Comrades In London

3.

Jae-Yoon had never really had a best friend beyond his childhood days. It was exhausting.

He loved spending time with Ian, and he'd finally agreed to go drinking with him, only to end up having to pile a limp Russian into a taxi as the driver gave them a judgemental stare.

Ivy was definitely right and Ian was definitely an alcoholic.

"I'm getting better!" Ian said defensively as Jae-Yoon wiped the vomit off his face with a wet cloth. "Usually I'm so pissed I'm face down on the pavement."

Jae-Yoon pursed his lips and pat Ian's hair. "That's not something to be proud of, Ian. You still threw up at the back of the pub even though I told you not to drink so much," he reminded him and Ian groaned.

"Semantics," he replied, waving Jae-Yoon off. "Today was better than a lot of days. I think I've made progress."

Jae-Yoon scrunched his nose in disgust as he picked out a chunk of vomit from his friend's blond coiffed hair. "Did you throw away your flasks?" he asked.

"I threw away two that I don't use that often," Ian said, peering up at him hopefully.

Jae-Yoon put on an encouraging smile. "That's a great first step, Ian. I'm really proud of you," he said. "That's four more to go, right?"

Ian nodded.

Jae-Yoon finished cleaning Ian's face as those almost terrifyingly bright eyes stared up at him, though they severely contrasted the bags of exhaustion under them.

He dropped the cloth in the sink to be taken care of the next day and sat beside a clearly still-drunk Ian. "Are you not getting enough sleep?" Jae-Yoon asked, suspecting he may know why Ian was so tired.

Ian seemed to hesitate for a moment before giving him a dismissive smile. "I'm not sure what you mean, Jae-Yoon, I'm getting plenty of sleep."

Jae-Yoon frowned. "Are you sure...? Nothing to do with Ivy?"

Ian tensed up at that but just as quickly shook his head. "Ivy's fine. So fine, in fact, that she doesn't want me taking care of her," he answered with a small laugh.

Jae-Yoon knew that Ian was feeling bitter about his sister's reluctance to accept help, but he didn't press any further. It wasn't ideal to talk about something serious while one of them was drunk anyway.

He didn't drink a lot himself, and once he started to feel his face warm he'd opted for lemon and water. He was glad too because Jae-Yoon doubted he would have been of much help drunk.

"Don't we have work in a few hours?" Ian asked out of the blue.

Jae-Yoon's mood dropped lower and he sunk into the sofa. "This is why I don't drink on work nights," he groaned, sinking into his sofa. "Too confusing."

Ian smiled at that. "I used to drink on the job, then I got caught and was nearly fired so I stick with a binge before long shifts."

"You don't do that anymore, do you?" Jae-Yoon asked. Ian stayed silent, eliciting a sigh from Jae-Yoon. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ian hummed and rested his head on Jae-Yoon's shoulder. "Maybe later. I'm shot," he said, stretching his legs. "Might just fall asleep right here."

"You're not allowed to use me as your pillow," Jae-Yoon said, slipping out from under him, causing Ian's head to drop onto the backrest. "You are allowed to sleep on the sofa if you want to. Though you'll have to wake up early to go back to your place."

Ian made a guttural sound of annoyance and squeezed his eyes shut as he rubbed his temples. "Can't we just, you know, skip work?" he said, opening one eye to look up at Jae-Yoon.

Jae-Yoon laughed at that. "I've got bills to pay, unless you're offering," he said, a smile settling on his face from Ian's fanciful words.

"If I am, will you agree to be my pillow?" Ian asked, pouting.

Jae-Yoon scoffed. "Get it in writing, then we'll see."

Ian raised his brows—Jae-Yoon was fairly sure he couldn't do just one—and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a pen and clicked it with his thumb.

"Paper?"

The brunet sighed with a shake of his head. "Ian, neither of us are rich. Put your pen down," he said. "Fine, you can lie on me, but when you fall asleep I'm leaving you here, clear?"

Ian grinned and Jae-Yoon sat back down and Ian happily rested on him once again.

\*\*\*/*/*/

They missed work.

Ian was hungover.

Jae-Yoon was not happy.

"Jae-Yoon..." Ian groaned, his voice muffled by the carpet.

Jae-Yoon didn't answer and instead focused on what he was going to say to plead his case. He had never missed a day of work and he had no idea what would happen. Was he going to get reprimanded by the manager? What would he do if he lost his job? He had some money saved over but he doubted it would last him long enough to find a new job and that was only considering rent and utilities. How would he get groceries, or get around the city to look for work? No one wanted to hire a Korean after the war.

Ian called out his name again and Jae-Yoon took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves.

"Yes, Ian?" he said, looking over to the blond.

"My head hurts..." Ian said, sounding like a sick child.

Jae-Yoon sighed and stood up from the dining table. "Hold on." He went over to the fridge and pulled out some frozen peas then tossed it in Ian's direction.

It landed on Ian's stomach and he grumbled about it but placed the cold press so it covered his eyes and forehead.

"Thanks," he said halfheartedly. "Sorry 'bout work."

"You missed work too," Jae-Yoon reminded him.

Ian shrugged. "Not the first time. Robins doesn't have the gall to actually fire anyone, otherwise fellas like Macdonald and I would've been ages ago."

That did nothing to reassure Jae-Yoon.

Ian must've been able to tell because he continued on. "Hey, it'll be fine. I work tomorrow, so I'll explain what happened."

"That we got drunk and missed work because we were sleeping off the drinks?" Jae-Yoon said bitterly, not directed at anyone particular.

"If you put it like that he's not going to forgive us. It really was an honest mistake."

Jae-Yoon sighed and collapsed back onto the sofa. He knew going out for drinks was a terrible idea. How had Ian managed to convince him in the first place?

His stomach rumbled embarrassingly before he got the chance to respond.

Ian took a moment to sit up and moved the peas higher up his forehead so he could look at Jae-Yoon. "I was waiting for you to say you're hungry. Let's go out for breakfast, my treat," he offered and Jae-Yoon could tell it was an attempt to make up for his mistake.

Jae-Yoon wasn't angry but he certainly couldn't say no to free breakfast. Besides, worrying was usually an evening activity anyway.