Everlasting #6: Sweater Weather
Title: Sweater Weather
Other Pairing: mentioned!Kris/Chanyeol
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3.4k
Warning: fluff, married!kaisoo
Summary: Jongin's endearing husband, Kyungsoo, knits him the cutest sweaters, but Jongin doesn't have the heart to tell them that they're too cheesy to wear out in public.
Author's Note: i was drawn to this prompt the moment i saw it! so thank you, prompter, for giving me something cute to write c: we need more older and married kaisoo fics, so i'm happy to contribute with this little piece of mine. hope you like it!
Winter is the most stressful time of year for Jongin.
No, he’s not talking about the rush of Christmas and New Year’s, or the traffic associated with either holiday. With his job working in a publishing office, his holiday breaks are welcoming. Winter is even his favorite season. He likes the cold, and he enjoys the snow and ice. Nothing is better than drinking a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate and snuggling up to his husband on the couch in their home.
Winter means sweaters - sweaters that Kyungsoo knits just for Jongin.
Kyungsoo picked up the knitting hobby a little after they got married nine years ago. He didn’t perfect it for a while, making simple things like booties for babies, hats, scarfs, and potholders. Then it progressed to blankets and gloves, and now it’s sweaters. Jongin didn’t really get it at first when Kyungsoo sat him down on the couch one night to take his measurements for “a surprise.” But then Kyungsoo surprised him two weeks later with a knitted white sweater. Cute, right? It was comfy, and he ended up wearing that first sweater to bed most of the time.
However, Kyungsoo got creative. He started incorporating knitting patterns and colorful yarn, and soon Jongin’s bottom two drawers in their dresser were filled with all sorts of sweaters - a bright orange one, a green and blue checkered one, a sweater with Santa’s face on it, etc. They are definitely too cheesy to wear out in public, but it’s year two of this, and Jongin still doesn’t have the heart to tell him that.
Thus, Jongin grins and bears it on the first cold day in November.
In the morning, he tries not to sigh as he walks out of their bedroom and into the kitchen, where Kyungsoo’s cleaning up after breakfast. His socked feet drag across the hardwood floors as he stops before Kyungsoo, who turns around from the sink with a smile. Jongin smiles too. It’s not too bad when Kyungsoo is happy about it.
“So handsome and cute,” he coos, smoothing hands over Jongin’s gray wool-covered tummy. “Do you like the bears on the bottom?” Kyungsoo pets the fuzzy brown teddy bears that trail around the hem of the sweater.
“Mm. They’re cute,” Jongin mumbles, a little sleepy and dreading his work day. Kyungsoo grins up at him and turns to grab Jongin’s coat and scarf from one of the chairs. He’s lucky that he gets to stay at home and only work on certain days when he’s a personal trainer to rich clients.
“You should’ve slept more last night. You stayed up too late reading,” Kyungsoo chastises him as he helps Jongin put his coat on and gently wraps the scarf (also knitted) around his neck.
“I couldn’t help it. Minseok finally sent his second draft to me last night.” Jongin whines with pursed, pouty lips and is only shushed when Kyungsoo kisses him chastely. Jongin’s cute way of complaining hasn’t changed since Kyungsoo met him in college.
“Okay, Mr. Editor, have a good day at work.” Kyungsoo kisses him again for good measure before pushing Jongin towards the door and handing him his briefcase. “Love you.”
“Love you too, baby.” Jongin kisses his cheek with a smile after slipping on his shoes, and then he’s out the door of their condo.
Once he walks into the company’s building, he quickly buttons up his coat in the elevator. Jongin knows his coworkers in the editing office will get a laugh out of his sweater the moment they see it. Chanyeol and Baekhyun had already been teasing him incessantly beforehand, asking if Kyungsoo had started his knitting or not. He usually tries to ignore them and not let them get to him. Kyungsoo knitted these with care, and he will proudly wear them...under a closed coat.
But as his luck has it, the office has its heat turned up to battle the cold weather, and Jongin is instantly sweating beneath his coat. He sighs and approaches his cubicle, placing his briefcase down as he hears the familiar squeak of Baekhyun’s chair, and Jongin turns to see said man scooting his chair over to Jongin’s cubicle.
“Cold outside, isn’t it?” Baekhyun muses with a sneaky grin. “First day that we’ve reached almost freezing.”
“Yes,” Jongin replies simply as he sits down.
Chanyeol decides to poke his head out of his cubicle, right next to Jongin’s. “It’s pretty warm in here too. Mr. Kim turned the thermostat up a few minutes ago.” Great. It was going to get even warmer.
Jongin unbuttons one button on his coat and starts up his computer. “Really? I feel cold,” he says in hopes that they leave him alone.
“Oh!” Baekhyun hops out of his chair. “I’ll go turn the heat up then.”
“Ugh, fine!” Jongin grumbles and unbuttons his coat as Baekhyun sits back down with a smirk. Both of his coworkers gaze in awe as Jongin spins around in his chair with an embarrassed blush as he shows off his new sweater.
“Huh,” Chanyeol says.
“Bears,” Baekhyun says.
And then they both immediately burst into laughter, and Jongin’s face only turns more red. He should’ve just toughened it out and kept his jacket on. Overhearing their laughter, Seulgi pokes her head out of her cubicle and furrows her brows.
“What are you guys laughing abo--oh my god.” Her eyes go wide the moment she spots Jongin’s sweater. “Did your mother make that for you?” She starts to laugh, and Jongin just wants the floor to swallow him whole.
“Oh, yeah, you weren’t here last year,” Baekhyun coughs out between laughs. “Jongin’s husband likes to knit him the cheesiest sweaters on the planet.”
“Aww,” Seulgi smiles at him. “And you wear them to work just for him. That’s really sweet.”
“At least you understand,” Jongin sighs. “I just don’t know how to tell him that they’re too cheesy to wear out in public as a thirty-seven year old man. He looks so happy when I wear them too.”
“To be honest, I don’t get how he can’t realize it. Kyungsoo’s like super manly too. He was all…beefy back in college,” Chanyeol says, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
Jongin smirks. “Still beefy.”
Baekhyun makes a choking noise and rolls away, back to his cubicle, while Chanyeol sits with a disturbed and disgusted expression. Satisfied, Jongin turns back around to get to work.
Heaven forbid that Kyungsoo gets into the holiday spirit. It’s November, which means Thanksgiving in America. And Kyungsoo had already prepared for this month in advance, and with that comes probably Jongin’s least favorite sweater Kyungsoo’s ever made him. A nice creamy orange color with red and yellow autumn leaves stitched about...with a turkey smack dab in the middle of it.
Did he mention it’s not just a sweater? But a sweater vest?
“I gotta say,” Baekhyun regards him with narrowed eyes and a hand on his chin, like an aristocrat admiring a sculpture at an art museum, “Orange is not your color.”
“You look like a kindergarten teacher,” Chanyeol points his coffee mug in Jongin’s direction.
“Please stop,” Jongin groans, tearing his eyes away from his computer screen to glare at them. “Can’t I just make my husband happy in peace?”
“I can’t stop, Jongin. You’re like a traffic cone. I have to stare.” Baekhyun places his hands on his hips in hopelessness.
“At this point, I’m only afraid that the fashion police will come and take you away,” Chanyeol says.
Both Zitao and Sehun suddenly poke their heads out from their cubicles, peeking out over the walls of Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s cubicles and gasp horrendously at Jongin’s sweater.
“Oh, look, here they are,” Baekhyun grins.
“Jongin, what grandma did you steal from?” Sehun, one of the young interns, makes a disgusted face.
Kyungsoo made this for me, so I will appreciate the gift and not listen to anyone else’s opinions, Jongin repeats to himself as he grits his teeth and goes back to his work. Seulgi makes him feel a little better by sending him a sympathetic smile.
Jongin sighs the moment he gets home that night. Kyungsoo must have just come back from his evening run as he’s lying down on a yoga mat in the middle of the living room, sweaty and lazily watching T.V. He turns his head and smiles at Jongin as he walks in, throwing himself on the couch in fatigue.
“Hey, baby, long day?”
Jongin grunts into the couch cushion in affirmation. He hears Kyungsoo laugh and the sounds of him getting up from the floor. His husband nudges at him, and Jongin rolls over to his side, making room for Kyungsoo to spoon him. It’s a tight squeeze, but Jongin needs cuddles after the hell he went through, not only for his sweater but just dealing with work in general.
“You’re all sweaty,” Jongin mumbles and squirms.
“Oh, like that ever bothered you before.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and only squeezes Jongin tighter in response. “So how was your day?”
“Just peachy,” Jongin sighs. “The guys were bothering me, and I had to look over a rookie’s first draft, which was terrible. Then I spilled hot chocolate on my pants and burned the shit out of my thigh, so yeah. It was great.”
Kyungsoo frowns and presses a sympathetic kiss to Jongin’s neck and pats his tummy. “I’m sorry. Why were they bothering you?”
Oh, shit. Well, he can’t just tell Kyungsoo that everyone in the world thinks his sweaters are ugly, not to mention that Jongin is getting poked at for wearing them. Jongin can’t break his heart like that. He has to come up with an excuse; not that he wants to lie, but it’s for Kyungsoo’s own good.
“Well, you know Baekhyun and Chanyeol. They like to be annoying for no reason sometimes,” Jongin replies. Luckily for him, Kyungsoo has always been pretty gullible, and it’s not like it’s untrue.
“Hmm. I guess so, but they shouldn’t bother you while you’re working,” Kyungsoo says, and Jongin is relieved.
“It’s alright. Mr. Kim came over and told them to knock it off after a while.” Jongin shifts in Kyungsoo’s arms to face him and smushes his face into Kyungsoo’s right pec, squishy yet firm. “I’m hungry.”
“Mmkay.” Kyungsoo combs a hand through Jongin’s hair. “Change into something comfy, and I’ll start on dinner.” He pats Jongin’s butt once before getting up and wandering into the kitchen.
With a pout, missing his source of warmth, Jongin rolls off the couch and tumbles onto the floor lazily before getting up to go to their bedroom. He takes off his sweater vest as he walks, thinking about how much attention it brought him. Even some people on the street eyed him as he kept his coat open. It’s just clothes though. Why is he so embarrassed?
Tossing his slacks and his button-up into the hamper along with the vest, Jongin opens up his drawer to look for a t-shirt and sighs as his sights land on the sweater for tomorrow. Lilac with pink stripes. There’s no way he can go into work like that. It’ll be even worse. He’d rather wear something mild, like the cream-colored sweater his mom gave him for his birthday.
But Kyungsoo gets so excited every time Jongin comes out wearing something he made. He can’t hurt his feelings like that or admit that he doesn’t like the sweaters.
And then the lightbulb goes off in his mind.
What if Kyungsoo doesn’t have to know? Jongin can sneak a normal sweater or shirt into his bag and walk out of the house in Kyungsoo’s sweater, and then he can just change in the parking lot. It’s the perfect idea! He can make Kyungsoo happy and save himself from being scrutinized by Baekhyun and the others.
Smiling, Jongin slips on an old t-shirt with a relieved heart. He can’t wait to put his foolproof plan into action tomorrow.
It works.
Jongin feels guilty when he changes in his car at work, but it’s for his own good. This makes both of them happy, and that’s what matters. At least that’s what he tells himself.
“No crazy sweater today?” Baekhyun frowns once Jongin walks in and hangs his coat up.
“Nope,” he answers with a smile.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchange looks, shrug, and then go back to their work. And that’s the end of that conversation. Jongin has never been more proud of himself, and he’s able to focus on his work in peaceful silence for once.
There’s only one fatal flaw in Jongin’s plan. And that’s having to remember to change back before driving home. He succeeds in doing so for the most part. There are some close times where he only remembers just as he’s pulling into the driveway and hurriedly tugs the sweater on, but other than that Jongin remembers just fine, and Kyungsoo is none the wiser.
It’s only a particularly tiring day where Jongin accidentally fucks up.
He hadn’t slept well at all, work was a mess, and he had to stay late at the office, missing dinner that Kyungsoo always has ready and resorting to ordering takeout to eat at his desk. Jongin doesn’t get home until nine o’clock at night and is too tired to even think about what he’s wearing. He grabs Kyungsoo’s sweater without even thinking and gets out of his car and walks into their house.
Jongin rubs at his eyes with a fist as he stumbles into their bedroom after kicking off his shoes. Kyungsoo is still awake and sitting in bed with a book in his lap and glasses perched on his nose. He looks up when Jongin walks in and promptly collapses, face-first, on the bed.
“Rough day?”
Jongin groans. “So tired.”
Kyungsoo smiles at him and combs a hand through Jongin’s hair. “Just one more day and the week is over, baby. I’m sorry you had to stay late. I…” His voice trails off, and his hand pauses its movements.
Confused, Jongin turns his head to the side to see Kyungsoo with a blank stare focused on his sweater - the one that Jongin quickly realizes is not the one he left the house in today. He quickly breaks out in a sweat in panic, and he tries to subtly hides the sweater that Kyungsoo made that’s still clutched in his hand.
“Uh…” he starts intelligently.
Kyungsoo furrows his brows, and he frowns. “You’re not wearing it? Why?”
“Um, I…” Jongin pushes himself up to sit on his knees on the bed, and he opens his mouth to fib and say that it was stained, but he presses his lips together and instead sighs. “I’m embarrassed.”
He wants to die as he watches Kyungsoo’s expression become crestfallen. “Embarrassed?”
“Not of you! Of course not, baby.” Jongin is quick to reassure him, crawling closer to place a hand on Kyungsoo’s thigh and looks him in the eye. “It’s just...the designs of the sweaters. I mean, they’re cute, and I love them, but they’re...a little too cute for someone my age?” His voice goes up in pitch towards the end. “The guys at work have been making fun of me, and people tend to...stare.”
“But you look cute in them to me,” Kyungsoo defends, only looking more hurt.
“I do! And I love them. I really do. The bear one was super cute.” Jongin squeezes his thigh in comfort. “But not at work? I can wear them any other time at home?”
He hopes that that compromise can make Kyungsoo feel better, but instead Kyungsoo only frowns more angrily and huffs. “Fine. Don’t wear them then.” He closes his book, takes off his glasses, and turns off the lamp to lie on his side, back facing Jongin. “Goodnight, Jongin.”
Oh no. “K-Kyungsoo…”
“No, no, it’s fine.” His voice is bland and sarcastic. This is how Kyungsoo gets when he’s really pissed and upset at Jongin. “Wear what you want to work! It doesn’t affect me at all. Clearly, you only care about what your coworkers think rather than how your husband of nine years feels.”
“Come on, honey. You know I didn’t mean it like that.” Jongin touches Kyungsoo’s arm, but he’s clearly not in the mood to talk anymore as he shakes off Jongin’s hand.
“Goodnight, Jongin.”
Feeling like a terrible spouse, Jongin sighs and withdraws from the bed to get ready for sleep. He knows they shouldn’t go to bed while upset with each other, but Kyungsoo is an impenetrable wall when he gets like this. Jongin can only hope and pray that things are better when he wakes up.
They aren’t.
Kyungsoo is still obviously upset at breakfast as he remains completely quiet and sips at his coffee as he checks his Facebook. Jongin tries to initiate conversation, but he’s ignored. Knowing his husband all too well, Kyungsoo will continue to ignore him until Jongin admits that he was wrong, and Kyungsoo was right.
It’s a shame that they’re both stubborn as Jongin throws on a simple shirt and tie instead of one of Kyungsoo’s sweaters. He feels like Kyungsoo is being unreasonable. All he said was that he just didn’t want to wear them to work? What’s so wrong about that?
“You’re an idiot.”
“E-Excuse me?” Jongin swivels in his chair to look at Seulgi. He’d been in the process of explaining his situation to Baekhyun.
“Of course he’s going to be hurt! You told him that you’re embarrassed of him!” Seulgi scowls and points her ballpoint pen at him. “He just wanted to make some nice things for him, and you won’t even show them off like you’re proud.”
“I told him that I’d wear them at home though.” Jongin blinks.
“What’s that gonna do? That’s like not wearing them at all!” Seulgi huffs. “I thought you were smarter than to be affected what those idiots say.” She glares at Baekhyun and Chanyeol.
“Sorry, Jongin.” Baekhyun leans over to pat his shoulder with an apologetic smile. “I was just joking with you. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable wearing those sweaters, buddy. They were pretty cute, and I’m sure Kyungsoo was proud of them.”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol speaks up. “Tell him that we’re sorry, and don’t care about what everyone else says. Be proud of what your husband made for you. I mean, I keep this little mess of a picture frame that Yifan tried to make for a picture of us.” He holds up a picture frame made of haphazard popsicle sticks, paint, and glitter that holds a photograph of Chanyeol and his husband.
Jongin gives the picture frame a look and instantly feels guilty again. There’s no arguing with it at this point. He knew he was wrong deep down all along anyways; Kyungsoo is always right. Jongin feels like a kid in middle school, getting affected by what his peers said.
“Fuck,” he curses. “I have to apologize to him.”
“Mhm.” Seulgi rolls her eyes. “I could’ve told you that. Make sure you come to work on Monday wearing one of those cute sweaters too.” With that she turns around to go back to her work, and Jongin stares at her, wondering why she reminds him so much of his husband.
Kyungsoo is doing yoga in the living room when Jongin bursts through the front door and bellows, “It’s my fault! I was wrong, and I’m sorry!”
His husband looks up from his downward dog position with a smile. “Glad you came to realize.”
Jongin sighs and walks over to kiss Kyungsoo on the lips and then hug his sweaty body. “I really do love your sweaters, and I love you. I’m sorry that I was so stupid. I’ll wear them all the time now.”
“You don’t have to every day,” Kyungsoo laughs and hugs him back, strong biceps squeezing tight. “But most days would be nice.”
Jongin pulls away and pouts, still feeling guilty. “What can I do to make it up to you then? I feel bad for hurting you.”
“Hmm…” Kyungsoo ponders for a little bit, finger on his chin. But he must have already had something in mind before Jongin even walked in the door, judging by the way he suddenly grins and leans in real close to whisper into Jongin’s ear. “How about you go put on that sweater with the bears on it and meet me in the bedroom?”
Raising his brows, Jongin smirks. “The bear sweater?”
“Only the bear sweater,” Kyungsoo clarifies.
Jongin has never ran into their bedroom with that much energy in his life.
The End.