𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 | Hyunsung

Twenty five - sleeping beauty

A sleepy yawn escaped Hyunjin as he rested his chin in his palm, his eyes gazing out over the now sunlit nature outside the huge window. The silence was comforting, and it felt like the lingering awkward tension between them finally had eased. At least for Hyunjin. For Jisung, the awkwardness had turned into fear. Fear that Hyunjin would see him like he saw himself, that his viewpoint would - or in worst case - already had changed. Did he think he was childish for asking for a hug last night? What if he thought he was ugly? Or too selfish? What if he -

"Are you okay Jisung?" Jisung's attention was ripped away from his thoughts and towards the gorgeous sleepy boy sitting infront of him. "Y-yeah, what do you mean? Do I l-look sad?" "Yes Jisung, you do. Plus, you've barely touched your breakfast", Hyunjin replied, making Jisung look down at his plate. Hyunjin was right.

The egg was completely messed up and mixed together with the soy sauce dipped rice. He pushed the bowl a bit to the side, sighing deeply before leaning back in the chair, "it's nothing, i'm just a bit tired", he mumbled, pushing aside all his negative thoughts just to push out an exhausted fake smile at Hyunjin. And it worked. Hyunjin nodded and gazed back out the window, the only difference now was that he was sitting up, and Jisung was staring at his side profile.

Hyunjin spotted a dove sitting in the tree nearest the window. A smile played on Hyunjin's lips as the confusing memories of the talking dove came into his mind. He wasn't sure if they were real anymore, they felt like just a part of his imaginative brain trying to trick him, but whatever they were, they had helped him. He felt much more content living with Jisung, even if they each took their own time to warm up and get comfortable with eachother. The only thing somewhat disturbing the peaceful mindset Hyunjin currently had was the underlying thought of Jisung.

The Jisung that aggressively punched the tree. The Jisung that got upset very easily and deeply regretting it later. It scared him, and it probably scared Jisung himself as well-but Hyunjin wouldn't know. What if Jisung wasn't much different from his own parents?

A loud bark interupted the silence. Another loud bark caused Hyunjin to look down. "Are you hungry baby?" he cooed and leaned down and pet the puppy delicately.

"Oh yeah, I can drive you to the store today" Jisung suggested.

~~~

Jisung leaned against his car seat, letting out a relieved sigh. The faint silhouette of Hyunjin entering the store dissapeared alone through the entrance. A smile painted Jisung's round cheeks and the silence dragged him into a cloudy comfort. He let himself sink in the soft cushions, relaxing his tense posture and finally feeling able to breathe properly.

Getting used to being around Hyunjin was draining his energy, yet every second they were together felt worthy of it in exchange. He did feel less lonely now. He closed his eyes and the image of Hyunjin and Kkami flashed for a moment. Their names brought joy to his heart, Hyunjin's especially made it flutter. But why? Was that just how friends worked and made you feel? If it was then Hyunjin was surely his first real friend.

His eyes felt heavy and he fought the urge to fall into a quick slumber. To just let everything be for a while, to go unconscious for a short time and finally relax his tenseness and get some comfortable sleep in what felt like it might have been forever for the small boy.

A knock on the car window caused Jisung getting shocked out of his sleepy state and sit up with wide eyes. He looked out the window and saw Hyunjin smiling, looking like he's holding back a giggle. Jisung breathed out as Hyunjin entered and placed Kkami in his lap, kissing the puppy's head before putting on his seatbelt. Jisung found all this endearing and couldn't keep his gaze off of the taller's actions.

A low sigh espaced him as he turned to the steering wheel. Just when he was about to turn the car on, Hyunjin put his hand on Jisung's shoulder, making him instantly freeze. His hand felt so gentle and heavy, yet warm against his cloth-covered skin. He turned his head towards Hyunjin again, wide eyed, confused, but most of all, scared.

What was he scared for? He wasn't sure, but something about Hyunjin's large hand resting on his shoulder made his heart drop to the stomach, laying like a heavy boulder, pushing down, making Jisung feel sick.

"Jisung, I got you something, hol-" Hyunjin looked up at him after fumbling in the bag in between his feet, his smile dissapeared and worry painted his face. "Jisung, are you okay? You're so pale", Hyunjin mumbled and removed his hand, gently feeling the other's forehead.

Jisung shook his head lightly.

"I-I don't know, i'm sorry Hyunjin. I got scared when you touched my shoulder, but I have no idea why", he admitted lowly and looked down. Hyunjin stared at him with sympathy in his gaze, a small smile formed from Jisung's simple confession. He fished out the object from the bag, rustled it a couple of times before pulling it out and revealing it.

Jisung immediatly peaked and looked up as soon as he heard the familiar rustling of Malang Cow candies. With wide puppy eyes he stared at the bag Hyunjin was holding, the cute cow on the package smiling back at him.

Hyunjin couldn't contain the ammount of happiness Jisung filled him with, and he just had to let it out. A big, soft, smile, turning his eyes into crescented moons as Jisung let out a quiet gasp of amazement.

"How did you-" "I saw the trash can in the kitchen, dummy" Hyunjin cut off and placed the bag in Jisung's hand. He curled his fingers around it tightly and held it in a tight grasp, looking up at Hyunjin to meet his eyes again.

"Thank you.."

~~~

Hyunjin was laying stretched out on the couch, enjoying the silence in the room, the only noise coming from Jisung's breath and occasional hum of contentment. He was leaning against the couch, looking out the big window. The sky was covered in grey clouds, ready to pour down drops of cold water on the ground. Something about the big clouds made Jisung feel down. Not just the weather itself, but the clouds.

How they were ready to let everything out, every single drop that were holding them back from climbing the mountain, and when they finally came up to the top they had achived the goal. When was Jisung gonna reach the top?

Hyunjin noticed how he stopped humming and sat up, leaning back on his arms on the couch. He looked up and down at Jisung, his head was leaning on the end of the couch, near Hyunjin's feet, and his eyes were fixated on a point at the ceilling. His blue-and-brown mixed bangs were gracefully placed alongside his face, making their way down to rest right under his right ear.

Hyunjin grabbed the pillow he was laying on and crawled over to the other end of the couch where Jisung was, put the pillow down and leaned his arms on it.

"What are you thinking about?" Jisung blinked a few times before fully registrering the question he asked. "I'm thinking about you.." he mumbled, his tired eyes keeping themselves fixated at the ceiling, unaware of Hyunjin's almost silent giggle and cheeky smile now plastered on his face. Hyunjin reached out his hand and delicately ran it through Jisung's soft hair, carefully combing and stroking every strand of hair he could.

"Is there anything special about me that you're thinking about, hm?" Hyunjin hummed. Jisung let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes to the soft feeling of the other's fingers gently brushing against his scalp and hair.

"Your eyes... Pretty.." Jisung's mumble became more quiet, but his words still made Hyunjin's cheeks fire up in a red tint. "You think so..?" Hyunjin mumbled back, this time, without a response coming from Jisung. His lips were slightly parted and his breathing was heavy.

A smile made its way to Hyunjin's lips. He stood up and gently lifted Jisung into the couch and pulled the duvet over him. He crouched down and observed Jisung's sleeping face, his eyes calmly closed and lips no longer parted, gentle breaths escaping his nose.

Hyunjin lightly brushed his thumb on Jisung's soft lips. A sudden urge to connect them with his made him curious, what it would feel like, taste like. He immediatly shook the thought off with guilt, settling for just laying cross-armed while looking at Jisung.