A head bumping into mine jolted me awake, and I almost panicked when a pair of hands tightened around my legs. “Easy there. I’m sorry, Jay. Did I wake you up? I was trying to be gentle.” I blinked a few times before I actually realized what was going on. I was on Hoseok’s back, being carried down a long hallway. I’d seen it only once before, so I wasn’t really worried about that bit. We were headed towards the apartment we’d live in for the next year. “You fell asleep on the balcony. It’ll be a miracle if you don’t catch a cold.” He stopped as he spoke, slowly letting me down. He faced me, then, checking me over to make sure he didn’t hurt me while he was walking.

“I’m sorry if I was heavy, Hobi. Are you alright?” I shifted uncomfortably a little bit. I know I’m not light as a feather, and there were stairs he’d had to go up. How in the Hell had he managed?

“Yah. Don’t say things like that. You weren’t heavy at all. But you still look dead on your feet. So let’s get you inside and I’ll start a nice warm bath for you, hm?” I nodded once, taking the arm he held out for me as we slowly meandered down the hallway.

True to his word, Hoseok was off to the bathroom as soon as we got inside. As I heard the water running, I took the chance to slip into the bedroom to find some clothes. I was still against the two of us sharing a room right off the bat, but I couldn’t say no to my father. It didn’t really matter, anyways. I would be spending most of my time in the living room or office anyways.

It took me a minute or two to find my clothing, since Appa and his men had moved all of the stuff into the apartment for us, so I had no idea where anything was. When I finally found my clothes in the black dresser in the closet, I pulled out a pair of dark grey sweat pants and a black t-shirt. Simple and comfortable, just the way I liked it. I honestly couldn’t wait to get out of the annoying dress and put my hair up. I had felt totally out of my element all night. Perhaps that was the reason I fell asleep in the middle of our reception.

“It’s all ready for you, Jay.” I jumped a bit, whirling around to find Hoseok standing in the doorway to the bedroom. He was leaning against the frame, watching me with an exhausted look. I felt bad for hogging the bathroom first, but he’s the one who had offered it. Without saying anything I gave a gentle bow and scurried from the room, brushing past him to get to the bathroom.

I instantly locked the door behind me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, I had a thing about people walking in on me. I’d lived in a dorm, okay? It happened quite often. Far too often, if you ask me. I wanted to give Hoseok a chance for the bathroom before he fell asleep, so I tugged the dress over my head as fast as I could without tearing or ruining the fabric. I knew Appa would have a fit if anything happened to the annoying piece of cloth. I gently hung the dress on the hanger that was on the back of the door, just to keep it up and out of the way. I would have to remember to take it back to the bedroom with me and hang it up, but it my current state that probably wouldn’t happen.

Once I was fully undressed I stepped into the water that had been prepared for me. I had been surprised by the fruity scent in the room, but realized what it was when I pushed aside some of the bubbles. The water was a mixture of blue and purple, and I couldn’t help but smile. I’d only said it in passing, and it had actually been to Amber, but Hoseok had remembered the exact type of bath bomb I liked. I wondered when he’d even had time to buy one. I knew it wasn’t Appa, because he’d already promised not to buy anything for the apartment. I wanted to be independent on that front. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Hoseok had talked to one of Appa’s employee’s right after that conversation. Had he sent the guy out to buy one right away? I honestly didn’t know how to take that.

I made my bath quick, just long enough to relax my muscles and wash off the makeup and body glitter they’d smothered me in. As soon as the towel was wrapped around my body I grabbed a hair tie from a hook by the sink and threw my hair up. I nearly sighed in relief before I rushed to dry myself off. I had a habit of spending too long in the bath or shower even though it only felt like a few minutes. I changed rather quickly, remembering to hang up my towel and grab the dress before i stepped out into the hall. The bedroom light was on, so I peeked my head in slowly. It seemed that Hoseok was already asleep, and still in his goofy dad clothes. I let out a soft sigh before moving to the closet, hanging the dress up as quietly as I could.

“Is the bathroom free now?” Once again, I jumped at the sound of my husband’s voice, whipping my head around. I must have looked like a deer in the headlights, since he chuckled at my appearance. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He pushed himself up off of the bed, grabbed a t-shirt and pair of shorts he’d apparently already prepared. I only shook my head, brushing past him again without a word. Even though we were married and kind of getting along didn’t mean that it wasn’t extremely awkward to be living in the same place with someone who was basically a stranger.

I planned to make my home on the couch. I grabbed my bag from the office, bringing it out with me on my way. Even though I was dead tired, I planned on getting some work done before my forced honeymoon. I would have been just fine staying at home, or getting straight to work, but no. Appa wanted me to do this right. Give us time to know each other. I understood where he was coming from, and I’d promised to actually try with this relationship, but I was still stuck on NYU me.

As soon as I was settled on the couch with a pillow behind me and a throw blanket wrapped around my shoulders I began pulling out my notebooks. I laid the ones I would need in front of me on the coffee table, opening them to specific pages. I followed up by finding my sketchbook, setting it up on a pillow on my lap. I was probably too tired to make anything remotely nice looking, but I felt the need to be productive, even at the late hour. I hadn’t really been able to get any work done since I got back, and it bothered me to no end, since work was the reason I was in this crazy situation.

I’d barely finished a rough sketch of a character head when Hoseok exited the bathroom. I’d figured he’d go straight back into the bedroom and go to sleep, but he stopped in the hall to turn his attention to me. “You’re still awake?” My pencil stopped right above the paper and I turned my head to look at the male, blinking a bit. I gave a soft nod, quickly turning my head away. For some reason I couldn’t help but feel awkward. It was honestly rather annoying, it wasn’t like it was my first time alone with a dude. So why was I freaking out so much? “What are you working on?” He slowly approached me, and I attempted to focus on the sketch in front of me. It was super rough, and there were no details yet.

“Trying to get some work done. A character sketch for the game I’ve been working on since I started University.” I saw him nod from the corner of my eye, and much to my surprise he took a seat next to me on the couch. “It’s...Nothing big right now, but I’m hoping Appa and his team will at least look at it since I’ll be working with them.” My words were rushed. Yes I was being civil but did I really have to say all of that? Maybe I was just tired. Yeah. That’s probably why I was acting like a complete bumbling idiot.

“Do you want any help?” My head snapped towards him and my eyes were wide. I hadn’t been expecting that. I slowly shook my head, trying to give him a smile to hide my shock and confusion. “Well, how about some company until you get tired? I’m wide awake after my shower.” This time I nodded and was rewarded with that stupid infectious grin of his.

He remained by my side for an entire hour, only getting up once to get us both cups of coffee. He seemed completely absorbed in watching me sketch. His eyes kept darting back and forth between my reference notes and the sketchbook on my lap. It was like he couldn’t believe that I was making the words come to life. It shouldn’t have been that hard to imagine, that was kind of what video game designer’s /did/. Literally.

I hadn’t realized I’d dozed off until I felt the pencil being pulled from my hand. I blinked my eyes open slowly, turning my head towards the offender. Hoseok looked like a kid who got caught stealing cookies, but there was a gentle look on his face. “You fell asleep. I was trying not to disturb you.” I yawned in response, peeking at the wall clock to check the time. “Let’s get you to bed, hm?” Without really thinking about it I nodded, removing the pillow and sketchbook from my lap. I placed them gently on the coffee table before Hoseok helped me stand. I was a little wobbly, but I figured I could manage. I didn’t even bother picking anything up as I waddled into the bedroom, instantly collapsing onto the bed. It was fluffy and warm, and I blatantly refused to move.

I barely registered the blanket being pulled under my shoulders until Hoseok crawled in on the other side. I only whined a bit and scooted towards the edge of the bed, making sure we both had enough room. All awkwardness had flown out the window due to how tired I was, but that didn’t mean I was going to snuggle right up to him the first night.

While I settled in, Hobi continued to shift around, turning the lights on the night stands, before he finally wiggled down into the blankets himself. As his final act of kindness for the night he reached under the bed and placed my most prized possession next to my head. Even in my sleepy state I excitedly clutched the fluffy stuffed penguin to my chest. If he could deal with my weird quirk about sleeping with the penguin, my late work nights, and just me in general, then maybe this could turn out all right.

And there you have it, folks! You now know all you'll need to (for now) before the real story starts! I know it wasn't much, but I hope you enjoyed the weird semi-fluffy, awkward, adorableness all the same!

Jay <3