Fandom: Super Junior
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Ryeowook
Title: Cinnamon Heart
Summary: Ryeowook doesn’t like cinnamon, Zhou Mi does.
Warning: None.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Junior, and that includes Zhou Mi and Henry. But the fanfic belongs to me.
Author: HWANIRIS
Ryeowook didn’t like cinnamon.
It didn’t taste good for him. He hated cinnamon breakfast cereals since he was a kid, when his mother first set out some apple cinnamon cereal for him. When young Ryeowook had tasted his first ever sample, he pushed the bowl of cereal away, stating quite simply: “I don’t like cinnamon.”
And this was why he had a small distaste for Valentine’s Day. When girls ran around giving the boys in their class treats on February 14th, they would buy him some cinnamon hearts and small cinnamon cookies. They would hand it to him with a sweet smile on their faces. Ryeowook always felt terrible handing the cookies to his friends when the girls went back to their backpacks, nibbling on the chocolates that remained, smiling politely when they came back. They always looked surprised when they noticed his cinnamon-less desk.
Whenever Ryeowook would cook for Super Junior, he would keep cinnamon from the menu. Donghae would complain about the lack of the spice, hanging on Ryeowook’s arm and looking up at him with sad eyes. “Ryeowookie-ah, could you please add some in?” He sat back on his feet, his arms still grasping onto Ryeowook’s thin arm.
“Why would I need to add in cinnamon? Does that mean that my cooking is tasteless?” Ryeowook put his hands on his hips, looking down at Donghae. The dancer smiled sheepishly.
“Of course not, W-Wookie-ah,” Donghae mumbled out, his grip slipping on the eternal maknae’s arm.
“Yah, Lee Donghae!” Ryeowook pushed Donghae off so that he fell onto the kitchen floor. Donghae ran up behind Ryeowook, waiting for him to cool down. Ryeowook sighed.
“Fine, I’ll get some for you. But you’ll have to add cinnamon in for yourself,” Ryeowook pushed Donghae away, shrugging on his coat and going off to the supermarket to buy the oh-so-special cinnamon. Donghae clapped his hands, jumping up and down and giggling.
Ryeowook sighed, watching Eunhyuk and Donghae cover their rice with cinnamon and stuffing it in their mouths. He didn’t get how people could actually like the taste of it - it was hot, but not a pleasant hot like in spicy food, but a harsh burn that stuck on your tongue for the rest of the day. And it was an unpleasant surprise when you accidentally ate some in a candy. Ryeowook just didn’t understand Eunhyuk and Donghae’s eagerness for cinnamon.
Super Junior-M was getting ready to be released at the beginning of February. To get used to the other members and the way of life, they moved the six members to Taiwan, and then Henry was brought back from Toronto to join the seven. Zhou Mi, all smiles as per usual, was already at the dorm when the six Korean members plus Henry arrived, carrying their luggage over their shoulders or on their backs. Kyuhyun rolled his eyes.
“Glad you haven’t changed during the break,” he muttered. Zhou Mi smiled, wrapping his arms around Kyuhyun with a happy ‘Kuixian~!’
Siwon laughed, the appa of Super Junior-M after all, leading the group into the dorm, dividing the group together by their wishes (Henry wanted to be with Sungmin-gege, Donghae and Eunhyuk wanted to be together, and Kyuhyun didn’t want to be Zhou Mi after staying with him for two comebacks. Ryeowook didn’t mind). In the end, it was Henry and Sungmin, Donghae and Eunhyuk, Siwon and Kyuhyun, and Zhou Mi and Ryeowook.
“You like Valentine’s Day, Lixu?” Zhou Mi asked, throwing himself on the bed, his legs dangling off because of how damn long they were. Mimi popped a chocolate in his mouth, pursing his lips to suck the warm, chocolaty juices from the treat in his mouth. In one talented throw, he passed a candy over to Ryeowook.
Ryeowook shrugged, his thin fingers playing with the wrapper of the chocolate. The pink foil crackled at the touch as he ripped the candy from its’ pink cage. “A lot of fans send me stuff on Valentine’s Day. The problem is I can’t send them anything for White Day.” Once unwrapped, Ryeowook popped the chocolate in his mouth, the warm smoothness running over his tongue.
Zhou Mi did his classic big smile, his fingers lacing and laying over his stomach. “You’re welcome,” he breathed, watching the ceiling.
Ryeowook turned his head, wondering what he was talking about, when he remembered the candy wrapper still in his hands. He smiled. “Thank you,” he whispered in Mandarin.
**
Two days before Valentine’s Day, Ryeowook crashes down on the couch after a stressful practice, getting ready for their Chinese comeback. He slapped his hand on his forehead, throwing his feet up on the coffee table. His socks slipped, brushing against the only thing on the coffee table besides Eunhyuk’s magazines and some empty bottles of bubble tea.
He sat up so that he could see what he had brushed, hoping that it wasn’t going to fall off too soon. His eyes bugged out, realizing that the small, red beads in the clear, plastic bowl were actually his worst enemy. Cinnamon hearts.
“You like them, Lixu?” Ryeowook turns to face the voice. It’s Zhou Mi, with the same, big smile. His long, slender fingers dug into the plastic bowl, grabbing a handful of the disgusting, spicy hearts. Ryeowook watches him take two hearts from his palm and popping it past his lips.
’Ew,’ Ryeowook thinks. And he wonders, again, how people can like that disgusting candy. Zhou Mi let out his hand, close enough for Ryeowook to grab some, but the eternal maknae shakes his head in a polite no.
Zhou Mi shrugs, popping four or five passed his lips like he was popping pills, like he was an addict. Ryeowook shivered, wondering how many of the bowl of cinnamon hearts he had eaten by now. And how he was able to deal with it, how he was able to withstand that terrible taste in his mouth without having to brush his teeth 24/7.
Zhou Mi sits down beside him, looping his head over his shoulder. Ryeowook shuddered. He could practically smell the cinnamon on his breath as he leaned in, his head on Ryeowook’s head. “Lixu,” he breathed, and the eternal maknae watched him, trying his best not to back away. That would be rude, he told himself.
“Zhou Mi-gege?” he asked, poking his arm, his eyes on the cinnamon hearts in Zhou Mi’s palm, melting there and staining his fingers red. Zhou Mi hums in response.
“How many cinnamons have you eaten since the bowl was put out?” he asked, taking time to speak the words and say the Mandarin properly. Zhou Mi laughed, correcting him by habit, before slowly taking another two cinnamon hearts from his hand.
“I can’t tell you, Lixu, I stopped counting.” Ryeowook sighed, moving his head so that his nose rubbed against Zhou Mi’s neck. Zhou Mi lifted his head from Ryeowook’s, turning to face him and give him his million-dollar smile. He kissed Ryeowook’s nose, his hot breath making the eternal maknae blush.
Zhou Mi smiled, moving down and kissing Ryeowook’s lips, sliding their lips together. The taste of cinnamon on Zhou Mi’s tongue came into Ryeowook’s mouth, and he almost pushed away, had Zhou Mi’s hand not appeared at his neck, pulling him closer.
Ryeowook doesn’t like cinnamon, at all. But he’ll deal with it if it’s Zhou Mi.