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“still hurts?”
Leo just started to shake his head on reflex, but the moment his gaze met Sangwon's piercing gaze of doubt, the lie died in his throat, he gulped down and turned the shake into a reluctant nod — why Sangwon always looked so scary when it's something like this “it's bearable now” he said, avoiding that piercing gaze
“Be honest Leo” the two stared at their manager who just opened the door, Leo precisely wondering how did their manager overheard the conversation just now
Junseo sighed, at least their manager finally got to the driver seat and not leaving him feeling like a third wheel — or more like a statue between these love birds. Today's schedule ends pretty quickly to save more energy considering tomorrow’s schedule is going to be intensely crazy. So if possible he really wants to return to the dorm as fast as possible and get a proper rest.
“I'm honest, hyung… I ate the painkiller so maybe that's why it's bearable now” he sounded tired but his fingers were already busy scrolling sns. Leo seemed quite happy with the reactions he saw, although he skipped the performance review for when he was ready enough not to hate himself.
The manager stared back at him from the rear view, feeling another gaze made Leo straighten up his sitting abruptly “ — argh” well it didn't go as planned. He was planning to show that it's been better only to hurt himself by the abrupt move
“... Hyung…” Sangwon immediately puts his phone down, Junseo is already looking back. “Can you lay down?”
Leo shook his head “it would put more burden there, can't lay on my stomach here you know”
“I know, but it wouldn't be good to just sit the whole ride, it's not a quick ride…” Sangwon slipped his hand under Leo's shirt, trying to give the back a little massage. Leo felt a bit at ease with how Sangwon pressed it gently.
“Is there no Pillow? You guys usually have one right?” Manager Hyung turned on the aircon when he noticed Leo was sweating there.
Junseo pointed at the back seat “there are Anxin's pillows there, try using it behind your back”
“Hold on…” Sangwon reached to the back seat to get the two cat pillows—plushies like that sometimes Leo and Anxin use, it's mostly Anxin’s though Leo tends to use it too.
Leo can only sigh while holding the pain. His face grimacing, he didn't even realise his phone already fell near his legs. Sangwon's massage actually was pretty good but he has heard the whole sermon about not massaging it carelessly… he wishes there is just a shortcut for this stupid pain.
After he got the pillow, Sangwon kneeled on his seat, half hovering to Leo's side because he is a bit too tall to just kneel there. “Move a bit, I'll lower the seat”
“Nah, my legs will be hanging like that if you put it behind my back…”
“But you need to protect your back too”
“I want to lay on your lap…”
“The seat is not connected Hyung, we can't do that unless you want to move to the back?”
“... Hmm… too much trouble—”
“AHEM… — when can I start the car? The other car is asking what is taking so long” the manager cleared his throat reminding the two that it's not really the time to be having some lovers quarrel.
Sangwon blinked and stared at their Manager and Junseo. He almost forgot they are not alone. Almost, good for him, because Leo has totally forgotten about it himself.
“Uh maybe you can lean on the door and put your legs on Sangwon's side” Junseo finally breaks the ice.
“Ye—yeah sounds about right…” Leo decided to move after shooting the apologetic look on their Manager and Junseo.
Sangwon cleared his throat "Here..." He placed Leo's phone on Leo's lap before fussing around to see how he can help Leo sits comfortably then decided to help Leo to put the pillow behind him — seemed pretty unnecessary as Leo should have been able to do it himself but at this point commenting about their act of service move sounded a bit too stupid because they're fooling no one around members and staff on how close they actually are.
“ — uh.. we can go hyung… sorry for the commotion” Leo finally said as he settled his leg on the side of Sangwon's seat.
“Alright…” the manager made sure all the doors were locked before he started driving out. “Leo, if it gets worse tell me…”
“Yes sir”
***
Sangwon finally looks back at Leo again when they are leaving the area. Good thing their car is pretty much tinted so no one can really snap a photo of him staring at Leo for a little bit too much — as if he didn't do so on a daily basis. Sangwon reached down to quietly slip the shoes off Leo’s feet, Leo was still playing with his phone when Sangwon did it so he just shot Sangwon a look, questioning what he did.
“...” Sangwon didn't say anything, he continued doing what he was doing and then once Leo's feet was just in his socks, Sangwon adjusted a pillow beneath Leo's knee to keep it from hanging awkwardly then gently pulling Leo’s legs up to rest across his own lap. “Try sleeping…”
“If I sleep now it would be harder to sleep in the dorm later…” he didn't comment on what Sangwon did. Letting that skinny yet filled with gentle power fingers giving massage on his leg. It does feel funny letting Sangwon do this after a couple months of restraining himself from being too touchy to Sangwon.
Sangwon shot a glare — it was supposed to be a gentle stare but lately his default look is pretty fierce when he is annoyed that Leo isn't sleeping enough “Still having trouble sleeping?”
“No…” oh how Leo wishes he can just reach that face to play with it and stop Sangwon from making such a sad face instead “can't you rest your face… you will get wrinkled if you keep frowning like that. Me being the only one who looked that old is enough especially with my natural scary face”
Sangwon sighed and tried to ease his expression. He looked at the rear mirror, trying to get the manager's attention “Hyung… can you turn off the aircon and just let the air in? It wouldn't be good for Leo-hyung’s throat.”
“But it's hot Sangwon…”
Junseo already turned down his window a bit despite Leo’s protest and their manager also turned the Aircon off. Junseo commented as he took a better pictures of scenery “Some natural air is not so bad, besides I need to take photo for Allyz ~ this help with natural lighting”
Leo sighed in defeat. Sangwon finally gave him a winning smile.
Well if he is happy that's fine I guess … “anyway its not that I have trouble sleeping but when you nap, you naturally would feel too awake to sleep again. And I don't plan to do anything else after that so my body wouldn't be exhausted enough to get a good sleep. It's just strategy in sleeping”
“You sure love yapping a lot about the sleeping theory” Junseo shook his head. Can't believe how much a yapper this guy is considering he loves his room and bed so much.
Their manager rolled his eyes. “Yeah would be nice if he actually practice it, last time I heard a tip off he doesn't actually put it on practice”
“Theory is theory, while it might be tested in some study, in general there are many more variables that can affect how sleeping works. So the possibility of it not working is not zero…”
And Sangwon is just there, staring at the debate about sleeping starting between Leo, Junseo and their Manager. Watching it alone already amused him and he doesn't intend to argue as Leo always been so good at making the smart convincing arguments even if in the end there is no actual certainty of all conclusion because as Leo said, “the precise science only exist in math and even then the logic behind π is still not based on precise science as close as it wished to be” very funny for Sangwon to hear that when he recalls how much Leo hates math. He just loves to debate about those theories.
And he doesn't mind if that means it distracts Leo from the pain he has.
***
“Can you stand?”
“Yeah its better now, must be because a beautiful man massaged it earlier”
“Hyung that is not funny…”
Leo makes that disappointed look as he slips in his foot back to the shoes. “I didn't intend to be funny…”
Sangwon is putting the pillow back already “So it really doesn't hurt?”
“Just a bit but I can walk just fine, it was just twisted wrongly when I sat back… don't worry too much”
The manager is holding back from shaking his head in annoyance of these two being a bit too lovey dovey. Meanwhile Junseo is already taking off his seat belt. “Rest as soon as you are back in the dorm don't do any extra activities that might cause any injury. Our schedule is packed, the music show promotion is only two weeks after all”
“yeah”
“we will”
“hmm”
— the manager just watches them walking back to the dorm, smiling tiredly to see Sangwon insisting to help Leo walk when Leo starts arguing that walking by himself is better because it doesn't pull the muscle on his back only to end up leaning to Sangwon anyway. He doesn't get why Junseo is so fine with being with those two because now? He kinda misses his wife.
***
“Guys, clean up first before sleeping. Don't sleep with your make up still on” Junseo warned before he slips to Sanghyeon’s room to stop the kids from falling asleep on top of each other
Sangwon went to Leo's room just to check on him. It seemed like Leo already took a quick shower but was too tired to actually clean his face properly and now he is already laying on his stomach, half of his legs are hanging off the bed because he just dropped himself on the bed without moving much.
“Move your face a bit, I'll clean it up for you” Sangwon sits close to his face, pushing the hair covering Leo's eyes to the side.
“If I do that the next thing that would be injured might be my neck instead” unwillingly, he decided to sit again, although very slowly, not wanting to repeat that same mistake. He leaned to the big bean that already has his extra pillow for his back.
Sangwon just chuckled to see it, he couldn't help, Leo kept making sounds like he was already in his 70's or something. “Haraboji~ stay still, will you?” He hovers closer before he kneel by Leo's side
“if I'm too still you'd cry” Leo opened just one eye to see Sangwon's reaction. And he is already pouting as he smacked Leo's face with the cleansing stuff on his hand and started playing with his face “ow… careful… my face is skin and bones now”
“It's your fault for dieting too hard,” Sangwon whined. Didn't seem to be bothered enough to change his method — besides, he does miss just playing with Leo's face like this
“But you said I looked better like this”
“You looked hot anytime really…” Sangwon pouted “actually I was happy you ate more that time, now you back like this again” he definitely didn't just put a bit more force on that dabs
“It's fine, it's a strategic move…” Leo had to hold both of Sangwon's hands on his face just to stop the younger guy from using his face as a sandbag “I know you're annoyed, but let me have this, yeah?” He gazes at Sangwon with those pleading eyes before he places a kiss on Sangwon's wrist as he closes his eyes. "As much as I love to please my Wonsangie, even if they don't ask me to to this, I want to please my fans too"
“Is it bad to be egoist and not wanting to share you with your fans?” Sangwon is already melting over that small gesture, it's very unfair how Leo would so easily show the gesture that makes him just want to put everything behind. “I'm your fan too”
“Yeah, Mr. It's My Opinion.” Leo gently slipped the cleansing cloth from Sangwon's grip. With a chuckle, he reached up to slide the headband onto Sangwon's own face instead, turning the tables to cleanse Sangwon's skin. “I had to share your love with your fans and so much of your friends too so consider that even—if anything I’m the one holding back a lot more here”
Sangwon closed his eyes and lifted his neck up following Leo's gentle gesture to lead his move. Leo isn't really wrong about it but it's not like his fans are that demanding or Leo's preference over him was that particular so he doesn't think there was a necessary fight over his look—now that he thinks about it, Leo almost never complains about his looks anyway. He only always compliments him “it's not like I hate your long hair, you just look hotter without your hair covering your face” Sangwon rolled his eyes, he knows Leo really likes covering his eyes with his bangs. It's cool. But he is hot. Why hide it?
“Hm hm thank you for the compliment” — Leo didn't sound to actually be amused but Sangwon just sighed, had enough of arguing with a stonehead. Leo always has a way to argue and he'd whine over it even if in the end he would just do what Sangwon—his fans want him to.
What a cute obedient boyfriend
Too good for this world.
Sangwon opened his eyes to Leo staring at him with such a focus while finishing his moves. Noticing the gaze back, Leo finally focused back on Sangwon's eyes. In a couple of seconds they just stared at each other without saying anything, doing anything, just enjoying that gaze appreciating this rare moment of silence.
It's actually quite surprising that Junseo hasn't dragged Sangwon back upstairs but Leo doesn't want to think about it that much now. He just slips his hand behind Sangwon's neck while his other hand cupped Sangwon's cheek gently and pulled him closer to kiss his lips. It's just a small peck, for once, twice, before Leo nibbles on Sangwon's lower lip a little, chuckling the moment their nose touches only to tilt his head a bit to continue what he was doing.
Sangwon wasn't expecting the kiss but he doesn't hate the idea of Leo saying sorry this way. Probably, its one of the things Leo do that Sangwon can't deny. Something about his small kisses, bites and and touch always make Sangwon feel so thoroughly loved—worshipped. Though with Leo's warm move, the following scene wouldn't be some heat up steamy scene that possibly would break Sangwon's back instead.
It's just a simple words of his
—Sorry for worrying you
“Forgive me this time, yeah?" Leo give the back of his head a little massage, the way his voice vibrate between their kiss gives something that just feels very intimate and personal "I promise I'll be more careful”
—We are in critical time of our career, I can't afford to slow down even if we get to slow things down for everyone
Leo carefully guided Sangwon's head down a bit, allowing their forehead to touches. “We finally got the chance to be heard, timing is just bad, and I wasn't careful but we can't afford to slow down even more than we already are right?” he smiled. Even in moment like this. Sangwon only opened his eyes when Leo finally pulled away.
—Even the turtle still need to keep going to catch up on the rabbit despite everything
“Let's keep going. Albeit slowly” Leo combed Sangwon's hair back, placing a kiss on his forehead.
—Sangwon hates that. Hates how he can expect what Leo is going to say. Hates the assurance that sounds too logical yet hard to deny. Hates to submit to the idea that feels like a surrender. But he can't deny how each of Leo's touch put some ease in his heart, just like water that calmly makes the fire in Sangwon's heart went a bit quieter. They have worked so hard for everything. It has cost them too much to back off or let it be even more ruined. He just wishes there is a better answer for this, but beggars don't get to choose. They just need to focus on the euphoria instead of the quick sand below them.
“How are you so good at making people submit to you despite always acting so obedient and passive”
Leo blinked. Didn't expect that question which feels a bit out of topic from him “... Am I?”
Oh stop that Lee Leo, you are soon to be 24 and still dare to look that innocently lost?
“You are…” Sangwon sighed and just flopped his head down, heavily resting it right in the center of Leo's lap. Leo is truly the epitome of Lion hiding behind the cute cat act. How dare he act cute like that after deliberately melting Sangwon's whole body down.
Well, in other hand, certain man is having a bit trouble because the sudden warmth that was caused by Sangwon hiding his face between Leo's thighs made Leo freeze.
“Err…. Sangwon…?”
“Hmm…”
“... Don't wake him up”
“Hmmm…”
“Sangwon? I'm serious…”
Sangwon looked up with a very innocent-rabbit like flushed face that if Leo is some sort of anime boy he would be spraying some nosebleeds right now. Leo looked away, trying to hold that cute aggression and suppress the huge desire to pin Sangwon down the floor or just shove him somewhere — oh God Bless You all. Stop thinking LEE LEO
JUNSEO HYUNG PLEASE TAKE HIM AWAY BEFORE I CAN'T STOP MYSELF —
“Sangwon-ah!!! Let's return upstairs!!!”
BLESS YOU KIM JUNSEO I LOVE YOU YOU'RE THE BEST HYUNG EVER I SWEAR TO GOD
“Geez… I'm not Anxin, you don't have to yell hyung” Sangwon sighed and stood up finally. He seemed a little satisfied to notice how Leo looked panicked. It was not his intention to wake anything up but he surely knows what he is doing. And he knows the effect he has on Leo
Well consider it a punishment for making me annoyed hyung...
Leo let out a huge as hell sigh, his shoulders slumping in pure relief as the cooler air filled the space between them. He absolutely could not afford any funny business right now—not with a brutal forty-eight hours of possible zero sleep staring him down, and certainly not with his back in this condition.
“Go on,” Leo managed a breathless, fond chuckle, waving a hand toward the door where the reluctant Sangwon is pouting and finally leaving “Get some rest before hyung come back to drag you.”