Taemin was sitting on Jongin's couch, quietly fiddling with his hands. An awkward silence blanketed the apartment, Jongin standing a few feet away from his boyfriend, unsure of what to say. 

"Well," Taemin started, finally breaking the still atmosphere. "We should talk. I haven't seen you much lately." 

"Right." Jongin  his lips. What should he say? "So, uh, how is it? Staying at your brother's place, I mean."

"It's alright, I guess. Do you remember that kitten I saved a few months ago? He adopted it. It's been keeping me company when I'm alone."

Jongin nodded. 

"But I don't really like staying there, it's really not bad, and I wouldn't mind it under different circumstances, it's just that I'm worried about you. You look completely exhausted. Just how busy have you been?" Taemin wrapped his arms around himself, peering up at Jongin.

"I've been more busy than usual, I guess. I don't know. It's probably just because of the time of year. Hopefully it'll die down soon. You don't have to worry about me."

"When's your next shift?" 

"Not till Thursday. My supervisor saw how tired I am and gave me off. Told me that he can't let anyone fall asleep on the job." Jongin chuckled lightly, glad that he'd been given a day to rest. 

"So you'll rest tomorrow?" 

"Of course. I'd be stupid not to." 

"Good..." Taemin sounded uncertain about something, but Jongin wasn't sure what. He brushed it aside, however, focusing on what he wanted to do at the moment. 

"This is random, but there's something I've been wanting to say since last night," He began. Taemin nodded, eyes curious. "I-um, I wanted to apologize to you. For accusing you of cheating. I'm an , and I wasn't thinking clearly. I was really tired and... and yeah. I know you would never do that. I feel like for saying that." 

Taemin was silent, a thoughtful expression on his face. He seemed to be contemplating what to do with Jongin's apology, and Jongin wrung his hands in apprehension.

"I mean, I understand where you were coming from when you said it, considering how you get when you're exhausted, but it really hurt. I forgive you, though. It's not that big of a deal compared to some of the other stuff we need to deal with, I suppose. But we don't need to talk about any of that now, we should work it out when you're less tired." 

Jongin nodded in agreement, he was incredibly tired. 

"You wouldn't mind if I stayed over, right?" Taemin asked. 

"Not at all." Jongin couldn't hide his surprise.

"It's just that you finally have a day off, and I don't know, I guess I just want to be here with you. Make sure you take it easy for a day and all."

"You know you don't have to do that if you don't want to, of course I'd love to have you here with me, but if you don't really want to..."

"I want to. I still have work tomorrow, but it's not for too long," Taemin smiled, standing and crossing the small space between them. He leaned upwards, wrapping his arms around Jongin's neck before giving him a quick peck on the lips. "It'll be good to stay here for a day."

Jongin couldn't agree more. 

*****

Through the thick fog of sleep, Jongin could hear a phone alarm ringing, then the bed shifting beside him. Stirring so that he was half-way between sleep and waking, he cracked an eye open, squinting out at the empty bed before him. Suddenly, Taemin was taking up the space, smiling softly down at him. 

"I'm just going to work, go back to sleep. I'll be home in a couple hours." He kissed Jongin's forehead, disappearing just as quickly as he'd appeared. And so Jongin did just that; he went back to sleep, happy to be sleeping in for once. 

*****

Jongin was standing in the kitchen, in the process of making a sandwich when Taemin came home. 

"Hey," he greeted his boyfriend, who looked surprised to see him awake. 

"Hey," Taemin responded. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long." Jongin focused on preparing his food, and they lapsed into silence. Taemin went about the apartment quietly, not doing anything in particular, just wandering the small space. The next time Taemin spoke, breaking the silence, Jongin had already finished eating. 

"Was it lonely here without me?"

Jongin looked up in surprise at the sudden question. Taemin was standing in front of the small TV, a faraway look in his eyes. 

"It was. Very lonely, actually. I missed you a lot, Tae." Jongin crossed the room, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend when he reached him. 

Taemin hummed in acknowledgement, but said nothing more, hand moving up to gently grab hold of Jongin's arm. Taemin's back was warm against his chest, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation. He really had missed Taemin a lot. It saddened him to think that he'd be left alone again in just a few short hours, Taemin returning to his brother's place. Hopefully he'd move back to the apartment soon, Jongin didn't want to stay by himself for much longer. 

"You're awfully quiet." Jongin finally said, opening his eyes. 

"I know. Do you want to go back to bed? You're probably tired, right?"

Jongin nodded. 

"I could use some more rest, I suppose. Will you keep me company?" 

Taemin seemed to hesitate, taking a moment to answer. 

"...Yeah." 

But instead of moving, they simply remained there, Taemin lost in his own thoughts, and Jongin growing increasingly nervous as he wondered just what was on his lover's mind. Something buzzed against his hip. Taemin reached behind himself, pulling out his cellphone. 

"Hello?" A pause. "Oh. Yeah... yeah. Okay. Just give me a minute, I'll be right back." Taemin turned to Jongin, covering his phone. "I have to take this," he breathed, pulling away from his boyfriend's embrace. Upon seeing Jongin's crestfallen expression, his features softened as he continued, "I shouldn't be long, go back to bed."

Taemin walked away, exiting the apartment as Jongin watched him with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Wordlessly, he headed back into his bedroom, lying down to wait for his boyfriend. 

What was so important that Taemin had to leave? 

What was so important that Jongin couldn't listen?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N 

Sorry this is short and took a while!! I've been suffering from a little bit of writer's block, I know what I want to write, I just can't get it down the way I want :(( 

Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be longer and faster! :) 

Thanks so much to all of my readers and subscribers, you're seriously the best!! <3 <3

Thanks for reading!

-H