In a household full of people used to waking up far too early in the mornings, Hongjoong sat on a chair in the shower, with Wooyoung and Yeosang wielding hair dye behind him.
Forced to face the wall, he had absolutely no idea what colour his head was turning, but so long as the two blondes were giggling, and Yeosang wasn't sitting in a ball in his bed crying, Hongjoong really didn't care what colour his head turned out to be.
'Are you two having fun back there?'
'We absolutely are,' Wooyoung replied. 'You're going to look so pretty.'
Yeosang snorted, and it made Hongjoong laugh. 'Pretty ugly, is that what you mean?'
'No! I would never be that mean...'
Hongjoong didn't have to look to know that he was biting his lips in a guilty smirk. 'You know I have to present myself to my boyfriend and a workplace sometime between now and the time my hair grows out, don't you?'
He heard Yeosang laugh softly, and Wooyoung dramatically gasp.
'When have I ever dyed your hair and have it turn out as anything but perfect?'
Hongjoong smirked to himself as his heart warmed. 'Good point...'
And Wooyoung scoffed. 'Such little faith in my work. I'm starting to think I should have been a hairdresser.'
'Woo hun, you think you should have done everything,' Yeosang said, his voice still quite raw, yet full of a delicate fondness that was more intense with his pain.
'Just because you're jealous.'
'Am not.'
'Are so.'
'Am not.'
'Are so-'
'Ooookay,' Hongjoong interrupted. 'No bickering.'
'Yes mom.'
'Yes mom,' the two said in unison, teasing him.
Hongjoong sighed, giving in. 'Sometimes I feel like I should just let your arguing escalate and see whether you end up killing each other.'
'I wouldn't not!' Wooyoung suddenly shot back extremely touchily, without a hint of playfulness in his voice.
Yeosang giggled softly. 'Woo honey, he's joking.'
The youngest made a pouty noise before hmph-ing and setting back to work. 'Whatever. Just face the front and don't tempt me to paint your neck purple.'
Hongjoong's eyes widened. 'My head is purple?'
A second passed before a soft, evil laugh fell from Wooyoung's lips.
'I don't know, Hyung. Is it?'
~~~
Yunho blinked his eyes open to find that the sun was already up. Incredibly warm and cozy, he felt like he could close his eyes and fall straight back to sleep...
At least, until he realised where he was.
Against Mingi.
Head heavily resting gently in the nook of his shoulder, and his entire torso leaning against his chest... Their legs were tangled together, and his arm was slung too-comfortably over his chest with his hand resting on his side...
I fell asleep against him... I slept, beside him...
Suddenly, through his thoughts, he zoned into the sounds around him, and when he heard Mingi's breath, he realised, the brunette was awake...
Glancing up, he saw Mingi's head turn a little towards him from where he'd been gazing out the window at what seemed to be a little bird in the tree.
And as he glanced down at him, their eyes locked, and Mingi's lips pulled into a small smile - comforting, in that the first thing Yunho had seen that morning, was his soft, encouraging smile...
'Y-you were already awake?' Yunho asked, a little startled by how raw his voice sounded.
Mingi nodded a little into his pillow. 'You can sleep more, if you like,' he said softly, reaching his free arm up and tucking the blankets up cozily around his shoulders.
But Yunho shook his head. Instead, he tilted his head to let his gaze rest upon his face, and breathed through the shock of waking up in someone's arms...
-
Mingi knew he should have felt more jittery to have Yunho literally resting with his head on his chest in his arms, and in his bed.
But for some reason, he didn't. Maybe a very minuscule part of himself was melting down, but the majority seemed to be quite reserved... Perhaps it was because he felt he was only trying to take care of a sad human... Trying to make him feel better again...
That was the only reason he could think of to explain how he had ended up inviting him to his bed, and sleeping beside him the entire night...
'Min-ah... I got into a fight yesterday...'
Surprised by the sudden confession, Mingi glanced across his face, once more seeing the colours stained across his cheek... Colours that looked stronger this morning, than they had last night. 'We can talk about it later, if you want...'
'It's okay... I'm ready...'
'Are you sure?'
He nodded, nibbling a little on his lip.
And so Mingi allowed him all the time in the world, watching the thoughts happening behind those dark sparkling irises.
'Do you remember when I stormed out of theatre that day...? The day you followed me to the bar...'
Images bubbled up inside his head, as clear as if they had happened just yesterday. 'I do.'
Yunho swallowed, letting his eyes drop down to some point over Mingi's chest instead. 'Well... I don't know if you knew, but an audit came about as a result of that day. I hadn't heard anything else, but... I... I saw that doctor again yesterday... And it seems like the Med Council has stripped him of his licence to practise...'
Mingi let out a relieved breath. He had hoped that the system would work in the way it was designed... He'd been so incredibly angry to hear what had happened...
'But... Min-ah... He blames me...'
He was snapped from his ranting thoughts with anger... 'You? But why? What could you have possibly done?'
Yunho scoffed a little spitefully against him, and Mingi thought he saw the upward tilt of his eyelashes as he rolled his eyes...
'I have no clue, but he seemed pretty intent on that it's all my fault. He dragged me into the corridor and... well... yeah... Let's just say I got punched in the face...'
Mingi's heart ached for him. Rolling towards him, he lifted his head to look down at the bruise on his cheek... It was a light blue-purple, marbled across his skin... He'd wondered how he'd gotten it...
It hurt to look at.
Ever so carefully, he reached up and took his cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb over the colours...
'Yun-ah...' he breathed, pained. Leaning down, he pressed a gentle kiss into his skin, letting his lips linger for a moment, before leaning back and brushing his thumb over where his lips had been...
'Are you kissing it better?'
Yunho's soft, quiet voice suddenly rang out between them, and it made his heart flutter. 'That's not very scientific...' He smiled, looking a million miles away from being uncomfortable...
And Mingi felt his cheeks blush. 'Somehow I don't think that is how it works, Yun.'
But suddenly, he did something Mingi had never seen him do...
He encouraged him...
'Maybe that's because you didn't kiss it for long enough...'
His eyes widened a little, shocked... His pulse jumped through the roof, and his chest began to heat up where Yunho's head was resting against him and where his arm was slung over his waist...
But those eyes... It was like he was asking for him... Innocent and hopeful...
Very slowly, Mingi leaned up, causing Yunho's head to rest more on his arm, rather than his chest... Leaning down over him, he gently lowered, pressing his lips delicately into his bruised skin. He closed his eyes and let the sensation wash over him, and as Yunho's hand on his waist suddenly rubbed a little before holding more snuggly, he felt like he was floating...
With a small, soft smack, his lips parted from his skin. It seemed extremely loud in the silence of his room... But it did not spook the boy.
Instead, Yunho just smiled softly, slowly blinking his eyes as he gazed up at him...
And it was too much for Mingi's heart.
Resting back down on the bed, he let Yunho scoot back closer, resting in against him once more, and somehow, it felt so incredibly right... Never had he had someone in his arms, and felt so secure...
'I might have also been hit in the side...' 😬
Mingi's eyes widened, and the arm that he'd had wrapped around his waist retracted faster than a rocket off of the launcher.
It made Yunho laugh gently, reaching out and putting his hand on his arm to calm him. 'It's fine. It only hurts when someone presses hard on it.'
Mingi gave him a skeptical look, already feeling guilty, for a, not knowing, and b, for having touched it, and hugging him tightly through the night...
But Yunho just guided his hand right back over his waist to where it had been before. 'It's really fine,' he said softly, glancing down. Suddenly, a shy blush wisped across his cheeks. 'It even kind of feels... well... nice... when you... touch it... Gently...'
After a moment of staring at him in shock, Mingi suddenly laughed. 'I love the way you just spit out every truth you stumble across.'
The boy looked up at him in confusion. 'Well I have to. Otherwise you'd stop, and I... I don't want that...'
Mingi's lips pulled into an uncontainable smile. 'There you go again,' he breathed, melted by his sweet words.
Yunho's blush grew as he kept his eyes down, suddenly unable to meet his. Letting silence fall over them, they rested heavily in each other's arms...
Until...
'I'm going to take that job today...'
Mingi glanced down at him, studying his face. 'So you really have decided to leave uni...'
As he stared down into his eyes, he saw as they began to sparkle... glistening...
And as the boy blinked, a tear welled up and spilled from between his eyelashes. He nodded, clearly incredibly pained by the decision.
Mingi wrapped his arms around him, hugging him and rocking him gently in his arms.
'I have to do it...' Yunho whispered, swallowing the lump in his throat. 'Before I end up hating medicine, and loosing it forever...'
Mingi's heart ached. 'I don't think you have it in you to loose your love for med, Yun.'
'Yet... I already hate so much about it... I don't want to ruin it...' Sniffing, Yunho hugged him tightly for a moment, before he let them rest gently as they had before. His eyes were still glassy, but filled with a conviction, and possibly even relief... Relief that he could stop it, before it happened.
'I'll hand in the deferral papers after the path exam today,' he said, and his voice cracked, giving away his pain.
Mingi melted, paining for him. 'Would you like me to come with you?' he asked gently. He rubbed his hands over him, trying to give him the support he so clearly needed.
'I... Could you?' he whispered, looking up at him through hopeful, doe eyes.
'Of course~...'
He felt Yunho gently drag his hand up his side a little, before he brought it back and rested it on the narrowest part of his waist...
And butterflies erupted in his stomach...
Until suddenly, the sound of footsteps outside sounded, and a few moments later, the sound of the kettle being switched on came as a welcome distraction from his nerves.
'Sounds like San's up,' Yunho said softly, tilting his ear towards the door for a moment.
Mingi took a deep breath, calming himself. 'Yeah, he's making coffee... We kind of have a bad habit of making it first thing every morning...'
Yunho chuckled softly against him, taking a deep breath himself and slowly letting it out. 'I shouldn't keep you from your morning coffee then, should I?' he said, his voice almost teasing...
His heart melted. Seeing Yunho start to try and sit up, yawning as he did... Mingi wanted to wake up next to him every morning...
'What are you looking at me like that for?' Yunho suddenly asked, staring down at him still tucked under the blankets.
His cheeks blushed hard.
'Nothing~. Let's go make coffee~' he breathed, offering him a small smile to take away from the fact that he was being engulfed in butterflies.
'I'm already having withdrawals.'
~~~