Bittersweet (Sekai)

epilogue

Jongin moves his queen. "Checkmate."

Sehun stares at the board for a solid minute, mouth pinched in a small, unhappy frown.

Jongin smirks, gently knocking the top of the white king with his black queen, over and over. "Checkmate, checkmate, checkmate –" 

"Yes, ok!" Sehun huffs, giving his king a sharp flick. It topples over, taking a nearby rook with it. "You win. Happy?"

"Extremely." Jongin sits back, crossing his arms as he watches Sehun with a smug, expectant look. Sehun glares at him mutinously, but ultimately starts putting the board back in order.

"That's not where the bishop goes." Jongin points out. "Yes it is, you buffoon."

Jongin squints at the board. "Ah, you're right. I guess I'm forgetting where they go because it's been so long since I set the board."

"I beat you yesterday!" Sehun snaps, then mutters to himself, "One little win and your head expands so much it barely fits in our room."

 "I'm sorry, did you say one little win? I do believe it's been quite a bit more than that."

"Alright! Several little wins. None of which will be repeated, I hope you know. It's a miracle you've beaten me as much as you have."

"Not a miracle. I just know you that well. So well that I know what move you'll make before you make it." Jongin grins. "That counts for more than just chess." 

"That's ridiculous. Knowing a person doesn't explain being able to beat them in a chess game." Despite saying this, Sehun looks flustered. "Besides, if that's the case it means you're not actually any good at the game. You're only good at beating me, not anyone else."

 "That's fine." Jongin says with a shrug. "You're the only one I want to play with."

Now Sehun looks even more flustered.

"And," Jongin adds, leaning towards Sehun and dropping his voice, "That also counts for more than just chess."

Sehun blushes fiercely and reaches across the chess board to hit Jongin's shoulder. Jongin only laughs and pushes himself to his feet, gesturing to the board. "Once you're done that, we should get going. We can have another game when we get back. That way you'll have the afternoon to recover from your loss before suffering another one."

Sehun scowls at Jongin as he lines up the pawns. With his free hand, Sehun holds out the blanket he'd had laid over his lap to keep him warm. "Here, put this back on the bed. And properly this time. Last night when I was getting into bed the blanket was wrinkled and uneven. Most of it was on your side."