Evolution of a lover's heart | jjk

09

It's Monday when you next meet him. He was supposed to arrive at your apartment at five p.m., but at four-thirty, he canceled. You were sad, you always look forward to seeing him, but mostly, you were worried when he didn't give a reason and never responded to your 'are you alright?' text.

But surprisingly, he does show. Knocks on the door, swaying from foot to foot with half-open eyes. Oh, yeah, it's right past midnight as well.

"Gguk?" you ask, taking in his appearance from top to bottom. He's wearing a black denim jacket over a white t-shirt and black cargo pants. Meanwhile, you've already changed into your sleepwear of a t-shirt and shorts. "Are you drunk?"

"Mm yeah. Can I sleep here? Tae and Jin are being assholes."

"Oh, uh, yeah, of course. Come in."

You open the door wider, allowing him to enter your apartment. "Yuna's home and in her room so be quiet, alright?"

"Aight."

He struggles to remove his shoes, but he seems to at least be sane enough to have thought to pack a change of clothes and his school stuff in a backpack.

"You okay?" you touch his shoulder to get his attention. He stills for a second. Or, well, he's as still as his lack of balance allows him to be. Guess it's your turn to babysit.

"Yeah. I mean, no, but kinda."

You recognize that smile. It's one people use when they're not completely fine but don't want to talk about it. The problems aren't too heavy at the moment, so they're joked away.

Pushing Jeongguk to share something isn't what you want to do, not even if he were sober, so all you offer him is a sad yet understanding look, and a hand that brushes his black hair away from his face.

He has the prettiest eyes, you think, standing there in the quiet hallway. Big and expressive even when they're hazy and tired.

"We... we just argue a lot, I guess. 'Go somewhere else if you're gonna be pissy,' Tae said to me! I'm not pissy, he is!"

"Here, let me help you," you offer when taking off his denim jacket turns out to be harder than anticipated. Jeongguk turns around, and you ease the backpack off first. "Talk to him in the morning, alright? I'm sure it's solvable."

Huffing, he mumbles something unintelligible.

The jacket ends up in your hands, and you hang it up right next to yours and Yuna's. In the meantime, Jeongguk has turned around and is leaning against the wall.

"Have you eaten? Or do you want something before we go to bed?"

"I'm fine, ate a late dinner," he mutters before suddenly straightening up and giving you a deep and serious nod. "Thank you for thinking of me."

It makes you snort, and you reach for his hand to guide him towards your bedroom, your other hand grasping his backpack. Like a child, he trudges behind you until you let go of him in the middle of your room.

"Did you bring a shirt to sleep in this time?" you glance at him over your shoulder as you head for the dresser to retrieve his shorts.

"Hm... no. I don't like sleeping in them. Is—is that okay?"

"Sure. And I get it. I usually sleep topless as well. When you're not here, I mean."

"Okay, okay," he announces abruptly, putting a finger up in the air. "This is going to sound so typical because of course, someone like me would say this, but I truly wouldn't mind if you skipped the shirt or bra or whatever you use to cover your boobs with."