Where We Would Be Now; for doeiros
Title: Where We Would Be Now
Rating: R ??
Length: 3066 words
Summary: Jongin’s past love comes crashing into the present.
Warning/s: angst, hints of violence
Notes: Thank you so so so much to A, A, and A!! You guys were my life support writing this thing.
I am so sorry this fic is not very good, I just had so much going on in my life that it did not get to turn into what I had hoped. But my brain is already writing more of it .. so maybe you will get a part 2 in a few months lol.
Jongin rolls out of bed groaning and running his hand through messy hair. He stretches and moves around his apartment on autopilot, completing his morning routine. Shower, coffee, getting dressed, breakfast, leaving for work.
It has been 8 years since the disbandment of EXO. Most of the members were scattered to the wind, becoming solo performers, composers, with some just deciding to leave the entertainment industry altogether. Jongin became one of the top dance instructors for SM Entertainment shortly thereafter.
It’s just after 4:00am when Jongin unlocks the door to his favorite practice room. He drops his bag and jacket in the corner of the room and connects his iPod to the stereo system. He stretches as he walks to center of the room. The beat of the music slowly starts to fill the room and Jongin’s mind goes blank as he lets the music enter his body and let it move his limbs smoothly with the beat.
By the time the young trainees begin to slowly enter the studio in various states of exhaustion, Jongin is sitting on the floor, writing notes on the routine he plans to teach today. Just as he is standing up to start his lesson a laugh echoes throughout the studio and catches Jongin’s attention. He looks into the mirror at the people in the room and his breath catches in his chest and his heart drops to the floor.
Giggling, Baekhyun tackles Jongin while the younger is on the floor stretching out his sore muscles.
“Hyung, we’re supposed to be practicing! It’ll be my head on a stick if I don’t get this dance drilled into your brain by tomorrow.” Jongin sighs as he pushes the older boy off him and stands up.
Grumbling, Baekhyun gets up off the floor and tosses his sweat jacket at Jongin before going to turn on the music.
“Okay, Mr. Miracle Dancer. Let’s do this.” Baekhyun gets into formation and begins the choreography, in sync with the young, fluid dancer beside him. They get to the part that always causes him to stumble and Jongin turns off the music.
“Here, hyung, let me show you. We’ll start slow first.” Jongin proceeds to show Baekhyun the steps one by one in half time. When the older member still stumbles over the steps, Jongin moves in behind him to help guide his limbs into their proper places.
Jongin’s heart starts racing and his mouth goes dry and he doesn’t even notice that Baekhyun has pulled away and has managed to get the footwork correct without stumbling.
“Jongin-hyung, are you alright?” Mark, one of the trainees, asks and it pulls Jongin out of the memory.
“Huh? Uh... Yeah, I’m fine.” Jongin shakes his head a little to rid himself of the memory and focus on his class. “Okay everyone, let’s get down to it. Those of you that are new, try to keep up.” The rest of the class passes by before Jongin realizes it. He can’t stop focusing on the new trainee. His smile and laugh are so much like Baekhyun’s, even his attitude when he makes a mistake and the way he tends to goof off. After hours of practice, Jongin finally lets the trainees leave to go to their other classes. Man, I do not miss those days one bit, he thinks to himself as they all stumble out of the studio, half-dead.
As Jongin is packing up his things, he can feel someone still in the room. He turns to find the trainee that has caused his heart so much pain all day. “Yes? Can I help you…?”
“Umm, it’s Kangdae. I just wanted to introduce myself. When I was younger, you were the reason I tried so hard to become an idol. It’s an honour to meet you, Kim Jongin-Songsaengnim.” The young boy bows before Jongin and the elder is thrown completely off-guard.
He stutters slightly and thanks the kid before rushing to grab his things and leaving the studio. He walks out of the building and goes straight to his usual place.
--
Drinks were being passed around the main area of the dorm. A tour had just finished and the group finally had a few days of free time before preparing for their next schedule. Junmyeon was being the responsible leader and avoiding the alcohol in lieu of taking care of the members and making sure nothing got too crazy. It didn’t take long for games to start and of course truth or dare was one of them. The game went on and drinks kept flowing but Jongin was barely paying attention anymore.
Suddenly, he found a giggling, drunk Baekhyun sitting in his lap and poking him in the cheek.
“Uh … Hi, Baekhyun-hyung.” Jongin was confused.What did he miss?
Baekhyun just smiles deviously and turns to face the circle. The rest of the group continued on with the game and the very little attention that Jongin had on the rest of the group was now gone and focused on the body that was way too close to his.
Baekhyun kept laughing and wiggling around in his lap and Jongin had to bite his lips to keep from moaning. When he felt himself starting to get hard, he panicked and unceremoniously dumped Baekhyun on the floor and escaped to the balcony. Sehun watched him leave with concern, but soon forgot about it.
Curled up on the balcony on the small bench, Jongin lost track of time, staring out into the city and listening to the muffled sounds inside. It was when he started to shiver from the night air that he realized it had gone quiet inside the dorm.
Uncurling stiff limbs, he slowly made his way back inside. His plan was to stop by the kitchen and grab a glass of water before heading to bed, but when he turned the corner he was not prepared for the sight he found.
Pressed up against the counter was Baekhyun, leaning over him was Chanyeol. From the angle Jongin was standing he could only guess that they were in the middle of a heated kiss.
The memories flooded Jongin’s mind again as he walked down the sidewalk to his destination.
He sits down with a huff and orders drinks, wasting no time in downing the strong liquid straight from the bottle.
--
“Uhhh, Jongin-ah, are you still alive?” Sehun questions, poking the shoulder of his best friend’s body, currently slumped over a table with an empty green bottle in hand. “You know I get all your stuff if you’re dead right?” Still getting no response, the younger man gives up on being nice and kicks the leg of the chair, successfully waking the dancer.
“Yah!” Jongin nearly topples off his chair and has to wait a moment for the world to stop spinning before trying to focus on the man standing beside him. “Whater yoo doin’ here?”
Sehun shakes his head at the slurred words and sits down across the table. “The owner called me to come take you home. What are you doing here like this? You realize it’s a Tuesday right?”
“I know that! But the face, he has voice…” Jongin trails off without making much sense as he starts to lose focus, starting to search the table for more alcohol.
“Ok, that’s enough. It’s time to go home.” Sehun gets a firm grip on his friends arm and hauls him up to his feet. Jongin leans heavily into Sehun with an arm around his shoulder as he continues to mutter nonsense about faces and voices.
The two grown men stagger down the sidewalk towards Jongin’s apartment, which happens to be conveniently close by. Suddenly Jongin pulls away and falls to his knees beside a garbage can and violently empties the contents of his stomach. The younger man rolls his eyes and sighs before bending down to comfort his friend, rubbing his back. “Hyung, what am I going to do with you?” He asks himself under his breath.
In the midst of the sounds of dry heaving Sehun hears the faintest whisper of a name. “What was that Jongin-ah?”
“Baekhyuuu.”
Sehun looks down at his friend in confusion. He thought those days were long gone. Is that the reason why he’s drunk off his feet? Did Jongin see him? He pushes all the questions aside as he helps the dancer back to his feet to finish their journey home.
---
The next morning, Jongin wakes up to the sun glaring through the windows of his bedroom. How the fuck did he get home? He sits up and instantly regrets the movement as his head spins and his stomach rolls. He groans loudly as he hears a crashing noise in the kitchen.
He slowly makes his way, stumbling, to the kitchen, where he finds Sehun digging around in his fridge.
“What are you doing here?” Jongin croaks out, voice rough with sleep and alcohol.
Sehun jumps, dropping the bottle in his hand, and pulls an amazing acrobatic stunt, catching it again before it hits the ground. “Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling? Why on earth were you plastered on a Tuesday night? Why do you have nothing to eat in this place? Wow you smell, you should shower.”
“Yah! Shut up, does it look like my brain can process that many questions right now?” Jongin glares at his friend as he gingerly sits down at the small kitchen table and cradles his throbbing head in his arms. A glass of water and some painkillers are placed on the table next to him.
Sehun pats the shoulder of the slumped form “I don’t know what’s going on, hyung, but I hope you tell me soon.” Sehun says quietly before leaving the apartment.
Jongin sighs at the concern in his friend’s voice. He pops the painkillers in his mouth and downs the glass of water before he heads to take a shower and get ready for work.
---
“Who made the sun so bright?” Jongin growls under his breath as he makes his way down the sidewalk to work, snapback pulled low. He was too busy reading missed messages on his phone to notice the person stumbling down the sidewalk toward him. He looks up a moment too late and they end up a pile of tangled limbs on the sidewalks.
“Shit I am so sorry. I wasn't-” Jongin stops mid-apology and drops his phone from his hand when he lays eyes on the man nearly beneath him. "B-Baek-hyun hyung?" The man was barely recognizable, his face covered in blood from a split lip and bruises-some fading but some are very clearly fresh. Jongin’s heart lurches in his chest.
Eight years. It has been eight long and lonely years since Jongin has seen Baekhyun’s face, and it hurts to see the apples of his cheeks blackened with bruises instead of red with flush of life. Unlike the rest of EXO’s former members, Baekhyun was the only one that had not moved on to bigger and better things. Instead he simply disappeared, gone without a trace. Of all the members, everyone had expected him to go forth and to continue a solo career as a singer, to maybe even dabble in songwriting. But one day he was just gone.
Baekhyun’s brows furrow and his mouth twists in a snarl, and whatever cruel words he was about to spit out caught in his throat. His good eye, the one not black and half swollen shut, flickers with recognition but it is gone as soon as it appeared. “I-I need to go.” He tries to push past Jongin, but something just won’t let Jongin let Baekhyun go.
“You’re hurt!” Jongin says needlessly. Of course Baekhyun knows he’s hurt. “Have you been to the hospital yet? You should really go. I’ll take you.”
Baekhyun recoils violently and shoves Jongin back with a strength that has always surprised Jongin. “No!” He shakes his head and shrugs off a wave of vertigo that almost goes over Jongin’s head.
Almost. Jongin has always been observant, but years as a dance instructor has sharpened his keen eye. He has to be able to see the little things, has to be able to see when someone’s form isn’t correct while dancing so it can be corrected.
Jongin swallows. It’s early in the morning, early enough that there aren’t too many people in the streets, but someone could still see and recognize them. Baekhyun and Jongin might not be part of EXO anymore, but at the very least Jongin still has a name to live up to.
And then there’s his class.
“I can’t let you go,” Jongin says, lips thinning into a frown. “I still-” care about you? Yeah that’ll go over great. “You’re still my friend. If you won’t go to the hospital, at least let me help you.”
Baekhyun considers the offer, eyes darting between the sparse gathering of people on the streets of Seoul, and with visible reluctance, nods his head. “Ok. Ok.”
“Ok.” Jongin sighs in relief, fishing his phone out from his back pocket. “I need to make a quick phone call, it’ll only take a second. Then we can go back to my apartment.”
Baekhyun nods, eyes still on the streets. No one spares them much of a glance, let alone a second one, but he’s still paranoid.
Jongin dials Sehun’s number from memory-he’d never gotten around to adding anyone to speed dial-and barely gives Sehun a moment to greet him before he’s saying, “Sehun, I need you to take over my class this morning. Don’t ask me why, just do it. Please!”
Sehun is Jongin’s best friend for a reason. He must sense the urgency in Jongin’s voice, and having known him for as long as he has, Sehun knows it must be very dire for Jongin to be making this phone call. “I’m getting dressed now, I’ll be out the door in five.”
Jongin hangs up with a sigh of relief, and he turns to Baekhyun with a smile that falters when he sees the bruises and the split lip again. “Let’s go,” he says, gingerly grasping Baekhyun’s hand. “It’s just a couple of blocks back this way.”
--
To say that Jongin is upset is a gross understatement. He’s livid, his blood boiling with the raw force of his anger. In the past, Baekhyun’s best feature was his face. The sharp V of his chin, the line of his nose and the angles of his eyes always luring people with promise. But now, after eight years, he was a withered mess and painted with cruelty. It was unfair. Baekhyun didn’t deserve to suffer, but yet there he was, tongue poking at the split in his lip and a bottle of peroxide and cotton balls between them.
Jongin sighs as he attaches the butterfly bandage to the split above Baekhyun’s eyebrow, and then cleans out the blood from his eye and cheek with a water soaked cotton ball. “There,” he mumbles. “I think I’ve done what I can.”
Baekhyun, miraculously, doesn’t have a concussion. The worst of the damage appears to be superficial that some rest and tylenol can help with.
“Look I’m-I’m not gonna ask what happened, but if you need a place to stay, it’s ok if you stay here.” Jongin offers Baekhyun his bed and a couple capsules of tylenol and a glass of water, watching the swell of his throat as he swallows.
Even after eight years, Jongin still has it bad.
Baekhyun lies down and pulls the thick comforters up over his head, obscuring his face in shadow.
Jongin swallows, rubbing clammy palms on his jeans. “I’ll. I’ll just...go. Rest well, Baekhyun hyung.”
Baekhyun doesn’t say anything back to him, but the fluttering of his eyelashes tell Jongin that while he’s exhausted, he’s comfortable enough to give in. Warmth fills Jongin’s belly, fills his chest and warms his face. He awkwardly departs from his bedroom, gaze on the floor.
--
Jongin collapses on the sofa in the small living room and pulls out his phone to text Sehun. He is sure his friend must be worried and waiting for an explanation. Jongin tells him to call when the dance class is finished and thanks him again for covering.
He sets his phone down on the table and rests his face in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. What could have possibly happened to Baekhyun over the last 8 years. The last that Jongin saw him was just weeks after the disbandment, and as far as he knew everything was fine. He lets out a deep sigh and rubs at his face before running tanned finger through dark hair.
He lays down on the sofa, arm thrown over his face, and thinks about what he is going to say to Baekhyun when he wakes up.
--
Jongin jolts awake and nearly topples off the couch and onto the floor. He did not realize that he fell asleep, but it was nearly dark outside. He gets up, rubbing his eye as he pads over to the bedroom to check on Baekhyun. When he opens the door he see’s that the bed has been made with a note sitting on the pillow.
Jongin’s heart drops as he slowly walks over to the bed. His hand shakes as he picks up the note and reads it.
Jongin-ah,
I am very sorry to be leaving like this after so many years. I am truly grateful for you helping me and wish that I could stay but my life is just too complicated and I do not want to drag you into this world. I hope to see you again, but please do not waste your time trying to find me.
I love you Jongin-ah. Goodbye.
Baek-hyung
Jongin did not realize that he had started to cry until a tear hits the page. He stands frozen in the bedroom, reading the note over and over again. He eventually sits on the edge of the bed and holds the note to his chest as his heart breaks all over again.
“Goodbye, Baekhyun hyung. I love you too,” Jongin whispers to the empty room.
Rating: R ??
Length: 3066 words
Summary: Jongin’s past love comes crashing into the present.
Warning/s: angst, hints of violence
Notes: Thank you so so so much to A, A, and A!! You guys were my life support writing this thing.
I am so sorry this fic is not very good, I just had so much going on in my life that it did not get to turn into what I had hoped. But my brain is already writing more of it .. so maybe you will get a part 2 in a few months lol.
Jongin rolls out of bed groaning and running his hand through messy hair. He stretches and moves around his apartment on autopilot, completing his morning routine. Shower, coffee, getting dressed, breakfast, leaving for work.
It has been 8 years since the disbandment of EXO. Most of the members were scattered to the wind, becoming solo performers, composers, with some just deciding to leave the entertainment industry altogether. Jongin became one of the top dance instructors for SM Entertainment shortly thereafter.
It’s just after 4:00am when Jongin unlocks the door to his favorite practice room. He drops his bag and jacket in the corner of the room and connects his iPod to the stereo system. He stretches as he walks to center of the room. The beat of the music slowly starts to fill the room and Jongin’s mind goes blank as he lets the music enter his body and let it move his limbs smoothly with the beat.
By the time the young trainees begin to slowly enter the studio in various states of exhaustion, Jongin is sitting on the floor, writing notes on the routine he plans to teach today. Just as he is standing up to start his lesson a laugh echoes throughout the studio and catches Jongin’s attention. He looks into the mirror at the people in the room and his breath catches in his chest and his heart drops to the floor.
Giggling, Baekhyun tackles Jongin while the younger is on the floor stretching out his sore muscles.
“Hyung, we’re supposed to be practicing! It’ll be my head on a stick if I don’t get this dance drilled into your brain by tomorrow.” Jongin sighs as he pushes the older boy off him and stands up.
Grumbling, Baekhyun gets up off the floor and tosses his sweat jacket at Jongin before going to turn on the music.
“Okay, Mr. Miracle Dancer. Let’s do this.” Baekhyun gets into formation and begins the choreography, in sync with the young, fluid dancer beside him. They get to the part that always causes him to stumble and Jongin turns off the music.
“Here, hyung, let me show you. We’ll start slow first.” Jongin proceeds to show Baekhyun the steps one by one in half time. When the older member still stumbles over the steps, Jongin moves in behind him to help guide his limbs into their proper places.
Jongin’s heart starts racing and his mouth goes dry and he doesn’t even notice that Baekhyun has pulled away and has managed to get the footwork correct without stumbling.
“Jongin-hyung, are you alright?” Mark, one of the trainees, asks and it pulls Jongin out of the memory.
“Huh? Uh... Yeah, I’m fine.” Jongin shakes his head a little to rid himself of the memory and focus on his class. “Okay everyone, let’s get down to it. Those of you that are new, try to keep up.” The rest of the class passes by before Jongin realizes it. He can’t stop focusing on the new trainee. His smile and laugh are so much like Baekhyun’s, even his attitude when he makes a mistake and the way he tends to goof off. After hours of practice, Jongin finally lets the trainees leave to go to their other classes. Man, I do not miss those days one bit, he thinks to himself as they all stumble out of the studio, half-dead.
As Jongin is packing up his things, he can feel someone still in the room. He turns to find the trainee that has caused his heart so much pain all day. “Yes? Can I help you…?”
“Umm, it’s Kangdae. I just wanted to introduce myself. When I was younger, you were the reason I tried so hard to become an idol. It’s an honour to meet you, Kim Jongin-Songsaengnim.” The young boy bows before Jongin and the elder is thrown completely off-guard.
He stutters slightly and thanks the kid before rushing to grab his things and leaving the studio. He walks out of the building and goes straight to his usual place.
--
Drinks were being passed around the main area of the dorm. A tour had just finished and the group finally had a few days of free time before preparing for their next schedule. Junmyeon was being the responsible leader and avoiding the alcohol in lieu of taking care of the members and making sure nothing got too crazy. It didn’t take long for games to start and of course truth or dare was one of them. The game went on and drinks kept flowing but Jongin was barely paying attention anymore.
Suddenly, he found a giggling, drunk Baekhyun sitting in his lap and poking him in the cheek.
“Uh … Hi, Baekhyun-hyung.” Jongin was confused.What did he miss?
Baekhyun just smiles deviously and turns to face the circle. The rest of the group continued on with the game and the very little attention that Jongin had on the rest of the group was now gone and focused on the body that was way too close to his.
Baekhyun kept laughing and wiggling around in his lap and Jongin had to bite his lips to keep from moaning. When he felt himself starting to get hard, he panicked and unceremoniously dumped Baekhyun on the floor and escaped to the balcony. Sehun watched him leave with concern, but soon forgot about it.
Curled up on the balcony on the small bench, Jongin lost track of time, staring out into the city and listening to the muffled sounds inside. It was when he started to shiver from the night air that he realized it had gone quiet inside the dorm.
Uncurling stiff limbs, he slowly made his way back inside. His plan was to stop by the kitchen and grab a glass of water before heading to bed, but when he turned the corner he was not prepared for the sight he found.
Pressed up against the counter was Baekhyun, leaning over him was Chanyeol. From the angle Jongin was standing he could only guess that they were in the middle of a heated kiss.
The memories flooded Jongin’s mind again as he walked down the sidewalk to his destination.
He sits down with a huff and orders drinks, wasting no time in downing the strong liquid straight from the bottle.
--
“Uhhh, Jongin-ah, are you still alive?” Sehun questions, poking the shoulder of his best friend’s body, currently slumped over a table with an empty green bottle in hand. “You know I get all your stuff if you’re dead right?” Still getting no response, the younger man gives up on being nice and kicks the leg of the chair, successfully waking the dancer.
“Yah!” Jongin nearly topples off his chair and has to wait a moment for the world to stop spinning before trying to focus on the man standing beside him. “Whater yoo doin’ here?”
Sehun shakes his head at the slurred words and sits down across the table. “The owner called me to come take you home. What are you doing here like this? You realize it’s a Tuesday right?”
“I know that! But the face, he has voice…” Jongin trails off without making much sense as he starts to lose focus, starting to search the table for more alcohol.
“Ok, that’s enough. It’s time to go home.” Sehun gets a firm grip on his friends arm and hauls him up to his feet. Jongin leans heavily into Sehun with an arm around his shoulder as he continues to mutter nonsense about faces and voices.
The two grown men stagger down the sidewalk towards Jongin’s apartment, which happens to be conveniently close by. Suddenly Jongin pulls away and falls to his knees beside a garbage can and violently empties the contents of his stomach. The younger man rolls his eyes and sighs before bending down to comfort his friend, rubbing his back. “Hyung, what am I going to do with you?” He asks himself under his breath.
In the midst of the sounds of dry heaving Sehun hears the faintest whisper of a name. “What was that Jongin-ah?”
“Baekhyuuu.”
Sehun looks down at his friend in confusion. He thought those days were long gone. Is that the reason why he’s drunk off his feet? Did Jongin see him? He pushes all the questions aside as he helps the dancer back to his feet to finish their journey home.
---
The next morning, Jongin wakes up to the sun glaring through the windows of his bedroom. How the fuck did he get home? He sits up and instantly regrets the movement as his head spins and his stomach rolls. He groans loudly as he hears a crashing noise in the kitchen.
He slowly makes his way, stumbling, to the kitchen, where he finds Sehun digging around in his fridge.
“What are you doing here?” Jongin croaks out, voice rough with sleep and alcohol.
Sehun jumps, dropping the bottle in his hand, and pulls an amazing acrobatic stunt, catching it again before it hits the ground. “Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling? Why on earth were you plastered on a Tuesday night? Why do you have nothing to eat in this place? Wow you smell, you should shower.”
“Yah! Shut up, does it look like my brain can process that many questions right now?” Jongin glares at his friend as he gingerly sits down at the small kitchen table and cradles his throbbing head in his arms. A glass of water and some painkillers are placed on the table next to him.
Sehun pats the shoulder of the slumped form “I don’t know what’s going on, hyung, but I hope you tell me soon.” Sehun says quietly before leaving the apartment.
Jongin sighs at the concern in his friend’s voice. He pops the painkillers in his mouth and downs the glass of water before he heads to take a shower and get ready for work.
---
“Who made the sun so bright?” Jongin growls under his breath as he makes his way down the sidewalk to work, snapback pulled low. He was too busy reading missed messages on his phone to notice the person stumbling down the sidewalk toward him. He looks up a moment too late and they end up a pile of tangled limbs on the sidewalks.
“Shit I am so sorry. I wasn't-” Jongin stops mid-apology and drops his phone from his hand when he lays eyes on the man nearly beneath him. "B-Baek-hyun hyung?" The man was barely recognizable, his face covered in blood from a split lip and bruises-some fading but some are very clearly fresh. Jongin’s heart lurches in his chest.
Eight years. It has been eight long and lonely years since Jongin has seen Baekhyun’s face, and it hurts to see the apples of his cheeks blackened with bruises instead of red with flush of life. Unlike the rest of EXO’s former members, Baekhyun was the only one that had not moved on to bigger and better things. Instead he simply disappeared, gone without a trace. Of all the members, everyone had expected him to go forth and to continue a solo career as a singer, to maybe even dabble in songwriting. But one day he was just gone.
Baekhyun’s brows furrow and his mouth twists in a snarl, and whatever cruel words he was about to spit out caught in his throat. His good eye, the one not black and half swollen shut, flickers with recognition but it is gone as soon as it appeared. “I-I need to go.” He tries to push past Jongin, but something just won’t let Jongin let Baekhyun go.
“You’re hurt!” Jongin says needlessly. Of course Baekhyun knows he’s hurt. “Have you been to the hospital yet? You should really go. I’ll take you.”
Baekhyun recoils violently and shoves Jongin back with a strength that has always surprised Jongin. “No!” He shakes his head and shrugs off a wave of vertigo that almost goes over Jongin’s head.
Almost. Jongin has always been observant, but years as a dance instructor has sharpened his keen eye. He has to be able to see the little things, has to be able to see when someone’s form isn’t correct while dancing so it can be corrected.
Jongin swallows. It’s early in the morning, early enough that there aren’t too many people in the streets, but someone could still see and recognize them. Baekhyun and Jongin might not be part of EXO anymore, but at the very least Jongin still has a name to live up to.
And then there’s his class.
“I can’t let you go,” Jongin says, lips thinning into a frown. “I still-” care about you? Yeah that’ll go over great. “You’re still my friend. If you won’t go to the hospital, at least let me help you.”
Baekhyun considers the offer, eyes darting between the sparse gathering of people on the streets of Seoul, and with visible reluctance, nods his head. “Ok. Ok.”
“Ok.” Jongin sighs in relief, fishing his phone out from his back pocket. “I need to make a quick phone call, it’ll only take a second. Then we can go back to my apartment.”
Baekhyun nods, eyes still on the streets. No one spares them much of a glance, let alone a second one, but he’s still paranoid.
Jongin dials Sehun’s number from memory-he’d never gotten around to adding anyone to speed dial-and barely gives Sehun a moment to greet him before he’s saying, “Sehun, I need you to take over my class this morning. Don’t ask me why, just do it. Please!”
Sehun is Jongin’s best friend for a reason. He must sense the urgency in Jongin’s voice, and having known him for as long as he has, Sehun knows it must be very dire for Jongin to be making this phone call. “I’m getting dressed now, I’ll be out the door in five.”
Jongin hangs up with a sigh of relief, and he turns to Baekhyun with a smile that falters when he sees the bruises and the split lip again. “Let’s go,” he says, gingerly grasping Baekhyun’s hand. “It’s just a couple of blocks back this way.”
--
To say that Jongin is upset is a gross understatement. He’s livid, his blood boiling with the raw force of his anger. In the past, Baekhyun’s best feature was his face. The sharp V of his chin, the line of his nose and the angles of his eyes always luring people with promise. But now, after eight years, he was a withered mess and painted with cruelty. It was unfair. Baekhyun didn’t deserve to suffer, but yet there he was, tongue poking at the split in his lip and a bottle of peroxide and cotton balls between them.
Jongin sighs as he attaches the butterfly bandage to the split above Baekhyun’s eyebrow, and then cleans out the blood from his eye and cheek with a water soaked cotton ball. “There,” he mumbles. “I think I’ve done what I can.”
Baekhyun, miraculously, doesn’t have a concussion. The worst of the damage appears to be superficial that some rest and tylenol can help with.
“Look I’m-I’m not gonna ask what happened, but if you need a place to stay, it’s ok if you stay here.” Jongin offers Baekhyun his bed and a couple capsules of tylenol and a glass of water, watching the swell of his throat as he swallows.
Even after eight years, Jongin still has it bad.
Baekhyun lies down and pulls the thick comforters up over his head, obscuring his face in shadow.
Jongin swallows, rubbing clammy palms on his jeans. “I’ll. I’ll just...go. Rest well, Baekhyun hyung.”
Baekhyun doesn’t say anything back to him, but the fluttering of his eyelashes tell Jongin that while he’s exhausted, he’s comfortable enough to give in. Warmth fills Jongin’s belly, fills his chest and warms his face. He awkwardly departs from his bedroom, gaze on the floor.
--
Jongin collapses on the sofa in the small living room and pulls out his phone to text Sehun. He is sure his friend must be worried and waiting for an explanation. Jongin tells him to call when the dance class is finished and thanks him again for covering.
He sets his phone down on the table and rests his face in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. What could have possibly happened to Baekhyun over the last 8 years. The last that Jongin saw him was just weeks after the disbandment, and as far as he knew everything was fine. He lets out a deep sigh and rubs at his face before running tanned finger through dark hair.
He lays down on the sofa, arm thrown over his face, and thinks about what he is going to say to Baekhyun when he wakes up.
--
Jongin jolts awake and nearly topples off the couch and onto the floor. He did not realize that he fell asleep, but it was nearly dark outside. He gets up, rubbing his eye as he pads over to the bedroom to check on Baekhyun. When he opens the door he see’s that the bed has been made with a note sitting on the pillow.
Jongin’s heart drops as he slowly walks over to the bed. His hand shakes as he picks up the note and reads it.
Jongin-ah,
I am very sorry to be leaving like this after so many years. I am truly grateful for you helping me and wish that I could stay but my life is just too complicated and I do not want to drag you into this world. I hope to see you again, but please do not waste your time trying to find me.
I love you Jongin-ah. Goodbye.
Baek-hyung
Jongin did not realize that he had started to cry until a tear hits the page. He stands frozen in the bedroom, reading the note over and over again. He eventually sits on the edge of the bed and holds the note to his chest as his heart breaks all over again.
“Goodbye, Baekhyun hyung. I love you too,” Jongin whispers to the empty room.