Work Text:
Sieun was enjoying the quietness of the apartment while it lasted. It was a simple place, a tiny kitchen, a tinier living room, and two bedrooms for the occupants. Though it had only been Sieun there for the entire weekend. Seongje had left on Friday; “something stupid for the union”, he had mumbled on his way out.
That normally meant he’d come back with bruised knuckles and sometimes a bruised face. But if there was one thing Sieun didn’t have to worry about, it was that Seongje would always come back to their little apartment. They had moved in together 4 months ago and had been dating for a year. His friends still hated it, but Sieun didn’t mind; he knew that it worked in some weird way.
He wasn’t scared of Seongje, and Seongje liked that. He liked that Sieun always looked bored when he tried to be intimidating, that he tsked Seongje’s recklessness but never chastised his violent behavior, that he was always waiting for Seongje to come home but if he needed to fight, he’d fight. Mostly he liked that Sieun looked in his eyes, unblinking and bold, without an ounce of hesitation.
Sieun liked that Seongje didn’t find him creepy, or boring, or rude. He accepted Sieun for how he is. Called him a fucking psychopath with laughter in a voice. He didn’t think Sieun was underwhelming or monotonous or something to be investigated. He liked that Sieun was quiet, he said his eyes said enough. Sieun liked that they could be apart together, that he didn’t feel codependent or alone, it just felt like someone was there, whenever he wanted. And sometimes when he didn’t want it to, but that’s only natural.
That was what living together was like. Sometimes Seongje would leave for a day or two or three, saying he had something to do for the union. It gave Sieun time to relish being alone for a little bit. It wasn’t like it was when he was living with his parents and he was just lonely and alone. Sieun was never lonely; Seongje always came back and Sieun had friends that always wanted to see him. He did like being alone sometimes so being alone in his apartment for a few days at a time was what he settled for. But Sieun had grown, he wasn’t the same person he was in high school. His friendships in Eujang had gotten him used to constant interruptions to his studying. So sometimes the interruption was appreciated, and when it was Seongje finally coming home, it was welcomed.
That’s why Sieun was studying at their dining table instead of his own room. He was mainly reviewing and revising his notes for his upcoming biology exam. He made a mental note to ask Seongje if he had any exams coming up. It was another thing he liked; Seongje never seemed to study or cheat but he never seemed to fail anything either. Sieun found it kind of attractive, he couldn’t lie. They weren’t in school for the same thing but Sieun would listen to him yap about a particularly annoying class or professor. But Sieun still worried a little. He wondered when this union stuff would catch up with them. When would Seongje get arrested or go into a fight he didn’t come back from? When would Sieun have to fight again? When would something happen that made it back to his friends, that ruined the peace Baku spent so long trying to establish? He tried to distract himself with his notes.
His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. He rolled his eyes at the string of hushed cusswords that followed the sounds of shoes being removed.
“You home, princess?” The call bounced off the walls but Sieun stayed silent, letting Seongje find him next to the kitchen. Sieun looked up when he walked in, catching the overly bright smile on his face. “There you are.”
He said it like Sieun was the one who had been gone all weekend. Sieun could smell the cigarettes as the taller leaned down to kiss the top of his head, before ruffling his hair. He liked doing that so much, Sieun could never understand why. Seongje placed a hand on his books, eyes skimming over his notes. Sieun couldn’t drag his eyes away from the scrapes and bruises on his knuckles.
“You studying?”
“Obviously.” Sieun blinked up at him. He watched another smile overtake Seongje’s face, ignoring the way he parroted his ‘obviously’, in favor of scanning over him for bruises. There was a tiny one, on his cheekbone. So small he couldn’t bring it up without incessant teasing from Seongje about his staring. “What did you have to do for the union?”
“Break a face or two,” Seongje only shrugged noncommittally. His answer was met with silence though Sieun knew he was being honest, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. He only laughed some more and took Sieun’s face in his hands, squeezing his cheeks a little, angling his head up to face him completely. “Don’t worry, nobody’s face was as pretty as yours… and nobody who's as much fun as you.”
It was a grotesque compliment, one that only Sieun could appreciate. A reminder of their violent past, of the fist fights that had gotten them here. It made Sieun blush. Seongje’s obsession with fighting Sieun was a topic they had gone back to every once in a while. He said he liked seeing Sieun so wild, he was so excited that it made him want to fight harder. Sieun was seldom to admit but he liked fighting Seongje too; back before they were dating it was like Seongje gave Sieun the excuse to act like a cornered animal, violent and desperate. Seongje liked seeing it, ruining it, and Sieun liked doing it. The release of pure emotion always felt so good; and it felt even better to see Seongje take it with glee.
“I’m sure you say that to all your victims.” He mumbled back, even though he knew the look on his face betrayed it.
“Just the ones with Stockholm syndrome.” He laughed. Sieun rolled his eyes, waving off Seongje’s hands, intending to go back to his studying. The boy with glasses looked around their kitchen with an exaggerated groan. “Sieun-a, I'm hungry. What’s for dinner?”
“Whatever you're cooking.” Sieun said blankly, already looking back at his notes. Sieun didn’t cook, he rarely ever did but it was always simple dishes. Seongje did majority of the cooking.
“Why don’t we eat out?”
“We’ve eaten out the last 3 times you’ve ‘cooked dinner’ for us.” He looked up, watching Seongje browse through their kitchen.
“Yeah well, I like to- Sieun what the fuck happened to all the milk?” Seongje cut himself off with the question. He turned to face the smaller and the expression on his face could only be described as flabbergasted. Sieun looked at him with an innocent amount of boredom, trying to appear unfazed, trying to make the question seem out of place.
“What’re you talking about?”
“Sieun! You drank half a damn gallon while I was gone. I was only gone for two days,” Seongje waved his hands around like that would make Sieun see his point. He only shrugged in return.
“I was eating cereal.”
“For every single meal?”
“Yes.” Seongje’s eye twitched and Sieun couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“It isn’t funny, I just bought this before I left.” He glared but Sieun knew there was no heat behind it.
“You bought it to replace my milk, that you drank.” He started getting up, making his way over to his boyfriend, who had that fake annoyed expression.
“I had like 3 cups!”
“Of a half gallon.” He pointed out.
“A half gallon that still had some in it when I left.”
“It barely had enough for one bowl.”
“Sieun.” He said sternly. Sieun knew that tone, knew it meant Seongje was actually teetering on actually being annoyed. But Sieun knew he was more annoyed with the fact that Sieun had eaten cereal for two days straight than he was that Sieun had drunk half the milk. Sieun eased over to him, closing the fridge behind his boyfriend and pressing them together chest to chest, as much as their bodies touching as the position would allow. Seongje looked down at him, expression back to being fake annoyed but one eyebrow raised. They stared into each other's eyes for a minute, just reading each other. Seongje broke first with a sigh.
“I’m sorry. I’ll get another gallon of milk when this is out.” Sieun promised. Seongje only looked down at him a little longer, before leaning down to pepper the entire of Sieun’s face with kisses, then kissing him sweetly on the lips. As they broke apart he mumbled a ‘fine, whatever’ that Sieun took as a win. The doe-eyed boy thought for a second, “I’m getting whole milk next time though.”
“That’s fine, I don't care. They're all the same anyways,” He shrugged. Sieun opened his mouth to disagree, because they're not all the same but Seongje cut him off, “I only got 2% because you got 2%”
Sieun couldn’t help it as his smile became a little wider at that, “I only got 2% because they were out of whole milk.”
They both stared at each other for a second before Seongje burst out laughing. He hunched over, placing his forehead on Sieun’s shoulders, his body shaking from his laughter. Sieun wrapped his arms around the taller's torso, his own huffed laughter escaping him quietly. As their laughter sobered up, Seongje straightened up and poked Sieun in the forehead.
“Now I have to make something for dinner if you’ve only been eating cereal,” The boy with glasses sighed dramatically. He made his way out of Sieuns arms and walked to their living room plopping down on their tiny couch. Sieun followed, giving him a look that said: stop being dramatic. Seongje grabbed his wrist, pulling him into his lap.
“You’re not better. I’ve seen you go weeks on just ramen.” Sieun chided back with a roll of his eyes. But he still let himself get comfy in his boyfriends lap.
“Yeah well it’s different when I do it.” He shrugged. Then he started reaching forward to their little living room table, making Sieun’s body go with him. Sieun rolled his eyes hard this time, seeing Seongje take a small, shiny, grey vape into his hands. He glared as the vape touched his boyfriends lips. He’s supposed to be quitting.
“You said you were quitting.”
“This is me quitting.” He said around the smoke leaving his mouth, angling so that it went up and not toward Sieuns face.
“I could smell the cigarettes when you came in.”
“That’s also apart of the quitting process.”
Sieun sighed at him, finally making a move to get up but was quickly stopped. Seongje let out a loud whine, scooping Sieun in his arms and rolling them over, so the smallers back was on the couch and he was hovering over him.
“Dont act like that.” He turned his head so they weren’t making eye contact.
“Don’t be like that princess” He whined back. “It was right there.”
“You left it there.”
“Well, if you really wanted me to quit, you’d throw it away.” He leaned down, burying his face in Sieun’s neck.
“Why would I touch your stuff?” Sieun angled his head away some more, shivering at Seongje’s breath on his neck. “I’d rather you smoke cigarettes than hit that thing.”
“Fine done.” and Sieun heard the clatter of the vape hitting the floor.
“That doesn’t mean you should be smoking cigarettes.”
“I think you secretly like it. You come with me when I go to smoke sometimes. I think watching me smoke turns you on.” He nipped at Sieun’s neck with his words, making him take in a sharp inhale.
“In your fucking dreams.” He huffed back.
“In my dreams, you suck me off while I smoke a cigarette.”
“Youre disgusting.” Sieun groaned, pushing himself out of Seongje’s arms. The other let him, laughing to himself, now sprawled on the couch. “I’m going to study. Make dinner or don’t.”
“Wait, wait, Sieun,” All of his words were laced with laughter. “Where are you studying? Study out here while I cook.”
“No” He replied blankly, gathering his stuff from the dining table. Seongje’s footsteps sounded behind him until the boy was pressed against his back.
“Study in my room then jagiya,” His voice lowered as he squeezed Sieun from behind, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. “I want you in my space.”
Sieun paused a little at the sentiment. Sometimes he hated that Seongje could be so endearing. He could be gross, and rude, and annoying and he never said please for anything. But this was basically him begging. He wanted Sieun around him in any way he could have him, even if they were in different rooms, he wanted Sieun surrounded by him.
Before they moved in together they established that they still wanted space to do their own things; that's why they have separate rooms. But a month in, Seongje added a desk in his room, saying it was for Sieun for when he wanted Sieun to be around him when they weren’t doing anything together. Sieun used it pretty often, sometimes the sound of Seongje playing video games became background noise or if it was distracting he’d go back to his own room. Sometimes he used it when Seongje wasn’t home, just to be close to him and smell him still. He’d never tell Seongje that though, he’d be insufferable about it.
“No.”
Seongje fell back from him, dramatically clutching his chest, moaning and groaning about how cold Sieun is. Sieun dutifully ignored it as he clutched the rest of his stuff and made his way into his own room. Sieun’s room was much more bare than Seongje’s; just his desk, bookshelf and bed. There were a few pictures on the wall, mostly of his friends, some with Seongje and one or two with his parents. Sieun didn’t really spend much time in his room now that he was an adult. He and Seongje slept in here, Sieun finding the others room too overstimulating to sleep in, Sieun would study in here when Seongje was being annoying, and maybe he got dressed in here but a lot of his clothes were in Seongje’s room. So Sieun’s room wasn’t as lived in as the rest of the apartment. Sieun didn’t mind it though. At his parents, his room didn’t feel lived in for all the wrong reasons, because Sieun didn’t feel like he was living. But now he was living everywhere except his room, and he was okay with that.
He listens to the sounds of Seongje cooking. He enjoys hearing his boyfriend around the house. He hears him cursing loudly, singing along to music that Sieun doesn’t know and the clattering of dishes. He even hears his name once ‘Sieun, I can’t believe you abandoned me’ or twice ‘Sieun, im gonna make it spicy’ but he pointedly ignored it, knowing Seongje didn’t actually need anything. A knock on his door finally made him look up.
“Knock knock.” Seongje smiled a little, leaning against his doorway.
“You don’t have to say that if you're going to knock.” Sieun said pointedly.
“Yeah but it’s corny and you like my corny stuff,” He shrugged, coming completely into the room. He got close to the other until Sieun’s shoulder was poking his stomach. “Come eat.”
“Hold on.” Sieun kept looking down, trying to dedicate the last of it to memory so he wouldn’t have to start over when he came back to this. Sieun looked at him, eyes big and unblinking, “Start without me.”
Seongje’s stare weighed down on him, but it’s not like Sieun would look away. The one with glasses finally scoffed, his tongue rolling in his cheek before he shook his head a little. It was an expression Sieun was used to, an expression that normally meant Sieun was doing something (as Seongje liked to call it) testy. Sometimes it meant they were bordering on a fight, sometimes it meant Sieun was being a brat and sometimes it meant Seongje was going to manhandle him while they fucked. Sieun liked the last one best, but normally it was the second one. Seongje finally took a few steps back, breaking their stare, so Sieun looked back at his work.
“No,” He heard Seongje from behind him, the inflection of his tone definitely meant to mimic Sieun. Sieun didn’t pay it any mind until hands gripped the back of his chair, right behind his shoulders.
“What-” But Sieun didn’t get to finish is sentence before Seongje was dragging his desk chair— ‘Seongje, I dont need a chair with wheels’ ‘I’m pretty sure you do’ — out of his room. He gripped the armrest of the chair, raising his feet a little so they wouldn’t drag, his eyes wide with surprise. He could hear Seongje’s laughter behind him and it almost made him roll his eyes. Seongje didn’t stop until they were in the kitchen. He parked Sieun by the wall and walked in front of him, leaning down until they were nearly face to face.
Sieun had to admit he really missed his boyfriend the past two days. It wasn’t the longest they had been apart, but somehow this time made him feel lonelier than usual. Seongje might be annoying sometimes, and rude and a tease. But he was Sieun’s. He liked, no he loved Sieun. He let it show all the time, it was surprising to see such a tough man beaming with the love that was seemingly filling him to the brim. To Sieun it felt like the sun, and he had missed the sun. So he leaned in and kissed him, clearly catching Seongje by surprise but the other kissed back anyway. Seongje’s hand’s moved to his thighs to hold himself up and Sieun brushed his fingers across the others cheeks. They let the kiss be soft. It had been a long day and they had missed each other; there would be time for hard and passionate later. But right now, Sieun just wanted to feel it.
They broke apart slow.
“What’s for dinner?”