Iseul liked being alone. She also disliked feeling completely and utterly lonely.
Her pen fills up the pages with strokes, lines forming roughly to create a figure draped over the living room couch, sound asleep, she sighs to herself. Rain pitters and patters on their window as Heeseung shivers, still unconscious. Iseul's hand still when she notices the chill in the air, scooting closer towards where he lay from her position on the floor. She gently rests her fingertips on the skin of his exposed forearms and feels how cold it had become.
Deep into his slumber, Heeseung doesn't hear a thing as she shuffles quietly into their bedroom, the other boys also resting- save for Riki, who'd woken up to the sound of the door handle creaking. She shushes the younger boy, who'd looked at her dark figure blearily before succumbing to exhaustion once more after she'd brushed away the bangs sticking to his forehead affectionately.
After retrieving his blanket (and, additionally, his pillow), she closes the door and enters the dimly lit living room. Iseul had known that she could not get him to move to his bed when he'd fallen asleep. He would be too stubborn and would insist on staying right there on the soft cushions, despite knowing his own bed would probably be more comfortable. It's endearing in a way, she thinks. Still, she tries to wake him up, worried for his back.
"Hee, come on, you idiot, go sleep on your bed." She whispers close to him while she nudges his shoulder carefully. The boy grunts, but doesn't respond any further, opting to ignore her instead. So, seeing as how she was right about him being unwilling to move at all, she drapes the soft blanket over the length of his body and lifts his head up to slide the pillow underneath. Iseul doesn't have a kind mouth, but her actions speak volumes, whenever she does anything for those around her. Everything is done with utmost caution and care and it's utterly beautiful.
Iseul is tender with her love and Heeseung, after almost a year spent sharing the same room with her, still is struck with awe every time she does little things like this for them. And so when she makes sure the blanket is pulled all the way up to his chin, he flutters his eyes open and he looks at her with eyes so, so in love. She looks back at him, grinning, ruffling his hair, and plopping back down on the carpet, leaning back against the long couch he's lying on. She continues to draw.
"You should sleep, too." Heeseung drawls, eyes still dripping with exhaustion from the intense day of schedules. (The clock reads four twenty-one in the morning.) He'd seen her taking a nap in the back of their travel van, but it had been almost a month since he'd her properly sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Her insomnia had gotten worse ever since preparations for the end-of-the-year award ceremonies began.
Iseul glances at him, pausing her sketch for a brief moment. It's almost as though she can feel the eyebags weighing her face down. She feels miserable, to put it simply. She feels like a pile of garbage and she wishes that she could just snap out of feeling like she does every single day- tired, but awake as though punished to stay in that state of fatigue for as long as her body can take it. Her smile is deceivingly sheepish, but Heeseung knows better, recognizing the bitter tone in her voice.
"I should, shouldn't I?"
"You're not taking your pills anymore." He states plainly, what used to come out as a question, is now just a fact. He'd known that they'd lost their effectiveness over time. All he wants is to take her pain away, even if for one single night. He can't, however, so all he does is languidly cup her cheek, brush his thumb over her soft skin and smile lopsidedly.
Iseul stares blankly at his hand, then at his face. She runs her eyes over his drooping eyes and smushed cheek, feeling a wave of affection washing over her for her friend. Her hands clutch his on her cheek and she brings it down and under his blanket, "Just go to sleep, it's okay.
Heeseung is far from convinced, but the look she gives him is enough to keep him from saying anything else. For now, the only thing he could do was to keep her company on her nights alone in the living room, so that is exactly what he'll do tonight as well.
It's just her, him, and the sound of the rain coming from behind the window.
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❥ i hope you like this little insight on iseul! i love my girl to bits, honestly. also gave you some sweet sweet heeseul moments, because i am planning on writing some... interesting... stuff... for these two later on! i changed the section's title to "after hours scenarios", because i realised that a lot of the things i wanted to write about take place at night, so yeah! anyhow, don't forget to vote and ily <3
