[Fic] Snow
Title: Snow
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, fluff, college AU
Prompt: a college au with the theme of winter, or winter holidays
***
“Hey, watch out!”
Zhou Mi, with poles akimbo, and skis trying to go two different ways, corrected in time so that the snowboarder coming down the hill didn’t run right over him. He’d thought going out to ski was a terrible idea since he was the only one not proficient at it, and he’d been proven right when everyone had run off to take on more challenging areas. So Zhou Mi limped along on the lower areas, trying to re-learn things he’d figured out in years past. Namely, how to make his skis do what he wanted them to. He’d had lessons, even, and they said it didn’t really matter how uncoordinated you were. Or maybe he had that backwards. He was content to play around though. At least, when he wasn’t being nearly run over because his skis decided to run off on their own.
“Sorry,” Zhou Mi said as he got to the bottom of the slope. He yanked his scarf down off his mouth, and winced as he whacked himself in the knee with a pole. “I didn’t realize anyone was that close, and my skis took off on me.”
The man he’d almost brushed into raised chunky goggles, and shrugged. “It’s okay. I got closer than I meant to, too. They have a life of their own, huh?”
Zhou Mi laughed. “Yeah, today they do. I guess I’m magic. Enjoy.”
“Yeah, you too. Good luck up there.”
Or as far up as Zhou Mi dared. He wanted to see the end of the year without a broken bone. But he skied a while longer before his friends found him, and all was well.
***
Zhou Mi didn’t mean to stare. He really didn’t mean to be the creepy guy at the party with a disposable cup edging around people to get a better listen at someone’s conversation either, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t happening. First, he stared. Not from behind some plant but as he skirted people in a general half circle. The face, he’d decided, sort of looked familiar. Kind of. In that way that pictures of random people did and he couldn’t figure out if they looked like a celebrity or some guy he passed in the grocery store.
But it wasn’t the face that had started him off on his little stalking endeavor, it was the voice. It was probably ridiculous to remember someone’s voice that clearly after a shout, a muffled minute-long conversation, and half a laugh. In fact, Zhou Mi told himself that he was imagining things at least a dozen times by the time he’d wormed himself up close enough. It was a nice voice, coming from a nice face. That was a furtive, ridiculous thought, but Zhou Mi had it anyway. The kind of voice just low enough that he wanted to stroke it. Or be stroked by it.
He was going to introduce himself, start up a conversation about skiing, and then if he was wrong, laugh at himself forever.
But as he shuffled forward, out from behind one of the men his quarry was talking to, he finally got caught in his staring. His ears started burning as eyes met his, before dropping to his blue slippers and taking a trip up his body to his sheepish smile. It wasn’t like his thoughts could be seen. There wasn’t any reason to be embarrassed. It was like he knew-
“You!” the man said, abandoning his conversation partners to step toward Zhou Mi. “From the ski slope, right?”
It was all Zhou Mi could do to suppress the rolling laughter.
“Yeah. I had a feeling it was you.”
“You go to school here?”
It turned out that the man’s name was Kyuhyun, and they indeed went to the same college. The people Kyuhyun had been talking to were amused how they had “met” and more amused that they’d run into each other at some random Christmas party a week later.
“I survived the slopes,” Zhou Mi said, briefly holding his hands out to the side. “Didn’t roll anyone down with me or get close after that.”
“That’s good,” Kyuhyun said grinning. “Watching you come the rest of the way down, with all the bulges in your coat and pants it looked like you had about seventeen knees.”
Kyuhyun was nice not to mention his form, which for certain hadn’t been spot on. Whatever got him down the slope in one piece was his motto.
Other people had come up to talk to Kyuhyun, and they’d waved at each other and parted. It’d been kind of weird, kind of serendipitous. Zhou Mi also felt a bit odd as he walked away, like he should’ve asked for an email address. Maybe joked he’d send Kyuhyun some snowboarding tutorials. But he didn’t, just walking off and finding someone he knew to tell them the odd story of finding a guy he’d never expected to see again. One he’d really had no reason to want to see again.
But walking away was something he couldn’t quite shake.
***
“I think I’ll sit beside you just in case I get up too slow and you need to get over me to get to the front of the class,” a voice said nearly in Kyuhyun’s ear.
Kyuhyun nearly jumped out of his chair.
It took a moment, recalling the name to go with the face and the voice and the seventeen knees. He hadn’t really said that, he’d concluded later. It sounded kind of rude. It was something he’d say to a friend, jokingly, but the guy - Zhou Mi - he barely even knew. It had been Zhou Mi’s smile that had really clicked for Kyuhyun. That and his knees.
“Are we stalking each other now?” Kyuhyun asked, blinking as Zhou Mi sat down beside him. Almost colliding on the slope, a party, and then sharing a class a few weeks later.
“I don’t know your last name,” Zhou Mi explained, putting out a notebook and a couple of pens. “So you’d have to be stalking me.”
“Actually, I think we have some people in common,” Kyuhyun said. “Donghae?”
Zhou Mi’s face visibly brightened. “Hyukjae’s roommate. Yeah! I know him.”
It was kind of weird, but still, knowing someone in class was better than not in most cases. More notes, people to check with, and the all-important information in case he was ever out sick.
The teacher came in, and class settled, but Kyuhyun got out a slip of paper and wrote out his email on it, along with his full name, and for the hell of it, his phone number. Zhou Mi was a friend of a friend, and time would only prove if he was a good classmate as well. Kyuhyun felt a bit like he was passing notes in fifth grade when he shoved the paper onto Zhou Mi’s notebook.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as Zhou Mi read the contents of the note, the way his lips curled up. He traced Zhou Mi’s profile once, and went back to his note-taking.
But at the end of class, Zhou Mi slid a paper onto his desk, too.
“Good,” Kyuhyun murmured to him. “Now I won’t have to run over you to get class information.”
Zhou Mi’s laugh rang out into the clamor of the ending class, and it made Kyuhyun smile. But Zhou Mi had a class after, so he left in a flurry of stowed backpack and waggled fingers, and Kyuhyun wondered if he wasn’t the one who’d gotten run over.
They had months together in that class, cracking jokes, planning study sessions, realizing that the world was small and that they knew even more people mutually than they thought. Zhou Mi laughed like it was his job to laugh, was thoughtful, had such a pretty pout when his bottom lip went all loose and poked out. It kind of made Kyuhyun want to-
***
Kyuhyun might have been harboring a tiny crush.
Tiny. Microscopic almost. The size of Jupiter.
He’d see Zhou Mi sometimes on campus on some bench, his earbuds in and eyes closed, finger tapping away on his book as though the music was coming out through it. Or maybe being controlled by it. He wondered how many times his eyes had just slid by, or idly admired as he walked to class. Maybe not. Maybe their paths just hadn’t crossed before. Who knew?
But then Zhou Mi left for a semester, and Kyuhyun’s world became not accidental-weekend-meetings, and more sitting in his underwear eating takeout and kind of thinking about doing his homework after finishing another hour of gaming. The thing about liking someone, he made an effort of what he was wearing and how early he got to classes because that meant a few more minutes of talking to Zhou Mi, and maybe a few more minutes of being attractive to Zhou Mi. Donghae thought it was hilarious when he found out, but Kyuhyun wasn’t all that charmed by it.
“Zhou Mi hasn’t dated anyone for like, six months at least,” Donghae told him. “He’s getting to study abroad so I doubt he’s going for some extra tail.”
Kyuhyun scowled. And Donghae just smiled at him, knowing that the question that Kyuhyun was trying not to ask was if Zhou Mi ever mentioned him.
“You have his email,” Donghae said brightly. “I’m sure he looooves to hear from you.”
Kyuhyun wasn’t entirely positive if he was supposed to read into that or not. There were times he thought he was and times he thought he wasn’t, and he ended up sending Zhou Mi silly screen caps, and gaming updates, and pictures of the weather.
In return Zhou Mi sent back pictures of his frowny faces and admonitions for Kyuhyun to take care of himself, and Kyuhyun really had no idea when they had become friends. That first day in class, maybe. Or the day after when they’d gotten lunch together because Zhou Mi had no class after that day.
Or maybe the day Zhou Mi gave him a candy bar for his birthday.
He just knew that the months that Zhou Mi was gone were very long.
And when Zhou Mi was back, he still hadn’t quite found his courage. But he knew that the point he would find it couldn’t be far off when Zhou Mi came out of the airport smiling to greet the group of people who’d come to greet him back. He was home, Kyuhyun thought then, rather ferociously when he’d been caught in a one-armed hug with three others. With them.
And he took Zhou Mi snowboarding, because that was how he was supposed to confess he supposed. Maybe not having four things to control’d make it easier. And they could just link arms and tiptoe into the sunset.
But he’d gotten a sore stomach watching Zhou Mi tumble end over end - first in concern and then in laughter.
“We should’ve gone inner-tubing,” Zhou Mi said, breathless and pink-faced in the cold.
They were huddled together on a bench, trying to decide if they wanted to go up again or not.
“I know people who’ve gotten hurt doing that too,” Kyuhyun laughed.
Though Zhou Mi’s only complaint was, “No one’s going to be there to give me a massage tomorrow.”
Kyuhyun might’ve offered, as they turned in their equipment and stood waiting for the bus to leave.
“Thanks,” Zhou Mi said, giving him a hug before they parted to different buses.
“Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, and waited for the courage to bite him.
***
The thing about mistletoe was, there was a limit to how it could be used. Once people knew where it was, the ability to spring it on them was lost unless they got distracted. Some people used the mistletoe as an excuse, and some people had it thrust upon them. Some people giggled and backed away, or were good sports about it, and all manner of other responses.
Kyuhyun really didn’t pay that much attention to the ceilings of parties, especially parties early in December. It wasn’t even being decorated for, yet. Still, he walked in and shed his coat, and had a cup of hot tea handed to him. He sipped it, scanning to see who all he knew and how long he’d have to end up staying. Not that he didn’t like being around other people, but sometimes it was nice to escape them and roll back into his bed with his computer. He knew that sounded wrong, but there it was.
There was the jangle of bells, and the hall door opened and several people streamed out all chatting and laughing. First was Donghae, animated in delight that drew people to him like flies. Next, Zhou Mi.
He wasn’t talking, or even smiling, instead listening intently with his eyes lit and dancing, and some ridiculous tiny reindeer antlers perched on his head. Kyuhyun had to press his hand to his mouth to keep from laughing aloud. Thankfully no one had stuck a red nose on Zhou Mi as well, which would have taken it from ridiculously cute to over the top.
When Zhou Mi spotted him, his eyes went just a bit wider, fingers lifting from his side to waggle in greeting as Kyuhyun bobbed his head at him. Zhou Mi was wearing fuzzy purple slippers, he saw, and nearly laughed again.
So it was his own inattention, and the tea in his hand, and Donghae yanking his elbow so they could all say hi.
And it was Donghae backing off. “Looks like it’s your turn!”
As Kyuhyun looked up and up. At the mistletoe hanging just a bare inch above Zhou Mi’s antlers.
He stared up at it like the force of his stare was holding up the doorframe. That was not how things were supposed to go. The swallow was immediate, reflexive, and oh his head wouldn’t function. It was just a kiss. It was just-
“We should probably move so someone else can stumble under it,” Zhou Mi said, his fingers gripping Kyuhyun’s elbow through his sweater. They moved away from it almost in step as Donghae frowned from the other side of Zhou Mi.
“I had a good time trying to learn to snowboard,” Zhou Mi said, smiling at him and snagging a mug of tea from the ones being passed out.
“Yeah, me too. Most everyone I know already knows how or wouldn’t ever want to try.”
“I think my coordination is going to prevent success,” Zhou Mi said, grinning. “Next time we really should inner tube.”
“Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, his hand almost vibrating against his pants.
They could make another plan for that. Maybe they’d find a time that fit this winter, maybe not. Maybe the next time they’d see each other would be the winter after, missing each other on campus and being too busy for parties, or Zhou Mi would start dating someone again and things would always be badly timed. Zhou Mi and his red sweater and the antlers, smelling of tea and faintly of peppermint. If he wasn’t crazy, there was a smear of the candy cane at the corner of Zhou Mi’s mouth. Tiny, almost imperceptible. It’d be sticky and sweet, and-
Zhou Mi startled when Kyuhyun reached for the mug in his hand, pushing it at someone Kyuhyun had never seen before grabbing Zhou Mi’s hand and pulling him along behind him.
The door of Donghae’s room closed with a click as Kyuhyun pushed it, and then they were face to face in the half light of Donghae’s bedside lamp. Kyuhyun glanced up at the ceiling, nothing but white and smooth, and nearly sighed.
“Pretend this is still the mistletoe,” Kyuhyun instructed, and with a wiggle of his toes, pushed himself up to kiss Zhou Mi.
It wasn’t even that much of a kiss, just a press of lips together and steadying himself with Zhou Mi’s arms. He could’ve laughed it off, if he had to, and he couldn’t even read Zhou Mi’s eyes because they were hidden by his lashes and focused somewhere around Kyuhyun’s collarbones.
Fuzzy purple slippers, Kyuhyun’s mind reminded him. And reindeer antlers.
“There were two pieces of mistletoe, right?” Zhou Mi asked after the longest moment of Kyuhyun’s life.
“Okay?”
It came out so breathy and weird.
But it was the kiss that was what he was waiting for. The way Zhou Mi’s eyes closed, and the way his mouth softened. He would’ve thought of all of Zhou Mi’s smiles, but he was too busy feeling Zhou Mi hum against his lips and shuddering as Zhou Mi’s fingers slid beneath his ears.
It wasn’t like they’d wanted from the first time they met, or even the second, or third, or maybe most of the year in between, but he would’ve been happy to go on kissing from then all the way to the new year.
But he gasped, their mouths parting as loud voices echoed in.
“Are they making out in my room?” Donghae asked from the other side of the door. “They’d better not be having sex!”
Kyuhyun banged loudly where it sounded like Donghae’s voice was coming from.
“Holy shit!” Donghae exclaimed through the door.
“We’re not having sex,” Kyuhyun said, speaking very clear. “Go away.”
“Or we could leave here,” Zhou Mi suggested, squeezing Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “Find a cafe and hang out for a while.”
A date. He hoped it was a date.
“You’re not going to try and push me down?”
Zhou Mi’s mouth dropped open, and he blinked rapidly at Kyuhyun.
“Is there any way to answer that that doesn’t sound suggestive?”
No, Kyuhyun didn’t think so.
He really liked that.
But he stopped Zhou Mi from tossing aside the antlers, because he actually kind of liked those.
“When?” he asked Zhou Mi.
When had he first liked Kyuhyun.
Zhou Mi shrugged and smiled.
***
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, fluff, college AU
Prompt: a college au with the theme of winter, or winter holidays
***
“Hey, watch out!”
Zhou Mi, with poles akimbo, and skis trying to go two different ways, corrected in time so that the snowboarder coming down the hill didn’t run right over him. He’d thought going out to ski was a terrible idea since he was the only one not proficient at it, and he’d been proven right when everyone had run off to take on more challenging areas. So Zhou Mi limped along on the lower areas, trying to re-learn things he’d figured out in years past. Namely, how to make his skis do what he wanted them to. He’d had lessons, even, and they said it didn’t really matter how uncoordinated you were. Or maybe he had that backwards. He was content to play around though. At least, when he wasn’t being nearly run over because his skis decided to run off on their own.
“Sorry,” Zhou Mi said as he got to the bottom of the slope. He yanked his scarf down off his mouth, and winced as he whacked himself in the knee with a pole. “I didn’t realize anyone was that close, and my skis took off on me.”
The man he’d almost brushed into raised chunky goggles, and shrugged. “It’s okay. I got closer than I meant to, too. They have a life of their own, huh?”
Zhou Mi laughed. “Yeah, today they do. I guess I’m magic. Enjoy.”
“Yeah, you too. Good luck up there.”
Or as far up as Zhou Mi dared. He wanted to see the end of the year without a broken bone. But he skied a while longer before his friends found him, and all was well.
***
Zhou Mi didn’t mean to stare. He really didn’t mean to be the creepy guy at the party with a disposable cup edging around people to get a better listen at someone’s conversation either, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t happening. First, he stared. Not from behind some plant but as he skirted people in a general half circle. The face, he’d decided, sort of looked familiar. Kind of. In that way that pictures of random people did and he couldn’t figure out if they looked like a celebrity or some guy he passed in the grocery store.
But it wasn’t the face that had started him off on his little stalking endeavor, it was the voice. It was probably ridiculous to remember someone’s voice that clearly after a shout, a muffled minute-long conversation, and half a laugh. In fact, Zhou Mi told himself that he was imagining things at least a dozen times by the time he’d wormed himself up close enough. It was a nice voice, coming from a nice face. That was a furtive, ridiculous thought, but Zhou Mi had it anyway. The kind of voice just low enough that he wanted to stroke it. Or be stroked by it.
He was going to introduce himself, start up a conversation about skiing, and then if he was wrong, laugh at himself forever.
But as he shuffled forward, out from behind one of the men his quarry was talking to, he finally got caught in his staring. His ears started burning as eyes met his, before dropping to his blue slippers and taking a trip up his body to his sheepish smile. It wasn’t like his thoughts could be seen. There wasn’t any reason to be embarrassed. It was like he knew-
“You!” the man said, abandoning his conversation partners to step toward Zhou Mi. “From the ski slope, right?”
It was all Zhou Mi could do to suppress the rolling laughter.
“Yeah. I had a feeling it was you.”
“You go to school here?”
It turned out that the man’s name was Kyuhyun, and they indeed went to the same college. The people Kyuhyun had been talking to were amused how they had “met” and more amused that they’d run into each other at some random Christmas party a week later.
“I survived the slopes,” Zhou Mi said, briefly holding his hands out to the side. “Didn’t roll anyone down with me or get close after that.”
“That’s good,” Kyuhyun said grinning. “Watching you come the rest of the way down, with all the bulges in your coat and pants it looked like you had about seventeen knees.”
Kyuhyun was nice not to mention his form, which for certain hadn’t been spot on. Whatever got him down the slope in one piece was his motto.
Other people had come up to talk to Kyuhyun, and they’d waved at each other and parted. It’d been kind of weird, kind of serendipitous. Zhou Mi also felt a bit odd as he walked away, like he should’ve asked for an email address. Maybe joked he’d send Kyuhyun some snowboarding tutorials. But he didn’t, just walking off and finding someone he knew to tell them the odd story of finding a guy he’d never expected to see again. One he’d really had no reason to want to see again.
But walking away was something he couldn’t quite shake.
***
“I think I’ll sit beside you just in case I get up too slow and you need to get over me to get to the front of the class,” a voice said nearly in Kyuhyun’s ear.
Kyuhyun nearly jumped out of his chair.
It took a moment, recalling the name to go with the face and the voice and the seventeen knees. He hadn’t really said that, he’d concluded later. It sounded kind of rude. It was something he’d say to a friend, jokingly, but the guy - Zhou Mi - he barely even knew. It had been Zhou Mi’s smile that had really clicked for Kyuhyun. That and his knees.
“Are we stalking each other now?” Kyuhyun asked, blinking as Zhou Mi sat down beside him. Almost colliding on the slope, a party, and then sharing a class a few weeks later.
“I don’t know your last name,” Zhou Mi explained, putting out a notebook and a couple of pens. “So you’d have to be stalking me.”
“Actually, I think we have some people in common,” Kyuhyun said. “Donghae?”
Zhou Mi’s face visibly brightened. “Hyukjae’s roommate. Yeah! I know him.”
It was kind of weird, but still, knowing someone in class was better than not in most cases. More notes, people to check with, and the all-important information in case he was ever out sick.
The teacher came in, and class settled, but Kyuhyun got out a slip of paper and wrote out his email on it, along with his full name, and for the hell of it, his phone number. Zhou Mi was a friend of a friend, and time would only prove if he was a good classmate as well. Kyuhyun felt a bit like he was passing notes in fifth grade when he shoved the paper onto Zhou Mi’s notebook.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as Zhou Mi read the contents of the note, the way his lips curled up. He traced Zhou Mi’s profile once, and went back to his note-taking.
But at the end of class, Zhou Mi slid a paper onto his desk, too.
“Good,” Kyuhyun murmured to him. “Now I won’t have to run over you to get class information.”
Zhou Mi’s laugh rang out into the clamor of the ending class, and it made Kyuhyun smile. But Zhou Mi had a class after, so he left in a flurry of stowed backpack and waggled fingers, and Kyuhyun wondered if he wasn’t the one who’d gotten run over.
They had months together in that class, cracking jokes, planning study sessions, realizing that the world was small and that they knew even more people mutually than they thought. Zhou Mi laughed like it was his job to laugh, was thoughtful, had such a pretty pout when his bottom lip went all loose and poked out. It kind of made Kyuhyun want to-
***
Kyuhyun might have been harboring a tiny crush.
Tiny. Microscopic almost. The size of Jupiter.
He’d see Zhou Mi sometimes on campus on some bench, his earbuds in and eyes closed, finger tapping away on his book as though the music was coming out through it. Or maybe being controlled by it. He wondered how many times his eyes had just slid by, or idly admired as he walked to class. Maybe not. Maybe their paths just hadn’t crossed before. Who knew?
But then Zhou Mi left for a semester, and Kyuhyun’s world became not accidental-weekend-meetings, and more sitting in his underwear eating takeout and kind of thinking about doing his homework after finishing another hour of gaming. The thing about liking someone, he made an effort of what he was wearing and how early he got to classes because that meant a few more minutes of talking to Zhou Mi, and maybe a few more minutes of being attractive to Zhou Mi. Donghae thought it was hilarious when he found out, but Kyuhyun wasn’t all that charmed by it.
“Zhou Mi hasn’t dated anyone for like, six months at least,” Donghae told him. “He’s getting to study abroad so I doubt he’s going for some extra tail.”
Kyuhyun scowled. And Donghae just smiled at him, knowing that the question that Kyuhyun was trying not to ask was if Zhou Mi ever mentioned him.
“You have his email,” Donghae said brightly. “I’m sure he looooves to hear from you.”
Kyuhyun wasn’t entirely positive if he was supposed to read into that or not. There were times he thought he was and times he thought he wasn’t, and he ended up sending Zhou Mi silly screen caps, and gaming updates, and pictures of the weather.
In return Zhou Mi sent back pictures of his frowny faces and admonitions for Kyuhyun to take care of himself, and Kyuhyun really had no idea when they had become friends. That first day in class, maybe. Or the day after when they’d gotten lunch together because Zhou Mi had no class after that day.
Or maybe the day Zhou Mi gave him a candy bar for his birthday.
He just knew that the months that Zhou Mi was gone were very long.
And when Zhou Mi was back, he still hadn’t quite found his courage. But he knew that the point he would find it couldn’t be far off when Zhou Mi came out of the airport smiling to greet the group of people who’d come to greet him back. He was home, Kyuhyun thought then, rather ferociously when he’d been caught in a one-armed hug with three others. With them.
And he took Zhou Mi snowboarding, because that was how he was supposed to confess he supposed. Maybe not having four things to control’d make it easier. And they could just link arms and tiptoe into the sunset.
But he’d gotten a sore stomach watching Zhou Mi tumble end over end - first in concern and then in laughter.
“We should’ve gone inner-tubing,” Zhou Mi said, breathless and pink-faced in the cold.
They were huddled together on a bench, trying to decide if they wanted to go up again or not.
“I know people who’ve gotten hurt doing that too,” Kyuhyun laughed.
Though Zhou Mi’s only complaint was, “No one’s going to be there to give me a massage tomorrow.”
Kyuhyun might’ve offered, as they turned in their equipment and stood waiting for the bus to leave.
“Thanks,” Zhou Mi said, giving him a hug before they parted to different buses.
“Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, and waited for the courage to bite him.
***
The thing about mistletoe was, there was a limit to how it could be used. Once people knew where it was, the ability to spring it on them was lost unless they got distracted. Some people used the mistletoe as an excuse, and some people had it thrust upon them. Some people giggled and backed away, or were good sports about it, and all manner of other responses.
Kyuhyun really didn’t pay that much attention to the ceilings of parties, especially parties early in December. It wasn’t even being decorated for, yet. Still, he walked in and shed his coat, and had a cup of hot tea handed to him. He sipped it, scanning to see who all he knew and how long he’d have to end up staying. Not that he didn’t like being around other people, but sometimes it was nice to escape them and roll back into his bed with his computer. He knew that sounded wrong, but there it was.
There was the jangle of bells, and the hall door opened and several people streamed out all chatting and laughing. First was Donghae, animated in delight that drew people to him like flies. Next, Zhou Mi.
He wasn’t talking, or even smiling, instead listening intently with his eyes lit and dancing, and some ridiculous tiny reindeer antlers perched on his head. Kyuhyun had to press his hand to his mouth to keep from laughing aloud. Thankfully no one had stuck a red nose on Zhou Mi as well, which would have taken it from ridiculously cute to over the top.
When Zhou Mi spotted him, his eyes went just a bit wider, fingers lifting from his side to waggle in greeting as Kyuhyun bobbed his head at him. Zhou Mi was wearing fuzzy purple slippers, he saw, and nearly laughed again.
So it was his own inattention, and the tea in his hand, and Donghae yanking his elbow so they could all say hi.
And it was Donghae backing off. “Looks like it’s your turn!”
As Kyuhyun looked up and up. At the mistletoe hanging just a bare inch above Zhou Mi’s antlers.
He stared up at it like the force of his stare was holding up the doorframe. That was not how things were supposed to go. The swallow was immediate, reflexive, and oh his head wouldn’t function. It was just a kiss. It was just-
“We should probably move so someone else can stumble under it,” Zhou Mi said, his fingers gripping Kyuhyun’s elbow through his sweater. They moved away from it almost in step as Donghae frowned from the other side of Zhou Mi.
“I had a good time trying to learn to snowboard,” Zhou Mi said, smiling at him and snagging a mug of tea from the ones being passed out.
“Yeah, me too. Most everyone I know already knows how or wouldn’t ever want to try.”
“I think my coordination is going to prevent success,” Zhou Mi said, grinning. “Next time we really should inner tube.”
“Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, his hand almost vibrating against his pants.
They could make another plan for that. Maybe they’d find a time that fit this winter, maybe not. Maybe the next time they’d see each other would be the winter after, missing each other on campus and being too busy for parties, or Zhou Mi would start dating someone again and things would always be badly timed. Zhou Mi and his red sweater and the antlers, smelling of tea and faintly of peppermint. If he wasn’t crazy, there was a smear of the candy cane at the corner of Zhou Mi’s mouth. Tiny, almost imperceptible. It’d be sticky and sweet, and-
Zhou Mi startled when Kyuhyun reached for the mug in his hand, pushing it at someone Kyuhyun had never seen before grabbing Zhou Mi’s hand and pulling him along behind him.
The door of Donghae’s room closed with a click as Kyuhyun pushed it, and then they were face to face in the half light of Donghae’s bedside lamp. Kyuhyun glanced up at the ceiling, nothing but white and smooth, and nearly sighed.
“Pretend this is still the mistletoe,” Kyuhyun instructed, and with a wiggle of his toes, pushed himself up to kiss Zhou Mi.
It wasn’t even that much of a kiss, just a press of lips together and steadying himself with Zhou Mi’s arms. He could’ve laughed it off, if he had to, and he couldn’t even read Zhou Mi’s eyes because they were hidden by his lashes and focused somewhere around Kyuhyun’s collarbones.
Fuzzy purple slippers, Kyuhyun’s mind reminded him. And reindeer antlers.
“There were two pieces of mistletoe, right?” Zhou Mi asked after the longest moment of Kyuhyun’s life.
“Okay?”
It came out so breathy and weird.
But it was the kiss that was what he was waiting for. The way Zhou Mi’s eyes closed, and the way his mouth softened. He would’ve thought of all of Zhou Mi’s smiles, but he was too busy feeling Zhou Mi hum against his lips and shuddering as Zhou Mi’s fingers slid beneath his ears.
It wasn’t like they’d wanted from the first time they met, or even the second, or third, or maybe most of the year in between, but he would’ve been happy to go on kissing from then all the way to the new year.
But he gasped, their mouths parting as loud voices echoed in.
“Are they making out in my room?” Donghae asked from the other side of the door. “They’d better not be having sex!”
Kyuhyun banged loudly where it sounded like Donghae’s voice was coming from.
“Holy shit!” Donghae exclaimed through the door.
“We’re not having sex,” Kyuhyun said, speaking very clear. “Go away.”
“Or we could leave here,” Zhou Mi suggested, squeezing Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “Find a cafe and hang out for a while.”
A date. He hoped it was a date.
“You’re not going to try and push me down?”
Zhou Mi’s mouth dropped open, and he blinked rapidly at Kyuhyun.
“Is there any way to answer that that doesn’t sound suggestive?”
No, Kyuhyun didn’t think so.
He really liked that.
But he stopped Zhou Mi from tossing aside the antlers, because he actually kind of liked those.
“When?” he asked Zhou Mi.
When had he first liked Kyuhyun.
Zhou Mi shrugged and smiled.
***