Work Text:
Jaekyung's heart was still hammering in his ears as the adrenaline from the near disaster still coursed through his veins.
"I'm sorry... Mister... Joo..."
Jaekyung's heart fell even lower, if that was possible.
Kim Dan almost sleepwalked himself into an early death.
And if Jaekyung could infer anything from the words coming out of Kim Dan's lips, it was that... the near disaster was completely and utterly Jaekyung's own fault.
He had been fooling himself, he coddling his own pride when he'd told himself that Kim Dan's psychiatric illness was from the stress of work, the stress of his grandmother's terminal state, the older man's self induced pressure of wanting to "pay back" all the money Jaekyung gave him.
It was Jaekyung's fault all along. All the forced sex, all the times he figuratively (might as well literally) spat on him, on the face of his easy kindness, then all of Jaekyung's undue anger towards him...
Even today's sudden bout of sleep walking- it had to have been caused by Jaekyung snapping at the older man just earlier that same day. Kim Dan had looked crestfallen at Jaekyung's words, but he hadn't thought it would have triggered another sleepwalking episode... He was just scolding him. Nothing he hasn't done before.
No. He had to take responsibility. Almost a week ago now, he had decided to help Kim Dan. He had promised himself to not treat him as he did before. He HAD to make good on that promise, before he...
Before it caused another accident. One they couldn't come back from.
He slowly picked up Kim Dan's limp, soft body in a fireman's carry, and Kim Dan didn't make a single sound other than a worried whimper. Then, holding Kim Dan close to his chest, he walked slowly back to their room, careful not to jostle the sleeping man.
The man nuzzling into his chest even as he slept, instead of making anger rise in him as it once did before, only strengthened Jaekyung's resolve to protect him.
.
Dan usually woke up from the sun shining its beaming rays right into his eyes; it's part of the reason he took this side of the bed in the first place. That, and Mister Joo hated the sun on his face first thing in the morning.
So it more than surprised him when he woke up to not the sun in his face, but rather a steady heartbeat against his ear and an irresistible warmth surrounding him that almost had Dan almost slipping back into comfortable sleep.
And he nearly would have done exactly that, if not for the yawn he heard from above him, and suddenly he was pushing and thrashing against the prisonlike arms pinning him in place, trying to escape their hold.
"Kim Dan, what are you- OW!"
Dan scrambled to safety, but only then did he remember where he was, what he'd been doing, and what he had done.
He wasn't in his old home in the slums, being shaken awake by mob bosses to pay up on whatever due he still had left that he was sure he'd already paid back months before.
He was still in famous boxer Joo Jaekyung's house, on his bed, sleeping right next to him.
And the man in question was sitting up now, holding his nose with one hand as he propped himself up with the other.
Kim Dan felt dizzy. He had just... hurt Mister Joo. Before the week leading up to a big match. In his mindless thrashing, he'd hit the younger man in the nose. He was probably bleeding, and judging by the pained expression on his face, it probably hurt a lot too.
He knew staying at his house was a bad idea. He knew he shouldn't have taken up the suspiciously considerate offer from the man. And now... As usual, Kim Dan only seemed to make things worse.
His eyes welling up with tears, Kim Dan spoke out. "M-Mister Joo, I'm s-so sorry," he stuttered out, "Please let me do first aid, it must hurt-"
"Hah, hurt where?" Jaekyung let his nose go, and thankfully it wasn't bleeding at all. Thank goodness.
"Do you think your frail little arms could ever hurt a professional fighter? You just took me by surprise- hey, what's wrong with you all of a sudden?"
Jaekyung sounded alarmed, and Kim Dan didn't know why. He rubbed away the tears that only fell and fell, and showed no sign of stopping, so he simply decided to speak through it.
"I thought," he hiccuped, "I thought I'd accidentally hurt you, again. Ahead of your big comeback. I could never forgive myself if I..." Dan gulped away the last of the lump in his throat. "This was a really bad idea. I only make things harder for you, and I keep making you angry, and I don't know what you want from me. I have to leave, today!"
As he rushed to get out of bed, a strong hand grabbed his arm and yanked him back to bed, and he haphazardly fell, regrettably right on top of Joo Jaekyung.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Jaekyung growled out.
Still holding his arm, Jaekyung reached out another hands and dabbed at the tears now drying up in the corners of his eyes, fingers surprisingly gentle. The touch might have been comforting, if it wasn't so extremely improbable.
Something in the other man's eyes as he wiped his tears gnawed at Kim Dan, made him feel more exposed than when he was naked. It forced Kim Dan to speak up, and he tried to pull his arm away from the strong grasp around it.
"I was behaving erratic because I was still asleep," Kim Dan tried to say. "I won't escape, so please let go..." He couldn't look at Jaekyung's eyes anymore. "I need to prepare your breakfast."
They sat a few moments in silence, with Kim Dan still facefirst on Jaekyung's lap, trying to look away as best as he can, and Jaekyung wiping Dan's tears with his thumb.
"No need," he suddenly said, pushing Dan off him gently. "Go back to bed."
"Mister Joo?" The order surprised him.
"I'll let them know you took a sick leave." He started to get out of the bed. "It's technically true. Get some more sleep."
"Mister Joo!"
Jaekyung turned around now, still halfway up from the bed, but a hand grabbing at the edge of his tank top stopped him.
"I'm perfectly well rested and capable of doing my job," Kim Dan insisted. "Please let me go to work today!"
Jaekyung seemed to be searching for something in his face, but then groaned and sat back down on the bed.
"Kim Dan, do you think I told you to sleep just to waste the money I pay you?" Jaekyung seemed to wince even as he said this, but kept speaking.
"You sleepwalked again last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw you weren't in bed, and came out to the living room to see you trying to jump from the second floor." Jaekyung ran a hand over his face and through his hair, frustration clear on his face. "That's why I decided to keep you from wandering off again by keeping a hold on you. If I knew you hated it so much, I would have put a shackle on your leg instead."
Kim Dan was overcome with guilt again, but it explained a lot of things, including some vague memories from the night before that he'd previously thought were just dreams.
A sharp pain at his shoulder. The bruising hand print on his arm. The distant memory of being carried to bed, just like his grandmother used to when he was little.
He shook his head. "I'm really sorry for the trouble, sir."
Jaekyung shook his head. "I knew what I was getting into when I brought you here. I expected as much."
"I still want to go to work with you."
"Oh, for the love of-!"
Jaekyung's voice had risen to that terrifying roar, but died down just as suddenly as it'd had appeared.
"If me going to the gym while you stay at home is what's bothering you, then I'll just not go today either," he declared, his voice down to his normal volume as he reached for his phone and another remote on the nightstand.
He typed something into it quickly, then clicked on the remote to make the automatic curtains close, engulfing the room into a comfortable darkness. Then he roughly set both down back on the nightstand and rounded on Kim Dan, his eyes intensely burning into Dan's own.
"Now, get your ass back in bed before I make you."
Dan could only hurriedly lie back down and pull the blanket to cover his body, the familiar darkness making him feel more exposed than the sunlight did.
A strong arm wrapped around Kim Dan's waist from behind and pulled him backwards, making Dan yelp in surprise, and his heart hammered in his chest as realisation dawned on him.
"M-Mister Joo! I'm not- please let me prepare-"
"Are you crazy? I'm not going to fuck you right now." The arm pulled Dan back until his shoulders hit a broad, hard chest. He could hardly relax and let his back touch the chest completely.
"Will you calm down?!" Jaekyung snapped from above. "I'm not going to- URGH! I'm keeping you in place so you don't run away again! You're gonna hurt yourself sleepwalking if I don't hold you down!"
Kim Dan let out an embarrassingly relieved breath, and the action made Jaekyung still for a moment. Then, his hold on Kim Dan suddenly became tighter, pulling Dan flush against his chest, the younger man's heart beat unusually loud.
It must have been the adrenaline from getting hit in the face, Dan figured, while he was only trying to help someone like Kim Dan from sleepwalking off the second floor.
"Then..." Kim Dan tried to steady his own heart, careful not to melt into the warmth surrounding him so securely. "Good night, Mister Joo."