Yixing was strolling around the pharmacy, picking up bottles of hair dye and different shapes of plasters. They had reached the cosmetics section by now and Yixing already had one hand full of miscellaneous beauty products. He turned to the boy beside him, looking up from the shelves.

“A man must know how to take care of his skin…”

His fingers skimmed past all the different shapes of chapsticks. There were different combinations of cherry and apple and lemon and mint. Yixing got onto his hunches and a tube of BB cream slipped out of his grip, but he didn’t seem to hear the clatter. Jongin rolled his eyes and huffed as he bent down to pick it up. Rolling the tube between his thumb and index finger, he read the label under his breath. 

Yixing snatched up a warm- yellow coloured tube and shoved it in together with the rest of his stuff in his other hand. Jongin watched Yixing stand back up and stretch slightly.

“Are you done?”

Yixing grinned and took the tube of BB cream from Jongin's hands.

“Thank you for holding onto this.”

He mock- bowed and left Jongin at the aisle full of staring girls as he went to pay. 

Once they had reached home, Yixing shoved aside most of the centuries- old notes and replaced the dusty place with his purchases. He left the chapstick on the edge of the pile, applying a couple layers before he left it back on the table. 

Jongin was sitting on the couch, going through the books left on the coffee table to see if they needed to be stored or left on the table. When he heard their bedroom door open and shut, he looked up expectantly to find Yixing right behind him. The shorter of the two of them leaned down and placed a light kiss on the other.

“What are you doing?”

Yixing flopped onto the couch and watched Jongin continue flipping through the books. Jongin turned to look at Yixing once and his lips. 

“Are you right now?”

Jongin sputtered and the book fell out of his hands. Yixing watched as Jongin his lips again and the corners of his lips slowly raised into a smile. 

The next few weeks found Jongin always pulling Yixing in for a kiss. A few seconds after they pulled away, Jongin would always stare into Yixing’s eyes and say:

“Your chapstick came off. Put more on.”

Then he’d smile and Yixing would reapply it. 

It didn’t take long for Yixing to realise that Jongin was kissing him a little more than usual. It had been going on for a few weeks and Jongin would always kiss him  before they left their apartment, as Yixing just left the bathroom or after dinner. None of the kisses were ever too needy, Jongin didn’t slip his tongue in, he didn’t nibble on Yixing’s lips or anything. They were just light kisses that made Yixing smile. 

Yixing exited their bathroom and found Jongin at their tiny kitchenette. Wrapping his arms around the taller boy, he looked up, already expecting to be kissed. Jongin smiled down at Yixing and kissed him slowly. 

“Why are you kissing me so much lately?”

“Maybe you’re just delicious…” 

Yixing chuckled and let Jongin continue cutting up fruits, leaving his arms lightly wound around his waist. 

For the 4th time that day, Yixing reapplied his chapstick and pocketed it. From his side, Luhan looked up to his friend.

“Why do you keep reapplying your chapstick?”

Yixing thought for a moment and was about to shrug when he saw Jongin in the distance.

“I think it’s probably because I’m about to meet Jongin.”

Luhan sniggered. 

“What? Does he like the taste of your chapstick?”

“No, he’s just been kissi-“

Jongin was walking away from them now. He entered the coffee shop they both frequented (and where Yixing had just asked him to get a blueberry muffin from) and disappeared from view. Come to think of it, Jongin did always kiss him after he had just applied chapstick. And he did always ask him to reapply it afterwards. Did Jongin really like the taste of his chapstick?

By his side, Luhan waved his hand in front of Yixing a few times. 

“Yixing? I was joking!”

He didn’t receive a response and after an exasperated sigh left Yixing to stand there as his thoughts continued to run from him.

The next day, Yixing untangled himself from Jongin’s arms and legs and sat up in their bed. The duvet fell to his waist as he turned back to watch his lover sleep. His dark skin looked beautiful against the white bedsheets (partly why he got them) and he appreciated the relaxed expression.

Yixing then got up and showered, throwing on his clothes and moisturising everywhere he needed and lastly, applying the chapstick. Last night, as he was listening to Jongin snore, Yixing was again wondering if Jongin really did enjoy the taste of his chapstick. Come to think of it, he did start kissing him more after he’d bought it. 

So, as a result, Yixing had spent the better part of the night thinking of ways to investigate Luhan’s statement. He couldn’t just ask him outright because Jongin would deny it for sure. He decided to just set up many trials and situations to prove it. And damn if he didn’t feel like some top- secret investigator looking for patterns and clues. 

Before Jongin woke up, Yixing walked to the pharmacy and bought the first chapstick he saw. This was supposed to taste like cherry mint and Yixing pocketed it, quickly heading home before Jongin woke.

When Jongin kissed Yixing good morning after he had gotten out of the shower, he had smiled lazily at him. Yixing grinned back before he reapplied the chapstick, making sure to use the new one he had bought. Before they left the apartment and went their separate ways for the day, Yixing waited at the door for Jongin to pull him in for a kiss. 

The kiss was a little shorter than usual. In fact, Jongin had leaned in and rested his lips on Yixing’s, but after less than half a second, he pulled away. Yixing didn’t know whether to laugh or smirk at the half- confused, half- frowning look on Jongin’s face. 

For the next couple of days, Yixing set up a lot more “investigations”. Like the first day, he would randomly wear the cherry mint chapstick instead of his normal one. So far, Yixing had deduced that Jongin did indeed kiss him less when he applied the cherry mint chapstick first thing in the morning but more when he applied his normal one, also that Jongin always eyed Yixing whenever he reapplied the chapstick. 

One morning, Yixing was applying the cherry mint chapstick when Jongin burst into the bathroom- he usually slept in for a couple more minutes- and Yixing practically catapulted the tube into the bathtub.

“Christ, Jongin. All you had to do was knock!”

But Jongin didn’t seem to hear him. All he did was walk towards the bathtub and pick up the tube that had clattered inside. 

“What is this? Cherry mint?”

Yixing mock- rolled his eyes.

“No, I’m blind, what is it?”

Yixing snickered behind his hand as Jongin pulled the cap off and sniffed it. 

“It’s foul. Where’s the mango burst one?”

Yixing grinned: experiment successful. 

It was only a couple days later when they were laying next to each other in the dark room when a thought occurred to Yixing.

“Jongin, why don’t you just wear the chapstick yourself instead of having to kiss me all the time?”

There wasn’t a response for a while.

“Jongin? Are you asleep?”

Yixing heard the ruffle of bedsheets and then felt Jongin’s warm heavy arm flop over his stomach. He revelled in the warmth his lover provided. As Jongin snuggled into Yixing’s neck, Yixing heard his soft reply. 

“It’s not very manly to wear chapstick. Besides, I like kissing you too.”

 ~ 

“Jongin, what are you doi-“

Yixing opened the door and paused in the doorway as Jongin whirled around to face him, the warm yellow coloured tube in hand. Yixing doubled over and had to rest against the doorjamb as he laughed.