Jongdae wakes to the sound of Justin Timberlake’s y Back blaring in the middle of the night. He has no idea what time it is, other than it’s oh-unfortunate o’clock, and he groans when he realizes whom it can possibly be. Only so many people call him at this time and he’s not sure if he wants to answer to try and figure it out. But it’s programmed in him – he can’t ignore a ringing phone – and he groans again exaggeratedly, knocking over a lamp and a bottle of water in the process of groping his bedside table for it.   The name Byun Baekhyun flashes in front of his face when he finds his cell phone and a third groan escapes his lips before he can stop it, sliding his thumb across the screen and holding it up to his ear. He manages to choke out a raspy “Hello?” before Baekhyun is off.   “I know it’s three in the morning,” he says, sounding strangely breathless, “But hear me out.”   Jongdae has decided he doesn’t want to hear him out. He wants to curl up in his warm bed and sleep, dream of cute little puppies at his face and arms in a field of grass and beautiful flowers instead. But this is the man he has oddly come to adore and– are his teeth chattering? The sound wakes him up immediately, opening his eyes and pulling his phone away to stare at his screen when it lights up again. It reads three-eighteen and it’s snowing.   “Baekhyun?” he asks, once he puts the phone back up to his ear. All he gets is a whimper in response, but it’s enough to have him jump out of bed and out the door. He forgets to put on a coat in his haste – what the hell is he doing outside at this hour, has he been out there all night, why didn’t he call me sooner – and barely remembers to grab his keys by the time he opens his front door. “Baek, where are–”   On his front porch, obviously shivering in his beige wool coat and practically drowning in his grey wool scarf, is his friend. He looks like the definition of a high-class hobo with windswept hair and Jongdae’s eyes widen in his surprise. He gasps belatedly, finally registering the frost seeping through the thin materials of his sleepwear, and it alerts him faster than any cup of coffee can do at seven in the morning.   “Hi” is all Baekhyun manages to get out before Jongdae is reaching out to pull him in, breathing in sharply when he brings half of the winter storm into the apartment with him. Baekhyun is all shivers and rosy cheeks when Jongdae manages to rid his jacket and scarf, teeth chattering and gooseflesh rising all over his bare skin. He whines when he’s down to his work scrubs, huddling in on himself to try and keep whatever little warmth he has left. “Jongdae.”   “Jesus,” Jongdae hisses in response, taking in the sight of his friend before pulling him down the hall and to his room. He doesn’t ask how many times this has happened, how many times he’s woken up in the middle of the night to find his friend like this, and it breaks his heart when he tries to push away the thoughts of too many to count.   Baekhyun strips himself of his clothes when they make it to his room, quickly burrowing his way into Jongdae’s bed afterwards like he’s meant to be there. In the end, all Jongdae can see are his eyes, the way warmth and happiness radiate from them unlike the rest of his body, and he thinks they hold all the wonders in the world with the way they shine in the dimly lit room. Jongdae sighs softly at the sight, a different kind of warmth filling him, before he moves in to lie next to his friend carefully. “Did you forget your keys again?”   The way Baekhyun speaks, voice muffled by the multiple blankets covering him, makes Jongdae smile despite the chill still clinging onto both of them. “Yes.” They stare at each other, Jongdae reaching out to brush the cold fringe away from Baekhyun’s eyes, and the content sigh that leaves the other’s mouth makes Jongdae want to do so much more, provide until Baekhyun is this happy and warm and content all the time. “Can we cuddle again?” Baekhyun quietly asks, closing his eyes and trying to soak all the heat away from him.   Jongdae doesn’t hesitate as he lifts his arm high enough underneath the blankets for the other to scoot in closer. Baekhyun does so immediately, wiggling in towards him, until he breathes out another deep, satisfied sigh when he has his head buried underneath Jongdae’s chin with cold feet tangling with his own.   Baekhyun’s still shivering despite the extra warmth, but he falls asleep when Jongdae traces patterns of the stars and the sun into his back.       Baekhyun gets a call when day breaks hours later. It’s the obnoxious standard ringtone and it’s ten times too loud in the quiet stillness of the morning. They groan in annoyance together, Baekhyun pushing himself impossibly closer to Jongdae hoping to drown the noise out, but it’s by the fifth ring that Baekhyun gives up with a soft whine. It makes Jongdae laugh, a raspy chuckle leaving his lips, when he hears a second tired groan and Baekhyun is climbing over him to get to his phone somewhere on his bedside table.   Jongdae moves easily with him, turning so Baekhyun can sit on his hips comfortably, and he listens as Baekhyun’s husky voice cuts through the sudden silence of the room. Baekhyun doesn’t say much after, body slumping forward towards him, and Jongdae shakes the man awake with hands on wide hips when he feels the shift on top of him. He eventually hears a mumble of “yeah, I’m coming” before Baekhyun is moving again, causing Jongdae to finally open his eyes. He sees Baekhyun take one of his blankets next to them, draping it over his shoulders for warmth, before climbing off of him.   The bed is significantly colder when Baekhyun leaves, automatically going into Jongdae’s closet for a spare uniform, and Jongdae belatedly wonders how much of his best friend is in his apartment. Ever since he entered the rotational cycle of medical school, Baekhyun has been taking up more and more of his living space, always claiming that it’s closer to the hospital he’s working at and it’s his safe haven whenever he forgets his own house keys in his rush.   Pale skin enters his vision when Baekhyun drops the blanket and Jongdae stares as it disappears under one of his shirts and grey scrubs within minutes. Mussed hair catches his attention next, the sun slowly rising outside the curtained windows, and Jongdae wishes they were open so Baekhyun can catch all the rays in his eyes when he turns. He’s radiant even at this hour. It’s annoyingly ridiculous.   How long has it been since he’s fallen in love?   “I’m taking your spare key,” Baekhyun whispers, coming close again to drape the fallen blanket over him. It seems like he takes his time, reaching up to comb fingers through Jongdae’s unruly hair, and it distracts him. The soothing motions lull Jongdae into a false sense of security and happiness, because Baekhyun has always been openly affectionate with him. “I’ll return it after I get back into my own house.”   Jongdae falls asleep when Baekhyun leans down to kiss his head, the jingling of keys and muttered curses after a hard thud the last he hears of his friend. He dreams of coming home to see Baekhyun in the kitchen attempting to cook or Baekhyun passed out on his couch with half a cup of hot coffee still left sitting on a coaster in the living room. He dreams of finally confessing to the stressed out future physician, finally telling him he fell in love with him while Baekhyun screamed all his frustrations out at him in university, and trusting that the other man could possibly love him back.   He doesn’t see him for a week after that, Baekhyun texting him that he finally got into his own apartment but the calls have been unrelenting, and Jongdae tries to compromise the stress he feels radiating off of his friend with sending pictures of the drawings his students had given him during the week. It’s not much, but Jongdae feels the tension ease in his chest when Baekhyun sends him a picture of his colleague drooling all over a spare pillow in some office and another of him posing next to a young child on a medical bed doing matching V-signs in reply.   It sets Jongdae’s mind at ease, knowing that Baekhyun is still surviving in that cruel world of the hospital, and he ignores the teasing stares when Sehun sees a new text from Baekhyun on his phone. It’s another picture, but it’s one of Baekhyun sleeping under his white coat on a green couch in the hospital with the words love, minseok attached at the end. It warms his heart, bubbles of laughter escaping his lips, when he receives another text from Baekhyun’s attending physician telling him he’s giving him a well-deserved break and come by after school lets out.   He ignores Sehun’s playful pokes to his arms, trying to get his phone out of his pocket without completely harassing him to see what else they’ve been doing, and he’s thankful when the school bell rings and they have to return to class before the students do.   Before long, Jongdae’s walking through the hospital hallways curiously, reading names and safety fliers pinned to the walls. There a