Chapter Text
“Hi.” Ik-jun presses the phone tightly to his ear, unable to help the soft, giddy uptilt to his voice. “Um, have I reached the Kim household?”
Ik-sun gags in the background, loud and obnoxious. Ik-jun sticks his tongue out at her and returns his attention to the phone as a response crackles through.
“Yes, who is this?” It’s a girl’s voice. “Are you the creepy insurance guy again? Because Appa said—”
“No, no!” Ik-jun is quick to deny it. “I’m… I’m not the creepy insurance guy. Uh, I’m a friend of Kim Jun-wan?”
Silence. Then, “My older brother doesn’t have friends.”
Ik-jun doesn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. That is… entirely accurate, but it’s not by accident in any way, shape or form.
“I’m going to hang up now,” the girl says. “Byebye, creepy—”
“No, wait—”
“For fuck’s sake!” The voice over the phone is, at last, familiar. There’s the sound of a cord being wrenched, then some muffled scolding, and finally Ik-jun hears footsteps scampering away as a deep sigh comes across the line. “Ik-jun? Is that you?”
“No,” Ik-jun says just to be contrary. The harsh, annoyed huff he receives in response makes his mouth curl up at the corners.
“Ass. What’re you calling me for at eight in the night? Making calls is expensive, you know.”
“I just wanted to hear you.” Ik-jun confesses it with a tiny, goofy grin that he’s well aware Jun-wan has an exact mental picture of. “I missed you.”
“We saw each other in class,” Jun-wan deadpans. “I held hands with you at lunch.”
“Why did you bring that up? Now I want to hold your hand again.”
“We can…” Jun-wan’s voice cracks a little. He’s flushing, ever so slightly, Ik-jun just knows he is. “We can do that tomorrow. You didn’t need to call me.”
“I wanted to,” Ik-jun repeats, tone going soft. It’s more vulnerable than he’d usually let himself be, but then, Kim Jun-wan has a way of making him vulnerable. “I just wanted to.”
“Okay.” It’s a little raw, just the way Jun-wan gets when he’s all wound down and doesn’t care enough about sounding tough. “How was your day?”
“You watched Ik-sun pour yogurt in my hair, how do you think my day was?” A piercing cackle ensues from the other end of the room where his sister is cuddled up with Mickey. Ik-jun shoots her a death glare. “Come on, be more creative.”
“What else is there to talk about?” Jun-wan sounds a little sulky. Ik-jun thinks it’s the cutest thing he’s ever heard. “I’m just trying to ask… questions that boyfriends would ask.”
Ik-jun’s heart thrills a little. “Oh, we’re boyfriends?”
“Well,” Jun-wan says very slowly in the tone he reserves for people who he think are particularly stupid (Ik-jun gets this one a lot), “I would assume so, me having kissed you at least ten times in the past week.”
“You were counting?” Ik-jun gasps. “I’m so touched.”
“Shut up .” But he can hear the smile in Jun-wan’s voice, and the little tck sounds that the phone cord makes against the wall when you play with it. “You’re an idiot.”
“Your idiot,” Ik-jun returns, unable to keep the goofy expression off his face.
“Yeah, yeah. My mom will be pissed if I stay on the line any longer.” Jun-wan clicks his tongue. “Goodnight.”
“Byeeeeeee.” Ik-jun drags the syllable out, and the huff he receives this time is a little more fond than it should be.
“Bye. See you tomorrow.”
And before he can answer, the line clicks. Ik-jun places the phone down and exhales, face melting into a lazy smile.
“Whipped,” Ik-sun mutters very audibly, and Ik-jun grits his teeth.
“You’d be too if you were dating him !”
“Maybe so.” His sister shrugs, grins with one corner of her mouth. “But I’m never going to date any of your exes. I have better taste than that.”
“Yeah, right!” Then his brain catches up with her words. “Wait, Jun-wan and I aren’t going to break up!”
Four months later, they realise just how much better they are as friends once the initial ‘horny teenager’ wears off and break up amicably. Ik-sun laughs at Ik-jun for months.
(She won’t be laughing twenty-three years later when her brother’s ex-boyfriend asks her out… and she says yes .)