Love Story

under the mistletoe

Author : silverkatana
Original publish on : archieve of our own | 2018
Author notes : i hope all of you enjoyed & that you have a merry christmas!

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"Oh, it's a mistletoe," Heechul comments as they walk along the street full of Christmas decorations, a small camera clutched in his hand. They're filming for their group's V-Live, and on the way to a restaurant, someone suggested the idea of taking the longer route to look at the decorations. The rest of the group agreed, eager to see the pretty lights - aside from Heechul, of course, who has spent the past eight minutes or so complaining about having to walk in the winter cold (to which Hyukjae rebutted with the fact that he's wearing more than enough layers to keep him warm).

"Kiss someone under it," Ryeowook responds lightly, a playfully joking challenge, and the other members laugh it off; it's not really in their culture to follow the whole mistletoe kiss thing - in fact, some of the members have never even seen a mistletoe until this present day - and they barely spare it a glance before moving off towards the general direction of the restaurant.

Unfortunately (or fortunately to some of the more gleefully laughing ones), Heechul has never been the type of person to brush challenges away - even if they were meant as jokes.

The next thing Jungsoo knows is that Heechul's fingers are hooked onto his dark grey winter coat and he's being forced to turn around more abruptly than he would have appreciated - he doesn't have time to think, or rather Heechul doesn't allow him time to think, as he's made to stop in his tracks directly under the mistletoe.

Heechul's hand is soft against his cheek, slender fingers holding him still gently, and in that second's pause of breath he opens his mouth to ask Heechul what on earth he is doing in the middle of winter on a street filled with Christmas decorations when they really should be on their way to the restaurant to get warm food, and -

His words are lost against Heechul's lips.

It's not that they have never kissed before. In fact, he has felt Heechul's lips upon his more than once - with more ferocity and involvement of tongue than this, courtesy of Pepero sticks and paper kiss games, coupled with competitive spirits and the screams of fans ringing in their ears.

But never like this, in the middle of winter when there is no one but them, no cheering fans egging them on or thin sheets of paper between them or members competing to be the most entertaining. Never like this, spontaneous and sudden, a kiss planted squarely on his lips before he can even think, leaving him speechless and flushed.

Heechul's lips were soft and tender against his, and it lasts for the fraction of a second before the younger by nine days cuts the contact and steps back. Before thoughts about the kiss lasting longer - just a tiny little bit - can infiltrate his mind more than they already have, Jungsoo stumbles backwards and wipes his lips on his sleeve. He isn't quite sure what is more hot, the burning red of his cheeks or the scorching stares of his members.

There's a silence that stretches between them for a moment, and Heechul swallows heavily under the sudden tension as he eyes Jungsoo. It was just a joke, why does he look so shocked..? It's not like we've never done worse, on stage at that.

It's broken, thankfully, by Donghee's and Hyukjae's raucous laughter. They are laughing so hard that eventually they bend over to clutch at their stomachs, and for a second Heechul thinks he glimpses tears at the corner of Donghee's eyes. At some point, the rest of the members join in, and some begin to applaud and attempt to praise him between bouts of chuckling.

"I didn't think you would actually do it!" Ryeowook wheezes out after a spiel of laughter, his face bright as he looks at Heechul with newfound wonder, "I was joking!"