Chapter Text
Spring had arrived already.
Falling petals from the cherry blossom trees that lined the road ahead flew gently with the wind. They danced along to its sound, to the silent music that only they could hear. From afar, Eunyung watched, sitting up in their bed and glancing outside through the window at the natural beauty. He had learnt to appreciate the little things like this. It meant so much more to him than anything ever did before.
A grumble beside him caused him to turn his head and smile at the sight of a tired Haejoon rising from his side of the bed.
Eunyung giggled to himself, hand against his cheek. "Good morning sleepyhead."
"Don't... talk...." The other mumbled back, clearly exhausted.
He had dark circles under his eyes and a grim expression that to anyone else would've been very intimidating, because this was Goh Haejoon we were talking about, he's a scary guy! But not once you get to know him. Just like Eunyung does.
"Go back to sleep if you're that tired, it's only six. I'll go make breakfast." Eunyung shuffles and takes off the duvet to climb out when a pair of arms wrap around his waist.
Haejoon's head falls onto his shoulder, his dark blue hair tickling the other's neck. "Two more minutes..."
Eunyung resists the urge to roll his eyes and yank himself away. Because let's face it, Goh Haejoon is definitely stronger than him anyway. What good is prying himself out of his arms gonna do? It's only gonna land him in a worse situation than this. And Eunyung really doesn't want to think about that right now.
He sighs, "We both have work, get off of me."
"You're secretly enjoying this asshole."
"No I'm not." He definitely is.
Haejoon sighs into the crook of his neck, and that sends a shiver down Eunyung's spine. He feels heat rush up to his face and goes completely still. Ohmygod, I'm going to fucking die in this idiot's arms. I can't even decide if that's a good thing or not.
He hears a light snicker from behind, "Are you fucking embarrassed?"
"Of course not!" Eunyung blurts out, then, as if it's a reflex, he smacks Haejoon with a pillow then kisses him on the cheek. "I'm going!"
Before the other can even say anything, Eunyung rushes out of the room with a smirk on his face. He knows that Haejoon's already gone fully red in the face and he's proud to say that he's the cause.
Work was always mediocre for Haejoon. Sure, you could call this his 'dream job', he honestly hadn't even thought of one until he graduated. Before, he was worried about what was going to happen to him now that he was so.... alone. But that was then. The Haejoon that lived in the present was working a job that should be fulfilling him, living together with a partner that he both hated and loved at the same time, and doing his best to take life one day at a time, step by step.
So why was he so goddamn bored??
They hadn't had a new case to work on in a good few weeks now, so Haejoon had just been filing paperwork from the previous ones. His firm hadn't assigned him anything new so there wasn't much else he could do. All their recent meetings had been about workplace environment stuff that he wasn't particularly paying attention to. He'd rather work on a new court case but nothing had been brought up.
Haejoon sighed, leaning his head back in his chair. God, I'm sick of paperwork.
Just as he'd mentally prepared himself to get back into it, he noticed his phone pinged. When at work, he usually tried to keep the sound off, but since he was just in his office he didn't think it was necessary unless one of his coworkers came barging in.
He looked back down at his desk and lifted up his phone to see he had a message from Eunyung. That wasn't unusual, they typically texted each other during their work breaks just to ask what the other was doing or what they wanted for dinner or something. What intrigued him was that it wasn't just a text, but a photo too.
Haejoon glanced around to check no one was coming in, not that Eunyung would send him anything weird, but just because not many of his coworkers knew he had a boyfriend. Only one did. And the ‘one’ he was thinking of had been stuck to him since high school.
Once he was done checking, he opened their chat to see the picture. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of Eunyung with his hair all curly and hazel, tied back into a bun, with some light makeup done on his face. He wasn't dressed up yet, but the clip-on earrings and mirror in the background implied he was getting ready for a shoot. He was making a peace sign at the camera and winking (Haejoon would never say this outloud) cutely.
There was a bit of text written underneath in a second message bubble,
'Hope work is going well sunbae~ Don't give up!'
Haejoon was. Haejoon was stunned.
This motherfucker sends me something like this while I'm at work I'm gonna fucking kill him when I get home-
He glanced down at the screen to see Eunyung was typing.
'Sunbae? Did you die?'
'Kkkkkkkk'
Haejoon suddenly felt the need to type back.
'I hate you'
'Blegh :P No u dont'
'What's the role you're playing?'
'Some boring ass background character'
'Wait, they got you all dressed up for that? Why aren't you the main one?'
'People dont know me well enough yet (apparently)'
'Its wtvr anyway idc as long as i get my check'
Haejoon frowned. He knew Eunyung didn't mean that. There was something more behind it, but he wouldn’t press it for now.
'You look pretty.'
Radio silence.
'Let me see u too'
Haejoon sighed loudly, this goddamn brat.
He wasn't an expert at taking photos, but his mum had been pretty decent at them. So he tried his best to angle it well enough so Eunyung could see his face and typical lawyer suitwear. He did a peace sign back and sent it off.
'There. You happy?'
For a good few minutes, the typing bubble kept popping up and then disappearing. Haejoon was seriously about to give up when a reply finally came.
'i wanna squish ur cheeks thru the screen'
'Shut up and go back to work.'
'aw ur no fun... :('
'Love you.'
'yea yea u too handsome boi ~'
Haejoon smiled. Just before he was about to put his phone down, someone burst through the door with a bunch of papers in their arms.
"Haejoon-sunsaeng! There's a new case, we have to get to the meeting room, stat!"
The somewhat concerning familiar face of an auburn-haired boy with glasses barely greeted Haejoon before rushing out the door again. He merely sighed and shut his phone off before getting up and following Juwan along. At least he had something hopefully interesting to look forward to now.
"Ugh, my feet are killing me."
Eunyung had his head lying back against Haejoon as he played video games on his phone. He'd already taken his hair down and the two had settled on the couch after dinner. Haejoon was watching some kind of documentary on the TV, Eunyung didn't really know since he wasn't paying attention, and had an arm spread out across the back of the couch.
It had been such a hassle getting out of all that makeup and dress he had to wear for a shooting that lasted less time than they took to get ready. Eunyung's eyes were still half-covered in glitter and his hair was still all curly and frizzled. He looked like a mess. A mess that was now lying back against his sturdy boyfriend as he once again lost at the game he was playing.
"Agh, shit!" He groaned in annoyance, leaning his head back and abandoning the phone. "I'm done. I'm fucking exhausted."
Haejoon glanced at the other momentarily, before shutting the TV off and shuffling away. It was so sudden that Eunyung found himself falling back against the sofa once the other disappeared.
He looked over at the man who was now standing before him, "Hey, I said I was tired why would you move-"
"Lift your legs up."
"..."
Eunyung's mind blanked for a second.
The two look between each other, Haejoon completely straight-faced, before a bright red covers over Eunyung's cheeks.
"You- ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
Haejoon seems surprised, "What-"
"I'm not- I said I was tired! I'M NOT TRYING TO MAKE MYSELF EVEN MORE EXHAUSTED YOU SICKO!"
They look between each other in mutual confusion as Eunyung backs himself up on the sofa. Haejoon seems to suddenly realise. A light blush spreads over him as he waves his hands in a panic.
"NO! NO! OH MY GOD, Eunyung I didn't mean it like that.." He covers his face with his hands, then gestures to the sofa. "I meant lift your legs and lay them flat against the sofa. Here."
He pats the empty space that Eunyung has left on the other side. The blonde looks over at him skeptically, slowly lying himself down but still acting suspicious of the other. He tries to relax himself after that whole misunderstanding, and notices Haejoon sit beside the sofa and reach for his feet.
"Hey what are you-"
"Just relax, man." His hands begin to dig into Eunyung's muscles gently yet still harsh enough for there to be a tiny bit of pain. It didn't help that he had horrible foot cramps earlier from standing in the same position for a whole two hours just for a five minute scene. And on the tip of his toes.
Once Eunyung got past all of that and just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, he began to let the feeling go. His anger and annoyance dissipated, and his legs slowly felt less sore and cared for. He didn't even realise he had closed his eyes until Haejoon got his attention again.
"Feel any better?"
"Yeah... when'd you learn how to massage?? Don't lie to me, you're some kind of superhuman aren't you."
Haejoon laughs, "Dumbass, I used to do it for my mum. She'd get home late from work sometimes and her jobs often had her standing and walking around for long periods of time so I learnt how to massage to help her feel better after a long day."
He smiles fondly at the memory.
Eunyung can't help but think of Haejoon's mother as some kind of miracle worker.
Sieomeoni, you really did raise a perfect son.
"What about you? Aren't you tired too?" Eunyung found himself suddenly sitting up to ask.
Haejoon just shrugged, "Yeah, but it's fine. I'm not that tired."
Liar. I hate it when you do that. "Come here." Eunyung sits up and pats the empty space beside him.
Reluctantly, Haejoon goes over to sit with him.
"Now turn this way," he signals for him to turn so that Haejoon's back is facing him, both of them sitting cross-legged on the sofa.
Carefully, Eunyung places his hands over the other's shoulders. He forgets how much broader they are even compared to his own. Haejoon had a much sturdier body than him, his weight was equally distributed in all the places that needed the right muscle. It also meant that certain spots were left vulnerable, such as his head. Eunyung felt guilty for that. He felt guilty about a lot of things.
He'd never done this before, but it couldn't be that hard. Cooking and cleaning had been easy enough, and so had taking care of people when they're sick, and working, studying. It had all become easier eventually if he just kept at it. So, Eunyung began to work his hands around the shoulder blades. He tried to pinpoint where the most pressure and tension had built up and started there. He rubbed circles into the other’s back, right below the broader area of his shoulders.
It seemed to work, since he felt Haejoon relax in his hands, his muscles retracting and turning to putty. It felt like the tension was slowly leaving his body the more Eunyung worked his hands around his back, doing all sorts of movements because he didn't really know which one was working. But something must've, since to Eunyung's surprise, Haejoon fell back against the other.
His eyes were closed and he'd landed his head against Eunyung's chest, who's hands had immediately stopped because what the fuck.
"You're even a natural at this, you're truly amazing at everything you do..." Haejoon whispered, eyes still shut.
Eunyung didn't know what to say. Or how to react. He never did.
In moments like these, a younger version of him would've run away. Afraid to commit, afraid that a compliment meant he was in fact doing just that. Committing. It seemed so scary before, like something so foreign to his life. But in a strange way, Goh Haejoon had brought him back to the idea of aiming for something higher than a mere death sentence at twenty. He made him realise that there was more, so much more out there. And Eunyung wanted to explore it all with him.
So he did something unexpected.
Eunyung leaned down, and he kissed him.
Just a small press against his lips. Nothing too long, nothing too forced. Simple and clean. A show of affection in the dim light of their home. Just to show he cared.
Haejoon opened his eyes at this, and sat up to turn himself around properly. He was still half-lying on the sofa when to Eunyung's surprise, he kissed him back. Eunyung melted into it, reaching for the hand that held his cheek. He felt a warmth he'd never known. A concept he'd only ever heard of. The fleeting and fickle thing of love, burning brightly in his chest.
"Hey, Eunnie!!! They need you on-set in five!"
A familiar voice called from behind the curtains, leaning back so she could yell through the door that led to hair and makeup.
Eunyung called back, "Got it!"
He was still staring down at his phone, not too bothered about mentally preparing himself for the role since it wasn't a huge one. These days, the only acting gigs he managed to land were ones that either had him speaking very little, or not even speaking at all. Despite his ability to go viral, his fame had yet to remain permanent. With every new gig that hired him, the hype would die down, and he'd need to prove his worth to the world once again.
The thought of having to work so hard for someone's sick idea of approval made him sigh, it was something he wasn't proud of doing. Eunyung enjoyed acting. He enjoyed the suspension of belief, the roles he could escape to and have fun while playing them. And seeing the look on those entertained faces made him all the more happier.
But in a series like this, where all he did was appear in the background and a few times in conversation.... it wasn't enjoyable.
"Two minutes Eunnie!!"
Ugh. "On it!"
Reluctantly, he got out of his chair and made his way through the bustling amounts of stylists and makeup artists that were currently backstage. He had already gotten himself touched up and dressed into his outfit, a similar style to yesterday's.
Just as he arrived near the set, the voice that had been calling out to him came right up.
"Need a quick makeup fix?" Minju, with her hair tied into a bun, tapped a brush against her palette and smiled.
Eunyung shook his head, "I'm good."
"I disagree." She kept smiling as he reached up to brush a little of something or the other on Eunyung's cheeks. "How's the boyfie doing~?"
"Never say that word again please." Eunyung frowned at her, then sighed. "He's doing fine. I guess. I think. I dunno, we're both always so tired when we get home."
"Hmmm, then maybe you need a vacation!" Minju lights up.
A vacation? "A what?"
"Nothing big! Just.. go to Jeju for the weekend or somethin'. Haven't you two gotten to experience a romantic getaway yet?"
Eunyung thought about it. Really hard. And realised that no, in the two years they'd been together, they in fact hadn't had the chance to get away.
"I guess... not. But-"
"Hey, you're supposed to be on!"
Another voice called from behind them. Minju turned to wave them off. "Just two secs!"
She turned back to look at Eunyung, her expression suddenly more serious than before.
"I'm telling you Eunnie, it's a good idea. Marie and I try to go on small dates whenever we have free time and if we're ever feeling overwhelmed from work we try to get away for the weekend. I'm not saying you should do it all the time but, when's the last time you remember going on a proper one-on-one date with Haejoon?"
Eunyung paused. He.. he wasn't sure. Haejoon and Eunyung weren't the type to go on fancy dates like other people. Whatever they ended up doing was something they used to do when they were younger anyway. It wasn't any different from how it used to be. Just slightly. Maybe.
"Trust me, you'll both be feeling a lot more relaxed by the end of it." Minju winked and smiled back at him once again before rushing him onto the set.
Before Eunyung could even argue, he was thrust back into his role and was stuck in place once again.
Maybe a short getaway wasn't such a bad idea.