I don't believe you've met my baby
Flist~ Just posting this here to avoid running over the max character count in another post. Sorry for the spam.
Title: Choux Pastry Heart
Fandom: Super Junior
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Qmi, Shimin, minor Hanchul
Summary: Every day, a little more.
A/N: I don't bother with w/c because I rarely top 3k but for some unfathomable reason, this actually managed to hit ~6k :| wth
Zhou Mi spat out enough detergent to make his next words intelligible, "I'm not on fire, Kui Xian, the oven was."
Kyuhyun twirled the hose end of the extinguisher, smiling lazily, "Whoops."
With a heavy sigh, Zhou Mi wiped a hand down his face, flinging off bits of foam in Kyuhyun's general direction, "You are a mean person."
"Sure, but at least our household appliances don't hate me."
"Hey! You saw for yourself, I told you holy water would sizzle on that thing."
Kyuhyun stepped closer, reaching out to swipe a finger over Zhou Mi's cheek bone, clearing enough space to deposit a soft kiss before breaking the news, "I'm pretty sure Siwon got that water from the tap."
"The point is, you should be nicer about this, it's not my fault the oven is-"
"-Possessed?" Kyuhyun laughed, eyebrow arched at Zhou Mi's disgruntled hand gestures towards the smoking heap that had been their dinner.
"Obviously!"
Kyuhyun dropped the extinguisher beside the oven door, bending over to peer in at the mess. He tried a few dials and nothing. Maybe the coils were just shot. Hm. He straightened before winding an arm around Zhou Mi's waist, pulling him close enough to touch noses, "I'll see if I can figure out a more logical solution and if that doesn't work, then we can go for exorcism, okay?"
Zhou Mi's frown slid neatly into his usual grin, "Okay."
But before Kyuhyun could pull back, Zhou Mi crushed their mouths together for just a second, then proceeded to rub his foam-covered cheek against Kyuhyun's face with a happy laugh, "Just because you're so hot, Kui Xian!"
He tried to shove Zhou Mi off of him, but sometime during the exchange, he'd tangled his legs with Zhou Mi's impossibly long (and awkward) ones. So his original plan of elbowing his way out backfired when his first step away sent the both of them sprawling backwards onto the kitchen table- which gave a pathetic creak before promptly collapsing under their combined weight.
When Kyuhyun regained enough air to speak, he groaned, "Why, why am I always on the bottom?"
Sensing it was not the best time to twist that comment, Zhou Mi settled for hiding his smile in Kyuhyun's neck, "I guess it's a good thing we had sex on the countertop instead, huh?"
"Somehow, this is all your fault."
Grinning brightly, Zhou Mi wrapped his arms around Kyuhyun's middle, squeezing an annoyed grunt out of him, before replying matter of factly, "Of course."
Zhou Mi had gathered up the broken pieces of their kitchen table and hauled them out to the dumpster while Kyuhyun was left mopping up the rest of the extinguisher's detergent before settling down to pull apart the oven. Which, come to think of it, had always run about 50 degrees hotter than the set temperature. So maybe Zhou Mi wasn't that terrible of a cook after all.
He shook his head, mumbling, "No, there's no way an oven could be solely responsible for some of those meals."
"Hm?"
Kyuhyun twisted to look over his shoulder at Zhou Mi standing in the entryway, bits of foam still stuck in his hair. He surpressed the twitch at the corners of his mouth and nodded towards the stairs, "Go shower, I'll look at this."
"What about your homework?" Zhou Mi frowned, arms folding over his chest as he moved to lean with one hip braced against the doorjamb. Kyuhyun had a hard time looking away from the long line of his legs even as Zhou Mi laughed, "Kui Xian? My face is up here."
He blinked, "Uh. Break between classes tomorrow- I'll do it then."
"And what about me?" Zhou Mi's tongue flashed pink over his bottom lip as he stared meaningfully at Kyuhyun, eyes dark.
"What about you?" Kyuhyun asked dumbly, still sort of stuck on how Zhou Mi managed to look equally good whether he was dressed or not.
Zhou Mi tilted his head, smile teasing, "When are you going to do me?"
Kyuhyun leaned away from the oven, reaching to the side to retrieve the fire extinguisher. He held it aimed at Zhou Mi, "Just go get cleaned up before I decide I missed a spot the first time."
Eyes wide, Zhou Mi disappeared out of the kitchen, nearly catching his elbow on the doorjamb as he bolted. Satisfied, Kyuhyun smiled to himself before turning back to continue gutting the oven. He almost smacked his head on the roof when Zhou Mi called from, he assumed, the general direction of the stairs, "So should I get started without you then?"
He choked back a frustrated yell and slammed down an unnamed part before grabbing the extinguisher and running out of the kitchen, making sure his footsteps up the stairs were loud enough for Zhou Mi to hear over the sound of running water and his own shrieking as he tried to get the bathroom door to lock in time.
A good two hours later, Kyuhyun sat on the kitchen floor, Zhou Mi towelling his hair as he stared sullenly at the ancient manual he'd found in their junk drawer. Zhou Mi paused, fingers still pressing the towel to Kyuhyun's head, as he asked, "Maybe we should just call the landlord?"
"Oh sure," Kyuhyun spat, "Because he was totally helpful with your possessed washer machine. And you kn-augh!"
Zhou Mi hummed pleasantly, holding the end of the towel over Kyuhyun's mouth, "Sorry, what was that?"
Kyuhyun wriggled away, threatening an elbow to Zhou Mi's crotch as he spit out bits of terrycloth, "I was just saying how much fun it is to live on the street."
He was accosted in moments, Zhou Mi pressing against him tightly enough to stick the material of his tshirt to the damp spots across his shoulders as he fairly screeched, "Really? You'd be poor with me?!"
Head hung in defeat, he patted Zhou Mi's forearm which was sort of locked around his throat, "That was not my point- and we're poor already."
"Yes we are," Zhou Mi readily agreed before sighing dreamily (and probably on purpose) into Kyuhyun's notoriously sensitive ear, "But Kui Xian, we'll always have love."
"Get away from me."
Lips pursed, Zhou Mi considered the closed oven door, eyes flicking between the faded diagram in the manual and the piece of piping in Kyuhyun's hand.
Kyuhyun gaped, mouth working soundlessly for a few moments before he managed, "At this point... I'm not even sure if this came from the oven."
"Well," Zhou Mi soothed, hand dropping to squeeze Kyuhyun's shoulder supportively, "The important thing is that it works, right?"
"I guess, yeah." Kyuhyun sort of wished the phone would ring or someone would come to the door, that way he could distract Zhou Mi while he gauged the severity of the failure involved in the situation and came up with a way to spin this as completely not his fault. But the phone stayed silent and there was no knock at the door. He heaved a sigh and stepped forward, avoiding Zhou Mi's hesitant smile as he leaned over the stovetop and reached a hand out for the temperature dial, twisting it to three-fifty.
The preheating light on the stove display flickered on and he tossed Zhou Mi a triumphant grin, right before he noticed the coil he'd placed his hand on was getting steadily warmer. He jerked away with a startled curse, voice cracking as he stumbled backwards, "What the fuck?"
Zhou Mi stared, slack jawed, obviously trying to make the connection between the oven's preheating light and the glowing stovetop coil. In the end he scrambled over to switch on the sink's faucet, dragging Kyuhyun's hand under the water once it ran cold enough. Kyuhyun frowned miserably, flexing his fingers under the stream of water, "I just don't get it."
Shrugging, Zhou Mi slid his thumb gingerly over the pink rings on Kyuhyun's palm before drawing back and holding his own hand above the coil. He flicked his fingers, once twice until droplets of water scattered over the lit stovetop with a hiss. Kyuhyun squeezed his eyes shut, head tipping back as a laugh slipped out just over the sound of Zhou Mi's solemn response, "I told you so."
He pressed a kiss to the upturned corner of Kyuhyun's mouth, "I'll go pick up some Italian, you call Siwon."
It was a little awkward trying to twirl linguine onto his fork with the way Zhou Mi was pressed to his shoulder, but he managed. After a few moments spent chewing thoughtfully, Kyuhyun swallowed and asked, "The chairs aren't broken, why are we sitting on the floor?"
"Because... uh... sure," Zhou Mi absently snagged a noodle off of Kyuhyun's plate and lowered it into his mouth eyes still focused on a diagram in the Music Theory textbook he had open in Kyuhyun's lap.
Kyuhyun snorted lightly, spearing some penne off of Zhou Mi's plate and tapping his cheek. Zhou Mi opened his mouth obediently, almost on autopilot, while he stared, eyebrows knit, at the paragraph of mostly italic text beside the diagram. He took the pasta from Kyuhyun's fork with a hum before turning the page forcefully and kicking his legs out, sliding down to lie on the floor, "I have no idea what I've just read."
"Do you usually?"
"Yes!" Zhou Mi hissed, swatting in Kyuhyun's general direction.
In an effort at appeasement, Kyuhyun dangled a strand of linguine over Zhou Mi's mouth, going noodle by noodle until his plate was nearly empty and Zhou Mi's smile was back. With a sigh, Kyuhyun stood and walked the dishes to the sink, "Why is it that you eat all my food and you're still- you know what, never mind."
"Why am I still what, Kui Xian~?" Zhou Mi pinched Kyuhyun's stomach briefly before side-stepping the arm he swung out in retaliation, "I guess I'll call Siwon then."
Kyuhyun tossed a fork into the dishdrain, shouting over his shoulder, "If by Siwon you mean Sungmin, then do not use my phone!"
"I know, I know! He walked right into it, I honestly thought he would have seen it coming! Did Siwon hear about it too? Wait, really? For how long?" Zhou Mi sat up suddenly, one hand gripping the arm of the couch the other white knuckled around the phone as his eyes widened at the response. Kyuhyun would have considered it sort of kind of cute if the phone in Zhou Mi's hand weren't black instead of silver.
He slid to his knees, commando crawling across the hardwood floor of their living room until he was poised behind the sofa. He waited until Zhou Mi was halfway into a sentence before jumping up and squeezing Zhou Mi's shoulders. As expected, Zhou Mi let out an ear piercing scream, tossing the phone at the opposite end of the couch before falling over the side as he scrambled to escape. Kyuhyun leaned over the couchback and fished his phone out from between the cushions.
"Zhou Mi! What's wrong, what happened? Oh my God, are you-"
"-He can't come to the phone right now." Kyuhyun grinned at Zhou Mi who sat at his feet, hand over his chest as he gasped out some very serious looking curses in Chinese.
"Kyuhyun!" Sungmin chastised through the line, "What have you done to him?"
"Hyung, please consider whether or not you really want me to answer that, also how much detail you'd like me to include."
"Ew."
"That's what I thought."
After a few minutes spent explaining the utterly illogical logic behind Zhou Mi's irrational fear of household appliances, Sungmin agreed to drag Siwon over to their apartment with an eta set for around 20 minutes from hanging up. Kyuhyun pressed the end-call button on his phone and turned to where Zhou Mi was still sitting, looking pretty dejected, beside the couch. He scoffed, "You had it coming."
"I grabbed the first one I saw!"
"Right. Sure." Kyuhyun replied with nearly reflexive sarcasm, attention absorbed in checking the damage done as he sorted through his phone's recent calls.
Zhou Mi scooted closer to Kyuhyun, wrapping his arms around Kyuhyun's calf, nuzzling like some overgrown and severely underfed cat, "You didn't mind when I did it with you."
"That's because your Korean was so bad I didn't even know you were trying to pick me up, I- Are you serious, Zhou Mi?! Forty minutes?! What could have possibly been so important that you couldn't wait until he got here to discuss?"
Zhou Mi paused in his molestation of Kyuhyun's legs, looking up at him guiltlessly, "Sungmin said Donghae said Jonghyun said the other day he saw Heechul and Hankyung almost-"
Hand slapped over Zhou Mi's mouth, Kyuhyun realised with a cool shiver that he'd just had a brush with what could have been one of the worst migraines of his life, "Nevermind, I definitely do not want to know."
Around 20 minutes later, the doorbell sounded through the apartment, closely followed by Zhou Mi's call of, "Got it!"
By the time Kyuhyun made it halfway down the stairs Zhou Mi was already engaging Sungmin in what looked like a serious exchange of information while Siwon stared up at him sullenly. Kyuhyun paused on the landing, offering a short wave, "Good to see you too."
At the sound of his voice, Zhou Mi looked up and caught his eye with a smile that nearly had Kyuhyun missing the last step down. As soon as he righted himself he shot Zhou Mi a withering look- not that he wasn't an expert button-pusher himself, it was just that Zhou Mi always seemed to get to his first.
Sparing Zhou Mi and Sungmin's clasped hands a final glance, he shrugged, "Well we already have the chicken bones but I'm glad you remembered to bring the virgin sacrifice."
Siwon stuttered, shock stark on his face as he looked between Kyuhyun and Sungmin, "He's not- I mean- Sungmin's-"
Sungmin simply lifted an eyebrow as Zhou Mi tried not to suffocate himself while dampening his laughter. Kyuhyun dropped a comforting hand onto Siwon's shoulder, "I was talking to Sungmin-hyung."
Relieved, Siwon sighed, expression relaxing for just seconds before it dawned on him, changing his complexion from chalk white to tomato red in a frighteningly small amount of time.
Laughing rather unashamedly now, Zhou Mi swung an arm around Sungmin leaning against him heavily as he gasped for air. Sungmin smirked at Kyuhyun, hand coming up to grip Zhou Mi's wrist securely, "Oh you just think you're so funny, don't you?"
Eyes on the victorious tilt of Sungmin's grin, he responded blandly, "One of my many talents."
Zhou Mi wiggled his fingers between them, finally sobered up enough to talk, "Well?"
Having regained the ability to speak without choking, Siwon sighed wearily, "You do realise that just because I major in theology doesn't mean I can perform an exorcism, right?"
Kyuhyun tried to ignore the relief when Sungmin moved over to elbow Siwon, "Yeah well, I major in Music Composition but I still juggle pizza dough on the weekends." he clapped Siwon on the back, "We do what we must."
Zhou Mi nodded at Kyuhyun like he was the one arguing against the whole idea; he held up his hands, "I didn't say anything."
Still patting Siwon somewhat condescendingly, Sungmin turned a sharp smile on Kyuhyun, "You should get a leash to go with that collar, Kyuhyunnie."
Siwon simply hid his face in his hands and walked blindly towards the kitchen.
Siwon had taken a seat on the floor with a glass of water and the decrepit owner's manual beside him, he tapped the oven door, "So what's wrong with it?"
"Well, when I do this," Zhou Mi separated himself from Sungmin and reached over to twist a knob on the stove, "It does this."
At that he crossed the room and picked up Kyuhyun's wrist, displaying the red marks on his palm. Grumbling, Kyuhyun pulled his hand out of Zhou Mi's grip and crossed his arms. Siwon and Sungmin stared at them in shock; Siwon spoke first, eyes on Kyuhyun's hidden hand, "Wait, wait- you can't be serious. That's a product of divine ecstasy?"
"Of course not, Siwon." Sungmin quickly recovered and intoned sweetly, "I'm pretty sure they call that orgasm, not stigmata- though it has been a while, so I could be wrong."
Kyuhyun interrupted before he ended up hearing details he'd never needed to know, "No, it's not stigmata and there was no ecstasy," he glared at Zhou Mi's raised eyebrow before nodding at the appliance, "Something went wrong when I put it back together and I burnt my hand, that's all."
"And you guys think this somehow has to do with a demon presence in your uh oven?"
Zhou Mi rocked on his heels and shrugged, "Well, you did sort of help fix the washer machine, but the oven was Kyuhyun's idea."
Kyuhyun coughed, "Excuse me? How was this my idea?"
"You're the one who said if you couldn't fix it yourself then we could try exorcism- so really this has nothing to do with me." Zhou Mi countered Kyuhyun's frigid stare with an open grin, utterly unconcerned by the twitch of Kyuhyun's fingers towards his neck and the subsequent steady decrease of his life expectancy.
Siwon's head landed against the oven door with a thud; cheerfully, Sungmin shrugged, "Saves me the trouble."
He groped around for the nearby glass of water and, upon finding it, dipped his fingers into it, mumbling some Latin before flicking a couple droplets towards the appliance, delivering a dispassionate plea, "Get thee behind me, Satan."
"His name's Sungmin- ow, Zhou Mi, don't hit!"
Sungmin patted Kyuhyun's now bruised shoulder gingerly, "No, lately the only one he's bending over for is Heechul."
Siwon finished with a deadpan, Amen, and stood, leaning over the stove to turn the dial for the far left coil to high. After a few moments there was still no glowing coil to be seen. Sungmin frowned and stepped closer, nearly hip-checking Siwon out of the way as he reached to twist another knob ineffectually. Jaw tight, Siwon spun around to face them, "Satan's hold is too great, you'll have to go to Home Depot."
A smile twitched at the corner of Sungmin's mouth before he pushed it into a frown, brushing past Siwon and heading over to wrap his arms around Zhou Mi's waist, leaning on him in a way that made Kyuhyun itch for no good reason.
Kyuhyun watched as Zhou Mi pulled Sungmin into what looked like a suffocating hug for a few moments before releasing him with a decisive nod, murmuring, "Okay?"
Sungmin shrugged and nodded, downcast eyes flicking towards where Kyuhyun and Siwon were standing beside the front door, having already exchanged their own goodbyes. Kyuhyun wasn't too sure what Zhou Mi was up to, wasn't sure he even wanted to know as Zhou Mi nudged him excitedly, beaming at the hand Sungmin curled around Siwon's arm while he stepped back into his sneakers.
After the door had closed behind them, Zhou Mi ran to the front window, crouching down to place his chin on the sill, fingers spreading the blinds he was peeking through. Knowing better than to argue, Kyuhyun settled down beside him, elbowing Zhou Mi out of the way to get a better look, "So what did you say to him?"
"I told him about the time you got partnered with Minho for that class- and to go easy on Siwon."
Kyuhyun didn't focus on Siwon pulling Sungmin to his chest just outside their apartment, instead, he watched Zhou Mi's breath fog the glass. "Oh."
Zhou Mi turned away from the scene outside, knees bumping Kyuhyun's as he waddled closer, "Yeah, oh."
For a few seconds he struggled to maintain eye-contact, fingers curled around the hem of his tshirt, twisting it like the shadow of guilt in his stomach. Zhou Mi placed a hand on the top of his head, palm warm, matting Kyuhyun's bangs to his forehead as he smiled, "They'll work it out," before pushing Kyuhyun off balance, sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor.
Kyuhyun kicked a leg out in Zhou Mi's direction in a feeble attempt at revenge, "I guess. But Sungmin hyung's stubborn, you never know."
"Hey. Why do you call him hyung, but never me?"
At that, Kyuhyun pushed up onto his forearms, eyebrow arched, "Is this going to get kinky?"
Zhou Mi scooted closer to where he lay, "Probably not."
"Oh." Kyuhyun shrugged, moving to crawl towards and eventually onto the nearby couch, "Then I have no idea."
Seconds later he had a lapful of Zhou Mi, arms and legs linked securely around him and seriously attempting to look stern with a pout, "Kui Xian~ you should respect me."
"I haven't killed you yet, have I?"
Zhou Mi wriggled impossibly closer, dipping his head to nuzzle at Kyuhyun's jaw, "C'mon, just once?"
He let the silence stretch, hands resting innocuously on Zhou Mi's hips, doing his best to ignore the pair of lips pressing warm against his neck. He was proud of the approximate one minute and seventeen seconds he lasted before sighing, "Fine. 我希望你对我好， 哥哥~" I hope you'll treat me well, gege~
Zhou Mi nearly knocked his head into Kyuhyun's as he sat up, eyes focused on Kyuhyun's mouth and seeming to be at an uncharacteristic loss for words.
Kyuhyun grinned, his grip on Zhou Mi's hips tightening just barely, "You lied."
Wide-eyed, Zhou Mi nodded readily, "I did. But in my defense, I didn't expect you to say it in Chinese."
He watched the flutter of Zhou Mi's lashes as he moved in close enough to feel his exhale ghost across his cheek. Kyuhyun could tell, just by the way he parted his lips, that Zhou Mi was leaning in for the precursor to some hot and messy relationship affirmation. At the last possible moment, and with no small amount of effort, Kyuhyun turned his head to the side, fist hovering in front of his mouth as he blinked up at Zhou Mi, "请你温柔一点，" please be gentle,
"I-" Zhou Mi let out a thready groan, eyes squeezing shut as he dipped his head, "Don't you dare judge me for this."
The hand he'd held in front of his mouth ended up buried in Zhou Mi's hair as Zhou Mi crushed their mouths together with a low sound that Kyuhyun licked right off of his tongue, swallowing it down, nice and easy like warm honey.
Zhou Mi pushed his face into Kyuhyun's neck, exhaling tiredly.
Kyuhyun lifted an eyebrow, "I'm not carrying you upstairs."
"You're a terrible boyfriend, Kui Xian."
"I think you're confusing boyfriend and slave."
Zhou Mi looked up at him with honest confusion, "No I'm not- you said no to the collar, remember?"
Resisting the urge to reintroduce his palm to his forehead, Kyuhyun shoved Zhou Mi out of his lap and almost sent him tumbling over the edge of the couch. He left Zhou Mi flailing to avoid faceplanting and stood smoothly, extending a hand when Zhou Mi finally managed to steady himself. Zhou Mi stuck his lip out and took Kyuhyun's hand, allowing him to pull him to his feet, "That was mean."
"Mean would have been pushing you onto the floor, we can try that next time."
Zhou Mi grinned at the feeling of Kyuhyun's fingers tightening around his own, arm swinging ever so slightly as they headed for the stairs. When they reached the landing Kyuhyun shook off Zhou Mi's hand and went to start up the steps but he hadn't been planning on Zhou Mi wrapping his arms around his shoulders and draping himself over his back with a laugh that tickled in his ear, "After you~"
He forced a frown because his other option was grinning like an idiot, and one of them being of questionable mental capacity was more than enough. Hands covering Zhou Mi's, he did his best to drag them the rest of the way up and into the bedroom. In retaliation, he threw (really it was more of a propelled flail than anything) his weight backwards onto the bed, Zhou Mi cushioning their fall with a strained grunt. "Kui Xian, you are no lightweight."
Grinning, Kyuhyun wiggled around under the guise of making himself comfortable, head leaning over Zhou Mi's shoulder, their cheeks pressed together, "But gege, I just want to be close to you."
Underneath him Zhou Mi actually managed to make a feeble wheeze sound remotely pleased. Kyuhyun blinked in wonder before he found himself with a faceful of their comforter, Zhou Mi having flipped them over so he could stretch his extra lanky body over Kyuhyun's currently compressed one. His wheeze was slightly less amused than Zhou Mi's had been.
Zhou Mi nuzzled the nape of his neck, "Oh Kui Xian, you're just like- like a somewhat cuddly porcupine or a less deadly man of war jellyfish."
He had a response prepared, something along the lines of 'And you cling like an octopus with ridiculous tentacles and super strength suction' but the fabric in his mouth made it kind of hard to articulate more than 'mrmph'.
"I do not!" Zhou Mi pinched his side and rolled off, moving to lay face to face, flashing him a wide smile, "And if you don't like it then why do you let me?"
Kyuhyun tsk-ed and covered Zhou Mi's face with his hand, "You're talking crazy, it must be past your bedtime."
He felt the slight pressure of Zhou Mi's pursed lips over the heel of his hand and let a low laugh slip, hand moving to push back Zhou Mi's bangs. Zhou Mi sighed happily as Kyuhyun's fingertips brushed his scalp, sliding through his hair, tucking errant stands behind his ear. "You're like a dog."
Zhou Mi just hummed in response, "You still owe me one," eyes closing as Kyuhyun repeated the process, telling himself that every pass would be the last one only to end up continuing until Zhou Mi's features relaxed, his mouth hanging slightly open around even breaths. For some inexplicable reason, Kyuhyun's eyes darted around the room momentarily before he allowed himself to sweep his thumb down Zhou Mi's temple, circling to cross the sharp edge of his cheekbone. Zhou Mi mumbled in his sleep and Kyuhyun yanked his hand back, a flush creeping up his neck. He frowned at the feeling and reached out again; why should he care, he had more than enough permission to touch him, Zhou Mi was his after all, so why not? He groaned as quietly as possible, face burning even hotter at that last revelation, possibly because he was starting to feel like the biggest creep on the planet, privilege of monogamy or not.
Instead, he flicked Zhou Mi's forehead a few times, "C'mon, get up, you can't sleep like that."
With an annoyed huff, Zhou Mi flung an arm out at Kyuhyun and tried to curl away, "S'fine,"
"No it's not, you're still dressed and on top of the covers- and you're not even all the way on the bed!" He delivered another flick right between Zhou Mi's eyebrows.
"Really? Would it kill you to just kiss me awake or something? I wouldn't even mind a shoulder shake." Hand pressed to the red spot on his forehead, Zhou Mi sat slowly upright, swaying slightly as he yawned.
"Heechul does fairytales, not me." He took up the hem of Zhou Mi's tshirt and tugged upwards until Zhou Mi lifted his arms, letting Kyuhyun pull it overhead.
As soon as it was off, Zhou Mi dropped backwards again, twisting to lay fully on the bed as Kyuhyun busied himself with his jeans. "Sungmin said he's mad at him. Sungmin at Heechul, I mean. And he's mad at Siwon too- Sungmin is."
Kyuhyun hummed in utter disinterest, tapping Zhou Mi's hip until he got the message and lifted up from the mattress, just far enough for Kyuhyun to get his jeans the rest of the way off. He walked the clothing to the hamper and tossed Zhou Mi a nearby pair of pajama pants, wondering all the while how likely it would be for Zhou Mi to fall back asleep before he could subject Kyuhyun to a pointless and exceptionally mind-numbing dissection of other people's lives.
"He says it's because they spend too much time together. Heechul and Siwon."
Another grunt in acknowledgement as Kyuhyun slipped into his own pajamas before hitting the lights and crawling back into bed, still wishing desperately for Zhou Mi to decide sleep trumped gossip. He even went so far as pulling Zhou Mi back against his chest, drawing the comforter up extra high over Zhou Mi's shoulder, "They'll work it out, now go to sleep."
"I know, told Sungmin not to worry." he patted Kyuhyun's hand consolingly like he was the one in knots over it, "Hankyung's just moving in a little slow. On Heechul, not Siwon."
Against his better judgement, Kyuhyun responded, teasing, "Yeah, but at least he learned the language first."
His dreams of Zhou Mi drifting off to sleep without dragging him into his soap opera come to life were shattered as Zhou Mi untangled their hands and flipped over to face him. The soft smile Zhou Mi had on was not what he was expecting, then again neither was the hand he raised to trace the tips of two fingers over Kyuhyun's temple and across his cheek. Kyuhyun held stock still as Zhou Mi placed a light kiss over the rise of his cheekbone. That done, Zhou Mi pulled back just enough for Kyuhyun to catch a glimmer of quiet awe in his eyes before he was burrowing down to fit his head underneath Kyuhyun's chin, pressing what felt like a knowing smile to his sternum as he spoke, "Well you understood what I was trying to say."
(All For You:
hard to say what it is I see in you/wonder if I'll always be with you/words can't say and I can't do/enough to prove it's all for you
Kyuhyun is running ridiculously late and not surprisingly, Zhou Mi is to blame. He was determined to test the new oven, demanding that Kyuhyun let him cook breakfast. He should have known better. The extra fifteen minutes he waited, just to make sure the ...food would stay down hadn't been factored in when he'd set his alarm the night before, and now he only has ten minutes to get his work together and run for the subway.
Zhou Mi hovers nervously, dressed in pajamas thanks to the grace of an afternoon class, running a hand through his morning flyaways, "Sorry, you can cook tomorrow. But, uh, at least it works?"
Still stuffing assorted books and papers into his bag, he sighs, "I'm cooking for the foreseeable future- I'm not even sure you still deserve microwave privileges."
"Okay." Zhou Mi nods, passing Kyuhyun a portfolio containing the project he's scheduled to hand in today.
He grabs it and flips through the typed pages inside, checking to see that everything is in there before shoving it in alongside his textbooks, "Thanks. Want me to wait for you in the library tonight?"
"No, that's okay," Zhou Mi waves him off, "I'm supposed to practice my duet with Ryeowook after Comp Technique."
Hurriedly, he zips his bag and heads for the door, calling over his shoulder, "Alright, I guess I'll meet you back here then?"
Zhou Mi tosses Kyuhyun his sweatshirt and steps out onto the porch after him, "Sure, have a good day."
"Bye, Zhou Mi." Resisting the urge to catch another over-the-shoulder glimpse of Zhou Mi's grin, he raises a hand and starts towards the nearest subway station. Instead of thinking about the next seven hours without Zhou Mi attached to him, he counts the cracks in the sidewalk until he finds himself standing at the stairs down to the platform. He checks his watch at the bottom, telling himself it's to make sure he catches the right subway, but all he can think is, six hours and 43 minutes left as he swipes through the turnstile.
He'd remembered all his assignments, metropass and flashdrive, but he just can't shake the feeling that he's forgotten something.
He's still staring into space, mind approximately .7 miles away, when the subway screeches to a halt alongside the platform. His shoulders get shoved as people move around him, streaming to and from the open doors. He knows he should step into the car but somehow he ends up taking a step backwards as the doors slide shut. Before he can put a finger on the reason why, he's jogging back up the stairs, tugging his bag closer as he shoves his way through the crowd, shouting half-hearted apologies.
By the time he makes it back to the apartment he can barely breathe as he bursts through the front door- if he'd had enough air he definitely would have laughed at the shriek Zhou Mi let out, "Kui Xian, oh my God, you- what are you even-"
He pants out the first lame excuse that comes to mind, "I forgot something."
Frowning, Zhou Mi eyes him head to toe, "What is it?"
"My project." Wrong answer.
"The one I handed to you before you left?"
"Yep. That'd be the one."
"Oh. Well then."
He drops his bag to the floor and rolls his eyes at Zhou Mi's smirk, stepping forward to get a hand around the back of his neck, dragging his mouth within reach. Zhou Mi kisses him like the seven hours had already dragged on by, like he'd spent every minute of each one just waiting for this. Fingers twisting in the short hair at the nape of Zhou Mi's neck, Kyuhyun thinks he knows exactly how he feels.
Zhou Mi smiles into the kiss and Kyuhyun's forced to pull back when he starts laughing, "Sure that's all you forgot?"
Kyuhyun snorts, "Maybe you forgot something."
Eyebrows raised for just a moment, Zhou Mi is leans back in, trailing soft kisses from Kyuhyun's jaw up around the shell of his ear, "Then I'm sorry."
"Too late for sorry, you have to make it up to me now." It takes a Herculean effort not to show Zhou Mi just how much he likes his mouth on that spot and focus, instead, on his new goal.
"Uh. Don't you have class?"
Kyuhyun smacks his shoulder, "Have lunch with me on campus- you still have breakfast to repent for anyway."
Zhou Mi grins obnoxiously before twining their fingers together and lifting their clasped hands; he squints at Kyuhyun's wrist and makes a considering noise, "That would take it down to three and a half hours, right?"
"Well not if you get there a- I hate you."
Disentangling their hands, Zhou Mi reaches down and passes Kyuhyun his forgotten bag, pressing a kiss to his lips that, for all its chasteness, really shouldn't make Kyuhyun's knees do that, "See you then."
Kyuhyun's professor gives him the evil eye when he stumbles into class forty five minutes late and doing a very bad job of hiding his smile as he takes a seat and proceeds to check his watch every five minutes for the rest of the lecture. Kyuhyun knows it's a sin to wish your life away, but he figures the seconds he spends with Zhou Mi are the only ones that count anyway.)
A/N II: /sigh no excuses for the tense change, sorry. I started this AU a little while before I moved and now that I'm in a new apartment, I have a new washer and dryer. WOULD ANY OF YOU LIKE TO GUESS WHICH HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE RECENTLY FLOODED MY KITCHEN? So now I'm just hoping I didn't jinx my stove with this fic ;;
All For You was originally supposed to be written as an aside to the main story, like in the last installment, but it got way out of hand ;; Sorry the parts for this fic are so utterly disorganised, I'll edit the archive so they've got their own spot asap. Also big thank yous to blahnicity for picking up my slack and to bittersnow for translation and rereading and hand-holding and all that other stuff <33 >.> negl, I almost made the summary for this: An exploration of Siwon's future career prospects as a GhostBuster
Title: Choux Pastry Heart
Fandom: Super Junior
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Qmi, Shimin, minor Hanchul
Summary: Every day, a little more.
A/N: I don't bother with w/c because I rarely top 3k but for some unfathomable reason, this actually managed to hit ~6k :| wth
Zhou Mi spat out enough detergent to make his next words intelligible, "I'm not on fire, Kui Xian, the oven was."
Kyuhyun twirled the hose end of the extinguisher, smiling lazily, "Whoops."
With a heavy sigh, Zhou Mi wiped a hand down his face, flinging off bits of foam in Kyuhyun's general direction, "You are a mean person."
"Sure, but at least our household appliances don't hate me."
"Hey! You saw for yourself, I told you holy water would sizzle on that thing."
Kyuhyun stepped closer, reaching out to swipe a finger over Zhou Mi's cheek bone, clearing enough space to deposit a soft kiss before breaking the news, "I'm pretty sure Siwon got that water from the tap."
"The point is, you should be nicer about this, it's not my fault the oven is-"
"-Possessed?" Kyuhyun laughed, eyebrow arched at Zhou Mi's disgruntled hand gestures towards the smoking heap that had been their dinner.
"Obviously!"
Kyuhyun dropped the extinguisher beside the oven door, bending over to peer in at the mess. He tried a few dials and nothing. Maybe the coils were just shot. Hm. He straightened before winding an arm around Zhou Mi's waist, pulling him close enough to touch noses, "I'll see if I can figure out a more logical solution and if that doesn't work, then we can go for exorcism, okay?"
Zhou Mi's frown slid neatly into his usual grin, "Okay."
But before Kyuhyun could pull back, Zhou Mi crushed their mouths together for just a second, then proceeded to rub his foam-covered cheek against Kyuhyun's face with a happy laugh, "Just because you're so hot, Kui Xian!"
He tried to shove Zhou Mi off of him, but sometime during the exchange, he'd tangled his legs with Zhou Mi's impossibly long (and awkward) ones. So his original plan of elbowing his way out backfired when his first step away sent the both of them sprawling backwards onto the kitchen table- which gave a pathetic creak before promptly collapsing under their combined weight.
When Kyuhyun regained enough air to speak, he groaned, "Why, why am I always on the bottom?"
Sensing it was not the best time to twist that comment, Zhou Mi settled for hiding his smile in Kyuhyun's neck, "I guess it's a good thing we had sex on the countertop instead, huh?"
"Somehow, this is all your fault."
Grinning brightly, Zhou Mi wrapped his arms around Kyuhyun's middle, squeezing an annoyed grunt out of him, before replying matter of factly, "Of course."
Zhou Mi had gathered up the broken pieces of their kitchen table and hauled them out to the dumpster while Kyuhyun was left mopping up the rest of the extinguisher's detergent before settling down to pull apart the oven. Which, come to think of it, had always run about 50 degrees hotter than the set temperature. So maybe Zhou Mi wasn't that terrible of a cook after all.
He shook his head, mumbling, "No, there's no way an oven could be solely responsible for some of those meals."
"Hm?"
Kyuhyun twisted to look over his shoulder at Zhou Mi standing in the entryway, bits of foam still stuck in his hair. He surpressed the twitch at the corners of his mouth and nodded towards the stairs, "Go shower, I'll look at this."
"What about your homework?" Zhou Mi frowned, arms folding over his chest as he moved to lean with one hip braced against the doorjamb. Kyuhyun had a hard time looking away from the long line of his legs even as Zhou Mi laughed, "Kui Xian? My face is up here."
He blinked, "Uh. Break between classes tomorrow- I'll do it then."
"And what about me?" Zhou Mi's tongue flashed pink over his bottom lip as he stared meaningfully at Kyuhyun, eyes dark.
"What about you?" Kyuhyun asked dumbly, still sort of stuck on how Zhou Mi managed to look equally good whether he was dressed or not.
Zhou Mi tilted his head, smile teasing, "When are you going to do me?"
Kyuhyun leaned away from the oven, reaching to the side to retrieve the fire extinguisher. He held it aimed at Zhou Mi, "Just go get cleaned up before I decide I missed a spot the first time."
Eyes wide, Zhou Mi disappeared out of the kitchen, nearly catching his elbow on the doorjamb as he bolted. Satisfied, Kyuhyun smiled to himself before turning back to continue gutting the oven. He almost smacked his head on the roof when Zhou Mi called from, he assumed, the general direction of the stairs, "So should I get started without you then?"
He choked back a frustrated yell and slammed down an unnamed part before grabbing the extinguisher and running out of the kitchen, making sure his footsteps up the stairs were loud enough for Zhou Mi to hear over the sound of running water and his own shrieking as he tried to get the bathroom door to lock in time.
A good two hours later, Kyuhyun sat on the kitchen floor, Zhou Mi towelling his hair as he stared sullenly at the ancient manual he'd found in their junk drawer. Zhou Mi paused, fingers still pressing the towel to Kyuhyun's head, as he asked, "Maybe we should just call the landlord?"
"Oh sure," Kyuhyun spat, "Because he was totally helpful with your possessed washer machine. And you kn-augh!"
Zhou Mi hummed pleasantly, holding the end of the towel over Kyuhyun's mouth, "Sorry, what was that?"
Kyuhyun wriggled away, threatening an elbow to Zhou Mi's crotch as he spit out bits of terrycloth, "I was just saying how much fun it is to live on the street."
He was accosted in moments, Zhou Mi pressing against him tightly enough to stick the material of his tshirt to the damp spots across his shoulders as he fairly screeched, "Really? You'd be poor with me?!"
Head hung in defeat, he patted Zhou Mi's forearm which was sort of locked around his throat, "That was not my point- and we're poor already."
"Yes we are," Zhou Mi readily agreed before sighing dreamily (and probably on purpose) into Kyuhyun's notoriously sensitive ear, "But Kui Xian, we'll always have love."
"Get away from me."
Lips pursed, Zhou Mi considered the closed oven door, eyes flicking between the faded diagram in the manual and the piece of piping in Kyuhyun's hand.
Kyuhyun gaped, mouth working soundlessly for a few moments before he managed, "At this point... I'm not even sure if this came from the oven."
"Well," Zhou Mi soothed, hand dropping to squeeze Kyuhyun's shoulder supportively, "The important thing is that it works, right?"
"I guess, yeah." Kyuhyun sort of wished the phone would ring or someone would come to the door, that way he could distract Zhou Mi while he gauged the severity of the failure involved in the situation and came up with a way to spin this as completely not his fault. But the phone stayed silent and there was no knock at the door. He heaved a sigh and stepped forward, avoiding Zhou Mi's hesitant smile as he leaned over the stovetop and reached a hand out for the temperature dial, twisting it to three-fifty.
The preheating light on the stove display flickered on and he tossed Zhou Mi a triumphant grin, right before he noticed the coil he'd placed his hand on was getting steadily warmer. He jerked away with a startled curse, voice cracking as he stumbled backwards, "What the fuck?"
Zhou Mi stared, slack jawed, obviously trying to make the connection between the oven's preheating light and the glowing stovetop coil. In the end he scrambled over to switch on the sink's faucet, dragging Kyuhyun's hand under the water once it ran cold enough. Kyuhyun frowned miserably, flexing his fingers under the stream of water, "I just don't get it."
Shrugging, Zhou Mi slid his thumb gingerly over the pink rings on Kyuhyun's palm before drawing back and holding his own hand above the coil. He flicked his fingers, once twice until droplets of water scattered over the lit stovetop with a hiss. Kyuhyun squeezed his eyes shut, head tipping back as a laugh slipped out just over the sound of Zhou Mi's solemn response, "I told you so."
He pressed a kiss to the upturned corner of Kyuhyun's mouth, "I'll go pick up some Italian, you call Siwon."
It was a little awkward trying to twirl linguine onto his fork with the way Zhou Mi was pressed to his shoulder, but he managed. After a few moments spent chewing thoughtfully, Kyuhyun swallowed and asked, "The chairs aren't broken, why are we sitting on the floor?"
"Because... uh... sure," Zhou Mi absently snagged a noodle off of Kyuhyun's plate and lowered it into his mouth eyes still focused on a diagram in the Music Theory textbook he had open in Kyuhyun's lap.
Kyuhyun snorted lightly, spearing some penne off of Zhou Mi's plate and tapping his cheek. Zhou Mi opened his mouth obediently, almost on autopilot, while he stared, eyebrows knit, at the paragraph of mostly italic text beside the diagram. He took the pasta from Kyuhyun's fork with a hum before turning the page forcefully and kicking his legs out, sliding down to lie on the floor, "I have no idea what I've just read."
"Do you usually?"
"Yes!" Zhou Mi hissed, swatting in Kyuhyun's general direction.
In an effort at appeasement, Kyuhyun dangled a strand of linguine over Zhou Mi's mouth, going noodle by noodle until his plate was nearly empty and Zhou Mi's smile was back. With a sigh, Kyuhyun stood and walked the dishes to the sink, "Why is it that you eat all my food and you're still- you know what, never mind."
"Why am I still what, Kui Xian~?" Zhou Mi pinched Kyuhyun's stomach briefly before side-stepping the arm he swung out in retaliation, "I guess I'll call Siwon then."
Kyuhyun tossed a fork into the dishdrain, shouting over his shoulder, "If by Siwon you mean Sungmin, then do not use my phone!"
"I know, I know! He walked right into it, I honestly thought he would have seen it coming! Did Siwon hear about it too? Wait, really? For how long?" Zhou Mi sat up suddenly, one hand gripping the arm of the couch the other white knuckled around the phone as his eyes widened at the response. Kyuhyun would have considered it sort of kind of cute if the phone in Zhou Mi's hand weren't black instead of silver.
He slid to his knees, commando crawling across the hardwood floor of their living room until he was poised behind the sofa. He waited until Zhou Mi was halfway into a sentence before jumping up and squeezing Zhou Mi's shoulders. As expected, Zhou Mi let out an ear piercing scream, tossing the phone at the opposite end of the couch before falling over the side as he scrambled to escape. Kyuhyun leaned over the couchback and fished his phone out from between the cushions.
"Zhou Mi! What's wrong, what happened? Oh my God, are you-"
"-He can't come to the phone right now." Kyuhyun grinned at Zhou Mi who sat at his feet, hand over his chest as he gasped out some very serious looking curses in Chinese.
"Kyuhyun!" Sungmin chastised through the line, "What have you done to him?"
"Hyung, please consider whether or not you really want me to answer that, also how much detail you'd like me to include."
"Ew."
"That's what I thought."
After a few minutes spent explaining the utterly illogical logic behind Zhou Mi's irrational fear of household appliances, Sungmin agreed to drag Siwon over to their apartment with an eta set for around 20 minutes from hanging up. Kyuhyun pressed the end-call button on his phone and turned to where Zhou Mi was still sitting, looking pretty dejected, beside the couch. He scoffed, "You had it coming."
"I grabbed the first one I saw!"
"Right. Sure." Kyuhyun replied with nearly reflexive sarcasm, attention absorbed in checking the damage done as he sorted through his phone's recent calls.
Zhou Mi scooted closer to Kyuhyun, wrapping his arms around Kyuhyun's calf, nuzzling like some overgrown and severely underfed cat, "You didn't mind when I did it with you."
"That's because your Korean was so bad I didn't even know you were trying to pick me up, I- Are you serious, Zhou Mi?! Forty minutes?! What could have possibly been so important that you couldn't wait until he got here to discuss?"
Zhou Mi paused in his molestation of Kyuhyun's legs, looking up at him guiltlessly, "Sungmin said Donghae said Jonghyun said the other day he saw Heechul and Hankyung almost-"
Hand slapped over Zhou Mi's mouth, Kyuhyun realised with a cool shiver that he'd just had a brush with what could have been one of the worst migraines of his life, "Nevermind, I definitely do not want to know."
Around 20 minutes later, the doorbell sounded through the apartment, closely followed by Zhou Mi's call of, "Got it!"
By the time Kyuhyun made it halfway down the stairs Zhou Mi was already engaging Sungmin in what looked like a serious exchange of information while Siwon stared up at him sullenly. Kyuhyun paused on the landing, offering a short wave, "Good to see you too."
At the sound of his voice, Zhou Mi looked up and caught his eye with a smile that nearly had Kyuhyun missing the last step down. As soon as he righted himself he shot Zhou Mi a withering look- not that he wasn't an expert button-pusher himself, it was just that Zhou Mi always seemed to get to his first.
Sparing Zhou Mi and Sungmin's clasped hands a final glance, he shrugged, "Well we already have the chicken bones but I'm glad you remembered to bring the virgin sacrifice."
Siwon stuttered, shock stark on his face as he looked between Kyuhyun and Sungmin, "He's not- I mean- Sungmin's-"
Sungmin simply lifted an eyebrow as Zhou Mi tried not to suffocate himself while dampening his laughter. Kyuhyun dropped a comforting hand onto Siwon's shoulder, "I was talking to Sungmin-hyung."
Relieved, Siwon sighed, expression relaxing for just seconds before it dawned on him, changing his complexion from chalk white to tomato red in a frighteningly small amount of time.
Laughing rather unashamedly now, Zhou Mi swung an arm around Sungmin leaning against him heavily as he gasped for air. Sungmin smirked at Kyuhyun, hand coming up to grip Zhou Mi's wrist securely, "Oh you just think you're so funny, don't you?"
Eyes on the victorious tilt of Sungmin's grin, he responded blandly, "One of my many talents."
Zhou Mi wiggled his fingers between them, finally sobered up enough to talk, "Well?"
Having regained the ability to speak without choking, Siwon sighed wearily, "You do realise that just because I major in theology doesn't mean I can perform an exorcism, right?"
Kyuhyun tried to ignore the relief when Sungmin moved over to elbow Siwon, "Yeah well, I major in Music Composition but I still juggle pizza dough on the weekends." he clapped Siwon on the back, "We do what we must."
Zhou Mi nodded at Kyuhyun like he was the one arguing against the whole idea; he held up his hands, "I didn't say anything."
Still patting Siwon somewhat condescendingly, Sungmin turned a sharp smile on Kyuhyun, "You should get a leash to go with that collar, Kyuhyunnie."
Siwon simply hid his face in his hands and walked blindly towards the kitchen.
Siwon had taken a seat on the floor with a glass of water and the decrepit owner's manual beside him, he tapped the oven door, "So what's wrong with it?"
"Well, when I do this," Zhou Mi separated himself from Sungmin and reached over to twist a knob on the stove, "It does this."
At that he crossed the room and picked up Kyuhyun's wrist, displaying the red marks on his palm. Grumbling, Kyuhyun pulled his hand out of Zhou Mi's grip and crossed his arms. Siwon and Sungmin stared at them in shock; Siwon spoke first, eyes on Kyuhyun's hidden hand, "Wait, wait- you can't be serious. That's a product of divine ecstasy?"
"Of course not, Siwon." Sungmin quickly recovered and intoned sweetly, "I'm pretty sure they call that orgasm, not stigmata- though it has been a while, so I could be wrong."
Kyuhyun interrupted before he ended up hearing details he'd never needed to know, "No, it's not stigmata and there was no ecstasy," he glared at Zhou Mi's raised eyebrow before nodding at the appliance, "Something went wrong when I put it back together and I burnt my hand, that's all."
"And you guys think this somehow has to do with a demon presence in your uh oven?"
Zhou Mi rocked on his heels and shrugged, "Well, you did sort of help fix the washer machine, but the oven was Kyuhyun's idea."
Kyuhyun coughed, "Excuse me? How was this my idea?"
"You're the one who said if you couldn't fix it yourself then we could try exorcism- so really this has nothing to do with me." Zhou Mi countered Kyuhyun's frigid stare with an open grin, utterly unconcerned by the twitch of Kyuhyun's fingers towards his neck and the subsequent steady decrease of his life expectancy.
Siwon's head landed against the oven door with a thud; cheerfully, Sungmin shrugged, "Saves me the trouble."
He groped around for the nearby glass of water and, upon finding it, dipped his fingers into it, mumbling some Latin before flicking a couple droplets towards the appliance, delivering a dispassionate plea, "Get thee behind me, Satan."
"His name's Sungmin- ow, Zhou Mi, don't hit!"
Sungmin patted Kyuhyun's now bruised shoulder gingerly, "No, lately the only one he's bending over for is Heechul."
Siwon finished with a deadpan, Amen, and stood, leaning over the stove to turn the dial for the far left coil to high. After a few moments there was still no glowing coil to be seen. Sungmin frowned and stepped closer, nearly hip-checking Siwon out of the way as he reached to twist another knob ineffectually. Jaw tight, Siwon spun around to face them, "Satan's hold is too great, you'll have to go to Home Depot."
A smile twitched at the corner of Sungmin's mouth before he pushed it into a frown, brushing past Siwon and heading over to wrap his arms around Zhou Mi's waist, leaning on him in a way that made Kyuhyun itch for no good reason.
Kyuhyun watched as Zhou Mi pulled Sungmin into what looked like a suffocating hug for a few moments before releasing him with a decisive nod, murmuring, "Okay?"
Sungmin shrugged and nodded, downcast eyes flicking towards where Kyuhyun and Siwon were standing beside the front door, having already exchanged their own goodbyes. Kyuhyun wasn't too sure what Zhou Mi was up to, wasn't sure he even wanted to know as Zhou Mi nudged him excitedly, beaming at the hand Sungmin curled around Siwon's arm while he stepped back into his sneakers.
After the door had closed behind them, Zhou Mi ran to the front window, crouching down to place his chin on the sill, fingers spreading the blinds he was peeking through. Knowing better than to argue, Kyuhyun settled down beside him, elbowing Zhou Mi out of the way to get a better look, "So what did you say to him?"
"I told him about the time you got partnered with Minho for that class- and to go easy on Siwon."
Kyuhyun didn't focus on Siwon pulling Sungmin to his chest just outside their apartment, instead, he watched Zhou Mi's breath fog the glass. "Oh."
Zhou Mi turned away from the scene outside, knees bumping Kyuhyun's as he waddled closer, "Yeah, oh."
For a few seconds he struggled to maintain eye-contact, fingers curled around the hem of his tshirt, twisting it like the shadow of guilt in his stomach. Zhou Mi placed a hand on the top of his head, palm warm, matting Kyuhyun's bangs to his forehead as he smiled, "They'll work it out," before pushing Kyuhyun off balance, sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor.
Kyuhyun kicked a leg out in Zhou Mi's direction in a feeble attempt at revenge, "I guess. But Sungmin hyung's stubborn, you never know."
"Hey. Why do you call him hyung, but never me?"
At that, Kyuhyun pushed up onto his forearms, eyebrow arched, "Is this going to get kinky?"
Zhou Mi scooted closer to where he lay, "Probably not."
"Oh." Kyuhyun shrugged, moving to crawl towards and eventually onto the nearby couch, "Then I have no idea."
Seconds later he had a lapful of Zhou Mi, arms and legs linked securely around him and seriously attempting to look stern with a pout, "Kui Xian~ you should respect me."
"I haven't killed you yet, have I?"
Zhou Mi wriggled impossibly closer, dipping his head to nuzzle at Kyuhyun's jaw, "C'mon, just once?"
He let the silence stretch, hands resting innocuously on Zhou Mi's hips, doing his best to ignore the pair of lips pressing warm against his neck. He was proud of the approximate one minute and seventeen seconds he lasted before sighing, "Fine. 我希望你对我好， 哥哥~" I hope you'll treat me well, gege~
Zhou Mi nearly knocked his head into Kyuhyun's as he sat up, eyes focused on Kyuhyun's mouth and seeming to be at an uncharacteristic loss for words.
Kyuhyun grinned, his grip on Zhou Mi's hips tightening just barely, "You lied."
Wide-eyed, Zhou Mi nodded readily, "I did. But in my defense, I didn't expect you to say it in Chinese."
He watched the flutter of Zhou Mi's lashes as he moved in close enough to feel his exhale ghost across his cheek. Kyuhyun could tell, just by the way he parted his lips, that Zhou Mi was leaning in for the precursor to some hot and messy relationship affirmation. At the last possible moment, and with no small amount of effort, Kyuhyun turned his head to the side, fist hovering in front of his mouth as he blinked up at Zhou Mi, "请你温柔一点，" please be gentle,
"I-" Zhou Mi let out a thready groan, eyes squeezing shut as he dipped his head, "Don't you dare judge me for this."
The hand he'd held in front of his mouth ended up buried in Zhou Mi's hair as Zhou Mi crushed their mouths together with a low sound that Kyuhyun licked right off of his tongue, swallowing it down, nice and easy like warm honey.
Zhou Mi pushed his face into Kyuhyun's neck, exhaling tiredly.
Kyuhyun lifted an eyebrow, "I'm not carrying you upstairs."
"You're a terrible boyfriend, Kui Xian."
"I think you're confusing boyfriend and slave."
Zhou Mi looked up at him with honest confusion, "No I'm not- you said no to the collar, remember?"
Resisting the urge to reintroduce his palm to his forehead, Kyuhyun shoved Zhou Mi out of his lap and almost sent him tumbling over the edge of the couch. He left Zhou Mi flailing to avoid faceplanting and stood smoothly, extending a hand when Zhou Mi finally managed to steady himself. Zhou Mi stuck his lip out and took Kyuhyun's hand, allowing him to pull him to his feet, "That was mean."
"Mean would have been pushing you onto the floor, we can try that next time."
Zhou Mi grinned at the feeling of Kyuhyun's fingers tightening around his own, arm swinging ever so slightly as they headed for the stairs. When they reached the landing Kyuhyun shook off Zhou Mi's hand and went to start up the steps but he hadn't been planning on Zhou Mi wrapping his arms around his shoulders and draping himself over his back with a laugh that tickled in his ear, "After you~"
He forced a frown because his other option was grinning like an idiot, and one of them being of questionable mental capacity was more than enough. Hands covering Zhou Mi's, he did his best to drag them the rest of the way up and into the bedroom. In retaliation, he threw (really it was more of a propelled flail than anything) his weight backwards onto the bed, Zhou Mi cushioning their fall with a strained grunt. "Kui Xian, you are no lightweight."
Grinning, Kyuhyun wiggled around under the guise of making himself comfortable, head leaning over Zhou Mi's shoulder, their cheeks pressed together, "But gege, I just want to be close to you."
Underneath him Zhou Mi actually managed to make a feeble wheeze sound remotely pleased. Kyuhyun blinked in wonder before he found himself with a faceful of their comforter, Zhou Mi having flipped them over so he could stretch his extra lanky body over Kyuhyun's currently compressed one. His wheeze was slightly less amused than Zhou Mi's had been.
Zhou Mi nuzzled the nape of his neck, "Oh Kui Xian, you're just like- like a somewhat cuddly porcupine or a less deadly man of war jellyfish."
He had a response prepared, something along the lines of 'And you cling like an octopus with ridiculous tentacles and super strength suction' but the fabric in his mouth made it kind of hard to articulate more than 'mrmph'.
"I do not!" Zhou Mi pinched his side and rolled off, moving to lay face to face, flashing him a wide smile, "And if you don't like it then why do you let me?"
Kyuhyun tsk-ed and covered Zhou Mi's face with his hand, "You're talking crazy, it must be past your bedtime."
He felt the slight pressure of Zhou Mi's pursed lips over the heel of his hand and let a low laugh slip, hand moving to push back Zhou Mi's bangs. Zhou Mi sighed happily as Kyuhyun's fingertips brushed his scalp, sliding through his hair, tucking errant stands behind his ear. "You're like a dog."
Zhou Mi just hummed in response, "You still owe me one," eyes closing as Kyuhyun repeated the process, telling himself that every pass would be the last one only to end up continuing until Zhou Mi's features relaxed, his mouth hanging slightly open around even breaths. For some inexplicable reason, Kyuhyun's eyes darted around the room momentarily before he allowed himself to sweep his thumb down Zhou Mi's temple, circling to cross the sharp edge of his cheekbone. Zhou Mi mumbled in his sleep and Kyuhyun yanked his hand back, a flush creeping up his neck. He frowned at the feeling and reached out again; why should he care, he had more than enough permission to touch him, Zhou Mi was his after all, so why not? He groaned as quietly as possible, face burning even hotter at that last revelation, possibly because he was starting to feel like the biggest creep on the planet, privilege of monogamy or not.
Instead, he flicked Zhou Mi's forehead a few times, "C'mon, get up, you can't sleep like that."
With an annoyed huff, Zhou Mi flung an arm out at Kyuhyun and tried to curl away, "S'fine,"
"No it's not, you're still dressed and on top of the covers- and you're not even all the way on the bed!" He delivered another flick right between Zhou Mi's eyebrows.
"Really? Would it kill you to just kiss me awake or something? I wouldn't even mind a shoulder shake." Hand pressed to the red spot on his forehead, Zhou Mi sat slowly upright, swaying slightly as he yawned.
"Heechul does fairytales, not me." He took up the hem of Zhou Mi's tshirt and tugged upwards until Zhou Mi lifted his arms, letting Kyuhyun pull it overhead.
As soon as it was off, Zhou Mi dropped backwards again, twisting to lay fully on the bed as Kyuhyun busied himself with his jeans. "Sungmin said he's mad at him. Sungmin at Heechul, I mean. And he's mad at Siwon too- Sungmin is."
Kyuhyun hummed in utter disinterest, tapping Zhou Mi's hip until he got the message and lifted up from the mattress, just far enough for Kyuhyun to get his jeans the rest of the way off. He walked the clothing to the hamper and tossed Zhou Mi a nearby pair of pajama pants, wondering all the while how likely it would be for Zhou Mi to fall back asleep before he could subject Kyuhyun to a pointless and exceptionally mind-numbing dissection of other people's lives.
"He says it's because they spend too much time together. Heechul and Siwon."
Another grunt in acknowledgement as Kyuhyun slipped into his own pajamas before hitting the lights and crawling back into bed, still wishing desperately for Zhou Mi to decide sleep trumped gossip. He even went so far as pulling Zhou Mi back against his chest, drawing the comforter up extra high over Zhou Mi's shoulder, "They'll work it out, now go to sleep."
"I know, told Sungmin not to worry." he patted Kyuhyun's hand consolingly like he was the one in knots over it, "Hankyung's just moving in a little slow. On Heechul, not Siwon."
Against his better judgement, Kyuhyun responded, teasing, "Yeah, but at least he learned the language first."
His dreams of Zhou Mi drifting off to sleep without dragging him into his soap opera come to life were shattered as Zhou Mi untangled their hands and flipped over to face him. The soft smile Zhou Mi had on was not what he was expecting, then again neither was the hand he raised to trace the tips of two fingers over Kyuhyun's temple and across his cheek. Kyuhyun held stock still as Zhou Mi placed a light kiss over the rise of his cheekbone. That done, Zhou Mi pulled back just enough for Kyuhyun to catch a glimmer of quiet awe in his eyes before he was burrowing down to fit his head underneath Kyuhyun's chin, pressing what felt like a knowing smile to his sternum as he spoke, "Well you understood what I was trying to say."
(All For You:
hard to say what it is I see in you/wonder if I'll always be with you/words can't say and I can't do/enough to prove it's all for you
Kyuhyun is running ridiculously late and not surprisingly, Zhou Mi is to blame. He was determined to test the new oven, demanding that Kyuhyun let him cook breakfast. He should have known better. The extra fifteen minutes he waited, just to make sure the ...food would stay down hadn't been factored in when he'd set his alarm the night before, and now he only has ten minutes to get his work together and run for the subway.
Zhou Mi hovers nervously, dressed in pajamas thanks to the grace of an afternoon class, running a hand through his morning flyaways, "Sorry, you can cook tomorrow. But, uh, at least it works?"
Still stuffing assorted books and papers into his bag, he sighs, "I'm cooking for the foreseeable future- I'm not even sure you still deserve microwave privileges."
"Okay." Zhou Mi nods, passing Kyuhyun a portfolio containing the project he's scheduled to hand in today.
He grabs it and flips through the typed pages inside, checking to see that everything is in there before shoving it in alongside his textbooks, "Thanks. Want me to wait for you in the library tonight?"
"No, that's okay," Zhou Mi waves him off, "I'm supposed to practice my duet with Ryeowook after Comp Technique."
Hurriedly, he zips his bag and heads for the door, calling over his shoulder, "Alright, I guess I'll meet you back here then?"
Zhou Mi tosses Kyuhyun his sweatshirt and steps out onto the porch after him, "Sure, have a good day."
"Bye, Zhou Mi." Resisting the urge to catch another over-the-shoulder glimpse of Zhou Mi's grin, he raises a hand and starts towards the nearest subway station. Instead of thinking about the next seven hours without Zhou Mi attached to him, he counts the cracks in the sidewalk until he finds himself standing at the stairs down to the platform. He checks his watch at the bottom, telling himself it's to make sure he catches the right subway, but all he can think is, six hours and 43 minutes left as he swipes through the turnstile.
He'd remembered all his assignments, metropass and flashdrive, but he just can't shake the feeling that he's forgotten something.
He's still staring into space, mind approximately .7 miles away, when the subway screeches to a halt alongside the platform. His shoulders get shoved as people move around him, streaming to and from the open doors. He knows he should step into the car but somehow he ends up taking a step backwards as the doors slide shut. Before he can put a finger on the reason why, he's jogging back up the stairs, tugging his bag closer as he shoves his way through the crowd, shouting half-hearted apologies.
By the time he makes it back to the apartment he can barely breathe as he bursts through the front door- if he'd had enough air he definitely would have laughed at the shriek Zhou Mi let out, "Kui Xian, oh my God, you- what are you even-"
He pants out the first lame excuse that comes to mind, "I forgot something."
Frowning, Zhou Mi eyes him head to toe, "What is it?"
"My project." Wrong answer.
"The one I handed to you before you left?"
"Yep. That'd be the one."
"Oh. Well then."
He drops his bag to the floor and rolls his eyes at Zhou Mi's smirk, stepping forward to get a hand around the back of his neck, dragging his mouth within reach. Zhou Mi kisses him like the seven hours had already dragged on by, like he'd spent every minute of each one just waiting for this. Fingers twisting in the short hair at the nape of Zhou Mi's neck, Kyuhyun thinks he knows exactly how he feels.
Zhou Mi smiles into the kiss and Kyuhyun's forced to pull back when he starts laughing, "Sure that's all you forgot?"
Kyuhyun snorts, "Maybe you forgot something."
Eyebrows raised for just a moment, Zhou Mi is leans back in, trailing soft kisses from Kyuhyun's jaw up around the shell of his ear, "Then I'm sorry."
"Too late for sorry, you have to make it up to me now." It takes a Herculean effort not to show Zhou Mi just how much he likes his mouth on that spot and focus, instead, on his new goal.
"Uh. Don't you have class?"
Kyuhyun smacks his shoulder, "Have lunch with me on campus- you still have breakfast to repent for anyway."
Zhou Mi grins obnoxiously before twining their fingers together and lifting their clasped hands; he squints at Kyuhyun's wrist and makes a considering noise, "That would take it down to three and a half hours, right?"
"Well not if you get there a- I hate you."
Disentangling their hands, Zhou Mi reaches down and passes Kyuhyun his forgotten bag, pressing a kiss to his lips that, for all its chasteness, really shouldn't make Kyuhyun's knees do that, "See you then."
Kyuhyun's professor gives him the evil eye when he stumbles into class forty five minutes late and doing a very bad job of hiding his smile as he takes a seat and proceeds to check his watch every five minutes for the rest of the lecture. Kyuhyun knows it's a sin to wish your life away, but he figures the seconds he spends with Zhou Mi are the only ones that count anyway.)
A/N II: /sigh no excuses for the tense change, sorry. I started this AU a little while before I moved and now that I'm in a new apartment, I have a new washer and dryer. WOULD ANY OF YOU LIKE TO GUESS WHICH HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE RECENTLY FLOODED MY KITCHEN? So now I'm just hoping I didn't jinx my stove with this fic ;;
All For You was originally supposed to be written as an aside to the main story, like in the last installment, but it got way out of hand ;; Sorry the parts for this fic are so utterly disorganised, I'll edit the archive so they've got their own spot asap. Also big thank yous to blahnicity for picking up my slack and to bittersnow for translation and rereading and hand-holding and all that other stuff <33 >.> negl, I almost made the summary for this: An exploration of Siwon's future career prospects as a GhostBuster