Work Text:
바보야 하루 종일 온종일
(i’m a fool all day, all the time)
“It’s no different from being in the pool,” Wonho offers, wincing as Minhyuk squeezes his hand tighter. Now Minhyuk isn’t particularly muscular, especially given how he refuses to go to the gym with Wonho, but the grip on his hand is terrifyingly strong. He’s sure his hand will be bruised tomorrow if Minhyuk keeps this up, if he even has any bones left after.
“I know! But that’s not the point,” Minhyuk’s face is pulled into a pout. If it had been a more appropriate situation, Wonho would have laughed and kissed his frown away (he can’t help that he finds Minhyuk about a million times cuter when he’s whiny, which probably explains why he lets his boyfriend get away with the things he does). But time’s a-ticking away, and his plan could possibly sink just like the Titanic if he doesn’t manage to convince Minhyuk to take the plunge. “I could see the bottom of the pool.”
Their legs are dangling off the edge of the boat, just barely skimming the surface of the waters below. Wonho turns around and waves Shownu (the dive-master they had been taking lessons from, now good friend and trusted accomplice) away, signalling give me 5 minutes .
“You’re not getting me to go down,” Minhyuk says again, crossing his arms. “Not even if you paid me. Which by the way, would be great, since I spent the last of my paycheck on paying my half of the rent this month.”
Wonho sighs, “I didn’t want to pull this card, but you’ve forced my hand.”
“You can’t-”
“Remember that time you made us bungee jump, and I was so scared I almost passed out -”
“Yea, well, it was fun in the end wasn’t it?” exclaims Minhyuk. “That means I totally did you a favour that time, by making you experience something you wouldn’t have by yourself. You should thank me.”
“This is my way of thanking you,” Wonho answers, trying to stifle a laugh at the incredulous expression on his boyfriend’s face. He can see Minhyuk gearing up to rebut this very point, and he knows he has to make his move before Minhyuk starts, because he’s never been able to out-talk Minhyuk. Perhaps it’s testament to how nervous Minhyuk is, because Wonho has the chance to cut in quickly while the gears in Minhyuk’s mind are still creaking slowly into action, “Also learning how to scuba was your idea.”
The effect is instantaneous. Minhyuk’s face does not so much fall as crumples in on itself, defeat evident in the scrunched up lines of his still unfairly handsome features. He grumbles, more a whine than anything, “Past Minhyuk is a dumbass.”
This time, Wonho can’t resist. He cups Minhyuk’s face with both of his hands, smushing his cheeks together so he looks more like an angry chipmunk. The stage has been set for the final blow. Totally unrepentant of how he knows his next remark would affect his boyfriend, Wonho pushes on, teasingly, “Past Minhyuk has a better sense of adventure.”
Minhyuk wrangles himself out of Wonho’s hold and gasps loudly in disbelief. “ Please, past Minhyuk knows nothing!”
Trying to hold back his laughter and keep his face straight, Wonho nods encouragingly, “That’s right. We should prove him wrong.”
Minhyuk pauses and narrows his eyes at Wonho suspiciously. “I know what you’re doing.”
“I’m not doing anything!”
“If you don’t watch out,” Minhyuk says, leaning in so close to Wonho that he can see the ocean behind them, reflected in his boyfriend’s eyes. Then whispers the next few words, deadly serious, “I’m going to drown you.”
Despite the chill that runs down Wonho’s spine (because god damn it, Minhyuk could honestly give any mafia boss a run for their money), Wonho doesn’t back down. He keeps his voice even, as he answers, “Good, that means you’ll have to come into the water with me.”
There is a long moment of silence, as Minhyuk leans back, crossing his arms. He looks at Wonho with no expression on his face at all, clearly evaluating his options. Wonho resists the urge to break eye-contact, drawing on all the courage he has.
It’s been three years since he’s started dating Minhyuk, and he’s learnt a few ways to cope with him. The trick is to think of Minhyuk as a cute, little, harmless puppy rather than the whirlwind of terror he actually is. His bark is worse than his bite, Wonho chants like a mantra in his head, even as he feels a bead of sweat gather on his forehead.
Finally (it was so long a pause that out of the corner of his eye, Wonho had seen Shownu pop in, just to check in on why everything between them had suddenly gone quiet), Minhyuk looks away, shrugging, “You win this one.”
“ We win, Min,” Wonho says, ignoring Minhyuk’s scoff at his emphasis. At this point, he’s sure that Minhyuk has rubbed off on him in all the bad ways, because 3-years-ago-Wonho would have said that sincerely and without a trace of irony at all. “Come on, let’s go. Maybe we’d be able to see a whale!”
“I’m not a child, I know there aren’t any whales here,” Minhyuk shoots back, trying to sound huffy - but Wonho can see it, the smile creeping across Minhyuk’s face, the sunshine one that had him hooked the first time he ever saw it.
-
In all fairness, Wonho is correct.
It had been Minhyuk’s idea to get a scuba-diving license, bullying him into it despite Wonho’s great reluctance to do any other extreme sport, after the stint with bungee jumping took ten years off his life. “Think of it as a couples bonding session.”
“We see each other every day,” Wonho pointed out, almost exasperated. It’s true: they had just moved in with each other half a year ago. A fact that Minhyuk conveniently forgot whenever he needed to.
(Case in point - last Thursday when Wonho asked Minhyuk if he wanted to go out for dinner, and Minhyuk had answered, “Pass. I have plans with my room-mate.”
To which, Wonho had answered, clearly unamused although well-used to such random slights, “ You are my room-mate!. We’ve been living together for the past few months.”
“Yea I know, I was just too lazy to think of a reason for not going out. I wanted to order pizza and watch anime.” Minhyuk looked at him, widening his eyes in the way he knew still made Wonho’s heart go soft. “Pepperoni, Hawaiian, and Tokyo Ghoul?”
“Alright.”
“You have to pay though, I’m out of cash.”)
“Do you not think we’re bonded enough?”
Minhyuk only laughed at the betrayed expression on Wonho’s face, dancing over to the sofa where he was sitting, and flung himself onto Wonho’s lap. His boyfriend let out a pained hiss, as Minhyuk’s elbow dug into his rib. Somehow, even in that awkward position, he managed to loop an arm around Wonho’s waist. He looked up at Wonho with pursed lips and a twinkle in his eyes that caused Wonho’s thoughts to wander painfully, inappropriately south, “We’re close enough now.”
So Minhyuk only has himself and his dumb whale-obsessed self to blame for this predicament he’s found himself in. If only five year old Minhyuk could have latched onto another animal when he was looking for a creature to protect him from the demons he was sure inhabited his closet; if only whales weren’t so goddamn cool.
He’s not ashamed to say that he’s scared, because only the brainless would feel no fear staring down the deep, dark ocean, with all its mysterious secrets and undiscovered monsters who probably have a taste for boys as cute as him.
Oh God - what if he gets whisked off by a herd of sea creatures that want to keep him as a pet, and the only food they give him are sea cucumbers? There are fates worse than death, and then there’s that . He takes in a deep breath, about to turn to Wonho to tell him -
“You know, I’ll fight off any sea creature that tries to kidnap you right?” Wonho says, breaking in before he can vocalise any of these fears. “I’m not going to share you.”
“Are you objectifying me?”
Past Wonho would have spluttered apologies at this, run circles around himself while trying to explain that no Minhyuk, I would never! It’s just a joke because I care about you so much, I’d never let anyone take you away - I mean, without your consent of course, you can go with them if you want, because I don’t want you to think I’m possessive, but present Wonho’s heart has hardened against any possible emotional manipulation Minhyuk can dream of. So, Wonho shoots off an answer that even has Minhyuk impressed, “Yea, except there’s not much of your bony ass for it to count as an object.”
“Hyung!” Minhyuk scoffs, although he’s honestly proud of how far Wonho has come. “How could you scandalise me like tha-”
At this, Shownu sticks his head out, interrupting Minhyuk, having been hiding in the little cabin on the dive boat. “So are we ready to go?”
“Yup!” Wonho cheerly waving the older man over, over Minhyuk’s sputters of protest. “Min is so excited to see the ocean.”
Striding over, Shownu is a god in the skin-tight scuba suit, somehow managing to look effortlessly handsome, even with - or perhaps, because of - his sea-air tousled messy hair. He arches an eyebrow, “Is that so?”
Minyhuk rolls his eyes, makes a show of how grossly misunderstood he is right now. How the entire world seems to be against him. “Of course!”
Having been giving the couple lessons for a good three months, Shownu is well-versed in the art of communicating with Lee Minhyuk (particularly with the tips provided by Wonho). He turns away, and faces the ocean, as if surveying the waters below. Almost as if it was just a thought that’s occurred to him, he continues, saying lightly as if commenting on the weather, “I could just push you in.”
Wonho explodes into silent laughter, clapping his hands together as Minhyuk cries out, betrayal evident on his face, “Hyung, how could you? I thought I was your favourite.”
“No, I like Wonho a lot more,” Shownu shrugs, while ignoring the exaggerated look of hurt on Minhyuk’s face. “And, that is literally what you paid me for.”
It’s a sad day for Minhyuk, being bested by both Wonho and Shownu - two people he thought he’d always have an edge over. Say anything you want about Minhyuk, but don’t say that he can’t recognise his defeat when it’s evident that he’s being cruelly, maliciously double-teamed by his demon of a boyfriend and their dive teacher. He grumbles, each word grudging, “... Fine, that’s true.”
“Great!” Shownu claps his hands together, discreetly winking at Wonho, who shoots him a grateful thumbs up. “Let’s go down then.”
-
Honestly, Wonho’s never been the type to force him into doing things he doesn’t want to do. It’s usually the other way around, with Minhyuk dragging him to try out all sorts of nonsense that he knows Wonho a) wouldn’t typically want to do, b) is afraid of, or most commonly c) a combination of both.
So he’s surprised by the way that Wonho strong-arms him into putting on the scuba gear (although goes through the safety check so many times that even Shownu is exasperated by how careful he’s being), how even though Minhyuk tries one last attempt at weaselling his way out of the dive I’ve got to go to the bathroom! , Wonho just fixes him with his rare no-nonsense glare and dead-pans, “You can pee in the ocean.”
Minhyuk really needs to re-evaluate the impact he has on his usually sweet boyfriend.
It all makes sense, though, when 15 meters down, his hand clutching Wonho’s so tightly with each second they spend in the waters, he spies something glimmering on the sea-bed. He jabs Wonho, and points at the light, raising his shoulders in a shrug, what do you think that is?
Wonho just looks at him, and holds up his other hand, waving it once empathetically, wait a minute, you’ll see.
As they get closer, Minhyuk realises that the lights are arranged in a shape; and it takes a few seconds (his mind still screaming at him, half in fear of being so deep in the ocean) for him to figure it out. It’s a heart, and his eyes go comically wide, even behind the thick lens of the scuba mask. His gasp erupts in a flurry of bubbles through the regulator that mess up his vision for a second, so that when he can see clearly again, he’s met with the sight of Wonho, raising a box in front of him, a ring sparkling brightly, even in the midst of the gloomy waters.
Oh -
Minhyuk can hear his heart pounding in his ears, against the sounds of the ocean around them; can feel water in his mask for reasons entirely unrelated to being in the ocean (think: tears, but he’s not going to admit that when they’re both finally on land again).
Even with his face half obscured, Wonho looks serious and sincere. Because of their beginner level inability to control their buoyancy, he’s still drifting off the ground slightly, but his left knee is bent, in a rough approximation of kneeling on the ground. He’s taken off his regulator, mouthing a sentence that Minhyuk can’t hear (and honestly, can’t interpret because dude, he’s not a lip-reader!) but can guess at: Lee Minhyuk, will you marry me?
My -
Helpfully, Shownu drifts behind him with a white-board held out-stretched, the question scribbled there in Wonho’s handwriting as well, complete with a doodle of them together riding off into the sunset on a whale.
God.
“YES YOU ASSHOLE,” Minhyuk screams, the force of the statement literally propelling the regulator out of his mouth. With more strength than he knew he had, he fins hard, generating enough force to crash straight into Wonho (causing him to almost drop the ring-box, which yikes , would not have been ideal), smashing their lips together.
The kiss lasts about 2 seconds because Minhyuk forgets they’re both underwater and inhales about half a litre of sea water in his attempt to convey through the kiss HOW DAMN MUCH I WANT TO MARRY YOU AND ALSO LET’S GET IT ON .
(With his underwater camera, Shownu manages to capture a shot of Minhyuk choking after he pulls away, alongside a petrified grouper that unfortunately was a witness to the face-sucking event.
It’ll become a picture that they will proudly display at their wedding.)
-
Despite the proposal, Shownu still makes them go through the dive, much to Minhyuk’s consternation, who honestly just wants to be back on land so he can show Wonho how much he wants to marry him and the extent of how much he loves him.
(“Minhyuk, please, just wait till you’re back at home,” Shownu says, the moment they breach the surface. The fact that Shownu looks so pained as he’s saying this, clearly knowing that if not for his plea, Minhyuk would probably end up defiling every surface of his boat, softens Minhyuk’s heart. He says again, more emphatically than before, “ Please. ”)
“So, I’m thinking of New Zealand,” Minhyuk says, admiring the way the ring sparkles on his finger. He suppresses an unbecoming giggle at how happy he is, slightly disgusted at how he feels like a love-drunk teenager who’s just received their first text from their crush. They’re on the way back to the mainland, seated together on one side of the benches in the cabin. Shownu is on the other, flicking through the shots he captured on the dive.
Arm around Minhyuk, holding him close, Wonho asks, “For?”
“Our honeymoon, silly,” Minhyuk says. He pauses, then has that grin - the one that stretches across his face slowly, like a Chesire cat. It’s a smile that Wonho knows intimately well, has associated with danger, and his stomach drops. “It’s great for sky-diving.”
“What?”
“Well, you did say, in sickness and in health, and yada yada,” Minhyuk answers, poking him in the chest, pouting. He pulls a face, “Are you going back on it now?”
“Technically,” Shownu chimes in, looking up from his camera. “He didn’t say anything. You were both underwater.”
Minhyuk turns his attention to Shownu, asking with that cherubic smile still on his face. One of the things that Wonho’s always admired about Minhyuk is his ability to threaten people who are infinitely, undeniably more dangerous than he is. True to form, Minhyuk asks, “Hyung, would you like me to drown you?”
“I would like to see you try,” answers Shownu, entirely unfazed. He even sets his camera down, as if well ready to toss Minhyuk into the ocean.
“Maybe we shouldn’t start our engagement with death threats,” Wonho cuts in quickly, before Minhyuk can answer. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who would walk out of this fight alive, and he would very much like to enjoy a lifetime with his fiancee (his heart does a flip at this - fiancee!!!). “You know the end of the vows is if death do us part right?”
“So skydiving?” Minhyuk asks again, unperturbed, like Shownu’s challenge had been part of his plan. Which knowing Minhyuk…
All Wonho can do is laugh, light and airy, the laughter pouring out of his throat. He presses his forehead against Minhyuk’s, his Minhyuk, he thinks he can now say definitively, and says, “How can I say no?”
“To many, many more adventures to come,” Minhyuk smirks, then presses a kiss against Wonho’s lips. Greedily deepening it, pushing him down onto the bench, hands scrambling at Wonho’s shirt -
“Lee Minhyuk, damn it, I told you to wait!” Shownu yells, then storms out of the cabin, his words clearly unheeded.