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Finishing the last leg of Seventeen’s world tour usually means that they all get to return to their dorm, the exhaustion of performing for hours night after night finally settling into their bodies as each member (some silent, some groaning) retreat into their respective bedrooms and attach themselves to their bunks, ready to sleep an entire day away. You can’t even blame them for leaving their suitcases piled messily in the living room. Dancing one choreo after another— each boasting its complexity, all while maintaining stable singing, can drain the actual life out of a person. Sure, seeing Carats have fun and hearing their cheers make all the hard work worth it, but fuck does it take a physical toll on one’s body.
Which is why Joshua knows he should be in fucking Dreamland right now at 4:37 A.M.
Note: should be
Except a certain Yoon Jeonghan, who he remembers groggily walking up to the second dorm hours ago, was suddenly shaking him awake, whining “Shua-yah” over and over like a petulant child.
Still, Joshua refused to open his eyes, settling for groans and hums of acknowledgement. Maybe if he waits for a few more minutes, Jeonghan will get tired and leave him alone. He’ll deal with an angry, sulking Yoon Jeonghan tomorrow when he’s had his fill of sleep.
Jeonghan’s whining stops and Joshua, eyes still glued shut, senses careful movement and a quiet rustling of limbs. He thinks Jeonghan must’ve given up and is on his way out of his room when the first slap lands on his cheek.
It didn’t hurt, it wasn’t violent or anything— this was Jeonghan we’re talking about. And although he’s known for his snappy behavior, he’s nowhere close to Seungkwan’s bottled up aggressiveness. Jeonghan slaps him again, but this time his hand stays warm above his cheek, and he proceeds to squish it.
“Jisoo, wake up.” Jeonghan whispers, smushing Joshua’s cheek in different directions. Another genius attempt to get Joshua out of bed.
To be honest, Jeonghan has already succeeded. Joshua is definitely awake and won’t be getting back to sleep soon, which is such a shame and Joshua wants to throw a fit (maybe a pillow at Jeonghan’s face), but then again, it’s his boyfriend interrupting his sweet slumber and he can’t really stay mad at the other over things like this. He does, however, take pleasure in testing Jeonghan’s patience like this.
“Joshua, what the fuck, I know your bitchass is awake.” Oops. Joshua must’ve smiled subconsciously. Jeonghan presses down on his cheek with slightly more pressure.
Joshua remains unresponsive and Jeonghan whines a bit louder, now grabbing the younger’s shoulder and shaking them with urgency. “Shuaaaaa~”
Joshua opens his left eye and although his vision is blurry from sleep, he can see how Jeonghan has plopped down in front of his bed, the older’s face just right across his. He hums, a smile playing across his lips, and reaches his hand out towards Jeonghan.
He cups the side of Jeonghan’s face, his boyfriend leaning immediately towards his touch. Joshua thumbs over Jeonghan’s cheeks softly before moving his hand to hover over the other’s forehead and pushing forward with just enough force that it doesn’t hurt Jeonghan, but still makes him fall down with a muffled “Yah!”.
A hushed laugh escapes Joshua’s lips as he reaches down to pull Jeonghan back up, straight towards his own unmoving body on the bed. He has his arm hooked around the other’s neck, pulling it close to him while the rest of Jeonghan is still sat on the carpeted floor. He sighs contentedly, willing to fall back asleep in this position. Jeonghan lets out an annoyed huff, half-heartedly resisting and Joshua places a kiss on the top of his head as a silent apology.
“What is it, Jeonghan-ah?” Joshua quips, as sweet and as innocent-sounding as he can, and then his voice goes soft. “Why aren’t you asleep?”
Jeonghan wants to snap back at Joshua with as much feistiness as his sleep-deprived self could muster but the way Joshua asked him was genuinely curious— maybe even concerned that he was pulling him out of his much needed rest at this godforsaken hour.
Jeonghan sighs (Joshua could practically hear the pout off of him), stops tugging at Joshua’s arm to let him go, and goes limp against his boyfriend’s semi-embrace. “Please, Joshuji...”
This makes Joshua poke his head out from his messily bundled pillow and blanket to lean closer to Jeonghan. “Hmm?”
Jeonghan only ever uses the nickname when he’s being overly affectionate or when he wants something. Joshua uses his free hand (the one not caging Jeonghan in a sort of headlock) to hold Jeonghan by the chin, squishing both his cheeks in the process and makes the other face him. “What is it, love?”
The use of the very special nickname has Jeonghan looking up and into Joshua’s eyes with a newfound sparkle. He smiles bashfully, as delicate as the Yoon Jeonghan is capable of, shyly moving away from Joshua’s now-loose hold and buries his face at the crook of Joshua’s neck, flustered by the unexpected endearment.
“Jeonghan-ah, look at me.” Joshua teases. He’s glad the other can’t see his stupid grin. Even after all these years, Jeonghan still makes his heart flutter— the overwhelming kind, where he feels his heart might just fly right out of his ribcage. Joshua coaxes Jeonghan out of hiding by gently running his hand through the other’s hair.
Jeonghan responds by hitting him square in the chest and then standing up from where he’s seated at the floor. He latches onto Joshua’s wrist and tugs. Joshua lets out a very fake “Ow!” while crossing both his arms over his chest defensively, playfully resisting at the same time. Jeonghan must be getting slightly annoyed because he’s tugging with force now and Joshua has to actively pull his arm to the opposite side. Jeonghan’s body is leaning diagonally and has Joshua chuckling at how his boyfriend is actually trying to overpower him. Joshua sits up on his bed, with Jeonghan still tugging uselessly.
“Okay, okay.” Joshua puts his free arm up in defeat and Jeonghan beams. He turns and almost makes it to the door when Joshua suddenly attaches himself to Jeonghan’s back and leans his entire body weight against him.
Jeonghan grunts in response. But nevertheless trudges out the room and makes his way to the kitchen with a very heavy Hong Jisoo slung over him like an oversized backpack.
Jeonghan stops near the kitchen island and waits for Joshua to sit at one of the bar stools. He then maneuvers his way within the kitchen, grabbing the jug of milk from the fridge, one huge bowl, and two spoons; pausing to place them in front of Joshua. He reaches into the cupboard where a row of cereal boxes are located. 13 members that don’t exactly agree on just one cereal variation, go figure. Jeonghan takes out the box of cereal labeled with Joshua’s name. Coco something. It’s American. His boyfriend is just there smiling, feet swaying slightly as he watches this routine play out for the thousandth time.
Jeonghan pours in a mountain of cereal, some milk, and pushes the bowl closer to Joshua. He places the milk and cereal back to their original places before plopping down beside Joshua, offering one of the spoons to the other. Joshua takes the spoon smiling brightly, the urge to return to his comfortable bed still there but is ignored because the dim kitchen lighting makes Jeonghan look even more ethereal and Joshua realizes it’s been a while since he was last lost admiring Jeonghan like this.
Jeonghan takes Joshua’s left hand into his own without sparing the other a glance and proceeds to scoop some cereal from their shared bowl and eat. Joshua smiles knowingly at the boy sitting next to him and does the same, hands still interwined. They continue eating that way without speaking a word, not bothering to hide the smiles on their faces, before Jeonghan breaks the silence.
“I missed you.” He says quietly, spoon hanging in midair for a second before going back into his mouth. Joshua pauses and squeezes Jeonghan’s hand reassuringly in response. He scoops one last spoonful of cereal before bringing up the back of his boyfriend’s hand to his lips and presses a kiss onto it. Jeonghan flinches when his skin comes in contact with Joshua’s slightly cold lips and smiles while moving closer to lean on the other’s shoulder. Joshua’s arm immediately goes up to hold Jeonghan’s body closer to his.
Finishing the last leg of Seventeen’s world tour usually means that everyone was running on their last boost of adrenaline. They’ve been on so many flights that ‘jet lagged’ become their default setting. They’ve long given up on understanding time zones, too. So most of their days, if not spent at rehearsals or wandering around foreign cities with the members, were spent asleep.
Finishing the last leg of Seventeen’s world tour usually means Joshua and Jeonghan barely have enough time to themselves.
T ime without the staff-noonas taking Jeonghan away because it’s his turn for hair and makeup.
Time without having to go sleep at separate hotel rooms because Jeonghan always rooms with Seokmin, while Joshua with Soonyoung.
Time without needing to be hyperaware of their interactions and proximity so people don’t get the wrong idea (the right idea, rather) because the media is a bitch to handle.
Joshua still feels the slight urge to climb back to his bed, but he figures he can sleep later. Having his arms around the love of his life in shared silence, despite sitting on these cold-ass metal barstools— there’s no better comfort.
Besides, he missed Jeonghan, too. A lot.