pairing: jongyu/minkey » onho; pg
genre: seatbelt!au, supernatural, post-tragedy, romance
length: one shot — 1,551 words

“Should I drink apple juice today?” Jinki asks, opening the fridge door and sticking his chaotic head of hair into the cool air.

Jonghyun rolls his eyes, elbows connecting with the top of the tall table in the center of a small kitchen as he rests his chin on his hands. He is sitting on the barstool, just across from Jinki’s full bowl of cereal and empty glass.

‘You ask that every day but you know you’ll always get the orange juice,’ Jonghyun retorts, a lilt of amusement hanging in his voice.

As if on cue, Jinki shuts the refrigerator and turns around, bottle of orange juice in hand. Jonghyun watches the older man pour the juice into the glass, overly careful, as he had spilled the contents more than a few times before in his life.

Neither of them says anything now, Jinki diligently digging into his breakfast in silence while Jonghyun looks on with a childish grin on his face, eyes large and sparkling.

Jinki finishes, a little too quickly, much to Jonghyun’s dissatisfaction.

‘You should eat more. You’ve lost too much weight Jinki.’

The words fall on deaf ears, the older man already at the sink, mumbling words about being late as he rinses the glass and bowl and sticks them haphazardly in the dishwasher.

Jonghyun lazily follows Jinki into the bedroom they shared, the taller man already stripping down and hopping into the shower. Jonghyun thinks about following him in just because he can, but decides against it, instead choosing to lazily sprawl out on the bed and wait.

Jinki is out in minutes, stumbling into the cold room with freshly blow-dried hair, slipping on a clean shirt and pressed black pants. “I’m going to be late,” he grumbles to himself when he glances up at the clock.

‘You should have woken up when I told you to,’ Jonghyun informs the rushing man. ‘Then you would have left by now and all of this rush would have been avoided.’

The older man is already at the door, briefcase in tow, shoes halfway on; there is a small part of his neatly combed hair that stood up indignantly at the back and Jonghyun chuckles, instinctively reaching out to fix the soft blonde locks.

He in a breath of shock when his hand slips right through Jinki’s head, suddenly remembering; the view startles him anyway, but Jinki does not even take notice, the apartment door slamming shut behind him with Jonghyun’s translucent arm partially through it.

‘Oh. Right.’

(It’s been three years already but Jonghyun still forgets every time.)

~~

Jonghyun floats calmly next to Jinki despite the morning shock, leaning backwards with his hands laced behind his head and legs crossed, feeling comfortable as he watches his boyfriend with amusement.

‘You have a crumb next to your mouth,’ the ghost notices when Jinki his lips, chapped due to the prevalent wind. Jinki, of course, still does not hear him, which makes the younger sigh.

‘Well, this is absolutely useless,’ he complains, but he smiles when Jinki subconsciously drags the back of his hand over his mouth and wipes away the crumb on accident.

At work, Jinki’s boss yells at him for being late. Jonghyun glares at him and gives him the finger the entire time, telling him to back off. The boss doesn’t notice him either—no one ever does—which frustrates Jonghyun endlessly (but it does not slow him down in the least).

~~

‘Take out for dinner again?’ Jonghyun groans angrily when Jinki receives the hot box of Chinese food. The smile on the older man’s face keeps Jonghyun from berating the dinner further, but he cannot help but feel dissatisfied with Jinki’s unhealthy diet.

‘Just because I can’t cook for you anymore doesn’t mean that this is okay. It’s been three years already—you should have learned to cook by now!’

As if he could hear, Jinki eyes the box forlornly. “Jonghyun would be mad,” he mumbles, walking towards the bus stop.

‘Damn right I am!’ the younger huffs, irritated, trying to ignore the way his heart clenched painfully, and he doesn’t say anything during the ride home (his throat feels mysteriously clogged up; today just wasn’t a good day for either of them).

~~

Jinki accidentally gets off the bus one stop early on instinct, which is sad because this is where Jonghyun used to wait for him after work so they could walk the few blocks back to their apartment together. The older man has not made this mistake in over a year now, and the ghost gazes down at his boyfriend worriedly.

Jinki chuckles sadly, the smile not quite reaching his eyes, and it hurts Jonghyun more than he could ever describe. “Well what do you know,” Jinki sighs, and his lashes are wet with unshed tears, trying not to cry. “Old habits die hard. Dammit, Jjong.”

Jonghyun is nowhere near as strong as Jinki; tears spill down his cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry Jinki.’

The two of them start the long trek back to the apartment together, and fairly distracted, neither noticed the two men heading straight towards them. Jinki runs right into the taller man, successfully sending the both of them sprawling on the floor in a flurry of curse words and flailing limbs. Jinki’s take out box lies broken on the road, fried rice with extra chicken spilled all over the dark gravel, which made him groan sadly. Jonghyun pats his boyfriend’s back―although he is not touching him, not really, but it’s the sentiment that counts―in an attempt to reassure him.

‘Watch where you are going, you !’ the tall guy’s companion, a feline man with darker than black hair and dressed in what looks like a hospital gown (odd fashion choice, in Jonghyun’s opinion), barks at Jinki.

‘Yah! It’s not his fault that this tall freak bumped into him!’ Jonghyun growls back, locking angry eyes with the feline man.

‘Don’t you dare blame Minho for this, he would nev—’ the man stops speaking suddenly, jaw dropping instead as they stare at each other.

It takes the both of them a few minutes to comprehend what just happened.

‘You can see me!’

~~

‘Minho is awfully nice,’ Jonghyun compliments reluctantly (he’s never been fond of tall people), eyes focused on Jinki’s adorable blushing face as he and Minho sit across from each other at a barbeque place nearby.

Kibum, the other ghost, nods proudly with a small smile. ‘There was no way he wouldn’t feel bad about Jinki’s dinner all over the road.’ The feline man eyes Jinki’s face. ‘He’s red as tomato. It’s cute.’

The two ghosts watch in silence as their boyfriends (ex-boyfriends?) awkwardly attempt to make conversation. Minho had dragged Jinki to the nearest restaurant and offered to buy him more takeout, but Jinki refused, accepting only when Minho said he would eat too. The situation was charming to watch, and both Jonghyun and Kibum smiled tenderly; it had been too long since they last saw their lovers look so lively.

‘Car accident,’ Jonghyun unexpectedly says, not looking at the other ghost. ‘I was brain dead for three days before I finally died, and I’ve been following Jinki around for past three years ever since.’

A shared silence passes between the two.

“Is the food okay?” Minho asks Jinki, whose face flushes a deeper shade of red. “You look uncomfortable.”

“The food is great!” the older man reassures, flashing one of his brilliant smiles and catching Minho off guard. “I’m just embarrassed that you’re paying when obviously this was my entire fault.”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Minho argues. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. This is the least I could do.”

They look at each other for a few minutes, sharing awkward eye contact for a few beats before breaking out into laughter.

“I don’t think I properly introduced myself,” Jinki says, his eyes curved into those pretty crescents Jonghyun loved so much. “I’m Lee Jinki.”

Minho returns with a grin, reaching out with his hand to shake. “Choi Minho.”

Kibum smiles tenderly at the scene. ‘I’ve had a weak heart since birth,’ he admits suddenly, responding to Jonghyun’s confession. ‘I wasn’t supposed to live past sixteen.’ His eyes remain locked on the two laughing men eating dinner. ‘We thought it was a miracle… until my heart finally gave up on me at twenty-five. It’s been three years for us, too.’

Jonghyun hums thoughtfully, a sad smile pulling at his lips. ‘Do all ghosts haunt their boyfriends after death?’ he wonders, looking at the younger and hoping Kibum would have an answer; Jonghyun wasn’t sure what he was still doing here when he couldn’t do anything to help Jinki.

He is startled by Kibum’s smile when he finally settles his gaze on Jonghyun. “Not sure. I always assumed that I was still here because Minho needed me to watch over him.” Kibum looks back at the two men at the table, expression tender. “But… I don’t think I really have to worry about that anymore.”

Jonghyun follows his eyes, finally noticing the way Jinki’s expression glowed with life for the first time in a long time; a feeling of comfort and security descends over him, warming his heart and curling his toes.

‘Yeah,’ he murmurs, grin quirking up the corner of his lips, ‘you’re right.’

a/n: just a short thingy.