That Stupid List (A Seventeen Fanfic)

Spin-Off #3: Burden

Wonwoo was in the middle of writing an extended research paper due that night when Mingyu put his arms around Wonwoo from behind and started kissing his jaw.

"Not now, Mingyu," Wonwoo said as he suppressed the shiver that Mingyu's breath on his neck was inciting in him. They've been together for well over a year now, and so one would think that Wonwoo would be used to Mingyu's sensual advances, but Wonwoo was still as shy as ever, and Mingyu loved it.

"Busy?" Mingyu moped.

"I really have to finish this paper," Wonwoo replied, "I'm sorry. I promise, as soon as I submit it..."

"Okay..." Mingyu said, removing his hands from Wonwoo's chest.

It had been forever since they had time to be together. Their schedules were extremely incompatible: whenever one was free, the other had class. Mingyu also had full-day internships in the weekend, and Wonwoo was working a part-time job during the nights. It was thus nearly impossible to see him. By happenstance, Mingyu got a day off, but unfortunately, Wonwoo had way too much work to even think about time with Mingyu.

It's been like that for many months now. Neither had much time for the other, only being able to catch up at night right before bed when the both of them were too tired to really invest in the other. Wonwoo hated it. He wished both of them could have just a day for each other. Just one day without stress, without work, committed to only the two of them. That, however, seemed like a distant dream that would never come true.

-

It was 11:48 PM. Wonwoo had finally finished the paper, all with twelve minutes to spare. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with those twelve minutes. He turned from his desk excitedly, just barely starting to enunciate: "Mingyu, I'm done!" when he saw that Mingyu had dozed off to asleep.

Wonwoo sighed, feeling frustrated. Tomorrow morning, Mingyu would be off to class before Wonwoo could even wake up, and they would not see each other the whole day until Wonwoo gets back from his job that night.

Wonwoo got into his pajamas and debated with himself as to whether or not he should wake Mingyu up to pray, as Mingyu had clearly fallen asleep without meaning to. Mingyu always hated falling asleep without praying, and had asked Wonwoo to always wake him up if that ever happened.

He climbed into the bed beside Mingyu, shaking him lightly.

"Mingyu, wake up. You forgot to pray."

Mingyu made a small sound of acknowledgement, but didn't move. Wonwoo leaned into to kiss his boyfriend's cheek when he felt Mingyu's arms tighten around him.

"Are you done with your paper?" Mingyu asked tiredly as Wonwoo cuddled into Mingyu's warm chest.

"Yeah I'm done for the night, but you're not. Go pray and then sleep," Wonwoo told him.

"Okay," Mingyu replied sleepily. He kissed Wonwoo's forehead and released him to climb out of bed. He tiredly trudged towards his prayer statue and sat in his usual position in front of it.

Namu Amita Bul. Namu Amita Bul. Namu Amita Bul.

No matter how ridiculous this ritual was to Wonwoo, he could not deny how much comfort he felt when he heard it. Mingyu repeated it every night, and so it was like a constant reminder of Mingyu's presence in his life, even if things were not going very well for them this semester. Mingyu's praying voice reminded Wonwoo that even though their relationship was not flourishing as it should be, nothing really changed: Mingyu was still reciting the exact same prayer; Wonwoo still heard it every night; they still spent their nights together; they were still together.