Disaster

Chapter V

Spring

Sunwoo couldn't sleep. He had taken his melatonin gummies, so he should be off in dreamland by now, but he was still wide awake; his brain just wouldn't shut off. He had originally tried to think if there was anything that would possibly keep his body awake, but his thoughts came up empty. Finals ended a month ago so that stress was over. He already paid the monthly rent, so that was fine. He even got promoted at his job– so he seriously had no idea what could be causing his brain to be running like it drank a store's worth of Monster Energy.

It only hit him after a few minutes of thinking that, oh yeah, he had a massive thing for Juyeon and it was causing him nothing but pain because there were so many issues that came along with his feelings. There were vines breaking into his bones, blossoms falling from his pores, and green leaves covering his eyes.

Sunwoo finally resigned himself that sleep wouldn't come to him, so he got out of his bed and headed towards the kitchen. He saw Juyeon and Tuna curled up on the armchair, the book the vampire was reading paged open on their slumbering bodies.

At least one of them could sleep tonight, Sunwoo thought to himself. He moved to make some Sleepy Time tea, hoping to all the gods that it would live up to its name, though that was unlikely; when his insomnia hit, it hit hard.

"'Sun?" A groggy voice called from the living room. Sunwoo didn't know when the nickname started, certainly, since most people either called him 'Woo or just his name, but that kind of made it special. Only Juyeon called him Sun.

"Yeah. Sorry, did I wake you?" Sunwoo asked as he put the kettle on to boil.

Juyeon pattered into the kitchen. His hair was sticking up every which way and he kept blinking slowly. "Yeah, 'ts alright though," he said with a yawn. "What's up? 'Vrything okay?" His words were slurring together and a pang of guilt shot through the college student.

"Yeah," he smiled softly. "Everything's fine. Just getting some tea."

Juyeon nodded and leaned against the counter. He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Sunwoo pour the hot water into a #1 Graduate! mug from Sunwoo's high school. The faint smell of herbs wafted through the air, making Juyeon even drowsier than he was before.

"You can go back to sleep, hyung," Sunwoo said, voice quiet so as not to disturb the night.

But the older shook his head. "No, I'm fine. 'Want to make sure you're doing okay." He gave Sunwoo a look, but he pretended not to notice it.

"I'm okay, really. I just wanted some tea." He took a long sip as if to prove his point, but he forgot to let it cool down a bit and immediately burned his tongue. "Ow! Shit shit shit!" He placed the mug down and moved his tongue around his mouth in hopes of soothing it.

Juyeon looked on with an amused smile, only offering a comforting pat on the back as support to his friend. "Right, nothing's wrong."

"That was on accident!" Sunwoo whisper-yelled, glaring at the vampire as he placed ice in a cup of water and downed the whole thing. "Ugh, jesus. That hurt like a bitch. Thanks." he took the paper towel Juyeon offered him, drying off the area around his mouth with it.

Juyeon leaned back at his space on the counter, now much more awake than before. "Seriously, 'Sun, what's going on?"

"Nothing, alright? I just couldn't sleep well. That's it."

"You should know that doesn't work on me. I can literally sense your emotions." There was no smugness in the remark, but it irked Sunwoo anyway.

"Yeah. I know. Doesn't mean I need to tell you anything." The words came out bitter and Sunwoo was too ashamed to see if Juyeon was hurt by it. The plants gripped tighter on his body, making him rigid and terrified.