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there were eight billion people in the world, fifty million in the country, two thousand in the town, one hundred in the lodge, and somehow, kim seokjin and jeon jungkook ended up in rooms right next to each other.
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they’d checked in to the mountain resort around the same time, both alone and with enough luggage to get them through a week in the snowy mountains. they gave each other cordial nods when they passed each other for the first couple of days, exchanged names on the third, and by the fourth, they were greeting each other in the elevator, asking each other if they’d had a good day. there were never thoughtful answers to that, of course. it was always ‘yes, and you?’ but it was nice to know someone was there to ask the question if one wanted to answer it.
on the sixth day, snow started to fall - not unusual for a ski lodge, certainly, but the amount was a little staggering. on the seventh day, it was advised that lodge visitors not venture out on their own. on the eighth, it was clear that both jin and jungkook would be extending their stays by a few days at least.
jungkook called his boss and jin called his editor, and it was all fine. nothing to worry about.
only -
“oh,” jin said, blinking at jungkook when they nearly ran into each other coming out of their rooms. “jungkook-ssi. would you—do you want to join me for a drink?”
even if they’d both come alone, it was hard to not feel almost trapped in isolation now that they’d been snowed in. there were couples around them, groups of friends, families with children - when they looked at those people enjoying others’ company and looked at the empty space beside them, it stung.
what made it sting less was a similarly solitary neighbor.
“sure,” jungkook agreed, lips twitching in an almost-nervous smile. “thank you.”
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they had a drink together that evening before going their separate ways, splitting up in front of their doors. they found each other the next morning for breakfast, though, and lunch, and dinner, and another drink on the freezing balcony that wasn’t quite so overrun with running children and flirting teenagers.
it was an easy friendship. natural, it seemed, even if it was forced by circumstance.
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“i am so glad the cell service up here is shit,” jungkook said, sighing heavily as he flopped into the armchair next to jin’s.
jin huffed a laugh, glancing at him over his laptop. “why’s that?”
“i don’t have to call into a billion hour-long meetings that should have been done in three emails. i might have faked the last connection issue, though.”
jin laughed and pulled his legs up, sitting crosslegged and getting cozy in his chair. “you’re lucky you can leave work. i just—bring mine with me wherever i go.”
jungkook glanced at his laptop. “it must be nice to be able to go places. i mean—” he furrowed his brows, tilting his head. “i don’t mean physically. i mean—you’re able to write about anything, so—you can travel as much as you want.”
“i used to think that way. i used to feel that way. like i could—leave, and have any life i wanted. but i’m writing a fantasy right now, and i can’t leave my apartment with a cracked window pane and clanging pipes. i’m not even there right now. i wish i at least felt stuck in a nice place.”
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“why are you here alone?” jin asked abruptly, one-too-many loosening his tongue just enough. “i mean, you have friends, and they sound nice. why—why just you?”
jungkook was quiet for a long moment before confessing, “i thought i wanted solitude. it turns out i just want—belonging.” he smiled a little wryly. “apparently solitude doesn’t even give you the chance to find it.”
“oh,” jin said.
jungkook nodded. “what about you? you’ve got to have people breaking down your door.”
“i thought i liked being alone, honestly,” jin shrugged, pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around his knees. “it’s always felt hard to me, being around people. i’m—friendly, people like me, but—i get so tired. i’ve always gotten so tired. so i like being alone. all the time, i thought. but—i’m not so sure now.”
“no?”
“it doesn’t feel hard with you,” he said, an abrupt admission that might have had him blushing if he’d been looking at him. “i’m really glad you’re here. it feels—good. to be with you.”
when jin did glance at him, he saw jungkook’s mouth parted, caught off guard, but, jin thought, not unpleasantly so.
“not just for, uh, easy company," he added. "i like you as a person.”
jungkook stared at him for a moment before turning away to hide his growing grin. “yeah, well. i don’t wish the snow never melts, but—”
jin laughed, reaching forward to ruffle his hair, heart warming enough to melt the snow itself when jungkook gave him a bright, crinkle-eyed smile. “yeah. me too.”
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on the twelfth day of their involuntary-but-welcome extended stay, jungkook discovered that the stairs to the roof were unlocked.
“nosy, why were you opening doors,” jin had scolded, following him up all the same.
jungkook just sent him a bunny-grin over his shoulder. jin stumbled at the sight and swiped at jungkook’s leg when he had the gall to laugh.
it wasn’t an ideal spot to hang out, not with the snow still stacked and temperatures still low, but it was notably devoid of stir-crazy children and aggravated adults. it was devoid of anyone, really. jin and jungkook’s footprints were the only ones that broke the snow, stepping side by side to the edge of the roof.
even as unbothered as they were for their stay to be unexpectedly prolonged, the beautiful views had begun to lose their magic. but here -
“woah,” jungkook whispered, staring up at the sky. the moon was full, the stars were shining storybook bright. the snow on the ground and the horizon of hills were forgotten in favor of the majesty of it all.
“it’s nice not being alone,” jin said abruptly, a little too loud in response to jungkook’s quiet reverence.
jungkook didn’t startle, though; he looked over at jin with a smile as bright as the stars themselves. “then let’s stay not alone for a while.”
jungkook kicked snow to the side, his bare hands shoved into his pockets. jin cleared the spaces he missed, not saying anything but giving jungkook a look as he flaunted the pink mittens he’d been teased for barely an hour before. they didn’t clear nearly enough space but once they sat, it felt impossible to stand again. not that they wanted more space, anyways. their sides pressed together warmly, body and soul.
they were both freezing, clearly - they could feel each others’ violent shivers every other minute pressed so closely together, but neither of them made a move to go back inside, to the fireplaces in the lobby or the heaters of the deck or the isolation of their warm rooms. instead, they stared up at the stars, pointing out one real constellation for every three made up on the spot.
they lapsed into companionable silence after jin’s passionate explanation of the spilled-bag-of-marbles constellation. it was so quiet, matching the stillness of the smooth snowy expanse around them.
jungkook sighed after a few long moments, tilting his chin up at the stars and puffing out a breath just to see it in the chilly air. “it’s late.”
jin turned his head so it was late; he could fall asleep easily, he knew that, but the thought of forking off once they reached their rooms, his hand on one door and jungkook’s on the other, made his chest tighten with preemptive longing.
still, he nodded. “yeah.”
“want to keep not being alone?”
jin blinked, looking over at him. jungkook was looking back, his cheeks dusted pink but a certain set to his lips, determined to not back down, to not chicken out. jin could do nothing but match him.
“mine or yours?”
“i have wine,” jungkook offered.
“so do i,” jin grinned, “but i’d rather drink yours.”
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“the snow’s starting to melt,” jin said on day thirteen. he tried to disguise his sadness at the fact as mopeyness, but jungkook didn’t bother.
he stared out the window of jin’s room, frowning as he hugged his knees. “yeah,” he whispered. “i wish it wouldn’t. do you, hyung?”
“do i wish—?”
“that it wouldn’t melt. that we could stay a little longer. just a little.”
“ah, jungkook-ah,” jin sighed. he sat close beside him, kissing his shoulder. “forget a little, i’d keep you to myself a lifetime more if i could.”
jungkook sniffled, rubbing his nose on his knee. “you would?”
“yeah, i would. even if you snore.”
“you snore, too.”
“i’ve never snored a day in my life and you’re nothing but a jealous liar. give me a kiss.”
jungkook gave him a smile even as tears started to make his shiny eyes shine more. he obediently kissed him, a soft, meaningful thing. there hadn’t been many kisses before it, but it wasn’t the only one that made jin’s chest tighten, the looming shadow of loneliness hovering over him.
“you won’t forget me, right?” he asked abruptly, cupping jungkook’s face between his hands, looking at him with more intensity and more eye contact than he usually allowed himself. jungkook was worth extending his allowance for.
“hyung—” jungkook frowned and put his hands over jin's, leaning to touch their foreheads together. “of course i won’t. ‘cause you’re gonna give me your number, and i’ll text you, and i’ll even remember to text you back after that.”
“don’t say it if you don’t mean it, okay? because i’ll remember you and it’ll hurt if—”
“don’t worry about it hurting, because i won’t forget you, and i’ll text you, and we can call, and—”
jin kissed him again, and kissed him some more, and more, and more after that, and when he was done, the morning sun had melted the snow enough for cars to drive away from the lodge.
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“you don’t have to call me,” jungkook muttered, bag slung over his slumped shoulders as they waited in line to check out. “not if you don’t want to.”
“jungkook-ah,” jin sighed. in front of their weeks-long lodgemates, honeymooners and tired parents and snowboarders alike, jin kissed him, long and deep and leaving no room in jungkook’s mouth for any doubt. “i’m going to call you because i want to. will you pick up?”
jungkook looked away in an effort to not cry. jin would have done the same if jungkook had kept looking at him, but as it was, he had the luxury of memorizing his face all over again.
“i’ll pick up,” jungkook promised.
“busan and incheon aren’t that far away, either.”
jungkook jerked to look at him then. “you’d see me? seriously, hyung, you would?”
“if you knocked on my door at two in the morning, i’d kiss you then kick your ass then kiss you again.”
jungkook stared at him for a moment before throwing his arms around jin’s shoulders, burying his face in his neck. “kay. i’d just kiss you, though, if you showed up at mine. just want you to know that.”
“only because you’d already be up—”
“like you wouldn’t be up, too.”
“i need my beauty sleep!”
jungkook snorted. “no, you don’t.”
“no, i don’t,” jin agreed. “jungkook—”
“sir,” the reception worker called. jin frowned, but wouldn’t give her any trouble; that weary look on her face was very understandable.
jin squeezed jungkook’s hand, and the next time they touched each other, they were no longer serendipitous neighbors but semi-strangers who shared a bed for one night, drinks for seven, and air for fourteen.
“call me,” jin told him quietly, squeezing his hand, waiting til the very last minute to board the bus to the airport. it had been morning when they checked out, but night had fallen as they shared a few more drinks, a few more touches, a few more smiles.
jungkook nodded jerkily, squeezing his rental car keys hard enough that they dug into his palm.
jin clicked his tongue and gently pried his hand open, pressing a kiss to the center of it. “promise?”
“promise,” jungkook whispered. “one more, please?”
jin gave him one more kiss, just as he had done the past ten times jungkook had asked for one more, just as jungkook had done when jin asked for one more, one more, one more after that.
the bus driver cleared his throat awkwardly.
jin let out a shaky breath and indulged in one more, a quick goodbye. “i’ll see you later, jungkook-ah.”
they watched each other as they got farther and farther away. jin kept watching when the bus turned and he couldn’t even see where jungkook stood. he wondered how long jungkook did the same.
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jin called the next day.
jungkook answered.