Titled: How to end a fight? Carry on!
Length: Almost 7.8k words (long!)
Pairing: 2min and tidbits of jongyu
Warnings: cringe, cliches, fluff (not fluffy fluff but as @cute-little-oppas puts it, asdfghjkl fluff)

“What happened?” Jonghyun asked when Minho finished with the pictures and was heading to the screen to edit them.

“Nothing,” Minho answered, sighing a little as he set his camera down.

“Your brows have been knotted all day, dude.”

Minho sighed, reaching into his bag and taking a letter out, throwing it at Jonghyun. Jonghyun caught it and opened it immediately. After he was done reading, he sighed, “Well, you can ask someone to go with you. You haven’t gone home once since you left six years ago. No one knows who your husband is.” Jonghyun paused, “Wait, I can go with you-”

“And you think Jinki’s gonna be alright with that? Let his boyfriend pretend to be someone else’s husband from Christmas till New Year?”

Jonghyun smirked, “I can convince Jinki to go with you instead. Or maybe Kibum-”

“No one’s gonna work.” Minho sighed deeply, “My mom knows who my husband is- was. You are forgetting- she was one of the witnesses, unwillingly but yeah…and she probably has a picture from the wedding and I’m 100% sure she showed it around.”

“Tell her the truth, you got no choice.”

“I was avoiding her calls ever since Taemin left and when she finally sent the invitation, I answered her call and she went on and on about how grandpa is ill and helped her convince everyone to accept my running away, becoming a photographer, marrying early, blah blah blah, so that he could see everyone happy and together this Christmas, because he’s afraid he won’t last until next…and the whole family now is gonna throw a reception of sorts for us during that week I don’t wanna ruin anything for grandpa or mom. And how can I show up at my reception…well, alone?”

Jonghyun thought a while, “Well, you can ask Taemin though. I mean…you guys aren’t really divorced-”

“Yet.”

“Yet. You can just ask him to come, you know. You fuss a lot about how he is intolerable, but honestly, you’re stuck on him. This can be the chance to sort it out. It starts with apologizing.”

Minho remained silent a while in thought before muttering, “In my dreams.”

Jonghyun sighed, “Then ask him to play pretend for that week-”

“And be indebted to him?” Minho shot back, getting angrier, “He won’t even agree to it. I haven’t met him in months and the last time I got a peek of him, he was doing so much better. He’s got no reason to do me favors. He’s gonna refuse and be a jerk about it.”

“And you’ll deserve it.” Jonghyun patted his shoulder, “Get ridiculed by him or your family. Choose what you feel is more bearable.” And he left, calling out to Jinki who had been clearing the set.

Minho bit his lip in thought and made his choice, “I hate you, Kim Jonghyun.”
 

Minho needed a little courage to do what he had decided to do. So he needed to do it at the most unimaginable hour he could think of, somewhere around 3 am when he would probably be thinking that perhaps all of it was a dream. He’d had a beer before he had dozed a couple of hours, woken to the sound of his alarm and walked to the address he had once said he would never go to. To think that he had dedicated himself to such a ridiculous plan, was beyond him (maybe it was Jonghyun’s idea).

It was a long walk, the address was a couple of neighborhoods away. Minho was grateful it wasn’t at the other side of town. He took the elevator of the apartments and then rang the bell. Of course, silence. No response. He was angry all of a sudden, memories rushing through him and he started ringing the bell continuously. Someone finally opened the door, but only a sliver. Minho could see something peek out along with alarmed eyes, something that wasn’t part of the human body.

“A water bottle? Seriously?” Minho ridiculed, chuckling, “It’s me.”

The door opened a little more, revealing Taemin, dressed in nothing but track pants, his overgrown hair a mess, as he seethed, clutching his water bottle. Minho’s arrogant laughter set him off and he threw the water bottle at his face before slamming the door shut, “You’re not welcome.”

Minho just gaped at the closed door, his brows constricting in fury before he started to ring the bell furiously, continuously before Taemin finally opened the door again, enraged, “Choi!”

“I’m just here to talk.” Minho offered, his fury draining on seeing Taemin so riled up.

“I guess you still haven’t realized that you are incapable of that.” Taemin shot back and something in Minho hurt at the acerbity of his voice, of his eyes…and it turned into anger again the very next moment.

“I just came here to ask you a favor and all you do is be difficult and throw rude at me! I maybe someone you left, someone you hate, but before that, I’m still a person, a regular guy with regular problems who tries to solve them by regular methods. You don’t even care to analyze the fact that there must be a real good reason for me to knock at your door at 4 am in the morning!” Minho fumed, “Goddamit, Taemin. You really know how to drive someone up the wall!”

“Hey!” Someone shouted, “Take it somewhere else, moron!”

“Put yourself in my shoes and then talk, you !” Minho shouted back at the faceless person and Taemin clicked his tongue, his voice now lower, “Why are you here?”

Minho quietened, his fury calmed and he took a deep breath, handing the invitation over. Taemin took it and read over it, glancing back at Minho, “That’s a hell lot of improvement. You got invited for Christmas.” He paused, “But how does that relate to you come storming here at this ungodly hour?”

Minho decided to unhear the ‘storming’ part, and he began, slowly, “Mom was able to win everyone’s favor back towards me. They are throwing us a reception and you know I can’t go alone-”

“Then miss it.” Taemin handed the invitation back to him.

“I can’t, that’s the point. It’s a big thing. My grandfather’s been ill a lot lately, he wants to see everyone home and together at Christmas. I really don’t wanna ruin it for him, by both not going or showing up alone.”

“If I am free that week,” Taemin sighed, “I’ll think about it.” He started to close the door, “I need to leave for work in three hours…so…please, let me sleep.”

“Taemin-”

“I’m not refusing you, Choi.” Taemin shot at him, exasperated, “That’s the best you get for scaring the out of me by pulling your little stunt.”

“Fine,” Minho sighed, stepping away, “My…my number’s the same. When you wanna contact me.”

“Got it.” And the door shut loudly, leaving Minho staring at it helplessly before turning away to get back home.
 

“To think I even bought his ticket,” Minho muttered to himself, glancing at the clock in the airport. Taemin had not responded at all but Minho had taken desperate steps during his wait- confirming he still had the same number before texting him the flight details and leaving a trail of messages asking about his decision.

“So what you gonna do if he doesn’t show up?” Jonghyun asked, sitting on Minho’s suitcase, “Will you take me? I heard it snows there…I haven’t seen snow in my life-”

“And yeah, after I come back, be beat up against the wall by your boyfriend? No thanks. I’ll just tear those tickets.”

“Better plan.” Jonghyun smirked, “Stay back. Give them to us. We’ll have a little winter getaway and you will be safe and sound back here at home. If your mom asks, blame it on us. We tricked you into giving away your tickets and you couldn’t buy another set.”

“Wow.” Minho squinted at Jonghyun, “How does your mind even work like that?” He sighed, “She’ll just send me tickets then. If you’ve forgotten…my family’s filthy rich.”

“Then you have your tickets and we have ours-”

“Seriously, Jonghyun. I don’t get why I put up with you.”

Jonghyun got up and bumped into Minho playfully, “It’s simple, I’m hot.”

“Seems like you had a replacement ready.” A voice came and Minho turned to find Taemin standing there, holding a little suitcase, dressed a little sloppily and his fringe…asymmetrical. He was expressionless, and Taemin was only expressionless when his anger was pretty serious, “Why did you ask me when you had him?”

“What?” Minho asked back, “He’s not a replacement- and well, so what if he is?! You never said you were coming!”

“I never said I wasn’t!”

Jonghyun backed off that very moment, “Have a safe flight, buddy.” And he rushed away, dragging a confused Jinki away with him who had just come back after parking the car.

“He’s gone. Do you feel better now?” Minho shot at him, grabbing his suitcase, “If it matters to you…I was going to tear my tickets if you didn’t turn up. I rather not go than go without you.” He began dragging both suitcases to the check-in line.

Taemin followed, “Are you stupid? Why would you tear your tickets? You still don’t have any sense of money, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t!” Minho snapped, “And what’s with your hair?”

“I thought it was befitting your family. Aren’t they all crooked, just like this?” He pointed to his fringe.

“Gosh, Taemin. Are you even thinking about what you’re saying?”

“I’m not.”

Minho bit his lip, restraining himself from responding. His mind was ticking and ticking, filled with a hundred things he could say back to him. He was a ing time bomb around Taemin. He can’t blow up like this in front of his family, and to prevent that, he had to start being patient from this point itself.

“Just a warning,” Taemin said after they had checked in their luggage, “If this is gonna be hell for me, then it’s gonna be hell for you too, Choi.”

Minho remained mum. It was already hell for him.
 

Taemin fell asleep after take-off. Honestly, Minho was relieved he did. Because, now that he thought of it, they could fight about almost anything. The seats would be uncomfortable because they are, it would be cold because it is, but if Taemin was awake to complain, it would all be Minho’s fault. Minho shook his head. What in hell was wrong with him? They weren’t even actually fighting but all he could think about was them fighting, about what Taemin would say when he was awake and how he could outsmart him. Somehow it seemed like a game he had to win.

He sighed, deciding to watch something. But Taemin’s head drooped and then dropped onto his shoulder. The air he was breathing was full of the scent of Taemin’s shampoo. A citrus scent. He thought he could let him stay like that but then if Taemin woke up like that he would find some way or reason to blame him, like for example, “for taking advantage of him”. He didn’t want to give him any excuse to pick a fight, so he gently pushed his head off his shoulder, making it droop to the other side.

He couldn’t help but watch over him, feeling a little guilty, also a little interested, maybe because it had been long since he had seen that face devoid of distaste. He looked so adorably handsome, even with that crooked fringe.

A while later, Taemin woke up- his eyes and cheeks puffy, a little frown in his brows as he tried to make sense of the world he had woken up into. Taemin was always like that when he would wake up, cute and puffy, a little grumpy as well, wouldn’t talk or move much until he was fully awake. Watching him from the corner of his eyes, Minho realized he might have missed waking up to Taemin’s sight a little more than he had thought.

The stewardess passed by and Taemin asked for water; when he opened his mouth, his voice was so hoarse it sounded like a goat bleating and Minho let out a funny noise, trying to control his laughter, making Taemin turn to him with a glare.

The stewardess handed Taemin water and he splashed half off it on Minho’s face before drinking up the rest, leaving both Minho and the stewardess wide-eyed. She excused herself nervously, after which Minho grabbed a tissue and wiped his face, forgetting all the thoughts about missing Taemin and his cuteness. He bit his anger away and turned a little away to glance outside the window, somehow feeling Taemin squirm and his eyes on him. He turned to him after a while, uncomfortable, “What?”

“What?” Taemin shot back, annoyed.

Minho rolled his eyes and turned back away from him, deciding to sleep through the rest of the flight.
 

They squabbled a little when they were waiting for the luggage. It was Minho’s fault, he had crashed the trolley into Taemin…not entirely on purpose. Minho’s control was almost breaking because Taemin was fretting about not seeing his suitcase, taunting Minho that he had gotten them checked in at the wrong queue.

They finally got their luggage and took a taxi, Taemin and him sitting too much apart- Taemin leaning against the window, seeming dull. When they had reached his parents’ place, he finally broke the air, “I want everyone to think everything’s fine between us, Taemin.” He sighed,  “You’ve already been my husband before so I don’t need to tell you more.” He got off the car and took out the suitcases. Taemin came to take his own and muttered, “I’m still your husband, idiot.” And he dragged his suitcase along with himself to the gate, being careful of the snow. Minho joined him, his eyes fixated on him because he was quite taken aback by his words.

Taemin looked at him, a frown forming upon seeing Minho staring at him, “Put in the code, will you? It’s freezing.”

Minho obeyed, feeling awkward because he was still thinking about what Taemin had said. Of course, he meant that as in namesake…right? Because they were now only married on paper. It had been a heated agreement and they had divorced each other verbally, had stayed divorced in every possible way for almost a year. Minho was waiting for Taemin to send him the papers; maybe Taemin was waiting for him to do so. The one who was at more fault was going to send the papers, and seeing how no side had sent them yet, both of them thought the other was at more fault. Every time he thought of that day, he would just be filled with insensible anger. He would rather live like this all his life, uncommitted and unavailable than admit he was the one at wrong. Because he clearly wasn’t.

His trail of thoughts was interrupted by the little crowd at the door, his family coming out to welcome them, probably having heard them arrive.

“Minho!” His mom called out to him and behind her were his grandparents and his cousins. His cousin’s kids were all peeking out the door and windows too, probably not allowed out for now because it was late and getting colder.

His mom engulfed him in a hug and then her eyes shifted to Taemin, her lips curving into an unsure mixture of nervousness and excitement, “Taemin! I thought I would never get to see you again.”

“Hello, Mrs. Choi.” Taemin greeted with an equally unsure smile, making her loosen just slightly. She smiled a little wider and patted his shoulder, inviting them inside. “So now everyone’s here! And just in time!” She declared happily, ushering them in.

Once their suitcases were taken to the room and they had stripped off the extra insulation and washed up, dinner was served. The house was huge and it made Taemin uncomfortable. Minho’s family was rich…Taemin’s was too, but Minho’s family was famously and stereotypically rich. Taemin thought he might have been spoilt until he met Minho- the guy had been raised amidst coddling, his every life decision already was taken. No wonder he was so bratty and rebellious to have run away from home when his family denied him something for the very first time. He was reckless, careless, impatient and hotheaded.

They had met in college and somehow they clicked, too much actually, that they ended up marrying each other while still attending classes and working part time. When they graduated and shifted into better but more demanding working environments, that’s when their relationship started to crumble and it was all because of Minho. Somehow, he was just too irritated and impatient all the time, picking a fight, sometimes doing such things that made Taemin pick fights instead. At times he just wasn’t there, and for times Taemin couldn’t stay, he would get too upset and say hurtful things. Taemin tried not to retaliate but Minho’s behavior was contagious. That day, they said too many hurtful things…and he left, unable to stand the situation.

He was fuming now,  hurting too…thinking of how they had lived together and how he had lived without him. He didn’t really know what he wanted anymore. He was just getting by, thinking more of the past than the future. He shook his head to break his thoughts, trying to focus on what one of Minho’s cousins was saying.

His cousins had taken a liking to him, they were being very welcoming and trying a little too hard. It was a little awkward but felt strangely nice and homely. Something that he probably hadn’t felt in ages. Minho, who he obviously had to sit beside, was part of the conversation too.

“Really? I learned my sewing that way too!” Minho was saying, laughing and chewing at the same time, and Taemin froze because he knew what this idiot was going to say next, “Taemin worked at this dance studio and he ripped his pants all the time-”

“Can you pass me some water?” Taemin cut him off and forced himself to drink it all, restraining his urge to pour it on the idiot beside him.

A similar situation arose again-

“Same! Taemin is so afraid of bugs that he shrieked like a banshee once when he saw a flying ant-”

And again-

“Ahaha! Taemin once tried to cook too and whatever it was is still stuck on the kitchen ceiling-”

Taemin pursed his lips, trying not to glar