Work Text:
" ...I can't believe Professor Choi went berserk on poor Mark. She is a bit too mean. Ten, he was in literal tears. If it wasn't for Haechan he would have sulked in my room all day."
The clock strikes ten past one as Ten puts his house keys down in the little dish he made himself and toes his shoes off. He is half heartedly listening to Jungwoo talk about some professor getting mad at Mark cause Ten's attention is already taken away by Kun's shoes lying at the door, one of them turned over as if in hurry. He tells Jungwoo a half-assed excuse and ends the call. Wearing his cat ear slippers, he makes his way into the house in search of his boyfriend.
Ten first looks into the kitchen, the elder is usually fixing himself some lunch around this time of the day if he happens to be home. But the kitchen is empty, the counter all clean. He opens the door to their shared room to find Kun sleeping. A smile tugs at Ten's lips, disappearing as he steps closer. His boyfriend laid curled up on one side in the middle of the bed without any pillow or blanket. That's unusual, Kun prefers sleeping on his back or cuddling at least one of their pillows or Ten.
The Thai boy bends over his boyfriend's sleeping form to kiss his cheek only to notice tear tracks staining it. His hand finds the larger one, looking down at it when he feels wetness. He wipes the blood away, frowning at the untended cut on his lover's hand.
He lets the hand go, walking out to bring back their first aid kit that Kun put together the day they had moved in. As he puts the band aid on the cut, Ten thoughts stray to his boyfriend's wellbeing.
The job Kun had taken up after their graduation has worn him out. On most days Kun had come home fretting or stressing over some excel sheet or another new project allotted to him.
In the last week it had only gotten worse. Kun was agitated nearly all the time, all of his seemingly-never-ending patience coming to an end. Ten tried hard to accommodate the other's feelings but with being stretched at his own two jobs, they had ended up fighting over the stupidest things that didn't even matter at the end of the day.
Yesterday again, they had fought over dinner, a simple disagreement over what to order had turned into a huge disaster. All their junior friends had visited for their weekly "family dinner" as the kids put it. While the atmosphere would normally be light and warm, yesterday was shadowed by tension. Although they were kind enough to not mention it, Ten knew the clipped responses between Kun and him hadn't gone unnoticed. Usually it would be Kun who after calming down, ended up suggesting sitting down and talking it out but this time Kun had retreated into a shell. He spent his night in the study, working till Ten fell asleep and leaving early before Ten woke up. They had barely spoken in the last two days, all Ten knew was that the other was supposed to have his final presentation for the project today.
Ten sighs, thinking had only increased the pile of worry which is futile for now. He tucks Kun's favorite blanket around his sleeping form and leaves the room. He sits and scrolls through SNS a bit when Yangyang pings him.
Yangyang: Please sort your argument out before coming tomorrow...
Ten: ....to where, my child??
Yangyang: To the dinner duh
And not your child
Ten: Oh..right, dinner with your family! I freaking forgot
Didn't you ask Kun for a gift on CNY like a baby? *eye emoji*
Yangyang: *leaves him on seen*
Ten chews his bottom lip, thinking. It is probably not a good decision to go if Kun is still strung up by tomorrow. Not like Kun can’t handle himself in public but Ten would rather use the time to talk to Kun. Besides, he is eager to sort this out as soon as possible. Ten works in their study for an hour, before his stomach announces his hunger and he orders lunch from their favorite takeout place.
He pads into their room to Kun who is already awake, sitting up with his shoulders slumped and stare blank. But the fist clenching the blanket tight tells Ten otherwise. He stands in front of the other trying to meet his turned down gaze. "Kun..."
Kun gets up, folding the blanket neatly still refusing to look at Ten. Ten holds in a sigh instead saying, "I have ordered lunch for both of us." Kun stops at the bathroom door, hand on the handle and back turned to him. Head still down he speaks softly, voice hoarse. "I have an appointment with Mrs. Kwak...I will eat after that." And with that he disappears into the bathroom leaving Ten displeased, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Kun enters the study half hour later to find his favorite ice cream cone on his desk, with his laptop plugged in for charging. Kun nearly breaks down at the sight, he hadn't failed to notice the band-aid on his hand the first thing he woke up. Nor the blanket wrapped around him. Kun appreciates each of Ten's actions, feeling undeserving of them. His chest tightens at the thought of how he had treated his boyfriend in the past week. He had one of the most horrible weeks of his life. His project was going nowhere, numbers stopped making sense and he felt like the universe was giving him signs to just end everything every time he managed to get his clumsy ass hurt. He sighs, sitting down and eating the ice cream slowly while he waits for his therapist to call.
An hour later Kun walks out of their study to see Ten bend over his tablet at the dining table, probably working for one of his clients. He approaches the boy, standing near until the boy breaks away from the screen to look at him. "Hey...can we...do you want to talk?"
Ten hates how unsure his boyfriend's voice sounds. Nodding, he immediately puts away the iPad and turns to face him. Grabbing the other's slightly trembling hands, he gently makes Kun sit across him. Kun starts, "Tennie...I am so sorry for how I have been. I am really sorry, I was so up in my head. I...I felt like I was drowning. Couldn't stop thinking. I...It...It...there were a lot of...a lot of intrusive thoughts, Ten. I should have talked to you, I am sorry...sorry."
By the time Kun was done he was crying again, shoulders hunched. Ten's heart broke while his head still was processing everything. How did he not see how bad Kun felt? Ten gets off his chair, pulling the sobbing boy into a tight hug. He felt his shoulders shake, hands fisted into Ten's hoodie. "Kun...Kun, look at me."
Arms wrap around him tighter, face pressed into his shirt. He runs his hand through Kun's long ink black hair. "Baobei, look at me please. Just once?"
He feels Kun pull away, eyes still downcast. Ten kneels down, interlocking his fingers with Kun's. "Kun, I am not mad, okay? I am sorry too. But you did well, baby. You talked to Mrs. Kwak, you talked to me and I am nothing but glad about it." Ten places soft kisses on each of his hands before continuing, "I am proud of you, Kunkun. Can you- do you want to tell me more of it?" Ten feels relief flood him when Kun nods and they end up talking for a while.
By the end of the day Ten has Kun cuddled up against him, sleeping peacefully. After a long draining talk, they both had finally eaten and spent the rest of the day huddled together in front of the television, finishing the half-watched drama they had forgotten about. They ended the day with ice cream again before making their way into the bed.