Work Text:
For a change, the day starts with Soonyoung perched on the kitchen counter, laptop equilibrated on his lap as the noise of furious typing echoes. He’s wearing glasses, but they slip down the bridge of his nose. Focused, he hasn’t bothered to push them up.
Jeonghan pretends to be interested in whatever’s on the screen until Soonyoung turns his attention to him, blinking hazily as a blissful grin spreads on his lips. There’s chocolate stuck on his bottom lip, and when he dips his head towards Jeonghan, his glasses slip further.
Jeonghan fixes them back in place, pressing a morning kiss to Soonyoung’s cheeks.
“Even if you put Yeol on your place,” He murmurs, combing his fingers through Soonyoung’s hair absently. “I know when you’re leaving bed. Not to mention she licks my face and I wake up anyway.”
Soonyoung perks up. “It’s Yeolie’s way of showing care. I taught her that,” then licks at Jeonghan’s chin before smiling bashfully. “See?”
Jeonghan screeches, detaching himself from the other while cleaning his face with the hem of his long sleeve. Soonyoung laughter rings against his ears, and Jeonghan didn’t have the intention to stay mad for long anyways.
“You’re the worst father ever,” He says, fondly. Soonyoung just keeps smiling loopily, his glasses slipping again. Jeonghan’s chest swells in affection and no, he’s not mad at all. “Have you eaten yet?”
Soonyoung lolls his head back, stretching his arms. Sleep and earliness add a lisp to his speech. He watches Jeonghan saunter around the kitchen through thick lens.
“All three of your chocolate bombs, sorry,” There’s not a hint of apology in his voice. “I’ll buy you more later.”
Jeonghan shrugs dismissively, “They were for you.”
Since there’s enough rice and soup in the fridge that he won’t have to make any, Jeonghan uses the remaining time to make grilled ribs and baechu jeon. While the leftovers heat up, he rinses the cabbage leaves under running water.
By the time he fixed the soup and rice in separate bowls and is finishing the ribs, Yeol meanders into the kitchen. Clearly displeased by Jeonghan’s abandonment, she meowls angrily at him.
“Hey you,” He smiles at the feline, crouching down to scratch behind her ears. Yeol leans against his hand, wrath gone as she bunts against his touch. “God, you two could definitely be father and daughter. What do you tell me, hm, do you think Soonyoungie is a cat pretending to be a human too?”
“Stop trying to extract information from my child, you coward,” Jeonghan watches Soonyoung kneel by his side, scooping Yeol into his arms. “She’s a high-elite warrior who wouldn’t sell me for some cheap pats. Right, baby?”
Jeonghan watches as Soonyoung flats Yeol’s ears down and kisses the top of her head. The cat mews weakly, but stays put as if knowing it has lost the war and the battle. And Jeonghan gets it, somehow. When it comes to Kwon Soonyoung, isn't it always the same?
There’s still breakfast to finish, but Jeonghan leans forward and tucks his face against Soonyoung’s nape. Breathes in neutral shampoo and soap. Thinks, I love you, like it’s simple — because when it comes to Kwon Soonyoung, it is.
Soonyoung lets go of Yeol, staying quiet even as Jeonghan throws his arms around his middle and presses them together.
“It’s seven a.m.” He mutters, “I can’t believe you woke me up this early on a Saturday.”
“I didn’t,” Soonyoung complains, pressing his thumb to Jeonghan’s pulse. “You’re up because you want to.”
“Hm, since we changed the mattress is weird to sleep alone.”
It goes quiet for a moment, and Jeonghan basks in it. Not often Soonyoung’s comfortable accepting silence as it is. There are too many words in his chest, somedays Jeonghan fears they will overflow and drown him. Like the words are a river and his body a dam, always at risk of breaking against the violent ripple. But he comes out every time, and the fears are liquid, slipping through his fingers.
As for Jeonghan, he knows how to love with quietude, and he knows how to love with actions. But it’s always a struggle to convey them into words, they come up only to get stuck on his throat.
“After breakfast, we can go back to bed,” Soonyoung replies, a gentleness in his tone that makes Jeonghan’s chest ache — as if the happiness has been diluted into his blood and too much of a good thing needs to hurt so it will stop you from consuming it all at once.
“What are you working on?”
“Some stuff for the new students but I can do it later.”
They get up, but Jeonghan can’t find in him to let go of Soonyoung. He jokingly pushes the other against the counter, blowing air kisses against his ears and holding his arms when Soonyoung trashes back in his hold, all aimless movement; not meant to leave.
Soonyoung stays, getting his laptop back and sitting on the floor, close enough Jeonghan doesn’t need to turn to see him, close enough the sunlight cracks through the slivers left by the flimsy curtains and paint him in vivid colors. And Jeonghan’s heart swells and resonates within his chest with everything he feels, the words growing in lumps of blood and rushes of air.
He spills the blood over the ribs, colds the coffee, and pushes Soonyoung’s glasses up, “Breakfast is ready, seonsaengnim.”
Soonyoung yawns, following to the table. He has a habit of closing his eyes for a moment before eating, he asked once and Soonyoung denied it’s any sort of prayer but he only does it when it’s them, never in front of their parents or friends, only to Jeonghan. And to a degree, it does feel sacred.
They have to attend the wedding of one of Jeonghan’s coworkers on the weekend, Soonyoung thinks they should get the new couple a cute cactus; Jeonghan thinks cacti are not the best symbology to newlyweds. They end up agreeing on each buying their own gift.
Breakfast is done, Soonyoung stretches his arms over his head, blinking disinterested at the pile of dirty dishes.
Jeonghan chuckles lightly, “I’ll do the dishes today, go do whatever you need to do.” But Soonyoung shakes his head, wrapping around Jeonghan like an octopus, his lips squished against Jeonghan’s cheeks wetly. “We’re going back to sleep, remember?”
“I thought you had things to do,” He drawls, letting himself be embraced.
Soonyoung hesitates before speaking, something delicate within his words. “But you want to sleep with me, right? You rarely wake up this early.”
“I’m not used to the new mattress yet,” He lies, ears heating up and for once, he’s glad he hadn’t time to cut his hair. Sooyoung hums, staring at Jeonghan unimpressed.
“Ok,” he concedes, but the smirk on his face is not merciful in the least. “But it will be better if I’m with you. At least you’ll have someone to entertain you while the mattress takes away your sleep. Ah, poor hyung.”
“Exactly,” Jeonghan says, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of Soonyoung’s mouth. He considers keeping up with the joke, but Soonyoung giggles through the kiss, sweet like honey. Warm even when not under the sun. And Jeonghan knows he owes him this one, for the daylight. “I don’t want you to think I depend on you, Soonyoung-ah. Not to the point you do things just because I want you to. It’s just that I’m used to having you there whenever I want, I’ll loosen the grip eventually.”
He’s talking about the bed thing but he’s also talking about everything else. When Soonyoung stays up until late even though he has classes in the morning only because he doesn’t want Jeonghan to get lonely or when they take up each other’s space though it’s clear it’s a border cross. At the end of the day, he loves Soonyoung too much to lose him for not knowing what to give up.
Soonyoung kisses him. Nothing too profound or intense, it’s more like a fruitful action. Jeonghan suddenly feels like a child getting a golden star sticker for being communicative.
“Expressing what we want from each other is not a bad thing, hyung. I want to kiss you all the time, the fact we’re dating should at least give me the right to say it so. It’s the same for you. And if I don’t want to do something then I won’t do it, and I’ll tell you. It’s the same for you.”
Jeonghan scoffs, “It’s not that simple.”
“I never said it was,” Soonyoung yawns, and Jeonghan wonders to himself if he’s this sleepy what he’s waking up this early for. “Now, come on. Bed. Sleep.”
...
(Soonyoung falls asleep seconds after they’re under the covers, his head tucked comfortably against Jeonghan’s chest. As his eyelids get heavy, Jeonghan promises to himself he’ll make fun of the other because of it later.)