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By the time Soobin woke up again, feeling much more refreshed and lighter now that the nervous energy had worn off along with his first successful broadcast as the emcee on Music Bank, Huening Kai was already gone. In his place, was Yeonjun, just sitting there scrolling on his phone and looking perfect like always.
Warmth swelled in Soobin’s chest when he remembered how Yeonjun had been loitering around at the lift lobby right outside of BigHit’s glass doors, just waiting for him and Kai to return from their schedule. The way his face crumpled into an adorable smile when their eyes met, how he had swiftly pulled Soobin in by the neck and gave him a quick kiss on his temple after making sure that there were no staff in the hallways.
Soobin yawned hugely as he stretched his slightly sore body, the action catching Yeonjun’s attention.
“Hey, you’re up.” Soobin sat up; Yeonjun’s smile directed at him could only be described as tender. The warmth within him grew some more, and suddenly, he was aching to hold Yeonjun in his arms.
Soobin quickly checked the time on his phone; he hadn’t napped for too long but it was already pretty late by the time he got back. They don’t have any schedules left for the day, so it was safe to say that they had the rest of the night to themselves.
“Hey, hyung.” Soobin smiled back, cocking his head in the direction of the private studios down another hallway. “Shall we go?”
Since their official promotions ended, the members have been invested in doing their own things; be it vocal practice, writing songs, practicing on the piano or guitar, working out or simply chilling in the artists’ lounge every now and then. Yeonjun had been focusing a lot on writing lyrics and learning to produce music even before their last comeback that BigHit had given him his own private studio, much to the couple’s delight.
The moment Soobin closed and locked the door to the studio behind him, he turned around and pulled Yeonjun into his arms, nuzzling into the space between his neck and shoulder.
“Still tired?” The fondness in Yeonjun’s voice was clear as he hugged Soobin back, a hand going up to card through the younger’s locks.
“I just miss you.” Soobin’s reply came muffled behind the collar of the blue dress shirt Yeonjun was wearing. It looked a bit familiar, the way it hung slightly too large off Yeonjun’s frame telling Soobin that it was actually his shirt. He wasn’t going to say anything about it though, knowing how shy Yeonjun could get at the smallest, most inconsequential things, and he didn’t want the older to ever stop wearing his clothes on days when they didn’t have public schedules.
Yeonjun chuckled, the tinkling sound tugging at Soobin’s heart strings before he felt the older pull away from their embrace.
“You’re so cute.” Yeonjun cupped his cheeks, pressing a kiss on his lips, lingering for just a second before pulling him by the hand towards the small sofa in the room. Soobin lay down, legs hanging off the end and the rest of him a bit squished together since his body was so long. It may not be the most comfortable position in the world, but with his head in Yeonjun’s lap and the older gently caressing the skin below his chin, he couldn’t find it in himself to complain.
Moments like this were few and far between. Even though their last promotions was just put to bed, they still had far too many filming schedules on most days and even when those were done, Yeonjun usually retreated into his studio to work on his music some more, or went to work out in the gym until the early hours of the morning.
Yeonjun was almost always the last one to come back to the dorm and while Soobin understands, he really does, in fact, he respects Yeonjun’s passion and how hardworking he is, and he wouldn’t trade what they had for the world, he just missed him. Missed having time like this for them to lie in a heap against each other, all soft gazes and gentle touches, and not having to rush somewhere or get something done.
“You did so well today, baby. I watched the whole thing.” Yeonjun spoke softly, almost sleepily in the comfortable warmth of the studio. At the mention of his Music Bank gig, Soobin couldn’t help the smile spreading on his face again.
It was funny, to say the least. The moment the news broke, Soobin had been lurking on their social media accounts to gauge the fans’ reactions like he does sometimes, and he had been amused to find so many of them talking about how jealous Yeonjun was going to be every Friday for the next one year or so because of his very attractive, and very popular female co-host on the show. He really cracked up when he came across a tweet with a “WELCOME HOME CHEATER” meme, saying that that’s what Soobin was going to come home to find from Yeonjun every Friday now.
It was some kind of an inside joke. The fans knew how Yeonjun acted towards him; what with his million air kisses and always being a tad too touchy, too possessive. It was a running joke among the fans that Yeonjun would fight anyone who tried to steal Soobin away from him.
He didn’t know why the fans were under that impression. As if Yeonjun had anything to be jealous about. As if Choi Yeonjun was not one of the most attractive and sought after idol these days, the 4th Gen ‘It’ Boy as they called him. As if Soobin wasn’t whipped as hell for his Yeonjun hyung only.
A giggle threatened to bubble out of Soobin at the recollection of that particular meme. His eyes flicked up to look at the older, who raised his eyebrows at him in question.
“Yeah? Did you like the stages I did with Arin-noona?”
Soobin thought it might be fun to tease Yeonjun a little and maybe, just maybe, find out if Yeonjun was even a tiny bit bothered like all the fans seemed to suggest.
Truth be told, the couple never actually talked about his co-host at all. When the members came to know of the news, they each congratulated him, happy and proud of their leader, and that was it. Yeonjun was no different. In fact, he had been the first to herd Soobin into a congratulatory hug with the rest of the group and then bought him ice cream that night to celebrate. In the days after, he had even helped Soobin with memorising his lines by playing as his co-host, and giving him feedback when he rehearsed the lines to himself.
The way he was acting could not be further from jealousy, but Soobin knew Yeonjun. Yeonjun was vocal about a lot of things, whined and fussed about a lot of things, but he was also someone who tended to keep the things that mattered the most to himself. The closer to heart something was, the more silent he got about it. If that was the case, then Soobin wanted to make sure Yeonjun wouldn’t think to even entertain those thoughts at all. He would give Yeonjun his reassurance, stomp out his insecurities so that they wouldn’t have the chance to snake into his heart and poison his mind without Soobin’s knowledge. It was a way for him to coax it out of the older without being confrontational about it.
“Yeah, both of you were really good. You said you guys only practiced together once?”
“Right? Arin-noona was so professional! She was so cute when we met to practice too.” Soobin kept prodding, trying to get a reaction out of Yeonjun.
Yeonjun gave him a funny look, but didn’t say anything for a while.
“That’s good, Soobin-ah. I’m glad someone’s there to take care of you.” Finally, he smiled warmly at Soobin, still stroking his face with the lightest of touches.
“Hyung.” Soobin flipped himself over to lie on his stomach, glancing up at Yeonjun who had retracted his hand and was waiting for him to continue. “Aren’t you jealous?”
Yeonjun’s eyebrows rose, “Should I be? Did you do something that might give me a reason to be?”
“No!” Soobin’s voice increased in volume, eyes widening in surprise. “It’s not like that…”
Soobin clambered into a sitting position, taking hold of one of Yeonjun’s hands and started to play with his fingers if only to have some form of physical contact with the older.
“It’s just that I saw our fans talking about it on SNS… you know, that you’d be jealous that I had a female co-host and everyone would be trying to ship us together or something... So I just wanted to know.” Soobin said with a sheepish smile, not looking at the other.
Yeonjun rolled his eyes, though not without a fond smile gracing his features.
“Baby. I am here to support all of your ventures and endeavours, be it with the group or by yourself. We’re still the same people as before; you and I who are different but coming together under one dream to build a new tomorrow–”
“Oh my god, you’re so cheesy, hyung!” Soobin squeaked in embarrassment, covering his face with Yeonjun’s hand. He couldn’t believe Yeonjun was pulling out the meaning of their group name on him, but he couldn’t deny that it had a beautiful meaning behind the initial corniness. Tomorrow by Together.
서로 다른 너와 내가 하나의 꿈으로 모여 함께 내일을 만들어간다
You and I who are different from one another, gathering under one dream, to create tomorrow together.
“What I’m saying is,” Yeonjun removed his hand from Soobin’s face and moved to pinch his cheek lightly, “we are still staying true to ourselves and our dreams, even if we may not be doing it together. And that no, I am not jealous. After all, you’re my baby, and I’ll always be here for you to come home to.”
Soobin scrunched up his nose, acting like Yeonjun was being cringy when really he felt like he was about to combust. How much could you love a person? How much more could he possibly love Choi Yeonjun?
So he scooted closer to Yeonjun on the tiny sofa, closing the gap between them and snuggled into his side, Yeonjun’s arm automatically coming around his frame to hold him close. He rested his head on the older’s chest, syncing his breathing with each rise and fall, the sound of Yeonjun’s heartbeat steady in his ears.
“If you being away for this schedule every Friday means you’d come back and be this clingy with me all night, then what more could a man ask for?” Yeonjun laughed quietly, hand running through Soobin’s hair again. It was so calming, Soobin felt the stresses accumulated from the week slowly seep out of his tense shoulders, and he completely relaxed against his ever sturdy lover. Soobin didn’t respond, didn’t feel like any response was necessary, so he just breathed a little contented sigh and pressed even closer into the warmth.
“You worked hard today too, baby. I’m so proud of you.” Yeonjun whispered near his ear, and right before he fell asleep, he felt a light kiss in his hair.