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König was laying down on his bed, his alarm clock blaring like usual despite him being hours earlier than it, when he got the idea.
What if he simply just… didn’t talk for a day?
I mean, sure, he’s antisocial and can barely squeak out a conversation when it isn’t anything work related, but what if he really didn’t say a word for a whole day? Would anyone really notice? Would anyone bother pointing it out if he truly went silent?
The idea made a shiver crawl up his spine- of course they’d notice, he reasoned with himself. The KorTac group had basically become like a family to him, looking out for eachother even if they were but mere contractors, only tied together because they mainly worked with said group. Still, König was sure atleast someone would point it out.
Still, he couldn’t resist the temptation. So, when his alarm started ringing for a second time to insist on him waking up, he twisted himself with a sigh, reaching his hand out to stop the annoying noise before he went on with his routine of making his bed and putting on his clothes, his mind already too tired for what his body had in store for today.
Getting ready took more time than the Austrian assumed, leading him to be the tiniest bit late to the designated ‘breakfast time’. Still, he made his way to the mess hall with heavy footsteps, not bothering to silence them in the safety of the base, instead letting his legs drag against the floor as they led him to the nearest source of nutrition.
Even though he was technically late, atleast by his group’s standards, there wasn’t a huge line waiting to be served. The people waiting mostly consisted of KorTac members and only a few recruits scattered around, apparently not wanting to wait to get food with the rest of them which would arrive later in the morning. He let his eyes wander over everyone, watching as they talked between themselves, the distance too big between them and König for him to be able to make out any words.
Finally, his turn had arrived and he took whatever was on the menu that day, not sparing more than a glance at it before he put it in his tray, not exactly feeling up for eating but knowing he would have to so he could have enough energy for today. After he put a considerable amount of food on it, he turned around and let the recruit behind him scuttle to where he stood before, noticing their hands had been shaking where they grasped their lunch tray, making König’s eyebrow quirk up. Maybe just a nervous person just like him, there was no use in questioning it.
The soldier made his way to the table the KorTac contractors had claimed, noticing most of them had already gathered around the circular table and were having an animated conversation between eachother. Smiling beneath his sniper hood, he let himself approach the group, only giving a sheepish nod when he was greeted by Conor with a friendly grin and a wave. However, he didn’t seem to mind König’s silence because just as soon as he greeted him he had returned to the conversation, not sparing the tall man another glance.
Sitting himself down in his usual place between Horangi and Zero, he greeted them in the same manner he did with Conor before digging into his food, lifting his sniper hood just enough so he could sneak his fork underneath it. Whilst Zero hadn’t noticed his greeting, Horangi seemed very focused on him, his gze burning into the side of König’s head. Before König could call the whole idea off and ask the man what was wrong, Horangi’s gaze snapped away, having heard his name coming out of Allard’s mouth as the woman teased him about his poor gambling skills, causing an outburst from him to quickly follow those words.
König merely watched with an amused grin, huffing before he returned to his food, tuning out the yelling and laughter from around him in favor of focusing on the dry and definitely-not-appetizing meal in front of him.
He didn’t get bothered for the rest of the morning after that, and eventually the team scattered, leaving König at his table continuing to eat his food in deafening silence.
After a short break in his room to ensure he wouldn’t get sick, König headed towards the gym, wanting to keep his form in check even if today was supposed to be a ‘relaxation day’. Apparently, other soldiers also had this sentiment as the gym was quite packed, most of the equipment already occupied. Thankfully, König found one of the leg press machines still available and quickly rushed to it, leaving his bag next to it before he prepared his weights, humming quietly to himself to ease the stress of being in such a crowded area.
Thankfully, the burn of the workout made him ignore most of the people in the room, even when they stared in shock as he simply added more weights when he got used to the previous, only stopping when he actually ran out of more weights to put. Still, even the satisfying ache as he let himself catch a break after a few presses couldn’t distract him from that feeling of an intense gaze returning to the back of his head, making him whip his head around in confusion.
He felt them before he saw them, a person sneaking up behind him with cat-like stealth. There was only one person in this damn base that would have the skills to sneak up on König of all people.
Just as König figured it out, a slight tap on his shoulder made him jump in his skin, turning around to come face-to-face with Horangi himself. The man had seemingly ditched the sunglasses from before, leaving König to be able to truly stare into the man’s amber eyes, noticing the way they seemed to examine him carefully before they moved back, patting the Austrian on the shoulder once he was sure he wouldn’t actually jump when touched.
`` Hey, König! Saw you working out all by yourself and I was wondering if you wanted to go to the sniper range with me? ,,
König seemed to debate it for a few seconds, although Horangi definitely knew he had gotten him with the word ‘sniper’ immediately. Without answering, König sighed and raised himself up, breaking the eye-level contact the two had between each other. He grabbed his bag and gestured to the showers, and with a smile Horangi nodded, sitting down on a nearby bench after König made a sign for him to wait there until he was done.
Cleaning himself in the communal showers was a bit of a task considering his distaste in uncovering his face, but he managed to slip in and out without encountering anybody, quickly drying himself with his towel before taking out the spare clothes he had brought with himself, tossing the sweaty ones into the bag along with the now used towel.
The Austrian then traced his steps back to the machine he was using, now occupied by someone else, and scanned the area for Horangi. Eventually, he saw the man sitting on a bench, fidgeting with his gloves, seemingly trying to keep himself busy as König took the shower. He walked closer and visibly saw when the other noticed his return- Horangi’s head piped up and his eyes got wider for a split second before they narrowed into a smile, excitedly waving the tall man over.
König would almost compare that reaction to a cat’s greeting when you stepped inside of a home, but he quickly waved the idea off in the same motion to call Horangi over, the shorter practically jumping off of the bench to join his side. Once he did, both of them changed directions, heading for the exit of the gym before they began to walk their usual path to the sniper ranges, a silence falling over the two of them.
Whilst the taller man always appreciated quiet time with Horangi, now he itched to speak up and ask why they weren’t talking on the way there. Normally, Horangi would be practically talking his head off about whatever topic he had decided on that day, but now he walked in full silence, only sometimes sparing a glance at König to check if he was still next to him. König opened his mouth for a second, ready to question the man, but he quickly snapped it back shut in the next, deciding he shouldn’t bother Horangi with his questions.
It was definitely a little off-putting when Horangi kept being silent even in the sniper range, König’s mind having grown used to the buzz of words in the back of his mind as he took aim with his gun, that buzz now absent and leaving König a tiny bit disorientated. That’s fine, he needs to get used to sniping in silence anyways, not like Horangi would always be there to tell him his latest thought or story, he needed to focus .
König didn’t talk for the rest of the day, and nobody pointed it out, leaving him to fall into his bed exhausted with a sigh before curling his huge body around his tiny pillow, deciding not to think about it and Horangi’s silence too much as he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
The next day, nobody pointed out his silence once more and König spoke no words, his presence barely felt around the base. That night, he held his pillow even tighter as he tried in vain to let his brain shut off, but to no avail.
The third day of König’s silence, he woke up exhausted . He knew he had fallen at a downright horrific time considering he had to be up early, yet he still didn’t think he’d be exhausted and irritated enough that morning to literally punch the alarm clock into silence.
Getting up from his bed, he didn’t bother making it as he simply threw his clothes onto himself, the wrinkles evident yet the man being uncaring of them in his current state. He had fallen asleep with his sniper hood, it seemed, the material sticking uncomfortably to his face during the night, making the Austrian grumble a few curse words in his mother tongue as he readjusted it, rubbing his face under the hood before taking a deep breath and exiting his room.
He sluggishly made his way towards the mess hall, definitely late by this point in the day, but his friends didn’t seem to mind that much. Didn’t seem to mind at all, seeing as they only spared a confused glance when König opened the doors a little too hard, causing them to hit against the wall with a thud that rang out in the room, swiftly continuing their conversation afterwards.
König could feel that burn in the back of his head as he got his tray, yet he ignored it in favor of staring at the food in front of him, making a face thankfully hidden under his hood. Chewing on the inside of his mouth, he put a few pieces of food on the tray before walking off, sitting in his usual spot at the table with a small nod to everyone like always.
And, like always, they greeted him but said nothing more to the man, even though he could feel how the atmosphere had shifted with him sitting down. Was there something wrong? He didn’t dare ask, not knowing if his voice would come out as strong as he wished for it to be, instead swallowing down his words along with his food, not able to finish even the small amount of food he had put for himself on his own plate.
Again, he felt that awful feeling of a gaze on him, snapping his head towards the culprit of it, Horangi. Yet the man didn’t seem to flinch at the sudden movement, instead continuing to stare at König, his expression once again unreadable behind those sunglasses and mask but his eyebrows furrowed, irritating König off. If he had something to say, just say it to him! Stop staring at him so much!
Getting up with a huff, he snatched his tray off the table a little more snappy than he had intended, uncaring that he now had the table’s whole attention. He simply walked off and threw the remaining leftovers in the bin, letting his tray clash against the others before he wandered out of the room, his skin itching at how many eyes were now focused on him. Pathetic, you got so angry at being rightfully ignored that you lash out at your fucking tray? Embarrassing, no wonder everyone is looking at you.
König bit back the sob already itching to claw its way to the surface, making a dash towards his room, even looking in anyone’s presence causing him nausea like never before. Once he got inside, he busied himself with taking off his boots and setting them up by the door, walking over to his bed and finally making it, rearranging the reports that he had been meaning to work on in different orders, anything to keep his mind off of his outburst.
Still, his thoughts caught up to him when he sat down on his bed, not even bothering to lay down as he faced away from the door, staring uselessly at the floor beneath him as his hands clenched and unclenched around his thighs.
Of course they wouldn’t notice, why did he even get his hopes up? Why did he let that tiny sliver of faith make him think he was even anything near ‘friends’ with anyone in KorTac? He was an outsider, he would always be, he would never be able to keep up the pace that friends require.
Distantly, König knew he was spiraling, knew that his cheeks definitely felt too wet for it to be just tears, but that feeling was so far away he simply continued staring, letting his mind continue on.
Why would he ever think that this would be different? His school bullies had made it very clear already, he was the weird guy, the one who would never fit in. He was dangerous, his outbursts showed that clearly. He wasn’t made for friendships, would never be, would never have a person he could call a friend.
After all, who would want to be friends with a freak like him? Tall, violent and anxious. Nobody would want to even associate with him. Nobody would care if he just suddenly vanished, he wouldn’t be a loss to anyone. Nobody would-
A pressure on his shoulder startled him, making him let out an embarrassingly high pitched squeak as he turned himself around, barely able to get out a weak ‘Who-’ before he saw the person who startled him, his shades immediately making König realize who it was.
Horangi.
Despite König already knowing, Horangi spoke up, `` Hey, hey, just me König! ,, , the small reassurance that he actually was there making König’s shoulders fall, a small smile falling on his lips before it was soon wiped with a frown.
Realizing he had been openly crying and that Horangi definitely heard some of it, he hurriedly went to hide his face from view, wiping at his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the moisture still trapped in them.
`` Go away Horangi… ,, König grumbled, but it came out as more of a weak plea as he glared daggers at the ground, hating how his eyesight just got more blurry with tears at the thought of Horangi seeing him like this. Seeing him weak. Hearing how weak his voice was after so much time not using it.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t hear the soft padding of footsteps on the floor until he felt Horangi’s presence shift to be in front of him, the man reaching out to gently cup König’s face through the fabric of his hood. König let out a small gasp, his eyes widening as his head was turned around to face Horangi’s intense look, those eyebrows furrowing once more. Surprisingly, Horangi looked… concerned.
`` You weren’t talking a lot these past few days. ,, Horangi went straight to the point, not wishing to beat around the bush. `` I was- When I saw you storm out, I thought you got mad at me, so I went to follow you. What’s wrong, König? What got you so upset? ,,
König’s mind focused on Horangi’s words, especially the first sentence uttered by the man. ‘You weren’t talking a lot these past few days’... So Horangi had noticed? He actually noticed?
He realized he had spoken out loud when Horangi’s brows shifted up, making König press his lips thin behind his hood. He really didn’t mean to ask that out loud. He probably sounded pathetic, too, considering he was still choked up with tears and that combined with his already weak voice made it sound even worse. That thought made König almost pull away, but Horangi’s hand moving from his cheek made him freeze in place.
A sharp yet web gasp made its way out of his throat when he felt Horangi’s hand cusp his own, his grip strong enough to be grounding yet not too tight to hurt König. Simply just holding his hand, his thumb gently stroking at König’s scarred and rough knuckle as he looked into König’s eyes, the taller man eventually meeting his gaze.
`` Of course I noticed, 토끼, how could I not? ,, Horangi’s voice was low, yet his words sounded relaxed, as if it was as simple as simply saying yes. `` Even if you don’t talk alot normally, I like hearing your voice. I thought you were mad so I tried giving you space but… I miss you talking too much, König. It’s too silent without you there. ,,
The confession sounded so easy to say, but it felt like a gut punch to König, his eyes widening as he processed Horangi’s words. Horangi… liked hearing his voice? Liked listening to him talk? Horangi missed him talking that much that he personally came to check up on König?
Suddenly, it all felt like too much as König choked on a sob, dropping the man’s hand in favour of extending his arms forwards, not caring how weak he looked asking for a hug like this. As if Horangi read his mind, he quickly enveloped the larger man in his arms, squeezing just tight enough to be reassuring and grounding, one of his hands immediately beginning to stroke up and down on König’s back.
The movement, along with the pressure around his chest, allowed König to eventually calm down, his breathing steadying to where it could be considered normal save for the small hitches from the leftover nerves still running through his body. Still, he didn’t want to let go, instead deciding to bury his head in Horangi’s shoulder, chasing the warm feeling the man brought like he was a dying man and Horangi was his lifeline.
Horangi didn’t seem to be hurried in moving anytime soon either, only letting go briefly to sit down on the bed next to König before he resumed hugging him, muttering words in his mother language into König’s ear. And although he didn’t know what any of it meant, it still brought a sense of relaxation over him, letting König nuzzle into the gap between Horangi’s shoulder and neck, receiving a small squeeze for that action.
`` Thank you, Liebling. ,, König dared to utter, feeling a small joy that Horangi didn’t know his German tongue so he wouldn’t be teased for the pet name he gave him. Horangi didn’t seem to notice though, immediately replying himself.
`` Of course, 여보. Any time. ,, he softly uttered back, causing König’s heart to stutter in his chest. The way he had spoken that sounded so loving it nearly made him fold on the spot, König having to hold onto Horangi tighter for that so as to not literally fold in half from how soft he felt.
The two continued sitting in a comfortable silence until König’s stomach growled in annoyance at the lack of food, making the German utter every curse he knew in his mind at his body for ruining such a soft moment from something as simple as being hungry. Still, Horangi didn’t seem to mind, instead letting out a small laugh before he got up, gently tugging König along with him.
`` Come on, let’s get you some more food, yeah? The mess hall should have some scraps left over. ,, Horangi offered, making König think for a few moments before he nodded, knowing he definitely wasn’t getting out of this one even if he did say no. Horangi could be insistent when he cared, and König didn’t feel like arguing with him right now.
Noticing the taller man was again lost in thought, Horangi decided to take a gamble. Quickly, he pushed his mask down and leaned over, having stunned König with that action alone just enough so he could press a kiss against where he assumed his cheek would be, quickly pulling the mask back up before König could look at it more closely.
`` If you get more food with me, I’ll make that cheek kiss a real kiss, just for you. ,, Horangi chuckled, watching with a tense feeling in his gut at König, furrowing his brows at the lack of words before he pushed himself further, looking into the Austrian’s eyes.
His eyes seemed to be frozen wide, darting between Horangi and where the man assumed to be his cheek, before his gaze quickly shifted from shock to determination, nodding as if he had just received a very important mission from a higher-up.
König had never eaten that much food in one sitting in his entire life, and Horangi made sure to reward him with plenty of kisses for his hard work afterwards, leaving König a downright puddle afterwards.
And, well, when König asked for more of them, how could he refuse?