Work Text:
A soft thunk alerted Saeyoung to the presence behind him. He gave a noncommittal grunt, eyes never once leaving the set of screens flickering away with green lines of code. Behind him, MC squinted his eyes at the screen, a delicate hand resting on his hips to convey annoyance at being ignored yet again. There was very little MC understood about the world of numbers his boyfriend always vanished into, but there was one thing he understood perfectly clear: Saeyoung.
Well, he was clear until recently. Now MC’s understanding of him was like trying to read with smudged glasses. Read as: not very well.
The holidays were Saeyoung’s favorite time of the year, Christmas being no exception. In the three years since he’s known his boyfriend, he has gone above and beyond what any sane person would do. The second Halloween was over, boxes of tinsel and lights and baubles were flying out of closets MC didn’t even know existed. Of course, no outside decorations were permitted seeing as Saeyoung still desired to keep a low profile, but that certainly didn’t stop him from transforming the inside of the house into a candy coated Christmas extravaganza.
Except something was different this year. It was already the first of December and Saeyoung hadn’t even touched a Christmas decoration. He’d been cagey and reclusive for the past month, snapping at MC if he even set a toe into his office. Almost as though he was hiding something…
Blowing his wispy bangs out of his eyes, MC ignored the heavy weight of anxiety in his throat and decided to up his game. Slinking forward, he wrapped his arms around Saeyoung’s muscular neck and pressed a light kiss to the dusting of freckles on his cheek.
“Guess who,” he trilled.
Saeyoung flinched at the contact, immediately wrenching out of MC’s grasp. His golden eyes were wide with fear and guilt as he turned around to face him, profile bathed in the glow of technology.
“MC! I told you to stay out of this room,” he barked, folding his well-toned arms across his chest. “I thought you were Saeran.”
Before a flicker of hurt could register on his face, MC swallowed thickly and plastered a bright smile onto his lips.
“Nope! Just me. Saeran left a little while ago to ‘go watch Netflix with Yoosung’. They’re cute, really, but they could stand to be a little subtler. I mean, Netflix, seriously? Who even-…”
“MC, why are you here?” Saeyoung asked edgily. “If you’re just going to blabber on about my brother, then leave. I have better things to do.”
“You’ve been acting so weird lately,” MC huffed, getting straight to the point. “Look, it’s already December and the house isn’t even decorated. Not to mention you’ve been going out of your way to avoid me. I get it if you’re angry with me or want to be alone, but can you at least take care of yourself? When is the last time you’ve eaten?”
Saeyoung scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning back to face the monitors.
“I had Honey Buddha Chips yesterday. You know that’s the only thing I like to eat when working.”
“Which is why…,” MC began, grabbing the large box he’d towed into the office with her. “I have a fantastic idea! Gingerbread houses!”
That snatched Saeyoung’s attention. He slowly swiveled away from the lines of code, staring open-mouthed at his boyfriend. Sure enough, there was a brightly colored box in his arms. GINGERBREAD HOUSE KIT was spelled out on it in ridiculously fluorescent red letters. Usually, this was the type of holiday cheese Saeyoung would be all about, but instead he merely grimaced at the box and gave MC a reproachful glance.
“Is this a joke or…?”
“No way, it’s perfect! You’re a ginger and, I mean, bread is a starchy product just like Honey Buddha Chips. So I thought, you know, maybe…,” MC trailed off, using every ounce of cheerfulness he possessed to keep a chipper tone.
But a crack in his façade appeared when Saeyoung flickered his eyes uneasily to the small closet door to the right of MC.
The closet was nothing special: small, nondescript, off to the corner. The door was always closed and, since this was Saeyoung’s private workspace, MC had never bothered to ask what was inside. He had always assumed it was spare monitors or gear for his undercover missions.
Until that moment, that is.
“Saeyoung, is everything alright?” MC asked, hesitating when the redhead’s demeanor switched from guarded to ecstatic faster than the lines of code appearing rapid fire across his display monitors.
“It’s perfect!” Saeyoung exclaimed, bolting out of his chair to stand in front of MC. He grabbed his hands and looked him in the eyes for the first time since he had entered his office. “It’s the perfect idea! You go ahead and set up downstairs and I’ll, uh, I’ll be there in a minute. I just have to finish up one last thing.”
MC felt his heart splinter as those golden eyes glanced once more at the closet door. With a half-hearted nod, he snatched the gingerbread house kit off the table near the door. As he looked over his shoulder while exiting the office, Saeyoung was still standing there, tapping his foot impatiently. He made a shoo-ing motion as he rushed over to the door, trying to force MC out of the room.
“Hurry up, the gingermen can’t stay in the box forever! They might suffocate, MC, think of the consequences. Give me two seconds, ok? I promise. Then I’m all yours.”
“Alright, Saeyoung. I-,” MC flinched as the door was shut in his face, effectively cutting off his words. He bit his lip and shuffled dejectedly down the stairs with the box clutched tightly over his chest.
“I love you…”
As MC walked into the kitchen, soft thudding from Saeyoung’s office filtered down into his ears and only served to tighten the knot of anxiety pooling deep within his stomach. What on earth could be in that closet? Secret files? A dead body? A dead body being hidden by secret files? Even if it was something like that, Saeyoung should know that MC would help him dismember and hide the body in a heartbeat.
MC just worried it was something so drastic that it could have Saeyoung taken away from him forever.
A soft sigh fluttered out of MC’s lips as he set the box on the kitchen table and began unpacking the gingerbread pieces and various candies that came with it. Perhaps the whole ordeal was in his head. Maybe Saeyoung wasn’t even being that secretive and MC was overreacting simply because he hadn’t been interested in the holidays. Or it could even be that Saeyoung had become immensely swamped with work and that was contributing to his lackluster approach to the season.
“Breathe, MC, breathe,” he murmured, willing his racing heart to slow down. “You’re overreacting. Saeyoung would never do anything too drastic. It’ll be fine.”
“Fine? As fine as this ass my beautiful boyfriend has?”
MC couldn’t help but let out a surprised gasp as he felt Saeyoung’s lips on his neck. Goosebumps appeared on his neck in the wake of Saeyoung’s breath as he bit down just underneath MC’s chin. A shiver coursed down MC’s spine and he moaned softly, letting his head fall back onto the sturdy chest of his boyfriend.
“No fair,” MC whispered, voice strained. “You can’t turn me on. We’re supposed to be getting into the holiday spirit, not getting into each other.”
Saeyoung chuckled, untangling his arms from around MC.
“Wow, MC turning down sex? These gingerbread houses must hold the secrets to the universe,” he teased, playfully poking his boyfriend in the side. MC sidestepped him, swatting the offending hands away with a grin playing on his lips.
“Stop, stop! Saeyoung, I swear,” he cackled, weak to his ticklish nature. “They’re nothing special. I’m just… I’m worried about you. You seem so guarded and I’m scared your job finally took you past the point of no return.”
And just like that, all elements of the playful atmosphere vanished. Saeyoung took on a guilty look, walking forward to cup MC’s cheek with a calloused hand. Closing his eyes, MC leaned into the touch. It had been the first time his boyfriend had held him in weeks.
“My darling MC,” Saeyoung murmured apologetically. “My work is fine. You have nothing to worry about. I’m sorry I’ve been a huge butt lately. I’m just… Well, you’ll see here soon. Just hang with me a little longer, ok?”
MC nodded dejectedly as some of the worry dissipated yet new fear took root inside of his heart.
“…Ok, Saeyoung. I trust you,” he whispered softly.
Saeyoung grinned brightly, his freckles accentuated by the dim glow of the kitchen lights. He gently pressed a kiss to MC’s forehead before snatching his half of the decorating kit from the kitchen table. MC raised a quizzical eyebrow at him as he gave a sheepish grin.
“Seven Zero Seven, defender of justice needs ample space to work! I have to create a masterpiece for my space-companion after all,” he pronounced, walking backwards into the living room. “And of course, an artist can’t be viewed while he’s at work so no peeking! I mean it! I’ll call you when you can come see it. And without further ado, I’m off to the living room!”
Before MC even had a chance to respond, Saeyoung dashed through the door of the kitchen and out into the front room.
“’Hang with me a little bit longer,’ he said,” MC grumbled as he sat down at the kitchen table alone, flicking a stray gumdrop angrily. “’You have nothing to worry about,’ he said. And yet here I am, decorating a fucking gingerbread house alone and worrying! What is the point of even decorating these stupid things if I have to do it my goddamn self?”
MC continued grumbling choice words under his breath as he haphazardly slapped icing onto the gingerbread walls and smashed them together, making a slightly crumbled and extremely lopsided house. Decorating fared no better. More gumdrops went into MC’s stomach than onto the roof and the tiny gingerbread men outside the front door sported angry eyebrows and deep-set frowns. Hey, if MC couldn’t be happy then neither could the gingerbread men. That’s just the Circle of Life. Kumba-fucking-ya.
In fact, MC was so engrossed in his anger that he didn’t notice the tell-tale signs of quietness from the living room signaling that Saeyoung was done creating his house. It was his piercing voice that startled MC out of his daze.
“MC! Get in here! I have a surprise,” Saeyoung sing-songed loudly, making MC jump in his chair. Attempting to placate his now-racing heart, MC abandoned the train wreck that was his gingerbread house and strolled into the front room. Hopefully, Saeyoung’s had fared much better.
“This gingerbread house better be a godsend to make up for all- Oomf!” MC spluttered as a hand was smacked over his eyes.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Saeyoung laughed, his tone oddly gentle. “My sixth sense tells me you’ll love it.” MC allowed himself to be guided over to the couch, sitting down once his knees backed into a solid surface. He could feel the trembling of Saeyoung’s hands over his eyes and and the knot of dread in his stomach tightened. Why was he so nervous? It was just a gingerbread house… right?
“MC, before I let you look I just want you to know… You can say anything, alright? Just because we’re dating that doesn’t… that doesn’t confine you to an answer.” Saeyoung paused, clearing his throat nervously. “I know I’m not that special. I actually still don’t know what you see in me. I’m bitter and depressed and complicated and nothing that a boyfriend should be. But I love you more than I have ever loved anything. I want to protect you the way I couldn’t protect Saeran. MC, without you my life would go back to the dark cynicism that it was before you entered the RFA. And yeah, there are still a lot of days where I’m weighed down by depression, but there are also days where my humor isn’t just a mask to cheer everyone up. MC, you bring out the Saeyoung I tried to hide by punishing myself for my failures.
Anyways, I could go on but I think I’ve worried you enough. You can look now.”
MC blinked as Saeyoung removed his hands, preparing to fire back a retort until the scene before him caught his eye.
On the coffee table sat a gingerbread house. It was simple, one of those cheapos bought for fifteen bucks at Wal-Mart, but it was decorated with lavish care. Ornate curlicues of white icing spiraled across the rooftop and licorice ropes adorned the outsides of the windows. Gumdrops of all colors created a makeshift fence around the outside of the base, perfectly framing the scene inside.
After all, the scene inside was the crème-de-le-crème of the masterpiece.
Two gingerbread figures stood in front of the house. One was shorter, his little legs bitten off at the knees to create the height difference, and sported a sweeping hairstyle. The other had a shock of red icing for hair and black licorice ropes for glasses. Balanced on the arm of the bespectacled gingerbread man was a ring.
The ring was nothing fancy. It appeared to be a simple golden band from far away, but upon closer inspection there was a UFO engraved into the metal. MC’s eyes widened as he looked over to his boyfriend who was now balanced awkwardly beside the couch on one knee.
“MC, I think you know what I’m trying to ask you,” he murmured.
“You’re not leaving me?” MC blurted out, tears budding in his eyes. Saeyoung blinked as his soft expression morphed into one of confusion.
“Um, no? I’m pretty sure I’m trying to ask you to marry me.”
“And you’re not being punished because of your job?”
“Uh… I’m not sure where this is going but also no…?”
“And you promise you aren’t being dragged away to some foreign prison where you’ll be interrogated daily and I’ll never see you again?!”
“MC, what are you talking about? I always expect some degree of weirdness but this is definitely a new level,” Saeyoung finally asked, a look of concern taking over his features. Embarrassed, MC bit his lip and trained his eyes on the carpeting.
“You started ignoring me and acting cagey. You were even hiding something in your closet! I just… I dunno. I assumed something really bad had finally happened at work and this was going to be the end of us,” MC divulged, voice breaking as all of his worry was voiced aloud.
However, Saeyoung burst into laughter as he hopped back onto the couch, enveloping MC in his muscular arms.
“I was hiding the ring in the closet! And I started ignoring you because I got nervous,” Saeyoung admitted sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure I could handle the rejection if you said no.”
“Idiot, why would I ever say no?” MC giggled through his tears, burrowing into the warm embrace of his new fiancé. Saeyoung pulled back to look at MC’s face, a grin shining from ear to ear.
“Do I have confirmation from Agent 606? Has he decided to undertake this mission?”
MC reached out and grabbed the ring from gingerbread Saeyoung, putting it on his finger and kissing his fiancé boldly on the lips.
“Affirmative, Agent 707. This mission is a go.”