10: Smiles.

Jisung stirred, groaning in his sleep, when the luster of the sunlight pierced through the curtains of his room and hit on his face, giving a soft glow and enlightening his facial features and also someone else's heart who was standing by the open door with arms crossed and leaning against the side.

Minho was mesmerized by the glowing of Jisung's face, his beauty, and the cuteness in his small actions, even when he was sleeping. He can't stop himself from grinning.

He watched Jisung whine again, and Minho moved forward, closing the curtains, and turned around, hearing a long sigh from his soulmate. He smiled gently before kneeling on the floor and watching Jisung closely, admiring the younger man sent from heaven.

His beautiful soulmate.

He slowly brushed the latter's hair, which was lying on his face, and kissed his closed eyes softly.

He couldn't handle it. No matter how much he promised himself that he would always respect the distance between them, he couldn't.

After such a long time, more than many years to be exact, he had been dying to do all the sweet moments, and now, when his heart knows that now, that Jisung was his soulmate, the one he admired numerous times from a distance, was here, in his apartment.

He was all his, and he had all the right to love him as he wanted and desired; he couldn't just stop himself from gathering Jisung in his protective arms, hiding him forever from the cruel world where he felt lonely and frightened.

"My baby." His lips slightly brushed Jisung's nose, and by the action, the younger frowned in his sleep, making him move back in alert, not too much, just enough to not seem like entering his personal space.

Jisung slowly turned on his back and fluttered his eyes open. His eyes held confusion as he looked at the unfamiliar ceiling. He heard a familiar chuckle.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Jisung looked up and saw Minho looking at him with his smiling eyes and charming smile.

Minho smiled down at him, and Jisung looked around and stretched his limbs, avoiding Minho's loving gaze. "Morning."

His voice was raspy, and it sounded hoarse. Did he cry? Minho thought.

"Did you sleep well?" Minho asked rather than asking whether he cried. He wanted the latter to say it himself rather than him asking the younger to say it.

Jisung blinked his eyes, then shook his head and said, "Had a nightmare." He said this, closing his eyes at the heaviness of his head. He could feel the mild pain in both his eyes and head, which made him groan.

Minho frowned and started stroking Jisung's hair softly, while the other hand held his delicate hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.

A red hue began to spread over Jisung's face as he turned his face away from Minho with a blush. Confused, Minho slowly grabbed Jisung's head and turned his face, staring at his eyes, worried. 

Jisung's heartbeat rose at the gesture, and when he finally saw how the latter was staring at him with emotion, he stuttered.

"It's not new," He said, slightly yawning in the process, making Minho coo internally at the sight. Jisung looked like a small squirrel, which made Minho's heart burst with cuteness. He gently started rubbing Jisung's closed eyes and kissing them softly.

"You can take a bit of rest then," Minho suggested while Jisung shook his head.

"No, it's okay. I don't like to sleep after getting up." Jisung pouted unconsciously as he closed his eyes at the sting in his head. Minho sighed, continuing to stroke the younger boy's hair adoringly.

"Don't go hard on yourself," Minho said, kissing his forehead lovingly.

After the incident in the hospital that took place two weeks ago, Minho treated him with the utmost care.

At first, Jisung told himself that all this was coming out of pity, but after a few moments here and there, he started to feel the sincere emotions from his soulmate.

The heartbeats he felt whenever the latter appreciated his choices and gave him the space he needed The respect Jisung felt for Minho was beyond words.

It's admirable.

One of his favorite moments was the forehead kiss. He would melt into this kind of gesture rather than a lip kiss.

There was a saying that, while the lip kiss indicates sexual attraction, the forehead kiss tells a more meaningful story about the emotional closeness of the relationship.

It happened when Minho got so excited over his cooking that he suddenly kissed his forehead out of nowhere.

Minho apologized over it several times that day, but when Jisung said it was fine with him, he started doing it while pouring out so many emotions that it made Jisung melt into a puddle.

Oh, how much he adored the moment.

Minho still respected his personal space and always sought his permission when necessary.

Jisung hummed, "What time is it?" He closed his eyes again.

"It's 6 minutes till 11 p.m." That made his eyes wide open.

"Oh my goodness! They will be here soon. Minho! Why didn't you wake me up early?" Jisung exclaimed, jumping out of his bed and running to the bathroom.

"But...you were sleeping comfortably." Minho mumbled, his lips replaced by a small pout, looking like a scolded puppy. "Jisung, by the way, don't worry. I bought lunch." The elder exclaimed happily.

"Huh!" Jisung came out, brushing his teeth furiously. "Whwat do ytoo shay?" Minho chuckled at the out-of-order words.

"It's okay, Jisung. You don't have to rush so much. I already ordered lunch for our friends." Jisung rolled his eyes at the exclamation and went inside the washroom, shaking his head.

The younger one looked at the mirror and touched his face in shock.

He was smiling widely.

When was the last time I smiled this widely? He thought, looking down. He always faked his smile around everyone except Chan and Seungmin, but the genuine smiles were for them, not for himself. After so many years, here he was, smiling widely for himself.

He looked outside the door and saw Minho tucking the bedsheets in and placing the pillow in its place. Feeling a stare, Minho looked up and smiled.

Turning away, Jisung touched his heart, and without his knowledge, a smile spread over his lips again.o