Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Hwang Jungmin whistled, he glanced back at Jungjae the way he often did to his son to make the boy know that he was in trouble.

“No surprise he is angry at you.”

“I know, I deserve it too, hyung.” He could only agree, he was giddy enough upon the end of the shooting, the two Jungmins and most of the crew decided to stay in Thailand for a bit longer, Jungjae really wanted to, he still had many dishes left on his food-to-try list.

“As you should,” Jungmin tsked, “you kept it for him for what? Half a month? My Mihye would kill me if I hid something from her only a day.”

Jungjae felt like he was back in his younger days, he rarely got scolded by now, most of the people who work with him were around his age, sometimes even younger.

He averted the demanding gaze of the older man, “A month, to be precise.”

“Goddamn it,” he cursed, “Jungjae-ya, you little--”

Jungjae sighed as exasperatedly as he could, “Hyung, please.”

Jungmin looked like he could whack his head with the closest thing he could get his hands on, (a newspaper), but decided against it.

“So how long has he been ignoring your chat?”

“He is not ignoring me, hyung, you know Woosung.”

“What? I was today old when I learned that actor Jung Woosung had gone silent treatment on you.”

“It’s nothing like that!” Jungjae nearly screamed, he had just told Jungmin of how scary ice king Woosung could be, “he answered my chat just fine, but it’s just…. not like him.”

Hwang Jungmin gave him that stare again, “...and?”

“And I’m not sure what to do anymore! Is he mad at me? Is he angry at me? I don’t know what to do.”

“I will give you an obvious clue, man, he is, he fucking is. Have you asked him yet?”

“I have! but he was like ‘I’m not” but he hasn’t been like this before, hyung, when he is angry he doesn’t bother to hide it from me.”

“Now I’m really curious to know what else you had wronged him before.”

“I’m so anxious now, hyung, what do you think I should do when I get back there?”

Hwang Jungmin shrugged, already tired with his relationship problem, Jungjae wondered why he came to ask him in the first place, “Apologize, brudha, only god can save you now.”

Worst-love-advice-ever.

That’s what they had talked hours ago before Jungjae’s flight took him back to Seoul. His manager wasn’t with him, he gave the man a week off to travel with the crew, afterall, Jungjae’s only schedule for the next week is the checking up at the hospital.

So when he lands at Incheon in the evening, his right hand tugging his suitcase after him to flag down the cab, his heart nearly drops down to the floor when he sees a message from Woosung.

“I just got home from work, have a big surprise waiting for you.”

He sighs and almost misses the driver’s question, the anxiety comes back to him like a wave, damn he doesn't know what Woosung is thinking right now, shouldn't he ignore him? Shouldn’t he leave Jungjae alone until they are forced to talk it out? God, he is so anxious he could ask for the driver’s take on his marriage problem.

Big surprise… Woosung wants to do exactly what?

He gets back to their house just fine, his left arm still twitches in pain every time the weight of the suitcase shifts from his right to his left. Good thing there is an elevator, Jungjae thinks of heaving the luggage up on the staircase to the 15th floor and groans.

A second before he opens the door to his house, Jungjae argues with himself, they rarely fight, that one is true. They care for each other so much that they never crossed the other, but they both care for themselves too little so that is the problem.

“Jagiya, you’re back!”

With that Woosung strides to him, hands taking away the suitcase while his eyes are beaming at Jungjae's face. Woosung looks the same, Jungjae knows he himself looks thinner. He smiles back at his husband before taking his shoes off with a little struggle, that shoulder hurts as hell.

Woosung seems to notice his problem and comes to the rescue, his white suitcase left next to the wall with a thud.

“Let me help, dear.”

“No, no, that’s alright.” Jungjae tries to brush his hand away, “Really, Woosung-ssi, I can manage this.”

Woosung doesn’t buy that, “Let me help, oh, you must be tired already. Why don’t you take a shower first, we can unpack your suitcase later.”

He doesn’t even give Jungjae time to think because Woosung kneels down to pull his shoes out (while Jungjae has to steady himself on the wall because WHAT ON EARTH IS WOOSUNG DOING????) and when Jungjae can stand on his feet again Woosung wraps his hand on his waist and leads Jungjae straight to the bathroom.

“Take your time, dear.”

On the shelves are his towel, shirt, pants and an undie. All prepared, and all fresh out of the washing machine if Jungjae has to guess.

“Why--?” He breathes out, partly confused and partly touched. “Why are you--?”

Doing this? That part goes unsaid.

Woosung smiles, his mouth wide and his cheeks pushed high which make him look like a squirrel, before sighing and leaning himself on the wall.

“My Jungjae…” he says fondly, “I miss you so much, jagiya, I haven’t seen my husband for months so let a man pamper, will you?”

“We made a video call like almost everyday.”

“But I can’t touch you like this, can I?”

The feeling in Woosung’s eyes is so honest, so sincere that Jungjae can’t take it anymore. He gives Woosung a tiny smile before slipping inside the bathroom and closing the door a little bit too loud.

What is he planning to do? Why is he doing that? He should be angry at me?

Jungjae hugs the towel tightly in his arms, his head full of questions he somehow doesn't want to know the answers. Woosung was dead worried when he tore the right one because it was worse than breaking an arm, Jungjae has witnessed Woosung’s cold fury before and he hasn't planned to witness it again.

He comes to a conclusion while pulling up a shirt, (Woosung chose the shirt because of his injury, a fact that made Jungjae stunned of how caring his husband is), that soon Woosung will raise this topic, be it at the kitchen while he is making dinner or at the table while they are eating, and then he will scold Jungjae, reminding Jungjae of how his carelessness can harm him, and Jungjae will be ridden with guilt for nearly got Woosung a heart attack.

Yes, it will be just like that. He thinks as he bundles up all of his belongings and heads to his bedroom

—-

Turns out that Woosung has already ordered his favorite food from his favorite restaurant. Kimchi soup with teokbokki and rice. Jungjae sits on his chair, amazed as he scans the drinks and the noodle bowl of Woosung. There are simple dishes, but that’s why they smell like home, reminding him how long he has been away from this table.

“Eat up, dear.” Woosung cheers from the seat opposite of him, chopsticks clicking in his right hand.

“Thank you so much, Woosung-ssi,” this man deserves all the love in the world, he is taking care of Jungjae, pampering even. Jungjae shakes his head fondly, “I can’t find anyone who loves me more than you.”

That smile beaming at him is as radiant as the sun.

“Oh I nearly forgot,” the husband of the year cries out, Jungjae stops what he is doing to raise an eyebrow at him. Woosung reaches forward to his bowl before tearing one large cabbage leaf into smaller pieces with his chopsticks.

Jungjae sits still, mouth open because he feels like he has to say something, he can't let this go on any longer…. but he is lost for words still.

“Here, I know you love the soup,” Woosung grins while scooping the reddish liquid out of the ceramic bowl to Jungjae's plate. Jungjae’s spoon is lying uselessly on his left, it hurts him too much to use the utensils properly.

“Woosung-ssi…”

“Some more? I can cut these teokbokkis for you too.”

“Woosung, dear, stop it...”

Something in his voice works, Woosung turns to look at him, his warm smile still wide on his face though his eyes has lost some of its mirth, “yes?”

Jungjae feels like hiding away from that gaze, but he can’t, he will not go anywhere until he gets the answer.

“Jagiya…” he wills himself to push the words out. After taking a deep breath, he finally looks up, facing Woosung’s puzzled expression and feeling bad before he even starts it.

“Why are you not mad at me?”

Woosung’s smile is still there, but there is a second Jungjae swears he can see it falter. A blink, and then that smile vanished completely.

“Dear,” Woosung says softly, “why should I be mad at you?”

Jungjae can’t believe his ears. The reason is here, on his shoulder, as clear as day, what is Woosung talking about?

“This!” He jabs his forefinger at his shoulder but leaving an inch between them. “You know why-- Woosung-ssi, I hurt my shoulder and you’re taking care of me instead?”

He sees Woosung open then close his mouth, like he is about to say something but decides not to. Woosung puts his hands down on the table, chopsticks and spoon safely placed on his plate.

“You want me to be mad at you?”

The way he said it, softly and clearly, makes Jungjae shudder, he looks down at his lap and quickly shakes his head. No, he doesn’t. He really does not.

“Why should I be mad at you when you’re hurt already? I should be the one to take care of you now, jagiya.”

“You hate it when I am reckless, Woosung-ssi.” He counters back, “I--” he gulps, the next words come out like whispers “I thought you would be angry with me.”

Woosung’s gazes softened at his confession, “Am I that unreasonable to you, Jungjae-ssi?”

“No, no, I understand that you would be angry at me… actually, I would do the same if you broke your arm again…”

His husband still has a heart in him to grin, he leans in closer before placing a hand over Jungjae’s undamaged one. “Would you really?”

Woosung was saying it as if he knew the answer already, confident and casual, and Jungjae thinks that it’s true. Jungjae knew the answer at heart too.

Because if their places are swapped, if it was Jung Woosung who returned home with a torn shoulder, if it was Lee Jungjae who was hidden from the truth for a month, Jungjae thought he still would do the same. He would give Woosung a nice bath, his favorite bowl of Jajungmyun, with an around-the clock service. He… he wouldn’t think of giving him an earful at all, Woosung wouldn’t deserve that.

“I know dear, that you always want to give your best. Who in their right mind would hurt themselves on purpose, jagiya, not me, and neither are you.”

All those words, all the gentleness in Woosung’s soft voice make Jungjae realize right there on his seat that this is what growing old together feels like. He remembers clearly, the time where Woosung got so mad at him for risking himself, or the time where he just shook his head at Jungjae after he got out of the surgery. There was a time where it was his turn to be mad too, ranting for hours at Woosung who ended up in a cast after falling down from a horse.

They are old now, he will be 50 in a blink of an eye, they have learned from their seniors how difficult it is to get back into health again once you get into major accidents at work. Soon they will both reach the age where they have to turn down action roles, soon they won’t have to be worried whether one of them has to overexert themselves.

He doesn’t notice that Woosung is brushing his knuckles with his thumb, caressing the protruding bones. It is like a scene from a romantic movie and Jungjae relishes in the moment.

“So,” Woosung lets go of his hand to hold his own spoon, scooping the soup into Jungjae’s bowl of rice again, “let me take care of you, jagiya, you have done enough already, it’s time to get the best service from your husband.” He ends with a wink.

He smiles, that wink never fails to draw a laugh out of him. His husband, his sweet, caring husband..

“Thank you, dear.” He says as Woosung drops a cut teokbokki next to the cabbage. He catches Woosung’s eyes, knowing that he, too, knows what Jungjae is going to say.

I love you.

For the first time in so many months over the sea, Jungjae is back at home, where nothing awaits him but the unconditional love and devotion from Woosung.
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