Ever had a moment when you suddenly jerk awake, opening your eyes as if you just blinked but clearly knowing you had fallen asleep and the next moment wondering what time it was and trying so hard to remember what had happened before you slept? Well, if you did, then you would completely understand what Minho was going through right now. After rubbing his face in an attempt to wake himself up fully, Minho pushed himself upright and glanced at his bedside clock. 19:23 was the time that flashed at him. He didn't even know if that was any help because he couldn't even remember when he fell asleep but at least it did tell him night had already fallen.

As he stretched his arms and yawned, Minho scanned the surroundings of his dorm. It would have been complete darkness if not for the light on his study table (he didn't remember drawing the curtains), his dorm was also silently empty with no sign of Taemin. And then it all came back to him. Taemin had left because Key arrived. Key had dropped by his dorm uninvited in the late afternoon; this Minho knew was definitely not a dream. It was too real to be one. Minho could remember (and would never forget) the touch of Key's lips, the heat from his smooth skin, the feel of Key's hands on his own body, the erratic beating of Key's heart and of course, the moans that escaped Key's mouth when he... when he... and all of a sudden, Minho couldn't seem to remember how far they went. Now this was not a good sign at all. And Key not being in the dorm did not make things any better. Minho frowned and messed up his hair. Was Key performing one of his disappearing acts again? He better not be because…

"Oh good! You're awake!"

Minho's thoughts were disrupted by the blinding light that came through the open door of his dorm and the voice that followed. In the next instant, all the lights of his dorm were switched on.

"I could have used some warning beforehand..." Minho’s voice was rough with sleep as he instinctively covered his eyes from the glaring lights. He then squinted his eyes at the culprit who had just walked into his dorm, at the same time, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness of his room.

The culprit, none other than Key, dropped the paper bags he came back with on the nearest study table, and then placed his hand on his hips, cocking it to one side, and looked at Minho with an amused expression.

"I should be saying that to you instead."

Minho raised his eyebrows at Key in question.

"When you fell asleep on my neck?" Key tried to refresh Minho's memory.

Minho's jaw dropped. "I did not."

A bemused smile grew on Key's face. "Yeah, you did."

So that’s why he couldn’t remember how far they went! Minho groaned and hid his face in his hands, unable to look Key in the eye anytime soon.

Key laughed. "Don't worry about it. After all, I am the cause to why you were tired enough to fall asleep while we were... yeah, so you're forgiven."

"Though, if I may add, it's the first time someone ever did fall asleep on me... and I hope it'll be the last." Key walked towards the bed and sat on the empty space beside Minho, his eyes never leaving his embarrassed boyfriend (boyfriend, he should really start getting used to this term).

"Key, do you have to keep reminding me?" Minho spoke into his hands, still refusing to look up although he felt the dip in his bed and knew Key was right next to him.

Key pondered for a moment just for the sake of acting like he was giving it some consideration while in actual fact, the answer was a given. “Yeah. And just so you know, I'm even planning to use this to blackmail you if you ever do me wrong in the future.“

Minho finally looked up and straight into Key's eyes with all seriousness. "You wouldn't have a chance."

"You'll never know." Key shrugged and then tapped Minho on his face. "Anyway, get up, I got us dinner."

Key pulled at Minho’s arms, Minho allowing Key to do so as they both got off the bed and made their way towards the paper bags that Key had brought back.

“So when are you heading back home?” Key asked as he took out the containers of packed Korean street food, opening them one by one while Minho pulled Taemin’s chair over so they both had a place to sit.

“I thought you asked this already?” Minho broke a pair of chopsticks and then passed it to Key. “I told you, it depends.”

“How is that even an answer?” Key frowned, settling down into the chair, receiving the chopsticks from Minho and then starting his dinner with a slice of kimbap.

“Simple. If you want me to stay, I won’t be heading home. If you don’t need me here, I’ll make a trip back to Incheon.” Minho explained as he aimed for the ddeokbokki before it turned cold.

“Don’t be ridiculous Minho.” Key poked a mandu with his chopsticks (hiding his joy that if Minho had answered in detail, what he actually meant to say was ‘it depends on you’), keeping a serious tone in his voice. “It’s your family we’re talking about here.”

“How about yours?” Minho wanted to know if Key had plans to head back home too. “Are you travelling back to Daegu to spend the holidays with them?”

“I want to… but…”

“You want to spend the holidays with me as well?” Minho decided to try his luck.

“Maybe.” Key replied, his attention on picking up the Dakkochi with his chopsticks just because he didn’t want to dirty his fingers by holding the oily skewer.

“Oh?” Minho grinned. Maybe wasn’t a no and that was enough to satisfy Minho.   

“Don't get too smug about it. It just seems like the right thing to do, you know, since we're technically together.” Key avoided eye contact with Minho as he admitted the status of their relationship.   

Minho nodded along, but he knew Key was using it as an excuse, maybe because he didn't want to seem too willing to be with Minho. Minho however was all about being open with his feelings.

“Take it that I want to be with you on New Year’s Eve when midnight arrives.”  

“You're sappy.” Key deadpanned (although he might have felt his heart skip a beat). “Besides, that's not possible. I'm sure both our families want us to be with them at that time. I promised my grandma I'll be with her.”

Minho’s smile faded away as his brows knitted in a frown. “Yeah... I told my mum I'll be back too.”

Silence filled the dorm as both Minho and Key thought to themselves, wondering if there was anything they could do to spend New Year’s together. Yet, after moments of silence, the only conclusion both of them could come to was that New Year’s together wasn’t possible.  

“When’s the earliest you can get back?” Minho was first to break the silence.

“1st Jan? Perhaps in the afternoon.” Key pinched a spicy ricecake between his chopsticks and replied before he placed it in his mouth.

“Alright, how about we meet back in Seoul on 1st Jan?” Minho suggested. “We’ll keep in contact through the phone."

“Guess that'll have to do then.” Key shrugged.

The grin was back on Minho’s face as he took in Key’s expression. “Key, stop pouting.”

“I'm not!” Key was very much so in denial because his pout grew even more.  

This in turn caused Minho’s grin to grow wider. “Yes you are, would you like a mirror?”

Key picked up a slice of kimbap and swiftly stuffed it into Minho’s mouth. “Just eat your dinner will you!”

With the kimbap in his mouth, Minho laughed and decided to stop provoking Key, keeping to himself how cute he thought Key was at this moment. With Key around, he knew he would make millions if he could sell every smile he made. And Key would make millions if he could earn an amount for every time he snapped at Minho. It was a wonder that their relationship worked perfectly fine just like that… or maybe it was too early to tell. Minho would rather not think about the future and just treasure the present.

“Any plans after dinner?” Minho asked after swallowing the kimbap.

“I gotta head home to pack because I’m going back to Daegu tomorrow.” Key answered.

“And I was hoping we had at least a day to spend together before we head back home.” Minho sighed.

“Well, you could always walk me home tonight.” Key quipped.

“How about adding a spend the night together and sending you off at the train station tomorrow to that?” Minho smiled suggestively.

Key scrunched up his nose and shook his head. “No thank you, I don’t think I can deal with you falling asleep on me twice in one day.”

The smile on Minho’s face disappeared onto Key’s.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Not exactly… it isn’t really comforting to know that another reason why you couldn’t stay awake while we were fooling around may be because I bore you.” Key pointed out. “Maybe I’m not attractive enough for you?”

“Let me spend the night and I’ll show you what you can do to me.” Minho challenged.

“Your determination scares me.”

“Since when do you get scared?”

“Since I realised there’s a possibility of me not being able to walk comfortably tomorrow considering how determined you sound.” Key admitted in all honesty with no hint of shyness. He was seriously worried about the morning after if Minho’s suggestion to spend the night really meant spending the night (if you know what I mean).

Minho was stumped by Key’s straightforwardness for a moment. After which, he pressed the back of his hand over his mouth to hide his laugh. He was aware that Key was taking this seriously so bursting out in laughter wasn’t going to be a good decision.

“I may be determined but I won’t be that rough…” Minho couldn’t help but defend himself.

“Don’t speak too soon. Plus you see this?” Key then tugged at the collar of his shirt and pointed at the obvious red mark Minho had left on his neck before he fell asleep. “This will not sit well with my parents or my grandma if they do see it. I really don’t want to be in the situation where I have to explain how this came about.”

“If you’re upset, I’ll let you do it back to me.”

“I’m being serious Minho.”

“I know you are. And what makes you think I’m not?”

“You’re driving me crazy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Key groaned. “What do I have to do to make you shut up?”

“You sure you really want me to answer that?” Minho smirked and made it obvious that he was looking at Key’s lips.

Key let out a breath, rolling his eyes at the same time, and then moved forward in his seat so he could grab Minho by his shirt and pull him forward just enough for their lips to crash together.

“There!” Key pulled away once he was convinced he had kissed Minho enough to keep him satisfied. “Will you shut up now?”

With a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and growing so quickly, Minho nodded.

Key was satisfied as well. “Good. Now clear up this mess and then send me back home.”

Before Minho could open his mouth to say anything, Key did the talking for him.

“And yes, you can stay the night.”

Minho beamed. He had to say, he wouldn’t mind being ordered around by Key, that is, if it got him such benefits. Happy holidays indeed. He couldn’t wait for the New Year.

Author's Note: rewind to two weeks ago because the story's supposed to be set then. heee. my bad for updating late! school has started so updates will be slower. really sorry about that! :/ i hope to end the story soon too, just that i can't see the ending right now. haha. oh well, we'll see how it goes. in the mean time, hope you're enjoying it and i look forward to comments! thanks for subscribing! ^^