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“Jungkookie, I'm in the kitchen!” Jimin calls out to his husband of two years. From where he stands in front of the stove, finishing up their dinner, he can hear Jungkook entering the apartment.
He hears Jungkook's footsteps come closer, but gets no response, so he calls out for him again. He turns and watches Jungkook round the corner from the hallway and walk over to Jimin with a trudge to his steps, shoulders droopy and hair messy.
Before Jimin can utter any word other than a simple, concerned “baby,” Jungkook is resting his head on Jimin's shoulder and nuzzling his body into Jimin’s. His strong arms wrap around Jimin's waist, but the grip is loose with fatigue. Jimin returns the embrace immediately.
“Hey, what’s wrong? You okay?” Jimin gently rubs Jungkook's back, a bit of worry seeping into his tone.
“Long day,” Jungkook mumbles against Jimin's soft, oversized t-shirt. “I need a drink.”
Normally, Jungkook wouldn’t complain about a minor incident at work. But with the holiday season starting, the expected uptick in his appointments has started, too. He enjoys the holidays and the cheerfulness that they bring to his clients, but the increased workload is definitely an added stressor.
It’s only mid-November. He’s somewhat dreading the entire month of December.
Jimin has seen how busy Jungkook has been for the past few weeks, so having him run straight into his arms after a long day like this isn’t surprising. That doesn’t mean he has to like it though.
Jimin frowns, running a hand through Jungkook's hair to gently scratch his scalp. “Dinner is almost done. Do you want to take a quick shower and wait for me on the sofa? I'll bring your dinner to you and we can eat there.”
Jungkook hums in agreement, nodding against Jimin’s shoulder where his head still sits. “Sounds amazing.”
Once Jungkook can muster up enough energy to remove himself from Jimin’s hold, he showers and changes into an oversized hoodie and sweatpants to match Jimin’s coziness.
While they eat on the sofa, he tells Jimin about the set of irritable clients he had that day and how they couldn’t cooperate with even the simplest of poses for him to take their photos, making both their own and Jungkook's lives more difficult throughout the entire appointment.
“I’m proud of you for trying your best. But I’m sorry you had a rough day, Kookie.” Jimin sighs. “We’ll have a quiet Saturday tomorrow, okay?”
Jungkook nods, leaning over to softly kiss his husband’s lips and whisper, “Thank you.” A flicker of light shines in his eyes that wasn’t there when he first walked through the front door.
“Of course.” Jimin smiles, leaning in for one more kiss on Jungkook’s lips and then on the tip of his nose. “Are you still up for reading night?” Jimin asks. When Jungkook nods, Jimin stands and takes their dishes to the kitchen to set them in the sink, before walking to the bedroom to grab their book.
As he comes to snuggle up next to Jungkook on the large sofa, and wraps a blanket over the two of them, Jungkook mumbles, “Can you read tonight? You always do the prince’s voice perfectly, jagiya .”
“Of course, baby.” Jimin kisses Jungkook’s forehead with a smile before opening the small book and turning to chapter fifteen, where they had left off a few nights ago.
They’ve realized, in their two years of being married, that they appreciate having some calm time together after work. To be in each other’s presence without forcing interaction or just watching a TV show all the time.
So they decided to start reading books together in the evenings after work. And about five nights ago, Jungkook suggested that they should read The Little Prince together. And with this being Jungkook's favorite book, Jimin truly wanted to read the story and see why it mattered so much to his lover.
It didn’t help Jimin’s case when Jungkook kept saying Jimin looks like the prince from the story, with his golden hair and twinkling laugh. Because of that teasing comment, Jimin just had to read it to be sure it was a compliment. He made this clear to Jungkook, but when it came down to it, he was enjoying it a lot more than he thought he would.
He would play the prince for Jungkook night after night if it made the younger man happy.
“The sixth planet was ten times larger than the last one. It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote voluminous books.” Jimin begins reading about the geographer, carefully turning the pages of the well-worn, well-loved paperback. Jungkook had kept this version since the first time he read the story in high school, his love for it getting him through some of the most emotional and lonely nights he can remember.
When Jimin reaches the first line of the prince’s dialogue on the page, he raises his voice a tad bit higher to make himself sound young and naive. He knows he sounds a bit stupid for it, but it makes Jungkook giggle like a schoolboy, so that’s the only convincing he needs.
“ ‘What is that big book?’ said the little prince. ‘What are you doing?’ ”
As Jimin reads, he glances down to see Jungkook smiling softly, his head resting on Jimin’s shoulder like it’s a pillow. This is one of the younger’s favorite chapters of the story, depicting once again the prince’s sadness for missing his rose and his confusion by adult behaviors.
Hearing Jimin read it just makes it twice as good.
He sits and listens as Jimin continues, imagining the many planets of the prince’s universe the same way he has imagined them since he was young. He feels the warmth of their embrace and the soft blanket over their laps. He mentally thanks Jimin for the warm food that is now keeping his belly full and his body sated. He curls up closer–if it’s even possible to do so–and lets the irritation of the day slide away. This moment is all he needs right now.
He moves his free hand to Jimin’s thigh under the blanket and gives it soft rubs back and forth. A gentle comfort and a silent thank you to his husband for taking care of him.
Jungkook can hear the smile in Jimin’s voice as he reads, recognizing the smile without even looking up at his face. His gentle voice seeps into Jungkook’s heart, slowing and caressing it with tenderness. The way that only Jimin knows how to do.
Jimin reaches up to card his fingers through Jungkook’s slightly damp hair, further relaxing the younger man.
‘"My flower is ephemeral," the little prince said to himself, "and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet, all alone!"’ Jimin exclaims, worry creeping into his tone to reflect the prince’s fear.
He reads the last few sentences of the chapter, finishing with, “‘And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.’”
He looks down at Jungkook’s face moments later to see the younger’s reaction to the prince’s emotion.
But Jungkook has fallen asleep with his head on Jimin’s shoulder.
Jimin chuckles and closes the book with a soft thud of the pages, making sure to slide the bookmark back into its place in the center. He sets the book down to his left on the sofa cushion and reaches up to Jungkook’s head, running a thumb across Jungkook’s brows to ease the worry and tension out of them as he sleeps. Jungkook’s face relaxes and his soft breaths escape onto Jimin’s neck as he falls into a deeper state of relaxation.
Jimin debates leaving him on the sofa or waking him up long enough to move them to their bed. After a minute of thinking and watching Jungkook sleep, he decides they can stay where they are. One night on the sofa won’t hurt their backs too much.
He slowly and gently adjusts them so that they’re laying down against the squishy throw pillows on one end of the sofa. He tugs Jungkook into his body and rearranges their blanket so that they are a bundle of warmth and coziness. He always teases Jungkook for being a human furnace but in reality it’s the most comfortable and soothing feeling ever to be pressed up next to him under a blanket.
The dim kitchen lights and the lamp near the other end of the sofa are still on, but Jimin couldn’t care less. Curled up next to his sweet bunny, he’ll have no trouble sleeping with the lights on across the room.
When Jungkook starts to mumble gibberish in his sleep as Jimin finally settles next to him, the older coos, rubbing a thumb over Jungkook’s soft cheek. He recalls the last line of the chapter that he read just minutes before.
“‘...thinking of his flower.’” Jimin murmurs to himself, smiles and kisses Jungkook’s forehead then his hair. “Goodnight, my rose.” He whispers.
Jungkook tucks closer against him and Jimin hums, closing his own eyes and drifting off to sleep with his love in his arms.