Jinki POV:

I saw the lights coming from the bedroom under the bathroom door go off, and the very soft glow of the night light come. I spit out the toothpaste  and rinsed my mouth before grabbing my shirt from the door hook and slipping in. I slowly stepped towards the bed, getting ready to pull my shirt on when it was tugged sharply out of my hand.

"Jonghyun?" I looked around cautiously, squinting around at the dim light. 

I felt a harder tug on my fingers from the bed and I realized he was grinning up at me from the bed. 

"I'm cold, shirt please." I stated seriously, lying. 

I ran my fingers along my arms, unwilling to look down at my skin.

"Come under the blanket then." he flung the blanket open and looked at me expectantly. 

Sighing, I slipped under it, pulling the duvet down over us. 

"You don't have to be self-conscious you know..." his soft voice stunned me. 

His fingers suddenly touched my skin, pressing lightly on a bruise directly. And another. And the other.

"How do you know where.." I asked, his head turning to look at me. 

"The moment I saw the bruises... it burned into my memory."

I bit my lip, feeling tears burn in the corners of my eyes at myself.

I pushed down on the scar in the hollow of my arm, made those long months ago when I'd first met all of them. It reminded me of how low I was. Useless. Unable to finish my past regrets and letting it haunt the people close to me.

"What's that?" 

I turned over to face my back to him, bending my arm to hide it. His fingers curled firmly around my forearm, pulling me back. He ran the pads of his fingers along its contours, his head snapping up to look at me when he realized what it was. 

"When?" his voice was muted, still taking in the new information.

"When I was upset with what you said, ages ago. Don't worry about it. I know it probably makes me uglier an-" I cut myself off, pressing my lips together tightly in restrained shock as I turned around roughly, not looking at him as I slip my eyes shut.

Silence weighed down on us, Jonghyun's silence only signifying his shock. My throat was dry and there wasn't a tear threatening to spill because I was expecting it. I felt the weight on the matteress shift, and then suddenly he kissed me.

"J-jonghyun?" I flinched, jerking my arm back.

"You're not ugly. This scar... it's just a connection between us. There's no way it could be ugly, you silly idiot." Jonghyun's voice is shaking like leaves in the wind, and I find my eyes wide open with wonder at the way Jonghyun takes this, and I turn to kiss him again, a shy smile on my face painted on by relief.

Jonghyun POV:

As he slips his tongue into my mouth and has his fingers tangle in my hair, I have one hand sliding around his waist and the other's fingers just moving over the rough low lying bump of the scar that's our small connection.

I scatter my touches over the side of him and suddenly he squeaks, pulling away to glare at me with a furious blush on his cheeks which makes my mouth drop open in wonder as to why I've never known this before.

"Ticklish..." I mumbled in awe. "You're ticklish!" 

I jump on him, brushing fingers along his sides and poking hard at other times, leaving him squirming and breathless and begging for me to stop. I stop, grinning so hard that my jaw is numb, and I brush my fingers over the warm flush of his cheeks, him peering past his tangled bangs and panting. I flop down beside him, shutting my eyes, as I push back the covers to let the cold air rest on my legs as I try to kill this sudden rush of inappropriate feelings. I felt him get up and I crack an eye open, reaching out to grab his hand.

"Water." he says shortly.

I let go and I shut my one open eye and hear the quiet spalsh of water into a cup, feeling my body relax as I slip deeper into sleep. 

He hums in self-approval, wrapping arms around me and pulling me close to his chest again, tucking my head under his chin.

"Cheater." I whisper.

"Mhm." he hums again, and suddenly this routine exchange of only two words makes everything seem normal again.

"Hey, hyung?"

"Mm?" he mumbled, and I listened to his heart's slow steady beat, and I realized how fast mine was racing.

"You're perfect, okay?"

The hold he had on me tightened, and I knew he heard me. I let his heartbeat soothe me to sleep.

And just before I slipped into sleep, I realized my heartbeat had started to match his.

Internet was down. SORRY T_T