Key suffers from a sudden, marginally catastrophic decline in self-confidence and body-positivity a few days before his birthday. Key usually anticipates his overly festive, upscale parties that Jonghyun devotedly throws for him. A couple of days before his birthday Jonghyun would always throw himself into his frantic party planner self, which involves becoming reserved and annoyingly discreet and exclusive about everything. The worst part is that this phase also includes abstaining from . It gets on Key’s nerves sometimes, but he knows that Jonghyun does it because he wants Key to be happy, and also because Jonghyun’s biggest fear in life after spiders and large birds is being a disappointment to him. He’d cry for days if, say, Key admitted that he didn’t like the cake he’d ordered (Key admitted remorsefully after his twenty-fifth birthday party had come to a close that he wasn’t a huge fan of the pumpkin seed spice cake, which resulted in Jonghyun not talking to him for a whole week, even though Key had offered to give him s as an apology on multiple occasions).

Key crawls on top of Jonghyun as he’s flipping through a cake design magazine, his reading glasses on the verge of slipping off of his nose. When Jonghyun’s eyesight had been deemed terrible enough that he required reading glasses, Key had developed an absurdly strong glasses which was limited to only Jonghyun. It made him look younger which is simultaneously frustrating, because as years go by Jonghyun only seems to be aging backwards. Not a single strand of white hair has sprung up on his still dashingly thick head of desirable locks. Key has a track record of seven grey hairs, having found his first one two years ago.

Jonghyun discards the magazine and takes his glasses off when Key straddles him. Both of Jonghyun’s hands go for Key’s waist, his fingers digging gently into his hips and making Key squirm.

“Hey, babe.”

They’ve been together since they were in college, but still Key can’t help but blush over Jonghyun’s pet names. Key stops Jonghyun’s hands from sliding up any further when they sneak underneath his shirt.

“Jonghyun.”

“Mm?”

“I…” Key stops, sighs and rolls off of him onto his side.

“Hey—come on,” Jonghyun says. He tugs at Key’s shirt until he rolls onto his other side so he can meet Jonghyun’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to have a party.”

“Too bad,” Jonghyun says quickly. “I’ve ordered the cake—and I know for sure you’ll like this one! I think I’m going to give up on my list of exotic sounding cake flavours.”

Key laughs. It never fails to surprise him how much Jonghyun gets into planning events—birthdays, baby showers, barbecues, the whole lot. Sometimes Key prods at the idea of Jonghyun actually taking up a career as an event planner, because he will never become accustomed to the fact that in reality Jonghyun’s a personal trainer and Minho a history teacher at a private high school—of all things. He always thought that Minho would be the type to become a personal trainer. Then again, he never seriously imagined a future where Jonghyun would be in love with him, and now they’ve been married for seven years.

“Why don’t you want a party?” Jonghyun asks, his concerned tone creeping in.

“Because…” Key bites his lip, too embarrassed to admit why he doesn’t want a party. It’s a stupid reason. Really stupid.

“Because?”

“None of my pants fit me anymore,” Key says and buries his face in his pillow, which smells faintly like Jonghyun’s shampoo.

“What?” Jonghyun says, laughing.

“My pants, Jonghyun, they don’t fit anymore. I’ve gained weight!”

Key’s shoving his face so hard into his pillow so that he ends up suffocating. He feels so warm, a hot blush spreading across his entire body.

“Baby, look at me.”

“No.”

“Key.”

“No.”

Key does end up looking at him. He’s even generous enough to let Jonghyun’s arms wrap around him.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I knew you’d say that,” Key says, feeling defeated. “I still don’t want a party. To hell with the party. To be honest, they only serve as a reminder of how old I’m getting. Oh god! Jonghyun, I’m going to be in my thirties!”

“Oh pssh.” Jonghyun brings Key closer so his chin is resting atop of his forehead. “You’re turning twenty-nine. Chill.”

Jonghyun’s fingers are running through his hair, calming him. Key wraps his fingers around Jonghyun’s bicep. He can’t even get his fingers all around. Jonghyun’s got the exact body you’d think a personal trainer would have, defined muscles and all. He’s even got a personal trainer kind of diet. It makes him feel so disgusting, but he knows that if he told Jonghyun this he’d get upset, so upset that he might even give up on being a personal trainer just so Key wouldn’t feel so bad about himself.

“Jonghyun, I spent all afternoon trying on my pants. Those pants you love—the tight ones that apparently make my look spectacular—they don’t fit the way they used to! And I have stomach rolls.”

“Everyone does!”

“Not you, Mr Six Pack Abs—god! You’re pissing me off so much right now but I still want to you.”

Jonghyun chuckles. “I want to you too.”

“No you don’t. Not anymore now that I’ve become your worthless husband with stomach rolls.”

“I like your stomach rolls,” Jonghyun says so sincerely that Key wants to punch him in the gut.

“You do not.”

“I do!”

“Okay, what if I became obese? Would you still love me?”

“I—well…”

“See! Oh god, we should just get a divorce, like, right now.”

“But you’re not obese—and don’t joke about those things.”

Key sighs and wraps his arms tight around Jonghyun’s stomach. “I’m gaining weight faster than you can make those goddamn protein shakes in the morning,” Key says. “I feel disgusting. Meanwhile you’re this gorgeous, douchebag looking guy and I’m so…”

“Beautiful,” Jonghyun finishes, smoothing his hands through Key’s hair. “You’re so ing beautiful. Really, like, I can’t even describe it. I never could. Remember when I proposed? I had this whole speech and I ed it up. You laughed so hard.”

“I didn’t laugh that hard,” Key says, and smiles as he remembers the day Jonghyun asked him to marry him. Jonghyun was so upset that he messed up his speech that he actually started crying. “That was ing adorable. God, I love you so much. But I don’t deserve you.”

Key rolls over and hops out of bed. He goes over to look at himself in their full-body mirror at the corner of the room. His jockstrap is still hanging on the corner. Onew had come over to their house the previous week before the three of them went out to lunch. He saw the jockstrap and pissed himself laughing while Key stood there completely unamused. Really, there shouldn’t be anything laughable about a gay man being in possession of a jockstrap.  

Key rolls his shirt up and frowns as he stares at his stomach. It’s not as bad as it actually looks in his head, but still, he’s got fat. Considering he spent his entire life living with a flat stomach, this small tummy he’s developing has come as a shock and he’s determined to treat it as an unwanted visitor.

Jonghyun shows up behind him and puts his hands over Key’s, which are on his stomach.

“So you’ve got a little tummy now,” Jonghyun says, resting his chin on Key’s shoulder. “It’s adorable. I love it.”

“That’s gross,” Key says, but he’s smiling.

“I love everything about you. I really do. You’re so ing great, Key. It’s me who doesn’t deserve you. I am a douchebag.”

“Oh you are not,” Key says, twisting his body slightly so he can bump his nose against Jonghyun’s cheek. “Your career is douche-y.”

“But I am a douchebag! God, I was talking to this lady at the gym and I told her to do more core exercises because her stomach wasn’t that defined. What if she didn’t want a defined stomach? Who am I to tell her that?”

Key kisses his cheek. “That is kind of a douchebag thing to do, honey, but still. You’re not a douchebag. You’re a sweet pumpkin seed spice cake.”

“You hated the pumpkin seed spice cake,” Jonghyun says sadly, kissing Key’s shoulder.

“I didn’t hate it. It just wasn’t the best cake.”

“Yeah, I’d have to agree.” Jonghyun runs his fingers over the waistband of Key’s pyjama pants. “You know you have a perfect .”

“Oh! You know what would be great about gaining weight though? My would get bigger.”

“Your is already perfect. It’s perfect. And this…” Jonghyun pokes at the birthmark on Key’s side. “I love this.”

“It’s a birthmark.”

“Yeah, but it’s, I don’t know, you. It’s a part of you. So I love it. And I love how worked up you get over things. Like, the other day you almost had a mental breakdown because you couldn’t figure out that one across question in that crossword.”

“The answer was the oboe. God, it’s one of the most common woodwind instruments and I couldn’t even work it out. I studied music in college, did you know that?”

“Yes, dear, we attended the same college remember?”

“Of course I do.”

“I also love how when you finish meals you put the cutlery in order. Like, you put the spoon, fork and knife together in the centre of the plate,” Jonghyun continues.

“It’s called etiquette,” Key says. Jonghyun takes both his hands and forces Key to walk backwards with him until the back of his knees hit the edge of the bed. Jonghyun sits and holds Key in place in his lap.

“Whatever. I’ve never seen anyone do that but you. So I’m calling it a you thing. I also love how whenever you see Taemin you make it a goal to have at least one argument with him—I invited him to the party by the way.”

“Of course you did. It’s because you’re still secretly in love with him and you him at least once at every party,” Key says. He’s joking, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t even the least bit doubtful whenever Jonghyun and Taemin were alone together. They had dated in high school and broke up in college, and the first time Jonghyun had actually asked Key out on a date he was prompted by his post-breakup sorrow. Key prefers to bury that part of their beginnings in the dirt. “Oh god,” Key continues. “If I gain one more kilogram I will officially be heavier than Taemin. Great, another thing he gets to hold over me.”

“What is he holding over you already?” Jonghyun asks, his hands now rubbing and squeezing his thigh, which is an indication that he wants .

“I don’t know, Jonghyun, your ity maybe?”

Jonghyun scoffs and just goes for Key’s crotch. “It wasn’t even good. And I like to think of my first time being with you, because I was happy. And, god, I was so in love with you. Still am.”

“Get your hand off my crotch. Ugh, I’m so disgusting.”

Key tries to stand up, but Jonghyun grabs his arm and pins him to the bed, provoking Key’s arousal. But no, he’s determined to feel disgusting.

“You’re not disgusting,” Jonghyun says, lips hovering over his. “And it hurts me that you think that. Because you’re the best thing I have in my life. More than anything, okay? You’re all I want. And I love you so much. You’re mine. I won’t let anyone devalue you or talk smack about you, even if it’s you talking smack about yourself.” Jonghyun lightly pinches Key’s . “This is mine,” he growls into his ear and Key lets the moan he’s been holding back escape his lips. “And I’m proud of this. Now turn over I want to you.”

“Oh—Jonghyun wait.” Key kisses him deeply, arms going around Jonghyun’s neck and pulling him down. “I love you so much,” he breathes against his lips. “But I don’t think we should have cake at the party. Too fattening.”

They , and afterwards Key lets Jonghyun convince him that they should still have a cake at the party because he had already ordered it—along with some candles that are apparently better than other candles. He manages to fall asleep momentarily forgetting about his stomach rolls, which Jonghyun had raved on about (“it’s just more of you that I get to love!”). He also manages to kind of fall in love with those, too, because of the way Jonghyun had talked about them. They were a part of Key’s body and therefore they were Jonghyun’s. No one else’s opinion matters but his, and ultimately if Jonghyun loved something, which in this case was Key’s stomach rolls, well, Key couldn’t help but love them too. 

A/N: 

Fun Fact: this was a One Direction (Harry/Zayn) fic that I decided to convert into a JongKey fic. 

Anyways, darlings, hope you enjoyed reading. Comments/feedback are very much appreciated! 

Hope you've had a radical day or are having a radical day~