seventeen oneshots

static (junhao)

LINK:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11529270

Summary:

"Well, then..." Junhui's voice trails off for a moment, the sound of fabric rustling coming through the phone, and Minghao can practically see the boy on the other line turning onto his other side in his bed, switching his phone to his other hand and tucking it beneath his ear again. "Go to sleep."

"I have a paper to write," Minghao says, absently running his fingers over the keys of the laptop in front of him. The line crackles in his ear and he winces slightly, pulling away. He wishes the connection was better, wishes Junhui's voice didn't sound so staticy and far away, wishes that it was only six days before he got let out for winter break, not six weeks. Minghao idly traces a pattern along the keyboard, ignoring the way his fingers itch for something and someone warmer to touch.

________________________________________________________________________________

Something small and hard hits the side of his head. Minghao's fingers typing away at the laptop in front of him twitch in response, turning the word he had been in the middle of typing into a jumbled mess of letters. He sighs, head turning to the side and down towards the pale pink eraser that now sits beside him on the mattress of his bed. Slowly, he lifts his eyes up to meet his roommate's across the room, pulling out an ear bud as he narrows his eyes in obvious annoyance.

"What?"

"Answer your phone," Mingyu mumbles, eyes already looking away and back to the mess of open textbooks and loose leaf paper notes sprawled across his desk. "It's been buzzing for like, five minutes now and it's driving me crazy."

Minghao blinks, just now hearing the insistent noise coming from his desk pressed against the left side of his bed. He curses under his breath, leaning over to grab the buzzing device sitting atop the desk. He pulls at the cord of his ear buds, pulling the other one out, not bothering to pause the music playing from his laptop. The screen of his phone flashes at him as he turns it over, reading out a contact name that makes his lips curl upward and his stomach flip. The tiredness that had been weighing down the corners of his eyes and the joints of his fingers seems to vanish as he quickly moves to answer the call.

"Hey," he says, can hear the way his tone immediately softens and melts. He grimaces inwardly, reaching out to grab at the pink eraser by his side and blindly chucking it towards Mingyu when he hears the other mutter something teasing under his breath.

The fight goes out of him altogether when he hears the voice on the other end start to sing, sweet and low and gentle.

"Happy birthday to you..."

Minghao bites at the tip of his tongue, fighting back the smile that threatens to split his face in two as he glances at the digital clock at the corner screen of his laptop. It was two minutes past midnight.

"Junhui, it's like three in the morning for you," Minghao says when the song finishes. He glances up at Mingyu from across the room, grateful to see a pair of large headphones placed over the other's ears, though he knew they were more for his roommate's benefit rather than his own.

"It's 3:04 now," Junhui corrects, his voice low and soft that Minghao finds himself straining to hear it. "If you would have picked up your phone earlier-"

"What if I had been sleeping?" Minghao counters, hoping that Junhui wouldn't be able to hear his smile through the phone. Junhui pauses and Minghao grins wider.

Junhui's voice comes out hesitantly. "...Were you?"

"When am I ever?" Minghao laughs softly. His chest feels warm and full and he really, really hopes Mingyu is still being a decent person and minding his own business because the goofy smile on Minghao's lips is definitely 'two months worth of cafe meals' blackmail worthy.

"Seriously, Junhui," Minghao says, sobering up at the blackmail thought. "Go back to sleep."

"You go back to sleep." Minghao rolls his eyes.

"I wasn't asleep in the first place."

"Well, then..." Junhui's voice trails off for a moment, the sound of fabric rustling coming through the phone and Minghao can practically see the boy on the other line turning onto his other side in his bed, switching his phone to his other hand and tucking it beneath his ear again. "Go to sleep."

"I have a paper to write," Minghao says, absently running his fingers over the keys of the laptop in front of him. The line crackles in his ear and he winces slightly, pulling away. He wishes the connection was better, wishes Junhui's voice didn't sound so staticy and far away, wishes that it was only six days before he got let out for winter break, not six weeks. Minghao idly traces a pattern along the keyboard, ignoring the way his fingers itch for something and someone warmer to touch.

Junhui huffs in his ear and Minghao can hear the yawn he swallows back, the way the ends of his words slur together tiredly. "You shouldn't lose sleep over some essay, it's not that important."

"Neither is losing sleep over wishing me a happy birthday."

"You take that back," Junhui says immediately and Minghao laughs at the affronted tone of his voice. Junhui whines. "I woke up at three in the morning just to wish my boyfriend a happy birthday and this is the thanks I get?"

"Go back to sleep."

"I miss you."

Minghao's chest pangs and he takes a moment before he responds, swallowing past the sudden lump in his throat.

"I miss you, too," he says, soft enough that he's not sure if Junhui catches it. "Now go back to sleep."

When he hangs up a few minutes later, Minghao's chest feels weird and there's a bittersweet taste on the tip of his tongue. He stares at the word document in front of him without seeing it.

"Hey."

He lifts his head up to see Mingyu staring at him. The headphones are draped around his neck now, eyes searching Minghao's. He winces, working too slow to cover the downward tug of his lips and the probably extremely pathetic and lonely look to his eyes. Mingyu's seen it all though, he's sure from the way the other boy's eyes widen slightly and he shifts in his desk chair, making a move to approach Minghao before thinking better of it and settling back into the seat. Minghao opens his mouth to tell Mingyu off, fully prepared to pretend as if this moment had never happened, when the boy stops him with a hesitant, knowing smile.

"Happy birthday... lover boy."

It takes a moment for the words to register, for the quickly growing grin on Mingyu's face to make Minghao's skin prickle with annoyance. Out of conveniently placed erasers to chuck, he scrambles off of his bed, fully planning on suffocating the laughing idiot with his own pillow.