Work Text:
Key sighed as he rolled over again in bed. He was getting frustrated. He’d suddenly woken up 45 minutes ago and had spent every minute since then trying desperately to get back to sleep to no avail. The warmth of his bed was bringing no comfort as he drew the sheets closer to him, scrunching his eyes shut to block out the light of his alarm clock, it’s display of the very, very early hour of the morning not helping his effort to return to slumber.
He gave up his efforts five minutes later, shoving the sheets off and sliding his feet into slippers, opening his bedroom door as quietly as possible so he didn’t wake the others. Shuffling blindly toward the kitchen in the darkness of the dorm, Key was confused to see a glow coming from the unlit living room.
Minho probably left the TV on again, he thought.
He shuffled closer, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
“Hyung?”
Jinki looked up from his laptop perched on his lap, dark circles under his eyes. “Oh! Kibum, why are you up?”
“I think I’d prefer to know you answer to that first.”
“Well… sometimes I like being the only one awake. I’m just getting some work done,” Jinki explained.
“Okay… I’m just getting a drink, then I’ll get out of your way. Sorry for disturbing you,” Key went to shuffle away.
“Wait! Maybe… come join me for a while?”
Key turned back around, “I thought you wanted to be alone?”
“Well… I did but I’m almost finished. I- I don’t know. You don’t have to, you’re probably sleepy.”
Kibum smiled softly, “Wish I was. I’ll stay with you, just let me get a drink first. Want one?”
Onew hummed in response and turned back to his laptop. A short time later, Key returned with two glasses of water, sipping from one as he set the second down on the coffee table.
“Thanks, Bammie. Come sit,” Jinki smiled as he patted the space next to him. The younger gladly took a seat next to him and glanced over Onew’s laptop screen.
“What are you looking at?” Key sat his chin on Jinki’s shoulder.
“My last job for the night, checking our itinerary for the Japan tour.”
“What are you checking for?”
“Making sure we’re happy with the hotels mainly. And I like checking the venues online if we haven’t been there before.”
Key hummed in understanding and rested his head fully on Onew’s shoulder.
“So how come you’re awake so late… or…” Jinki looked down at the clock on his laptop, “extremely early?”
Key’s eyes were closed, “Woke up, couldn’t fall back asleep.”
“I’m not sure if watching me work will help you fall asleep, if you’re tired you can go back to bed, Bammie, you don’t have to stay with me.” Jinki was opening a tab on his laptop and looking up the first hotel of their trip.
“It’s okay. It’s kind of nice.”
Key felt a wave of peacefulness come over him. The dorm was quiet, a rare occurrence. He could just make out some of the sounds of the street that sat below their apartment building. He felt warm next to Jinki.
They sat in silence for a while, Key watching while Jinki scrolled through the webpage of the first hotel, checking room configurations, facilities and locations. Onew clicked through the images of the rooms, quietly asking Key what he thought.
“It’s nice. Looks modern.”
He watched Onew place a check mark next to the first hotel in the itinerary spreadsheet their managers had sent him. Key was a little embarrassed to admit that he had no idea Jinki usually did this sort of thing. He never mentioned any admin work that was brought on by his position in the group. He mentally noted to remind the others to be extra grateful to Jinki when they got to Japan.
Key’s attention wavered when Jinki typed in the name of the second hotel, his eyes slipping shut every now and again. Onew looked down at the younger resting on his shoulder, smiling. “That can’t be very comfortable.”
“You’re warm, I don’t mind.”
Jinki lifted his feet to rest on the coffee table, “Here,” he shifted his arm from under Kibum and moved himself so he was lying back slightly, resting his arm around Key’s shoulders, inviting him to rest more comfortably against his clavicle. Key did gladly, humming a thankyou before snuggling into Jinki.
It made warmth spread through Onew’s chest. He loved these small moments with his members. People often didn’t realise just how close they all were, but they truly were like a family. Onew considered Key one of the less affectionate members, possibly only behind Taemin. It wasn’t that they didn’t ever show their love for the members, it was just that they had other ways of doing it. In Taemin’s case, he was often shy about initiating any sort of affection, scared of annoying the others, despite being reassured on many, many occasions. For Kibum, Jinki had come to learn that he saved this softer side of himself for when they weren’t in public. He took on a ‘cooler’ personality whenever they were filming for something, but in private he was much more shy and generally more quiet and considered than he was frequently depicted. Since so much of their lives were spent in the public eye, it made these moments feel that little bit more special to Jinki.
Key didn’t bother to try and keep his eyes open now, he just rested against Jinki’s chest, listening to his heartbeat and the tapping of the laptop mouse and keyboard. He felt much more relaxed now than he had 20 minutes ago as he’d tossed and turned in bed.
Jinki tried not to move and jostle Kibum as he diligently scrolled through hotel websites. Occasionally he clicked back to his spreadsheet and added a note next to a hotel, usually along the lines of ‘Taeminie likes ocean view rooms- is this a possibility?’ or ‘Can an extra blanket be requested for Minho’s room? He gets cold easily and the temperatures will decrease at this point of the tour.’ Admittedly, his notes and his research were significantly slowed by the fact he could only use one hand on his laptop, the other preoccupied with tracing small lines on Key’s shoulder.
He almost forgot Key was there after some time, the younger had gone completely silent and was so immobile as he lay against Jinki that he was only noticeable by the weight of his head against his shoulder.
“Bammie, have we performed at this venue? I can’t remember,” Jinki quietly asked as he looked at an arena in a remote area of Japan.
There was no reply.
“Bammie? Oh-” Jinki realised that he’d fallen asleep. He watched the soft rise and fall of Key’s torso for a moment.
I’ll check in the morning, he decided and closed his laptop, placing it on the arm of the couch. He too was starting to struggle to keep his eyes open. It must have been almost 3am by now.
Jinki relaxed further into the couch cushions, breathing a contented sigh and rubbing Key’s shoulder with his hand. As he leant back more, Key shifted slightly and he immediately froze, worried he’d woken the younger. But Kibum quickly settled back onto Onew’s chest, still sound asleep.
It felt so nice.
So peaceful.
Jinki quickly fell asleep, but woke just as quickly to the sound of plates and cutlery being clumsily handled in the kitchen. Taemin, he thought.
He felt like he’d barely had his eyes closed for three minutes. Noticing there was still a weight on his chest, he looked down and saw that Key still had his head there, but he had clearly also been woken by Taemin’s complete disregard for his housemates. They both reached to groggily rub their eyes in unison, morning light now coming in through the windows.
Key groaned, “One of these days, I’m going to sleep past 6am because SOMEONE won’t be banging around in the KITCHEN.” He rose his voice to convey to Taemin he was awake and already frustrated.
Jinki laughed, patting Key’s shoulder, “I don’t think that will be happening until you move out, I’m afraid. Did you sleep okay?”
Key hummed and rolled to properly face Jinki, but he was still resting against him. “Thanks for being my pillow. You could’ve gone to bed and left me here.”
“It’s fine. You looked peaceful, didn’t want to disturb you,” Jinki patted Key’s hair.
“Morning hyungs!” Taemin happily wandered into the living room, carrying a plate of toast.
“Lee Taemin, I swear to god-” Key started to sit up and scold the maknae, but was swiftly cut off by arms pulling him back down. He looked up at Jinki.
“Too early, neither of us have the energy to use on you being grumpy today,” Jinki noted, Taemin’s satisfied smirk not going unnoticed out of the corner of his eye. The maknae sat down and turned on the TV to watch whatever sports game was on.
“MINHO HYUNG, YOUR TEAM IS LOSING!” he shouted at full volume which caused both Kibum and Jinki to groan and give pointed stares to Taemin.
“WHAT?” Minho crashed out of his bedroom, half his bedsheets still wrapped around him as he slid into the living room.
“Come on, I’ll cook some breakfast,” Jinki brushed some stray strands of hair off Key’s forehead.
Key groaned and pouted, “Can’t we stay? So comfy…” Key wiggled his head on Jinki's chest to prove his point.
“YES! HAHA I KNEW THEY’D CATCH UP!” Minho shouted triumphantly less than a metre away from them.
“Nevermind, let’s go. I need to buy earplugs today,” Key reluctantly lifted himself off of Jinki and followed him to the kitchen.