(no subject)
hearts to lungs (inhale)
eli/kevin, pg-15 bordering light r. possible sequel (exhale).
In the human body, the circulatory system is controlled by the heart and the respiratory system by the lungs. The heart and lungs work in conjunction with each other to supply oxygen to the body's cells and tissues and are thus essential for life.*
It was those days when their individual schedules were brimming and their sleep mostly caught in exhausted moments on car rides between filming locations that, coincidentally, they wanted to spend more time with each other. Maybe it was because absence made the heart grow fonder, or maybe it was because it was those times that they needed the contact the most.
It wasn't that anybody was complaining. Dongho reserved full rights to that, something all the members were in silent consensus of, because if their schedules became unbearable a week or two every month then his would always be three or four. But it didn't stop the hollow looks and the sudden glazing over of the eyes that followed before a stifled yawn which frequented faces from time to time. It didn't stop the wretched grasping of Kevin's fingers into Eli's shirt when the alarm clock rang at four, sometimes three in the morning, a silent desperate protest that he didn't want to leave, not today.
When they were this busy, when new promotion periods were driving them all to the edge, oftentimes the nights would end like this:
They fell into bed long after midnight and too close to dawn, and never at the same time. Kevin would be missing his family, because for the time being he had given up on disturbing his home with his irregular hours and spent nights at Eli's apartment instead. Sometimes it would be him waiting in bed because Eli refused to let him sleep on the couch, and other times it was the other way around.
But eventually they ended up together, feet tangled and soft breath against collarbones, yet unable to sleep because of all the coffee and energy drinks that had been consumed throughout the evening.
And it was Eli, always Eli, who whispered after a long while of silence, "Are you asleep?"
Kevin always said no, or shook his head, or on the days that the world was bearing down on him with all the weight of flashing cameras and red-carpet press conferences, he simply reached out and curled his fingers around the nape of Eli's neck. It was a kind of desperation best left unspoken, as though he were ashamed because he would never have been driven to this if he hadn't chosen the hardest of paths. But of all people Eli understood this, perhaps even more so than Kibum who had even been there for Xing, because he was the one who pressed Kevin down against the mattress and swallowed his cries as their lips moved together, a perfectly discordant harmony. He was the one Kevin allowed himself to clutch at, fingers helpless against broad shoulders as though they would shield him, even though in truth Eli felt just as weak as he was.
When they came down from the rush together it always felt right to say things like I love you and let's just stay like this a little longer even if their hearts were emptier than when they had started. It was left till later to acknowledge that such fickle phrases could have only been said in the spur of the moment.
In the languid silence afterwards, Kevin's head pillowed against Eli's arm and their foreheads barely touching, at least it was a little easier to breathe.
--
*Adapted from here.
eli/kevin, pg-15 bordering light r. possible sequel (exhale).
In the human body, the circulatory system is controlled by the heart and the respiratory system by the lungs. The heart and lungs work in conjunction with each other to supply oxygen to the body's cells and tissues and are thus essential for life.*
It was those days when their individual schedules were brimming and their sleep mostly caught in exhausted moments on car rides between filming locations that, coincidentally, they wanted to spend more time with each other. Maybe it was because absence made the heart grow fonder, or maybe it was because it was those times that they needed the contact the most.
It wasn't that anybody was complaining. Dongho reserved full rights to that, something all the members were in silent consensus of, because if their schedules became unbearable a week or two every month then his would always be three or four. But it didn't stop the hollow looks and the sudden glazing over of the eyes that followed before a stifled yawn which frequented faces from time to time. It didn't stop the wretched grasping of Kevin's fingers into Eli's shirt when the alarm clock rang at four, sometimes three in the morning, a silent desperate protest that he didn't want to leave, not today.
When they were this busy, when new promotion periods were driving them all to the edge, oftentimes the nights would end like this:
They fell into bed long after midnight and too close to dawn, and never at the same time. Kevin would be missing his family, because for the time being he had given up on disturbing his home with his irregular hours and spent nights at Eli's apartment instead. Sometimes it would be him waiting in bed because Eli refused to let him sleep on the couch, and other times it was the other way around.
But eventually they ended up together, feet tangled and soft breath against collarbones, yet unable to sleep because of all the coffee and energy drinks that had been consumed throughout the evening.
And it was Eli, always Eli, who whispered after a long while of silence, "Are you asleep?"
Kevin always said no, or shook his head, or on the days that the world was bearing down on him with all the weight of flashing cameras and red-carpet press conferences, he simply reached out and curled his fingers around the nape of Eli's neck. It was a kind of desperation best left unspoken, as though he were ashamed because he would never have been driven to this if he hadn't chosen the hardest of paths. But of all people Eli understood this, perhaps even more so than Kibum who had even been there for Xing, because he was the one who pressed Kevin down against the mattress and swallowed his cries as their lips moved together, a perfectly discordant harmony. He was the one Kevin allowed himself to clutch at, fingers helpless against broad shoulders as though they would shield him, even though in truth Eli felt just as weak as he was.
When they came down from the rush together it always felt right to say things like I love you and let's just stay like this a little longer even if their hearts were emptier than when they had started. It was left till later to acknowledge that such fickle phrases could have only been said in the spur of the moment.
In the languid silence afterwards, Kevin's head pillowed against Eli's arm and their foreheads barely touching, at least it was a little easier to breathe.
--
*Adapted from here.