Work Text:
jaebeom turns the library book’s front cover over, and with a pencil, he presses the lead to the paper and writes a note:
‘hi. i hope you have a really good day!’
he sits there idly and begins tracing the message over and over with the same pencil.
absentmindedly, he writes out another message:
‘i love you.’
then he turns the page and begins to read; a world of fantasies and magic unfold before him.
---
a few days later, jaebeom returns the book, forgetting about the messages that he left on the inside of the yellowing pages that told a story. that is, until he sees his friend, jinyoung, holding the same book that rested in his fingers a few days ago.
then he freezes. he was the one that recommended this to jinyoung.
jaebeom licks his parched lips in an attempt to seem like he was just casually approaching his best friend and not trying to tell him that the note in there was for him, but not intended for him to actually read.
“so, um...jinyoung…what did you think of the book?” he asks, sticking his hands into his pockets.
“oh, it was good. but someone wrote something in it. i hate it when people do that; you know what i mean?”
jaebeom laughs nervously.
---
i hate it when people do that.
jaebeom sits on his windowsill, glancing three floors down, where jinyoung lives. he’s in love with jinyoung; in love with everything about him.
the younger boy continues to read the book that contains the messages from jaebeom’s heart. he sits on the windowsill, a glass of milk in one hand, the book in the other. drops of condensation drip down his thin wrist.
watching him with endearment, jaebeom picks his phone up. “hello?”
“hello?”
“jinyoung...it’s me, jaebeom,” the older boy says.
“oh...hi, hyung,” jinyoung replies.
“go up to your windowsill and turn on the lamp.”
“sorry- what?”
“just do it.”
jinyoung does as what jaebeom says. when he looks three floors up, he sees the older boy holding a lamp too.
there it is - the two boys with lights on, as if it were to represent the burning, passionate spark between the two of them.
jinyoung smiles through the window. jaebeom smiles back.
---
“let’s get coffee.”
jinyoung nods and the two boys step out into the snow, leaving footprints, as if it were sugar spread out everywhere, the ground so sweet, just like the moment.
the icicles of the air around them dissolve when they step into the warmth of the coffee shop. it’s very cozy in there, almost as if there were a candle light burning in a gingerbread house.
while they line up for their drinks, jaebeom asks, “so...did you finish that book?”
“yeah. it was really good, actually! i didn’t expect it to end the way it did, but it actually worked pretty well.”
“i know, right? i really liked that too. um...about that note at the front of the book…”
jinyoung blinks, blissfully unaware of what jaebeom’s about to tell him.
“...go on.”
“i was the one that...you know...did it.”
jinyoung laughs nervously. “really? um...was it directed at anyone in particular?”
“yeah...that’s the thing. as unbelievable as it sounds, it’s directed to...you.” jaebeom blushes and turns to the cashier, for he is now at the front of the line. “two americanos, please.”
when they get their drinks, they go outside. jinyoung brushes the snow off the bench with his glove, and then they sit down.
“hyung, what did you mean earlier? me? you’re joking, right?”
“no. i’m not. i’m serious.” jinyoung blushes too, but it’s not very noticeable among his rosy cheeks from the cold that makes tiny snowflakes drift around the winter air. and then he leans on jaebeom’s shoulder. he can feel the heat coming from underneath the older boy’s jacket. he snuggles close to the older boy, and smiles. he sighs at the comfort that he feels around jaebeom, the cold air visible with every exhale.
“me too.”
a silence emerges, but it’s not an awkward one. jaebeom breaks it, not by slicing it with a sharp knife, but by gently separating it apart. “you’re actually serious? because i love you. so does that mean…?”
“it does. it really does.” and then jinyoung looks at jaebeom and leans in until their lips meet.