cute

• forty-four •

There was a persistent buzz that seemed to echo around the room. Namjoon had been trying to ignore it for the past two minutes but he could no longer live with it. Carefully, the man sat up without disturbing Jin who had been loosely snuggled into him. Looking at his phone on the bed-side table, he flipped it over so the screen could blind him with the brightness.

It was six in the morning and he was getting a call from his boss.

With a deep sigh, Namjoon crept out of bed and went into the hallway, finally answering the call.

He had to hold back another deep sigh as his boss asked him where some deliveries had been placed. If he didn't like his job so much, and maybe even his forgetful boss, he may have cussed at the man for waking him up – and on one of his days off too. But nonetheless, he informed his boss of where the new deliveries had been put and held himself back as his boss tried to make some small talk.

"Um, sorry but-"

Just as Namjoon was about to make up an excuse for why he needed to hang up, there was a cry shortly followed with 'Joonie', from the bedroom. Namjoon said nothing but a 'need to go' before hanging up on his boss and rushing back into the room.

"Clowns," Jin sobbed out, sitting up on the bed and pushing himself back against the headboard. His eyes watched the ground carefully, waiting for one of the monsters to reveal themselves from under the mattress or from inside the closet.

Namjoon flicked on the lights and quickly went to the boy, wrapping his arms protectively around his sobbing boyfriend.

"There's no clowns here," Namjoon reassured, rubbing soothing circles into the small of Jin's back.

"I saw them," Jin's clutch on Namjoon's shirt tightened as a thud sounded outside.

"Do you want me to check?" Namjoon asked, pulling Jin back so he could wipe away the boy's tears and look into those still wide eyes. Getting a nod and 'please', Namjoon got up from the bed and first walked to the closet. He pulled the door wide open so Jin could clearly see as he walked in, did a thorough check in the corners and on the top shelves before confidently saying there was nothing. He then went to the bed, crouching down on the floor and looking underneath using the flashlight of his phone.

"Nothing there either," Namjoon stated as he stood back up.

"Outside?" Jin asked, still on edge from the thud he'd heard earlier.

Walking to the window and drawing back the curtain, the two were met with nothing but a view of their dead street and a cat running across the road.

"Oh," Jin wiped at his eyes and sniffled, ". . . just a dream?"

"Uh huh," Namjoon closed the curtain, flicked on a lamp on the bedside table and then went and flicked off the lights. He dropped back into bed, sitting down next to Jin who was fixing up the pillows he'd pushed his body against.

"I don't like those dreams," Jin mumbled, a pout over his plump lips, "where were you?"

Namjoon pushed the boy's hair out of his face, "my boss called me."

All of Jin's worry about clowns and distaste for bad dreams was completely forgotten with that answer.

"Dada! You're meant to be taking a break," Jin softly hit the boy's chest with a disapproving shake of his head.

Namjoon caught the boy's hand and brought it up to his lips, "I know, I know, but it was just one question."

"Just one?" Jin stuck up one of his eyebrows, sticking his lips out a little. Namjoon lightly laughed at the sight and nodded his head.

Satisfied with the answer, Jin crawled into Namjoon's arms, practically falling limp against him. He rested his head against the man's chest, faintly listening to the soft drum of his heart.

"I love you dada," Jin whispered, fingers fiddling with the others pyjama buttons.

"I love you too bubba," Namjoon pressed a kiss to the boy's hair, laying them down into a more comfortable position.

"How much?"

"A million times."

"A billion?"

"A zillion."

A giggle came from Jin as he snuggled further into Namjoon's chest, hiding his goofy smile from the cheesy words. They'd been saying it for years now and Jin still got butterflies in his tummy and that little smile came over his lips.

"I love you a zillion times too," Jin lifted his head and looked at Namjoon who's dimples were sunken in from his own smile. He wrapped his arms around Jin and held the boy close to him.

He was happy, just like this. The two of them really just doing nothing without that work stress lingering at the backs of their minds. To have the love of his life in his arms, Namjoon was content with this.

"I want to be with you forever," Namjoon confessed, unsure of why he'd even admitted such a thing out loud. It wasn't that he was worried of Jin's reaction, but it was rather that he didn't often speak the thoughts that hung deep in his mind.

Jin however, was taken back that Namjoon had said that. He slipped out of little space as he registered those words in his head and how they made him feel all giddy inside. He rolled over so he was straddling Namjoon's waist, hands resting on the man's pecs.

"Is that a proposal?" Jin teased, expecting nothing in return from it.

Instead, he got Namjoon thinking.

"I don't know, do you want to get married?"