author's note: for this prompt - “Minkey in IKEA”

If there’s one question Kibum thinks he’ll never have an answer to, it would be the colour of the sofa for his new home with Minho. Stuck in the sofas and armchairs section on the 2nd floor of Ikea, Kibum has been asking himself the same question for about half an hour and yet he still can’t decide which will suit their new apartment more – white or black. Mind you, there’s still a long shopping list to go through and he has only managed to tick three items off, all of which can’t exactly be considered as necessities.

It’s already been more than an hour since they stepped into Ikea and was overwhelmed by the showroom of what feels like at least 20 different room settings that cover every part of a home. They’re still only at the second section of the mega furniture store where they’ve been browsing through a wide variety of living room furniture combinations in many different styles. As much as Kibum enjoys being so inspired by all the ways he could design their new home, he honestly just wants to make a quick decision right now. With his frustration growing as the minutes tick by, Kibum eventually finds himself defeated and chooses to put his trust in his other half.

“I give up!” Annoyed, Kibum huffs and even throws his hands up in defeat, “Minho, you decide.”

But when he turns to his right and is about to hit Minho on his arm, Kibum finds himself scaring a young family who is walking by instead. The toddler looks terrified, her parents shocked and so, he quickly bows in apology before he looks away in embarrassment, cursing at Minho for disappearing. It’s then he realizes how absorbed he has been in deciding the colour of their sofa to not notice Minho leaving his side.

Now where did that sweetheart (note: sarcasm) of a boyfriend go?

Kibum looks around his surroundings for that all familiar figure and finally spots him standing not too far away, just in front of one of the many room settings set up in Ikea. Remaining where he is, Kibum observes Minho for a moment, wanting to see what his boyfriend is doing there by himself.

He must have spent a good 5 minutes looking at Minho but he doesn’t move the entire time, standing there like a statue, a gorgeous one if Kibum may add, and at times blocking the way, if the irritated looks on some of the other shoppers’ faces as they try to view the showroom say anything. At this, Kibum can’t help but smile in amusement to himself, instantly forgetting the bit of annoyance he felt earlier when he couldn’t find Minho by his side.

Slowly, he walks towards Minho as quietly as he can and comes to stand just behind him, loosely wrapping an arm around Minho’s waist before resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Anything I can help you with, Sir?”

With every intention to play a trick on Minho, Kibum expected his boyfriend to be scared or at least surprised, perhaps even jumping a little, but instead, he feels Minho relax and lean back against him.

“Actually, yes.” Minho chuckles, “For starters, you could give me a proper back hug. I don’t accept such half-assed hugs, baby.”

“Behave.” Shaking his head in disapproval, Kibum lightly pinches Minho on his side, “We’re in public.”

“Are we?”

Kibum shoots Minho a wary glance when he recognises the mischief in Minho’s eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?

When Minho moves to the side and reaches down to hold Kibum’s hand before pulling him forward, Kibum finds himself a little guarded and generally having a bad feeling about what Minho is planning to do.

“Relax, I just wanna show you something.”

“What?”

Even so, Kibum lets Minho lead him into the mini showroom of a fully furnished living room before he pulls him down to sit on the sofa with him.

“I don’t think we’re allowed to sit here…” Kibum makes a move to get up but Minho has his hand firmly on his thigh.

“Why not?” Minho sits back and smiles, “Welcome home, babe.”

“Home?” Kibum turns to Minho with a confused expression, “Are you seriously playing pretend right now?”

Minho sighs, “Kibum, I love you and all but sometimes I wish you would just shut up.”

Like a natural instinct, Kibum lifts his hand and slaps Minho on his arm.

Instead of wincing in pain, Minho lets out a laugh as he then places his arm around Kibum’s shoulders, bringing his boyfriend closer like how they would usually sit when they are alone with each other.

“This is exactly how home should feel like.” Minho thinks out loud with a sigh; this time, of course, it’s a sigh of satisfaction.

“This?” Kibum raises an eyebrow at Minho before properly looking at the showroom they are currently occupying, “I didn’t know you wanted a rustic décor for our home…”

Minho shakes his head, “Not the décor, Kibummie. Furniture will wear and tear. We can always redecorate or renovate our home so that’s not what makes our house, well, a home…”

Kibum frowns, wondering where Minho is going with this. Going silent for a while, Minho moves his arm to loosely hook it around Kibum’s instead before he sinks further into the sofa and makes enough space for himself until he is able to lean his head on Kibum’s shoulder.

“You, on the other hand… you’re here to stay.” Minho continues with a genuine smile as he gets into a comfortable position and closes his eyes, fully enjoying the moment, “I just like that I’ll be coming home to you for the rest of my life.”

Kibum finds himself stumped by Minho’s reply. He honestly isn’t expecting to hear that at all. It’s not that Minho has never said such sweet things to him before, god knows he’s always big on being cheesy, but it’s different this time.

It hits Kibum hard in all the right ways.

Their decision to move in together has never felt more right.

And suddenly, Kibum can’t actually be bothered about what colour the sofa is anymore when all that really matters is who he’ll be sitting on the sofa with.

“You know…” Kibum can’t resist a smile as he says, “I kinda actually love you a lot.”

Minho sits up and turns to look at Kibum with a serious expression, “Wow, that’s a relief, considering we’ve already decided to live together and I am planning to marry you.”

Kibum punches Minho on his chest, “I don’t love your sarcasm though.”

“But I love yours.”

Kibum rolls his eyes, “If you’re done playing around, shall we go order the sofa now?”

“Have you decided on the colour already?” Minho asks, surprised.

Kibum shrugs, “Up to you.”

“Is that a trick question?”

“It wasn’t even a question, Minho.”

“So you really want me to decide?”

Kibum nods.

“And you’ll be fine if I end up picking a colour you don’t like?”

“Mmhmm…”

“Great. Let’s go with turquoise then!” Minho decides enthusiastically.

Kibum glares at his boyfriend.

“Black, I meant black.” Minho quickly corrects himself, laughing awkwardly, before he repeats again just to make sure he’s still in Kibum’s good books, “Let’s choose black.”

And when Kibum nods with a smile, Minho confirms that his boyfriend still kinda actually loves him a lot.