These Inconvenient Fireworks (Part 2/2) [Lu Han/Minseok]
Part 1
The gifts stop coming.
Technically Minseok shouldn’t be worried. Or even care, this much. Lu Han is, after all, someone he encountered while on the job. He has no obligations, no ties to the man - even after that night when the both of them were drunk, and horny. If Baekhyun hadn’t called Minseok’s phone and interrupted them, they would have done something that they would have regretted, once they had sobered up.
Technically, he should be grateful that Lu Han’s gotten the message about propriety and stopped showing up - and yet, somehow, Minseok doesn’t understand how he can’t actually stop thinking about Lu Han.
And, Minseok hates to admit it - he misses the inappropriate messages about his pretty eyes and the gifts that he’s grown used to seeing on his desk whenever he gets back from his meetings. Even Jongdae seems to have picked up on his mood, and there are no cat jokes during their tea breaks.
He shakes his head, trying to clear his mind of these thoughts, and decides to turn his attention towards the pile of work that he hadn’t had a chance to sort out the past few days. Squaring his shoulders in determinedly, Minseok reaches for the topmost file, and distract himself with work.
It’s Jongdae who broaches the topic with him, a few days later. “How’s Lu Han?”
Minseok is busy filling out the latest assessment forms for his squad. He pauses in the middle of typing out a report for Jongin and looks up, raising an eyebrow at Jongdae. “Why would you ask me that?”
Shrugging, Jongdae tugs a chair closer to Minseok’s desk, and settles down on it. “Just that we haven’t seen him around lately.”
“Maybe you just haven’t been here when he is.” Minseok goes back to his reports. He’s not sure what Jongdae is getting at.
“If he had been, we would have seen the gifts on your desk,” Jongdae points out, “and from the lack of that lately, it’s obvious that he hasn’t been here.”
Minseok sighs. “And why would I care if he’s been here or not?” he asks, trying to pay attention to the screen. Good at following instructions, in sync with the rest of the squad, he types out.
Jongdae gives him a skeptical look. “Says the man who’s kept every single card that Lu Han has sent, in his desk.” When Minseok tries to deny this, he rolls his eyes. “Bottom drawer, underneath last year’s safety manual.” He snorts. “Did you think you were being subtle about him?”
Minseok’s eyes widen. “How did you-- wait, I’m-- I’m not --- I never said I was interested,” he sputters out. “We’re not even friends-- and-- and he’s the one who’s been hanging around me--”
“Are you sure? Because it seems to me that you’re just as obsessed with him,” Jongdae points out. “Besides, Baekhyun told me that you were flirting with him at the bar that night, after I left.” Minseok feels his face turning hot. He’s going to hunt Baekhyun down the first chance he gets.
“Baekhyun was too drunk to even find his way home, Jongdae. He tried to have a conversation with my vacuum cleaner that night,” Minseok says, instead. He hits the ‘Enter’ key a little too hard, and the sound makes him start, slightly. “I don’t think he’s your most reliable source of information for what happened.”
“You’re deflecting,” Jongdae points out. “Come on, it’s clear you were into him the minute you saw him. And you liked how he was leaving those gifts and messages for you. And, the way you spoke to him at the bar, you were paying him a lot of attention. Way more than I’ve seen you give anyone of us, in fact, and we’ve been in the same squad for a year.”
Feeling frustrated because he has a deadline to meet with these reports - and, partially because Jongdae seems to be relentlessly hitting at a sore spot by reminding him that he's been too obvious, too easy in front of Lu Han - Minseok slams the ‘Enter’ key again, this time startling Jongdae. “It’s not that simple,” he snaps. “Lu Han-- it’s a risk.” Coming out in high school was hard enough; finding love, as easy as it is for anyone else, was harder . The rejection he faced still lingered after so long.
“How can it be a risk to admit that you like someone, to let yourself be happy? You can’t choose how you feel--”
“Choice is something we face everyday, Jongdae - and we make the choices on our jobs that have the lowest amount of risk for the people we’ve trying to save.”
“The decisions that we make for ourselves in our actual lives shouldn’t have to follow that rule,” Jongdae argues. “You don’t have to follow that rule, hyung.”
“I think I know better how to live my own life, without needing my second-in-command telling me,” Minseok shoots back.
“See, that’s the thing,” Jongdae tells him, sounding exasperated. “I’m not telling you this as your second-in-command, or as your co-worker. I’m telling this as your friend.”
Minseok stays silent. He gets what Jongdae’s trying to say, what he’s trying to imply -- but he hasn’t reached this point of his career and life without learning that some risks aren’t worth it.
“Here’s a hypothetical question, then,” Jongdae asks, suddenly. “You’re called to the scene, and there’s a decision you have to make. One choice could save more lives, but the wrong step could cost more. Another choice would mean saving less, but the risk isn’t as high.”
“I’d pick the low-risk one.”
“But what there was a slim chance you could still pick the high-risk choice, with a higher margin of success?”
“Either way, I wouldn’t choose that,” Minseok tells him. “In an emergency situation, anything could happen. Something that hadn’t been factored in, or a split second of hesitation from someone. Or even from me. All of these could change the outcome of the situation, that could determine either life, or death.” He learnt this at the academy, and then later, on the job. No decision he has made since then has been easy, but he’s made them, and moved on, dealing with the results and consequences later on.
Jongdae nods, as if he’s been expecting this answer. “That’s the responsibility you’d have, as a fireman.” He pauses. “What if Lu Han was in there?”
Minseok sits up, his eyes wide. “Jongdae--”
“Hypothetical, remember?” He leans closer. “You’re not a fireman in this situation. What would you choose?”
Minseok stares at Jongdae. Jongdae’s question was hypothetical, thrown out there into the situation to support his argument against Minseok. Yet, Minseok is reminded of the fact that the first time he had met Lu Han, he was in danger.
And Minseok, without hesitation, had saved him.
It's starting to dawn on him slowly, that he's made a terrible mistake, and he slumps back in his chair. “I’ve been an idiot,” he admits.
“Well, there’s a first time for everyone,” Jongdae says, looking terribly smug. “So what do you plan to do about it?”
*
The problem is, Minseok doesn’t know how to contact Lu Han. He didn’t even think to ask for his number, being too wrapped up in his own stupid decisions that night. And while he knows that Lu Han works in one of the universities in Anamdong, he has no clue which one it is.
“You could try calling up those places and asking if they had anyone working there by that name?” Jongdae suggests, which Minseok considers for about five seconds before deciding that it’s a terrible idea.
“Well, I don’t see you coming up with anything better,” Jongdae grumbles, and Minseok ignores the remark as he turns back to his work.
Ten minutes before their lunch break, a call comes in. A smoke alarm has gone off in an apartment building, and while no one has called in with any updates on the fire, Minseok’s squad sets off to answer the call.
The fire, however, ends up being a false alarm. As the fire truck rolls up to the clean and modest-looking apartment building, Minseok notices the considerable lack of smoke and flames. A small crowd is milling around the front, looking put-out and aggravated.
He does a double-take at the sight of a familiar face amongst them. "Lu Han?" he blurts out.
"Oh!" Lu Han gives him a startled look, as the rest of Minseok’s men linger in the background. Minseok swears he can hear Jongin snickering. “Er… wow, this is embarrassing.” He rubs the back of his neck as his face turns pink, then bright red. He looks completely mortified. "Uh.. so there might have been a small accident?"
*
As it turns out, Lu Han was the one to accidentally set off the smoke alarm.
“Let me get this right,” Minseok says, crossing his arms as he stares at Lu Han, who’s standing in front of him, dressed in cargo pants and an old tank top that said World’s Manliest. “You were cooking ramyun, and just… forgot you had the stove on.”
Lu Han nods miserably.
“And it didn’t occur to you when you heard the smoke alarm that it was coming from your kitchen?” At the edge of his vision, Minseok can see the other firemen edging away from the two of them slowly.
Shaking his head, Lu Han mouthed out a feeble, “Uh, no.” He’d left the pot on top of the stove and stepped away to answer a call, and returned to a blackened pot, a roomful of smoke and the smoke alarm bleeping at him angrily.
“I even tried opening all the windows to air the room out, but there was still smoke everywhere,” he adds.
Jongdae returns from sweeping through Lu Han’s apartment. “All clean,” he tells Minseok. “The apartment uses an induction stove, so there was no gas. In fact, everything looks fine except for a few scorched marks and the burnt pot.” He gives Lu Han a sympathetic look. “Everything’s going to smell of smoke for a few hours, though.”
Minseok opens his mouth to say something else, when he’s interrupted by Sehun. “Uh, Chief Kim,” he begins. “Some of the residents are getting restless and asking if they can go back to their homes.”
“I’ll handle them.” Minseok looks back at Lu Han. For a moment, he feels a slight twinge of guilt for being so hard on him, especially when one of his neighbours, an elderly lady with a wooden cane approaches them and begins to lecture Lu Han. She keeps it up for a good ten minutes before another lady - her daughter, Minseok presumes - comes and pulls her away. The rest of the tenants begin to file away, returning to their units with grumbling noises and mutterings; a small pug dog even sniffs at him in disdain and ambles off, presumably following its owner back in.
Lu Han, who spends the entire time bowing and apologizing to each person, finally lets his shoulders slump in defeat before he sits down heavily onto the ground. He looks tired and sweaty. “They’re going to hate me for a while, aren’t they?”
Minseok looks at him sympathetically. “It might take a while, but they’ll come around. It was a mistake. Anyone could have done the same.” The statistics for that was pretty high, based on the experiences he’s had.
“It’s not just that,” Lu Han says. “What if I had fallen asleep? Or if that hadn’t been a induction system? What if it had been worse? Someone could have gotten hurt, Minseok - and it would have been my fault.”
“Lu Han,” he says, in a quiet voice. “No one got hurt. They’re all okay. You’re okay.” It hits him then, Jongdae’s question from days ago, and his eyes widen.
What if it was Lu Han you had to save?
In the wake of what’s just occurred, the question now carries a different meaning. Although no one’s been hurt, it reminds Minseok that this is his chance, now, to talk to Lu Han, to clear the air between them.
And maybe, just maybe--
“Minseok?” Lu Han’s voice interrupts his train of thought. “Minseok, what’s wrong?”
Shaking his head, Minseok turns to avoid Lu Han’s gaze. He catches sight of Jongdae, who’s hovering near the truck. They’re waiting for him, Minseok realizes, and Minseok is here, in front of Lu Han, with a set of decisions to make.
The decisions that we make for ourselves in our actual lives shouldn’t have to follow that rule. You don’t have to follow that rule.
“There--there’s a place near the station that delivers noodles,” Minseok begins hesitantly.
Lu Han looks up at him, confused.
“I… I haven’t had lunch yet,” Minseok adds. “Well, us, actually. The squad was about to order in something.”
Blinking at Minseok in confusion, it takes Lu Han several seconds before he finally responds. “Are you-- are you asking me to have lunch with you?”
“Just a quick one, since you didn’t end up making any, and--”
“Yes,” Lu Han answers quickly. “I’ll-- I’ll. Yes. Lunch. With you,” he finishes a little incoherently, looking slightly shell-shocked. Not that Minseok can blame him, since Minseok rejected him terribly the last time, and now he’s doing a 180-degree turn and asking him to join them.
The ride back to the station is quiet, as Lu Han sits up front with Jongin, while Minseok squeezes in the back between Sehun and Jongdae. It gives Minseok enough time to quell his own panic - although his own men aren’t exactly helping the situation, giving him knowing looks and grins, especially Jongdae.
Lunch is always a group affair for their squad - but this time, Minseok avoids the dining hall, where the rest of them have gathered, filling the room up with quiet chatter. With the take-away boxes of fried chicken and jajangmyeon between them, Minseok leads Lu Han towards the stairs, taking them to the rooftop of the station.
Minseok picks out a spot and spreads the old newspapers he snagged from the recycling pile. Satisfied with the arrangement, he beckons for Lu Han to join him as he sits down.
They dig into their food silently at first, until Minseok, at an attempt to break/dispel the awkward tension between them, brings up the topic of a recent football match he saw on TV. It takes a few seconds before Lu Han replies, but he opens up soon enough, especially when Minseok drops the name of his favorite team and Lu Han feels the need to passionately point out the flaws in their strategies.
Sometime in the middle of the conversation, when the topic has moved on from sports to their favorite bands, Minseok notices that Lu Han is watching him intently. He breaks off from describing the last variety show that he had watched. “What?” he asks, touching his face. “Is there something on my face?
“No-- it’s just that-- I mean, I’m having fun, talking to you, eating with you. Sitting here with you. But, the other night, you acted like you didn’t want anything to do with me.” Lu Han pauses, looking conflicted, before continuing, “Why did you change your mind?”
Minseok puts down his box of noodles and takes a deep breath. He can hear the confusion, but most of all, the hurt in Lu Han’s voice when he spoke. He’s never thought of himself as an asshole before, but the way he sees it now, he’s definitely acted like one towards Lu Han. “I wanted to apologize for that night, for the way I treated you. I wasn’t very nice about it, and-- ah, I might have been really drunk.” Using alcohol as an excuse is weak, he knows, but Minseok doesn’t dare admit the real reason. Not yet.
“At first, I thought you were grateful because I had saved you,” he continues. “It’s easy to be confused, to have some sort of feelings for the person who’d saved you. We call it hero-worship, amongst us, and it’s not the first time I’ve seen this happen before.” He gives Lu Han a rueful smile.
“Minseok,” Lu Han is looking at him with an amused expression on his face. “Maybe that’s the case for some people, but not for me. I actually like you. Not because you saved my life, but because… there’s something about you that makes me drawn to you. Which, I haven’t been very subtle about.” He smiles a sad, defeated smile. “Although it’s kind of pointless, since you made it pretty clear that night that you weren’t interested in me.”
Minseok feels the guilt hitting him right in the gut.
“Well, I think…” Minseok pauses, trying to come up with the right words. Nothing else seems to work in his mind, and he settles on the simplest. “I was wrong.” Lu Han isn’t looking at him, but Minseok can see the way he blinks, slowly, as he digests what Minseok’s just said.
“What do you mean?”
“What I said that night. I wasn’t being fair to you.” It’s now or never, he thinks. “I am interested. I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way-- no, wait. That’s not right.” He decides to be honest. “I was afraid.”
Lu Han blinks. “You?” He looks confused. “But-- you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. You fight fire. You’re the chief of a fire station. Why would you be afraid of anything?”
“I was afraid that… that it wouldn’t work out. It’s not easy for me to make a choice where I don’t know what the outcome will be like.” He worries at his lower lip. “But I’m tired of being afraid, and I want to… I want to try this. If you’re still interested.”
Lu Han doesn’t say anything. but Minseok can see a small smile playing on his lips. After a while, the smile grows bigger, and then he’s grinning at Minseok. “Yes.”
Later, when they’re packing up the empty boxes and newspapers, ready to head back downstairs, Lu Han takes a step closer towards Minseok and nudges him lightly with an elbow. “So, does this count?” he asks.
“Does what count?” Minseok looks at him in confusion.
“Us, having lunch here.” Lu Han’s eyes are twinkling in mischief. “Did that count as our first date?”
Rolling his eyes, Minseok elbows him - but not hard enough that it would have hurt. “That was lunch.” Lu Han pouts. “But,” Minseok continues, “if you -- ah, that is, if you’re available this Friday, we could make it one.” He clears his throat. “A date, I mean.”
Lu Han widens his eyes. “Really?” Minseok nods. “Wow. Okay, uh, yes. Yes. Let’s do that, uh,” he stutters, nearly walking into a wall, only to be saved by Minseok, who’s laughing as he grabs him in time before he injures himself.
*
A few weeks later, during which there are several pleasant dates and one very hot make-out session in the back of an almost-empty movie theatre, he finds himself back in Lu Han's apartment - except that this time it’s for a very different reason.
Earlier, after leaving the theatre, Lu Han rested one hand casually on Minseok’s waist before leaning closer, his breath warm against Minseok’s ear as he invited him back to his place. No excuses, no pretext - nothing to use as a cover as to why Minseok would need to be at his place.
(Of course, the fact that Minseok spent part of the movie tracing circles along the expanse of Lu Han’s thigh, dangerously close to his groin, might have brought about Lu Han’s thinly veiled desperation.)
The door has barely clicked shut, the locking mechanism inside still whirring loudly, when Minseok moves first. He hears the surprised sound that Lu Han makes as Minseok slides his hands around Lu Han’s neck, drawing him close. He tilts his head up, capturing Lu Han’s lips in a kiss that leaves no room for doubt as to his intent.
Minseok tugs at Lu Han’s shirt, trying to yank it off but there are damned buttons in the way. “Take it off.”
“Minseok-wait,” Lu Han is saying, his hands coming up to grab Minseok’s own but Minseok swats them away, still working on the shirt between kisses. Two buttons get sacrificed as he tugs too hard, impatient to get to Lu Han’s collarbones. “Hey! That was new!”
“Consider it a noble sacrifice,” Minseok tells him, before pushing him up against the wall and capturing his lips again. His fingers slip underneath Lu han’s shirt to run along the expanse of his chest lightly, making Lu Han gasp when he flicks at his nipples. He’s been dreaming of this for a while. “It was an ugly shirt, anyway.”
Suddenly he’s being pushed away. Before he can voice his protest, he finds himself shoved up against the wall as Lu Han reverses their positions.
“Ugly?” Lu Han bites out, and he presses his lips against the side of Minseok’s neck, sucking at a spot that has Minseok gasping, his fingers scrambling against the wall behind him uselessly. “I’ll have you know,” he mutters out, before lifting his head to let his mouth graze against the tip of Minseok’s ear, “that that was--” he licks it with his tongue, letting it trail down, down along the edge, “my favorite shirt.” His voice is low, his breath hot against Minseok’s ear. “I expect full repayment for that,” he adds, before his fingers slip down and press against Minseok’s growing erection.
“Lu Han,” Minseok moans out, losing control - he has more bulk on him that Lu Han does, yet the other man’s closeness, his touch and words and presence seem to drive him to the edge, to lose all sense and propriety every time. He’s going to have a stern talk with his libido after this, especially if having his brain scatter to bits whenever Lu Han is near him is going to be a problem--
However, when Lu Han guides him towards the couch - and begins to pull off his clothes, revealing his toned body and hard, leaking cock - all of that goes out the window as Minseok sits and tugs Lu Han close by the hips, taking him into his mouth.
Lu Han lets out a choked-off yelp at the sudden attack, but Minseok ignores him in favour of sucking the tip of the cock, pressing the flat of his tongue against the sides and along the thin vein beneath the crown. His fingers are still digging into the side of Lu Han’s naked thighs, and he lets them wander, slipping them between Lu Han’s legs to cup his balls, rubbing the silky sac, tugging at them slightly. He’s rewarded with a groan and a low fuck, fuck, and hums in pleasure.
Minseok feels fingers sliding through his hair, pulling at the strands and he takes that as his cue to take more of Lu Han into his mouth. He’s only deepthroated someone once before, but that experience couldn’t compare the way Lu Han’s sweat and manliness hit Minseok’s senses at once as he slid his mouth all the way until he feels the head hitting the back of his throat. He pulls back, almost to the tip, and then sinks his mouth down once more.
“Fuck,” he hears, before Lu Han’s grip tightens in his hair. He lets Lu Han fuck his mouth like that, letting as much saliva pool in his mouth to make the slide easier, until Lu Han’s muttering something that sounds almost like--
“Stop, wait,” Lu Han breathes out, his hands now gripping both sides of Minseok’s head, as if he’s trying to hold him back. Slightly annoyed at the interruption, Minseok flicks his tongue along the edge of Lu Han’s shaft, and sucks, hard.
He gets pulled off Lu Han’s cock immediately. “You’re a horrible tease,” Lu Han says, his face flushed, and breathing heavily. Minseok blinks at him, attempting to give him an innocent look. It doesn’t seem to work, as Lu Han manhandles him onto the couch, unbuttoning and yanking his slacks and briefs off him, while his lips are busy seeking out Minseok’s.
Lu Han wraps his fingers around Minseok’s leaking cock. With a low moan, Minseok lets his head fall back against the cushions as Lu Han slicks up the rest of his shaft with his precome. “Since you like teasing so much, let’s see if you like this,” he says, an impish grin on his face.
It’s only when Minseok is on his knees, his chest pressed down against the cushions and clutching to the edge of the seat with one hand and digging his fingers into the armrest with the other that he understands exactly what Lu Han means.
The wet sounds that Lu Han is making as he pushes his tongue into Minseok should not turn him on as much as it does right now, but Minseok can’t help but tremble at every lewd noise, at the way Lu Han feels hot and soft and slick inside him. It’s like nothing he’s ever felt; every lick makes him want to pull away in shock, yet he keeps pushing back, letting Lu Han open him up with his mouth and tongue while soft cries escape from Minseok’s lips.
It feels like forever before Lu Han finally slips a finger in, slick with lube that he had paused midway to hunt through his drawers for. He’s generous with the amount of lube, pausing to pour out more from the bottle before adding another finger and Minseok tries not to think of the mess that’s dripping down the back of his thighs, concentrating instead on how much he needs Lu Han to fuck him right now instead of taking his own sweet time.
Minseok whines when Lu Han eventually pulls his fingers out. There’s a crinkling sound as Lu Han tears open the condom packet. “Here, turn over,” he hears, and Minseok complies, wriggling around until he’s flat on his back.
Lu Han waits until he’s comfortable, before he shifts closer, using his hands to push Minseok’s legs up until he’s pressing them against his chest. Minseok can feel his cock pressing against his entrance, almost but not quite entering him.
“Will this-- is this okay?” he whispers, and Minseok catches the caution his eyes, the look of uncertainty that Minseok might, could, still reject him.
In answer, he reaches out and entwines his fingers with Lu Han’s, smiling at him. “I’ve got you,” he says, the words an echo of the first time they had met, in what feels like so long ago.
The smile of relief that Lu Han sends him is blinding, beautiful, and Minseok lets himself drown in the sight as Lu Han finally - finally - slides in all the way, filling him up. For a moment, they stay like that, breathing in each other’s scents, before Lu Han shifts slightly, causing Minseok to gasp as his cock presses against his prostate.
Lu Han fucks him on his back like this, his eyes never once leaving Minseok’s face, their fingers still entwined together. Minseok feels so full and he loves it, loves the way Lu Han is falling apart above him, the way his expression shifts from lust to amazement and something else that Minseok thinks he could, maybe, one day, allow himself to think about - but that is, of course, something for the future. Right now, all he can think of is how incredible Lu Han feels, and how much he needs to come.
He reaches down with his free hand, already intent on stroking himself when Lu Han stops him, pinning his hand above his head by the wrist. “No, not yet,” he gasps out, and Minseok all but glares at him, because damn it, he needs to fucking come now.
Lu Han pulls out, leaving him empty and still unsated, before tugging Minseok up with him. “Let me-- I want to try something,” he says, and Minseok finds himself on his knees again, this time bent over the back of the couch as Lu Han slides back into him. The change in position has Lu Han hitting his prostate directly, instead of the teasing grazes earlier; Minseok claws at the material on the couch, not caring if he’s going to end up ruining it as his cries keep getting louder and louder--
He comes, untouched, painting the couch with his seed as he clenches around Lu Han’s cock; Lu Han follows him over the edge soon after, groaning against Minseok’s back.
Exhausted, Minseok lets himself slide back onto the couch. He grimaces when he realizes that there’s a large wet spot on it, but before he can roll off the couch, Lu Han is wrapping his arms around him, clinging to him like a koala bear.
“Lu Han,” Minseok whispers, because he’s really tired and the couch is really gross right now. “Lu Han--”
“Shhh,” Lu Han whispers back, kissing him on the nose. “Just enjoy the moment.” he smiles at Minseok, his eyes already half-closed, sleepy.
And because he’s weak to Lu Han and his smiles, Minseok sighs, and lets himself be cuddled. The last thing he remembers, before falling asleep himself, is the look of adoration on Lu Han’s face -- and then he lets his exhaustion take over.
[Epilogue]
Minseok leans back in his chair, relieved. He’s been away from the station for a few days, having spent those days visiting several universities around Seoul to give his talk on fire safety. Because of the lost hours, his work had been piling up, and he’s had to put in some extra hours to clear the pile.
When he checks his watch, he notices that it’s close to seven in the morning. There’s another thirty minutes left before their shift ends; before he can finally head home to rest. He glances around the station and sees the rest of his men are quietly going about their duties. Jongin is humming and tapping his feet, moving along to the beat of some pop song that’s playing on the radio while he checks on the fire engine. Sehun walks past him, carrying a box of old documents from storage that’s meant for the shredder, and accidentally bumps into Jongdae, who’s just returned from making himself a cup of tea, resulting in a high-pitched yelp from the latter as most of the tea - and the cup - lands in the box.
Minseok’s phone vibrates, indicating a message has arrived. Amidst Jongdae’s nagging and Sehun’s impassive voice arguing back in the background (he’s learnt to tune them out a long time ago), he opens the message box to find out that Lu Han’s sent him a picture of a bunny hugging a pink-colored heart.
Seconds later, another message appears. Thinking of you. It’s been a few days since they’ve seen each other; Minseok’s hours are long, and there are days when he can barely stay awake around Lu Han because his body is still catching up on much-needed sleep.
Me too. Minseok thinks about it for a second, before adding, let’s have dinner tonight. Jajangmyeon?
The reply he receives is instantaneous. I’d rather have you. Minseok blushes. He can almost picture Lu Han’s smug look on the other side of the phone. He’s still trying to adjust to how sweet Lu Han can look while saying the most inappropriate things to him to his face; receiving them in the form of text only means Minseok simply can’t lean over to smack him.
Still, it’s not as if Minseok’s without his own comebacks. Dinner first, before dessert~ He sends this, along with an emoticon of a bunny giving a coy look - and shoves the phone back into his pocket, his cheeks aflame as he burrows his face in his hands.
Several minutes later, there’s still no reply from Lu Han. Minseok struggles with the urge to send him another message when suddenly someone clears their throat, startling him.
Lu Han is standing in front of him. He’s dressed down today - jeans and a band T-shirt, with a jacket thrown over his shoulder casually. He looks so good, and Minseok can’t help the broad grin that breaks out across his face at the sight.
“I was thinking of breakfast, actually,” Lu Han says, holding his phone up, grinning.
Minseok considers this for a moment. He’s been on duty for forty eight hours straight, and the snatches of sleep he’s had haven’t been enough for him to recharge. As much as he’d like to spend some time with Lu Han, right now, he’s looking forward to his bed more. “I-- I was planning to pick up something along the way and head home to sleep,” he admits.
“Why don’t you come over to my place instead?” Lu Han suggests. “There’s a nice big bed, and it’s closer by. And, if you ask nicely, I’ll even provide breakfast in bed.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.
“Only if you promise not to be the one cooking it,” Minseok tells him, amused at the outraged look on his boyfriend’s face.
“It was one time,” Lu Han protests.
“Tell that to the report I had to fill, you punk,” Jongdae yells from across the room. Minseok chuckles.
“Well?” Lu Han is standing there, looking hopeful. Waiting, for Minseok’s response.
Minseok thinks of his neat apartment, clean and well-stocked, of getting some rest in his empty bed that now seemed too big and lonely for him - and compares that to idea of spending the next few days in Lu Han’s place; tiny and messy with little to no chance of getting any sleep, especially if Lu Han’s involved --
He stands up, beckoning Lu Han over, who takes a step closer, placing his hands on the desk. “Throw in dessert, and you’ve got a deal,” he says, before tilting his head up.
Grinning, Lu Han leans over and meets his lips halfway.
(Across the room, Jongdae sighs. “Sehun, could you please pass me the firehose?”)
.fin.