To: Private number, 23.01

Do you know anything about the massive parcel with the royal seal on it sitting in my family hallway?

From: Private number, 23.05

Oh hey, can I come over tomorrow?  Forgot to ask earlier.

To: Private number, 23.06

Why are you avoiding the question?

From: Private number, 23.07

Why are you? ^_^

To: Private number, 23.07

YIXING.

From: Private number, 23.08

Stop getting mad at me for no reason and open your graduation gift >_<

Yeonhee eyed the package in front of her, but before she could do anything about it, Minhee appeared out of the kitchen with scissors.

“If you’re not going to open it, I am,” she said as she approached, snipping the blades childishly together and apart.

Yeonhee took them off her before she could enjoy herself too much and set about cutting through the tape holding the cardboard together.  Once that was out of the way, she had to contend with bubble wrap and her sister trying to pop the bubbles while she tried to cut it open.  Her hand came into contact with a wooden frame, and Yeonhee set the scissors aside to pull it out of its protective packaging.

She was utterly unprepared for the painting the frame contained, and sat down hard on the floor, covering .

“Did your boyfriend commission a painting of you for your graduation?” Minhee asked blankly, also staring.  “Isn’t that a bit OTT?”

Yeonhee was too speechless to give her opinion.  The portrait of her was oil on canvas, the background blurry and indistinct, but that made sense since the purpose was to highlight the person in it.  Her hair was tied back, and she was smiling as she surveyed something in front of her, her gaze not quite high enough to meet that of the beholder.  A paintbrush was poised in her hand, and her clothes were casual, but she recognised the t-shirt as one of her favourites.  It was extremely well executed.

“Wait a second,” said Minhee, interrupting her just as she was starting to analyse it in her head, “is that his signature down in the corner?”

Yixing looked incredibly pleased with himself when he showed up on the doorstep the next morning, Yeonhee still reeling from the gift.

“I hope this silence is because you’re overwhelmed,” he joked as she let him in.  “It would be awful if I’d somehow offended you with the pai—”

Something in Yeonhee snapped and she rounded on him, seizing him by the collar to pull him down to her height so she could kiss him.  Taken completely off guard, he stumbled, saving himself from a nasty tumble into the coat rack by slapping his hand against the wall.  His other hand went to her waist to steady them both.

“Whoa,” he gasped out when Yeonhee drew back for air.  “I was not expecting to be attacked.”

She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him back down.  Better prepared this time, Yixing’s hands went to the small of her back.  Neither of them had really gone in for such heated kissing before, and Yeonhee could feel a ghost of pain from where she’d accidentally clipped a tooth against Yixing’s in her enthusiasm the first time.

After a few moments, Yixing somehow managed to calm everything down to a more languid pace, and his hands crept up to frame Yeonhee’s cheeks.  It was a little while longer before he finally pulled back, though.

“So. . .” he murmured, smiling at her.  “Am I correct in interpreting that as a thank you?”

Yeonhee felt her face flush dark red.  He gave her one final kiss on the lips before she could duck her head with embarrassment.

Minhee shuffled past them to go into the kitchen at that point, still in her pyjamas and looking like she’d only just rolled out of bed.

“Yeonhee taught you to paint well, huh?” was her comment just before she passed through the door.  A second later, her wild bedhead appeared back in the passage.

“You didn’t bring Jongdae with you, did you?” she asked Yixing anxiously.

He shook his head.  “Junmyeon and Zhoumi.  They’re busy kicking people off your doorstep.”

Minhee nodded and disappeared again.

Yeonhee had put the painting up above the dresser in her room before going to sleep the previous night, but she still wasn’t quite used to the large oval frame on the wall.

“I can’t believe how far you’ve progressed in half a year,” she marvelled as Yixing caught sight of it and grinned broadly.

“To be fair, I have never put as much effort into anything as I did into that,” he said, sitting on the chair beside her bed.  “I was also fortunate I was able to use my right arm in hospital.  I had so much time on my hands I was able to really perfect it.  Would have done more about the background but I started it last time I was here and I didn’t have a photo, so I just left it.  Mum said it would work better without anything to distract from you anyway.”

Yeonhee bit her lip, looking up at the portrait.  “I’m so proud,” she admitted, slightly choked.  “I’ve never taught anyone before, and seeing this. . .”

He grinned at her.

“I’m really, really flattered,” she mumbled, unable to adequately express what she was feeling.  “I wasn’t expecting you to do something like this.”

Still grinning, Yixing beckoned her over.  Once she was in range, he reached out and pulled her onto his lap, latching his arms around her.  Sighing happily, Yeonhee rested against his torso and closed her eyes.

“I love doing things like this,” he murmured in her ear.  “I like making you feel special.”

“I feel very special right now.”  Yeonhee peeked her eye open to look at the portrait again, still unable to get over just how beautifully Yixing had done it.  “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”  He hummed happily to himself, resting his chin on her shoulder.  For a while, it was si