Nothing & Everything
Where I Belong
The next morning came far too early for Hyunseung, but as always, Doojoon’s voice cut through the haze of his dreams to rouse him for the day. He frowned sleepily as he pushed the blanket off and sat up, squinting at the band leader. Beside him, Kikwang’s bed was empty, and there were no sounds from above so he must be the last one to be woken up.
Wait…
Looking to his right, then his left, it took a few seconds for him to realize whose bed he was sitting in. When he did, Hyunseung’s eyes went wide as they snapped back onto Doojoon’s face.
“Don’t look at me like that,” The tall boy said quickly as he straightened from his bent position. “You were there when I came to bed last night.”
Hyunseung frowned in confusion at that, but he didn’t say anything as Doojoon left the room, presumably to go make sure the others were getting up and around. Yoseob sometimes went back to sleep in the living room if someone didn’t stay on top of him about getting ready to go.
For a few minutes, the dancer just sat in Junhyung’s bed, staring blankly at the patterned blanket covering his legs. It took a minute for it to come back, but when it did, the memory of going to bed had his ears turning red.
He’d showered and come to bed. Junhyung had already been laying down and hadn’t said anything as Hyunseung climbed into bed and tried to sleep. When he’d finally cracked and turned over to face his bandmate, intent on trying to thank him, he’d been unable to get a word out.
He pulled me into his bed…
That memory seemed to flow through his mind slowly compared to the rest. Hyunseung’s fingers grazed over the soft blanket, and his gaze fell to where his own blanket still rested on his own bed. Junhyung had covered them both and gone to sleep holding him…
Wait, no. He hadn’t gone to sleep. Had he? He’d squeezed Hyunseung when the tears had started… Had it been a reflex in his sleep?
“Yah, Hyung! Are you coming? You still have to eat.” Dongwoon said from the doorway, effectively breaking into the older boy’s thoughts.
Hyunseung nodded as he answered him, voice thick from the lingering effects of sleep. “Yeah. Just… Just a second.”
Dongwoon nodded and left him alone again, but Hyunseung was already climbing out of bed. He couldn’t stay in bed thinking about everything all day. Promotions finished or not, they still had schedules to keep.
His head was killing him, though. Why hadn’t he realized that a minute ago? Maybe because he hadn’t moved too much… Either way, as he walked from the bedroom into the large room where the members all kept their clothes, Hyunseung had a hand to the back of his head as if that could help it stop hurting. At least there was no concussion; they’d said that at the hospital.
By the time he got dressed, it felt like someone was trying to chisel his head open. He stumbled into the kitchen with his eyes narrowed against the light and an uncomfortable scowl marring his features.
“Here,” Doojoon said softly as he stepped in front of him. Pushing a cup of tea into his hands, he waited until Hyunseung’s fingers were firmly gripping the cup before he let go. “Drink that. It should help.”
The silence that filled the kitchen while Hyunseung drank the hot tea was not an uncomfortable silence. Everyone was either eating or finishing their own preparations for the day. Junhyung looked at last night’s bedmate stoically for a few moments, watching while he drained the cup and Doojoon took it back.
“Lemon…?”
Doojoon nodded and smiled at him. “Your mother called our manager. He handed the phone off and she told me exactly what to do.”
“Until it starts working, put your hood up,” Yoseob said cheerfully. He didn’t wait for Hyunseung to do it and instead pulled the older boy’s hood up himself. “There.”
“Don’t forget to eat something,” Dongwoon said as he handed Hyunseung a bowl of ramen. When the shorter teen looked up at him curiously, the maknae smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “I don’t know how to make anything else… and we’ll get more food when we get to the studio so this will tide you over at least.”
Hyunseung looked around him at the faces watching him with friendly concern. He hadn’t been very social last night, and they’d all probably been worried about him. He should have at least stayed up to reassure them he was fine. “Yesterday…”
“Forget it, hyung.” Kikwang actually stopped eating long enough to look up at him and shake his head. “We’re just glad you’re okay.”
“Yeah! And until you’re feeling up to par again, we’re your buffers!” Yoseob exclaimed with a laugh from his position beside Doojoon. “Right Kwanggie?”
“Oh no,” Doojoon’s eyes widened and he pointed a finger at both boys. “Whatever you’re up to, don’t even think of doing it.”
“But Doojoonie!!!”
“No.”
“Come on!”
While Doojoon suddenly found himself dealing with pouts from both Kikwang and Yoseob, Hyunseung smirked and shook his head. Leaving the leader to it, he took his bowl of ramen into the living room and sat down to eat, keeping his head bowed so that the hood could dim the light until the tea took effect.
When he’d made his way through the entire bowl and got up to take it into the kitchen, a hand on his arm stopped him before he’d taken more than a couple of steps. Startled, he looked up into Junhyung’s face. The rapper spoke before his embarrassment about the previous night could kick in.
“You’re okay now?” He asked quietly, voice low and a bit rougher than usual.
Hyunseung hesitated before he nodded and cleared his throat. “I uh… I’m sorry.” He mumbled. At Junhyung’s confused expression, he continued. “Last night. The uh…”
“You needed it.” Junhyung said simply.
“And what happened in the studio… Thanks.“
Junhyung shrugged a little too casually and looked off to the side, teeth worrying at the corner of his bottom lip. “It was nothing.“ He said after a minute.
As the fuss in the kitchen started to settle down, he let go of Hyunseung’s arm and slipped off toward the front door and the mass of shoes that lay scattered there. Hyunseung was left staring after him, holding his empty bowl and wondering if it really was nothing to the rapper that he’d saved Hyunseung’s life.
To Hyunseung, it was everything.
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