It Meets You Where You Wait • Yeonbin

TWENTY ONE

He still can't sleep.

For some time he lies and stares at the roof, waiting for his alarm to ring. He listens to the boy next to him, the rise and fall of Yeonjun's chest, the pattern of his breathing, the fingers loosely wrapped around his arm. It's the only thing he can focus on anymore.

Yeonjun's rumbled groan alerts him that the boy has woken up, a muffled ugh coming through the sheet. They face each other, on their sides in the bed, drowsiness heavy in the sunrise.

"Hey," Yeonjun whispers sleepily. "Still staring, hm?"

"Yeah," Soobin mumbles. Blinks a few times. Whispers, "Love you."

And Yeonjun looks at him, really looks at him, in a way Soobin has never been looked at before. Sees him in a way Soobin has never been seen. His hand reaches up and out of the sheet to cup Soobin's cheek, one thumb rubbing across it, warming the cold skin there.

"Love you," Yeonjun whispers back.

Silence falls again, but it's somehow a warm, light silence. Just the two of them, Yeonjun's hand on his face, Soobin looking at his pink fluffed up hair against the pillows. Lying there, breathing in tandem, so easily, and so wholly, in love.

There's at least ten minutes before Soobin's alarm will ring, and he would happily spend it like this; eyes wandering across Yeonjun's pouty lips, his sharp collarbone, his hooded eyes and his slow blinking, wondering how he got this lucky.

"Work," Yeonjun says quietly after a pause. "Why do you have to work? You could just stay here."

"Magic doesn't pay rent for this place, sweet thing," Soobin says with a small chuckle.

"Not a sweet thing."

"I think you are," Soobin laughs, leaning over him to press light kisses on his lips.

"God, go get dressed," Yeonjun huffs, pushing at his shoulders. Soobin relents, still laughing, and sits up.

In the bathroom he lazily brushes his teeth, and spends all of ten seconds trying to fix his mop of dark hair. He gives up, but at least slicks it back somewhat with water in an sad attempt.

He goes about finding his work shirt and shorts, tossing his whistle in his pocket. He debates making breakfast, but he'll more than likely end up putting a couple of dollars into the pool vending machine as a makeshift lunch instead. Eventually Yeonjun joins him, slugging his weight into the bathroom to wash his face. He spends at least a few seconds trying to tickle Soobin while he puts his shirt on, giggling when Soobin shoves him away with a huff.

There's not a lot of conversation, but Soobin finds they don't need it, simply weaving in and out of each other's way.

Soobin is in the bathroom, trying for a second time to get his hair to lay flat, when he smells something toasting in the distance. He wanders out to the kitchenette, watching Yeonjun wait for his bread to pop up from the small silver toaster.

Soobin laughs, "I'm sick of vending machine food. I'm grateful."

"Grateful," Yeonjun sighs warmly. He slings an arm over Soobin's shoulder, pulling him to stand across from himself. "Spoken like a fae."

Soobin laughs, but feels a bit of the light in his chest dim. What a reminder it is in that moment; spoken like his grandmother might have.

There goes that itch in the back of his head again, one question he has rattling around, waiting. He takes a bite of the bread, and wonders if now is the time to ask.

"Back at Beomgyu's... Taehyun said something. He said that there's part fae in me, because of my family. But I don't know, I've been thinking about it— is there, really? Does that magic really carry down?," Soobin starts, pausing. "I guess— I dunno, Would you classify me as fae? If my father and grandmother's connections were severed, does any of it carry down?"