I'm so sorry this took so long but I've started my senior year of undergrad so I've been really busy moving into my dorm and then getting myself situated with my new schedule and having to get clearance from my advisor to start my thesis added to that, one of my courses requires I turn in a paper almost every week. Ugh... anyways it's finally here. 8)

Thank you so much to all you readers and commenters. Trust me I really enjoy seeing people subscribe to my work and commenting. 8D

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A Winter Miracle – Chapter 5

Seunghyun awoke and just laid there blinking away the fuzziness that was still lingering around his vision. Sitting up he winced but he was grateful that the pain was dulled which meant the meds were still working. Rising from his bed he walked out of his room combing his hair with his fingers. He was slightly taken aback seeing Jiyong still in his home, he glanced at the clock and was really surprised to see how late it was already.

“Hey how you feeling?” Jiyong asked as he caught sight of Seunghyun. “I’m fine…” Seunghyun blinked in slight confusion “…Shouldn’t you have already left?” He watched slightly alarmed as Jiyong sighed and massaged his temples “Mr. Brown called your landline earlier. He told me he wasn’t sure he could make it to pick me up tonight. Apparently some idiot was trying to leave and got in a really bad accident when his car slipped on black ice… anyways he said he’d try to come get me but he wasn’t sure. Besides the white stuff is falling even harder now” Jiyong motioned over to his window where he indeed could see the flurry coming down.

“So I’m sorry if I’m intruding but I’ll get out of your hair as soon as I’m able to” Jiyong continued as he stood and bowed his head slightly. “Don’t worry about it” Seunghyun said as he swallowed, his throat was dry. “Where’s Daesung?” “He’s in the bathroom taking a bath with Seungri. I wasn’t sure if that was allowed so I said to make it quick” Jiyong answered gesturing to the bathroom from his seat on the couch.

“It’s fine” Seunghyun awkwardly said as he turned his eyes away from Jiyong and headed towards the kitchen. He was surprised seeing that it was clean and that someone, Jiyong, had cooked. “You cook?” he asked in astonishment as he peered into the pot. Beef stew.

“Ah... yeah. I live alone so, I kind of had to you know. I hope it’s okay? I was looking through your freezer and saw you had some beef and frozen veggies… figured it’d make a good dinner. Your brother liked it” Jiyong spoke as he approached.

Seunghyun couldn’t help the tightening in his chest. This was a new feeling, no one, no one had ever done what this man is doing now. Sure, he was probably doing it out of guilt but he didn’t think the man would feed his brother, go as far as cleaning his kitchen and making, what looked like the best homemade meal he’s seen in years.

“I… are you hungry?” Jiyong asked from behind him.

“I’ll serve myself it’s…” Seunghyun trailed off as he hissed in pain. He had moved his arm making his shoulder burn with pain.

“Just sit down” Jiyong said as he led Seunghyun to sit before moving over to the cupboards and getting a bowl and glass. He quickly scooped up the stew into the bowl. Seunghyun couldn’t help the way his stomach did a happy dance at the smell of the stew. It smelled heavenly. Jiyong then walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a pitcher of water and poured some into the glass. Grabbing both items he placed them in front of Seunghyun “Enjoy.”

Seunghyun ate ravenously he didn’t know if it was because he was actually hungry or if it was just so good that he couldn’t stop he only stopped to ask for more. The giggle that slipped through Jiyong’s lips distracted him though. That sound was… foreign and so nice to his ears, the only sound he was used to was Daesung and Seungri’s when they were both in the house.

The thought of Daesung was enough to bring his mind back to normal. “How long have the two been in the bath?” Seunghyun asked as he looked at Jiyong who had also served himself a portion. “About fifteen minutes… I think” Jiyong looked at his watch as he chewed his food.

Nodding Seunghyun continued to eat finishing up he leaned back in the chair and breathed in deeply. He quickly stopped when his ribs protested. Hearing the bathroom door Seunghyun was greeted by a pair of happy voices.

“HYUNG!”

The two kids ran over to him although Daesung was mindful of not hurting his brother. “How are you hyung? Feeling better?” Daesung asked as he lightly placed his hand on Seunghyun’s good arm. “I’m okay kiddo. Nothing too bad. I’ll be good as new soon” Seunghyun said as he patted his brother’s head running his fingers through the wet strands. “Have you been good for Jiyong?” he asked the two boys, who nodded in affirmation.

“Hey hyung Jiyong is so pretty, are you going to marry him?” Seungri asked as he crowded a bit closer to Seunghyun his pretty black eyes shining from his permanently dark bags.

Seunghyun couldn’t help the heat that was rising up from his chest and to his face. He looked over at Jiyong and felt marginally better seeing the man blush as well. “No Seungri. I can’t. Me and Jiyong just met yesterday” Seunghyun awkwardly answered the young boy who furrowed his brow in confusion. “But Jiyong can cook. My dad says that a man needs someone who can cook for him. And well Jiyong can cook. He cooks really good” Seungri smiled enthusiastically and then turned his attention to the pink haired man.

“Right Jiyong? You can marry hyung. He’s strong and tall and fixes everything and you can cook for him yummy food!” the boy bounded over and held unto the man’s arm.

Jiyong couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto his face. He pulled the boy onto his lap and held him. “Do you really think I should marry your hyung?” “Yeah!” Jiyong laughed and looked up at Seunghyun, the man’s expression was that of a lost puppy with a blush on his cheeks. “We’ll see” Jiyong smirked tweaking the boy’s nose “Now it’s late so it’s time for bed.”

Seungri wrapped his arms around Jiyong and laid his head on his shoulder. “It’s cold though. I want to sleep with you. You’re warm” Jiyong couldn’t help that blossoming warmth to spread through him at those words. He held the boy close and sat back in the hard wooden chair.

Seunghyun watched as the pink haired man softly rocked Seungri to sleep, like a baby. He couldn’t blame Seungri though, Jiyong had that aura around him and the poor boy had probably never gotten so much affection before. With a serene smile he held Daesung with his good arm as the boy had also climbed onto his lap.

The men’s food lay forgotten on the table as the two held the boys until they fell asleep heads softly nestled against shoulders.

“Where do they sleep?” Jiyong asked as he moved his head to check that the boy was actually asleep. “The last bedroom on the right” Seunghyun answered as he watched the pink haired man rise from the chair with the boy in his arms. “I’ll be back for Daesung” Jiyong said as he walked past and down the short hallway to Daesung’s bedroom. He pulled the blanket back one handed and carefully laid the sleeping boy down and quickly left to grab the other one.

Jiyong carefully covered the two with the blankets on the bed and made sure they were actually asleep before he turned to leave the room. He stopped seeing Seunghyun watching him from the doorway. The two nodded to each other and walked out, Seunghyun closing the door softly.

Seunghyun sat down and continued to eat his now cold stew but he wasn’t going to waste food. Finishing he turned to look for Jiyong. He pulled back quickly when he was face to face with the comely face of his visitor.

“Did you like it?” Jiyong asked as he gestured to the now empty bowl. “Yes thank you it’s been a long while since… since someone’s cooked for me” Seunghyun nodded as he avoided looking at Jiyong.

Jiyong smiled and picked up their plates. Settling them in the sink he perused through the cabinets until he found what he was looking for. “Do you need any help?” Seunghyun asked as he watched the pink haired man walk around his kitchen like it was his own. “Nope. I got it” Jiyong denied as he took the container and walked over to the pot and proceeded to empty the hearty contents into it before covering it with a lid and putting it in the refrigerator “We can have this for lunch tomorrow.”

Seunghyun stared in slight fascination as Jiyong went about cleaning the dishes he had used to cook and then clean the counter top and stove. “There, all done” Jiyong smiled as he hung the towel on the handle of the stove.

“So you ready to go to bed? Or do you want to watch some TV first?” Jiyong asked finally turning his attention to the injured man sitting at the table. “TV is fine. I need to find out how bad the weather is gonna be tomorrow” Seunghyun spoke softly as he stood and made his way to the couch. Jiyong followed and sat on the opposite end of the couch, watching the man.

He was injured but Jiyong could see how strong he was, both physically and emotionally. There wasn’t ever a time since he had been here that he had seen any kind of vulnerability from the man, perhaps a glimpse when they had been outside talking earlier in the day but beyond that he was like a solid rock, unmoving. The fact that the man was truly handsome had not escaped him. Seunghyun was just his type, tall, strong on both accounts and he was something else completely.

Instead of watching the news that Seunghyun had turned to he studied the man. His profile was just breathtaking, that jawline kept drawing his eyes to it, and for a few brief seconds he imagined what it would feel like to drag his lips along it. Biting his lip he quickly turned his gaze to the news where they were currently talking about the bad winter storm that had affected a better part of the US.

As he stared at the TV Jiyong drifted off his eyes closing and his head falling to the side as he dozed off.

Seunghyun was not an idiot. He had felt the other man staring at him from time to time while they sat on the couch and watched TV. He looked over and studied the man that was now sleeping. He was truly pretty like Seungri had said. That kid needed a filter, Seunghyun thought as he looked over at Jiyong. Turning off the TV Seunghyun sat back and breathed slowly so his ribs wouldn’t protest as hard.

He couldn’t let Jiyong sleep on his lumpy old couch. The only other option was his parent’s bedroom. He couldn’t do it, he had promised himself that he would never let anyone into his parent’s room. He looked at Jiyong who was moving around, probably trying to find a better position, he thought as he looked at him. He could offer his own bedroom but it was not feasible to ask Jiyong to sleep in such a small room.

“Why did you have to show up?” he asked softly as he leaned closer to move a pink strand from the man’s face. “Jiyong” he spoke louder as he touched the man softly. “Hmm?” he pink haired man slowly opened an eye.

“Come on let’s get some sleep” Seunghyun suggested as he stood from the couch. Jiyong nodded as he covered a yawn with his hand. Jiyong rose and walked with Seunghyun to hall where he reached over and turned off the lights for both the kitchen and living room.

“You can sleep in my room” Seunghyun said as he looked at Jiyong “No” Jiyong shook his head as he looked at Seunghyun “You’re injured Seunghyun. You have bruised ribs and a dislocated shoulder, I’ll sleep on your couch.” Seunghyun couldn’t open his mouth before Jiyong stopped next to the one door he had never opened.

“Can I ask what this room is?” Jiyong asked as he gestured to the door. “It’s my parent’s room” Seunghyun answered softly, he reached around Jiyong and opened the door.

“I’m not trying to pry but you can sleep in here can’t you? It’s a bigger room, bigger bed…” Jiyong trailed off seeing the man next to him look into the room.

Seunghyun slowly entered the room and looked around. It was dusty. He really needed to clean it maybe when the weather was better he could open the window and let the some fresh air into the room.

“Seunghyun?” Jiyong spoke softly as he entered the room “Hey are you okay?”

“I… I’m fine sorry” Seunghyun shook his head to clear his head from unwanted memories.

“I’m not trying to shrink you or anything but I’m pretty sure your parents won’t mind if you sleep in their bed while you’re injured and there’s an ice storm outside” Jiyong spoke as he gently guided Seunghyun towards the bed, giving the man ample time to say no and leave the room. Seunghyun sat heavily on the bed and looked at the two pillows and then at Jiyong who was pensively standing in front of him.

“You’re right” he conceded he watched as Jiyong smiled and nodded. “Are you okay to sleep without the pain meds? I can bring them to you if you want?” “Yeah sure although I could use some more of that icy-hot stuff” Seunghyun answered.

Nodding Jiyong left the room and went to man’s room and gathering the bag he had put everything in, with bag in hand he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Walking back into the room he took out the tube of ointment and the lamp on the side table. “Here” he opened the pill bottle and handed the one pull the man and then watched him as he drank the pill down with the water. “Hey… um… come on lift your shirt” Jiyong murmured as he reached for the hem of the loose t-shirt Seunghyun was wearing.

With a little hesitation Seunghyun raised the garment as far as he could before he swallowed his pride and asked Jiyong to help him. With the help of the pink haired man he closed his eyes as Jiyong undid the bandage around his torso and then reached over to the tube to pour some of the medicated ointment on his hand. 

He carefully massaged it into the man’s skin, the smell tickling his nose. He moved from the man’s shoulder to his ribs adding more of the ointment when he felt Seunghyun tense under his soft touch. “There all done. Now let’s wait a bit so that it takes effect then I’ll wrap you back up so you don’t hurt yourself in your sleep” Jiyong said as he wiped his hands on a towel.

“Jiyong?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you here?” Seunghyun asked as he looked at the pink haired man who had sat down on the floor hugging his knees.

Jiyong blinked in slight confusion before he answered “I’m here to help you.” “You don’t have to be here you know. You could’ve just stayed in town and wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with me and being stuck here in an ice storm” Seunghyun spoke as he studied Jiyong’s face.

“Listen I told you earlier in the day, I don’t pity you, if I pitied you I would have written you a check and just been on my way” Jiyong picked at his nails “I would hear everyone talk about you. Your friend’s wife, Daesung’s teacher, the woman at the diner, the older police man and his wife, everyone had something good and nice to say about you. To think that because of me you wouldn’t be able to work and support your family. Mr. Brown he spoke to me early this morning, before coming here, telling me to get my straight because he knew I wasn’t a bad person but just needed to get my priorities straight.”

Jiyong sighed and lay back on the floor staring up at the ceiling “I’m an editor, I was supposed to meet up with my partner to speak to the author about a book in Dallas. I was driving since it’s not that bad of a drive… usually anyway, and Youngbae was gonna fly into Dallas from Las Vegas since he had another meeting. I didn’t mean to come off as an arrogant piece of who has money. The only reason I have money is because I managed to be on a team that published some best sellers. I really am sorry you know. I should have just pulled over and asked for a map or directions but I was being stubborn and only wanting to use my GPS that decided to crap out on me.”

Seunghyun was taken by surprise as the man spilled his story to him. He wasn’t sure how to respond and his treacherous mind was very much taken in by how beautiful the man looked laying on the floor the pink hair fanned out on the dark wooden floors. Shaking his head Seunghyun lay down and stared up at the ceiling. He turned carefully unto his side and looked to man who hadn’t moved yet.

“Jiyong?”

“Hmm?”

“Com’ere.”

Jiyong rose from the floor and walked over to Seunghyun. He blinked as the man wrapped his fingers around his hand. “Seunghyun are you okay?” he softly asked as he leaned close. “I think the meds are taking effect now” Seunghyun said softly, nodding Jiyong reached over to bandages he had left on the bedside table and helped the man sit up once more.

Once more Seunghyun felt that tendril of distinct warmth inside him as he felt Jiyong’s hands skim his skin lightly as he wrapped the bandages tightly around him. When Jiyong was done he breathed a soft sigh of relief and once more lay down.

“You can probably ignore what I’m about to say but I just… you’re so pretty. Seungri was right you know, for a little kid. You’re beautiful Jiyong and I really do appreciate that you’re here helping me. If at all watching the two rascals as I sleep because of the pain meds and… making them food. Thank you.”

“Shh-shh go to sleep” Jiyong said softly as he caressed a smooth cheek “It’s alright close your eyes and sleep.” Jiyong sat beside Seunghyun running his fingers down his cheek and through his hair until he felt the man breathing deeply.

Carefully Jiyong pulled the blanket from under the sleeping man and covered him with it.

“Thank you Seunghyun, really” he whispered close to his ear before placing a soft kiss on his forehead. Pulling away he caressed the man’s cheek once more before walking out of the room. Leaving the door open Jiyong walked over to the bedroom where the boys were sleeping and checked on them. Satisfied seeing the two snuggled together and sleeping he walked to Seunghyun’s bedroom and the light.

Taking off his sweater he then proceeded to take his boots and socks off and putting them to the side of the door. Getting as comfortable as he could without taking off his pants he turned off the light and climbed into bed. Breathing in deeply he could smell the minty smell of the icy-hot but under that he could smell something else, something distinctly Seunghyun. Smiling he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the pillow letting sleep draw him in.  

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Comments?

Yes there is progress! 8D Until next time!