Chapter Text
Not every story about love begins with a remarkable anecdote that you can just go ahead and tell everyone just so that they would cheer for you thinking it was meant to be right there from the start. Unfortunately, for many, finding a special someone doesn’t even get to happen overnight, or because you both felt the same way about each other all the time. Love is so complicated, that you get scared to fall deep, fall down and then fall again. But, to our disgrace, love is the one thing we cannot control and we don’t even have the chance to decide who we fall in love with. But some, the lucky few, get to fall in love with someone who will love them back, love them good, and love them forever.
“Okay, so what’s the surprise? Jay~!”
“Just a few more steps and we’ll get there. Just wait. Alright?”
“Hurry~!”
Walking through a corridor with a piece of cloth tightly tied around his eyes while holding hands was not his idea for a romantic Saturday afternoon, but can you blame him for agreeing so quickly when the love of his life asked with so much enthusiasm. He didn’t know where they were, or why. All he knew was that this huge surprise was a lot for his tiny heart to contain. The anxiety of not yet knowing what was about to happen was slowly burning inside him, ready to burst out and force him to untie his blindfold just to see what was going on around him.
After a couple more steps they suddenly stopped. He tried to sniff out his surroundings, trying to find out if they were perhaps at a restaurant. But all he perceived was the tropical fragrance coming from his boyfriend’s cologne. The blended mixture of coconut oil, pineapple and island plantain. He heard some keys rustling, and then a door opening. His hand got pulled, signaling that they had to start moving again. A few steps forward and he heard the door being shut behind them. Some button noises and then, he felt a tender kiss on his cheek leaving chills to run through his spine and butterflies going loose in his stomach.
“Okay, we’re here. You can take off the blindfold now.”
Still drained from the rushing heat of that tiny peck, his hands trembled while taking off the piece of cloth that covered his sight. It took him a few seconds to adjust to the strong lights before he paused in awe to the place he was brought to. It wasn’t just a simple place, it looked like one of those apartments he used to see in architectural magazines and celebrity house videos, those that he and his brother made fun of for being too big for just one person to live there. He wondered who could even afford a place like this anyway, or why would they spend their money on it. It was beautiful, carefully decorated with marble and crystals everywhere. Just a simple piece of furniture in this place could feed an entire city for decades.
“Jay… uhm… where- where are we?” he was scared to know the answer, deep down aware that he knew it already. His mind pressuring the thought that if he were to even take another step forward he would break anything by accident in this luxurious palace.
Jay turned around with a cheeky smile, lifted his eyebrows and said, “Do you like it? Want to take a guess?”
He didn’t. He already felt out of place with his torn jeans and overused shoes, with the jacket he’s been wearing since they first met and his pocket holding exactly six coins and one bus card. He looked around and wondered if his face was giving away his thoughts as he turned to look at Jay whose happy smile turned into a worried look.
“Wait, what’s wrong?” Jay asked. “You don’t like it, do you, Jungwon? I really thought you would this time. It’s okay if you don’t. I’ll just keep on looking for a better place. Something suited for both of us.”
“No… it’s not– I just– It’s… beautiful.”
“I’m taking it too far again, aren’t I? Gosh…” Jay scoffed. He smiled again, except this time it wasn’t happiness you could see in his eyes. He got closer to Jungwon and held him in his arms, leaning his head on the younger’s shoulder, the place he liked the most to just rest and forget about everything.
“You know~ it’s funny because if you were dating Sunoo instead he’d say this place is too tiny and you could get a much bigger one.”
“Y’know… that wouldn’t be such a terrible idea~”
He got hit. His arm hurt but he pretended it didn’t, instead shaking his boyfriend in their embrace and laughing together. He knew there was no use in showing him the rest of the apartment, so they just left. It was for the best, anyway, since their stomachs started growling demanding some food immediately. They kept laughing all the way to the car, deciding over what they should get for dinner this time.
They went to lunch at the mall and shop for some clothes, phone accessories and a new set of pillow cases. After a few hours, they decided to call it a day and go back to Jay’s apartment and order dinner there. Jungwon was in the mood for something really spicy so they ordered from his favorite curry restaurant. Jay was weak, he couldn’t help but fall in love a little bit more at seeing his boyfriend twirl with excitement at every little thing they did together. It was going to be a while before their order arrived so they decided to lay on the floor and play with their fingers intertwining and letting go, like a game of tug just as an excuse to keep touching each other without any particular reason.
“So, have you told your brother yet?” Jay asked. Jungwon’s fingers stopped moving, he took a deep breath and looked at Jay with sorrow in his eyes.
“I can’t even tell him we’re dating, and you expect me to tell him we’re moving in together?”
“Jungwon… do you think we’re rushing this?”
“To be honest… sometimes. But it also feels so natural, you know? Almost like, we’re supposed to be together anyways so why not just move in? It, sort of, feels weird sleeping alone. Like, last time I slept in my room I woke up and you weren’t there… it was… I don’t think I can go back to sleeping without you anymore.”
Jay felt exactly the same. Each night without Jungwon by his side had left him restless. He would wake up every other hour to pour himself a glass of water, turn on the TV and watch random stuff until he fell asleep on the couch. But he wasn’t in deep sleep, rather, he was conscious about his surroundings, wondering what he could do to fall asleep like before. Before his bedroom started feeling too big for just one person.
“Jungwon… maybe we should wait until we’re sure we’re ready to move forward with this.”
“You sound like you’re… an idiot.”
“What if you decide to call it quits and you break up with me?”
“Not if you break up with me first.”
“Never!” Jay grabbed Jungwon by the waist and started tickling him while avoiding his kicking legs. They didn’t need to do much to just enjoy their time together, as long as they had one another they would always find something to do. But it wasn’t like this since the very beginning.
Their story wasn’t really remarkable. It was something really simple that just happened and then, with effort and genuine care, they let it bloom to something bigger over time. They met through a dating app a little over a couple years ago. It took them an entire week of chatting day and night to decide they had enough chemistry to go on an actual face-to-face date. It went well, but there were no magic sparks, or fireworks at the background, no choir singing, it was just okay enough for a second date the following week.
This went on for a while until one morning they woke up together on Jay’s apartment floor and it hit them like a brick wall. These weren’t casual dates anymore, they probably never were. They were actually boyfriends before they could realize it. So they just accepted it as a hard-given fact and moved on from there. It wasn’t much, but it was the way it was.
“Why do we have to sneak out so much? Please, tell me again, Jungwon, why are we keeping this a secret from your brother?”
Jungwon hated this question, because to everyone else it didn’t make any sense. At all. But to him, it was clear that doing so could only cause more problems than by simply hiding it. Like they were doing already. He turned his back to Jay and refused to respond. Jay hugged him and reassured him that no reason would hurt their relationship, the whole speech that communication is key, until Jungwon was able to face him again and see the sincerity in his eyes. He took a deep breath and explained.
“Because I promised him I wouldn’t date until I turned 31.”
Jay couldn’t help but snicker at that. He understood, but he also knew the promise had been broken already. “Okay, but you do know you made that promise when you were, what? 12? I think by now he probably forgot about it.”
Jungwon’s eyes opened wide and he shot up and looked at Jay dead in the eye as if he had just said something even more ridiculous and probably illegal.
“No, he hasn’t. In fact, he made the same promise and until now he’s kept it and that’s what annoys me the most, Jay! Up until now he hasn’t ever gone on a single date with anyone! HOW?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!”
Jay laughed every time he saw Jungwon having a crisis over something as small as this.
“How is that possible, Jungwon? Maybe he has a bunch of girlfriends and he just hides it like you do. Keeping secrets might even run in the family.”
“No, Jay, you don’t know him. But he’s an open book. He is physically uncapable of lying. That’s just how he is. His friends even tried to set him up on a blind date once and he came back home crying and apologizing for it. He told me he was a horrible brother, that he was a monster, it was so… shocking!”
“You’re not serious…”
“I AM! I was traumatized by that, Jay! I thought dating was one of the scariest things a person could ever do! The first time I spoke to you on chat I had my heart pumping so fast I could feel it come out of my chest! I was pumped with adrenaline and when I first saw you… it was just… I felt scared, like a little kid!”
“You’re not a kid anymore, Jungwon…”
“Oh, but I AM! At least to his eyes I am… Didn’t I tell you what happened last week? He sat me down next to him to watch some lame cartoon I used to watch when I was seven. He even sung the theme song, Jay. THE THEME SONG!”
“That’s cute.” Jay laughed so hard his stomach started to hurt. He carressed Jungwon’s face and looked deep into his eyes. He couldn’t help himself but give him a tiny peck before they heard someone knocking on the door. Interrupted by something they had been anticipating for a while, but not disappointed or bothered.
“Curry~!” Jungwon shouted, twirling on the floor like a kid before opening their birthday presents. Jay stood up to open the door and Jungwon went ahead to set up the table.
“Ni-Ki! I didn’t know you were delivering tonight. If I had known, I would’ve ordered someplace else,” Jay said while grabbing his bags.
“So annoying as always, Jay. If I’d known you were the one who ordered I would’ve put some extra spit in your sauce.”
“Oh, so you mean there’s only regular spit?”
“Only regular. I can add some if you want.”
Jay felt a couple arms creep around his waist and a head pop beside his. “Ni-Ki!” Jungwon shouted with the same excitement as he always did. Ni-Ki replied with a fistbump and a smile. He loved delivering to this apartment. It was always cozy and friendly, it felt like hanging around his friends rather than the restaurant’s clients.
“Here, take these inside,” Jay handed him the bags and Jungwon took them to the table.
“Jay, you will not believe what just happened,” Ni-Ki said. “I actually didn’t know it was you who ordered because I thought you two were going to move out or something like that, so when I saw I had to deliver to someone named Park I looked at the door next to yours and it had the same family name as yours, so I knocked on the door and some tanned up guy wearing nothing but a towel opened it and I said ‘Uhh, curry delivery to Mr. Park?’ And he looked at me so confused and said they didn’t order anything, and shut the door on my face. Yo, it was so weird!”
“That’s rude…”
“I know right?!”
“He should’ve called the cops. You could’ve been a killer or something, and he couold’ve put us all in grave danger.”
“I hate you so freaking much, Jay,” Ni-Ki said unable to hold back his laughter.
Jungwon came back gripping tight on Jay’s waist, again, and he just stood there hoping Jay would get the hint that he wanted to eat already. But he could also wait a couple minutes because he enjoyed Ni-Ki’s company as well. He always brought the funniest anecdotes.
“By the way, weren’t you two looking for a new place to move? What happened?” Ni-Ki inquired. He knew a lot about their lives since they were frequent buyers from the restaurant. They had already ordered twice that week alone. Last time he was there, they had told Ni-Ki they were moving out. And it could’ve been miscommunication, but he thought they were literally moving out this same day.
“We were, but someone decided it was too fancy for him. Can you guess who that was?” Jay said and Jungwon turned his head avoiding all eye contact, cheeks red-tinted and lips close-shut.
“I swear, that’s the one thing I will never understand from you, Jungwon. You’re dating a rich guy, but you always like to keep it humble. You even keep ordering the same curry from this deadbeat place when you could have like a personal chef or something!” Ni-Ki said.
They laughed and spent a moment talking out about random things. It was a while when they noticed a handsome guy walking towards the door next to theirs. He was way too handsome to just be any regular person, almost like the ones you would see on TV. He must’ve felt their stares as he turned his head to them and nodded politely with a smile, before knocking the other door once more. Ni-Ki, Jay and Jungwon were embarrassed for being caught watching, but for some reason curiosity was bigger than any shame they would’ve experienced.
Soon, the door opened, and the same guy Ni-Ki had talked about came out, this time greeting the handsome man with a friendly demeanor. The handsome man gave him the green backpack he was carrying and said, “Here’s your bag. The lights at your house were on, but I don’t think anyone was there.”
“Ah, thanks. Also, don’t worry, my brother said he was going to stay at his friend’s house tonight.”
That voice…
Jungwon jumped up, his heart racing faster, each second feeling like an hour, his fingers latching harder onto Jay’s waist, and his legs trembling about to break down.
“Ouch! What the–?!” Jay screamed in pain.
“Are you alright?” Ni-Ki asked.
The guys next door, out of curiosity, turned around to see what the ruckus was about only to meet eye to eye with the one person he had been trying to avoid the most and had no knowledge was standing just a few inches away.
As soon as Jungwon saw the shirtless guy, his heart dropped to the ground and his face burned up like it had caught fire.
“Jungwon?! What the hell are you doing here?!”
“H-Heeseungie-hyung…”