Daehyun tapped the tip of his pen on the wooden table. He couldn’t concentrate and neither could Youngjae. Both of them were rather distracted, Youngjae with his phone that he kept checking repeatedly and Daehyun was too busy wondering what was so important to the younger, that he neglected the book in front of him.

They often met up to study in the afternoon. Sometimes, others of their friends would join them, depending on how serious they took their studies. They had found this café randomly a couple of weeks ago. It was cozy and the middle aged lady who owned this place was a great cook.

He usually liked coming here, especially when he was alone with Youngjae, but the fact that the other was barely paying attention to him, made him feel agitated.

So he kept tapping his pen, trying to calm the uneasy feeling. When Youngjae pulled out the phone of his pocket once again, Daehyun grumbled deeply. With eagle’s eyes he watched the younger’s every move, but there wasn’t more than a disappointed look in his face when he still didn’t receive whatever message he was waiting for.

He sighed heavily and watched out of the window, looking past the boy facing him. It was raining again, something that didn’t contribute to his mood either. Maybe something warm in his belly would be helpful.

“Do you want a new drink?” he asked the younger.

“A hot chocolate would be nice,” Youngjae answered.

Daehyun nodded and went to the bar to tell the waitress their orders. He was glad that he could get some distance for a moment as the situation became unbearable for him. The peaceful moment only lasted for less than a minute though.

He immediately noticed that the younger had given up on putting his phone back into his pocket every time he took a look at it, so he had placed the small device on the table.

“What is going on that Yoo Youngjae neglects his studies?” Daehyun asked. The younger looked up and when their eyes met, his pink lips curled into a smile.

“I’m waiting for a message,” he answered. “Sorry for not paying attention.”

“It’s okay,” Daehyun tried to reassure the younger. It was difficult to hide the obvious jealousy though.

“Do you wanna quit for today?” Daehyun asked.

“No, no!” Youngjae panicked. “It’s not that important, really.” Daehyun snorted, losing the cool facade.

“Well, it’s useless like this. Maybe we can meet again tomorrow,” he stated.

Youngjae put his hand on Daehyun’s.

“Don’t be like this. I will concentrate now, I promise,” he cooed.

Daehyun cursed inwardly, the younger just knew how to push his buttons. He hasn’t even said anything but there was already a victorious grin spread on the younger’s face.

Just when Daehyun was about to give the younger a piece of his mind for being so manipulative, the waitress arrived with their orders, a hot chocolate for Youngjae and a cappuccino and a slice of chocolate cake for him.

Daehyun dug right in, letting the smooth texture of the sweet treat melt on his tongue. Occasionally, he took a careful sip of his hot cappuccino, being careful to not burn his mouth.

He almost choked when the buzz of Youngjae’s phone made the small table shake slightly. The younger’s eyes shot up immediately as he grabbed the device with quick fingers. Daehyun observed the younger’s face attentively, losing his appetite when he saw the other’s lips stretched into a content smile.

He knew he couldn’t make demands, he felt silly for being so possessive over the beautiful boy. But he had been waiting to get closer to him for months, was it really so wrong to want his attention?

“Got some good news?” Daehyun asked. Youngjae nodded as he looked up. His eyes were sparkling and formed little crescents, like they always did when the younger smiled whole-heartedly. Daehyun liked when the younger smiled like that, mostly because his already prominent cheeks stood out even more.

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone but I guess I can trust you. Yukwon and Minhyuk are dating,” Youngjae stated excitedly.

Daehyun gaped. He had always suspected that Yukwon had a little thing for Youngjae, and even if knew what kind of relationship Daehyun and Youngjae had before it didn’t stop him from being affectionate towards Youngjae. It was only natural for Daehyun to be jealous, wasn’t it? After all, Youngjae was his.

It had made Daehyun’s insides burn every time when they were being all touchy, but he knew his place and he knew that it he had no right to complain. After all, every of their friends seemed to like showing affection to the adorable boy, Youngjae just had that effect on them that everyone felt like pinching his cheeks or patting his hair.

Youngjae placed his elbows on the wooden surface on the table, smiling smugly. “Were you jealous?” Youngjae asked innocently.

“N-No,” Daehyun stuttered, blushing. Youngjae chuckled and placed his hand over Daehyun’s which was laying on the table. Youngjae’s palm felt warm on his hand and the soft tingles he felt when the younger’s fingertips gently brushed over his skin made him feel light headed.

“You’re not very subtle, you know that?” Youngjae grinned. Feeling busted, Daehyun looked down at his lap, not knowing how to answer.

“Kwonnie and I are only friends. He had always liked Minhyuk. We made plans for him to confess and I was just waiting to hear if it worked. I thought it would be better if he gets rejected, at least he could move on like that.

I actually never expected this to work out but Himchan said that on Junhong’s birthday he could see Minhyuk giving Yukwon weird looks,” Youngjae explained.

Daehyun definitely felt better knowing all this, knowing that he had no one to fight to claim Youngjae’s heart, no one else apart from Youngjae himself.

They finished their drink and called it a nigh since it was dark and the rain only got stronger, indicating a storm.

Youngjae had offered Daehyun to drive him home. He didn’t want the older to walk through the rain for too long, although he had an umbrella.

Daehyun had happily agreed and they were snuggled together under the umbrella that protected them from the rain, walking with fast steps.

“You know, you’re actually quite cute when you’re jealous,” Youngjae whispered into the older’s ear, causing him to blush.

Youngjae laughed and stopped abruptly, causing the older to almost stumble. The younger cupped his cheek and pressed a soft kiss on the other. 

He laughed heartily when the older’s mouth fell slightly agape from the surprise.

For the whole way home, a beautiful smile graced the plump lips of Daehyun.

***

It was a rare occasion that Junhong fell ill. But it had to get him at some point and he was glad that it was only the end of November. Until Christmas, he would be healthy again.

He was already better than the previous day, where he had slept most of the time. But he still had a fever, a really nasty cough and the sniffles. Although it wasn’t as bad as it had been the day before, his body was weak and thus he was thankful that Jongup kept him company.

Junhong felt a little bit guilty. But his boyfriend had reassured him that everything was alright. When Junhong was asleep, the older kept himself busy with studying and when he was awake, he took care of the younger in such a sweet way.

Jongup made sure that Junhong always had enough water in his room, he took the younger’s temperature and rubbed his back when the younger had another coughing fit.

Being ill wasn’t that bad, Junhong thought.

Without realizing, he dozed off once again as his body needed a lot of rest. He couldn’t rest for long though, since his blocked nose caused troubles with his breathing. As soon as he had opened his eyes, he searched for the tissues on his bedside table.

It took him a moment to realize that Jongup wasn’t in the room. Maybe the older was in the bathroom, Junhong thought. He dropped back into his fluffy pillow, staring into space. His eyes roamed around the room. A few cardboard boxes were piled up on top of his cupboard, these were empty boxed from electronics and Junhong urgently needed to clean this up.

Junhong sighed, he was bored.

On his desk was a book, one of Jongup’s. Since there was nothing else to do, he stretched his body in order to reach for the book. He almost fell from the bed, but fortunately his limbs were long enough, so he grabbed the edge of the desk to save himself from falling.

He felt a little dizzy when he was finally wrapped into his blanket again. Lazily he flipped a few pages of the book. He didn’t have a clue about any of it but it seemed to be rather interesting nonetheless.

His head shot up as the door opened, revealing his boyfriend who carefully walked towards the bed with a big bowl in his hands. Jongup took step by step, watching out that he didn’t stumble and drop the hot porcelain. Junhong closed the book and let it sit in his lap.

“I cooked you something,” Jongup stated the obvious as he placed the bowl on the bedside table carefully.

Junhong sat up and leaned over to examine the steaming content. It was a mistake though, as the dizziness kicked in once again. He groaned and placed his head back onto the pillow.

“Ugh, head rush,” Junhong mumbled.

“Be careful,” Jongup demanded, putting his hand on the younger’s forehead. “It’s chicken soup.”

“Thank you,” Junhong said and smiled.

“It will warm you up and you’ll be healthy in no time. It’s my mum’s secret remedy. She always cooked that for me when I was ill.” Jongup said.

Junhong sat up a little bit again, this time more careful. Jongup sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed the spoon, helping the younger to eat. He blew the content on the spoon to cool it down a little bit before leading it to Junhong, who happily opened his mouth.

“I can’t taste anything but I bet it’s good,” Junhong chuckled. Jongup kept feeding him until the bowl was empty and Junhong enjoyed the warmth that radiated from his stomach through his whole body.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” Junhong said. “No problem. In return you will take care when I’m getting ill because of you,” Jongup laughed.

The remark made Junhong pout cutely and his boyfriend brushed his thumb over his cheek gently.

“I was only joking,” Jongup said. “I will make it up to you anyway,” Junhong said.

“I know how you could make it up,” Jongup said, grinning smugly. Junhong nudged him and chuckled.

“You’re unbelievable, Jongup.”

The older laughed again, saying, “I know.”

They calmed down after a moment and Junhong felt exhausted already. He yawned and snuggled back into his blanket.

“Sleep a little bit more. I’ll stay here and study.” Jongup demanded. He cupped his boyfriend’s cheek and the soft skin for a moment. Making sure that Junhong’s body is completely covered, he sent him one last loving smile before he went back to the desk.

Junhong was lying with his eyes closed, listening to his boyfriend’s calm breathing. Once in a while, he heard how the older flipped another page of the book.

Being ill was really not as bad with someone like Jongup on his side, he thought when he drifted off to sleep again. He would definitely find a way to thank the older for taking care of him.

***

Today was Himchan’s turn to take care of his boyfriend. Yongguk would be there any minute and Himchan checked everything one last time. Himchan wasn’t the best cook, but in the last few months he had learned to make a few simple dishes, or much rather things his boyfriend liked to eat and were simple enough to not mess up.

The Kimchi fried rice was sitting in the pan, when Himchan lifted the lid to keep the food warm, the aromatic fragrance of the ingredients rose up his nose. He carefully put the lid back onto the pan and made his way to the bathroom.

His bathtub was full of water and the air was filled with a pleasant scent. When he put his fingers into the red water, that reminded him of a nice glass of wine, he noticed that the water was a tad too hot, but until they finished the dinner, the temperature would just be comfortable.

He yet had to light the candles on the edge of the bathtub, but this had to wait until later as he didn’t want to leave them unattended.

He had planned their evening perfectly. Yongguk would come to his home straight after working and since he will be exhausted, Himchan wanted to treat his boyfriend.

First, they would have dinner together, which was more a late night snack regarding the time, then Yongguk would take a relaxing bath, if he would let Himchan join him will be his decision. After that, they will snuggle into Himchan’s bed and watch a nice movie until they would fall asleep.

The doorbell rang and Himchan jumped up, walking with quick steps to open the door. He almost stumbled over the carpet in the lounge and when he turned the knob, he was out of breath.

Yongguk was smiling and just like Himchan had expected, he looked tired.

“Hey,” Yongguk said with a hoarse voice, curling his arms around Himchan’s slender body as he stepped in. As always, he took off his shoes first, he then placed his backpack on the floor carefully before he slipped out of his jacket to hang it up.

Yongguk had always been very neat and Himchan liked it.

“I prepared dinner for you,” Himchan said, smiling, and led his boyfriend towards the kitchen, where they both sat down at the set table.

“Smells good,” Yongguk croaked when Himchan took the lid off the pan and started putting food on their plates.

“Shhh. Don’t talk so much, you must be tired,” Himchan muttered. As it was always very loud in the club, Yongguk had to shout for hours and every time he came home from a shift, his voice was croaky and hoarse.

Yongguk flashed him a thankful smile which he returned. They ate in silence, only some music was playing from the radio.

Himchan could tell that his boyfriend liked the food by the way his face contorted subtly with every bite he ate. When the older gave him a thumb up, he felt proud of himself. The first part of his plan to take care of his tired boyfriend was a success.

Just like Himchan had wished for, Yongguk had asked him to join his bath. He had his back leaned against the broad chest of his boyfriend, enjoying the warmth surrounding him.

The light scent of the bubble bath was lingering in the air and the candles lit up the room in a soft light that made him feel drowsy.

Although they were both , there was no further intention to lead this to somewhere else, there was nothing ual between them right now as comforting each other was the only thing on their minds.

Himchan had his eyes closed and his hands were cupping his boyfriend’s knees, occasionally brushing his palms over the skin. In return, the older kept himself awake by Himchan’s arms.

Both of them were relaxed to the point that Himchan knew it was pointless to even start the film but this was the part of the night he looked forward to the most.

It just felt special to cuddle while watching a movie, being in comfortable and loose clothes, snuggled up under a warm blanket and deciding what to pay attention to, the pictures on the TV screen or the person next to you.

The film was rather old, but both of them liked the film so they didn’t mind watching it for the nth time. Yongguk’s skin felt even softer under the tips of his fingers after the oily bubble bath, Himchan liked it.

His boyfriend had wrapped him in a secure grip which simply felt like home to Himchan. He inched even closer, although it was almost impossible. But he wanted to feel his boyfriend as much as possible.

They molded perfectly together as they held each other, watching the scenes playing in front of them more or less attentively. The storyline of ‘Shawshank Redemption’ never failed to touch him, to make him appreciate life even more.

He could tell that the older was starting to drift off, as the arms that held him became more and more heavy.

They didn't get to see the end of the film this night. 

A/N: Hey! It's been a little while, I apologize! Actually, I had this chapter finshed the day after I updated the last time, but after giving it to a friend to pre-read and getting her feedback, I somehow wasn't happy with the DaeJae part anymore. So I thought about it for a while and changed it. (Yes, it's your fault! - you know that I mean you when you read that)

This chapter is more or less to wrap things up with Kwon and Minhyuk and to give DaeJae finally some alone time, as well as the other couples before we now get to the main part. There are only 2 chapter left after this one. The next update will come quicker, this was just an exception!

I hope you liked it! Thank you for reading, commenting and upvoting! It made me really happy, it makes me happy everytime I see a new one! <3