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“Ahjussi, where exactly are we going?” Lu Han is getting antsy in the backseat of Jongin’s car. They have been driving for only 20 minutes, Jongin’s personal chauffeur humming a different Michael Bublé song at every turn, voice melodic and lulls people into feeling light-hearted. But Lu Han is only becoming more fidgety by the minute as the unknown drags on.

Jongin sounded tired on the phone earlier when he had called to tell him that his driver was picking Lu Han up at their flat to take him somewhere. He had asked where that somewhere was and what they were gonna do there, and he might have made a tiny fuss, asking Jongin if there was anything wrong, was he okay; but his boyfriend had only been mind-bogglingly cryptic, which is making him anxious now.

They’ve been happy the past few months, haven’t they? Sure, Jongin has been spending more time at work these past few weeks, confined in the four walls of his office even into the hour almost crossing midnight. But he always comes home ready to cuddle in bed with Lu Han who always groggily insists that he waited for Jongin, though obviously he’s just been recently woken up.

And Lu Han has been a loving, caring boyfriend, hasn’t he? Maybe he still has the knack of making their apartment look like it just got rolled over by a hurricane, but Jongin has reassured him that he accepts all of Lu Han’s oddities and his stubborn inability to put things back into their right places – like the darned remote for instance. Any person would be muddled to find the remote stuck inside the oven, thinking maybe the contraption has legs and it simply walked its way.

Jongin still loves him, doesn’t he?

The questions seem to reel in more question, and more unwelcome thoughts, as he struggles not to have them tangled in a really, really huge cobweb that’s crawling up in his chest at the moment. The smile the chauffeur is offering him through the mirror isn’t making the knots untangle in his stomach or stopping his heart from thundering in his chest.

“Relax, Lu Han,” the nice ahjussi offers, eyes wiggling like he’s dying to share a secret. “We’ll be there in a moment. Actually—here we are.”

They pull over in front of a house that is in the middle of being constructed. Lu Han can see the interior a bit, the balustrade sticking out from all the other parts because wow, that’s a really nice staircase. It’s like the one he’s seen in the movies with the intricate designs.

He steps out of the car bearing instructions from the driver to just go inside the house. He does so, trying to calm the little tornadoes simultaneously spinning inside his heart and stomach, and unclench his hands that became clammy in the car. His feet that are getting colder carry him by the doorstep, letting him peek in to find Jongin bent over a table carrying blueprints, eyebrows meeting in the middle and lower lip in between his teeth.

Lu Han wants to linger where he stands, just staring at his boyfriend who is deep in thought, not realizing yet that he has already arrived. He knows what’s up. He can feel it in his bones, and he wants to refuse it from happening. Lu Han has gone through the same thing before, settling down in a relationship only to find out one day that the other person hasn’t been happy enough to stay in said relationship. It’s not even because of something Lu Han’s done wrong, or so they say. It was just not—it wasn’t working out the way they thought it was supposed to.

Jongin must have felt someone watching him so he glances up to lock eyes with the pale-skinned person hesitating behind the door. “That’s exactly how you looked like when you were checking me out before.” He laughs, and the sound ultimately coaxes Lu Han to get inside the house.

“Come here, babe,” Jongin says and he is confused when Lu han only glues his feet to the floor a few steps away.

“I—“ Lu han starts. “You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?” he asks, unable to contain his emotions a little longer.

“What?” his boyfriend inquires, rather taken aback.

 “I know we’ve both been busy lately, like we don’t even have time to watch movies together anymore. But I don’t think breaking up is the solution, Jongin. I promise I’ll tidy up things more and you should know that I bought a small cabinet today and put it beside our couch so it’s now where I keep the remote, so you don’t have to look inside the refrigerator for it anymore. And I now put the white and colored clothes in separate hampers so that when I do the laundry, they won’t all get jumbled up. And I’m sorry for your white shirt that’s now pink because I forgot that it got mixed with my pink deer blanket when I—So maybe I did a lot of things wrong, and you’re tired of them now so maybe I’ll just—I’m sorry, I’ll just—“

“Lu Han,” the other cuts in before he finds out more than what he’s heard already, of a certain refrigerated remote and a pink shirt that he now owns. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry—” Lu Han sniffs. “For whatever it was I did. Or for not being good enough. I’ll just go back home and pack my stuff then.”

Jongin is quick to bring himself in front of Lu Han before the latter has a chance of bolting out the door. He takes Lu Han’s face in his hands, unconsciously holding much tighter than he intends when he sees the hurt marring the other’s expression, not understanding why it’s there. “Hey, hey, babe, look at me. I’m not breaking up with you, okay?”

The assurance scrunches up Lu Han’s features for a change, although he’s looking like he’s still about to sob more. “You’re not?”

“Of course not, why would you even think that?”

“Because…” he trails off. “You sounded so tired on the phone and maybe—maybe it’s because you’re tired of me.”

He sounds so broken that it feels like there’s a hand coming up to squeeze on Jongin’s heart now too. His mind recalls what he knows of Lu Han’s past relationships, and the way people were saying they both were setting themselves up for another round of heartbreak, because even most of Jongin’s relationships have had the life span of a little longer than a candle has time to burn.

“That’s not true. I’ve just been more tired lately because of work and because of this new project that I’ve embarked on at the same time. I’ll never get tired of you.”

“R-really?”

“Really.” Jongin smiles and snakes his arms around Lu Han’s waist, before leaning in to kiss the other’s lips. The latter’s hands come up to tangle behind Jongin’s neck, pulling him closer for comfort.

Both are slightly breathless when they part, Jongin’s promise now transferred from his lips to Lu Han, but he goes for one more kiss for good measure.

“Lu Han,” he says softly, looking deeply into the pale one’s eyes. “I’m not very good with words and even with actions either. So I’m at a loss as to how to let you know that the past year we’ve been together constitute the best times in my life and that I’m so grateful when you moved in with me. I won’t get ever get tired of seeing your things strewn all over our flat because they are a reminder that there’s a person living with me and that wonderful person is you.”

Lu Han can only listen as emotions flood into his heart once more, this time different ones.

“I didn’t have you come here to break up with you. As a matter of fact I—I wanted to do something special for you.” Jongin lets go of Lu Han’s waist, only to grasp the smaller one’s right hand with his left one, usher him towards the table and gesture over the blueprints. “What do you think?” he asks tentatively.

“What do I think of what?” Lu Han asks, confused.

Jongin appears nervous when he says, “Of the house.”

“It’s really big, I suppose,” comes the reply. “It can have space for an entertainment room just off the hall, and the staircase is really pretty.”

“And how do you think it would feel to be living here?”

“I haven’t seen the second floor yet, but looking at these plans tells me the master’s bedroom is placed accordingly so that the owners will be able to see both the sunrise and the sunset when they look out the windows. They are going to love it here, especially because of the location. The whole place looks and feels homey.”

“But your commute is going to be longer getting here from work, will that be okay?”

Lu Han thinks Jongin is asking him too many questions about the house, when is he getting to the part where he shows Lu Han the something special he has prepared? “I guess so, but if you will be supervising the construction of this house, ahjussi can just come pick me up from work so that I can come visit you here, can’t he?”

Jongin bites his lip to keep himself from giggling, because Lu Han is still not getting it. “Okay, yeah, but how about when the house is finished and we’re already living here, so your commute to work is longer?”

“Oh, then that’s fine I guess I’ll just be taking the subway and—“ The pause is palpable as Lu Han’s eyes widen to the size of saucers. “WHAT?”

Jongin is openly laughing now at his boyfriend’s evident surprise.

“You—you… You’re building us a—THIS IS OUR HOUSE??”

Lu Han only gets a nod in the head as a response.

Jongin’s smiling so wide, his teeth laid bare, as the other drinks in the situation. However, when Lu Han stays quiet for a fair stretch of moments, his grin starts to shrink.

“Uhmm, I decided to tell you now while it’s not yet finished, so you can tell me if there’s something you wanna do about it. I thought I should be consulting you because this is our house and of course your input is very much a variable in the matter. I also just thought we should get into something with much more space since there’s now the two of us and rent’s not getting any cheaper, so why don’t I just build us our own. And I know it’s such a big deal, but I really love you and I really think we’re going to be staying together for a long time—the longest ever…” he starts nervously babbling too, until he is crushed into a hug by long, noodle arms.

“This is our house! This is our house!” Lu Han is yelling in between sobs as he continues to envelope the other male.

“Yes, it is,” Jongin replies, pulling back to kiss the crown of Lu Han’s head.

“I love you so much,” Lu Han says softly. “And you must love me more than you’re letting on,” he comments, “because a house, Jongin? You give me a house?”

Jongin chuckles. “I realize that maybe it’s a little too much, but if it’s for you—for us, I don’t think it is.”

“Or you just need additional rooms in which to hide when I’m becoming too much to handle.”

“That too,” Jongin teases, earning him Lu Han’s finger jabbing his stomach. “But just so we’re clear, all I need in life is you.”

“Really?” Lu Han asks, although he knows he believes Jongin’s every word for sure.

“Really.”

A/N: I know what people are thinking--why can't I just finish the other stories before I start another one? The answer to that, my friends, is because I'm always persuaded by inspiration like, say, a box of pastries. This was a challenge I responded to, and now that it's done, I can go back to laboring over the other four unfinished works. ^_^