Chapter Text
“Good morning,” Seonghwa calls out when he hears a pair of footsteps dragging into the kitchen. The person grunts a barely audible ‘good morning’ back in response and comes up to Seonghwa, resting his chin on Seonghwa’s shoulder as he peeks at what’s on the stove.
“Ooh, pancakes,” Mingi mumbles sleepily.
“Yeah, pancakes. Go sit down, they’ll be ready in a second,” Seonghwa says, gently pushing Mingi’s face off of his shoulder. Mingi groans in complaint but obeys him nonetheless; plopping himself down on the dining chair with his eyes still half shut and his soul probably still in his bed.
“Where’s Joong? And Yunho?” he asks sleepily.
“He had something to take care of at the station so he left early. Yunho’s in the shower,” Seonghwa answers as he moves the pancakes to a plate and carries them to the table. “Eat up. You have a morning class today, don’t you?”
“Please don’t remind me,” Mingi groans yet again. “I don’t wanna think about it until I’m in class.”
Seonghwa only chuckles in response because yeah, he’s most definitely been there once. Yunho walks in, hair still wet from the shower and the buttons on his shirt only half done. He walks up behind Mingi and places a gentle kiss on the top of his head. “Good morning, baby,” he greets. Mingi hums in response, happily chewing away on his pancake. Seonghwa smiles at how cute the two are but he also can’t help feeling so very single at the sight. God, he’s lonely. He turns to Seonghwa and flashes him a warm smile. “Morning, hyung.”
He smiles back and pushes a plate piled up with pancakes towards Yunho. Yunho thanks him and quickly starts digging into his breakfast. Seonghwa has only been here for a little over a month but he already feels at home with Hongjoong and his friends. Honestly, he didn’t think he’d enjoy being transferred to a small town right in the middle of nowhere, much less find any friends within such short notice. But here he is, having breakfast with his newly found friends before heading off to work. He mentally noted to himself to thank Hongjoong for offering him a place to stay when he sees him.
Seonghwa first met Hongjoong six years ago when they were both still in the police academy. Hongjoong had gotten assigned to the bed next to Seonghwa’s and they immediately became good friends. How could they possibly not when they had to spend day and night together for almost four years? Despite getting separated upon getting assigned, the two kept in contact over the years. And God, you will not believe the amount of relief Seonghwa felt when he found out Hongjoong was still stationed in this small ass town. He thinks he has never been so grateful to be friends with Hongjoong before.
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Seonghwa doesn’t see Hongjoong when he gets to the station that morning for his patrol shift and he doesn’t see him either when he comes back for station duty later that night. So he sits on his desk and makes conversation with Jihoon, the officer five years his senior whose desk sits next to his. They don’t know each other well yet –they’ve only met thrice the past month after all, but Seonghwa thinks he makes pretty good company. He’s very lively and can make the most boring story seem like the most interesting thing in the world. He kind of reminds Seonghwa of Mingi.
Jihoon is in the middle of telling him about the time he had to bring in a boy for skinny dipping in the nearby campus’ public fountain when his phone rings. He stops his storytelling and checks his phone quickly. “Sorry, it’s Jiho-hyung. Wait a sec.”
Jiho is their superior at the station so Seonghwa nods in understanding and checks his own phone. A text from Hongjoong had come in, telling him that he had gone to the next town over for a case. Seonghwa texts him back to ask what time he’ll be back and whether or not he should tell Yunho to prepare dinner for four before putting his phone back down. Jihoon sighs and pockets his phone. “I’m on patrol duty with Jiho-hyung and he’s out front already,” he says, smiling apologetically as he packs his things. “I gotta go. You’re gonna be on station duty alone, sorry, Hwa.”
“It’s fine,” Seonghwa reassures him with a smile. “Thanks for the company.”
“No problem. I’m sure you’ll be getting better company in a while though,” Jihoon jokes. Seonghwa raises his eyebrows and cocks his head to the side in confusion, not quite getting the joke. Jihoon laughs. “It’s the first Friday night since that campus nearby started classes again, Hwa. Skinny dipping fountain boy always ends up here on Friday nights, drunk and definitely a handful. Thank God I’m on patrol. Good luck!”
A car honks loudly –probably Jiho getting impatient, and Jihoon immediately jogs out the door, waving at him on his way out. Seonghwa waves back before slumping in his seat and letting out a groan the moment Jihoon is out the door. What he wouldn’t give to just pass out in his bed right now. It’s barely half an hour past nine p.m. and he can’t help but to feel old. He looks around the room; looks at the empty desk next to his, the messy one belonging to Hongjoong in front of him, the TV permanently set to a news station and at the empty temporary holding cell behind him. He finds himself wondering about Jihoon’s skinny dipping fountain boy. This is a small town where nothing happens and honestly, skinny dipping isn’t really much of a crime when you’re a university student, so how much of a handful could this boy be, right?