Dad Jokes

3/3

Junmyeon can feel his eyelids beginning to open, but his body is exhausted, as is his mind. Refusing to wake up, he rolls over onto his side, searching for the warmth that should be there. Much to his dismay, all he finds is a cold mattress. The eyes he refused to open before are now wide and frantic, searching the bed for a body that should have been there, but theres nothing except empty sheets. He searches his own body thoroughly, still feeling Yifan's touch all over, but there's no proof of his hands ever being there. Sitting up in a panic, he finds himself back in his hotel room, the sunlight light seeping through the window almost blinding him. just barely managing to see the clock he frowns. 8:24 in the morning. Too early for him to have gone anywhere, so why isn't he here?

"Yifan?" Junmyeon's voice is weak and hoarse from having just woken up, but still loud enough to be heard. He waits a bit, expecting the other to respond from the bathroom, and his heartbeat steadily increasing when he doesn't get a response.

"Yifan!" he repeats, a bit louder this time, while his hands clutch onto the white sheets. But just as before, there's no response, not even a sign that he's anywhere in the room. The lump in grows thicker and harder to swallow. He can feel his entire body loosing strength as reality slowly sets in.

This can't be it...It all felt so real, so raw...it couldn't have been just a dream. He can feel his eyes growing moist, but he refuses to cry. It wasn't a dream, he refuses to think so. He manages to convince himself for a few seconds as he pushes himself off of the bed, thinking maybe Yifan just can't hear him from inside the bathroom, but the moment his bare feet touch the ground, it feels like someone's suddenly punched him in the gut. He's undoubtedly in his own room right now, that much he's sure of. The book he had been reading the day before is placed on the nightstand, right next to his wallet and cell phoen where he had left it. A heart shattering pain takes over him now as he slowly sits back down on the edge of the bed, the tears quietly making their way down his cheeks. Of course it was a dream, how stupid could he be? Yifan is never coming back.

The tears continue to fall as he burries his wet face in his hands, becoming deaf and blind to everything around him.

"Junmyeon, what's wrong? What happened?"

As if things weren't bad enough, now he's got to come up with an excuse to give the manager. There's a hand placed on his shoulder, but he instinctively shrinks away, not wanting to face reality just yet. He's not in the mood to talk, or explain, he just wants to lay in bed all day and sleep. If he's asleep he doesn't have to think about facing the harsh truth. Blind from heartbreak, Junmyeon almost yells at his manager to get out of the room. There's only one thing that stops him from doing so. He finds himself wondering just how the man got in the room in the first place when he didn't even have a key.

"Junmyeon... hey, talk to me" suddenly, the manager doesn't sound like the manager anymore, but the voice is just as recognizable. Jerking his head up, still half expecting his manager to be standing there, staring back at him in confusion, he comes face to face with Yifan who's now down on his knees, staring at him heavy with concern. He asks again, rasing a hand to his wet cheek. Just barely managing to suppress the yelp of relief, Junmyeon immediately throws both arms around Yifan's neck, holding on for dear life, afraid that this too might be a dream. Yifan doesn't ask again, either because he's waiting for Junmyeon to tell him on his own or because he has already figured out the problem. He only returns the hug in silence.

"I called you...I thought you left"

"I'm sorry, it's really hard to hear from inside the bathroom"

Yifan doesn't have to ask again, he can only imagine what went through Junmyeon's mind when he woke up and didn't find him lying beside him. He may be working towards forgiveness, but Junmyeon's trust in him is still weak, and Yifan doesn't blame him for a second. Slowly backing away from the embrace, he gets to his feet before crawling back under the covers. His arms are hanging ooen, waiting for Junmyeon to make himself at home in them. After quickly rubbing his eyes clear of tears, Junmyeon does just that, resting his head against Yifan's wide chest. As he glances around the room now, he notices an unfamiliar suitcase and clothes hanging around, and immediately feels like an imbecile for not having noticed them before. Yifan remains quiet, afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. It's only after a minute of silence that he decides to speak.

"Junmi..."

"Mmm?"

"Tell me one of your dad jokes" Junmyeon tilts his head up, a cocked eyebrow expressing his confusion, but Yifan only smiles. "I know you have some."

"Of course I do, but why do you want to hear one? You never thought they were funny"

"Just...for old time's sake"

Truth of the matter is, Yifan misses everything about Junmyeon. His eyes, his smile, his laugh, his sweet voice...even his dumb dad jokes. He's missed a lot in the past three years, which means he's also got a lot to catch up on, if Junmyeon will allow it.

"Okay" Junmyeon answers after some serious thought, searching his mental arsenal for a joke Yifan has not heard before. "Why do chicken coops only have two doors?"

Yifan is already smiling, the familiar feeling of home warming it's way into his heart, but woks hard to supress it. "I don't know...why?"

"Because if they had four doors they would be chicken sedans"

Yifan tries his hardest to keep his deadpan stare in place while Junmyeon all but folds over in laughter. "That's terrible" but he can feel himself smiling, not so much because of the joke because he really wasn't lying when he said it's terrible, but just the sound of Junmyeon's laughter echoing throughout the room is enough to make his heart flutter.

"Isn't that what you wanted" the man protests, cheeks slightly puffed out like an elementary school boy. Yifan chuckles, taking in the adorable scene.

"It is" he says with a nod. "So..." he carefully laces their fingers together, noting how much bigger his hand is compared to Junmyeon's. "Am I forgiven yet...?" There's a short pause during which Yifan almost expects Junmyeon to get up and walk away. In the back on his mind he knows he's got a lot more work to do before he gets there, but Junmyeon's response gives him the only push he needs.

"Almost"

After blaming himself and feeling immensely guilty for such a long time, Yifan can finally feel like he's at peace. He may not be completely forgiven just yet, and Junmyeon's trust in him is most likely still weary, but it's a start. Leaning over just a couple of inches, he places a gentle kiss on Junmyeon's forehead, just like he'd done back then, only this time it's different. This time he's not walking away.

"I will take that"

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A/N: this was just a quickie to satisfy my krisho feels. I hope you all enjoyed! ♡