Jongin wasn't sure what had woken him but it was silent outside, and the room was still enveloped in moody, charcoal gray shadows. Normally Jongin would just have lain on his side, tucked one upturned palm under his cheek, tethered his bolster closer and gone back to sleep. But this morning wasn't like normal mornings. The mattress wasn't as unyielding, and the sheets and quilt cover weren't made from 700 thread count Egyptian combed cotton, and he wasn't holding onto a bolster. For the first time in his life, Jongin wasn't sleeping alone. The handful of times he'd had , it had never been in his bed and he'd never stayed long enough to fall asleep with, or wake up beside anyone. And yet here he was, curled up against a compact warm body and Jongin had never felt more luxury than the smooth texture of Kyungsoo's skin. 

 

The sweet essence of summer apples and Kyungsoo teased his senses and he pressed his nose against the column of skin, bluish and ethereal in the liquid halflight, and breathed him in. Crisp, midnight black hair tickled Jongin's nose as he nuzzled Kyungsoo's nape, and the other boy's gentle snores both calmed him and made him feel achey all at the same time. He tried not to think about why his chest felt heavy and took another whiff of apple scented shampoo as it clung faintly to Kyungsoo's hair.

 

The other boy lay slumbering and Jongin didn't think he'd ever get over how small he felt in his arms - small but never fragile though, because Kyungsoo had a tensile strength to him and anyone who knew him at all would know he was anything but weak. In fact, Jongin sometimes suspected Kyungsoo was much stronger than he himself could ever be. He felt selfish for doing it but he knew he would continue to secretly lean on Kyungsoo's quiet strength. 

 

He reached for his phone and squinted at the display. It was 6.43 am. Still so early, Jongin smiled as he placed his palm on Kyungsoo's collarbones and felt the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. 

 

"Soo," he whispered in his ear but the rhythm of his snores remained constant. "Soo," he blew gently on the back of Kyungsoo's ear and kissed his nape, his lips skating across warm canvas.

 

"Jongin? What is it? What time is it?"   Groggily, Kyungsoo stirred and opened his eyes, dragging his hand over his face. He had the most spectacular case of bed head Jongin had ever seen, but he still managed to look y and Jongin couldn't help caressing the flyaway strands. 

 

"It's around 6.45." 

 

"God, that's early! Is there something wrong? Why are we up?" Worry suffused Kyungsoo's features as he turned to face Jongin - abruptly awake now. 

 

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ..." Jongin's words trailed off as he lost his nerve and retreated behind a pillow. 

 

"Just wanted to ...?" Kyungsoo was smirking now as he pulled the pillow forcibly from Jongin's face.

 

"Who knows when we'll have a chance to wake up together again? I didn't want to waste any time." Jongin admitted more than a little sheepishly because he'd never been a cheesy person and he'd never been one for admitting his feelings about anything. But Kyungsoo continued to conjure truth after truth from his lips without even trying.

 

"Oh Jongin," Kyungsoo said as he hugged him tight and kissed the angel wings that arced across the other boy's neck.  

 

"It's not every night you get sleet, Soo." Jongin said as he wrapped one arm around Kyungsoo's narrow shoulders, and the other around his waist. And for just a little while they didn't think at all and just enjoyed being in each other's orbit. 

 

"I didn't have a chance to tell you last night, but I really like this dark hair on you. I like it so much more than the blond." Kyungsoo held some fine strands of mahogany between his thumb and index finger.

 

"That's good, because it would have been a pain in the if I'd had to dye it again." Jongin gave a half smile.

 

"Jongin? Did you mean what you said? About the boyfriend thing? Because I don't want you to think I was trying to pressure you into anything because I wasn't."

 

"I don't react well to pressure, Soo. I wouldn't have said it unless I meant it." Jongin's lips moved over Kyungsoo's forehead in what he hoped was a tender gesture. Jongin wasn't sure but he thought maybe he was getting better at this showing-people-how-you-feel thing. 

 

"Have you ever even had a boyfriend?" Kyungsoo raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

 

"Um ... no."

 

"It's a lot of hard work, Jongin. You'd have to see me all the time - whether you like it or not."

 

"I already see you all the time, Soo." 

 

"Boyfriends confide in each other. They don't keep secrets - well maybe some but not really important ones. Like if you're hurting or if you're two timing me, it's mandatory to tell. No buts."

 

"Why would I cheat on you?" Jongin held Kyungsoo by the shoulders and chuckled softly. 

 

"Well, you told me once you've had a few one night stands."

 

"But those were one night stands, Soo. I never saw them again. It was about getting caught up in the physical - I never cared for them or cared to know them."

 

"That's not a good way to be, Jongin." Kyungsoo, who had never judged him, looked slightly disapproving now and for the first time in years, Jongin discovered he had a conscience because he suddenly regretted ever having laid eyes on those five boys in his past. 

 

"They weren't anything like you."

 

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Kyungsoo glared at him and punched his arm.

 

"Are you jealous?"

 

"NO!"

 

"You sound upset. Don't be upset." Jongin watched him nervously, not quite sure what to do next.

 

"I. Am. Not. Upset." 

 

"Ok." Jongin said quietly and tried to pull him into a hug but Kyungsoo pushed at his chest.

 

"You shouldn't sleep with someone if you don't care for them. That's just wrong."

 

"I know, Soo. I know that now." Jongin looked at his hands awkwardly.

 

"Don't ever do it again. You deserve more than that, Jongin, and so does the other person."

 

"There won't be any more one night stands."

 

"How do you know there won't?" Kyungsoo's words were uttered quietly, and with a complete absence of drama, but doubt was clearly distilled in each word.

 

"Because you're all I need, Soo." Jongin's hands cupped his face, "You're all I need." And tenderly, he kissed Kyungsoo, who after a few seconds' resistance, kissed him back. It was a kiss that tasted of affirmation and assurance rather than passion and desire but it affected both of them just as deeply. They eventually drew apart, slightly breathless as their foreheads rested against each other's and the tips of their noses touched.

 

"I think you should know by now that you're not a one night stand, Soo."

 

"Well, we've never slept together. Maybe when we have you'll leave." Kyungsoo gave a somewhat humorless, self deprecating laugh.

 

"I don't think I'd even know how to leave you," Jongin sighed just before he lay his cheek against Kyungsoo's chest.

 

"Do you mean that?" Kyungsoo's palm reached up and began the back of Jongin's head - his small, unexpected burst of insecurity and temper starting to dissipate in the wake of Jongin's sincere confession.

 

"I don't say much but when I do, I usually mean what I say." Jongin's fingers played with the worn out collar of his long-sleeved pajama tee.

 

"So we're really doing this boyfriend thing? And if we have , things won't be over between us? Is that what you mean to say?"

 

"Yes, Soo, that's what I mean to say." Jongin captured Kyungsoo's hand in his and squeezed it as tightly as he could - like Kyungsoo's hand would dissolve into grains of sand if Jongin released his grip even a fraction. "Let's not fight. I just want to enjoy waking up with you this once. Can we just do that? How did we end up fighting about one night stands?" His voice sounded mildly distraught as his thumb began drawing what he hoped were soothing circles on the back of Kyungsoo's milky pale hands.

 

"I don't know, I've been trying my best not to think about those guys in your past at all, but I guess it bothers me more than I was willing to admit to myself. I'm sorry, Jongin."

 

"I can't fix the past, Soo, but I hope you'll take a chance on me anyway."

 

"I was always going to, Jongin. I couldn't stay away from you even if I wanted to, you ." Kyungsoo tried to sound angry but there was no fire in his words. 

 

"Am I forgiven?"

 

"On one condition," Kyungsoo suddenly had a devious gleam in his eyes and Jongin watched him warily as he asked what the condition was.

 

"You have to sing Seungchae's lullaby to me."

 

"No way!" Jongin protested, a look of utter dread on his face.

 

But he sang it anyway, and Kyungsoo pressed his ear to Jongin's chest so he could feel the syllables vibrate through Jongin's heart. Jongin's husky voice made his breath catch as it formed the words:

 

 

By the time Jongin's low pitched vocals had wound themselves around the words "forget the wrong that I've done," Kyungsoo had already forgiven the damaged boy in his arms ...

 

-----

 

The intoxicating aromas of flour and vanilla intermingled with melting hot butter and sweet maple syrup permeated the kitchen, and Kyungsoo and Jongin's stomachs clenched with hunger the second they entered the area. 

 

"Pancakes! Assah! Umma's pancakes are the best. And she hasn't made them in months. She must be trying to impress you, Jongin." Hyewon announced as she strode into the kitchen in their wake. Jongin hadn't a clue how to respond to her teasing or sarcasm or whatever that had been so he decided to just smile and say nothing.

 

"Stop giving him a hard time, noona!" Kyungsoo scolded her. 

 

"Soo, don't scold your noona! But honestly, Hyewon, stop giving Jongin a hard time. He's not used to your bizarre sense of humor. Did you boys sleep well?" Umma asked and Hyewon snorted loudly, her knowing expression clearly indicating that she didn't think they'd had any sleep at all. Soo shot her a dirty look that promised all manner of deferred retribution while Umma chose to ignore Hyewon's snort. She carefully placed two sunny looking yellow dishes before Kyungsoo and Jongin - each plate weighted down with a 5-high stack of perfectly formed pancakes.

 

Jongin wasn't a pancake enthusiast. Pancakes were mostly just insipid and overly sweet pieces of fluffy batter as far as he was concerned. But he was determined to finish every single pancake on his plate because he liked Kyungsoo's Umma. He really really liked her - in much the same way he liked Minjung Ahjumma. Finishing the food was the least of his worries though. The entire kitchen was bathed in champagne gold morning light, so there would be no question of his hiding the tattoos on his fingers if he held his left hand above table level. He was wearing his clothes from the night before so his neck and arms were well camouflaged; but it looked like he would have to somehow eat the stack of pancakes with just a fork. It was going to be a challenge.

 

"Jongin, what is it?" Kyungsoo whispered in his ear while Hyewon stared with open interest.

 

"I can't eat with my left hand." Jongin whispered back.

 

"I can cut them for you. But it really doesn't matter even if Umma sees them, Jongin."

 

"No! No, I'll manage." And so he painstakingly sawed irregularly shaped fragments of the topmost pancake with the tines of his fork, while Kyungsoo drizzled maple syrup on them. It was after he'd eaten the fourth mouthful that Umma decided to say something.

 

"Why don't you just eat with both your hands, Jongin? It can't be easy eating pancakes with just a fork. Use your knife too." Umma raised an eyebrow as she watched Jongin struggle.

 

"I ... um." A hunted expression flitted across his features. 

 

 "If you're worried about me seeing the tattoos on your fingers and arm, there's no need to hide them because your sleeve got dragged halfway up your forearm when you were carrying Seungchae. It's nothing I haven't seen so you can stop hiding your arm under the dining table, dear." Umma stated calmly and almost nonchalantly while Kyungsoo made a valiant attempt to not choke on his milk.

 

"But there's more ..." Jongin both looked and sounded dismayed.

 

"If you mean the tattoos on your neck, Seungchae yanked your collar down too while he was screaming his little head off." She dropped the final bombshell.

 

There was nothing but the sound of silence for the next ten seconds - silence that was broken only by Seungchae's contented slurping noises as his mother spooned mouthful after mouthful of juk into his eager mouth, while deftly cleaning the excess off the area around his mouth. If Hyeyoon disapproved of the tattoos she showed no indication of it.

 

"I ... " Jongin looked down at his pancakes - clearly at a loss for words. Meanwhile Kyungsoo had taken his hand under the table. He watched his mother only a little warily because he knew that if she'd known about the tattoos since the night before and hadn't made a big deal about it, she probably wasn't ever going to. 

 

"They're just ... tattoos. It's nothing to get upset about. Now eat your pancakes, boys." Umma said and reached for the maple syrup which she poured carefully over her own pancakes. 

 

"Don't look so disappointed, Jongin. I know you were trying to be considerate by hiding them but there wasn't any need. And just so you know, babies are always messing up the best laid plans. Best get used to it. I'm sure it won't be the last time a baby disrupts things for you."

 

"So Jongin, where did you get them done and how much did it hurt? I've been thinking of getting a dragonfly inked on my left shoulder and ..."

 

"DO HYEWON WHAT DRAGONFLY TATTOO?!" Umma's voice was anything but calm now as she began interrogating her younger daughter while Kyungsoo chuckled. 

 

"What just happened?" Jongin asked quietly while Umma continued questioning Hyewon, waves of agitation rising off her.

 

"My noona is one of the worst trolls ever but once in a while she'll do something unexpected like this and save your . You looked like you were drowning so she distracted Umma. She probably never even thought about getting a tattoo till the moment she mentioned it to Umma."

 

"I swear to God, Umma, if you're going to make such a fuss over a little dragonfly, I might as well just skip it and get an actual dragon tattooed all over my back." Hyewon said casually as shoved a forkful of syrup-drenched pancake into .

 

"DO HYEWON, YOU-!" Umma looked like she was about to have an actual when they heard two upbeat knocks on the kitchen door. Kyungsoo went to get it - more to escape the shouting than out of any interest to see who was there.

 

"Oh ! I forgot there's choir practice!" Kyungsoo yelled in horror as he saw Minseok and Luhan waving in the doorway.

 

"I smell pancakes! Morning, Umma!" Minseok greeted her blithely. "I haven't had your pancakes in aeons."

 

"Hi Umma!" Luhan kissed her on the cheek - pretending not to notice that she looked livid.

 

"You boys help yourself to the pancakes. DO KYUNGSOO! Did you just use the F word?!"

 

"Oh man." Kyungsoo shook his head regretfully while Jongin observed the mayhem in the kitchen in utter bewilderment - and none of it even had anything to do with his being covered in tattoos.

 

-----

 

Kyungsoo had left with Minseok and Luhan in a burst of noise and exuberant goodbyes - although Minseok managed to give Jongin a sharp look before the door shut.  

 

"I'll do the dishes before I leave, ahjumeoni," Jongin offered. It was just the two of them left in the kitchen - the latter a bubble of serenity now that everyone had gone.

 

"It's all right, Jongin. I'm sure you have to be somewhere and Hyewon will do them later, once she remembers she's supposed to, the brat. And just call me Umma, dear. Everyone does." She smiled and patted his back reassuringly, which wasn't easy for her since Jongin had a good 10 inches of height on her.

 

"It's all right, Umma. I'll do the dishes." The word Umma felt strange on Jongin's tongue as he'd never called anyone that before. His mother had always been eomeoni or Mother. 

 

"Well, if you insist. But pull your sleeves up to your elbows or you'll destroy all that beautiful cashmere.

 

"But,"

 

"They're just tattoos, Jongin. They're just tattoos." 

 

And maybe Umma really meant it, Jongin thought as he obediently pushed his sleeves up and the faucet. 

 

-----

 

"So he isn't blond anymore? And does Umma know he's covered in tattoos underneath that expensive black turtleneck?" Minseok asked as he locked his seatbelt in place.

 

"Yeah, Umma knows. And she's more cool about the whole thing than you, Kim Minseok."

 

"Yeah, dude, maybe it's time you let that go." Luhan suggested breezily as he turned the ignition.

 

"He spent the night."

 

"What the hell?! Are you ting me?!" Minseok turned to look at him, eyes wide with shock. 

 

"There was sleet last night and Umma wouldn't let him drive home."

 

"But why was he even at your place?"

 

"Umma invited him over for dinner. She wanted to meet him. And I didn't tell you about it because you have a hissy fit every time I mention his name."

 

"I do not have a hissy fit every time you mention his name." Minseok denied indignantly.

 

"Yes, you do!" Luhan and Kyungsoo retorted together.

 

"I do not." Minseok said mulishly before asking, "So you and him, you're a thing now?"

 

"Yes, Seok, we're a 'thing' now. And it wouldn't kill you to call him by name once in a while. His name is Jongin. It's not that hard to remember."

 

"I don't want to remember his name." Minseok gave a long suffering sigh but to Kyungsoo's great relief, his best friend didn't try to convince him to break things off with Jongin. 

 

It was progress. As far as Kyungsoo was concerned, it was progress.

 

-----

 

"Tao is probably going to be pissed as hell when we show up." Jongin warned Kyungsoo as he slotted his SUV into empty parking space. The world was shrouded in a miserable gray drizzlewhen Jongin left his house to pick up Kyungsoo, so he'd driven the car instead of taking his bike. When Jongin reached the practice hall, Luhan still hadn't shown up yet so Minseok was still around. Fortunately, it had only been mildly awkward when Minseok and Jongin had exchanged a pair of not entirely chilly 'hello's. Progress.

 

"You didn't tell him we were going to eat lunch at his workplace? Why?" Kyungsoo's eyes took in the quaint shop fronts and cafés that dotted the surrounding area. Subiaco was a pretty part of town that Kyungsoo had always wanted to explore but had somehow never set foot in. When Jongin had told him he was bringing him here for lunch, Kyungsoo had been excited. Apparently Tao had gotten himself hired as a waiter at a café five days before. He'd needed the money so he could contribute to food and rental expenses even though Kris had told him in no uncertain terms that he didn't need or want any money from him.

 

"I didn't tell him we were coming because he'd have asked me to off." Jongin chuckled, "I'd respect his wishes but I couldn't pass up a chance to see Tao in an apron." It lightened Kyungsoo's heart more than he could say to see laughter lines crease the skin around Jongin's eyes and mouth. He had been such a serious young man three weeks ago, Kyungsoo recalled, as they started walking in the direction of Café Angelus. It was 28°F and Kyungsoo was glad for the added warmth he got from having Jongin's arm draped around his shoulders. They heard an old fashioned, coppery tinkle as they pushed open a wooden door painted in a cheery shade of turquoise. It was a heated, cosy little eatery decorated with a mixture of cherubs and regal angels - gilded, wooden and crystal ones. The walls were sky blue, and fluffy white clouds had been sponge painted on them. It was all very ... exceedingly feminine, Kyungsoo thought. It was no wonder that Tao hadn't wanted Jongin to visit him at his workplace. His eyes flicked to the left so he could see the seraphim and angel wings tattooed into Jongin's skin. Wild, untamed angels and angel wings that didn't belong here, but were far more beautiful in Kyungsoo's eyes.

 

"Kim Jongin, I'm sure I told you never to come here." Tao hissed under his breath. His spiky blond hair was a perfect foil for the turquoise apron he wore over a plain white, v-necked long sleeved tee tucked into dark blue jeans. 

 

"I'm hungry, I need to eat." Jongin answered coolly.

 

"Eat somewhere else, for 's sake, and take him with you before y'all get me fired. He's been here for more than an hour and he's drunk three cups of espresso. He's going to get the shakes if he keeps it up." He pointed at a wooden table in the back corner of the café and Kyungsoo finally noticed Kris sitting in the back with his long legs stretched out beneath the table, surfing on his tablet. How Kyungsoo could have missed him in the first place when he was the biggest person in the place, not to mention the only male customer, was beyond him. The clientele seemed to consist mainly of teenage girls and women in their 20s.

 

"He's here too," Kyungsoo commented to no one in particular.

 

"Yes, apparently he's hungry too." Tao sighed, "Just join him at his table, eat, and then you can go - and take him with you." For all his so-called exasperation though, Jongin could tell from the almost smile hovering on his lips that Tao was secretly pleased that Kris cared enough to be here just so he could see him. 

 

Kris looked visibly relieved to finally have company, and they chatted companionably as they filled their tummies with club sandwiches, fries and chef salad. Tao probably dropped by to see if they "needed anything" far more than he had to, but thankfully, the café manager didn't seem to notice anything unusual. Their stomachs replete with food, the three of them were drinking coffee when Kyungsoo's cellphone rang.

 

"Umma? What ...? Where are you? Okay, we'll go over now."

 

"Soo?" Jongin's hand gripped Kyungsoo's forearm a little anxiously.

 

"Umma's car broke down. She's fine but she needs us to go get her now. She can't get hold of Appa or my sisters. Jongin, can we ...?" 

 

Jongin nodded quietly and handed a fifty-dollar note to Kris to pay for lunch, before guiding him quickly out of the cafe.

 

-----

 

By the time they had Umma's Toyota Vios towed to the garage and got all the documentation sorted out, it was almost 3 pm. Umma was starving because she hadn't had a chance to eat lunch before her car broke down. 

 

"Let's go to the nearest mall. There'll be quite a few eating places to choose from and I can pick up some groceries before we leave. Is that ok with you, Jongin?" 

 

"Yes, Umma." Jongin said as he kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road.

 

"Umma? You're calling her Umma already?" Kyungsoo wondered aloud.

 

"I asked him to. What's wrong with that?"

 

"You only asked Seok to call you Umma six months after you met him, and Lu only started calling you that three months after meeting you the first time. You just met Jongin yesterday! Why would you ...?"

 

"Stop fussing, Soo." Umma scolded and refused to say another word about the matter.

 

-----

 

They were heading out of Koreana Restaurant on the first floor of Garden City Mall and Umma was asking Jongin what he studied at Garnier. Openly curious about his paintings, she wanted to know what he painted and he explained that he worked mostly on still lifes and the occasional landscape.

 

"You must let me see your paintings one of these days, Jongin."

 

"Yes, Umma." Jongin answered, smiling in an open way that was usually anathema to him. His parents didn't show disdain for his work but then they had never taken any kind of interest in it to form any real opinion about it. It was a nice change to have an adult who wasn't a faculty member of Garnier ask about his art. As he turned away from Umma, his eyes fell on a familiar figure and he froze. Without warning, Jongin suddenly stopped walking and surprised, Kyungsoo and Umma too ceased moving. That was when Kyungsoo noticed the tall, sophisticated woman facing them. She looked about 40 years old, and she had long, lustrous hair which cascaded down her shoulders in elegant, chestnut waves. Her narrow black sheath flattered the feminine lines of her body, and she had completed the ensemble with an extravagant cream woolen coat and black, high-heeled stilettos. Her heart shaped face was pretty and her porcelain skin, perfect. But the woman's features were marred by lips that were just a little bit too thin, and eyes that held no emotion.

 

"You call this woman Umma?" The woman said in a glacial tone, her eyebrows raised in a perfect arc.

 

"Good afternoon, Mother," Jongin said politely while Kyungsoo and his mother tried not to gape.

 

-----

 

Secondly, A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU FOR GETTING STAINED GLASS FEATURED! I still can't believe SG got featured but at the same time, I'm so thankful to all my readers for making it happen /sob. Welcome to the subscribers who have come on board since and I thank you all so so much for your lovely comments - some were so incredibly inspiring! 

 

Thanks to Anie for trusting me with her prompt and Sae for convincing me that this fic needed to go beyond a oneshot then twoshot then threeshot LOL. My next update may take a while as I need to get started on my very much overdue chaptered Kaisoo/Chanbaek/Hunhan fic, Anger Management. Also, there will be a rated bonus chapter for Stained Glass, which I'll post elsewhere as SG is a PG13 fic. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading!! /hugs