Work Text:
If only Sanha knew Minhyuk would use his love coupons like this, he wouldn't have given them.
It's a bunch of random coupons given as a last minute gift at the midnight of their 1000th day anniversary. Sanha was swamped with course work, so he just grabbed some special paper and colored pencils as a final resort.
He thought, nothing will beat quality time and some acts of service together, right? Oh how he thought wrong. If only he knew he'd regret this.
Sanha was stomping his feet as he walked to the dirty kitchen of their shared apartment. He grudgingly throws a plastic bag of sauces and some octopus arms to Minhyuk, who was too busy to look at his partner. He only mumbled a few words of thanks then went back to his cooking.
On better days, Sanha would watch Minhyuk cook. He loves eating, and seeing his boyfriend preparing heavenly food for him makes his heart flutter. He likes staring at him too, since Minhyuk - the designated chef - was too focused and the lines on his forehead made him look more handsome. But this wasn't one of the better days.
Instead, he sulked his way to the living room and sat on the couch. Annoyed, he turned off whatever movie musical score that was playing on the speaker and turned on the television. He watched some old episodes of Doraemon just to calm himself down, but he still can't take the annoyance out of his system.
Sanha was tired. He was running errands the whole day. First it was a simple breakfast - Minhyuk requested for breakfast in bed. He obliged since he thought he was just being sweet and clingy.
Then simple requests turned into bigger things. He was asked to water the plants, then tidy the closets. And just an hour ago, Minhyuk told him to go to the wet market to buy some ingredients for their dinner. At some point, he even asked him to clean the bathroom. (Minhyuk must have noticed Sanha's disapproval and retracted the task). It was getting frustrating, and Sanha's patience was running thin.
"Ddana, do you hear me?" Minhyuk was already sitting next to Sanha on the couch, genuinely concerned. He heard his boyfriend's sighs across the kitchen, and he wanted to know what made his boyfriend pissed like this.
"What?" Sanha asked, out of the trance but still annoyed.
"I said dinner's ready."
"Later. I'm still tired."
Minhyuk watched the anime with him for a while. But he knows they have to eat soon or the food will go cold.
"Come on, we have to eat now."
Looking more pissed, Sanha replied. "Go eat on your own."
Of all the things they knew about each other, Minhyuk's pretty sure his boyfriend knows his pet peeves. He gets so irked whenever someone just pours out anger on him without any reason. So he asked Sanha, "What is your problem?"
"You wanna know what's my problem?" At this point, he knew the day's not gonna end well anyway. "You don't care about me! You took advantage of the coupon!"
The coupon. "What?" asked Minhyuk.
"You made me do useless errands the whole day. First the breakfast, then cleaning, then going to the market! You used a coupon so I can't say no. Minhyuk, the fish were flying! You know how much I hate the wet market!"
After a deep breath, Sanha continued, "When we planned to clear our schedules for today, I thought we're going to spend time together. We barely meet during weekdays despite living in the same house. When you told me last night that you'll use the coupon, I thought we'll spend all day in bed being clingy and sweet, so I was just waiting-" His voice cracked but it didn't stop him. "-I was getting my hopes up for nothing."
Then tears started to pour out from Sanha's eyes, the frustration he kept in the whole day starting to flow out. Minhyuk hugged him close and rubbed just below his ear to calm him down.
"I'm sorry, Sanha. Please stop crying." He was panicking, completely unaware that his boyfriend wasn't feeling that excited to do the tasks.
They stayed in that position for a good amount of time. Sanha was crying his heart out, rightfully so, and Minhyuk was letting him as he recognizes his own fault. When both of them calmed down, the latter started to explain himself.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were getting frustrated with the random errands."
"Then why did you make me do them?"
"Because," Minhyuk paused, thinking twice whether to continue, "I was doing those things everyday. I was wondering how it feels to have chores being done for you."
Sanha was taken aback. He wasn't aware of this. And his boyfriend was right - he was doing all these chores everyday, without fail, on top of his own studies and course requirements. Minhyuk took care of their home for the both of them. "I didn't know, Minhyuk. I'm sorry."
"I know. And don't apologize because I like to do them anyway." He was telling the truth. He enjoys cleaning stuff, going to the market, among others. It was like a routine for him. "And besides, I should've told you directly, not order you around because of a stupid coupon."
Sanha removed himself from the hug to wipe his tears. Minhyuk fixed their position and hugged his boyfriend more tightly. Then he mumbled on Sanha's neck, "Did you really hate it that much? I know you have a different definition of sweetness or something, but I was thinking of inviting you to a market date next time. I want you to see how I choose the best meat for the food I cook for you."
Laughing, Sanha answered, "Okay. As long as you cook it nicely."
Both of them grinned widely. Their argument just ended like that. No need for profuse apologies - just sincere words and a bit of skinship.
*
EPILOGUE
Minhyuk, fresh from the shower, climbed on the bed with Sanha on the phone with someone. "Who's that?"
"Eomma. I just texted her and said I appreciate her doing housework for our family." He turned off his phone and cuddled with his boyfriend. "This is my type of sweetness, Minhyuk."
"Being with me on the bed? While we hug until we fall asleep?"
"Just being with you is good enough. The hugs and lying on the bed are a bonus."