Work Text:
running your fingers through the hair of someone you love
It had been four weeks. Four long, gruelling weeks of running himself ragged with finals, stressing about his exams and pulling late nights only to wake up early for his exams the next day, sustained purely by the fact that he needed the grades to keep his scholarship or it might be revoked from him, because schools like to fuck him over like that.
So, yes, to say the least, Minho is absolutely, utterly exhausted. He thinks the world seems to sway before his eyes briefly before he focuses in on Changbin, who’s looking at him in concern.
“Hey, you okay?” Changbin asks, hand coming to grip Minho’s upper arm in an attempt to steady him. “You look dead, you should get some rest.”
“Can’t,” Minho mumbles, words slurring dangerously. “I’ve got another exam the day after, I gotta study, then I can rest after that.”
Changbin levels a look at him that makes Minho realise that maybe he does need the rest. “Hyung, you look two seconds away from passing out. Get some rest, or I’ll call Chan-hyung and Woojin-hyung, then you’ll get it.”
Minho frowns, bats Changbin’s hand away from him. “I cannot believe you would betray me like this,” He says in a scandalised tone, placing a hand to his heart dramatically and swaying for good measure, because he likes to over-act like that.
“Just go home,” Changbin sighs. “If I don’t have Jisung spamming me with photos of you sleeping or resting I will your life hell.”
“My life already is,” Minho quips, “Thanks to the exam boards.” Then he purses his lips and eyes Changbin. “Besides, what does Jisung have to do with everything? Why would he send photos of me sleeping to you? Are you saying he’s done this before ?”
“Go question your boyfriend yourself,” Changbin grumbles, exhaustion settling over himself now. He bids Minho goodbye, going back to his own dorm that’s in a different part of campus, leaving Minho to make his way into his own dorm building and up the stairs, throwing the door open to their shared apartment-dorm.
“Hi,” Hyunjin greets. He’s lounging on the sofa, Felix sprawled in his lap, and way too relaxed. Damn bastards already finished their finals, and Minho couldn’t be more jealous. “You look dead, hyung, have you taken your last exam?”
“You know I haven’t,” Minho sighs, swinging his bag down and hanging his coat up haphazardly. “Got another one the day after… Do you know if Jisungie’s back?” He studiously ignores the looks he gets from the both of them, choosing to refill his water bottle in lieu of looking at them. The back of his neck feels suspiciously hot and he can only hope he isn’t blushing.
“He’s in your room,” Felix sings, propping his elbows up on Hyunjin’s thighs. “Was waiting for you to get back, said you were too stressed out.”
Minho throws a paper cup at the both of them and enters his bedroom. He doesn’t know what he was expecting to find - Jisung playing games on his phone, tinkering with something on his laptop perhaps - but as he pushes the door open, he finds Jisung sprawled on his bed, fast asleep and completely dead to the world.
Figures, Minho muses. Jisung had been swamped with his own finals as well, with his last one this morning, so it’s not strange to find him passed out with well-earned rest. The sight of Jisung like this is incredibly unattractive. He’s drooling onto Minho’s sheets and Minho knows for a fact he doesn’t stand a chance getting into bed because Jisung would just push him away and hog all the blankets.
Still, it makes Minho incredibly fond, smile playing at his lips as he just stands there for a while, back leaning against the closed door, surveying Jisung. It doesn’t take long before Jisung’s mumbling indecipherable words, a sure sign that he’s waking up, and Minho walks over, bed dipping as he sits beside Jisung.
“Sungie,” Minho calls softly, not wanting to wake his boyfriend up but his own exhaustion winning for the time being. “Sungie, wake up. I need to sleep, let’s cuddle together, yeah?”
“Hyung,” Jisung mumbles incoherently, throwing a hand out blindly and catching Minho’s waist. He sits up then, rubbing at his eyes blearily, hair already mussed and sticking up everywhere, shirt crinkled and yawning endearingly. “You’re back.”
“Mmhm,” Minho murmurs, “And I’m so tired.”
Jisung slides a hand over his waist and the other tugs at his arm, bringing Minho into the warmth of both the sheets and his arms, legs tangling together as Minho snuggles up close. “How was your Chemistry today?” Jisung asks quietly, breathing words against Minho’s hair, and the way he speaks makes Minho feel calmer than he has been the past whole month.
“Could be better,” Minho says honestly, “But I tried, so we’ll just have to wait for the results.”
“You did well, baby,” Jisung says softly, hands moving from Minho’s waist, one coming to cup his cheek and the other to pet at his hair comfortingly. “‘M glad. You’ll do well, I know it.”
“Thank you.” There’s a few beats in which Jisung’s fingers start carding through his hair instead of just petting, and it’s lulling Minho into a tranquil state, his exhaustion coming to weigh down heavily on his body, finally accepting the toll of the exams. “How was your - Literature? You said the questions were surprising, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” Jisung says, and Minho can almost hear the pout in his voice, and it makes him giggle a little, tilting up to press a sweet kiss to the base of Jisung’s neck. “The exam boards are terrible and played everyone like a cheap kazoo. I’m going to sue, they didn’t even say these questions would come out in the specs.”
“Love it when you make creative insults,” Minho sighs. “I’m going to be stealing that one to use for a while.” He pauses for a while as Jisung gently untangles a knot in his hair, and resumes when Jisung starts running his fingers through his hair again. “Also, I’m sure if you found it difficult, so will everyone else. Maybe this was your good luck, and the grade boundaries will come down.” He shimmies up to press another kiss to Jisung’s cheek, head falling more securely onto the fluffy pillow. “I know you’ll do well, Sungie.”
“My good luck charm is you,” Jisung says, cheesy as ever, even when he’s half-dead from fatigue and not fully awake. “And thank you, baby.” He drops a kiss on Minho’s forehead, seeping with affection, and it makes Minho smile sleepily.
The comforting run of Jisung’s fingers through his hair is making him sink deeper and deeper into the sheets, so entirely relaxed just by having Jisung by his side, his warmth surrounding him, his words and everything that is him. Maybe it’s how Jisung rubs the strands of his hair between his fingers, or maybe it’s how Jisung keeps kissing any part of his face his mouth can reach easily, or maybe it’s how Jisung starts humming a song low in his throat, knowing it will help him fall asleep, but Minho suddenly feels like crying.
“Hey,” Jisung says gently, “Baby, why are you crying?”
He’d actually cried. Minho reaches up to rub at his tears, shaking his head the best as he can, throat sticking together. “No - I just - it’s been so long since I could actually spend time with you, and I’ve been so tired, and I… I’m just feeling a lot.”
“I know,” Jisung whispers, pulling him even closer, “I know, hyung. You remember me last week, you know that.”
Jisung’s right. Minho had woken up in the middle of the night last week to find the kitchen light on, and Jisung standing over the sink, crying and almost dry heaving. The coffee pot had been knocked over on it side, and there was a cup teetering too close to the edge of the counter.
Minho had swept Jisung into his arms, sweeping a palm over his forehead, making him sit down. As he flurried through the kitchen, cleaning the coffee up and storing the cup away, Jisung had just sat there was a sort of deadened expression Minho associated with exams. That night, he had cuddled Jisung and whispered to him that it was okay, he was doing fine, he could do well on his next paper, he’d be okay in the end.
“‘S okay to feel, hyung,” Jisung continues, “It’s your body reminding you to take care of yourself.” He smooths a hand down Minho’s side briefly before coming up to card through his hair again, and he adds, “You need to rest tonight, okay? You have the whole of tomorrow to go over for your last exam. Just rest well now, and I’ll wake you up for dinner and you can have an early night.” His thumb strokes over the highs of Minho’s cheekbone, a soft light coming into his gaze.
“Okay,” Minho says, eyes taking too long to reopen between blinks, and he stifles a yawn, the warmth and the comfort of Jisung’s hands threading through his hair making him sleepy.
“We should just sleep for a whole week when you’re finished with your last exam,” Jisung says thoughtfully in a low tone, and it leaves a warm fuzzy feeling in Minho’s chest. “Make sure you catch up on your rest, and order takeout. You’re gonna rest well after the exams, aren’t you, baby?”
“I’m gonna gain weight,” Minho says, no heat in his words, and besides, weight isn’t an indicator of health at any rate, he knows that.
“Doesn’t matter as long as you’re taking care of yourself,” Jisung says immediately. “Just gotta make sure you’re eating well, that’s all.”
“‘Course,” Minho mumbles. “Now let’s sleep, please? I’m so tired.”
“Sleep, baby,” Jisung says, pressing a kiss to the corner of Minho’s mouth.
In this warmth, the fragrance of their detergent and Jisung’s cologne, Minho thinks this is where he comes home to. Mouths so close he can feel puffs of air hitting his lips, Jisung’s fingers still moving through his hair, legs tangled together and bodies so close it’s impossible to tell where he starts and where Jisung ends. There’s nowhere he’d rather be, nowhere he’d rather fall asleep in, nowhere else he’d go home to after the most gruelling month of his life.
Like this, he breathes slowly, in and out, eyelids gluing together, a heavy weight on them, and relishes in the warmth he hadn’t known he missed for so long. As his mind slips away from consciousness and into the depths of slumber he had become unfamiliar with, he thinks he feels Jisung move, press kisses against his jaw and his neck, always soft and gentle. He’s not sure if he makes some sort of noise - a whine, or a laugh maybe - but he feels Jisung’s chest shake like he’s giggling, and it’s this that makes Minho smile, lips curving upwards as he lets himself teeter into the edges of sleep.
“Love you,” Minho thinks he says out loud, though he’s not too sure, already hovering heavily towards unconsciousness.
“Love you too,” Jisung says back, and he sounds so far away, but Minho’s happy. He’d said it out loud, had let Jisung know, even though Jisung knows he loves him anyway, and there’s nothing better than falling asleep like this, twisted together with Jisung, a low hum reaching his ears and into his dreams, hands still carding softly at his hair.
And just as he does fall asleep, he feels the most fleeting kiss against the tip of his nose, accompanied by the settle of a weight on his waist, and then he doesn’t register anything anymore, finally, finally asleep.
(and if he does wake up to jisung drooling on his shoulder, he is very much entitled to wake his boyfriend by whining about it. and if he does pull puppy eyes and asks for kisses - well, jisung is his boyfriend, and he thinks there’s no one else better to get kisses from.)