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The door to Gunil's room creaks open, ushering in a sliver of light from the hallway. Jungsu pads inside the room and closes the door behind him with a click.
He says nothing for a moment, just stands there, fidgeting in his pyjamas- cotton shorts and one of Gunil's old college tshirts.
"Hyung."
It's a question in a single word.
Gunil puts his phone down on the bedside table and lifts the corner of the blankets, letting Jungsu slip in next to him. They lay there together, companionable in the dark. Probably, Jungsu is here because he can't sleep, a regular occurrence. They've been tiptoeing around each other like this for months. It's easy to say it's because they're best friends, that Gunil is simply being a good hyung. It's platonic. Gunil thinks whatever he needs to think to keep allowing himself this.
"Tell me something happy. Something pretty." Jungsu's eyes stay glued to the ceiling when he asks, and he pulls the blanket a little higher, tucks it under his chin despite the heat, like he's hiding.
"I don't know... I feel stupid," Gunil laughs, self conscious suddenly. Everyone says he talks too much, and he knows it's in jest, but sometimes he wonders.
"You don't sound stupid. Just one happy thing, even if it's not yours. It can be from a book, or something."
Gunil hums, glances over at Jungsu for just a second.
"I can only think of interesting facts, happy is too subjective-"
"And interesting isn't?"
"-it's less subjective."
"Okay, then. Let's hear it."
Gunil swallows hard, nervous for no discernible reason.
"The sun and the moon almost look the same size, right? But it's an illusion," he explains, "because the moon is four hundred times smaller than the sun, but it's also four hundred times closer to the earth."
Jungsu considers for a moment.
"So the moon only seems as big because of perspective?"
"Exactly right. Eclipses couldn't happen if that weren't the case."
Another pause.
"I guess that is sort of interesting," Jungsu sniffs, still watching the ceiling. Gunil wonders if he's imagining the moon, surely hung in the sky beyond the barrier of their roof, glowing with borrowed light from the sun.
"Have you ever watched an eclipse, hyung?"
Gunil shakes his head, his hair brushing against his pillow. "No, but I've always wanted to see one."
Another silence follows, stretching longer than any have so far, though it's companionable. Jungsu's hand finds Gunil's under the blankets, and grips it tightly. Gunil squeezes back in answer. Jungsu keeps his eyes trained on the ceiling, but he starts stroking the back of Gunil's hand with his thumb. Back and forth, back and forth, a steady rhythm, soft metronome ticking.
Gunil feels his breathing slow to join it, his eyelids growing heavy. He lets them flutter shut, beginning to sink peacefully into sleep, until- he can't prove it without peeking, but he can feel the weight of Jungsu's gaze, snatching vision of him while his eyes are closed. Gunil has caught him doing this exact thing in the past, and each time he's glanced away as soon as he's been noticed. Gunil doesn't try to catch him this time; he wants Jungsu to look, to learn him; to trace the angle at which his eyelashes rest against his under-eye, to count the freckles dotted over his skin. He wants Jungsu to know him. There's love in recognition, Gunil is sure.
Jungsu doesn't stop stroking his hand. An image grows in his mind's eye of the roof being lifted off the building and letting moonlight beam down on them, dousing them in that second-hand luminance, making Jungsu shine ethereal in the bed next to him.
Gunil has never been closer to turning to Jungsu and kissing him than in this moment. His heart aches for it, famished, yearning.
After an untold length of time, Jungsu lets go of his hand- only to nudge himself under Gunil's arm to rest his head on his chest, an arm clasped over his stomach, cuddling him tightly. Gunil wraps his arms around Jungsu securely, not a word spoken between them, and runs fingers through his soft hair.
They lay like that for a while. Jungsu is a heady weight on his chest, keeping him from floating away into sleep- He can't possibly miss a single second of having him close like this. Gunil knows he'd stay up all night if he could, feeling Jungsu's warmth and the way he clutches at his shirt like he's afraid he'll leave.
His hair is pitch-dark silk between Gunil's fingers, and he pets the locks slowly, carefully. He bows his head slightly to breathe in the scent of shampoo, warmed by body heat. It's a pure smell, something comfortable. Jungsu sighs into Gunil's chest, sleepy.
"Go to sleep, Nil-ah," he admonishes, a hint of gravel in his voice already. Gunil can tell just by the sound that he's on the very edge of slumber. Jungsu nuzzles into the fabric of his shirt, millimetres away from his heart.
"I'll keep you warm, hyung," he mumbles. "As long as you keep holding me."
Gunil kisses the crown of his head, a barely-there glance of lips against his hair. He wonders if Jungsu even felt it, then decides it doesn't matter.
"Sweet dreams, Su."