I almost didn't post today since I post so much yesterday, I had errands to run, and got caught up playing Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, but I decided I had time before I had to get ready for work.

                Kyungsoo laughed so hard at Jongin’s stunned face he nearly went under the water.

                “Damn I wish I hadn’t left my phone on the dresser. I would’ve loved to have caught that expression for all time.”

                “You, you” Jongin apparently couldn’t remember how to form sentences, which just sent Kyungsoo off into another fit of laughter, and caused the cowboy to quit his attempts to communicate and just pouted instead.

                “Oh come here you big baby. I promised to scrub your back, remember?”

                “Are you always this much of a tease?” Jongin asked, making his way over to Kyungsoo’s side of the tub and sitting in front of him.

                “Who said I was teasing?” Kyungsoo whispered in Jongin’s ear, before lathering up one of the hotel’s rough washrags and beginning to scrub, intrigued by the various noises coming out of the cowboy as he worked over certain spots.

                “Uh, did you want to be alone?” Kyungsoo finally asked, only to get swatted on his arm.

                “Absolutely not. It’s just when you were scrubbing you hit some of my sore spots I didn’t realize I had and it felt good is all.”

                “Oh, well if that’s the case allow me.” Kyungsoo set the washrag aside and cracked his knuckles before massaging Jongin’s back, digging in whenever the cowboy said a knot was. He could feel them now that he knew about them and worked at them until Jongin was more pudding than man.

                “Damn you’re good at that” Jongin said, half slid under the water.

                “Hey, no drowning. You promised me dinner, remember?”

                “Fine, anything for you. Come shift spots with me and I’ll work on you next.”

                Cautiously, Kyungsoo took Jongin’s place as the cowboy slid back, only to nearly have a small once he had those work-roughened hands on his skin. Suho hadn’t been one for backrubs, and Baek was straight so it had been a long time since anyone he was attracted to had touched him, and he was grateful for the bubbles to hide any unsolicited reactions his body might have had.

                One long soak with the heated jets, and the dozen strawberries and bottle of champagne later, and the pair had barely crawled out of the tub and into their bathrobes, only to flop on the couch and each other to wait for Jongin’s laundry to come back.

                “I’m half-tempted to say screw it until tomorrow and just order room service, but I promised you dinner. I’m sure we’ll solidify eventually.”

                Kyungsoo toyed with a piece of Jongin’s damp hair. “I’m not completely convinced of that, but I am curious about this place you wanted to take me to. Do I need to wear a tie?”

                “Oh hell no. It’s the sort of place where the dress code could be classified as “some type of clothing and don’t let your or s hang out.” You can’t beat the food though, and they usually have a live performance of some kind going on. Unless, you’d rather go to some frou-frou place. I promise I can act more civilized than I look.”

                “Actually, casual sounds perfect. I’m afraid I left my ballgown and tiara back in New York.”

                Jongin burst out laughing. “I can’t picture you mincing around in that kind of stuff.”

                There was a knock on the door then, and with difficulty the pair peeled themselves off the couch and went to answer it. Of course it was Warren, back with Jongin’s bag of laundry, dry cleaned suits over one shoulder.

                “There you go Mister Kim! All finished. I must say you two look much more relaxed now. Have a good time!”

                “Thank you Warren. Your help has been very appreciated so far.” Kyungsoo slipped the boy some money while Jongin took his laundry.

                “Feel free to call if you need anything else!”

                Kyungsoo closed the door and went to unpack, setting aside a short-sleeve plaid shirt Suho always hated for being “too common,” and a battered pair of cargo shorts Baekhyun had been trying to sneak into the garbage for years. After setting his clothes neatly in a couple of drawers and hanging up his sweaters he headed to the bathroom to change, suddenly shy. He pulled on his clothes and wet his hands to make sure his bristly hair wasn’t sticking up at all, and went to ask Jongin if he wanted him to leave his glasses.

                As soon as Kyungsoo left the bathroom, he got far more than he bargained for and was eternally grateful both his boxers and shorts were loose. Jongin was putting the last of his clothes away, standing in front of the dresser and as the day he was born. The short man obviously hadn’t indulged in as many peeks as he should have earlier, since his body had decided to stage a revolt and react like he was fourteen and about to be exiled to the U.S. again.

                Kyungsoo had thought Jongin good-looking before, but standing there completely unself-consciously, showing off his legs, chest, abs, and everything else just made him even more attractive, and the short man realized how ridiculous the situation really was. Nobody that gorgeous would want his nearly blind, squishy, ab-less self. At least, nobody who was completely sober and not as .

                “Hey Soo? What’s that face for? I promise I’m getting dressed. I just wanted to see what you were wearing first so I could try and kind of match, kind of like staking a claim on my man. I don’t want anyone to try and take you away when I just found you.”

                “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. It won’t be me they’ll be going after.”

                Jongin had yanked on a pair of shorts (no underwear) and was midway through buttoning a shirt that was similar to Kyungsoo’s when he stopped and walked over to the short man and pulled him into a hug.

                “Hey, none of that. You are the most adorable man I’ve ever seen, and I’ll be damned if I’m just going to walk away. Not to mention how kind you are, even to someone you just met and after you admitted you weren’t fond of people. Now, go put your glasses on so I know you can see and we’ll go, okay?

                Even though he still had his doubts, and had seen Jongin’s birthdate on his passport so knew the man was actually a year younger, Kyungsoo just did as he was told. Deciding he didn’t want to deal with keeping track of his phone and knowing taxis were a dime a dozen so he wouldn’t have to call, he just slipped his keycard into his wallet and shoved it in his front pocket where he could keep an eye on it. He then slipped into his sandals to wait for the cowboy, who had ducked into the bathroom, only to come out a moment later.

                “There. I’m not used to being bare-headed and had to double-check I didn’t have hat hair, even though I know you helped me wash it earlier. Ready to go? I just need shoes.”

                Jongin shoved his surprisingly socked feet into a ratty pair of tennis shoes, then offered his arm to Kyungsoo who just rolled his eyes.

                “How are we going to get through the door like that you weirdo?”

                “Fine, then will you hold my hand instead so we don’t lose track of each other?”

                Kyungsoo might not have been sure he believed everything Jongin told him since his usual self-doubts had come back, but he wasn’t going to pass up touching the gorgeous man and maybe indulge in a little day-dreaming for however long it lasted. He trotted along to keep up with the cowboy’s longer strides to the elevator, and kept holding onto him when he didn’t pull away when they exited into the lobby. They just waved to Cathy who was still behind the desk and went to catch a taxi that was fortunately pulling up right then. Jongin gave an address and off they went.

                In a completely different world than anything he was used to was Kyungsoo’s first thought when they walked into the tiny, hole-in-the-wall that seemed to actually be more bar than restaurant. They were seated right away and given slightly sticky menus that Jongin gently pulled out of the short man’s hands.

                “You’re not one of those weirdo vegans are you?” Kyungsoo shook his head. “Any food allergies or things you absolutely cannot stand?”

                “No, I’ve never been a picky eater.”

                “Then will you trust me to order for you?”

                “Sure, why not?”

                Jongin ordering for him let Kyungsoo pretend they were on a date, and he wondered how long it had been since he’d actually been on a real one. The cuddling on the couch even if it was because they were so relaxed they couldn’t move, and the hand-holding had been nice as well. Suho wasn’t really the sort to do that sort of thing. Even when they’d had it was with a minimum of contact which made it even more boring and awkward, and the one who had come over was expected to leave shortly afterward, no sleepovers or even pillow talk. He wondered if his ex was just as uptight with his intern, only to be pulled out of his thoughts by a mug of, something shoved under his nose.

                “Here, try this. I have no idea what’s in it and be careful or it’ll blow your head off, but it’s delicious.”

                Kyungsoo cautiously sipped, and had to agree with Jongin’s assessment. Whatever the orangish-yellow drink was, it was the perfect mix of sweet and sour and he could hardly taste the alcohol, and paired amazingly with whatever the cowboy had ordered. It was some sort of platter of mystery meats and vegetables, with giant rolls soaked in butter on the side and he suddenly found himself much hungrier than he’d thought he was.

                “So, you can and will eat. Good, when you talked about your breakfast this morning I was afraid you were on one of those stupid fad diets and just didn’t want to admit to it, even though you said you wanted to work with food. Yeol claims I eat twice my body weight every day, and that I’d even eat his dog Double D if I didn’t like dogs so much. I’d rather be with someone who enjoys food, so that makes me happy.”

                Kyungsoo was aware he probably looked like a pig with his snout in the trough unlike his usually much more reserved eating habits, but forced himself not to care. Instead, he swallowed his mouthful and asked, “Double D? What kind of name for a dog is that?”

                “It stands for Dumb Dog. Unlike the coyote bait or losers to the local wildlife that make up most of Doc’s, that’s the local vet’s, small animal practice, Double D is a horse chaser, and some of them kick back. He never learns though and tries to tangle with them every time he manages to escape.”

                “Coyote bait?”

                This question seemed to make Jongin angry, and Kyungsoo was about to apologize for accidentally asking about a sensitive subject, when the cowboy suddenly spat out, “there’s no animal shelter in any of the small towns nearby, and people, not where I live but some in those other towns out there, think it’s acceptable to drive out to our patch of nowhere and dump off unwanted pets when most of the time they were just irresponsible and didn’t get their animals spayed or neutered. Everyone tries to be vigilant and rescue them and take them to the city or try to find them homes themselves, but too many times we’ve only found a scrap of fur or maybe a bone or two. It’s usually the coyotes, but there’s a fair amount of hawks as well.”

                “That’s awful! Can’t something be done?”

                “We’ve tried, but nobody can catch them doing it. We all know each other and everyone’s animals which is how we know it’s not any of us.”

                Jongin went back to his food then and eventually his face relaxed. Kyungsoo tried to do the same, but had suddenly lost his appetite. He settled for sipping on his drink and watching the girl who had just come up to the small stage and was singing. Her voice wasn’t bad, but her songs were in Spanish and he wasn’t very good so only caught a word or two here and there. Still, when the cowboy suddenly hopped up and asked if he wanted to dance, he still set his mug aside and slipped his hand into the other man’s to join the three or four couples who were already on the little dance floor.

                Kyungsoo wasn’t sure what happened after that. He remembered doing his best not to step on Jongin’s toes, then eventually collapsing back in his seat and ordering water. They must have paid and left the restaurant, and somehow eventually got back to the hotel. However, the next thing that was clear to him was waking up in bed with a nasty hangover, dressed in a pair of white dress pants he didn’t remember packing and with a shirtless Jongin curled up next to him staring at their left hands. Or, to be more precise the matching gold bands on their left ring fingers.

                “Soo, did we get married last night?”