1. 

It was another night of never-ending sleepless hours for Jongwoon. One would think he would have gotten used to how annoying and frequent his insomnia might act up, but no, it still frustrated him to no end when some nights just seemed so endless. 

After an hour of staying in bed and staring into the dark with a snoring Kyuhyun nuzzling his neck, Jongwoon quietly left the comforts of the bed and his husband, made a cup of tea for himself, and settled down on the couch. He the TV and started playing a recording of one of Kyuhyun’s many variety shows episodes. 

He watched quietly as his lover gasped dramatically and made witty comments on screen, a soft smile never leaving his face as he sipped the tea every now and then, the cup of tea he was holding pressing gently against the silver wedding band on his ring finger. 

Not even 15 minutes later, a grumpy, sleepy face with a messy bed head peeked out from the hallway and frowned at Jongwoon. 

The ever-present smile on Jongwoon’s face broke into a grin. “Wahhh, it’s Kyuhyunnie.” 

Kyuhyun rubbed his eyes grouchily and dragged himself towards the older on the couch. Jongwoon marvelled at how young, unguarded, and messy his lover looked in front of him as compared to the immaculately-styled Kyuhyun that was on their TV screen.  

“Hyung, you left me alone.” 

“I didn’t want to disturb you.” 

“You . You ditched me.” 

“You were drooling into my neck.” 

“I do not drool. Even if I drooled, you can’t leave me alone! You know I don't like to sleep without you!” 

Kyuhyun pushed Jongwoon to lay down across the couch, so that he could drape himself over the older. Jongwoon was always so warm. The younger fitted himself naturally under the older’s head, breathing into Jongwoon’s neck, just like how they were before Jongwoon left their bed. 

“Is my baby lonely without me?”

“Always, hyung.” 

Once again, Jongwoon chuckled at the pouty, clingy and adorable man in his arms, and wondered how he was the same guy who always had biting remarks ready at the tip of his tongue in front of cameras. 

The two stayed in their embrace silently for a few moments, with Jongwoon maintaining a steady rhythm while rubbing Kyuhyun’s back, and Kyuhyun burying his nose into Jongwoon’s skin. The variety show continued to play in the background at a muted volume. 

“You’re so handsome, Kyuhyun-ah.”

“Am I?” 

“This style looks so good on you. I can’t stop staring at you even when your co-hosts are talking, you know?” 

“Hyung, you’re cheesy.” Kyuhyun complained, but Jongwoon could palpably feel the joy and bashfulness emanating from the younger. 

“I just think I’m so lucky to be with you.”

A gentle bite landed on Jongwoon’s neck. “And I, you, Jongwoon-hyung.” 

2. 

They were arguing. 

“No, you dimwit! Can’t you see that this photo is more properly framed?” 

“You er…! Do I look like I give a about the framing? We look cuter in this photo!” 

Jongwoon pulled at his hair in frustration. Kyuhyun thought that Jongwoon looked irresistibly hot when he’s agitated, but decided to keep that comment to himself, else he’ll face the wrath of his violent husband. “Gah, Cho Kyuhyun! You’re so… so infuriating! You have no taste! I’m so disappointed in you!” 

“Excuse me, I think I’m the one who is disappointed?!” The younger took a step closer to his lover and shook his shoulders. “Are you prioritising the ing aesthetics of the photo over how we look in the picture? Is our love a joke to you? Huh!?! Kim Jongwoon?!?!” 

“Your is a joke!! We look fine in the first photo too! The second photo is too messy! I hate how the photo is taken!” 

“We look so much more in love in the second photo! And you look so cute! If we hung that photo up, it would brighten up my day everyday for the rest of my life! You don’t want to see me happy?!”

“ you, Kyuhyun! Of course, I want to make you happy! But—”

Jongwoon was suddenly silenced by a pair of lips on his, his body pulled flushed against Kyuhyun’s as they kissed. 

They parted with Kyuhyun biting hard into Jongwoon’s lips. Jongwoon punched Kyuhyun in the shoulder and pulled away, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth in a frown again. 

“Cho Kyuhyun, you ing rascal, why are you biting people like a —”

“Hyung.” 

“Don’t interrupt —”

“Hyung.” 

“What!” 

“If you are always going to be this hot when you get angry, you can’t blame me for wanting to rile you up.” 

Jongwoon pondered if living a widowed life was worth it if he strangled Kyuhyun there and then. “You are so ing—”

Kyuhyun kissed him again. 

3. 

“Jongwoon, I’m going to domesticate you today, or my name is not Cho Kyuhyun.” 

Kyuhyun declared resolutely to a pouting Jongwoon sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor. The kitchen was in a mess, because Jongwoon decided that it would be funny (okay, it really was kind of funny) and thrilling to try and microwave a hard-boiled egg after he watched countless videos online of piping hot eggs exploding in people’s faces. 

It was funny until the piping hot eggs really did explode in his face, which made him yelp in pain, which made Kyuhyun sprint out from their bedroom in shock, which led to Kyuhyun tripping over a random book on the ground, which caused Kyuhyun to bump his head against the kitchen counter with a resounding knock, which resulted in both Kyuhyun and Jongwoon laying on the kitchen floor, groaning in agony, each of their hands nursing their injured head and face respectively and cartoonishly. 

These were times where Jongwoon wished they had installed CCTVs in the house, so that he could watch and relive this moment in hindsight, because, wow, he thought he was in a sitcom simulation for a moment. 

After Kyuhyun got over the pain at the top of his head (thank he was a genius — he had spare brain cells left), he wobbled over to the still whining Jongwoon (who had bits and pieces of egg yolks strewn around him) and demanded for an explanation. 

To say Kyuhyun was pissed off would be an understatement, after Jongwoon tragically recounted what had happened with a pout on his face. No, him and his cute little pouts and his soft lips and his adorable whiny face, Kyuhyun thought — because he would not let his husband off for this just because of his cute little pouts and his soft lips and his adorable whiny face! 

“How old are you, hyung?” 

“39…” 

“And what did you just do?”

“Let an egg explode in my face…” 

“And what are the consequences of your action?”

“I burnt my face, you hit your head, our kitchen is messy, and my ego is wounded.” 

“Take that last part away.” 

“I burnt my face, you hit your head, our kitchen is messy, but at least my curiosity is satiated.” 

Kyuhyun closed his eyes and told himself to take deep, calming breaths. In the back of his mind, he wondered if this was karma for all the times he teased Jongwoon. 

“Kim Jongwoon.”

“Yes, sir, yes.” 

Kyuhyun got down on his knees so that he was eye-levelled with the older. Was he talking to a child? 

“In this Cho-Kim household, we will not microwave hard-boiled eggs, you understand?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“We will not blindly follow stupid internet trends at home that can endanger our lives, yes?”

“Can you define ‘endanger our lives’?” 

“…” 

“… Yes, sir. We will not blindly follow stupid internet trends at home that can endanger our lives.” 

“Good boy.” Kyuhyun stood up, pulling a still pouting Jongwoon up along with him. “Now, clean up this mess yourself.” 

“But Kyuhyun…” 

“Your aegyo will not work on me this time!” 

Jongwoon grabbed onto Kyuhyun’s hand, started tugging on it, and pouted harder. 

Fine. ing hell. “God ing damn it, every single time.” Kyuhyun muttered under his breath as he turned to make his way to the corner where they stored their vacuum. 

4. 

It had been a long day at work for both Kyuhyun and Jongwoon. They had separate solo schedules, which also meant that they couldn’t even sneak away together for a minute to seek some solace in each other’s presence. 

Jongwoon got home first and headed straight to the sound system in their living room. He queued a playlist of Kyuhyun’s songs and went about his routine to settle down at home. Kyuhyun’s velvet voice filled the apartment, and Jongwoon could feel his energy slowly seeping back into his bones, leaving him sated and relaxed. 

Not long after Jongwoon had reheated two plates of dinner, Kyuhyun’s soft footsteps padded through the entryway and into the living room. An adoring smile lit up on his face upon hearing his own voice on the speaker, and his lover beckoning him forward happily towards the dining table. 

“I’m home.” 

“Me too.” 

They finished their dinner quietly, and retired to their bedroom. Jongwoon was drying his hair with a towel when Kyuhyun emerged from the bathroom and wrapped his arms around the older from the back. As if it was clockwork, Kyuhyun’s nose and lips found their way to the juncture between Jongwoon’s neck and shoulder. 

“You smell nice.” 

Jongwoon giggled. “I used your shampoo.” 

“So you admit that my shampoo is better.” 

“Maybe I just wanted to smell like you?” 

“I will pounce on you, Kim Jongwoon, if you keep this up.” 

Jongwoon giggled again before turning around to run the towel through his husband’s damp hair, Kyuhyun’s arms never leaving Jongwoon waist. 

“We should visit my parents soon, they missed you. Ahra noona says that I can’t keep gatekeeping you for myself.” 

“Yeah? Sure, let’s drop by. I missed them too. Your mom loves to cook for me anyway, more than she likes to cook for you, I think.” 

“I can’t even deny that because it’s true. Why are you such a perfect son-in-law, huh?” 

Jongwoon wrapped the towel around the back of Kyuhyun’s neck and tugged on the ends to pull the younger towards him. Their foreheads pressed against each other and their noses brushed, tickling the couple’s faces. 

“Because only I can put up with your nonsense, you brat.” 

“You see, I can’t even deny that because it’s true again.” 

Jongwoon leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Kyuhyun’s soft lips. “And also, maybe sometimes I like it when you gatekeep me from the rest of the world, hmm?” 

Kyuhyun’s eyes darkened as he breathed against Jongwoon’s lips, “I’m going to pounce on you now, Jongwoon.” 

5. 

“Kyu.” 

“Hmm?”

“Do you think we will ever go public?” 

Kyuhyun froze in the midst of turning the page of the book that he was reading. He turned to look at Jongwoon who was huddled beneath the sheets on their bed. “Suddenly? Why the question?” 

Kyuhyun watched as Jongwoon closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. When he reopened his brown eyes, the older had a faraway, forlorn stare. Kyuhyun closed his book, left it on the bedside table and propped his head up on his elbow to lean over his husband. His other hand reached up to hold Jongwoon’s cheek, his thumb rubbing small, soothing circles on the smooth skin. 

“What’s wrong, baby?”

Jongwoon squeezed his eyes shut again. And this time, the younger just knew that his lover was trying to stop the tears from falling from his bright, sad eyes. Kyuhyun’s heart clenched painfully at the sight. 

“I don’t know, Kyuhyun-ah. It’s nothing. I just love you a lot, I guess. I mean, I always love you, but I suddenly felt like I love you so much. So much — that I wouldn’t know what to do if I can’t be with you.” 

“Then I think of how cutthroat and vicious our industry is… I mean… so many things happened recently in the industry, and people come and go, groups rise and fall — and it made me scared. I’m scared that we might have to suffer because of our love. Like… what if we get exposed and —”

“Baby.” 

Jongwoon’s running mind came to a halt. He stared up at Kyuhyun, wide-eyed and teary. The thumb caressing Jongwoon’s cheek never stopped its gentle ministrations. 

And with the way Jongwoon was looking at him, Kyuhyun knew that he would sacrifice anything and everything to move mountains for them to always stay together. 

“Trust me, it’s going to be okay, Jongwoon, okay? I’ll do anything to protect us, I’m your favourite genius, remember? I’m not going to let anything happen to us, baby.” 

“I want to protect us too.” Jongwoon whispered, a note of petulance and innocence in his otherwise still melancholic voice. 

“And you are doing it, baby. Aren’t you? Don’t you remember how hard it is for me to pull away from you all the time, and you are always the one making sure that I behave?” 

“That’s nothing.” 

“It’s something. We’ll be fine, okay? Nothing can make me leave you, Kim Jongwoon. I’m going to stick to you so that you have to spoil me forever, because I’m a possessive husband that only belongs to you, just like how you belong to me, okay?” 

“Okay. Okay.” 

“And I love you so much, too. You own my heart, hyung.” 

“You own my everything too, Kyu-ah.” 

Kyuhyun leaned down and rained down one, two, three, four, five kisses on Jongwoon’s nose, cheeks, forehead and lips. He turned off the night light beside him and shuffled into the sheets. Cuddling close into Jongwoon’s chest, Kyuhyun took Jongwoon’s arms and positioned them on his back and waist so that Jongwoon was all wrapped around him. 

The younger looked up at Jongwoon from the older’s chest and murmured, “Protect me, okay, Jongwoon?”

Jongwoon tightened his warm embrace around Kyuhyun, and both of their eyes drifted close. 

“Always.”