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͙⁺˚*･༓☾
this time, sunoo wasn't in shock to hear sunghoon speak out loud. instead, he was in shock from the words sunghoon had said.
"i'm scared to go home."
sunoo wasn't too sure what to do. part of him felt it wasn't his place to ask why and let him answer. however, part of him wanted to just tuck the boy into a blanket and reassure him that everything would be alright.
sunghoon took notice of sunoo's quiet stance, assuming the shorter boy probably didn't know how to respond.
sunghoon was about to turn around and simply leave, but a hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him from doing so.
"then don't."
sunghoon raised an eyebrow.
sunoo realized he was squeezing sunghoon's wrist, so he gently let go. "i mean, don't go home. i-it's just me here, like, all the time. so, you can stay here if you want."
though he was stammering through it, sunoo was able to get out what he wanted to say, hoping the latter wouldn't find it weird. but sunghoon didn't. surprisingly, he kind of hoped sunoo would say something like that. he still didn't know him well, but he already knew he loved sunoo's home so much better than his own.
not knowing what to say, sunghoon slightly nodded, his tear-stained face glistening under the pale ceiling lights.
sunoo cracked a small smile before leading sunghoon over to his bedroom. the moment sunghoon stepped in, it smelled like sunoo. well, obviously it smelled like him since it was his room. but, to sunghoon, sunoo had a distinct smell. everyone does. to sunghoon, sunoo smelled like citrus and...comfort. was it possible for a person to smell like comfort? sunghoon wasn't sure. he couldn't even describe what comfort smelled like. but all he knew was sunoo was that.
"sorry, it's messy in here," sunoo awkwardly stated once he noticed sunghoon standing in the doorway silently.
sunghoon shook his thoughts free before shaking his head. it's fine.
sunoo reached into his dresser, digging for pajama type clothing. "you know," he began, eyes focused on searching for clothing, "i've heard you speak at least twice now. i like the sound of your voice. you should use it more often."
sunghoon desperately tried to fight off a blush that aimed to tint his cheeks. nobody had ever said that to him before. nobody had ever complimented his voice, let alone wanted him to talk. all talking ever did was get him into trouble.
sunoo turned around, a pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt in hand. he chucked them over to sunghoon, who caught them by reflex.
"feel free to change, my bathroom is through this door," sunoo kindly said, pointing to the door on his right.
sunghoon quietly nodded and obliged, walking into the bathroom to change. the boy was slightly taller than sunoo, but sunoo's clothes fit him perfectly. he snuck a glance at the clothings tag and realized sunoo had bought his clothes in an extra large. sunghoon didn't know why, since sunoo was much more on the petite side. nevertheless, he shrugged it off and exited the room, sunoo already changed and sat on the foot of his bed.
sunoo quickly stood up and gave a small smile. "do you want anything to drink?"
sunghoon suddenly felt like a burden. here was a boy sunghoon had shrugged off rudely since day one, offering him a place to stay after he let him cry like a baby on his shoulder and borrow his clothes. now he's offering him a drink, too. it was already more than anybody in sunghoon's family had ever done for him in a long, long time.
sunoo noticed the change in the atmosphere. sunghoon's eyes were glued to his feet, an expression all too readable painted his face.
sunoo sighed verbally, walking over to the taller. he boldly placed two fingers under sunghoon's chin, lifting it up to his own eye level. sunghoon now glued his eyes to sunoo in shock at the sudden move.
"it's a lot easier to say how you're feeling rather than keep it all bottled in, you know," sunoo explained. "it helps me, that's for sure. i'll listen to you if you have anything to say."
sunghoon was quiet for a moment. "why are you being so nice to me?"
sunoo's heart skipped a beat from the sound of sunghoon's voice. it was like music to his ears. "what's wrong with being nice?" sunoo asked.
sunghoon bit his lip, hoping it would help control the tears that threatened to well his eyes again. "i don't deserve it."
sunoo could feel the hurt and pain in his voice. it was much different than listening to sunghoon's previous disembodied one. either way, sunoo placed a comforting hand on sunghoon's shoulder. "look, i'm not sure what picture you've painted of yourself, but i do know that you deserve all the kindness in the world."
sunghoon desperately tried to look for a hint of taunt or tease in sunoo's words, but he couldn't. sunoo was genuine. he was always genuine. maybe that's why sunghoon did what he did next.
a pair of arms found themselves around sunoo's neck once again as sunoo's head found the same warm chest as before. sunoo didn't hesitate to accept the hug. he knew it was sunghoon's way of saying thank you. he could feel it.
it's funny how connected sunoo felt to sunghoon, a random student from his school he barely knew. it was almost as if they were soulmates, just waiting to find each other within their own fucked up world.
"want to go to sleep? we have school in the morning," sunoo whispered, still hugging the boy.
sunghoon breathily chuckled before releasing his embrace. he cracked the smallest of smiles and nodded.
fortunately, sunoo's couch had a bunch of pillows and blankets on it already from when his mom would get home late from work and simply crash on the couch. it was hard not to miss, and sunoo was sure sunghoon had seen it on his way in. so, sunoo smiled in return before trudging over to his own bed and climbing underneath the sheets.
sunghoon made his way to the entrance of sunoo's room and hit the light switch, darkening the bedroom. sunoo could hear the quiet footsteps of sunghoon from behind him, but he had thought they were going into the living room. instead, a body lifted the covers and slipped itself into the empty space beside him.
sunoo froze up a bit, his body faced the complete opposite way of the one next to him. although he couldn't see it, he knew sunghoon was the one next to him. sunoo wasn't upset, but he was really confused, for he would not have expected sunghoon to go to sleep with him in his bed.
before he could get another thought out, a light snore sounded from beside sunoo. the boy carefully turned over and with his eyes finally adjusted, saw the outline of a peacefully sleeping park sunghoon beside him. sunoo couldn't believe someone could fall asleep so fast. it made his heart churn a bit at the thought of the fact that maybe sunghoon didn't get very good sleep a lot of the time. he did say he was scared to go home, so that must mean sleeping isn't very easy for him, right?
sunoo sighed heavily, admiring the sleeping boy a little longer. all of a sudden, sunghoon turned over in his sleep, his left arm flopping over sunoo's tummy and his head sinking into the crook of sunoo's neck. he let out a deep breath before resuming his little snores.
sunoo stiffened a bit at first, but soon relaxed into the embrace. he was never one to say no to cuddles. plus, sunghoon was warm. sunoo smiled before closing his eyes.
