#binchan

Chan loves Changbin even when he continuously disrupts the rare trips he takes without him with multiple calls throughout the day under the guise of missing him, when really he needs help figuring out the washer, the TV, the aircon.

Chan loves Changbin right now as he’s taking photos of the sunset on their beach walk like his grandmother would. Leaning back and holding the phone unnecessarily far out just to squint at the screen. Chan wonders not for the first time whether he needs to schedule an appointment at the optometrist for him. His fingers curl around the ring box in the pocket of his linen pants.

“Hey handsome,” he flirts somewhat sarcastically, because that’s just how they are. They love each other in quiet, every-day gestures. Overly dramatic declarations of love don’t suit them. The fancy dinner they had and the romantic beach walk is already kind of overkill for them, which is why Chan was so surprised when Changbin enthusiastically agreed to the idea right off the bat.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Chan bumps their shoulders together and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Not for long,” Changbin mumbles, his eyes nervously straying to the time in the top right corner of his phone.

Chan’s face falls. “What?” His fingers flinch away from the ring box like it burned him. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see,” Changbin replies ominously. He checks his messages, then the sky. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”

Chan’s stomach turns upside down like he’s about to throw up. Does he… Is he gonna dump him? Did he agree so enthusiastically to this atypically lavish dinner date because he wanted to soften the blow? Is this a breakup-date?!

Changbin walks ahead, but Chan doesn’t follow him. Ten happy years… or is that just Chan? Sure, nothing is perfect. They’re both thick-headed workaholics. Even when they’re fighting, they’re practically attached at the hip to the point where they’ve been accused of codependency more than once. But Chan has always found comfort and reassurance in their partnership, in a world that is otherwise so scaringly fast-paced and unpredictable. Changbin is his haven, his home. Has he grown bored of him?

The wind cools the hot tears on Chan’s cheeks. He hates nothing more than crying in public.

“Hey, are you—” Changbin stops and turns around. Chan can’t see his face through his tears. “Babe, are you… Baby?” Changbin hurries back, stumbles and almost face-plants into the sand.

“Yeobo, hey…” He takes Chan’s trembling hands. The tender pet name just makes the knot swell bigger in his throat. “What’s wrong, why are you…”

“We—we can work on this,” Chan chokes out. “Please, we can work this out, I… I’ll do anything, Bin, please, just give me the chance…”

Changbin frowns and blinks at him. “What?”

“Do I work too much? I’ll cut back. Do I… Is it my control issues? I’ll go to therapy, I’ll be better for you.”

“But you’re perfect—”

“You can leave your dirty socks on the floor and I’ll move into the office so my snoring doesn’t keep you up and I’ll do all the dishes from now on just, please, please don’t break up with me!”

Changbin draws a sharp breath. “Who said anything about breaking up?!”

“You!” Chan cries and hits his chest. “What the fuck do you mean you won’t have a boyfriend for long, what—”

Realization dawns on Changbin’s face. “No! Nononono—” He hastily fumbles in the chest pocket of his blazer and pulls out something eerily similar to the ring box in Chan’s own pocket.

“Chan-hyung? Will you—oh fuck—” He trips trying to go down on one knee and drops the ring box in the sand. “Wait, shit—”

Chan watches his pathetic scramble, shocked out of his cries, and gapes at the ring Changbin finally manages to present.

“Marry… me?” Changbin heaves like he just ran a marathon. “‘Cause—you can’t be my boyfriend if you’re my husband, get it? I guess the joke didn’t really land without context, hah…” He sheepishly clears his throat, his ramble fading into a barely coherent mumble like it does when he’s very, very nervous. “This went totally different in my head…”

“Bin…” Chan wipes the tears and snot with the back of his hand and shakily pulls his own ring box out of his pants just for the words to get stuck in his throat as he goes to kneel with Changbin in the sand.

“Oh!” Changbin’s eyes and mouth form a perfect O.

“Great minds think alike, huh?” Chan chuckles, snotty and teary.

“I, uhh—” Changbin stutters. “I did not prepare a script for this.”

“Will you…”

“Yes!” Changbin answers before Chan can even finish the question. “Will you…”

“Of course,” Chan replies just as quickly before they fall into each other’s arms. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Changbin sniffs into his neck. “You’re my home, Chan. I would never break up with you.”

“I wouldn’t let you.” Chan squeezes him as tightly as he can, just a little demonstration in case he ever thought about running away.

“Does the offer of leaving my socks on the floor still stand or…”

“You wish!” Chan laughs and pinches Changbin’s waist.

“It was worth a shot,” Changbin giggles, wiping tears out of the corners of his eyes. “Damn, you completely derailed my plan. I wanted to do it further down the shore by the rock formation, Jisung is waiting there with a camera…”

Chan laughs and points over Changbin’s shoulder. “That Jisung?”

“Hyung, wait!” Jisung is running towards them with a bloody knee and flailing arms. “I took pictures of the crabs while waiting and slipped on a rock and—wait!” He comes to a halt in front of them and gawks at the open ring boxes. “Did I miss it? Did you already do it?!”

“I’m sorry Jisung, we had a misunderstanding and—”

“That’s not fair, I wanted to be there!” Jisung pouts. “Do it again!”

“What?” Chan huffs in disbelief.