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They’re here once again, the café from their high school days.
Nothing’s really changed, yet the world seems so different. It’s funny like that sometimes, isn’t it? The places you leave and return to, something akin to home and the way it’s never quite the same once you’ve gone.
That’s what it feels like, or at least, that’s what Hwiyoung thinks it feels like, sitting across from Taeyang.
Pleasantries have already been exchanged – the “It’s been so long since we last saw each other!” and “I hope you’ve been well!”
But now in front of them, cups of coffee stare at each other from across the table.
Hwiyoung tilts his head, observing the man in front of him. He isn’t particularly unrecognisable, maybe just having a little more muscle and a little more charisma than the boy he remembers. But it’s still the same Taeyang who drove Hwiyoung around when he still didn’t have his license, and the same Taeyang who let Hwiyoung cry into his shoulder after he failed one of his exams.
He finds himself asking, “How have you been?”
It’s not that awkward, really. At the same time, it’s like entering your childhood bedroom after you’ve moved out. No, maybe it’s just nostalgia. But how much can a person change in three years?
“It’s been-“
Thoughts swirl out of control in his head. It’s hard to focus on what Taeyang is saying, but this is what Hwiyoung wanted, right? He wanted to see Taeyang again, and he’d missed the other’s presence in his life.
At some point, conversation seems to mellow into an easy exchange. It’s not exactly as it used to be, no, but there’s comfort to be found in how they’ve continued to move on in life. Still, there are things that don't change, like the way Taeyang leans back in his chair with one hand on his waist.
“I’m really glad I got to see you again today.”
Hwiyoung’s heart betrays him with the faintest flutter in his chest.
“Me too.”
It’s not like it means anything, he tells himself.
“Let’s make sure it’s not three years before the next time we see each other.”
But he can’t stop the smile that spreads across his cheeks anyway.