After Dusk || Im Changkyun

57. My Favorite

Chapter Fifty Seven

"We should go back to Milan someday." Changkyun suggested, his hand holding tightly onto yours as you both walked around your apartment with no destination in mind, simply strolling. You nodded, feeling so much more energetic with someone else around. You hated and loved how much energy he gave you, even if he seemed tired himself.
"We have work, and you can't miss anything else for the love of god. You're actually going to get kicked out." You scolded gently, forever wondering how he still had his job.
"Even if I did get kicked out, which I won't. I have enough money for you to stop working and for us to live a peaceful life." He explained with a proud grin, looking at you as you dragged each other across the hallways, ignoring both of your yawns as you fought to spend all the lost time together.
"That's a very tempting offer." You giggled, staring up at him as you stopped in the small empty space between the kitchen and the living room. Changkyun spun you randomly, the corners of his pink lips turning up as he fantasized.
"We could quit our jobs, run away to the Italian coast, buy the most grand villa we can find, spend every day lazing while enjoying the crystal waters of the Mediterranean, bathe in the gorgeous shining sun, eat everything and anything without a care in the world. Just you and me." His eyes shone with every word that he said, his voice getting all dreamy in a way that sent you into a daze. The life he had described sounded like paradise.
"We can't quit our jobs in our early twenties." You tried to rationalize, not for him but for you because you knew very well that he probably meant every single word. He looked so ready to drop it all. It was terrifying. The palms of your hands rested gently on his chest while you shook your head at him before he could say something else that could get your mind wandering.
"We're young. Let's work while we have the will."
"But you and I have never lived like we're young." He argued, spiking an interest in you,
"We've both lived our youth in shambles. We didn't get to enjoy what should've been the best parts of our life. Is it so crazy that now that we're less weighed down, for me to want to make up for everything we've missed?"
His argument was making sense to you and that was never a good sign. How much you'd love to do as he wanted to but you couldn't. You sighed, feeling his arms snake around your waist while you leaned against him, the slow thrumming of his heartbeat making you relax in his hold.
"Kyun, I love you so much but you know we can't." You stopped to smile at the way the pitter patter had quickened at those three words,
"As much as I'd love to run away with you, and I'd love to, we have a long way until we can retire. I'm sure we could stop working in our late thirties in this industry but until then, let's hold off on the spontaneous Italy plan." You rubbed your hands up and down his arms, knowing that he was pouting uncontrollably even if you weren't at him.
"You act so much older than me sometimes." Changkyun whined, one of his hands traveling up to play around with strands of your hair, twisting them around his larger fingers and letting them explore stupid little hairstyles just for fun.
"I missed you so much." You muttered into his shirt, your palm balling into a clenched fist as you clasped onto the black fabric. You knew you weren't normally this clingy but the three weeks you'd spent apart made you realize how much you needed his touch. He wasn't something you could just give up. You needed him around or else you'd go mad.
"I missed you too." He sighed, his hold getting tighter,
"I missed you so much that it hurt."
You wanted to tell him off for being over dramatic but you agreed. It hurt for you too. Regardless of how stupid it sounded. You rested your chin on his center, bringing your face out of his shirt to finally look up at him, your arms wrapping around his back.
"Life is really boring without you." You confessed, feeling the sentiment to shower Changkyun in the compliments you felt you didn't give him enough. He hummed, urging you to elaborate, a smirk appearing on his face although you could see the way the tips of his ears were getting red. They didn't go completely red when he was flustered or nervous but they didn't stay the same color, that was for certain.
"Seriously though, Kyun. Everyday felt so dull. It's weird not having you follow behind me, or try to pull me away from rehearsing because you want a hug, or dressing up Ollie like an actual child, or even hearing you sing while you try to vacuum."
"What do you mean by try?"
"You almost vacuumed our dog." You reminded, remembering when you'd heard a loud crash one of those days, causing you to run out of the bedroom to see Changkyun on the floor with the top of the vacuum practically sucking at your poor puppy. He seemed as if he wanted to defend himself but he shut himself down, nodding.
"You make the days exciting. When you're not around everything is so... bleh." You tried to explain, making him chuckle, feeling the soft vibrations of his chest as he did.
"I can say the same back to you. Spending every waking hour with Leo isn't the same as spending it with you." Changkyun pulled away slightly, his hands still on you,
"He's such a stickler." He complained.
"You both are pretty similar. I don't think you understand how much harsher you are with other people. You have this tone of voice that makes everyone shudder." You watched him raise an eyebrow at you, as if he didn't know that was how he acted, but you were certain plenty of people reminded him. It was sort of what he was known for. Initially, it was his looks, and later it was his cold personality.
"I know. That's why I like me better when I'm with you." Changkyun put casually, his head tilting slightly in adoration. You hit his shoulder gently, more of a small nudge while you giggled. You both were equally at flustered at all the sweet words that were spewing out of the both of you, knowing that moments of just lovey-doveyness weren't something that happened often. Not without a little playful banter.
You brought your hands up to his cheeks, bringing his face down and placing it only mere centimeters away from yours. His arms fell limp at your sudden move, as you admired him from close up, watching how his cheeks began burning red and the way you could almost hear his heart beating out of his chest. His eyes were widened just a bit while you stared at him, a quiet giggle escaping from you. The few seconds of eye contact were enough to make Changkyun's cheeks brighter than the apple that was sitting in your fruit basket on the kitchen counter. You smiled, your eyes dropping down to his lips, noticing the way his did the same when he saw you. You let him have a moment before your eyes fluttered close and you gave him an innocent peck, pulling away just enough so there was a gap between you both.
But just barely.
"I like seeing you shy. It's a nice change of pace." You teased at the way his pink nose scrunched up at your words, trying to avoid your gaze but always coming back to meet it again. You didn't realize that your thumbs were gently caressing his face, not knowing until he'd taken a glance at it and burst into a tiny grin.
"You're so pretty when you smile. I should tell you more often."
Changkyun's entire body shook in glee, your hands falling from his cheeks while he hid his face in your shoulder, making you laugh at the way he had to crane down.
"Stop it." He muttered, wrapping his fingers around your oversized shirt. You twirled a few strands of his hair, shaking your head at him.
"I don't tell you enough but I think you're the prettiest when you smile. It's the way your eyes crease into little crescents and the way your dimple poke in. And how you shake a little while you laugh and clap your hands together, occasionally rocking side to side if it's really funny. Or maybe, when you're trying not to laugh you bite down on your bottom lip but you give in and just start grinning from ear to ear. It's my favorite thing to see. My Favorite."
His hands dug into the ends of your shoulders at your monologue, hiding his face in the fabric. You nudged him, waiting for him to pull himself back up but it was to no avail. You waited, knocking your head against his slowly until he eventually got sick of it, exiting his hiding place.
Changkyun was quick to grab your wrist, pulling you over to the large window at the front wall of the apartment, right where the living room was. The window practically made up the entire wall. It might be your favorite place in the apartment. You could stare out of it for hours.
And that's what you both did.
He brought you to it with no words said, out of nowhere, pointing up the the enchantingly clear sky while standing a few steps apart. The full moon shone above the skyline and the stars scattered the sky, twinkling around it like little lights. It was as if you could see every small crevice of the orb from all the way on the ground. You felt yourself getting distracted at the view, so you turned around to the only thing you really wanted to look at, only to find it staring back at you. You raised an eyebrow at him, the corner of your lip tugging up before he turned back towards the window, looking up.
"The moon must be jealous at how beautiful you are." Changkyun sang fondly, his voice soft but his words sweet. You couldn't help but break out into a full blown smile while you stared at him attempt to keep composure as he dramatically stared out into the distance. You took a side step close to him, beginning to close that little gap between you.
"The stars must be jealous at how brightly you shine." You followed up smoothly, causing him to turn his attention to you, grinning. He slipped his arm around your shoulder, resting his head atop yours.
"The night sky must be jealous at how perfect we are for each other."
Your quiet laughs rang in each other's ears while you admired the night. You nodded.
"It must be."
You both stayed like that for a bit, standing by the window and just appreciating how perfect the midnight sky looked, but not as perfect as the both of you.
You were feeling the cheesiness.
The silence was loud but in the good sort of way. Sometimes you two just needed that moment of silence, it tended to convey more than your words would be able to.
"Hey, Eggo." Changkyun poked, making you forget what you were looking at to face him instead.
"Would you be mad?" He asked innocently, making you hum in confusion.
"Would I be mad if what?"
"Mad if I-"
He stopped himself to thread his other arm underneath your legs and lift you up off the ground. You yelped, your entire body going numb from shock while he skipped around the house with you held in his arms like it was a casual thing. He laughed at the way you were lying limply in his hold, doing one more lap around the kitchen counter and then into the hallways and then back down to the living room, placing you down on the couch so you could register from the shock.
"I can't tell if you're mad or if you're about to die." Changkyun guessed playfully, falling down on the couch to your left, throwing his head back on the pillows. You took a breath, giving yourself a second to reciprocate before you responded,
"You just caught me off guard."
He hadn't been able to randomly pick you up since he'd gotten his cast on. You didn't know if you missed it but you were certainly going to have to get used to it again.
He laughed, kissing your temple before leaning his head back in what seemed to be a very uncomfortable position. You fell into silence again, watching as his eyes drooped and then shot back open, fighting himself to stay awake. You felt your heart melt. He must've been exhausted. He probably flew for half the day just to make it here on time, and all with no set plan. Plus, he'd barely had time to rest throughout his trip. You giggled under your breath, watching his attempt to keep his silent eye contact with you. The way his head would lean back and then lift back up. You shook your head at him, picking his own up and resting it on your shoulder, shifting closer to him.
"Sleep." You whispered, to which he jerked straight to, his eyes widening cutely.
"But I want to spend time with you. We have to-"
You shushed him, placing a finger on his lips, slowly pushing his head back on your shoulder.
"We have the morning. I bet you haven't slept more than three hours consecutively in a month."
You tapped a slow beat on his arm, soothing him to rest until he eventually gave in, loosely wrapping them around your waist and getting comfortable. You grabbed at the blanket that was conveniently draped over the arm of the couch, spreading it around the both of you.
"I'm not going to sleep. I'm just going to relax." Changkyun assured, his hair tickling your neck. You nodded, going with his obvious lies. He'd be out in ten minutes. You were betting it.
"So, how was your day?" Changkyun asked, yawning but concealing it with a small laugh.
"I mean how was yesterday." He corrected, pulling his phone out of his sweatpants pocket to check the time.
It was well past two in the morning. Your thumb gently drew patterns up his arms and you simply shrugged.
"Pretty okay. I visited my mom. It was nice to see her since I've been so busy."
He smiled.
"I want to see her too. To thank her for the gift. You said it was her idea, I think? It's foggy, I was fighting back tears as soon as you started the story." He chuckled nervously, and you could practically feel the heat that rushed to his cheeks radiate off and into the shoulder it was pressed into. You avoided turning around to look at him, knowing it would only make him even more flustered. Even though you enjoyed crushing his ego, all in the name of love by the way, you liked letting him have himself in moments like this. They didn't come often but enough for you to let him have a second to himself.
"We'll go visit when we get time. How long until management figures out you terminated a contract with a designer brand, signed with another designer brand, and snuck onto a flight back home in the span of a day?" You rolled your eyes, trying to conceal any signs of amusement at his little adventure. You shouldn't encourage this sort of behavior but you couldn't deny how happy you were that he was at your side.
"My uncle can't be that mad. He loves me." You felt him mutter into your clothed shoulder, his hands tightening at your waist in a futile attempt to pull himself closer to you.
You both were already conjoined at the hip.
"Kyun, baby, you snuck onto a plane and are currently on the wrong side of the world. When Leo or any of the other staff realizes you're gone, the entire management team is going to burst into flames." You sighed, flicking his forehead gently, minding where you did so. It may have been a few months but you were still being careful. He didn't seem too affected by the sudden hit by your fingers when you looked down to gauge his reaction but more giddy at the nickname he didn't hear so often.
"You only ever call me that when you want something or if you're mildly frustrated."
"I am mildly frustrated, Changkyun. They might actually drop you this time and I'm kind of responsible for this." You whined, knowing you were blowing things out of proportion since he had the entire company wrapped around his pinky but you couldn't help but feel anxious. You felt his lips ghost over the base of your neck, distracting you and then tensing you up as they no longer ghosted. He chucked against your skin, thumb tracing circles on your side.
"Changkyun's got everything under control. No need to fret, my Princess." He joked. You knew he was trying to get you to ease up and unfortunately he was succeeding.
"Well, his royal highness better have things under control or else I'm locking you out of this apartment and you can sleep in front of the door." You threatened with no intention, knowing you didn't mean it.
"I pay for this apartment."
"And your point?" You fought back with a laugh that had managed to escape.
"Nothing's going to happen to either of us. They can't touch me. Therefore, they can't touch you." He assured  once more, his voice getting more and more drowsy with each passing second. It was putting a smile on your face. He sounded cute.
"This is the last time you're pulling a stunt like this, okay? No more skipping work and no more running away from it." You waved your finger in front of his face to no avail since it was so innocently tucked into the crook of your neck, feeling his breathing slow.
"It's not my fault you make me want to do crazy things." He muttered, causing you to respectfully scoff.
"Hold yourself back."
"I'd rather lose my job."
You felt the urge to elbow him but when you saw that his eyes had fluttered close and sensing that he was drifting off, you decided not to. Instead, you opted for just playing around with his hair, noticing the way the corners of his lips turned up at the sensation.
You both made small conversation. Exchanging occasional words and then falling into a comforting silence. That was until you ended up rambling on about Ollie and how he was practically the only thing you were able to talk to in the last three weeks because everyone had conveniently decided to actually do their jobs. You kept babbling on, not realizing that he'd stopped responding after about ten minutes. Maybe he'd gone quiet right when you started talking about your filming but you didn't notice until well after your stories started.
When you did, you turned to see why you hadn't heard a response, only to see Changkyun fast asleep on your shoulder. You tried not to laugh, scared to wake him if you moved, so you carefully brushed the stray pieces of hair out of his face and gently poked his cheek just for the fun of it. He always looked so peaceful when he was asleep. He was so much more attractive when he wasn't running his mouth.
You were joking. You thought so at least.
You pulled the blanket up higher on the both of you, slowly tucking it around him and using the remaining to cover yourself. You gently leaned your head on top of his, holding your giggles back when you heard his practically silent snores. You closed your own eyes, sighing before uttering,
"Good night."