It’s after 11pm before Minho gets home from work. It’s later than normal and Jonghyun's starting to get worried. He’s been sitting on the couch, watching the door, for half an hour now and he almost cries in relief at the sight of Minho, who also looks ready to cry. He rushes up to him, closing and locking the door as Minho takes his shoes off.

“Are you alright, honey?”

Minho shakes his head, fighting a losing battle against crying. Jonghyun takes him in his arms.

“What happened, honey? What are these tears for?”

“I...I almost got fired today be-...because my manager thought I...I was stealing from the...the register. But the...the other manager came in and...and told him it was the guy that...that comes in after me. And...and then I got yelled at by...by three customers because we...we’re out of whatever they wanted. Then...then a customer tried to...to steal something and I...I had to talk to the cops about it and...and my manager brought up the...the other worker who’s stealing and...and they interrogated me about that. And...and it went so late that...that I missed my bus but I...I left my wallet home so I...I couldn’t get a taxi and...and my phone died so I...I couldn’t call you to come get me.”

“Honey, you walked all 3 miles home?”

Minho nods, crying harder.

“Oh, honey....”

Jonghyun pulls him to the couch, making him sit down.

“Honey, that’s awful, I’m sorry you had such a ty day. But you’re home now, okay? It’ll be alright now.”

Minho doesn’t say anything, simply holding Jonghyun’s hand tight.

“Are you hungry, honey? We had a potluck at work so I didn’t make anything but I can heat you up anything you want.”

“Do...do we still have soup?”

“Yup. I’ll got heat you up a cup, just stay here and rest, okay?”

Minho nods and Jonghyun goes to the kitchen. During the minute it takes for the soup to reheat, Jonghyun mentally runs through all the care options that are reasonable for this hour. He goes back and Minho takes the soup, eating it slowly through his continued tears. Jonghyun rubs his back and hums, trying to let him eat in peace. Minho sets the cup down on the coffee table when he’s finished and sighs.

“Do you want to take a bath, honey? I haven’t showered yet, we could take one together. We can use one of those bath bombs that help you sleep.”

Minho nods and Jonghyun goes to the bathroom to get the water ready. It doesn’t take long to fill up and he calls Minho in. Jonghyun gets in the bath while Minho gets out of his uniform. It’s just big enough for the two of them to fit; Minho fits in the space of Jonghyun’s lap, though he can’t stretch his legs out very much, and he rests the back of his head on Jonghyun’s shoulder. Once he’s comfortable, Jonghyun plops the bath bomb in, wrapping his arms around Minho’s shoulders and resting his hands on his chest. Minho watches the bath bomb swirl and fizzle around while Jonghyun presses kisses to his cheek and shoulder. They stay there til the water gets cold and Minho’s calm enough to be sleepy. Jonghyun helps him dry off and they go right to bed after. They curl up together, Jonghyun again holding Minho from behind.

“I know most of it was bad, but was the end of your day ok?”

Minho hums then adds “As long as I can be with you at the end of a day, I can make it through anything.”

Jonghyun reaches up, gives Minho a goodnight kiss, humming a lullaby until he falls asleep.