Work Text:
Choi Jong-In woke up much earlier than he preferred on days when he had work. Today was one of those days as the redhead stirred from his sleep with the warm morning sunlight trickling in through the window, casting the room in a peach hue.
Jong-In tried to get up but was stopped by something heavy over his waist. Looking to the side, he saw the blurry yet familiar sight of his partner and could hear the larger man’s steady, even breathing.
Whenever they both had work, Jong-In typically woke up before Baek Yoon-Ho. During the colder seasons, Jong-In had difficulty getting out of bed as Yoon-Ho clung to him, not wanting the redhead to take all the warmth he was creating with him.
But when the weather was warmer, the larger man came close to falling off the bed in the middle of the night to escape the amount of heat the mage emitted.
If it hadn’t for the sizeable bed they got when they started living together in their shared house, they would likely have to sleep in different places on those nights.
Unfortunately for Jong-In, even though today wasn’t a cold day, it also wasn’t one of those warmer days, so it took the redhead a few minutes of struggling to get Yoon-Ho’s arm off him, the man’s grip only tightening against Jong-In’s attempts.
Jong-In finally managed to push the arm off of him and let out a relieved sigh. After finally getting free from the tiger’s clutches, Jong-In sat upright on the bed to put his glasses on and took a few moments to look at Yoon-Ho.
He stared at the ginger’s relaxed expression, the usual tenseness in his eyebrows not present as he slept peacefully. Jong-In leaned over to stroke his ginger hair, feeling soft strands running through his fingers.
After a few more moments of taking in the sight, Jong-In gently kissed his forehead before fully leaving their bed and heading to the bathroom.
Jong-In got in the shower and felt the cold water wash over him. Since his body temperature was naturally high, the coldness was a sharp contrast to his warm skin, though it did help him wake up and get rid of any lingering sleepiness.
He wasn’t fond of getting out of the warm comfort of their bed early in the morning, but he disliked the thought of rushing to head to work even more. Jong-In knew Yoon-Ho didn’t have a problem with needing to get ready quickly. Yoon-Ho used to be a firefighter after all.
Soon, Jong-In finished showering and stepped out before going to the closet to get his clothes for the day. While they both had to pay attention to their image as guild masters, Jong-In took longer to get ready as he was more meticulous about his appearance and wore more layers of clothing than Yoon-Ho.
Jong-In looked in the mirror and checked that his past scars or old burns weren’t visible. Or marks left by activities from the previous night. He ensured he looked the part the public expected him to play. The image people expected of the Ultimate Hunter.
While he could afford to be less pedantic about how he displayed himself in the comfort of their home, it was completely different once he stepped outside. His physical appearance, body language, his attitude. Everyone who knew him would scrutinize every aspect of him, so Jong-In had to ensure there was nothing out of the place they could get their hands on, especially concerning his private life. After all, civilians had to feel safe enough to trust the hunters, and the hunters in his guild needed a leader they could rely on.
However, he knew Yoon-Ho also experienced that feeling as well. So Jong-In didn’t mind Yoon-Ho seeing the side of him the public did not know about.
After choosing a suitable outfit, Jong-In put on his red suit and combed his hair until it was to his satisfaction.
He remembers trying to style Yoon-Ho’s hair into something neater, but unfortunately, it didn’t last very long before returning to its usual spiky look. Yoon-Ho didn’t seem to be bothered by it, which only made Jong-In wonder if Yoon-Ho only let him try to style it so that Jong-In would touch his hair. At the time, Jong-In didn’t comment on it as he didn’t want to admit that he offered to “fix” Yoon-Ho’s hair for the same reason.
As Jong-In started to prepare something simple for breakfast, he prepared enough coffee for both of them before turning the coffee maker on.
Before they started living together, Jong-In never ate breakfast as he didn’t feel hungry in the mornings. However, after learning about his “terrible diet,” according to Yoon-Ho, he started fussing over Jong-In skipping breakfast since the mage tended to skip lunch when he got wrapped up in his work. The first time it happened, the two spent nearly an hour that morning discussing Jong-In’s choice of, or lack of, breakfast.
However, Jong-In didn’t have the energy to argue with the other man that early in the morning, and they eventually settled with Jong-In agreeing to have at least something sustainable for breakfast, even if Yoon-ho preferred him eating more.
After Jong-In finished making breakfast for himself and Yoon-Ho, he leaned against the counter with his back and glanced through the available gates sent to him on his phone.
Reading over the gates' ranks and locations, Jong-In recognized some of them as the ones Yoon-Ho considered buying. He said he hadn’t yet because the gates were highly ranked and he was trying to get lower-ranked ones for his low-ranked hunters.
Jong-In tilted his head as he thought about the gates and the hunters who would be available for them before telling the chief who had sent him the gates to purchase them.
He smiled as he thought of how annoyed Yoon-Ho would be once he realized Jong-In had again taken his gates.
Well, technically, they were the Hunters Guild’s gates now.
Jong-In found it cute how easily he could get Yoon-Ho worked up over a simple matter like this. He knew despite how Yoon-Ho now had a reputation for having a great character and being composed during raids, especially dungeon breaks, Jong-In was always able to get him riled up with just a few words or a single action.
Jong-In still thought it was impressive how Yoon-Ho remained calm no matter how chaotic the situation was whether it was a raid or simply dealing with reporters.
On the other hand, when Jong-In grew tired of dealing with others especially if it was for far longer than he would have liked, he came close to losing his temper and nearly letting a snide remark slip out.
Luckily, none of the media would pick up on it, and even then, Jong-In ensured any careless errors wouldn’t be made known to the general public. However, it didn’t stop him from being displeased at them, especially those with more personal questions.
That was why Jong-In found it even more admirable when Yoon-Ho was still respectful and later discovered that Yoon-Ho did not typically hold grudges against them for long with Yoon-Ho reasoning that they were simply curious about the few S-Ranks in their country.
It made Jong-In wonder sometimes why someone like Yoon-Ho wanted to be with someone like him.
Jong-In blinked as he realized the coffee was done after a few moments of silence, so he poured the coffee into his mug and Yoon-Ho’s. He then added some honey to Yoon-Ho’s coffee, knowing the other preferred the sweetness. Jong-In preferred his coffee without it though and simply drank it as is.
The hot steam hit his glasses as he took a sip, forcing him to set the mug back down before he took his glasses off to clean them. Jong-In placed his glasses back on and stared at his mug.
Just as Jong-In was about to return to his previous train of thought, he felt strong arms wrap around his waist as Yoon-Ho rested his head against Jong-In’s shoulder and looked down to see what Jong-in had made for breakfast.
“You should eat more,” Yoon-Ho remarked seeing how much food the shorter man made for both of them before he buried his nose into the side of Jong-In’s neck, taking in the shorter man’s scent.
“It’s what we agreed on before,” Jong-In reasoned, offering a piece of their shared breakfast.
Yoon-Ho grunted before taking a bite.
“You should get dressed,” Jong-In stated when Yoon-Ho made no indication that he would leave.
The ginger-haired man turned to look at the clock before wrapping his arm tighter around Jong-In.
“I have time,” Yoon-Ho responded.
Jong-In only hummed in response but did not attempt to urge Yoon-Ho to get ready for work. He simply rested his free hand on Yoon-Ho’s arm before eating their breakfast too as Yoon-Ho continued holding him.
Soon after they got together, Jong-In realized that Yoon-Ho was far more physically affectionate than he let on. He originally thought Yoon-Ho was like himself and that he didn’t seek out physical touch much.
Jong-In was proven very wrong the first time they slept in the same bed together, and he remained stuck in Yoon-Ho’s grip until the latter woke up. Only for Yoon-Ho to not let go of him after waking up and to continue holding him for the next couple of hours. Yoon-Ho got less clingy after that, but there were still times when Yoon-Ho lingered around Jong-In as long as he could.
It was only after they both finished eating breakfast that Yoon-Ho finally let go of him and got dressed for work.
“You’re not going to stay late for work again, are you?” Yoon-Ho asked as he put on his dress shirt.
Jong-In made a non-committal sound as he picked up Yoon-Ho's tie and strode toward the taller man. He saw Yoon-Ho look at him from the corner of his eye before leaning down, allowing Jong-In to place the tie around his neck before carefully tying it.
Jong-In could feel the way Yoon-Ho was silently observing as he focused on the tie, ensuring it was neat while not making it too tight for him.
Once the tie was straightened to his satisfaction, Jong-In’s eyes relaxed as he stepped away.
“Hold on.”
Jong-In turned back to Yoon-Ho and tilted his head in question before Yoon-Ho moved closer to straighten Jong-In’s tie.
Jong-In knew that his tie was fine before, and since it changed very little after Yoon-Ho finally pulled away, Yoon-Ho was aware that it was fine too.
When Jong-In looked up at Yoon-Ho, the ginger-haired man averted his eyes, but Jong-In saw enough to know what he was thinking.
So Jong-In reached up to grab Yoon-Ho’s tie and tugged the taller man down to kiss him. Yoon-Ho quickly reciprocated the affection and gently held the back of Jong-In’s head.
Jong-In was amused at how easy it was to read the man. Though some people believed Yoon-Ho always looked angry and serious, Jong-In had long figured out how to decipher Yoon-Ho’s true feelings simply from his expressions.
He supposed it was more of knowing that caused the ginger-haired man’s expressions that helped since he was typically the one who caused them.
After a few moments, Jong-In gently pulled away, and Yoon-Ho didn’t attempt to keep Jong-In from leaving this time. Jong-In smoothed out Yoon-Ho’s tie once again before they both gathered their things to step outside the serenity of their home.
A couple of hours later, Jong-In got a text from Yoon-Ho and when he looked at it, he chuckled at the short message, knowing that Yoon-Ho had finally noticed that Jong-In had outbid him for the gates.
Jong-In could only imagine his partner’s reaction, wishing he could see it in person. He supposed he would have to do something else later if he truly wanted to see it though.
🐯: Fuck you
🦊: Once I get home, kitty~