Եk օղҽsհօԵs || ƒƭ. ɓƭร

Miner Part 1

Taehyung sat in his tiny shared apartment quietly, waiting for his husband to come home. They weren’t particularly rich but they weren’t exactly poor either. Ever since the last war, the world was reduced to bits. Machines and lavish homes for the rich and living hell for the poor. Taehyung was lucky enough to live as the middle class. Looking at the clock, Jeongguk was meant to come home from the mines soon.

Jeongguk… the world wasn’t at its best point right now, and neither were the couple. They had to make the best with what they had. The government had needed more fossil fuels to power up the dying world, coal miners were suddenly in demand everywhere. Jeongguk was strong. He was strong and had a mindset unlike any other. Because he was the ideal miner the government offered him a high salary. Why refuse? It was perfect. But it wasn’t.

The mines were dangerous. The conditions down there were awful and most people working the mines were the poor. The government couldn’t even give the poor workers masks to wear while working underground? What the hell? Jeongguk had better treatment than most as he was a good worker. But he was also kind. He often took punishments to protect the other miners and Taehyung’s heart ached whenever he saw his husband coming home everyday with new bruises.

Working the job took a toll on Jeongguk as well. The change was gradual but Taehyung knew. He always knew, and it broke his heart to see Jeongguk’s morale chipping away by the day. Looking more and more defeated as time passed. Of course, Taehyung was always there to help him feel better, to relax his sore muscles, to heal him. Taehyung didn’t like Jeongguk’s job. But what else could he do?

A quiet knock on the door jolted Taehyung out of his thoughts and he quickly ran over to open it. There stood his tired husband, shoulders slumped in exhaustion as he trudged through the doorway and falling forward.

“J-Jeongguk!” Taehyung yelped, quickly catching his tired lover into his embrace. “Gukkie…” Jeongguk didn’t look up. The coal dust from Jeongguk’s shirt was getting onto his but Taehyung couldn’t give a damn. Not when his husband was suffering.

The man buried his head in Taehyung’s shoulder, the sweet scent of the petite male’s shampoo slowly soothing him. Wrapping his arms around Taehyung’s tiny waist, Jeongguk let out a small sigh. He didn’t feel like anything. Just numb. Sighing again he let Taehyung take him to their bedroom and help him change into cleaner clothes.

Sitting comfortably, Jeongguk sat with his back against the headboard and Taehyung lying with his head on Jeongguk’s chest, quietly drawing random circles around. Both stayed in silence for a bit, Jeongguk occasionally burying his head in Taehyung’s hair until Taehyung broke the silence.

“Rough day?” Taehyung asked gently, reaching up and running his fingers through Jeongguk’s soft hair. The male mumbled something incoherent and scooted his head down to Taehyung’s neck while tightening his grip on the boy’s waist.

“I...Just want to hold you for a bit. If that’s okay.”

Oh. Despite being married to him for five years now, Taehyung still gets butterflies in his stomach whenever the man he loves asks him for endearing requests. He loves it whenever Jeongguk has time to just hold him and kiss him and love him.

Just as the thought crossed Taehyung’s mind Jeongguk proceeded to press a gentle kiss against his collarbones, trailing up to his ear and ending with one last kiss on the tip of his nose when Taehyung leaned back.

“I’m sorry I’ve been home so late, love. Work’s been awful and it was especially bad today.” Jeongguk said quietly in a defeated voice as he laced their fingers together.

“Why was it bad Guk?” Taehyung murmured, turning to press a small kiss on Jeongguk’s chin. He let out a small squeal of surprise as Jeongguk spun him around so that he was straddling him.