December 15, 2013

Basically, someone was going to get their face ripped off.

And Luhan wasn't talking about the fact that Kris had woken up after forgetting to set the alarm after spending half the night warming up after the previous day's horrible weather. It wasn't even him who would be doing the face-ripping. It was the fact that, on their way to breakfast, Luhan and Baekhyun had walked in at the exact same time, and the entire kitchen had frozen.

Walking around half wasn't something they were unused to, but it still had Luhan checking himself to make sure that nothing was hanging out where it shouldn't be. Baekhyun had done the same thing, pausing in mid-stride and giving himself and his housemate the once over, checking to see that they hadn't done anything inherently embarrassing.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; they were both mildly presentable to their housemates, so there was no reason for them to be getting those wide-eyed stares and twitching smiles that disappeared the moment they were looked at.

Luhan made to move forward, eager to get a drink of tea. Baekhyun started at the same time, but a cry of “Stop!” made them both stiffen and stop.

Luhan glanced to Baekhyun. Junmyeon pointed.

Then they saw why.

“No.”

“You're not moving until you do it. Come on. I got trapped under it with Chanyeol earlier, it's not that bad.”

“Maybe not for you, but Chanyeol doesn't have morning breath.” Luhan got a glare and an elbow to the side for that comment.

“I do not have morning breath.”

“It's tradition,” Chen argued.

“Traditions can change.”

“So can the number of teeth you have in your mouth, Chen,” Baekhyun grumbled. “How about we make a new tradition called burn the mistletoe?”

“You can,” Kris said, “but you'll still have to kiss under it. And a peck on the cheek does not count. Has to be on the mouth.”

“I hate you,” Luhan whined. “Come on, seriously? He's like a brother to me!”

“Then there shouldn't be a problem with you kissing him,” Kai said. “If you're that comfortable with him, what's the big deal?”

“Sometimes I worry about you, Kai,” Tao said sadly. “Kissing your brother? Now we know where we went wrong all these years.”

“We've only known each other two years!” Kai spat. “And I don't kiss family members on the ing mouth, for your information.”

“With that mouth I should hope not.”

“Don't you two start again,” Xiumin warned. He turned to the two in the doorway. “Luhan, Baekhyun, if you don't kiss, you're not getting any breakfast.”

“That's blackmail!”

“No, that's punishment. It's fair.”

Luhan whimpered. “Kyungsoo...”

Kyungsoo smacked Xiumin with a spatula. “Lay and I make the food. We say who gets to eat, not you.”

“Fine,” Xiumin said. “No coffee or tea. And no cookies.”

You guys are evil, Luhan thought miserably, turning to Baekhyun. They were both conscious of the others watching them intently. Luhan pulled back shyly as Baekhyun leaned towards him and for a moment they both blushed and looked away from each other. Then Baekhyun pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

And a camera flashed.

“This one's going in the album, guys!”

“What- No!”

Luhan and Baekhyun spent most of breakfast trying to wrestle the camera from Sehun.

Afterwards, Kai washed his cup and moved to leave.

“Stop!”

. Kai turned.

“What?”

Tao was beside him, blinking innocently.

Kai paled.

“Oh. Hell. NO.”

Tao's eyes watered. “Don't you love me?”