#**request

Irredescent streams of moonlight peak through slits in the curtains to fall in gentle rivers across the crumpled bedsheets. Jooheon shifts and mutters to the person he sees in his dream, his pulse quickening and eyes fluttering under the whisps of his lashes. In his dream, you straddle his hips to sink yourself onto him. He releases a strained moan as his hand unconsciously slides under the band of his boxers; anticipation and arousal gnaw at his core to the point he believes he will lose his mind completely if he does not have you this instant.

His body aches—you feel so real, so close, and he’s almost there. But, as the tricky universe would have it, he startles awake just as you were beginning to lower yourself onto him. He stares up at the pale ceiling, his breaths labored and thick in his chest. Fuck.

“Jooheon?” your sleep-slurred words bring him abruptly back to reality. Ah, that’s right, you snuck over to the dorm before he fell asleep. Maybe the universe wasn’t such a sneaky bastard after all.

He tilts his head to look at you silhouetted in a silver ring. “Sorry,” he whispers.

You wiggle yourself up on your elbows, careful not to disturb the sleepy equilibrium of the bedroom. “Bad dream?” you ask, concern lining your face.

“Mm not exactly. It was a great dream, actually.” Your worries dissipate and you inch closer until your face hovers over his. He lifts a hand to gently stroke the apple of your cheek.

“About what?”

Jooheon considers you for a moment, admiring the way the moonlight drops constellations in your eyes. “You.”

You stifle a giggle beneath your hand, “What happened?”

“We were about to make love.”

Your laughter trails away at the bluntness of his confession and instead, something else, something warmer, settles under your skin.

“You were riding me,” he continues. His hand reaches back under his boxers to find he remains hard.

A mischievous thought sparks through you and you push yourself on hands and knees to carefully climb astride Jooheon. He watches you silently, his mouth slightly ajar in surprise, but he makes no move to halt you.

“Like this?” you hum.

His eyes darken, pushing out the light of the moon in favor of a darker, primal desire.

He traces his fingertips up your bare thighs and back to grip your ass and move you forward. Without further prompting, you release him from the confines of his boxers and glide him effortlessly into you.

He struggles to contain the groan of contentment that bubbles at the back of his throat as he bottoms out against you. Reality is much better than dreams.

“Ready for bed?”

“I can’t believe you actually came over here, Changkyun.” You stand at the edge of your bed playing mental Tetris to determine how you will both fit comfortably. Changkyun doesn’t seem to share your concern as he plops himself down face-first into the plush duvet. He wiggles around until he’s under it and then looks up expectantly at you.

Oh, he shouldn’t be so beautiful—like the cool strands of moonlight that twine together with the ruffled fluff of his black hair. He makes that darned beating muscle in your chest flutter against its boney confines far too often.

“I can sleep on the floor if that will be more comfortable for you,” he says, voice softer and serious. “I can go back to the dorm, too, if that’s what you want.”

“No,” you say, lifting up a corner of the duvet to slip under it. “I’m fine, I just worry about you getting in trouble for spending the night here. In my bed no less.” You remain sitting up and look down to Changkyun.

The smirk on his face is mischievous but the light behind his eyes tells you he means every word he speaks. “I’ll deal with whatever consequences come up. But right now, nothing is more important than having eight precious hours of undisturbed sleep with you.”

“‘Undisturbed’ huh?” you ask, laying back against your pillow. Changkyun shifts on his side and spreads his arms open to await your arrival. “I get up to pee at least twice a night, though. I’ll probably wake you up.” You roll over to face him and in the smallness of your bed, he’s already nose-to-nose with you.

He smiles again, a gentle tug at the corner of his lips, pulling you tighter to his torso. It takes a moment, but you find a comfortable spot on his bicep to rest your head. His smile grows wider as you settle against him.

“I’m okay with that,” Changkyun whispers, “As long as you come back.”

“Mm, I will.”

The air falls comfortably around the pair of you and while there are still traces of lingering awkwardness at this new experience, there is an overwhelming amount of warmth and contentment that swirls through you. It sinks down to brush its fingertips against the edges of your soul, asking ever so politely to enter. In response, the shutters are thrown wide open and these new feelings rush in, devouring and spreading through you to settle like thick honey over the cracks.

“Sleep tight, love.” Changkyun kisses against your forehead.

Sleep pulls the shades over your eyes and soon you fall deep into dreams. Changkyun, however, cannot bear to take his eyes off of the pout of your petal-like lips or the way your body relaxes and melts into his touch. It all does strange things to the left half of his chest—It’s overwhelming but intoxicating. He wants to hold you in his arms until the sun pushes back the moonlight; to sear every detail of you into the farthest reaches of his soul. But, he loses against the steady rhythm of your heartbeat so close to his and follows your lead, hoping to find you in your dreams.

In a rare moment of solitude, you and Changkyun lie on a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor of the empty apartment. The movie that had played on the television ended long ago and the screen now sits black; Lo-fi music fills the space between the sparse pockets of conversation. Red and blue accent lights stain the ceiling as they bleed together into purple. Every window and the doors of the balcony have been thrown open wide to allow fresh spring air to stroll languidly inside—a sweet calmness following behind every new breath of wind.

“It smells like rain.” Changkyun comments from beside you.

You inhale deeply, sucking in the clean air that has become saturated with the scent of an impending storm.

“Maybe we should close the windows,” you move to sit up but Changkyun’s warm hand on your wrist halts you. You toss him a questioning look, but his gaze remains fixed on the blend of colors that dance overhead.

“It’ll be okay,” he assures. “Stay here with me.”

You shrug and settle back into the many pillows around you. A particularly strong gust of wind swirls in through the balcony doors and you shiver. Changkyun says nothing as he pulls more of the blanket over you, taking great care to straighten it out over your exposed toes.

“Thank you,” you smile gently, “but now you’re bared to the elements and I can’t have you getting sick.” Before Changkyun can reply, you scoot closer to his side and distribute the blanket equally over your bodies. He turns his head away quickly to hide the telling heat that floods up his neck to pool at his cheeks.

You remain in silence, listening to the way the wind begins to rustle through the trees to create a lullaby with the soft notes of the lo-fi.

There is another temperamental gust of wind that unleashes the spring storm with sheets of rain. It blows in through the windows and open doors to spray the room in a fine mist. You leap to your feet with a laugh and rush to slide the balcony doors closed. Changkyun slams shut the nearest window with a bemused grin, watching as you run to another window. He adores the way your laughter mixes with the melody of the rain and melts when he catches sight of the raindrops that cling to your eyelashes. He begins to think that you were born of sweet spring storms.

“No, shh, you can’t—ow! No biting! Please sit for like five minutes until I can explain to Hyunwoo!” you plead through a crack between the bedroom door and its frame.

“Explain what to me?” His tone is casual, but it still sends a bolt of surprise down the length of your spine and you spring up too fast, colliding the top of your head with the door handle. Hyunwoo reaches out towards you to soothe the pain but you slam the door shut and swat his hand away.

“Hey, you’re home already?” you shout loudly, obviously overplaying your excitement about his return.

Hyunwoo’s forehead creases as the beginning threads of suspicion form that something is amiss; you are acting too out of character for the moment. He doesn’t press you though and steps in again to gently tilt your head forward and place a soft kiss to the injured area.

“Are you sure you’re okay? That looked like it hurt.” His chocolate eyes search yours for any sign of hidden pain and you find yourself nearly spilling all your secrets.

“Yes.” You push the throbbing pain to the side to grab his retreating hand and press your own kiss on the inside of his wrist, leaving a slight sheen of rose-tinted lip balm over his pulse point.

A familiar silence envelops the space around the two of you and while you know he won’t force you to say anything, you can’t stop the confession that rises to the surface of your lips. Damn this man and his infinite patience.

“So, uh, I have a surprise for you,” you admit shyly, directing your eyes to the loose thread jutting from his hoodie. Hyunwoo quirks an eyebrow but keeps quiet, waiting for you to talk at your own pace. “It’s in your room.” You jerk your thumb in the direction of the door behind you.

Hyunwoo nods and steps around you, catching your fingers in his with natural ease. He doesn’t let go as the fingers of his other hand curl around the handle of the door and slowly push it open. He pauses for a brief moment and stares into the room. Your heart thuds against your chest with all the rapture of a storm at sea, but Hyunwoo merely lowers himself to a squat and calls out.  

There is a clatter of oversized paws and excited yips before Hyunwoo easily scoops up the puppy with one hand. It wiggles and squirms trying to get closer to his face and he brings it up before him with the hint of a smile hugging the corners of his lips.

“What’s its name?”

“It’s a girl and she doesn’t have one. I thought we could pick a name together,” you answer, the storm in your chest calming down to milder waters.

Hyunwoo looks up to you, paying no mind to the sharp teeth chewing on his hoodie string. “She’s ours?”

“Yep.” You kneel down to come level with him and give the floppy ears of the pup an affectionate rub.

Hyunwoo returns his gaze to the puppy still happily chewing through his hoodie string and contemplates her seriously. “I have a couple of names in mind.”