The younger one finally covered both their bodies and Ryeowook dived into the offered hug, pecking Kyuhyun's chest, before lovingly snuggling under the heavy cover; he showed sleepy eyes, but the bunch of adrenaline just felt had newly energized him, to the point that he would have gladly abandoned himself to a second round of cuddles, if possible.

"How come you're always that damn beautiful when we make love, Ryeo?" Kyuhyun's back was at the fireplace, he stood on his elbow, his head rested on his hand, and hugged Ryeowook by this one's waist, softly drumming fingers on his hip and pulling him closer, despite the fact that Ryeowook was now laying on his stomach and rested his head on both his folded forearms.

"What does it mean when we make love?" he sniffled, faking indignation, and grinned "I'm always beautiful, you must know it!"

"Right...sorry..." Kyuhyun mumbled, maybe surrendering for the first time in his life. He was always that witty and straight-forward, he always loved to tease Ryeowook, as much as he could, but the whole thing of having just made love under those particular circumstances had simply too much overwhelmed him, taking the last excerpt of strength he still owned before taking his lover. And, in truth, Kyuhyun was mentally considering how to bring the marriage topic up, without alarming Ryeowook.

He bent and kissed Ryeowook's nape, slowly moving down along his spine: "What's wrong?" Ryeowook softly asked, not turning his head as one of his hands was intently playing with the underneath carpet. He somehow felt that Kyuhyun wasn't his normal self, there was something that worried him and he sensed a strange tension coming from his younger lover. He tried to question him as much as he could: the task of a concerned lover was finding out the root of the problem and try to resolve the issue.

Kyuhyun hummed in deny, and focused on Ryeowook's shoulder. He got back in his previous side-laying position and traced his boyfriend's skin with his fingertips, drawing nonsensical circles. "Come on, spit it out! You know that keeping silent will just worsen my mood and, what I want to do right now is open that damn champagne bottle and drink it with you to celebrate Christmas" he mumbled, before turning to Kyuhyun's direction and staring right into his eyes, trying to get a glimpse of Kyuhyun's thoughts. 

Kyuhyun smirked and moved his hand through Ryeowook's hair, bending towards his lips and stealing another kiss: "Don't worry, it's really nothing, babe!" Kyuhyun tried to reassure him and spoke in his kiss "Go and get the bottle" he suggested and smacked Ryeowook's bottom "...let's toast and get drunk, then we will sleep here on the carpet and no one will go to the door when Yesung, Donghae and Eunhyuk will get back home. Seems a good Christmas plan!"

Ryeowook rolled eyes and snorted: "I'm too tired to move! You be a man and go yourself!" 

Kyuhyun sniggered under breath: "Let me understand. What would you be then? A baby whale stranded ashore?" but Ryeowook's wimpy reaction didn't contribute into preventing Kyuhyun to keep making fun of him "You simply cannot say those horrible things to me after..."

"...after what? What did you want to say? And by the way, you don't look any different from a poor baby whale, sprawled that way" Kyuhyun's laugh overcast those faint complains, his hand still playfully and repetitively smacked Ryeowook's bottom.

"I'm not a baby whale!" Ryeowook whined again and smacked Kyuhyun's chest.

"You are" Kyuhyun's grin got wider as his finger reached the man's nose and poked its point "You are my cute sprawled baby whale, be happy!" He was on his way to keep on whisper something in the pianist's ear, when this one abruptly pushed himself up and stole the cover which wrapped them both. He uncovered Kyuhyun and covered himself instead, while walking towards the corner where the champagne bottle stood and grabbed it, going back to his place.

"Good boy..." Kyuhyun smirked as Ryeowook obediently sat down again and tossed a side of the cover again over the other man's body. The younger one stretched out a hand and messed up Ryeowook's hair, earning an annoyed puffing from this one "Stop it!" he complained, trying not to pay him any attention, a slightly bit idignated.

He was fiddling with the golden wrapping paper around the sealed cork, when Kyuhyun pulled up and sat behind him, he slipped his arms around Ryeowook and grabbed the bottle with both hands, in order to steady it: "Don't shake it too much. If you spill wine all over yourself I'd be too tempted to it off you..." Kyuhyun commented then, with one of his usual evil smirks. His hot breath hit Ryeowook's neck side and almost burnt; he blushed at the thought of Kyuhyun's temptations, but managed to open the bottle without any further distractions.

He left it in Kyuhyun's attentive hands and brought closer the two glasses, which were almost immediately filled. 

Kyuhyun put the bottle down and grabbed the glass Ryeowook was handing him; he had just opened his legs and closed them around his lover's waist, careful to wrap him closer to his body and into the unfolded cover. Ryeowook leaned against Kyuhyun's chest and peacefully sighed then, almost forgetting why he wanted to keep his pout to Kyuhyun. The younger one slipped his left arm under his boyfriend's and held him by the waist, while his right hand was lifting his glass and hitting Ryeowook's in a toast: "So...I guess it's a merry Christmas, right?" he asked, and Ryeowook nodded, his hair ticklish on Kyuhyun's left shoulder.

"We should toast to something else, though. Christmas comes in every year, after all..." Ryeowook examined the bubbles gathering on the surface of his transparent gold drink.

"To our love? Or wait, that comes in every day, after all..." Kyuhyun mocked him, earning Ryeowook's elbow in a hip and letting out a painful gasp, gritting teeth.

"Be careful, or that might come in every day as well, if you keep on going Mister Cho! I'd suggest you not to live on the edge of danger!" Ryeowook scoffed, but soon after tilted his head and reached for Kyuhyun's cheek as he planted a soft peck: "To our love..." he whispered and smiled while pressing another kiss, this time on Kyuhyun's lips. He then brought the glass to the mouth and gracefully sipped champagne.

"This feels just amazing..." Kyuhyun commented, moving his glass away and kissing Ryeowook's shoulder "...who thought we could have been able to stay home like this! No intruders, just the two of us in intimacy..."

Ryeowook nodded, but deeply sighed: "I'm getting worried though... It's running late, what if our friends forgot their way home? What if something bad happened?"

"We are talking about three responsible adults, Ryeowook! What do you think it might happen to them on Christmas night!" Kyuhyun snorted, rolling eyes "Okay, maybe I'm not that sure about Eunhyuk going by the name of adult...I'd doubt about Yesung too, but Donghae's perfectly fine and he will look after them! The worst that might happen is that they follow some group of party-holic strangers and end up getting drunk in some night club...it's not a tragedy!"

"Do you think?" Ryeowook's worry was still there in his voice, but Kyuhyun tried his best to reassure him: "I want you to get a little bit tipsy as well tonight." Kyuhyun encouraged him to take another sip and gulp down what remained of his first glass "Because when you do, you can't help but snuggle close to me while sleeping and mumble things about how crazy in love with me you are...and to be honest, I like it!" 

"I thought you hated that I always confessed that randomly while drunk!" Ryeowook widened eyes and tried to read Kyuhyun's mind. The younger one simply shrugged then: "I guess you slowly changed habit, because I can clearly hear my name being pronounced by those lovely lips of yours...things like I love you Kyu, or my Kyu Kyu is simply too cute I can't handle it..." Kyuhyun laughed out loud at the last one.

Ryeowook seemed to be shocked while hearing those things. Kyuhyun glanced upon him and went on: "But the best has yet to come!" he wiped away a lone tear he had just shed for laughing too much and said "The best one, and my favorite overall, was Kyu is so good in bed I just want him to..." he never finished that seemingly rated fantasy, because Ryeowook muffled his boyfriend's mouth with a hand, crying out: "I don't say those things while drunk!" he innocently complained, because he knew Kyuhyun was yet making fun of him.

"Okay, fine..." Kyuhyun freed himself of Ryeowook's hand and poured them both another glass "...but, still...you're extremely cute when drunk. You've got this bright sparkling eyes and a lovely half-smirk on your face, I just can't think straight whenever I lay my eyes on you" Kyuhyun then ran his fingers through Ryeowook's locks and gently his hair, while this one rested again on the other man's shoulder and lifted his glass to drink a little bit more.

"Mhm!" Kyuhyun hummed and gulped down one more sip of his drink "Do you know what happened today at the store?" he had finally changed topic and was about to bring it on the marriage proposal. He didn't know where to start from though, and just thought it nice to tell him about the girl he had seen receiving her engagement ring.

Ryeowook stilled for a moment, curling lips in another pout and waiting for him to speak on.

"There was this couple who drew quite a lot attention because the guy had just proposed..." he explained, trying to control the palpable mounting nervousness in his voice.

"Oh? Really? Are there still people who make that sort of surprise?" Ryeowook innocently asked, grinning then in a slight bitter way, as if to mock the mentioned couple.

"I was about to get a heart attack for how high the girl's shrieks of enthusiasm were!" Kyuhyun tried to shift the conversation mode and make Ryeowook laugh a little bit more naturally. That grin of his made him disquiet somehow. What if everything was about to get in the wrong direction? He couldn't meet the risk of rejection...he simply couldn't conceive the existence of that possibility. It wasn't in between his admissions.

"Poor Kyu..." Ryeowook turned to face Kyuhyun and gently rested a hand on his cheek, caressing it back and forth.

"What about those surprises, though?" he was curious to know.

"Well...people choosing to propose on Christmas mainly do that because they don't know what present to give to their loved ones, which is kind of lame if you think about it." Ryeowook shrugged a little bit. Snaking one arm under Kyuhyun's left one and around his back, he tried to sit closer and softly rubbed his own cheek against Kyuhyun's shoulder "Mind you, I'm not saying that's something totally awful. It might as well be a good thing to have a proposal on Christmas, if there were a true meaning and a well organized plan behind it and it's not just conceived as a last minute gift from the jeweler's" he further explained his views.

Kyuhyun simply froze. His eyes looked big and empty while staring at the flickering dancing flames in front of him; his face flushed, not only because of the warmth issued by the fireplace, but also -and probably that was the worst- because of that feeling of shame he was feeling falling heavily on his shoulders.

He faked a laugh, then, shoulders sobbing.

"I wouldn't like to receive a proposal made just because my meaningful other isn't clearly able to pick a gift for big commercial occasions like Christmas" Ryeowook scoffed "I'd prefer honesty and someone who told me that he forgot or didn't know what to give me...does it make sense?"

Kyuhyun nervously downed all the content of his third -or fourth, he was beginning to lose count- glass in a gulp. Clearing his throat, the younger man nodded: "Perfect sense..." he admitted, a bit too dejected. Hope was fading away, though he'd always been someone who bravely fought for whatever he wanted and preferred to create his last hope. "Wait, are you saying that I might not be the man you'll be marrying?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't be that chill about it. There's plenty of people who are eagerly eyeing me every single day, you just don't know it..." Ryeowook laughed, trying to back this time "It doesn't mean that we are a steady couple just because we live together..."

"What does it mean?!" Kyuhyun sounded alarmed. It was because his proposal plan was miserably failing, that he was slowly falling his little hole of dark despair, from which he didn't envisage a clear way out.

"I might meet new people..." Ryeowook went on "...for example every year there's always this cute baby-faced violinist at the concert, who has clearly fallen for me and would like to ask me out. He never told me, but it's actually a very hard thing to find someone who doesn't go around and gossip that much about others... I heard that trumpeters were even betting on how long it'll take him to ask me for a coffee. They thought he might have achieved something this year..." He tried to hide all his amusement, but Kyuhyun looked so shocked to hear that and wasn't even able to understand if there was something funny about it.

"I'm joking, Kyuhyun..." Ryeowook deeply sighed, when noticing his boyfriend's lips closed in a tight line and his frowning look of disapprovement. He quickly bent over Ryeowook and stole a deep kiss. He moved angrily and hungrily on the pianist's mouth, tasting and sharing the previously drunken alcohol.

"I won't let anybody, I repeat anybody, snatch you away from me, clear?" he grunted, still affected from those words. How dared that stranger try to think of seducing Ryeowook? Even if he died, he couldn't simply give Ryeowook the permission to date other people. He would more likely be condemned to a life of chastisement, if that was the case.

"Kyu..." Ryeowook whispered, grazing his own lips under his fingertips. That rushed kiss felt somehow different, somehow rude and pretentious...Kyuhyun must have been really angry "...I'm sorry. I didn't want you to think that I might actually cheat on you! It's something I'd never even consider as remotely possible, it's simply disgusting..." Ryeowook mumbled very low, he briefly averted Kyuhyun's eyes and shyly looked away, clearly disturbed by the idea of cheating per se "You are my one and only..." he repeated with soft reassuring voice soon after, as he leaned forward to kiss Kyuhyun in a gentler way.

"So...will you marry me?" Kyuhyun bluntly asked, without even thinking of the words that had just slipped out of his mouth.

Ryeowook stilled, trying to decipher that request, not sure if Kyuhyun was purposely asking him in marriage because he wanted to, because he was acting jealous as his usual, or because he was slowly feeling the poisoning effect of alcohol in his blood.

Ryeowook's lips trembled and he stuttered: "W-what?" asking in a blow. Kyuhyun looked tremendously serious while waiting for an answer, though.

"I...I don't think I'm ready to get married, Kyuhyun. Not quite yet, at least..." he couldn't really finish his sentence because Kyuhyun's sharp laugh sliced the silence and cut him off. Ryeowook was taken aback, not knowing how to react, especially when Kyuhyun decided to hug him around the shoulders and bring him even closer.

The younger man lifted his glass, emptied its content and, lips, said: "Don't worry, Ryeowook. I'm not that ready either. I wasn't serious about it" he tilted his head and soundly pecked Ryeowook's cheek, rubbing the point of his nose on the soft skin "It's right that way. I hurt you and it's not been that long since we became a couple. We are still dealing with the occurred changes" 

Ryeowook almost sighed in relief, half smiling: "I'm...I'm glad to hear that you've got a similar view on it as me..." he admitted, accepting another kiss "...you almost frightened me with that! I didn't want to give you a plain no...I love you to death, after all! It's only that I'm not ready for such a commitment, no matter who my lover is...it's too important and we both should consider it carefully!" he explained further.

"No need to explain me anything, sunshine" Kyuhyun bitterly said, he settled his glass on the floor and took Ryeowook's as well, placing it somewhere nearby. He held the older man's hands in his and tangled their fingers together, after a little while he moved and the cover slowly fell across his shoulder while he was gently resting Ryeowook again on the carpet. 

He leaned over his body and kind of forced himself into a smile: "When we both will be ready for marriage, and you will be pronounced as my husband in front of the law, be fully aware that we will make the most perfect couple in the world, because..."

"...we belong together and there's no one meant for us, like we are for each other" they both recited as one voice; theirs being a mantra from the school time, which had been told over and over again whenever the two needed to confirm their mutual feelings, after the reunion.

"Don't forget it" Kyuhyun's voice was meant to sound steady, but it unnoticeably quivered. His heart had been just shattered by that hesitation he found in Ryeowook, before the possibility of tying the knot together. He quickly pressed his lips against the soft flesh of the other man's throat and marked him yet again, so that pure white skin became reddish from the left round hickeys. 

"S-sure..." Ryeowook muffled a moan behind the palm of a hand and didn't notice his pain, his bitterness hidden in that ever so deep voice and the fist that was clenching Kyuhyun's heart at the idea of being temporary rejected. His eyes already shut, Ryeowook tried to focus on the sound of those hot little breaths imprinting on his skin.

He cupped Kyuhyun's face and stopped him, pushing a tiny bit up as he met his boyfriend's eyes: "I belong to you and no one else" he poured his whole heart as he spoke, pressing his lips against Kyuhyun's; and Kyuhyun's pain somehow decreased as he felt Ryeowook's sincerity through them...he looked straight into Ryeowook's pool of honesty, bared in those almond-shaped eyes he was thoroughly scanning.

And for that he forgave Ryeowook. He forgave the pianist, even though this one had momentarily deceived his lover. It wasn't clear why he felt that way though, since he had openly admitted that he didn't need marriage to feel Ryeowook as his, like he had just said in front of his three friends during afternoon. Then one only option was left: Kyuhyun, who found it useless to get into that sort of serious commitment, was -in truth- silently caressing the idea of it. Maybe he had always just wanted as much...he didn't simply recognized it as his wish.

"I know" he replied. His forehead was glued to Ryeowook's, while this one still held him in his hands, fingers moving and stretching behind both his ears as they entered the thick forest of wavy messy dark brown locks.

"Let's move to our room now" Ryeowook decleared with low voice, still exploring the depths of the other man's round big eyes. He unwillingly let Kyuhyun go after another kiss and sighed, while getting up from the carpet.

Kyuhyun had already stood and was casually picking up their discarded clothes, not concerned about mixing them up: "You go on and take a shower before bed, I'll do the same in a while."

"Mind to join me over there as well?" Ryeowook's feet had silently walked across the room, padding on the carpet; he held one of the covers around his waist and turned to look at Kyuhyun while peeking from the hallway arched doorframe.

"Maybe? It depends though. I'm pretty tired, to be honest" Kyuhyun bent to collect the empty bottle of champagne and their used glasses, then abandoned them all in the kitchen sink.

"Okay, got it. Schedule goes: quick shower, warm change of clothes and bedtime cuddles with you. I'll fight against sleep so, hurry up or you won't be having me at all for the rest of the night!" Ryeowook stuck his tongue out in the darkness, disappeared in the hallway and stepped into the bathroom.

The younger one had cleared most of the left mess and was checking the now dying fire being suffocated by ardent pieces of leftover coals. There was another thing to be done before quietly going to bed, and it was to make sure that Yesung, Donghae and Eunhyuk could make it safely into the house, despite not owning any key to the entrance door. Kyuhyun, therefore, returned into the entrance hallway and inserted a hand in his coat pocket, fishing his own keys. His heart almost literally stopped, when his fingertips grazed the velvety material that covered the engagement rings set box he had bought during the day. 

He took the little box out and, aware to be unnoticed, he opened it to take a quick look at the identical pair of thin silver bands. Not knowing which hidden force drove him to ferociously bite his lips in remorse, he did, and felt a cape of misery when thinking of his rushed excitement. It was all because he pictured in his mind the glorious moment when he would have slipped that little ring on Ryeowook's finger, and almost cutely lectured him on the meaning that same jewel would have born for the rest of their lives.

What if Ryeowook were never ready enough to entrust his own life in Kyuhyun's hands? That's what it sounded like, when Kyuhyun had jokingly admitted that he knew they were slowly taking their time while establishing a solid (almost) two-year-long relationship. What did Ryeowook do then? He just nodded and confirmed that he agreed and preferred it that way... Was it then that he couldn't restore his full trust towards Kyuhyun the reason why he was so frightened at the idea of marriage?

That very same assumption scared Kyuhyun. At the moment he had be given a no as a reply, and there was no mean to change that. He decided to tuck the box away in his pocket again, before getting rid of it on the morrow, when Ryeowook couldn't bust him. He would have probably thrown it into one of his messiest closet drawers, or in the one under the desk, where he stored stationery and Ryeowook never went to look inside. Yes, that was probably the better and safer option.

He checked his phone then, and noticed that Yesung and Donghae had sent him a few texts. Their friends realized that they wanted to be alone and warned them about the possibility of partying somewhere in the city until dawn. 

"Ryeowook and I are back at home. I'll leave you my set of keys under the doormat, so you can get inside once you come back. And...the thing you said about organizing a surprise in order to propose to Ryeowook...well, please forget about it. Marriage plan miserably failed tonight, but I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. Be careful and take care! See you later and merry Christmas"

Kyuhyun wasn't that keen to long text messages; if he could, he'd have just chosen a phone call instead, but he felt like there was more than a thing to be passed on to the group of friends, therefore he read the lines once again and pressed the confirmation button, sending the text to Donghae.

He didn't want to know nor think about how they might have reacted at the bad news of his failed project on the morrow.

What was even on plan for the day? They hadn't discussed a thing about it.

The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted to feel the hot stream of water from the shower running down his shoulders and relaxing his whole body. He wanted to share his bed with Ryeowook, whom he would have most likely found half-asleep under covers.

Was he being selfish for asking that Ryeowook could be tipsy enough to forget the whole happened event? Maybe not the whole thing, just those stupid blurted words about marriage...that would be enough.

After his well deserved shower in the middle of the night, Kyuhyun felt way too relaxed, as he stepped out of the shower and grabbed his bathrobe. He gently slipped it on his shoulders and tied it around his waist. His mind ran again back to what happened and it seemed to have lost itself in the intricate maze of mixed thoughts, while standing under the hot jet of water. In truth he felt more tired than before, and it was as if washing up had finally contributed to make all his exhaustion from the day spent shopping, pent up frustration and that newly added feeling of loss, when thinking about his failure, emerge to the surface of his inner impetuous lake of emotions.

Kyuhyun didn't even notice that his wandering mind made him spend quite much time apart from Ryeowook. He understood it only when he stepped in his bedroom and found the other man cutely curled up under covers. Ryeowook was lightly snoring, while loosely hugging Kyuhyun's pillow in the meantime.

The younger man lifted the thick covers and silently slipped inside, his lips curved into a heartfelt smile as he tried to slide further down without waking Ryeowook up. He was on his hip as he took his lover's wrist in his hand and, hoping not to scare him amidst his sleep, pulled it away from his pillow, where he successfully rested his head and proceeded to take a long deep gaze at Ryeowook's peaceful sleepy features.

This one jerked only a little bit, feeling the need to reposition himself in the most comfortable way, now that Kyuhyun had come to take possession of his own place in bed. His lashes fluttered for a couple of seconds and Ryeowook put all his willpower into trying to lift, even just halfway, one of his tired eyelids in order to check on Kyuhyun. He repetitively blinked very quickly, disturbed by the action even if after succeeding at it somehow, and cracked a little smile: "Told you to hurry...up..." he casually mumbled, voice low, hoarse and muffled against Kyuhyun's shirt.

"Sorry..." Kyuhyun whispered back, reassuringly the man's back, sliding back and forth his hand on Ryeowook's striped light blue flannel pajama top.

"I forgive you" Ryeowook mumbled again, this time he sounldy yawned and those words exited his mouth as an almost incomprehensible blow.

Kyuhyun leaned in a kiss on Ryeowook's head and rested his chin there while holding that body close to his own. One last thought was now dominating his mind, before giving up his fight against weariness: he was the one who first brought up the idea of marriage, he rushed conclusions -leading to wrong high expectations-, he deceived himself like a fool and, therefore, he rightly deserved to feel as lost as he realized to be.

However, there was no need to be that harsh with one self, after all he just needed to gather a little bit of concentration to forgive his selfish being for dreaming with that little whim. 

Following up dawn, Kyuhyun swore and promised himself that he would have forgotten the bought rings, and if it happened that Ryeowook unluckily remembered about not being given his Christmas gift, well...at that occasion, Kyuhyun could have always denied its existence and told him he had lost the little package, fearing that it might have fallen from his coat pocket while treasuring it during the concert night.

A little lie was to be sacrificed for bigger aims, as Ryeowook would have never known about the marriage proposal itself, not until he was truly ready for it at least, and Kyuhyun could take time to forget the night he had almost shamelessly ended up in openly making fun of himself.

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A/N: Hellou beloved readers! First of all, I want to wish you a merry belated Christmas...eheh sorry about that ^^" I hope you all spent a happy time with your loved ones! This chapter was meant to be my gift for you, but the truth is that, I don't know why nor how (maybe it's because of the festive atmosphere lol) I'm getting bombed by new ideas and scenarios for Kyuwook fanfictions and I am slowly taking notes on how I should put them down, in order to get quite a satisfying final result to present you later on kkkk not that late, though, since I'm basically already editing my first short story, and I've got ideas on a third longer one lol. Well, fourth chapter is already saved as draft and I just need to edit that one as well, before continuing to write down the rest of the story, which luckily is already all planned in my mind, therefore no need to worry! I haven't forgotten to update! XDD Anyway, do your homework for me as I hope to collect many comments for this, to get my boost of energy!! lol What do you think of Ryeowook being uncertain about marriage? Did you expect it or not?