Work Text:
The moment the clock ticks to seven, he’s out of the bed and in the bathroom, going through the human routine of toilet, shower, sink. The sink includes multiple tasks depending on the end goal, which on the morning of a work day, means a towel over his head while brushing and flossing his teeth, followed by the hairdryer plugged into the socket right below the hanging cabinets.
By the quarter hour, he’s back in the bedroom, slipping his tie into a Windsor knot and buttoning his sleeves. After dressing in work attire, the step that comes after takes him to the vanity to style his hair into a professional look favored by many men, but this morning, a variable interrupts the routine that Lee Jaheon has followed for years.
A human morning routine shares commonalities in terms of self-management, but depending on the individual’s living circumstances or relationship status, a morning routine may include a different individual entirely. In Lee Jaheon’s case, he has a boyfriend who occasionally stays the night.
Choi rises from the bed, stretching and yawning. The morning sunlight brightens his face, dipping into the divots of his collarbone and thinning out on his thighs. Lee Jaheon realizes that the opened curtains, which let the sun in, must have awoken the sensitive agent.
“Y’re awake already?” He mutters through a yawn, forcing his eyes open through the light to gaze up at Lee Jaheon. Tilting his head up ever so slightly causes him to wince, fingers coming up to press at dark bruises beneath his jaw. “Thought you’d be asleep a lil’ longer, after last night…”
“It is seven twenty one am,” Lee Jaheon explains. “My stamina was not excessively drained due to intercourse. I am fit to go to work.”
Choi sighs, “I should’ve asked to do it again…”
Lee Jaheon, “?”
“Are you coming home for dinner tonight?” Choi blinks up at him with wide eyes, a motion that Lee Jaheon has come to understand as exaggerated hope displayed to convince him of doing something.
“It is unlikely.”
“You have a night shift?” Choi looks slightly dismayed, but it quickly leaves his face. “Ah, well, why don’t I pack some dinner for you?”
“I’ll just fix up the leftovers, so it’ll be quick~ Better than buying takeout in the middle of the night, yeah?”
Lee Jaheon considers it. Having a packed meal would save time, as the difficulty of purchasing food varies in certain hours of the evening, depending on the date and schedules of other humans who purchase food. The three times he tried, he found himself unable to find a restaurant that wasn’t crowded or returned to the office later than he should have been.
The human body he bore was modified to be the closest thing to non-human without stepping out of the boundary, having the ability to use ‘our’ unique strength without damaging the muscles or organs, as well as having the highest level of health possible in any human. A meal missed for every night shift wouldn’t harm him. Still, it would be best to avoid it when possible.
“Yes.” Lee Jaheon agrees. “I will wait.”
Choi clambers out of bed, rubbing his lower back as he did. When he gets to his feet, he steps close to reach for Lee Jaheon’s hair. He bends down to meet him. A hand brushes through the unstyled strands as Choi stands on his toes to kiss the crown of his head.
“Good morning, Jaheon-ie,” Choi hums into his hair. “Let’s have a good day today.”
“Hm? You’re not ordering with us?”
Eun Haje looks over at his packed lunch, eyebrows rising. “Looks like the wifey woke up in your house for once.”
Lee Jaheon ignores the inaccurate term that Eun Haje often used. Choi was neither a woman nor his spouse, but Lee Jaheon has grown to tolerate the wording after Eun Haje explained some couples referred to each other as spouses regardless of marital status, especially when they were long-term. In that, he could pass over Choi being called his “wifey”.
“Yes.”
Lee Jaheon begins unpacking the lunchbox. As Choi had promised, most of the packed food was leftovers from dinner the previous night. Fried rice, spam, kimchi. The rest were two fried eggs that have long since gone cold on top of the rice, a handful of biscuit snacks shoved into the lunch bag, and an opaque plastic wrap containing a singular piece of honey butter toast.
Though the meal was simple and clearly hastily put together, Park Minseong still eyed it enviously. “Homemade food is the best,” he mutters. “…I’m really sick of McRonald’s.”
“Cheer up, it’s a once-in-a-month night shift,” Eun Haje snorts, sliding her phone over to him. “Your turn.”
Lee Jaheon ate his meal with swift efficiency, not bothering to heat it up. Even cold, the taste agreed with his taste buds, and going through extra steps would take time that could instead be used for clearing paperwork. Especially when his subordinates had only just finalized their orders.
“Well, I’ll be taking a nap,” Eun Haje sighs while pushing her office chair towards the couch, tumbling off to sprawl herself out on the leather. “Wake me up when the delivery’s here.”
“Sunbae,” Park Minseong scolds, “We still have paperwork to do!”
“Uh, that can wait ‘til after I’ve ate. It’s nesting time for corporate falcons.” She waves a hand at him dismissively. “Gimme your jacket.”
Park Minseong sighs, but gives in and takes it off, trying to drape it over her only for it to be tugged roughly from his hands.
“Chief, gimme yours!”
Lee Jaheon obediently strips off his jacket, and Eun Haje immediately snatches it the moment he gets close.
She’s long since kicked her shoes off, and is snuggling triumphantly under the weight of her colleagues’ tailored blazers, closing her eyes without any more fanfare.
“Did’ya get a new cologne, Chief?” She mumbles a few minutes later, drowsiness thickly layering her voice. “Smells kinda cheap…”
“No.”
“Is it your wifey’s?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” She pauses. “Well, it doesn’t smell bad, but… You should pro’bly just make him use yours.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
The night drifted along without anything to anchor it.
Lee Jaheon gives his farewells to his colleagues as they leave the building in the early morning, then drives home smoothly without anomalies.
As soon as he opens the door, he catches Choi’s familiar scent. He takes off his shoes and puts them on the shoe rack in an orderly manner, before quietly stepping into the living room. There, he spots a figure curled up on the couch, clutching a woolen blanket that Lee Jaheon remembers having bought for him during a trip to Japan.
He carefully examines him. Tufts of brown hair poke out over the blanket, failing to cover one eye that appears to sleep soundly, without any indication of realizing Lee Jaheon’s presence.
“Did you wait for me?”
Silence. Then, a grumble.
“How’d you know I was awake…”
“You are a light sleeper.” Choi would have awoken from the sound of the lock clicking across the hall alone.
“Sigh…” His uncovered eye flutters open, and he sits up slowly with a smile rising on his face to match. “You’re no fun. You should’ve wrapped me up tight in my blanket and carried me to the bedroom.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Choi’s smile brightens just from those words.
“You can still do it now.” He raises his arms, reaching out beseechingly. “Won’t you carry me to bed and tuck me in, Jaheon-ah?”
Lee Jaheon obliges, bending his knees to wrap the figure in his arms and lift him up, carrying him effortlessly in a bridal style. Choi’s arms come to wrap around his neck loosely.
“You’re still so handsome even after a night shift,” He comments as he looks up at Lee Jaheon’s side profile with mild fascination. “Ah, truly an alien with a beauty out of this world, aren’t you?”
“No.” Lee Jaheon says. “Attractiveness and species do not have a correlation.”
Choi’s eyes form crescents with his smile. “So you say. But I haven’t seen any evidence debunking that!”
“There is evidence.”
“Mhm, mhm…”
Lee Jaheon is soon depositing Choi onto their shared bed, and maneuvers him to lay down, pulling the covers over him. He moves to leave, but a tug at his collar stops him.
Choi raises his head and kisses his cheek clumsily, whispering in his ear. “Good morning, husband.”
He can feel the lips stretch into a smile against his skin. “And welcome home.”