Word Is on the Street That the Fire in Your Heart Is Out, for vvipforseungri (2/2)
-134 DAYS - 12:47AM: SEUNGHOON
Seungyoon shows up two hours late and Seunghoon, in what is probably a blatant abuse of his newfound power, does not let him in.
“This is unfair,” Seungyoon says, trying to duck under Seunghoon’s arm and failing when Seunghoon shifts to block him. “Why are you even here, where’s the bouncer?”
Better be using the money Seunghoon gave him on something worth it, is what Seunghoon thinks but does not say. “I’m sorry, do you have a reservation?” Seunghoon asks. The line behind Seungyoon is beginning to get restless and there are a few curses sent towards them, but whatever. Any irritation they’re feeling really can’t compare to the vexation that's been building up inside of Seunghoon since the first time Seungyoon fucking Kang decided to flake out on plans that were made a month in advance.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Seungyoon chides, shooting apologetic glances at the people behind him. “I said I’m sorry okay, class got held up.”
“Your class was held up to the point where you couldn’t make an 11pm appointment?” Seunghoon exclaims, slapping a hand over his face in fake shock. “Wow, you’d think you were majoring in something like biology instead of a future as a high class busker.”
“Low blow,” Seungyoon rebukes. “Look, we’re making a scene, can you just let me in?”
Seunghoon is about to argue that this is not a scene, and if Seungyoon really wants a scene then- okay, Seunghoon doesn’t actually want to make one, but he does know how to play up drama if it’s required. Unfortunately, at that moment someone grabs the back of Seunghoon’s shirt to pull him back inside the club and the crowd cheers and starts pushing forward insistently. The doors is only so big, and it's like a school of sardines trying to squeeze through a hole in a fishing net, and as irked at Seungyoon as he is right now, Seunghoon doesn't really want his birthday to be eclipsed by Seungyoon's death day. Seunghoon reaches out to clutch Seungyoon's arm and pull him to safety.
Of course Seunghoon pulls too roughly, and the momentum sends them both falling over to the ground, Seungyoon’s gross body straddling Seunghoon’s stomach. Seungyoon smiles down at him, mischievous and sly, and sings, “Happy Birthday Mr. President,” waggling his eyebrows.
Seunghoon gags and pushes Seungyoon off him.
The party has dwindled down to just five people; Taehyun, Seungyoon, Seunghoon himself, Jaehyung, and Ahyeon. Minho and Jinwoo had left together half an hour ago, a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by Seungyoon who does a quick sweep of the guests before falling down on one of the loveseats in relief. Jaehyung pours Seungyoon a glass of cheap champagne, but at Seunghoon’s reproachful look, swaps it out for a half empty glass of water.
“Thanks,” Seungyoon deadpans, taking a sip. “Happy fucking birthday, Seunghoon.”
“Actually,” Ahyeon pipes up. “I think Jinwoo drank from that. So really, happy birthday to you.”
Seungyoon slams the drink down on the table and levels Seunghoon with a scowl that would probably be more effective if he didn’t look like an angry cartoon dumpling. Seunghoon looks down and pretends to file his nails with a finger. “They wanted to know why you were so late,” he shrugs.
“Don’t worry,” Jaehyung says, waving a hand. “It’s cute. I mean, it sounds hella fucking awkward but like,” he take a sip of his drink and winks. “Still cute.”
DAY 2 - 3PM: SEUNGYOON
Their car breaks down morning of the second day. Seungyoon can’t even pin the blame on Seunghoon like he really wants to, because Seunghoon had originally been parked outside Seungyoon’s dorm in a reasonably sturdy Hyundai Libero. One that had “JY-PIZZERIA” logoed all across the side of it, that Seungyoon had vehemently refused to ride in, not moving from the doorway until Seunghoon returned with what he recognised as Jaehyung’s old Ford that he had been trying, and failing, to sell for the past three months.
“How much did you pay for it?” Seungyoon asks. Seunghoon appreciates it whenever Seungyoon feels bad, so he doesn’t try to mask the guilt. They’re both standing at the edge of the road, thumbs stuck out to the side. Late morning is still morning and Seungyoon has to grit his teeth against the chill, pulling his scarf tighter around his neck and hoping his thumb doesn’t end up blue. Or worse, falling off.
“Nothing,” Seunghoon replies. “I know where Jaehyung keeps his keys,” he admits shamelessly. “He isn’t going to miss it, alright? I had to talk him out of driving it off a bridge and pretending like it was stolen just because he wanted the insurance money.”
Seungyoon coughs.
“He had to talk me out of it,” Seunghoon amends.
Seungyoon sniffs and pulls the sleeve of his skivvy down so it covers all of his fingers except for his thumb.
Seunghoon sighs. “We both had to talk Taehyun out of it.”
“Ah,” Seungyoon says. “Whatever. Doesn’t count as a breach if he doesn’t do it, action not intention.”
“Intention can be pretty strong though,” Seunghoon disagrees. “For example, you never actually broke up Minho and Jinwoo, but through your sheer intention-”
“False! Slander! Lies!” Seungyoon punctuates each exclamation with a jab of his thumb into Seunghoon’s ribs. Seunghoon is joking and he knows that, but as far as jokes go, this one’s pretty mean and hits a little uncomfortably close to home. Not that Seungyoon ever intended to break Jinwoo and Minho up. In fact, it was Seungyoon’s own fault that he had to spend every party standing awkwardly to the side, trying not to look at the arm Minho had snaked around Jinwoo’s waist.
Seungyoon thinks about it a lot. Maybe if he hadn’t asked Taehyun to come with him to Minho’s amateur baseball game, knowing that Taehyun had a propensity to not go through with things once he stopped “feeling it.” Maybe if he hadn’t been running on the thrill of a possibility, and asked Seunghoon to go instead of Jinwoo.
Maybe if Seungyoon had just told Jinwoo when he had been planning to, at the concession stand, as they were walking towards their seats, as Jinwoo leaned over to whisper in his ear that he was going to get snacks. Maybe if Seungyoon had pulled him down to kiss him, gotten up to get the snacks himself, and been the one to get brained by the baseball Minho hit in the wrong direction. Maybe then, he wouldn’t have had to spend every gathering listening to people tell him what a cute couple his friends made.
“You know…” Seunghoon begins. Seungyoon snaps his head up, but Seunghoon is determinedly looking away from him, towards the other side of the road. “You could have been a little less obvious about it. I mean, no one could tell, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he assures at Seungyoon’s panicked look, “but that was part of the problem.”
Seungyoon wants to disagree. He’s still friends with the both of them, the break up was an amicable one, it was hard to be around them sometimes, can you blame him? All fair reasons, but none of them sound like the one Seunghoon wants to hear.
A blur moves past them, and for a second Seungyoon thinks it’s a rabid dog, until he sees Minho lying splayed on the road like a starfish. Seungyoon is about the scream at him ”What the hell do you think you’re doing?” until there’s a long, extended BEEEEEEP and a large white pick-up truck skids to a stop, a metre away from turning Minho into roadkill.
The driver pokes his head out the window, and it’s Minho’s luck that the guy looks like everyone’s friendly grandfather. If it was Seungyoon face down on the gravel, he would probably have looked like every generic slasher film villain to exist. “What are you doing, you dumb kid?” the driver scolds, honking again.
It takes Jinwoo doing his best doe-eyes and Seunghoon coming close to tears for him to trust that they aren’t highway robbers. Then Seungyoon is lying down on the back of a pickup truck, head resting on a bag of potatoes, managing to catch a cabbage Minho throws at him just before it hits his chest. He makes a show of leaping up, about to smack Taehyun in the face with it, before stopping and gently bopping it on his head instead.
Taehyun shifts from where he’s leaning against a pile of radishes. “You know,” he begins, “we still have another 8 hours to go, if we get bored, garlics are actually flamma-”
“No,” they all say at once.
DAY 2 - 06:00PM: JINWOO
The truck drops them off to the edge of the city, and from there they take a bus to Seunghoon’s old roommate’s house. Jinwoo is about to knock on the front door until he hears a grunt next to him and sees Seunghoon straddling Minho’s shoulders, hand inside the pot of a hanging plant. When Seunghoon takes his hand out, it’s smeared completely in dirt, with a grimy silver key held between his thumb and forefinger.
“Why do people tell you where they keep their keys?” Seungyoon asks, as they follow Seunghoon to the back of the duplex. “You’ve proved more than once you can’t be trusted.”
They keep walking until they get to a line of garages at the back. Seunghoon scans them all briefly, his eyes lighting up when they land at the one at the very end. He rushes forward, key in hand, and Jinwoo runs to follow.
“It’s so big!” Jinwoo breathes in awe, running a hand against the pale blue paint. “This is so cool, it’s yours?”
Seunghoon nods, unlocking the door and climbing into the front seat. “Yep!” he says, running a hand over the steering wheel in reverence. “God, I missed my baby, but I couldn’t take it with me all the way to college, and Jackson wanted to keep it to drive his band around in.”
“It’s awesome!” Jinwoo exclaims.
“Seunghoon,” Taehyun says, walking towards them in mild horror. “Do you have a family we don’t know about? Is that why you own a soccer mom van?”
Seunghoon gasps, leaning over to spread his arms over the dashboard in what Jinwoo supposes is meant to be a hug. Jinwoo does the same to the right door. “Don’t listen to him, baby,” Seunghoon whispers, “He’s a bad man, just got out of juvie-”
“I was provoked and let out on a warning,” Taehyun growls.
Seungyoon kicks the front wheels, watching Minho trying and failing to pull open the left door. “Was this thing built in 198-”
“It’s a 1995 Dodge!” Seungyoon cuts him off. “And what are you doing Minho, is that how you treat a woman?” Seunghoon jumps out of the front seat to shove Minho away from the door. He grabs the handle and yanks, but it doesn’t budge. He wipes his hands on his jeans and tries again; same result, except this time there’s a small snap.
Seunghoon crosses his arms and huffs. “Okay, you know what,” he says after a beat, “Everyone just get in through Jinwoo’s side.”
“The mission begins?” Jinwoo asks, determined.
Seunghoon looks up at nothing in particular, but the rest follow the motion. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “The mission has already begun.”
DAY 3 - 12:17AM: MINHO
Being part of an underground rap crew means that Minho has been questioned by the police more often than he’d like to admit to his mother or sister. Nothing major, just officers coming by on sparse occasions, asking if he knows Pyo’s whereabouts. The routine was the same, Minho would shake his head, close the door before bolting to his room, crawl under his bed to where Pyo was hiding, and give him an all clears signal. Okay, possibly it was less the underground rap crew he was involved in, and more being friends with Pyo.
The point is, being in Pyo’s position is a different, off-kilter, feeling altogether. It’s a feeling that has him cold to the tips of his toes, one that makes him think he’ll never know love again, isn’t even sure if real goodness exists. The policeman behind him, Officer Chaerin, nudges him with the end of her baton to make him move, and Minho trudges forward, towards people who were once his friends, but now feel like distant memories of happier times.
“Are you okay?” Jinwoo asks, mouth twisted in concern. Ah, Jinwoo. So beautiful, so lustrous. Minho had broken him, probably. He hadn’t realised it back then, but it’s true. There’s a darkness inside of Minho and it had taken Jinwoo’s kind, innocent soul, and twisted-
“He’ll be fine,” Chaerin says, grabbing Minho’s shoulder and shaking him roughly. Minho whimpers. “Okay, so it’s an all clear and we have the paperwork that the car is indeed yours, Mr. Lee.”
“I told you!” Seunghoon jumps up before Seungyoon tugs him back down again. Seunghoon. Poor Seunghoon. So full of life and vivacity, it had been his impassioned spirit that had brought them all here, united under the umbrella of justice. As it is, the world is a storm, blustering and violent-
"Minho, seriously, you’re starting to freak me out,” Seungyoon's says, clicking bus fingers in front of Minho's face.
“I’m fine,” Minho replies, “Just… dead inside”
“Anyway,” Chaerin continues. “There’s still an old man who is in the hospital because of trauma,” Minho swallows guiltily. “And I don’t know why.”
“We told you everything!” Seungyoon promises, putting his hands up. “You can even call up people to check out stories.”
“You told me too much,” Chaerin says. “Way too much,” she mutters under her breath. “I’m not saying you’re lying, I’m just saying you’re leaving something out. There’s a man in the hospital, a breaking and entering charge, and I still don’t actually know why you guys are here.” She closes her manila folder, tucking it under her arm, and narrows her eyes at the five of them. “So, who here wants to wrap this case up for me?”
DAY 2 - 10:30PM: TAEHYUN
They’d arrived at the house a good two hours past their estimated arrival times, the suburban quietness of the streets somehow more disorientating than the city’s tangled roads and intersections. Once they were finally there, it was no question about who’d lead the breaking and entering mission, but it was Minho who truly suffered when Taehyun chose him as the most reliable accomplice of the lot.
Taehyun is questioning that decision now. They haven’t even entered the garden yet, but Minho is so rattled that Taehyun’s beginning to feel second hand nervousness, and also first hand regret at letting himself be roped into this situation in the first place. Thankfully, the past two days spent stuffy cars, humdrum motels, and the most mundane highway known to man, all become worth it as the gears in the lock click, and Taehyun grins as the gate swings wide open for them.
“Good job,” Minho congratulates, clapping his back. “Does it feel good? Using your powers for good?”
“It does,” Taehyun surmises, closing the gate quietly once they’re both through it. “But I could be doing this because I was trying to murder Seungyoon in his sleep and it’d still feel good.”
Taehyun is careful, treads quietly over the grass and avoids anything that looks like it might make noise. He wonders if all that care is even worth it, however, since every single footstep Minho makes is accompanied by a natural disaster of some kind.
“Are you wearing metal shoes?” Taehyun hisses. “Why are your feet clanging.”
“I didn’t see the watering can, okay!” Minho cries. He takes another step, onto a concrete pathway and there’s an even louder clang. “I can’t get it off without making more noise.”
Once they manage to free Minho’s foot from the watering can, they’re back to searching the backyard they’d infiltrated. It’s clean, nicely kept, with a garden fountain in the middle of it, curved flower beds decorated with roses and lantanas, shrubs in the shape of different animals, but unfortunately- nothing else.
“I don’t think she’s here,” Minho says.
“Should we look inside?” Taehyun suggests, already thinking of ways to break into the house.
“I feel like that’s probably not a good idea.”
Taehyun disagrees, but before he can tell Minho this, there’s a bright light shining into his eyes making him stumble backwards.
“Well,” a familiar, nasally voice says. “If it isn’t two of my least favourite students.”
“Run!” Minho yells, grabbing the watering can and throwing it at the fence to cause a distraction. He bolts back towards the gate with Taehyun following close behind. They can hear footsteps behind them, slower, but steady and persistent.
“Yang saw our faces,” Minho wheezes. “We’re screwed.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Taehyun snaps, hitting Minho’s back to make him run faster. “Let’s just get out of here.”
Seunghoon is waiting for them outside the dodge, perking up when they come into view. “Well?”
“She’s not there.” Taehyun feels something like sympathy stir in his stomach when Seunghoon’s face falls. He doesn’t have time to consider the implications of him softening though, so he pushes past Seunghoon and clambers into the drivers seat. “We need to get out of here, he’s after us.”
Seunghoon opens his mouth, but then there’s Yang’s voice, drawling. “You guys can run away, but I hope you don’t equate it to getting away, or else you’ll be sorely disappointed.”
“Fuck,” Seunghoon swears, jumping into the backseat, and as a result, across Seungyoon and Minho’s lap.
Seungyoon grunts. “Sit next to Taehyun instead, why are there four people in the back-”
“No time!” Seunghoon interrupts, he leans over to yell into Taehyun’s ear. “Get us out of here!”
Taehyun looks backwards and starts reversing out of the driveway, heart pounding in his chest. “I’m sorry, Seunghoon,” he apologises. “I know this whole trip was for her and now it’s pointless-”
“Are you daft? I mean, sure it was for her but it wasn’t pointless.” He throws himself back onto Seungyoon, who groans. “I mean look around, when was the last time the five of us were together like this-”
“You’re really doing this now?” Seungyoon says, voice muffled by the material of Seunghoon’s sweater.
“Of course I’m doing it now,” Seunghoon proclaims. “That was the perfect opening.”
“I’m just saying we’re reversing at like, 0.1 kilometres per hour and Yang is-” Jinwoo places a finger against Seungyoon’s lip, shaking his head, and Seungyoon sighs in resignation. “Fine,” he concedes, “Use me as your literal soap box.”
“Gladly,” Seunghoon punctuates this by leaning even further back so his shoulder is pressed right into Seungyoon’s face. “I brought the five of you here because I’m really sick of everyone being too busy worrying over themselves to think about each other. Look, we’re growing up, things change, we’re in different places. But you don’t have to go through that on your own, alright.” Seunghoon swipes a hand through his hair. “I just needed to remind myself, remind the rest of you that- although we didn’t become friends under the best circumstances, even though sometimes things happen and it feels like we’re hardly friends anymore. When worse comes to worst, we’ll always be there for each other.”
Seungyoon manages to wriggle his head and hands free and pushes Seunghoon away so he can speak. “That’s good and all, but you do know I’m overdue on a 20 percent assessment-”
“Come on!” Minho cries, punching his shoulder. Jinwoo shakes his head, and even Taehyun feels justified in saying, “Why do you have the be so pretentious all the time?”
“You of all people shouldn’t-”
“If you’re just going to stay parked in my driveway,” Yang says, watching them from his lawn with mild disinterest. “Why don’t I just call the police over here? Honestly, Taehyun, what would your mother say when she hears about this.”
Taehyun freezes. He can feel Seunghoon's hands rubbing circles into the sides of his neck, but he can’t hear anything that’s not Yang’s words playing over, and over, and over, again in his head.
“Taehyun,” Seungyoon calls warily, but it sounds distant and faraway. Taehyun’s fingers curl tighter around the steering wheel, knuckles turning white. “Taehyun, don’t do it.”
“Fuck.” Taehyun shifts the car back into drive. Yang straightens up, surprised but amused, a small smirk making itself known. Taehyun wants to wipe that look of his face. “You,” he growls, pressing his foot down on the accelerator.
DAY 3 - 12:30AM: SEUNGYOON
“I didn’t even hit him!” Taehyun insists. “I was going at 5 kilometres per hour and swerved. I ended up hitting his mailbox.”
“Hyun Suk Yang is in the hospital from shock,” Chaerin says, shaking her folder in his face. “You do know that, right?”
“He’s always been kind of overdramatic,” Seungyoon defends. “We all had him for our Business 101 elective last year, literally the most pointless class of our lives.”
“Spent the entire semester telling us we didn’t have the right vibe and we almost failed,” Seunghoon adds.
Chaerin doesn’t seem so sure, but thankfully her colleague, the one who'd interrogated Seunghoon and Seungyoon - spending every other minute stopping them so he could share a tangentially related anecdote from his youth, or asking them if they wanted to see a magic trick with handcuffs - Officer Seungri, walks through the door. Seungyoon has to rub his eyes when he sees who he’s holding in his hands.
“Chaerin,” he says. “The guys found this thing hiding in the corner of Yang’s backyard, it’s name tag says-”
“Lee Hee!” Seunghoon squeals, arms shooting out straight towards the short haired chihuahua that’s struggling to escape from Seungri’s hold.
“Yeah…” Seungri ignores the grabbing motions Seunghoon makes with his hands. “It also says if lost return to Seunghoon Lee.”
“I’m Seunghoon,” Seunghoon cuts in. “I’m Seunghoon Lee, give her here.”
Seungri looks hesitant, he turns towards Chaerin, who exhales exasperatedly and nods. Seungri passes Lee Hee into Seunghoon’s arm, and Seunghoon looks like he might just cry.
“Hey there, cutie,” Seungyoon baby talks, scratching underneath Lee Hee’s chin. “I don’t know if it’s the lack of sleep but she finally looks cute to me now.”
“She was always cuter than you,” Seunghoon retorts, voice watery.
“Do I want to know why your pet dog was with you University lecturer,” Chaerin inquires warily, opening her manila folder again. “Because you do know that’s another can of worms altoge-”
“He took her away from me!” Seunghoon cries, holding Lee Hee tight against his chest, eyes darting around the room daring anyone to try and take her away from him. “He said he wouldn’t give her back until after finals, so that way I had something to work towards. But he left with her before I even finished that last exam.”
Chaerin doesn’t look very impressed, but she lets them go with a hefty fine for property damage that Taehyun begrudgingly offers to pay 30 percent of. Seunghoon takes responsibility for another 50 percent, and the other 20 is split between Minho, Jinwoo, and Seungyoon. A price Seungyoon would rather spend on a new guitar, but frankly he’s relieved he isn’t in jail right now.
-265 DAYS - 01:00PM: JINWOO
Jinwoo doesn’t understand baseball.
Seungyoon’s spent the better half of thirty minutes trying to explain it to him, using their phones and an old piece of gum he’d found in his pocket as props, but half an hour later Jinwoo still feels confident in saying he really doesn’t understand baseball. He thinks back to his small dorm room, desk cluttered with lecture notes, tabs looking into postgraduate studies and internship opportunities loaded onto his laptop, and realises that he doesn't really care about not understanding baseball either.
He does care about Seungyoon, though. Jinwoo’s insides have been knotted and heavy since the last semester of his senior year started, the idea of so much time passing and the bleak prospects of his future amalgamating into days spent just sitting alone in his dorm room watching whatever was popular on television, and turning down almost all invitations to go out. Seungyoon had seemed eager though, pretty much knocked down his door telling Jinwoo about how cool his friend Minho was, and how they could go to the new Takoyaki restaurant that opened down the road from the baseball field, and how Seungyoon would even pay if the game was that unbearable. Truth be told, Seungyoon really hadn’t had to do anything more than smile and ask, but who’s Jinwoo to say no to free food.
Seungyoon’s now realised that Jinwoo will never, really, understand or care about baseball and is tapping out a tune on Jinwoo’s thighs using their phones. Jinwoo adds in some impromptu beatboxing that he’d learnt off a Youtube video, and Seungyoon keels over in laughter on Jinwoo’s lap just as the crowd starts cheering.
“What?” Jinwoo looks around. “What was that?”
“They’re cheering for your rhythm,” Seungyoon answers, pulling himself upright in his seat again. “Just kidding, they got a homerun.”
“Oh,” Jinwoo blinks. Then he smiles and pumps his fist in the air. “Yay!”
“Yay!” Seungyoon imitates, doing a little cheer.
It’s not so bad, company. But halfway through the seventh inning Jinwoo realises that it’s not enough to compensate for an empty stomach. He takes off his snapback to rest it on top of Seungyoon’s bowler hat and says, “Hey, I’m going to go get some snacks, okay?”
Seungyoon nods, adjusting Jinwoo’s snapback so the brim is facing the back. “Now I’m hip,” he announces. Jinwoo chuckles and is about to go when Seungyoon stops him with a “Wait!”
Jinwoo cocks his head to the side. “Hm?”
Seungyoon looks nervous, taking both hats off his head so he can run a hand through his hair. “I, um.” He looks towards the field contemplative, biting his lip. “Uh, about lunch, can we-”
Jinwoo makes a small ‘o’ with his mouth, what’s making Seungyoon so antsy suddenly clicking in his head, and he laughs. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to pay. I’m older, I’ll make it my treat.”
Seungyoon opens his mouth, and then slumps down into his seat. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.” Jinwoo still feels unsettled, a small part inside of him screaming that he’s missing something, but he gives Seungyoon a placating smile before heading up the stairs towards the snack kiosk.
It sounds like they’re announcing the next batter, the one Jinwoo remembers passively thinking had a cute butt, when something tugs in Jinwoo’s stomach. It pulls everything tight, sharpens his intuition, and makes him stop in the middle of the stairs and turn around slowly.
Seungyoon’s anxious face, his fingers carefully tracing the lines on the inside of Jinwoo’s snapback, is the last thing Jinwoo sees before there’s a loud crack and everything goes black.
DAY 3 - 01:00AM: SEUNGYOON
“Reunited, once again!” Seunghoon bellows, holding Lee Hee up in the air as they walk back towards their car. “I can’t believe she’s finally back.” Minho starts yipping at Lee Hee from next to Seunghoon, moving his hand back and forth to try and provoke her into a high five.
Seungyoon is looking at the ground, absently kicking around a small pebble, when he hears someone slow down to walk beside him. Seungyoon watches their shadows play with each other on the concrete. Thinks they look pretty good together.
“You okay?” Seungyoon asks, watching his shadow nudge Jinwoo’s.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Jinwoo’s shadow shrugs. Seungyoon lifts his head up to give him a disbelieving look and Jinwoo grins sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “Okay, sorry, I know you told me not to pull stuff like that anymore.”
Just a week ago Seungyoon had been staring down at his phone, waiting for Jinwoo to answer one of his texts, all variations of the same theme. ’Everything alright?’, ’I’m sorry about Minho, it wasn’t either of your faults.’, Just let me know if you need anything.. Jinwoo hadn’t even bothered with variety and replied to each one with a succinct, ’Sure :)’. Now it feels like there are more weeks between then and now, than there were kilometres travelled in the last two days. He owes Lee Hee at least a year’s supply of free dog treats for that, except Seunghoon already spends more on the Lee Hee’s food than he does his own, so maybe he’ll just get her a nice collar.
“Hey, listen,” Seungyoon begins, coming to a complete stop on the footpath. Jinwoo notices and halts, shoots Seungyoon a nonplussed look as he walks backwards.
“What is it?” Jinwoo looks worried, and as usual, that’s always the last thing Seungyoon wants.
“No, it’s nothing,” Seungyoon assures, he pulls up his best smile, the half-there one Jinwoo loves imitating when he’s drunk. “I just- I don’t really like seeing you down, and Seunghoon is right- just because things are changing, it doesn’t mean we’re on our own.” He clears his throat, feeling embarrassed and not knowing why. He isn’t doing this for any reason except for the fact that, regardless of anything, Jinwoo is and always will be first and foremost, a friend he cares more deeply about than anyone. “It’s not anything huge, but the Producer I’m interning for, his software is always super buggy and-”
Jinwoo claps a hand over Seungyoon’s mouth. “Before you say anything,” he warns. “Stop.”
Seungyoon pulls away Jinwoo’s hand. “Huh, why? I’m not doing it because I feel sorry for you, it’s just because I’m your friend and-”
“No, no,” Jinwoo shakes his head. “I want you to stop so you don’t think that, you thinking of me, or going out of your way to find me a job, is the reason I’m about to do this.”
About to do what? is on the tip of Seungyoon’s tongue, when Jinwoo leans up to press his lips against his, and he gets his answer in the best way possible.
Seungyoon’s seen Jinwoo kissing different people for a lot of different reasons. Has witnessed casual goodbye pecks, accidentally walked in on lazy making out in bed, and has had to intervene in the middle of drunk, sloppy kisses when Jinwoo’s had too much to drink. It's hard to think about for too long, but passively, or maybe not so passively, Seungyoon’s always thought Jinwoo looked like a good kisser.
He gets an affirmation now, with Jinwoo’s fingers in his hair, tongue licking at the seam of Seungyoon’s mouth, and he goes back to the morning two days ago, Jinwoo outside his window whispering ”let me in”. Seungyoon opens his mouth, sucks on Jinwoo’s bottom lip, and thinks back to what a ridiculous statement that is, considering he’s spent the four years he’s known Jinwoo looking in from the outside. He cups the back of Jinwoo’s neck to tilt his head back and deepen the kiss, and it feels like he’s been waiting his entire life to let Jinwoo in.
When Jinwoo pulls away, he looks content, satisfied, and Seungyoon feels something burn in his chest at the thought that he put that expression there. “Thank you,” Jinwoo says, kissing Seungyoon quickly on the mouth again. “We’ll talk about it later, yeah?”
Seungyoon nods dumbly. “Yeah,” he says, barely there as Jinwoo interlaces their fingers together and they resume walking. “Wait,” Seungyoon blurts out, realisation slowly dawning on him. “You knew,” he says, mostly to himself, face going red at the epiphany. “How did you know?”
Jinwoo doesn’t look at him, but the smug smile is obvious just from the side. “I’m not an idiot,” he replies. “I just pretend to be, sometimes.”