fic: untitled drabble #13 (nyukyu, haunted house) [#tigerinside2022]

[moriendum]

fandom: tbz
pairing: chanhee/changmin
rating: G
wordcount: 700 words
tags: haunted houses, fluff
a/n: crossposted from twitter in 2023.

Ten seconds in and Chanhee is already screaming.

“Here, give me your hand,” Changmin says in between laughs. He fumbles for Chanhee’s hand in the dark and intertwines their fingers. “You can squeeze if you—”

One side of the narrow hallway opens up and something pale jumps out for a second, making Chanhee scream again. He jumps back, bumping into Changmin and fully turning around to slap his shoulder in the dark because Changmin is full-on cackling.

“Stop laughing at me!”

“You’re laughing too, though?” Changmin argues, nudging him forward. 

Chanhee refuses to acknowledge Changmin is right and just keeps going, tentative step after tentative step. He’s eyeing the left wall warily, ready to close his eyes—he promised to walk through the haunted house but never said anything about keeping his eyes open for the whole thing, ok?—when he feels something cold blowing past his ankles.

He screeches and turns back to Changmin again. Jumping from foot to foot, Chanhee watches the shape move through the fog like some kind of fucked up snake. Any other day, he’d be able to tell, rationally, that that’s just someone’s arm covered in cheap monster-skin fabric, but not right now. He hides his face against Changmin’s shoulder, still holding his hand.

“See? You’re laughing!” Changmin says. 

He sounds so amused, Chanhee can’t even pretend to be mad. He pulls back to shove Changmin playfully.

“I laugh when I’m nervous, you know that better than anyone!”

“I don’t know anything, I’m just an innocent horror movie protagonist walking through this very safe and curiously very dark hallway…” 

Chanhee bursts out laughing.

The next few (long) minutes are more of the same: something pops up out of the dark, Chanhee feels his soul leave his body momentarily, and Changmin laughs like jumpscares delight him to no end. Changmin tries to befriend a ghost at some point, which sends Chanhee into a fit of laughter that distracts him enough for the next jumpscare to nearly make him trip over his own feet.

When they finally reach the end of the path and walk out into the harsh lights of the real world, Chanhee looks to the side and sees Changmin’s big, bright, and dimpled smile. It doesn’t even matter that Chanhee was about to crack a joke, make a comment about the way his heart feels like it’s about to take flight; he mirrors Changmin’s smile automatically, more excited than he expected to be after that experience, in all honesty.

“Told you,” Changmin says while Chanhee is still staring. “It wasn’t that bad. We made it!”

The adrenaline alone and the relief of seeing Changmin’s smile after the long minutes in complete darkness throw Chanhee’s carefully laid out plans for this night into disarray.

“Be my boyfriend,” he blurts out. Changmin widens his eyes in surprise. Crap. This is not how he meant for this to go. “I mean, will you? That was supposed to be a question, I don’t know why it came out like an order.”

Changmin grins.

“Is that why you suggested the haunted house?” He gasps and pulls Chanhee closer by the hand he’s still holding. “Chanhee, is this a date?”

Chanhee considers teasing and being difficult for a second, just to be funny, but decides against it. He’s so happy, Changmin looks so cute… 

And besides, he did have a whole speech prepared, didn’t he? He imagined it would be over drinks while overlooking the fancier attractions in the park, but this will have to do.

So he cups Changmin’s face and gives him a quick peck on the lips, right here, still standing outside the haunted house.

“It is a date,” he confirms. “Because I wouldn’t do this for anyone else, you know. That’s what I wanted to tell you, that being with you makes me feel braver. I feel invincible when you’re by my side, Changmin.”

Changmin’s eyes are so sparkly. He’s smiling so wide. It takes him a moment to react, but when he does, it’s to lean in and kiss Chanhee again, sweetly, tenderly. It’s already answer enough, because he’s never been one to do this kind of thing in public, but he still parts again to ask, “We’re official now, then?”

“I guess we are.”

“I like that,” Changmin says, looking as happy as Chanhee himself feels. Then he smirks, mischievously. “Wanna go through the haunted house one more time, now as boyfriends?”

“Oh, absolutely not.”