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sehyoon stares at the road ahead, exhaustion creeping up his back. it rubs behind his eyes, settles in his stiff joints, pulls at his eyelids. the quiet hum of the car and even breathing of the other four is soft and low and tries to lull him to sleep, so he grips the wheel tighter and begins counting to keep himself awake.
108 . he glances over at the passenger seat, a head of light hair peeking out from one of sehyoon’s own hoodies. byeongkwan is curled up in the seat, looking smaller than he ever does awake, his hands balled up in the oversized hoodie. sehyoon smiles and turns back to the road.
246 . donghun starts to snore from the backseat, his head falling forward uncomfortably. chan pushes closer to him, his hair tickling the junction of donghun’s neck and shoulder, arm draped across him like a second seatbelt. the snores keep sehyoon awake.
372 . someone shifts around in the backseat, and sehyoon recognizes junhee’s grumbling as he makes himself more comfortable under donghun’s arm, jostling the eldest enough to quiet his snores. it’s too quiet again.
463 . the boy in the passenger’s seat wakes up, slowly stretching out his stiff limbs and distracting sehyoon from his counting.
“hey babe.” byeongkwan’s voice is quiet and rough from sleep, and sehyoon wants to wrap himself in the sound like it’s his favorite blanket. sehyoon’s too tired to speak properly, so he just hums in response.
even in the darkness, byeongkwan can see how tired his boyfriend is, gripping the steering wheel like it’s the only thing keeping him grounded. he had told sehyoon to wake him when he needed a break, but he should’ve known sehyoon never would.
rubbing the last of his dreams from his eyes, byeongkwan straightens up.
“ pull over. let me drive for a while .”
the driver doesn’t protest, nodding slowly as he pulls over on the side of the otherwise deserted highway. the three in the back don’t wake up; not when sehyoon bumps his head getting out of the car and curses about it, or when byeongkwan accidentally shuts his door a little louder than intended. sehyoon envies their warm comfort as he walks around to the other side of the car in the chilly night air.
“i told you to wake me up when you were tired.” byeongkwan scolds. sehyoon wraps him up in a hug, not responding—not that he expected him to. they stand outside the car for a long moment, taking in each other’s warmth, before sehyoon starts to feel too heavy on his shoulder, his breathing evening out against byeongkwan’s neck.
sehyoon is right on the edge of consciousness as his boyfriend pulls away from him, but the cold against sehyoon’s skin in his absence is enough to bring him back to reality. byeongkwan presses a kiss against the corner of his mouth before opening the passenger door and walking around to the driver’s side.
sehyoon is in the car and near dreaming by the time byeongkwan sits down, an amused grin on his face as he notices the seatbelt still in sehyoon’s hand, not yet buckled. he reaches over and buckles it for him, brushing his black hair out of his eyes and taking a moment to appreciate how beautiful he looks.
even in the darkness, the car lit only by the moon and stars, byeongkwan can see sehyoon’s beauty. he had a quiet beauty, hidden behind stoic expressions and long bangs. but it still called out to byeongkwan to listen, to see, to drown himself in. and he wants to right now, but they still have hours before their destination.
sehyoon catches his hand when he moves to start the car, holding byeongkwan’s palm against his cheek.
“thank you.” he murmurs into byeongkwan’s skin, pressing the words into his hand like a gift. he accepts it, taking the gift with a reassuring hum and the gentle caress of his thumb across sehyoon’s cheek.
byeongkwan pulls his hand back after a few quiet moments, starting the car as sehyoon gets comfortable in his seat. the engine coming to life brings the backseat to life as well, but only for a moment. the trio all mumble quiet complaints at the noise, pressing impossibly closer to one another, but are back to sleep before byeongkwan can even apologize.
byeongkwan smiles at his passengers, and starts down the empty highway.