Floral • NCT ONESHOTS

Safe and Sound - Johntae

credit: princehuangss

"Johnny!"

Taeyong's voice cracked from strain, and his throat burned as he inhaled more and more smoke. It burned like the walls of the house surrounding him, flames licking at his heels as he stumbled from room to room.

"Johnny, please! Answer me!" Taeyong choked out again.

Taeyong barely avoided a patch of fire blocking the entrance to his and Johnny's shared bedroom, pushing his way in. He entered just in time to see the portrait hanging above their bed fall from the wall and become engulfed in flames. Taeyong couldn't help the sob he let out, tired and broken and helpless.

He remembers the day they had hung it on the wall, so vividly as if it had been the day before.

Johnny and Taeyong had just moved into their new house. Finally, after weeks of signing papers and hauling boxes, everything was set up and in place. Taeyong's dream of owning this house in the quiet countryside with his most beloved had finally come into fruition.

After all the furniture had been unpacked and put in its rightful place, Taeyong scanned the bedroom and narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. Despite all the rooms being full, the house still felt a little empty, as if it weren't quite complete...

Taeyong snapped his fingers, startling Johnny out of his thoughts. "You know what this place needs?"

"What?" Johnny asked, indulging him.

"Decoration. The walls are too bare. It doesn't feel quite like home yet."

Johnny's only response to that was a sly grin, as he made his way over to Taeyong. Johnny wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, hooking his chin on Taeyong's shoulder.

"I think... anywhere that you are feels like home." He murmured into Taeyong's ears. Taeyong let out a small shriek as Johnny's breath tickled his neck, before shoving Johnny away with a groan.

"You're a disgusting sap, you know that?"

Johnny hummed, turning Taeyong around in his arms and touching their foreheads together. "Just the way you like me though."

Taeyong couldn't argue with that, so instead he wrapped his arms around Johnny's neck and caught the other man's grinning lips with his own.

The very next day the pair went shopping for little things to fill their home. Not too many, Taeyong reminded Johnny, because they would no doubt pick up many more little trinkets on their future travels. That day was when Johnny came across the most beautiful painting of the mountains of Switzerland. It just happened to be at the top of their list of dream vacation destinations, (yes, they had a list) so Taeyong insisted that they buy it and hang it right above their bed where they'll always see it.

A few days after that, Johnny brought home a little dog, much to Taeyong's surprise. Although hesitant at first, Taeyong quickly grew quite fond of her. He was the one who would eventually give her a name— Ruby.

Ruby was most likely downstairs, in the kitchen where her dog bed was. Taeyong longed to race downstairs and scoop her up in his arms, but the stairs had already crumbled into almost nothingness. Besides, Taeyong needed to find Johnny first. Taeyong tried not to think of the little dog, how lonely and scared she must be, and he pushed on.

"Johnny, please." Taeyong whimpered. His voice sounded terrible and scratchy. Sweat was pouring down every surface of his body and he was beginning to feel dizzy from all the smoke. But he could not give up now. He could not sit here and die, not even knowing the fate of his other half.