Thirty Days

Chapter 3

A week had passed and Ni-Ki was quietly sketching while sitting like a pixie in the middle of the living room and Jay is singing to himself as he worked on lyrics for his music project.

Sunoo and Sunghoon had reappeared from the kitchen, Sunghoon wearing a sleepy little smile and Sunoo...looking uncharacteristically quiet.

Jay pretended not to but snuck looks at them over the top of his sketchbook.  Sunoo sat down first, looking every bit as rigid and irritable as he ever had.  His lips were huffed into an obvious pout and he was twitching his hands in his lap.  Sunghoon sat down beside him after looking for the remote which made Sunoo stop fidgeting.  When Sunghoon rested his cheek against Sunoo's shoulder, he visibly relaxed, slouching down further into the cushions and stretching out his long legs.  Finally, Sunoo smiled, but it was only because Sunghoon pulled Sunoo's arms around him.

That made Jay cock his head to the side and frown.  Something was different between the two of them.  Granted to the casual observer, nothing seemed to be amiss.  But Jay knew Sunoo, Sunghoon and their little ways, and subtle things were different.

Sunghoon wasn't hogging the remote but had handed it straight to Sunoo.  It was Sunghoon who wants to cuddle, not the other way around.

"Let's go out," suddenly exclaimed Ni-Ki who was getting bored. "Go get some new clothes!"

"I'm gonna stay in," Sunoo said a little too quickly for Jay's liking.

Sunghoon who had just opened his mouth and gone to stand up quickly closed it and sank back against Sunoo's chest.

'interesting' Jay thought to himself 'Their dynamic has altered'.

"I'll stay too" Sunghoon, only confirming his thoughts.

"Don't you want to go out?" Sunoo asked, a little too politely "Don't feel like you can't go because I'm not."

But Jay noticed how he'd gripped Sunoo a little tighter to him,  showing exactly what he was thinking what his words did not express.

Sunoo looked torn.  As though he really wanted him to go, but didn't want to upset Sunghoon by wanting him to.

Since when did Sunghoon cling on to Sunoo around like a faithful pet?

Jay's eyes widened with curiosity.  Was this a relationship thing?  It couldn't be, they had only been in a "relationship" for a week.  Why did it feel like they had both had a personality transplant?

"Sunghoon please take Ni-Ki out would ya?" Jay asked suddenly. "I need to concentrate and I can't do it with him bouncing around," he looked towards the place where he could feel eyes on him, and it was straight at Sunoo who glowering, in his direction.

"Mind if I stick around for a bit?" he asked smoothly, knowing that it was the last thing Sunoo wanted, but finding it more than necessary.

Sunoo shrugged and a bit reluctantly, he let go of Sunghoon to relax his hands behind his head.

Sunghoon turned to Sunoo - was he looking for reassurance?

Sunoo smiled at him - strained, but a smile - then nodded and Sunghoon scampered off to his bedroom. Jay remembered to note the way Sunoo's eyes had contently closed during the brief contact.

Half an hour later, Ni-Ki was bouncing out of the front doors with Sunghoon, promising they would text them so they could meet up later.

Sunoo returned to the living room "I'm going back to bed," he told Jay, who was still sitting comfortably in the same chair.

"Sunoo wait!" Jay called to him as the boy turned to leave "we need to talk about this."

"talk about what?"