(A/N) So, I am super tired and super busy currently, but I tried to do my best in order to write this for our sunshine Himchan’s birthday! Hope it turned out fine! ❤
This is not what he had in mind when he had overheard you telling one of your friends that you had a surprise planned for his birthday.
The vivid image of you from that evening was still engraved into his imagination - all curled up in a weird but comfortable, or so he guessed, position on one of the kitchen chairs, knees pulled to your chest as one of your hands was fiddling with your loose pajama shorts while the other held up your phone to your ear. He just wanted to get himself a glass of water, nothing more or less, his footsteps tired and sloppy as they filed the hallway that connected the bedroom and the kitchen. Yet as he saw you there, he froze a little.
Trying to become one with the wall located to his right, he stilled to the extent that the only movement coming from him was his chest rising up and down with every breath he took. And maybe his eyes drifting from one part of you to another every now and then, his lips slowly curling into a smile as he watched.
It was a cheesy, sappy moment. One of those movie scenes where the main hero lovingly stared at his love interest with only the best of thoughts about them in their mind. With a lot of appreciation for simply finding you like this - in the middle of his kitchen, late at night. Going on about your life, making him happy by just the fact you could be anywhere in the world currently, but chose to be here with him instead. For some reason, felt his body getting all warmed up at just the thought of all this.
And he swore, he wanted to just pass by and get that water. Maybe give you a quick forehead kiss while he passed by just to see your smile unfold. He wanted to be honest, he really did. But then he heard his own name - not being a call for him to come or something, but being a mention to whoever was on the other end of the line.
And then he ended up eavesdropping.
That's how he learned a detail or two, and how absurd ideas of all that could possibly happen crept into his mind. He knew you were one to spoil him out of your mind on many occasions, despite the fact he did not always await such attention directed his way. He knew you could be up for anything realy. And only having heard one half of the conversation, he was not sure of what that surprise that you had planned for him was.
But he knew there would be one, and since he had heard the phrase "I'll leave him hints", the first thing he did in the morning upon opening his eyes was immediately kneading his eyebrows together and starting to look for clues.
How comes he understood them only now, when he was already about to go and had no way back?
"Sun's shining~" your arms wrapped around his neck from behind, and he smiled at the way your head rested against his, your nose ruffling through his hair as you kissed his temple, "And skies are extra blue. For my birthday boy~"
He waited for you to depart and sit across of him, adored the way you two stayed around at the breakfast table a little longer than usual, knowing he liked mornings to start off slow. The occasional laughter, the recently-developed spring heat coming from the cracked open windows. The smell of warm coffee and the way you always lightly kicked him underneath the table when he said something hilariously stupid, resulting in a mess of giggles, scurrying away and more kicking war. Remind him, how old was he turning today? He though he acted like he was five again, but as long as you did not mind, he could care less. He could just continue feeling comfortable in his own skin.
The mentions of the sky were hint one, he figured now. Hint two had to be the conversation form a little later that same morning.
"Himchan, save me. There's a wasp in the bedroom."
He both rolled his eyes and chuckled, and, straightening out his back and shoulders to look like your brave savior and knight in shining armor, he left your distressed frame behind to go and take care of it. Were wasps even supposed to be a thing at such an early time of year? He had guessed those came around a little later, more near summertime. But that wasn't the point of this.
As he came back and gave you a thumbs up, your face looked like you had just regained those five years you had originally aged upon seeing the insect first. A few swings of one of your magazines and it was out the window, Himchan said. He clearly took pride in chasing it out without killing it. Yongguk would be proud of him too.
"Aren't you afraid of wasps?"
"Not really," he though out loud, "Just an insect. Nothing big."
"Himchannie.. what are you afraid of then?"
He remembered thinking it was an unusual topic of conversation while getting ready in the morning, but who was he to judge or not answer? His mild fear of heights he mentioned only briefly was what seemed to spark your interest, as you were glued at his side the second he mentioned it.
"So, like, you would not climb up a tower to see the town underneath?"
"I mean, I would, probably.." he though, thinking of what even was scary. Horses were scary, for example - he did not trust those at all. Yongguk was scary those two or three times Himchan had seen him angry, as his anger was silent, and nothing was scarier than silent anger. And heights.. Were scary too, but to some extent. He would climb towers, sure. But other things.. He would have to think about those.
"Ready?" he snapped back to his surroundings, looking over at you. Oh god, you were drowning in those big frame protection glasses, and it looked so cute. In fact, the whole gear looked rather amusing but at the same time fascinating, and as he had been focused on it for a little bit too long, you mistook it as hesitation.
No, in reality, he was hesitant about this. But somehow the thrill to do it kept him from making a run from it.
"Maybe we should have done something else.." your hand linked with his, and he squeezed it a little, smiling at you, "Damn, I knew this was a stupid idea-"
"No, it wasn’t. You just gotta remember I have a glass heart, so if I scream like a schoolgirl, you'll have to silently accept it and tell anyone who might ask afterwards that yes, I did scream, but those were manly screams."
That made you, as well as both instructors nearby who had coincidentally heard that lone phrase and nothing more or less than that, laugh out loud, and you looked back at him wholeheartedly, knowing that in reality he would scream his head off. God, you could practically hear his heartbeat from afar, all fast and really audible now. But his smile told otherwise. He was scared, yes. But he was thrilled beyond that.
It was worth his facial expression when you drove there just a little after lunch out with his friends, was worth the way he looked like he was about to make a run from the scene as soon as he understood were you were taking him to, and even more so when he signed the papers and got acquainted with equipment and all that he would have to do now while pacing around, displaying smiles, fear and nervous excitement all at the same time. But there was no way back.
He figured he should’ve known about it after “Skydive” started playing on your way here, but he thought it was too crazy to be true. Who would take him out to do that? The scaredy-cat Himchan, out of everyone? This would be Junhong’s cup of tea more than anyone’s, maybe the others would try it too, since they were a little braver than him on most occasions. Even after he was already more than 12,000 feet above ground level, he still could not believe what he was about to do now. But there was no time left, as the instructors started moving around and motioning for the two of you to get ready, with a last reassuring look, you watched as he and his instructor stepper up front, and after another moment where they shouted their goodbyes and told you you’d meet back on the ground, were gone.
Falling down in a free fall.
Only in the very evening, upon being back in his apartment and having the rest of B.A.P coming over spontaneously, he figured he would remember this forever.
Everyone seemed to have known about your plans for the day, which Himchan thought was nowhere near fair, but quite self-explanatory. Yongguk had a mild smile on his face upon hearing how it had gone, that smile being genuine and without the teeniest tint of bad intention of mockery to it. Junhong pouted at how he would sure want to go skydiving himself sometime in the future, and Jongup had the most chill yet supportive smile on his face, as if he did not doubt this idea from the very start and was silently proud of Himchan. Daehyun and Youngjae, on the other hand, were in total disbelief that Himchan had agreed to do it at all, and he laughed as you scolded them for placing a bet that he wouldn’t do it just to find out you were the one they had the bet against, and now owed you. You ended up not taking their money, their facial expressions of disbelief being more than enough for you already, and you watched as they bombarded you two with questions, their eyes shining excitedly at all the stories you told.
And despite the fact you had actually obtained both your reactions on video and it could clearly be seen that none of Himchan’s squeals and loud screams were as manly as he had claimed them to be, everyone, despite having a good laugh from the footage, was aware how this had been a good idea, as while soaring through the skies and falling down at an exciting speed, his eyes had shone with both, excitement and disbelief, and continued doing so even after he had landed on the ground already. Even after he watched you landing too and did nothing other than scoop you up in happy hugs afterwards. Happy, mildly still nervous and shaky hugs, but no one was supposed to know that.
And though he did get teased about how afraid he must’ve been by just about any friend or acquaintance that got to know about his plans for that day, it had all been worth it. Because he had never thought he would be brave enough to do something like this, but he guessed that the encouragement you had offered him was enough. Because he did not have to do it on his own, just like anything else at least mildly concerning in his life recently.
And it was once again that same, sappy and cheesy moment - with him getting warm all over at just the thought of you always sticking by his side and making him do crazy, exciting things he thought he would never do. Just because you were you, and weirdly, your encouragement seemed to be enough for him to do just about anything he wanted to, no matter how unusual, exciting or scary.
Summary: “Maybe you're so tall and beautiful because you're just a little bit more part angel than most others are."
"Are you fine!?"
He rubbed his head a little, furrowing his brows and trying to shake away the sudden tiny daggers of pain that he felt coursing through his scalp. His eyes scanned the place, and over all of your concerns, he saw a bunch of people staring up at him from all sides and directions of the store.
Who even thought it was a good idea to set up such low door frames anywhere nowadays? This wasn't the 15th century or something anymore, with all those cramped spaces and tiny doors and windows.
"Yeah, no worries," he said quietly, letting you smile at him before taking his hand in yours and walking further down the desired path between the isles.
"That's what you get for being a giant, Junhong-ah," your bubbly laugh was piercing through his ears once again, though this time around this regular sentence that he'd heard from you quite a few times already sparked a mixed reaction. He still found hitting his head against the door frame rather funny than painful, but all the stares people were giving him while they passed by concerned him. It didn't help that everyone who seemed to be gathered here was a whole head shorter than him too.
He felt a little out of place. And what for? For literally being tall.
This little incident was enough to make him think endlessly during the next few days. You parted for the day after a few more hours of walking down pretty streets and visiting tiny shops, and as he hugged you goodbye, he heard you yelping lightly before crying out with laughter for him to put you down, since he had pulled you up to barely reach the ground on your tippy toes in order to properly embrace you.
It continued all through the evening, as he seemed to compare himself to anything and everything all of a sudden. He inspected the tiny space that parted his head and the door frame upon entering his own apartment, and upon lying in bed that evening, furrowed his brows at how his feet almost hung over the edge of the bed, remembering how they indeed did poke out a little every time he spent the night at your place, since your bed wasn't as big as his was. He was a little irritated as he got dressed the next morning, seeing how the jeans he chose to wear reached only till a little higher than his ankles, being of an awkward length that displayed they were meant for someone just as skinny but shorter than him to wear. And upon tossing them back into the pile to get another pair, he felt another wave of uneasiness coursing through his body as he inspected his mirror image.
How many more situations would he encounter today that would, for some reason, make him feel bad and uncomfortable about his height?
He never noticed how many of those were part of his everyday life until now. He never recalled the guys always teasing him about it so much, and never recalled anyone trying to tell him off for standing next to Jongup in photos, since their height difference was the biggest of all the members, and the effect in the end result resembled "one is tall, the other is small, but they always stand next to each other for some reason", and apparently, that effect wasn’t a desirable one.
He also never recalled tables being as low as they were at today’s fansign - low enough that he rather sat on the ground than on the chair, having to bend down all the time if he did as first intended, and he never recalled being so.. Upset about it.
Upset about the constant jokes about him being too tall. Upset about not even being meter ninety, and still being considered above normal. Upset about the fact that, when he went straight to crash your place after all his schedules later that evening, the shower head was too low for him to properly enjoy the stream of hot water running down the clenched muscles on his back, and the mirror was set up just high enough for him to only see half his face while standing straight up in front of it.
You knew something was wrong by the way he fell face-first next to you in bed, staying motionless while you were calmly channel-surfing in the meantime. But, deciding he was probably just tired, you didn’t quite dare to draw assumptions on spot and let time be the one to show what was really on his mind.
"How was the day, Junhong-ah?" you asked without apparent worry in mind, one of your hands unconsciously sliding down to lovingly ruffle his hair, "Did you have a good time at the fansign?"
"Too short."
"The day?" you chuckled as you asked to clarify, your fingers drawing soothing patterns on his scalp that seemed to make him relax just a little, "Or the fansign? Yeah, knowing you guys, you'd camp there if that meant you could see as many fans as possible-"
"Everything. Everything in this world is too damn short for me."
You blinked a few times, processing what he'd just said, before giggling at him a little and putting down the remote to fully concentrate on his frame, his face still buried in your soft bedsheets.
"Tell me about it."
"Like, I'm not even that tall, am I? There are people who are taller, and I know it's a thing I can't influence and a thing I shouldn't be self-conscious about, but.. When it gets pointed out all the time as if it ain't normal or as if it's a crime, it.. Doesn't feel nice, you know?"
"The consequences of being half-angel."
That last sentence caught him off guard, and he looked up at you curiously just to see you shifting in bed and climbing underneath the covers, your stare indicating you wanted him to join.
"Half-angel?"
"Mhmm, maybe not half... But still, part," you replied with a smile, knowing he didn't catch on, "Now, for a change, how 'bout you try being the little spoon tonight? It's quite comfy, actually."
He chuckled a little at your offer, but didn't oppose. His body still felt just a little more cramped and dislocated that he'd like it to be when he scooted down a bit lower to have his face buried in your skin, his nose poking at your collar bone as you chuckled again and carefully put your arm over him to hold him tightly and lovingly.
"You know how I always call you a giant just for laughs, right?"
"Yeah, a lot of people seem to do it recently," he said, the teeniest bit of disappointment audible in his words, "That doesn't explain the previous statement though."
"We'll get there, Mr. Impatient, let me word it properly," you told him, kissing the top of his head in a soft fashion as he hummed in agreement, giving you time to think.
"As far as I'm concerned, giants are actually the creation of humans and angels."
It was such a weird and unusual statement to say, but instead of questioning or doubting immediately, he stayed silent to hear the rest.
"It's a thing from the Bible, you know? Laugh at me or call me crazy, but fact is that it's a statement undeniably written in there, so don't question me or how I even know that."
Your fingers were carefully gliding through strands of his hair while your other hand rested on his upper arm, moving up and down a little, giving a light squeeze to his slowly relaxing muscles every now and then, making all the tension that the day had built up inside him leave his body at a slow yet comfortable pace.
"So, maybe, just maybe," you continued, kissing the top of his head again and staying close to his ear so he would hear it clearly, "Maybe you're so tall and beautiful because you're just a little bit more part angel than most others are."
He stayed silent, yet you knew the lack of response wasn't because he didn't have anything to say. He simply couldn't find a way to word it, since he never though you'd come up with a statement as unusual as this. He just thought you'd tell him that you loved him being so tall because all of his shirts automatically became your dresses whenever you snatched them, or because you loved using his height as an excuse for getting piggy back rides from him shamelessly every now and then. And honestly, he would've been fine with those statements too. But this exceeded any of his expectations for what you'd tell him, and made his heart beat a little faster than it normally should.
"How are you so sweet?" he questioned in a pouty tone after a moment had passed, making you chuckle in response, "My heart is melting and it's your fault. If you find me in a liquid state tomorrow, I know nothing about it. You were the cause of it."
"I'll gladly accept any accusations," you told him, feeling as he shifted to get into a more comfortable position.
Your arms were still cradling him carefully, your nose poking at his hair ever so lightly every other second. His light breathing on your skin was a peasant feeling, and the way he had completely relaxed into your embrace made you feel accomplished for giving him a comfortable space to stay in.
"The world's trying to beat up my babyboy for nothing. For being toll and gorgeous," you told him quietly, feeling as he giggled at getting called in the sweetest names, "So I guess I had to take matters in my hands to prove the fact wrong, right?"
He hummed into your skin, and after a second you felt him puckering his lips and placing a few firm kisses up the column of your neck.
"You really make me want to love myself as I am," he told you in between firm smooches, making you smile as that was exactly what you desired him to feel, "But over anything, I feel like I still love you more somehow. For being as kind as you are. For getting doubts out of my head. Thank you."
"You're always welcome," you told him, moving one of your hands away just for a moment to turn out the nightlight and to put out the television that had been faintly going on in the background all this time, since you figured you were settled to go sleep already, being tired from your hectic days and simply wanting to take a rest, "Since it looks like being part angel also gave you a tiny bit more heart to hold and carry around. Let me help to take care of it."
And he barely noticed how his eyelids became more and more heavy, since you were still holding him tightly, your subtle, caressing movements making him feel like the smallest person in the whole world. Having been wrapped up in love, blankets, never-ending attention and most of all, sweet, meaningful words he felt like he wouldn't be able to simply throw out of his head anytime soon.
If he was part angel, you had to be a full-blown one. Being one made just to watch over him, or so it felt.
