The haunting song is not in Korean, not in Mandarin, not in Japanese. It’s not a language Kyuhyun knows well, despite the fact it’s frequently spoken all over the world. English has never been his forte, he knows that, and he has never pretended to be a linguist.

He is more into the Sciences, Mathematics, the logical, ordered subjects that generally have right or wrong answers. But now he can’t help but sit, transfixed, as he hears the beautiful young man singing the song. He doesn’t understand the words, but he has always had an ear for music, and as he hears that melody, he swallows, and gets closer to the stage.

The boy is not much older than him, the hair dyed a dark ginger-red, and his eyes shut tight as he tries to sing the difficult words perfectly. He is aware of Kyuhyun’s admiration only as a slight prickle of recognition on the back of his neck. He does not turn, even though he wants to. He has to finish the song, has to let it come out of his mouth, just as he practised, because it has taken over, and he needs to. He needs to.

“When my chance came to be king~” Kyuhyun recognises one word, king, and suddenly he wants to understand the rest, to know what the boy is singing, so that he can… He doesn’t know. But then the boy stops, and there’s a slight hush before the clapping starts loudly.

Kyuhyun stands there in shock, as he tries to think about what this is doing to him, before his hands slowly come together, and he clapping just as loudly as the rest, his eyes still on the boy, who has not yet opened his eyes. He wants to see those eyes, he wants to know they are as beautiful as the voice, as the cheekbones, as the carefully tousled hair.

Zhou Mi carefully snaps his eyes open, scanning the smoky bar before languorously getting off the stool, and smiling awkwardly. He is an interesting mix of gawky and sinuous, the long limbs teasing Kyuhyun, but the way he trips slightly as he walks over to the counter of the bar is endearing.

And the eyes…are gorgeous.  He’s drinking now, the plump lips occupied, and Kyuhyun can see that the eyes are almost…chocolate coloured. Not that he’s overly fond of that treat, particularly, but if it’s involved with this boy, then yes, yes he is very interested.

And he knows that all he wants to do is rip those chequered jeans off, to have his way completely with this boy, to pump in out of him, to hear him scream his name with that musical, perfect voice until he’s hoarse. He wants to watch him lose control, wants to hear him sing.

So that’s why he walks up to him determinedly, taps him on the shoulder and watches as he turns around, slightly confused. The smile is ready, but all Kyuhyun can see is the eyes, and then his gaze shifts, down to the well-shaped mouth, and suddenly, he is kissing him, his lips against his as he slides his tongue in, and the boy is responding, his own tongue fighting for dominance.

And when they break apart, all Kyuhyun can say is “You taste like chocolate…” dazedly, and the boy smiles wickedly.

“I’m Zhou Mi.”  

Kyuhyun first discovered that Zhou Mi loved chocolate when they were both drunk. Not the tipsy, giggly kind of drunk, but the so-drunk-you’ll-do-anything kind. He didn’t really remember anything else about that night apart from one moment when they stumbled, laughing into the nearest corner shop, because Zhou Mi was craving something sweet, and Kyuhyun was willing to follow him.

He vividly remembered Zhou Mi’s  wide smile as he stared at the sweet counter, while he pondered what to buy. Kyuhyun was loudly trying to convince him that Skittles were the way to go, but Zhou Mi had shaken his head and said that no, chocolate was the way forward. The cashier had stared at them, bored, willing them to choose faster so he could go back to the TV on the desk, but Zhou Mi had ignored him and had picked up the chocolate buttons in one hand, and then a Galaxy bar in the other, contemplating.

“You get more with the bar,” Kyuhyun had said. “But you can share the buttons with me.” He’d smiled then, and Zhou Mi had turned, returning the smile.

“I’ll get the buttons then.” He said simply, and paid for them.

Kyuhyun remembered nothing after that. All he knew was that he and Zhou Mi had somehow ended up in a hotel room and chocolate had ended up smeared on the sheets. He never forgot the look on Zhou Mi’s face, though.

It was something Zhou Mi always returned to. Whenever it got too much, or his parents were too angry at him for something stupid, or work was just that little bit too crazy, Kyuhyun would find him eating chocolate. Just something small. Just to make it easier.

Whereas Kyuhyun played Starcraft obsessively to calm down,  Zhou Mi could be found engaged in real world pursuits. But the chocolate would always be there. While Kyuhyun was glued to a screen, Zhou Mi might be quietly reading or listening to music, maybe his dog, NiQu on his lap. But the chocolate, in some form, would be there, too. Maybe cake, maybe hot chocolate.  But it would be there, and if Kyuhyun happened to glance dazedly away from the screen for a moment, he’d find Zhou Mi watching him amusedly, and the chocolate would always, always be smeared on one cheek.

It was like a trademark.

And Kyuhyun would always, always, leave his game, just for a second, to thumb away the smear, muttering something about him being a child. And Zhou Mi would give his dirty little chuckle, and tug Kyuhyun by the shirt before he could go back to that “ing game” as Zhou Mi called it, and kiss him gently.

And Kyuhyun would end up distracted for the rest of the game, and he’d lose, but he’d never be able to be totally angry at Zhou Mi, because, well, he couldn’t lie and say he hadn’t enjoyed it. Zhou Mi could be oh-so-controlling at times. And he loved it…

College hadn’t just been the haze of alcohol and Sungmin had claimed it was for the two. There had been some actual work, too. He couldn’t help being naturally intelligent, Kyuhyun thought smugly. It just left him more time for the fun stuff. Which wasn’t just Starcraft, as Mimi claimed. He had an infinite amount of time for Mimi and his chocolate obsession too.

Which had led him to be the first who confessed his love. He was sort of proud of that. Alright, he’d kind of demanded that Mimi love him back, but Mi had, hadn’t he? The raised eyebrow Zhou Mi had given him when he’d blurted the five words in a rush (“IthinkIloveyou!”And then, rather presumptuously, “AndIknowyoulovemetoo!”) had been a little discouraging, but then Kyuhyun had smiled awkwardly and handed Zhou Mi the chocolate he’d been sent to get when he’d been buying himself a drink. And then Zhou Mi had held back a grin before unwrapping the chocolate bar and breaking one piece off to shove in Kyuhyun’s sheepish mouth.

“I love you too, you stupid bastard, but this isn’t the brand I asked for…”

Zhou Mi knew how to cheer Kyuhyun up, too. He might not have as big a sweet tooth as Zhou Mi, but he certainly wasn’t opposed to a little bit of something sweet if it involved Zhou Mi…

Sometimes he likened their relationship to chocolate; it could be sweet, or it could be dark. It could be every day, or something that little bit special, like when Kyuhyun came back from Japan that time, and surprised Mimi by turning up, at his desk, in the middle of the day. Mimi’s beautiful eyes had widened, then darkened slightly with the look Kyuhyun knew oh-so-well, the look that had gotten him ed against that bloody desk so hard he was still seeing stars afterwards. Which didn’t help when one of Zhou Mi’s students knocked on the door, then walked in to find his teacher and Kyuhyun both extremely rumpled, tugging jeans and shirts into place.

So Kyuhyun likened that to the temptation of eating chocolate when you really shouldn’t. Because he probably shouldn’t have done that with Zhou Mi. Even though they they’d been able to convince the poor student that nothing had happened.

Zhou Mi was his favourite dessert, his temptation, one that he knew he was never going to give up. He wasn’t going to let Zhou Mi go, the very idea… It was like that quote- “I’d give up chocolate, but I’m not a quitter.” And Zhou Mi wasn’t bad for him, he was good in small portions, in fact, it was just Kyuhyun wanted him all the time. And Zhou Mi was more than happy to help with this.

And Kyuhyun couldn’t help but ask, just that one time, “How much do you love me?”, as he thinks back to that very first meeting, when he was 18, in that bar, though the college years, through to them becoming adults, with real life jobs, moving in together. He smiles, because they’re good memories, and he waits for Mimi’s answer, Mimi’s hand running through his hair.

“”Ah, Kui Xian, such an easy question. I love you more than…chocolate.” He grins down at Kyu, and Kyuhyun snickers and laughs up at him.

“Really, Mimi? I know how much you love it…” He teases, as Mimi laughs with him.

“Well, I can’t deny I love you even more covered in chocolate, Kui Xian, but yes, even more than that.” He told him before bending down to kiss the younger man, lips brushing lightly before Kyuhyun sat up to deepen it.

He couldn’t help but think that they would be disgustingly sweet if they didn’t have that hard edge of sarcasm sometimes. Like dark chocolate.

But they were happy. And that was all that mattered.