pairing: ChenLay
length: 1195 words

“Another late night?”

Yixing tiredly turned to look up at his coworker and best friend, Kim Jongdae, who had somehow slipped into his office without a sound. Or perhaps Yixing was so sleep-deprived that he was unable to hear anything other than the clacking of his keyboard, the clicking of his mouse, and the scritch-scratch of his ballpoint pen as he combed through dozens of legal documents. Words were beginning to blur together on screen, on paper, and in his head. But he still had another three court cases to prepare for before he could turn in for the night, since Taeyeon and Seulgi had been called away to attend an overseas conference as representatives of their law firm.

Because they all worked in the same department, the cases were naturally turned over to him. But that meant an extra mountain-load of reports to sift through, arguments to prepare, and meetings to sit through in addition to his own hefty cases.

His poor intern, Oh Sehun, was also being overworked to the bone as he ran around the firm for all six attorneys in the medical malpractice department. The lanky male had looked just about ready to collapse when Yixing last saw him a few hours ago, which was when the Chinese male had instructed the twenty-four-year-old to go home for the day and not come into the office until Monday, fully recharged.

Yixing had already been battered to pulp by the legal system for over a decade, so another all-nighter was nothing for him to handle.

Or so he thought.

When Yixing tried to stand up from his seat to properly greet Jongdae, his legs suddenly buckled underneath him and he hissed weakly as his right arm banged against the edge of his desk.

Jongdae’s eyes immediately widened with alarm as he rushed over to his best friend, practically throwing his briefcase to the ground without a second thought. “Good grief, Yixing, you need to take your own advice and go home,” he immediately chided as he wrapped an arm around the Chinese male’s waist and pulled him away from his messy desk to the couch on the other side of the room—usually used for entertaining guests, higher-ups in the firm, or clients.

Now, it was Yixing’s substitute bed and he’d never been more grateful to his past self for investing money into a smooth, soft couch that felt like a cloud as he sunk into the cushions. With Jongdae rhythmically his hair, since Yixing’s head was resting on his best friend’s lap, the exhausted attorney could feel his eyelids slowly closing and he let out a content sigh as his mind slowly blanked out.

Until he remembered the stack of medical records he needed to review before his upcoming client meeting, which was scheduled for ten in the morning the next day.

However, Jongdae immediately reacted when he saw Yixing try to push himself up from the couch and gently yet firmly held him down, which wasn’t too difficult considering the Chinese male barely had any energy to roll over, much less push past his best friend to get to his desk. “You’re not going anywhere near that desk until you get a proper night of rest,” Jongdae declared, causing Yixing to let out a feeble whine. “You haven’t slept in five days, Yixing,” his best friend smartly pointed out. “You’re going to break if you keep doing this to yourself, especially since you’re now taking on Sehun’s tasks as well.”

“But I gotta…” Yixing mumbled while flimsily waving his arm towards his desk. “If I don’t keep working, our clients won’t receive the justice that they deserve...”

“They also won’t receive any justice if you overwork yourself to death,” Jongdae quietly pointed out, using his fingers to massage Yixing’s scalp which caused the Chinese male to instinctively hum in satisfaction. The younger male then let out a sigh while shaking his head. “I told Jiyong multiple times not to assign you the extra cases, but I don’t know why he refused to listen.”

“I guess it’s because I wrapped up that big SNU case last month, so he figured—”

“He figured he’d exploit that opening instead of giving you a well-deserved break in between such high-profile cases,” Jongdae said indignantly.

“I can take a break when I’m dead,” Yixing joked, a bit deliriously now that he wasn’t hyper-focused on bundles and bundles of pages filled with complicated medical terminology.

“You’re going to be dead soon if you keep going at this rate,” Jongdae flatly replied, his dark brown eyes filled to the brim with worry.

The Chinese male only giggled, still in a cocoon of exhaustion-induced delirium.

“Please, Yixing, you need to take a break. Even if it’s just for one day,” Jongdae begged, having temporarily ceased his ministrations to fully look into his best friend’s half-lidded eyes. “This isn’t sustainable or healthy for anyone.” His voice slightly softened as he continued, “I know you care about our clients, but you can’t help someone else wear their oxygen mask without securing your own. Your health needs to be a priority. Even if Jiyong doesn’t see it, the rest of us do.”

“But I can’t just laze around doing nothing,” Yixing mumbled, waving his arm in the air again. “I didn’t become a partner in the most prestigious law firm in Seoul by taking breaks and giving up on the grind.”

“You don’t need to push yourself like that anymore,” Jongdae reiterated while catching hold of Yixing’s free hand and calmly bringing it down. “You’re allowed to have a normal sleep schedule and a healthy work-life balance. No one will think any less of you, just like none of us are going to penalize Sehun for taking a well-deserved break as well. And if anyone does have an issue with you getting enough rest, then they can take on your workload instead and try to juggle everything that you do.”

Yixing hummed before murmuring, “Sehun’s a good kid… I gotta talk to Doojoon about giving him a promotion.”

Jongdae smiled in agreement as his fingers resumed carding through Yixing’s thick locks. “He’s definitely getting strong referrals from all of us when we officially decide which interns get offer letters in the fall.”

The Chinese male grinned widely, eyes fully closed at this point since he had given up trying to fight his heavy eyelids. “That’s good… He’s a good kid…” he sleepily repeated again.

There was a long stretch of silence afterwards, save for both Jongdae and Yixing’s evenly matched breathing as they rested on the couch, It wasn’t until Yixing suddenly tried to roll over that Jongdae quietly asked, “Wanna go home now? I promise I won’t bother you tomorrow if you get some proper rest tonight.”

With his brain so addled with exhaustion and the comfort of Jongdae his head lulling him into such a serene state, Yixing slowly nodded and snuggled against his best friend even more. “Okay, you win.”

“Nuh-uh, we win,” Jongdae softly amended as he helped lift Yixing from the couch and out of his office, firmly closing the door shut behind them.

♈♈♈