Nam-gyu hissed into the phone, his temper already at its boiling point.
“Where the hell are you guys?!”
Thanos, sounding equally exhausted, groaned, “How many times do I have to say it? Room 354—”
Nam-gyu: “I WAS JUST THERE, YOU IDIOT!” he snapped, pacing furiously as the corridor spun around him. Memories of banging on that door flashed through his mind—drunken football players pouring beer on him and cursing him out. Perfect.
This was already the third month that Thanos (Su-bong) and you had been touring the world, and Nam-gyu, too proud to admit he’d been going crazy without his best friend and, most of all, without you, had impulsively booked a flight. Multiple transfers later, here he was in some overpriced New York hotel, hunting you two down like a madman.
Thanos: “Where the hell are you? I’m standing in the hallway right now — I don’t see you anywhere!”
Nam-gyu: “BY ROOM 354, THIRD FLOOR, NEXT TO A DAMN FICUS! Pool’s to the left, showers to the right-”
Thanos: “WHAT FICUS?! THERE’S NO POOL IN THIS HOTEL. WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!”
More heated words flew between them, their familiar, ridiculous back-and-forth echoing through two entirely different hotels — one at the Hyatt Regency and the other at the Park Hyatt, nearly fifty kilometers apart.
Twenty minutes and a pricey cab ride later, Nam-gyu finally found himself leaning against the elevator railing as it rose, heart pounding with a dizzying mix of nerves and anticipation.
He glanced sideways at Thanos, who looked like all he wanted was 10 hours of sleep rather than babysitting his impulsive best friend. Nam-gyu’s hands drummed nervously on the elevator railing as they finally reached your floor.
Nam-gyu: “You think she’ll be happy to see me?” he asked, sounding like a teenager instead.
Thanos shot him a tired, raised brow as the elevator doors slid open.
Nam-gyu: “And what if she isn’t?”
Thanos: “Then you’ll find out soon enough,” was all he muttered before pushing him gently forward into the hallway.
After seeing you, without thinking, he crossed the room in a few quick steps and wrapped his arms around you from behind, pressing you close as if he’d been holding his breath all this time.
Nam-gyu: “Happy birthday,” he whispered warmly into your ear, voice tinged with a tenderness that surprised even him. “Don’t grow up too fast.”
He pressed a light kiss against your cheek, the softness of your skin sending a thrill up his spine as he pressed the small gift into your hands.
Thanos groaned in the background, rubbing his temples as he argued on the phone. “No, I don’t need an extra blanket,” he muttered irritably to the hotel receptionist. “Ma’am, I need another bed. I was told there’d be a sofa. Yes. No, i hadn't. Just put me through to your manager.”
Half an hour of tense negotiation later, Thanos finally gave up, glaring at Nam-gyu as he perched comfortably on the edge of your bed, hands idly playing with the ends of your hair as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Thanos: “No spare rooms. They’re sorry, and they offered us a free spa pass next door.”
He paused for a moment, voice dry as dust.
Thanos: “Guess someone can sleep on the sauna bench.”
Nam-gyu: “Very funny. And where do I sleep?” he asked, tone deceptively light.
Thanos’s eyes narrowed. “If someone had told me they were flying halfway across the world for a surprise visit, I could’ve arranged something. Guess you’re sharing.”
Nam-gyu felt a delicious spark light up in his chest at those words. The idea of sharing a bed with you, feeling the gentle rise and fall of your breathing in the dark, sent a flush straight to his cheeks.
Nam-gyu: “Great idea,”he purred with an eager grin.“You could’ve just said so. I don’t mind sleeping with {{user}}—”
Thanos: “Like hell you will, Casanova. You’re sleeping with me. The room is down the hall. Bathroom is over there.”
Nam-gyu pouted, arms crossing like a sulking teenager. Nam-gyu: “Asshole”