To Put On An Act [bxb]

Chapter 13 - desert song

Thank god it had been Youngbin's father that knocked on the door in the morning instead of his mother. William Lee poked his head in, had let out an amused sigh, a gentle "Good Morning" when Youngbin finally pried his eyes open and lifted his head a bit.

"Slept well?" The man spoke with his voice lowered to not wake up Alex, who was still knocked out on the mattress next to Youngbin. Youngbin nodded, slowly, yes, he actually had. For the first time in a week or so.

Maybe it was because he was so incredibly tired and exhausted that his body couldn't help but shut down, or maybe it was because he wasn't alone that night, but he certainly had a good sleep. He hadn't even dreamed, or at least couldn't remember if he did, which was a good sign, actually.

"You can come down to get breakfast, if you'd like," Youngbin's father said, before flashing another fond smile, and closing the door again.

Youngbin exhaled, stretched his arms as he sat up. Then he looked at Alex, who was still peacefully sleeping. He didn't even look like Alex. There was no sharpness left in his face now, none of that carefully curated edge, just messy hair and a slight pout and lashes resting on his cheeks, eyes that began moving a little underneath the lids before they finally fluttered open. And when those eyes met Youngbin's, they widened a bit, before darting through the room.

"Fuck," muttered Alex, his voice lower than usual, raspier, "You scared the shit out of me."

"I didn't do anything?"

"You fucking stared at me until I woke up?"

"I looked at you? Once."

Alex blinked slowly, still looking at everything in this room except for Youngbin. He stretched out his arms in front of him, then let them fall down again and crossed them behind his head as he closed his eyes once more.

"You looked at me and I woke up. What does that say about you?"

"What does that say about you?" Youngbin furrowed his brows. "Light sleeper?"

"Well, usually I'm not." Alex cleared his throat, turned his head to the side to no longer face Youngbin.

"But you are today?"

"I didn't really- sleep that well, to be honest. But it's fine."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Should I have given you more pillows?"

And then Alex didn't say anything for a few seconds, rather it looked as though he held his breath. Then, slowly, he said: "I guess, yeah. Don't worry about it though." And something about him seemed a little sad. Youngbin didn't like that, but there wasn't much he could do about that. Except maybe reach out to him again, like he'd done yesterday, and take his hand. Youngbin decided not to do it though.

"Uhm, dad said we can get breakfast, by the way. Just came in."

"And he didn't care about the, you know, being in the same bed thing?"

"Well." Youngbin shrugged, pulled himself up on his bed frame to stand and stretch his legs a little. "He doesn't look like he cares. Maybe just not tell my mother."

"Yeah, I don't think I will-" Alex cleared his throat, his voice sounding a little less hoarse. "And, uhm- You didn't mind either?"

"My fault for falling asleep on your mattress, I suppose. It was quite comfortable to me- Sorry about the pillows again."

"N-no worries."

Youngbin sat back down on his own bed, cold and untouched since last night, and he bounced a bit as he fell onto the still perfectly folded sheets. Really, he'd expected it to be- weirder? Worse? More stomach twisting to sleep next to Alex? But back then he didn't really care all that much, being much too tired to care about anything anymore, and when he had just woken up and seen Alex first thing, it was just, well.