The Underground - 3RACHA

32

"Not at all," Changbin shook his head, "but...I don't mind doing domestic things with you."

Jisung looked down at his hands, the smile expanding even further on his face, "I don't mind doing domestic things with you either."

"Do you mind not flirting and helping me?" Chan asked the two when he walked back inside, another three boxes in his arms. The other two chuckled at him as he placed them on the floor. Jisung pulled one of the boxed closer to him so he and Changbin could 'sort through' it which was ultimately a pointless job as nobody knew where anything was going yet and Changbin was merely examining objects before putting them back in the box, but at least it made them feel helpful.

-

The furniture in the house was being moved in by men who had been hired to do the job. Jisung was sitting in the corner of the living room, on the floor below the window, watching them hesitantly as he played with his hands and hoped Chan or Changbin would appear soon. He didn't like being left alone with strangers.

"Is it ok here?" One out of two men asked, standing in the centre of the room as he held up the sofa from Chan's old apartment with the other man.

Jisung nodded in response, unable to get the word 'yes,' out of his mouth. Despite it seeming so simple, his words had got lost in his throat somewhere and the men didn't look very impressed by that. They looked at Jisung as if he was being rude which Jisung knew he was, but he wished he wasn't. The look they gave him made him feel even smaller as he pulled his legs up to his chest and felt his breathing becoming more and more unsteady as the men placed down the sofa and more men entered the room, holding furniture that had become a blur to Jisung.

"Not now, please not now," Jisung mumbled to himself under his breath, which only drew more attention from the men. Subconsciously, he started to rock backwards and forwards as he squeezed his eyes shut and desperately tried to practice the breathing exercise Chan had taught him over the past few weeks when they'd been going through the stress of moving. It didn't work this time though. When Jisung opened his eyes, he saw the two men staring at him as if he was crazy and a tight feeling expanded across his chest. It was hard to breathe and Jisung felt as if he was being choked.

"Hey, mate, are you ok?" One of the men asked which only made Jisung worse. He didn't want to talk to a stranger, he couldn't. He wanted Chan because Chan always knew what to do, but Chan wasn't in sight. The man turned to his friend, "do you want to go and get that blond guy and tell him his friend is freaking out or something?"

'Freaking out...' those words hurt Jisung more than he thought they would. Was he freaking out? Was he being irrational? All Jisung knew was that it was getting harder and harder to breathe. The tears that started falling from his eyes were inevitable and when the man stepped closer to Jisung, he cowered away, letting out a small whimper and backing himself as far against the wall as he could.

"Hey, it's ok, I'll deal with this," Jisung heard Chan say, which brought him some comfort, but it was mostly a feeling in the back of his head and not something he could focus on. All he could focus on was his panic and distress.

He barely processed Chan walking towards him and the other men leaving to get more furniture until he was kneeling in front of him. "Jisung, can you hear me?" He asked. Jisung could hear him but he couldn't respond, he couldn't even bring himself to nod, but he managed to let out another small whimper and Chan knew that meant he could.

"It's ok, baby. Take deep breaths," Chan said before starting to guide Jisung through the breathing exercise he'd found when he was researching panic attacks in the psychology books at the local library. Seeing Jisung in so much distress was what brought about his visit there. He hadn't been there much before, but he wanted to better understand what Jisung was going through and how to help him better so the library seemed like a good place.

It took a while but eventually, Jisung's breathing had calmed and he was only mildly hyperventilating with far fewer tears streaming down his face. Chan wiped them away with his thumb and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of his nose. "I know this is a stressful time for you but I'm so proud of you, baby. You're so brave."

Jisung sniffled, "I-I'm pathetic."

"No, no," Chan quickly shook his head, "don't you dare say that; you're far from pathetic. Right now you're the strongest person I know and I love you so much."

"Y-you love me?" Jisung's tears came to a stop at once.  He stared up at Chan but Chan was smiling back at him as if what he'd said wasn't a shock to Jisung.

"Of course I love you. Why are you so surprised?"

"I just...nobody has ever said that to me before," Jisung realised, "not...not since my parents died anyway."

Chan leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Jisung's lips. It was only a few seconds long but it still made Jisung's heart flutter. "So I beat Changbin to it then, did I?" Chan asked as he pulled away but kept his forehead pressed to Jisung's.

The corner of Jisung's lips turned up into a smile, "you beat Changbin to everything. He's slow."

"Hey!" Chan and Jisung turned to stare at the figure in the doorframe who was now glaring at them, "I am not slow!"

Jisung and Chan started laughing as Changbin crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. "I think you annoyed him," Chan whispered to Jisung who started giggling. "I better go and give him a hug before he gets all sulky," Chan said as he got up from the floor. Jisung grabbed his hand before he could leave and Chan turned to him with a curious look.

"Chan, I...I love you too," he whispered so quietly that he thought Chan hadn't heard until the elder knelt again and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"I know you do," he winked.

-

The bed hadn't been set up by eleven that night and all three boys were too tired to try and attempt putting it up. There was a mattress on the floor, pushed up against the furthest wall and it was just big enough to fit Changbin and Jisung on it if they lay side by side. Luckily, Changbin liked to cling to people or objects when he slept so he'd pulled Jisung as close to him as he possibly could and now Jisung was practically lying on his chest, which left room for Chan who came into the room half an hour after them. He'd been setting up a few last-minute things in the kitchen and had told the other two to get some rest.

He smiled as he lay down next to a half-asleep Changbin and an awake Jisung, who was smiling back at Chan. "Do you like it here?" Chan asked, lifting the duvet that had been kicked to the end of the mattress and pulling it over all three of their bodies, prioritising Jisung and Changbin over himself.

Jisung nodded, "I do. I'm still getting used to it but it's nice. It'll be even nicer when we put the beds up!"

Chan chuckled and leaned forward to press a kiss to Jisung and Changbin's foreheads. "We can do it tomorrow but tonight we'll have to suffer on the floor."

Jisung smiled, "ok, goodnight, Chan."

"Goodnight, Jisung and goodnight Changbin."

Changbin grumbled something in response, too tired to form coherent words as Chan switched off the lamp that they'd set up beside the bed. He moved closer to Jisung and Changbin before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.