Work Text:
“Lix, I’m home!”
Chan shut the door quietly behind him, moving to toe off his shoes and hang his coat on the tall mahogany rack that Felix had insisted on buying around the time they moved in. From the kitchen, upbeat music wafted through the air and invaded the rest of the house, accompanied by a subtle scent of chocolate and the occasional clinking of cooking utensils.
Then, there was the distinct sound of a thunk, followed by batting, like someone was brushing crumbs off their pants, and Felix came out of the kitchen, hair tied back, apron hugging his tiny waist. He was dusted very lightly with flour, white covering his face and brown bangs, the backs of his hands getting the brunt of the blow where he didn’t dust off along with his palms.
“Channie!” he grinned, and waddled slightly faster (Chan had forbidden him from running once he slipped on the marble floors that one time four months ago) to greet Chan with a hug and kiss. Felix’s lips tasted like raw flour, and he laughed when Chan blew little raspberries in attempt to get rid of the feeling. After another chaste kiss on Felix’s hairline (which, too, tasted like flour, but also Felix’s vanilla face cream), Felix spoke up.
“You’re home early!” Chan grinned to match the one on Felix’s face; his happiness was absolutely contagious (and perhaps Chan was a tiny bit whipped). “I was planning on having finished cleaning up by the time you came back!”
Chan ruffled Felix’s hair, sending a cloud of flour into the air, and he whipped his head around and exhaled aggressively before any of it could get into his nose. When he had turned around, Felix was standing in the middle of the cloud of flour, his nose all scrunched up.
“No offense, Felix, but did you decide to have a bath in the flour today?”
“Hey, don’t be mean!” Felix cried, giving Chan a friendly little punch on the shoulder, receiving a hearty laugh in return. Felix squinted, exaggerating a pout. He looked like a little angry chick, graced with another hair ruffle and more flying flour particles. “I had to wrestle with the flour today and it exploded in my face!”
“Why were you wrestling with the flour, hmm?” asked Chan, hand on the small of Felix’s back as he peeked into the kitchen, following when Felix stepped in.
“Well, maybe the flour was being a dick,” Felix spat, and that sent Chan wheezing, curled up on the floor for a solid minute, clutching his stomach and whining about how it hurt through his laughter. Felix just rolled his eyes fondly, a small smile curling his lips up.
Once the laughing fit was over and he had properly gathered himself, Chan stood up, finally functioning well enough to drink in the state of the kitchen. The flour had definitely exploded, Chan deduced, seeing the island dusted like it was the first snow and the floor covered in little footprints where Felix had moved around (his feet were so small and his footsteps were tiny and it was so adorable and frankly illegal). A wrecked plastic bag lay desolately abandoned in the corner, as though Felix had cast it aside in frustration after salvaging whatever flour he could.
There was a pile of chopped walnuts on the cutting board, a bowl of chocolate chips beside it, a butter dish with an accompanying square butter-greased pan (also lightly dusted with flour) all arranged neatly on one side, and some half-mixed brownie batter in a bowl in the middle. Felix’s phone was in a safer corner of the countertop, a cute song with cheery beats (oh wait, that’s TWICE) still pouring out through the Bluetooth speaker right by the toaster.
Chan looked up, and the moment his eyes landed on Felix, time seemed to stop.
Felix was standing by the sink, a gauzy white scrunchy with yellow flowers and a ribbon secured between his lips; he was pulling his beautiful brown hair back in a half-up, half-down, staring at the floor as he gathered his hair, the motions coming naturally to him. The warm afternoon sunlight that poured in through the window behind illuminated him, casting shadows in the prettiest places, enhancing his silhouette as he took the scrunchy out of his mouth and tied his hair, the ribbon mingling with his soft brown locks.
He turned to Chan with the most innocent look in his eyes, a questioning sound slipping from his lips, and all breath was knocked straight out of Chan’s lungs.
Felix looked like an angel.
“…annie? Channieee. Earth to Channie?”
Chan jumped when he Felix snapped his fingers an inch away from his eyes, but he felt himself floating away again when he saw Felix wearing his cute smile. Dazzling. Stunning.
“You okay there, big boy?” Felix asked, teasingly, but it only served to make Chan blink once, twice, before he was grabbing Felix by the shoulders and kissing him, so swift Felix let out an ‘mmf!’
It was short, sweet, warm, like the sunlight gracing their skin and enveloping their embrace. It tasted like the lemon lipbalm Felix put on so religiously everyday. It was soft and innocent and right , and Chan couldn’t stop himself from wanting more, fingers curling on the nape of Felix’s neck, fingers tangling into Felix’s hair, tipping Felix’s head back to deepen the kiss, licking at Felix’s lips. Felix, Felix, Felix .
Felix was the one who pulled away, his small hands (everything about him was so tiny) moving from the front of Chan’s shirt to his waist.
“Hey,” Felix whispered, looking straight into Chan’s dazed eyes. Chan was panting, his eyes shining, looking at Felix like he had just hung up all the stars in the sky. Felix booped Chan’s nose softly, and Chan blinked out of his daze. “What’s gotten into you, hmm?”
Chan didn’t even hesitate to squeeze Felix into a hug. “I love you,” he breathed, “so so so so much.”
Felix let out a giggle, patting Chan gently on his soft blond curls. “I love you too, you big baby,” he murmured quietly into Chan’s ear, soft and sincere. Gently, he pried himself out of Chan’s hold, not breaking eye contact when he held Chan at arm’s length. “I have brownies to bake, now, Channie, and I have to reheat the oven.” Chan looked at their oven to see that the timer had indeed gone off, and the oven was starting to cool even though he hadn’t heard the ding at all. “Do you want to help?”
Dumbly, Chan nodded.
Felix giggled. “Cute.”
That was a straight arrow to the heart, and Chan realised, welp, he’s only going to fall harder from here on out. Felix moved back to the brownie batter, whisking it expertly and starting to sprinkle the chocolate chips in.
Frankly, Chan wasn’t of much help. He got the spatula when requested (he got the wrong one, too, and Felix only giggled and called him silly when he did), and sprinkled in the chocolate chips and walnuts on Felix’s command. But other than that, Felix called the shots, and Chan waited on his heel like an overgrown puppy.
Halfway through pouring the batter into the tray, the song that was playing reached its chorus, and Felix hastily put down the mixing bowl with a hushed, “ Oh, shit, dis my jam! ” and managed to dust his hands off just as Chaeyoung sang, ' When will this love come to me? Who’ll share this love with me?'
“I wanna know!” Felix shouted, his voice deep but complementing TWICE’s high ones, taking centre stage in the middle of their cramped kitchen, dancing to What is Love? which was, indeed, his jam.
Chan watched, feeling his chest swell with endearment as Felix danced, energetic and on point, singing along with his entrancing deep voice that Chan oh-so-loved.
They say that it tastes all sweet like candy
I wanna know!
They say it makes you feel like you’re flying
I wanna know, know, know
What is Love?
What does Love really feel like inside?
What does love feel like inside? Standing here, leaning against the kitchen island, watching Felix dance his heart out, all smiles and bouncy hair and swaying hips, still covered in flour and that smear of brownie batter Chan had sneaked onto his cheek, Chan had a shrewd idea what it felt like.
I wanna know!
They say it can make you smile all day long
I wanna know!
They say it makes the world more beautiful
I wanna know, know, know
What is Love?
Will I ever feel this kind of Love in me too?
Chan felt his heart stutter; Felix ended the dance with a cute pose—a peace sign over his eye and a wink—content with joining in on just the chorus, his face flushed and his hair slightly ruffled up. Chan felt something in his chest ache. Was this the kind of Love the girls were singing about? Because Chan surely couldn’t stop smiling, and the world indeed looked so much better with Lee Felix in it.
He gave Felix another kiss on his hairline when he came back.
“You’re being awfully touchy today, Chris,” Felix noted, landing his own kiss on the tip of Chan’s nose. Chan retaliated with another soft kiss to Felix’s forehead, making him scrunch up his nose playfully as he scraped the last of the brownie batter into the pan. “Not that I’m complaining. Are you okay? Did something happen at work?”
Moving to (not-so-subtly) hide his face in the crook of Felix’s neck, Chan merely shook his head, his hair brushing against Felix’s earring. “No,” he murmured, and felt a radiant warmth where Felix put a hand on his shoulder. “Just love you. So much.”
“I love you too, Channie,” Felix whispered back, delicately as to not break the atmosphere. Though try as he did, the ding of the oven timer broke the moment anyway, and Felix pulled away from Chan with a giggle to put the pan in the oven.
Once the brownies were set to bake, Felix returned to Chan’s arms, their bodies slotting perfectly, the warmth inviting and comforting. Felix rubbed his cheek against Chan’s shoulder affectionately, a low, content hum rumbling against Chan’s chest before he realised—
“Hey!” Chan yelped, breaking away from Felix and looking down at his shirt. There was a stain on the shoulder where Felix’s cheek had been, and the brownie batter he had smeared on Felix was now transferred to his crisp white shirt. Felix was grinning. “Felix, this is my work shirt!”
“You should’ve changed before you helped me in the kitchen, then,” Felix singsonged, already turning as he untied the apron on his waist. “Or, you know, not smear brownie batter on my face when I’m focused.”
“It was a tiny bit!” Chan cried indignantly, but before he could say anything else, Felix was swiping a whole glob of butter from the dish straight across Chan’s stunned face, and sticking out his tongue before half-running out of the kitchen.
“Lee Felix!” was all that Chan yelled before he was giving chase, tackling Felix onto the sofa and tickling him mercilessly, rubbing back all the butter on Felix’s own face.
“Petty!” Felix shrieked through his laughter, and that only made Chan squish him harder.
“These brownies are real good, Felix.”
“Thanks.”
“No, really, Lixie. You outdid yourself and that should be physically impossible.”
“You flatter me. Now let me pack some for the others.”
“No!”