Moonlight: Stars, Eclipses, & Full Moons

While We Still Can

Jaehyun's POV

It was getting dangerously close to 11 as I cleaned up from another busy day at the clinic. Despite us being a smaller clinic, our clientele had been growing steadily over the last year, which meant more work for me. But I always pushed through and tried not to complain. 

After I finished cleaning up and putting all the equipment back in its proper place, I finally grabbed my belongings, locked the clinic up, and headed to my car. I threw my bags in the passenger's seat next to me and then let out a long, deep exhale as I started up the car. I couldn't wait to just get home, slip my shoes off, change into my pajamas, and lay down in my bed for the night; it was always the one part of my day I looked forward to. On rare occasions, I could actually manage to close up on time and get home to see Minah and Jeongsoo before they went to bed. And those times, though seldom, I liked even more.

I pulled into the driveway and put the car in park before grabbing my things and getting out. Once inside the door, I took my shoes off using my feet and made my way upstairs as quietly as I could. Before I went to my bedroom, though, I made sure to peek into Minah's room, a habit that had formed out of my instinctual parental worries when I first started going back to work. It brought a smile to my face to see that she was sound asleep in her bed, her feet curled into the blankets and her breathing steady.

I looked for a few more seconds and then closed the door again, tip-toeing my way back to Jeongsoo and I's room a few doors down. I found him asleep as well with my side of the bed still made like it usually was. He had this thing where he only messed up his side of the bed if I'm not home on time to go to bed with him. I don't know why he does it, but some part of me liked to think of it as one of his many ways of showing he loved me.

I put my stuff down on the chair near the window and then went over to grab some pajamas out of the closet before quietly slipping into the bathroom to wash my face and change. Once I was finished, I tossed my dirty clothes into the hamper near the bathroom door and made my way over to the bed. 

Carefully, I pulled back the covers and lifted myself onto the mattress, trying not to stir around so much that it would wake him up. However, that proved to be nearly impossible, as it typically does, because as soon as I sighed and began to settle in, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and a warm chest press against my back.

"Mm, you're home," Jeongsoo mumbled sleepily, his voice resonating throughout my whole body. "I missed you."

"I know," I replied, wrapping my hand around his. "I'm sorry. I wanted to be home sooner, but I guess every pet decided to be sick today." He chuckled and tightened his grip on me. "How were things while I was gone?"

"Fine, as usual," he said back, yawning toward the end of his reply. "I picked Minah up from school, we cooked dinner together, did some homework, and then just relaxed until bed."

"Mm, that sounds nice," I said, sighing and looking down at his fingers as I began playing with them. "You know, it's funny, before Minah, I never wanted to be the stay-at-home parent, so I worked extra hard in school to make sure that didn't happen. But now that I've gotten what I wanted, I want what I didn't want before. I feel like I'm missing out on everything."

"Then hire another vet," he said as yawned again.

"Pssh, wouldn't that be nice," I said, not taking him seriously and scoffing. I let out another exhale and then kissed his hand chastely. "Let's stop talking now. We're both tired." He just hummed and moved around a little bit from behind me, making me smile before allowing my head to sink into the pillow and dosing off for the night.

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The next morning, I woke up a little earlier than usual so that I could make breakfast for Jeongsoo and Minah. I figured that if my job wouldn't allow me to spend evenings with them, I should at least take advantage of the mornings that did. So, after a quick shower, I put on some temporary clothes and went downstairs to start on cooking. They started waking up not too long after and came down, too, after they were done getting dressed.