Go Back to Sleep
pairing: Jonghyun/Key; word count: 1009; rating: PG; genre: fluff
It’s morning now. Streetlights still blare out on the streets, halving the pavements at even intervals, quartering them. A lone cat sprints quickly along the road, keeping to the sides to avoid the few cars mumbling around. Salary men. Businessmen.
The air is quiet except for the steady rush of traffic in the distance, muted by the hundreds of high-rise buildings that separate the town from the suburbs. Houses are re-animating, illuminating as people travel from room to room, going about their daily routines sleepily. They’re pawing at their eye sockets. They’re stifling yawns with hands clenched into loose fists. They’re brushing their teeth, lining up their body creams and razor blades as they do, flicking their eyes between their fiddling and their bathroom clock. Just in case.
Jonghyun shifts in the bed, pressing his face into the pillow in that way that makes your lip pull up slightly, makes your breathing just the slightest bit more audible. His features are at ease. A beam from the streetlights is grazing the sharp edge of his jaw, travelling onwards in a straight line to get caught at his shoulder, slightly raised as he scratches blindly at a spot on his abdomen. After a few seconds, he stops. He nuzzles his nose further into the pillow. The lip falls back into place.
It’s 6am and Key is awake. Jonghyun is asleep, that much is obvious; obvious in the way that there’s a strip of hair stuck to his face at an odd angle. Obvious in the way that his legs have remained tangled with Key’s for the better part of half an hour, despite how fidgety they would be if he were conscious. Obvious in the way that it doesn’t matter how much Key stares, because nobody is going to reprimand him for it.
The bed sheets have ridden down his chest, caught up in their mess of limbs and hips and torsos. Key raises a hand to run his knuckles across it. They bump and dip along the curves of his pectorals, and when he reaches Jonghyun’s abdomen he stops, not wanting to travel further than the beginning of the duvet. Instead he lets his fingers uncurl, rubbing them in gentle circles around his diaphragm. The skin there is softer than Key remembers. But he realises, in his sleepy haze, that sleepy hazes often do things like that.
Jonghyun’s thigh moves out from under Key’s legs and he repositions himself, rolling over onto his side, closer to the other man. Key’s hand ceases its movement but doesn’t fall, trapped in the same position between both of their bodies. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
Jonghyun lets out a breath against Key’s chest. The blonde-haired man shivers and flicks his eyes downwards, grinning sheepishly when he’s met with raised eyebrows and an amused expression. The piece of hair is still plastered to his forehead so he uses his other hand to move it out of the way. Jonghyun blinks a few times, before his smile returns, wider now.
“How long have you been awake?” asks Jonghyun, voice raspy with sleep. Key resists the urge to ruffle his hair. He moves his hand away, wiggling it between their torsos to join the other one.
“Not long.”
Jonghyun hums, eyeing Key suspiciously. His mouth opens wide into a yawn and he rolls back over, raises his arms up above his head and presses his palms flat against the headboard as he stretches. The line of his back arches, the dents in his rib cage making a brief appearance against his coffee coloured skin. Key takes the opportunity to run his hand along the dip in his stomach. He can feel the muscles moving underneath it, tensing up before relaxing and afterwards Jonghyun lets his back fall flat against the mattress, keeping his hands where they are, the tips of his fingers just barely bent backwards against the wood. He tilts his head towards Key’s.
Key stares at his hand, making his thumb move backwards and forwards. Jonghyun feels his eyelids become heavy. “You’re always touchy-feely when you wake up.”
“Am not,” protests Key, never ceasing his movements.
“Are too.”
“Am not.” Jonghyun laughs, bringing one of his hands down to join Key’s. He fumbles around until he finds it and then intertwines their fingers, forcing the other man to be still. Key grumbles.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Key looks up at him, cheeks tinted red before Jonghyun adds, “Although I’d rather you put out as much during the day.”
This earns him a whack to the head with the pillow. Key makes an effort to get up but Jonghyun’s arms are there, snaking themselves tightly around his waist and coaxing him back into their padded nest. He goes willingly.
They lie there in relative silence for a while, listening to each other breathe. The morning air still has its bite, carrying arctic winds from whatever drafts they have in their apartment, and Jonghyun pulls the cover up over them tighter. Key shies away when he tries to tuck it around his neck, and then rolls away completely when Jonghyun tries to partner it with a kiss. “Yah,” he murmurs, shoulders hunched, “you know I don’t like it when you touch my neck.”
“Not even when I kiss it better?”
Key stays silent, knowing before it happens that Jonghyun’s going to crawl right back beside him, that Jonghyun’s going to feather kisses up and down the stretch of his throat, as if to prove a point. He lets him.
“Your neck is so elegant.”
“Oh my God,” says Key, heaving a sigh. Jonghyun chuckles and, really, Key’s only had four hours of sleep so far. Minho is supposed to be picking them up at 8:30. “Go back to sleep.”
“You woke me up,” Jonghyun protests.
“Yeobo,” Key says, smiling as he feels Jonghyun relax at the endearment. “Sleep. Now.”
“You too,” Jonghyun says, and Key promises that he will. “I love you.”
Key smiles. He pulls the duvet tighter around himself, shuffling back against Jonghyun’s warmth.
It’s morning now. Streetlights still blare out on the streets, halving the pavements at even intervals, quartering them. A lone cat sprints quickly along the road, keeping to the sides to avoid the few cars mumbling around. Salary men. Businessmen.
The air is quiet except for the steady rush of traffic in the distance, muted by the hundreds of high-rise buildings that separate the town from the suburbs. Houses are re-animating, illuminating as people travel from room to room, going about their daily routines sleepily. They’re pawing at their eye sockets. They’re stifling yawns with hands clenched into loose fists. They’re brushing their teeth, lining up their body creams and razor blades as they do, flicking their eyes between their fiddling and their bathroom clock. Just in case.
Jonghyun shifts in the bed, pressing his face into the pillow in that way that makes your lip pull up slightly, makes your breathing just the slightest bit more audible. His features are at ease. A beam from the streetlights is grazing the sharp edge of his jaw, travelling onwards in a straight line to get caught at his shoulder, slightly raised as he scratches blindly at a spot on his abdomen. After a few seconds, he stops. He nuzzles his nose further into the pillow. The lip falls back into place.
It’s 6am and Key is awake. Jonghyun is asleep, that much is obvious; obvious in the way that there’s a strip of hair stuck to his face at an odd angle. Obvious in the way that his legs have remained tangled with Key’s for the better part of half an hour, despite how fidgety they would be if he were conscious. Obvious in the way that it doesn’t matter how much Key stares, because nobody is going to reprimand him for it.
The bed sheets have ridden down his chest, caught up in their mess of limbs and hips and torsos. Key raises a hand to run his knuckles across it. They bump and dip along the curves of his pectorals, and when he reaches Jonghyun’s abdomen he stops, not wanting to travel further than the beginning of the duvet. Instead he lets his fingers uncurl, rubbing them in gentle circles around his diaphragm. The skin there is softer than Key remembers. But he realises, in his sleepy haze, that sleepy hazes often do things like that.
Jonghyun’s thigh moves out from under Key’s legs and he repositions himself, rolling over onto his side, closer to the other man. Key’s hand ceases its movement but doesn’t fall, trapped in the same position between both of their bodies. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
Jonghyun lets out a breath against Key’s chest. The blonde-haired man shivers and flicks his eyes downwards, grinning sheepishly when he’s met with raised eyebrows and an amused expression. The piece of hair is still plastered to his forehead so he uses his other hand to move it out of the way. Jonghyun blinks a few times, before his smile returns, wider now.
“How long have you been awake?” asks Jonghyun, voice raspy with sleep. Key resists the urge to ruffle his hair. He moves his hand away, wiggling it between their torsos to join the other one.
“Not long.”
Jonghyun hums, eyeing Key suspiciously. His mouth opens wide into a yawn and he rolls back over, raises his arms up above his head and presses his palms flat against the headboard as he stretches. The line of his back arches, the dents in his rib cage making a brief appearance against his coffee coloured skin. Key takes the opportunity to run his hand along the dip in his stomach. He can feel the muscles moving underneath it, tensing up before relaxing and afterwards Jonghyun lets his back fall flat against the mattress, keeping his hands where they are, the tips of his fingers just barely bent backwards against the wood. He tilts his head towards Key’s.
Key stares at his hand, making his thumb move backwards and forwards. Jonghyun feels his eyelids become heavy. “You’re always touchy-feely when you wake up.”
“Am not,” protests Key, never ceasing his movements.
“Are too.”
“Am not.” Jonghyun laughs, bringing one of his hands down to join Key’s. He fumbles around until he finds it and then intertwines their fingers, forcing the other man to be still. Key grumbles.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Key looks up at him, cheeks tinted red before Jonghyun adds, “Although I’d rather you put out as much during the day.”
This earns him a whack to the head with the pillow. Key makes an effort to get up but Jonghyun’s arms are there, snaking themselves tightly around his waist and coaxing him back into their padded nest. He goes willingly.
They lie there in relative silence for a while, listening to each other breathe. The morning air still has its bite, carrying arctic winds from whatever drafts they have in their apartment, and Jonghyun pulls the cover up over them tighter. Key shies away when he tries to tuck it around his neck, and then rolls away completely when Jonghyun tries to partner it with a kiss. “Yah,” he murmurs, shoulders hunched, “you know I don’t like it when you touch my neck.”
“Not even when I kiss it better?”
Key stays silent, knowing before it happens that Jonghyun’s going to crawl right back beside him, that Jonghyun’s going to feather kisses up and down the stretch of his throat, as if to prove a point. He lets him.
“Your neck is so elegant.”
“Oh my God,” says Key, heaving a sigh. Jonghyun chuckles and, really, Key’s only had four hours of sleep so far. Minho is supposed to be picking them up at 8:30. “Go back to sleep.”
“You woke me up,” Jonghyun protests.
“Yeobo,” Key says, smiling as he feels Jonghyun relax at the endearment. “Sleep. Now.”
“You too,” Jonghyun says, and Key promises that he will. “I love you.”
Key smiles. He pulls the duvet tighter around himself, shuffling back against Jonghyun’s warmth.