The next morning started too early for all of them.

Minho was so abruptly torn out of his sleep by his alarm clock that he drove up frightened and sat upright in bed.

Which in turn woke up Chan and he didn't know what was going on for a moment.

"Everything okay, Min?" he asked sleepy and rubbed his eyes.

"Not really," Minho murmured and leaned against Chan, who almost instantly put his arms around Minho.

"Nightmare?" Chan asked quietly.

Minho nodded and closed his eyes, tormented.

Chan gently stroked his back and kissed him on the temple.

"Maybe it's quite good that your therapy starts today," Chan murmured.

"Maybe..."

For a moment, the two remain seated like this and Minho let Chan's closeness calm him down.

He hadn't thought that the closeness of anyone other than Jisung could ever calm him down, but in Chan's arm he felt safe and secure. And he loved it, if he admitted it to himself.

Slowly he felt himself relaxing and he would have liked to have just fallen asleep again in Chan's arm, but he knew he had to get up.

He wanted to take a shower before they had to go. And maybe have breakfast. Although he wasn't sure if he might rather should skip it.

"Normally I would make coffee now and wake up Jisung with it... would you maybe take over today? I really want to take a shower...," Minho murmured.

"Of course. Go take a shower, honey."

Chan pressed Minho briefly to himself for a moment and then let him go. But instead of getting up, Minho remained seated.

"Didn't you want to take a shower?" Chan asked, laughing softly.

"I wanted to. But I still need a little encouragement..." said Minho and tried to make his voice sound convincing and charming, but he just felt miserable.

Immediately Chan pulled him back into his arm and let himself sink back into bed.

"Everything will be fine Min! I know you don't feel that way now. But imagine what it will be like in two or three weeks. If you both regularly go to therapy and learn to deal with it. And you can slowly start working out again because your shoulder will already be healed well then. Although maybe no boxing training yet, but at least slowly being able to start again with build-up exercises."

Minho's head lay on Chan's chest and he let the older's words sink into his mind while he listened to his heartbeat.

Maybe Chan was right. And everything would be different in three weeks. But Minho also knew that this would only be the case if he did something about it.

Minho closed his eyes and almost fell asleep again on Chan's chest if the elder hadn't woken him up again.

"Min..." Chan gently stroked his hair.

Yawning, Minho sat up again. At least he didn't feel quite so terrible anymore. And somehow a little more ready to face today.

"All right... I'm going to take a shower...," he murmured.

Chan followed him and went to the kitchen to make coffee. Or rather, to press the button on the coffee machine. And although he really didn't like coffee, he made one for himself.

Meanwhile, Minho stood tired in the shower and would have liked to just go back to bed. Even if he knew that wouldn't help him at all. And actually he was not a person who ran away from his problems. Actually, he prefers to fight them.

But the fight against himself, against the feelings and memories inside him was terribly exhausting and powerful.

A whole week full of double shifts was not half as exhausting as what he would have to go through.

Sighing, he washed, only to find out when he was finished that he had forgotten to take a towel with him.

"Chaaaan," he shouted resignedly.

Grinning, the elder came into the bathroom. In his hand he held a towel, which he stretched out towards Minho.

Minhos gratefully grabbed it and wrapped it around his hips.

"You're still all wet there," said Chan and ran his index finger over Minho's back. "But your wound already looks much better!"

Chan gently rubbed Minho's back dry with a second towel and then left it to the younger so that he could dry his hair with it.

Minho thought for a short moment about purring at Chan and ask him to pay a little more attention to his back, but the smell of coffee distracted him and so he went, as he was, into the kitchen and grabbed a cup.

Chan followed him smiling.

"We should wake up the others soon," he said and carefully pulled Minho into his arm.

Minho nodded and leaned against him.

But as it turned out shortly afterwards, they no longer had to wake up Jisung and Changbin. The two came sleepy into the kitchen and gratefully accepted the coffee.

Minho detached himself from Chan, went over to Jisung and pulled him into his arm. Buried his face in Jisungs hair and breathed in his familiar smell.

"Good morning baby!"

Jisung put his coffee aside, wrapped his arms around Minho and kissed him with a smile.

"Good morning!" he said and hopped almost euphorically through the kitchen and then also took Chan in his arms.

Confused, Chan and Minho looked at each other.

"Did we miss anything?" Minho asked confused.

"No. I'm just in a good mood."

Smiling, the others looked after him, while Jisung disappeared hopping in the bathroom.

"Did you put anything into his coffee?" Changbin asked in amazement.

Minho and Chan shook their heads speechlessly.

But they didn't have much time to wonder about Jisung's good mood. They had to get ready if they wanted to get to the practice in time.

So they drank their coffee and then went back to the bedroom to get dressed.

A short time later, Jisung also came running into the bedroom with his coffee in his hand and started rummaging around in his and then in Minho's closet until he had found what he was looking for and disappeared back in the bathroom.

All three looked after him a little confused.

Less than ten minutes later, he came out of the bathroom with wet hair, black ripped jeans and a baby blue sweater.

Minhos became very soft around his heart when he saw Jisung like that. He looked so sweet and innocent, he would have liked to have packed him in cotton wool.

"Come here baby," he murmured, pulled Jisung to him and kissed him gently.

Chan watched the two with a smile. "I wouldn't want to bother you, but we have to go now."

꧁ ⸺ ♥ ⸺ ꧂