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Soobin likes to think it doesn’t take a lot to make him happy.
He’ll gladly accept small yet pleasant instances in his daily life with open arms. They help keep him going through the day, that no matter how shitty today has or will be, he at least has something to look forward to.
One such instance is sleeping in. Sometimes your body will remember not to wake up around the usual 5 am that you always do, or it will try to arise, before your sleep-addled brain gently reminds it of your lack of obligation to do so. Either way, it brings copious amounts of bliss and content to be one with your bed for a little while longer.
As such, he’s allowed to sleep in today. It’s the morning of a rare, long, and work-free weekend, and despite having to go about running errands later, Soobin is allowed to have the luxury of spending the start of his day to do whatever he wants.
And he’s pretty much spending it wisely within reason, if you ask him. He mostly drifts in and out of sleep, but doesn’t have the will to open his eyes just yet. Besides, he’s still listening intently to the hustle and bustle his boyfriend of two years is making in their apartment.
Taehyun is pretty much known among friends and acquaintances to be calm and collected, but Soobin has always thought otherwise. Even in his late 20s, the blond had boundless amounts of energy and liked making himself busy to expend said energy. Thus, he wakes up early for a morning jog and takes it upon himself after showering to water the plants and cook breakfast when the older man is still fast asleep.
There was a time in the past when Soobin felt guilty about it since he always slept in during their days off, so he tried waking early when he heard the younger leave for his morning jog.
It was a disaster, to say the least, as he shuffled around the kitchen half asleep chopping ingredients crookedly and forgetting to turn the tap off. Thankfully, Taehyun pulled him away to sit at the sofa to nag about the safety hazards he could possibly trigger, and reassuring him with a hug that he didn’t mind doing the morning chores for the both of them.
Soobin had sunk into the hug, apologetic but warm. He wished he knew what country he saved in his past life to deserve the right to be Taehyun’s lover.
The raven-haired man’s daydreaming was cut short by the familiar shuffling of slippers against the floor approaching their bedroom.
“Hyuuuuuung,” Taehyun whines as he bursts into the room. Soft, high-pitched, and fond, Soobin’s ears almost melt at the sound of his voice. Even without looking, he just knows the other is pouting like he always does when he’s asking for something.
The older one knows the other does it to make sure he gets what he wants, but boy does knowing do nothing as he always gives in to him. You’d be crazy to say no to Taehyun’s pleading kitten eyes, and be Choi Soobin to say yes without even knowing what’s being asked of him.
Soobin opens his eye first today, though, and-
Uhm.
Why is the younger man holding their watering can inches to his face???
Oh god, maybe Taehyun has reached his breaking point and he’s going to forcefully wake the older man up starting today?
He is so fucked.
“I-I’m up! I’m up!” Soobin sputters, covering his face on instinct, “Don’t pour water on the bed, it’s too cloudy outside to dry the mattress out today!”
Taehyun blinks, and realizes, “Oh shit, sorry. I was watering the plants,” he says as he lowers the watering can on the floor, “Anyway!”
The older man peeks from the gaps between his fingers, “Yeah?”
“Odi’s sleeping in the terrarium for some reason,” the blond says with a confused expression, hands on his hips, “you need to get him out of there.”
Soobin groans, sitting up, “Again? But I made sure to lock his cage and the barricade last night.”
Taehyun could only offer a shrug in reply, “At this rate, I’m convinced we have fairies in the house helping him get out every night.”
The older man snickers at the thought. “Don’t jinx it. I’ll get him out, but first…” he trails off, tilting his head up, looking at his lover expectantly.
The blond only shoots him a puzzled look, “What?”
“Don’t be mean,” Soobin sulks, heart-shaped lips in a pout, “where’s my morning kiss?”
The younger man flushes, but doesn’t miss the opportunity to tease the other. “Only good boyfriends who help their lovers first get morning kisses,” he points out, batting his eyelashes innocently.
Well two can play that game, Soobin thought. “Suit yourself then,” he says, settling back onto the bed again, “I’m going back to bed because not getting a kiss from my boyfriend is making me sleepy,” he says with a fake yawn, closing his eyes.
“Hyungie is so dramatic,” Taehyun sighs, mostly to himself. Soobin thinks he’s won when he feels the bed shift under the younger’s added weight, but he feels himself getting lifted off the bed instead, duvet and all! The older man’s heart felt like it was leaping out of his throat.
Soobin squeals, wrapping his arms and legs around the younger man like his life depended on it. Well, the other had an arm under his thighs and the other supporting his back, but still. Face a pretty shade of pink, he looks at the blond who’s just laughing at him.
“Show off,” he mumbles at the other, bumping their foreheads together.
Taehyun just smiles at him cheekily, rubbing his nose against his, “You asked for it.”
“You do know kissing me would take less effort, right?” Soobin points out while he’s being carried to their living room.
Taehyun hums, “But that would mean losing to you,” he teases, and the raven-haired is close to headbutting him again for being such a brat.
“And also,” he continues, “it’s the perfect excuse to hold my pretty boyfriend up close. So yeah, totally worth the effort,” the blond says, planting his lips on the older man’s.
Soobin melts into the kiss, pressing closer and tasting strawberries. Warmth blooms within him like flowers on a bright spring day. He can feel Taehyun smiling against his lips, and even something as small as this makes him giddy all over.
They pull away when they reach the living room, looking for Soobin’s 1 year old hedgehog. The older man trails his eyes to the terrarium tank next to the sofa, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Oh!” Taehyun exclaims, looking elsewhere, and the other follows his gaze. He finds Odi perched on Hobak’s side, his amber eyes silently communicating with the other pet.
“Well,” Soobin says, “your cat clearly does a better job than you with handling Odi.”
“Hey, it’s not like I didn’t try,” the blond huffs, settling the other down on the sofa, “I just know he hates me. I tried scooping him out, but he kept hissing even before I could touch him.”
The older man kisses him on the cheek for his effort, “Of course he doesn’t hate you. He just isn’t used to you yet, is all.”
“But it’s been months since we moved in together,” the younger man points out, deflating as he sits down next to Soobin.
The older man pokes his cheek, “He’ll come around soon, I’m sure of it.” As if on cue, Odi starts huffing and puffing from where he’s resting on Hobak, despite the cat’s soft purrs trying to calm him down.
“Should we just cover up the side he keeps crawling into?” he offers, easily picking up the hedgehog in his large hands.
Taehyun looks at Odi while the other pets him, but his eyes hold no malice, “Maybe we shouldn’t? It probably reminds him of his old home or something.”
Soobin hums, taking the hedgehog back to his area to feed him. “I’ll look it up later if that’s a thing they do,” he says, watching contentedly as Odi eats the mealworms with a happy snort.
In turn, the younger looks at the other fondly for a bit, before picking up the discarded duvet and bringing it back to their bedroom. He also brings back the watering can with him, probably to resume watering the rest of the plants scattered around their home. No longer sleepy, the raven-haired man sets up the table and brings over the finished plates of french toast, setting down cups of fruits and mugs of sweetened coffee as well.
Soobin sat down, with the younger man following suit as soon as he washed his hands after setting down Hobak’s bowl. Breakfast was spent in a calm ambience, radio playing softly in the background. The raven-haired washed the dishes and showered while Taehyun read a book with Hobak on his lap.
The cat soon left to rest next to Odi who fell asleep in his wheel, and the blond’s lap was now occupied by Soobin’s head as the older played games on his phone. From time to time, Taehyun would rest the book on the other’s forehead, which was annoying, and the raven-haired retaliated by biting his wrist. It was a silly squabble, but nobody bothered moving away until they had to get ready to go out.
It was a bit chilly outside, so Soobin wore the denim jacket his boyfriend liked on him over a white shirt and leggings, while Taehyun had a lilac sweater tucked in jeans. After putting on accessories, curling raven locks, and parting some blond fringe to the side, the couple headed out for lunch and grocery shopping. Taehyun drove them to the nearest mall that had their favorite seafood restaurant. There was happy chattering over seafood hotpot, deep-fried fish, and two servings of tteokbokki.
While walking to the supermarket, the blond got distracted by a merchant selling handcrafted earrings and bracelets, so the older man happily trailed after him. After helping the other decide, Taehyun settled on a dangling earring with a crescent at the end. Soobin was going to pay for him, when the other stopped him to compare thin-chained bracelets on his wrist and settled on the one with an iridescent flower design, and paid for both.
“You didn’t have to,” the older says when the other clips the bracelet on him. After doing that, Taehyun just wraps his arm on his own and basically leans on him.
“I wanted to just because,” he says, smiling softly, “It happened to catch my eye and thought it suits you.”
Smiling back, Soobin gives their joined hands a squeeze, “Keep this up and my heart will melt into a puddle from your sweetness.” The younger giggles cutely at that.
Reaching the supermarket, the older man tends to push the shopping cart behind the other while the blond gets what they need from the shelves. At some point, Taehyun had wandered too far ahead to get their favorite brand of milk that was almost out of stock.
When he came back to his boyfriend, someone was striking up a conversation with him. But as it became apparent that this guy was flirting with Soobin, the younger’s eye involuntarily twitched in annoyance. It was obvious - the suggestive look, zero consideration of personal space, and the lack of the guy’s shopping basket or cart said it all. And yet, the older man was too mindful and polite to try and directly brush him off. While Taehyun might’ve gotten used to these occurrences because his boyfriend was attractive, it never failed to irk him still.
The blond quickly thinks of a plan as he stomps over to them. He’s learned over time that Soobin wasn’t happy with him making a scene over it, but a little pda wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?
“Hyung!” he sing-songs, immediately latching his arms around his lover's waist from behind, “We got everything we needed, so we should probably go to check out now.”
Soobin jumps a bit in surprise, but calms down after realizing it’s just his lover. “Don’t scare me like that, Taehyunnie,” he chides, and looking back at the person he was talking to, “My boyfriend’s here. We must get going now, sorry.”
The guy pales under the younger’s glare from behind the raven-haired man’s shoulder, “Oh yeah, no problem! I think my sister’s looking for me,” he says awkwardly, quickly shuffling away.
The older man sighs in relief, and pinches the blond’s arm, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Smiling sweetly, Taehyun says, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
After paying for their groceries and loading boxes into the back of the car, Soobin sits behind the wheel this time. Before he could turn the key into ignition, however, he felt a hand turn his head to the side to press a kiss on his lips.
Flushing, Taehyun folds his arms in front of the seatbelt, “I wanted to do that earlier.”
The older man’s face also adopts a similar shade of pink, “You know, it's unfair I still find you cute when you’re jealous.”
“Not my fault people come flocking over to you when I turn around for one second,” the blond huffs, pouting.
Soobin coos at him, reaching over to kiss his forehead, “I’ll do better next time and warn them I’m taken unless they want my lover to hiss and glare at them.”
Taehyun snorts at that, “Now that will totally get the point across.”
“Do you wanna go anywhere else before we get home?” the older man asks, finally turning the car around to exit the mall’s parking lot.
“The pet store,” the younger says, “It’s about time I changed Hobak’s collar and I’m getting new toys for Odi.”
Soobin’s eyebrow rises at the last bit, “Oh? Finally befriending the enemy?”
“It was bound to happen, and there’s no way I’m letting you one up me,” Taehyun says.
The raven haired grumbles something about perfectionists under his breath but keeps his eyes on the road. The blond leans against the passenger window, watching buildings passing by in a blur while the sun lazily starts its descent for sunset.
It may just be another mundane day in his life, but Taehyun is more than happy he gets to spend it with Soobin doing normal adult things. Even after two years, he’s still not tired of waking up next to his lover and simply staying by his side and growing a day, a week, a month, a year, older with him. It’s a blessing, and he appreciates every moment he has days like today.
Taehyun might be at the stage in his life where he’s striving to achieve many things to the point of exhaustion, but even he’s allowed to enjoy the small but certain moments of happiness from time to time.