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There's a crossword book on one end of the counter, a coffee mug on the other. Blankets and pillows are strewn over the sofa. The house already looks lived in, no doubt, though the two boys it belongs to are nowhere to be found.
The door to the backyard is cracked open, inviting in a gentle breeze. Juntae and Gotak split off to check the yard, and Baku steps into the hallway.
“Sieun-ah? Suho-yah?” Baku yells out. There's no answer. He can see the door to their bedroom is open at the end of the hall, littered with boxes and no signs of life.
Outside, Juntae and Gotak step onto the grass and it crinkles under their feet. The pair turns their heads, scanning every inch of the backyard.
“Maybe they went out?” Juntae suggests.
Gotak catches movement from the corner of his eye. He follows it and spots the hammock on the furthest end of the yard, softly swaying. He can make out the outline of a person weighing down the fabric.
“Wait, look.” Gotak grabs Juntae's shoulder, and points towards the hammock with his other hand.
As they slowly approach the hammock, Gotak grumbles, “If Suho's sleeping I swear to—”
Juntae pulls down the side of the hammock gently, and the sight stuns both Gotak and him into silence.
As Gotak expected, Suho is sleeping there – so is Sieun. He's tucked into Suho's chest, a book in his left hand that he'd clearly abandoned, his thumb stuck between the pages he was reading. He looks the most peaceful they've ever seen him. Suho is holding tightly onto his waist as though he's something precious, and by the way he always treats him they already know he is.
“Maybe we should come back another time,” Juntae whispers, hesitant to even move.
The light crunching of grass behind them makes both of them turn, and before they can hush Baku he lets out a loud sigh.
“Finally! I swear I turned the whole house upside dow—”
Gotak slaps Baku's back and aggressively shushes him. A barely audible groan makes all their heads snap back to the hammock.
Sieun shifts, visibly still asleep. He tightens his arm around Suho's shoulder and buries his face deeper into his neck, making the hammock rock. When they see the steady rise and fall of Sieun's chest return to normal, they collectively let out a tense breath. Juntae slumps forward as the relief washes over him.
Suho turns his head to the side, blinking sleep out of his eyes. When his vision finally adjusts to the sunlight, he can make out the three figures hovering over them. None of them have noticed he's awake yet. He considers closing his eyes and pretending he's still asleep so they leave – until Baku starts talking.
“Sieunnie looks so cute.” He makes a pinching gesture toward him with both hands. “Our little ice princess.”
“Yah, keep those hands to yourself.” Suho wraps his arms around Sieun even tighter.
All three of them jump. Baku lets out a nervous laugh as he throws his hands up in defense.
“Suho-yah, it's not like that at all!” Baku frantically defends himself.
“Knock it off, yeah? Sieun's exhausted. If you wake him up, he won't be so cute.” Suho has a small smile on his face, though his tone is deadly.
“We're so sorry!” Juntae whisper-yells. “We'll drop by another time, you guys should rest.”
When the three of them start walking away, Gotak berates Baku for his behavior.
“You could've said literally anything else. You know how Suho is.”
“It wasn't like that! I was just joking around—”
“Keep it to yourself next time!”
“Now that would be weird—”
They keep bickering as they disappear into the house, until Suho stops being able to hear them. He looks up at the sky, watching the clouds as they pass by and letting them lull him to sleep again. Sieun pulls him back to reality.
“You're still jealous?” He murmurs against Suho's skin.
“He called you cute. In front of me and everything.” Suho sulks as he stares at the clouds, running his hand up Sieun's back.
Sieun can practically hear him pouting. His lips curve into a tiny smile and he lets out an exhale.
“You think that's funny?” Suho furrows his brows, turning his head down in a useless effort to get a look at Sieun's face.
Sieun doesn't answer for a moment. The breeze gives the hammock another gentle swing.
“I like when you're jealous.”
The way Sieun says it takes the shock from the words entirely out of Suho's mind. There's no teasing undertone, no malice. He sounds happy.
“I like that you care about me so much.” Sieun's voice is hushed despite there being no one else around, like the confession could blow away in the wind if uttered too loud.
Suho's chest tightens. “All I do is care about you.” His thumb traces over Sieun's shoulder blade.
“You care so much that you're jealous of my friends,” Sieun adds.
“Can you blame me?” Suho pouts again. “They have almost two years over me.” He wants Sieun to believe he's just joking, but there's a thinly veiled melancholy behind his words.
“Those two years were still hell without you,” Sieun admits. His nails scratch against the hard cover of his book.
Suho takes the book from Sieun's hand. Sieun struggles against him to get it back.
“Hey—”
“You're not even reading it!” Suho lets out a hearty laugh.
He takes his hand off Sieun's back to fold the corner of the page Sieun left open. He shuts the book and lets it fall to the ground.
“Suho, what the hell!” Sieun reaches his hand out of the hammock in a desperate attempt to reach it.
The hammock sways in a rogue manner, nearly sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Suho grabs Sieun's arm and pulls him back into his chest.
“You can get it later. We're having a moment.”
Sieun clumsily pushes himself up so he can look Suho in the eye. His hair is fluffed up and messy, his eyes swollen with sleep. The huff he was about to let out gets stuck in his throat when Suho tugs him down to connect their lips.
Sieun deepens the kiss like it's second nature. He hikes his knees up the hammock and it shifts with his weight, swaying them all the way to the right before Suho briskly grabs the fabric on the left and pulls them steady again.
They struggle to break the kiss as their front teeth clank against each other. Suho can't stop laughing.
“That's not funny.” Sieun attempts to catch his breath, cheeks flushed a deep, noticeable red.
“Oh now it's not funny, hm?” Suho retorts and tilts his head, heat rising up his face as well.
Sieun surprises him with another kiss, accompanied by a fit of muffled giggles from Suho.
“You're so annoying,” Sieun mumbles against his lips. They're somehow the fondest words he's ever spoken.