For yeahiknow9321

From Secret Santa

Prompt: GazettE - Last Heaven

Pairing: Yeoljong

Snow falls, time goes

He could ruin everything.

Lee Sungyeol was sure he could mess everything up. Everything, starting from the group dynamics.

It's frustrating just thinking about it.

Letting out another groan, he slammed his open drawer for the millionth time. 

"The drawer's sorry for whatever it did, it really is." A voice laced with sarcasm rang out.

"What?" Sungyeol asked as he turned to face Hoya, who was sitting silently at the corner, eating a somewhat familiar looking piece of bread.

An amused grin crept to Hoya's lips as he continued, "I said, the drawer's sorry for offending you." Frowning, Sungyeol stood up to leave. "Not funny." Thinking again, Sungyeol turned to scrutinize the half eaten bread. 

"What? Get your own." 

Breaking out into a smile as he seemingly forgot all thoughts from before, Sungyeol turned to walk away. "You get your own. That's Dongwoo's. He had woken up early in the morning to buy that from his favourite store and decided to leave it till night to eat it. Good luck!" Making sure to slow down his pace, Sungyeol happily listened to the flustered footsteps towards the manager in the kitchen before making his way into his room. 

Another voice startled him just as he landed on his bed. "Myungsoo!" It was obvious that the leader was here. And that he was in one of his moods.

"Use your own shampoo when you come showering in our dorm! Mine's all out!"  Sungyeol listened closely as another door opened with a small squeaky creak.

"Hyung, Myungsoo hyung hasn't returned from his schedule." That definitely was Sungjong.  "But hyung just returned with the car..." Without finishing, the sound of footsteps could once again be heard as they went past his room towards the front door. 

Immediately, Sungyeol smiled. The members' squabbles were great sources of entertainment most of the time. He definitely had to see this one.

Rushing out to the front door, he stopped midway as the maknae called out to him.

"Where are you going, hyung?" 

It's so gentle and warm, albeit casual, that Sungyeol felt like melting right there on the spot regardless of the cold winter outside. 

"Downstairs, to the other dorm." Sungyeol replied, face twitching as he realized his voice might just have cracked. 

*

It was the right choice to have went down.

Munching on a bar of chocolate that he had found in the refrigerator, Sungyeol strolled into the lift. The lift doors opened with the usual sound of metal grinding against metal as it reached, and with eyes still focused and hands struggling with the stubborn piece of chocolate in front of him, Sungyeol continued walking straight towards their dorm- Only to be stopped midway again as he bumped into something, or rather someone. 

Lifting his head, he was met with an all too familiar pair of eyes, and well, an all too familiar face. It's not till a few seconds later than did he realize that the face, no, person, in front of him was laughing, and that his own face was, in fact, burning up.

"Hyung, I'm Sungjong!" The person said between fits of laughter. 

Well, of course Sungyeol knew this person in front of him was Lee Sungjong. Because who else could have such perfect eyes, nose, lips-

On a second thought, Sungyeol needed to stop thinking. And stop listening to songs on repeat all day.

"Where are you going?" He asked instead, because really, these thoughts were still running wild in his head.

"To ensure that Dongwoo hyung wouldn't cry and die of hunger."

And another thought lodged itself in his mind: Lee Howon needed to stop asking people to run his errands for him. "Then where's hyung?" 

Swinging the car keys in one hand, Sungjong stepped into the lift. "I can drive now, remember?" As the lift doors closed, Sungyeol walked back towards the dorm numbly. The memory of not passing his road test slightly hurt.

*

The noise, made up of laughter and screams and shouts, engulfed him that night. 

He didn't ever want that to end. It signified something, a special bond between the seven of them. They were infinite, limitless and eternal. Together, till the end, they had agreed. Sungyeol never wanted anything that could destroy this bond. And yet, his stupid heart had to go falling for someone he shouldn't had. Because this noise could disappear. It could go silent, replaced by tension. It wouldn't be the kind of tension when they were serious. That tension would stay, on and on, added to that, the awkwardness that ensued and Sungjong's response... Sungyeol didn't dare think any further. 

Flipping himself around to lie on his stomach, Sungyeol buried himself in his pillow. It smelled like the clothes he had left for days, constantly switching its place from the floor to his bed. He bet Sungjong's smelled like him, all flower scented shampoo and freshness. 

Smacking himself on the head, he groaned. He had to stop. Sungyeol had daydreamed enough about how the younger could respond. It made him happy at times. But then again, daydreams were just merely dreams. 

Go to sleep. Sleep, you stupid daydreamer. Sleep and teach your stupid heart something. Sungyeol didn't really like himself at times. Not one bit. 

*

He woke up to a world blanketed in snow. 

Morning has arrived, but it was still slightly dark out. Wondering if the other members were awake, he stumbled out of his room. The sight that greeted him left him slightly confused. All six of the members but him were dressed to go, and two were already waiting at the door.

Well, not six. Make that four.  

Sungyeol watched amusedly as Dongwoo crashed into a sleepy looking Myungsoo who seemingly woke up with a painful screech.

"Get dressed, Sungyeol." The leader's grumpy, morning voice shook him out of his thoughts.

Still puzzled, he asked, "Where are we going?" 

"We have a morning schedule, remember?" Sunggyu's voice had softened. Sungyeol had a feeling the leader had forgotten about this strange schedule as well. 

He didn't ever remember being told that there was a schedule that morning. But there was no way he was admitting that he had forgotten by asking what the schedule was. 

"Oh yeah." 

Quickly returning to his room, he threw on a simple sweater from the day before and a pair of long jeans. They were most likely going for a radio show, seeing how they weren't promoting any songs at the moment.

"Let's go!" The maknae's voice rang out cheerfully amidst the silent dorm.  

Strange.

Sungjong never was one for mornings. None of them were.

Things became more puzzling when they enter the lift. Apparently, majority of the members were too busy on their phones or trying to keep their eyes open as Sungyeol noted with great curiosity as Sungjong pressed the button for the ground floor. Will they be walking there today?

As they reached the ground floor, Sungyeol kept his eyes fixed on the members. Some of them definitely looked confused, and others looked, as usual, too sleepy to care. Treading through the snow, he took in the sight with slight delight. The snow was just right, not too dry, not too wet. His shoes would be kept just fine. 

A sudden shriek pierced the air, making Sungyeol jump. 

"Yah, what do you think you're doing?" Sunggyu agitatedly shouted as he swept his head.  The next thing Sungyeol felt was a thrilling cold on his neck. Turning around, he found a laughing Sungjong merrily skipping in circles.

There was fresh snow on his back now, slowly slumping down.

"Lee Sungjong!" Woohyun was picking up snow and forming small snowballs in his hands.

Sungyeol watched on as he raced towards the youngest who took off immediately. 

Gleeful laughter and shouts followed, and Sungyeol turned to see the joyful dinosaur digging into the snow and carving a gigantic ball. 

That could be a snowman's head, Sungyeol subconsciously thought.

Another shout. "Snowball fight!" Sungyeol could tell Dongwoo was getting excited. 

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Sunggyu was squatting down now, his arms firmly on his knees as he hid his face. All the while, the visual chortled as he continued hitting the leader with a magical pile of snowballs which seemingly came out of nowhere.

A smack. Sungyeol shuddered as the cold stung through his clothes. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the attacker. 

Grabbing a fistful of snow before patting it into shape, Sungyeol rushed towards his newfound target. 

"Lee Sungjong, come back here!" He shouted as he ran wildly, zigzagging across the snow in pursuit of the younger.

His natural long legs did help after all as he caught up soon after, and with one arm slung over the  other's shoulder, Sungyeol successfully landed the snowball on his target's head.

"Ouch!" Sungyeol cried out as he felt another ball of snow hit his back. The younger had been prepared.

"Bend down!" Sungjong commanded.

Following the younger's actions immediately, Sungyeol turned his head to see the pile of snow lying dead behind them. Turning around once more, he realized that they had ran to the children's playground. It was the perfect hiding spot. 

"Watch." Sungjong whispered softly with a soft giggle. 

 Sungyeol's eyes shifted as he gazed at the winter wonderland in front of them. The members were all playfully running around. A warm tingling feeling made its way up to his cheeks, and Sungyeol smiled. His smile widened as a clumsy Dongwoo fell flat into the snow, only to be hit on his head with another snowball. He watched on as the other members laughed, and continued the snowball fight. He really did love this. It mustn't ever end. 

But when Sungyeol turned, only to see the younger's beaming face, he wondered briefly about the what ifs. What if everything worked out? What if the members were okay with it? What if he said yes? 

It was hard to imagine it could ever be real though. He hoped too much most of the time. But then again, what if he could just try once? Where no one could see them? He still had his arm slung around Sungjong. It was almost always there. He loved the gesture, and he loved the fact that Sungjong never once pushed him away. 

Well, at least not till I tell him about it.

Sungyeol hated his negativity. Another thought then occurred to him as he scanned his surroundings.

How about now?

He could try, just say it, although he would have to calm his racing heart and prevent himself from doing anything stupid. Or, he could just pull Sungjong in with his arm, and...

No. Oh no no no. What was he thinking? 

The urge to smack himself on the face was too strong to resist. Without knowing it, Sungyeol had removed his left arm from the younger's warm shoulders and gave himself a satisfying slap.

And at the same time, had also unknowingly gained Sungjong's attention.

Sungyeol could never dream of this. He was staring, staring so very closer at the most beautiful pair of eyes in the world. They were a glossy black, pulling Sungyeol in as he sees the swirl of colours reflected. His heart though, was extremely distracting. Pounding and pounding so rapidly, Sungyeol felt, a bit childishly, that his heart was trying to kill him. His face was burning up now as the younger continued staring. And no way, his palms were sweating buckets. Was it really winter? Just about to choke out his key to escaping, a strong arm found its way across his shoulders and before he knew it, Sungyeol was pulled in and- oh.

Sungyeol could feel the smoothness of his lips, accompanied by the distinct taste of cherry lip balm. His breath was warm and sweet, and Sungyeol found himself slowly closing his eyes. He's almost sure he's in heaven, until he heard the sound of footsteps crunching through the snow nearby.

Immediately, Sungyeol pulled away.

"Where's Lee Sungjong?" That definitely was Nam Woohyun.

"Supposedly putting his great plan into action."  What? What plan? Was that Hoya?

He turned to face the younger, and was greeted with a smile. Or rather abandoned as he watched Sungjong running away after launching a snowball at the back of Woohyun's head.

Maybe hoping wasn't all that bad.