Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 14

Following their heart-to-heart, neither Donghyuck or Jaehyun had wanted to leave the other's sight--Donghyuck, for fear that Jaehyun would change his mind about everything in his absence; Jaehyun, simply because he had missed his brother that much, and didn't want to waste any more time. He had still half-expected the other shoe to drop all evening, for Donghyuck to turn around and laugh, telling him it had all just been another cruel joke, but the younger boy had simply curled up in Jaehyun's bed and fallen asleep, hard-spent tears still coating his cheeks.

Not wanting to kick him out, yet understandably still a little wary of the boy after everything that had happened between them, Jaehyun had retrieved a spare pillow and blanket from the closet in the hall, just outside his room, making sure he didn't lose sight of Donghyuck for even a single second. He slept on the floor, which was carpeted but would still likely leave him with an aching spine in the morning. He had briefly considered climbing in beside Donghyuck--he wanted to wrap him up in his arms and never let him go again, now that he finally had him back--but he'd contented himself with watching the gentle rise and fall of Donghyuck's chest as he also succumbed to sleep.

Jaehyun was still willing to take a bullet for this kid, he thought, as his eyelids fluttered shut. He had been ever since he was old enough to understand what the words love and sacrifice meant. Despite everything they had been through, and despite all the harsh words and pain that had been slung his way over the years, his feelings had never truly changed. He'd just learnt to hide them away, under a facade of ice, one that he wasn't sure he knew what he was without anymore. He just hoped that the younger boy had really changed, and that he would stay true to his promise to do better from now on.

This was what Jaehyun had wanted more than anything. He was still worried about Donghyuck seeing the kind of man he'd become as a result of their rift, afraid of him finding out how much Jaehyun had changed to suit the person his brother had wanted him to become, but that was a worry for another time. For now, Jaehyun allowed himself to drift into unconsciousness, his body instinctively angled so that Donghyuck's face would be the first thing he saw when he woke.

--

Waking up the next morning felt a lot like a dream, as Donghyuck slowly returned to awareness. The air around him was still and warm, without even a hint of a breeze from an open window, and very little light filtered in from outside. He wasn't in his own bedroom, that he knew instantly, but he didn't experience the usual moment of confusion with which he started each day. Today, he woke with full understanding of where he was and, as he rolled over and immediately met Jaehyun's eye, the full weight of his actions from yesterday pressed down on him like an anchor.

"Morning, hyung," he whispered into the silence. Jaehyun smiled up at him sleepily, before letting out a groan of discomfort as he attempted to stretch and every joint in his body cracked audibly. Donghyuck winced in sympathy as Jaehyun pushed himself up into a sitting position and reached a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

"Morning, Hyuckie," Jaehyun said quickly, before grimacing. Flinging his legs off Jaehyun's bed, Donghyuck padded over to the older man quickly and crouched down next to him, eyeing the awkward angle of Jaehyun's arm as he tried futilely to reach a spot in the middle of his back. "Ouch."

"Sore?" he asked and Jaehyun started to nod, before giving up with another wince. "Why did you sleep on the floor, hyung? I could have gone back to my room, or we could have shared the bed." Jaehyun shrugged, which only seemed to hurt him more, so Donghyuck pushed the flailing arm away and knelt up to replace it with both his hands, firmly massaging his brother's back and shoulders in the way that he knew his Jaehyun always loved. After a few seconds, the deep moan of relief that resounded through his hyung's entire body made it clear that this Jaehyun was no less of a fan of his 'magic hands', so he continued. Using every technique he'd learned through years of practising on his members, he began to tease out each knot from the large, taut muscles beneath his fingers.