Work Text:
It’s been almost two weeks since their last proper meeting—without work or such things between them. Soonyoung always counts their late night studio sessions as part of a date and not work. Even though what they actually do is just Soonyoung slouching on the couch sliding through his phone, meanwhile Jihoon is busy doing whatever work-related things he’s trying to do in front of his computer monitor—until near 3 or 4 in the morning, and Soonyoung would nag him to go home and get some sleep (if he’s not already fallen asleep on the couch and Jihoon slides himself beside him in the ungodly hours Soonyoung never knows).
Soonyoung never knew that spending days waking up without his boyfriend beside him would take a toll on him this far. He knew it was partly his fault. It was him who first proposed the idea that he’ll sleep in his parents’ house nowadays since their schedule is on hold for two weeks and only leaves them with practice sessions once in a few days. But he couldn’t help whenever the tingling feeling crept in every time he scrolled through his gallery and uploaded some of his practice photos with Jihoon on weverse.
He’s missing Jihoon. Too much. He missed the way he would snuggle his nose closer to Jihoon’s hair and smell the soft-powdery baby shampoo scent wafting from his lover’s fluffy hair. Then he would trail his lips across Jihoon’s nape, up and up to his lover’s easily blushed ear—whispering, ‘good morning, jagiya’ that usually just earned a soft hum and Jihoon’s body cuddling closer in response.
So, when there is a group schedule announcement they’ll do for today, Soonyoung feels giddy. He autographed their newly released album (that will come in three days) in the elevator with nervousness filling his lungs. Fortunately, Mingyu was there, aware of the situation, and helped him carry the paper bag in his hand. It’s like hours for him, waiting for Jihoon’s arrival with full of anticipation. Soonyoung almost gasped when Jihoon came, with a neatly ironed suit and a small smile on his face (Jihoon had already shown him the suit this morning in a video call, asking him if that one was too much or not—receiving a big grin from his lover’s face with two thumbs up in the air).
Jihoon sits in the corner of the table, like he usually does when they gather for dinner or meals after a concert. It should be normal for him to see Jihoon from afar at the moment like this. But what happens with his heart is far from normal. He’s aching to be near his lover, shove his arms closer, and act like it’s just an accident or something, or do his so-called muscle memory act like giving his side dish to Jihoon’s plate. But he can’t do all of that now; changing his seat with Vernon will only receive scrutiny from the member or even staff (though the filming staff already knew what’s going on between them, given that Nana tour times, in which they struggled to edit the footage so that it would be more suitable for the public).
From the glance Soonyoung stole in between their meal and chatting, he knew Jihoon was tired. Their debut album as a unit will come in three days, and he’s sure Jihoon is nervous, although he’s always making sure that there is no need to overthink everything. Soonyoung could feel Jihoon’s sigh between meals, sometimes with weary expressions only he could decipher.
Jihoon managed to slip into the seat beside him on the bus to the bnb, glanced at Soonyoung, who had already put his forehead on the window glass to his left.
“Can I sit here? Never mind, it’s the only seat left anyway.”
Jihoon asked and sat there even before Soonyoung tried to open his mouth to answer. Then Jihoon took his phone from his suit pocket and scrolled through it lazily. Soonyoung opened his phone screen, scrolled through his gallery, and uploaded a video. One of their recent practice sessions. It’s a video of Jihoon lying on the floor, tired. His breath is short—like someone who had just run around a football field. They both wore out from their long stretched dance practice, but they’re both satisfied with the result. The screen zoomed in on Jihoon’s reddened palms sprawled on the wooden floor, with the background of their laughter. Soonyoung reached that hand, hardly squeezed the tips with his own hands, and cut that footage over there. A few minutes later, he received a private chat from Jihoon telling him to be more subtle, and some curse words followed after.
Jihoonie ❤️: Be more subtle, would you? I’ll make sure your dick is not intact first place in the morning if you happen to upload the uncut version of it, you jackass.
Soonyoung turns his gaze to Jihoon and gives him a soft stroke on his knee, receiving a small slap and grumbling from Jihoon. It’s not long after that they reach the rest area where most members and crew grab some snacks. The bus is silent with only the sound of the air conditioner humming and soft music from the speaker lulling Soonyoung to sleep. He wakes up to Jihoon's head on his shoulder, sleeping soundly with the phone screen still on in his hand. Soonyoung takes a deep sigh, inhaling whatever scent he missed these days, slowly kissing the tips of Jihoon’s head. It was when Junhui entered the bus that Jihoon woke from his sleep and adjusted his sitting position, with a barely visible smile on his lips.
It was already dark when they arrived at the house that day. The bnb they’ll live in for three days ahead is something Soonyoung is familiar with. It’s kinda similar to the popular house they were using for shooting a famous variety show back then in the 2000s. It’s a traditional Korean house with four bedrooms and several furnaces installed in the yard, and a long wooden table set behind.
It happened as fast as their ears turned red. Jihoon sits in the wooden aisle, waiting for other members to gather from the bedroom sightseeing. It’s in Soonyoung’s subconscious thinking that automatically leads him to sit beside his boyfriend. His left hand unconsciously drifted to Jihoon’s, resulting in the younger body freezing for a while. Soonyoung let out a relieved sigh when his boyfriend didn’t reject his touch. The tips of their fingers brushed each other softly, then tangled into a tiny movements—squeezed each other gently.
The warm atmosphere filled their lungs from their barely five seconds of holding hands—feels domestic but ecstatic at the same time. Almost fulfill their shared need to be in the same space together, which they barely get these days. Jihoon is the first one who let go of their grip later—knowing the situation is far from good—to show too much public display of affection. Soonyoung looks around to see the rooms afterwards, when he finally gets to sit at the wooden table, it’s Jihoon who approaches first to sit beside him—looking silently at their members who are busy with the chattering about room division and such things. Their shared moment of holding hands was long gone. But the lingering feelings are still there, even when they move to other rooms to play games.
Soonyoung and Jihoon—and almost all of their members are bad at guessing photo games. It’s not a big secret, though. So, Soonyoung should not be surprised when Jihoon could not guess one of their famous sunbaenim, leaving it a pass, and Minghao guessed that right after. But, Soonyoung being Soonyoung. He likes to tease Jihoon by putting on a flabbergasted face and when the younger is in shame (and slightly pouting), he will give reassurance with words like: ‘you’re unbelievable, Jihoon-ah’ or ‘it’s OK, anyone could make a mistake like that.’
The bedroom Soonyoung will share with Wen Junhui is a cozy two-person bedroom with a bathroom attached inside. The bedding is folded tidily in the corner, reminding him of the old times in Yeoseodo, except they’ll not use the same clothes for several days or go fishing.
It’s already past midnight after they eat their dinner, but he can still hear laughter and chattering from outside. Soonyoung slumped beside Junhui after brushing his teeth. The latter was still busy with his phone, scrolling over something Soonyoung assumed was some sort of cat short videos from the sounds he heard.
“Jun-ah, I think I missed him already.”
Jun furrows his eyebrow and changes his attention from his phone to Soonyoung.
“Missed who?”
“My Jihoonie, of course.”
Junhui let out a deep sigh.
“For godness sake. He’s just sleeping less than ten meters from us. What’s the point of you being this sulky?”
It’s been nearly six months since he left the country to work abroad, and this same-age friend of his is still somewhat whiny and clingy to his lover as before. Or it’s actually almost the same for both Soonyoung and Jihoon, but the younger seems more fluent in maintaining his expressions of clinginess in front of others.
“I’ve barely seen him around these days.”
“Even with that debut project of yours?”
Soonyoung nods his head and let out a deep sigh.
“I think the staff is already turning off most of the cameras by now. What's stopping you from sneaking to his room and getting your cuddle, you pouty tiger?”
“What about Vernonie and Kyeomie?”
“I’m pretty sure Vernon is sleeping by now, and I still hear Seokmin’s voice outside. Anyway, both of them would not bother you guys much unless you two did something funny in front of their eyes.”
Soonyoung clicked his tongue and stood up, slipping his phone and charger into his sweatpants.
“I still have some dignity with me.”
“Just go.”
The aisle to Jihoon’s room is empty, but Soonyoung could feel someone staring at him from the wooden table. It’s Mingyu and Seokmin who give him suspicious looks and wink at him when they know the exact direction he’s aiming for now.
The room was dimly lit—makes Soonyoung must focusing his sight to find his boyfriend’s position in the room. Jihoon lay with his glasses still on, scrolling his phone on the mattress beside the right wall. Vernon, on the other side of the room, was sleeping soundly with his blanket covering his chest.
“Jagiyaa”
“Shhhh—come here.”
Jihoon shushed him with the focus still on his phone. Soonyoung walked across the room and sneaked into the thick blanket his lover was using. He positioned himself behind him and snuggled him closer, his arms wrapped around Jihoon’s waist.
“What are ya watchin’, Jihoonie?”
“My cat. She doesn’t want to eat if I’m not there.”
“So you watch her and talk to her through the camera? What a devoted cat butler you are.”
“Mhmmm. She’s already sleeping now. I missed her so much.”
“It’s barely 24 hours since you left her.”
“Talk to me again when you aren’t saying the exact same things about latte when you work abroad and being a whiny tiger all day.”
“I’m sorry.”
They are not talking much again after that. Jihoon put his phone on charge and shifted his position so that they were hugging each other from the front. It’s not the best position for them—they liked back hugs more, but in situations like this, seeing each other’s face from this close is one of the best ways to spend the rest of this tiresome day.
Soonyoung cupped Jihoon’s face, almost kissed him but then shift his intention to whisper something.
“Are you perhaps angry with me, Jihoonie?”
“For what?”
“For not getting your cuddles for almost two weeks?”
“Is it the other way around, Youngie? I’m hardly holding my laughter seeing your sulky face today.”
Soonyoung sighs, burying his blushed face between his lover’s clavicle. Soonyoung will always hope he has the power to stop the time at the moment like this. Spending time together and sharing their body warmth always makes them feel at ease and serene. Suddenly all the stiffness he feels throughout the day and uneasiness towards whatever devils making their stolen glance looks awkward melts into something comforting and reassuring. No longer afraid of uncertain tomorrow, as long as they have each other to return.
Jihoon shifted his weight closer and trailed kisses below Soonyoung’s jaw, letting the others gasp and almost let out a soft moan.
“Shhh. We should get our sleep now, Youngie. We have to get up early tomorrow.”
“If that’s so, you better stop being a naughty kitten then, Hoonie.”
Jihoon giggles, lifting the blanket they had been abandoned from under their thighs to cover their chest.