Title: home (noun)
Prompt: a person can get used to anything, even killing
Character/Pairing: MC, Seven, Zen, Jumin, Jaehee, Yoosung
A/N: Ahaha, I was experimenting a bit with style/format here…repetition is hard
Summary: This was home and for the first time, they understood what that meant.
...
...
...
...
This was home:
Zen found he was looking at mirrors less and less. Instead, he would stare at her toothbrush at the sink or her imprint on the bed or even her coat hanging by the door. It was strange how different it felt to have the presence of someone else in his flat.
How the presence of another person changed his flat into a home.
He was beautiful, it was a fact by now. Etched in stone, written in ink—he found the need to verify that less important than it was to catch these small changes around him. Her slippers neatly next to his, the lights on when he trudged home, the fridge full of food and not beer.
Her smile as he entered the room, bright and full.
"I'm home," he said and for once, he meant it.
-x-
This was home:
Jaehee was used to early mornings, to the waking up to dark skies and sleeping to even darker ones. The sun would creep up as she headed to work, a cup of coffee in one hand and a report in another.
"Five more minutes," a voice murmured next to her, a pair of arms tightening around her waist. "The sun isn't even up yet."
It wasn't, a point Jaehee could admit. But they were also running their own coffee shop and there was no one else to prepare the kitchen. It was not as stressful as her old job but there was still pressure. They didn't have the clientele yet to warrant a relaxing morning.
"Just five more." Her girlfriend's sleepy voice was fainter now, her arms still holding on tight despite her fading conscious.
Jaehee was used to early mornings, whether it was for her school or her club or work. Her apartment was a place to drop off her clothes and catch a quick nap before heading out once more. But the pair of arms around her refused to budge and if Jaehee was stubborn, her girlfriend was more so.
"Just five more," she conceded. It was unnecessary but there was more to life than just the essentials, as she had been recently learning. There was more to her apartment than just the bare minimum—there could be kitchen chats and movie nights and just plain do-nothing-Sundays.
This was her home now and for once, that felt like a positive thing.
-x-
This was home:
Jumin lived a life of consistency. A set pattern he followed day in and day out. His mornings would start at six, where he would spend an hour watching Elizabeth sleep. Then, it was time for a quick shower before eating a chef prepared breakfast. His day would end the same way it started, an hour of Elizabeth.
Then she came and there was no consistency, no pattern. Her hands were curled up to his chest in the morning, splitting his focus between Elizabeth and her. Breakfast was a time she liked to spend chatting, talking about her plans, talking about his plans.
Even work was ruined, with his phone buzzing randomly with little texts.
It was different, strange. But Jumin found himself looking forward to this change, to this new pattern. To the many ways she intruded and disrupted his life. He didn't have to control everything and he was finding that concept easier and easier to accept.
At the end of the work day, he would head home and for once, he understood that concept.
-x-
This was home:
"You got the snacks?" His girlfriend looked up from where she was playing, her hands stilling on the controllers. She had been sitting too close to the TV again and he frowned.
"You should sit a little further away." He closed the door behind him, shaking his head. "You'll hurt your eyes."
His girlfriend frowned, puffing up her cheeks. "I'm not that close."
Yoosung gave her a stare and she looked away, unable to deny the truth. "Really?"
"Fine, fine." Changing tactics, she paused the game and turned to face him. "You're one to talk, you're always too close to your computer screen. And you're the one training to be a doctor."
"Gah." She had him there. Pouting, he sat beside her and handed her the plastic bag. "Take it."
"Awww, don't be like that." His girlfriend put the controller down and leaned against him. "I'll move back."
And there it was, his secret move: look cute. She was particularly weak to it, often caving to it before he even tried to do it. It was only fair—he couldn't really resist when she did it either.
"You have class tomorrow right?" She settled in next to him, nestling her head on his shoulder as she picked up the controller and started the game once more. It was an RPG, something with exploding penguins, angels, and demons. It was funny, how different their gaming tastes were. She hated games without plot whereas he hated games with no social aspect.
"Yeah…" Yoosung grimaced, remembering just how many chapters he had to finish tonight.
"You shouldn't have gamed last night if you hadn't finished your homework." And she had read his mind once again. Her honesty was blunt and a little painful.
But it was honest and truthful and perhaps that was the one thing he loved the most about her: she never lied.
"I'll see you after class, then."
No, that was wrong, this was what he loved the most about her. Her casual reassurances that she was here, she was still here, she would always be here. He didn't have to fear tomorrow.
One day, he knew, this would be a home, and for once, the future looked a little brighter.
-x-
This was home:
His girlfriend was the most patient woman he knew. Whether it was putting up with his bullshit (and Saeyoung had a lot of bullshit, mountains of it. He could make an entire company out of the amount of bullshit he spewed) or putting up with the rest of RFA's normal shit, she was patience incarnate.
And nothing showed it more than the months she must have spent waiting for him to notice her prank. His stocks were fluctuating, changing in patterns of seven. And as much as he should be annoyed by this, he couldn't help but admire it.
It had to have been hard to set up such a specific strategy. Besides, she had only used the stocks he didn't care much about. Figuring out which ones to use in itself must have been a trick and a half.
She was sitting on his bed when he opened his bedroom door, a cat-like grin on her face. "You found it?"
He grinned wryly. "It was hard to miss."
"Revenge is best served cold." She sighed, happily, sinking back into the bed. Her hair was spread out on the dark blue bed sheets, ones that she had picked out. "I was wondering how long it would take to activate."
"You know, this means payback, right?" He stood in front of her, looking down at her. Her smile grew broader.
"I look forward to it." There was a bit of challenge in her eyes, in the way her lips curled up. He had never imagined, for all those years, that one day he would have someone who played along with his little games. Or even that there would be a reason to hold down fort, to buy matching mugs and personal sheets and think, yes, I want to stay here.
But there was a reason now and she was staring up at him.
She was home and for once, he felt like he was allowed to have one.