Work Text:
It took a while for Dan and Jaekyung to calm down enough to let go of each other long enough to get up from the pavement. It was early enough there were still few people around, but some people were definitely noticing and staring, not that Jaekyung seemed to care in the slightest as he picked up Dan’s bags and slowly walked back with him back to the penthouse.
Dan would have taken the bags from Jaekyung – he didn’t expect Jaekyung to be his packhorse – but Jaekyung’s relieved and fragile smile seemed not worth disturbing. Especially when Jaekyung reached out a hand for Dan’s, and Dan clasped Jaekyung’s trembling fingers in his own.
I didn’t know that a man like Mr. Joo could be so afraid, Dan thought. His face felt sticky in the cool air, but Jaekyung’s skin was warm against his. And he hoped he was as comforting for Jaekyung as Jaekyung was for him.
Jaekyung walked slowly so Dan could keep up with him, though thankfully they didn’t have far to go. They were both quiet, clearly not sure what to say.
I’m staying, Dan thought, feeling so giddy it was hard to think of much else. I’m staying with Mr. Joo… His chest felt so warm. He’d have to contact his grandmother, and the hospital administrator, who was expecting him to take his old job back… There was a lot Dan would have to do if he was staying in Seoul with Jaekyung. But Dan didn’t mind.
He’d walked into the building where Jaekyung lived so many times, and just left to head to the bus stop such a relatively short while ago, so it shouldn’t have felt different than usual. But somehow it did. Maybe it was because Jaekyung was holding his hand tightly and sticking close to him. Or because Dan really wanted to be there, and wasn’t just there out of convenience or necessity.
In the elevator, Jaekyung pressed against Dan’s side, and was still shaking a bit. But he was watching Dan with a bit of wonder in his eyes. Like he expected Dan to suddenly vanish on him. He’d looked so desperate on the sidewalk.
Dan smiled and leaned into Jaekyung, resting his head on Jaekyung’s shoulder. The last time they’d done this, Jaekyung had been drunk and rowdy, and Jaekyung. Now, they were both sober and holding each other close.
It was real.
Jaekyung’s breath stuttered a bit, but he turned his head slightly to rest it on Dan’s. His fingers squeezed Dan’s. They stood like that for the ride up: just breathing quietly together.
“Where um…?” Jaekyung paused in the middle of the foyer as they walked into the penthouse. He looked down at Dan, who looked up at him. There was a worried look on Jaekyung’s face.
Dan smiled up at him, just happy he got to stay here.
“Where do you want me to put your stuff?” Jaekyung asked.
Dan blinked in surprise. “Huh?” Wouldn’t it go back in my room?
“Your stuff…?” Jaekyung asked. “I mean I could put it back in your room if you want, but uh…” He looked away and then back at Dan. He was nervous. “Y-You could… put it in my room, too…”
Dan took a moment to realize what Jaekyung was asking, and his lips parted in surprise when he finally got it: that Jaekyung wanted to know if Dan was okay sharing a room.
“You want me to stay in your room?” Dan asked, a bit awed by the idea. They’d usually slept in Dan’s bed before this. Or if Dan had ever joined Jaekyung, usually he’d go back to his own room afterward. Plus, Jaekyung was so protective of his sleep, though he’d seemed to like sleeping with Dan for a while, even when all they did was sleep…
He’ll want sex of course, Dan thought, but that didn’t bother him, either. He liked being with Jaekyung, whether it was normal sleep or being together, physically.
“Yeah,” Jaekyung said, sounding even more nervous. “If you want, I mean. I would get it if you didn’t…” He seemed quite ready for rejection. “And not just for my jinx or whatever. But like we’ve been doing with just regular sleeping…” His face grew redder. “Not that I’m against fucking or anything! Just…” He looked at the ground in frustration. “I mean…” He grimaced. “Sorry, I’m already screwing this up.”
“You’re not,” Dan said. “And I understand what you mean. I want to share a room.” Dan smiled nervously, and wondered at the surprise on Jaekyung’s face. “I um… When I was in the hospital, I used to imagine you were next to me…” His face burned in embarrassment. “It helped me sleep…”
Jaekyung just stared at him, and Dan wondered if he’d said something silly.
But then Jaekyung leaned and pressed his lips to Dan’s.
Dan blinked in surprise, but then shut his eyes, pressing forward into the kiss. It was awkward, but nice. Dan’s arm moved around Jaekyung’s back.
When Jaekyung finally pulled back, his eyes were hooded as he said, “I… wanted to just stay beside you at the hospital. It hurt to leave you alone… But the nurses thought I’d make things worse…”
Dan’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “So you did visit?! I thought you were the one bringing me flowers…”
Jaekyung’s cheeks were pink, and he nodded. “Yeah I… How’d you know?”
Dan smiled and replied, “I don’t know many people who’d do that for me. And the nurses wouldn’t, even in a place that fancy.” Nurses could be wonderful, but that tended to be a step above and beyond.
“Oh…” Jaekyung said.
“But Park Namwook said that you didn’t come…” Dan said. He frowned. “I didn’t mishear him…”
“I didn’t come when you were awake,” Jaekyung said as he took Dan’s hand to walk to his bedroom rather than the guest room. “I… didn’t want to bother you.”
“You weren’t a bother,” Dan said, recalling Jaekyung’s words outside. How he’d put Dan through pain. “You kept me going when I felt sad and alone.” He squeezed Jaekyung’s hand. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t stay.”
“Not your fault,” Jaekyung said as they walked into Jaekyung’s room. “You were busy recovering.” He set the bags on the bed. “You can uh… maybe decide later where you want everything.”
It wasn’t Dan’s first time in the room, but it felt oddly new. He didn’t know if he could ask if they were boyfriends or something… but Jaekyung wanted him here, in his life. In his room.
“There’s lots of room in the closet,” Jaekyung said. “If you need help with anything, you can ask.”
“Okay,” Dan said, looking around again.
Jaekyung rubbed his neck awkwardly. “I was thinking, uh… maybe of ordering lunch? You haven’t eaten since you left the hospital, right?”
“Oh, I guess I am a little hungry…” Dan said. “I was going to eat the…” His eyes widened in alarm and he looked at his bag. “Your cake!” In all the fuss, he’d completely forgotten!
Jaekyung looked at the bag in confusion, and then alarm. “Shit, I’m sorry!”
Dan reached out and opened the bag, but the damage was done, probably when he’d dropped it on the ground. The box was a mess of frosting, cake, and strawberries. “Aw, and it looked so good…” He smiled up sadly at Jaekyung. “It’s not you, I dropped it on the ground first…”
“I can get you a new one,” Jaekyung said, quickly. “I uh…” He looked away. “The night you were stabbed, I had a bigger one, but I dropped that, too, when I found you, and I never got a chance to give you a new one, since you were in the hospital…”
Dan’s face was warm. “You got me a cake?” No one but Okja ever did anything like that for him. “I got us one, too.”
“Really?” Jaekyung asked in equal surprise.
“I wanted to celebrate after your match,” Dan replied. Then he smiled. “Imagine, we’d have had two cakes between us.” The idea was a bit much, though. “Oh, how would we have eaten it?”
“We could refrigerate it, maybe,” Jaekyung said, now with a soft smile. “And… we can still celebrate. Since you were in the hospital for that and your birthday.”
Dan’s cheeks warmed. “We don’t have to…”
“I want to,” Jaekyung said as he stepped closer and reached out for Dan’s hand, to squeeze it. “If you’re okay with that. I was gonna make a big deal out of it and everything.”
Dan gazed up at Jaekyung in wonder, trying to imagine what that meant. “Really?”
Jaekyung nodded. “I probably wouldn’t have been that good, but…”
“I’m sure it would have been great,” Dan said with a smile. “And yeah, we can still celebrate. You don’t have to go all out for me, if you don’t want to, though.”
“I want to,” Jaekyung said, firmly. “You’re worth it.”
Dan smiled, feeling the heat in Jaekyung’s expression right in his chest. It was so different, having someone think of him this way.
Jaekyung reached down for his jacket pocket and pulled a ring box out of it.
What…? Dan wondered as Jaekyung pulled it out.
“I wanted to do this in… some fancier way,” Jaekyung said as he popped the box open. Then he showed it to Dan. “But I don’t know if I’ll have the nerve…”
Dan looked into the ring box and saw two beautiful rings inside, identical in design, save for the fact one had a black band and the other had a white one, with the latter being a little smaller.
“They’re lovely,” Dan said, awed.
“You like them?” Jaekyung asked, nervously.
Dan nodded. “I don’t really know jewelry, but… They look really nice.” Based on what little he’d seen, they looked expensive, too.
“I don’t either,” Jaekyung said. “Well, other than watches and accessories, I guess.” He turned the ring box around and plucked the smaller ring out, then held out his empty hand to Dan.
Dan blinked for a second, then put his left hand out. Something inside him was winding up. Is this really happening?
Jaekyung gently took Dan’s hand, and carefully put the ring on Dan’s ring finger. It fit pretty well.
“We can get it resized if it’s uncomfortable,” Jaekyung said.
Dan stared at the ring on his finger. “You picked this out… for us?” When? How long had he had this planned? What circumstance was Jaekyung going to give him this under?
“I… yeah.”
Dan felt something in his chest shake.
He looked up at Jaekyung, who was staring at him with that fragile gaze again. Like he expected rejection.
Dan smiled and said, “I love it.”
Jaekyung smiled slowly at him. There was still fear, but he was staying by Dan.
“What about yours?” Dan asked. “Can I put it on you?”
Jaekyung’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and then a tender look came over his face. He held out the ring box to Dan, who took it, and then removed the ring before setting the box on the bed. Dan then stepped forward and took Jaekyung’s hand in his, before slowly pushing the ring onto Jaekyung’s large finger. He stared at it there, shining beautifully on him.
“Everything looks so good on you,” Dan said, quietly. He put his hand with the ring on it near Jaekyung’s. It was so obviously twinned, now.
“Same to you,” Jaekyung said, making Dan look up at his face. Jaekyung’s expression was soft and loving. Dan had seen that expression on him before, but now, wearing Jaekyung’s ring, knowing Jaekyung viewed him as precious…
Dan couldn’t help but smile back.
Jaekyung reached up to caress his hand over Dan’s cheek. “You’re… I…” He swallowed. Then he leaned in close so his head was pressed to Dan’s.
Dan’s could feel the larger man’s shaky breathing.
Jaekyung murmured quietly, and slowly: so quiet, anyone else couldn’t hear.
Dan’s eyes widened in surprise. Then he swallowed and reached out to hug Jaekyung close. “I love you, too, Mr. Joo.”
Jaekyung wrapped his arms around Dan once more, holding him just as tightly. “Call me Jaekyung.”