#242: we’ll be looking for sunlight;
Prompt: #242
Title:we’ll be looking for sunlight;
Pairing:Chen/Kris
Rating:PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 4004 words
Summary: Love is what Jongdae feels at five in the morning when the streets of Seoul are down to a quiet murmur. Yifan looks beautiful as he blinks away sleep, waiting for the sun to rise.
Author's note: this is unbeta-d for many reasons. sorry TT TT. but many thanks to R for the help TT TT and to G for the handholding and for letting me rant so much about this. u gaise r amazeballs. (title is a line from halsey’s roman holiday);
Jongdae whispers a soft farewell into the microphone after his closing ment, playing the last song on the list. He can see Baekhyun gagging across the glass window, and he winks at him, enjoying Baekhyun suffering for being extra. He’s the one who approved of the script anyway.
“You don’t have to be such a romance killer, just because you don’t get laid regularly.” They’re done packing up now, leaving the studio in the hands of the day shift crew. Four in the morning and Jongdae wonders how the crew could wake up at such a time, then again he’s crooning into a microphone from ten to four, taking song requests and doing whatever the staff have in mind for him.
“I don’t need to know about what you get up to with your boyfriend,” Baekhyun’s face twists unbecomingly, and Jongdae laughs. They’re too bright for the people they pass by the streets at this ungodly hour. “I think we can still go clubbing, Sehun just texted me a sick party going on.”
An old lady pushing a trash cart passes by them, hissing at how loud they are. Baekhyun bows immediately, apologizing. They offer to help her push the carts but she squints at them and carries on.
He’s two blocks away from his comfortable bed with Yifan, but the look Baekhyun shoots him makes him relent. “Everyone’s going to be trashed when we get there, you know?”
“All the more reason to hurry up and get trashed ourselves! We’re only twenty once!” Baekhyun hollers, fist bumping the sky.
“You’re twenty six, stop lying to yourself.” Baekhyun smacks him right in the arm and blows a raspberry at him. “I can’t believe you’re the night crew supervisor.” Jongdae thinks to himself. For some miracle Baekhyun glares at him as if he knew what Jongdae was thinking about.
“You should just go with Sehun, really.”
“Sehun’s busy working and mixing drinks and flirting with jailbait to entertain me. Besides, we’ve never been clubbing, Jongdae. Not since you got the job. I’ve missed clubbing, I missed you.” Baekhyun’s pulling that card without even saying it. Baekhyun had put in a good word when Jongdae applied for the opening, he hadn’t really expected to actually get the job, but it’s infinitely better than the bang up job he had at a supermarket moving heavy ass boxes, making his back ache 24/7 and enduring the grumpiest manager to ever exist on Earth. His job as a DJ doesn’t pay all the bills, even when he’s splitting with Yifan, but fortunately, he’s able to get a part time job at Chanyeol’s family diner. Two jobs is better than breaking his back and worrying about getting a pay cut every weekend for taking a breather.
“Sehun practically looks like jailbait too,” is all Jongdae says, tired of arguing. He follows behind Baekhyun as he talks about his ideas for the next night’s broadcast. Jongdae sends an apologetic message to Yifan, complete with sad emoticons and a heart.
He doesn’t stay long at the party, his cold beer gone warm in his hands as he watched Baekhyun chug down cup after cup. He’s had just about enough of the partying when Baekhyun decides to climb onto the bar and dances obscenely to familiar beats. He shoots a tired smile at Sehun and leaves Baekhyun in Sehun’s hands, thankful that Sehun actually lives in the same apartment as Baekhyun. It saves Jongdae from having to deliver a drunken Baekhyun and stagger back to his apartment in the cold morning. All he wants is to just crawl in bed with Yifan and warm each other up before the older man has to leave for his own work.
Yifan is sleeping peacefully in their bed when he arrives. He’s curling in on himself, making himself smaller when he clearly isn’t. Chucking off his jeans, Jongdae slides comfortably under the duvet behind Yifan. Without meaning to, his lips press against Yifan’s exposed neck, making Yifan stir.
“Jongdae?” Jongdae wraps his arm around Yifan and pulls him impossibly closer. Jongdae presses another kiss on his neck this time intentionally, as an apology. Yifan has always been a light sleeper.
“Good morning.” Jongdae laughs softly as Yifan wriggles in his arms to face him. Yifan’s lips are a soft shade of red again from biting down on it as he sleeps. “Sorry for waking you up.”
Yifan shakes his head and flashes him one of his adorable gummy smiles Jongdae can never resist. “It’s okay, I have to wake up soon anyway.”
“We passed by a club on the way back.”
“I know,” Yifan’s smile brightens, it doesn’t show a hint of jealousy. “I read your text. Did you pass out on the dance floor again?”
“What? No!.”
Yifan’s fingers traces the lines of Jongdae’s jaw, and his eyes stop to stare at Jongdae’s lips, like he wants to kiss him. Jongdae leans in closer to tell him it’s okay to do so, but Yifan doesn’t kiss him, only tucks himself into Jongdae, with his head under Jongdae’s chin. Yifan likes being held like he’s not a brooding six feet tall man, like he’s smaller than Jongdae in that body of his.
“I miss sleeping with you.” There isn’t a suggestive hint in his voice, and Jongdae knows that Yifan knows he doesn’t mean it that way. He puts a little effort into whining, and Yifan laughs against his chest.
“I miss you too. I could call in sick and we could stay in bed the whole day and make some pancakes. Would you like that?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Despite morning promises, Jongdae wakes up before noon to an empty bed. He staggers into the kitchen in hopes of finding food before his shift at Chanyeol’s start. There’s lasagna in a food container, an apologetic looking dragon drawn on a sticky note on top of the lid. “There’s a parent teacher conference, couldn’t stay, sorry “. Jongdae reheats the lasagna and eats by himself. Despite being less physically active than his old job, the only thing he doesn’t like about his new working schedule is that it clashes with Yifan’s.
Sure they have shared day offs, but to be with Yifan every day despite how tired he is, makes Jongdae doubt his choice. But it’s too early to say. Jongdae pouts at the dragon drawing that starts to look like an alligator the longer he looks at it. He snaps a picture of it and sends it to Yifan.
“Saw the dragon! Say hi to the kids for me.”
Baekhyun phones him about the skit that night and asks him to come in early for a quick rehearsal before airing. “The earliest I can be is still nine thirty. You keep forgetting that I work at Chanyeol’s diner too?”
“Ah, should we order for the crew? I think they’d like jajangmyeon tonight.”
“Someone finally getting promoted to your position?”
Baekhyun fake laughs through the phone, “Funny. But really, Jinri’s getting married in July. Maybe she’ll be treating her young ones to some well deserved food.”
“You’re a leech. But it’s great Henry finally proposed to her, she’s been fretting about it for weeks. Ask her about it before you decide to order, Baekhyun. Don’t be rude.”
“Yeah, I’ll call you again later if she’s game. Remember to read the script, and try not to space out during broadcast. Later.”
Jongdae sighs as the call ends, puts down his phone to wash the dishes. Yifan’s reply is a selca with Luhan holding up his fingers coated with paint to make a peace sign. Luhan’s a nice kid; Jongdae remembers how Yifan lights up whenever he talks about Luhan. He’s taken a liking to the kid when his mother first dropped him off at the day care. He could barely speak Korean and Yifan, knowing the struggle, swoops in and patiently translates simple words into Mandarin.
Jongdae replies when he’s comfortably seated on the bus on the way to Chanyeol’s diner. Cute.
Lazy Sundays are best spent in bed with Yifan. But Jongdae wakes up to an empty bed save for the rumpled sheets and spit collecting pillows. (He should be used to it by now, he’s been waking up to this almost every day of the week) It’s barely noon out, and Jongdae wants to get more sleep in his system before he functions for the day. The fresh scent of eggs fill his nose and he automatically gets up, forgoing a shirt and his socks as he walks into the kitchen barefooted.
Yifan’s bare back is turned to him and Jongdae makes a grab for the taller man’s waist. Jongdae buries his face into Yifan’s skin and makes a pleasant noise that makes Yifan laugh. “Good morning, baby.”
Yifan turns yet Jongdae’s arms are still around his hips, trapping Yifan against the counter. “Good morning,” he says, and he makes sure to kiss Yifan after this, the taller man smelling like mint and toothpaste.
“The eggs are going to cool down. Come on, let’s eat.”
Jongdae follows him to the table and blinks the sleep away. It’s only ten in the morning, and his body feels like it’s such an ungodly hour to wake up. Yifan passes him a mug of coffee. Jongdae smiles at the customized cup Yifan got him for Christmas last year. It’s a plain white mug but with Yifan’s doodles drawn over it. He’s not sure if Yifan drew him a cat or a dragon, he appreciates it nonetheless.
“What do we have planned for today?”
“I was thinking maybe we could go back to bed and sleep a few more hours.” Jongdae says. It’s meant as a joke, to cover up that he’s really not sure what to do with a free day with Yifan. The possibilities are countless. They could go to the beach or a carnival. Maybe go to the mall and shop for some replacement for his worn out shoes. Or they could go grocery shopping, Jongdae’s stomach has been itching for some junk food for a while.
Yifan visibly deflates. Jongdae does a double take in forking down the egg. “I’m kidding, we could go out. Where’d you wanna go?”
“There’s an astrology exhibit in town, there’ll be star gazing! Would you like that too?”
Jongdae smiles. Of course he’d like that. Yifan lights up like the sky whenever astronomy is mentioned. Or even children. Especially LuHan. “The exhibit then. We should clean up and then head out. Is the weather good enough to not wear mufflers?”
“I don’t think so. You’re lucky the heater is up today, or else you’d be freezing in your shorts.”
Baekhyun sends him a long ass text about the next script while they’re lining in for the exhibit, asking whether a fake date scenario with South Korea’s most loved balladeer, Junmyeon, or a sad retelling of past romance would fit the listener’s mood on a Monday night.
Yifan is tugging him by the hand to the auditorium, and reminds him to turn off his phone because light pollution is the reason why the sky can’t be appreciated. “There’s so much fake light you can’t see nature’s beauty at night.”
Jongdae’s phone beeps too loudly inside the auditorium, garnering icy side eyes and stern hushes. He apologizes profusely and sends a poop emoji to Baekhyun. He’s about to check his phone again when Yifan slides his fingers through Jongdae’s, the perfect fit, and for a moment, he lets the shining constellations overhead lure him away from cheesy scripts.
“It’s your turn to wash the laundry,” Yifan states, dumping the basket of bed sheet s on Jongdae’s lap. The movie he’s watching is soon forgotten as he groans to the laundry room in the basement. He’s the only one there when he reaches, thoughts of countless horror movies running through his head as he turns on the light.
“This is how it starts, first the lights flicker and as a stupid man I’d ignore it and then someone-something is going to kill me. Stuff me into a dryer and let my limp body tumble and stain the white bed sheets with-“
“Why are you so overly dramatic?” Jongdae jumps at the voice, almost throwing his phone all across the room. “Shit, Dae, you almost hit me.”
“What are you doing here? I thought you were making schedules,” Jongdae comes up to Yifan and wraps his arms around him. His heart is still racing, and so is Yifan’s. “I’m sorry.”
Yifan cards his fingers through Jongdae’s hair and sets the basket on a nearby chair. “You should get off me now, I have to iron out clothes.”
“Iron my suave white shirt. I’m going to meet Junmyeon tomorrow!” Jongdae still latches on Yifan as the taller man sets up the ironing stand by the corner of the room. He almost doesn’t let go even though he needs to transfer the wet clothes into the dryer when the Ahjumma from the next door stumbles into the room.
Jongdae helps her get her laundry done and in turn she talks to the two of them while they wait. She compliments Yifan and his neat folding of the shirts and his meticulous ironing. Jongdae helps the Ahjumma carry her newly folded laundry to her door and comes back down to see Yifan stretching his upper body. He makes a grab for the patch of exposed skin, making Yifan startle.
“Couldn’t resist.”
“This is the thanks I get for accompanying you down here?” He jabs teasingly. Yifan reaches out a giant hand and tugs Jongdae flush against his chest. He leans down, eyes sparkling with mirth.“You’re washing the dishes.”
He leaves Jongdae with two large baskets of newly washed and newly ironed clothes. Jongdae should just have kissed Yifan’s belly to make it seem fair.
Mundane day offs are just so perfect for Jongdae. It’s something they really need. A carefree day in each other’s presence, albeit inserting some domestic chores that need to be done. It makes Jongdae appreciate being in Yifan’s presence, seeing Yifan concentrating face is such a cute sight.
Jongdae only remembers to check his phone for updates on the sript when he’s already in bed, ready to doze off with Yifan in his arms.
From Baekhyun:
You need to start recording early
.junmyeon’s on a tight schedule n we can’t
pass dis up.
Jongdae is tempted to discuss how much of a last minute adjustment this is since one of his co-workers at the diner already told him they’d be taking a leave tomorrow. It means double work for Jongdae and he’d most probably have to take a taxi and the rent is coming up soon. He’s posed to angrily text back when Yifan plucks the phone out of his hands, kissing him square on the lips.
“Good night, Jongdae.” Another kiss to the nose, and a soft smile later, Jongdae feels his anger fading a little and he smiles back at Yifan and falls asleep in a warm embrace.
“And we have the next caller, hello?” Jongdae quietly pulls out his phone to check his messages. Baekhyun’s put up another request segment since the count for listeners have increased after re-enacting a cheesy date with Junmyeon last Monday. Which means too much work for Jongdae. Yifan occasionally send cute pictures of things with the caption miss you, dae.Needless to say, it tugs at Jongdae’s heartstrings. It’s Sunday already, and he’s quite excited to spend it with Yifan again. “Who’s on the line?”
“Hi, I’m Kris.” Jongdae does a double take at the familiar sounding voice.
Skeptical, he continues asking, “So, Kris. What do you love to wake up to in the morning?”
“Your voice,” he answers immediately. Jongdae laughs loud and unabashed; Yifan’s cheesiness can’t be hidden behind such a foreign name like Kris.
“Unless you start up your day earlier than four in the morning, then I will be here to wake you up with sleepy songs.” Jongdae smiles, the fatigue rolling off his body at the sound of Yifan’s laugh through his headphones. He vaguely wonders if the listeners like Yifan’s deep voice as much as he does.
Baekhyun is signalling to wrap it up with a frown on his face across the glass divider. “What song would you like to request?”
“I think Sunday Morning by Maroon5 would be a great choice.”
“It is, thank you Kris.” The intro of the song starts to fade in and it’s time to whisper into the microphone one last time. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is DJ Chen signing off with our dear Kris’s request for Sunday Morning. Good night and good morning.”
Jongdae bows to the other staff on his way out. His phone rings and he picks it up just when Baekhyun catches up to him, calling about jjajjangmyeon. “And who’s my special caller, hmm? Kris?”
“Ew,” Baekhyun pipes up from behind. Jongdae spares him a quick glance. Baekhyun fake gags at him before fixing his hair and lighting up a cigarette.
“You on your way home?”
“Yeah. Baekhyun’s with me, too.” Jongdae panics when he’s met with Yifan’s silence. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Oh, get home safe. I’m waiting up for you.”
“What’s going on? You should get some rest. I’ll be there soon.” Jongdae worries his lips, the cold biting air in Seoul chapping up his lips. Wordlessly, Baekhyun hands him chapstick and puts out his cigarette.
“I was going to ask you out for jjajjangmyeon since Jinri’s in no mood to feed me. But it seems like you already have plans.” Baekhyun jams his hands in his coat pockets, mesmerized by the fog coming from his lips.
“I just miss you, hurry back.” Jongdae doesn’t get the chance to argue when the line goes dead. “Sorry, Baek. I’ll take a rain check.” Jongdae sighs, handing Baekhyun back the chapstick but Baekhyun refuses.
“Keep it. I’m going to head out to a store and buy some noodles or something. I’ll pick up my own too. Go, Yifan’s probably asleep on the couch.”Baekhyun flashes him his trademark grin and starts to walk to the opposite direction.
Jongdae watches him go for a while, wanting to say something but decides not to and starts to jog home. When he reaches, Yifan is splayed on the couch with his head dangerously hanging off the edge. Saturday nights to early Sunday mornings are usually Yifan’s time to rest but the bags under his eyes are a telltale of how he hasn’t been comfortably sleeping. Jongdae sheds his coat and tiptoes into the living room to cradle Yifan’s head in his hands. “Hey sleepy head, wake up. You shouldn’t have waited, you’ll make the kids worry when they see you on Monday.”
Yifan blinks wearily at him, and finally sits up. Jongdae feels a pang in his chest seeing Yifan’s dishevelled hair, and sleepy eyes. “We should get you to bed.”
Jongdae follows Yifan into their bedroom, the taller man almost bumping into the half opened door. Jongdae pulls over a blanket on Yifan before joining him on the mattress. With Yifan’s arm slung over his stomach, and his determined eyes, Jongdae asks, “What’s on your mind, Yifan?”
“It’s just… I remember staying up late in college.” Jongdae hums, an invitation for Yifan to continue as Jongdae strokes his hair. “You were on the campus radio back then, and you played a lot of rock songs at two in the morning.”
Jongdae cracks up and Yifan has to shush him because it’s still too early to start their day and their neighbours might wake up and bang on the wall. “People appreciated it. They didn’t have to overdose on coffee just to stay awake.”
“I did too. “
Jongdae hums. “You’ve always been appreciative. Thank you, Yifan. But really, what’s troubling you?”
It takes a long moment before Yifan answers him. “Baekhyun.”
Jongdae blinks. Ahh, Baekhyun. He’s always been the elephant in the room.
He knows Yifan like the back of his hand, almost. Yifan Ignoring Baekhyun’s existence has always troubled Jongdae. Stupid college stuff, Yifan said the last time Jongdae asked. And the last time Jongdae asked was a little over two years ago when the two of them had moved in together and Jongdae had invited Baekhyun over for tteokbokki. It was a painful encounter that time, like Jongdae had walked in on a secret feud as the tension in the room heightened. Yifan had asked him to not invite Baekhyun over, or tell him if Baekhyun comes over so that Yifan can give them space. Jongdae had tried to ask Baekhyun what happened but the other man just smiled and waved a dismissive hand and carried on.
“Did he come to you?”
“He’s… he’s being manipulative.”
“How?” Jongdae tenses, shifting on the bed. Yifan senses this and sits up on the bed instead. “I don’t see how Baekhyun could manipulate us.”
“Not us, just you. Ever since you got that job you’ve been spending more and more time with him and we barely see each other awake less than twice times a week. You don’t say no to him. You’re either staring at your phone texting him back when we’re together, or you get home later than you normally do.
“Jongdae, we haven’t seen each other since Sunday.” Realization dawns on Jongdae when he notes that yes, yes he does not say no to Baekhyun. He did technically say no to him earlier, but whenever Baekhyun insisted, he’d always, always relent. He’d spent the week either rehearsing scripts or drinking out with Baekhyun or assisting Baekhyun in making a playlist, which isn’t technically his job because they hire other people for that.
“I should have told you why I act like he doesn’t exist. I owe you that much.”
We were taking one class together. He didn’t ask me out, but the way he acted around me gave him away. I know I could’ve been the one to ask him out if he was too chicken to do so, I almost did, when I noticed Yixing and the gang were avoiding me. I thought I did something stupid to cause it, but one day Yixing asked me when I could hang out with him since I always had an excuse not to.”
Jongdae presses a hand on Yifan’s chest. He’s heaving slightly, trying not to get worked up about the past. All Jongdae could do is lend an ear for Yifan, and a warm comfortable cuddle.
“Baekhyun was telling them that I didn’t want to go. That I’d told him specifically that I was sick or busy to hang out. Long story, short, I went to the norebang house they were at and punched his small face.”
Yifan lets out a frustrated sigh. Jongdae hadn’t known Baekhyun was capable of doing something like that. Jongdae wants to defend Baekhyun, but that’s not what Yifan needs to hear right now. Their relationship has gone askew and Baekhyun could have a hand in it, but it’s not too late to fix it. “Do you want me to quit? Manager Choi would probably take me back.”
“You’re not going to tell me that it’s stupid? That I should make up with him because people grow up and stuff?”
“Yifan, you work with children. Baekhyun acts like a kid who’s in constant need of attention. As much as I’d like to defend him, you have a point. We’ve been spending less to zero time at all, and maybe it’s high time we skip work tomorrow and go on a date.”
Yifan laughs, low and hearty. “Day off.”
“Perfect. We wouldn’t need to miss work.”
Yifan presses a kiss on Jongdae’s chin, on his nose, and on his lips. “Promise we’ll do something about this? Maybe talk again sometime?”
Jongdae hums as he envelops Yifan into another hug. Yifan dozes off, and Jongdae sets his phone’s brightness to zero.
To Baekhyun:
We need to talk.
Title:we’ll be looking for sunlight;
Pairing:Chen/Kris
Rating:PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 4004 words
Summary: Love is what Jongdae feels at five in the morning when the streets of Seoul are down to a quiet murmur. Yifan looks beautiful as he blinks away sleep, waiting for the sun to rise.
Author's note: this is unbeta-d for many reasons. sorry TT TT. but many thanks to R for the help TT TT and to G for the handholding and for letting me rant so much about this. u gaise r amazeballs. (title is a line from halsey’s roman holiday);
Jongdae whispers a soft farewell into the microphone after his closing ment, playing the last song on the list. He can see Baekhyun gagging across the glass window, and he winks at him, enjoying Baekhyun suffering for being extra. He’s the one who approved of the script anyway.
“You don’t have to be such a romance killer, just because you don’t get laid regularly.” They’re done packing up now, leaving the studio in the hands of the day shift crew. Four in the morning and Jongdae wonders how the crew could wake up at such a time, then again he’s crooning into a microphone from ten to four, taking song requests and doing whatever the staff have in mind for him.
“I don’t need to know about what you get up to with your boyfriend,” Baekhyun’s face twists unbecomingly, and Jongdae laughs. They’re too bright for the people they pass by the streets at this ungodly hour. “I think we can still go clubbing, Sehun just texted me a sick party going on.”
An old lady pushing a trash cart passes by them, hissing at how loud they are. Baekhyun bows immediately, apologizing. They offer to help her push the carts but she squints at them and carries on.
He’s two blocks away from his comfortable bed with Yifan, but the look Baekhyun shoots him makes him relent. “Everyone’s going to be trashed when we get there, you know?”
“All the more reason to hurry up and get trashed ourselves! We’re only twenty once!” Baekhyun hollers, fist bumping the sky.
“You’re twenty six, stop lying to yourself.” Baekhyun smacks him right in the arm and blows a raspberry at him. “I can’t believe you’re the night crew supervisor.” Jongdae thinks to himself. For some miracle Baekhyun glares at him as if he knew what Jongdae was thinking about.
“You should just go with Sehun, really.”
“Sehun’s busy working and mixing drinks and flirting with jailbait to entertain me. Besides, we’ve never been clubbing, Jongdae. Not since you got the job. I’ve missed clubbing, I missed you.” Baekhyun’s pulling that card without even saying it. Baekhyun had put in a good word when Jongdae applied for the opening, he hadn’t really expected to actually get the job, but it’s infinitely better than the bang up job he had at a supermarket moving heavy ass boxes, making his back ache 24/7 and enduring the grumpiest manager to ever exist on Earth. His job as a DJ doesn’t pay all the bills, even when he’s splitting with Yifan, but fortunately, he’s able to get a part time job at Chanyeol’s family diner. Two jobs is better than breaking his back and worrying about getting a pay cut every weekend for taking a breather.
“Sehun practically looks like jailbait too,” is all Jongdae says, tired of arguing. He follows behind Baekhyun as he talks about his ideas for the next night’s broadcast. Jongdae sends an apologetic message to Yifan, complete with sad emoticons and a heart.
He doesn’t stay long at the party, his cold beer gone warm in his hands as he watched Baekhyun chug down cup after cup. He’s had just about enough of the partying when Baekhyun decides to climb onto the bar and dances obscenely to familiar beats. He shoots a tired smile at Sehun and leaves Baekhyun in Sehun’s hands, thankful that Sehun actually lives in the same apartment as Baekhyun. It saves Jongdae from having to deliver a drunken Baekhyun and stagger back to his apartment in the cold morning. All he wants is to just crawl in bed with Yifan and warm each other up before the older man has to leave for his own work.
Yifan is sleeping peacefully in their bed when he arrives. He’s curling in on himself, making himself smaller when he clearly isn’t. Chucking off his jeans, Jongdae slides comfortably under the duvet behind Yifan. Without meaning to, his lips press against Yifan’s exposed neck, making Yifan stir.
“Jongdae?” Jongdae wraps his arm around Yifan and pulls him impossibly closer. Jongdae presses another kiss on his neck this time intentionally, as an apology. Yifan has always been a light sleeper.
“Good morning.” Jongdae laughs softly as Yifan wriggles in his arms to face him. Yifan’s lips are a soft shade of red again from biting down on it as he sleeps. “Sorry for waking you up.”
Yifan shakes his head and flashes him one of his adorable gummy smiles Jongdae can never resist. “It’s okay, I have to wake up soon anyway.”
“We passed by a club on the way back.”
“I know,” Yifan’s smile brightens, it doesn’t show a hint of jealousy. “I read your text. Did you pass out on the dance floor again?”
“What? No!.”
Yifan’s fingers traces the lines of Jongdae’s jaw, and his eyes stop to stare at Jongdae’s lips, like he wants to kiss him. Jongdae leans in closer to tell him it’s okay to do so, but Yifan doesn’t kiss him, only tucks himself into Jongdae, with his head under Jongdae’s chin. Yifan likes being held like he’s not a brooding six feet tall man, like he’s smaller than Jongdae in that body of his.
“I miss sleeping with you.” There isn’t a suggestive hint in his voice, and Jongdae knows that Yifan knows he doesn’t mean it that way. He puts a little effort into whining, and Yifan laughs against his chest.
“I miss you too. I could call in sick and we could stay in bed the whole day and make some pancakes. Would you like that?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Despite morning promises, Jongdae wakes up before noon to an empty bed. He staggers into the kitchen in hopes of finding food before his shift at Chanyeol’s start. There’s lasagna in a food container, an apologetic looking dragon drawn on a sticky note on top of the lid. “There’s a parent teacher conference, couldn’t stay, sorry “. Jongdae reheats the lasagna and eats by himself. Despite being less physically active than his old job, the only thing he doesn’t like about his new working schedule is that it clashes with Yifan’s.
Sure they have shared day offs, but to be with Yifan every day despite how tired he is, makes Jongdae doubt his choice. But it’s too early to say. Jongdae pouts at the dragon drawing that starts to look like an alligator the longer he looks at it. He snaps a picture of it and sends it to Yifan.
“Saw the dragon! Say hi to the kids for me.”
Baekhyun phones him about the skit that night and asks him to come in early for a quick rehearsal before airing. “The earliest I can be is still nine thirty. You keep forgetting that I work at Chanyeol’s diner too?”
“Ah, should we order for the crew? I think they’d like jajangmyeon tonight.”
“Someone finally getting promoted to your position?”
Baekhyun fake laughs through the phone, “Funny. But really, Jinri’s getting married in July. Maybe she’ll be treating her young ones to some well deserved food.”
“You’re a leech. But it’s great Henry finally proposed to her, she’s been fretting about it for weeks. Ask her about it before you decide to order, Baekhyun. Don’t be rude.”
“Yeah, I’ll call you again later if she’s game. Remember to read the script, and try not to space out during broadcast. Later.”
Jongdae sighs as the call ends, puts down his phone to wash the dishes. Yifan’s reply is a selca with Luhan holding up his fingers coated with paint to make a peace sign. Luhan’s a nice kid; Jongdae remembers how Yifan lights up whenever he talks about Luhan. He’s taken a liking to the kid when his mother first dropped him off at the day care. He could barely speak Korean and Yifan, knowing the struggle, swoops in and patiently translates simple words into Mandarin.
Jongdae replies when he’s comfortably seated on the bus on the way to Chanyeol’s diner. Cute.
Lazy Sundays are best spent in bed with Yifan. But Jongdae wakes up to an empty bed save for the rumpled sheets and spit collecting pillows. (He should be used to it by now, he’s been waking up to this almost every day of the week) It’s barely noon out, and Jongdae wants to get more sleep in his system before he functions for the day. The fresh scent of eggs fill his nose and he automatically gets up, forgoing a shirt and his socks as he walks into the kitchen barefooted.
Yifan’s bare back is turned to him and Jongdae makes a grab for the taller man’s waist. Jongdae buries his face into Yifan’s skin and makes a pleasant noise that makes Yifan laugh. “Good morning, baby.”
Yifan turns yet Jongdae’s arms are still around his hips, trapping Yifan against the counter. “Good morning,” he says, and he makes sure to kiss Yifan after this, the taller man smelling like mint and toothpaste.
“The eggs are going to cool down. Come on, let’s eat.”
Jongdae follows him to the table and blinks the sleep away. It’s only ten in the morning, and his body feels like it’s such an ungodly hour to wake up. Yifan passes him a mug of coffee. Jongdae smiles at the customized cup Yifan got him for Christmas last year. It’s a plain white mug but with Yifan’s doodles drawn over it. He’s not sure if Yifan drew him a cat or a dragon, he appreciates it nonetheless.
“What do we have planned for today?”
“I was thinking maybe we could go back to bed and sleep a few more hours.” Jongdae says. It’s meant as a joke, to cover up that he’s really not sure what to do with a free day with Yifan. The possibilities are countless. They could go to the beach or a carnival. Maybe go to the mall and shop for some replacement for his worn out shoes. Or they could go grocery shopping, Jongdae’s stomach has been itching for some junk food for a while.
Yifan visibly deflates. Jongdae does a double take in forking down the egg. “I’m kidding, we could go out. Where’d you wanna go?”
“There’s an astrology exhibit in town, there’ll be star gazing! Would you like that too?”
Jongdae smiles. Of course he’d like that. Yifan lights up like the sky whenever astronomy is mentioned. Or even children. Especially LuHan. “The exhibit then. We should clean up and then head out. Is the weather good enough to not wear mufflers?”
“I don’t think so. You’re lucky the heater is up today, or else you’d be freezing in your shorts.”
Baekhyun sends him a long ass text about the next script while they’re lining in for the exhibit, asking whether a fake date scenario with South Korea’s most loved balladeer, Junmyeon, or a sad retelling of past romance would fit the listener’s mood on a Monday night.
Yifan is tugging him by the hand to the auditorium, and reminds him to turn off his phone because light pollution is the reason why the sky can’t be appreciated. “There’s so much fake light you can’t see nature’s beauty at night.”
Jongdae’s phone beeps too loudly inside the auditorium, garnering icy side eyes and stern hushes. He apologizes profusely and sends a poop emoji to Baekhyun. He’s about to check his phone again when Yifan slides his fingers through Jongdae’s, the perfect fit, and for a moment, he lets the shining constellations overhead lure him away from cheesy scripts.
“It’s your turn to wash the laundry,” Yifan states, dumping the basket of bed sheet s on Jongdae’s lap. The movie he’s watching is soon forgotten as he groans to the laundry room in the basement. He’s the only one there when he reaches, thoughts of countless horror movies running through his head as he turns on the light.
“This is how it starts, first the lights flicker and as a stupid man I’d ignore it and then someone-something is going to kill me. Stuff me into a dryer and let my limp body tumble and stain the white bed sheets with-“
“Why are you so overly dramatic?” Jongdae jumps at the voice, almost throwing his phone all across the room. “Shit, Dae, you almost hit me.”
“What are you doing here? I thought you were making schedules,” Jongdae comes up to Yifan and wraps his arms around him. His heart is still racing, and so is Yifan’s. “I’m sorry.”
Yifan cards his fingers through Jongdae’s hair and sets the basket on a nearby chair. “You should get off me now, I have to iron out clothes.”
“Iron my suave white shirt. I’m going to meet Junmyeon tomorrow!” Jongdae still latches on Yifan as the taller man sets up the ironing stand by the corner of the room. He almost doesn’t let go even though he needs to transfer the wet clothes into the dryer when the Ahjumma from the next door stumbles into the room.
Jongdae helps her get her laundry done and in turn she talks to the two of them while they wait. She compliments Yifan and his neat folding of the shirts and his meticulous ironing. Jongdae helps the Ahjumma carry her newly folded laundry to her door and comes back down to see Yifan stretching his upper body. He makes a grab for the patch of exposed skin, making Yifan startle.
“Couldn’t resist.”
“This is the thanks I get for accompanying you down here?” He jabs teasingly. Yifan reaches out a giant hand and tugs Jongdae flush against his chest. He leans down, eyes sparkling with mirth.“You’re washing the dishes.”
He leaves Jongdae with two large baskets of newly washed and newly ironed clothes. Jongdae should just have kissed Yifan’s belly to make it seem fair.
Mundane day offs are just so perfect for Jongdae. It’s something they really need. A carefree day in each other’s presence, albeit inserting some domestic chores that need to be done. It makes Jongdae appreciate being in Yifan’s presence, seeing Yifan concentrating face is such a cute sight.
Jongdae only remembers to check his phone for updates on the sript when he’s already in bed, ready to doze off with Yifan in his arms.
From Baekhyun:
You need to start recording early
.junmyeon’s on a tight schedule n we can’t
pass dis up.
Jongdae is tempted to discuss how much of a last minute adjustment this is since one of his co-workers at the diner already told him they’d be taking a leave tomorrow. It means double work for Jongdae and he’d most probably have to take a taxi and the rent is coming up soon. He’s posed to angrily text back when Yifan plucks the phone out of his hands, kissing him square on the lips.
“Good night, Jongdae.” Another kiss to the nose, and a soft smile later, Jongdae feels his anger fading a little and he smiles back at Yifan and falls asleep in a warm embrace.
“And we have the next caller, hello?” Jongdae quietly pulls out his phone to check his messages. Baekhyun’s put up another request segment since the count for listeners have increased after re-enacting a cheesy date with Junmyeon last Monday. Which means too much work for Jongdae. Yifan occasionally send cute pictures of things with the caption miss you, dae.Needless to say, it tugs at Jongdae’s heartstrings. It’s Sunday already, and he’s quite excited to spend it with Yifan again. “Who’s on the line?”
“Hi, I’m Kris.” Jongdae does a double take at the familiar sounding voice.
Skeptical, he continues asking, “So, Kris. What do you love to wake up to in the morning?”
“Your voice,” he answers immediately. Jongdae laughs loud and unabashed; Yifan’s cheesiness can’t be hidden behind such a foreign name like Kris.
“Unless you start up your day earlier than four in the morning, then I will be here to wake you up with sleepy songs.” Jongdae smiles, the fatigue rolling off his body at the sound of Yifan’s laugh through his headphones. He vaguely wonders if the listeners like Yifan’s deep voice as much as he does.
Baekhyun is signalling to wrap it up with a frown on his face across the glass divider. “What song would you like to request?”
“I think Sunday Morning by Maroon5 would be a great choice.”
“It is, thank you Kris.” The intro of the song starts to fade in and it’s time to whisper into the microphone one last time. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is DJ Chen signing off with our dear Kris’s request for Sunday Morning. Good night and good morning.”
Jongdae bows to the other staff on his way out. His phone rings and he picks it up just when Baekhyun catches up to him, calling about jjajjangmyeon. “And who’s my special caller, hmm? Kris?”
“Ew,” Baekhyun pipes up from behind. Jongdae spares him a quick glance. Baekhyun fake gags at him before fixing his hair and lighting up a cigarette.
“You on your way home?”
“Yeah. Baekhyun’s with me, too.” Jongdae panics when he’s met with Yifan’s silence. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Oh, get home safe. I’m waiting up for you.”
“What’s going on? You should get some rest. I’ll be there soon.” Jongdae worries his lips, the cold biting air in Seoul chapping up his lips. Wordlessly, Baekhyun hands him chapstick and puts out his cigarette.
“I was going to ask you out for jjajjangmyeon since Jinri’s in no mood to feed me. But it seems like you already have plans.” Baekhyun jams his hands in his coat pockets, mesmerized by the fog coming from his lips.
“I just miss you, hurry back.” Jongdae doesn’t get the chance to argue when the line goes dead. “Sorry, Baek. I’ll take a rain check.” Jongdae sighs, handing Baekhyun back the chapstick but Baekhyun refuses.
“Keep it. I’m going to head out to a store and buy some noodles or something. I’ll pick up my own too. Go, Yifan’s probably asleep on the couch.”Baekhyun flashes him his trademark grin and starts to walk to the opposite direction.
Jongdae watches him go for a while, wanting to say something but decides not to and starts to jog home. When he reaches, Yifan is splayed on the couch with his head dangerously hanging off the edge. Saturday nights to early Sunday mornings are usually Yifan’s time to rest but the bags under his eyes are a telltale of how he hasn’t been comfortably sleeping. Jongdae sheds his coat and tiptoes into the living room to cradle Yifan’s head in his hands. “Hey sleepy head, wake up. You shouldn’t have waited, you’ll make the kids worry when they see you on Monday.”
Yifan blinks wearily at him, and finally sits up. Jongdae feels a pang in his chest seeing Yifan’s dishevelled hair, and sleepy eyes. “We should get you to bed.”
Jongdae follows Yifan into their bedroom, the taller man almost bumping into the half opened door. Jongdae pulls over a blanket on Yifan before joining him on the mattress. With Yifan’s arm slung over his stomach, and his determined eyes, Jongdae asks, “What’s on your mind, Yifan?”
“It’s just… I remember staying up late in college.” Jongdae hums, an invitation for Yifan to continue as Jongdae strokes his hair. “You were on the campus radio back then, and you played a lot of rock songs at two in the morning.”
Jongdae cracks up and Yifan has to shush him because it’s still too early to start their day and their neighbours might wake up and bang on the wall. “People appreciated it. They didn’t have to overdose on coffee just to stay awake.”
“I did too. “
Jongdae hums. “You’ve always been appreciative. Thank you, Yifan. But really, what’s troubling you?”
It takes a long moment before Yifan answers him. “Baekhyun.”
Jongdae blinks. Ahh, Baekhyun. He’s always been the elephant in the room.
He knows Yifan like the back of his hand, almost. Yifan Ignoring Baekhyun’s existence has always troubled Jongdae. Stupid college stuff, Yifan said the last time Jongdae asked. And the last time Jongdae asked was a little over two years ago when the two of them had moved in together and Jongdae had invited Baekhyun over for tteokbokki. It was a painful encounter that time, like Jongdae had walked in on a secret feud as the tension in the room heightened. Yifan had asked him to not invite Baekhyun over, or tell him if Baekhyun comes over so that Yifan can give them space. Jongdae had tried to ask Baekhyun what happened but the other man just smiled and waved a dismissive hand and carried on.
“Did he come to you?”
“He’s… he’s being manipulative.”
“How?” Jongdae tenses, shifting on the bed. Yifan senses this and sits up on the bed instead. “I don’t see how Baekhyun could manipulate us.”
“Not us, just you. Ever since you got that job you’ve been spending more and more time with him and we barely see each other awake less than twice times a week. You don’t say no to him. You’re either staring at your phone texting him back when we’re together, or you get home later than you normally do.
“Jongdae, we haven’t seen each other since Sunday.” Realization dawns on Jongdae when he notes that yes, yes he does not say no to Baekhyun. He did technically say no to him earlier, but whenever Baekhyun insisted, he’d always, always relent. He’d spent the week either rehearsing scripts or drinking out with Baekhyun or assisting Baekhyun in making a playlist, which isn’t technically his job because they hire other people for that.
“I should have told you why I act like he doesn’t exist. I owe you that much.”
We were taking one class together. He didn’t ask me out, but the way he acted around me gave him away. I know I could’ve been the one to ask him out if he was too chicken to do so, I almost did, when I noticed Yixing and the gang were avoiding me. I thought I did something stupid to cause it, but one day Yixing asked me when I could hang out with him since I always had an excuse not to.”
Jongdae presses a hand on Yifan’s chest. He’s heaving slightly, trying not to get worked up about the past. All Jongdae could do is lend an ear for Yifan, and a warm comfortable cuddle.
“Baekhyun was telling them that I didn’t want to go. That I’d told him specifically that I was sick or busy to hang out. Long story, short, I went to the norebang house they were at and punched his small face.”
Yifan lets out a frustrated sigh. Jongdae hadn’t known Baekhyun was capable of doing something like that. Jongdae wants to defend Baekhyun, but that’s not what Yifan needs to hear right now. Their relationship has gone askew and Baekhyun could have a hand in it, but it’s not too late to fix it. “Do you want me to quit? Manager Choi would probably take me back.”
“You’re not going to tell me that it’s stupid? That I should make up with him because people grow up and stuff?”
“Yifan, you work with children. Baekhyun acts like a kid who’s in constant need of attention. As much as I’d like to defend him, you have a point. We’ve been spending less to zero time at all, and maybe it’s high time we skip work tomorrow and go on a date.”
Yifan laughs, low and hearty. “Day off.”
“Perfect. We wouldn’t need to miss work.”
Yifan presses a kiss on Jongdae’s chin, on his nose, and on his lips. “Promise we’ll do something about this? Maybe talk again sometime?”
Jongdae hums as he envelops Yifan into another hug. Yifan dozes off, and Jongdae sets his phone’s brightness to zero.
To Baekhyun:
We need to talk.