Expectations [양정원/이희승]

《chapter 3》

It had been two days since that dreaded photoshoot, and when Niki had asked Jungwon if they could sleep in the pack room together, Jungwon had gladly agreed.

He didn't want to be alone right now, and having Niki's long limbs slung around him, encasing him, one arm slung around his waist, and a leg swung around his legs, almost felt like Niki was holding the crumbling pieces of Jungwon together.

In the middle of the night, however, a hot flash had hit Jungwon.

Niki must have been too warm. It was understandable as the puppy had always acted like everyone's personal furnace.

So Jungwon had freed himself.

When he woke up, only Niki's arm had returned to its koala position.

It was too adorable how Niki had propped his arm behind his head, nusseling into his own elbow. A strand of hair had fallen into his forehead, and his nose scrunched up, every time the fluffy blanket he had cocooned himself in, tickeld his nose.

Jungwon had the strong urge to push the strand away and stare at Niki a little longer.

But another emotion quelled up in him. Coiling in his stomach and sending goosebumps all over his arms.

Protect.

He wanted to protect Niki, make sure no one dared to touch him as the puppy slept so soundly.

It almost felt as if Niki was out in the open, to vulnerable in his current state, that Jungwon got the urge to hide him behind many more layers of fluffy protection. He wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap if he could.

The urge was so overwhelming that Jungwon hadn't even noticed when he had sat up and pulled on his pillow, he had just been sleeping on, up, setting it back down next to Niki's side. His heartbeat was almost erratic now, overwhelmed by the need to keep going.

His blanket followed, and somehow, many other items that were previously hidden in the big boxes in the only closet inside the pack room had made their way onto the bed. Walls of pillows and plushies and everything thick and fluffy were now lining the Maknae in  meticulously arranged patterns.

But it felt like something was missing. Like the most important part was not there yet.

Anxiously, he went back to the closet and took out another box.

Clothing. Multiple hoodies were stacked inside, and only the big black one felt right when they landed in Jungwons hands.

They hadn't been folded, so Jungwon hoped they weren't used, but he also didn't really care.

He had no idea what he was doing, but when guilt tried to surface and he wanted to make sure he wasn't suffocating the puppy in stinky clothes, he lifted the hoodie up to his nose.

He couldn't smell anything wrong on the hoodie, but somehow, as soon as he had buried his face in it, he knew that he needed it. He was almost tempted to try to drown in the soft material.

He hugged it tight, as if it held the answer to all of the questions that had formed in his muddled brain, and only when he placed it right on top of the still sleeping Puppy, did the static in his head stop. His racing heart calmed.