kangmin fluff & hurt/comfort

you ease my pain

Lifting the white cotton blanket and trying to be as gentle and careful as possible, for he did not wish to wake the person up, Kangmin quietly climbed onto the soft mattress and inside the thick cover, sighing in content as the warmth of the bed encompassed and surrounded his shivering body. With the calmly relaxing pitter-patter of the descending raindrops in the background, now seeming far away from the fogged up window of their bedroom, he cuddled closer into Hoyoung's cosy embrace and wrapped his thin arms around him, his small face snuggled into the crook of his neck. Feeling drowsier and drowsier, his puffy eyes fell shut and Kangmin slowly drifted off into a fitful sleep beside Hoyoung, his breathing becoming even as time wore on.

About an hour later, his tired eyes fluttered open again, and he willed himself to go back into sleep, disliking how he felt sleepy but could not fall asleep. Only half-awake, his mind went off into tangents of what had happened during the day before, concentrating especially on that one particular thing. The thought disturbed him but, try as he did, he could not shake it out of his head — the pitiful result of drifting between both consciousness and unconsciousness. The unpleasant scene just played itself over and over without stopping like a broken radio.

Instead, Hoyoung woke up to a quietly sobbing Kangmin on his chest, his head bobbing up and down in accordance with his inconsistent breathing. Immediately worried for the younger, Hoyoung swiftly put his arms protectively around Kangmin and held him tight, a million reasons forming in his mind of why he was crying. It hurt Hoyoung to the core to see the beloved maknae having a hard time like this, but he knew the best thing to do was to figure out what the problem was and help Kangmin overcome it.

After a few minutes of him rubbing the younger's shoulder in an attempt to soothe and comfort him, he whispered quietly, concern lacing every word, "Kangmin-ah, what's wrong? Do you want to tell me about it?" No response; only the same sniffling and whimpering as before. "It's fine if you don't feel comfortable talking about it now. We can always talk in the morning, after all."

Kangmin felt himself lean towards the option Hoyoung offered, but he was also aware that it was better not to keep everything inside and let it build up over time, as he once did before, so he just buried his face deeper into Hoyoung's warm hug and shook his head slightly. "No, hyung. I can tell you, it's just-," his voice wavered, barely audible even to himself. He sighed in exasperation. Hoyoung patted his head gently, waiting for him to continue patiently, making sure not to rush him in any way. After taking a long and deep breath, Kangmin finally began his story, all the way from the beginning.