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Vin had no idea why the nightmares had gotten worse for the past few days. Maybe it was because he got reminded how depressing funerals are. Not possessing his feelings well at the funeral in Busan had now caused his brains to take matters into their own hands in forms of nightmares and Vin hated how he processed his feelings. Nightly walks weren't cutting it anymore and he had no idea why he had decided to walk inside a closed gym. Well the door was open and there were lights on. Maybe he could ask a stranger here if he didn't mind if Vin could use the space a bit too. To tire himself so he could easily go back to sleep.
The last time he had been in this gym was such a long time ago. It made Vin wonder if he should've joined them then to get into this Allied mess to begin with. He sighed as he finally reached the end of the hallway and saw the familiar yet forgotten gym. It felt unfamiliar yet not, he stared at the boxing ring and then at the rest of the equipment until his eyes landed on someone Vin had not expected to see. He froze in place, not sure how to talk. It felt like his walls had crumbled to dust and he was mentally too tired to put an act he always did in front of this person and everyone. The annoying bully who acted like a loud unlikeable clown to push people away not to seek deeper into his emotions and past.
"The fuck you doing here?" Zack asked as he saw Vin standing there like a deer caught in headlights. Zack didn't get any answer as he used his hand to ruffle his slightly wet hair. He had just gotten out of the gym's showers. He was heading home after abusing the gym owner's rules due to being the owner's favorite customer and bringing up so many good titles for the gym.
Zack continued to stare at Vin while observing him. It made Zack realize Vin has never been this quiet before. He had always been loud, when they first met Vin couldn't stop being a jerk and was loudly calling out names. In the second affiliate when they got kidnapped Vin wouldn't stop yelling and complaining about wanting to go home. When Vin first stepped his foot into Allied's warehouse to join Allied, he was loudly insulting everyone.
Zack kept staring and watched how tired Vin's eyes looked, how his clothes looked like they were stained, like he hadn't paid any attention to what he had put on. Vin was wearing sandals instead of his usual white sneakers Zack always noticed on him.
"Do you need something?" Zack asked while he tried to push his hair away from his own face as his hair was no longer put up and was all down and covering his eyes.
No response from Vin and Zack grew even more puzzled. This was the first time Vin wasn't saying anything and looked so utterly lost. It made Zack wonder so many things at that moment.
"Do you want a hug?" Zack had no idea what possessed him to say that. But somehow Vin looked like he needed one and all their past hatred turned into Zack becoming so soft for this murderer. Not going to lie, now that Zack thought about it longer, he had never actually questioned Vin about that. It didn't change his hatred for him even though Zack had no idea what kind of murderer he was and for what reason he had done it.
In the middle of his thought process he saw Vin's eyes glow, for some reason that triggered Zack to spread his arms. He watched Vin rush to hug Zack and wrap his arms around Zack's torso. Zack was taken a bit by surprise by this. He didn't think Vin would take up the offer. For the first time the two of them experienced each other's soft touch. Zack's arms wrapped around Vin while Zack could feel how desperate Vin was with his hug. His face pressing against Zack's shoulder trying to hide himself and make himself smaller.
The hug was a bit awkward as it was their first time and Zack's gymbag was also bothering him, but out of kindness Zack began to draw shapes on Vin's back because he felt bored and didn't want to push Vin away and tell him to stop hugging. Zack could feel Vin really needed this hug, those eyes, they told Zack how tired they were. Tired of death.
Vin's hair felt soft to touch and Zack didn't expect them to feel nice. A hint of blush crept on Zack's face when he realized he had played with Vin's hair without noticing. Zack was about to pull away out of his embarrassment when he heard slight snores.
"He fell asleep while standing up?" Zack whispered to himself and he could still feel Vin's grip was really tight around his waist. He let Vin stay like that for a bit until he felt Vin twitch. Zack thought he was going to wake up only for Vin to tightly grip around Zack's clothes even more while mumbling about something while sounding scared. Somehow this made Zack pull Vin even closer while he told Vin to get into his arms more.
Now Zack realized he was carrying him. Vin's legs were wrapped around Zack while his arms moved to be around Zack's neck. Zack let out a huge sigh and thought about dropping Vin because he didn't own Vin any of this kindness. Only for Zack's heart to get more soft when he heard Vin's quiet voice mumble to his ear, "Mom, why are you hanging from the ceiling? Come back to bed. It's cold..."
"...I miss you", and now Zack's heart had ultimately softened for this fucker. Another person with mother issues like certain someone, but this time there was nothing Zack could do to bring Vin back to his mom. By those words, it sounded like his mother had killed herself in front of Vin at a young age for Vin not to realize why she was hanging from the ceiling.
Zack continued to hear Vin's mumbles and how innocent and soft Vin's voice sounded like. He would twitch at times in Zack's arms while Zack made his way to walk back home. Towards the end of their walk Zack began to hear more names being spoken than just about his mom and the hospital visits and his dad, who Zack soon learned was also dead. All of this sleep talking made Zack realize why Vin insisted on having his own room back in Busan and not wanting to share a room with anyone. Why he never took naps anywhere and why he sometimes would look tired.
Zack made it to his own home and hoped he hadn't woken up his dad with his arrival, but luckily his dad was working overtime on a case or something since his shoes weren't in the hallway. Zack made his way to his bed and gently placed Vin down on the bed while getting ready to get ready for bed. While he went back and forth in his room and the bathroom, Zack noticed that Vin was twitching more and sounding more like he was having nightmares. He hadn't twitched this much in his sleep when Zack was holding him in his arms.
Was this what Vin usually went through when he was alone? For no one to see? Now it clicked even more when Vin wanted the most remote room out of the rest of the rooms. So others would not hear his heavy breathing and him kicking the walls. Zack soon rushed to Vin's side once he noticed the sweat piling up on Vin's face. Zack tried to calm Vin down telling Vin it was all okay while pulling Vin close to hug him once more. Zack purposefully pulled Vin to rest his head against Zack's chest to listen to his heart. He listened to Vin's breath slow down once more and had calmed down.
A hint of pink showed up on Zack's face once he realized that he had now somehow become Vin's sleeping aid. Helping Vin sleep through his nightmares. Zack continued to lay there on his side while he could feel how close Vin was to him. Before Zack even knew it, he had fallen asleep with his clothes on and woken up a bit sweaty due to having all of his clothes on. Zack felt heavy because there was a big man on top of him while pressing his head against Zack's chest.
Zack rubbed his eyes while he looked around the room only to remember that he had dragged Vin all the way over to his home to let the other sleep.
"Since when have I gotten this soft?" were the first words Zack had said early in the morning. Vin continued to sleep on top of Zack while the boxer stared at the helpless man. So vulnerable and with no walls. It felt odd, but at the same time Zack couldn't stop thinking how warm he felt with this interaction. Little did he know this would have long lasting consequences for the future.