His heart leapt into his throat. The stairs rushed up at him. The last coherent thought Chanhee had was to protect his head. 

He tucked and clenched his eyes tight. 

When he opened them once more he was laying on the landing of the stairwell, panting a little. His heart was still thrumming uncomfortably and he blinked for a few moments before he sat up. He looked at where he had come from, the empty stairwell feigning innocence above him. 

“Ouch.” Chanhee examined his stinging arm, frowning at the grazes there. One was seeping sluggish blood. He stood, his left hip and shoulder protesting before settling into a sullen ache. Reactive tears sprung into his eyes. He bent to retrieve his things and climbed the stairs slowly. He dragged the heavy fire door open and returned to the hallway of the apartment. With a nasty look at the broken elevator, he fished his keys out and stepped back into the apartment. It was just as empty as he had left it. 

In silence, he moved to the bathroom. With a bandaid over his arm and a long look into the mirror, Chanhee cursed the elevator once more. If it was not broken, he would not have had to take the stairs. If he had not taken the stairs, his shoes wouldn’t have slipped on the tile and sent him tumbling. He sighed. He had to get going, elevator or no elevator.

This time he was exceedingly careful on the stairs, hand gripping the railing and hip still twanging with each step. 

As he approached the car he fished his phone out.

"Oh for s sake," he groaned.

The screen was smashed. 

This was a bad day. 

With a press of his lips and a curt sigh, Chanhee climbed into the car. He couldn’t wallow, he had an audition to get to. His vocal warm-ups were strained, his throat giving odd crackles and making him stop to clear it several times. He gritted his teeth. He would have to stop for honey tea. 

The light turned red. He stopped, lips pressing hard together. Every light from his apartment to the audition space seemed to be red. By the time he made it over the river his knuckles were white on the wheel. His vocal warm-ups abandoned in favour of raging at the cars in front of him for taking so damn long. They cleared and he shot through a yellow light a little recklessly. 

“What the ing is with today!?” He screamed, almost tearing the steering wheel away from the dash. He gave a cough and fell into a simmering silence. He would not tempt the universe further by yelling.

=====

Predictably, the audition was bust. His hip was too sore to dance on, his voice still trying to sabotage him and his general demeanour so far from his usual sunshine that he wondered why he had even bothered. He wanted to just go back to bed. 

“Welcome home!” Niel announced, spinning on his office chair. 

“Hey.” Chanhee raised a single hand. 

“Aww.” Niel stumbled through the lounge. “What’s wrong?”

“I had the worst day ever.” Chanhee raised his grazed arm, tears coming up once more as he thought about it.

“Oh no!” Niel exclaimed, taking the arm and examining the purpling bruises. “What happened?”

“I fell down the stairs,” Chanhee’s voice broke. 

“Minsu!” Niel yelled, making Chanhee jump. 

Said man appeared instantly in the bedroom door, eyes wide with worry. He looked at Chanhee’s crumpled expression and came to hug him immediately. 

“What happened?” Minsu asked.

“I fell down the stairs,” Chanhee hiccoughed, he felt so stupid for crying about it. “And I smashed my phone. And I was late to the audition. And, of course, I didn’t get a part.” He sobbed a little, leaning into Minsu as Niel his hair. “I’m sorry for crying. It’s stupid.”

“No!” Niel protested, kissing his wet cheek. “It’s not stupid. You had a bad day.”

“I just wanna go back to bed.” Chanhee pouted. 

“OK. We’ll go back to bed.” Minsu nodded. He took Chanhee under his arm and led him to the bedroom. 

“I’ll make some tea.” Niel flittered away, picking up some of the mess from the floor as he went. 

Chanhee smiled at the sight. He loved that they were trying.

He crawled onto the mattress and curled up on his undamaged side. Minsu smiled down at him. 

“You alright?” He asked, his rumbly voice concerned. 

“No.”

Chanhee showed him the grazed arm. Minsu kissed each one lightly. Chanhee pointed to his shoulder. It was given a kiss as well. He indicated the hip, smiling as Minsu placed a kiss on it too. 

“Did you hit your head?” Minsu asked, hovering his face close to Chanhee’s.

“No. Just my pride.” He sighed. 

After a long moment he struggled up and began to change into his pyjamas. Lifting his shirt, they discovered his ribs had taken a few hits from the stairs and were riddled with purple bruises too. Minsu made sure to kiss them before allowing Chanhee to pull his shirt on. 

“Tea with honey.” Niel arrived, his eyes moving over Chanhee’s ribs and wincing. “Ouch. You poor thing,” he commented, pausing to kiss them as well. 

Chanhee gave a small laugh and climbed back into bed. Niel sat beside him, kissing him on the lips and rubbing his thigh. 

“I brought you my phone,” Niel mumbled. “We’ll get yours fixed.”

“Thank you, baby.” Chanhee took the phone and smiled up at Niel. 

“Welcome. Call if you need anything else, OK?” Niel planted another kiss on his lips and wandered back into the living room. He made a beeline for the kitchen instead of going back to his computer. 

“Mind if I play?” Minsu asked, catching Chanhee’s attention. He gestured to his paused game on the computer across from the bed.

“Of course not.” Chanhee sighed again and settled back against the headboard. 

He watched Minsu play, quickly becoming enthralled in the storyline and forgetting his misery a little. He knew as soon as he came home he would feel better. He smiled. Niel was rattling around in the kitchen, humming away to himself and mumbling something. 

Chanhee reached over to grab his tea from the bedside table. The handle of the mug slipped in his fingers as he brought it to his mouth. Tea sloshed over the side.

“Ahh!” Chanhee wasn’t sure what hurt more, the hot liquid or yet another thing going wrong. 

Minsu was there in a second, taking the mug and pulling the wet shirt off. Chanhee’s chest had a nasty red patch in the centre already. 

“Oh no!” Niel had returned to see what the noise was. 

“Today is cancelled!” Chanhee yelled.

Minsu was pulling him from the bed slowly. “Come on, shower.” He guided him from the bedroom. 

“Uh.” Niel followed them. “We don’t have anything for dinner.” He sounded incredibly guilty.

“!” Chanhee exclaimed. They reeled back a little at his loud curse, that did not happen often. “I forgot the ing groceries. I’m sorry.” He sighed and covered his face with his hands. 

“No problem.” Minsu kissed his shoulder. “I’ll go. You stay here with Nielie.”

Minsu gave them both another kiss and disappeared. 

“Careful on the stairs!” Niel called to him from the bathroom. 

There was a baritone noise of some sort in reply.

“Shower, you.” Niel herded Chanhee into the water. “Is it still burning?”

“Not really.” He sighed and rested his head on Niel’s shoulder as they showered. Niel ran soothing patterns over his back. 

“Very no good, awful, terribly bad day,” Niel mumbled.

“Yes.” Chanhee pouted at the floor of the shower. How many more things could go wrong between now and bed time? He didn’t want to know. “I’m sorry I didn’t do better at the audition.” Gloom hung heavy over his shoulders. Niel had really loved the concept of the musical. 

“Hey, no, that’s allowed.” Niel held him close. “Don’t you even worry about that.”

“But you really wanted me to get it.” Chanhee looked up at Niel, the pain inside his chest all over his face. “I let you down.”

“Noooo, stop.” Niel took Chanhee’s face in his hands, his brows quirked up in the centre. “No. No. You didn’t let anyone down. This was just a bad day. This was the worst day. And I would never, ever be mad at you for missing out on a part. Don’t be silly.” 

“You promise?”

“I swear!” Niel pulled him into his chest and sighed. “What a ty day.”

Chanhee snuggled in. “I miss Minsu.” Chanhee murmured. 

“Me too,” Niel hummed back. “I wonder what he’ll bring us for dinner.”

They stayed in the shower for a long time, only turning the water off when Minsu’s voice called through the apartment once more. He laughed as they emerged in towels. 

“Did you two stay in that whole time?” He asked, setting the bags on the bench and coming to kiss them. 

“It’s a very bad day,” Niel said seriously.

Minsu gave a smile and moved back to the kitchen. 

When they had dressed once more, Niel convinced Chanhee to risk sitting at the bench as Minsu cooked. They watched him work in silence. Their chef passed ingredients over for them to snack on as he worked.

The usual happiness was beginning to bloom once more, Chanhee leaning back against Niel’s chest. His phone dinged from the bookshelf and Niel kissed his cheek before wandering away to find it. 

“Gah.” The noise from Niel was a strange, strangled thing. 

Chanhee turned, brows furrowed with confusion. 

He was given the fakest smile he had ever seen before Niel began edging toward the bedroom. 

“What?” Chanhee asked, his newfound happiness wilting. 

“Nothing.” His voice was a weird squeaky noise. That bizarre smile appearing again.

“What is it?” Minsu asked, the sound of Niel’s voice was concerning. 

“Nothing important. Just gonna make a quick call.” Niel disappeared into the bedroom. 

“Niel!” Chanhee yelled, his voice more weary than annoyed. He made to stand from the bench.

Niel's head appeared from the bedroom. 

“Nothing major.” Niel’s smile was strained. “Just the electricity bill is overdue. I’m just going to pay it.” It all came out in a rush. 

Chanhee melted back into his chair and then onto the bench, covering his head with his right arm, the left shoulder still protesting much movement. Minsu gave a soft sigh and kissed the back of Chanhee’s head. He was still facedown on the bench when the bedroom door opened again and Niel reappeared. 

“Chanhee, I can’t find the bill. Where did you put it?” Niel whined. 

“Where I always put it, baby.” Chanhee sighed and sat up. 

Minsu was grinning, shaking his head at Niel. 

“It lives on the side of the fridge until it’s paid.” Minsu pointed. 

“I should almost certainly know that,” Niel mused. 

“You might know if you ever paid them,” Minsu , pinching his as he ventured into the kitchen. 

“I can’t pay bills.” Niel’s face turned devious. “I’m the baby.” 

Chanhee laughed, his face scrunching up with affection as Minsu scoffed loudly. 

“How do I do this?” Niel held the bill in one hand and his phone in the other. 

“I am cooking.” Minsu smacked a kiss onto his face. “Get out of the kitchen.”

“You’re supposed to help me,” Niel whined. 

“Come here, baby.” Chanhee beckoned him over. 

Niel came to stand between his legs, watching closely as Chanhee showed him how to do the basic task of paying the power bill. When it was done he shook his head and laughed again. Niel winked at him, kissing his lips and wandering away to put the bill in the pile of papers on the table. He couldn’t help but admit that he didn’t feel nearly as awful as he had when he came home. 

Arms came around him, lips pressing into his cheek as Niel cuddled him. Chanhee smiled again. 

“Finished.” Minsu slid the bowls across the bench for them. 

“Thank you, darling.” Chanhee sighed. 

=====

Niel was washing bowls, singing to himself as he splashed water all over the floor. Chanhee stood in Minsu’s arms, face pressed into his neck as he listened to Niel mix the words up and carry on anyway. 

“You want to just go to bed?” Minsu asked, voice soft. 

“Yes.” Chanhee didn’t care that it was 8pm, he was ready for the day to be finished. 

“Don’t wait for me!” Niel sang from the kitchen. He dunked the pan, sending a wave of water onto the floor. 

Chanhee turned away from it. He refused to care today. 

“I’ll fix that.” Niel continued in the tune of his song. “Go to bed, my loves!”

Minsu gave another huff of laughter. Chanhee shook his head. He moved for the bedroom. 

“!” Chanhee’s toe had cracked hard into the leg of the table. The pressurised ire of the day fizzed and exploded from inside. “ING HELL WHAT THE . NO! I AM SO DONE. WHY! OWWW.” He howled, clutching at his throbbing toe. 

Minsu made a motion for him but Chanhee hobbled away for the bedroom. 

“No!” He cried again. 

Chanhee tore the blanket off the bed.

“I’m ing sick of this! No!”

He climbed onto the bed.

“No!” He yelled. “No more! No!”

He threw himself down and pulled the blanket to cover himself completely. His toe, shoulder and hip throbbed. A few more tears leaked out of his eyes.

The mattress beside him depressed. A hand came to rest on his waist before tugging the blanket away gently. Minsu slid over to him and brought Chanhee’s head into his lap. He Chanhee’s hair. 

“Oh, darling,” Minsu whispered. He bent and kissed at the tears. “It’s OK.”

Chanhee sobbed a little more. He clutched at Minsu’s leg and stayed silent between sniffles. 

After some shuffling in the kitchen, Niel entered and placed something on the bedside table. He disappeared again to click away at the computer. Chanhee was too depressed to even check what he was doing. 

At the electronic sound of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Chanhee’s lips quivered into a smile. He had chosen Chanhee's favourite movie.

Niel returned to the bed, snuggling in behind to spoon him.

“I brought you ice-cream too,” Niel whispered. 

“Thanks.” Chanhee couldn’t stop his pout. 

“You know,” Minsu began, his fingers still playing with Chanhee’s hair. “I think I can actually quote this movie from start to finish. How many times have we watched it?”

“Not enough,” Chanhee smiled. His eyes itched with dry tears. 

“Never enough.” Niel agreed. 

“As you wish.” Minsu grinned down at them. He reached over and brought the ice-cream back to the bed. 

Chanhee dragged himself up, stealing Minsu’s spoon from his hand. Niel shifted to put his head in Chanhee’s lap.

“How you feeling?” Minsu asked, arm draping over his shoulders.

“Miserable.” The word was muffled through ice-cream. “Tomorrow I’m staying in bed all day.”

“Great idea.” Minsu grinned and tried to take the spoon. Chanhee moved it away. “Are you going to share?”

“No. It’s mine. I fell down stairs.” Chanhee turned away with a grin. A bubble of happiness floated through his chest. 

“OK, OK.” Minsu laughed. 

“Farmboy, fetch me that pitcher,” Niel mumbled along with the movie. Chanhee smiled at him. 

“As you wish.” Minsu quoted back. 

A fizz of delight tingled through his stomach again. He had forced Minsu to watch the movie so many times he could quote it, and yet he was staying to watch it again. Chanhee fed him ice-cream, snuggling back in. Minsu shook his head and returned to their cuddle. 

They fell silent, the movie getting into the actual plot now. Chanhee’s eyes were sore and itchy from crying but he didn’t look away. Niel sat up to steal some ice-cream as well, his legs tangling with Chanhee’s as they sat. More happiness effervesced and spread from the places they were touching him. Chanhee sighed. He squeezed Minsu’s hand and Niel’s leg. The last of his miserable day disappeared as they kissed his cheeks in unison. 

==========

A/N: Yeesh, bad day. This isn't my fault! This was a prompt! ^.^ I'm definitely not guilty of making the worst day ever...

Also does anyone else react like that when they stub their toe? Because that is 100% real life me reaction there. I get so mad at everything and yell a lot. 

Bonus points for guessing the movie reference.

OK LOVE YOU BYE!