Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Out of all the times they spend together, Seungcheol adores Jeonghan the most when he's fast asleep. Not that he enjoys Jeonghan's company any less when he's awake, but a sleeping Jeonghan is always such a delight for him to watch. 

His face always is so peaceful, overtaken by deep slumber, usually illuminated by whatever dim light that has been cast upon the room. Mostly it's the moonlight, on nights when Seungcheol cannot fall asleep and is at peace while looking at Jeonghan's sleeping face beside him. Sharp, beautiful features highlighted beautifully, giving him an angelic aura. Seungcheol doesn't know how it's even possible, but Jeonghan is even more beautiful when he's asleep.

Then there's his hair. Long, luxurious locks that Seungcheol can spend years running his fingers through. There's always a stray strand wandering somewhere near his nose whenever Jeonghan's asleep. The tiny nose twitches and sleepy frowns are only way too amusing to watch. He always tucks away the strand behind Jeonghan's ear and leaves a tiny peck on his forehead before deciding to sleep.

That's when he remembers his favourite part about Jeonghan being asleep- his need for warmth.

His pale arms always searching for a comfortable place upon Seungcheol's torso; thin, delicate fingers curling around his night shirt as Jeonghan pulls him a little closer to himself for the sake of warmth and comfort. Sometimes Jeonghan would wake up, settle himself more comfortably against Seungcheol and then take his arms only to place them more protectively around himself before falling back asleep. This amuses Seungcheol to no end. 

And finally Jeonghan would bury his head into Seungcheol's neck, wiggling around just enough to make the other squirm away from the tickles before he'd settle down and smile a little into his neck. 
This is always followed by a "Seungcheol-ah, we've got work tomorrow. Go to sleep" and peck to his neck. 

Seungcheol only just smiles and kisses Jeonghan's forehead before pulling him closer and finally lets sleep take over him.

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Jeonghan isn't the type to cry. He does get sad but it's very rare for him to actually let his tears flow freely. He's always a cheery person, smiling and making everyone around him smile. But there are always those time when the stress hits you and you reach the bottom level and all you'd want to do is bawl your eyes out.

Jeonghan doesn't bawl though, he just slowly retreats himself to the background, makes himself unnoticeable, breaks away from the crowd and silently cries to himself in a dark, lonely room where he's sure no one knows he's crying.

But Seungcheol always knows. He knows when Jeonghan has hit the rock bottom and he knows what is to follow.

Seungcheol sees him when Jeonghan thinks he's invisible to the crowd. Seungcheol notices when Jeonghan slowly retreats from any social activity. His eyes always follow Jeonghan when he leaves the room to have a quiet moment to himself.

Seungcheol always waits a minute before leaving the room himself and following Jeonghan. He always gives himself a moment before he hears a soft sob and walks slowly into the room. 

Jeonghan always cries by sitting on the floor, head bowed low, tears not really escaping his eyes. Seungcheol always crouches down to his level and wraps him in his strong arms. He knows the tears will starts flowing anytime soon and he happily allows his shirt to get drenched whenever that happens.
Jeonghan always digs deeper into cheol's chest crying all his frustration out, his long fingers tightly clenching into cheol's shirt. Sometimes it's bad enough to cause a tear to the shirt but Seungcheol never really minds.

When Jeonghan's hands loosen its grip on him, Cheol knows that it's okay to break the silence now. He softly starts stroking jeonghan's hair.

"Goddamnit I always forget to carry an umbrella when you rain all over me. Would you look at my shirt..oh boy I need to dry myself off..", he lightly teases.

It is always followed by a watery giggle and quiet "Shut up", before Jeonghan looks up and gives him a small smile. A small thank you for all the times Seungcheol has held Jeonghan whenever he cried.
 
Seungcheol always replies with a bigger smile and wipes off the tear stains from Jeonghan's face. 

It always ends up in wide smiles and Jeonghan's need for extra hugs. And if Cheol sneaks in a couple of kisses, it's just an added bonus, isn't it?

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There are always those people who look like they were born just to hug and spread love, Seungcheol muses on a particularly boring afternoon.

Like Soonyoung: Soonyoung gave the warmest of hugs, whenever they were needed. In the mornings; you could find Soonyoung curled up next to you like a kitten, sharing his warmth. Or he'd cuddle up to you while lazing on the couch, his arms firmly around your stomach, head nuzzling into the crook of your neck. Even after a particularly sweaty and tiring practice session, Soonyoung's hugs were most sought after.

Mingyu, too, gave really warm hugs. His height was just an added benefit when he'd slip his arms underneath yours and lift you real high, making you squeal happily. Or he'd give unexpected back hugs, arms wrapped around your shoulders, chin resting on the top of your head. Mingyu was definitely made to make people smile.

Wonwoo, as cold as he might look, surprisngly gave really adorable hugs. His forever sweater paws curled into tiny fists as his arms tightly wrapped around your waist in a bone-crushing hug. Wonwoo was still a child at heart, seeking all the warmth he could out of the others.

Then there were those types that were meant to be hugged, even if they didn't like it - It was personally Seungcheol's favourite type.

Like Chan. The team's Maknae was the perfect little squishy who was meant to be hugged and get happiness from. Chan also liked hugs. He'd just squish his little face into your chest, letting you take control of the hug and hug the life out of him.

Jihoon, on the other hand, hated hugs. But the tiny guy was the perfect person to hug when you're overwhelmed and just need to calm down. Jihoon would just stand there without moving, startled as you'd wrap your arms around him and rest your head atop his, before you feel a delicate hand softly pat your back.

Seungkwan, with all his chubbiness, was a really great person to hug. He was like your personal little teddy bear, although he was the type that had those inbuilt voice machines and made really loud annoying noises when hugged. He was still fluffy and always ready to share a warm hug with you.

 Minghao was the best choice when you just needed to hug someone for no reason whatsoever. The ever-so-clueless kid only felt more lost when you'd hug him randomly, stunned for a minute before excitedly reciprocating the hug, putting all his love into it. He'd sometimes even put in tiny words of encouragement, his accent making him sound even more adorable than he already is.

And then there were the awkward types. The gangly, skinny ones, who'd either be awkward huggers to start with or their skinny long arms made hugs super awkward, even if they loved hugging.

Like Seokmin. If anyone loved to give out plenty of hugs, it was Seokmin. He'd be the type to give bone- crushing hugs out of nowhere just because he is happy and he wants you to be happy. But then he'd accidentally elbow you in the waist, or your head would be rested awkwardly against his prominent collarbones, making the hug awkward.

Junhui was a great option if you just wanted to straddle someone or some sexy shit like that. That guy legit oozes sexiness and is dripping with greasiness 24/7. But the cute stuff didn't suit him very well: He'd stoop way too low while hugging and lean his entire tall self on you before you'd both fall into a weird awkward heap on the floor.

Hansol was easily the most awkward person no matter what. Not only would he not hug you back; but he'd also go completely silent, lips sealed tight as he'd try his best to wiggle out of the hug. It was like he had developed a sixth sense to detect oncoming hugs and hide away from them.

Jisoo wasn't particularly an awkward hugger. He was such an adorable person that you'd just want to pat his head and give him hugs and make sure he's warm and safe. But Jisoo was also very shy and he'd get super flustered when he was hugged. He'd flail and hit you with his very long arms before turning into a blushing mess and start apologizing over and over again.


And then there was Jeonghan - Seungcheol really didn't know what category to place Jeonghan under. He guesses he could say that Jeonghan was an awkward hugger - he wasn't exactly the best person to hug with his long limbs and skinny built. But he wasn't as bad as Hansol or even Seokmin, either. He wasn't the one you'd sought after to give a hug, but he wasn't really as bad as Jihoon when it came to receiving hugs. Seungcheol could again say that Jeonghan's hugs were pretty warm, but he wasn't Soonyoung - always bustling with warmth and happiness.

After giving it a long thought, Seungcheol decides that Jeonghan deserved a special category of his own: The one that turned into any of the types according to Seungcheol's own needs and wants.

Jeonghan, who you wouldn't readily want to hug, yet Seungcheol would walk straight towards him and gather the former in his strong arms after a long day. Jeonghan; who'd seek out all the warmth from Seungcheol on a cold night as they huddled under a shared duvet, legs tangled into each other's. Jeonghan, who'd also turn into a flailing blushing mess when Seungcheol would hug him during fansigns or in front of his members. Jeonghan; who'd still run into Seungcheol's arms at any given time and rest his head on the elder's chest, carefully listening to other's heartbeat, humming to the rhythm of the other's raising and falling chest.

There are always people who were born just to hug, be hugged or left alone; Seungcheol muses. But Jeonghan, he guesses, was only meant to belong in Seungcheol's arms.

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Jeonghan recorded his day in colours.

Most started with grey; rain pouring down through his literal-sad-cloud,   drenching him in stress and anxiety as his day passed by. He woke up in his grey sheets, looking up at a grey wall, staring into a grey mirror as he brushed his off-white teeth.

His first meal of the day was always a soothing earthen-brown colour - Breakfasts made him ready for the rest of the day. Milk being added into the brown coffee, the toaster's 'ting' signalling a freshly-made brown toast, him sitting on his wooden brown chair as he finally let go of the final shreds of his grey sleep.

Sometimes his days started yellow. The sun shining down on his front porch, seeping through his sad cloud. Yellow footsteps skipping the last step out of his door, yellow roses with dew drops in the neighbour's  garden and the slightly yellow-toothed smile of his neighbour, Seokmin.

Afternoons at work were green. Sickening sweat dropping down his back as he cleared the last file thrusted upon him by his boss. Green salad was his usual lunch, time spent looking up at the green board, bottle green leather chair of his boss spinning after him as he left the office.

The evenings were a blue. Walking back from the train station to his house, the sky would turn into a dark shade of blue as the strange and unexplained feeling of nostalgia hit him. Blue couple hand-gloves holding onto each other, blue-white smiles of the couples as he walked down the blue but almost grey pathway.

The nights were when Jeonghan thought about himself. He was a black: Stubborn and opaque and a necessity in the spectrum but never really getting recognised for it.

And if Jeonghan were Black, Seungcheol was his White.
Opening the white door to their shared house, walking into pale white arms of Seungcheol. White smiles, pale fingers playing with the rare whites in his long hair, white quilt covering their tangled legs, face buried into Seungcheol's white shirt.

The next day might start grey again. But as long as it ended in white, Jeonghan was content with his day.

Chapter Text

Their tattoo stories date back to early university days - Young blood, wild spirits all ready to experience every little thing possible. All ready to face their firsts, seconds or forevers.

Seungcheol got his very first tattoo two months into the uni, six months before he first met Jeonghan, three months before Jeonghan got his first tattoo. Seungcheol did it for the heck of it, Jeonghan had planned a journey for the same.

They first met on a very hot evening in the middle of April at Jisoo's first ever gig at the local café, Seungcheol's arm adorning a bold Black Rose while Jeonghan's left wrist had a delicate "1004" embedded into it.

They got their second tattoo at around the same time - three weeks after meeting each other, two days after a particularly heated discussion about tattoos and two months before they fell in love.

Their first kiss happened in August outside the same café they'd first met at, in the middle of the afternoon with the cold autumn shedding its dead leaves on their heads. Seungcheol fingers caressing the new tattoo behind Jeonghan's ear, making the other shudder. Jeonghan's own hands trying to feel Seungcheol's back tattoo through the two layers of clothing.

Two months into the relationship and five tattoos later, both decided to spend the rest of their tattoo journey together. The deal was sealed with a heart line-art being tattooed where their fourth fingers met their knuckles.

On Jeonghan's 21st birthday, Seungcheol gifted him a Black Rose tattoo similar to his first one after revealing the small "1004" tucked into the wing of the old paper aeroplane tattoo on his wrist.

On Seungcheol's 22nd birthday, a month before graduating, they made love. Jeonghan's hands flitting through the constellations scattered on Seungcheol's collarbones, Seungcheol pressing a kiss to every single mark inked onto Jeonghan's body.

They graduated in September:  Jeonghan's tattoo sleeve ending up at his neck, peeking through the collar of his shirt. Seungcheol trying very hard to cover his knuckle and finger tattoos and failing miserably.

They promised they'd stop their journey there, giving up passion for a "respectable" work life. They swore that they will strictly keep the promise. Two years later, they both broke it on the same day.

They got married in June, two years after graduating and one day before resuming their journey they thought they'd never continue again. Old tattoos still adorned both their bodies; tips of it still peeking through Jeonghan's shirt's collar, Seungcheol's knuckles just as uncovered as they were two years ago.

The very next day;both of them stood in front of the tattoo parlour, fingers intertwined, trying to soothe the soreness after having their heart line-arts coloured in. Both hearts later being tucked under the silver engagement rings forever.

Three years later, their journey has slowed down tremendously. A four year old Minghao curiously eyes his fathers' arms before looking down to his own bare arms. It has been one year since he'd met his Jeong-Appa and Daddy-Cheol and he still hasn't gotten his pretty mark yet.

"Appa". Jeonghan hums, acknowledging his son. "When am I going to get a pretty mark like you and daddy?" Jeonghan lets out a laugh at the innocent question, looking up to a very amused Seungcheol.

"Let me tell you a story, bunny." Minghao's eyes light up, head snuggling into Jeonghan's side, his tiny hand holding onto Jeonghan's finger which has his name inked onto it.

"What is it about, Appa?"

Jeonghan's eyes lock with Seungcheol's and with his nod, it's decided. Jeonghan's eyes twinkle as he answers the question.

"It's about Appa and Daddy's wonderful and adventurous journey till today."

And with that, after ten long years and almost a hundred of tattoos later, their journey has finally ended.