Monster

8

Jaebum works late into the night and wakes up ridiculously early to be back to work the next morning. He showers and packs a bag expecting to be out the door before anyone else is awake.

But Jinyoung is in the kitchen putting some kind of fruit thing in the oven meaning he must have been up before even Jaebum was.

"What are you doing up so early?" Jaebum asks, stealing an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter.

"I could ask you the same thing" Jinyoung replies sleepily, grabbing a mug out of the cupboard for Jaebum's coffee.

"Working" Jaebum replies.

"Couldn't sleep" Jinyoung sets the cup in front of him, and lays down halfway on the counter, his hair fluffing out in a black halo around his head.

Jaebum hums in response watching Jinyoung while he sips his coffee and occasionally takes bites out of his apple.

"You should eat something else too, do you want eggs and bacon?" Jinyoung mumbles into the counter.

"Bacon sounds good thank you"

Jinyoung slides off the counter and back over to the stove pulling out a pan and the bacon from the fridge. Jaebum watches Jinyoung cook but doesn't say anything, enjoying the silent morning and the site of a half asleep Jinyoung with his shirt inside out and one sweat pant leg rolled up his calf. Jinyoung never looks this messy.

"What's in the oven?" Jaebum asks when he notices a sweet smell mixed in with the greasy bacon.

"A peach cobbler, its dessert for breakfast" Jinyoung mumbles, yawning halfway through his sentence. He uses the spatula to lift the bacon onto a plate for Jaebum, setting it in front of him before stretching back out on the counter.

"Jinyoung, the stove" Jaebum comments forcing Jinyoung to get back up and turn off the stove. "Maybe you should go back to bed once the cobbler is done"

"I want to but it doesn't matter how tired I am I won't go back to sleep"

"Take something for it, I'm sure we have something in one of the bathroom cabinets"

Jinyoung shakes his head so Jaebum just shrugs he isn't going to argue with him. He eats his bacon, content. Normally Jinyoung would never let him have only bacon so the younger must be pretty out of it. For a moment Jaebum wonders what would be keeping Jinyoung up but he doesn't dwell on it, he has to get going and has more important things to worry about.

He sets his plate by the sink, waving goodbye to Jinyoung who is watching him over his arm stretched out in front of his face, and heads to the garage.

Jaebum starts the car, pulling out of the driveway. Realizing he forgot something. Shit, he thinks, banging his hand once on the steering wheel. Oh well, he usually doesn't, probably won't now.

He had wanted to tell Jinyoung not to watch the news. Jinyoung usually doesn't, especially after a job, but Jaebum wanted to make sure he wouldn't this time, having watched it this morning to make sure the police still had no leads, he knew that Jinyoung probably wouldn't take this one well.

Jinyoung wouldn't admit it, but he was having nightmares and then anxiety dreams all night. Painful because he was locked in a half asleep half awake spot so he couldn't do anything but suffer. The kitchen was messy and no matter how hard he scrubbed at the stains on the floor they wouldn't come up. Worse, the stains were blood and although it was never said, he knew it was Junhyuk's. In the dream Jaebum stood over him; Mark, whose hands were covered in the stuff, was beside him as they ordered him to clean it as if that what wasn't what Jinyoung was trying to do.