merry christmas, meanie

Cuddles

Dinner is an enticing array of Wonwoo's and Mingyu's favourite dishes they've spent their childhood eating at the Jeons'. Mingyu helps himself to generous amounts of Japchae, Mrs. Jeon insisting he take more on his plate, while Wonwoo grabs three entire egg rolls, dousing them in a questionable amount of ketchup. He's definitely missed his mum's cooking.

"Oh!" Wonwoo exclaims, halfway through his dinner, as he remembered the Danishes from earlier. "Be right back," he excuses himself from the table to go into the bedroom and bring those boxes to dinner.

"Here, Bohyuk, something that might cheer your sulky ass up." Wonwoo places all of them in front of his brother - who's eyeing him suspiciously. Wonwoo can understand it perfectly, it's something they both have grown up with - seeing anything but cookies in that painfully familiar box. "Don't worry, those are cookies." He throws a teasing glance his mum's way, who laughs it off.

Bohyuk's face brightens up, as he dives into Wonwoo for a quick hug, before scarfing down the contents on his plate. Mr. Jeon nudges his wife, observing the three young boys heartily having dinner. "Good thing I told you to cook extra, honey." He teases, to which Mrs. Jeon rolls her eyes in acceptance.

Bohyuk soon leaves the table, thanking his parents for the meal, and runs to his room to resume whatever video game he was interrupted from. "He's such a brat," Wonwoo mocks, "even Jieun isn't this bratty." He returns to paying attention his food right after, when his parents stiffen at Jieun's mention. Mingyu seems to catch on quite fast, too.

Wonwoo, however, is still unaware of the look he's getting from his parents. When he notices silence settle over the dining table, he looks up to catch his parents staring at him, concern evident in their gazes. "What's wrong?" He speaks through a mouthful of rice.

"It's about Jieun, Wonwoo,"

Said boy audibly scoffs; he doesn't like this topic being brought up every visit. No matter how many times he's assured his parents that he has absolutely no difficulties having Jieun with him and Mingyu in the apartment, although it isn't entirely true, his parents never seem to let the topic go.

"Wonwoo you're graduating soon, how will you even manage your studies and look after her? Especially now that she's turning four soon, she would want to move around a lot more. That might be a bit problematic in your house, won't it? Plus, you can't always bother Mingyu son, he has his studies to attend too."

Mingyu's head immediately shoots up in the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Jeon. He vigorously shakes his head; he wants them to know he has absolutely no problem with looking after Jieun. He enjoys it a lot, in fact. "No, it's alright. I actually love spending time with her. Plus, Wonwoo, being the lazy ass he is, can't even match her energy these days." Mingyu jokes, making Wonwoo nod and sigh in relief.

"That's true, Jieun's so active these days." Wonwoo adds, smiling at the thought of his daughter's antics.

"I can see that," Mr. Jeon says, "which is why we're offering to take her in. Just until you graduate, boys."

"And what after we graduate? I'm sure you guys won't let me take her back now, would you? You'd have the excuse of me needing to get a job or whatever when the time comes." Wonwoo snaps, silencing his parents. Of course, that's exactly what they were up to.

"Wonwoo we're just worried, please think about it."

"I get it mum, I really do. But I need you to understand that this is my doing, and I shouldn't be relying on both of you, especially at this age, to be taking care of your grand-daughter, while I'm fully legal and capable of doing so." Wonwoo surely can't let his parents deal with his daughter, seeing how frail they look. Plus Bohyuk's still living with them; he has at least two years to move out on his own.

Mrs. Jeon sighs in defeat, getting up to start clearing up the table. Everyone's silent and done eating, and there are no words being exchanged anymore.

Mr. Jeon speaks up before retiring to his room, "Well, if you ever feel like you need someone to look after her for a while, we're always ready to do so." He gently pats Wonwoo's and Mingyu's shoulders.

Wonwoo leaves right after, while Mingyu stays back and offers Mrs. Jeon help to clean up. She denies sweetly, giving him a smile and tells him to go and check on Wonwoo - who seemed disturbed since the topic was introduced. Mingyu silently nods, gives Mrs. Jeon a swift hug, and exits the kitchen.

When he enters the bedroom, he sees Wonwoo laying face down on the bed, and he seems to be muttering incoherent nothings - probably grumbling to himself about the discussion over dinner. "Wonu~" Mingyu sings, as Wonwoo flips over and eyes the younger - who's climbing up on the bed, right next to Wonwoo.

"What do you want Mingyu?" He says, rather rudely, but Mingyu doesn't give a shit.

"You seem pretty disturbed."

"Yeah no shit. No matter how many times I've told them to not bring this up over and over again, they end up doing it anyway. I literally don't want to burden them, Mingyu, even you can see how age is really catching up to them. It makes me worry too, every time they say something about this, about what gonna actually happen once I graduate. What will I do, and where do I go? Especially at such a timing when Jieun should probably be going to school like a normal toddler. I'm fucking terrified of the future, Mingyu, and I don't know how it's going to be out in the real world, where I'm supposed to fend for myself, and Ji."

Wonwoo rants on and on, while Mingyu finds himself dumbfounded at the older's outburst. This is exactly what he's been expecting since a while. And he got it - the root of Wonwoo's mood these days.

Wonwoo's scared of being left alone, and the thought of an uncertain future daunts him. He wants a shell, yet he wishes to be able to manage everything perfectly. Golden Boy Wonwoo doesn't seem to have left the real Wonwoo.

Mingyu hasn't spoken yet. He lets the older calm down from his outburst. "Sorry," begins Wonwoo after a while, "I know that was too much."

"Oh Wonwoo... You don't need to apologise for speaking up, when I've been wanting you too. Come here," Mingyu opens his arms wide, as Wonwoo wiggles right into his grip. They stay in the hug for a while, until Wonwoo gets a burst of confidence.

From where he gets it, he doesn't understand. But he does subtly imply at the kiss earlier. He chuckles a bit, making Mingyu lean back by a bit to register properly whether it was really Wonwoo who laughed. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, I just thought of something funny."

"No shit Sherlock, I meant what do you find so funny? You were literally about to breakdown a few minutes earlier."

Wonwoo giggles once again, still not having left Mingyu's neck, as he speaks into it. "I was just thinking about the events of the day. If any outsider had to see it, they would sure as hell think we're dating or something. I mean, that kiss in the afternoon, and now this."

Only then does Mingyu realise what the older means. He's literally spooning Wonwoo right now, and the kiss flashes through his brain. It does make him chuckle after all. He shrugs. "I mean, I don't mind..? You are my type, anyway." There's not a single trace of a lie in Mingyu's words.

"Wait really?" Wonwoo speaks into his neck, which sends shivers down Mingyu's spine.

"Mhm. Definitely."

"That's new..."

"Yeah it is." Mingyu suddenly feels disappointed. Rejected, even. Although he's sure there are no feelings involved, at least right now, why does he feel this way?

"Now that I think about it, I don't mind it either." Says Wonwoo after an unplaceable silence. "I wouldn't mind giving it a try either." He continues.

"Yeah I liked the way you kissed earlier, do it again."

And so Wonwoo leans back by a bit, and presses his lips to Mingyu's just like he wanted. He seems really invested, which makes Mingyu return the fervour. He kisses back just as deeply. The pair pull away when Wonwoo begins falling short of breath, dissolving into giggles and warm cuddles until they fall asleep.

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Did anybody expect this to be a cliché 'Will you be my boyfriend?' typa scene?