#skzsnapshot

[hannieslittlerockstar]

The Spooks

Word Count: 4.5K

Genre: Lee Minho x reader, fluff, established relationship

Summary: You make a bet with Seungmin that you'll watch an entire horror movie this Halloween, the only problem is....you hate horror.

Author note: Hey guys, I'm so sorry this came out so late. I started an internship at the beginning of this year that has kept me super busy and I'm a perfectionist so it took me longer to edit this than I would have liked. Thanks for still sticking around and reading my stuff. Much love!

Your feet stomp across the kitchen tiles as you grumble, "I'm coming. I’m coming.”

Opening the microwave door, you silence the obnoxious ringing as the sweet smell of popcorn wafts into the kitchen. Grabbing the bag by the edges, you gently set it onto the counter. As you stand on your tiptoes, you open the wooden cupboard beside you and scan through the different colored bowls neatly stacked inside. Picking out your favorite one, you pull out a teal bowl painted with little susuwataries Hyunjin made for Felix’s birthday last year. 

You find yourself smiling at the fond memory. That night had definitely been a highlight of 2022 for everyone. You’d all grown a little closer while you sat around the bonfire at the beach. The nine of you sharing heartfelt feelings, embarrassing stories and laughter with flushed, rosy cheeks from the alcohol. You wished you could go back to the good ol days when your only worries were school assignments and monthly performance evaluations. 

Tugging the bag open, you watch the steam form wispy clouds that swirl about before dispersing into thin air. A small smile tugs at your lips as you peek inside the bag. Perfectly white, crisped kernels look up at you before you dump the contents into the bowl.

Making your way back into the living room, you find Minho sitting on the edge of the couch leaning forward with his arms propped onto his knees. The remote practically dangles from his fingers as he lets out a dramatic sigh. Ruffling his fluffed, black hair, he pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he continues to scroll through the endless list of movies on Netflix.

“Sooo,” you start, throwing some popcorn into your mouth as you plop down beside him. “What are we going to watch tonight?" 

Turning to face you, the deep furrow in Minho’s eyebrows softens into a warm smile as he falls back onto the couch. Casually slinging his arm around you, his other hand grabs a handful of popcorn. In between chews he says, "I was thinking we could watch a horror movie in honor of it being Halloween."

He redirects his gaze towards the TV screen as he finds the horror section. You nearly choke on your popcorn, forcefully gulping down the popped kernel. Clearing your throat, you mutter a weak, “Horror?”

"Yeah.” He turns to face you. "Is that okay?"

"Um, you know what," you place the popcorn bowl on the coffee table. “I’m actually feeling pretty tired.” Feigning a yawn you stretch out your arms. “I think I should start heading home. Sorry Min, we'll have to anot—.”

But before you can even properly stand up, Minho grabs you by the waist and pulls you back down beside him. Curse Minho and his quick reflexes. 

"Yah," he playfully scolds, his tone sending a shiver down your spine as his hands hold your arms in place. "You can’t be tired. You were just dancing and belting the lyrics to ‘Pop!’ while you waited for the popcorn. You said you had so much energy you didn’t know what to do with yourself.”

You blink back in surprise at Minho. So he had been paying attention to you earlier despite his nonchalance. Shaking away the swooning thoughts plaguing your mind, you redirect your attention back to the conversation. “Well,” you huff, recomposing yourself. “I figured out where to put my energy and now I’m drained.”

“What about your bet with Kim Seungmin? Weren’t you going to prove him wrong and sit through an entire horror film this Halloween?”

You were about to correct him that it was the only way to make Seungmin stop calling you a chicken but you swallow your pride as Minho’s eyes pin you in place. “Secondly,” his gaze softens as he looks between your eyes, a sharp contrast to the firm hands still securely wrapped around your waist. “I wanted to spend this Halloween with you, not by myself."

Your heart can't help but flutter at his words before erratically beating in fear as you glance back at the screen. "Uh, well. I mean. I guess if you don’t want to be alon—.”

Minho cocks his head. ”Are you scared?" he mocks you as a teasing smile spreads across his lips.

"Me? Scared?" you scoff. "I don’t get scared that easily,” you retort before slowly sinking further into the couch, regretting what was yet to come.

"Rigghhtt," Minho chuckles. "I guess you won’t have any problems with me picking the scariest movie then.”

Biting your lip, you stubbornly reply, "That’s fine. I can handle it."

His eyes twinkle in amusement as he cocks up an eyebrow. "Okay. How about…," he pauses as he continues to scroll through the list of movies.

The images start to become even more terrifying than the ones before and you find yourself looking around the room just to avoid the screen.

"Oh! How about this one?" Minho points at the TV excitedly.

"The Medium?" you squint as you try to read the title without looking at the overall image.

He turns to face you, the skin around his eyes crinkling as a wide bunny smile emerges. "I haven't watched it yet.”

You swallow hard as you force yourself to look at the ominous woman smiling on the screen before redirecting your gaze towards Minho. If that was something he really wanted to watch, you couldn't ruin his Halloween just because you were slightly scared. Sucking up your fear, you reluctantly agree to his proposition. 

"Yeaaahhh!" Minho cheers as he stuffs his mouth with more popcorn before jumping up from the couch. "I'll go turn off the lights," he smiles with puffed cheeks as he practically skips over to the light switch.

"Yeah, let's turn off the lights too. As if the movie isn't scary enough," you mutter as you quickly get up to grab a fluffy blanket stored in a small basket near the couch.

Curling up onto the sofa, you make sure the soft blanket covers every bit of your body so that none of your limbs get left out in the open. You didn't want to risk being vulnerable to any sneak attacks of otherworldly creatures during the duration of the film. Minho comes back and sits beside you.

"You look like a burrito," he comments.

"Yah!" you slap his chest, breaking free from the perfect cocoon you had created.

Letting out a lighthearted chuckle, he adds, "a cute burrito," before affectionately placing a kiss onto your forehead.

"Whatever," you playfully roll your eyes as you feel a familiar warmth spread across your cheeks. 

Snuggling up into his chest, he drapes his arm over your back as his hand comfortably rests against your waist. As soon as the opening starts, a loud clash from the orchestra playing in the background makes you jump. Cursing your jittery state, you pray Minho didn't notice. But of course, he always seemed to catch you in your most vulnerable moments.

"The movie hasn't even started yet and you're already jumpy?" he teases, pulling you closer.

"Shut up," you huff, adjusting your head onto his chest as you mentally prepare your palpitating heart for whatever else this movie was about to throw your way. The popcorn could wait. 

As the storyline progresses, you subtly begin to pull the blanket higher and higher up your chest. Once you were, what you hoped was a decent way into the film, the blanket was practically resting underneath your eyes. When you can’t handle it any longer, you pull the blanket entirely over your head. It didn’t matter if Minho never let you live this down. If staying under the blanket meant you had a chance at sleeping through half the night, then it was worth every teasing remark he’d throw your way for the next few months. 

Oddly enough, he remains silent. The only sound from outside your little safe haven is the worried voices whispering back and forth on the TV. 

You slowly peek your head out from beneath the blanket, expecting Minho to be smirking down at you. However, to your surprise, he’s completely engrossed in the film. His eyes widen at the images flashing about the screen as his lips slowly part in shock.

Momentarily forgetting why you were hiding underneath the blanket in the first place, you find it difficult to look away from Minho's cute, dazed state. You can’t help but be reminded of how handsome your boyfriend truly is. Your eyes slowly trace his features as you admire the way his bangs fall over his eyes, the way his nose cutely scrunches up in disapproval at what you could only assume was a character doing something stupid, and the adorable way his lips protrude into a slight frown. 

Feeling your gaze, his eyes slowly meet yours. You feel your breath softly hitch in your throat. An endearing smile tugs at Minho’s lips as he watches your cheeks flush a bright red. “Why aren’t you watching the movie?” he teases. “Can’t get enough of me?” He wiggles his eyebrows. 

“Because…you make me feel safe.”

Your hand immediately flies over your mouth as you quickly look away from Minho. That was definitely supposed to stay in your head. Minho’s eyes slightly widen as he feels his ears grow warm. However, as always, he’s quick to recover his composure. “If you think that’s going to get you out of watching the movie, you’ll have to try a little harder.”

You look back at him with a disapproving frown.

“I’m not trying to—,” an unexpected scream from the film makes you jump. 

Without a second thought, you crawl onto his lap and bury your face into the crook of his neck. The thought of defending your pride flying out the window. Minho, surprised at your sudden reaction, looks down at your shaking figure as you tightly clutch onto his shirt. As the music grows even more eerie, your arms find their way around his torso begging to be held and protected from the horrifying images behind you.

"What happened to not being scared?" he whispers into your hair, a playful smile adorning his lips.

Looking up at him, you push back the sudden tears stinging your eyes as you muster up all the courage you can. "I'm not...SCARED!" your voice hitches as another loud screech emits from the TV causing you to find comfort in his chest once again.

Minho chuckles to himself as he tightly wraps his strong arms around you. Tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, he leans down, his soft lips brushing against your cheek. "I'll protect you 자기야 (baby)," he whispers. 

The unexpected deep tone of his voice sends your stomach into a frenzy of butterflies as your already alarmingly quick heart rate speeds up. And Minho is true to his word. As the film continues, his grip never loosens around your waist as he mindlessly draws shapes across your lower back. His actions lull you into a sleepy state as Minho’s steady heartbeat pats a familiar lullaby against your ear.

An hour and a half later, you don’t stir until Minho whispers in a sweet tone, “Y/N."

"Hmm," you respond, not bothering to open your eyes in fear that you might see your new nightmares within the dark shadows of the house.

“Did you enjoy your little nap?”

You let out a soft scoff. “It’s hard to fall asleep with a soundtrack like that,” you mutter bitterly. 

"Well, now that you’ve had your beauty rest, why don’t you let me turn on the lights," he says, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

You vigorously shake your head, refusing to move. 

Minho lets out a sigh before effortlessly picking you up with him as he slowly walks around the couch. One hand fumbles about the wall in search of the light switch as the other firmly grasps your wrapped form around his waist. Flipping it on, the room is engulfed with a bright light. You finally lift your head up, a sigh of relief escaping your lips as you loosen your grip and gently slide to the ground. You keep your arms loosely around Minho’s waist, refusing to give up the protection of his body. 

“You’ll have to let go of me eventually, Y/N,” Minho says with a smug grin. 

“Well, eventually is not right now.”

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

The color immediately drains from your face as you feel a wave of guilt wash over you. “Do you actually have to go?” you meekly ask.

“What if I did?” Minho bites back a smile.

You let out a deep sigh as you reluctantly take a step back. “I guess I’ll have to be brave then.”

“That’s not what Kim Seungmin is going to think.”

Your eyes narrow. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh,” Minho leans down so that you’re both eye level with one another. “But I would,” he devilishly grins. 

Crossing your arms, you glare back at him. “I hate you.”

Straightening up, Minho gives you a knowing smile.

“What?” you grumble. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Minho shrugs. “It’s just that, that’s not what it looked like on the couch earlier,” a smug grin tugs at his lips.

You bite back a smile as you roll your eyes. “Whatever. I’m not doing this anymore. Are you going to go to the bathroom or not?”

Minho dramatically taps his chin in thought. “I think I’ve changed my mind.” Pulling out his phone from his back pocket he continues, “I think I’m going to let Kim Seungmin know how it went instead.”

Before you can even protest, Minho's phone buzzes. “Speak of the devil. He’s asking for an update.”

Panic settles in as he dangles the phone in front of you. You reach out to grab it but Minho’s one step ahead of you, easily avoiding your grasp as you begin to chase him around the room. 

“Min, get back here,” you shout as he sprints to the other side of the couch. 

“What was all that talk of ‘just you wait, Seungmin. I’m going to watch my first horror movie this year and prove you wrong’?” he mocks you as you throw a pillow his way. Dodging behind the couch, he re-emerges as he bursts into a fit of giggles. 

“Yah!” you protest. “I said I wasn’t scared!”

“Really? ‘Cause the ‘I’m not…SCARED’,” Minho imitates you in a high-pitched voice, “was so convincing.”

He bursts into laughter as your shocked expression turns into an irritated scowl.

“I wasn’t that scared,” you argue, knowing full well that this was in no way helping your argument. “Come on, Min. Please don’t tell him.”

“And why’s that?” Minho snickers. “Are you finally admitting you lost the bet?”

You close your eyes as you muster up the will to swallow your pride. “Yes. I am.”

Minho’s lips part in surprise as he leans against the wall clearly amused by the turn of events. 

“It would hurt my pride even more if he heard it from you. So let me tell Seungmin myself.”

Minho’s eyes look up as he thinks the proposition over. “콜(deal).”

You sigh in relief. 

“You think you can handle losing though?” he cocks an eyebrow at you.

His choice of words jab at your pride even more. Minho knows how competitive you are. He’s the exact same way. He’d do anything to avoid giving Seungmin the satisfaction of having bragging rights over him for a month. So, he can’t help but be piqued by the way you give in so easily.

“A bet’s a bet. I lost so I’ll own up to it,” you nod, determined. 

“Oohhh, that’s my baby,” Minho winks at you.

You feel your cheeks flush at the pet name, but your expression quickly sours as Minho sing-songs, “Can’t wait for later tonight.”

You roll your eyes as Minho lets out a light-hearted chuckle. Putting his phone away, he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist. The change in demeanor completely catches you off guard as Minho leans down and plants a soft kiss on your forehead. “알았어 (Okay), 알았어 (okay),” he smiles. “I’ll stop with the teasing.”

You finally wrap your arms around him, allowing him to gently sway you back and forth.

“But genuinely, Y/N,” he says as he rests his chin atop your head. “I’m proud of you. God knows I could never swallow my pride that easily.”

You erupt into laughter against Minho’s chest and the sound is enough to bring the biggest, foolish grin onto his face. “True,” you smile. Giving Minho’s torso a playful squeeze, you look up at him but when your eyes meet his, you freeze.

You can feel the heat rising up to your cheeks as you watch his eyes begin to slowly trail over each of your features. Minho looks at you with such fondness, it feels like he’s embedding every little one of your details into his brain.

“What?” you shyly whisper.

Pushing a strand of hair behind your ear, Minho’s hand lingers by your chin as he shakes his head. “Nothing. I just want to look at you.”

You bite your lip to hold back a nervous laugh. This was both the cutest and most mortifying interaction you’d ever shared. As much as you wish you could just be present in the moment, you can’t help but grow self-conscious. Noticing the little furrow forming between your eyebrows, Minho is quick to piece your internal dilemma together. 

“Y/N?”

“Hmm?” you hum as you try to calm your pounding heart.

“I know it’s hard, but…let me love you as you are.”

Your eyes widen as your cheeks turn an even darker shade of red. His words weren’t just addressing your current situation, they were hinting at the first time you’d shared with him how difficult it was for you to allow yourself to be loved. When Minho had first heard that, instead of running away, he did everything in his power to show you little by little how worthy you were of being loved.

Even now, when you wanted to laugh off his words and shy away, he gently pulled you closer. Minho wanted to show you that the lies you told yourself every day were just that, lies. He wanted to help you love all the little things that made him fall helplessly in love with you every day.

You look up at him, trying to find some hint of teasing in his eyes but there was none. “You can trust me, Y/N,” he smiles as his thumb gently caresses your cheek. 

Leaning into his touch, you look back and forth between his eyes as you process the weight of his words. Despite the small voice in the back of your head telling you it was all a lie, you muster up the courage to reply a soft, “okay.”

An endearing smile spreads across Minho’s face as he slowly leans in and plants the gentlest of kisses against your lips. You can’t help but melt into his touch as your hands bunch up his shirt by his hips. Minho slowly tilts his head to deepen the kiss as his other hand comes up to cup the other side of your cheek. Minho knows kissing is still fairly new to you so he gently guides you, his lips confidently moving across your tentative ones. As he gently pulls away, Minho can’t help but chuckle at your dazed expression as your eyes linger on his lips. Pulling you into a tight hug, Minho whispers, “I love you.”

A shy smile spreads across your lips. “I love you too,” your muffled voice responds into his shoulder.

The wide toothy grin that spreads across Minho’s face as he pull away from you and the way his eyes gaze at you with such adoration leaves you breathless. Minho really loved you. Despite your inexperience with love, despite still struggling to love yourself, and despite your insecurities, Minho was still happily and willingly choosing to love you every day.

As you look back and forth between Minho’s eyes, you can’t help but mirror the same wide smile on his face. You felt so seen and so loved by him, you hoped you made Minho feel the same.

“Come on, let’s go eat some candy,” Minho tilts his head towards the kitchen.

“You bought candy?”

“Of course I did,” Minho laughs. “What would Halloween be without it?”

Holding out his hand, you gladly take it as you practically skip beside him towards the kitchen. All your fears from the horror movie were completely forgotten. The only thing on your mind being Minho’s sweet, little reminder of how much he loved you.

As you make your way into the kitchen, you catch a glimpse of a figure glimmering in the moonlight from the corner of your eye. Suddenly everything from the movie rushes to the forefront of your mind.

You hastily prod Minho with one hand while the other squeezes his hand tighter. "W-who’s t-that?" you quietly stammer.

Minho looks towards your pointed finger as his eyes catch sight of the mysterious form. Protectively, he stands in front of you, one hand firmly placed out in front of you while the other holds you closely behind him. Just as he's about to tackle the ominous looking figure, the lights flicker on leaving a wide eyed Seungmin and a stunned Minho.

Minho stares back at his frozen 남동생 (younger brother), a bowl full of candy tightly clutched against Seungmin’s chest. Seungmin lets out a guilty smile as he slowly hides it behind his back. "Trick or treat," he chuckles nervously, flashing them a guilty smile.

"Yah! Seungmin! You gave us a heart attack!" Minho huffs, crossing his arms. You bite your lips, trying to hold back a laugh. So you weren't the only one who was on edge.

Seungmin chuckles as he goes up to Minho, squeezing his cheeks. "Awe, was our 형 (hyung) scared?"

"No.” Minho swats his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

Seungmin re-directs his attention towards you. “And you, did you keep your end of the bet?”

You look between Minho and Seungmin before finally letting out a defeated sigh. “No.”

“Ha! I told you you wouldn’t be able to sit through a whole movie!” Seungmin taunts. “And you said that–.”

“I mean technically I did…just in Minho’s arms,” you whip back quietly.

“...you’d prove me–.” Seungmin stops mid-sentence as his eyes widen. “Wait wait wait,” he says, looking between both Minho and you. “설마 (no way), you two were cuddling on the couch?” A teasing smirk pulls at Seungmin’s lips as Minho and you turn a darker shade of red. 

“We weren’t like cuddling cuddling,” Minho starts as you vigorously shake your head in support.

“Ohmygosh, you guys totally were,” Seungmin laughs, enjoying the bashful expressions painted across Minho’s and your face. “Is that why you were so adamant about making that bet, Y/N? You wanted an excuse to cuddle with Minho?”

“I-.”

Minho clears his throat. “Anyways, why are you home?”

"What do you mean?” Seungmin remarks. “I told you I'd be back by ten," he points to the clock on the microwave. “Didn’t you see my text?”

"Oh. I must have missed it," he admits. 

A smug grin pulls at Seungmin’s lips but before Minho can scold him any further, a disturbing realization suddenly sinks in. "Wait, Seungmin, if you were in here," he pauses, a loud gulp emitting from his throat. "Who turned on the lights?"

At those words, you feel a sinking feeling form at the pit of your stomach as the three of you slowly direct your attention towards the light switch. As your eyes reach the source, you find a beaming Jeongin waving his fingers at you.

"Aiisshh I.N-ah!” Minho says, placing his hand over his heart as you jump back, your side colliding with the edge of the counter. Wincing in pain, you force out a small smile at Jeongin as you try to calm your pounding heart and throbbing hip.

"Awe our little lovers are jumpy tonight," Jeongin laughs as he winks at you before poking Minho's side. “I was wondering when you guys were going to notice.”

As Jeongin makes his way towards the pantry, Minho lets out an exasperated sigh. "You too? When did you get back?"

"About ten minutes ago with Seungmin and Yongbok," Jeongin replies as he looks back and forth between two packages of ramen he now held in his hands.

"Really? Yongbok is here too?" Minho asks in disbelief. As if on cue you hear Yongbok skip into the kitchen. “Oh, hello hyung! I didn’t know you were home?”

As soon as Yongbok’s round, bright eyes meet yours, a wide smile spreads across his lips. “Y/N! It’s been a while! How have you been?” he asks as he embraces you into a tight hug. 

“It has! I’ve been good, how about you?”

Seungmin decides to use Yongbok as a distraction as he silently sidesteps his way out of the kitchen, the bowl of candy tightly clutched within his right hand.

Jeongin, who was still pondering over his ramen in the corner, finally smiles as his eyes light up at the beef flavored packet. "You.” He throws the chicken flavored pack back into the pantry before looking for a pot.

Shaking his head, Minho pushes aside his confusion as he refocuses on the task at hand. "Okay, well we were just going to get some candy.” Opening up the pantry he looks for the bag of sweets. “Hey, where did it—. KIM SEUNGMIN!" Minho yells as Seungmin runs toward his room, giggling aloud to himself. "Yah! You have to share!" Minho sprints after him.

You watch in amusement as Minho charges after Seungmin.

"It might take a while before you get some candy,” Jeongin says as he puts the water to boil.

"Care for some ramen while we wait?" Yongbok asks as he goes to get himself a ramen packet as well. 

You let out a soft giggle. "I would love that."