changer ❧ j.sc | ✔

book two ❧ [v]

"You know, I thought all I'd feel was relief when you and Sungchan finally got together, but instead I'm plagued by near constant nausea."

You stopped in your tracks in the hallway. You'd been trying to quietly pee then hurry back into Sungchan's room the next morning, but instead, you spun around to face Shotaro, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

He was standing in front of his door at the opposite end of the hall, arms crossed over his chest.

"Maybe go see a witch about that. It sounds serious," you wrinkled your nose teasingly. Thankfully you'd had the wherewithal to pull on a pair of sleep shorts you had stashed in Sungchan's drawers before leaving his room that morning.

"Yeah, that and my recently developed insomnia, too," he scoffed. "Three in the morning, Y/N. Some people like to sleep, you know."

Your skin burned as you started shuffling backwards towards Sungchan's room. "Sorry! Bye!"

You slammed the door behind you, startling Sungchan awake.

"Huh?" He blinked sleepily, lifting his head to look around.

You launched yourself back into bed, burying your face in the pillow in shame.

"Woah, Y/N, you okay?" Sungchan's voice was thick and deep this early in the morning, but you couldn't even focus on that. He rubbed your back soothingly as you shook your head.

You turned your head just enough to clear your mouth to speak. "We should've gone to my place... No roommate..."

"Oh, Shotaro giving you a hard time?"

"'Three in the morning, Y/N. Some people like to sleep.'" You did your best Shotaro impression. "I don't think it was enough kelp rolls."

"Ah, I'm-I'm sorry, baby." Sungchan kept rubbing your back, but you could hear that he was holding back laughter.

You rolled onto your back, shooting him a glare before staring up at the ceiling. "Why do I always let you talk me into staying at your place?"

"Because you love me," he replied in a sing-song voice, pressing a lingering kiss to your cheekbone, near your hairline.

"Yeah, but I mean, why do we always end up at your apartment, Sung? Why do you never want to come over to mine?"

The teasing dropped from his tone as he straightened up slightly. "It's not like that, Y/N. I like spending time with you, no matter where we are. We could be in the cold vacuum of space, and I'd be fine with it as long as we were hanging out. And, in space suits so we didn't die, you know. But, it's just... I don't know, I like having you here. In my space. It feels like everything's right in the universe, like I know everything will be okay, that you're going to be okay. As stupid as that sounds—"

"No, Sung, it's not stupid." You shifted to face him, brushing some hair back from his face. The same anxiety that you'd seen the night before was painted across his features again, and you didn't like that you were seeing it more and more often. His sentiments weren't stupid, they were loving, but the root of them concerned you. Was he constantly plagued by worries of something bad happening to you?

"Not at all..." You reiterated softly, running your thumb over the crease between his brows. "Sung? Baby?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you have class today but... can I stay here? While you're on campus? Then we can do something together when you get back. We can go downtown or something."