Chapter Text
“Are you sure your parents are okay with this?” Sicheng asks.
After hours of napping and lounging around the airport, the two of them have finally boarded the plane to Pudong. Sicheng scoots over and takes the seat beside the window, lifting the shade open as he takes his sneakers off. Jaehyun, on the other hand, is busy squeezing his carry-on inside the overhead bin while simultaneously avoiding himself getting decked in the head by a middle-aged man struggling to lift his baggage.
He looks back at Sicheng and scrunches his nose. “Yeah. Why wouldn't they be? They’ve known you for like what– 10 years? It’s not like I’m being abducted or anything.”
Once he succeeds in fitting his bag in, he sighs in relief, flopping down beside Sicheng’s seat. The legroom is nowhere near comfortable, but booking a last-minute flight to Shanghai during peak season also meant hiked prices, so they had no choice but to take what they can get from a budget airline on seat sale.
Sicheng rubs his nape. "I mean- I thought you said you had plans with them for the holidays. With your relatives from America coming over?"
“It's boring anyway,” shrugs Jaehyun.
“Jaehyun.”
“What? It’s not like they have any out-of-town plans. If anything, it’s another one of those dinners with these relatives I barely know, and I’m sick of being the only one my age around, so...”
He knows he’s starting to sound a bit whiny, but it’s not like he's lying. Jaehyun has been the only teenager in both his maternal and paternal family tree. His cousins are at both extremes of the age demographic, and he would always find himself either sitting through stories about the horrors of midlife crisis or playing tea time with the five-year-olds. No in-between.
He looks over at Sicheng, but he doesn’t look convinced. Jaehyun gets it, though. After years of being joined by the hip, it’s safe to conclude that Sicheng is a bit of a people-pleaser. Jaehyun tagging along this trip is already unnerving for his best friend and causing him unnecessary pressure.
In an effort to reassure him, Jaehyun adds, “Look, they said I could choose not to stay. And it’s my choice to go to Shanghai, you didn’t force me into this. Besides, I’d spend winter anywhere else but Seoul.”
Judging how his face slightly loosens up, he figures it’s enough to satisfy what Sicheng needs to hear. Winter really isn't the most pleasant in Seoul.
Maybe five-year-old Jaehyun would've enjoyed playing around in the snow making snow angels and dressing up snowmen in scarves, but over the years, the season has gotten way too overwhelming for him to handle– he catches a cold easily, his fingertips start to numb before the temperature drops to the lowest point, and his joints crack at the slightest movement (much to Sicheng's amusement; cue "This is why you should stretch more often!")
So not to sugarcoat, Jaehyun really does want to get the hell out of there. At least for the dead of winter. And, from what he knows, it barely even snows in Shanghai anymore.
Cutting their conversation short, the flight attendant's voice sounds off through the speakers, requesting passengers to switch their mobile devices on airplane mode. Jaehyun fishes his phone out of his jeans. A message from his mother wishing him a safe trip remains unread, and Jaehyun shoots her a quick ‘will do. love you mom’ before turning it off.
“My friends are picking us up from there,” Sicheng says, he types a reply on his phone before looking up at him.
"Oh, cool."
Sicheng has mentioned to him before that over the years that he’s been coming home, his mom has moved out of Shanghai and lived back to her hometown outside of the central business district.
With their flight arriving on a late Thursday, it's lucky for them that most of Sicheng's friends are lodged in a dorm in the city, and had offered to take the two of them in for the meantime.
"You remember them? The ones who pulled a stunt on me last year. Apparently, with your help," Sicheng presses on the word.
Jaehyun nods, grinning. “By stunt, you mean them chipping in to put up a video advertisement of you?"
"Please don't," Sicheng groans, hiding his face in his hands. "They put up my full name in that ad that by the time it was up, my phone started blowing up from the amount of friend requests."
Jaehyun snorts, "You won nationwide, you were already getting a ton of friend requests in Korea alone."
Sicheng sighs, avoiding Jaehyun's eyes.
“Will you be okay? I mean– I know you've talked to Ten because he was the one who messaged you, but some of them don’t speak Korean. I mean, not fluently. Most of them learned English in school, though. Oh! And one of them said he started taking Korean as his elective and–"
"Sicheng." He’s starting to fumble with his words, and Jaehyun cuts him off before he could finish. "You didn’t speak Korean. It's not a problem, alright?"
Sicheng winces at the memory, embarrassed. “I’m good now!” he says defensively, shoving Jaehyun. His ears start turning red that Jaehyun couldn’t stop himself from pinching them a little too hard. Sicheng squirms away from him, sticking close to the window.
-
Even as kids, Jaehyun has already known there was something spectacular about Sicheng. At the school playground, his attempt at making friends was to show off his barrel turns and cartwheels and handsprings. Many of his classmates gaped and awed, but only for the duration of the act. Eventually, they never bothered attempting to communicate with him since Sicheng spoke in broken Korean, and well, his peers just didn't have the patience for that.
Jaehyun considered Sicheng's skill a gift, an innate talent. Way before they even talked to each other. Turns out that the stunts Sicheng pulled weren’t as easy as they looked. Jaehyun had to learn that the hard way by getting his forearm fractured when he tried to do it himself at his backyard.
When he came in to class that day with a hard cast on his arm, his classmates avoided him like the plague. No one even asked him how he ended up injuring himself, so he stayed in the classroom while everyone else played outside. With him in the room sits a quiet Sicheng, intently reading and memorizing Korean phrases from a handbook he came with. He was too distracted to notice Jaehyun.
Jaehyun pulled up a chair in front of him and tapped his shoulder, handing a Sharpie.
"Name," he said simply.
Sicheng looked around to make sure he was the one being addressed.
"Write your name," Jaehyun motioned at his cast. Sicheng smiled, accepting the marker from his hand. By instinct, he wrote in Chinese characters at first, and before he could scribble it off, Jaehyun said, "It's okay!" He gave a thumbs up for good measure, so Sicheng kept scribbling.
"Dong Sicheng," he mumbled, pointing at the foreign characters written on Jaehyun's arm.
Jaehyun gave him a fond smile. "Jung Jaehyun."
-
The plane ride to Pudong is supposedly less than two hours. In a perfect world, they would've gotten there three hours before midnight, and according to Sicheng's friends, less than 30 minutes away from where they were staying. Enough time to get settled and catch a decent amount of sleep for the next day. Except that it isn't a perfect world.
As expected of the holiday season, the air traffic is much worse than land. Their plane has been standing by for an hour now, unable to take off due to some reason Jaehyun didn't even bother understanding because he's already too engrossed watching a movie he had downloaded on his phone beforehand.
Another 30 minutes have passed, and Jaehyun is already staring at the end credits. He takes his headphones off, aware that the passengers are starting to get antsy. Turns out, the weather was starting to turn bad, and they had to wait a while before the plane could be cleared for take-off. Sicheng, on his side, has been snoring silently on his shoulder. After draining the rest of his phone battery playing games, he resorted to sleeping.
Jaehyun sighs. As much as he wants to complain, it's not like there's so much that can be done. He takes his phone out, going through his music playlist and sticking his earphones back in. He blasts the volume on max, a little too loud that Sicheng stirs for a bit, half-awake now. Unmoving his head from Jaehyun's shoulder, he holds his palm out, asking for the other earbud.
Jaehyun leans back, resting his cheek lightly on Sicheng's head as he peels the other one off his ear. At this point, drowning out everyone's noise is the best option.
-
"Have you told them what terminal we'd be getting off at?" Jaehyun asks after dragging the last luggage off the baggage claim carousel. Sicheng has brought so much with him that Jaehyun wanted to tease him if he was moving back to China, but he decided against it after noticing how frantic his friend has been ever since they landed.
"I did, but I didn't get to tell them we got delayed since my phone died."
Jaehyun nods, particularly calmer in this situation. “Why does it feel like I’m the one coming home to China every year?” he chuckles.
This gets a smile out of Sicheng.
"Dong Sicheng!"
They both turn their heads back. A person Jaehyun doesn't recognize runs up to Sicheng, with about four to five people following behind him.
"Kun-ge!" Sicheng beams, running up to collide with his friends until he's eventually swallowed by their hugs and head patting and cheek pinching.
Jaehyun doesn't run after them, a few feet apart now. He watches the sight of a heartwarming reunion and couldn't help but smile. Sicheng only sees his friends once a year, and every time he talks about them with Jaehyun, his eyes start lighting up, and his mouth curls into a sad smile. It’s like every time Sicheng goes back to Korea from his hometown, he’s counting down the days until he’s here again. And now he is.
A hand taps on Jaehyun’s shoulder. He looks over almost too quickly and faces someone a little shorter than him, dressed in specs and drowning under an oversized cardigan. He looks a little worn-out himself, most likely since they've been cooped up at the airport for the past three hours now. He holds Sicheng’s abandoned luggage in one hand, reaching out his other. “Hi. Jaehyun, right?”
He’s being greeted in English that it takes a moment for him to register. “Y-yes. Hi.” He stutters, answering back with his very limited Chinese until eventually deciding to settle in English instead. “I’m, uh, with Sicheng.”
He points back lousily at Sicheng, who’s busy being roughhoused by their other friends.
“You can talk to me in English, it’s my first language anyway,” he smiles. “Sorry about them. They’re not usually this rude, they just missed him. I’m Ten, by the way. We talked once last year after I stalked your social and asked for that video."
"Yeah, I remember."
“Ten-ah!” Sicheng calls over, both of them looking back at him being headlocked by a much bigger guy. “Help me!” he whines.
“That’s what you get for leaving your bag in the middle of the airport,” Ten shakes his head, sighing at the sight of his friends. He lifts the handle of Sicheng’s luggage and tilts his head at Jaehyun, signaling him to come with.
Jaehyun shifts awkwardly, following closely behind. It’s starting to feel like he’s intruding an intimate moment among family and he fleetingly wonders if he made the right choice tagging along. Ten, on the other hand, seems to get the message. He stops briefly for Jaehyun to catch up beside him.
“You look cuter in your profile picture.”
Jaehyun uses this opportunity to free himself from the tension, taking upon Ten’s offer. “You look taller in yours."
“Oh my god, you’re just like the rest of them!” Ten groans dramatically. After he allows Jaehyun to let out a laugh, he offers him a knowing smile. “So,” he flickers his eyes towards Sicheng, “how long has it been?"
"Um. Well, we were delayed for an hour and a half, then my line for immigration and baggage claim took up another hour so..."
Ten deadpans at him. "No. I meant how long? " He tilts his head back again until Jaehyun understands the context.
Oh.
His eyes widen, and he starts to stammer. “U-us? Oh, we’re not-” He looks over at Sicheng, now laughing loudly at a present one of them brought out for him: a rolled out poster with his childhood photos splattered all over (most of which had missing front teeth.) Jaehyun hasn’t seen him laugh that hard back in Korea, and it makes him wonder if Sicheng deserved happiness like this be taken away from him. “We’re not together that way,” he finally says.
Ten answers him with a curt smile and nods. Jaehyun could tell Ten was unconvinced, but he figured persuading would just make him look more desperate, so he doesn’t.
Once the two of them have reached around arms distance from their little circle of friends, the group surrounding Sicheng breaks away to acknowledge Jaehyun, giving him a welcoming nod and politely introducing themselves in Korean. Sicheng grins at them like a proud father.
“So, Jaehyun- Kun, Lucas, Hendery, Yangyang, Dejun," Ten recaps for him. "Oh, and that tall twig right there is Sicheng, but he’s unimportant.”
“Hey!” Sicheng scoffs, followed by a round of chuckles from everyone. He glances at Jaehyun then back at Ten, switching in Chinese. Jaehyun doesn’t fully grasp the sentence, but it seems to be a taunt towards him, which Ten responds with by sticking his tongue out.
They eventually start evacuating the waiting area after being told off by airport security for staying in too long. Jaehyun sticks close to Sicheng, walking beside him as Sicheng tries to grab his carry-on from him, but Jaehyun refuses to let go.
“You doing okay?” Sicheng asks.
Jaehyun looks back at him and smiles. “Don’t worry about me.”
"Listen. If they start asking you really invasive questions, just let me know, okay? The last thing I want is you realizing how annoying these guys are."
"I can understand Korean, you know!" One of them, Kun, blurts out in perfectly eloquent Korean. He catches up beside Sicheng and glares at him.
It almost scares Jaehyun until Sicheng wiggles his brows at Kun and says, "Not you, of course. You're my favorite gege ." He reaches up to pinch both of his cheeks.
"I think you're forgetting who actually listens in Korean class here," Kun waves his hand off, sulking.
"Sicheng," Ten whines behind them, pushing Sicheng's cart for him. "You said I was your favorite."
"Yo, Jaehyun." Jaehyun looks behind him. It was Lucas, this time speaking in English. "These guys," he waves a hand over them. "Annoying, right?"
Jaehyun grins. With friends like these around, maybe tagging along this vacation isn't such a bad idea.
-
At half-past midnight, there aren't a lot of options to dine in, so they decide to ring a restaurant that delivers 24/7 takeout and eat at their hostel instead.
Back when Jaehyun was asking Sicheng if he could tag along, Sicheng tried to lower Jaehyun’s expectations by saying he was staying at a dormitory-type apartment with barely breathable air. Jaehyun didn’t seem to mind. It at least appeases him that the rest of Sicheng’s friends stayed in the same building– with each room having a space big enough for one bunk bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
Sicheng's friends managed to bribe the landlord into letting Jaehyun and Sicheng stay over at a vacant room and charge them for a much lower price. No university student was going to rent it for the winter break anyway. It’s the best budget-friendly deal they could get for staying in the heart of the city.
Settling in was a lot harder than they thought. Given that Sicheng brought so much luggage with him, climbing four flights of stairs had all of them panting for air as they carried (well, dragged) the bags up to their room. It irritated Yangyang so much he threatened to throw the stuff out the window for good.
As soon as they dump their baggage at the apartment, they catch their breath for a while before finally settling in for a well-deserved midnight dinner.
Lucas sprawls himself over the carpet, repeatedly getting hit by Dejun in his butt to get up because there isn’t enough space for everyone. Sicheng starts pulling out a foldable table that has been dusting on a cabinet and Jaehyun rushes to help him, so as not to stay still.
“I’ll order now, does anyone want anything?” Kun asks as he dials a number on his phone.
“Chicken feet!”
“Spring rolls!”
“Chow mein!”
“Not spring rolls, we had that yesterday.”
“Jaehyun and Sicheng weren’t here yesterday, you idiot!”
Kun nods his head at both of them. “Sicheng? Jaehyun?”
Sicheng looks at him, dusting his hands off from the now laid out table. “They have the best dumplings there," Sicheng suggests, and Jaehyun nods at him in approval. "Can never have Chinese food that authentic. It was the last place I ate in before I left for Korea.”
Right after Kun wraps up their order, Dejun mumbles something to Ten in Chinese, and Ten bursts into laughter. The others look at him curiously.
"Ah, Sicheng kept sobbing that day. The manager had to ask him to stop because he was interrupting a birthday on the other table."
Sicheng sighs, but a smile spreads over his face. "Will you stop embarrassing me?"
“Oh, Sicheng,” Ten coos. “That's what we're here for.”
When the food finally arrives, the boys circle around the table. It was low enough for them to stay seated on the floor and long enough for all of the styrofoam boxes to fit while having moveable arm space to eat.
The group then starts talking, murmuring, and opening up boxes of food until Sicheng clicks his tongue. "Hey, don't exclude Jaehyun." He scolds them in Chinese, but Jaehyun catches on.
"It's okay," Jaehyun responds back in their language, much to everyone's surprise, including Sicheng. He stirs a piece of seasoned chicken on his plate. "I can understand... a little ." He says it slowly, taking note of how to pronounce each syllable accurately.
Ten gives him a nudge, a small gesture telling him he’s doing alright. He looks across him and finds Sicheng grinning, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.
For the rest of the night, Jaehyun tries his best to understand the conversation– a few words here and there make sense to him, and he considers that maybe Mandarin isn’t that hard after all. That is, until Hendery and Yangyang start speaking too fast, possibly arguing over which food tasted better, that Jaehyun doesn’t bother keeping up.
This was probably how Sicheng felt when he first came to Korea, he thinks to himself.
Sicheng, he couldn’t help but notice, looks much more comfortable. His first language slips off his mouth at ease. He has never been this nonchalant before that it almost comforts Jaehyun, knowing he gets to see his best friend this way. The way his friends’ eyes glisten every time Sicheng tells them stories about his new life, the way they break into laughter at his punchlines, Jaehyun never once doubted it, but witnessing it, Sicheng truly is brighter than he lets on.
It doesn’t register to Jaehyun that he’s been smiling at Sicheng until Sicheng catches him staring. He furrows his brows curiously at Jaehyun, and Jaehyun just shakes his head, focusing on the platter of noodles that Yangyang offered him earlier.
"Jaehyun. Try this, it’s good," Hendery hesitantly urges him in his textbook Korean, pointing at the food variety.
"Thanks," Jaehyun digs into the food. “Not bad,” he adds, noting Hendery’s intonation.
"Hyung," Sicheng interrupts. He presses on the word, tilting his head at Hendery. "It’s Jaehyun hyung . He’s older than you.”
Hendery sighs dramatically and looks at Jaehyun. “You see how bossy he gets?”
Jaehyun grins, and Sicheng clicks his tongue, standing up to shove Hendery playfully. He makes his way beside Jaehyun with a box of dumplings. Jaehyun notices the steam seeping through that he’s practically drooling by the sight of it.
“Try this,” Sicheng says, picking up a piece. Jaehyun opens up his mouth, and Sicheng feeds him. As soon as he takes a bite, Sicheng looks at him hopefully, waiting for his feedback.
Jaehyun takes his time to chew, slightly wincing at the burn on his tongue, but swallows it down and says, “I can see why you broke down when you left.”
Sicheng couldn’t help but laugh.
A little over an hour after, their friends have bid them a good night after helping clean up the mess and throw out all the boxes and used chopsticks.
Jaehyun stifles a yawn, climbing up the bed to claim the top bunk and crashing. By now, he’s already too exhausted to change out of his jeans.
He can already feel himself drift into sleep until he involuntarily squints from feeling the lights flick open under his eyes.
“Oh, sorry,” Sicheng whispers quickly, footsteps creaking from the bathroom. “I didn’t know you were asleep already.”
Jaehyun grunts, stretching from his uncomfortable position and figures it’s a call to get down and get changed. “I was just resting my eyes,” he shakes his head. “Flying sucks.”
Sicheng chuckles at him. He’s changed into some loosely fitting duck-patterned pajamas now, and Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile at the cartoon.
“Cute,” Jaehyun mumbles, finally jumping down the top bunk to search through his backpack for some clothes to sleep in.
Sicheng looks down as if seeing it for the first time and turns red, hurriedly getting on his bed and hiding his legs under the sheets. "You should get some rest. Ten’s an early riser, and who knows where he’s going to drag us to tomorrow."
"I thought you said you planned this trip?" Jaehyun asks.
"I did. He scrapped most of them, though."
Jaehyun grins after successfully finding a pair of sweatpants. "I like Ten," he says, hooking the garment in his arm. "I like your friends, they’re fun people."
Sicheng finally lies down, getting himself underneath the blankets while he props his head up on his palm. He tilts his head at Jaehyun and pouts. "More than me?"
"Of course not." Jaehyun snorts. "Why? Worried you'll get replaced?" He wiggles his eyebrows at him, leaning towards Sicheng's face teasingly until he gets pushed off.
"I'm worried your standards would get that low."
"Ah." Jaehyun clicks his tongue. "Someone's spiteful."
"Go get changed. I’m sleeping,” Sicheng says, words mumbling through the sheets as he brings them up over his head.
"Hey, Sicheng," he calls out before Sicheng could drift to sleep.
"Hm?"
"Thanks for bringing me here."
Sicheng pauses, pulling the blanket off his face. He looks over at Jaehyun, who’s already made it at the end of the room, hovering over the bathroom door. He throws him a close-mouthed smile, and it makes the apples of his cheeks more prominent.
"I wouldn't have spent this with anyone else,” Sicheng finally says before sinking his head back on the pillow.
-
Jaehyun wakes up to the sounds of thumping and loud foreign chit-chatting from outside the hallway. Sounds like two women arguing. Ten has mentioned last night that this hostel has a variety of tenants– ranging from students’ housing to tourists’ budget rooms, so experiencing this every waking morning shouldn’t come as a surprise to them.
He turns to look down, realizing Sicheng already has his bed made up and isn’t in the room with him. He glances at the wall clock: 7:15 AM.
The thing about winter mornings is that getting out of bed is physiologically a hard thing to do, so Jaehyun is already anticipating himself struggling to power through the desire of leaving indoors. He stretches and grunts over the cramped space of his bed, struggling to get down the upper bunk. Just as he’s about to reach for his phone charging by the bedside table, Sicheng walks in from the door.
“Hey! You’re awake!” he chirps. He looks like he’s in the same enthusiastic mood as he was in yesterday. “We’re at the lobby downstairs. I went for an early run to get some breakfast down the street, I didn’t want to wake you up, sorry.”
Jaehyun shakes his head quickly, getting up. “What’d you get?”
“Some steamed buns, egg tarts.” Sicheng shrugs. “Come down quick.”
Downstairs, he’s greeted by familiar faces, particularly Ten and Kun. Just before he could ask where the others were, Ten says the rest of them have jobs for the winter break. "I always stop by at Hendery's. He works at a coffee shop, and I get a free refill,” he tells Jaehyun.
“Jaehyun, come try this,” Kun says, laying out the boxes of street food. “Sicheng says you’re a heavy breakfast eater, so I picked out more than usual.”
Jaehyun lets out an amused smile. “Really?” Jaehyun looks back at Sicheng intently, telepathically asking what else he’s been telling them about him.
Sicheng waves him off, stuffing his face with an egg tart instead.
It’s safe to say that the weather outside is forgiving for December. At least with what Jaehyun is used to. Although being bundled up in three layers, Jaehyun doesn’t necessarily feel his back curling from the cold. Sicheng even offers him a scarf to warm his neck, but Jaehyun says he can manage.
They spend their day taking photos at touristy alleys filled with modern architecture that Jaehyun had to remind himself he’s in China and not Europe. They take their time trying out different street foods from the alleys, with Sicheng continually messing up his Mandarin as he orders the food. The street vendors would stare at him blankly, and it’s not like Jaehyun is of help either, so it’s always up to either Ten or Kun to do the talking. Ten even calls him “a stranger in his own land.”
“Ten’s more Chinese than you now, and he’s not even Chinese!” Kun laughs.
Sicheng whines. “I come here once a year, cut me some slack.”
“Dude, I’ve never even been to Seoul, but I can speak Korean.”
They’re speaking in Mandarin, and Jaehyun picks up a few terms, piecing the words together to make sense. Majoring in English, he’s no stranger to the struggle of learning a language. But what he’s learned is that immersing yourself in the language instead of passively learning it is the best and most effective way to master it. So always in search of a silver lining, he considers this a learning experience rather than something to be uncomfortable with.
"It's busier compared to here. And colder." Jaehyun tells Kun in Korean. Here, however, the weather hasn't completely set yet, and although the breeze is cold, the heat from the sun, if any, balances it out.
"How are you liking Shanghai so far, Jaehyun?" Kun asks as they walk through the busy streets, careful not to bump through other tourists.
"This area kinda reminds me of France, actually."
“Did he say France?” Ten asks. He’s been busy scrolling through the pictures taken of him on his phone. When Sicheng nods at him, he smiles at Jaehyun in response. “That’s the Former French Concession for you. Very European-influenced, always busy, always filled with tourists. I've been here a million times, and I'm still not bored of it."
Kun nods. “People will fall in love with Shanghai. Regardless if they’re from here or not.”
Despite being locals having the right to complain, the way they talk about their city makes Jaehyun think so too.
It takes them a few more hours roaming around the city– both walking and catching the train to wherever Ten decided to take them. There’s so much to see that they barely even notice the time passing by. They went to a coffee shop and said hi to Hendery, (while Ten harasses him for his free refill), and messed around with Dejun (much to his unenthusiasm), who's handling a cash register at a local music shop.
Before they know it, the sun is already down. They decide to watch the view from The Bund, a waterfront area that overlooks the city’s most notable landmarks. Sicheng, after a successful bribe, manages to drag Kun with him to help him with their takeout food from a nearby restaurant. This leaves Ten and Jaehyun to look for a spot for the four of them to settle into.
At around this time, a lot of tourists are already crowding the railing to have their photos taken with the landscape. The two of them decide to sit by the steps instead, a few meters away from the crowd, but still good enough to catch sight of the view.
“This view never gets old,” Ten sighs contently, leaning against the cement. He stretches his arms and legs out like a cat, and Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile at how ridiculous he looks. When Ten sees him watching, he retracts his limbs. “So, what was that last night?”
“What was what?” Jaehyun furrows his brows.
Ten smirks at him and says, “You know.” When Jaehyun proceeds to look at him dumbfoundedly, he brings his hand up to Jaehyun’s face, pretending to hold an imaginary spoon and feeding him like a baby. "You know."
Jaehyun laughs, dodging Ten’s hand. “It’s just something we do. You know, as friends.”
“Right. Friends.” Ten grins at him, mocking. “I'm not the only one speculating, you know? The others do too; they’re just too polite to ask. You can’t really blame them. The way Sicheng brings you up every time we get a chance to talk to him, his face– it just…” Ten raises his hands up to his face, opening his palms and gaping his mouth slightly. “He just lights up.”
“He brings you guys up a lot, too.”
Ten lifts his brows at him. “You know that's not what I mean.”
Jaehyun looks away and fixates his eyes on his fingernails instead. Of course, he knows what Ten means, but it doesn’t mean he wants to acknowledge it. To be fair, this isn’t the first time Jaehyun has been confronted about their relationship together, even their friends back in college couldn’t help but ask him. He’s always been insistent that they’re best friends– nothing more. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder how Sicheng addresses the situation if he’s the one getting cornered.
“You know, when he left, we were pretty broken. It was so sudden.” Ten’s voice softens, much different from what Jaehyun has been accustomed to, so he listens. “We just knew his parents were having a hard time with each other, but we didn’t exactly think it was that bad for him to move out of the country. One day we were out playing tag at a park, then the next is he’s already packing his bags.
“I was lucky enough to move here from Thailand at a really young age, so I was already speaking both English and Mandarin growing up. Even Kun isn’t forced to learn a second language, he’s just doing it for fun. I can’t even begin to imagine how tough it was for Sicheng, so... thank you. He really needed someone like you.”
Ten clasps Jaehyun’s shoulder, and all Jaehyun could do is nod. He knows it has always meant something to Sicheng, but he never knew it would mean this much to his friends.
Sicheng and Kun come back just in time when the sun is finally starting to set, carrying plastic bags filled with takeout boxes. They sit by the steps and eat their dinner despite the fog forming on their breaths. The light show from the skyscrapers across the river begins to light up, the Oriental Pearl Tower being an eye-catching purple landmark from where they’re situated. Jaehyun also notices the World Financial Center building, which Ten calls ‘the bottle opener’ tower.
As the night grew deeper, the people have started to disperse slowly, and the railing gets less crowded, so they start moving closer. Jaehyun’s view alone is spectacular. It reminds him of a postcard, but he knows no amount of pictures can do his eyes justice.
“People will fall in love with Shanghai. Regardless if they’re from here or not.” Kun’s words echo in his mind.
Suddenly, he hears someone snap a photo. He turns to look at Sicheng, who has his phone’s camera pointed at him. He furrows his brows, but before he could react, Sicheng shows him the shot. It’s a candid of his side profile, looking up at the skylights. The yellow lights loom over his face and cast a subtle effect, and to be honest, he doesn’t look half as bad.
“I’ll send it to your mom,” Sicheng grins.
“She’d want one of you, too.”
With this, Jaehyun pulls out his own phone and puts his arm around Sicheng. He snaps a picture of them smiling, then another of them pulling a funny face, then another of them pinching each other’s cheek until Ten calls them over and offers to take a photo for them.
“I think you guys are forgetting what the photo is actually for.” He throws an elaborate hand behind them and shakes his head at their selfies, which barely got any of the background. “Give me that,” he grumbles, snatching the phone off of Jaehyun’s hand.
“Ten ge, angle it well, please,” Sicheng says. He holds onto the bars behind him and leans, and Jaehyun does the same, tilting his head until they’re slightly touching his.
Ten flicks his eyes up from the phone quick enough for Sicheng not to notice, and from behind the screen, Jaehyun could tell Ten is holding back a smirk.