Chapter 10 : Océan de fraîcheur

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Warning : there is a mention of ual in this chapter. it is not an actual scene, but a slight talk about having . be careful if it makes you uncomfortable or if you can't read this kind of things atm. thanks.

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Jongin breathed in slowly, squirming under the sheets. He faintly noticed that his movements were restricted, but his mind was already lulling back to sleep. Something shifted next to him and for a second, he thought it was Monggu. It made him open one tired eye, but he shut it right away with a pout. He absentmindedly came closer to that warmness resting under his arm.

"Stop moving."

Jongin froze, opening his two eyes again with difficulty as the memories of last night slowly made their way to his foggy mind. He knew that voice, he loved it very much. Hearing it right as he woke up, when Taemin's tone was still laced with sleep, felt like honey to Jongin's ears. He sighed, snuggling even closer to him to spoon him and smiled when he felt Taemin leaning against him in return.

He rested his face on the back of Taemin's neck, his breath coming to tickle the other's ear.

"'morning."

Taemin shivered in his arms, and Jongin didn't see the goosebumps that appeared all over his neck. Taemin moaned softly as an answer, his fingers lazily over Jongin's wrist, resting on his stomach.

Jongin's fell into a soft slumber; he dreamed, maybe. He wasn't sure. Everything seemed a bit blurry around him and he didn't want to move or wake up anyway. He knew it was Sunday, he knew he had Taemin against him, and he couldn't think of a single thing that could make him want to go away from that cute man snoring softly.

Taemin stirred next to him, cowering on himself and twisting his body until he managed to completely turn around. He inhaled deeply, one hand coming to rub at his eyes, and curled up back to Jongin's chest with a sigh. His face was pressed against Jongin's collarbone, and he sleepily puckered his lips to kiss him there.

Jongin smiled, his hands tracing Taemin's back to come his neck and move his head higher. He lowered his face just enough to make their noses brush against each other.

Everything was even better than what Jongin had imagined. The soft warmness and peculiar scent of Taemin's skin in the morning melted his heart, along with the blurry sight of his swollen cheeks, tired eyes and puffy lips. He could get used to getting up to that heavenly view.

Taemin pouted and squirmed his head enough to reach and kiss him. They smooched leisurely, their legs entangling even more as they tried to get closer.

"Did you sleep well?"

One of Jongin's hand came to caress Taemin's cheek.

"Mhmm. Very well. And you?"

"Me too," Taemin sighed, "and now I want a cup of tea but I don't ever want you or me to leave this bed."

Jongin coughed, but his voice was still deep and hoarse from sleep when he spoke again.

"Did you have any plans for today?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Taemin kissed him again, a lazy grin blooming on his lips.

"I had planned to lure you into my bed last night so I could spend my whole Sunday wrapped around you. So far so good."

Jongin rolled his eyes, tickling Taemin's ribs lightly.

"Then if you give me a few more minutes, I'll make you some breakfast."

"Ooh? Really?" Taemin asked, his eyes shining with satisfaction.

Jongin hummed some confirmation before his face disappeared back somewhere between the pillow and Taemin's neck.

"Can we eat while watching cartoons?" Taemin asked as he absentmindedly Jongin's scalp.

"If you want, yes," Jongin laughed.

Taemin smiled and closed his eyes again. He moved to wrap his arms around Jongin's head and held him against his chest, kissing his hair gently. Jongin sighed, his arm around Taemin's waist loosening a bit.

"Jongin...?"

A very soft, quiet moan answered Taemin's murmur, and the man smiled.

"Are you going back to sleep?" he whispered in a conspiratorial tone.

Jongin gave him another light hum and Taemin laughed. It made Jongin's head bounce a bit on his chest.

Taemin's fingers slowly flew over Jongin's back, and to his neck again. Jongin's skin was warm and so soft under his hands; and as Taemin was slowly getting out of his own drowsiness, he realized how precious this moment was, and how happy it made him.

"Are you asleep, Jonginnie?"

Jongin mumbled yet another low sound that vaguely resembled a 'no', and Taemin brushed one finger on his lips.

"What about my breakfast?"

There was a little twinkle of playfulness in his muttered tone, but Jongin was too deep in sleepiness to notice it.

"...'few minutes," he stammered.

Taemin lowered his head to brush his face against Jongin's.

"But you already said that a few minutes ago."

Jongin grumbled something incoherent and squeezed him tighter, trying to hide his face in Taemin's neck and hopefully make him stop talking so they could get back to lazy cuddles.

Taemin giggled, squirming a bit to get more space to move as he started to pepper him with kisses. He saw Jongin scrunch his nose as he fluttered his eyes open, looking disheveled and confused. Jongin blinked once, twice, and frowned at Taemin who was smiling brightly at him.

"Are you a morning person?" he groaned, with the same accusing tone he would use to ask if Taemin enjoyed making children cry.

It only made Taemin's laughters stronger.

"I'm a hungry person. To whom you kinda made a promise," he simpered.

Jongin stretched a bit, yawned directly to Taemin's face and then went back to pouting.

"What happened to you not wanting me to leave this bed?" he whined as he rubbed his eyes.

Taemin stayed silent, biting on his smiling lips as he stared at Jongin, while the man was wiggling his way back into his arms. It lasted a whole minute, before Jongin shifted uncomfortably.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're the most adorable person in the whole universe, do you know that?"

Jongin blushed, taken aback by the sudden compliment.

"Are you sweet-talking me into getting up?"

Taemin came closer to bump their noses together and left a kiss on Jongin's forehead.

"No, I just have too many feelings for your sleepy face. Stay here and be unfairly cute, I'll make us some breakfast."

He gave Jongin another blinding smile and turned around in the bed, trying to untangle his legs from the sheets, when a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Kiss me and I'll get up."

Taemin tapped his fingers against Jongin's ribs.

"Are we gonna argue on who will make breakfast now?"

"Kiss me," Jongin repeated.

"So demanding...," Taemin whispered as he rolled his eyes.

He lowered himself before Jongin could say anything, and kissed him. Jongin cupped Taemin's face in his hands and kissed back with a devotion that made Taemin light-headed. As if they hadn't kissed just minutes before, as if Jongin had been craving him for days.

"Let's make breakfast together," Taemin proposed with a last peck on Jongin's plushy lips.

Jongin nodded, and followed him up to the kitchen corner, his hand clutching Taemin's shirt. It had proved to be a challenge, to get anything done in there. They couldn't keep their hands away from each other. Jongin had been too preoccupied playing with Taemin's rebellious strands of hair going in every direction, to choose which tea he wanted to drink. In the end, Taemin had huffed and chose one himself. Then he had spent twenty minutes back hugging Jongin, his face crushed in between the man's shoulder blades as Jongin was reheating some rice and making steamed eggs.

They staggered back to the bed with meal trays and smiles on their lips, and Taemin happily some cartoons on TV. They played with their food as much as they ate it and none of them cared about their eggs getting cold. They had all the time in the world and Jongin intended of enjoying it to the fullest. They only turned off the TV when they couldn't find any cartoon they liked anymore; their plates were empty and Taemin made them more of that soft, light tea that Jongin liked so much. The one with citrus, that was still delicious even when it turned cold.

Jongin asked if there were great teas coming from New Zealand, and Taemin had to admit that he had no clue, and it was decided that they would figure this out when they'll go there together.

"You were serious when you said you'd let me come with you?" Taemin asked shyly.

"Were you not when you said you'd like to join?"

Taemin looked at him quietly for a moment, before he put the tray that stood between them away, and crawled back to sit between Jongin's legs, leaning his back against his boyfriend's chest. He took his cup of tea back and blew on it to cool it down a bit.

"I was. But it's intimidating to admit it so soon."

Jongin had his face pressed in his nape, and Taemin felt him smile.

"Then let's talk more about that later. In a few months."

Taemin nodded, his eyes lost in his mug, watching with strange fascination the twirls of his yellow tea.

"What are you thinking about?" Jongin asked in a murmur.

He let his head rest on Taemin's shoulder, glancing at the way the man was blinking so slowly.

Taemin kept silent for a while, as if he needed time to realize where his thoughts had gone. He sighed softly and took a sip of his tea, before he presented the cup to Jongin, who drank in turn. Then Taemin moved away, putting the mug on the nightstand, and snuggled back to him.

"You gave me so much in so little time. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed with you."

"In a good way?" Jongin inquired.

Taemin noticed the nervousness in his voice and he intertwined their fingers together with a smile.

"Yes."

Jongin relaxed behind him and Taemin brought their joined hands to his face to kiss his fingers.

"Can I say something cheesy?"

"Yes."

"You're my dream came true, Kim Jongin."

Jongin's heart threatened to explode at that timid sentence, and he couldn't help the stunned gasp that left his lips. Taemin twisted himself on Jongin's lap to finally look up to him with soft eyes.

"I see how you hesitate to hold me sometimes. And those moments when you look like you want me to kiss you because you can't bring yourself to do it. When you whisper things because you're nervous of saying them too loud... when you do this... are you worried I will push you away?"

Jongin's throat tightened, until it felt impossible for him to speak, and he nodded quietly. Taemin brushed his hair away from his forehead and kissed him with all the tenderness he could muster.

"I won't push you away," Taemin continued. "Every time you want to kiss me, please remember I want to kiss you too. I am so happy that you started to drink tea, and that it brought you to me somehow. I am not good with words and what I'm saying doesn't make a lot of sense, but the way you look at me, the way you listen to me, how you excitedly share with me the things that make you happy... I like all of that. It's all I've been waiting for. You're all I thought I would never find."

Jongin clenched his hands on Taemin's waist. There were things he wanted to say, but the words wouldn't form coherent sentences in his head. He looked at the man before him, eyes lost and heart swollen with affection.

"Have you ever been truly happy in a relationship before?" Taemin asked in a murmur.

Jongin frowned at the question, but shook his head slowly.

"Not really," he admitted.

His answer seemed to surprise Taemin a bit.

"Me neither. I want to start with us."

"I've only had one relationship... before you," Jongin confessed.

It didn't seem to shock Taemin as much as Jongin thought it might. Nor did it faze him. Taemin stayed quiet, as if waiting for Jongin to elaborate.

"It wasn't-... It wasn't that great, actually. We didn't have much in common. But I was so excited to be with someone that I was annoying, I think. When he left, he told me I was too boring to be this clingy and that it wasn't worth it."

"What?" Taemin choked, his eyes widening.

Jongin gave him a small sheepish smile that broke his heart.

"It's okay though... I think I was really annoying. I didn't know what I was doing anyway. And we were bound to break up, I guess. It wasn't exactly a healthy and fulfilling relationship. After that, I tried to date but I'm always scared that my hobbies are uninteresting to others. I don't want to be called boring ever again. And as you noticed, I'm not that great at flirting, I never knew how to take the first step so... yeah."

Taemin frowned at him and cupped his face in his hands, looking at him very seriously.

"What he said to you was heartless. It's something horrible to say to someone. And Jongin, please trust me when I say this, you're not boring. I've never thought that about you, not even once."

"Thank you."

Taemin pouted at him.

"Don't thank me. It will sound like I said that to comfort you. I mean, I did. But I said it because it's true."

Jongin's smile was bright and honest this time, and Taemin pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Stay with me for a long time, Taemin-ah. I will do all I can to always make you happy," Jongin requested in a soft whisper.

Taemin laughed, kissed him again, and hid his face against Jongin's neck.

"I will then. But you know... my happiness is your happiness."

When he arrived back home, late at night, Jongin still felt like he was floating on a cloud. He had spent the whole day at Taemin's, and it had been the longest they ever stayed together, along with the happiest he had been in a while.

He entered his house and heard a little ruckus in the living room. As he popped his head out of the entrance, his eyes immediately fell on Chanyeol, sitting with his legs crossed, in a way that his best friend probably hoped to seem smug. But before Jongin could make any comment about how stupid it made him look, Chanyeol slurped what was left of his soda, making as much noise with his straw as he possibly could, and wiggled his eyebrows at Jongin. Then he slowly put his glass away and smiled at him.

"So?" he asked, drawing out the sound for a few seconds.

In that moment, did Jongin remember what he had been scared of, the previous night, before going to bed with Taemin. Chanyeol had made no comment about him spending the night out of the house.

"Oh damn...," Jongin whispered.

"How was your first night with your boyfriend?" Chanyeol sniggered.

Jongin turned away and made a beeline to the kitchen.

"It was great," he shouted, and cursed at himself when he heard his voice waver.

Chanyeol was quick to follow and it made Jongin wince. But as Chanyeol entered the kitchen, the mischief had disappeared from his face.

"Did you not eat?"

"Hum? Yeah, I did. I'm just thirsty."

"D'you wanna play Marvel vs. Capcom with me?"

The question took Jongin by surprise and he turned around, pleating his eyes at Chanyeol. They stayed silent for a few seconds, until Jongin came closer, inspecting his best friend carefully.

"What is this?"

"I think it's my face," Chanyeol snorted.

"No. I mean, you asking me to play video games."

Chanyeol raised one of his eyebrows with a confused look.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why are you not making any sarcastic comment about my night at Taem's? Are you planning on bullying me through the game?"

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, very dramatically, but then just smiled at Jongin.

"I'm not a jerk. Come on, let's play. I've been bored the whole day, Baekhyun was busy. Having break from uni is the worst and I can't believe I'm actually saying that."

Jongin went to the fridge, opened the door, took some orange juice, poured himself a glass, -his eyes still not leaving his best friend- and hummed lowly.

"You're really not gonna be commenting further on that?"

"Honestly Jongin, I was just joking when you came back. I know when to respect your privacy. Now it's almost like you want me to ask about what you did with him."

"I don't."

"Then, let's play!"

Chanyeol gave him one of his gigantic smile that showed all of his teeth, and Jongin squinted at him. If Chanyeol was that desperate to be entertained, he should take advantage of it.

"Only if you let me play with Iron Man."

A malicious smirk bloomed on Jongin's face when he noticed his best friend getting tensed. Then Chanyeol sighed.

"Fine. You get Iron Man. I don't need him to beat you anyway."

Jongin sneered and rubbed his hands together before he took his glass back to the living room. Chanyeol immediately launched the game, and Jongin wondered just how long his roommate had been waiting for him to get home so they could do something together.

After fifteen minutes, it appeared that Chanyeol did need Iron Man in order to win, and it made Jongin snicker mockingly. He shifted from his seat only to throw his foot at his best friend, pushing his with his toes.

"You should have spent the afternoon practicing instead of crying about how much you missed me," Jongin taunted.

Chanyeol straightened, almost looking away from the screen for a second, in outrage, but frowned instead and rolled to sit on Jongin's foot on purpose.

"Quit bragging, I'm gonna finish you, just wait and see."

Jongin wiggled his foot away in a succession of little whines.

"That's all I'm doing! Waiting for you to give me a challenge...," he snorted.

"Getting laid sure gave you a lot of confidence," Chanyeol suddenly grumbled.

Jongin froze, eyes widening as his cheeks reddened impossibly and he jumped in surprise when Chanyeol barked in laughters, smashing his controller like a maniac.

"See, you're finished!"

Jongin blinked twice and yelped, trying to get his senses back. But his trembling thumb hit the wrong button and Chanyeol rhapsodized.

"Who's crying now?" Chanyeol cackled. "This was all part of my plan, see. Getting you confident so you'd make stupid mistakes."

"I'm still winning," Jongin pouted.

Then the game paused suddenly and Jongin's jaw fell open.

"What?" he asked stupidly, looking at the screen for a few seconds before he realized Chanyeol had probably hit the button on purpose.

He turned around and came face to face with his best friend, who had his eyes pleated at him in wonder.

"Wait a minute...," Chanyeol whispered.

"What are you doing?" Jongin complained. "Taking a break won't make you win."

Chanyeol opened his mouth, but said nothing. Jongin sighed and leaned against him, trying to reach for his controller and get back to the game but Chanyeol threw himself over the couch, extending his arm as far as possible to keep it out of reach.

"Park Chanyeol!"

"Did you get laid?!"

Jongin almost fell on the ground from shock and looked at his best friend with an offended blush.

"That's none of your business," he hiccuped.

"So you did! You got all jittery after I said you did, you definitely did!"

Jongin could feel his face and neck burning with embarrassment and he straightened up, his hands clawing at his controller as he did his best to look anywhere but at Chanyeol.

"No I didn't," he grumbled through gritted teeth.

A long, embarrassing silence stretched, and Jongin finally turned to Chanyeol with a bitter look on his face.

"Why not?" Chanyeol asked, his eyebrows shooting up on his forehead.

"Enough," Jongin whined. "You said you knew when to respect my privacy!"

"Yeah well, I just made that comment as a joke... I mean the getting laid part, not the respecting your privacy thing, but you reacted so cutely... I'm curious now!"

Jongin puffed his cheeks and finally let go of his controller, putting it on the table in front of them as he let himself fall on the sofa like a lifeless puppet.

"Do you want me to drop the subject entirely?" Chanyeol suddenly asked, and when Jongin gave him a confused look, he hold his hands in the air as a peace offering. "Look, all I'm saying is that you react a bit like a drama-queen, which is what you usually do when you want to talk about something but don't dare. If you want me to shut my damn mouth, look me in the eyes and says so... and we can go back to me beating you."

Jongin wanted to retort something very sarcastic, both about the fact that Chanyeol was still an eternity away from beating him and that all he wanted in this world was for him to stop talking about his night with Taemin. But he didn't. He realized he might have acted a little bit exaggeratedly, and maybe Chanyeol was right. Maybe he did want to talk about Taemin. Maybe he had been waiting for Chanyeol to and give him an excuse to spill out the tea.

So instead, he sat a bit more comfortably, wiggling on his legs, and pouted.

"We only cuddled. A lot."

He heard Chanyeol put his own controller on the coffee table as well. Then the man came to poke at his thighs.

"Are you upset about that? Like... did you want more?"

"No... No, I really didn't. I'm very happy with how everything went," Jongin admitted, his cheeks growing red all over again.

He had his face turned to the window, unable to look at his best friend when they were talking about having with his boyfriend.

"I mean, we talked a lot. And I think we weren't ready for that yet. Neither of us wanted more... or like, I mean, I do... I'd like more. But not now. I only wanted to be next to him."

"Then that's good. I mean... If you two are on the same page and all."

Jongin nodded. One of his hand came to rub at his forehead.

"Can I tell you something...? If you promise you won't make fun of me."

Chanyeol nudged him in his ribs softly, coming closer to put his head on Jongin's shoulder.

"I promise I won't. What's going on?"

"The truth is-... I've been thinking-... I mean, I thought about it already. You know, doing-... stuff with Taemin."

"Jongin, you're a grown-up man, you can say 'have with Taemin'."

Jongin closed his eyes tight and made a face that took a snort out of Chanyeol. It was the same pout he did when he ate something sour.

"Okay, well-... I thought about having-... like... , with Taemin. And well, it's a bit awkward. I'm scared, in a way."

"Why is that? You're not a anymore... I don't think you'd have forgotten how to do it already," Chanyeol joked.

Jongin shrugged, only to push around Chanyeol's head still laying on his shoulder, and frowned at him.

"You said you wouldn't make fun of me."

"I'm not! I'm trying to understand why you'd be scared! Was it bad before, with your ex? Did you not like it?"

"Ah no, it's not like that," Jongin whined. "It's just... have you seen him? Taemin, I mean. He's like-... He's so pretty, it's intimidating! What if I'm too awkward? I can barely breathe after kissing him, he's literally the most beautiful person I've ever seen... I don't know if I could handle even just seeing him ."

Then Chanyeol burst out in laughters, and Jongin winced, mortified.

"You said you wouldn't laugh," Jongin screeched.

Chanyeol rolled over on the couch, bringing his hands to his face to whip away a tear from one of his eye. And Jongin was convinced he was just acting; that idiot wasn't crying for real and was faking it to humiliate him even more.

"Jongin, I swear to all that is holy... You're so freaking in love with him, it's adorable."

"You're the worst friend ever," Jongin complained.

"No I'm not."

Jongin pulled a face at him and Chanyeol sticked out his tongue.

"Anyway...," Chanyeol sighed, "you can take your time. You said you two didn't want to do it yet, so I guess it's good. You can wait until you feel like the sight of him alone won't make you faint."

"Will this day ever come?"

"Are you serious? I can't tell if you're serious. You have to be joking, right?"

Jongin glanced at him with a face as serious as a heart attack.

"You're so whipped," Chanyeol said.

"Yes. Yes, I am," Jongin whispered.

Chanyeol patted his head gently.

"Just try not to put Taemin on a pedestal, okay? That's not healthy. And just go step by step until you're not as nervous anymore."

As he nodded slowly to his best friend's wise words, Jongin suddenly recalled something Taemin said to him that morning. 'Every time you want to kiss me, please remember I want to kiss you too.' And it comforted him all over again.

"Thanks, Channie."

"You're welcome. I barely did anything."

"I mostly needed to voice this out."

Chanyeol nudged him in the ribs again as he leaned on Jongin to straighten up a bit.

"Then I'm glad I could help. And, y'know... Taemin is also so smitten with you, you two kinda remind me of the two bears in Brother Bear."

"Which ones?" Jongin asked.

"The idiots who are always like 'You're the most gorgeous', 'No, you're gorgeous', 'No-oh-oh you're gorgeous uh!'"

Jongin gripped the pillow next to him and threw it at Chanyeol's face, making him bark in laughters all over again.

"Anyway, are we good now? Can we go back to the game?"

"Yeah, we can," Jongin mumbled, sitting back properly and getting his controller from the coffee table.

"You sure? Because I wanna win loyally and not because you got flustered over your boyfriend's ...," Chanyeol snickered.

"You say that but you're a cheater and we both know it."

"Coming from the Cheating King, it doesn't mean a lot."

"I never cheat," Jongin exclaimed.

"Yeah, except all the damn time.

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Hi everyone !

Ah, it's been so long. I'm sorry I made you wait that much... tbh the last few weeks have been so incredibly difficult, I had the absolute worst writer block of my life. Not being able to write makes me very sad and moody. But here I am with the penultimate chapter of YMCOT. I'm very emo about finishing this fic, you know. I really loved writing it.
So. Thank you to everyone who came to read this. I really hope it made you feel soft. That's always my goal... to wrap you in fluffiness. I can also promise, pinky promise for real, that the next chapter will come soon. You won't have to wait too long.

Today's tea is “Océan de fraicheur”, from the french brand “les Jardins de Gaïa”. I told you about this brand already, they really do have wonderful teas. A green tea with orange peels that is incredibly refreshing.

That's it. I'm out. Thank you to everyone leaving me comments. I love you all very much. ♥
Take care and I'll see you soon.