“I know you’re miserable.”

Shownu turned to look at Kihyun who had just walked up to stand beside him. Shownu was hiding out by the bar, watching everyone chat and dance. He was probably meant to be doing the same, showing off his leadership skills for the company guys, the other Starship groups.

That’s what this Christmas party was really meant to be. The company held it under the guise of a celebratory get together for their acts, a relaxing time to enjoy the season.

Shownu despised every second of it.

He hated parties, hated being forced into socializing with people that he had never met, and would likely never see again.

“I’m fine,” he told Kihyun, despite the younger man being completely accurate in his assessment.

“Liar.” Kihyun chuckled, and Shownu tried not to stare at the dimples that formed under his eyes, or the way said eyes sparkled when a smile lingered after the chuckling sound was gone.

“You certainly didn’t look miserable out there,” Shownu told him. He had been watching Kihyun all night. The younger man was a born schmoozer. He would laugh and talk with anyone from company big wigs to fans to a random street vendor. He was so good at the talking, working the crowds, and the company. Shownu often wondered why Kihyun wasn’t chosen as leader. His age, he assumed, was the only thing that won him the position.

“Eh,” Kihyun mumbled, turning to the bar. The hired bartenders were at the far end chatting amongst themselves. Kihyun swiped a bottle of water, and quickly twisted the cap. The room was packed with people, all huddled together, many of them dancing. It made for a steamy room. He chugged down half of the bottle, and then offered it to Shownu.

Shownu lifted one of his hands from where his arms were crossed over his chest, and waved him off. “I had a bottle of my own a bit ago.”

Kihyun nodde, and took another swig before twisting the cap back onto the bottle. “Honestly,” he said, in response to Shownu’s previous comment. “I’m not really having a good time.”

“I saw you laughing and talking to everyone.”

Kihyun laughed loudly, making Shownu jump slightly. He glanced at him, chuckled a little, and stared down at the floor.

“Were you stalking me, leader hyung?”

“No!” Shownu insisted too quickly.

That only made Kihyun laugh louder. This time, he punctuated his laughter by slapping Shownu’s arm. “Lighten up, hyung.”

The comment, physical contact, and Kihyun’s raucous laughter had the opposite effect on Shownu. His arms tightened over his chest, shoulders tensed.

Kihyun nudged his arm, and then busied himself with another drink. His bottle was almost empty. He hadn’t realized how thirst he was. “Honestly, I’m not really having a good time,” he told Shownu again.

“How do you look like you are then?”

“Ah, I know when to put on a smile, and laugh.” Kihyun polished off his bottle of water, and tossed it into the bin behind the bar. “Let’s get out of here.”

“What?” Shownu turned to him, brow furrowed.

“Let’s leave. There are so many people here that no one will notice. Everyone has had quite a bit of Soju at this point anyway. They won’t notice or care.”

“Where will we go? To the dorm?”

Kihyun made a face. “You think I’m going to escape this party just to go back to the dorm?”

Shownu blushed, feeling foolish.

“Let’s go get some ice cream or something.”

Shownu started to protest, but Kihyun’s slender fingers wrapped around his wrist before he could even open his mouth, and he was being tugged out of the room.

“It’s freezing,” Kihyun said, blowing on his hands as the duo walked down the sidewalk, side by side.

“Why aren’t you wearing gloves?” Shownu asked, looking over at the smaller man beside him.

Kihyun bounced as he walked to warm himself. “Forgot them,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

Shownu stripped his fingerless glove/mittens off his hands, and handed them to Kihyun. “Wear these.”

“Ah, hyung, now your hands will freeze.”

Shownu shook his head. “I’m always warm.”

Kihyun pulled the gloves on, feeling the remaining heat from Shownu’s hands. “Wah! You are warm! These are like little ovens on my hands! I feel like I’m baking my hands for dinner!”

Shownu chuckled. What a silly thing to say, but somehow so Kihyun.

Kihyun’s stomach rumbled at the mention of dinner. “Yah! Did you hear that? My stomach wants food, I think!”

“Are you sure that you want to go for ice cream in this cold weather? Should we get something to eat, food?”

“I want ice cream,” Kihyun said, looking up with a pout on his perfect lips.

Shownu nodded, and looked away from him.

“Unless you really want food,” Kihyun said. “We can get dinner instead, if you really want it.”

“Ice cream is fine. I haven’t had an ice cream since the last time I went out with Jooheon.”

“You spoil him,” Kihyun said with a laugh. “He told me that you get an ice cream every time you go out. He tried to guilt me, because I wouldn’t buy him an ice cream.”

Shownu laughed. “I guess that’s what appa is for.”

Kihyun grinned, and shook his head. “And umma is made to be the bad guy. Oh, great.”

“It depends on the kid you ask. Changkyun would never say you’re the bad guy.”

“You think I spoil him?”

“No, but you spend the most time with him.”

“Ah, it’s like we have favorite children.”

Shownu blushed. He loved thinking of them as the parents to the kids, a family. It helped him when he missed his own family. Or at least that’s what he told himself when it was late, and his mind started to wonder if he didn’t like to think of himself as Kihyun’s partner for other reasons.

“What about here?” Kihyun grabbed Shownu’s arm to stop him walking, and gestured to a little café on the corner. “I bet they have ice cream, and food. We can both have what we want.”

“I’ll have ice cream,” Shownu said as Kihyun dragged him into café.

“Are you really going to be able to finish all of that?” Shownu asked, staring down the giant soft ice cream cone that Kihyun had in his hand as they sat at a table in the far back corner of the deserted café.

“It’s delicious!” Kihyun said, closing his mouth over the first few inches of the massive chocolate and vanilla ice cream tower. “Want to try some?” he asked, offering the cone to Shownu.

“No. I’m fine with this.” He raised his ice cream bar on a stick. Chocolate ice cream covered in a thin hard chocolate layer, toffee bits, and sweet little crunchy bits.

“That’s a boring ice cream,” Kihyun teased as he wolfed his down.

“You’re going to get a brain freeze,” Shownu warned.

Kihyun shook his head. “I have never gotten a brain freeze once in my life.”

“Hyuuung,” Kihyun whined when he’d finished his cone five minutes later. Shownu was only halfway through his ice cream, taking his time with it to savor the flavor. He loved ice cream.

“I warned you,” Shownu said.

“It’s not brain freeze,” Kihyun moaned. “My chest hurts.”

“That’s like brain freeze only in your chest instead of your head. You ate too fast. Not even the kids are like this.”

“Don’t tease me. I’m dying.” Kihyun laid over in the booth, clutching his chest. “These might be my last minutes on Earth, and you’re thinking of the children.”

“Well, if their mother is dying, I probably should be thinking of them.”

“You’re still teasing!” Kihyun kicked him under the table.

Shownu laughed, but rubbed his aching knee. “You’re not dying. You’ll be fine in a couple of minutes.” Shownu at his melting ice cream, held together only by its chocolate coating.

A moment later, Kihyun sat up again. “It hurts less,” he said, rubbing his chest just below his collarbone.

Shownu watched him. When he rubbed his chest, his dress shirt – the first two buttons undone – shifted, revealing his collarbone. Shownu gulped, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Don’t stare at me like that!” Kihyun snapped.

“Huh? Like what?” Shownu jumped, his cheeks as red as the cherry on top of the sundae in the painting on the wall beside them.

“Like you’re judging me for being an idiot who ate his ice cream too fast.”

“I… Oh, I wasn’t.”

“Liar.”

Shownu stared at his ice cream as he quickly finished the remaining few bites. He disposed of the stick in a tiny little trash bin on the far edge of their table near the window that was meant for such things.

“You have ice cream around your mouth,” Kihyun commented when he looked back at him.

“What?”

“You have ice cream and chocolate by your lip.”

Shownu wiped a finger over the left side of his mouth where he could feel something sticky and cold.

“You didn’t get it all.”

“Oh.” He swiped the same spot again, and a little further down. “Did I get it?”

“No. It’s…”

Shownu tried again, only to fail.

Kihyun huffed, and stood up a little. He leaned across the table, and swiped a finger over the top of Shownu’s upper lip, near the corner of his mouth.

Shownu watched as he sat down, and proceeded to stick the tip of his index finger into his mouth to the chocolate off.

Shownu crossed his legs under the table, and shifted again.

“Mmm, that’s good. I want one of those,” Kihyun said, making a spectacle of his finger that was surely clean of any chocolate by that point.

“Do you…” Shownu’s voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “Do you think you need it?”

“Who really needs ice cream? Of course, I don’t need it. I want it. Do you want another? I’m gonna get one. It’s a nice to be decadent, I think.”

“Ki, I don’t think.”

“Come on, hyung. Live a little!”

Shownu blushed at the pout on Kihyun’s face. Finally, he nodded. Kihyun could probably convince him to rob the president of South Korea, if he put his mind to it. “Just a small scoop of chocolate this time though.”

Kihyun laughed and clapped his hands together. “I knew I could get you to join me!”

Kihyun ran off to get the ice cream, and returned with a grin, and one hand behind his back.

Shownu looked up at him. “What have you done?” he asked when he saw only the ice cream Kihyun ordered in his left hand, and no chocolate for him.

Kihyun whipped his hand around in a flourish. “I got a cherry on top for you! Isn’t it cute?!”

Shownu’s cheeks blushed redder than the little cherry as Kihyun placed the small cup of ice cream in front of him. “You like cherries, right, hyung?”

Shownu stared at the ice cream, and then glanced up at Kihyun, nodding quickly.

“Well, eat it then, hyung.” Kihyun reached over, and plucked the cherry from the top of Shownu’s chocolate ice cream. “Don’t you want to?” he asked, dangling the cherry in front of Kihyun’s face. “Ooh, it’s dripping ice cream.” Kihyun leaned forward and swiped his tongue over the bottom of the cherry to remove the melted chocolate ice cream from it.

“Ah, that’s tasty!” Here. Eat your cherry, hyung!” Kihyun held the cherry stem closer to the fruit, so it would stop swinging, and held it to Shownu’s mouth.

Shownu did as he was told, just as he always did when Kihyun was the one doing the telling. When his mouth closed around the plump red cherry, his lips brushed the tips of Kihyun’s fingers.

Kihyun’s eyes widened slightly, and said, “Hyung…”

Shownu pulled away as Kihyun lowered his hand. “Sorry…”

Kihyun just laughed, and set about eating his ice cream bar.

Shownu watched him intently as he wolfed down the ice cream as quickly as he had the previous cone.

When Kihyun spotted him staring, he narrowed his eyes and lowered his ice cream. “Don’t judge me. It’s too good to eat slowly!”

“You’re going to get a freeze again, and tell me you’re dying.”

“Won’t you save me, hyung?” Kihyun asked, batting his eyelashes at the leader.

Shownu bit his bottom lip.

“Ah, you wouldn’t save me.” Kihyun pouted and took the last large piece of his ice cream bar from stick into his mouth.

Shownu smiled at him. “Now, you have ice cream on your mouth,” he told him.

“These are messy,” Kihyun said, his lips.

“You didn’t get it.”

“Well, you get it! I can’t see it.”

“It’s right on the corner.”

Kihyun flicked his tongue over the opposite corner.

“The other one…”

“Hyuuung,” Kihyun whined.

Shownu signed, and leaned forward to wipe the chocolate away from the corner of Kihyun’s mouth with a napkin.

Kihyun frowned. “Hyung is no fun,” he muttered, leaning up to drop the stick from his ice cream bar into the little bin.

Shownu arched his brow, wondering what that was supposed to mean. Deciding not to dwell on it, he looked down at his ice cream, prepared to take a bite. “What am I supposed to eat this with?” he asked, looking back up at Kihyun. “There’s no spoon.”

“Eat it with your hands.”

“You can’t eat ice cream like this with your hands,” Shownu protested.

“Like this.” Kihyun picked up Shownu’s small bowl, and shoved it toward his face.

Shownu sputtered, and jerked backward. His lips and nose were spotted with cold, chocolate ice cream. Kihyun wailed with laughter at the look on his leader’s face.

“Kihyun!”

Kihyun continued to laugh. “Oh, hyung. You look ridiculous.”

“This is not funny! Why would you?”

“Oh, because you’re being so serious and uptight all the time.” Kihyun frowned and placed the ice cream back onto the table. Then, he stood, and walked over to sit beside Shownu in his booth.

“What are you doing now?” Shownu asked, reaching for a napkin to wipe his face.

“I came to help,” Kihyun said snatching the paper towel from Shownu’s hand.

“You haven’t done much to help so far.”

“Shush, hyung.” Kihyun used the napkin to wipe Shownu’s nose, and then swiped his finger over the chocolate covering Shownu’s top lip. “Shame to waste it,” he said, staring into the older man’s eyes.

Shownu gulped. He had been too bothered to realize how closely to him Kihyun was now seated.

“You want it… hyung?” Kihyun blinked slowly, staring intently at Shownu as he pressed the tip of his finger to Shownu’s lips.

Shownu’s eyes shot wide open, and he leaned back a little. “Uh, no, no,” he sputtered.

Was Kihyun really suggesting that he ice cream from his finger?!

Kihyun frowned, and stuck his finger into his own mouth. “Fine,” he said with a pout.

Shownu quickly his lips to avoid any further… whatever it was that was going on between the two of them.

“Hyung…” Kihyun crossed his arms over his chest.

“What?”

“Why are you acting like this?” Kihyun asked softly.

“Acting like what? You’re the one that smashed ice cream on my face!”

“Because you’re acting stupid with me.”

“Stupid?!”

“Yes!” Kihyun turned toward him, pulling his right leg up between them in the booth. “I see the way you look at me, Hyunwoo! You think I don’t notice the way your eyes follow me everywhere, and the way you stare when my chest is exposed. I see all of that! And then when I try to give you opportunities to make a move on me, you just sit there, and wipe your mouth!”

Shownu’s jaw drops. He can barely think straight, let alone speak to reply.

“And now you’ll just sit there with your stupid mouth hanging open!”

“Kihyun… I…”

“I thought maybe finally if I dragged you away from everyone, sat you in the back corner of this empty place so close to Christmas! I thought maybe you’d finally…”

Shownu leaned forward, and covered Kihyun’s lips with his, more to shut him up than anything. He pulled away after just a few seconds.

Kihyun was stunned for a moment, but then a grin spread over his face, and he stared down at his lap. “I knew you wanted to kiss me.”

“I didn’t know that you wanted to kiss me,” Shownu admitted quietly.

“I didn’t. I just wanted to prove to everyone that you wanted to kiss me. Now I can tell Hoseok. I won the bet.”

Shownu’s stomach churned, and her head jerked toward Kihyun. “What?”

Kihyun looked up at him, laughing loudly. “Oh, hyung! You’re too gullible.” He laughed loudly, slapping his leg.

Shownu shoved his knee away fron him. “Don’t joke. That’s not funny. You’re not funny, Kihyun. I can’t believe...”

Kihyun stole the chance to silence Shownu with a kiss. “Shush, hyung…” he whispered against his lips.

Shownu pressed his forehead to Kihyun’s, but Kihyun pulled away after only another moment. “Let’s get out of here,” Shownu said, taking him by the hand. “Someone might see us.”

“There’s no one here.”

“There are employees.”

“The old man and old lady?”

“Let’s go back to the dorm…”

“Alright. But what about your ice cream?”

“I didn’t really want it to begin with. You forced it on me.”

“I’ll eat it.”

“Kihyun, you’re going to explode if you eat another bite.”

“We can't waste it.”

Shownu dropped his hand, and grabbed the small cup. The ice cream had melted nearly entire. He drank it down like a thick chocolate milk. “There. Gone. Let’s go.”

“Hyung… You’re not trying to get me alone and take advantage of me, are you? I’m a very innocent young man.” Kihyun batted his eyelashes at him again.

“Yeah, right. your fingers all night. You’re so innocent.”

Kihyun howled with laughter as he stood up from the booth.

Shownu put his paper cup into the little bin, and followed him out of the booth seat. “I can’t believe you,” he muttered, shaking his head at Kihyun.

“Ah, you loved every second of it, you ert.”

Blushing, Shownu shushed him. “I am not!”

Kihyun looped his arm with his and said, “We’ll see about that…”