Incomplete love

Lethargy

Author's POV

It was too cold. Stirring in bed restlessly, he kept patting for the figure that was hogging away the blanket. When the figure seemed unbothered, deep in sleep, he shifted his target. The nightstand. Where is it? he wondered, groggy in sleep. Annoyance and irritation made him press the buttons a little extra too hard. Are we trying to freeze to death? he grumbled. He sighed when the room turned to a survivable temperature. He threw the remote and snuggled closer to the figure, under the blanket. Warmth coursed through his chest pressed against his back and hands crawled to tuck under his shirt. The man shuddered in his sleep at the sudden contact of freezing fingers on his bare skin. 'Not now...sleep..' he mumbled, squirming. Taehyung's smirk died the moment he was shoved out of the blanket, he was cold again. Back to square one, he sighed.

'Just- give- me- some- blanket.' He mumbled, pulling at one end, with whatever force he could muster in his half-asleep state. But the man was holding onto it so tightly, that he gave up the fight. If only they didn't have an early shoot tomorrow, he would have pulled the blanket and his clothes off him right now. This particular exchange in the middle of the night was plain annoying and tiring. 'I will have my revenge tomorrow.' he promised at the man who had turned away, snuggled comfortably. Frustrated, he sighed deeply and dozed into dreamland.

The alarms blared right next to his ear, and he realized there was sweat trailing down his neck. He kicked the blanket away. When did he turn into an unnecessary igloo, he wondered. He sat up and chuckled at his neighbor. Now he realized, the room was warm, the poor thing must have increased the temperature in the middle of the night. His state gave it away, pillowcase on his feet, hand under his shirt, balled up in the corner of the bed. He shook his head trying to remember all the sights he had woken up to, this was an everyday thing now. Yesterday it was a tablecloth, a day before napkin from the bathroom, tomorrow will be my shirt... He should get another blanket for Taehyung. He couldn't help but laugh quietly while uncovering his feet and tucking him into the blanket. 

He frowned to feel the cold skin under his lips, his cheeks were freezing. 

Doing his usual stretches, he shook his head to stop overthinking his boyfriend's health and how it could be or is his fault. He walked in nice long strides to the main door, unlocking it with the password, for all his usual visitors of the day. And then he came back to the living room for his favorite morning activity. A nice long moment on the balcony, basking in some warm morning sunlight. He admired the beautiful blue sky, clear of any clouds, and smiled at the cold tingling breeze on his face. Seoul was indeed a sight to behold from this height, especially during fall. He headed back inside, time to start the day. 

A sinful aroma of butter hit his senses the moment he stepped out of the washroom. His stomach growled in hunger, so he decided to wear whatever and ran out for breakfast. He was just about to greet the cook but found him scolding an inanimate container for not opening. Damn, he looked angry. 

'Good morning Baaek-shi! How are you today?' he asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

'Good morning Kim-shi. I am alright, you need to put the laundry basket every night, or else you won't get the clothes the next day, then you complain...' he grumbled in the same tone, and in one breath. Yikes! The container finally opened and he sighed. 

'Alright, I will. Sorry-' he agreed, not to agitate him some more by reasoning. He could not lose another housekeeper. Not with how long it takes to get one, all the paperwork, and whatnot. Especially in their case, a special NDA clause had to be included with a huge penalty.  It was a double whammy for the agency because most people of his age group find it difficult to digest, two men in love, let alone living together. And he didn't want any fear of judgment in their safe space. And Baek-shi was perfect, from day one he was very graceful about their situation and absolutely open-minded.  How he wished for everyone in this country to be like him. 

He heard the beep of his main door and footsteps. 

'Sejin Hyung, Good morning!' He called out, chirpy with a satisfactory breakfast.

'Good morning!' a gruff reply came, still from the corridor. He jumped down from the barstool and headed for the balcony quickly. 'Hyung wait!' he yelled, asking him to stop changing out of his shoes. 

'Can you take these to my parent's place?' he asked handing the four plants still in their jute bags. Sejin struggled to juggle all four, he nodded and was already changing back into his shoes. 'Also, since you are going there, will you bring Gukmul back? Tomorrow's my off, right?' he bit his lips asking the question, hoping he wouldn't get scolded for not knowing the schedule.  

'Yes, it is. But no to Gukmul, his teeth are scary these days, were they always that sharp?' Sejin asked, amusing the man with a comical imitation of canines. He put the plants down when his shoe refused to sit right. 

'That's alright, I'll ask Appa to drop him off.' he turned and ran back inside, frantically searching for his phone. 'Hyung, you leave, I can't find my phone-' he yelled out from the living room. 

'No, I'll wait-' Sejin replied, sitting on the low step to fix his shoelaces. 

'Found it!' he yelled again, in joy. It was in the game room, next on top of Taehyung's desktop box, just where he had left it yesterday. 

'Appa! Will you drop off Gukmul later today? It's me off tomorrow.' he spoke in a loud voice, the entire apartment and even their neighbors could hear him. He nodded, walking back quickly to the corridor searching for Sejin. The man even turned around to hear him coming. 

'Alright, I should be done by-' he dragged the pause, staring at Sejin, who answered in gestures. '9 or 9:30 tonight. Come after that.' he paced the corridor, listening to the relay of information from his father. 

'Alright, ok, and yes.' were all the audience could hear. 

'Fine, so Sejin Hyung is coming over now with the plants. Please don't keep him for long.' he warned and cut the call. 

'Sorted!' he shrugged to the man dusting his pants. 

'I'll go now then.' Sejin picked up the plants one by one and juggled them. 'Ah! It's only your off tomorrow.' he said, before closing the door. Just as he closed the door, he thought he heard his name. 

'JIN-AHHH!' a loud call, in his favorite voice. Slightly more agitated than the usual sweet tone. He ran towards their room, biting down on his obvious smile. A good morning indeed.