“When this ends, I’m so going to kill you.”

 

“Hyung, you should know by now that I see your death threats as words of affection.”

 

“You are the most—”

 

“— infuriating person you’ve met, I know.”

 

Jongwoon had to physically reign back his urges to step on the younger’s shiny, polished, expensive shoes. He figured those probably costed more than his monthly salary as a preschool teacher, and his mom raised him to be a better person than that.

 

They were at a charity gala, and to be clear, just four hours ago, Jongwoon had no idea that he would be at an upscale banquet hall, dressed in an expensive, custom-made three-piece suit that Kyuhyun furnished from thin air, surrounded by famous and powerful men and women. When the younger had called Jongwoon over to his penthouse to hang out and help him with choosing an outfit for a gala dinner, he had no idea that it was his own outfit that he was choosing. Jongwoon showed up at the door in an oversized shirt and baggy cargo pants, for ’s sake!

 

Then, when Kyuhyun finally made his intentions known to Jongwoon, a wrestling--tickling match ensued. There was a lot of wrestling on Jongwoon’s end, and more tickling on Kyuhyun’s part. Kyuhyun tried to use his larger stature to his advantage to manhandle Jongwoon into the walk-in closet to try on the suits, but Jongwoon managed to counter it with a sharp bite at the younger’s neck, which caused Kyuhyun to unceremoniously drop the older onto the bed.

 

“Hyung! That hurts!”

 

“You deserved it!”

 

“Why can’t you bite me in a y way instead?! I wouldn’t mind that!”

 

“Today will be your funeral, Cho Kyuhyun."

 

Jongwoon was all ready to bust out one of those self-defence moves that he learnt from YouTube on the other man, when Kyuhyun suddenly loomed over him, both of his arms pinned down on the bed by the younger, and Kyuhyun’s attractive face right above his, inches away. Jongwoon gay-panicked.

 

“W-what…?”

 

“You look so good under me, Jongwoon hyung.” Was Kyuhyun leaning in closer?!

 

“J-just die, Cho Kyuhyun. Let me go!”

 

“Come with me to the gala, please?”

 

“Why do you need me there? I won’t be able to help you with anything.”

 

“I hate these events, hyung. But I think I would tolerate them better if I had you with me.”

 

Jongwoon hoped that Kyuhyun wouldn’t be able to tell how hot his cheeks were, but with how close the younger was, Jongwoon knew he was a gone case.

 

At the older’s hesitation, Kyuhyun added, “Just treat it as an appointment, I’ll pay you for your time, Jongwoonie.”

 

Jongwoon narrowed his eyes at that. “I don’t want your money, you rich brat. And don’t call me that! I’m your hyung!”

 

Kyuhyun’s eyes lit up. “Does that mean Jongwoonie will go to the dinner with Kyuhyunie?”

 

Jongwoon should have known his day would end up like this, the moment Kyuhyun had closed the penthouse door after letting him in. He really needed better resistance against Kyuhyun’s charms. “Yeah, yeah. But call me that one more time and I’ll leave.”

 

“As always, Jongwoonie is the best!” The younger planted a loud kiss on Jongwoon’s cheek and scampered off the bed to escape from the impending punches from Jongwoon.

 

“Just so you know, I’m doing this just as a very dignified , okay?!?! And nothing more! But I don’t want your money either!”

 

“My Jongwoonie is so cute trying to hide his love for me!”

“Yahhhhhh!”

 

Thereafter, the two showed up late at the dinner, because Kyuhyun spent 15 minutes pretending that he was incapable of tying his own tie, while Jongwoon deadpanned and watched on at how annoying the younger could be at trying to be cheesy. Expecting Jongwoon to help him tie a tie?! He was not a wife, okay!?!

 

Personally, Jongwoon thought he was doing a decent job at being Cho Kyuhyun’s arm candy at the event. He smiled when he needed to, shook more hands than he ever had to in the past three decades of his life, was happy to indulge in Kyuhyun’s childish antics here and there whenever he noticed that Kyuhyun was getting bored by the speeches and socialising, and smacked Kyuhyun when the younger was being too insufferable (Kyuhyun was walking around with his head held obnoxiously high for a good 10 minutes because he wanted to “show off the y bite mark that you gifted me so scandalously, hyung”)— which brings him back to his current predicament.

 

“You are the most—”

 

“— infuriating person you’ve met, I know.”

 

"The actual worst."

 

“I’m so happy that I’m so memorable to you, hyung!”

 

“I hate you.”

 

Kyuhyun wrapped an arm around Jongwoon’s waist and pulled the older hard against him. “Awww, but I like you so much.”

 

“You can go and bang your—”

 

“Mr. Cho?”

 

At the stranger’s voice, Jongwoon jerked in surprise and immediately tried to pull himself away from Kyuhyun. However, Kyuhyun’s grip on his waist remained so tight and strong, that he almost felt tickled by it. If only they did not have a-probably-bigshot-CEO-with-a-net-worth-of-billions in front of them right now, Jongwoon would love to knee the younger in the stomach.

 

“Ah, that would be me. And you are?” Kyuhyun replied diplomatically, extending a hand out to the other man for a handshake.

 

“Lee Seubin, Chairman of the Zenith Group. Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Cho Kyuhyun-ssi. And this is…?” The chairman gestured towards Jongwoon who had a polite and tentative smile on him, and Kyuhyun caught how Lee Seubin's gaze briefly swept across Jongwoon, from head to toe. Bastard, can't he see that Jongwoon is taken?!!?

 

Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes and plastered on his best business smile, while pulling the smaller man in his arms even closer to himself. He just knew that Jongwoon would be pinching his ears and raining punches on him later for this, but he had to make a statement to whoever this Chairman Lee was who dared to look at Jongwoon the wrong way!!!

 

“This is my lovely, most adorable boyfriend, Kim Jongwoon.” Then, he leaned in and placed a loud kiss on Jongwoon’s cheek.

 

Almost immediately, Kyuhyun had to school his expression to a neutral one as if there wasn’t a painful pinch at his . Jongwoon laughed in quiet embarrassment and did a small bow as he shook hands with Chairman Lee. Kyuhyun noted with satisfaction that Lee Seubin could only watch the whole exchange with an awkward look on his face. Yeah, take that, stupid Lee!

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr Lee.”

 

“Likewise, Mr. Kim.” Kyuhyun personally thought the handshake between Jongwoon and Lee Seubin lingered a little longer than his, but maybe that was just his jealousy talking. He’s very self aware, okay. He also mentally cheered when Lee Seubin finally tore his eyes away from Jongwoon and looked at him instead. “Actually, Mr. Cho, I would like to speak to you about the acquisition of —”

 

“Oh, would you look at the time, Jongwoon?!”

 

Jongwoon jumped at the sudden exclamation from Kyuhyun. The younger dramatically had his hand over his mouth in feigned shock and Jongwoon wondered just what kind of bull was he up to now, in front of a stranger no less.

 

“What.”

 

“Jongwoon! Our puppies! They are waiting for us at home! It’s five minutes past their feeding time!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Oh no, my poor babies. My baby Kkoming and baby Melo… I failed as a father. I’m horrible!”

 

Jongwoon pinched Kyuhyun’s again and through gritted teeth, murmured lowly, “What are you doing…?”

 

The only response Jongwoon got was a squeeze from the arm that was already wrapped tightly around his waist. Kyuhyun then turned to Lee Seubin who had been looking at them in confusion for the past minute.

 

“Mr. Lee Seubin-ssi, I am so terribly sorry, but I’m afraid that we’ll have a make a move. My heart is aching at the thought of my little puppies back at home starving and crying for their mom and dad. Let’s schedule another meeting time to talk about working together. Good bye.”

 

And before Jongwoon had the opportunity to make sense of what utter rubbish just came out of Kyuhyun’s mouth or to bid farewell (and apologise) to Chairman Lee, Kyuhyun had already whisked him away quickly towards the exit of the banquet hall. They rounded a corner, and finally, Kyuhyun slowed down to turn to Jongwoon. The younger giggled.

 

“What was that?!! Yah, that was so rude! Is that how you talk to all the important CEOs?!”

 

“Nope, just him.” Kyuhyun had the audacity to have a proud, cheeky smile on his handsome face, as if Jongwoon should be proud of him.

 

“Why?!?!”

 

“Hyung! Did you not see how he looked at you?!”

 

“He looked at me with his eyes! Like a normal person! What’s wrong with you?”

 

“No no no, he looked at you like he wanted you.”

 

“He definitely did not.”

 

“You’re just oblivious.”

 

“I am not oblivious!”

 

“You are!”

 

“Why are you so jealous?!”

 

“Because I am!”

 

Jongwoon was about to go on a whole other tirade to nag at the other man for being childish, when he noticed the glee on Kyuhyun’s face.

 

“You are such a brat. You're enjoying this.”

 

“I’m not a brat, but yes, I’m enjoying this.” The grin on Kyuhyun’s face widened.

 

“You’re the biggest brat I know, Cho Kyuhyun.”

 

All of a sudden, Jongwoon found himself caged between Kyuhyun’s arms and against the adjacent wall. What was with Cho Kyuhyun and his kabedon tendencies?!? (Not that Jongwoon didn’t like it.)

 

“Oh? You know other brats, hyung? I thought I’m your only brat.”

 

“N-no! I know many brats like you! You’re not special. I have Hyukjae, Ryeowookie, and —”

 

Words died in Jongwoon’s throat when Kyuhyun leaned in and pressed his lips hard against Jongwoon’s for a breathtaking kiss. Jongwoon’s mind turned fuzzy and his hands automatically reached up to hold onto the younger’s broad shoulders to find some form of anchor for himself.

 

They came apart eventually when the need to breathe overwhelmed them. If his mind wasn’t still reeling from their (first proper) kiss, Jongwoon would be happy to note that Kyuhyun looked just as affected and riled up as him.

 

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to kiss you properly, Jongwoon ah."

 

“Y-you…!”

 

“And you're so mean, hyung. Thinking and talking about all these men when I’m right in front of you?” Kyuhyun rasped lowly, his face still unbearably close to Jongwoon’s.

 

“I was just —”

 

“You should only think about me when you’re with me, hyung.”

 

The proximity and the way Kyuhyun’s body was radiating heat against his was making it hard for Jongwoon to come up with a proper reply.

 

“I d-don’t... y-you...... yah! You’re not my boyfriend! You can't tell me what to do! Why did you say that I'm your boyfriend just now too!?"

 

“Not yet. I will be soon, though. I’m just waiting for you to say ‘yes’, Jongwoonie.”

 

Jongwoon sombred up at that, and swallowed hard at the sincerity in Kyuhyun’s eyes, the playful atmosphere earlier replaced by something more heartfelt. How? How is Kyuhyun making it so difficult to not want him?

 

It would be so easy, Jongwoon thought, if he just gave in there and then. But Jongwoon knew that this was not the time and place to decide on something as serious as a relationship, especially after their mind-numbing kiss that had clearly clouded his thought process. It wouldn’t be fair to Kyuhyun either, if he hadn’t come to terms with all his insecurities and hesitance about a relationship before he properly entered one with the younger.

 

So Jongwoon simply nodded, tip-toed, and placed a gentle kiss on Kyuhyun’s forehead.

 

“Yes, Kyuhyunie. Soon.”

 

And the subsequent bright smile that shone on Kyuhyun’s face told Jongwoon that it was sooner than he thought it would be for him to say ‘yes’.