small words || jeongcheol

14: cookies.

Someone softly sobbing pulled Jeonghan out of the realm of sleep.

He groaned quietly, slowly rolling over and squinting in the darkness. In the faint light from the gap in the curtain, Jeonghan saw Seungkwan's hunched form. Knees drawn to his chest, the chubby boy's shoulders shook as he covered his mouth with his hands. The long-haired boy's brows knitted together as he looked at him.

"Seungkwan?" he croaked.

The boy gasped, eyes wide in the semi-darkness.

Jeonghan grunted, moving his blankets off himself and padding over to Seungkwan's bed. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

Seungkwan shook his head violently, spluttering slightly as he tried to hold in his sobs. Tears ran down his face.

"Seungkwan, please," he said, placing a hand on the chubby boy's shoulder.

Seungkwan let out a soft cry, wrapping his arms around Jeonghan's waist, burying his head in his chest. Jeonghan sighed, bringing his arms up around the boy's shoulders and rubbing the space between his shoulder blades.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

Seungkwan had trouble replying, only forming some unintelligible words as he blubbered into Jeonghan's pyjamas.

"It's alright," Jeonghan cooed, "It's okay, you're okay." He felt something strange in his chest when he realised he was repeating the words Seungcheol had said to him only a few days before.

Seungkwan took a few deep breaths. He gulped before pulling away and scrubbing furiously at his eyes.

"M-my binge stash… it's gone," he said, getting teary again.

"What do you mean?" Jeonghan questioned.

"It r-ran out yesterday," Seungkwan said with a hiccup. "I… I can't fall back to sleep. I'm s-so hungry," he wailed.

"Are you sure you can't try to sleep?" Jeonghan asked, rubbing his arm comfortingly. "It can't be much longer until breakfast time."

Seungkwan shook his head. "I can't," he got out, "And I can't even c-call Hansol… I d-don't have enough points-" he broke down in fresh sobs, prompting Jeonghan to hug him again, wincing slightly as how tightly Seungkwan hugged back. He hoped his bruises would fade soon…

"I get that you're having a little heart-to-heart," Junhui drawled from the other side of the room, "But can't you shut the fuck up? We're trying to sleep."

"June would understand," Seungkwan retorted, before bursting into tears again.

"Leave June the fuck out of this," Junhui growled. "Seriously, go down to the kitchen if you're that hungry."

"Nurse Josh already caught me sneaking downstairs after bedtime," Seungkwan wailed. "And I lied to him and told him I couldn't fall asleep because I was homesick."

"Wait, when did this happen?" Jeonghan asked.

Seungkwan pulled back from the hug and sniffed. "You were already asleep. Josh was really n-nice about it, too. He prayed with me and stayed until I fell asleep."

"He's a nice guy," Jeonghan agreed. He yawned loudly. "Can't you fall asleep now?"

"I need food, or H-hansol," Seungkwan mumbled, "Otherwise I c-can't fall asleep."

Jeonghan thought about it before replying, "Stay here."

"W-where are you going?" Seungkwan asked as Jeonghan got up and pulled on his dressing gown.