Four Seasons of Zhou Mi (Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, PG13)

[sujuexchange]

Title: Four Seasons of Zhou Mi
Author: nashirah
Recipient: fonulyn
Characters/Pairings: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG13
Genre(s): slice of life, au
Warnings: none
Author's Note: the prompt was either get-together fic or fic where they have been together for long, I wrote something in between. Hope fonulyn doesn't mind!

Summer China in summer is divine, he said. You will love it, he said. Fifteen minutes after Kyuhyun set his feet on the Beijing’s airport ground, and he knew he hated this place. But Zhou Mi seems delighted, and it’s not clear what’s causing it – the sunlight (which is menacingly strong), the company (which is the usual, Kyuhyun) or the fact he’s finally returning to his homeland after long years spent in Korea (which probably is the real reason behind Zhou Mi’s cheerfulness, yeah). So for the sake of their freshly established, let’s not be friends anymore relationship, Kyuhyun says nothing, even though his shirt clings to his back like a second skin. It’s damp from his sweat and the heat is only getting worse as he follows Zhou Mi out of the airport to catch a taxi. Only there’s no taxi, and a tall, absolutely stunning Chinese man is waiting for them outside. Kyuhyun hates him even more than China’s weather. “Zhang Junning.” says the guy, extending his arm to shake Kyuhyun’s wet and sticky hand, which in turn makes Kyuhyun feel like a very self-conscious teenage girl. They go sightseeing together, even if all Kyuhyun dreams of right now is an air-conditioned hotel room. He’s pretty sure he’s got sunstroke by the time they reach downtown. He can’t help feeling left out, as Zhou Mi and his BFF stroll almost hand in hand, speaking too fast Mandarin for Kyuhyun to follow the conversation. After an hour and a half of “Junning says” reported by ever the dutiful translator Zhou Mi (once he remembered Kyuhyun exists, of course) Kyuhyun is so fed up with it he actually snaps. “That’s charming, really” he says and there’s so much sarcasm in his voice Zhou Mi stops mid-sentence and just blinks at him. His arms drop to his sides. That only encourages Kyuhyun to continue. “I’m surprised you haven’t ended up together, you know? You’d make such an adorable couple.” Zhan Junning notices the tension between them (he would have to be blind not to) and offers to drive them back to their hotel. Kyuhyun’s Chinese, limited to the very basics, picks up such words as “tired” and “hungry”. Damn right he’s tired and hungry. Zhou Mi agrees and doesn’t say anything all the way to the hotel, his expression a mix of bewilderment and disbelief. Kyuhyun ignores it promptly. An invitation to go inside with them is just sheer courtesy and Zhang Junning seems to know it because he vanishes so quickly Kyuhyun almost thinks he evaporated. Zhou Mi’s lips are pursed into thin line and he doesn’t say anything until they reach their room. “Tell me the Kyuhyun show back there was just a momentary insanity and you’re back to normal.” Kyuhyun discovers that his willingness to fight deflated visibly now that Junning is not in his nearest vicinity and he feels pretty much like a flat tire, so he slumps on the bed. Nothing he could possibly say right now will stop him from sounding like a total ass anyway. He speaks up at the same time when Zhou Mi does. “Are you hungry…?” “Are you jealous…?” “No.” Maybe a little, but Zhou Mi doesn’t need to know that. He looks rather unconvinced when he sits next to Kyuhyun, but his expression softens to something akin to understanding. Kyuhyun is not focused on his face though, paying more attention to Zhou Mi’s hand resting on Kyuhyun’s thigh now. “So you get all territorial over me, huh? We’ve got three years of sexual tension between us, do you think I’d go running to the first hot guy I saw?” There are a few possible answers to that (“ha! So you do think he’s hot!” or “Yes, that’s what I think” or “Let’s get rid of that sexual tension then?”), but Kyuhyun decides against voicing any of them. He’s got a better idea anyway and Zhou Mi doesn’t protest when later Kyuhyun pins him to the bathroom door and kisses fervently. Autumn “That would be the third one.” Kyuhyun notices casually, grabbing a towel and throwing it in the general direction of the man dropping water all over the floor. Zhou Mi smiles sheepishly and starts wiping his drenched hair. “Seriously, you’re always losing umbrellas. What were you daydreaming about this time?” “And you said that autumn in Korea is the most beautiful season!” There’s slight accusation in the taller man’s voice. Kyuhyun only shrugs, because he could have said something like that, but he’d never think Zhou Mi would remember that bit of information anyway. Unsurprisingly, he had a great memory for irrelevant details. “Well, usually.” “It’s been raining for five days straight.” “You said China is divine in summer, and it was a living hell.” Kyuhyun retorts, helping Zhou Mi to shrug off his wet jacket. And then he adds “Strip before you catch a…” But he sees it’s too late as Zhou Mi sneezes, trying to wipe a big snot with the grace of a three year old kid caught in the act of stealing cookies from the jar. Kyuhyun organizes an impromptu rescue mission that involves a whole lot of tissues (and a roll of toilet paper, just in case), two aspirins and a hot shower. He ponders the idea of making a broth for him, since broths are supposed to be good for colds, but he quickly rejects it. No broth is better than no kitchen, after all. Fed and showered, Zhou Mi gets ushered to the bed, where Kyuhyun wraps him in the blankets until he looks like an oversized burrito. “Hey mother hen, come here.” Zhou Mi’s arm shoots from under the blanket and he tugs at Kyuhyun’s sleeve when he’s about to leave to run some more errands. He topples over, falling on Zhou Mi and getting a muffled oof out of him. But the Chinese doesn’t let go, and they lie awkwardly in a bundle of arms, legs and blankets. Before he can think better of it, he lets Zhou Mi kiss him. “I’m going to regret it, aren’t I?” “Probably.” is Zhou Mi’s thoughtful answer, and he kisses Kyuhyun again. The rain drums gently against the windowpane. Zhou Mi moves slightly so Kyuhyun can get more comfortable. It takes some readjustments for Kyuhyun, but eventually he fits ideally, pressed against sniffling Zhou Mi. “You remember what somebody said to you ages ago and you can’t remember to take an umbrella with you when you get off the bus?” Kyuhyun wonders out loud. “Selective memory?” Zhou Mi supplies helpfully. There’s silence that follows, and only the sound of raindrops falling on the glass interrupts it once in a while. It’s lulling them both to sleep but Kyuhyun struggles to stay awake, because he needs to check Zhou Mi’s temperature. “I will buy you a fashionable raincoat for birthday” he promises viciously and even he can’t ignore the implication that comes with that statement. Zhou Mi’s birthday is a few months away. Luckily, Zhou Mi is fast asleep, snoring slightly through his stuffed nose. In the morning, Zhou Mi looks as chirpy as ever, struggling into his too tight pants as he gets ready for the lectures. Kyuhyun wakes up with fever and abrasive paper in his throat. “Just like I predicted. I’ve been taking care of you the entire night and that’s what I get in return.” He says, meaning to sound sarcastic but it’s closer to miserable, the way his voice cracks every second word. “My germs love you as much as I do, I think.” Zhou Mi laughs and runs to the kitchen, to retrieve the leftover aspirin and a hot cup of tea with honey. And all Kyuhyun can think of is that it was the weirdest love confession in the history of confessions. But his brain is all funky and maybe it wasn’t as weird as he thought it was, after all. Winter Zhou Mi’s webcam is truly of shitty quality and almost half an hour of their joint efforts enhance the image only a bit, leveling up from Zhou Mi’s face consisting of approximately five pixels to Zhou Mi’s face distorted and grained as if it was some kind of an indie movie. They exchanged their gifts in the airport before Zhou Mi left for China, but promised each other they won’t open it until Christmas. And since Zhou Mi insisted on seeing Kyuhyun’s reaction, they agreed web-caming would be the best way to do it. It’s only after Zhou Mi’s particular long complain about the lack of snow in China (whereas Korea is so white and Christmas-like, because it snowed just when he left) Kyuhyun suggest they could check their presents. “Open yours first, okay? I want to leave it behind me really quickly.” Kyuhyun just nods, taking the neatly wrapped gift. Under a quick inspection it turns out to be a CD, which Kyuhyun pops into his CD drive. And sure enough, it’s a video. A video of Zhou Mi. So now he’s got two windows full of Zhou Mi on his screen, one real-time and one singing a song in Korean (I was once by your side, Kyuhyun realizes. He also notices that Zhou Mi is good, which he kind of knew already, but it’s now he decides to send the video to some important people. Regardless of Zhou Mi’s permission or its lack thereof. Who knows, maybe Zhou Mi could even be a successful singer when he finishes his studies or something). The song ends in the middle though, way too soon for Kyuhyun. “Oh, I think you’re back. I have to go now, but I hope you liked it at least a little?” Zhou Mi-in-the-video looks uncertain, but springs out of the chair as soon as Kyuhyun can clearly hear himself, shouting something in the background. Now the recording ends too. Webcam-Zhou Mi looks every bit as uncertain as he did in the video. “You broke into my computer.” “For the greater good, your camera is decent. Did you like it? “I loved it, Mi. You know I did.” Kyuhyun answer truthfully. Zhou Mi beams. So now Kyuhyun feels kind of stupid for what he got for Zhou Mi (a t-shirt with a very obnoxious line up front - it says “great legs” and then asks “what time do they open?”) but he can’t take it back, can he? He’s about to offer Zhou Mi to buy him something better once they go out for shopping together again when he’s back from China, but Zhou Mi is already reading the text and laughing his ass off. “Is that an offer?” He asks, cocking his eyebrow, and suddenly Zhou Mi’s face disappears, replaced with a impossibly long leg stretched so that camera barely captures it. It’s ridiculous and sexy at the same time and Kyuhyun finds himself laughing too, wishing so much he could just scoot closer to Zhou Mi and all but wrap himself tightly around the bony figure. He kisses his webcam instead, gaining another fit of giggles from Zhou Mi. (Their relationship doesn’t go with a bang. It’s not even a whimper. It’s bittersweet, it stings a little bit more than the chill of the evening somewhere in the middle of February. But it doesn’t hurt, Kyuhyun tells himself, it doesn’t. “I will be staying in China for some time.” “Oh. So it’s not just another week again.” “You don’t have to wait for me anymore.” “No, I guess I don’t.”) Spring Their spring doesn’t happen until much, much later. Kyuhyun works double shifts at his part time jobs to afford his apartment. One of them is a call center, where he answers the phone and tries to solve (usually really dumb) problems of the frustrated customers. His second job is after-warranty computer service and thankfully it doesn’t matter that he’s only good at gaming, not repairing. His responsibility is “personal contact with the client” which means he takes orders and returns the repaired hardware. Two years go by in a whirl; it’s work, work, more work and blaring loneliness and all the feelings Kyuhyun had buried somewhere deep come back rushing as soon as he sees Zhou Mi in front of him. They look at each other for a long while, until Kyuhyun clears his throat and asks: “How can I help you?” “Wha…? Oh!” Zhou Mi suddenly remembers the broken laptop tugged under his arm and puts it on the counter, but his eyes never leave Kyuhyun’s face. Kyuhyun stares back, wishing there was a restart button somewhere at the back of his mind, because all he can think of is: How have you been? I missed you. Did you miss me? I think I’m still in love with you. Why did you ever leave me? Why are you still so gorgeous? And he doesn’t even notice when Zhou Mi puts his hand on his shoulder, and offers him coffee with a smile Kyuhyun missed so much. Very conveniently for them it’s close to the end of Kyuhyun’s shift and they head out to the nearest coffee shop. It’s too easy and too hard at the same time. Too easy to forget that there’s no “them” anymore. Too hard to keep the distance, their hands lying on the table a few centimeters apart. Kyuhyun fights the urge to grab Zhou Mi’s hand really hard, and he even manages to cover the sudden move he makes to do it with a nervous fidgeting when their coffees arrive. The conversation flows nicely, Zhou Mi updating Kyuhyun on his job, family and friends and vice versa, although it’s rather obvious Kyuhyun doesn’t have that much to recap. Zhou Mi pays attention though, as if what Kyuhyun was talking about was really that interesting (it isn’t). Kyuhyun knows Zhou Mi hasn’t dated anyone since they broke up. He has been keeping, in a completely non-creepy way of course, tabs on him. But he asks anyway and Zhou Mi almost chokes on his coffee. “No, I haven’t dated anyone. Have you?” Now this is a million dollar question. He would, if he had time, wouldn’t he? But he didn’t, so he just shakes his head. If this was a movie, it would be the moment where they launch for each other arms, embracing in a tight hug. They might kiss, and maybe stare into each other eyes with understanding and a promise and everything would be suddenly better. But it’s not a movie; therefore they pay for coffees (each for their own) and shuffle awkwardly out of the café. And it’s only because Zhou Mi makes a comment about the weather (the weather, for Christ’s sake) Kyuhyun decides to man up. “We should meet again someday.” To his credit, Zhou Mi is only mildly surprised and recovers rather quickly. “Sure, Kui Xian. I’d like that.” Kyuhyun knows he should ask if Zhou Mi changed his number or tell him at least that his own number hasn’t changed, but at the mention of his Chinese name that only Zhou Mi uses, his brain kind of freezes. “Where are you going now?” He asks awkwardly, because they’re still standing in front of that coffee shop, blocking the entrance. Zhou Mi points to the opposite direction and they part their ways, Kyuhyun heading towards the subway station. But it’s only half a minute or so when he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. He fishes for it and is not really (or maybe he is) surprised to see Zhou Mi’s name on the screen. “So for the past thirty seconds I’ve been thinking.” says Zhou Mi on the other side of the phone, although Kyuhyun can hear his voice clearly behind him too. But he doesn’t turn. “I’ve been thinking, if you are free tonight…?” Kyuhyun finally turns, and is greeted by the biggest, most sunshiny - Zhou Mi level of sunshiny, which is one of a kind, actually - grin ever. He feels himself returning the smile. And although he doesn’t know if it means that everything will be alright, he sure as hell believes so.

Comments

[meitachi]

I...was hesitant about leaving this comment because maybe your recipient should flail first? /o\ But I loved the story you told here. It's gorgeous and hilarious at the same time; I think you really got the essence of Qmi's voices and dynamics down here. The winter ended bittersweetly. ;__; But the spring, the spring--! Hope and new beginnings. ♥

[fonulyn]

ahaha from the second I read the first lines I knew I'd love this fic! Cheerful Zhou Mi and a slightly grumpy Kyuhyun, one of my favourite kind of combinations! And I've got to mention, I loved little details like Kyuhyun's shirt clinging to his back because it's so hot, since those just make it feel all the more lifelike!

ahah and aw. Jealous Kyuhyun ;_; I was already grinning at the way you brought his frustration across before he snapped, that was just... idk. I am mean enough to enjoy it 8D SORRY KYUHYUN. It's like, I want to hug Kyuhyun like a grumpy child since that's how he's behaving! Then again, who wouldn't be jealous when Zhou Mi is sharing his attention to others so unfairly~

There are a few possible answers to that (“ha! So you do think he’s hot!” or “Yes, that’s what I think” or “Let’s get rid of that sexual tension then?”), but Kyuhyun decides against voicing any of them.

anskjdngkn let me flail at you ;_; KYUHYUN. I am already in love with your Kyuhyun. Although your Zhou Mi is amazing too.

Kyuhyun organizes an impromptu rescue mission that involves a whole lot of tissues (and a roll of toilet paper, just in case), two aspirins and a hot shower. He ponders the idea of making a broth for him, since broths are supposed to be good for colds, but he quickly rejects it. No broth is better than no kitchen, after all.

another impromptu keysmash? aaaaaaa ;_; ♥ Kyuhyun taking care of Mimimi and turning him into an oversized burrito, oh my heart is melting~

And all Kyuhyun can think of is that it was the weirdest love confession in the history of confessions. But his brain is all funky and maybe it wasn’t as weird as he thought it was, after all.

Oh yes Kyuhyun it was weird but it was also so very lovely and you should be as happy about it as I am ;_;

Their webcam session and them opening presents had me squeeing and smiling and ridiculously giddy and then you brought me back to ground with the last part and I had to try not to cry and why am I so emotional!? But really. Oh. Loved it.

In a completely non-creepy way of course? Right, Kyuhyun. We all believe that.

And although he doesn’t know if it means that everything will be alright, he sure as hell believes so.

OH IT HAD BETTER BE. BETTER BE. Otherwise I will cry and cry and CRY. But I believe, too, and I think they will make it. C'mon they're still as much into one another as they were before the breakup, they just need to get re-acquainted again 8D Thank you SO MUCH for giving it a positive ending, if it had ended in them just walking away from each other I don't know what kind of a mess I would've been!

...and as you can see, I wrote you a novel, my dear mystery author :D LET ME SHOWER YOU WITH LOVE! ♥ I am so in love with this fic. Absolutely made my day! :) Thank you!♥

[16littleseconds.livejournal.com]

i really liked this :D

i enjoyed how their relationship gradually evolved and how it just collapsed at some point but then there's hope again ♥

i think my favorite scene was the one where they open their presents over webcamming because it was adorable and idk, the gifts they got for each other seemed spot-on to me.

thanks a lot for writing this ♥

[carmine-pink.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was positively LOVELY. It has everything I love in fics: humor, fluff, snuggling, witty banter, bittersweetness, hope, and a happy ending. ♥ KyuMi isn't exactly my favorite pairing but they were absolutely adorable together in this fic.

My favorite part has to be this:

a t-shirt with a very obnoxious line up front - it says “great legs” and then asks “what time do they open?”

I laughed my ass off like Zhou Mi did. XD Everything was so well written down to the little details and I nearly squealed with delight when Zhou Mi called Kyuhyun at the end. ♥ What an awesome fic, anon, thank you!

[ava-lava.livejournal.com]

a t-shirt with a very obnoxious line up front - it says “great legs” and then asks “what time do they open?”

HAHAHA I LOVED IT /FLAIL