love you later | yeonbin ✓

007

"Did you sleep at all?" Soobin asks when he sees Yeonjun the next morning.

It's quite possibly the first time Soobin has seen him look less composed, less put together. His black hair is all over the place, a little bit of eyeliner smudged in the corner of his eye. At least he is wearing different clothes, but Soobin knows that doesn't have to mean much.

"A little bit," Yeonjun answers, eyes lifting from his desk. The sunlight is streaming in from the right side of the room, painting his skin golden. "I wasn't really prepared for a surprise visit, so I had some stuff to sort out for the ritual."

Soobin just nods, taking in the items scattered across the desk. There is an old piece of parchment to one side, the antique scissors sitting in a nearly clear mixture in the middle of the desk.

"Why are you doing that?" Soobin asks from where he's leaning against the doorframe.

"What? The scissors?" Yeonjun asks, and when Soobin nods, he explains. "It's to remove all traces of magic, and all traces of other soulmate strings I've cut with them. I usually do this every time I finish a ritual so it shouldn't even be necessary, but better safe than sorry, right?"

"And what's that?" Soobin gestures to a different concoction sitting on the other side of the desk. It looked a little bit like tea, clear glass with something steeping in it.

"That's for me."

Soobin hums.

"Breakfast?"

Yeonjun's eyes flicker up from the table, and it might be the lack of sleep but he looks softer than Soobin has ever seen him look at him. It's almost enough to make his breath stutter. Almost.

"Sure."

Back in the kitchen, Soobin reaches for pans and pots as if he were in his own home. By now, he knows where Yeonjun keeps his cups, where he puts his bowls, knows his way around the food storage. The only thing that seems like an endless vault is Yeonjun's tea storage. There are at least fifty different types, and just when Soobin thinks he's seen them all, something new pops up. He could swear he had finished the fresh peppermint tea at least ten times by now, and yet, whenever he opens the tin, there's more of it.

It's spring now, but somehow the mornings are still cold, flowers of frost painted on the windows each morning, so Soobin decides to make something warm and hearty. As if on autopilot, he starts cooking; chops vegetables, puts rice on the stove, and adds the chicken stock. About an hour later, he stirs in some leftover chicken and pours the dakjuk into two bowls.

When he knocks on the door to study for the second time that day, Yeonjun has not moved an inch.

"Hey, do you wanna eat in the kitchen or here?"

"Here, please. I have too much to check, still."

Soobin frowns, heaviness weighing on his chest.

He doesn't like this one bit. By now, he knows better than trying to distract Yeonjun from his work. Yeonjun is meticulous, a bit of a perfectionist really, and he probably wouldn't rest until everything was prepared to the best of his abilities. So Soobin just complies, wrestles with the coffee machine for a minute, his nose wrinkling at the bitter smell wafting through the air. He dumps in some milk and a spoonful of sugar as he's seen Yeonjun do before, and walks back into the study, placing the food and coffee on the corner of Yeonjun's desk.

"Thank you," Yeonjun lifts his eyes from the piece of parchment in front of him, and beams at him.

His smile is so bright that it sends heat rushing to Soobin's cheeks. He clears his throat awkwardly, then says, "You're welcome. Anything else you want me to do?"