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It’s still early morning when Jeff strolls onto the near-deserted set. Near-deserted, because Barcode is already there, sitting in one of those American director chairs he’s obsessed with. He jumped in excitement when he found out the whole cast had their own chairs with their names printed on the back in white block letters, and he treasures that little folding chair as if it’s his most valuable possession. He already asked the staff if he can take it back home to Thailand after they wrap up filming, but they’ve said it probably won’t fit in his suitcase because it doesn’t fold all the way up. Jeff wouldn’t be surprised if he finds a way to make it fit anyway.
“Morning,” Jeff announces quietly. It feels strange, such a big space without any chatter or noise to fill it up. He doesn’t want to disturb the stillness.
Barcode turns around in his chair with a black straw wedged between his lips, funnelling coffee from a plastic cup into his mouth. Damn, he already has some. Jeff quickly hides the coffee cup he bought for Barcode behind his back.
“Jeff!” Barcode half-shouts. He jumps up from the chair and throws his arms around Jeff, nearly knocking him off kilter. It’s only been two days, but Barcode’s embrace makes it feel like they haven’t seen each other in months. He clings on tightly and moves from one foot to the other to sway their hugging bodies from side to side.
“Oh my God, you’re back! I didn’t think I’d see you until later today.” He puts his cheek on Jeff’s shoulder, which he only does when there’s no one around to witness it.
Jeff gently strokes his hair—another form of affection he only shows if they’re alone. “I wanted to come straight to set.”
“Why?” Barcode releases Jeff from his grip and observes him with a critical eye. “Your first scene isn’t until the afternoon. You look tired, why didn’t you go to the hotel?”
“I’m not that tired.” Lie. He will fall asleep standing up if he blinks too slowly, but he suddenly feels embarrassed to tell Barcode that he came to set to see him. It didn’t seem that odd to him in the car on the way here, but he can’t make himself say it out loud for some reason. “Do you want me gone already? I guess you didn’t miss me,” Jeff teases.
Barcode rolls his eyes. “Of course I missed you,” he says. Simple as that. His cheeks don’t flush, his voice doesn’t go higher, and his tone doesn’t suggest he’s joking, not like Jeff was. He even maintains eye contact. Sometimes Jeff wishes he could be as free as Barcode is in just saying whatever’s on his mind.
“I hung out with Jayson a lot. It’s not the same as hanging out with you, I don’t feel as comfortable, but I obviously don’t know him as well as I know you. He’s really nice, though! He likes Taylor Swift as well, so we listened to her music and he taught me some Filipino phrases. And there’s a Thai restaurant not far from here! Dion showed me yesterday so a bunch of us went for dinner there. We could go there again, maybe tomorrow after—hey, what have you got behind your back?” He cranes his neck to see.
Busted. “Coffee,” Jeff says sheepishly, handing it to him. “For you. I thought you might like it. I didn’t realise you already had one.” He nods his head to the half-empty cup.
“Give,” Barcode says, reaching out his hands and wiggling his fingers as if he’s a small child begging for a sweet. Jeff gives it to him, and he wraps his hands around the cup. “It’s warm.”
“Coffee tends to be that.”
“Thank you,” he says, lifting the cup and carefully sipping it. An appreciative smile graces his face. “I think I prefer hot coffee over iced.”
“I missed you too, by the way,” Jeff says, not quite meeting his eyes.
“Did you?”
Jeff fights a smile. “Is that a surprise?”
Barcode hums as he takes another swig of the coffee. “I thought you’d be too busy to miss me.”
Jeff had been busy the last two days. Between filming for his new music video and taking photos for a magazine feature, he had little time and even less energy to pick up his phone to socialise. But Barcode was always floating around somewhere in the back of his mind. Jeff wondered if he was still eating well and getting enough sleep, if he was getting along well with the other cast members without Jeff’s presence to anchor him. Sometimes he worried something important was happening to Barcode in Seoul, some life-changing event he wasn’t there to witness.
It was odd to have such thoughts. Barcode is a good friend and Jeff loves spending time with him, but he has never missed him. He has never felt relieved just being in one room with him again.
“I don’t have to think about missing you,” Jeff says. “I just feel it.”
Barcode looks genuinely surprised by Jeff’s words, but after a moment, he starts laughing. “Look at us! We can’t even go two days without missing each other. When did that happen?”
“We did spend every day of May together,” Jeff points out. “A little more time and we won’t be able to function without each other anymore.”
“I’d be stuck to you like glue,” Barcode says, slinging his arms around Jeff and hugging him again.
“I think that’s already happening.”