↱ECHO↲ ⇾seongjoong⇽

第二十五

The smell of coffee rouses Hongjoong from his slumber, causing him to disturb Joy, who is snuggled up on his pillow.

The animal lets out a little huff and then moves to the end of the bed.

With a laugh, Hongjoong clambers out of bed, throwing a shirt on, and then makes his way out into the hall.

It's six in the morning, yet Seonghwa has gone through the trouble of getting himself up early once more, just as he had been doing the last four days.

And just like the last four days, they had awoken in separate beds, with an awkward tension hanging in the air.

Hongjoong gets it.

They had sex.

It was incredible and so intimate.

Seonghwa isn't used to being so vulnerable, letting someone in so quickly.

So of course the elder is probably trying to draw back a bit— the nurse had expected as much.

That's why it came as no surprise when he woke in Seonghwa's bed the morning after to find his patient bristly and short-tempered.

It was if Seonghwa was trying to distance himself from him, but there were moments throughout the day that Hongjoong caught the man staring at him for too long or Seonghwa would do something affectionate only to catch himself and immediately cease the action.

He wasn't being rude to the nurse, but he was acting cold, and the way Hongjoong sees it, it's perfectly in keeping with his patient's personality.

In a few days time, things will warm up again and everything will be alright.

They might even be able to talk about what exactly the nature of their relationship is; whether they intend to go further with it or try to keep things slow and steady.

If he's being honest, Hongjoong doesn't know what the best approach is, all he knows is that he wants to be with Seonghwa, wants more of their late night conversations, wants that smile directed towards him, wants to hear Seonghwa's thoughts about the world, wants to be Seonghwa's person.

It's only been three weeks, but Hongjoong is in love with Seonghwa.

All Seonghwa needs now is time to decide the same for himself.

This morning, the nurse finds Seonghwa in the kitchen making coffee.

His patient is still dressed in his pajamas, having just pulled himself out of his bed and into his chair.

His hair is a mess and his eyes are half-lidded as he stares at the coffee machine blinking away on the countertop.

"You're up early again."

"Couldn't sleep," Seonghwa explains, his voice rough.

Hongjoong yawns and runs a hand through his hair.

It's dry and getting longer and he's pretty sure his roots are showing.

He probably needs to bleach it again.