Please comment!

Prompt: Mirage

Additional Character: Zhou Mi

Jongwoon was entirely sure why he accepted Zhou Mi’s proposal. Was he even in the right state of mind to say yes to spending a week in Las Vegas with Zhou Mi? He had heard of the phrase “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, and it concerned him because Zhou Mi had invite him to go with him. Sure, he had never gone that far east before so the cultures would be extremely different. But would he rather spend a week in Las Vegas or stay at home with his family and the people he loved?

Instead, he found himself packing his suitcase, making a mental note in his mind to let Kyuhyun know that he won’t be around for the next week as he is in a different continent. He made sure to pack extra pairs of sunglasses and hats as different disguises so that none of the other tourists would recognise him, despite Zhou Mi’s reassurance that “K pop isn’t that popular in America yet”.

In all honesty, he was relatively concerned with how they were going to cope language barrier wise. He didn’t say anything to the younger male and instead went out and bought a Korean-English dictionary, studying the most common phrases that he would probably need when in unfamiliar territory. He would spend around an hour a day in front of the mirror, looking at himself as he repeated the English phrases several times to reinforce them in his brain. He wasn’t convinced with his pronunciation, having difficulty pronouncing the ‘r’s, but that would have to do! He wasn’t American so of course his pronunciation wasn’t going to be perfect.

Soon enough, he was standing in the midst of Incheon Airport, his suitcase taken away by the conveyor belts as he waited for the information board to tell him and Zhou Mi which aeroplane he would need to board.

“Come on” Zhou Mi smiled as he pulled the older man along towards the tunnel which would lead them to the entrance of the plane. Zhou Mi had bought them first class tickets, saying that they deserved to sit in comfier seats because the journey was extremely long. Also, if they sat in the economy seats, people would no doubt recognise them.

The seats were next to each other, however, there were small walls for privacy and although Zhou Mi kept trying to keep conversations going, to be honest, Jongwoon was far too tired to listen to it and closed his eyes, music drowning his ears through his earphones.

Before he fell asleep, he was sure he recognised that brown mop of hair sitting two rows before him. But then, many people had brown hair, so Jongwoon let sleep envelop him.

He was only awoken several hours later, Zhou Mi poking his shoulder lightly to notify him that dinner was about to be served. Jongwoon smiled tiredly, sitting up and turning his music off to engage conversation with the younger male. He found the meal pleasant, a less traditional meal of chicken. He assumed it was because the majority of the travellers were American and so the food was tailored more towards their tastes. However, he enjoyed it and made a mental note to try out all the various American meals when he reached the destination.

The rest of the journey was quiet. He spent a lot of the time replaying the drama he was currently into, completely engrossed by the plot to realise that they had actually arrived at the airport.

Soon enough, they were sat in a taxi for a two hour journey to the hotel. Jongwoon couldn’t help but stare around at the buildings and the landscapes, noting how the building were so much more modernised than in Korea. It was amazing.

The hotel was even better. Jongwoon wondered how Zhou Mi had heard of this place and how much damage the cost would do to his wallet. He probably should have found out more information about the holiday before saying yes. However, he was quite excited when Zhou Mi handed his key to their shared room (Jongwoon felt a bit uncomfortable about this, but Zhou Mi insisted that they would save a lot more money this way) before rushing up to level 16 where their room was located. He had to stop himself from jumping on the bed in case he embarrassed himself in front of Zhou Mi or any of the employees.

Zhou Mi came up a few minutes later, carrying a few bags causing Jongwoon to blush. How could he have been so stupid to let Zhou Mi do all the work! “Don’t worry, a bellboy took the majority of the luggage. He will be up in a few moments.”

Jongwoon nodded, turning on the television. He stared at the screen blankly, not understanding a word what was being said.

“Come on” Zhou Mi smiled, pulling Jongwoon along by the hand to the streets of Las Vegas to look around the area. Jongwoon was fascinated by everything. It was all so big, and the food was so different in comparison. In away though, he was glad that he was only staying in America for a week: he was already starting to miss using chopsticks and eating kimchi pretty much every night.

 “Welcome to the Mirage Hotel” a concierge greeted them as they returned to back later in the evening. Jongwoon noticed the younger male’s reluctance to let go of his hand. As they walked back to the room, the door next to their hotel room opened slightly, catching Jongwoon’s eye, but closed just as quickly. Jongwoon and Zhou Mi continued to walk to their room, setting themselves in their respective beds: two large queen doubles located next to each other in the same room.

Jongwoon stayed awake and when he heard Zhou Mi’s soft snored echo in the room, he quietly got out of his bed, remembering to take the key with him as he left the hotel room in his pyjamas.

He walked to the door next door, knocking on it lightly. When the door opened, he jumped onto the other person, succumbing the other male in a tight hug. “Kyuhyun, what are you doing here?!” Jongwoon smiled, letting Kyuhyun attack him with soft kisses on his check.

“Well, someone never told me they were going on holiday, so I had to take measures to my own hands.” Jongwoon blushed, knowing that he never told Kyuhyun his intentions on going on holiday with Zhou Mi.

“Well you are here now and that is all that matters.” Jongwoon smiled, letting Kyuhyun pull him along to his bed. It was much larger than his hotel bed because Kyuhyun’s room was had a on King sized double bed, but even then, the younger male insisted that they slept close together because they had been separated for just over 24 hours.

When morning came round, Jongwoon awoke, panicking when he didn’t recognise the room he was in, but immediately calming down when he felt Kyuhyun’s arms wrap loosely around his waist. That was only until he realised that Zhou Mi was still in their room probably freaking out because he was missing.

He jumped up, knocking Kyuhyun to the side before running out of the room and dashed towards his hotel room to find a pacing Zhou Mi walking up and down the room in a state of worry.

“Where have you been, Jongwoon? I was so worried! I even considered calling the police if you didn’t turn up within the next hour. Thank god you are alright.” Zhou Mi pulled Jongwoon into a hug.

“I’m okay Zhou Mi, I was just next door. I’ll show you.” Jongwoon smiled, pulling Zhou Mi to Kyuhyun’s hotel room, to find the younger male still sleeping in his bed, completely unaffected by Jongwoon’s jump moments beforehand. “Hey!” Jongwoon shouts, slapping the sleeping male on the back causing him to jump up. “This brat followed us here.” Jongwoon explained, giving an extra hard slap on Kyuhyun’s back just to reinforce his dissatisfaction of the maknae’s presence.

“It was merely a coincidence, I swear.” Kyuhyun explained, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes whilst nursing the area on his back which he knew was going to come up with a light bruise.

“Whatever” Jongwoon rolled his eyes, pulling at Zhou Mi’s wrist out of the room and back to their room so he could get changed. Once he had gotten changed, he dragged the younger male to the reception.

“Why are we leaving Kyuhyun behind? We might as well enjoy the rest of the holiday with him now that he is here.”

“Just serves him right for turning up unexpectedly” Jongwoon explained, looking at the stand with booklets of the various attractions in the area. “Oh damn it! I forgot my wallet, I will be right back.” Jongwoon ran back towards his room stopping at Kyuhyun’s room to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

“Next time, you go on holiday with me, alright?” Kyuhyun said breaking the kiss.

“Alright.”

--

“I really enjoyed this holiday, Jongwoon. We should do something like this again next time.”

Word Count: 1,530