I woke up to my phone ringing. The bed was so comfortable that I did not even want to turn and look at the phone. The ringtone was loud though. And annoying. Even though it was once of our own songs that I had grown really fond of. That compelled me to turn and check it.
'Mom.'
"What time is it?" I squinted to check the time on the phone screen, barely able to open my eyes, before answering it. It was already 06:20 pm. "Yes, Mom." Had I really slept that long?
"Were you sleeping? You sound groggy." She immediately noted.
"Mm." I rolled onto my back and rubbed my left eye as the room's door opened and Changmin appeared in the doorway.
Wait. Wasn't he sleeping beside me?
I did a double-take, checking the left side of the bed only to find it empty. He must have woken up a while ago then. We had eaten so much for lunch that we had barely been able to move. Having forced ourselves to clean up a bit, we had headed straight to bed, cuddling up, sharing a few kisses and then falling asleep just like that- mostly because I was still feeling tired.
Changmin must have come in right now to check on hearing my phone ringing. The thought of that warmed my heart. He had not wanted me to get woken up. So, I offered him a smile and held up my hand to show that I was fully awake and mouthed soundlessly. "Mom." Then, my mother began speaking.
"You sleep at such odd hours, my son. Do you intend to stay up the whole night?" I could hear the exasperation in her voice.
I chuckled and turned towards the door, bundling up the sheets to hug. "Nah. I'm tired enough to fall asleep again. It's like my mind and body have finally caught up to the reality that I'm on a break. I usually have such a hard time sleeping."
"You'd better fix your schedule by the time you come home, you hear me?" She said.
"Okay~" I drawled and watched Changmin as he came in to sit at the edge of the bed with his own phone in hand. "What are you doing?"
"I was just attending to our garden. You'll be surprised to see how much has changed, Jeongwoo."
"Mm. I'm looking forward to it." I had already seen photos of it. "What about father?"
"He's gone for a bath. Just got back from a fishing trip with his friends who never seem to catch anything. He claims that they release everything that they catch but I don't believe him."
"Yeah. I wouldn't either." I laughed. Changmin too had placed a call and had begun talking by then. It sounded like his mother was on the other end. Both of us had not contacted our families after getting here even though we had told them that we would. He must have remembered when my mother called. "Sorry, Mom. I was planning on calling as soon as we settled in but I fell asleep right after eating."
"I thought as much. I did not want to call now because I had not wanted to wake you up but I will get busy with dinner after this so I decided to call."
"It's okay. It's a good thing that you called. I have slept more than long enough for an after-lunch-siesta." Nearly four hours, to be precise.
"That's good then. How about your Sunbae?"
"Looks like he's been awake for a while, He's here, talking on his phone." I replied.
"I see. It's been so long since we last met him. I had thought that you both had fallen out of touch because you had not talked about him for a while."
"Well, we had. Sort of. We had both gotten busy and tied up after debut but… we're back to how we used to be." And a little more but she cannot know that.
"I see. That's good. But tell me about the place you're staying at."
I went on to explain to her exactly what it was like. Promising to send her photos, we talked for a few minutes more. When my father came by, I quickly talked to him as well. Between us, he swore that he really had let go of the few fishes htat he ahd managed to catch. Promising to call again soon, I hung up. Changmin was still talking on the phone when I sat up and stretched after putting my phone away. And he was still talking when I used the washroom and came back.
Without disturbing him, I climbed onto bed and lay down again, this time right beside him. He was talking very casually so I presumed that he was talking to his sister.
Mm. Take your time…
A few seconds into closing my eyes, I felt movement. While continuing to talk, he had come to lie down on his stomach next to me, throwing an arm and a leg over me. I raised an eyebrow at him in question but he just smiled and placed a palm atop my head. It was moments like these, with those sweet gestures and endearing eyes, that got me a little embarrassed and made me revel in how much things had changed between the two of us.
I liked this.
I liked my Hyung like this.
I went back to closing my eyes.
He finished talking eventually and put his phone away, then settle in beside me. "Are you asleep again?"
"No." I shook my head and opened my eyes, turning my head to look at him. "They seemed to have a lot to say."
"I… had not quite talked to them in a while." He replied sheepishly. "We've only been texting."
I frowned. "That's not good."
"I know." He sighed. "But we're okay this way."
"Is that so? Let me tell you this now itself then, I won't ever be okay with something like that." I stated.
He laughed and raised himself a little to look down at me. "I know. I won't be okay with that either."
Good.
A few seconds of gazing into each other's eyes like that, I averted my eyes and spoke. "When did you wake up?"
"About an hour before you."
"You could have woken me up."
"I tried. You told me to go away."
… "I did what?" That surprised me. I couldn't remember anything of that sort.
"Yes." He pouted. "You told me to go away. That hurt, Jeongwoo-ya."
"N-No way." I looked away altogether when he pulled closer and inched his face towards mine. "I wouldn't say that." Right?
"You did though. And I'm hurt. Now, look here. Make up for it."
He smirked when I brought my eyes back to him. "I did not say that."
"Oh, you did. It's okay though." He dug a hand under my head and raised it enough to lean over and kiss me. "It's too late to ask me to go away now."
"Mm." I wanted to say something in return but he kissed me even before I could think about it. So, I settled for clutching his collar with my right hand, not really knowing where to place my left hand. This was us picking up where we had left off earlier, with that warm comfortable atmosphere that we had immersed ourselves in before falling asleep- they were sweet and delicate kisses. They made me feel cherished. "Hyung." I brought my arms up around his neck and smiled at him with all the warmth that I was feeling within when he stopped to listen to me. "I love you."
"Ah. Suddenly…" He dropped onto me fully and dug his face into my shoulder while embracing me tightly, as if hiding his embarrassment.
I laughed and patted his head. "You've already heard it so many times before. Don't get shy on me now."
He took a deep breath and rubbed his nose against the side of my neck before responding. "I love you too."
Ah. It really was better to hear it in person than over the phone.