Work Text:
jihoon has been wondering...
“how fast will your heart beat when you see the person you’re in love with?”
unfortunately, even after rephrasing and retyping it on the search bar of naver for many times now, jihoon still couldn’t find an answer.
he sighed. he is currently working on a song, not necessarily a ballad, but definitely about love. he wanted this song to be touching with the right amount of rawness; enough to make any listener feel warm and endeared. yet, he couldn’t find the accurate way to bring just that into reality.
a series of knocks then came, along with a voice calling his name, “jihoonie?”
for some unknown reason, jihoon could hear his heart beating louder and slightly faster. why is that? he thought.
another set of knocks were heard, “jihoon, are you there?” the voice called out.
jihoon snapped out of his trance, “come in.”
when the door opened, jihoon was greeted by a blinding smile, so much for being a star that the guy is. “want to grab dinner with me?” soonyoung asked. jihoon only nodded in response.
when soonyoung said to grab dinner, what he meant was to eat out. although jihoon is not in the best mood right now to walk around the block and look for diners to eat at, he doesn’t have the heart to turn the older’s offer down. after all, soonyoung made his best efforts just so he can meet jihoon tonight. with the way they haven’t seen each other for a week now, it truly was thanks to soonyoung taking the initiative that they can finally have tonight for themselves.
the walk to the restaurant they have decided to eat at was quiet. soonyoung tried to strike up a conversation with the younger, but the latter seemed to be trailing off. soonyoung being soonyoung, he didn’t try to pry and just let the younger have the time for himself.
jihoon is well-aware of soonyoung taking glances at him from time to time. he wanted to indulge the older and converse with him, but jihoon is just currently in deep thoughts. there’s too much in his head; from what words will fit the first verse to the instrumentals befitting the mood he wants for the song he is producing to have. but most importanly, how quick does the heart beat when a person sees the love of their life?
with many things running in his mind, jihoon didn’t even realize that they’re already walking back to his studio. he was so lost in thought that he wasn’t able to register his dinner date passing by in front of his face, let alone realize eating his dinner.
“jihoonie,” soonyoung called. the older is now in front of him, partly blocking the door to his studio. “are you okay?”
jihoon looked up to face soonyoung, “i am.”
“you’ve been eerily quiet,” soonyoung pouted, “is there anything bothering you?”
jihoon sighed. he grabbed for the door’s knob to get inside the studio. soonyoung followed him in. “answer me, please?”
jihoon let out a heavier sigh, “it’s nothing much.”
“but it still matters,” soonyoung presses.
“it’s...” jihoon tried to bring himself to say it but, “it’s, uh, quite... embarrassing.”
“i want to hear it, still.”
jihoon took a deep breath, “i’m currently writing a song, and it’s about... love.”
soonyoung raised an eyebrow at that, so jihoon continued. “there’s this question i want to know the answer to. i’ve been searching about it on different sites for days now, yet i haven’t gotten an answer.”
“and what is this question?”
“it’s— really, it’s unimportant.”
soonyoung scrunched his nose in disbelief. “i don’t think so.”
with that, jihoon let out a breath in defeat, “promise me you won’t laugh.”
“i won’t. you have my word.”
“i want to— i have been wondering about, um, how fast the heart would beat if a person sees the person they’re in love with?” it comes out as a question, with jihoon’s voice dropping to nearly a mumble on every word he lets out. unfortunately for him, though, soonyoung heard all of it.
contrary to what the younger expected, soonyoung only smiled at him sweetly. “want to know the answer?”
jihoon, despite being confused, nodded his head. soonyoung, on the other hand, opened his arms wide, inviting jihoon in for a hug. the younger did not wait any longer and went in for the embrace.
soonyoung is very warm, he thought.
soonyoung adjusted jihoon so that the latter’s head is leaned against his chest. “can you feel it?”
“feel what exactly?” jihoon asked.
“my heart beating.”
jihoon hummed, “it’s beating fast.”
soonyoung gently pushed jihoon’s shoulders to break the contact and look at his boyfriend in the eyes, “it’s because i’m currently looking at the person i love the most.”
jihoon couldn’t help the blush rushing onto his face, making him bury his head on soonyoung’s chest again. “i hate you,” he blurted out.
“if hate is your love language, okay then.”
jihoon weakly hit soonyoung’s chest, “i hate you so much.”
“and i love you so much, too.” this time, jihoon stepped hard on soonyoung’s foot causing the other to reflexively move away from him.
jihoon stuck his tongue out, “deserved.”
“yea, okay,” soonyoung replied as he made his way to the door. “just say you love me and go.”
jihoon rolled his eyes, “you wish.”
soonyoung opened the door, taking a step to leave the studio. “i see. that’s why you wanted to know how fast my heart beats just so i could hug you. okay,” he said smugly and shrugged.
“i was— i didn’t want to hug you!” jihoon squinted his eyes in (fake) annoyance. the crimson tint on his face totally giving him out.
“keep convincing yourself, jihoonie,” soonyoung said with a wink before completely leaving the producer alone in his studio.
“i was genuinely curious,” jihoon mumbled, pouting.
as if on cue, jihoon’s phone vibrated. he received a message from his boyfriend.
soonyoung
go home as soon as you’re done. don’t overwork yourself >:-(
aaaand don’t miss me too much ;-)
jihoon
in your dreams.
soonyoung
lol okay
good night, jihoonie~
jihoon
likewise.
soonyoung
i love you <3
jihoon
hm, love you too.
soonyoung
><
jihoon couldn’t help the smile tugging on his lips. soonyoung undeniably has some sort of power to make jihoon seem out of his character. it was also thanks to him that soon enough, enough inspiration and a moderate amount of warmth came rushing in jihoon’s system, making his song-writing process flow naturally.
jihoon must admit; perhaps, soonyoung was right. he only wanted to get the hug and not to know the damn pace of heart beats.