A special shoutout to BlackestEyes, ladyrapunzel08, NinelLee AND kpopgorgeous for getting me to update.. c: I hope everyone enjoys reading^^

Chapter 18: Bears and Bunnies

After dropping half of the icecream sandwich on the car seat, scrambling around looking for tissues with angry shrieks of the car being on rental reverberating the interiors, peace had settled among the quartet once again.

Sungmin had his nose into the road-map of the Jeju Islands feeling irritated because of the entire episode that happened while Kyuhyun was wiping his brows, just grateful that they had managed to throw out the melting icecream before it stained the seats.

Jongjin kept snickering every now and then because the carseats now looked as though there were stains on them and of course the boy needed no other reason to giggle out every few minutes much to the frustration of the couple in the front of the car.

And what was the person who caused the entire scene to happen in the first place, doing you ask? Sungjin was curled against the window with soft snores emitting from his mouth as the boy slept.

Jongjin had a thin strip of the tissue paper over his sleeping boyfriend's nose- amusing himself as the paper flew in the air every time Sungjin snored.

"Sungjin-ah, we're here. Wake up wake up!" Jongjin whispered, patting his boyfriend's cheek gently trying to rouse him out of sleep. It took a couple of minutes for Sungjin to finally open his eyes and he pressed his palm to his mouth cutely, trying to surpress a yawn.

Sungmin eyed the entire exchange from the rearview mirror and commented dryly,"Wow Jin, you sure do sleep anywhere."

"Huh, you're the one to talk. Hyung did you forget exactly who you were leaning against the other day-"

"Lalalallalala~ Shut up, shut up! I can't hear you!" Sungmin sang childishly as Sungjin laughed. "I thought so." Sungjin stuck out his tongue as Sungmin mumbled a couple of curse words under his breath before sitting back with a pout.

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost, you guys can go ahead and purchase the tickets, I'll go to the parking lot and find a place for the car. I'll meet you by the entrance." Kyuhyun spoke slowly, feeling rather confused about what they were talking about. It looked as if he was the only one who had absolutely no clue about what the Lee brothers were arguing about since Jongjin was giggling at the sideline too.

Although he didn't really like the sound of Sungmin sleeping against someone, he decided to simply shrug and carry on with driving the car into the parking lot as they neared the much awaited Teddy Bear Museum.

"Hyung,  can we buy teddy bear souvenirs? " Sungjin asked, squishing his cheeks against the glass window. The trio were waiting by the entrance for Kyuhyun to turn up with the tickets so they could all go into the building.

"Jinnie-ah one thing at a time,  you can buy whatever you want when we finish taking a tour around this place." Sungmin explained patiently. "And yah, don't make me want to put a leash over you, this is a museum so if you're gonna break something, the money is coming right from your wallet."

"Understood." Sungjin saluted cutely before grabbed his boyfriend's arm and sprinting towards the museum. "Ahjussi, our hyung is buying the tickets over there can you allow us to go inside?" Sungjin asked the guard with a pout. The guard looked reluctant at first but agreed seeing Sungmin nodding his head at the side.

Sungjin whooped and exclaimed happily," Thank you Ahjussi! Let's go in Jin, let's go let's go~"

"I swear, this kid " Sungmin mumbled under his breath as he watched the two boys skipping inside the building. Now that he was all alone, a small grimace etched across Sungmin's features as he touched his ankle softly.

He knew that he had sprained his foot mildly but chose not to highlight it because that's just how Sungmin was. He would rather bear the pain than have anyone fawn over him in worry...drawing attention to himself was something he didn't really like doing.

"Sungmin, you alright?" A voice asked behind causing the male to abruptly turn around, Sungmin was going to carry on pretending that he was fine but seeing Kyuhyun sending him a sharp look, his gaze fell to the ground guiltly. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Kyuhyun demanded as he lead Sungmin towards a lonesome bench on the side.

"I didn't want to worry anyone." came the meek response.

Kyuhyun massaged his temple with a sigh and spoke,"Let me see how bad it is." With that he shoved the tickets into pocket and placed his hand around Sungmin's soft foot.

He touched the ankle gingerly looking for any signs of it being swollen but when he failed to see anything, he gruffed out, " You sure are lucky, its does seem like a mild sprain but that doesn't mean you have to hide it from everyone, you know?"

"It will just cause me more worry if you had kept quiet about it only to find out that it took a turn for the worse." Kyuhyun spoke as Sungmin put his sandals back on. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again" Sungmin whispered softly and then smiled as Kyuhyun huffed out,"You better not, Sungmin."

"Okay lets go in, shall we?" Kyuhyun said after the guard collected their tickets and allowed them inside the museum. Sungmin and Kyuhyun found themselves in an entirely different world all together. There was a pretty impressive collection of teddy bears from all around the globe, the entire museum was divided into three portions according to the map plastered at the entrance of the building.

"History hall, Kyuhyun shall we go and see the history hall first?" Sungmin murmured as they walked along the length of the corridor, "Some of these look like they're about hundred years old," Kyuhyun commented in awe of the long stretch of glass casings enclosed around the teddy bears- dressed complete in ancient historic clothes, including famous scenes from the way, way back.

Popular teddy bears from different eras- from Elizabethan to Victorian, including antique pieces. The most interesting ones were the teddy bear dressed completely as Mona Lisa posing behind a perfectly aligned scenery.

"Oh my god, Kyuhyun I know what this is!" Sungmin exclaimed in exhilaration. "This is the most famous scene in history, the last supper as painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. I read a book about it a couple of years ago, its so surprising to see teddy bears depicting this scene- like oh my, I don't know whether- Kyuhyun!"

Kyuhyun laughed as Sungmin spoke at top speed before rushing towards another glass, "Creation of Adam, look look!"

Although it was extremely amusing to see this side of Sungmin, Kyuhyun had to agree with the man- the teddy bears in those poses brought out so much of cuteness that it was difficult not to coo over them.

And then all of a sudden Kyuhyun's eyes fell upon the glass casing that stood out the most, "B-beatles?!" He exclaimed in surprise and reached within a couple of steps. He was busy staring at the teddy bears when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Want me to take a picture with Beatles in the background?" Sungmin asked amusedly, seeing Kyuhyun enlarging his eyes he commented with a laugh,"You were staring at that model for the last five minutes, Kyuhyun."

"Okay okay, fine. But be quick about it." Kyuhyun blushed a beet red before handing Sungmin his cellphone to take a picture. After making sure that the photograph came out well, Sungmin retured the phone back to Kyuhyun and looked at the man in expectation.

Kyuhyun seemed to have turned shy all of a sudden and he admitted bashfully,"They were my idols when I was a teen. They got me through some tough times, you know?"

Sungmin just stared at him for a couple of seconds before muttering quietly,"You are way more cuter than I thought you were." Leaving behind a flabbergasted Kyuhyun behind, he smiled and walked ahead towards the Art Hall.

thump thump thump...

Kyuhyun found himself swallowing hard as he desperately tried to control his heart from pounding against his ribcage. His eyes followed Sungmin as the latter bumped into a woman and bowed thrice apologetically with a smile. What was this feeling? That was slowly wrapping his heart into a cocoon of warmth and all the good feelings in the world. A tiny smile subconciously etched over his lips as he saw Sungjin leaping over his brother's shoulders while Sungmin struggled to overpower the minx with a pout.

"Sungmin hyung, I'm sorry let me go hyung!" Sungjin shouted as his elder brother had him trapped in a headlock. Sungmin stuck out his tongue,"Who asked you to surprise me with a sneak attack, huh? This is all your fault." He withdrew after a couple of old ladies sent disaproving looks in their direction.

"I'm hungry." Jongjin declared. He had been watching the entire exchange in silence, half afraid that he too would be dragged in the banter but now had decided to speak up.

"What, Jin we barely ate like an hour ago!" Sungjin laughed and wound his arm around Jongjin's neck. "You you you're gonna buy me merchandise after we're done with this museum." He sang cutely. "Many many souvenirs, got that?"

"Sure." Jongjin just managed to blurt before he was dragged away by an hyperactive Sungjin.

And the couple raced ahead leaving Sungmin in the dust. "I'm surrounded by a bunch of dorky babies." He muttered with a laugh.

He turned around with a smile but took in a sharp breath seeing Kyuhyun's eyes transfixed on him. "I chose to disagree, you're way more adorable." Kyuhyun murmured and brushed by Sungmin's shoulders as he walked forwards.

"W-what?!" Sungmin spluttered out and jogged after the trio.

*~*

Leaving Kyuhyun and Sungjin to buy their lunch, Sungmin and Jongjin were sitting together on a table in a dainty café, well shaded from the afternoon sun. After walking through the rest of the halls together and they had come to a consensus that it was time to feed their tummies again. Of course buying souvenirs from the teddy bear collectible shop could wait until their monsters had been fed properly.

Taking his eyes off momentarily from the front of the café, Sungmin turned towards Jongjin and asked quietly,"I believe we haven't had the chance to talk one on one before."

Jongjin looked alarmed at the sudden question and he swallowed hard before stumbling out a reply,"Sungmin h-hyung, I- "

"There's no need to be nervous, Jongjin unless you're upto something that I should know about." Sungmin narrowed his eyes as the boy sweatdropped. "I'm not doing anything, promise!"

Sungmin took a sip of water and settled back into his chair looking expectedly at the tense boy sitting across from him,"So tell me are you here to break my little brother's heart?"

Jongjin spoke quietly,"I think at this point he wouldn't be the only one hyung. I know that Jin doesn't feel the same but I think I love him- no. I know that I love him."

Sungmin looked taken aback at his words as he went on to speak,"Sungjin is too innocent for this, you know? I want him to feel comfortable with me,I don't want to force him to do anything he doesn't want. He can take all the time in the world and I'll be right here waiting."

Sungmin followed Jongjin's gaze as the latter watched Sungjin fondly. The boy had  his nose pressed against the glass display as he eyed the variety of scrumptious desserts while Kyuhyun was giving their orders to the cashier.

"Sungjin might be clumsy and idiotic at times, but he's an angel at heart." Sungmin smiled. "Don't make me regret this, Jongjin. Do know that I will break you if you hurt my little brother in any way."

"I wouldn't dare." Jongjin answered solemnly, crossing his heart.

Little did they know that the seemingly 'innocent' Sungjin was having an interrogation of his own with Kyuhyun.

"Sungjin, do you want to wait here for the orders or go back to the table?" Kyuhyun asked the boy as he withdrew his credit card out of his wallet to pay for their luncheon.

"Cut the crap, Kyuhyun."

"Excuse me?!"

"I still haven't forgiven you for what you did to Sungmin hyung on your first meeting. You called my hyung..what was that again?"Sungjin deadpanned.

Kyuhyun chuckled nervously," Sungjin, you know that your hyung and I have made up for that, ages ago. I was too impulsive and stupid-"

"Damn right you were!" Sungjin shouted. "If you mess with my hyung you'll have to face me!"

Before Kyuhyun could even get a chance to reply Sungjin beat him to it,"I can tell Sungmin hyung likes you so you better not hurt him." He yelled before running away leaving Kyuhyun behind gaping like a goldfish.

...what was that?

The only thing that was running through Kyuhyun and Jongjin's mind at that moment was the Lee siblings were not to be messed with.

"Sizzling hot pizza at your service." Kyuhyun announced lying the box onto the table. "Coke for you two boys, lime water for Sungmin and soda for me as requested." He declared and placed the tray with the drinks

"You're so weird." Sungmin laughed as Kyuhyun drew out a chair for himself. He bit into the slice of cheesy goodness and swooned as the greasy flavor of the pizza got his tastebuds exploding.

"So delicious so delicious." Sungjin squealed and pumped Jongjin's arm up and down in excitement causing the tomato sauce from the pizza smeared all over his face.

"Sungjin, I know it tastes like heaven but baby please let go of my arm, you're getting the sauce all over my face." He whined and tried to follow the slice of pizza as Sungjin flailed his arm around.

"Hyung after eating can we go buy the souvenirs?" Sungjin asked in a mouthful of pizza.

"Jin don't talk with your mouth full, you're getting food all over us,gross." Sungmin made a face at the crumbs falling from his brother's mouth. "Alright but can we go- "

"For goodness sake Lee Sungjin!"

*~*

"Are you done yet?" Sungmin asked patiently as the two boys were busy inspecting the emporium closely and with a lot of difficulty and scrutinizing for their pocket money was tight and they couldn't choose more than one bear.

"Sungmin hyung, relax for a couple of minutes and don't get your in a bunch." Sungjin giggled and skipped out of the way quickly as his elder brother made a motion to punch him. Kyuhyun had received a call apparently so the man had excused himself rather regretfully, leaving Sungmin to chaperone the two kids.

Sungmin sighed at the sight of Sungjin pawing Jongjin's clothes and pouting at the corner of the emporium and rolled his eyes. He couldn't deal with all the complaining and squabbles so he had decided to just wait at the cashier for them to finish shopping.

Sungmin was about to turn and head towards the entrance of the emporioum when his eyes fell upon a certain teddy bear nestled on the topmost shelf, "Oh my that is adorable." He whispered looking into the glassy brown eyes of the bear.

A sudden smile broke out as Sungmin stretched on his tipy-toes and got the teddy bear down safely. Mentally deciding to purchase it, he walked towards the cashier in happy steps.

Sungmin was taking the paperbag from the gentleman behind the cashier when Kyuhyun entered into the emporium,"That was Mom." He informed with a sigh. "Apparently our dance rehearsal has been cancelled and rescheduled to tomorrow. But we're still expected to be there early for a get together dinner tonight."

"I see." Sungmin murmured as he held the paperbag tightly within his fingers. "Hey you bought something?" Kyuhyun asked with a laugh only to be surprised as Sungmin suddenly became very nervous and fidgety.

"I- uhm this is for you."  Sungmin mumbled shyly and the paperbag into a baffled Kyuhyun's arms.

Kyuhyun gazed at Sungmin's cheeks dusted in pink and squeaked out,"For me?!" Seeing Sungmin nod his head bashfully, he pried apart the handles of the paperbag and peered inside slowly.

"Sungmin- oh my this is." Kyuhyun brought out an extremely endearing teddy bear with the softest fur that you could ever imagine- dressed sophisticatedly in a complete jet black business suit with a pair of glasses perched on its button-like nose cutely.

"It reminds me of you, so I bought it." Sungmin looked away as Kyuhyun wrapped his fingers around the toy bear and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"It's so adorable, Sungmin, thank you." Kyuhyun spoke in delight. He clasped his fingers around Sungmin's hand and pressed it softly as if showing his gratitude."You didn't have to- really."

Kyuhyun found himself at a loss of words because it was the first time he'd seen someone other than family actually thinking about him and buying him a present.

"Let me buy you something too." He pleaded while pushing the bear back into the paperbag.

"Nah you don't need to, I prefered bunnies to bears anyway." Sungmin smiled feeling glad that Kyuhyun had liked his small gesture. Kyuhyun was just about to say something when a very lethargic voice cut in their conversation.

"Hyungs please save me from Sungjin's indecisiveness." Jongjin breathed out before collapsing against the counter. Sungmin sweatdropped seeing his brother skipping all around the emporium, picking up one bear after the other with a pout on his bow-shaped lips because all the teddy bears couldn't fit into his arms at the same time.

*~*

They literally had to pry Sungjin from the shelves to make the young man pay for the bears he had selected because the quartet had spent a ridiculous amount of time at the souvenir shop. After being buckled into the car with the mountain of bags resting at their feet, the group set off on their journey back to the hotel.

Sungjin and Jongjin were giggling at the backseat looking through the pictures they'd taken earlier in the morning, including embarrassing ones of Sungmin shoving a pizza slice into his wide open mouth. Kyuhyun looked at the boys in the rearview mirror and mentally made a note to ask Jongjin for copies to a the photographs he'd clicked since that morning.

His gaze softened as he glanced towards his left; Sungmin was had both of his legs up on the seat- with his arms curling around his knees as he slept in exhaution. He had told a tiny white lie to the man but that didn't matter because he had Sungmin's best intentions at heart.

Kyuhyun took out his cellphone at the next traffic signal and quickly typed in a text before the lights turned green and he sped ahead.

They reached the hotel in a couple of minutes, Kyuhyun had instructed Sungjin and Jongjin to go on ahead, leaving him alone to wake Sungmin up. He unattached his seatbelt and sighed placing both of his hands over the steering wheel of the car.

Today had been a great day, of course. It was probably the happiest day he'd experienced in quite sometime and he owed it all to the man sleeping in the passenger seat next to him. Kyuhyun knew that his fondness for Sungmin was growing more the time they spent together, because come on who could not like a man who was kind, gentle, selfless and considerate?

He placed his palm over Sungmin's cheek and gently patted the sleeping male's face twice- trying to rouse him out of his slumber. Sungmin groaned softly and shifted his weight towards the door.

"Sungmin? We're here." Kyuhyun whispered lightly shaking the man's shoulders.

"K-kyuhyun?"

"Yeah? We reached the hotel now, Sungmin. Everyone is waiting for us at the restaurant." Kyuhyun spoke softly. Sungmin's eyes watered as he yawned and he detached the seatbelt and nodded his head sleepily.

"Let's go."

Sungmin had managed to gain back full consciousness as he followed Kyuhyun into the restuarant. "Hey baby had a good day out?" Sunhee whispered as Sungmin took the seat next to her and smiled.

"T'was good." Sungmin murmured and spread his table napkin over his lap. "How's your foot honey?" Sunhee asked in concern. "Kyuhyun had called earlier in the afternoon saying that you had a small sprain to your ankle, he was quite incessant on having the dance rehearsals rescheduled to tomorrow, such a sweet boy he is."

"What?!" Sungmin spoke out in shock his haziness all clearing up in an instant. "Oops was that supposed to be a secret now?" Sunhee laughed and patted her son's head gently as the man stared at Kyuhyun smiling at Yesung's mother.

Kyuhyun did that for him?

"I'm fine Mom, nothing that a goodnight's sleep wouldn't fix." Sungmin managed to say before the servers brought out the first course of their meal. He remained silent for the rest of the dinner, occasionally stealing glances at the man sitting right across of him.

"Hyung, shall we go to sleep now?" Sungjin muttered, surpressing a yawn squinting at some movie playing on the television screen. After bidding everyone a goodnight, the two siblings took their filled bellies back to their shared hotel room.

"I'll stay up for a little while longer." Sungmin answered as Sungjin yawned again and sleepily made way towards the bathroom to put on his pajamas and finish up his bedtime duties. Sungmin took a long swing of the water bottle and watched in interest at the movie running on the screen.

A sudden knock on their door brought a frown over his face as he checked out the time. It was pretty late so who would want to knock on their door at such an hour? He wondered as he switched off the television set and made way towards the door.

His eyes widened at a small parcel placed at the foot of the door. Curious, Sungmin crouched down and took the box into his arms before peering down the hallway.

Seeing noone around, he shut the door of their room and perched on his bed eyeing the box in his arms . He unwrapped the packaging and peered inside the box inquisitively.

Sungmin gasped as his fingers came into contact with softest white velvety fur and he brought out the cutest bunny plushy out of the box. With an adorable chef's hat poised in between the bunny's ears and a baby pink apron tied around its fluffy waist, the rabbit plush was the most beautiful thing Sungmin had ever placed his eyes on.

A small note was attached to one of its ears and Sungmin almost swooned when he read it.

Since you prefer bunnies over bears, I hope you like this.

Love, Kyuhyun.

[A/N]

this update is a present from me to you for being the most awesome readers I could ever ask for .

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