Work Text:
It’s 1:03 in the morning, a reasonable time for the world to be at a standstill right now, yet Jihoon is restless.
There’s a slight whistle from the window, a reminder that someone hasn’t closed it properly, but he can’t be bothered to shut it, limbs heavy with exhaustion yet eyes wide open. The red numbers on the alarm clock glare brightly at him from the corner of his eye, a silent chant of go to sleep ringing soundlessly through the quietness of the room.
He’d thought, being one of the calmest members of Seventeen, he’d be able to fall asleep rather quickly with no qualms at all. He’s prone to shutting his eyes for 20 hours a day, but his thoughts are relentless, swarming through his head unapologetically.
Why can’t I sleep?
Sluggishly, he braces his weight on his elbows and drags his body up, until he’s slumping tiredly against the headboard.
It’s been a long day, full of composing new songs for their album and mastering the last few tracks. The group collectively decided to take the day off in favor of a recharge, though Jihoon is feeling anything but. He’d accomplished a lot today, but something is missing.
His phone pings quietly on his nightstand and though he knows he shouldn’t, he reaches out to grab the device and glance at his notifications.
@Howoo nation tweeted
LOOK HOW CUTE
pic.twitter.com/zsIFPoRyas
Opening the tweet, he feels his lips curl up when he sees the thumbnail on the video. He assumes their director had just released their latest Going Seventeen episode; it’s a picture of him and none other than Kwon Soonyoung. Soonyoung has his head leant against Jihoon's shoulder, whereas Jihoon has his hand pressed against his own forehead. They seem to be laughing about something and—oh, now he remembers.
He’d been the last one unable to fall asleep, much to his surprise and everyone else who heard. Being one of the calmest members and one of the members who sleep the most, anyone would be surprised upon hearing he lost.
It had been a lot of fun, and he finds himself feeling fond of the memory as he presses the arrow to play the video.
They’re both laughing and the smile on Soonyoung’s face is so wide, it’s adorable. Jihoon remembers his own delight when he realized he and Soonyoung were the last ones, remembers his heart fluttering when Soonyoung tucked himself next to his side and offered that they both sleep together.
That is, until PD-nim told Soonyoung to go home.
Jihoon remembers the dancer’s red ears as he laughed and covered his face. He remembers trying to keep that laugh going, trying to make Soonyoung as flustered as he could without waking Wonwoo up.
It shouldn’t have been so funny but Soonyoung seemed to catch onto what Jihoon was trying to do.
Soonyoung knows Jihoon has a difficult time sleeping without him, and that knowledge became apparent when they caught each other’s eye and burst out into restrained giggles and laughter, unable to help themselves. It was a subtle type of teasing, the type that felt stupidly domestic.
And that’s why they’d been laughing at each other. The knowledge hidden away from fans and the public eye is for them to keep—knowledge that they’re something more than just the Hoshi-Woozi combo, that Jihoon can’t sleep without Soonyoung because he’s used to sleeping with the other on a regular basis.
He supposes their roles in the group also contributed to their never-ending amusement. They’re both prone to work, with him as a producer and Soonyoung as the choreographer, so sleep doesn’t come easily to them, and he reckons that’s why they’d been last to go home. He should’ve been expecting things to end like that, especially with how workaholic they both can be.
They’d been obvious about this subtle thing going on between them then, but Jihoon feels glad he and Soonyoung had been more open, more relaxed around each other, even in front of a camera.
Wonwoo had noticed it when Soonyoung had taken the initiative to tuck himself in next to Jihoon. They’ve been subtle about their relationship to their members, and the fond smile on Wonwoo’s face that day was a comfort Jihoon didn’t know he needed, like the rapper had silently said I support you.
And as Jihoon replays the video over and over, heart filled with love and a smile growing unconsciously on his face, a thought crosses his mind.
Is he sleeping right now?
Saving the video and locking his phone, Jihoon swings his feet over the bed with a heavy sigh. Beside him, Mingyu twitches and chokes on a snore, before rolling over and settling in again. Jihoon makes a face at his roommate.
And that’s how he finds himself quietly opening Soonyoung’s door, well aware his boyfriend isn’t the only one in the room.
On the far side of the room, Joshua is sleeping peacefully in his bed, a mess of pillows and blankets strewn haphazardly on top of him. It looks hot in there but he looks comfortable, so Jihoon takes the liberty of stepping inside the room and shutting the door quietly behind him.
Closer to him, Soonyoung is on his phone, which he puts down upon hearing the door close. A smile curls on his lips at the sight of Jihoon, eyes turning into beautiful crescents that Jihoon would love to keep on there forever.
“Took you long enough,” murmurs Soonyoung, careful not to wake their hyung.
Jihoon blinks at him, almost incredulously. “You were waiting?"
Soonyoung smiles shyly at him, waving his phone around. “I had a feeling."
Smiling fondly with a shake of his head, Jihoon pads over to Soonyoung’s bed quietly and sits beside his hip, startling when arms snake around his waist to haul him back against a broad chest. Squirming a little, he gets himself comfortable until he’s got Soonyoung’s arm supporting his neck with the other arm draped over his hip.
“I stayed up to watch the GoSe episode,” Soonyoung mutters against his neck, having nuzzled into it lovingly.
Jihoon hums as Soonyoung brings his phone around and opens it, then hisses quietly at the sudden brightness, shying away from the screen. Soonyoung turns down the brightness with a soft murmur of apology and a kiss to his nape, then plays where he left off.
It’s around the last five minutes of the episode, where Jihoon and Wonwoo had remained as the last contestants in sleeping bags with Soonyoung in the middle.
Jihoon feels his lips curl up, a familiar warmth gradually filling his cheeks as he watches Soonyoung burst into breathy giggles and cover his mouth on the screen, having caught Jihoon’s eyes opening then closing in distress.
It cuts to a shot of Soonyoung creeping around Jihoon’s head until the latter opens his eyes and unexpectedly catches the dancer by his side, then another round of quiet giggles from the both of them.
“They got my chin fat,” Jihoon murmurs, smiling when he sees Soonyoung leaning against the wall in an effort to contain his laughter.
“Chin fat?” Soonyoung’s voice is quiet, incredulous, behind him. “Where?"
The hand supporting Jihoon’s head comes up to caress the younger’s throat, knuckles brushing underneath said chin. Gently, he pinches the skin and giggles when Jihoon bites him playfully.
“Impossible,” the dancer says further. “Your chin fat is nonexistent."
Jihoon only hums as they watch the next few scenes.
There’s a shot of Soonyoung pointing to Jihoon and making an ‘x’ with his arms, indicating the younger can’t sleep. Then it cuts to Jihoon, who opens his eyes and turns to look at Soonyoung.
The next clip has Jihoon’s heart squeezing affectionately. Soonyoung, who laughs as soon as they meet eyes and throws his head back, covering his face with one hand. The subtitles, which read, ‘Happy just to meet his eyes’ makes his smile grow impossibly bigger.
Quickly, he reaches out and pauses the video, clicking the screen again to make the play button disappear. Then, he stretches his fingers across the phone, until his middle finger is on the power button and his thumb is on the volume button, and clicks them both together, effectively capturing a screenshot.
“Jihoon.” Soonyoung is a silent laughing mess behind him, sounding rightfully flustered yet fond.
Jihoon ignores him with red ears, clicking the screenshot and sending it to his contact name, which only consists of a heart.
“Continue."
Soonyoung snorts, presses another kiss to his nape, then plays the video again.
The next few seconds are just a bunch of clips consisting of Jihoon feeling sorry for himself, reiterating the fact that he sleeps 20 hours a day yet can’t sleep when asked. Soonyoung’s face is covered by both hands, seemingly crying.
“I’m still surprised Wonwoo wasn’t the first one to go home,” Jihoon mumbles, feeling his eyes beginning to droop.
“I’m surprised you weren’t either,” Soonyoung says as much.
The next few scenes are familiar to Jihoon. The scenes he’d seen someone tweet, a.k.a. his favorite.
He finds himself giggling quietly, nuzzling back into Soonyoung as they both laugh in the video. About to screenshot again, he’s a little surprised when Soonyoung pauses the video instead and takes a screenshot—the scene where Soonyoung has his head leaned against Jihoon’s shoulder and Jihoon’s head bent down in disappointment.
“Hmm, taking after me, aren’t you?” he asks amusedly.
“Shut up."
Jihoon grins, reaching out to click the left side of the screen until the video returns to the part where Soonyoung’s laughter can be heard when they get inside the bed together.
“You’re so cute, Soonie,” he says, almost absentmindedly as he keeps replaying Soonyoung’s laughter.
He feels Soonyoung nuzzle his nape, warmth emitting from him and expressing his embarrassment.
“You’re cuter,” mumbles Soonyoung, lips pouting where they rest on Jihoon’s skin as he puts his phone down.
Chuckling quietly, Jihoon flips his body around until he’s facing the dancer. Reaching up, he strokes through Soonyoung’s blonde strands and cranes his neck to place a fleeting kiss on his chin.
“The stylist noona should curl your hair again,” he muses, eyes fluttering shut when Soonyoung plants kisses on his lids. “Like they did for Fallin’ Flower."
“If they curl my hair, then you should get tattoos,” Soonyoung retorts, reaching up to thumb the point where Jihoon’s jawline meets his ear. “The paint that was on your arms made you look like a hot painter boyfriend, y’know? I’d like to see you get tattoos—"
“I’m scared of needles."
Soonyoung falls quiet, stunned at the blunt statement, then grins and leans in to peck Jihoon’s nose. “Fake tattoos, at least."
Jihoon rolls his eyes, then shuts them and presses his nose against Soonyoung’s collarbone. “I guess."
It’s quiet for a moment, just the sound of their quiet breathing filling the silence. They stay like that, taking each other in and cherishing moments that they won’t be able to repeat in the future. It’s times like these where Jihoon can truly appreciate the little things in life, from the way Soonyoung had been waiting up for him like he’d been expecting him to come to the way Soonyoung wraps him up in a loving embrace.
Simplicity. That’s what he likes.
But of course, not everyone can like the things he likes.
“Are you guys done?” croaks Joshua from the bed over. “That was really sweet and all but if you’re not gonna sleep yet, please be lovey-dovey somewhere not here."
Jihoon nearly jumps but Soonyoung only scoffs and wraps his arms tighter around the producer. “You’re just upset ‘cause Hannie-hyung decided to room with Cheol-hyung instead of you."
Joshua sniffs. “Hannie can do whatever he wants. He just has to know I’m not giving in so easily."
“You’re insufferable, hyung. Goodnight."
Joshua hums, then it’s quiet again.
And when Jihoon catches Soonyoung’s eyes beneath his lashes, they break out into soft laughter that dissolves gradually. It’s truly the little things he appreciates.
Soonyoung presses their lips together for a kiss. “Sleep now, Hoonie. I love you."
Jihoon fights down the blush threatening to expose him. “Mhm, love you too."
All is quiet again.