Work Text:
The doorbell rings.
Sehun spreads the last bit of mozzarella and provolone over the last chicken breast, and closes the oven door. He smiles to himself as he cleans his hands on a kitchen cloths and throws it on the counter. There’s no time to hunt down a mirror and check his appearance, so he shrugs and rushes to open the door.
On the other side, waiting with a toddler attached to his leg, is his neighbor Kyungsoo. The man’s smile is a little pained and apologetic at the edges. “My ex-wife is busy at her boyfriend house, so she couldn’t pick up Jongin early.” He cover’s the kid’s ears with his hands and lowers his voice. “Busy. That’s code for f-u-c-k-i-n-g.”
Sehun chuckles. “Yeah, I got that.”
“Sorry.” Kyungsoo glances down and ruffles Jongin’s hair when the kid pouts up at him.
“Hey, it’s no problem,” Sehun says. “You and Jongin are welcome to come by any time.”
Jongin smiles shyly up at him and asks, “Do you have more pumpkins, Mr. Oh?”
Sehun shakes his head. “Your papa took them all, buddy.”
“Oh.” Jongin’s pout is adorable, but it’s the deep blush on Kyungsoo’s cheeks makes Sehun’s chest ache in a good way. It would be fun teasing him about the pumpkins for months to come.
“Actually, I have something even better where you can draw on.”
Opening the door wide, Sehun shows them inside. A tiny chuckle slips out at Kyungsoo’s slack-jawed expression. The man has probably never been in a place with so much color. In contrast, Jongin is all smiles and giddiness, brightening up the space even more with his child wonder.
“Follow me!” Sehun walks down the hallway to his studio at the back of the house. After demolishing the dividing wall between the master bedroom and the guest room—sleeping in the renovated attic on a mattress with no frame isn’t that bad—Sehun made the space big enough to hold all his art materials, works in progress, and old projects.
“Kitty!” Jongin claps his hands excitedly upon sighting the grey tom sprawled on an old pillow under Sehun’s main work table. The cat wakes up from his nap and rises at their approach, meowing loudly.
“That’s Chen,” Sehun says, kneeling as he introduces them. “He’s nice, but don’t pull at his tail or he might scratch you.”
Kyungsoo fails to grab Jongin when the kid rushes forward and squats in front of Chen. He stretches out his tiny hand. “Hi.”
Chen sniffs Jongin’s fingers for a moment and then goes back to his pillow, curling on it with his back to them.
Sehun shakes his head. “Don’t feel too bad. He does that to me all the time.”
Jongin rises with a pout ready on his lips. “Okay.”
Pulling out three sheets of paper, Sehun sets them on the floor over the large plastic tarp he always has there. Then he finds two clean trays and drops big dollops of colors on each. He sets them down besides the paper.
Kyungsoo is slightly frowning. “Um, are you sure about this? Jongin is going to make a mess.”
“No, I’m not!” Jongin pipes in.
Sehun laughs. “Art is messy, so it’s fine. If you’re worried about the clothes…” He digs into the pile of old shirts and aprons he has in a plastic box and pulls out one of each. Jongin eagerly comes forward and so Sehun can dress him up. The shirt fits like a robe on Jongin’s small frame, and the apron goes over it for extra layer security.
“There we go,” Sehun says, finishing tying the apron on. “Now you look like a professional painter.”
Jongin twirls. “Papa, look! I’m a painter.”
Kyungsoo grins, his lovely heart-shaped smile coming out to grace all those present.
Sehun takes his time showing Jongin how to work with a couple of the brushes and then stands back and lets him go at it. There’s a sense of rightness and lightness in his heart he’s never felt before. He’s always been good with kids, but when it comes to Kyungsoo and Jongin things feel so natural. It’s bizarre when he thinks about it. They’ve only just met the day before, but it’s like they’ve been doing this for years.
Kyungsoo is leaning against a drying rack nearby, watching Jongin get messy with the paints. Does he feel the same rightness in this moment?
Sehun goes to Kyungsoo and presses his palm on the man’s lower back, leaning in to whisper. “I need to check on lunch. I’m sure Jongin will be fine with the paints. Chen can watch over him.”
Kyungsoo chuckles and then swallows heavily. “O-Ok.”
The enticing smell of chicken parmesan wafts from the kitchen. Sehun checks the oven and pulls them out after seeing they are done. Not wanting the silence to stretch for long as he checks on the food, he guesses some small talk is in order. “So!” Sehun says suddenly, startling his neighbor. “Kyungsoo, tell me about yourself.”
“Um, well, I work as a security engineer for a friend’s website design company,” Kyungsoo says. “Which means I get to stay at home and only report to the office in person twice a month, or more depending on what projects are currently on track.”
“And…?” Sehun glances back from where he’s fetching a plate from the upper cabinets. “Tell me about you, not just your work.”
Kyungsoo runs a hand through his short black hair. “Well, I’m a divorcee, practically a single parent. Jongin is the light of my life. And I haven’t talked to a single neighbor around here in three years. Pretty sure they call me a hermit.”
“Aw, I feel special,” Sehun says. “You talked to me.”
Kyungsoo laughs. “So, um, what about you? All I know is you’re working as a barista, know how to bake and cook, but you’re also an artist?”
“Freelance Graphic Artist,” Sehun says, moving the chicken pieces from the oven pan onto a plate. “In my case, it means I get to work on a little bit of everything—traditional portraits, game design and advertisements, art classes at the local community college, etc.”
“Busy life then,” Kyungsoo says.
Sehun snorts and glances up. “Only when I’m under contract. Otherwise, I’m just another starving artist working at the local coffee shop.”
“Oh. That sucks.”
“Nah,” Sehun says. “It’s good to have some down time. I get to work on personal projects, find my inspiration again, meet lovely neighbors…”
There’s a lovely rose color in Kyungsoo’s cheeks that only intensifies when Sehun glances at him. The man seems at a loss for words as well. Sehun can’t help but want to tease him. “You stole my pumpkins and I forgave you,” he says. “Why are you so nervous?”
Kyungsoo chokes on air. “I’m never living that down, am I?”
“Not while I live and breathe.” Sehun drops the greasy oven pan into the sink and starts washing it. “If it’s not the pumpkins then…is it the kiss?”
Silence.
Sehun grins. “I see.”
Once he’s finished with the pan, he dries his hands and grabs a fork and knife. Sehun goes back to the chicken parmesan plate and cuts a piece. Kyungsoo is so obviously avoiding his gaze, but he can’t ignore anymore when Sehun rises a piece of the chicken to his mouth. “Taste, please.”
Flushed and flustered, Kyungsoo opens his mouth and lets himself be fed. He chews and then says, “Wow, it’s really good!”
Sehun quirks one eyebrow. “I’ll try not to be offended at your surprise.”
“I-I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Even after I catered your kid’s sleepover, you still doubt my skills,” Sehun says and sighs dramatically. “How will I ever impress you like this?”
Kyungsoo growls and slaps his arm. “That’s not what I meant! I meant it’s so good my mouth almost had an orgasm.” He gasps and slaps both hands over his mouth.
With a sly grin, Sehun slides and arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders and pulls him in closer, glancing down at him from mere inches away. “An orgasm?”
Muffled words that sound very much like ‘ohmygodohmygodohmygod’ come from behind Kyungsoo’s covered mouth.
Sehun gently lowers Kyungsoo’s hands. “Why are you so nervous?” he asks again, softly and less teasing. “We kissed. We like each other. We’re having lunch today.”
“It’s just…been a long time,” Kyungsoo says, and licks his lips. “I keep wanting to go slow, but when I’m near you…is it crazy? Don’t you feel like…like—”
“Like this is right?” Sehun runs his thumb over Kyungsoo’s chin. “Yeah, I feel it too. Thought I was the one going crazy.”
“So, this is…this is real.”
Sehun nods, serious. It’s the realest thing he’s ever felt for anyone.
Kyungsoo swallows. “Can I have another one?”
Sehun is momentarily thrown. “Uh, another piece of chicken?”
Kyungsoo’s heart-shaped smile is blinding. “Another kiss.”
Heart exploding inside his chest, Sehun dips and presses his mouth fully against Kyungsoo. This man who already consumes most of his thoughts and sets his blood on fire with his flustered states and glorious smiles. There’s no shyness about the kiss, just a raw desire to explore this feeling of rightness, of belonging.
Sehun gasps when Kyungsoo’s arms wrap around his middle and pull him in closer, like the man can’t stand there to be any space between them. Sehun couldn’t agree move. He tilts Kyungsoo’s face and changes the angle, tasting deeper with his tongue, body shivering with the sensation.
Kyungsoo pulls back to breathe. “I love kissing you.”
Quick, desperate nods. “I know. Me too.” Sehun presses Kyungsoo against the counter and claims his mouth once more. Nipping at the plus lips and seeking out Kyungsoo’s tongue to intertwine with his own, to pull those delicious breathy gasps out of his mouth. Sehun feels like he could explode from so much feeling.
“Papa, papa! Help!”
There’s a split second where they both freeze, then Kyungsoo is untangling himself from Sehun and rushing to the studio. Sehun lets out a huge breath, fixes the hardness in his pants, and follows.
Kyungsoo is frozen on the door’s threshold. “Jongin! What happened?”
Sehun pushes inside, worried that Jongin has somehow hurt himself. The scene that waits for him though, makes him stop.
“Chen was helping me paint but then he ran away! He’s under that table!” Jongin says, brandishing a brush that has less paint on it than Jongin’s apron, the floor, or Chen’s grey fur. The cat looks like a walking rainbow nyan-cat.
Kyungsoo groans. “Oh my god. I’m gonna have to buy you a new cat.”
Sehun chuckles, and then breaks into a giggle fit. Jongin, bless his kid heart, joins him. Kyunsoo stands horrified looking at them both, which so doesn’t help in stopping the giggles. Sehun’s stomach starts to hurt. “Oh god. I haven’t laughed this hard in a while.”
“Jongin,” Kyungsoo goes to his son, a frown on his face. “Apologize to Sehun for making a mess.”
“Sorry, Mr. Oh. I’ll clean it up.”
Sehun pats the kid’s head. “Thank you, Jongin. I would love your help in giving Chen a bath.”
Jongin smiles. “Yes!”
“Wait,” Kyungsoo exclaims, “what about the floor?”
“Ah, leave it. I make worst messes,” Sehun says. “Besides, a little spilled color livens up the place.”
Sehun drags out a big metal bucket from under a pile of canvases. “Grab Chen and meet me outside, okay?” he says to Jongin.
Jongin manages to lure Chen from under the table and then runs outside with him, Chen meowing pitifully.
Sehun shoots a pointed look at Kyungsoo. “Movie night this week,” he says. “Just you and me this time.”
Kyungsoo nods eagerly. “Yes, definitely. Mind if I pick the movie?”
“Sure. It doesn’t matter though. We won’t be watching it.” Sehun wiggles his brows and then cackles at the tomato red that rises all over Kyungsoo’s face. The two of them go outside to find Jongin cradling a very annoyed Chen in his arms. It’s an afternoon filled with laughter, spraying a water, and two souls that have found each other at last.