liberty!!

You should have gone to bed almost an hour ago.

The rational part of your brain knew that.

Tomorrow was a workday. A real one. Not the kind where you answered emails from bed or spent the afternoon catching up on paperwork. Actual patients. Actual sessions. Actual responsibilities. The kind of day that required you to be awake enough to pretend you had your life together while helping other people sort through theirs.

Instead, you were curled into the far corner of Jeongguk's sectional couch wearing one of his oversized black hoodies, your laptop balanced on your thighs while you finished writing progress notes from the week. The television murmured quietly in the background, some reality show neither of you were actually paying attention to, while rain tapped softly against the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Seoul.

Curled against your side was the reason you hadn't moved in nearly forty minutes.

The cat was asleep.

Completely asleep.

One paw stretched over your stomach. Tiny pink nose buried into the blanket covering your legs. Dead weight in the most inconvenient way possible.

The little traitor hadn't left your side since dinner. Which was ironic considering Jeongguk had spent the first three months after the adoption acting like the cat was personally responsible for every inconvenience in his life.

"Bam was here first."

"She's staring at me weird."

"Why is she always in my spot?"

"I don't think she likes me."

Now? Now the same man called twice a day asking for cat updates. You had received three separate requests for photos since breakfast. The latest one had arrived thirty minutes ago.

How's my daughter?

Not Bam. The cat.

Your phone buzzed, the familiar ringtone immediately pulling your attention away from the half-finished sentence on your laptop screen.

A video call from Jeongguk lit up your screen.

A smile tugged at your mouth before you could stop it. You didn't even hesitate before accepting, already knowing exactly why he was calling. He always called after shows when he could, especially on nights when the adrenaline was still running through him and sleep felt impossible.

The moment the camera connected, however, you immediately regretted answering.

"Jesus Christ."

Jeongguk's face filled the entire screen, far too close to the camera and somehow managing to look both exhausted and wildly energized at the same time. His hair was a complete mess, falling into his eyes in uneven waves. His cheeks were noticeably flushed, and there was a familiar glassiness to his gaze that told you everything you needed to know before he even opened his mouth.

He had been drinking.

A lot.

The unmistakable expression of a man who had spent the evening celebrating with six other singers and the tour staff after the final show in the city.

The noise behind him only confirmed it. You could hear shouting somewhere off-camera, followed by a burst of laughter loud enough to distort through the speaker. Someone yelled something in Korean that you couldn't quite make out, and a second later what sounded suspiciously like Taehyung attempting to sing drifted through the chaos.

It sounded terrible.

Which meant it was probably Taehyung.

"Oh, fuck you," Jeongguk replied immediately, a grin stretching across his face so wide it nearly pushed his eyes shut. Even through the screen you could tell he'd been drinking. His cheeks were flushed, his hair was a complete mess, and there was a looseness to him that only appeared when he was exhausted, happy, and at least a little bit intoxicated. "That's the first thing you say?"

"It is."

"It shouldn't be, I missed you."

"You are hammered, Gguk."

"I'm not hammered."

"You look like you just got discharged from the military again."

His laugh exploded through the speaker, loud and sudden enough that the cat sleeping against your side twitched in protest. One tiny ear flicked before settling again.

"Baby," he whined dramatically, dragging the word out. "That's so mean. I miss you." He said it once again.

For a moment neither of you said anything as you simply looked at him through the screen while he looked back at you smiling softly, there were voices overlapping and someone shouting across the room but his attention remained fixed entirely on you.

You watched his eyes drift lower, taking in the familiar sight of his living room behind you. The couch. The blanket. The corner lamp. The television playing quietly in the background. It wasn't anything special. Just home.

Then his gaze landed on the cat sleeping against your side.

Immediately, his entire face softened.

"Oh my God. Baby."

A laugh escaped your nose.

"She's sleeping." You told him.

"I know." His smile somehow widened.

The camera shifted slightly as he settled deeper into his chair, resting his cheek against one fist while staring at the screen. The expression on his face was ridiculous. Completely gone. Absolutely smitten.

With the cat.

The same cat he'd spent months pretending to dislike.

"She looks so small."

"She is small."

"Mm." Jeongguk nodded immediately, still staring at the screen with the kind of concentration people usually reserved for life-changing revelations. "So tiny. Look at her."

You angled the phone downward slightly despite the fact that he could already see her perfectly fine.

The sight made Jeongguk audibly gasp.

"Aigo."

You rolled your eyes.

"Aigooooo—"

The sound came out softer this time, stretched into a drunken coo that made absolutely no sense to anyone except him. His entire face had transformed.

The idol who had spent the evening performing in front of thousands of screaming fans was gone. In his place sat a slightly drunk twenty-something man in a hotel room making baby noises at a sleeping cat through FaceTime.

"Aigoo, uri agi."

"She's not even listening to you."

"She is."

"She's unconscious."

"No, she's hearing me."

The confidence in his voice almost made you laugh. "Aigoo, look at that face." He tilted his own head as if trying to get a better angle. "Ya. Ya. Why is she sleeping like that? She's melting."

You glanced down. Unfortunately, he wasn't wrong. At some point the cat had somehow managed to flatten herself into an impossible shape, all limbs loose and heavy against the blanket.

Jeongguk let out another distressed noise. You pressed your lips together.

The cat had somehow migrated upward during the call. At some point while the two of you had been talking, she'd abandoned your stomach entirely and stretched herself across your chest instead, her tiny body draped over you like she paid rent. One paw was tucked beneath her chin, the other dangling lazily against the front of the hoodie. Completely boneless. Completely comfortable. Completely asleep.

The movement only seemed to worsen Jeongguk's condition. His eyes widened.

"No." He suddenly said.

"What?"

"No way."

"What now?"

"Look where she is."

You looked down, then immediately regretted it. The cat was, in fact, sprawled directly across your chest. "She's comfortable." You giggled at seeing the feline's face.

"That's my spot." The words came out so fast you almost choked, a laugh escaped before you could stop it.

Across the screen, Jeongguk looked deeply offended.

"No, seriously." For several seconds he simply stared at the screen with the most betrayed expression imaginable before letting his head fall backward against the hotel headboard.

The movement exposed the column of his throat. His hair fell away from his forehead, the flush in his cheeks had deepened.

Drunk.

Definitely drunk.

His attention had drifted back to you, not the cat this time.

Actually you.

His gaze lingered for a moment before softening. "I really miss you." The teasing disappeared so naturally you almost missed it.

You smiled. "I miss you too."

"No, like..." He rubbed one hand over his face before laughing quietly at himself. "I really miss you."

You watched him shift higher against the pillows, adjusting his phone. The hotel room lighting cast everything in a warm amber glow. His shirt collar hung loose. His eyes looked heavy now.

"I miss being home." His voice had dropped lower. Softer. "I miss the couch."

"You miss your couch?"

"I miss my couch with you on it." You rolled your eyes affectionately, watching him gaze at his phone screen like he was staring into your soul.

For a moment, you simply looked at him. Really looked at him. Past the flushed cheeks and the alcohol-softened smile. Past the messy hair falling into his eyes and the ridiculous complaints about the cat stealing his spot. There was something different about him tonight. Lighter. Happier. The kind of happiness that settled deep beneath the skin and made someone glow from the inside out.

Your smile softened.

"You know..." You adjusted the blanket slightly beneath the sleeping cat, watching his attention immediately return to you. "You're doing such a good job."

Jeongguk blinked, the reaction was instant. Almost shy. "What?"

"You are." Your voice came quieter now, sincere enough that he stopped smiling for a second just to listen. "I've been watching everything."

His eyes visibly brightened. "You have?"

"Of course I have."

A small laugh escaped him. You continued before he could interrupt.

"I can tell how happy you are up there." Your gaze drifted over his face. "And I know you've missed this."

The words landed exactly where you intended them to, you watched it happen. The way his expression softened. The way his shoulders relaxed. The way something almost boyish appeared behind his eyes.

His grin slowly spread across his face. "You think so?" The question came out embarrassingly hopeful, like a little kid asking whether you'd liked the drawing they worked on all afternoon.

Your chest immediately melted. "I know so."

His eyes practically sparkled, a quiet giggle escaped him before he ducked his head for a second, suddenly unable to hide how pleased he looked.

Jeongguk rubbed the back of his neck, that shy, boyish expression lingering as he shifted against the pillows. “You really watched the videos?” he asked softly, his voice dropping with a vulnerable edge that made your heart twist. There was no bravado in it, just pure, hopeful curiosity from a man who poured every ounce of himself into his performances.

You nodded, smiling gently while adjusting the blanket over the sleeping cat. “Of course I did, Gguk. Every single one I could find. You were incredible out there."

His cheeks flushed deeper, but not just from the alcohol this time. He looked down for a moment, biting his lip as a soft, pleased laugh slipped out. The compliment seemed to melt him completely, turning your confident idol boyfriend into someone sweetly bashful.

Jeongguk rubbed at his cheek with the back of his hand, glancing back up at the screen with that shy little smile still playing on his lips. “You always know what to say to me,” he murmured, his voice low and warm, the kind of tone he only used when the rest of the world felt far away. He shifted on the hotel bed, propping the phone against a pillow so he could see both you and the cat better. “Look at her… she’s so peaceful on your chest. My two favorite girls.”

You glanced down at the sleeping cat, its tiny body rising and falling steadily against the oversized hoodie. “She’s been glued to me all night. I think she misses you too, even if she won’t admit it.” A soft chuckle escaped you as you gently stroked her back. “She keeps taking your spot, though. Like she knows you’re not here to claim it.”

He let out a quiet, fond groan, eyes softening even more as he watched the two of you. “I miss that spot. I miss your boobs."

"Freak," you murmured before he laughed out loud.

The laugh that came out of him was immediate. Loud. Completely unashamed. His head tipped back against the headboard and for a second he looked exactly his age instead of the global superstar millions of people saw on stage every night. Just Jeongguk. Drunk. Sleepy. Missing home, missing you.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched you reach down to scratch beneath the cat's chin. The little traitor immediately pushed her face into your hand without even opening her eyes. The movement made something soften visibly in his expression.

For a few moments, neither of you said much. There wasn't really anything left to say. The conversation had already drifted through a dozen different subjects, from the concert to the cat to his very serious concerns regarding the theft of his designated spot on your chest. Now the call had settled into something quieter. More comfortable.

Jeongguk rested his cheek against the pillow behind him, looking at the screen with heavy eyes. The alcohol had finally started losing the fight against exhaustion. The excitement was still there—you could see it every time he smiled—but it sat lower now, softened around the edges by a long day and an even longer night.

"You should sleep," you murmured eventually, watching him struggle through a yawn he clearly hadn't intended to let you see.

Immediately, he shook his head. The denial would've been more convincing if his eyes hadn't watered from the effort.

"You're literally falling asleep."

"'M not. I'm talking to you."

"You can talk to me tomorrow."

Jeongguk frowned at the suggestion, his gaze drifting back toward the cat before returning to your face. The expression lasted only a second before something small and fond replaced it. The kind of look that always appeared when he was tired enough to stop pretending he wasn't sentimental.

For a while, neither of you said anything. There was no need to. The television continued playing quietly somewhere behind you, the rain tapping steadily against the windows while the cat slept through the entire conversation without moving so much as a whisker. On the screen, Jeongguk simply watched. Not in the distracted way people usually watched each other during calls, multitasking and half-listening, but with a sort of quiet attentiveness that always surfaced when he was away for too long. His eyes drifted from your face to the cat, then toward the familiar living room behind you before eventually returning to you again, as if he was mentally cataloguing every detail he was missing.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Not enough to be called a grin. Just enough to soften his features. The alcohol had taken the sharp edges off him hours ago, leaving behind something gentler. Something boyish. He looked comfortable for the first time all evening, settled into the hotel pillows with his hair falling into his eyes and his cheeks still pink from too many celebratory drinks. It struck you suddenly that this was probably the calmest moment he'd had all day.

Your gaze lingered on him for a second longer. The warm lighting of the hotel room. The rumpled sheets. The exhaustion settling deeper into his features every minute. Thousands of miles away and somehow still occupying the entire couch with his presence alone.

Slowly, almost absentmindedly, his eyes began to close.

You bit back a smile.

There was something oddly comforting about seeing him like this. Not performing. Not rehearsing. Not running between schedules. Just tired, happy and safe. The version of Jeongguk that only really existed behind closed doors, when there was nobody around expecting anything from him.

Eventually his gaze found you again, heavy-lidded and warm, and for a moment he simply looked content. The kind of contentment that came from ending a good day and finding home waiting on the other side of a phone screen. Outside, the rain continued falling. Inside, the cat slept peacefully against your chest. And somewhere between the quiet apartment in Seoul and a hotel room halfway across the world, the distance didn't feel quite so large anymore.

author's note — he just texted me saying he missed me guys #trust this is canon.