Chapter Text
Music had always been Baek In Hyuk’s dream. But now that Eclipse was one of the most successful bands in South Korea, he wasn’t sure about what was next in his life. He had achieved everything he had ever dreamed of, but now what? What came next?
He couldn’t but sigh when Sun Jae started laughing out loud at his phone. By the looks of it, he sure was texting Sol. After fifteen years of pining and having to suffer his best friend being in love, they were finally together and In Hyuk was happy about them. He just… wished for a piece of that happiness in his life as well.
“Could you at least pay attention to me when I’m visiting you?” he protested. Sun Jae hadn’t been going to Eclipse’s rehearsals for a few weeks now, as he was recording a new film whose script was written by his almighty girlfriend. He was tired because of the long hours on set and he looked like it, that was the reason why they decided to meet up in his flat so he could relax and they could catch up on their lives at the same time. But he was right up ignoring him, and that unnerved In Hyuk.
“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” Sun Jae asked without lifting his eyesight from his phone.
In Hyuk needed a drink, and quickly, if he was going to have to spend more time in this room. But of course, being the angel he was, Sun Jae didn’t have anything in his drink cabinet.
“I’m heading out,” he announced after taking his car keys from the foyer and putting on his furry jacket.
Sun Jae waved goodbye from his seat on the sofa after a quick glance at his friend. It had been months since they started dating, when was the honeymoon phase going to be over? In Hyuk couldn’t wait for his friend to be back… although if he really thought about it, Sun Jae had been like that everytime they crossed paths with Sol since they were in high school. He should’ve imagined this would be how their lives were from now on, once they started dating for real.
In Hyuk cursed out loud when he made a turn on the wheel and was upfronted with Seoul's hellish traffic jams. If his fans were there, they would've gasped at his words, but he was all alone in his very new and luxurious car. Since he bought it a few months ago, he hadn’t been able to drive it very often because he had been busy with work. But now that Eclipse had finished the long awaited tour and that they weren’t expected to release any new music soon because of Sun Jae’s hiatus from music to focus on his acting career, he could enjoy a little bit of freedom. And freedom meant driving his car, although he didn’t feel free at all in the middle of this jam.
He felt the vibration of his phone in his pants pocket and Hyun Soo’s name appeared on the car screen right away, interrupting the voice of his friend singing about his girlfriend in a very melancholic way. Yes, he enjoyed listening to his own bands music while driving, and there was nothing wrong about it although his friends thought otherwise.
“What’s up Hyun Soo?” He said right after picking up the call. He could hear a lot of noise from his end, he was most likely out partying with Jay, enjoying the free time they had. “Are you out?”
“I’m with Jay at a club, if Sun Jae and you want to hang out for a bit!” He screamed.
In Hyuk concluded that drinking out with his friends would be better than drinking by himself. If his fans were to photograph him spending a Saturday night on his own in a bar, it’d be pretty sad.
“I’m in. Send me the location and I’ll be there!”
Half an hour later he was standing right before the club’s door his friend had sent the location of, unsure if he should enter or not. It was a gay club, what were Hyun Soo and Jay thinking of? As it was said before, it’d be pretty sad if he spent his Saturday night out by himself, but if his fans saw him in a gay bar? Scandalous. He could be thrown out of the band without any second thoughts from the company.
Someone walked out of the door and bumped into his shoulder.
“Watch where you’re going!” The stranger shouted.
“What…?”
He was about to respond, but caught himself when he looked at the stranger’s face. He had black hair and eyes, and an awful scar that crossed his right cheek. He didn’t seem like someone who one should argue with, so In Hyuk bowed and murmured an apology right away. He didn’t want to get involved in anything shady.
The stranger cursed and resumed walking through the street. In Hyuk didn’t dare to keep looking at him in case he decided to come back, so he opened the club’s door and went down the stairs to the basement it was located in.
A Chung Ha song was blasting through the speakers when he located his friends at a far corner of the club. He made his way to the bar top and asked for a drink, then made his way to Hyun Soo and Jay, who were shaking their asses off dancing to the rhythm of the music.
He sat at the couch behind one of the tables, where he could at least try to hide himself a bit in case some of the people in the bar recognised him and decided to snap a photo. But he knew it’d be hard to disguise himself when his bandmates were there not giving a damn.
“You’re here!” Jay shouted trying to make himself heard through the music.
“Where’s Sun Jae?” Asked Hyun Soo looking around.
“Busy with his girlfriend.”
The two guys nodded in understanding. They all had to experience their singer and frontman being in love since almost the beginning.
“Anyways, we’re here to have fun! Look, that one guy is looking at us, I’m sure he likes you In Hyuk.” Jay was pointing to a blonde guy in the middle of the dance floor. He was sure looking in their direction, but more specifically at Jay, not at him.
In Hyuk chuckled when he noticed Hyun Soo’s bothered look. It was a fact that his two bandmates had liked each other for a while, but they hadn’t ever acted on their feelings as to not to hurt Eclipse’s good vibes in case they ended up breaking up. They were both fools, but fools in love.
He took a sip of his drink and was going to say something when out of the corner of his eye he saw someone. Sat at the bar top, in a black leather jacket and jeans, he recognised Kim Tae Sung. What was this guy doing in a gay bar?
“Are you here for real?”
Tae Sung almost fell out of the chair he was sitting on at the sound of In Hyuks voice. He wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to him that night, and even less his old friend appearing out of nowhere.
Sneakily taking his plaque from the inside of his jacket to show it to him, he murmured as low as he could “I’m on duty.”
“I should’ve figured.” He always seemed to forget that Tae Sung was a police officer. Like how in the world this guy that always skipped classes in high school and got himself into trouble, became a member of Seoul’s Metropolitan Police Agency was something that blew his mind off. “Who are you looking for?”
Tae Sung looked around a couple of times but sighed. “I think he sneaked out without me noticing.”
In Hyuk remembered the man he had encountered at the entrance of the club and shivered.
“Is he dangerous?”
“Can’t give you details, sorry.”
He followed Tae Sung up the stairs, waving goodbye at his friends who had resumed their dancing. The chill January night air threw daggers at their cheeks just as they stepped a foot outside of the club's warm atmosphere. Tae Sung took out his phone right away and made a call, In Hyuk assumed it was one of his coworkers to inform them of the situation.
“You drank a bit, didn’t you? Want me to give you a ride back home?” Tae Sung asked him after hanging up.
To be honest he didn’t want to go home yet. He hadn’t spent much time in the club, and he had only drank one cup before he had noticed his friend. It wasn’t even midnight yet, why should he go home so soon? To what? To be alone?
“Do you want to eat some ramen?” Tae Sung arched an eyebrow and he coughed. “I mean I’m craving ramen and there’s a convenience store near here.”
“Sure.”
Ping!
The boiler dinged and they added the boiling water to their cups of ramen. Both spicy, although they both couldn’t handle spice very well. They had to wait for three minutes for their food to be ready to eat at hell temperature, so they sat down at one of the convenience store’s tables that looked out at the concurred street.
Seeing all the people passing by, In Hyuk wondered if they were returning home to find their loved ones waiting for them, or if they’d also find an empty home like himself. Was that girl talking on the phone going to see his boyfriend? Was that old couple with grocery bags in their hands going home to cook delicious dishes for their grandchildren? That man in a suit and a briefcase, returning from work, was going to find his wife and kids waiting for him when he made it home? In Hyuk had moved to Seoul long before high school from Goseong, to pursue his lifelong dream of music leaving his parents behind, and although he still at thirty years old liked to argue otherwise, he missed their company every day. Because at least he had someone to argue with at home.
Tae Sung clicked his fingers in front of In Hyuk’s face.
“You’ve been looking at that dumpster for two minutes.”
“I’m trying to fusion myself with it.”
“What?”
In Hyuk shook his head and opened the lid of the ramen cup, releasing all the steam and proceeded to eat one bite, but recoiled when the tip of his tongue touched the hot spicy noodles.
“Too hot!” he fanned himself.
Tae Sung laughed. “Here.” He was giving him a carton of room temperature milk, the best companion to spicy food. “What’s troubling you?”
“You know Sung Jae and Sol are now dating…” In Hyuk started.
“Ouch.”
Being Sun Jae’s friend and Tae Sung’s friend as well, In Hyuk had to witness them both kind of fighting for Sol since high school, but he thought that that was long past by. He thought that Tae Sung had forgotten about her and moved on for good. It seemed to not be the case.
“The thing is that now that Eclipse is resting and not expected to release anything new for a while, I do not have anything to do. My friends are occupied and I’m all by myself.”
“And?”
“What do you mean and ?” He tried not to growl at him, but failed a bit. “I’m telling you that I feel alone.” That sure was the bit of alcohol he had ingested earlier talking.
“Well, I am here,” Tae Sung simply says.
“That I can see,” he mutters while stirring the noodles with his chopsticks. “I just wish I had someone at home waiting for me.”
Both men proceeded to eat his spicy ramen in silence. In Hyuk was just a tad annoyed, and Tae Sung seemed to be in deep thought, casting a few glances at the friend at his side between bites.
When they finished eating their bowls of ramen, they threw them out on the corresponding dumpsters and after wishing goodnight to the young cashier, Tae Sung held the door open to In Hyuk and they stepped out into the cold night. They walked through the street in search of the police officer’s car, which was parked not far from the club they had run into. He would still give him a ride home, as In Hyuk still wasn’t sober enough to drive.
With the heating on, no talking and no music on, the trip was something in between comfortable and uncomfortable. When In Hyuk spotted the building complex he lived in, he was quick to tell his friend to drop him off right where they were, although there was still quite some distance to walk by foot. He got out of the car as Tae Sung pulled away at the sidewalk.
“Thank you for driving me, I hope you have a good ride back home as well” he said before closing the car door.
He turned around and started walking towards the building complex when he heard a car door open and close, and footsteps following him.
“Wait, In Hyuk!” said Tae Sung, almost breathless. If walking five meters made his friend, a policeman, breathless, maybe he should do a medical check up. “Do you want to go home with me?” It was In Hyuk’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “I mean, you told me you yearned for someone to wait for you when you made it back home. And I have an extra room at my house, so I was thinking… Maybe you’d want to be my roommate?” In Hyuk was speechless. “I know that you’d prefer if there was a girl proposing this to you, but… I could do with some company as well.”
In all the years he had spent living on his own after their bandmates and himself were able to afford their own housing, he hadn’t shared a house with anyone. Sharing a flat with Tae Sung wasn’t what he was thinking when he opened himself to him an hour ago but it seemed fun and at least he would have something to wake up to.
“Sure.”