Work Text:
It was always past 10 P.M when Cha Eui-jae was hit with a strange bout of longing.
Odd, he thought, while wiping down tables and putting away cleaned bowls of hangover soup. The small, tangled, bundle of nerves seemingly twisting in on itself every time a presence passed by the doors of the old restaurant.
He realises the antsy feeling was expectation. He expects to see dark hair with messy curls, a tall figure that easily influences every room he steps into, and striking eyes in the shade of lavender petals.
With the image of Lee Sa-young entering Cha Eui-jae’s head, does the feelings of annoyance yet deep-rooted fondness intertwine itself close, like a fond kiss to his forehead after giving it a well deserved flick.
Ridiculous, he’d think. Always at a war with himself whenever he faces the matters of his own, farcical heart.
He doesn’t miss that punk, his mind insists—but he has no defense whenever his heart leaps small bounds at the notifications from his phone.
He digs himself a greater hole when he realises how far his disappointment goes, what he reads on the screen ends up to be something else, not Lee Sa-young’s name. Everytime, he feels like a clown for even expecting something from the younger man.
It takes a whole lot more courage than he thought, staring at Lee Sa-young’s contact on his phone.
‘It’s just to check on him.’ Cha Eui-jae thought, his finger hovering over the telephone icon where Lee Sa-young’s contact was. ‘Nothing else.’
He rips off the bandaid by giving himself no other second thought, pressing the call icon and pressing his phone to his ear.
It didn’t even take three rings before the subject of his frustration picks up, Cha Eui-jae refuses to acknowledge the small seedling of hope that the other man missed him, as well.
“Wow, this is rare.” Cha Eui-jae’s shoulders seemed to rid itself of the accumulated weight, the haze from the past few days dissipating from the sound of his teasing voice. “What made you call me, Hyung?”
“..Nothing.” He lies through the skin of his teeth.
“Nothing, really?” The way Lee Sa-young can easily take apart his words and detect his lies would have been startling, but Cha Eui-jae himself is a master at tap dancing between the line of honesty and deception.
“Mhm..”
“Hyung is bad at lying.”
“…I wanted to check on you.” His feet plants in the between; a half-lie.
“Just check on me, Hyung?” Lee Sa-young mocks, the lilt of his voice prods at Cha Eui-jae. Not unpleasant, like a finger to his sides, ticklish and pleasant.
The part-timer nods, despite being unable to be seen. “Yeah.”
“Well, I’m busy with work. It piled up while I was busy spending time with you.”
A small pang of guilt hits Cha Eui-jae straight to the chest, while he had wondered if Lee Sa-young wasn’t so busy, maybe he should have insisted at some point that he heads straight back to his guild after his meals. (His desire dipped a little bit selfishly, wanting to stay close to his side more than before.)
“Really? Brat, you should manage your time better.” He scolds him with no real heat, combing his bangs back with a small fond smile.
“Mm, Hyung blames me when he’s partially at fault..”
“Who told you to laze around the restaurant?”
Lee Sa-young falls quiet after that, to which Cha Eui-jae concludes he refocused back onto his work judging from the scratch of the pen marking papers. The thought of the younger man sulking after entertaining his scolding had Cha Eui-jae biting his lip, holding in a laugh.
Unfamiliar with the silence that follows, the older man ready for any witty chides that Lee Sa-young easily seemed to think of on the spot, Cha Eui-jae began to pace in circles. Occasionally does his hip bump with a chair, quickly fixing it back to its spot without batting an eye.
With what little resolve he built, he exhales shakily.
“Sa-young-ah..” Cha Eui-jae mumbles, pressing his phone close to his ear. It’s frightening, the way he seems to offer his heart on a platter with trembling hands.
Lee Sa-young hummed from the other line, focused on his responsibility but acknowledged Cha Eui-jae’s presence.
“If I said I missed you,” Cha Eui-jae blurts out, an embarrassed flush kissing his pale cheeks red. “Will you come running?”
Silence. Then a hud was Cha Eui-jae’s only response, needing not to strain his ears when he heard the screech of a chair from the other line.
“Lee Sa-young?” The part-timer calls out, blinking from his daze at the shock that this punk might have taken his words literally .
A swift rip of paper echoed to his hunter-senses, turning around to see the very boy he was missing all this time standing in the middle of the restaurant.
“Sa-young-” Arms were wrapped around him in an instant, Cha Eui-jae’s senses being filled with Lee Sa-young. From the soft tufts of his hair tickling his neck, to the whiffs of sweetness his nose picks up, sending pleasant tingles from the warmth of his nape to the ends of his fingertips.
He feels a hand on the small of his back, another on his upper, pressing him closer to the poisonous hunter.
His own arms rose to wrap around his neck and shoulders, pressing his cheek to Lee Sa-young’s head, burying his nose at home in the juncture where Sa-young’s shoulder met his neck. Complete.
“Hyung should’ve just said he missed me.” Lee Sa-young presses his lips on his collarbone, igniting small shivers down Cha Eui-jae’s spine.
“See?” Cha Eui-jae straightens up, looking down at Lee Sa-young who now rests his head on the part-timer’s shoulders. “I was here before you knew it.”
He pokes at Lee Sa-young’s forehead, gentle with his own hand, acknowledging that he was stronger. Cha Eui-jae sighs, turning down to drop a firm kiss on his forehead. He flushes deeply at his own actions, but stubbornly pulls through.
“You didn’t even run, punk.”