corner kick
Pairing: Lay/Lu Han
Rating: G
Word count: 1.1k
A/N: for the prompt "A breaks B's "heart" and C puts it back together."
Lu Han’s sitting on Yixing’s couch shoving large amounts of popcorn into his mouth while he watches some sappy drama because he’s too lazy to change the channel when he finally brings it up.
“Xing, you’re good at puzzles aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about? I’m horrible at puzzles.” Yixing looks up at him from where he’s seated on the floor in front of the couch. “And could you talk after you’re done stuffing your face?”
When Lu Han looks down at the couch he sees he’s dropped a few kernels here and there. It’s not that he thinks Yixing is the type of person who doesn’t clean his apartment, but he does know for a fact that Yixing is prone to forgetting things unless he’s reminded, which leaves the clean status of the couch in limbo. After a moment of consideration, he shrugs and pops a kernel from the couch in his mouth.
“I mean like, didn’t you do that thousand-piece puzzle once?”
“I only did that because Joonmyun brought it over after he found it at a thrift shop and he looked like he really wanted someone to solve it with him. How was I supposed to say no? You know how he gets.”
Lu Han pouts. “Are you saying that if I came to your front door with a thousand piece puzzle, you wouldn’t help me solve it?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.” Yixing turns back to the television. After a moment he says, “What a weird topic to bring up out of nowhere.”
“It’s because we’re watching this stupid drama.” Lu Han throws a kernel at the television to emphasize his point. “It’s so unrealistic. Like, I’m supposed to believe this chick would go back to her ex who cheated on her when she was nearly dying? Really?”
Yixing sighs. “Lu, can you please not take out your feelings on my TV, couch, and carpet?” He leans forward to press the power button on the television, then turns around so he’s facing Lu Han. “What’s this about?”
There’s a pause.
“You know that poster of Cristiano Ronaldo that used to hang on my wall?”
“The one Song Qian got signed for you?” Lu Han flinches the slightest bit and Yixing realizes he didn’t think before opening his mouth again. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. We can say her name, it’s not like she’s Voldemort.”
When Lu Han doesn’t say anything else, Yixing gets up and sits on the couch. He takes the bowl of popcorn from Lu Han, whose hands drop into his lap without anything to hold on to.
“What is it, Lu?”
“Okay, don’t laugh at me, but I may have done the cliché thing and ripped it up when she broke up with me.” Lu Han raises a hand to push his bangs off his forehead. “I know, I know. How dramatic of me.” He pauses. “It was surprisingly cathartic, actually.”
Yixing smiles. “I’m glad.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m starting to regret that. It was a nice poster, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature!”
“I’m guessing if you were asking me about puzzles, you kept the pieces?”
Lu Han sighs and it blows his bangs up a bit before they settle back down. “Yeah, they were at the bottom of my wastebasket. I realized I was being kinda dumb so I didn’t throw them away.” In a quick moment, Lu Han’s expression changes and he’s pouting at Yixing again. “Will you help me?”
“Right now?”
“Yeah, I brought the pieces with me. Hold on,” Lu Han says before he’s up and off the couch, knocking popcorn kernels off his lap and onto the carpet. Yixing leans down to pick them up and when he’s done, Lu Han is back in the living room with his backpack.
Lu Han pulls out a Ziploc bag and dumps its contents onto the floor. Yixing can see that the largest piece of ripped poster is the size of his palm, but most of the pieces are much smaller.
“This is really thorough, I’m impressed.” Lu Han glares at him and he laughs. He sits back down on the floor and scoots closer to Lu Han. “Alright, where do we start?”
The rest of the afternoon is spent piecing together Lu Han’s poster, bit by bit. At first they make little clumps with pieces they know go together, each working on a separate part of the poster. About an hour in Yixing sneezes and accidentally sends half the work they’ve done flying across the living room, at which point they decide to take a snack break.
They order pizza and eat half each, but they’re still hungry after that, so they make ramen. They sit on opposite ends of the couch with their legs intertwined while eating their ramen out of mugs. They look out on the work they’ve done and the work that still lies before them on the carpet.
“There has to be a better way to do this,” Yixing says, and Lu Han just nods while he slurps his noodles. Yixing gets up in search of something they can put the pieces on and returns with an unfolded cardboard box he finds under his bed.
After another half hour of stalling by finishing the drama episode they were on, they get back to work. They concentrate this time, and work mainly in silence. Yixing hums under his breath and Lu Han pretends to be annoyed with him, kicking him lightly in the shin, but he continues. Eventually Lu Han joins in and harmonizes. As they cycle through songs their parents used to listen to, slowly, the full picture starts to come into view-- Ronaldo’s legs, one poised behind the ball; his shoulders; the logo on his shirt.
At some point Lu Han starts to fear he’s lost a piece or two, but by the time the sun starts to set they’ve finished and laminated the whole thing in a layer of tape. Lu Han holds it up and bends it so that the tape catches the light and the glare distorts the picture.
Yixing stands up and stretches. “You know, I kind of feel like I’m too young to be spending my weekends solving puzzles.”
“What else would you be doing with your weekend? Sleeping, I bet.” Lu Han sets the poster down on the ground and sits up on the couch. “This was productive, at least.”
“Do you feel it was productive?”
Lu Han doesn’t answer right away. Yixing sits down on the couch next to him with his legs folded, so that his knee is touching Lu Han’s thigh. With the television off, the apartment suddenly feels more quiet than it is when Yixing’s home alone. The only sound is the sharp ticking of the wall clock in the kitchen, echoing against the tiles.
Lu Han slowly smiles and looks up at Yixing. “Yeah. It was.”
Rating: G
Word count: 1.1k
A/N: for the prompt "A breaks B's "heart" and C puts it back together."
Lu Han’s sitting on Yixing’s couch shoving large amounts of popcorn into his mouth while he watches some sappy drama because he’s too lazy to change the channel when he finally brings it up.
“Xing, you’re good at puzzles aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about? I’m horrible at puzzles.” Yixing looks up at him from where he’s seated on the floor in front of the couch. “And could you talk after you’re done stuffing your face?”
When Lu Han looks down at the couch he sees he’s dropped a few kernels here and there. It’s not that he thinks Yixing is the type of person who doesn’t clean his apartment, but he does know for a fact that Yixing is prone to forgetting things unless he’s reminded, which leaves the clean status of the couch in limbo. After a moment of consideration, he shrugs and pops a kernel from the couch in his mouth.
“I mean like, didn’t you do that thousand-piece puzzle once?”
“I only did that because Joonmyun brought it over after he found it at a thrift shop and he looked like he really wanted someone to solve it with him. How was I supposed to say no? You know how he gets.”
Lu Han pouts. “Are you saying that if I came to your front door with a thousand piece puzzle, you wouldn’t help me solve it?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.” Yixing turns back to the television. After a moment he says, “What a weird topic to bring up out of nowhere.”
“It’s because we’re watching this stupid drama.” Lu Han throws a kernel at the television to emphasize his point. “It’s so unrealistic. Like, I’m supposed to believe this chick would go back to her ex who cheated on her when she was nearly dying? Really?”
Yixing sighs. “Lu, can you please not take out your feelings on my TV, couch, and carpet?” He leans forward to press the power button on the television, then turns around so he’s facing Lu Han. “What’s this about?”
There’s a pause.
“You know that poster of Cristiano Ronaldo that used to hang on my wall?”
“The one Song Qian got signed for you?” Lu Han flinches the slightest bit and Yixing realizes he didn’t think before opening his mouth again. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. We can say her name, it’s not like she’s Voldemort.”
When Lu Han doesn’t say anything else, Yixing gets up and sits on the couch. He takes the bowl of popcorn from Lu Han, whose hands drop into his lap without anything to hold on to.
“What is it, Lu?”
“Okay, don’t laugh at me, but I may have done the cliché thing and ripped it up when she broke up with me.” Lu Han raises a hand to push his bangs off his forehead. “I know, I know. How dramatic of me.” He pauses. “It was surprisingly cathartic, actually.”
Yixing smiles. “I’m glad.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m starting to regret that. It was a nice poster, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature!”
“I’m guessing if you were asking me about puzzles, you kept the pieces?”
Lu Han sighs and it blows his bangs up a bit before they settle back down. “Yeah, they were at the bottom of my wastebasket. I realized I was being kinda dumb so I didn’t throw them away.” In a quick moment, Lu Han’s expression changes and he’s pouting at Yixing again. “Will you help me?”
“Right now?”
“Yeah, I brought the pieces with me. Hold on,” Lu Han says before he’s up and off the couch, knocking popcorn kernels off his lap and onto the carpet. Yixing leans down to pick them up and when he’s done, Lu Han is back in the living room with his backpack.
Lu Han pulls out a Ziploc bag and dumps its contents onto the floor. Yixing can see that the largest piece of ripped poster is the size of his palm, but most of the pieces are much smaller.
“This is really thorough, I’m impressed.” Lu Han glares at him and he laughs. He sits back down on the floor and scoots closer to Lu Han. “Alright, where do we start?”
The rest of the afternoon is spent piecing together Lu Han’s poster, bit by bit. At first they make little clumps with pieces they know go together, each working on a separate part of the poster. About an hour in Yixing sneezes and accidentally sends half the work they’ve done flying across the living room, at which point they decide to take a snack break.
They order pizza and eat half each, but they’re still hungry after that, so they make ramen. They sit on opposite ends of the couch with their legs intertwined while eating their ramen out of mugs. They look out on the work they’ve done and the work that still lies before them on the carpet.
“There has to be a better way to do this,” Yixing says, and Lu Han just nods while he slurps his noodles. Yixing gets up in search of something they can put the pieces on and returns with an unfolded cardboard box he finds under his bed.
After another half hour of stalling by finishing the drama episode they were on, they get back to work. They concentrate this time, and work mainly in silence. Yixing hums under his breath and Lu Han pretends to be annoyed with him, kicking him lightly in the shin, but he continues. Eventually Lu Han joins in and harmonizes. As they cycle through songs their parents used to listen to, slowly, the full picture starts to come into view-- Ronaldo’s legs, one poised behind the ball; his shoulders; the logo on his shirt.
At some point Lu Han starts to fear he’s lost a piece or two, but by the time the sun starts to set they’ve finished and laminated the whole thing in a layer of tape. Lu Han holds it up and bends it so that the tape catches the light and the glare distorts the picture.
Yixing stands up and stretches. “You know, I kind of feel like I’m too young to be spending my weekends solving puzzles.”
“What else would you be doing with your weekend? Sleeping, I bet.” Lu Han sets the poster down on the ground and sits up on the couch. “This was productive, at least.”
“Do you feel it was productive?”
Lu Han doesn’t answer right away. Yixing sits down on the couch next to him with his legs folded, so that his knee is touching Lu Han’s thigh. With the television off, the apartment suddenly feels more quiet than it is when Yixing’s home alone. The only sound is the sharp ticking of the wall clock in the kitchen, echoing against the tiles.
Lu Han slowly smiles and looks up at Yixing. “Yeah. It was.”