loving you just lets me know there might be hope for me yet
Title: Love You Out-loud
Fandom: Super Junior
Rating: G
Pairing: Qmi
Summary: a morning routine drabble (AU, but NOT Laundromat AU)
A/N: for bittersnow who at one point wanted fluffy qmi
Nothing makes Kyuhyun want to sing like waking up to the sight of Zhou Mi half covered in their comforter, leg hanging over the mattress, one arm over his eyes and the other flung across Kyuhyun's chest as he snores through their alarm clock. But Kyuhyun still bites his tongue as he slides out of bed, tucking Zhou Mi's leg back under the blankets before heading into the bathroom. By the time he turns on the water, he's almost done permanent damage to his tongue trying to keep everything back. He hops in, wincing as the water slowly approaches lukewarm. Once the water reaches a tolerable temperature he sticks his head under the spray, eyes squeezed shut as he grudgingly rinses the smell of them down the drain, replacing it with whatever designer hair products Zhou Mi's stocked the shower with. He squirts about a third of the bottle into the palm of his hand, figuring it all works out, he still ends up with the scent of Zhou Mi all over him anyways.
Then he's got spit dribbling down his chin as he tries to get the taste of shampoo off his tongue, a consequence of attempting to wash his hair with an unconscious smile on his face. He sighs at himself and finishes rinsing his hair. He rests his forehead against the tiles, blinking droplets of water from his eyelashes, enjoying the steady pressure of warm water across his shoulders. And before he knows it he's swallowing around the start of a song, a low hum creeping up on him. It threatens to turn into a laugh and he figures he might as well give in, Zhou Mi could sleep through a marching band, so what are the chances of him waking up from a little bit of shower-singing?
The tiles shunt the sound of his voice back at him and before he knows it, Kyuhyun's progressed from a quiet hum to full on belting. He backs away from the wall, sliding a hand down his face in an effort to wipe his grin away. He tries to remember the lyrics to the last song he'd heard on the office radio as he picks up another bottle, scanning the label before shrugging and emptying some into his hair. He works it in for a few minutes, frowning when he still doesn't get a lather out of it. Raking his fingers through slick strands he thinks, simultaneously, Zhou Mi buys the strangest things and so that's what the smell on his pillowcase is from- not that Kyuhyun would know or anything, it's not like he spends time sniffing all of Zhou Mi's things.
By the time he gets through what he hopes is at least marginally similar to the chorus of the song, he's running a bar of soap across his chest, hand slipping down after it. His cheeks flame when he opens his eyes, realising he'd been singing with them shut. He switches hands, sudsing a bicep as he continues, eyes firmly opened, hips stationary and foot definitely not tapping, "I don't care what consequence it brings, I have been a fool for lesser things, I want you so bad, I think you ought to know that I intend to hold you for the longest time,"
"Woah~ for the longest time~" echoes around him, Zhou Mi's voice reverberating through the tiny bathroom loud enough to send him almost three feet in the air as he startles, soap slipping out of his grip to ricochet off the wall, nearly clipping Zhou Mi where he's stuck his head to peek around the shower curtain. Zhou Mi glances at the dented bar of soap lying at his feet, while Kyuhyun's eyes are on the way the steam curls Zhou Mi's flyways, he only refocuses his attention at the sound of Zhou Mi's laugh, "Aw, you dropped the soap. Is- Are you using my conditioner?"
Kyuhyun raises a hand, eyes widening before he dives under the spray to pull his fingers through his hair, rinsing vigorously. He steps back with a wide smile, "You can't prove it."
Zhou Mi shucks off his boxers and steps into the shower, pulling Kyuhyun flush against him, head fitting so so perfectly into the crook of Kyuhyun's neck. "I can smell it on you." he delivers a sharp smack to Kyuhyun's rearend, "Now go pick up the soap."
He settles for shoving Zhou Mi under the shower head, making sure he's still sputtering beneath the water before he bends over. He passes the soap to Zhou Mi and picks up the shampoo, squeezing out another third of the bottle into his hand, "Bend down a bit, you could at least pretend to be normal-sized,"
He dodges Zhou Mi's elbow as he reaches up to work the shampoo into his hair. When Zhou Mi picks up the song, he jumps in less reluctantly than he's likely to admit, butchering the pronunciation as their volume triples by the second verse. Zhou Mi ends up with a faux-hawk, passing Kyuhyun the matching conditioner bottle-mic to his shampoo bottle-mic.
Kyuhyun is completely unsurprised. Of course Zhou Mi would belt the song shamelessly, head back, eyes closed. Well, he reasons, it's not like he can see me anyway. Kyuhyun matches Zhou Mi's grin and puts on a glass-shattering falsetto, lifting the bottle of conditioner to accompany him. There are worse ways to start a day.
A/N II: it was this or Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson. I think I did Kyuhyun a favor by not choosing that one lmao :3
Title: What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
Fandom: Super Junior
Rating: G
Pairing: Qmi
Summary: Yep. Kyuhyun's definitely whipped. (AU)
A/N: This was going to be a sequel to Til It Happens to You, but as it turns out, this is just a slice of life fic that takes places in the same verse (Laundromat AU) for eter00 who was incredibly patient while I worked on this. (***this fic was edited for reposting, prequel for the verse can be found here by bittersnow)
"Don't you have class?"
"It's raining." his statement is punctuated by a roll of thunder that vibrates through their apartment.
Zhou Mi rolls over, tugging what little sheet Kyuhyun has left him with, to follow, "You know you won't really melt, right?"
He hears a grunt and then a woosh of disturbed air before he registers that Kyuhyun has just smacked him in the face with a pillow. He doesn't bother moving it because on the first inhale he takes to tell Kyuhyun off, he realises he can smell them on the pillowcase- and if he does push it away, then Kyuhyun might see the reflexive smile it's left on him.
The mattress dips and he loses the last of the sheet as Kyuhyun shifts closer, pressing himself warm to Zhou Mi's side. He tangles their legs together, dragging him close enough for Zhou Mi to feel the heat of his breath as Kyuhyun speaks into his shoulder, "Have you suffocated?"
Zhou Mi laughs into the pillow, muffled, and lets the silence that follows settle around them as he edges back towards sleep. But before he can get there, Kyuhyun shoves the pillow off, not even bothering to reach for it as it slides to the floor. Zhou Mi blinks blearily at Kyuhyun, who's leaning inches from his face, eyes narrowed, mouth stretched into a grim line. And he just can't keep the laugh in, "No luck."
Exasperated, Kyuhyun drops down onto him, forcing the air out of Zhou Mi's lungs until all he can do is let out a very undignified squeak into Kyuhyun's hair as he settles down, eyebrows drawn, "That was my pillow."
Zhou Mi sucks in a breath and tries, "You threw it!"
"Details. Point is, you're the official replacement. Consider this punishment for your earlier irresponsibility."
"What? I was making sure you-"
"Go to sleep."
Kyuhyun drops his hand over Zhou Mi's mouth, catching the resigned sigh he lets out as he curls an arm around Kyuhyun's shoulders and let his eyes slip shut, focusing on the splash of cars driving past and the occasional in stereo beat of their hearts as he drifts.
When Zhou Mi wakes up later on it's to the sound of rain pinging violently off the window. He unsticks his lashes and throws a sideway glance at the window to see the curtains billowing out and rivulets of water racing down the screen. Really, he should go and shut the window before the incoming rain ruins the wood floor. But he can't say that caring for their flooring trumps everything else in the moment, especially not with the way Kyuhyun's curled into him, warm and-
"Aren't you going to close that?"
Awake.
Zhou Mi goes to answer, but his words just get tangled up in Kyuhyun's hand, still curled over his mouth. He wraps his fingers around Kyuhyun's wrist and lifts his hand away, "You can just sand and refinish that spot later."
Kyuhyun scoffs and sits up, pressing the soles of his feet to Zhou Mi's side before pushing him towards the edge of the mattress. At the last second, Zhou Mi grabs for Kyuhyun's ankle, only managing to tug his sock off before crashing to the floor. He groans and falls back dramatically, legs still draped over the edge of the bed. He waits a few seconds before he balls up Kyuhyun's sock and tosses it for a straight shot, right to Kyuhyun's forehead, "And re-grout the tub while you're at it."
Above him, Kyuhyun drops the sock back onto his stomach with a grin, wiggling his fingers over Zhou Mi's barefeet, "Was that your final answer?"
He flails to the side, legs kicking away from the threat, nearly smacking his head into the nearby radiator. Pitiless, Kyuhyun leaps onto him and they spend a few minutes rolling around the floor, kicking and swatting and pressing accidental bruises onto elbows and hipbones. Zhou Mi lands his knee on the inside of Kyuhyun's thigh, mere centimeters away from a three hour wait in the ER, while simultaneously mashing the sock over Kyuhyun's nose as he arches away from his hand, "S-Stop!"
Kyuhyun speaks around the sock in his face, "Why?"
"I'll die!" Zhou Mi gasps and tries to roll over but Kyuhyun switches his tactic and slides a hand between his neck and shoulder.
"I don't think so."
"I w-will! And then who will wake you up for class?!" he's nearly screaming now, dropping the sock in favor of shoving at Kyuhyun's shoulders, tears in his eyes from laughing so hard his stomach aches.
Kyuhyun redoubles his efforts, pinning Zhou Mi's arms under his knees before attacking his ticklish spots with two hands, smile easy, "Not that I want to be woken up, but I do own an alarm clock."
He chokes on a laugh as Kyuhyun dips his head to nuzzle his jaw, "But can it cook breakfast?"
Zhou Mi swallows down air, panting, when Kyuhyun finally ceases fire with a considering hum, "Who knows, it might make something marginally more edible than your usual."
"You do know what you're suggesting, right?"
"And the fact that it's plausible scares you, doesn't it?"
He doesn't get a chance to respond, not that there's much he can really say in his defense, because he's cut off by the obnoxious chime of his cell. Zhou Mi has his hand pressed to a warm spot between Kyuhyun's shoulderblades, he can feel raindrops scattering over them, blowing in on a breeze that ruffles Kyuhyun's bedhead. He really should close that, should answer the phone. He feels Kyuhyun's shoulders rise in a shrug, "Machine'll get it,"
Zhou Mi hums and pushes down on Kyuhyun's back until their chests are pressed together. Kyuhyun knocks his head into Zhou Mi's, "You need to shave."
"Same to you." Zhou Mi slides a hand up Kyuhyun's thigh, grinning, "You've got some stubble."
Kyuhyun looks torn between laughing and kicking his ass for just a moment before he realises it's possible to do both at the same time. It's another hour before they get to breakfast.
When they finally make it down to the kitchen, the led display on the microwave says 12:46 and Kyuhyun sighs into his mug, ripples shivering over the surface of his tea.
"I guess this means you're skipping your afternoon class too?"
"I could run for the green line and get there ten minutes late." Kyuhyun drains his mug and balances it carefully on the small mountain of dishes they've got going.
"You could." Zhou Mi nods, eyes focused on the spoon he's stirring absently through his tea.
"So what am I making for breakfast?"
Zhou Mi grins and lifts his spoon from his mug in a victorious fist pump that send droplets of tea falling into his hair, "Poptarts."
The dishes do eventually come down with the added weight of Zhou Mi's spoon. The resulting cascade of shattered porcelain and glass nearly sends Zhou Mi through the ceiling; Kyuhyun would laugh if his favorite mug hadn't been in there, and also a very likely casualty. He sighs and herds Zhou Mi away from the mess, "Let me take care of this, you go strip the bed."
"No, it was my fault, I can-"
"Slice your finger open and bleed all over the place? I've got it, go on."
Despite looking a few shades paler, Zhou Mi rolls his eyes and heads upstairs.
As carefully as possible, Zhou Mi toes the laundry basket towards their shiny new washer machine, arms already occupied with the new bottles of detergent and softener Kyuhyun had brought home. He'd teased him about the 'rainforest fresh' scrawled across the bottle but he has to admit, it smells pretty good. After setting the bottles down, he manages to load everything up without incident and drop the lid with a satisfying thunk.
He's just turning to head back in the bedroom, when the white noise of the washer's agitation cuts off. He whips around and reaches for the lid just as the sound starts in again, basin spinning normally. Zhou Mi hums and drops his hand to his side, shaking his head as he turns. And once again, the washer stops.
Kyuhyun's just finishing up mourning his coffee mug when a clang resonates through the apartment followed closely by Zhou Mi shouting incoherently. He takes the stairs two at a time to find Zhou Mi holding his foot, hopping around and hissing what Kyuhyun assumes are curses directed at their new washer machine. He hops closer to Kyuhyun, pointing a finger viciously at the appliance, "Kui Xian. That. That. That thing is possessed!"
He wobbles dangerously and Kyuhyun finds himself with his arms full of Zhou Mi before he even registers that they're toppling backwards. Luckily, he has two kidneys to cushion their fall. Zhou Mi doesn't waste a moment, rolling over and jumping to his feet, still seething. Kyuhyun lets out a feeble groan, choosing to crawl to his knees instead, hand pressed to what used to be a functioning organ, "What is wrong with you?"
"It's not me! It's that! I swear Kui Xian, it's playing with me."
"Well you kicked it, therefore you are not a nice playmate and therefore you've earned whatever it's done to upset you." He collapses back onto the floor with a sigh, wondering if going to the laundromat every weekend would have been less stressful.
"I kinda like this better," Zhou Mi slides the soles of his feet over the slick surface of their bare mattress.
"We're not sleeping without sheets, if that's what you're getting to." Kyuhyun scribbles down a few more notes, the opposite end of his pencil rubbing out others as he works towards the end of the staff. Zhou Mi watches while Kyuhyun presses the steel strings against the neck of the guitar with infinitely more ease than he had ever managed.
"I know. Have you figured it out yet?" He moves closer to Kyuhyun's side, watching the crease between his eyebrows deepen as he plays the first few bars, singing softly.
He finishes and passes the guitar to Zhou Mi, "Yeah, you just needed to fill it in a bit more here," he looks up with a smile, "Too many syllables, not enough notes."
Zhou Mi pulls the sheet music towards himself, glancing at the neck of the guitar to confirm he's starting with the right chord. He sings all the way through to the third verse before he winces at a sound that doesn't belong there. Kyuhyun watches him step back a few notes, coming in a little more hesitantly and still playing the wrong chord.
"Zhou Mi," he groans, dropping his problem sets to the side and levering himself up off their bed. Zhou Mi stares at the sheet music because his eyes are starting to burn at the corners and that's not something Kyuhyun needs to see. He can wait until he leaves before he questions why he'd become a music major in the first place when someone with as much raw talent as Kyuhyun had chosen something sensible like computer science. But he doesn't get the chance, because Kyuhyun doesn't go for the door, instead he walks around the side of the bed and climbs up behind Zhou Mi, settling his legs on either side of him as leans against him, hands pushing Zhou Mi's away from the guitar. Kyuhyun adjusts his fingers on the frets and strums, letting the proper chord resonate. When Zhou Mi looks to the side he can see Kyuhyun smiling at him, "See?"
There's a low rumble of thunder that almost drowns out Zhou Mi's response, "Thanks,"
Kyuhyun shrugs, tossing a sideways glance at the textbook he really should be reading, before he curls Zhou Mi's fingers back over the strings, nodding when he manages to fret a proper f minor. Zhou Mi can feel Kyuhyun humming behind him as they work their way through the song he's mostly done with. He knows he should sing along, should practice for the recital in a few weeks, but right now he'd rather just listen to Kyuhyun sing the words he'd written with him in mind.
He's thankful there isn't another flash of lightning to accompany his sudden insight, because that would really be too much. As carefully as possible, Zhou Mi slides the guitar to the side, twisting to face Kyuhyun, "What if- what if I didn't perform?"
Kyuhyun frowns, hands coming to rest on Zhou Mi's hips, "What do you mean, like changing your major?"
"No, more like- what if I just wrote songs for other people to sing?"
Less than gently, Kyuhyun shoves him out of his lap and onto the bed with a low noise of disgust, "Well then that would be a waste."
Zhou Mi rolls onto his back and smiles at the ceiling. He's right back where he started, but this time with a little of the faith he was lacking before. Kyuhyun settles at his side, still looking mildly annoyed until Zhou Mi turns his smile on him and he's left blinking in confusion, "We're not having sex without sheets, either."
The dryer's end-cycle buzz sounds around Zhou Mi's laugh.
"How do you fold a fitted sheet?" Zhoi Mi frowns, stretching the elastic corner of the sheet before handing it off to Kyuhyun.
"I have no idea. This is why we wash them and put them right back on." he leans over the bed, tucking the first corner beneath the mattress edge.
Zhou Mi steps around to the opposite corner, pulling the sheet taut as he tucks his end in, "Well at this rate, we'll never have to figure it out!"
Kyuhyun grins, "Exactly."
Zhou Mi feels like it's almost obligatory to throw yourself onto a bed with freshly changed sheets, so he does. The light scent of fabric softener plumes in his wake; he takes a deep breath in, face pressed to the still-warm material as he exhales happily, "Rainforest fresh."
At the edge, Kyuhyun stands feigning disinterest until Zhou Mi scoots closer to wrap his legs around his waist, triumph blossoming in his chest when Kyuhyun's hands drop to slide over his thighs. He leans towards Kyuhyun's mouth, "We've got sheets now."
"That's the worst pickup line I've ever heard, you're lucky your first one was better." He meets Zhou Mi in the middle anyway.
He doesn't lift his head from the pillow until he registers that the spot next to him is cold, and for a few seconds after that, all Kyuhyun does is stare at the empty space and wonder why the hell it bothers him so much. He lays his head back down, frowning as he squeezes his eyes shut and tries to force himself into sleeping, because there's no reason for him not to take advantage of an afternoon nap that doesn't involve being smothered by Zhou Mi's extra long, extra sharp limbs. He flops onto his back, dragging his pillow over his face, thinking maybe it's just the sound of the thunder that's keeping him up.
"No! Stop that!"
Kyuhyun's up and out of bed in seconds flat, yanking on a pair of sweatpants as he rushes towards the shouting.
"Zhou Mi!" he calls, simply because he's not sure what else he can do as he races down the stairs, nearly running into the wall on the landing as he turns a sharp corner, just managing to struggle the rest of the way into his tshirt before he jumps the last few steps. He doesn't even stop to consider the miraculousness of not having broken his face at least four times on the way down, because he can still hear Zhou Mi yelling as he flings open the front door, running barefoot out into the rain.
"Kui Xian? When did you get up? Augh- No! Down!" Zhou Mi pushes the dog off of him, his other arm holding a leash fastened to a small yapping dog at his side.
Kyuhyun only gapes for a few seconds before heading back to the shelter of the porch. Once he's out of the rain he spears Zhou Mi with what he hopes is a very frigid glare, "I'm not even sure how to begin describing the ways in which you will pay for this."
"Sure, but do you think you could come over here and take one of these guys?" he barely manages to finish his sentence before the larger of the two dogs is standing with his front paws on Zhou Mi's shoulders, slobbering happily over his cheek.
A laugh slips out before he can stop it and before he knows it Kyuhyun's nearly crying over the sight of someone as tall as Zhou Mi getting mauled by a dog that's nearly as big as he is. "Yeah, just a second, let me go get the camera."
"Only if you want to end up choking on it! Kui Xian, please!"
Kyuhyun twists his lips, eyes flickering between his barefeet and the puddles along the sidewalk for a few solid seconds. He heads down the steps, "You've got no idea how much you owe me."
"Sorry, I think the neighbors left their gates open again." Zhou Mi flashes him a grateful smile, pushing the dog off of himself and over towards Kyuhyun.
He tries to grab the leash Zhou Mi flings at him, but the next thing he knows, he's on his back, muddy rainwater soaking into his shirt as the dog pants over his face. He turns away just in time for a glob of drool to land on the sidewalk beside his head. Kyuhyun glares, "Bad dog, very bad dog."
Behind them, Zhou Mi has picked up the smaller dog, completely ignoring it's obnoxiously high pitched barking as he cradles it against his chest, "Aw, I think he likes you!"
The dog sits down on his stomach before he can get enough air in for a scathing reply. He twists, arms and legs flailing until the dog hops off, putting a decent-sized indent into Kyuhyun's solar plexus. Kyuhyun stretches an arm out in time to wrap a couple fingers around the leash, tugging the dog to his side as he stands, finger pointed warningly in Zhou Mi's direction, "Not a word."
Zhou Mi mimes zipping his lips before turning to head towards the apartments beside their own. Kyuhyun lets out a long suffering sigh, flinging mud off his shirt before bending to get a look at the dog's collar. All he gets for his trouble is a wet tongue to the side of his face. He can feel his control fraying, a shout rising at the back of his throat, but somehow the dog looks so dopey standing in the rain, fur all matted down, tail wagging excitedly that all Kyuhyun can really do is grumble, "You're just lucky Zhou Mi didn't see that."
As it turns out, the dog's owner lives just a few doors down from them, a petite elderly lady Kyuhyun's seen Zhou Mi talking with a couple of times. He knocks on the door, halfway hoping she doesn't answer so he can avoid the shame of being caught in mud-encrusted pajamas. But the door swings open anyway. He barely has time to greet the woman before he's nearly dragged over the threshold as the dog makes a beeline inside.
"Bear! I thought we'd never find you!" The woman claps excitedly as the dog circles her ankles, leaving Kyuhyun standing awkwardly in the rain outside. She shoos Bear inside and wipes a muddy hand on her pant leg before introducing herself, thanking Kyuhyun profusely for returning her baby. He politely neglects mentioning that a dog the size of a small horse cannot rightfully be called a baby.
He pastes on what he hopes is a charming smile and shakes his head, "Not a problem, Zhou Mi was actually the one who found him."
"Well you tell him I said thank you, and tell him to send you over more often," she reaches a hand out, patting his cheek carefully, "Not enough handsome men in my life."
Kyuhyun swallows back a wince and makes a few vague hand gestures which only seem to endear her to him further. By the time he leaves, he's somehow ended up with her phone number on a doily in his back pocket.
When he gets back to the apartment, Zhou Mi's waiting on the front steps, biting his lip as he holds out a towel. Kyuhyun expects him to say something, but he just sits down heavily on the steps, pants already soaked through from standing outside for who knows how long. He looks up at Kyuhyun through strands of rain-darkened hair, eyelashes clinging together as he worries his lip between his teeth.
Kyuhyun turns away to unfold the towel, still warm from the dryer, before taking a seat next to Zhou Mi. Hips pressed together, he wraps the far end of the towel around Zhou Mi's shoulder, taking the other half for himself. Zhou Mi leans his head against Kyuhyun's shoulder, unconcerned with the mud that sticks to his hair as he burrows closer.
"-Sorry."
"-Thanks."
Zhou Mi lifts his head, confusion stark on his face, "Thanks?"
Kyuhyun's expression is similar as he asks, "Sorry?"
"Well, I just. I messed up your day, and I'm sorry. You missed your classes and you had to make breakfast and your favorite mug is broken and the washer machine's possessed and you didn't finish your studying and you just got trampled into the mud- all because of me." Zhou Mi's fingers go a little white over the corner of the towel he's hanging onto and even when Kyuhyun turns to face him, he stares ahead resolutely at the passing cars.
Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and edges out from under the towel, wrapping the rest of it around Zhou Mi before he rubs his hands over Zhou Mi's biceps, feeling the rain soak through the terrycloth material. He moves to sit behind Zhou Mi, pulling him back against his chest as he takes a final second to try and untangle everything he wants to say, but it all just spills out in a single breath anyway, "That's what I mean. Thanks. For uh, giving me a day off. And the mug was, I dunno, ugly. And you know, it's not like Poptarts take a lot of effort, really. And I mean, it's okay just sitting around with you- and you need a lot more help with guitar than I do with algorithms. For the last time, there's nothing wrong with the machine and let's never talk about the dog again."
The half a second of silence after his accidental monologue nearly kills Kyuhyun.
Zhou Mi tilts his head up, face serious, "Okay, but Kui Xian, if you dropped holy water on that washer machine, it would sizzle."
"Don't complain, at least we don't have to walk to the laundromat anymore." he leans over and shakes his head until droplets land on Zhou Mi's cheeks, sliding down around the lifted corners of his mouth.
"Hey, Kui Xian?"
"Hm?"
"Do you think we could get a dog?"
"I have an official dislike for dogs."
"But you love me?"
"I still don't like dogs."
Zhou Mi makes him strip down to his boxers before he lets him back into the apartment; he passes him a plastic bag for his clothing and shoos him upstairs. After safely depositing his clothes into the washer machine, Kyuhyun switches the dial to super wash and closes the lid. He's almost to the bedroom when the sound of the machine cuts off.
"I told you so!" Zhou Mi clambers out from behind their bedroom door, grinning so widely it almost looks painful, "Well?"
Kyuhyun presses the heels of his hands into his eyes, groaning, "Fine, fine. But it has to be a small dog."
It doesn't really bother him that Zhou Mi tends to take up most of the bed. Kyuhyun's sure that even if Zhou Mi fell asleep on what should have been considered 'his side', he'd still end up sprawled all over Kyuhyun's side by morning. Kyuhyun kicks a leg out from under the sheets, flipping the rest of the blankets over Zhou Mi, figuring it really can't be helped.
He burrows down to press against Zhou Mi's ribs, pushing a kiss against the soft cotton of his tshirt just as Zhou Mi's hand comes to rest on his shoulder. He can catch the steady bassline of Zhou Mi's heart as his chest expands gently with each slow breath; the sound of it drags Kyuhyun into a dizzy lull that's just outside of sleep. Until, that is, Zhou Mi shifts slightly, sliding a leg high up between Kyuhyun's thighs with a small moan.
Kyuhyun grins to himself, curling closer to Zhou Mi as he dips his fingers beneath the waistband of Zhou Mi's pajama bottoms. "You've got an early class, you know?"
A resounding snore is the only response. Grumbling, Kyuhyun fans his fingers out against Zhou Mi's stomach, stroking over the smooth skin just below his bellybutton. Apparently, Zhou Mi is well aware of just what time he has to be up in the morning and unfortunately, he's also completely unaware that Kyuhyun is up right now.
He settles back into his pillow with a huff, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep. It takes a good ten minutes before he's wound down his mind enough to drift off. He's just translating thoughts into dreams when it occurs to him that he hasn't set his alarm for the morning. He lifts an arm and gropes around lazily over the bedside table, accidentally knocking something that sounds suspiciously like the alarm clock to the floor.
Behind him Zhou Mi pushes closer, definitely crossing into Kyuhyun's side of the bed as he wraps his arms around Kyuhyun's waist, pulling him back against the warm line of his body. He yawns against the nape of Kyuhyun's neck, "Just leave it."
Kyuhyun ends up balanced almost on the edge of the bed, only Zhou Mi's grip around his middle keeping him from falling over the side. He tries wriggling backwards, palms pressed to the back of Zhou Mi's hands just in case, but doesn't end up gaining much ground. Not to mention he can't reach the alarm clock and his eyelids are suddenly feeling ridiculously heavy. He curls a foot around Zhou Mi's ankle, supposing Zhou Mi probably won't let him fall off, and he'll most likely wake him up on time. Maybe.
("Your class starts at nine-thirty today, don't forget."
"I know, Kyuhyun, you reminded me last night, remeber?" Zhou Mi sighs, running a hand through his uncooperative hair as he crams what's most likely the wrong assignments into a carry-all, designer name scrawled across the front in bold lettering.
Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow and Zhou Mi freezes. "So what you're saying is that you faked being asleep while I was trying to seduce you?"
Zhou Mi taps a finger against his bottom lip, eyes wide as he continues, "So that's what that was..."
In retrospect, he's sort of glad Kyuhyun chased him halfway down the block, he might not have made the subway otherwise.)
ORIGINAL A/N II: Anyways, snarky rainbows and unicorns for moeruze_burning and extra spoonfuls of sugar for blahnicity and bittersnow who were all indispensable while I tried to cough this up. And in case you were curious, these are the kind of apartments they live in in my head, where no one calls them brownstones and college students can afford them...
title cred right hurr.
A/N UH III?: After talking it over with my betas it was sort of decided that a lot was missing from here. so I took it down and tried to revamp it and flesh out what I could. The original fic for this verse involved just a single activity and then when I went to write more, an entire day came out. So that kinda messed with the style if that makes sense? We thought about breaking this into a collection of drabbles, but there was too much linking them to allow the drabbles to be stand alones. In the end it was decided to just leave it whole and fuck the rest >.> Anyhow, I saved the comments on the original fic into a document lol I really did appreciate the feedback on that and I hope you guys think this edited version is alright too :DD /COMPLETELY IGNORES ANNOTATING CHAPTER ON WHY EUROPE HAS A BANGING ECONOMY AND FICS SHIT INSTEAD >.>
Fandom: Super Junior
Rating: G
Pairing: Qmi
Summary: a morning routine drabble (AU, but NOT Laundromat AU)
A/N: for bittersnow who at one point wanted fluffy qmi
Nothing makes Kyuhyun want to sing like waking up to the sight of Zhou Mi half covered in their comforter, leg hanging over the mattress, one arm over his eyes and the other flung across Kyuhyun's chest as he snores through their alarm clock. But Kyuhyun still bites his tongue as he slides out of bed, tucking Zhou Mi's leg back under the blankets before heading into the bathroom. By the time he turns on the water, he's almost done permanent damage to his tongue trying to keep everything back. He hops in, wincing as the water slowly approaches lukewarm. Once the water reaches a tolerable temperature he sticks his head under the spray, eyes squeezed shut as he grudgingly rinses the smell of them down the drain, replacing it with whatever designer hair products Zhou Mi's stocked the shower with. He squirts about a third of the bottle into the palm of his hand, figuring it all works out, he still ends up with the scent of Zhou Mi all over him anyways.
Then he's got spit dribbling down his chin as he tries to get the taste of shampoo off his tongue, a consequence of attempting to wash his hair with an unconscious smile on his face. He sighs at himself and finishes rinsing his hair. He rests his forehead against the tiles, blinking droplets of water from his eyelashes, enjoying the steady pressure of warm water across his shoulders. And before he knows it he's swallowing around the start of a song, a low hum creeping up on him. It threatens to turn into a laugh and he figures he might as well give in, Zhou Mi could sleep through a marching band, so what are the chances of him waking up from a little bit of shower-singing?
The tiles shunt the sound of his voice back at him and before he knows it, Kyuhyun's progressed from a quiet hum to full on belting. He backs away from the wall, sliding a hand down his face in an effort to wipe his grin away. He tries to remember the lyrics to the last song he'd heard on the office radio as he picks up another bottle, scanning the label before shrugging and emptying some into his hair. He works it in for a few minutes, frowning when he still doesn't get a lather out of it. Raking his fingers through slick strands he thinks, simultaneously, Zhou Mi buys the strangest things and so that's what the smell on his pillowcase is from- not that Kyuhyun would know or anything, it's not like he spends time sniffing all of Zhou Mi's things.
By the time he gets through what he hopes is at least marginally similar to the chorus of the song, he's running a bar of soap across his chest, hand slipping down after it. His cheeks flame when he opens his eyes, realising he'd been singing with them shut. He switches hands, sudsing a bicep as he continues, eyes firmly opened, hips stationary and foot definitely not tapping, "I don't care what consequence it brings, I have been a fool for lesser things, I want you so bad, I think you ought to know that I intend to hold you for the longest time,"
"Woah~ for the longest time~" echoes around him, Zhou Mi's voice reverberating through the tiny bathroom loud enough to send him almost three feet in the air as he startles, soap slipping out of his grip to ricochet off the wall, nearly clipping Zhou Mi where he's stuck his head to peek around the shower curtain. Zhou Mi glances at the dented bar of soap lying at his feet, while Kyuhyun's eyes are on the way the steam curls Zhou Mi's flyways, he only refocuses his attention at the sound of Zhou Mi's laugh, "Aw, you dropped the soap. Is- Are you using my conditioner?"
Kyuhyun raises a hand, eyes widening before he dives under the spray to pull his fingers through his hair, rinsing vigorously. He steps back with a wide smile, "You can't prove it."
Zhou Mi shucks off his boxers and steps into the shower, pulling Kyuhyun flush against him, head fitting so so perfectly into the crook of Kyuhyun's neck. "I can smell it on you." he delivers a sharp smack to Kyuhyun's rearend, "Now go pick up the soap."
He settles for shoving Zhou Mi under the shower head, making sure he's still sputtering beneath the water before he bends over. He passes the soap to Zhou Mi and picks up the shampoo, squeezing out another third of the bottle into his hand, "Bend down a bit, you could at least pretend to be normal-sized,"
He dodges Zhou Mi's elbow as he reaches up to work the shampoo into his hair. When Zhou Mi picks up the song, he jumps in less reluctantly than he's likely to admit, butchering the pronunciation as their volume triples by the second verse. Zhou Mi ends up with a faux-hawk, passing Kyuhyun the matching conditioner bottle-mic to his shampoo bottle-mic.
Kyuhyun is completely unsurprised. Of course Zhou Mi would belt the song shamelessly, head back, eyes closed. Well, he reasons, it's not like he can see me anyway. Kyuhyun matches Zhou Mi's grin and puts on a glass-shattering falsetto, lifting the bottle of conditioner to accompany him. There are worse ways to start a day.
A/N II: it was this or Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson. I think I did Kyuhyun a favor by not choosing that one lmao :3
Title: What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
Fandom: Super Junior
Rating: G
Pairing: Qmi
Summary: Yep. Kyuhyun's definitely whipped. (AU)
A/N: This was going to be a sequel to Til It Happens to You, but as it turns out, this is just a slice of life fic that takes places in the same verse (Laundromat AU) for eter00 who was incredibly patient while I worked on this. (***this fic was edited for reposting, prequel for the verse can be found here by bittersnow)
"Don't you have class?"
"It's raining." his statement is punctuated by a roll of thunder that vibrates through their apartment.
Zhou Mi rolls over, tugging what little sheet Kyuhyun has left him with, to follow, "You know you won't really melt, right?"
He hears a grunt and then a woosh of disturbed air before he registers that Kyuhyun has just smacked him in the face with a pillow. He doesn't bother moving it because on the first inhale he takes to tell Kyuhyun off, he realises he can smell them on the pillowcase- and if he does push it away, then Kyuhyun might see the reflexive smile it's left on him.
The mattress dips and he loses the last of the sheet as Kyuhyun shifts closer, pressing himself warm to Zhou Mi's side. He tangles their legs together, dragging him close enough for Zhou Mi to feel the heat of his breath as Kyuhyun speaks into his shoulder, "Have you suffocated?"
Zhou Mi laughs into the pillow, muffled, and lets the silence that follows settle around them as he edges back towards sleep. But before he can get there, Kyuhyun shoves the pillow off, not even bothering to reach for it as it slides to the floor. Zhou Mi blinks blearily at Kyuhyun, who's leaning inches from his face, eyes narrowed, mouth stretched into a grim line. And he just can't keep the laugh in, "No luck."
Exasperated, Kyuhyun drops down onto him, forcing the air out of Zhou Mi's lungs until all he can do is let out a very undignified squeak into Kyuhyun's hair as he settles down, eyebrows drawn, "That was my pillow."
Zhou Mi sucks in a breath and tries, "You threw it!"
"Details. Point is, you're the official replacement. Consider this punishment for your earlier irresponsibility."
"What? I was making sure you-"
"Go to sleep."
Kyuhyun drops his hand over Zhou Mi's mouth, catching the resigned sigh he lets out as he curls an arm around Kyuhyun's shoulders and let his eyes slip shut, focusing on the splash of cars driving past and the occasional in stereo beat of their hearts as he drifts.
When Zhou Mi wakes up later on it's to the sound of rain pinging violently off the window. He unsticks his lashes and throws a sideway glance at the window to see the curtains billowing out and rivulets of water racing down the screen. Really, he should go and shut the window before the incoming rain ruins the wood floor. But he can't say that caring for their flooring trumps everything else in the moment, especially not with the way Kyuhyun's curled into him, warm and-
"Aren't you going to close that?"
Awake.
Zhou Mi goes to answer, but his words just get tangled up in Kyuhyun's hand, still curled over his mouth. He wraps his fingers around Kyuhyun's wrist and lifts his hand away, "You can just sand and refinish that spot later."
Kyuhyun scoffs and sits up, pressing the soles of his feet to Zhou Mi's side before pushing him towards the edge of the mattress. At the last second, Zhou Mi grabs for Kyuhyun's ankle, only managing to tug his sock off before crashing to the floor. He groans and falls back dramatically, legs still draped over the edge of the bed. He waits a few seconds before he balls up Kyuhyun's sock and tosses it for a straight shot, right to Kyuhyun's forehead, "And re-grout the tub while you're at it."
Above him, Kyuhyun drops the sock back onto his stomach with a grin, wiggling his fingers over Zhou Mi's barefeet, "Was that your final answer?"
He flails to the side, legs kicking away from the threat, nearly smacking his head into the nearby radiator. Pitiless, Kyuhyun leaps onto him and they spend a few minutes rolling around the floor, kicking and swatting and pressing accidental bruises onto elbows and hipbones. Zhou Mi lands his knee on the inside of Kyuhyun's thigh, mere centimeters away from a three hour wait in the ER, while simultaneously mashing the sock over Kyuhyun's nose as he arches away from his hand, "S-Stop!"
Kyuhyun speaks around the sock in his face, "Why?"
"I'll die!" Zhou Mi gasps and tries to roll over but Kyuhyun switches his tactic and slides a hand between his neck and shoulder.
"I don't think so."
"I w-will! And then who will wake you up for class?!" he's nearly screaming now, dropping the sock in favor of shoving at Kyuhyun's shoulders, tears in his eyes from laughing so hard his stomach aches.
Kyuhyun redoubles his efforts, pinning Zhou Mi's arms under his knees before attacking his ticklish spots with two hands, smile easy, "Not that I want to be woken up, but I do own an alarm clock."
He chokes on a laugh as Kyuhyun dips his head to nuzzle his jaw, "But can it cook breakfast?"
Zhou Mi swallows down air, panting, when Kyuhyun finally ceases fire with a considering hum, "Who knows, it might make something marginally more edible than your usual."
"You do know what you're suggesting, right?"
"And the fact that it's plausible scares you, doesn't it?"
He doesn't get a chance to respond, not that there's much he can really say in his defense, because he's cut off by the obnoxious chime of his cell. Zhou Mi has his hand pressed to a warm spot between Kyuhyun's shoulderblades, he can feel raindrops scattering over them, blowing in on a breeze that ruffles Kyuhyun's bedhead. He really should close that, should answer the phone. He feels Kyuhyun's shoulders rise in a shrug, "Machine'll get it,"
Zhou Mi hums and pushes down on Kyuhyun's back until their chests are pressed together. Kyuhyun knocks his head into Zhou Mi's, "You need to shave."
"Same to you." Zhou Mi slides a hand up Kyuhyun's thigh, grinning, "You've got some stubble."
Kyuhyun looks torn between laughing and kicking his ass for just a moment before he realises it's possible to do both at the same time. It's another hour before they get to breakfast.
When they finally make it down to the kitchen, the led display on the microwave says 12:46 and Kyuhyun sighs into his mug, ripples shivering over the surface of his tea.
"I guess this means you're skipping your afternoon class too?"
"I could run for the green line and get there ten minutes late." Kyuhyun drains his mug and balances it carefully on the small mountain of dishes they've got going.
"You could." Zhou Mi nods, eyes focused on the spoon he's stirring absently through his tea.
"So what am I making for breakfast?"
Zhou Mi grins and lifts his spoon from his mug in a victorious fist pump that send droplets of tea falling into his hair, "Poptarts."
The dishes do eventually come down with the added weight of Zhou Mi's spoon. The resulting cascade of shattered porcelain and glass nearly sends Zhou Mi through the ceiling; Kyuhyun would laugh if his favorite mug hadn't been in there, and also a very likely casualty. He sighs and herds Zhou Mi away from the mess, "Let me take care of this, you go strip the bed."
"No, it was my fault, I can-"
"Slice your finger open and bleed all over the place? I've got it, go on."
Despite looking a few shades paler, Zhou Mi rolls his eyes and heads upstairs.
As carefully as possible, Zhou Mi toes the laundry basket towards their shiny new washer machine, arms already occupied with the new bottles of detergent and softener Kyuhyun had brought home. He'd teased him about the 'rainforest fresh' scrawled across the bottle but he has to admit, it smells pretty good. After setting the bottles down, he manages to load everything up without incident and drop the lid with a satisfying thunk.
He's just turning to head back in the bedroom, when the white noise of the washer's agitation cuts off. He whips around and reaches for the lid just as the sound starts in again, basin spinning normally. Zhou Mi hums and drops his hand to his side, shaking his head as he turns. And once again, the washer stops.
Kyuhyun's just finishing up mourning his coffee mug when a clang resonates through the apartment followed closely by Zhou Mi shouting incoherently. He takes the stairs two at a time to find Zhou Mi holding his foot, hopping around and hissing what Kyuhyun assumes are curses directed at their new washer machine. He hops closer to Kyuhyun, pointing a finger viciously at the appliance, "Kui Xian. That. That. That thing is possessed!"
He wobbles dangerously and Kyuhyun finds himself with his arms full of Zhou Mi before he even registers that they're toppling backwards. Luckily, he has two kidneys to cushion their fall. Zhou Mi doesn't waste a moment, rolling over and jumping to his feet, still seething. Kyuhyun lets out a feeble groan, choosing to crawl to his knees instead, hand pressed to what used to be a functioning organ, "What is wrong with you?"
"It's not me! It's that! I swear Kui Xian, it's playing with me."
"Well you kicked it, therefore you are not a nice playmate and therefore you've earned whatever it's done to upset you." He collapses back onto the floor with a sigh, wondering if going to the laundromat every weekend would have been less stressful.
"I kinda like this better," Zhou Mi slides the soles of his feet over the slick surface of their bare mattress.
"We're not sleeping without sheets, if that's what you're getting to." Kyuhyun scribbles down a few more notes, the opposite end of his pencil rubbing out others as he works towards the end of the staff. Zhou Mi watches while Kyuhyun presses the steel strings against the neck of the guitar with infinitely more ease than he had ever managed.
"I know. Have you figured it out yet?" He moves closer to Kyuhyun's side, watching the crease between his eyebrows deepen as he plays the first few bars, singing softly.
He finishes and passes the guitar to Zhou Mi, "Yeah, you just needed to fill it in a bit more here," he looks up with a smile, "Too many syllables, not enough notes."
Zhou Mi pulls the sheet music towards himself, glancing at the neck of the guitar to confirm he's starting with the right chord. He sings all the way through to the third verse before he winces at a sound that doesn't belong there. Kyuhyun watches him step back a few notes, coming in a little more hesitantly and still playing the wrong chord.
"Zhou Mi," he groans, dropping his problem sets to the side and levering himself up off their bed. Zhou Mi stares at the sheet music because his eyes are starting to burn at the corners and that's not something Kyuhyun needs to see. He can wait until he leaves before he questions why he'd become a music major in the first place when someone with as much raw talent as Kyuhyun had chosen something sensible like computer science. But he doesn't get the chance, because Kyuhyun doesn't go for the door, instead he walks around the side of the bed and climbs up behind Zhou Mi, settling his legs on either side of him as leans against him, hands pushing Zhou Mi's away from the guitar. Kyuhyun adjusts his fingers on the frets and strums, letting the proper chord resonate. When Zhou Mi looks to the side he can see Kyuhyun smiling at him, "See?"
There's a low rumble of thunder that almost drowns out Zhou Mi's response, "Thanks,"
Kyuhyun shrugs, tossing a sideways glance at the textbook he really should be reading, before he curls Zhou Mi's fingers back over the strings, nodding when he manages to fret a proper f minor. Zhou Mi can feel Kyuhyun humming behind him as they work their way through the song he's mostly done with. He knows he should sing along, should practice for the recital in a few weeks, but right now he'd rather just listen to Kyuhyun sing the words he'd written with him in mind.
He's thankful there isn't another flash of lightning to accompany his sudden insight, because that would really be too much. As carefully as possible, Zhou Mi slides the guitar to the side, twisting to face Kyuhyun, "What if- what if I didn't perform?"
Kyuhyun frowns, hands coming to rest on Zhou Mi's hips, "What do you mean, like changing your major?"
"No, more like- what if I just wrote songs for other people to sing?"
Less than gently, Kyuhyun shoves him out of his lap and onto the bed with a low noise of disgust, "Well then that would be a waste."
Zhou Mi rolls onto his back and smiles at the ceiling. He's right back where he started, but this time with a little of the faith he was lacking before. Kyuhyun settles at his side, still looking mildly annoyed until Zhou Mi turns his smile on him and he's left blinking in confusion, "We're not having sex without sheets, either."
The dryer's end-cycle buzz sounds around Zhou Mi's laugh.
"How do you fold a fitted sheet?" Zhoi Mi frowns, stretching the elastic corner of the sheet before handing it off to Kyuhyun.
"I have no idea. This is why we wash them and put them right back on." he leans over the bed, tucking the first corner beneath the mattress edge.
Zhou Mi steps around to the opposite corner, pulling the sheet taut as he tucks his end in, "Well at this rate, we'll never have to figure it out!"
Kyuhyun grins, "Exactly."
Zhou Mi feels like it's almost obligatory to throw yourself onto a bed with freshly changed sheets, so he does. The light scent of fabric softener plumes in his wake; he takes a deep breath in, face pressed to the still-warm material as he exhales happily, "Rainforest fresh."
At the edge, Kyuhyun stands feigning disinterest until Zhou Mi scoots closer to wrap his legs around his waist, triumph blossoming in his chest when Kyuhyun's hands drop to slide over his thighs. He leans towards Kyuhyun's mouth, "We've got sheets now."
"That's the worst pickup line I've ever heard, you're lucky your first one was better." He meets Zhou Mi in the middle anyway.
He doesn't lift his head from the pillow until he registers that the spot next to him is cold, and for a few seconds after that, all Kyuhyun does is stare at the empty space and wonder why the hell it bothers him so much. He lays his head back down, frowning as he squeezes his eyes shut and tries to force himself into sleeping, because there's no reason for him not to take advantage of an afternoon nap that doesn't involve being smothered by Zhou Mi's extra long, extra sharp limbs. He flops onto his back, dragging his pillow over his face, thinking maybe it's just the sound of the thunder that's keeping him up.
"No! Stop that!"
Kyuhyun's up and out of bed in seconds flat, yanking on a pair of sweatpants as he rushes towards the shouting.
"Zhou Mi!" he calls, simply because he's not sure what else he can do as he races down the stairs, nearly running into the wall on the landing as he turns a sharp corner, just managing to struggle the rest of the way into his tshirt before he jumps the last few steps. He doesn't even stop to consider the miraculousness of not having broken his face at least four times on the way down, because he can still hear Zhou Mi yelling as he flings open the front door, running barefoot out into the rain.
"Kui Xian? When did you get up? Augh- No! Down!" Zhou Mi pushes the dog off of him, his other arm holding a leash fastened to a small yapping dog at his side.
Kyuhyun only gapes for a few seconds before heading back to the shelter of the porch. Once he's out of the rain he spears Zhou Mi with what he hopes is a very frigid glare, "I'm not even sure how to begin describing the ways in which you will pay for this."
"Sure, but do you think you could come over here and take one of these guys?" he barely manages to finish his sentence before the larger of the two dogs is standing with his front paws on Zhou Mi's shoulders, slobbering happily over his cheek.
A laugh slips out before he can stop it and before he knows it Kyuhyun's nearly crying over the sight of someone as tall as Zhou Mi getting mauled by a dog that's nearly as big as he is. "Yeah, just a second, let me go get the camera."
"Only if you want to end up choking on it! Kui Xian, please!"
Kyuhyun twists his lips, eyes flickering between his barefeet and the puddles along the sidewalk for a few solid seconds. He heads down the steps, "You've got no idea how much you owe me."
"Sorry, I think the neighbors left their gates open again." Zhou Mi flashes him a grateful smile, pushing the dog off of himself and over towards Kyuhyun.
He tries to grab the leash Zhou Mi flings at him, but the next thing he knows, he's on his back, muddy rainwater soaking into his shirt as the dog pants over his face. He turns away just in time for a glob of drool to land on the sidewalk beside his head. Kyuhyun glares, "Bad dog, very bad dog."
Behind them, Zhou Mi has picked up the smaller dog, completely ignoring it's obnoxiously high pitched barking as he cradles it against his chest, "Aw, I think he likes you!"
The dog sits down on his stomach before he can get enough air in for a scathing reply. He twists, arms and legs flailing until the dog hops off, putting a decent-sized indent into Kyuhyun's solar plexus. Kyuhyun stretches an arm out in time to wrap a couple fingers around the leash, tugging the dog to his side as he stands, finger pointed warningly in Zhou Mi's direction, "Not a word."
Zhou Mi mimes zipping his lips before turning to head towards the apartments beside their own. Kyuhyun lets out a long suffering sigh, flinging mud off his shirt before bending to get a look at the dog's collar. All he gets for his trouble is a wet tongue to the side of his face. He can feel his control fraying, a shout rising at the back of his throat, but somehow the dog looks so dopey standing in the rain, fur all matted down, tail wagging excitedly that all Kyuhyun can really do is grumble, "You're just lucky Zhou Mi didn't see that."
As it turns out, the dog's owner lives just a few doors down from them, a petite elderly lady Kyuhyun's seen Zhou Mi talking with a couple of times. He knocks on the door, halfway hoping she doesn't answer so he can avoid the shame of being caught in mud-encrusted pajamas. But the door swings open anyway. He barely has time to greet the woman before he's nearly dragged over the threshold as the dog makes a beeline inside.
"Bear! I thought we'd never find you!" The woman claps excitedly as the dog circles her ankles, leaving Kyuhyun standing awkwardly in the rain outside. She shoos Bear inside and wipes a muddy hand on her pant leg before introducing herself, thanking Kyuhyun profusely for returning her baby. He politely neglects mentioning that a dog the size of a small horse cannot rightfully be called a baby.
He pastes on what he hopes is a charming smile and shakes his head, "Not a problem, Zhou Mi was actually the one who found him."
"Well you tell him I said thank you, and tell him to send you over more often," she reaches a hand out, patting his cheek carefully, "Not enough handsome men in my life."
Kyuhyun swallows back a wince and makes a few vague hand gestures which only seem to endear her to him further. By the time he leaves, he's somehow ended up with her phone number on a doily in his back pocket.
When he gets back to the apartment, Zhou Mi's waiting on the front steps, biting his lip as he holds out a towel. Kyuhyun expects him to say something, but he just sits down heavily on the steps, pants already soaked through from standing outside for who knows how long. He looks up at Kyuhyun through strands of rain-darkened hair, eyelashes clinging together as he worries his lip between his teeth.
Kyuhyun turns away to unfold the towel, still warm from the dryer, before taking a seat next to Zhou Mi. Hips pressed together, he wraps the far end of the towel around Zhou Mi's shoulder, taking the other half for himself. Zhou Mi leans his head against Kyuhyun's shoulder, unconcerned with the mud that sticks to his hair as he burrows closer.
"-Sorry."
"-Thanks."
Zhou Mi lifts his head, confusion stark on his face, "Thanks?"
Kyuhyun's expression is similar as he asks, "Sorry?"
"Well, I just. I messed up your day, and I'm sorry. You missed your classes and you had to make breakfast and your favorite mug is broken and the washer machine's possessed and you didn't finish your studying and you just got trampled into the mud- all because of me." Zhou Mi's fingers go a little white over the corner of the towel he's hanging onto and even when Kyuhyun turns to face him, he stares ahead resolutely at the passing cars.
Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and edges out from under the towel, wrapping the rest of it around Zhou Mi before he rubs his hands over Zhou Mi's biceps, feeling the rain soak through the terrycloth material. He moves to sit behind Zhou Mi, pulling him back against his chest as he takes a final second to try and untangle everything he wants to say, but it all just spills out in a single breath anyway, "That's what I mean. Thanks. For uh, giving me a day off. And the mug was, I dunno, ugly. And you know, it's not like Poptarts take a lot of effort, really. And I mean, it's okay just sitting around with you- and you need a lot more help with guitar than I do with algorithms. For the last time, there's nothing wrong with the machine and let's never talk about the dog again."
The half a second of silence after his accidental monologue nearly kills Kyuhyun.
Zhou Mi tilts his head up, face serious, "Okay, but Kui Xian, if you dropped holy water on that washer machine, it would sizzle."
"Don't complain, at least we don't have to walk to the laundromat anymore." he leans over and shakes his head until droplets land on Zhou Mi's cheeks, sliding down around the lifted corners of his mouth.
"Hey, Kui Xian?"
"Hm?"
"Do you think we could get a dog?"
"I have an official dislike for dogs."
"But you love me?"
"I still don't like dogs."
Zhou Mi makes him strip down to his boxers before he lets him back into the apartment; he passes him a plastic bag for his clothing and shoos him upstairs. After safely depositing his clothes into the washer machine, Kyuhyun switches the dial to super wash and closes the lid. He's almost to the bedroom when the sound of the machine cuts off.
"I told you so!" Zhou Mi clambers out from behind their bedroom door, grinning so widely it almost looks painful, "Well?"
Kyuhyun presses the heels of his hands into his eyes, groaning, "Fine, fine. But it has to be a small dog."
It doesn't really bother him that Zhou Mi tends to take up most of the bed. Kyuhyun's sure that even if Zhou Mi fell asleep on what should have been considered 'his side', he'd still end up sprawled all over Kyuhyun's side by morning. Kyuhyun kicks a leg out from under the sheets, flipping the rest of the blankets over Zhou Mi, figuring it really can't be helped.
He burrows down to press against Zhou Mi's ribs, pushing a kiss against the soft cotton of his tshirt just as Zhou Mi's hand comes to rest on his shoulder. He can catch the steady bassline of Zhou Mi's heart as his chest expands gently with each slow breath; the sound of it drags Kyuhyun into a dizzy lull that's just outside of sleep. Until, that is, Zhou Mi shifts slightly, sliding a leg high up between Kyuhyun's thighs with a small moan.
Kyuhyun grins to himself, curling closer to Zhou Mi as he dips his fingers beneath the waistband of Zhou Mi's pajama bottoms. "You've got an early class, you know?"
A resounding snore is the only response. Grumbling, Kyuhyun fans his fingers out against Zhou Mi's stomach, stroking over the smooth skin just below his bellybutton. Apparently, Zhou Mi is well aware of just what time he has to be up in the morning and unfortunately, he's also completely unaware that Kyuhyun is up right now.
He settles back into his pillow with a huff, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep. It takes a good ten minutes before he's wound down his mind enough to drift off. He's just translating thoughts into dreams when it occurs to him that he hasn't set his alarm for the morning. He lifts an arm and gropes around lazily over the bedside table, accidentally knocking something that sounds suspiciously like the alarm clock to the floor.
Behind him Zhou Mi pushes closer, definitely crossing into Kyuhyun's side of the bed as he wraps his arms around Kyuhyun's waist, pulling him back against the warm line of his body. He yawns against the nape of Kyuhyun's neck, "Just leave it."
Kyuhyun ends up balanced almost on the edge of the bed, only Zhou Mi's grip around his middle keeping him from falling over the side. He tries wriggling backwards, palms pressed to the back of Zhou Mi's hands just in case, but doesn't end up gaining much ground. Not to mention he can't reach the alarm clock and his eyelids are suddenly feeling ridiculously heavy. He curls a foot around Zhou Mi's ankle, supposing Zhou Mi probably won't let him fall off, and he'll most likely wake him up on time. Maybe.
("Your class starts at nine-thirty today, don't forget."
"I know, Kyuhyun, you reminded me last night, remeber?" Zhou Mi sighs, running a hand through his uncooperative hair as he crams what's most likely the wrong assignments into a carry-all, designer name scrawled across the front in bold lettering.
Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow and Zhou Mi freezes. "So what you're saying is that you faked being asleep while I was trying to seduce you?"
Zhou Mi taps a finger against his bottom lip, eyes wide as he continues, "So that's what that was..."
In retrospect, he's sort of glad Kyuhyun chased him halfway down the block, he might not have made the subway otherwise.)
ORIGINAL A/N II: Anyways, snarky rainbows and unicorns for moeruze_burning and extra spoonfuls of sugar for blahnicity and bittersnow who were all indispensable while I tried to cough this up. And in case you were curious, these are the kind of apartments they live in in my head, where no one calls them brownstones and college students can afford them...
title cred right hurr.
A/N UH III?: After talking it over with my betas it was sort of decided that a lot was missing from here. so I took it down and tried to revamp it and flesh out what I could. The original fic for this verse involved just a single activity and then when I went to write more, an entire day came out. So that kinda messed with the style if that makes sense? We thought about breaking this into a collection of drabbles, but there was too much linking them to allow the drabbles to be stand alones. In the end it was decided to just leave it whole and fuck the rest >.> Anyhow, I saved the comments on the original fic into a document lol I really did appreciate the feedback on that and I hope you guys think this edited version is alright too :DD /COMPLETELY IGNORES ANNOTATING CHAPTER ON WHY EUROPE HAS A BANGING ECONOMY AND FICS SHIT INSTEAD >.>