late nights || minjoong

- seven -

about twenty minutes had passed by and mingi opened his eyes finding himself in a much more comfortable position then what he remembered being in. he went to sit up but immediately stopped feeling a pain in his head. hongjoong shushed him gently and pet his hair, guiding his head back to his lap. "it's okay, i'm right here" "hongjoong i'm so sorry-" " no apologies mingi, you did nothing wrong" mingi looked up at the older focusing on the feeling of hongjoong's nimble finger's brushing through his hair. he swallowed and wiped at his cheeks wanting to rid of any tears that might still be lingering. 

it took a moment for the younger to register but it hit him, he had slept. more like passed out, probably from a mixture of things. exhaustion, overwhelmed... but he wasn't alone this time. hongjoong was right there holding him. comforting him, carrying some of his burden. the soft smell from the scented candles helped bring him back to his senses, but something else lingered with it. the usual baked bread and coffee was there but he smelled vanilla and cinnamon. hongjoong. the older was comforting mingi wanted to curl up into a ball and stay there, right in his arms. "if you keep thinking that hard cutie you might pass out again" the comment made mingi giggle and his eyes turn into little crescents in the process. "there you are" the older smiled back at him moving one of his hands out of his hair to cup his cheek instead. 

the dark haired boy looked away from him to the small familiar fire that brought him warmth countless times. he wanted to stay here, in this moment. in the small candle lit cafe but he wanted hongjoong to go home, and get some well deserved rest. "i have an idea, it might not work but i think it's definitely worth a shot." 

"marvel it is" hongjoong placed the disk into the dvd player in the living room of his apartment and took his seat on the couch next to mingi, the younger immediately snuggling up to him and placing his head on his lap. "if you can't sleep, the chances of me sleeping are just as good so if we end up staying up all night then i'll take the day off tomorrow. i haven't ever missed a day so it'll be perfectly fine." "you would do that, i don't wanna cause trouble-" "i just told you i got it handled" the argument went no further because mingi knew better than to tread those waters, he couldn't win against him. 

"see what'd we learn" "that captain marvel is completely useless and completely over powered because they ran out of movie ideas." "exactly. welcome to amazing adventures of hollywood slowly going down hill. and we the audience get the pleasure of watching it happen...the clownery is unreal."  mingi's laughter was like a soft song to the older and he was happy to say that he produced it. mingi's smile. it was a beautiful thing that needed to be cherished and protected.  hongjoong made it his 'job' to do that. except this job was an enjoyable one, one that he wanted to have. it meant way more to him than any other task he had given himself. "you're looking at me like that again" "huh" "you get this look in your eye when you think, when you look at me and think really hard." "sorry, got lost in thought i guess" 
"well stop thinking, we've done a lot of it today." "yeah no kidding" 

"let's share secrets, i'll go first, when i was younger i ate a run over waffle for fifty cents" "why would y- you know what, doesn't surprise me i'm unfazed" "so you mean to tell me that, me eating road kill waffle doesn't surprise you" "not at all" the younger pouted giving hongjoong a playful punch. "okay captain what's something stupid you've done" the older seemed to have to think about it, as if he couldn't remember doing something idiotic out of context. " i once used hot sauce instead of ketchup one time, that was pretty gross." "oh boooo, you have braincells this is boring." 

someway somehow frozen made its way into the dvd player next but the volume was turned down low, hongjoong focusing more on trying to mingi to sleep. mingi's eyes were closed though obviously not anywhere near asleep. he was tired. so tired. but he couldn't sleep, it was the worst feeling. the familiar sensation of hongjoong brushing though his hair aided how tense he was and caused him to relax more. "i'm sorry i'm just keeping you up" "mingi if i didn't want to help i wouldn't be doing this." 

half way through the movie mingi almost decided to just get up, ask hongjoong to drive him home, to tell hongjoong to go to sleep. but something held him back from doing so and in a moment the softest sound filled his ears. hongjoong was humming quietly, a song of no words, and no sheet music, nothing written down to go off of. it was just melodic on its own. this was the closest thing to sleep mingi had been in a long time, he almost felt like he could reach out and grab it. "it's okay mingi, rest, i'm here, everything's okay. go to sleep cutie." mingi's eyes already closed seemed to grow heavier somehow. his breathing steadied and his shoulder's relaxed, his body molding itself to hongjoong, who was keeping him warm and safe. a gentle smile formed on the smaller's lips as he grabbed an extra blanket from the back of the couch throwing it over himself and the now sleeping boy. 

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