drabble! not a perfect fit [jongyu, g]

The smell of coffee and cigarettes linger in the barren rooms they call an apartment, a humble abode.

The mattress on the floor and the television on top of a heavy wooden box they found somewhere down 7th street are probably the only things they have to fill it while still looking home-y. There's a table and two mismatched chairs, with a vase full of random flowers that were rather beautiful when first placed there but lay limp over the rim in the middle. A centerpiece.

There is a bookcase full of ratty notebooks, novels, magazines and folders filled with paper. A coffee machine sits on the small counter space next to the oven, sitting where a toaster would usually sit. It was a toss up between caffeine or burnt toast and no matter how much they love spending their well earned money on overly expensive lattes, they decided it would be easier to make it at home.

Also, Jonghyun plans for an acoustic guitar, nothing too expensive, maybe even second hand. It would probably sound better, richer. Then maybe a keyboard and an electric, just because an electric creates a whole new range of music he can play with. Then maybe a turntable or a mixer, better yet computer. So that will take up a lot of space.

Jinki thinks that a proper work desk would probably be nice, somewhere he can write without feeling like he's taking over the small space of their kitchen. Possibly a light bulb for the fridge whenever he gets around to going to the hardware store. It's far too hard to look for food in the middle of the night. Maybe a home phone too, one where they can hide from work for a day if they must. Cellphones can be too convenient.

There is an art piece leaned against the wall, neither framed nor mounted, given as a house-warming gift too long ago to remember. A dresser sits in the corner just beneath the window that looks like it holds only a few pieces of clothing when compared to the pile on the floor, sat right beside it. The trip to the coin wash has been skipped.

It's all about sacrifice.

But Jonghyun sacrifices far too much and Jinki wishes he didn't feel like he was the reason why.

Yet Jinki gives far too much and Jonghyun wishes he had more to contribute to their lives together.

Let's run away. Let's go somewhere nobody knows us.

The futon is sagging on one side, leaking out of it's metal container. There are jackets, boots, scarves and all things essential for winter crammed into the small closet by the front door. Probably a few other things they've thought lost in amongst the mess inside. It feels like forever ago and not-so-long-ago at the very same time but winter is creeping up on them once again and it can't be 6 months since they moved in, has it?

It barely looks lived in.

But when Jonghyun whispers I love you in the darkness of a night they're finally able to spend laying next to one another, none of it really matters actually. And Jinki will kiss him in return because he's never been good with his own emotions, much less anyone else's.

The smell of dust and paper lingers in the barren rooms they call home.