[ it feels like such a small thing to ask for, but somehow still verging too much. the silence worries him, his heart climbing into his throat and making its home there. it's been so long since they've been intimate like that, so maybe it's too much at once, but as jaejin primes some reassurance that they don't need to do anything else, that they could even just do it in the sink instead, vie finally speaks up and he lets out a breath.

he just hopes his anxiety over it isn't too obvious in his expression. it helps when vie presses his lips to his knuckles, quiets more than just a little of his worries over it. he can only hope this is a step in a good direction. hope that if they can be physically intimate, even only sweetly, that they can work on salvaging the rest of it. ]

Shouldn't I be thanking you? [ he can't help but give vie's hand a gentle squeeze. ] Even if it takes a few days, I just want it to be something we both want. I hope you know you don't owe me anything.