it’s the end of promotions and monsta x finally have time to breathe once again. after weeks of stress and overworking their bodies and forcing themselves to smile, keep smiling, jooheon finds it relieving to finally have time to themselves - don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t hate the work he does, he loves it, they all do, but sometimes, it gets exhausting.

he’s curled on his bunk with changkyun, safe and familiar, cuddled together under jooheon’s comforter. changkyun’s draped in a too-large sweater (obviously not his) and baggy sweats, the bags under his eyes are heavy and the skin on his cheeks is breaking out, but he looks comfortable and beautiful and everything perfect to jooheon. he knows he doesn’t look much better, his eyes puffy and swollen from his tiredness and acne prickling on his forehead - but it’s okay, really.

like this, the both of them bare-faced and comfortable with all their imperfections uncovered, it feels real.   they feel real. though they’re tangled together on a bunk too small to fit the both of them, with barely any room to breathe or move without disturbing something, it’s all jooheon could ever ask for.

they both share cheeky giggles whenever changkyun’s elbow or jooheon’s knee knocks one of jooheon’s many snapbacks off of it’s hook, a ridiculously absurd amount of hats tumbling onto them because once one of them falls, it’s like an avalanche and soon enough they’re both covered. changkyun screeches a wheezing laugh and makes a sharp, teasing comment about jooheon’s unusual assortment of headwear, and jooheon snickers and knocks their shoulders together and soon they’re knocking things off the bed as they scuffle playfully.

eventually kihyun comes in to tell them to quiet down (a cheeky “shut up, people are sleeping ”) after they spent the last 10 minutes laughing at all the dumb cat videos changkyun kept pulling up on his phone. minhyuk worms his way in between them to press a loving, wet kiss onto each of their cheeks before he slithers under his own sheets, just as exhausted as they are. changkyun and jooheon share a secret smile, fond and sweet as they listen to their hyungs bustle about while getting ready to finally rest their heads, both their eyes glittering with sleepy mischief and giddiness.

their legs tangle together as jooheon moves closer, until they’re so close that their noses brush with every slight movement. here, cocooned under their shared blanket, they start to whisper under their breaths, mindful of the others peacefully asleep in the very same room. they talk about everything under the sun, within the safety of their bunk.

jooheon talks about the things he saw that day, about the lyrics flying through his brain, his inspirations and his muses, about the stress of worrying that maybe, maybe, their hard work won’t pay off in the end. changkyun listens, he holds jooheon’s hand and chimes in when needed, and in turn, jooheon does the same. he listens as changkyun talks about everything he’s seen that reminded him of jooheon, of monsta x, about what he wants to achieve and where he wants to go, about the insecurities still plaguing his heart even now.

they talk and talk and talk until there’s nothing much left to say, hearts open and vulnerable. they exhaust their thoughts until there’s nothing heard other than whispered words of love, soft “i love you”s mumbled against each other’s lips as they lay, comfortable and tangled together. they lay awake well past 2 in the morning, content with the intimate air around them, until sleep eventually pulls them gently and lovingly under her wake.