Work Text:
kihyun makes his way back home, he stayed for too long at the hospital and now the sun will rise soon. he really should’ve went home right after his shift, but then the new nurse was so nervous and he wanted to help (even though it isn’t his job, he should bring it up next time to the head nurse, she is the one who actually should take care of new personal), then one of his patient’s relatives needed his help too. now he is rushing, he will be lucky if he gets burned only a little.
he vaguely remembers half-way that minhyuk asked him not to stay too late today, he feels even more annoyed with himself now. minhyuk might need his help with something, but he is late again.
when kihyun finally opens the door to their apartment – their home, his and his favourite people home – he is greeted with silence and darkness. fair enough, hyungwon is probably either asleep or staying at the lab with his boyfriend again (kihyun tells himself hyungwon is fine, he would call if he wasn't, they have code and hyungwon is responsible enough), minhyuk is most definitely asleep already.
kihyun sighs a little, it has been awhile since he could spend some time with minhyuk, really talking to each other or even going out for a walk; it is mostly his own fault, he doesn’t need to work technically, but he prefers to have something to do with all this time he has, he likes helping people and he is very good at it. it feels as if he were to quit working at the hospital he would lose some incredibly important part of himself, the part that still holds his humanity.
the entire living room is covered with candles and roses, a fire hazard waiting to happen but it looks so beautiful kihyun decides to not be too rush when commenting on it. he feels minhyuk presence around him before minhyuk's arms envelop him.
“this is dangerous”, - kihyun remind himself to be a little more careful and not melt into a hug, into minhyuk. (he want to though, he wants to pull minhyuk in so close until they become one grotesque creature).
“but beautiful, just like you”, - kihyun doesn’t need to turn to know the look on minhyuk’s face, he lets out a little laugh and relaxes a bit more. minhyuk most definitely has the "i am a master seducer" writen on his face in his own hand-writing, it looks so funny, just imagining it is already suffocates kihyun's lungs with laughter.
“i smell like work”, - minhyuk hums against the back of his head and plants a little kiss, - “i need to shower”
“okay”, - minhyuk puts his head on kihyun’s shoulders, - “go shower then”
they shuffle to the bathroom together, minhyuk trying to sway kihyun along the way a little which makes kihyun grumble, it is cute but he really wants to feel the warm water wash away all of the sweat and worry from a long shift.
“how about a bath though?”, - kihyun feels so tired, so he just nods and lets minhyuk fill the tub. (he will worry about the bill later, just because they're not struggling with money doesn't mean they can afford everything). they sit on the floor waiting for the water to flow, minhyuk pulls kihyun close to him and closes eyes. silence feels nice and comforting, minhyuk has been texting him the whole time so kihyun is mostly filled in on his day, so now they can just be quiet and present, safe in each other's arms. this still feels unusual, even centuries after. if someone would go back to the times when kihyun was still young (and so, so angrily desperate) to tell him that lee minhyuk – the lee minhyuk – will be holding him after a long day, leaving soft kisses on his face from time to time, he would’ve laughed in their face and threatened to impale them on his sword. but this is his life, he never knew he wanted it this bad and he would never let this go.
minhyuk helps kihyun get out of his clothes and into the bathtub, kihyun sighs with contempt of finally being able to let his muscles breathe out of the tension. minhyuk sits on the edge and starts singing an old lullaby from their life before, kihyun smiles at him and joins him. their voices fog together, surrounding kihyun’s heart with so much warmth.
minhyuk washes kihyun’s hair, gently scraping at his scalping and brushing through it. kihyun inhales deeply.
“candles!”, - kihyun can feel his whole body tense up again, - “go check on the candles!”
“ah fuck!” – minhyuk rushes out the bathroom, slightly slipping on the tile floor. kihyun's heart misses a couple of beats. (this boy really will kill him one day, all this time kihyun has been right about it).
kihyun finishes washing up quickly and runs to the living room too. minhyuk took down most of them down, but few are still burning. kihyun exhales and bumps against minhyuk’s back. he was going to scold minhyuk a little, but minhyuk looks upset, kihyun can't stand this, his heart aches.
“kihyunie i’m sorry”, - kihyun shakes his head and hugs him tighter, - “should’ve just got the fairy lights”
“it was nice, very romantic. impractical, yes, but i appreciate the thought”, - minhyuk turns around and cups kihyun’s face. his smile is a little bittersweet, but beautiful and special anyway. kihyun pulls him into a kiss.
“i wanted you to feel loved”, - minhyuk whispers against kihyun’s lips. kihyun smiles and kisses minhyuk on the top of the nose.
“i always feel loved when i'm with you”, - minhyuk scrunches up his pretty face and kihyun can feel his heart bloom with the most beautiful of flowers.
“wee woo wee woo, the amount of cheese in this room is overwhelming”, - kihyun laughs and kisses minhyuk’s still scrunched up nose again. minhyuk giggles, then yawns and drops his head onto kihyun’s shoulder.
“okay, my dearest, let’s get you to bed now”, - minhyuk hums and lets to be pulled into the bedroom.
kihyun finally gets into his comfortable clothes and climbs into the bed, minhyuk immediately wraps them with a blanket, then curls against his side. kihyun still doesn’t understand the need to be covered this tightly, but it is one of the many (many many uncountable) endearing minhyuk’s things he lets be simply because. because it is minhyuk and it doesn’t matter; doesn’t matter if he ends up being rid of the blanket in the end anyway, doesn’t matter if minhyuk still can’t stand the smell of cucumbers, doesn’t matter if he needs to tightly hold hands when they cross the road. but it also matters, because it is minhyuk and everything has a meaning with him.
kihyun brushes a couple of strays of hair away from minhyuk’s face, he looks so peaceful already, his face is relaxed and soft. kihyun can’t help but steal one more kiss from him. he thought he would get tired of kissing minhyuk at some point, but it hasn’t come yet. (kihyun is quite sure it never will come). he closes his eyes and lets himself drift away into sleep.
kihyun is home.