Work Text:
One day the world stopped without any warning,
Spring didn’t know to wait
Showed up not even a minute late.
- BTS: Life Goes On
1.
It was another foggy spring March morning in St. Petersburg. Inside the dimly lit apartment close to the centre of the city, two bodies were tangled together in the middle of the king sized bed. It was 7:29 in the morning and after a long day yesterday, Viktor and Yuuri were both fast asleep, the latter had his arms around the former. However, this would soon change.
The screeching sound of the alarm on his phone woke Yuuri up. Eyes barely open, he unwrapped himself from Viktor and reached for the night stand. However, in the darkness, his hand only made contact with the phone briefly before the phone was knocked off of the nightstand and into the soft carpet. Although the alarm was still going off, Yuuri seemed to be satisfied that the carpet had muffled the sounds of the alarm, as he turned back towards Viktor and prepared for a second round of sleeping in. To his surprise, the Russian was already awake.
“Yuuri,” Viktor whined, and Yuuri gulped. Viktor only used that tone of voice with him when he did something wrong. In an instance, he rolled down the bed with their blanket and landed painfully next to his phone (thankfully, their bed wasn’t that high off the ground). Eyes squinting to adjust to the sudden brightness, he turned the alarm off. He curled up into a fetus position and tried to go back to sleep, however Viktor had other ideas.
“Yuuri, I’m cold!” He heard Viktor grumble from the bed. He slowly untangled himself from the blanket and got up, head slightly spinning, before dumping all of the blanket on Viktor. He let himself fall over into the bed and onto the blanket and Viktor, whose protests were lost under the blanket, and soon fell back asleep.
2.
The next time that Yuuri woke up, Makkachin was licking his face. He tried to brush the excited poodle off, only to have the poodle jump up onto the bed and get comfortable with him. He reached over the bundle of blankets to feel for Viktor, only to discover emptiness. Instinctively, he reached for his phone on the nightstand, only to remember that it had fallen onto the carpet when he woke up the first time. With great difficulty, he pushed Makkachin aside and pulled up his phone. 10:13 a.m., the phone read. Yuuri quickly jumped up from his bed and dashed to get ready for the day.
When he finally emerged from the bedroom, he found Viktor in the kitchen, still in his light blue pajamas. The first thing that he noticed was the strong and delicious smell of coffee. Viktor was beating eggs for their breakfast, beside him sat a half drunk mug of coffee on their granite kitchen counter. Yuuri saw his mug, shaped like a polar bear, sitting on the dining table next to a plate with a croissant on it. Although the kitchen lights were on, Viktor did not notice him approaching as his back was towards him. Slowly, Yuuri crept up to him and looped his hands around Viktor’s broad shoulders. “Good morning Viktor,” he felt the other man relax into his hug.
“Good morning little piggy,” Viktor replied while tossing the egg mixture into the heated pan. The eggs bubbled and sizzled on the pan while Viktor pushed them around the pan with a spatula, “what happened to ‘I am going to wake up at 7:30 and work out for an hour before making breakfast and you can have breakfast in bed’?”
Yuuri released Viktor immediately, his head hung in shame. He did remember saying that yesterday and setting the alarm, promising Viktor that he won’t wake him up, a promise which he definitely broke. “I made the bed?” He said weakly, desperately trying to salvage his image.
Viktor chuckled and turned around briefly, landing a gentle kiss on his forehead. “Watch the eggs,” He passed the bright red rubber spatula to Yuuri, “I am going to change out of my pajamas.”
3.
“So what’s our plan for today?” Yuuri asked as the two were eating breakfast. Viktor was scrolling through news on his phone, while Yuuri took the chance and slipped some of his scrambled eggs to Makkachin under the table. It had been a week since the COVID-19 situation in Russia had taken a turn for the worst, and the entire nation had been placed under a national holiday. Even though the days had become boring and long being stuck indoors and without practice, Yuuri was glad that the person that he was stuck with was none other than his husband.
Viktor put down his phone and took another sip of his coffee. “As athletes, we still need to keep fit,” He eyed Yuuri’s stomach and Yuuri gulped. He knew how easy it was for him to gain weight, something that he had inherited from his mother. “And since someone didn’t wake up early enough for his workouts, someone should catch up after breakfast.”
That was how Yuuri found himself doing squats forty minutes later alongside Viktor. By the time he was done his entire exercise routine, it was already 12:30 pm. Completely wiped from the exercises, he collapsed onto their living room couch hugging Makkachin. Facing Viktor, he saw him stroll over and take a seat beside him. “Do you want to go for a short walk with Makkachin?” Viktor asked.
Yuuri nodded weakly; he was too exhausted to respond to Viktor. “Just five more minutes while I recharge.” He said before he buried his head into Makkachin. He felt Viktor place a gentle kiss on his head. He lifted his head up again and was met with the sight of Viktor taking off his shirt to change out of his exercise clothing. No matter how many times Yuuri saw Viktor without a shirt, his heart would always skip a beat. Viktor was fit, however he still had a very slim figure. With his pale flawless skin, any marks or blemishes are immediately noticeable (not that Viktor had any blemishes). Yuuri was looking at a particular red mark that he had placed onto Viktor three nights ago on his chest. It was beginning to fade, however Viktor’s pale skin made it still very noticeable. He turned away quickly and buried his face in Makkachin, cheeks flushed red as he remembered the very own marks on his body.
Above him, Viktor chuckled lightly.
4.
The streets of St.Petersburg were nearly empty. Walking side by side and bundled from head to toe to guard them from the cold, Viktor and Yuuri took in the fresh spring air. Although the day was very cloudy and gloomy, Makkachin was having a field day. They had been walking for nearly half an hour now,and they had only come across a small handful of others, something very uncommon in the bustling city.
“I miss being on the ice,” Yuuri sighed as he eyed the outdoor rink with envy. The bustling city had decided to hit pause one day and everyone’s lives went on pause, including his and Viktor’s. He missed being on the ice, as it felt like an extension of his body. Since the national holiday was issued, the rink where they frequented were closed, and Yuuri felt like a part of him was missing.
“Me too,” Viktor replied.
“I wonder if they will cancel the Grand Prix series this year.” Yuuri commented, as Makkachin tugged on his leach excitedly at the sight of another dog in the distance.
“I’m sure they will find a way,” Viktor turned and smiled at him, “after all, this can’t go on forever. Plus, I’ve picked out some tracks for this year’s competition.”
“Viktor,” Yuuri smiled back at his husband. It’s moments like these when he was glad for Viktor’s companionship amongst the pandemic. “Thank you.”
“Besides, if they cancelled it, what’s going to happen to all of the sponsors that had already signed over the cheques?” Viktor released Yuuri’s hand. “Race you back home, whoever loses has to make lunch later.” Then, without a word, he began sprinting towards their home.
“VIKTOR!?”
5.
They decided to cuddle in bed after lunch.Yuuri had lost the race, and thus both making lunch and doing the dishes. They were going to watch a movie, but decided to later that night.
“I’m coming in,” Yuuri lifted up their navy comforter and crawled in. The temperature had been dropping, and their heater had not been working too well lately, “Can you move a little bit to the side?”
“Noooo!” Viktor whined as he looked up at Yuuri, “Makkachin is in the way, and besides, this spot is warm from Makkachin,” Without mercy and with all his strength, Yuuri rolled Viktor over. Viktor let out a horrified scream. “It’s so cold here.” He looked at Yuuri with teary eyes from the other side of the bed. Makkachin got up from his spot on the bed, gave them both a cold stare, got up from the bed and strolled out of the room.
Yuuri wrapped his arm around Viktor, “Better?”, he asked. Viktor seized this opportunity to slip his cold hands under Yuuri’s sweater and onto his chest. Yuuri let out a horrified scream that matched one that Viktor had led out earlier. When he had recovered, he slipped his cold hands onto Viktor’s stomach. He felt the older man tense up. Two seconds later, Viktor had his other hand around Yuuri’s waist. The battle for warmth had ended with Yuuri’s crushing defeat.
6.
“Is everything okay for you there Yuuri?” It was 4 in the afternoon, and Yuuri was video calling his family. Hiroko looked worried, something out of the ordinary for her character. Yuuri was in bed, with the comforter over his head and Viktor’s arms lazily draped around his shoulders. Although he does not understand a word of Japanese, Viktor was listening attentively in front of the screen.
“Everything is fine here mom,” Yuuri responded, “I’ve been staying inside mostly and taking walks with Viktor all day.”
“Do you have enough food and necessities?” Hiroko asked as her camera wobbled as she walked.
“Yeah, don’t worry mom.” Yuuri squeezed out a smile, “How’s everything back home? Are you still getting customers?”
“Not as much as before,” Hiroko sighed, “but Minako-senpai comes everyday to keep us company, as well as the few locals. The cases here aren’t as bad, so we will survive. Say hello to Minako-senpai.” The camera flipped to show Minako lounged in front of the television. She turned around.
“Yuuri,” Minako pounced onto the camera, “how are you doing? Are you eating well, sleeping well, have you been keeping up with your exercise routine?””
“Yes, yes, Minako-sensei,” Yuuri smiled back, “Viktor and I have been cooking a lot, and he’s been making sure that I stick to the exercise routine.”
Minako pouted, “I too, wish that I am quarantined with a hottie like Viktor Nikiforov.” She then switched from Japanese to English, “Viktor, please take care of Yuuri for us.”
“I will, Minako,” Viktor winked at the screen, from the other end, Minako let out a dreamy sigh. He turned to Yuuri and smiled, “After all, I did vow to take care of him for the rest of my life.”
7.
Yuuri was feeling sad after the call.
Viktor immediately noticed that his husband was down, as he did all of his house chores half heartedly after the call and accidentally stepped on Makkachin’s tail. To cheer him up, he decided that their dinner will be katsudon. However, since he was clueless at cooking Japanese food (and so was Yuuri for this dish), they ordered delivery from a nearby Japanese restaurant.
Having his favourite dish definitely cheered Yuuri up, as he volunteered to do the dishes. By the time that he was done, night had already fallen.
“The days are getting longer,” Yuuri commented as he sat down as he turned down the living room lights. Makkachin was cozied up on the couch beside them, as the pair had planned on watching a movie, but something else was on his mind all day, “Say Viktor, what are some of the tracks that you picked out for this year’s competition?”
“I’m still finalizing my final track, but do you want to listen to the one that I think will be the final track?” Viktor asked, hands already moving to pull up the track on his phone. Yuuri nodded.
Slow elegant music soon filled the room, and Viktor had gotten up from his spot on the couch as he moved slowly with the music. Although the room was barely lit, Yuuri felt that Viktor was glowing. He loved watching Viktor on ice, and Viktor’s dance had brought him the same feeling of adoration as he had when he was a child. “May I have this dance?” Viktor asked, extending his hand to Yuuri. Yuuri took it without hesitation.
The dim lamp light fell softly on the couple, casting a long shadow behind them. Yuuri was tangled in Viktor’s embrace as they swayed slightly side by side. When the song was over, he looked up at Viktor, whose icy blue eyes had met his own. Viktor leaned down, and Yuuri’s lips met his half way.
Without warning, the beats of a pop song had switched on. The two looked at each other briefly before they started to laugh. Viktor had begun to let out some crazy dance moves, and determined not to lose a dance battle, Yuuri began to do the Harlem shake. Excited to join in on the action, Makkachin hopped off the couch and barked.
The night is still young.
8.
They ended up watching a movie on Netflix after they exhausted themselves with their dance battle. It was already past ten by the time that they were done. By the time they are done getting ready for bed, it was already eleven.
“I’ll go and make sure the door is locked and check the lights one last time,” Viktor announced. Yuuri nodded and climbed into the bed, happily throwing the blanket over himself. When Viktor came back, he placed a gentle kiss on his lips before climbing into bed beside him.
“Good night Yuuri.”
“Good night Viktor.”
Yuuri closed his eyes. Tomorrow is going to be another good day, because Viktor is by his side. With him by his side, he can endure anything.
“Yuuri?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you turn off your alarm clock?”
“Don’t worry, I promise that I will wake up at 7:30 tomorrow, work out for an hour, and bring you breakfast in bed by nine.”
He felt Viktor take his hand under the blanket and squeeze gently. “I will hold you to your word then.”
Like an echo in the forest
The day will come back around
As if nothing happened
Yeah, life goes on
- BTS: Life Goes On