Chapter Text
We should wake up early on Sundays, he said. Let’s go on an early morning date, he said. Of course I can wake up at eight, he said.
“What a load of bull,” Sera mutters, downing her coffee and trying to keep her eyes open. She’s been trying to call Jihoon for the past half an hour, but the only thing she gets is his voicemail. As cute as the recording is (she had helped him record it, after all), she'd rather hear Jihoon's sleepy morning voice telling her to leave him alone and get some sleep.
“This is what I get for dragging myself out of bed at seven-thirty in the godforsaken morning,” she grumbles to herself, pulling her scarf up to protect her lips and nose from the biting cold. “Ooh, if he's still asleep, I'll kill him myself.”
She angrily dials a number on her phone, the tapping of her fingernails against the screen doing nothing to assuage her irritation. SHINEE’s Why So Serious plays briefly before a cheerful hey, Sera-yah! filters through the speakers.
“He’s not awake, is he?” she says flatly, the early morning robbing her of her cheerful disposition.
Soonyoung lets out a laugh, coughing a little at the end. “You’re not talking about Jihoon, are you?” He’s met with stony silence. “Oh my god, you really are. It’s Jihoon. What do you think?”
Sera crushes the empty cup of coffee, tossing it into the nearest trashcan (I should’ve kept it and thrown it at Lee Jihoon, that utter pile of trash). “I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Eh? Here as in the dorm? Wait a minute, he’s not – ”
She hangs up abruptly. She’s already plotting the several ways she’s going to wake up her date – each idea more cruel than the last. Maybe she’ll pour ice water on him, or better yet – she’ll set Seungkwan loose on Jihoon’s sleepy ass. The younger vocalist hasn’t done it in a while, too afraid of Jihoon’s wrath, but maybe if she convinces him that she can keep him safe…
She waits impatiently for Soonyoung to buzz her in, feeling a little less annoyed now that she’s out of the cold and in the warm building that houses SEVENTEEN’s dorm. Letting out a sigh, she unwinds the scarf, finally letting out her first smile of the day. “Hey, Soonyoung oppa.”
“Wow, you’re really awake,” he laughs, holding his arms open for a hug. She complies, snuggling into his warmth a little. “Oh, hey, don’t get too comfortable. Jihoon might kill me if he sees us like this.”
“A hurricane could blow him away and he wouldn’t notice,” she grumbles, clinging on tighter. “You’re warm and I’m sleepy. Gimme a break.”
Soonyoung’s chest reverberates against her cheek as he chuckles, shuffling back so they’re fully in the apartment. It’s another minute before Sera peels herself from him, finally feeling warm enough to be sociable.
The dorm, as usual, is a mess. The maknaes are sprawled in the living room, sending her sleepy greetings as they watch cartoons on the small TV they have in the dorm. Sera pauses to ruffle Seungkwan’s and Chan’s hair, causing both boys to let out half-hearted whines.
“Did he plan a date in the morning?” Soonyoung asks curiously as she lets her coat and bag drop to the ground and busies herself in the kitchen.
She lets out a sigh, easily finding the coffee and a clean mug. “Yeah,” she grumbles, filling a kettle with water and waiting for it to boil. “My mistake. Oh, Sera, I can totally wake up for a morning date, I’m Lee Jihoon!” she mocks, cracking a smile when Soonyoung snorts.
“He doesn’t sound like that,” he points out. “I wouldn't put it past him to spout shit like that, though. But…” His lips twitch. “Did he really say you guys would meet up at eight?”
“Nine,” she amends, wrinkling her nose. “This guy… I bet he’s still sleeping soundly, isn’t he?”
Soonyoung leans against the doorframe, humming thoughtfully. “If I say yes, does this mean I get to see you try and wake him up?”
“Maybe. He’s totally still asleep. That bitch.”
“You’re the one dating him,” the elder chuckles, ruffling her hair. “Don’t get too mad, okay? He means well. He just wanted to spend time with you.”
The confession is nice to hear, even if it’s a second-hand one from one of Jihoon’s best friends. Nonetheless, Sera doesn’t stop looking upset, although a pleased blush colours her cheeks. “If he wanted to spend time together, he’d be awake now,” she huffs just as the kettle starts to sing. She shuts the gas, lifting the kettle onto a cooler grate and letting it cool. “I’m going to kill him.”
“You go do that.” Amusement dances in Soonyoung’s eyes as he leaves to bother the maknaes. “Don’t get too loud.”
Sera quietly makes her way to the room Jihoon shares with the others, trying not to wake the others. She knows just how hard they practice, day in and day out. Coupled with school, she doesn’t know how they handle it. She knows she could never do that. She can barely handle school. Because of that, she admires every single one of them, from Seungcheol to little Chan, who's almost like the little brother she never knew she wanted.
Just as she expected, Jihoon is still in bed with his covers pulled over his head. His back is to her, but even if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t see her coming.
“Lee Jihoon,” she says sternly, tugging at his blanket hard. She nearly lands on her ass, not expecting the strength of a sleeping Jihoon to be greater than hers. “Ow, shit!”
“Shhhh,” Jihoon mumbles, an arm unearthed from the blankets to swipe at her. “Sleep time.”
“Oh my fucking god,” she whispers, trying not to laugh at the Jihoon burrito. “What happened to I can wake up at any time, so long as you’re not late?”
He wiggles around and it takes all of Sera’s willpower not to laugh. He’s like a little caterpillar, she thinks amusedly, irritation replaced by the general feeling of being around Jihoon.
“Why are you here?” he croaks, voice rough from sleep. He squints at her, grasping her leg like he can’t believe she’s here. “Is the sun up?”
“It’s been up for a good two hours. Lee. Jihoon.”
Said male groans, hiding under the covers again so he can escape from the angry girl in front of him. “Don’t say my name like that,” he says in a vague whine. “It’s too early!”
“Oh no,” Sera hisses, grabbing the blankets and tugging insistently. She raises her voice slightly so Jihoon can hear her over his wordless protests. “No. I was up at seven-thirty in the fucking morning, because I was sure you’d be able to wake up this early. I swear to fucking god, Lee Jihoon, if you don’t get up in ten seconds, I’m going to make you suffer .”
“You’re already making me suffer,” he grumbles. “Gimme five minutes – hours. Gimme five hours.”
On any other day, she’d love to. Honestly, she would. Heck, on any other day, she’d crawl under the covers with him so she’ll wake up to his stupidly cute face and his stupidly cute smile and possibly just spend the day watching stupid videos in bed.
But no. Not today . She woke up early , got dressed for a proper morning date with Jihoon, who’s not a morning person and now she’s going to kill him. She’s going to smother him with his own goddamned pillow.
“Don’t do anything rash,” Seungcheol slurs, stirring from his mattress in front of his desktop. “You know he’ll make you pay.”
Sera waves her arms angrily, trying not to just reach out and smack the sleep out of Jihoon. “He said he wanted to take me out on a morning date! In the morning!” She exhales loudly. “I’m getting some ice water and pouring it on him.”
“No,” Jihoon manages through the sheets. “Leave me alone, devil. Let me sleep.”
She glares at him like she’s hoping he’ll spontaneously combust. She knows Jihoon can be frustrating to wake up, but this is reaching a whole new level. She’s sleep deprived and annoyed and she even put effort into her outfit, because he made the effort – because he was supposed to make the effort to wake up early on a Sunday.
I’m going to smash his guitar or something, I swear. No, I’m going to smash him with his guitar.
Sera takes in a deep breath, ready to rip a new one into him, then stops. An idea pops into her mind suddenly and she has to bite back a smirk (not that it matters, because Jihoon is still trying to return to dreamland). She’s not even sure if it’ll get Jihoon to wake up, but she’ll probably get something out of it.
“Fine,” she sighs, utterly defeated. She rocks back on her heels. “Fine. No more morning dates, okay? I give up.” Stretching languidly, Sera yawns theatrically. “I’m pretty tired, so I guess I’ll take a nap too. We can always go out later…”
“Okay…?” Jihoon says cautiously, unravelling from his covers a little. “So you’ll join me…?” There’s a hopeful lilt in his gravelly voice.
She’s going to enjoy crushing it.
“Nah.” She grins widely, pointing her thumb in the vague direction of the sleeping leader. “I can sleep outside, cuddle with the maknaes and all that. Or maybe I’ll go join Seungcheol oppa. He seems comfy. And if I’m not feeling sleepy, he’ll probably talk to me.”
“Yeah, okay…” the sleepy male says drowsily, her words not quite making sense to him just yet. “You go do that.”
“Thanks for your permission, Jihoonie oppa,” she chuckles, ruffling his hair before backing off towards Seungcheol’s slumbering body. She counts down silently – five – and tries not to look too smug.
Tugging her overshirt off, she tosses it – four – onto the foot of Jihoon’s bed.
Jihoon shifts – three.
Even from this far, Sera can make out the shape of his lips – two – as he frowns. She stifles a snicker as she sits down next to Seungcheol, hand hovering over the sleeping leader’s figure.
She bites her lip as Jihoon mouths her words – one – like he had been hoping he had heard her wrong.
“What the fuck did you just say?” he bellows, bolting upright and hitting his head against the bottom of the bunk above his. “Ow, fuck!”
Nearly choking on her laughter, Sera smiles serenely at the raging male, still swathed in his blankets. She thinks his bed hair makes him look especially attractive, but only because it’s paired with the fiery glare he’s shooting in her general direction. “What’s wrong?” she asks, blinking innocently. Before Jihoon can burn a hole on her hand, she drops it. “I thought you said I could go nap with Seungcheol oppa?”
As if responding to his name, Seungcheol groans and rolls over, part of his blanket shifting to reveal his shirtless state. Jihoon’s pale face turns red, only accentuating his rage (and making him seem cuter to her, not that he ever needs to know that).
He sputters for a moment, scrambling for words his sleep-addled brain refuses to provide him. After a moment, he settles on a stern, heartfelt, “No.” His mouth opens and close for a moment, looking between his angry… date-person and his best friend. “Come here.”
“Don’t want to,” Sera retorts immediately, lips set stubbornly.
“He’s not even wearing a shirt,” Jihoon hisses.
Sera shrugs, utterly unperturbed. “It’s just a shirt. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
He imitates a goldfish for another few moments, then groans, sprawling back on the bed. “Ugh, fine. You win; I’m up. Happy?”
“Yes, very,” she answers immediately, crawling over to his bed so she can get her overshirt and slip it on. “But for the record, I wouldn’t have crawled in with him. Probably.”
“Probably?” Jihoon scowls. “You wanna try that statement again?”
Sera tilts her head, one eye shutting as she tries to look like she’s considering his words. “Not really,” she replies after a brief pause, smiling at him cheekily. “I mean, have you seen Seungcheol oppa?”
“Watch it,” he warns, bottom lip jutting out a little as she leans over, her hair tickling the sides of his face. “Why’d you agree to go out so early anyway? You know I hate mornings. I know you hate mornings.”
“Well, that’s true,” she drawls, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. In the early morning light, the newly-dyed highlights in her hair catch the sunlight, shimmering a lighter colour than her natural hair colour. “But, you know, some things are more important than sleep.”
“Like what?” he grumbles, the look in his eyes defiant – daring her to find a reason to interrupt precious sleep.
She hums thoughtfully. “Hmm, like… spending time with you?” She smiles, corner of her eyes crinkling as she leans down and presses a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll wait outside while you wash up. No need to rush, it’s only nine anyway.”
The door shuts behind her softly. Jihoon just lies there for a moment, fingertips pressed against the spot she had kissed. He flushes, covering his face as he tries to imprint the sensation of her lips against his cheek into his mind.
“That’s not fair,” he protests weakly, even though she never hears it. “You can’t say stuff like that…” You’ll make me fall for you even more.