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‘it’s funny how fiction taught me to cherish you longer, to love you gentler, to stop making the same mistakes before it’s too late.’
.
“you know what they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder” jaemin whispers sadly yet lovingly into the receiver. they’ve been talking about traveling to see one another for months now, but lately, classes and work always seem to get the best of their plans.
he hears donghyuck sigh shakily. he’s definitely about to cry, and he can tell donghyuck might too.
“well, of course it does darling, the hundreds of miles between us make my heart yours more and more every day. after all the days” donghyuck pauses and sniffles, jaemin’s heart cracks a little bit more at the sound, but he stays silent to give donghyuck his time. it takes a couple minutes before he can continue, “without you, if we didn’t have love, we wouldn’t have anything. at least that’s what i think.”
jaemin lets out a dry, breathy weep. this is the first time they’ve truly talked about the distance and how much it hurts them. his heart clenches so painfully, “i guess you’re right,” breathing heavily, “i just want my hyuckie back.” jaemin sobs again, and he can hear his boyfriend began to cry on the other side of the call.
“you’ll have me soon, i promise baby. i promise” it sounds pained, and it sounds broken. jaemin knows it can be fixed. they just want to be in each other’s arms.
they talk for another hour, crying a bit more, pouring out every once of love they can into their sentences. words are all they have for now. they hang up with solemn ‘i love yous’
.
it’s a hot summer day when donghyuck calls. “we’re in the same timezone, so we can’t complain too terribly much.” jaemin tells him on facetime on another sleepless night.
“jaem. baby.” donghyuck says to him, “baaaabe?”
jaemin snaps out of his trance and looked up to him “huh-oh what? yeah, sorry.” donghyuck giggles at his confusion, tilting his head while sporting a beautiful smile shot through the camera. ‘he looks like a puppy. oh god.’ jaemin thought.
“i hope you aren’t into that!” donghyuck replies.
“oh shit, i said that out loud didn’t i?” jaemin’s eyebrows scrunch up along with his forehead as he blushes. god, even after years, he’s still so shy around donghyuck.
“yeah you did, you cute dork.” he giggles “now, as i was saying...”
.
months later, during the chilly, southern, not-so-winter wonderland, under the warm sun that melts the frost below his feet, his heart is still donghyuck’s.
as jaemin looked up into the window at the sweater he thought donghyuck would look beautiful in, he thought to himself, “i’ll save up for this and wear it, send you my scent. even though i probably won’t see you this christmas, i hope — no, i know your heart is still mine. but of course it is, i think it always has been.” he wishes more than anything that he could confess that face to face.
.
“baby, look. i found a hermit crab!” donghyuck yells excitedly.
he looks so beautiful in the sunlight, naturally of course, since he is the epitome of a warm, comforting beam of light, spreading brightness everywhere he goes.
“what should we name it? what about herman, is that too cheesy? or what about something simple like ... “
all jaemin could do was smile fondly with his chin in his palm while donghyuck racked his brain, ‘of course he wanted to name a random hermit crab’
“— no we need something gender neutral, let me think .... hmm” donghyuck taps his chin, staring straight at the hermit crab as he thinks.
‘and of course he would take into account the fact that we don’t know it’s gender.’
jaemin chuckles outwardly at that thought, his boyfriend is just too darn cute. donghyuck’s head turns upward at the sound, a pout forming on his face, “hey ... are you laughing at me? i’m only trying to be a good crab daddy to sammy”
“oh so we’re parents now, huh? you didn’t tell me you were locking me down that quick, babe.” jaemin teases, winking in donghyuck’s direction when he groans and rolls his eyes.
a smirk suddenly appears on donghyuck’s face, “now when did anyone say you were going to be a dad?”
jaemin gasps, “oh no, you did not just say that. i trusted you!” jaemin whines dramatically as he grabs a handful of sand and playfully chucks it towards donghyuck, but only where it won’t get into his eyes, of course. jaemin cares about his baby, even when he teases. okay, especially when he teases, jaemin thinks it’s cute.
jaemin sees donghyuck set down sammy with a scowl on his face, and he knows he’s fucked. he scrambles up at the same time as his boyfriend, running towards that shiny blue water screaming.
donghyuck chases after him along the shore giggling, “hey, get back here! you know i’m not gonna hurt you!” he exclaims right before he trips over a plastic shovel, sending him toppling into jaemin, and both of them into the ocean.
when they both surface, they’re laughing, so happy to have just fallen into the gross, salty water. donghyuck swipes jaemin’s wet bangs out of his eyes, and smiles softly.
“i love you, nana” he says, eyes twinkling. “i love you so much”
“and i love you, my hyuckie” jaemin replies, gently gripping donghyuck’s cheek between his thumb and forefinger.
jaemin’s eyes are twinkling too, looking deeply into donghyuck’s, as if they’re communicating. as jaemin leans in and captures donghyuck’s lips in a loving kiss, he realizes something, they don’t need words anymore.
they pull away smiling, before jaemin leans back in to press a swift kiss to his cheek and moved towards his ear, giggling as he says, “i still love you, but ... last one to our stuff has to carry everything back to the hotel!” and he’s sprinting out of the water.
as he’s running, he hears an exasperated sigh, the splashing of water, and a scream of “jaemin!”
it’s a hot summer day when donghyuck calls, but this time, he’s calling out to jaemin.