Eyes stinging with each blink, muscles raging with each step, Jonghyun sluggishly rounds off a corner and trudges towards Kibum and Minho's shared bedroom. He rolls his neck, hands massaging the nape in a bruising pressure then he fists both to hammer at his own sore shoulders. The older barely registers his bandmate wriggling into a pair of grey trouser bottoms when he invades, dropping a question into the quiet atmosphere like a grenade.  


Kibum whips around, a hand grappling the fabric of his shirt over his heaving chest. "I don't know where Taemin is," the chilled hiss reaches the older's ears. Oblivious to a grunting figure lying on the bed to his left, Jonghyun nods, mostly to himself because he has to search for the youngest by himself. The feat sounding tiring in itself. 


"Kibum switch off the lights already!" Jonghyun stops and squints at the stretched out form, eyes trailing and trailing down his legs before his brain clicks and his eyebrows shoot up. Mouth gaping an oval, realisation blankets Jonghyun's mind exactly how scalding water registers cool to skin before pulling away. Throwing the blond a fleeting apology through his glance, Jonghyun turns on his heels to exit not manning to spare Minho another of the like.


Their apartment suddenly seems twice its size because the vocalist is certain he has spent an hour through it only to kick at his throbbing legs. When he finally stumbles into his last destination, their kitchen, decent enough to cook but stuffy to properly eat in, he is more or less surprised to find his reason of expedition hunched over the counter with a bag of Lays in his hand. Jonghyun stalls by the door frame to stare. Being the other's hyung, the eldest thought it right to discuss the plethora of mix reactions from fans after their rather heated stage in Singapore. Even though, they had both mutually agreed and given their consent, Jonghyun wasn't blind to Taemin's more than usual space-out instances. 


The only sound that melts the silence is Taemin's obnoxiously loud chewing and it manages to draw a smile on Jonghyun's sleep ridden face. He soundlessly maneuvers about the alabaster and circles his arms around the other's petite waist accentuated by a white cotton wifebeater. Taemin continues his incessant munching, slightly tilting his head to the right - an open invitation for Jonghyun's chin and so he complies to settle it barely at the nape with difficulty (not before retracting his hand to brush a few stray strands that freed from his loose bun when they tickled his nose). Although it's spring, Jonghyun presses closer for Taemin's warmth, tightening the fold of his hands in front of his abdomen and caving his elbows in. He smells like sun, dust and a whiff of their dormitory's lavender soap. Jonghyun all the more inhales to his heart's content. When the younger still dives a hand in the family-size packet for another bite, Jonghyun frowns at his impassivity, shifting his weight on his toes to tilt his head until he can view Taemin’s expression void of emotion.

He wants to nudge the other but then decides against it in favour of swaying their bodies from side to side. It proves successful because Taemin suddenly brings a crisp potato chip towards his shoulder and waits patiently while the other nips it. After he's done, Jonghyun stands back flat on his feet, burying his nose between the dancer's shoulder blades as an indication of no more vinegar flavoured crunchiness. He doesn't like the tangy after taste it leaves in his mouth, Kibum always complains about Taemin’s breath after he's done with the entire bag, now he knows why. Jonghyun salivates his mouth and rubs his tongue flat against the roof. An odd choice of flavour, he comments mentally, but then again it's fitting for someone tipping over with much life and energy. 

A gasp impales the still air, morphing into a wordless noisy exhale. It elicits a chuckle from Jonghyun which he voices into Taemin's back, he's not sure why, but he finds the yawn unreasonably funny maybe his insomnia is finally taking a toll on his sanity. The younger shivers as warm breath rolls off Jonghyun's wet mouth seeping through the thin of his fabric, dancing across his skin, enveloping him in serene tranquillity, transgressing him to another world. It's then he realises.

His embrace feels like home. 

When his eyes open again (he must have shut them, he notices), his heart and mind are as light as feather. Taemin pushes the dull golden curtain of his fringe over his head, most of it slipping back down to cover his brow again while few tangle themselves in his messy hairlock. Taemin sighs quietly. He's beautiful, Jonghyun discerns, observing Taemin through a side glance with fondness that sparks in his eyes blatantly. He now stands next to the boy, arms still in place yet fatigue pricks at him and deflates his energy so his embrace loosens. 


Taemin yawns again but this time his toes curl and eyes water. His hyung quickly covers the gaping mouth with his hand, gaze lingering at the seam of his plush lips and he wonders how the thickness doesn't thin out even when they stretch. As soon as Taemin ceases and drowsily rubs the heel of his hand into his eye, he turns around to look at Jonghyun for the first time since he entered the kitchen. The corners of his lips tug skyward by half an inch, bleary eyes crinkling and Jonghyun knows it's his own way of thanking him. 


"Come on," he lets go of his arm lock, hands sweaty, and pats Taemin's bottom with his signature crooked simper, "let's get you to bed."


That night Jonghyun falls into deep slumber with his mobile clutched in his hands. The screen that is still lit in the abyss of darkness proudly blares a new Twitter profile picture and a content smile on the singer's face.

A/N: 

i posted something after so long! i missed writing, to tell the truth, i think half way i felt immensely discouraged because ive discovered so many capable authors in this fandom ;n;
though this is just a hobby ill take it up as it is 
this is a horrible come back but i hope you enjoyed? :-(
tell me in the comments if you got the bit about the twitter dp!