IM SO FUCKING SORRY FOR BEING A DAY LATE BUT happy one year to cheerleader :') i thank each and every one of u with my whole heart for the insane amount of love and support cheerleader has received over the past year. a stupid special chapter isn't anywhere close to enough to repay the joy i feel simply thinking about this journey, but unfortunately it's the most i can do. like always, i hope you enjoy. i love u forever.
———
"hyung! hyung! hyung!"
choi chanhee's eyes widen within san's phone screen, and he seethes. "san!" he whisper-shouts, his eyes sweltering in panic across his surroundings, before turning back to his brother. "what is wrong with y— i'm at work!"
"oh." san's mouth curves into a sheepish pout. he swings his legs forth, and then back again. "i just miss you. sorry."
chanhee sighs, this feeling of sorrow flashing past his features. "it's alright, little choi. remember our talk last night, though? i spoke with my manager — he said he'll think about it? whatever that means."
"good. but if he doesn't give you that week off, that's it, i'm talking to him myself." san huffs out an aggravated sigh, releasing the tension in his muscles and falling back onto his mattress.
stifling his amusement, chanhee chokes back a laugh. "uh huh. korea's representative cute boy attempting to threaten my bitchass manager into getting me off work? what a remarkable sight that'd be, i'm certain. hell, i'd be shocked if he even acknowledges your pink head!"
"hyung!" san whines, flaunting his arms about, annoyed.
"be real, little choi. if i can't persuade him, i'm afraid you shouldn't even be thinking about it."
a small hmph escaping his closed lips, san turns into his belly. "i'm telling sunwoo."
disastrously, chanhee doesn't seem able in saturating his emotions any longer. he erupts into hysterics, and san almost yells out of frustration at the mockery he's made of himself so early in the day. "you're planning to complain to that fucker? that's the best you've got? really?"
"but eric says he's scary when he's mad!" san argues, incredibly naive.
"yeah, eric," chanhee insultingly enunciates. "eric is scared of fucking chucky. plus, sunwoo would never get mad at me."
the confidence boasting in chanhee's voice is alas nothing but the truth — if san didn't have wooyoung, he wouldn't know how he'd survive their flawless chemistry, or if he even could, at that. in all honesty, he believes the stars fated sunwoo and chanhee to get together in the way they did. the thought brings a smile to san's lips, as he grudgingly responds, "fine. i suppose i'll admit to that."
chanhee grins smugly, though his expression softens out of curiosity in seconds. "speaking of, isn't wooyoung coming home today?"
"ah!" the mention of the person he misses most brings a bittersweet feeling to san's heart; the past few weeks without him have been utterly horrid, whilst the thought of seeing him in only a few hours from now sends sparks of ecstasy through every bone in his body. bubbling with excitement, san giggles. "soon! so soon, oh my— i can't wait! it's been so long."
"i know." there's this empathy in the tone of chanhee's voice, which san doesn't hear often. "you're both really brave, you know? for enduring everything the way you do. it— it's admirable. really, san."
albeit chanhee's words touching the depths of his soaring heart, san scoffs. the soft grin across the older boy's lips remind him of their childhood, some of the best days of his life, and the nostalgia flickers a light in san's eyes, only making him mirror the expression, however. "thought this side of you was buried where the sun doesn't shine, hyung. thanks, though."
"well, i need to find some way to uphold my position as your favourite, don't i?" chanhee says, a chuckle ringing throughout his lighthearted tone. his gaze pans away from the camera momentarily, before his head perks up in panic and he whispers a discreet sigh. disappointedly, chanhee presses his lips into an unfortunate, tight smile. "duty calls, little choi. text me before you head to bed, okay?"
"oh." san's expression falls. "'kay, i will. don't forget to update me on your manager, though!"
"you'll be the very first one i'll come to, san-ah, you know that," chanhee says softly. "i'll talk to you soon."
"yeah. bye bye, hyung," the words can just about roll off san's tongue before the call is cut off in a hurry. distress blurs over his features on chanhee's behalf — it's horrible how his company treat him. but there's no time for san to dwell over the sad reality right now.
he has work to get to.
———
ripples of deep pinks hovering the sky, the sun gradually slips into her timely slumber. her dreamlike beams of light reflect upon the fabric of the tent which arrived in the mail that morning, emphasising san's efforts to build the frustrating thing mesmerisingly so — and right now, almost breathless due to the surprisingly rigid activity, he thinks he deserves such acknowledgement.
san grunts as he falls from his kneeled position onto his bottom. sweeping a hand through his cotton candy locks, slightly damp of sweat, he feels a bashfully proud smile curve his lips up towards his cheekbones.
finally, he thinks to himself.
a longing for warmth invades san's insides as he admires the cosy interior, another thing he's worked on over the last hour; the mountains of cushions and blankets and heaters in this winter weather is just what wooyoung needs after all his hard work. he must be miserably exhausted and cold after, not only his flight, but also the harsh weeks of competition, and san can't wait to soothe him better for the next few days. it's his favourite thing in the whole world.
how much he misses wooyoung, his wooyoung, makes san want to burst into tears sometimes. and here, shivering legs crossed before the unlit pile of logs, sadly is one of those times. they've been doing this for so long, leaving and reuniting, going back and going forth, separated and together, it's a part of who they are up to now. however, it's unbearably overwhelming, nonetheless, and san believes even the hundredth time won't feel any different.
but this is wooyoung's job. this is his career, and most importantly, his passion. san would be a villain to even think about ruining any of that for him.
shuffling — abruptly, san hears shuffling. shuffling coming from inside.
he's never jumped up to his feet so fast in his life. he scrambles to the door, slides it open, and races for the front of the house, only one thing, or rather person, centering his mind.
san's feline eyes whiz past the archway from the kitchen into the foyer, and there, wooyoung is there. right there.
wide and beautiful, wooyoung's cheeks stretch into a sparkly grin, and san runs. in seconds, his head is buried into wooyoung's shoulder, the latter's cold radiating onto him as homely as the shelter above them when his fingertips find the skin beneath his cardigan. they glide over san's back with care, before embracing him fully.
"so warm you are, darling," wooyoung murmurs, an indirect complaint. his breath accidentally fans over san's neck, causing him to shiver far too noticeably. "cold, huh?"
quite a struggle against wooyoung's tight hold, san squeezes back a bit. "seems bad." he flicks a strand of his fiancé's dark hair out of his eyes, his smile shy yet thrilled. "luck might just be on your side, though, youngie. i, um, did something to help. well, hopefully."
"really? it'll help better than this?" eyebrow raising into one of questioning, wooyoung lands a kiss upon san's bare collarbone. he beams radiantly. "impossible, sannie."
san's heartbeat stutters and, as if to steady his balance, his fists clench the padded material of wooyoung's jacket. "i-i'm being serious, wooyoung-ah!"
"alright, alright." wooyoung chuckles, a fond gleam in his eyes. "go on then, enlighten me."
like he's convinced his words are the only giveaway for his excitement, san is silent as he tugs on wooyoung's thumb, feet brisk against the floorboards leading outdoors. the chill of tonight's youthful crescent is stronger than san remembers, and so he draws wooyoung closer to him, simply because he feels like he just should, before turning into the spot he has named as theirs specially.
wooyoung latches onto san's wrist, the initial reaction the elder of them notices. then, he lets out a noise, something in between a scoff and a gasp, and it's then san turns to look at him; his expression is adorned with surprise, and a smile he wouldn't take back for the world.
"wait—" wooyoung's eyes squint in the darkness. "darling, are those honey butter chips?"
san giggles. "yes, youngie, they are. your favourite."
mouth gaping, wooyoung beelines towards the brightly-coloured package, san trailing after him adoringly. "i think i just fell in love with you all over again."
"over chips?"
"they don't have these in europe!" wooyoung proclaims, in an attempt to support the validity of his statement, his eyes wide with childlike innocence. "you can't blame me for missing them!"
"anything else you missed?" san mumbles expectantly, stepping closer to his lover.
"hmm." pretending he requires the time to think, wooyoung brings the back of his fingers up to san's cheek. delicately, they brush over the skin, before his thumb and index finger tilt the pink-haired's chin up a few degrees. san leans forward out of instinct. "there is one thing, actually."
san gulps, whispering, "and what's that?"
the trees behind them rustle, and san can feel his heart pounding, he can predict the next beat of its rhythm. before him, wooyoung juts his tongue out against the corner of his lip, rolling it ever so briefly over his pearly teeth. all while san watches, lustful and waiting.
and the next dreadfully insufferable seconds are worth that wait, because wooyoung smashes their lips together as if it's all he's ever wanted to do. his fingers thread through san's hair, his grip strong, just like he knows the elder has found to like it. a surge of emotions rushes through san: eradicating the misery of the freezing cold around them; his brother's stressful situation; the next time wooyoung won't be here. because all san can do right now is immerse himself into this embracing moment, where he belongs most.
"you," wooyoung says breathlessly, confidently. his lips are still tingling with san's taste. "my answer is always you."
———