Bedtime. It had become Jongin's favorite time of the day. Some days he woke up and wanted to skip the day entirely, to have it be nighttime again. Kyungsoo time. He couldn't get enough of that voice. It was hands down the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. And the more he heard it, the more beautiful it became. It was the only thing lately that could calm his nerves. He could feel muscles he didn't even know were tight, relax to the low, soothing sound of Kyungsoo's enchanting voice.

Without either of them deciding so, it had become a habit for Kyungsoo to read him to sleep. He didn't even have to ask him anymore. He just came to his room, every night at the same time, picking up the book right where they left off the last time. It was a new one that Kyungsoo had brought home one day, for they had long since finished the other one. He had shyly stated that he was sure Jongin would like it. And strangely enough, he really did. He didn't know how, but Kyungsoo seemed to know his taste pretty well.

It was sweet, some nights, when Kyungsoo came home exhausted from a tiring day of remodeling at his new restaurant space, he would still sit down and read to him, but he was so tired, he often dozed off, while still talking, his brain filling in the blanks since his closed eyes couldn't see the page anymore. Jongin sometimes watched him sleeping in the chair, his head bobbing up and down cutely, his body slowly sliding to the side, almost making him loose balance and fall off the chair, but always managing to save himself in the nick of time with a little jerk that made his sit upright again, without even waking up.

Jongin looked at the clock on his phone. It was late. Where was he? He was tired and wanted to go to sleep already, but he was waiting up for Kyungsoo. It wasn't like him to come home this late. He tried watching a little TV, but his attention was elsewhere. He checked the clock again. Only five minutes had passed. Frustrated, he stood up and went to the bathroom. He might as well get ready for bed, then Kyungsoo could come read for him the moment he got home.

He crawled under the covers, deciding not to wait anymore. He was tired and he had an early morning tomorrow. He couldn't wait forever. There would be nights after this night. It wasn't like he had never gone to sleep without Kyungsoo reading to him. He did it every night before this strange tradition started and had done absolutely fine without him. He turned to the side and closed his eyes. This was a piece of cake. He didn't need Kyungsoo to fall asleep, that was ridiculous.

“One thousand sixty four.”

“One thousand sixty five.”

Jongin came to the conclusion that counting sheep was a stupid method to try and fall asleep. He imagined that if he would look into the mirror, he would look like one of those anime characters who couldn't sleep, eyes red, bloodshot, with five-fold circles under their eyes, resembling a recently resurrected corpse. No matter how he tried, he couldn't fall asleep. He needed the soothing relaxation that came with Kyungsoo's voice, putting him on a fluffy cloud that floated into the dreamworld.

He checked the time. 2 AM. He was starting to worry he would get no sleep at all. And Kyungsoo hadn't come home yet. What was he doing until so late? He had to be working, right? He wasn't... spending the night somewhere else, was he? With someone else... He was a married man. He couldn't just spend the night wherever he wanted to! Jongin got pissed for no reason. It wasn't like they were a real couple. There was no reason Kyungsoo couldn't sleep with someone else. After all, it wasn't like he was going to sleep with him. And the only reason they had gotten married was for their parents, so they didn't really have to worry about keeping up appearances. Still, he didn't like it. A promise was a promise, even a fake one.

He fiddled with his phone. Kyungsoo's contact info appeared on the screen. No, it was too late to call him now. It was rude, and it wouldn't look good. And what was he going to say? 'I don't care if you're in the middle of making some bimbo cry out your name (or a himbo? He wasn't sure..), I need you to come home and read to me.'. That was just pathetic.

He pushed 'call'.

So pathetic.

The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Jongin got a sinking feeling in his gut. Maybe he really was spending the night with someone else. He didn't know why, or based on what, but apparently he had thought more of Kyungsoo. He had trusted he would take this marriage thing seriously, for some reason. He hadn't even let him know he wasn't coming home. But, why did he care? Wasn't it beneficial for both of them to be able to date outside the marriage. It was not like they were in love, or could ever fall in love. They were two guys! He wasn't sure about Kyungsoo, but he was definitely not gay.

“Yes?” Kyungsoo's hoarse voice said tiredly into his ear. Jongin's heart jumped.

“Eh... ehm... heh... yeah.. eh …. hi.” Jongin tripped over his words like the clumsiest man alive. He hadn't been ready. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had forgotten to decide what he was going to say.

“Jongin? Is everything okay?” Kyungsoo sounded surprised to hear his voice.

“Ehm... where are you?” he tried to sound casual, but he sounded more like a jealous wife. Fail.

“I'm still at work. A water pipe broke. It's fixed, but I need to clean up so there won't be any water damages. Woa, is that the time? Why are you not asleep?” Kyungsoo asked, concerned. It felt oddly nice to have him worry about him. It felt even nicer to know that he wasn't sleeping around. Jongin convinced himself it was just because he was an inherently loyal person, who didn't take the vows of marriage lightly, even when they were just for show.

“I can't sleep. You have to read to me.” he said, his voice pouting.

Kyungsoo chuckled cutely. “But I don't have the book with me.” he rightly pointed out.

“Just tell me something, anything.” Jongin pleaded, too tired to care how pathetic and desperate he sounded.

“Hmm... okay, hang on.. I'm going to connect my Bluetooth headphones so I can talk while I work.” he said, his voice being replaced by clinky noises. “Can you hear me now?”.

“Mmyeah.” Jongin murmured, tucking himself thoroughly under the covers, putting his phone on speaker phone and laying it carefully next to his head, closing his eyes.

“Hmm, I don't know what to say.” Kyungsoo giggled, embarrassed.

“Just tell me about your day.” he whispered.

“Okay, so I woke up at 7 AM. Then I had breakfast. I didn't have much time, so it wasn't as nutritious as I would have liked it to be, but...” Kyungsoo continued his way too detailed account of his day, but it didn't matter. His entrancing, dreamy voice swept Jongin right off his feet and carried him off to a faraway land where dreams came true.

After that night, Kyungsoo had made sure to always be home before bedtime. Jongin didn't know if it was just a coincidence or if he was really making an effort, but as long as he was there to read to him, he didn't care which it was.

One night Kyungsoo looked especially tired. He was wearing himself out with the preparations for the opening of the restaurant. Jongin hoped he would take him to see it when it was done, before the opening, so he could be his very first guest. Kyungsoo sat down, but he didn't seem to be able to get comfortable. He had panda circles around his eyes.

“You can eh... come sit on the bed if that's more comfortable for you...” Jongin heard himself offer. He was slightly shocked at himself, but he meant what he had said, making room for him on the bed by sliding backwards, further from the edge.

Kyungsoo's tired eyes doubled. He hesitated, looking conflicted. But in the end he took him up on his offer. Using Jongin's extra pillow for back support, he leaned on the headboard, looking way more comfortable than on that hard chair. Jongin was so tired, he fell asleep before the end of the first sentence.

A ray of sun that had been clever enough to outsmart the curtains found Jongin's eye. Still sleep drunk, he pried his eyes open. He gasped. Kyungsoo's nose was right in front of his nose. He had never seen him this up close before. He couldn't deny that he was handsome. His face was as beautiful as his voice. He hoped it wasn't as addictive as his voice though, because then he would be in some real trouble.

He couldn't get himself to get up, so he just lay there, watching Kyungsoo sleep. He noticed his skin was darker than when he first met him, many years ago. Back then he had looked like a vampire prince, the tiny lord of the bats. He had always given him the creeps. But he seemed to have picked up a tad bit of color since then, his smooth skin having a light caramel finish. It really suited him and made him look a lot more human. Tearing his eyes from his cutely heart shaped lips, that were uncomfortably close to his own lips, he noticed how delicate and long his eyelashes were, enough to make any girl jealous. He would make a pretty girl, he thought, trying to imagine it, giggling to himself. Those bushy eyebrows would stick out like a sore thumb, though. And before he realized what he was doing, he had stretched his finger out and gently one of Kyungsoo's eyebrows. He just wanted to know what they felt like. They looked like they would be coarse to the touch, but they were actually really soft. He got a jolt in his stomach. What the hell was he doing? He jerked his hand away and jumped out of bed. It was nothing. He had just been curious. He shook his head and went off to start his day.

From that night on, Kyungsoo's bed was left empty and alone, every single night.