Taemin grumbles under his breath and glares at the red light, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel until his knuckles become white. The radio is on on a random station, where Lee Hi’s Breathe is playing but he can’t care enough to let his mind be soothed by the comforting lyrics penned by Jonghyun. His head is pounding and his eyes are burning and all he wants is to crash into bed and sleep himself into oblivion.

His day couldn’t have been worse.

He didn’t hear his alarm clock going off that morning and woke up to his manager pounding at his door, red in anger because he was late to a photo-shoot, which in turn messed up his schedule for the whole day. Already in a sour mood because of his forced awakening, he found it extremely hard to smile pleasantly and be his usual bright self in front of all these staff and journalists. Then he couldn’t focus on practice, the members noted he was down and tried cheering him up, but really at that point, everything was just annoying, so he’d shut them down. He couldn’t focus on practice, messed up for the most part of the recording of his album, got scolded for being distracted and when he started thinking the hellish day couldn’t get any worse, he lost his phone again.

Sure, the feat wasn’t so uncommon for him, but it had been the last straw to break and when, at half-past midnight, the day had been finally called off, he’d hopped onto his car only to be met with every freaking red light in this city, on his way back home.

ing perfect.

When the light finally turns to green, he sighs and resumes driving himself back home. When ten minutes later he parks into the underground parking of his apartment building, he feels like he can’t get any faster inside the elevator and like the ride up is taking much longer than usual.

He gulps and breaths deeply. Just two more floors, he tells himself as he sees the number seven flash above the lift door.

Arriving at his floor, he almost trips over his own feet in his haste. When he reaches his door, he types in the code and walks into the silent apartment, slipping off his shoes at the entrance. He’s so focused on making his way to his bedroom, that he sees the pair of white sneakers at the entrance but doesn’t really notice it until he’s reached the living-room only to have his path cut off by Seulgi, who comes to his encounter.

She looks up at him wide eyed and sighs in relief before reaching up to wrap her thin arms around his neck and bring him into a hug.

Taemin feels himself melt into her embrace and wraps his own arms around her waist, burying his face into her hair, inhaling her sweet scent of cotton flower and mint.

“You lost your phone again, didn’t you?” She asks against his neck.

Taemin hums in reply, the noncommittal sound being the only thing he can muster right now.

“Did you eat?” She inquires.

“I’m not hungry,” he croaks out and then sighs. “I just want to sleep.”

Seulgi pulls away, looking up at him, “bad day?”

Taemin’s resigned sigh is all the answer she needs.

She smiles softly and tip-toes to set a small peck on his lips, “let’s go to bed.”

As they enter the bedroom, she almost has to push Taemin into the adjoining bathroom to wash up. Which he does, but not without pulling her along with him.

When they’re lying in bed, Taemin pulls her small body into his arms and pecks her forehead, nose buried into her hairline, feeling revived by her scent alone.

They don’t speak, Seulgi doesn’t ask about his day, she knows that when he’s like that, all he needs is to take his time in silence so he can process everything. So she simply lies there, fingers tracing his spine, causing small goose bumps on his exposed skin as he slowly drifts asleep.

When they wake up the next morning, it’s to the comforting knowledge they both have a day off from their hectic lives. They stay in bed for the most part of the morning, just enjoying each other’s company.

He tells her about his day eventually and Seulgi listens to Taemin’s rare, but much needed, rants about how much of a pain everything had been the previous day. She smiles when he finally sighs, his need to vent quenched.

There’s silence for a couple of minutes before he pulls her closer, chest pressed against her back as he kisses her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he says, “I need to stop complaining.”

She represses a smile because she knows him so well, she had already seen that coming.

“You listen to me complain all the time,” she tells him for what feels like the umpteenth time since they’ve gotten together. “I don’t mind you complaining, you rarely do.”

Taemin grunts an unintelligible reply and Seulgi smiles again because she just can’t help it when he’s around. Slowly, she moves to turn around so she’s facing him. She runs her fingers through his blue hair.

“I love you,” she declares.

Taemin smiles in response and leans in to kiss her. As they pull apart a minute later, he speaks against her lips, “I love you too.”

His hellish day becomes just a bad memory he stores into the darkest corners of his mind after that. He focuses on Seulgi and her alone. On recharging for the next hectic days he’ll encounter, on letting her presence and comforting scent heal him to his core, on making memories with her, that he’ll be able to find comfort into when his days go south.

As he runs a finger down her round cheek, eyes full of wonder that she’s with him and not anyone else, he finds himself thinking that he can confront a thousand more exhausting days, if only he’ll be able to come back home to find the comfort of her arms.

If only he can still see his sun in the midst of all the darkness.