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Lino likes tea more than coffee. He always had preferred the lighter floral and fruit infused beverage to cream and sugar mixed together that would never quite mask the bitterness of the original drink. The first time he stayed over long enough at Blaze’s mansion to be offered a drink he didn’t have a chance to tell the hero this and forcibly smiled through a mug of coffee that was practically filled to the brim of sweeteners and syrups to be even slightly bearable to his palate. Minho didn’t understand why he never just told Blaze he hated coffee whenever he was handed a cup of it in the morning or any time the two of them were together in the kitchen and needed to get out of the lab for a bit. He could also easily just say no but something about the genuine and proud smile on Chan’s face whenever he slid over a cup of coffee “just how he liked it” stopped him in his tracks every time.
Eventually when they grew closer to each other, walking the line of friendship or more, their hands would linger on the mug together for a bit, Chan even tapping the freckle on Minho’s left wrist playfully. The night they finally decided to cross that fine line into something more was when Blaze had walked Minho to the front door after one of their, now regular, shared coffees. Lino had already crossed the threshold onto the small porch but turned back to face the hero he had grown so attached to when he heard a mumbling of his name. Minho didn’t think he had ever seen Blaze look this nervous. Not even their first meeting when he had effectively scared the shit out of the hero on the sidewalk compared to the red ears, fumbling hands and complete lack of eye contact he was facing now. Minho wasn’t any better though. Maybe it was the sudden surge in his caffeine intake that had his heart beating so rapidly in his chest and his throat closing up at the sight of Chan practically hyping himself up before he took in a deep breath and looked into Minho’s eyes.
“Do you want to go out with me? Like…like a date. With me,” Chan gulped, trying to stop from rambling anymore than he already had and Minho felt his stomach be filled with butterflies as he laughed fondly at the faux calm expression on Chan’s obviously panicked face.
He cleared his throat a bit, looking down at his feet before looking back up to lock with the hero’s eyes. “I’d like that,” he says softly and hopes the burning he feels on his face isn’t too obvious. “But only if you’re sure it’s with you. You didn’t really make that part too clear,” He couldn’t help but tease Chan a bit, hoping to sound unaffected by the absolute chaos his heart was just put through and it seems to have worked as Chan laughs and has a bright beam taking over the once nervous features.
It’s only when a fully confident Chan appears in front of him, replying with an easy, “Oh, it’ll be with me. Trust me, I’d have to be an idiot to let you slip away just like that.” Minho squeals out a goodbye before turning on his heels and sprinting down the steps in front of Chan’s house. He doesn’t miss the cackles Chan lets out in response or the dumb, lovesick grin on his face when Minho turns back to wave before exiting the gate.
Their first date is at a coffee shop and Minho thinks Chan must be really special for him to allow this to happen. They agreed to meet at Chan’s stupid mansion before he would drive them in his stupid nice car to wherever their date would be. Lino has to hold back a groan and hopes his eye isn’t twitching enough for Chan to notice as they step inside the small shop. Minho hopes the absurd amount of creamers and sweetness he orders isn’t odd to the cashier, but the slice of chocolate cake Chan orders for the two of them to share takes all of Minho’s thoughts anyways. At first everything goes smoothly. Not much is different from their normal conversations together while sharing a cup of coffee but this time there’s some playful fighting over the ‘perfect’ bite of cake one of them snags on their forks and Chan even feeds the last bite on the place to Minho, effectively earning himself a smack on the arm and a soft thanks. Neither of them show any signs of wanting to leave until a persistent buzzing comes from Blaze’s phone.
“The bat signal awaits,” Minho says with a half-disappointed sigh. He doesn’t mean to make his date feel bad, but he can see how much Chan actually debates picking up the call. His lower lip stuck between his teeth, eyebrows furrowed is concern but he eyes only stayed focused on Minho’s face.
“You’re not seriously going to leave them hanging are you?” Minho cocks one of his brows in surprise and Chan looks desperate to just throw the stupid phone out the shop window and go back to focusing on the man in front of him but Minho is having none of it. “Answer the phone and save the day, dork.” With a long sigh and apologetic gaze Blaze answers the phone and gets a briefing of what danger is happening in the city now. The call is quick like usual, but Chan doesn’t make an immediate move to leave his seat once it’s finished.
“Well, where are we going?” Minho asks nonchalantly and Chan looks bemused. “Where- You want to…what?” Minho laughs in amusement before standing from his seat, moving to stand next to Chan before resting a hand on his cheek. “You didn’t seriously consider saving the day all on your own without your partner, did you? Wow, Blaze, some date you are.” It’s the smile on Minho’s face that causes one to bloom on Chan’s own lips. He grabs the hand resting on his face, stroking his cheekbone softly before interlocking their fingers and squeezing in a silent thanks to the other for understanding.
Minho truly did understand and didn’t see their date being cut a bit short as anything big. Blaze on the other hand was a bit angrier than usual while dealing with the amateur burglars he was called to assist with at the convenience store. It didn’t take much time to disarm the young kids who were obviously way out of their element before even being stopped by the heroes. Chan was already planning on heading back to the coffee shop to continue their date when another call came. The cycle only continued with crime after crime needing to be stopped and unfortunately they all weren’t as easily stopped like the first one. Minho could already see the headlines for the next day talking about how brutal and aggressive Blaze was the night before for seemingly no reason but no one had to know about the way the same hero would whine after feeling the buzzing in his pocket as he approached Lino, hopeful for some time to continue with their date like two normal civilians.
After their last call came, alerting them to some particularly rough guys who were definitely willing to put up a fight no matter how pointless it was with Blaze’s short temper, the two of them made their way to the roof of a building. The entire time Blaze flew them to the spot was full of apologies Minho tried to laugh off with his eyes squeezed shut, still not used to the feeling of flying at such a height. He only loosened his tight grip around Blaze’s shoulders once he felt his feet touch the ground, peeking open his eyes one at a time and letting out a breath of relief. It was quiet for a beat, Minho still catching his breath and Chan thinking of how to apologize once again. “I’m still sorry,” Minho turns to face Chan with a genuine smile on his face, opening his mouth to brush it off before Chan gives him a look, telling him he’s not finished. “I wanted this date to be perfect, and I know that’s not possible but I just…really like you and didn’t want to have such an important moment be interrupted like that. I’m sorry our first date was ruined.”
Minho laughs, but this time it’s full of fondness and he walks slowly to hold Chan’s face in his hands, making sure he looks into the others eyes as he speaks, “This was by far the best date I’ve ever been on.”
Chan’s eyes widen a bit and he tries to disagree, to tell Minho he doesn’t have to lie to make him feel better but Minho has always been faster than him. He presses his hands, still on either side of his face, together softly, squishing Chan’s lips together in a large pout.
“I’ve never had a guy burst into flames and body slam a guy trying to rob a bank because he interrupted our date together. That by itself earns you at least 10 points,” Chan groans lightly and is embarrassed by the reminder of their last call. Minho moves to grab his hands and leads the hero over to stand by the edge of the roof, appreciating the view together. Not too much longer they hear a person busking on the street below, the sounds of a violin filling the streets and making their way up to them. Chan turns to look at Minho with a smile and Minho knows whatever he’s going to say next will have him rolling his eyes.
He’s proven right when Chan asks him to dance, reaching out his hand and facing Minho fully. Minho tosses his head back to try and hide the flush he feels growing on his face while laughing in amusement. “You’re greedy huh, I already told you this is the best date I’ve ever been on and here you go trying to make sure it’s the last first date I ever go on.”
He takes Chan’s outstretched hand regardless of his joking and they dance together to the music being played below. It’s soft and can barely be heard so at some point Chan starts humming along, making the two laugh whenever he guesses wrong on which note would be played next. It’s perfect, and at the end of the song when Chan asks softly into Minho’s hair, trying to not break the calm bubble they found themselves in, “So were you serious about this being the last first date you ever go on? Because I would love to make that happen if you were, ” Minho knows he’s a goner.
A little further down the line with a lot more dates, soft kisses shared for the first time, and more coffee than Minho ever thought he was be capable of drinking in his life, Minho learns that he doesn’t even have to reach out for the mug of bitterness that was made for him as Chan brings both of their mugs to the couch and places them on the coffee table before bringing Minho into his arms comfortably. There’s still attention brought to the single freckle on his left wrist but now it’s by a gentle kiss being pressed there before their lips meet each other’s. It’s the first time Chan kisses him that he finally finds an acceptable way to taste coffee, but he still never tells Chan that he prefers the taste of it on his lips than any of the cups he’s made for him over the months they’ve shared them.
One night in the middle of their regular cuddling session on the large couch in Chan’s living room, Minho feels him tense up and gasp sharply. Sitting up in concern, Chan grabs Minho’s right hand and pulls it closer to his face in shock. “What’s wrong, what are you-“ Minho’s cut off by Chan stroking a tiny freckle on the inside of his right wrist, hardly as noticeable as the one he was always so obsessed with.
“I never noticed this one before,” he practically whispers to Minho with a small pout on his face and Minho laughs softly in adoration at the man next to him.
“That’s it? You scared the shit out of me, dork. I thought something happened.”
Chan looks up to meet Minho’s eyes at that, looking almost offended by his words. “Something did happen! I’ve been neglecting your right hand and this freckle for too long and now I have to start catching up on all the kisses it’s missed.” Minho can’t help the small blush and giggles that escape him as Chan starts pressing endless kisses to his wrist, complete with dramatic ‘mwah’ sounds just to make sure the job was done right.
Once he decides he’s made enough work of giving attention to every other part of Minho he loved so much (his lips, the tip of his nose, and cheeks in particular) they sit back and smile softly at each other, the sound of the AC kicking on in the room next to them establishing a domestic feel to the entire situation.
“Chan-“
“Move in with me?”
Minho’s eyes widen in slight shock and his face flushes bright red before smiling largely. “Are you serious?”
Chan lets out a breath at his reply, relieved to not hear an immediate denial at the question. “I’m always serious about you, Minho.” Minho’s eyes scrunch up and he shoves his face into Chan’s neck with a squeal, lightly punching his chest as he tries to hide more of the fond noises escaping him.
“You’re so cheesy, oh my god, what happened to the big, tough fire hazard I fell for?” Chan snorts and strokes Minho’s head before replying, “I’m pretty sure the tiger who let his claws come out whenever someone spoke to me in a tone you thought wasn’t nice enough is right there with him.” Minho groans at that before moving to prop his chin on Chan’s shoulder, eyes full of love for the hero next to him. “I guess you’re right. But in case it wasn’t already clear, I would love to move in…officially that is. I mean I have my own designated coffee mug here, can’t believe you didn’t ask me sooner.”
Chan laughs and raises his eyebrow with a look Minho can’t quite decipher. “You sure you want it to just be a coffee mug?” Minho gulps before acting confused at the implication of Chan’s words, “Of course. We always drink coffee together, why would it be anything else?” The hero laughs before pressing a kiss to Minho’s forehead.
“You’ve always been a shit liar when it comes to me, sunshine. Your nose always scrunches up when you take a sip no matter how much creamer or sugar or syrup I add. I’ve been waiting for you to just tell me what you would want to drink instead but you’re too cute when you act like you’re enjoying whatever nutritional hazard I hand you.” Minho is at a loss for words as he stares at his boyfriend’s knowing smile and kind eyes. He expected himself to never come clean or to feel horrible if he ever let it slip but instead he just lets out a breath and feels his shoulders relax as he rests more on Chan’s chest again.
“Thank GOD I don’t have to go through that anymore. Tea would be great, haven’t had any in months because I can’t say no to your stupid face…loser.” Chan laughs at that and Minho smiles into his chest. He presses a kiss to his chest, just above his heart and feels one returned to the top of his head.
The next day includes a trip to a grocery store where Minho picks out his favorite brands and flavors of tea to stock up in the kitchen that he’ll soon share (officially) with Chan. When the next mug handed to him is full of one of the teas he tossed into the cart earlier with just the right amount of honey Minho smiles before asking Chan something that brings an equally bright grin to his face.
“You’ll still kiss me after drinking your coffee though, right?” Chan tilts his head to the side in confusion, moving the mug of coffee away from his lips. “Why wouldn’t I? Unless you hate the taste of coffee that bad then I can brush my teeth before I-“
“No! Don’t,” Minho interrupts with frantic eyes and Chan looks a little too smug for his liking. “You’re so mean.” he grumbles out with a pout, realizing Chan wasn’t serious. “I didn’t do anything! And you didn’t even finish answering. I guess I won’t kiss you until I brush my teeth then.” Minho groans again and glares at the man.
“You know coffee is only tolerable when you taste like it. There. Are you happy now?” Chan blushes at his boyfriend’s bluntness and after a beat of silence Minho continues with a softer tone, thumb tracing the design on the mug he’s used so often, “So…can I get my kiss now?” It brings Chan back to the moment, shaking away his thoughts on just how smitten he was so he can smile and comply with Minho’s request. He would be an idiot if he made him wait any longer.
“Always, sunshine.”