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instead of going back to his room, Jin falls asleep on the kitchen floor. it's not intentional; he sits down to rest his aching legs, and wakes up with cold seeping into the backs of his thighs and a terrible pain in his neck. the kitchen is silent and pitch dark, almost too dark to navigate using only the last dying embers of the oven and the faintest glimmer of moonlight.
the first candle he lights illuminates the new clutter crammed onto every surface of the kitchen; preparations for the feast tonight, half-arranged dishes shoved into the cool pantry around the cake that towers half as tall as Jin himself. his apron is still tied around his waist, soiled with flour and chocolate and uncomfortably cold from the water he'd inevitably dripped as he scrubbed dishes clean.
for a long, sore moment, Jin wants nothing more than to crawl back to his bedroom and curl underneath his blanket until he's dragged awake to serve at the wedding. it would be easier than keeping himself upright, palms braced on the counter to stop himself from swaying with exhaustion.
the decision is made for him when the door creaks open.
Namjoon looks almost as tired as Jin feels. Jin hasn't had time to light the lower fire, so the single candle casts the shadows under Namjoon's eyes into bizarre exaggeration. his shoulders are slumped, his head drooping low as he pads quietly over to the corner Jin has begun to think of as theirs.
"are you okay?" Namjoon asks, when he gets close enough to really see through the darkness. despite the sleepy slant of them, his eyes are sharp, his gaze pointed. Jin sags a little, glances down to see how rumpled he really looks.
"yeah," he replies, after a long moment's delay. "i just-fell asleep."
"in here?" Namjoon's voice is pretty when he's worried. it's a testament to how tired Jin is that he doesn't shy away from the thought. it takes a full shape in his head, settling down firmly like a soft, comfortable ball of dough. "you look dead."
"i'm flattered," Jin mumbles.
"you need to rest." Namjoon's hands are warm against Jin's back, his collarbone. he doesn't really want to move, even as his eyes drop shut, lids so heavy that keeping them open hurts. "Jin-ah."
"i like that."
there's a soft noise of confusion, from just to Jin's right.
"when you call me that," he clarifies. something in him is screaming that it's a bad idea, that he's given too much away. Namjoon pauses, just enough that Jin notices, and leans forward so that his forehead almost touches Jin's.
"i'm glad," Namjoon says quietly. "i think you should sleep, Jin-ah."
"but your breakfast-"
"isn't important," Namjoon inserts. "not if it's at the cost of your well-being."
"oh." the counter is cool under Jin's palms. the sharp pain in his neck has only started to ebb, and probably won't fade for a long few days. Jin is stripped down to raw sensation, to temperature and touch and the barest taste of chocolate hanging in the air. "i'm sorry."
