[fanfic] 15. today, tomorrow
Today, tomorrow
Wooyoung doesn’t want to cross Nichkhun off his list so he can have another tomorrow with him.
Nichkhun/Wooyoung
au(romance+angst), pg
5, 416 words
teaser || 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
+
“Will you marry me and let your heart, body and soul be eternally mine?”
Wooyoung steps back and bumps onto Nichkhun, turning around and covering his face with his hands only to bury them onto Nichkhun’s chest. He can’t believe what he just heard, can’t believe this is actually happening and just, how happy would their mom be when she hears about it? He feels nervous though, as if he was the one who proposed, waiting and hoping Fei will say yes to his brother.
“I can’t watch this,” Wooyoung murmurs into his hands.
He feels Nichkhun hugging him and whispering “Maybe we got back too early.”
Wooyoung pulls his hands down and looks up at Nichkhun. “Now we’re really interrupting them.” Before he can suggest to Nichkhun that they should go and take a short walk outside, Fei’s voice breaks the silence.
“Yes,” she says. “Yes, Minjun.”
“What?” Wooyoung asks Nichkhun, as if he heard wrong and wants Nichkhun to confirm for him.
“She said yes,” Nichkhun says, equally surprised, but in a good way. And then there’s a sound of Minjun shouting assa! followed by his laughter and Fei’s giggles.
“Oh God, I can’t believe this is really happening.” Wooyoung was slightly shaking from excitement, momentarily forgetting the fight between him and Minjun a few hours ago and focusing on being genuinely happy for his brother instead. “Khun, they’re going to get married!” Wooyoung jumps up and down lightly while he’s still in Nichkhun’s arms. He is getting emotional, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
“I know, I know.”
“This is a good day,” Wooyoung sniffles, rubbing his teary eyes onto Nichkhun’s shoulder. Nichkhun stays quiet and strokes Wooyoung’s hair. He just feels really happy for Minjun and Fei. After all these years, the highs and the lows, they’re finally going to get together for real.
Not long after, Minjun shows up right at the corner where the hallway and living room meets, with Fei right behind him. Wooyoung sniffles again, head still on Nichkhun’s shoulder as he looks at Minjun.
“When did you guys get back?” Minjun asks, a hint of blush on his cheeks. “And why are you crying??” he asks again, with more concern this time. Wooyoung feels touched that even after being rude to Minjun, his brother still does care and puts Wooyoung’s needs and well-being first. Wooyoung literally jumps himself onto Minjun and hugs him tight.
“Hyung…” Ah, shit, Wooyoung thinks. He can’t control his tears and they just keep trickling down his cheeks. His emotions are getting the best of him. Minjun rubs his hand on Wooyoung’s back.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”
Wooyoung shakes his head. “No. Hyung, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you. I love you. I want you to be happy. I won’t be bad at you anymore,” he cries. Minjun chuckles and pats Wooyoung’s head lovingly.
“I’m sorry too, Wooyoung-ah. You just be healthy and I will be happy, okay?” Wooyoung only nods and tightens his hug.
“Are you guys really going to get married?” Wooyoung asks as he pulls away, rubbing the tears away from his eyes with his hand. “Like, marry marry? Living together under the same roof?” Wooyoung chuckles seeing Minjun pulls Fei closer to his side by her waist and nods his head. “I’m going to get cute little nephews and nieces??”
“Yah! It’s still to early to think about kids,” Minjun scolds. Both he and Fei are blushing at Wooyoung’s words.
“I’m going to get cute little nephews and nieces!” Wooyoung happily celebrates anyway.
+
Even after it’s way after dinner and it’s almost bedtime, Nichkhun can’t stop picking on Wooyoung for crying earlier before.
“I told you I’m not a crybaby! Stop teasing me!” Wooyoung pouts. Nichkhun laughs, arranging the futons right in front of the huge windows overlooking the Gwang-An bridge. There’s only two bedrooms in the penthouse. Since Fei took the first room, they’re only left with one bedroom to share with three people. Nichkhun politely offered to sleep in the living room instead and gave up the room to the two brothers, but Wooyoung very enthusiastically volunteered to join Nichkhun. Minjun was reluctant at first, but not wanting to create anymore conflicts right after making up with his brother, he let Wooyoung off with Nichkhun. Not after sending them suspicious looks and warnings and making them promise nothing will happen between them first, of course. (“Bet he’s the one who’s going to sneak into Fei noona’s room later tonight,” Wooyoung whispers begrudgingly. Nichkhun looks at him, amused. “I’ve never been so proud of you.” “Shut up.”)
“You’re so cute, do you know that?”
“Nope, I don’t know. You only tell me that at least one thousand times a day,” he replies sarcastically. Wooyoung throws himself onto one of the futons right after Nichkhun arranges the blankets and pillows. He accepts the bottled juice Nichkhun offered and sighs looking at the beautiful scenery in front of them. “I was just…really overwhelmed,” Wooyoung tells him. Nichkhun sits next to him and chuckles knowingly.
“I know.”
“Then stop teasing me,” Wooyoung gives Nichkhun a look. He uncaps the bottle and downs his drink. “What the,” he scowls at the juice.
“What?” Nichkhun asks, downing his own drink.
“It’s so sour!” Wooyoung keeps making a look at the offending drink.
“Oh? Mine tastes good though?” Nichkhun says, looking at the bottle. Nichkhun actually has a bright red colored drink and Wooyoung has a very dark purple one.
“Is that strawberry?”
“Mmm.”
Wooyoung looks at the bottle in his hand. Mixed berries. “Khun…” he pouts again.
“Hmm?”
“It’s so sour…” he complains. Nichkhun takes the bottle and takes a sniff at the drink.
“It smells sour,” Nichkhun agrees, only to give the bottle back to Wooyoung. Wooyoung looks away and drinks it sulkily, scowling at the sour taste again. “Do you want to try mine?” Nichkhun offers, showing the bottle to Wooyoung. Wooyoung looks at the bottle, and then at Nichkhun, letting him take the mixed berries drink and replacing it with the strawberry one. “It’s good, trust me!” Wooyoung narrows his eyes at Nichkhun but take a sip anyway. It really does taste better, the sweet and sour strawberry flavor balancing really well with each other. So he takes another long sip of the drink. “Yah, yah, I still want it,” Nichkhun laughs, trying to take the bottle again. Wooyoung turns away so Nichkhun can’t reach the bottle, drinking some more of the strawberry juice. “Yah, Wooyoung-ah!”
Wooyoung falls on his side, bringing the bottle closer to his chest and hiding it from Nichkhun’s reach, his laughter escaping his mouth. This causes Nichkhun to laugh too and presses himself onto Wooyoung. “One last sip, I promise,” Nichkhun says. Wooyoung gives the bottle to Nichkhun, watching him drink it and really giving it back to Wooyoung.
“You don’t want it anymore?” Wooyoung asks.
Nichkhun shakes his head. “It’s okay. You have it.”
Wooyoung sits up and after putting the bottle away, he straightens his legs and presses his hands against the futon as support for him to lean back. They stay silent for a little while, just enjoying the night view of the Gwang-An bridge and Gwangalli beach. His mind goes back to a few hours ago- to when Fei had approached them while Minjun was in the shower and told them about some stuff. Wooyoung sighs.
“Poor Minjun hyung…”
“Hmm?”
“He lost an important client and I was so rude to him,” Wooyoung sighs again. Nichkhun wraps and arm over Wooyoung’s shoulder and pulls him into a brief hug before letting go.
“You didn’t know.”
Wooyoung glances and smiles faintly at Nichkhun. “But well, even though he lost an important client, he gets to have his most important person in his life in the end.”
“Yeah. Let’s just hope he doesn’t lose more important clients in the future though.”
“Of course he won’t! He’s the best architect in town, didn’t you know?” Wooyoung brags. “Umm, after my dad, I think,” he adds after considering carefully.
“You’re the best architect to me.”
Wooyoung snorts and then laughs. “What? I’m not even an architect. And you still remember that??”
“How could I forget,” Nichkhun smiles.
“Hmm. But after seeing this place,” Wooyoung looks around. “interior designing seems cool too. Will you still be my first client if I changed profession into something else?”
Nichkhun nods his head enthusiastically. “Of course!”
“Supporting lover, you are,” Wooyoung throws his arms around Nichkhun’s neck. Nichkhun holds on to Wooyoung by his waist, but Wooyoung wasn’t expecting that shy look and smile on Nichkhun’s face. “Oh what’s with that face?” Wooyoung teases.
“Umm. Your brother might see,” Nichkhun mutters.
“Yes he might. So?”
“I might have to sleep at the balcony.”
Wooyoung giggles. “You think he’s that heartless?” he asks, pecking Nichkhun’s cheek before pulling away and settling back into his previous position.
“No, but I wouldn’t risk it either,” he mumbles. Nichkhun yawns and stretches, and then he mirrors Wooyoung’s position. His fingers accidentally brush on Wooyoung’s, but instead of pulling away, he reaches for more and wraps them around Wooyoung’s fingers. Wooyoung bites back a smile.
“Minjun hyung might se -” He meant to tease Nichkhun but when he turns his head to the side, Nichkhun’s face was already so close to his and he claims Wooyoung’s slightly parted mouth into a kiss. Wooyoung recovers from his surprise quickly, closing his eyes and kissing Nichkhun back, his lips moving along with Nichkhun’s. It’s chaste and simple, slowly driving Wooyoung mad and right before he can deepen the kiss, Wooyoung feels something cold slipped on his finger. Curious, Wooyoung pulls away and puts his hand up to his eyelevel.
“A present for you,” Nichkhun says while Wooyoung’s still eyeing the silver band around his finger. Wooyoung blinks and can’t believe it’s the same exact ring from the shop they went to that afternoon. He feels his heart pounding fast, but it‘s far from painful. Wooyoung honestly feels happy, so impossibly content and loved. “Do you like it?” Nichkhun carefully asks. Wooyoung drops his hand down so he can look at Nichkhun.
“You’re joking right?” he deadpans. Nichkhun looks flustered but the panic’s gone quickly as Wooyoung wraps his arms around Nichkhun’s neck and reconnects their mouths, kissing him more fervently this time, slowly moving to straddle Nichkhun. Nichkhun has his hands on Wooyoung’s waist, falling on his back right onto the pillow as Wooyoung leans more onto Nichkhun and into the kiss.
Gradually, the kiss slows down and pulled into a stop as Wooyoung breaks away to take a breath. Nuzzling his nose onto Nichkhun’s cheek, Wooyoung says “Khun, I love it. You know you’re the best, right?”
“Am I?” Nichkhun asks, fingers rubbing the skin behind Wooyoung’s ear.
Wooyoung pulls away, enough to look at Nichkhun in the eyes, grinning as he says “You know you are” and pecking his lips. “Do you know you’re a liar too?” Wooyoung asks, thumb rubbing the wetness on Nichkhun’s lower lip.
“Liar? What did I do? When did I lie?” Nichkhun frowns.
“A long time ago,” Wooyoung reminds him. “You said you were a bad kisser.” It takes a while for Nichkhun to register everything in.
“Oh,” Nichkhun says. “Well, maybe I am. Or maybe you’re the one who’s too good at it.” Wooyoung looks at him in disbelief.
“Stop saying embarrassing things!” Wooyoung disapproves. Nichkhun smiles, his hand on Wooyoung’s nape, pulling him closer.
“Then come here.” Soon, Wooyoung feels Nichkhun’s lips on his again but Wooyoung pulls away just as quick.
“Minjun hyung might see us,” he says, draping himself comfortably onto Nichkhun with his head on Nichkhun’s chest. Wooyoung feels and hears Nichkhun chuckling.
“And this is okay?” Nichkhun refers to their position but doesn’t push Wooyoung away from him. Wooyoung only nods his head and stares at the ring on his finger again. With the rise and fall of Nichkhun’s steady breathing, Wooyoung feels the calmness seeping into him as well. The warmth stays inside his heart, wrapping and cuddling it with so much love and comfort. Even though there’s no such thing as a proposal like Minjun and Fei, with Nichkhun giving him the ring, it feels like they’ve moved on to another different phase in their relationship, like all their promises are perfectly sealed with the existence of the ring. It gives Wooyoung a lot of hopes and expectations for their future relationship. It only gets better when Nichkhun links their hands and entwines their fingers together, two silver bands clinking together creating a sound like a bell sending a note of happiness straight to his heart.
“Khun…” Wooyoung says, his eyes getting a little watery again as he stares at the identical rings on their fingers.
“Hmm?” Nichkhun hums.
“This is so perfect.” Wooyoung squeezes Nichkhun’s hand tightly. Wooyoung honestly didn’t know it was possible for him to develop his feelings for Nichkhun this much and definitely not this deep. Nichkhun is so kind and lovely and perfect in every way possible. Wooyoung will always be grateful that Nichkhun became a part of his life. A huge part of his life.
The strokes on Wooyoung’s back slow down into a stop and Wooyoung wonders why. He lifts his head up to see, only to find out Nichkhun has dozed off. “Yah, Nichkhun!” Wooyoung calls, not too loud and not too quiet. Nichkhun opens his eyes and gives a sleepy smile at Wooyoung.
Instead of apologizing for falling asleep, he slyly asks “What?” to Wooyoung instead.
“Don’t you dare sleep on me without saying goodnight first, Khun.”
“I didn’t,” Nichkhun shamelessly denies. “And aren’t you the one on top of me?” he teases. Wooyoung feels shy and flushes red at Nichkhun’s statement, trying to roll away but Nichkhun quickly hugs him tight and makes him stay in his place. The only way to hide his red face is to press it against Nichkhun’s chest again, so he does just that.
“Don’t try to be smart, Khun. Geez you do that all the time,” Wooyoung mumbles.
“Don’t go anywhere. This feels really nice.” Wooyoung silently admits that it does. Nichkhun loosens his hug but presses his nose deeper into Wooyoung’s hair, Wooyoung can feel.
“What are you doing?” Wooyoung blinks but doesn’t want to move away.
“You smell really nice.”
“You’re creepy,” Wooyoung comments casually.
“Infatuated,” Nichkhun corrects him.
“Creepily, obsessively infatuated. That’s even worse, ya know?” Wooyoung yawns. He’s getting sleepy himself. “Can you get the blanket?” Nichkhun’s arm is long enough to reach for Wooyoung’s blanket. He pulls it closer and over Wooyoung. “Thank you,” Wooyoung mumbles, snuggling closer and nuzzling his cheek on Nichkhun’s chest.
“Are you really going to sleep like this?”
“Mmm.”
“Go to sleep then. I’ll move you later.”
“I’ll love you less if you do,” Wooyoung slurs. Nichkhun laughs quietly. “You wanted to stay like this anyway.” Wooyoung closes his eyes as a kiss is pressed onto the top of his head. Minus the small fight with Minjun, overall the day was a good day. “Thank you,” he says. “For being here with me. For everything.”
“Mmm. Go to sleep,” Nichkhun tells him. Wooyoung doesn’t need to be told twice as he easily slips into slumber.
The sunlight invades the darkness behind his eyelids, his ears slowly catching the sound of hushed voices near him. Feeling his peaceful sleep intruded, Wooyoung stirs and shifts in discomfort, shushing the voices completely. Wooyoung is awake but he doesn’t open his eyes, feeling a hand covering them away from the bright sunlight. He steadies himself and stills again before the voices come back.
“We really didn’t do anything,” Nichkhun says.
“Then why is he….!” comes Minjun’s voice.
“He just fell asleep on me, that’s all. I didn’t wake him up because he seemed so tired,” Nichkhun explains. “Hyung, you can scold me later,” he adds, cutting Minjun’s words. “But for now let Wooyoung sleep some more.”
“Junnie, Khun is right. Wooyoung gets tired a lot easier than any of us. We should let him rest,” Fei says. Minjun sighs but doesn’t say anything else anymore. “Okay, we’re going out to buy breakfast. It’s still early. Sleep some more.”
Wooyoung feels Nichkhun nodding his head, hears footsteps moving further away from the scene and the door closing shut. Then there’s light strokes on his hair, blanket carefully tugged onto Wooyoung to cover him from the cold.
“Did they leave?” Wooyoung croaks. Nichkhun stops his ministration.
“You’re awake. Did I wake you up? Sorry.”
“No,” Wooyoung shakes his head. He stretches his arms and pulls Nichkhun’s hand away from his eyes, the sunlight immediately attacking his vision again. “Good morning,” he greets, arms wrapped around Nichkhun to hug him. Nichkhun hugs him back.
“Good morning. Did you have a good sleep?”
Wooyoung nods. “What was that all about with Minjun hyung?”
“Oh. He was just…surprised to see us sleeping together like this.” Wooyoung tsks and then chuckles.
“Ah, what a beautiful morning,” he praises. “Did you have a good sleep as well?”
“Mmm~ Let’s get up before they come back.”
“You mean we can’t stay like this?” Wooyoung fakes an innocent tone.
“No, love. As much as I want to, we can’t stay like this for the rest of the day,” Nichkhun rubs his hand on Wooyoung’s arm, gently persuading him to get up.
“That’s too bad~” Wooyoung pouts and rolls away, and then he sits up wrapping the blanket around him as he yawns into the thick fabric.
“Too bad~” Nichkhun agrees. He folds the blanket and neatly arranges the futon to be carried back into the room. “Up, up, up! Go clean up so you can eat as soon as your brother gets back,” Nichkhun says, trying to pull the blanket away from Wooyoung’s body. Wooyoung holds on the blanket even tighter.
“Don’t want.”
“You don’t want breakfast?”
“I don’t want to part with this comfy blanket,” Wooyoung corrects him.
“But you still want breakfast later?” Wooyoung nods. “Then you need to wash your face and brush your teeth first.”
“But I will be cold without the blanket,” Wooyoung makes a pitiful face.
“It’s not that cold in the bathroom...You can also use warm water if you want. Come on now, be a good boy and let me put all of these back into the room~”
“Eish,” Wooyoung sulkily pushes the blanket away and stomps to the bathroom. He gasps however when he feels Nichkhun hugging him from the side and using his loose jacket to cover Wooyoung as he lightly pushes him towards the bathroom.
“Hurry, before Wooyoungie gets cold again!”
Laughter manages to bubble up Wooyoung’s throat as they hurry together to get to the bathroom. It’s one of the things he likes being with Nichkhun; being spoiled and feeling like a kid again. This guy brings so much joy and happiness into his life.
In the end, they end up washing their face and brushing their teeth together sharing the same sink, and maybe stealing a kiss or two from each other before Wooyoung runs off to Minjun and tackles him into a hug once they got back to the penthouse with their breakfast. Wooyoung’s aegyo brightens up Minjun's day like it always does that he completely forgot to scold Nichkhun and Wooyoung for sleeping on the same futon the night before.
+
When Nichkhun had asked Wooyoung to come over his house again, Wooyoung agreed this time around without hesitation. The time is ticking away, days shortening and Wooyoung is perfectly aware of it- therefore he wasn’t going to waste any of it anymore. So here he is now in Nichkhun’s house, a part of him still unable to believe he’s living in that kind of luxurious place. It’s a two stories condominium and Wooyoung thinks it must be lonely for Nichkhun to live here alone.
“Hey,” Wooyoung stops looking around and turns on his side to face Nichkhun sitting next to him on the couch. Nichkhun hums, eyes fixed on the show playing on the television but he forces himself to look at Wooyoung back. “Your house is nice…and huge. But- don’t you feel lonely living here?”
Nichkhun shrugs. “I’m used to it I guess. But then again, I’m almost always never home anyway,” he grins. “I’m always out and about doing something~ I only come home to shower, eat and sleep.”
Wooyoung juts his lower lip out, blinking and looking at Nichkhun with understanding and sympathy. “Come visit me often, I’ll accompany you as much as you want,” he offers, patting his hand on Nichkhun’s knee. Maybe it was just an excuse to make Nichkhun want to see him more as much as he wants to spend more time with Nichkhun, but Wooyoung doesn’t care. Nichkhun smiles.
“Won’t I be a bother to you?”
“Since when are you a bother to me?”
“Hmm,” Nichkhun pretends to think. “I remember quite clearly you definitely weren’t very fond of me when we first met and became friends.”
“Ay,” Wooyoung clicks his tongue in disapproval. “That was-” Wooyoung narrows his eyes and tries to think, giving up midway and absently waving his hand around “-so many months ago.”
“Are you fond of me now?”
“That’s not even a question, Khun,” Wooyoung smiles back at him. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Wooyoung hugs and squishes Nichkhun. Nichkhun laughs but let him be. Then Wooyoung remembers something, pulling away from Nichkhun again. “Ah, right. You said you were going to teach me how to play a song on the piano.”
Nichkhun seems to remember about it now too. “I did say that, didn’t I. Do you have a song in mind?”
“Mmmno?” Wooyoung slowly shakes his head. “I’ll learn anything. But the easy ones, okay? I don’t think my fingers are that smooth and fast anymore.” He emphasizes by wriggling his fingers around. “Nichkhun, please play me a song!” he says cheerfully.
Nichkhun chuckles. “Now?” Wooyoung only nods his head eagerly, his eyes sparkling with expectance. “Okay. The piano’s upstairs.” Nichkhun gets up and offers his hand to Wooyoung. Wooyoung gladly accepts it and lets Nichkhun lead him upstairs. “It’s my bedroom,” Nichkhun answers, as if knowingly to the question playing in Wooyoung’s mind.
“Really?” Wooyoung’s excited smile fades slowly when they arrived on the second floor. Just like downstairs, it’s an open floor but with only the bed and walk-in closet there, the room looks extra spacious and emptier. “What…it’s so dull,” Wooyoung voices out. The white grand piano near the wall made of huge windows stands up the most, though. Wooyoung also notices the portrait he drew for Nichkhun was put up right above Nichkhun’s headboard.
“It is.” Nichkhun pulls Wooyoung towards the grand piano and sits him down the bench. Wooyoung’s still eyeing the dull, white walls- colorful, abstract images popping up in his mind.
“Can I paint the walls?”
“Why do you want to paint the walls?”
“It’s so boring…I’m itching to splash colors to give them life.”
“Ohh, Choi Picasso is going to make a masterpiece on my bedroom walls?” Nichkhun teases. Wooyoung bumps shoulders with Nichkhun.
“Doesn’t sound bad though, right?”
“Mmm~ maybe we can paint them some other time~” Nichkhun opens the cover and brushes his slender fingers on the black and white keys. “It’s been a while since I last played.”
Wooyoung scoots closer. “What song are you going to play for me?”
Nichkhun only smiles, cracking the joints on his fingers. Wooyoung watches in awe as Nichkhun presses and moves his fingers around on the keys beautifully- creating a soothing, haunting melody. His eyes slowly shut close, listening and appreciating the song- his heart feeling warm and touched at the sincerity poured into playing the song.
“No way you’re gonna make me learn this song, right?” Wooyoung asks, still with his eyes close after Nichkhun’s done playing. “It doesn’t sound easy to learn.”
“Why? I’ll teach you step by step.”
Wooyoung flutters his eyes open. “How long will it take me to learn this?”
“Hmm,” Nichkhun seems to be calculating in his head. “With a lot of practice, maybe not that long.”
“Do you have that much faith in me, teacher Khun?” Wooyoung asks. He presses his finger on random keys and smiles in delight at the sound they make.
“Yes, I do, student Woo. Here, like this,” Nichkhun grabs Wooyoung fingers and guides them to play the song he just played.
“Oh, it doesn’t seem that easy though,” Wooyoung frowns, trying to remember and memorize which keys to press.
“It’s okay, it’s only the first lesson,” Nichkhun comforts him. He plays it slow for Wooyoung to grab it easier. Wooyoung tries hard to remember as much as he can. “Okay, let me do this again,” Nichkhun gets up and stands behind Wooyoung, bending down until his chin almost touching Wooyoung’s shoulder as he guides Wooyoung to play the song again.
“What’s the song called?” Wooyoung asks.
“River flows in you.”
“Oh? River flows in you? Yiru-” Wooyoung lifts his head up from the keyboard and turns around, only to have his nose brushing on Nichkhun’s cheek. “-ma?” he finishes in a whisper. Nichkhun stops too, only moving his face slightly, enough to make his cheek brushed against the tip on Wooyoung’s nose again. Their gazes meet, but neither say a word or make a move at all.
“I have something to tell you,” Nichkhun breaks the silence after a while, but even so his voice was too hushed, careful and almost laced with fear at the edges.
“What is it?”
“I-” Nichkhun is contemplating, Wooyoung can feel. He doesn’t want to push Nichkhun too much, so Wooyoung just waits patiently for Nichkhun to continue. Then Nichkhun sighs, retracting his hands from Wooyoung’s and straightening up, ruffling his hair.
“Khun?”
“I- I need to use the bathroom first,” Nichkhun says, jabbing his thumb towards the white door.
“Oh. Okay,” Wooyoung blinks and watches as Nichkhun walks to the bathroom. “Khun!”
Nichkhun turns on his heels. “Hmm?”
“Can I get something to drink?”
“Oh, yeah of course! You know where the kitchen is right?” Nichkhun chuckles. Wooyoung chuckles and gets up from the bench, hastily leaving the second floor. He doesn’t know why his heart is beating fast. What did Nichkhun want to tell him?
“Ahh what is this feeling?” Wooyoung presses his hand on his left chest. “Really not a good one,” he mumbles. Wooyoung takes the glass from the kitchen counter and opens the fridge. Another frown made it to his face again seeing the contents of the fridge. “What is this?” he rises his eyebrows, hand touching the different colored bottles- branded water. Wooyoung gasps. “Really is a rich guy with an expensive taste,” Wooyoung comments to himself, craning his head at the stairs just in case Nichkhun heard him. Wooyoung scratches his head, unsure of what to drink and what’s the difference between the brand. In the end, he picks a random bottle with red liquid and pours it into his glass. “A juice should be good,” he thinks, downing his drink. He scowls at the sour taste. “What the…” he sniffs at the juice. “Is this the same thing we drank before in Busan?” He takes another sip to make sure. It tastes sour but it gets better the more he drinks it. “Oh, it’s not really that bad,” Wooyoung look at the empty glass, impressed. He pours some more and finishes the second glass.
“Wooyoung?” Nichkhun calls from upstairs.
“Hmm?” Wooyoung looks around. “Ne hyung?~” he calls back, and then giggles when he realizes he just called Nichkhun with a hyung. He doesn’t put the bottle back into the fridge, neither does he put the glass into the sink. Wooyoung only walks to the couch and flops down.
“Everything okay down there?” Nichkhun echoes a moment later.
“Ne~” Wooyoung blinks at the ceiling, suddenly feeling the warmth rising from his body up to his face.
“Not going up to learn anymore?” Nichkhun shows up at the bottom of the stairs. Wooyoung only shifts his gaze to look at Nichkhun without moving the rest of his body.
“No. Later. Maybe. Aish, why is it so warm?” Wooyoung fans his face with his right hand and unzips his jacket with his other.
“Warm?” Nichkhun eyes him carefully. “Are you okay?” Nichkhun approaches Wooyoung and presses his hand on Wooyoung’s forehead. “Your face is red…”
“Really?” Wooyoung’s hands fly up to touch his own cheeks.
“Wooyoung, you don’t look too good. How are you feeling?” Nichkhun asks worriedly.
“I’m okay. Just a little warm,” he tells Nichkhun again.
“I’ll lower the temperature and get some cold water for you.” Nichkhun reaches for the remote control of the air conditioner and clicks a few buttons. Wooyoung stays on his seat, letting Nichkhun walks off to the kitchen. There’s a small shriek coming from the kitchen and Nichkhun’s fast footsteps approaching Wooyoung again with a bottle in his hand. “Wooyoung, did you drink this?” he asks in panic. Wooyoung feels dazed but manages to identify the bottle and nods his head. Nichkhun’s eyes widened. “How much?” Wooyoung shows two fingers at Nichkhun. “Two glasses??” Nichkhun puts the bottle onto the coffee table and sits next to Wooyoung. “Wooyoung-ah, you shouldn’t have drank that!”
“Why not? It tastes good.” Wooyoung knows the look on Nichkhun’s face screams worried but he can’t help but giggle when he sees it.
“That’s Nichan’s wine…” Nichkhun mumbles. “Ah he usually throws them away if he can’t finish the whole bottle…”
“Wine?” Wooyoung knits his brows together and slaps a hand onto his mouth. “Nichan‘s wine?” Nichkhun nods in confirmation. Wooyoung bursts out laughing. “I should have finished it!”
Nichkhun eyes Wooyoung carefully. “How are you feeling?”
“Good!” Wooyoung cheers.
“Wooyoung I think you’re a little tipsy…”
“Tipsy? I feel fine. I’m not tipsy at all,” Wooyoung denies. He just feels a little warm and a little funny. A good kind of funny where he wants to laugh at everything.
Nichkhun sighs and gathers Wooyoung’s things. “Let’s get you home.”
“Home? Why would I want to go back home? Nichkhun is here and not back at home,” Wooyoung shakes his head but doesn’t stop Nichkhun from helping him get up from the couch. This brought a smile on Nichkhun’s face somehow.
“Nichkhun will be there if he’s the one who takes you home.”
“Hmm. You’re right, you’re right,” Wooyoung easily agrees.
“Shall we head back home now?” Nichkhun asks, his tone almost persuading.
“But I want to learn to play piano more,” Wooyoung pouts.
“I’ll teach you some other time.”
“Hmm,” Wooyoung replies sulkily.
The bus ride home is filled with silence and Wooyoung feels so sleepy, but forces himself to stay awake. When they hop down, Nichkhun offers him his favorite piggyback ride and that brightens Wooyoung up instantly.
“Yeay, Khunnie is the best,” Wooyoung says and hops on Nichkhun’s back.
“Will I always be the best in your eyes?”
“Of course.”
“Even better than your Minjun hyung?”
“Mmm.” Nichkhun lets out a silent chuckle, only his body shaking lightly from the action. Wooyoung smiles and rests his cheek on Nichkhun’s shoulder, nuzzling his nose on the crook of Nichkhun’s neck. “You smell really nice.”
“Aren’t you the one being creepy now?”
“Please, no one can get any creepier than you.”
“I think you’re creepily, obsessively infatuated with me too.”
“I think you actually liked that.”
“I do.”
Wooyoung sighs in contentment, feeling the sleepiness overpowering him again, so he closes his eyes. “I like you. I love you.”
Nichkhun slows down his steps into a stop. “Wooyoung…” Wooyoung wants to respond but feels so tired to even find his voice so he listens instead. “Are you sleeping…? I have something to tell you though…” he adds, almost as a reminder to himself. “Wooyoung I-”
Wooyoung opens his eyes and blinks, feeling the heavy weight of Nichkhun’s words pressing everything down into a silence. Wooyoung inhales and exhales deeply, letting out a shaky “You what?” Assuming that Wooyoung was already asleep, Nichkhun turns tensed when he realizes that Wooyoung hadn’t, and that he probably heard everything he said clearly. “What, Khun? What did you say?”
Nichkhun doesn’t say anything, but Wooyoung feels his hold tightening on the back of his legs.
Oh God. Oh God, don’t let it be true.
Wooyoung doesn’t want to cross Nichkhun off his list so he can have another tomorrow with him.
Nichkhun/Wooyoung
au(romance+angst), pg
5, 416 words
teaser || 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
+
“Will you marry me and let your heart, body and soul be eternally mine?”
Wooyoung steps back and bumps onto Nichkhun, turning around and covering his face with his hands only to bury them onto Nichkhun’s chest. He can’t believe what he just heard, can’t believe this is actually happening and just, how happy would their mom be when she hears about it? He feels nervous though, as if he was the one who proposed, waiting and hoping Fei will say yes to his brother.
“I can’t watch this,” Wooyoung murmurs into his hands.
He feels Nichkhun hugging him and whispering “Maybe we got back too early.”
Wooyoung pulls his hands down and looks up at Nichkhun. “Now we’re really interrupting them.” Before he can suggest to Nichkhun that they should go and take a short walk outside, Fei’s voice breaks the silence.
“Yes,” she says. “Yes, Minjun.”
“What?” Wooyoung asks Nichkhun, as if he heard wrong and wants Nichkhun to confirm for him.
“She said yes,” Nichkhun says, equally surprised, but in a good way. And then there’s a sound of Minjun shouting assa! followed by his laughter and Fei’s giggles.
“Oh God, I can’t believe this is really happening.” Wooyoung was slightly shaking from excitement, momentarily forgetting the fight between him and Minjun a few hours ago and focusing on being genuinely happy for his brother instead. “Khun, they’re going to get married!” Wooyoung jumps up and down lightly while he’s still in Nichkhun’s arms. He is getting emotional, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
“I know, I know.”
“This is a good day,” Wooyoung sniffles, rubbing his teary eyes onto Nichkhun’s shoulder. Nichkhun stays quiet and strokes Wooyoung’s hair. He just feels really happy for Minjun and Fei. After all these years, the highs and the lows, they’re finally going to get together for real.
Not long after, Minjun shows up right at the corner where the hallway and living room meets, with Fei right behind him. Wooyoung sniffles again, head still on Nichkhun’s shoulder as he looks at Minjun.
“When did you guys get back?” Minjun asks, a hint of blush on his cheeks. “And why are you crying??” he asks again, with more concern this time. Wooyoung feels touched that even after being rude to Minjun, his brother still does care and puts Wooyoung’s needs and well-being first. Wooyoung literally jumps himself onto Minjun and hugs him tight.
“Hyung…” Ah, shit, Wooyoung thinks. He can’t control his tears and they just keep trickling down his cheeks. His emotions are getting the best of him. Minjun rubs his hand on Wooyoung’s back.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”
Wooyoung shakes his head. “No. Hyung, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you. I love you. I want you to be happy. I won’t be bad at you anymore,” he cries. Minjun chuckles and pats Wooyoung’s head lovingly.
“I’m sorry too, Wooyoung-ah. You just be healthy and I will be happy, okay?” Wooyoung only nods and tightens his hug.
“Are you guys really going to get married?” Wooyoung asks as he pulls away, rubbing the tears away from his eyes with his hand. “Like, marry marry? Living together under the same roof?” Wooyoung chuckles seeing Minjun pulls Fei closer to his side by her waist and nods his head. “I’m going to get cute little nephews and nieces??”
“Yah! It’s still to early to think about kids,” Minjun scolds. Both he and Fei are blushing at Wooyoung’s words.
“I’m going to get cute little nephews and nieces!” Wooyoung happily celebrates anyway.
+
Even after it’s way after dinner and it’s almost bedtime, Nichkhun can’t stop picking on Wooyoung for crying earlier before.
“I told you I’m not a crybaby! Stop teasing me!” Wooyoung pouts. Nichkhun laughs, arranging the futons right in front of the huge windows overlooking the Gwang-An bridge. There’s only two bedrooms in the penthouse. Since Fei took the first room, they’re only left with one bedroom to share with three people. Nichkhun politely offered to sleep in the living room instead and gave up the room to the two brothers, but Wooyoung very enthusiastically volunteered to join Nichkhun. Minjun was reluctant at first, but not wanting to create anymore conflicts right after making up with his brother, he let Wooyoung off with Nichkhun. Not after sending them suspicious looks and warnings and making them promise nothing will happen between them first, of course. (“Bet he’s the one who’s going to sneak into Fei noona’s room later tonight,” Wooyoung whispers begrudgingly. Nichkhun looks at him, amused. “I’ve never been so proud of you.” “Shut up.”)
“You’re so cute, do you know that?”
“Nope, I don’t know. You only tell me that at least one thousand times a day,” he replies sarcastically. Wooyoung throws himself onto one of the futons right after Nichkhun arranges the blankets and pillows. He accepts the bottled juice Nichkhun offered and sighs looking at the beautiful scenery in front of them. “I was just…really overwhelmed,” Wooyoung tells him. Nichkhun sits next to him and chuckles knowingly.
“I know.”
“Then stop teasing me,” Wooyoung gives Nichkhun a look. He uncaps the bottle and downs his drink. “What the,” he scowls at the juice.
“What?” Nichkhun asks, downing his own drink.
“It’s so sour!” Wooyoung keeps making a look at the offending drink.
“Oh? Mine tastes good though?” Nichkhun says, looking at the bottle. Nichkhun actually has a bright red colored drink and Wooyoung has a very dark purple one.
“Is that strawberry?”
“Mmm.”
Wooyoung looks at the bottle in his hand. Mixed berries. “Khun…” he pouts again.
“Hmm?”
“It’s so sour…” he complains. Nichkhun takes the bottle and takes a sniff at the drink.
“It smells sour,” Nichkhun agrees, only to give the bottle back to Wooyoung. Wooyoung looks away and drinks it sulkily, scowling at the sour taste again. “Do you want to try mine?” Nichkhun offers, showing the bottle to Wooyoung. Wooyoung looks at the bottle, and then at Nichkhun, letting him take the mixed berries drink and replacing it with the strawberry one. “It’s good, trust me!” Wooyoung narrows his eyes at Nichkhun but take a sip anyway. It really does taste better, the sweet and sour strawberry flavor balancing really well with each other. So he takes another long sip of the drink. “Yah, yah, I still want it,” Nichkhun laughs, trying to take the bottle again. Wooyoung turns away so Nichkhun can’t reach the bottle, drinking some more of the strawberry juice. “Yah, Wooyoung-ah!”
Wooyoung falls on his side, bringing the bottle closer to his chest and hiding it from Nichkhun’s reach, his laughter escaping his mouth. This causes Nichkhun to laugh too and presses himself onto Wooyoung. “One last sip, I promise,” Nichkhun says. Wooyoung gives the bottle to Nichkhun, watching him drink it and really giving it back to Wooyoung.
“You don’t want it anymore?” Wooyoung asks.
Nichkhun shakes his head. “It’s okay. You have it.”
Wooyoung sits up and after putting the bottle away, he straightens his legs and presses his hands against the futon as support for him to lean back. They stay silent for a little while, just enjoying the night view of the Gwang-An bridge and Gwangalli beach. His mind goes back to a few hours ago- to when Fei had approached them while Minjun was in the shower and told them about some stuff. Wooyoung sighs.
“Poor Minjun hyung…”
“Hmm?”
“He lost an important client and I was so rude to him,” Wooyoung sighs again. Nichkhun wraps and arm over Wooyoung’s shoulder and pulls him into a brief hug before letting go.
“You didn’t know.”
Wooyoung glances and smiles faintly at Nichkhun. “But well, even though he lost an important client, he gets to have his most important person in his life in the end.”
“Yeah. Let’s just hope he doesn’t lose more important clients in the future though.”
“Of course he won’t! He’s the best architect in town, didn’t you know?” Wooyoung brags. “Umm, after my dad, I think,” he adds after considering carefully.
“You’re the best architect to me.”
Wooyoung snorts and then laughs. “What? I’m not even an architect. And you still remember that??”
“How could I forget,” Nichkhun smiles.
“Hmm. But after seeing this place,” Wooyoung looks around. “interior designing seems cool too. Will you still be my first client if I changed profession into something else?”
Nichkhun nods his head enthusiastically. “Of course!”
“Supporting lover, you are,” Wooyoung throws his arms around Nichkhun’s neck. Nichkhun holds on to Wooyoung by his waist, but Wooyoung wasn’t expecting that shy look and smile on Nichkhun’s face. “Oh what’s with that face?” Wooyoung teases.
“Umm. Your brother might see,” Nichkhun mutters.
“Yes he might. So?”
“I might have to sleep at the balcony.”
Wooyoung giggles. “You think he’s that heartless?” he asks, pecking Nichkhun’s cheek before pulling away and settling back into his previous position.
“No, but I wouldn’t risk it either,” he mumbles. Nichkhun yawns and stretches, and then he mirrors Wooyoung’s position. His fingers accidentally brush on Wooyoung’s, but instead of pulling away, he reaches for more and wraps them around Wooyoung’s fingers. Wooyoung bites back a smile.
“Minjun hyung might se -” He meant to tease Nichkhun but when he turns his head to the side, Nichkhun’s face was already so close to his and he claims Wooyoung’s slightly parted mouth into a kiss. Wooyoung recovers from his surprise quickly, closing his eyes and kissing Nichkhun back, his lips moving along with Nichkhun’s. It’s chaste and simple, slowly driving Wooyoung mad and right before he can deepen the kiss, Wooyoung feels something cold slipped on his finger. Curious, Wooyoung pulls away and puts his hand up to his eyelevel.
“A present for you,” Nichkhun says while Wooyoung’s still eyeing the silver band around his finger. Wooyoung blinks and can’t believe it’s the same exact ring from the shop they went to that afternoon. He feels his heart pounding fast, but it‘s far from painful. Wooyoung honestly feels happy, so impossibly content and loved. “Do you like it?” Nichkhun carefully asks. Wooyoung drops his hand down so he can look at Nichkhun.
“You’re joking right?” he deadpans. Nichkhun looks flustered but the panic’s gone quickly as Wooyoung wraps his arms around Nichkhun’s neck and reconnects their mouths, kissing him more fervently this time, slowly moving to straddle Nichkhun. Nichkhun has his hands on Wooyoung’s waist, falling on his back right onto the pillow as Wooyoung leans more onto Nichkhun and into the kiss.
Gradually, the kiss slows down and pulled into a stop as Wooyoung breaks away to take a breath. Nuzzling his nose onto Nichkhun’s cheek, Wooyoung says “Khun, I love it. You know you’re the best, right?”
“Am I?” Nichkhun asks, fingers rubbing the skin behind Wooyoung’s ear.
Wooyoung pulls away, enough to look at Nichkhun in the eyes, grinning as he says “You know you are” and pecking his lips. “Do you know you’re a liar too?” Wooyoung asks, thumb rubbing the wetness on Nichkhun’s lower lip.
“Liar? What did I do? When did I lie?” Nichkhun frowns.
“A long time ago,” Wooyoung reminds him. “You said you were a bad kisser.” It takes a while for Nichkhun to register everything in.
“Oh,” Nichkhun says. “Well, maybe I am. Or maybe you’re the one who’s too good at it.” Wooyoung looks at him in disbelief.
“Stop saying embarrassing things!” Wooyoung disapproves. Nichkhun smiles, his hand on Wooyoung’s nape, pulling him closer.
“Then come here.” Soon, Wooyoung feels Nichkhun’s lips on his again but Wooyoung pulls away just as quick.
“Minjun hyung might see us,” he says, draping himself comfortably onto Nichkhun with his head on Nichkhun’s chest. Wooyoung feels and hears Nichkhun chuckling.
“And this is okay?” Nichkhun refers to their position but doesn’t push Wooyoung away from him. Wooyoung only nods his head and stares at the ring on his finger again. With the rise and fall of Nichkhun’s steady breathing, Wooyoung feels the calmness seeping into him as well. The warmth stays inside his heart, wrapping and cuddling it with so much love and comfort. Even though there’s no such thing as a proposal like Minjun and Fei, with Nichkhun giving him the ring, it feels like they’ve moved on to another different phase in their relationship, like all their promises are perfectly sealed with the existence of the ring. It gives Wooyoung a lot of hopes and expectations for their future relationship. It only gets better when Nichkhun links their hands and entwines their fingers together, two silver bands clinking together creating a sound like a bell sending a note of happiness straight to his heart.
“Khun…” Wooyoung says, his eyes getting a little watery again as he stares at the identical rings on their fingers.
“Hmm?” Nichkhun hums.
“This is so perfect.” Wooyoung squeezes Nichkhun’s hand tightly. Wooyoung honestly didn’t know it was possible for him to develop his feelings for Nichkhun this much and definitely not this deep. Nichkhun is so kind and lovely and perfect in every way possible. Wooyoung will always be grateful that Nichkhun became a part of his life. A huge part of his life.
The strokes on Wooyoung’s back slow down into a stop and Wooyoung wonders why. He lifts his head up to see, only to find out Nichkhun has dozed off. “Yah, Nichkhun!” Wooyoung calls, not too loud and not too quiet. Nichkhun opens his eyes and gives a sleepy smile at Wooyoung.
Instead of apologizing for falling asleep, he slyly asks “What?” to Wooyoung instead.
“Don’t you dare sleep on me without saying goodnight first, Khun.”
“I didn’t,” Nichkhun shamelessly denies. “And aren’t you the one on top of me?” he teases. Wooyoung feels shy and flushes red at Nichkhun’s statement, trying to roll away but Nichkhun quickly hugs him tight and makes him stay in his place. The only way to hide his red face is to press it against Nichkhun’s chest again, so he does just that.
“Don’t try to be smart, Khun. Geez you do that all the time,” Wooyoung mumbles.
“Don’t go anywhere. This feels really nice.” Wooyoung silently admits that it does. Nichkhun loosens his hug but presses his nose deeper into Wooyoung’s hair, Wooyoung can feel.
“What are you doing?” Wooyoung blinks but doesn’t want to move away.
“You smell really nice.”
“You’re creepy,” Wooyoung comments casually.
“Infatuated,” Nichkhun corrects him.
“Creepily, obsessively infatuated. That’s even worse, ya know?” Wooyoung yawns. He’s getting sleepy himself. “Can you get the blanket?” Nichkhun’s arm is long enough to reach for Wooyoung’s blanket. He pulls it closer and over Wooyoung. “Thank you,” Wooyoung mumbles, snuggling closer and nuzzling his cheek on Nichkhun’s chest.
“Are you really going to sleep like this?”
“Mmm.”
“Go to sleep then. I’ll move you later.”
“I’ll love you less if you do,” Wooyoung slurs. Nichkhun laughs quietly. “You wanted to stay like this anyway.” Wooyoung closes his eyes as a kiss is pressed onto the top of his head. Minus the small fight with Minjun, overall the day was a good day. “Thank you,” he says. “For being here with me. For everything.”
“Mmm. Go to sleep,” Nichkhun tells him. Wooyoung doesn’t need to be told twice as he easily slips into slumber.
The sunlight invades the darkness behind his eyelids, his ears slowly catching the sound of hushed voices near him. Feeling his peaceful sleep intruded, Wooyoung stirs and shifts in discomfort, shushing the voices completely. Wooyoung is awake but he doesn’t open his eyes, feeling a hand covering them away from the bright sunlight. He steadies himself and stills again before the voices come back.
“We really didn’t do anything,” Nichkhun says.
“Then why is he….!” comes Minjun’s voice.
“He just fell asleep on me, that’s all. I didn’t wake him up because he seemed so tired,” Nichkhun explains. “Hyung, you can scold me later,” he adds, cutting Minjun’s words. “But for now let Wooyoung sleep some more.”
“Junnie, Khun is right. Wooyoung gets tired a lot easier than any of us. We should let him rest,” Fei says. Minjun sighs but doesn’t say anything else anymore. “Okay, we’re going out to buy breakfast. It’s still early. Sleep some more.”
Wooyoung feels Nichkhun nodding his head, hears footsteps moving further away from the scene and the door closing shut. Then there’s light strokes on his hair, blanket carefully tugged onto Wooyoung to cover him from the cold.
“Did they leave?” Wooyoung croaks. Nichkhun stops his ministration.
“You’re awake. Did I wake you up? Sorry.”
“No,” Wooyoung shakes his head. He stretches his arms and pulls Nichkhun’s hand away from his eyes, the sunlight immediately attacking his vision again. “Good morning,” he greets, arms wrapped around Nichkhun to hug him. Nichkhun hugs him back.
“Good morning. Did you have a good sleep?”
Wooyoung nods. “What was that all about with Minjun hyung?”
“Oh. He was just…surprised to see us sleeping together like this.” Wooyoung tsks and then chuckles.
“Ah, what a beautiful morning,” he praises. “Did you have a good sleep as well?”
“Mmm~ Let’s get up before they come back.”
“You mean we can’t stay like this?” Wooyoung fakes an innocent tone.
“No, love. As much as I want to, we can’t stay like this for the rest of the day,” Nichkhun rubs his hand on Wooyoung’s arm, gently persuading him to get up.
“That’s too bad~” Wooyoung pouts and rolls away, and then he sits up wrapping the blanket around him as he yawns into the thick fabric.
“Too bad~” Nichkhun agrees. He folds the blanket and neatly arranges the futon to be carried back into the room. “Up, up, up! Go clean up so you can eat as soon as your brother gets back,” Nichkhun says, trying to pull the blanket away from Wooyoung’s body. Wooyoung holds on the blanket even tighter.
“Don’t want.”
“You don’t want breakfast?”
“I don’t want to part with this comfy blanket,” Wooyoung corrects him.
“But you still want breakfast later?” Wooyoung nods. “Then you need to wash your face and brush your teeth first.”
“But I will be cold without the blanket,” Wooyoung makes a pitiful face.
“It’s not that cold in the bathroom...You can also use warm water if you want. Come on now, be a good boy and let me put all of these back into the room~”
“Eish,” Wooyoung sulkily pushes the blanket away and stomps to the bathroom. He gasps however when he feels Nichkhun hugging him from the side and using his loose jacket to cover Wooyoung as he lightly pushes him towards the bathroom.
“Hurry, before Wooyoungie gets cold again!”
Laughter manages to bubble up Wooyoung’s throat as they hurry together to get to the bathroom. It’s one of the things he likes being with Nichkhun; being spoiled and feeling like a kid again. This guy brings so much joy and happiness into his life.
In the end, they end up washing their face and brushing their teeth together sharing the same sink, and maybe stealing a kiss or two from each other before Wooyoung runs off to Minjun and tackles him into a hug once they got back to the penthouse with their breakfast. Wooyoung’s aegyo brightens up Minjun's day like it always does that he completely forgot to scold Nichkhun and Wooyoung for sleeping on the same futon the night before.
+
When Nichkhun had asked Wooyoung to come over his house again, Wooyoung agreed this time around without hesitation. The time is ticking away, days shortening and Wooyoung is perfectly aware of it- therefore he wasn’t going to waste any of it anymore. So here he is now in Nichkhun’s house, a part of him still unable to believe he’s living in that kind of luxurious place. It’s a two stories condominium and Wooyoung thinks it must be lonely for Nichkhun to live here alone.
“Hey,” Wooyoung stops looking around and turns on his side to face Nichkhun sitting next to him on the couch. Nichkhun hums, eyes fixed on the show playing on the television but he forces himself to look at Wooyoung back. “Your house is nice…and huge. But- don’t you feel lonely living here?”
Nichkhun shrugs. “I’m used to it I guess. But then again, I’m almost always never home anyway,” he grins. “I’m always out and about doing something~ I only come home to shower, eat and sleep.”
Wooyoung juts his lower lip out, blinking and looking at Nichkhun with understanding and sympathy. “Come visit me often, I’ll accompany you as much as you want,” he offers, patting his hand on Nichkhun’s knee. Maybe it was just an excuse to make Nichkhun want to see him more as much as he wants to spend more time with Nichkhun, but Wooyoung doesn’t care. Nichkhun smiles.
“Won’t I be a bother to you?”
“Since when are you a bother to me?”
“Hmm,” Nichkhun pretends to think. “I remember quite clearly you definitely weren’t very fond of me when we first met and became friends.”
“Ay,” Wooyoung clicks his tongue in disapproval. “That was-” Wooyoung narrows his eyes and tries to think, giving up midway and absently waving his hand around “-so many months ago.”
“Are you fond of me now?”
“That’s not even a question, Khun,” Wooyoung smiles back at him. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Wooyoung hugs and squishes Nichkhun. Nichkhun laughs but let him be. Then Wooyoung remembers something, pulling away from Nichkhun again. “Ah, right. You said you were going to teach me how to play a song on the piano.”
Nichkhun seems to remember about it now too. “I did say that, didn’t I. Do you have a song in mind?”
“Mmmno?” Wooyoung slowly shakes his head. “I’ll learn anything. But the easy ones, okay? I don’t think my fingers are that smooth and fast anymore.” He emphasizes by wriggling his fingers around. “Nichkhun, please play me a song!” he says cheerfully.
Nichkhun chuckles. “Now?” Wooyoung only nods his head eagerly, his eyes sparkling with expectance. “Okay. The piano’s upstairs.” Nichkhun gets up and offers his hand to Wooyoung. Wooyoung gladly accepts it and lets Nichkhun lead him upstairs. “It’s my bedroom,” Nichkhun answers, as if knowingly to the question playing in Wooyoung’s mind.
“Really?” Wooyoung’s excited smile fades slowly when they arrived on the second floor. Just like downstairs, it’s an open floor but with only the bed and walk-in closet there, the room looks extra spacious and emptier. “What…it’s so dull,” Wooyoung voices out. The white grand piano near the wall made of huge windows stands up the most, though. Wooyoung also notices the portrait he drew for Nichkhun was put up right above Nichkhun’s headboard.
“It is.” Nichkhun pulls Wooyoung towards the grand piano and sits him down the bench. Wooyoung’s still eyeing the dull, white walls- colorful, abstract images popping up in his mind.
“Can I paint the walls?”
“Why do you want to paint the walls?”
“It’s so boring…I’m itching to splash colors to give them life.”
“Ohh, Choi Picasso is going to make a masterpiece on my bedroom walls?” Nichkhun teases. Wooyoung bumps shoulders with Nichkhun.
“Doesn’t sound bad though, right?”
“Mmm~ maybe we can paint them some other time~” Nichkhun opens the cover and brushes his slender fingers on the black and white keys. “It’s been a while since I last played.”
Wooyoung scoots closer. “What song are you going to play for me?”
Nichkhun only smiles, cracking the joints on his fingers. Wooyoung watches in awe as Nichkhun presses and moves his fingers around on the keys beautifully- creating a soothing, haunting melody. His eyes slowly shut close, listening and appreciating the song- his heart feeling warm and touched at the sincerity poured into playing the song.
“No way you’re gonna make me learn this song, right?” Wooyoung asks, still with his eyes close after Nichkhun’s done playing. “It doesn’t sound easy to learn.”
“Why? I’ll teach you step by step.”
Wooyoung flutters his eyes open. “How long will it take me to learn this?”
“Hmm,” Nichkhun seems to be calculating in his head. “With a lot of practice, maybe not that long.”
“Do you have that much faith in me, teacher Khun?” Wooyoung asks. He presses his finger on random keys and smiles in delight at the sound they make.
“Yes, I do, student Woo. Here, like this,” Nichkhun grabs Wooyoung fingers and guides them to play the song he just played.
“Oh, it doesn’t seem that easy though,” Wooyoung frowns, trying to remember and memorize which keys to press.
“It’s okay, it’s only the first lesson,” Nichkhun comforts him. He plays it slow for Wooyoung to grab it easier. Wooyoung tries hard to remember as much as he can. “Okay, let me do this again,” Nichkhun gets up and stands behind Wooyoung, bending down until his chin almost touching Wooyoung’s shoulder as he guides Wooyoung to play the song again.
“What’s the song called?” Wooyoung asks.
“River flows in you.”
“Oh? River flows in you? Yiru-” Wooyoung lifts his head up from the keyboard and turns around, only to have his nose brushing on Nichkhun’s cheek. “-ma?” he finishes in a whisper. Nichkhun stops too, only moving his face slightly, enough to make his cheek brushed against the tip on Wooyoung’s nose again. Their gazes meet, but neither say a word or make a move at all.
“I have something to tell you,” Nichkhun breaks the silence after a while, but even so his voice was too hushed, careful and almost laced with fear at the edges.
“What is it?”
“I-” Nichkhun is contemplating, Wooyoung can feel. He doesn’t want to push Nichkhun too much, so Wooyoung just waits patiently for Nichkhun to continue. Then Nichkhun sighs, retracting his hands from Wooyoung’s and straightening up, ruffling his hair.
“Khun?”
“I- I need to use the bathroom first,” Nichkhun says, jabbing his thumb towards the white door.
“Oh. Okay,” Wooyoung blinks and watches as Nichkhun walks to the bathroom. “Khun!”
Nichkhun turns on his heels. “Hmm?”
“Can I get something to drink?”
“Oh, yeah of course! You know where the kitchen is right?” Nichkhun chuckles. Wooyoung chuckles and gets up from the bench, hastily leaving the second floor. He doesn’t know why his heart is beating fast. What did Nichkhun want to tell him?
“Ahh what is this feeling?” Wooyoung presses his hand on his left chest. “Really not a good one,” he mumbles. Wooyoung takes the glass from the kitchen counter and opens the fridge. Another frown made it to his face again seeing the contents of the fridge. “What is this?” he rises his eyebrows, hand touching the different colored bottles- branded water. Wooyoung gasps. “Really is a rich guy with an expensive taste,” Wooyoung comments to himself, craning his head at the stairs just in case Nichkhun heard him. Wooyoung scratches his head, unsure of what to drink and what’s the difference between the brand. In the end, he picks a random bottle with red liquid and pours it into his glass. “A juice should be good,” he thinks, downing his drink. He scowls at the sour taste. “What the…” he sniffs at the juice. “Is this the same thing we drank before in Busan?” He takes another sip to make sure. It tastes sour but it gets better the more he drinks it. “Oh, it’s not really that bad,” Wooyoung look at the empty glass, impressed. He pours some more and finishes the second glass.
“Wooyoung?” Nichkhun calls from upstairs.
“Hmm?” Wooyoung looks around. “Ne hyung?~” he calls back, and then giggles when he realizes he just called Nichkhun with a hyung. He doesn’t put the bottle back into the fridge, neither does he put the glass into the sink. Wooyoung only walks to the couch and flops down.
“Everything okay down there?” Nichkhun echoes a moment later.
“Ne~” Wooyoung blinks at the ceiling, suddenly feeling the warmth rising from his body up to his face.
“Not going up to learn anymore?” Nichkhun shows up at the bottom of the stairs. Wooyoung only shifts his gaze to look at Nichkhun without moving the rest of his body.
“No. Later. Maybe. Aish, why is it so warm?” Wooyoung fans his face with his right hand and unzips his jacket with his other.
“Warm?” Nichkhun eyes him carefully. “Are you okay?” Nichkhun approaches Wooyoung and presses his hand on Wooyoung’s forehead. “Your face is red…”
“Really?” Wooyoung’s hands fly up to touch his own cheeks.
“Wooyoung, you don’t look too good. How are you feeling?” Nichkhun asks worriedly.
“I’m okay. Just a little warm,” he tells Nichkhun again.
“I’ll lower the temperature and get some cold water for you.” Nichkhun reaches for the remote control of the air conditioner and clicks a few buttons. Wooyoung stays on his seat, letting Nichkhun walks off to the kitchen. There’s a small shriek coming from the kitchen and Nichkhun’s fast footsteps approaching Wooyoung again with a bottle in his hand. “Wooyoung, did you drink this?” he asks in panic. Wooyoung feels dazed but manages to identify the bottle and nods his head. Nichkhun’s eyes widened. “How much?” Wooyoung shows two fingers at Nichkhun. “Two glasses??” Nichkhun puts the bottle onto the coffee table and sits next to Wooyoung. “Wooyoung-ah, you shouldn’t have drank that!”
“Why not? It tastes good.” Wooyoung knows the look on Nichkhun’s face screams worried but he can’t help but giggle when he sees it.
“That’s Nichan’s wine…” Nichkhun mumbles. “Ah he usually throws them away if he can’t finish the whole bottle…”
“Wine?” Wooyoung knits his brows together and slaps a hand onto his mouth. “Nichan‘s wine?” Nichkhun nods in confirmation. Wooyoung bursts out laughing. “I should have finished it!”
Nichkhun eyes Wooyoung carefully. “How are you feeling?”
“Good!” Wooyoung cheers.
“Wooyoung I think you’re a little tipsy…”
“Tipsy? I feel fine. I’m not tipsy at all,” Wooyoung denies. He just feels a little warm and a little funny. A good kind of funny where he wants to laugh at everything.
Nichkhun sighs and gathers Wooyoung’s things. “Let’s get you home.”
“Home? Why would I want to go back home? Nichkhun is here and not back at home,” Wooyoung shakes his head but doesn’t stop Nichkhun from helping him get up from the couch. This brought a smile on Nichkhun’s face somehow.
“Nichkhun will be there if he’s the one who takes you home.”
“Hmm. You’re right, you’re right,” Wooyoung easily agrees.
“Shall we head back home now?” Nichkhun asks, his tone almost persuading.
“But I want to learn to play piano more,” Wooyoung pouts.
“I’ll teach you some other time.”
“Hmm,” Wooyoung replies sulkily.
The bus ride home is filled with silence and Wooyoung feels so sleepy, but forces himself to stay awake. When they hop down, Nichkhun offers him his favorite piggyback ride and that brightens Wooyoung up instantly.
“Yeay, Khunnie is the best,” Wooyoung says and hops on Nichkhun’s back.
“Will I always be the best in your eyes?”
“Of course.”
“Even better than your Minjun hyung?”
“Mmm.” Nichkhun lets out a silent chuckle, only his body shaking lightly from the action. Wooyoung smiles and rests his cheek on Nichkhun’s shoulder, nuzzling his nose on the crook of Nichkhun’s neck. “You smell really nice.”
“Aren’t you the one being creepy now?”
“Please, no one can get any creepier than you.”
“I think you’re creepily, obsessively infatuated with me too.”
“I think you actually liked that.”
“I do.”
Wooyoung sighs in contentment, feeling the sleepiness overpowering him again, so he closes his eyes. “I like you. I love you.”
Nichkhun slows down his steps into a stop. “Wooyoung…” Wooyoung wants to respond but feels so tired to even find his voice so he listens instead. “Are you sleeping…? I have something to tell you though…” he adds, almost as a reminder to himself. “Wooyoung I-”
Wooyoung opens his eyes and blinks, feeling the heavy weight of Nichkhun’s words pressing everything down into a silence. Wooyoung inhales and exhales deeply, letting out a shaky “You what?” Assuming that Wooyoung was already asleep, Nichkhun turns tensed when he realizes that Wooyoung hadn’t, and that he probably heard everything he said clearly. “What, Khun? What did you say?”
Nichkhun doesn’t say anything, but Wooyoung feels his hold tightening on the back of his legs.
Oh God. Oh God, don’t let it be true.