook’s advice turned out to be a big help. The package didn’t look amazing by any means, but the wrapping no longer looked sloppy and done by a four year old. Kyuhyun put the newly wrapped gift on the kitchen table alongside of his coat and keys.
There wasn’t much else to do now with Zhoumi off somewhere hopefully not getting himself killed in this weather. Since he wasn’t coming back, Kyuhyun didn’t feel guilty about breaking out the playstation and playing for two hours straight.
Though, it really was nice to have someone look out for him. Make sure he ate and bathed on the weekends. It was a welcome improvement for Kyuhyun.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh Kyuhyun,” the voice beckoned from the opening door, “come in come in.”
Kyuhyun’s nose was a bit red, and he was holding on to his gift tightly against his chest. The December air bit at his exposed ears and face.
Leeteuk reached to unravel the thick scarf around Kyuhyun’s neck, “You need to wear both a hat and a scarf with weather like this,” he paused, looking over Kyuhyun’s shoulder for someone who wasn’t there, “where is Zhoumi?”
Kyuhyun shrugged out of his coat and handed it to Leeteuk, “He had something he had to do - yeah I don’t understand either. But he’s coming later.”
Leeteuk frowned, but said nothing else on the matter. He put the coat into the hall closet, and walked with Kyuhyun to where everyone else had been gathering.
“Oh Kyuhyuns here!” Sungmin said happily, walking over to give him a hug filled with holiday cheer.
“Hey hyung,” Kyuhyun said a bit gruffly; not very pleased with the way Sungmin was squeezing him.
Sungmin released him from his grip, and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be so crabby it’s Christmas time!”
Siwon came over and pulled Sungmin away from Kyuhyun, and Kyuhyun shot him a grateful look. “You know what Sungmin, I’ve got a candy cane for you and it’s watermelon flavored.”
“Really?” Sungmin’s attention was completely diverted away from Kyuhyun and on the red and white candy cane in Siwon’s hand.
Relieved, Kyuhyun plopped down on the couch next to Yesung who was eating some kind of Christmas cookie and drinking that vile eggnog drink. He still held the gift he had got for Zhoumi awkwardly in his hands.
“Aren’t you going to put that with the other gifts?” questioned Yesung after he swallowed his bite.
“Huh?” Kyuhyun said confused, jolted out of his daze, “Where?”
Yesung pointed to the small Christmas tree that was decorated in the other corner of the room, “Over there.”
“Oh I see.” Kyuhyun got up again and placed the gift carefully under the tree where there was an assortment of packages of all shapes and colors.
*~*~*~*~*~
An hour and a half later and there was still no sign of Zhoumi. Kyuhyun tried to keep from obsessively checking his phone. Leeteuk was doing his best to engage Kyuhyun in some of the festivities. But Kyuhyun just wasn’t in the mood for name that Christmas Carol or pin the nose on Rudolph. He much preferred sulking in the corner of his room wondering where Zhoumi was and what was taking him so long.
Another hour passed slowly. Heechul broke out the eggnog. Ryewook and Yesung disappeared into a bedroom and Kangin busted out his Santa suit. Watching his hyung prance around in a big red suit and a fake white beard wasn’t exactly Kyuhyun’s idea of fun. He slipped out of the room to make a frantic call to Zhoumi.
“Zhoumi pick up the phone…c’mon pick up the phone.” Kyhyun said to the ringtone on the other end.
“Wei?”
“Oh Zhoumi thank God! Where are you?”
The connection was staticy, but it was there.
“Oh Kuixian! I’m sorry I’m so late. I’m actually just pulling up to Leeteuk-Hyung’s right now. Do you think you could get the door for me? My hands are kind of full.”
Relief flooded Kyuhyun’s body. Zhoumi was alright. He wasn’t lying in a ditch somewhere dying. His hands were just full, probably with Kyuhyun’s present that he had spent all afternoon preparing.
“Sure thing Mimi.” He said and hung up. Kyuhyun walked to the entry way and quickly pulled open the front door, expecting to see Zhoumi carrying a giant package, instead he saw….asians.
Two really short, rather old looking Asians. And behind them, a smiling Zhoumi.
“Wha-?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Hi KuiXian! These are my parents! They decided to come visit for Christmas. Mama, Baba, this is KuiXian, Kyuhyun, my boyfriend.”
The elderly couple smiled and bowed, then shook Kyuhyun’s hand enthusiastically. Kyuhyun could feel his face heat up in a blush. It wasn’t everyday you met your boyfriend’s parents! He and Zhoumi hadn’t even been dating all that long! It was all kind of sudden.
“Um…KuiXian…can we come in?” Zhoumi asked uncertainly.
Kyuhyun, upon realizing that he was still blocking the door quickly moved aside. “Of course come in come in. Can I take your coats?”
There was a smattering of Chinese and Kyuhyun found himself with an armful of fluffy coats. He took them to the hall closet as Zhoumi led his parents into the living room to introduce them to everyone else.
So it was parents not presents that had kept Zhoumi away all afternoon. Huh. Kyuhyun was a little disappointed. But overall he was just relieved Zhoumi was ok.
He made his way into the living room where everyone was greeting Zhoumi and his parents, who were surprised to see Zhoumi’s family show up suddenly. Zhoumi’s father looked like the kind of older man who’s wrinkles likely came from both stress and age. But his mother was laughing happily, and it was easy to see where Zhoumi’s smile came from. Even after seeing them, it was still a mystery as to where the tall gene came from.
Leeteuk passed Zhoumi a plate of chocolate dessert confections, “I hope you stay for a while, we just started to open gifts.”
Zhoumi took a rather large blue frosted Christmas cookie in the shape of a snowman before he offered some to his parents, “Actually, I was planning on staying and then taking Kyuhyun with me to go out to dinner with my parents.”
“Oh that sounds like a good idea,” remarked Leeteuk, smiling at the happy family. “Did your parents just come in from China?”
Zhoumi waved his hand in the air, “Their flight came in at three, but I had to go pick them up and set them up at the hotel. Then we got here as soon as we could.”
Kyuhyun stood awkwardly off to the side, unsure what to do around Zhoumi and his parents. He wasn’t all that sure they understood any Korean, and he couldn’t speak much Chinese to save his life. Luckily, Han geng came over to talk to Zhoumi’s parents about China, leaving Zhoumi open for Kyuhyun to question.
“Zhoumi!” Kyuhyun said urgently, “Why didn’t you warn me that your parents were coming?” He poked Zhoumi in the stomach.
“Well because I knew you’d get all nervous and worked up about it,” Zhoumi exclaimed, flinching away from Kyuhyun’s wandering hands, “and it was a surprise! Everyone loves surprises!”
Kyuhyun tapped his foot in annoyance, “But this is a huge surprise! What if your parents hate me? I can’t speak Chinese and I don’t have a high paying job-”
“Shhh,” Zhoumi covered Kyuhyun’s babbling mouth with his fingers, “they already love you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kyuhyun began, “Shouldn’t I be the one talking to them not Han geng? The only thing I can say in Chinese is I love you and my stomach hurts where is the bathroom!”
Zhoumi wrapped an arm around Kyuhyun and tried to reassure him, “I taught you more than that, but besides, my parents are just happy we are happy. Plus my dad speaks fluent Korean.”
“Sure that’s what they say now, but then later,” Kyuhyun’s brain finally caught up with what Zhoumi was telling him, “wait, your dad speaks Korean? Oh thank god.”
Ryeowook came up from behind Kyuhyun and gave him a light embrace. “Kyuhyunnie I’ve got your Christmas exchange gift here!” He handed Kyuhyun a lumpy red and green striped package.
“This one is yours too Zhoumi,” Heechul came by handing out the gifts that used to be in a pile under the tree.
Zhoumi held the package up in the air, and dissected the gift first with the wrapping still on. “I think I know what this is!” he squealed, hugged the package, took in it’s smell, and the very carefully began to take off the tape.
Secretly, Kyuhyun’s heart was beating very fast as Zhoumi was unwrapping the gift he spent so much of his paycheck on. He held in his hand his own gift, the paper getting damp from the sweat on his palms. To not draw too much attention to himself, he ripped the wrapping on his own present.
The fact that the package was so lumpy was explained by what was inside the oddly wrapped package. As he was tearing away, a soft black yarn beanie fell onto the ground, and the beginnings of a cream colored sweater could be seen. There was no doubt in his mind that the person who probably gave him this gift was Leeteuk. This hypothesis came from the fact that the man seemed to love wearing sweaters, especially ones that were oversized and swallowed his body whole.
Meanwhile, Zhoumi had extracted the wrapping paper and held in his hands a brand new coach murse, a style of which he had not owned before. He was a bit in shock because the gift was way out of the price range they had set up for the exchange. “Kui Xian!” he said excitedly, “I don’t know what to feel! I’m so happy! But who would give me such an expensive gift?” Zhoumi clutched on to the murse afraid that someone would regret their purchase and take it away from him.
Kyuhyun blushed, and tried to hide his embarrassment by covering his face with his hand. “Maybe you should look inside.”
Kyuhyun busied himself with reading the card that came with the sweater, hat, and muffler set he had got as his own gift. At least his guess earlier had been correct; it was Leeteuk that had been his secret Santa.
Zhoumi unzipped the murse with hands shaking with excitement. From inside he pulled out a small hand written note that read, ‘To Zhoumi: I hope you’ll really like this gift, and use it a lot. It cost me a lot of money - Love, Kyuhyun.’
Zhoumi’s eyes widened, and he grabbed Kyuhyun into a huge hug, almost knocking over Sungmin who was trying to walk over to talk to Henry. “Kyuhyun! I love it! You are the best boyfriend ever!”
Kyuhyun smiled, and chuckled, “Yeah,” he said smugly, “I had help, but when I saw it I just knew it was you.”
Zhoumi wrapped their fingers together, and gave Kyuhyun’s hand a light squeeze. “Come on, I need to introduce you to my parents properly.”
“Oh,” Kyuhyun set his gift down on a chair, “I’d like that.” He let Zhoumi tug him over to where Siwon, Heechul, and Han geng were entertaining Zhoumi’s family.
“Kyuhyun!” Zhoumi’s dad said in fluent accented Korean when the two came over, “Zhoumi’s mom and I are very happy to finally meet the one our son’s keeps talking about.”
“I hope he’s been telling you good things,” laughed Kyuhyun.
“Hey,” Zhoumi huffed, “of course it’s been good things!” They all laughed, and Zhoumi kept saying, “What? What? I mean it!”
Kyuhyun knew that he didn’t have to be worry anymore because he had Zhoumi by his side, and knowing that made him feel warm on the inside.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The dull thud of the sound Kyuhyun’s shoes made hitting the side of the apartment building rang loudly in the empty street. “The snow is just caked on my shoes!” he hit them up against the wall again.
A car drove past, it’s headlights reflected in the glass of the door, shining Kyuhyun in a pale white light. Zhoumi gently took a hold of Kyuhyun’s elbow and led him up to the front door through the thick snow that hadn’t been cleared away yet.
“Did you enjoy meeting my parents tonight?” he opened the door for Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun nodded his head, shuffling his feet on the carpet as they waited for the elevator to arrive, “your parents are really nice. I like them.”
“That’s good.”
The trip up to the apartment was relatively quiet; Kyuhyun leaned up against Zhoumi’s taller frame in the elevator. Their hands intertwined together through their thick gloves.
Zhoumi unlocked the door slowly, opening the door and standing right in the entryway not moving. Kyuhyun frowned, and tried to push Zhoumi in to the apartment. “Why aren’t you moving?”
“Because of that,” Zhoumi pointed to the sprig of mistletoe that he had hung up on the doorframe, and he pulled Kyuhyun into the doorway with him. “I wanted to share a Christmas moment with you!” he placed his hands on both sides of Kyuhyun’s face.
“I knew you were a pervert,” Kyuhyun said jokingly, “oh fine go ahead.” He stared straight up into Zhoumi’s eyes, seeing his own reflection in the dim lighting of the hallway.
“Cheers!” Zhoumi proclaimed, lowering his head and kissing Kyuhyun gently on the mouth. Kyuhyun’s hands slipped into the pockets of Zhoumi’s coat, and the two stood there quietly loving each other under the small spring of mistletoe so lovingly taped up.
Later, Kyuhyun would hit Zhoumi and ask him why he said cheers instead of ‘merry Christmas’ or ‘I love you.’ But Zhoumi would respond that Kyuhyun was like a fine wine, and one that he wanted to celebrate the joys of the holiday with. Kyuhyun would hit Zhoumi on the back, repeatedly telling him he was just being stupid, but secretly liking it anyway.
THE END
Epilogue
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”
“I’m really sorry Kui Xian! Really sorry!” said a taller extremely skinny man with his arms full of bras and hangers. He was rushing to stock the shelves before the store opened.
“God Zhoumi. Be careful! You might fall!” Kyuhyun cautioned, watching fondly as Zhoumi flailed his way over to the shelves.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a polite cough.
“Hey Hyung. I brought you the new shipment” Henry said handing a box to Kyuhyun. “I tried to give it to Zhoumi, but his hands were full.”
“Oh. Thanks Henry” Kyuhyun said with a smile, thinking the whole time Yes yes yes yes yes! Now he had something to do instead of stand behind the counter and day dream for the remaining time of his shift, plus putting out the new shipment would mean lots of time to converse with Zhoumi.
He watched as Zhoumi hurried to put away the returns, appreciating the long lean figure of the man he could now call his, and wondered how a few short months could’ve changed everything.
Glancing at the clock he decided he didn’t really care, as long as the next two hours went by quickly. He couldn’t wait to get Zhoumi home.