DAY FIVE 💫 #9 Take Care

[exohousewarming]

Prompt number : #9
Title :Take Care
Pairing :D.O/Kai
Rating :PG-13 (for one mild remark)
Warning :(if any)fluff, a lot of annoyingly sweet kisses
Word count :7,709
Summary:Jongin knows he’s not supposed to injure himself lest he wants to face his husband’s nagging.
Author note : I’m glad to have been able to participate in EXO Housewarming. I really love domestic EXO! Also, I’m sorry: 1) if you don’t know my Dirty Dancing references (I just really like the final scene of that movie! You should check it out) and 2) my lack of knowledge about yoga. I really just googled yoga poses for the purpose of this story. Thanks to mods for putting on an awesome fic fest! And finally, even though I know it probably could have been a lot fluffier, I hope the prompter (and everyone else) likes and enjoys the story!



It appears to be a sprained ankle, the doctor on staff at the agency Jongin worked at had said. A small grimace appeared on the poor man’s face as the doctor proceeded to go over the procedures necessary for a speedy recovery.

Jongin drew his lower lip between his teeth and politely smiled to the doctor before walking unevenly out the door. Any pressure applied to his right foot practically had him writhing in excruciating pain. Quite honestly, he whimpered about it the whole drive home.

Besides the fact that he desperately wanted to heal faster so that he could get back to his job at the agency, Jongin thought of what his husband was going to say if and when he saw Jongin walking in with a wrapped foot and a limp to accompany it…again.

There was no way he could get away with hiding this sprained ankle; definitely not the way he had been able to hide some of his other injuries.

Especially not against one very observant Do Kyungsoo.

Jongin was definitely going to be in for it once his husband found out about yet another injury sustained from his job. Kyungsoo always told him that his health came first and that no amount of passion for dancing should tamper with that. He can already hear Kyungsoo’s nagging from his last injury replaying in his head.

“What am I going to tell Little Minwoo when he asks why his dad can’t play with him for more than ten minutes in the future, huh? We’ll probably be in our early thirties but you’ll have some type of serious injury that can hinder you from playing with our son. Oh goodness, I can already see it now, Jongin. Little Minwoo is going to be so disappointed when we tell him.”

“You named our future child Minwoo?”

“That’s not the point. You need to take better care of yourself.”

Kyungsoo meant well but sometimes things were out of Jongin’s control and this just so happened to be one of those times. If anything, he blamed Sehun for his injured ankle. Kyungsoo should go nag him instead.

Hesitantly, Jongin poked his head through the front door of their shared condo and cautiously yelled out for his husband as he arrived home. When he received no answer other than the echo of his own voice, he heaved a sigh of relief before pushing the front door wide open and limping over to the nearest couch, not forgetting to shut the door behind him.

Really, Kim Jongin doesn’t plan for these types of accidents to happen, they just do. Sure, he could be a little more careful since this was his third injury in the last year (the first two had to do with his waist, both which healed quickly). His husband persistently reminded him to be careful every morning before they both left to their respective jobs.

But Jongin always explained to worrywart Kyungsoo that getting injured was just part of the territory. Being a choreographer (and dancer in general) for an entertainment company meant that he needed to practice just as hard as the trainees because not only was he the one coming up with the hard-hitting routines for the younger groups but he was also one of the many dancers dancing back-up for some of the senior groups in the agency.

He loved his job and he knew Kyungsoo was proud of him. The dancer just wished that his husband wouldn’t get too bothered by his minor injuries. Jongin always said that if you wanted to be the best, you have to push to be the best. No exceptions. And that’s just what he was doing.

His husband, however, didn’t share the same sentiments as Jongin. Kyungsoo believed that knowing your own limits and not causing harm to one’s body resulted in being able to become the best. Why would one strive so hard only to lose it all because they didn’t know their limit?

Jongin nearly walked away in annoyance at his husband’s rationality. But Kyungsoo stayed firm to his beliefs and practically smirked whenever Jongin walked in with a new injury that caused him to be put on rest. Jongin always shrugged it off because Kyungsoo, who bit back the ‘I told you so’ on the tip of his tongue, took good care of him and showered him with lots of love.

Kyungsoo was only complacent for a minute before it soaked in that his husband was actually injured and in pain.

If he could get by this week without his husband noticing his limp then everything would be fine. Jongin wanted to spare Kyungsoo’s precious face the look of grief (and probably a little bit of smugness) if he found out.

It was cute to Jongin how Kyungsoo took the liberty of being his designated nurse whenever he was aware of his lover’s new injury.

Do Kyungsoo loved to baby him and that was a fact.

Ever since they got together during his freshman year of college, Kyungsoo had taken special care of Jongin. To Kyungsoo, who was a year older, he saw Jongin as a precious specimen who should be protected from all of the world’s evils. Jongin was gentle, sweet, caring, and, to put it bluntly, extremely hot and Kyungsoo couldn’t stand the idea of knowing someone could take advantage of any of the many redeemable qualities of Jongin.

Of course, Kyungsoo did know his limits and when and where to coddle Jongin but for the most part Jongin thoroughly enjoyed basking in the attention whisked onto him by his boyfriend now husband. At home, Kyungsoo just smothered him with genuine love and Jongin was definitely not complaining.

It was one of the many reasons he knew why he could never fall out of love with the doe-eyed boy. And if anything, Jongin reciprocated the affection, if not just as much.
Jongin remembers one time when he came home sick last winter. Kyungsoo had apologized (for what, he is still unsure of) and led him to the room. When he was sure all of Jongin’s pillows were fluffed to perfection and that he was under his cozy blankets, he went to the kitchen to make soup as a remedy. When the soup was ready to eat, Kyungsoo spoon fed his younger husband and cleaned up the dishes afterwards, freeing Jongin from any chores.

Once everything was all set and done, Kyungsoo wormed his way under the covers and gave plenty of space to the younger who was donning a fever. The next morning when Jongin was as good as new, he planted a bunch of little kisses on Kyungsoo’s face for nursing him back to health, only to find out that Kyungsoo had caught the bug.

Sick, red nosed Kyungsoo was quite a sight that made Jongin want to cuddle up next to the elder.

Or how the last time Jongin was injured, Kyungsoo had taken a week off from his real-estate firm to stay home and take care of him. He fed him and helped get around and whatever was necessary to accommodate Jongin’s needs. Jongin didn’t have to heart to tell him that it was only a small waist injury that the doctor said would heal within a day or two with proper rest and a heat pack.

Even with all the love he received from Kyungsoo, he still couldn’t stand hearing another lecture.

The injured dancer checked his phone for the fifth time in the last fifteen minutes. He calculated that it would be about an hour before Kyungsoo was supposed to be home and if he wanted to get away with hiding his sprained ankle he needed to start icing now so that when he tried (read: forced) to walk on it later it wouldn’t be too swollen.

Part of him thinks that it would just be better to tell his husband about what’s going on since they are a married couple who shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. But then again, he really doesn’t want to face the lecture that comes before the tender love and care of Kyungsoo. An ‘I told you so’ was not really necessary to hear when he was injured.

It was always the same. Kyungsoo would smack him on the shoulder for getting injured before scolding him about the safeties of not pushing his body so hard and to know his limits. Kyungsoo knew how much dancing meant to Jongin and it would be a shame if one day an injury led to his inability to dance ever again. Plus, Kyungsoo didn’t like seeing his husband in pain and moping around because he can’t do the thing he loves to do.

Jongin hopped his way to the kitchen to grab an ice pack to place on his ankle before planting himself back on the couch. He yelped in pain as he raised his foot on the ottoman, gently placing the ice pack over his foot. The breath of air he was holding in was finally exhaled as he found a comfortable position.

But lady luck was definitely not on Jongin’s side when not two minutes later, he heard keys jangle outside their condo. His husband was the only obvious answer. Quickly, he threw the ice pack under the couch and flipped on the TV, his left leg now propped up on the ottoman too, as if were the most natural thing for him to do.

When Kyungsoo walked in and slipped off his shoes he was surprised to see Jongin sitting on the couch watching TV in a relaxed manner. It was his husband’s turn to cook dinner for them and usually around this time, his spouse would be either cooking said dinner or blasting music while he worked on some steps for the groups he worked with. Or sometimes he did them both at the same time. Kyungsoo wasn’t one to judge.

Kyungsoo placed his coat and scarf on the coat rack before making his way over to the couch towards his husband. “Hey cutie, I missed you today.”

Jongin grinned up at his husband’s term of endearment and patted the seat next to him on the couch. He badly wanted to give his husband a kiss but he knew that if he stood up and walked towards the front door he would immediately be found out. The injury was still new and it would probably hurt him more that day then it would the next. If he couldn’t go to the heart-shaped lips of his husband, then he would have his husband bring the heart-shaped lips to him.

Kyungsoo leaned down to place a kiss on Jongin’s lips before taking his rightful place next to him on the couch and cuddling into his side for heat. With Jongin’s warmth, Kyungsoo never had to worry about being cold.

Jongin muted the TV and turned his sole attention to his partner. “Soo, what are you doing home so early today? Don’t you usually end work around six-thirty or seven?”

“It’s Tuesday, Jongin. I was always come home at this time. Did you forget?” Kyungsoo teasingly said as he gently knocked at Jongin’s head. He softly grazed his fingers through Jongin’s chocolate locks to smoothen out the out-of-place strands of hair.

“Oh, it must have slipped my mind about what day it is. We’ve been so busy with the upcoming boy group’s routine for debut that I forgot what day of the week it was.”

“Silly. Somehow I knew this might happen so I set out some salmon to defrost this morning before I left,” Kyungsoo chuckled before bopping his husband’s nose with his index finger.
Jongin briefly smiled at the cuteness of his lover before wrapping his arms around the smaller and placing a dozen kisses on his head. Kyungsoo fit perfectly in his arms when he held him and he fit perfectly in Kyungsoo’s arms when the elder held him. They really were meant to be together. Two missing puzzle pieces that perfectly fit together is what their friends always said.

“Did I ever tell you that you’re such a great husband?”

“Maybe once or twice but it doesn’t hurt to hear again.” Kyungsoo struggled to stand up from Jongin’s tight embrace. He had to tickle Jongin in his super-secret ticklish spot to finally be released from his strong grip. When he was free he flattened out the wrinkles in his clothes and held out his hand in front of a still laughing Jongin, “Did you want to help me cook dinner tonight?”

Jongin’s laughter slowly died out into a small frown after hearing his husband’s question.
There was no way around this; it was truly a lose-lose situation for him. He could either say no and stay on the couch to prevent himself from moving his foot or he could join his husband in the kitchen like usual.

If he stayed on the couch, his husband would probably get suspicious because it was unlike Jongin to not help cook dinner with Kyungsoo when the opportunity arose. It was quality time Jongin was able to spend with Kyungsoo because after a long day of being separated he liked to be attached to his love. But being with his love required movement. With Kyungsoo, if you didn’t help out in the kitchen, you were going to get kicked out. So if he said yes, his obvious limp would be inevitability discovered and Kyungsoo would hound Jongin.

Either way he chose, he couldn’t be helped.

“Um, I-I’ll keep you company in the kitchen but I’m really tired today so I might just sit at the table and we can talk if you don’t mind.”

Kyungsoo’s hopeful eyes turned into those of understanding. “Oh Jongin, you can go rest if you’re tired, we can just talk during dinner. I don’t want you to be sleep deprived because of me. I know that the group’s debut is in two weeks and you’re working hard doing the final adjustments.”

Jongin shook his head and grabbed his husband’s hand in a reassuring manner. “No, no I’m fine, really. I just need to sit down for a bit. That’s why I was resting when you came home.”
Technically, he wasn’t lying, he really was tired. The omission of his injury was just a little white lie that would be better off his own secret. Kyungsoo had enough to worry about with his own job commitments.

Kyungsoo squeezed his hand and let go, stating that he was going to change out of his work clothes into something more comfortable. He gave Jongin one more wary look before retreating to their bedroom. Jongin carefully watched his husband’s departing figure leave the room. Once the sound of a door shutting was heard, he hurriedly stood up and limped his way to the kitchen as fast as an injured person could. So far, Kyungsoo was still unsuspecting and Jongin intended to keep it that way.

When Kyungsoo walked into the kitchen, a half-smile formed on his face when he saw his husband preoccupied with the tabloid magazine he left on the table the previous night. He was hoping Jongin would surprise him and join him in cooking but that was just Kyungsoo’s wishful thinking. Considering all his lectures about the importance of staying healthy, if Jongin said he was tired, Kyungsoo had to respect that. Even if all he really wanted was Jongin’s full undivided attention.

Kyungsoo put on a bright smile and made his way over sink to wash his hands before seasoning the defrosted fish. Quietly, he waited for the oven to pre-heat before sticking the salmon in. The sounds of pots and pans and the refrigerator door opening and closing were the only sounds in the kitchen.

It was eerily silent in the room and Jongin knew that silence only meant one of two things; either he was in trouble with the realtor or said realtor was thinking about work-related things. Knowing that Kyungsoo hardly ever thought about work when they were at home, Jongin nervously bit his lip.

It’s really not like Jongin to deviate from their everyday customs.

He desperately wanted to walk behind Kyungsoo to back hug him (something that was not uncommon for them) and distract the boy from cooking. However, any form of walking would seriously be painful on his injured ankle. Even standing would burden him. But if he wanted Kyungsoo to think that everything was okay then he going to have to suck it up for a bit and make Kyungsoo unsuspicious.

As Kyungsoo’s back faced him, Jongin sneakily stood up and hobbled over to Kyungsoo. Swiftly, he wrapped his arms around the older male’s torso and peppered soft butterfly kisses along his neck. He always loved when Kyungsoo brushed his lips against Jongin’s sensitive spots along his neck when they were in bed cuddling.

“Mmm smells good in here. What are you making in the pan?”

Kyungsoo beamed and craned his neck to the side to place a chaste kiss on his husband’s lips affectionately.

“I’m just making some steamed vegetables and rice to go with our salmon. I don’t know why but salmon just seemed good to me yesterday. I know it’s your favorite so I thought I would treat you tomorrow night on my night to cook but this works even better.”

“What did I do to deserve someone like you? You always spoil me.” He gives his husband another kiss.

“You must have saved a country in your past life.”

Jongin clicked his tongue and softly pushed a giggling Kyungsoo’s shoulder. His husband was quite the jokester.

“Are you going to follow me to the rice cooker or are you just going to wait at the table?” Kyungsoo turned back to the stove to turn off the flame.

But before Jongin could answer Kyungsoo, the elder took a step back and ended up stepping on Jongin’s injured foot.

Jongin’s face scrunched up in pain as he made his way back to the table chair to hold his foot. It was already a hassle for him having to mask the pain with a smile as if nothing was wrong but now there was no way he could conceal it now. He could only bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from tearing up.

Tearing up meant a guilt ridden Kyungsoo, who would bombard Jongin with questions about whether he was hurt badly, if he needed ice, if needed help, if Kyungsoo could fix it. While one of the most admirable things about Kyungsoo’s personality, Jongin also felt bad about how much care Kyungsoo had to give him.

“Jongin, I’m so sorry. I thought you would move with me. Did the heel of my foot crush your toes?” Kyungsoo genuinely looked concerned and stared down at the foot in his husband’s hand, “Here let me go get you an ice pack.”

“No I’m fine.” Jongin’s voice strained as he held onto the wrist of his petite husband. His foot was throbbing and heating up and an ice pack would probably be necessary but he didn’t want to make a bigger deal of it than he needs to, even if his injury was a pretty big deal.

“Are you sure? Do you want to sit down for a bit while I finish up?”

Jongin shook his head, albeit hesitantly, before walking as best as he could to the pantry to fins and lay out some plates for the two of them. Kyungsoo stood there watching his husband with arms folded across his chest and his eyebrows scrunched in worry.

“Here, sit down, let me serve you. I’m so sorry Jongin. I didn’t know you were right behind me.” The realtor picked up Jongin’s plate just as he sat down and served food on it before setting it in front of Jongin and checking his foot once more. Despite Jongin’s initial refusal, Kyungsoo walked over to the freezer to grab an ice pack and placed in on Jongin’s foot.

He glanced at Jongin to make sure the other was okay. Jongin softly smiled and silently thanked his worried husband. He motioned for Kyungsoo to also get food so that they could eat together.

“Does it hurt badly? You were kind of limping to the chair,” was the first thing said by Kyungsoo when he returned from serving his dinner.

“O-oh it’s nothing, really. It just hurts now. I should be as good as new after dinner, especially with the ice pack you just gave me. You must have put some kind of love spell on it because I’m already feeling better.”

Kyungsoo’s worry steadily faded away as he lightly smiles at his love’s joke. “You’re so cheesy. But I guess you’re right, though. You’ve dealt with worse pain than this huh? Remember when you sprained your ankle last year? I bet that hurt a lot worse than this. I couldn’t stand to see you in so much pain, it literally hurt my heart. I will personally hurt you the next time you get injured Kim Jongin.”

Jongin gulped before awkwardly laughing. “I’m definitely taking the necessary precautions to avoid injury like you said. But sometimes things happen, Soo.”

Kyungsoo stuffed a piece of broccoli into his mouth and chewed before speaking again, “Yeah, knowing you you’ll disregard my words and push yourself your body to the point where your injuries are so bad that it’s permanent. I would hate to see you lose the one thing you love,” Kyungsoo walked around to Jongin, who was aware of Kyungsoo’s intentions and sat back in his chair, and positioned himself on his lap, “well, besides me of course.”
“How could I love anything more than you, Soo?”

“I know. I’m a pretty great husband. You were lucky to steal my heart,” Kyungsoo teased, placing multiple pecks onto Jongin’s lips.

“I really am sorry about your foot, though.”

“You didn’t do it intentionally so it’s fine. But if you really want to make it up to me, we can go put on pajamas right now and binge watch a TV series until our eyes give out.”
Kyungsoo grinned widely. “That sounds like a really good plan.”

“If you really, really want to make it up to me, you can give me a nice massage too.”

“Don’t push your luck. I accidently stepped on your foot; I didn’t break your whole leg so I’m not that sorry.”

“You wound me, Kyungsoo.”

“Just finish your dinner.”

**

The sound of a beeping alarm woke Jongin up from his precious sleep. If he actually cared about it, he might have pushed the off button instead of the snooze button, but considering Jongin had no desire to open his eyelids, he felt around for the nearest button and pushed it before cozying up back into his blankets.

It was Friday and coincidently both Jongin and Kyungsoo had Fridays off from work unless they were absolutely needed. Since his agency’s new group was set to debut soon, he should be there going over moves and cleaning up the routine. But since he injured his foot, they told him to take the day off to rest. Jongin was not going to complain against their reasoning.
Five minutes pass before the alarm goes off again, making Jongin groan in displeasure of being awoken again. He and Kyungsoo agreed that alarms weren’t allowed on Fridays no matter what. Groggily, he sat up and unplugged the alarm from the outlet. It was better to be safe than sorry.

It was then that he noticed his other half missing from their king size bed. Where was Kyungsoo? He knew for a fact that Kyungsoo wasn’t going into work today, especially since the couple stayed up late watching the whole first season of Parks and Recreation (and maybe lazily making out here and there).

Jongin pouted.

As if on cue, his and Kyungsoo’s shared bathroom door opened as Kyungsoo walked out in one of Jongin’s old baseball t-shirts and snug exercise shorts whilst drying his damp hair with a towel.

When Kyungsoo sees Jongin sitting up with his eyes partially closed looking confused, the only thing he could say was, “cute.”

He gently placed the towel on the hook of their bathroom door before running and jumping on the bed where he previously slept. Jongin’s eyes widened and he winced at the feeling of his leg bouncing off the bed and plopping back down from Kyungsoo’s jump.

Kyungsoo pushed Jongin back down on the bed and crawled on top of him. He wrapped his arms around his husband’s middle while placing his chin on the younger male’s chest. Jongin, although greasy and maybe a bit swollen, was always a wonderful sight to see when Kyungsoo woke up in the morning. Even with dried drool on his face, Kyungsoo could stare at his lover for hours and trace his perfect features with his eyes.

“Good morning, beautiful Jongin. The sun is shining bright outside and I need you to wake up so that the inside of our house can shine bright too.”

“What does that even mean, Soo? If you want it to be bright in our home just turn on the lights.” Jongin let his husband cling onto him as he placed on arm over his closed eyes. If Kyungsoo did decide to turn on the lights, Jongin didn’t want to be blinded by the sudden brightness.

“It means you radiate like the sun damn it. I’m just trying to be romantic. Sorry for trying.” Kyungsoo pouted out his lips and laid his head down on the duvet covering Jongin’s chest. The injured male wrapped his arms securely around Kyungsoo.

“Aw baby. I appreciate the effort, really. But why are you waking me up at,” Jongin propped himself on his elbows to check his phone, “six-thirty in the morning. It’s Friday, the only day we have off. We should be spending it sleeping and cuddling.”

Kyungsoo lightly tapped Jongin’s chest before rolling off him and standing on his own feet.
“Come on. It’s okay to change routine once in a while. Now come on, get up and put on some exercise clothes on. The early bird catches the worm they say. Now get up.”

“Why?” Jongin whined.

“Well, you know how we always talk about exercising together to stay in shape and strengthen our cores?”

“Um, not we, just you babe.”

“You, me, we, same thing,” Kyungsoo threw his hands up in excitement, “Well, I finally bought a copy of a yoga class for us to try out. Now I know you are probably fit from all the dancing you do but I think this will be fun to do together. They have a few different sets that are like twenty minutes long and that are totally doable. That way we can have fun and still get a good sweat in. Aren’t you excited? I even bought us matching yoga mats.”
Kyungsoo eyes sparkled with happiness as grabbed something from under the bed. In front of Jongin were two matching light green rolled up yoga mats being pointed at by an eager Kyungsoo.

Jongin thought about his injured foot and what doing yoga would mean for it. Even though it wasn’t as much cardio as a regular exercise tape, Jongin knew that he was going to have to be doing some intense poses that possibly require him to balance on one foot. Since he’s been home, he hasn’t been able to let his ankle rest but that’s mostly his fault for not telling Kyungsoo.

But he couldn’t quite say no to yoga either, especially after seeing the obvious excitement glistening in Kyungsoo’s adorable eyes. Who was he to refuse such a lovely man? Yoga would probably hurt ten worse than Kyungsoo stepping on him but if it put a smile on his husband’s face then it was worth it.

“Can’t I just watch you do yoga and give you moral support?”

Kyungsoo’s smile faded before he reached out to grab Jongin’s hand with a pleading look, “No, come on, it’ll be fun I promise! I’m going to sulk the whole day if you don’t do it with me. Do you really want to see your husband sad and disappointed because the love of his life won’t do one simple thing with him even though,” he said, matter-of-factly, “I go to all his recitals and debut performances even when it isn’t him performing.”

“Hey, now that’s not fair.”

“I’m only stating the truth.”

“Fine, you win.” Jongin internally cried because he knew that all these poses were going to be the death of him, of his foot. But Kyungsoo always got his way and there was no backing out now.

Jongin stood up from bed begrudgingly and put on one of his old college shirts and some basketball shorts before making his way to the bathroom for his usual morning routine.
When he arrived in the living room, he noticed Kyungsoo already stretching on the yoga mats placed for them. Jongin believed in looking at the positives things in bad situations. He can’t deny that it might be hot to see Kyungsoo do all kinds of yoga poses that require him to be flexible with his body.

When Kyungsoo finished stretching, he noticed and motioned Jongin over to him, “You should warm up before we start. I’ll help you stretch.”

Jongin sat down on one of the mats and let Kyungsoo stretch him out the way Jongin had taught him previously.

“Stretch out your legs, Jongin, so that I can roll out your ankles before we start.”

Jongin’s eyes widened, “Babe, is that really necessary? I think it’ll be fine if we just start. I don’t want to trouble you with my smelly feet.”

“Oh don’t worry, you’re not troubling me at all. I married you, stinky feet and all, so don’t be embarrassed. Plus, I love helping you. Now stretch your legs out in front of you so I can roll your ankles.”

Jongin hesitated but reluctantly did as he was told and stretched his legs out in front of him for Kyungsoo. He took a deep breath in because he knew what was going to happen next.
Kyungsoo grabbed his feet and pushed them down in a pointed position and kept it there for about fifteen seconds before releasing them and pushing them back into flexed position. He then rolled Jongin’s ankles out in a circular position for ten seconds each way.

Jongin swore he felt hot tears threatening to spill from his eyes and opted to bend over and have his nose touch his knees. It was a good thing he was flexible because it made it that much easier for Jongin to hide his incoming tears.

Who knew making your spouse happy could be so painful?

“You finish the rest of your warm ups while I go get us some water. I picked the set that involves a lot of core work so your legs and stomach may hurt when we finish. But no pain no gain right?”

“Oh joy,” Jongin said unenthusiastically.

Quickly, Jongin wipes his tears and stood up to get into regular position. He was totally not looking forward to this session. While he waited for Kyungsoo to return, he stared down at his foot and noticed how swollen it was becoming. He can only hope that Kyungsoo doesn’t notice the size difference between his two feet.

“Alright, let’s start this yoga session. It should last about twenty minutes, so it’s nothing to terrible for us beginners. If you like it Jongin let me know so that I can get the other videos.” Kyungsoo set up the video and pressed play. A young woman appeared on screen and began explaining how her exercises worked before getting straight into the first pose.

Starting off with the cat pose, Jongin exhaled slowly. With his knees firmly planted on the ground, all Jongin had to do was arch and bend his back up and down four times in thirty second intervals. Jongin was thankful that this was the first pose in the stupid video Kyungsoo bought.

When he looked back up to the instructor on the TV, he noticed the instructor doing the down dog pose. He mentally cried to himself as he looked over to his husband who had his eyes closed, relaxed in the down dog pose. No longer were they on their knees. Nope, this position required Jongin to stand up straight before bending over and arching his back. The pressure in his ankle was extreme but he had to suck it up.

“Do you like it so far Jonginnie? Are you relaxed?” Kyungsoo asked as he wiggles his butt in a teasing manner.

But not even Kyungsoo cute butt shake could reel Jongin’s mind from the pain he was feeling.

“Yeah, so relaxing,” Jongin closed his eyes and scrunched his nose up in pain. It had only been about three minutes but Jongin was so close to tapping out of this yoga session and confessing to his husband. He’d rather get an earful about the safeties of not straining his body’s capabilities than have to deal with the pain.

Whoever said yoga was relaxing was lying.

The next fifteen minutes required Jongin to do the hands to feet position which was very similar to the down dog except for the fact that now his back was straight and he was aiming to touch his knees with his nose. It wouldn’t be so bad if all his weight weren’t on his feet.
The extended triangle and the revolved triangle pose were just as bad as the hand to feet pose. Jongin was required to put is right foot forward and twist to the side, one arm on the ground holding him up as the other is stretched upward to the sky. He could feel the intense burn in his ankle and muscles doing this pose.

The injured dancer thinks back to all the days he has ever injured himself and silently laughs. Nothing could ever compare to the pain he was feeling now.

“Jongin, how are you holding up,” his husband’s velvety voice breaks him out of his thoughts.

“I’m doing good, Soo. What about you?” Jongin lied through his teeth.

Both men stand up from their poses to rest a bit, missing the eagle pose. When Jongin saw the instructor on the TV doing the pose, he silently thanked Kyungsoo for wanting to take a break. There was no way he was going to be able to twist his body like that and stand one foot, injured or not, simultaneously without falling over and making a fool of himself.

“I feel so relaxed. I’m glad you are doing this with me. I almost thought you weren’t going to do it even after I guilt tripped you into it.” Kyungsoo walked over to his husband and pecks his cheek before handing over his water bottle. Jongin faked a smile, masking the aching feeling in his ankle.

“Oh look, it’s time for the tree pose.”

Jongin tilted his head back in frustration before downing Kyungsoo’s water and making his way back to the yoga mat.

Standing on one foot while the other rested on the inside of the thigh had Jongin chewing on his bottom lip. He was smart enough to stand on his left foot while his injured one rested on his thigh. Jongin decided that he must love Kyungsoo a lot to go through this.

The couple did around six more poses before the video session ended.

“Wow, I feel pumped. We should do this every week to relieve our stress. I’ll be right back I’m going to get some paper towels so we can wipe out sweat.”

Jongin chose not to respond and plopped down on the couch. He didn’t even need to look down at his foot too know that was probably more swollen than it’s ever been. Although the yoga session was supposed to relieve stress and work out some muscles, he found himself on the verge of tears at every single pose. It was becoming a lot harder to hide his injury.
“Jongin, can you come help me in here?”

Jongin groaned but got up anyways and limped to the kitchen. “Yeah what do you need help with?”

“Can you grab those paper towels from the top of the refrigerator? I thought I could reach them but I can’t reach it, not even on my tip toes. So maybe you can do it for me?”

Jongin placed his hand above the refrigerator and felt around for the paper towel roll that Kyungsoo asked for but all he felt was dust. “Soo, are you sure it’s here? I can’t feel it.”

Kyungsoo sheepishly grinned while rubbing the back of his neck, “Yeah I accidently knocked it over as I tried to get it. I think if you stand on your toes you’ll be able to reach it. If not, I can get you a chair.”

Jongin exhaled loudly. Why was the world against him?

“No problem, just give me a second…” Jongin tried to search as fast as he could because the faster he gets what he needs, the faster he can stand flat footed back on the ground. After what felt like minutes, Jongin successfully feels the paper towel roll and brings it down for his husband.

“Thanks baby.” Jongin nodded as his job well done and turned to head for their room, probably to cry in the shower.

“But wait before you go, I was wondering when you were planning on telling me about your ankle?”

Jongin stopped in his tracks and turned around looking shocked. “I-what do you mean?”

“You are such an idiot Kim Jongin. I love you but sometimes you don’t make wise choices.”

“Huh?”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and pointed to Jongin’s obvious swollen ankle.

“Jongin we’ve been together for eight years, you really think I can’t tell when you injure yourself. You always scrunch up your nose at each step and you always walk on eggshells around me. Plus I saw you limping. I thought it was because I stepped on you yesterday but when I got a better look at your ankle I noticed how swollen it was. It looks like the last time it was sprained.”

“I’m sorry Soo. I just didn’t want you to get mad at me. You always tell me to be careful and not hurt myself and I wanted to prove to you that I could but then Sehun spilled water and failed to tell me when he went to get a mop and I ended up falling hard.”

“I’m sorry that my constant nagging prevented you from telling me that you were hurt,” Kyungsoo felt sad knowing that his nagging bothered his husband, “I just know how much you love to dance and my heart would break if something were to happen to you. But I’ll try to back off more. You are a grown man and you know what your limits are. I’m your husband, not your mother so I shouldn’t act as such. Please just be careful next time.”

Jongin smiled and pulled Kyungsoo into his arms. “I love when you baby and nag me though. I just don’t want you to feel obligated to go the extra mile to help take care of me. I don’t want you to put more stress on yourself. I really should be careful. ”

“Aw, Jongin, I think you worry too much. I love being able make you happy even if that means having to take care of your careless self. You are my first priority. And since we are confessing things I would like to apologize for making you do yoga and for making you grab the paper towels I threw on the top of the refrigerator. I actually had other things planned, too, as a form of revenge for not telling me. But I honestly didn’t think you were going to last through the yoga.”

Jongin released Kyungsoo from his hold and held his shoulders. “You did all that on purpose? Even stepping on my foot?”

“No, that one was actually an accident. I didn’t find out about your ankle until late last night. I was hoping you would tell me about your ankle today but you kept pushing through the pain. I think it’s sweet that you were willing to do those things with me despite you probably wanting to cry.”

“I did cry.”

“I know, I heard you sniffle to yourself. I wanted to hug you and coddle you but I didn’t want to ruin my plan so I let you be. You also cried last night, that’s how I found out about your ankle. I mean the tell-tale signs were there but last night I crawled over you and I must have kneed your ankle because before I knew it you started whimpering and holding your ankle.”

“I’m really sorry. I just didn’t want you to worry about me.”

“It’s fine now. How about we go watch movie in our bedroom and I’ll get some ice and bandages for your foot.”

Jongin nodded in agreement as he put his arm around Kyungsoo shoulder for support. Kyungsoo grabbed his waist and walked the limping Jongin back to their room.

“You are really crazy, though. If my ankle was sprained I wouldn’t move at all. I bet you ankle really hurts. I hope you didn’t damage it any more than it already is.”

“Are you seriously nagging me right now Kyungsoo? If I have serious injuries it’s because you made me do yoga which was horrible by the way. I hope we never do it again.”

“Oh I know I hated it too.”

**

Fifteen minutes later, Jongin’s ankle was iced and bandaged properly. The married couple laid down in bed together, Jongin’s foot propped up on three pillows courtesy of Kyungsoo.
A movie was playing quietly in the background as Kyungsoo curls into Jongin’s side. Jongin lazily strokes his fingers through his husband’s soft strands as they both watch the movie.

Kyungsoo boldly leaned upward and planted a kiss on Jongin’s plush lips. Jongin took advantage of this and pulled Kyungsoo closer as they kiss a little more passionately. Somewhere mid-kiss, Kyungsoo started laughing causing their teeth to clank and Kyungsoo to pull away, profusely apologizing and laughing.

His fit of giggles didn’t let up though.

“Soo, what’s so funny?”

“I just thought of one of my revenge plans and you might kick me out of the house if I say it because you hate the movie I got the idea from.” Kyungsoo hid his smile behind his hands.
“What was it?”

“Alright, I’ll tell you,” Kyungsoo laughs once more, “You might think it’s not funny but I do. You know how I love the movie Dirty Dancing?

Jongin rolled his eyes, “How can I not know? You made me reenact the ‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner’ scene for our anniversary last year remember?”

“Well, sorry I just wanted to be swept of my feet.”

“Kyungsoo.”

“Oh right. Well I was going to make you lift me up like Johnny does to Baby in the final dance scene. It’s so iconic and since you’re a dancer I thought you might know how to do it. But if you imagine it would seem funny right? I would just be in the air like a plane while you stand there holding me.”

Jongin raised a brow at his husband, “Not that you weigh that much but I’m pretty sure I would have dropped you.”

“That’s why I didn’t go through with it,” Kyungsoo sneered, “I was worried that I might get hurt.”

“Wow, rude. You have no considerations for your husband.” Kyungsoo beamed before hugging the daylights out of Jongin as the younger feigned a hurt expression.

“I was kidding. You know I always worry about my big baby. Look, I wrapped up you ankle and iced it for you. I even massaged your shoulders. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
Jongin turned his head away dramatically. “I don’t think I can forgive you so easily.”

“Well then I’ll just steal your ice pack and the remote to our TV until you do. You’re injured, it’s not like you can retaliate anyways.”

“You evil human being,” Jongin gasped.

“If you want them you have to come get them,” Kyungsoo teased as he hopped off the bed and flaunted both objects at the foot of their bed. He stuck his tongue out childishly.

Kyungsoo hardly ever screams but he screamed loudly when Jongin unexpectedly got up from his position on the bed and started hopping around, trying to catch Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo kept running around the room laughing lightheartedly as Jongin hopped around after him, determined to capture his stolen property. Once Kyungsoo thinks Jongin has had enough horseplay, he lets himself get caught on the right side of their bed.

Both men were laughing, the television ignored in the background, as Kyungsoo wrapped his arms around Jongin’s neck.

“I love you, you know.” Kyungsoo kissed him lovingly once more. Jongin pulled away with a wide smile adorning his handsome face.

“I love you too, Kyungsoo but I can’t stand for this long. My ankle hurts.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened as he immediately helped Jongin get back on the bed. The petite male fluffed the pillows Jongin’s foot was previously on and positioned the sprained foot on it, “Oh I’m sorry, lay back down and I’ll place the ice pack back on your foot.”

“Thanks for worrying about me Kyungsoo.”

The older male kissed Jongin’s forehead before walking around to the left side of the bed and lying down next to his husband. He interlocked their fingers and kissed Jongin’s hand.

“I wouldn’t have to worry about you if were more careful about your surroundings. Make sure you aware of everything around you. Try not to work too hard. Think of little Minwoo next time you want to push yourself to point of breaking.”

“Kyungsoo!” Jongin complained.

“I’m just saying.”