Limbo

And He's Called Me Twice

No notes. Enjoy <3

---------------------

It was hard to focus on his work when the text from Daehyuk lingered in the back of his mind. It crowded his other thoughts and ate away at his creativity so the document he'd once been rapidly typing ideas in was now just sitting open with nothing new for the past ten minutes. 

Minho moved slightly, snuggling in closer to Chan and pushing his face further into the elder's neck. Chan wasn't entirely sure how he was able to breathe in this position, but he wasn't about to wake up the dancer and ask. He never wanted to wake Minho. He was finally getting good sleep. Chan wasn't a monster. 

His phone buzzed again and Daehyuk's contact came up again, this time he was calling Chan. He glanced down at Minho then the phone and declined the call. Maybe he should have just let it go through to voicemail. But what's done is done, he could almost hear the lecture he'd get about declining calls from his manager already. Chan, you know better. Chan, you're the leader. Chan, do better. Chan, this is important. Chan this. Chan that. 

Fuck it all. He turned his phone over so he wouldn't even have to look at the screen. Still, the mole that had been placed in his mind by his manager continued to burrow deeper and kick up thoughts that he didn't want to think right now. 

His phone however started vibrating again. Chan knew it was his manager but concern for his members made him flip it over just to be sure it wasn't Han - knowing the young rapper was injured somehow - or one of the others needing help. Of course, it wasn't the members. It was Daehyuk's contact. His thumb hovered over the decline button, but he never pushed it. 

"Mm, hyung." 

Chan dropped his phone, attention solely on the boy straddling his lap and using him as a giant teddy bear. His eyes were still closed, that much Chan could see in the faint light the computer screen gave off. But it wasn't the softly closed, peaceful look of sleep. His eyes were squeezed shut, brow furrowed. 

His breath came in soft pants against Chan's neck, and he realized quickly that he wasn't awake, but he wasn't just sleeping. He felt terrible, knowing Minho needed the sleep, but his pain meds were probably wearing off and every time he slept, he woke up from dreams. And not happy dreams. "Aegi, hey Lino-ah, can you wake up now?" Chan jostled him slightly on his lap, very very careful to not aggravate his headache and ribs. 

"Seo- Seojun hyung..." Minho whimpered, his eyes slipping open, sticky from a deep sleep. He looked around without seeing. Chan continued to jostle him and watched his face closely, waiting for recognition. 

"Minho, you were sleeping." 

"Chan?" The dancer's eyes lifted and finally seemed to understand what was going on. "Oh. Sorry. I- Where are we?" 

"In the studio." Chan answered, rubbing the younger's back. "You came up here with Hannie and you fell asleep." 

Minho nodded slowly, looking around like he still had no clue where he was. But his eyes were a lot sharper, he didn't seem to be anywhere near dissociating now. Well, it was probably always right around the corner now, but for the time being, he seemed mentally present. His eyes landed on the ground by Chan's side, and he sat up straighter off the leader. "Your phone is ringing." 

"Yeah..." Chan glanced back down at Daehyuk's contact lighting up the screen. 

"You should probably pick that up, hyung." Minho suggested, rolling off Chan's lap much to the leader's displeasure. He felt cold and empty without the dancer nearby. But he was right by his side - it would have to be good enough. And it did help to know that Minho was acting a bit more normal with wanting his own personal space.