late nights || minjoong

- eight -

hongjoong's eyes fluttered open and he went to stand up from his bed only, to find that he for one, wasn't in his bed, he was on the couch and two, mingi was sleeping on his lap. mingi was sleeping. the older smiled softly at the other and gently brushed the stray hair's away from his face. the younger's cheeks were puffy and rounder and his lips were pouted lazily. he looked peaceful as he genuinely slept for the first time in a long time. the last thing hongjoong wanted to do was wake the other up but his body was starting to lose feeling, mingi was much larger than him and they hadn't switched positions since about midnight of last night. 

as carefully as he could hongjoong somehow maneuvered his way from the couch without waking the other. he placed a pillow under the other's head and adjusted the blanket's to cover him more. he smiled again at the taller and headed to the kitchen feeling a bit hungry, and knowing mingi, when he woke up he would be starving. that boy could really eat. he grabbed some eggs from the fridge and cracked them into a bowl. he realized he didn't know how mingi liked his eggs, so he played the safe 'scrambled' route. he poured them into the frying pan, moving them around with a spatula. 

mingi blinked some sleep out of his eyes and yawned softly. he stretched his arms over his head, his legs stretching the length of the couch as he did so. the sound of and smell of bacon cooking caused him to stand up and head to the kitchen. mingi padded over and wrapped his arms around hongjoong and placed his face in his neck. "sleeping beauty is awake i see" still in a very sleepy state mingi nodded and nuzzled his nose further into hongjoong's neck. "the eggs are ready, bacon is almost finished, and toast is in the toaster." the sound of food made mingi smile, the smaller almost blushed at the feeling of mingi's lips and smile pressing against his skin. he placed a plate on the counter and gestured to the bar in the middle of the kitchen where two barstools also sat. "you're warm" mingi's grip on the other's waist tightened as he giggled to himself. "and you can cling to me like a koala later but you need to eat, i know you're hungry" mingi groaned and released the other from his hold and he went over and sat at the bar and watched hongjoong finish cooking. 

the older had his hair in a ponytail again, his gray hoodie sleeves were rolled up and he had a black headband keeping the stray hairs out of his face. he placed some eggs and two strips of bacon on a plate along with some toast. he grabbed a strawberry and grape jam, and a jar of applebutter. he placed the plate in front of the taller and the jars as well. he grabbed his own plate and some silverware for the two of them. instead of sitting down however hongjoong stood opposite of mingi and ate there instead. "so i'm assuming you must feel much better after sleeping for-" hongjoong paused and looked over at the stove clock. "seven and half hours" hongjoong grinned at the happy smile on the other's face. "i'm still in that, 'waking up' state but i don't feel exhausted like i normally. it doesn't ache to walk..." mingi trailed off still smiling at the other. hongjoong quirked his head to the side taking it all in. there was something about mingi right now. maybe it was the fact that he sat up a bit straighter, or that his eyes were smiling with him now.

"i don't think i've ever slept that well in my life honestly." they ate in silence for a few minutes before hongjoong finally spoke up. "i already called in today so we have all day and i'm going to make sure it's stress free and that at the end of the day you sleep." mingi blushed and sighed at hongjoong adoringly. "i don't deserve you" "shut up yes you do. we don't have to go anywhere, we can just stay inside today and relax, i have a play-station i'm sure you can keep occupied." "we roblox'n today fellas"

"okay would you rather have to fight one hundred duck sized horses, or one horse sized duck?" "my concern for your brain cell grows continuously everyday" the two placed the controllers to the side and stared at the screen. silently hongjoong picked a pillow up from the ground beside him and flung it at the taller causing him to yell. "don't start a fight you can't finish short stack" "oh that's original. what are you gonna do about, huh cutie?" hongjoong smirked confidently grabbing the controller and shutting of mingi's player two controller. he scrolled through the apps on the screen and finally got to hulu. "awe, so no netflix and chill..." mingi pouted at the other earning another slap from the pillow. "okay, so disney plus and thru-" "mingi so help me i will lock you in the freezer" "you wouldn't" "oh yeah try me" the two had leaned closer a challenging glint in their eyes. "ratatouille" "wait what" "my favorite disney movie, ratatouille." french style music made its way through the tv speakers and hongjoong scooted away and looked to the screen. 

mingi swallowed and kept his gaze on the other, seemingly in  trance almost. so close, the two were so close, mingi could feel the other breathing softly and could smell the vanilla and cinnamon. they were so close, one more inch and their lips would hover over each other. mingi forced himself to snap out of the thoughts but his gaze lingered on the older a second longer before he looked to the screen as well. 

"so that rat-" "is a chef, yes" "well that's unsanitary" they chuckled. half way through the cartoon classic the gap between the two grew smaller and mingi's head now rested on hongjoong's shoulder, his knees bent and resting to the left of him. hongjoong kept his back propped against the couch, and he rested his head on top of the younger's. the sun was setting outside and the gray curtains helped dim the bright light flooding through the apartment. the younger was fixated on the movie and didn't feel the other's gaze on him. the soft sunset casted pink rays onto mingi's seemingly perfect face. hongjoong resisted the urge to reach out and press little kisses all over his face, starting with his round cheeks that seem to puff out like marshmallows when he got sleepy. the younger was so precious. "if you stare any harder you won't be able to roll your eye's at me anymore, they'll get stuck in place" mingi never looked away from the screen as he laughed. hongjoong slapped the boy's thigh earning a yelp from the younger. "that hurt!" the smile playing on his lips that he tried to cover with a pout said otherwise.

the movie finished and mingi was hungry. so that's how they found themselves ordering street food to eat. hongjoong tried to pay but when he did mingi quite literally slapped the wallet out of hand.  "it also just occurred to me that i never payed for coffee or cheesecake-" "yes well you also never ordered it either, i brought it to you." mingi went to make another argument but found himself speechless. "you think you would have learned not to argue with me cutie, you'll never win" the older sent him a wink and carried the food to a table on the street. dumbstruck mingi followed him.

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