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t minus seven hours
changbin held minho's gaze for a long moment. "i swear to god, minho hyung, do not go inside. you'll wake hyung up..."
"the fuck?! why couldn't i enter my own boyfriend's bedroom?!"
t minus six hours
"it's not your fault, hyung" changbin sighed, offering minho a consoling pat on the shoulder while the older wearily rubbed his hands over his face. "you know channie hyung. better than anyone. of course, he didn't tell you only because he didn't want to get you all worried and worked up over it."
"i'm just-" minho gritted out between his teeth. "i thought i'd already assured him enough. countless times."
changbin downed the remaining contents of his mug and fixed minho a sympathetic gaze. "you have, hyung" he assured him, believing his own words. "but this is neither your fault nor channie hyung’s. it’s unresolved separation trauma and quite frankly, he should’ve seen someone about it but he’s as stubborn as you. so…"
the weight of the ugly truth that changbin's words carried made minho wince. many times, minho said and done things - he'd even prayed; and he was not the most religious person out there - to have chan freed from said trauma but he knew that something as serious & deep-seated as that would take years to solve. maybe even never.
but then he recalled chan - his kind heart and beautiful soul. imperfect yet priceless. and minho remembered why he loved him to bits, and why he would take all of him without batting an eyelash. flaws and trauma and issues all.
besides, didn't he have issues & flaws of his own? (he did; and he suspects that he even had more than chan did.)
"he needs me," minho announced. rather helplessly though, overwhelmed by the clawing urge to hold chan so tightly in his arms until the older forgot the concept & fear of being left alone, separated from his loved ones.
"nah, you know he doesn't. he's stronger than that."
t minus five hours
changbin was bent over tying his shoes when he gave minho some final reminders. "he'd been asleep for five hours but he'd been awake close to forty eight hours prior that. don't do anything that will disrupt his sleep or i swear to god, minho hyung..."
minho nodded from where he was standing in the hallway that led to chan's bedroom. he knew changbin was only half-joking.
(but it was good to know that there were, at least, two people in this world who were fiercely protective & concerned over chan's well-being.)
t minus four hours
chan stirred in minho’s arms for the first time since minho carefully made himself comfortable in the older’s bed.
the younger held his breath.
six hours was nowhere near the amount of sleep that he knew chan needed to pay off the sleep debt that he incurred from trying to avoid falling asleep (and having nightmares).
thankfully, the older just snuggled closer to minho's chest; the intervals between his deep breaths still perfectly even as they softly puffed from between his cute, plump, half-parted lips.
t minus three hours
minho still couldn't believe that chan didn't - couldn't - tell him about the nightmares and how they'd terrorized him both in his sleep and consciousness. it both saddened him and made him angry at himself for not noticing. he felt like a tool.
chan had never been overly clingy nor annoyingly needy nor unreasonably demanding of time, attention, and affirmation. but minho knew that despite these, chan's trauma and issues were still very much real. the nightmares were proof. and the fact that chan avoided sleep for as long as he could in fear of having another nightmare (starring minho who always seemed to leave him according to changbin's account of what chan told him), made minho's heart ache.
he lifted his hand and pressed it between chan's shoulder blades to draw the older's frame closer to his own, then pressed a soft kiss atop the older’s head.
"i'll always be here, channie hyung."
t minus two hours
minho started to assume and take comfort from the fact that chan seemed to be having a dreamless sleep. and he couldn't help but let a one-sided smile pull the corners of his lips up at that.
chan always did so much for him and for others. so much. sometimes, too much.
before he got to know chan well enough to know about the older’s past, he had just assumed that the older either had a mild people-pleasing habit or just a naturally giving & selfless nature. well, he did have the latter, for sure.
minho stared at the ceiling and sighed. he wished he knew how to silence chan's demons. but it wasn't that simple.
so he did what very little he could: he started humming a random tune that he hoped summoned only good & happy dreams for his boyfriend.
t minus one hour
chan rolled off of minho's chest to lay on his side, facing away from the younger. but this didn't stop minho from winding his arms around the older’s waist to pull him back against the strong warmth wall of his chest.
(chan didn't really need him.
but maybe it was minho who needed chan.
minho chuckled to himself self-depracatingly.)
tireless, tranquil (kind of) love
chan was only half-surprised that he woke up to his boyfriend spooning him.
"hey, you awake, hyung?" minho asked from behind him, sensing that he's finally awake.
"mm-hmm," chan hummed an affirmation, turning in minho's arms with a dopey smile on his face. "i specifically asked binnie not to tell anyone," he chuckled against minho's neck after he detected an overly worried tone in the younger’s voice.
"he's just worried," minho explained, ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat at the husky element to chan's voice.
"i'm lucky to have you and bin," chan sighed, seemingly falling back to slumber. "were you singing me a lullaby earlier? sing me some more, min. i had a nice dream."
minho smiled and hummed chan a lullaby.
chan slept for three more hours.