Chapter Text
Nut doesn’t plan on messaging Hong.
Not at first.
Following him again was already impulsive enough.
A late-night decision made somewhere between boredom and something he doesn’t want to name.
He had stared at Hong’s profile for a while before doing it.
Not because he expected anything—
but because something about it felt… unfinished.
Not in a dramatic way.
Just a loose thread.
So he followed.
And when Hong followed back—
Nut told himself it didn’t mean anything.
Just mutual acknowledgment.
Just… neutral.
But then Hong’s name started appearing again.
At the top of his viewers list.
In his notifications.
In the quiet, in-between moments where Nut would usually scroll without thinking.
And he noticed.
More than he expected to.
Instagram Story: @hong.mp4
“can’t sleep.”
Nut watches it immediately.
He doesn’t overthink it.
Just taps through like he always does.
But then he pauses.
Goes back.
Looks at it again.
He almost replies.
Types something simple:
“you should rest”
Deletes it.
Because it feels… unnecessary.
Too familiar for something that no longer exists.
So he leaves it.
Moves on.
But the thought lingers longer than it should.
Nut doesn’t like complicated things.
He never has.
He prefers conversations that don’t require too much thinking.
Connections that don’t demand definition.
People who come and go without leaving something heavy behind.
That’s how it’s always been.
But Hong—
Hong wasn’t supposed to feel heavy.
And yet—
he does.
Not in a way Nut can explain.
Just… noticeable.
So when Hong interacts with one of his stories—
just a simple poll—
Nut reacts without thinking.
Likes the response.
It’s small.
Almost nothing.
But it feels like opening a door just slightly—
without committing to walking through it.
And somehow—
that’s enough to keep him thinking about it.
Days pass.
Nut finds himself checking Hong’s stories more often.
Not consciously.
Not intentionally.
Just… out of habit.
He notices things.
The way Hong posts late at night.
The way his captions feel quieter now.
The way there’s something different in the tone—less sharp, less reactive.
It makes Nut wonder.
Is he okay?
The thought surprises him.
Because he doesn’t usually wonder.
He observes.
Moves on.
Forgets.
But he doesn’t forget Hong.
One night, without planning it, he opens their chat.
Stares at it.
The last message is still there.
Untouched.
Unfinished.
Nut frowns slightly.
Because he doesn’t remember deciding to leave.
Not clearly.
It just… happened.
Like most things do.
He tells himself it wasn’t a big deal.
That nothing between them was serious enough to require closure.
But then why does it feel like something’s still there?
He types:
“hey”
Sends it before he can rethink it.
When Hong replies—
it’s simple.
Just “hi.”
Something about that feels different.
Less warm.
Less open.
Not cold—
just… careful.
Nut notices immediately.
He continues anyway.
“sorry if this is random”
“i just wanted to check how you’ve been”
And there it is again.
That slight shift in Hong’s tone.
Polite.
Measured.
Not reaching.
It unsettles Nut more than it should.
Because he’s used to things being easy.
Used to people meeting him halfway without needing effort.
But Hong—
Hong isn’t doing that anymore.
And Nut doesn’t know what to do with that.
The conversation stays light.
Safe.
Nothing uncomfortable.
But something feels… off.
Like he’s late to something that already ended.
That thought lingers.
So he keeps messaging.
Not constantly.
Not enough to make it obvious.
Just… enough.
Checking in.
Sending random thoughts.
Keeping the connection alive without defining it.
It’s what he’s always done.
But with Hong—
it doesn’t feel the same.
Because Hong doesn’t lean into it anymore.
There are no long replies.
No late-night conversations that stretch into morning.
No soft edges that blur into something more.
Just responses.
Present, but not reaching.
And for the first time—
Nut feels something unfamiliar.
Distance.
Not physical.
Not even emotional in a clear way.
Just the quiet realization that something he didn’t think much about before—
is no longer where he left it.
One night, Nut posts a story.
A simple one.
“good company.”
He doesn’t think about it.
Doesn’t attach meaning to it.
But later—
he notices Hong viewed it.
Left immediately.
No reaction.
No pause.
And for some reason—
that sticks.
Because Hong used to linger.
That’s when Nut starts to understand—
not fully, not clearly—
but enough.
Something changed.
And it didn’t happen to him.
It happened to Hong.
A few days later, he messages again.
“you’ve been quiet today”
It’s a small thing.
Casual.
But when Hong replies—
“just busy”
And nothing more—
Nut feels it.
The distance.
And he doesn’t know why—
but he tries to close it.
“don’t overwork yourself”
“you used to do that a lot”
The moment the message sends—
he realizes something.
He remembers things about Hong.
Small things.
Unnecessary things.
And that’s… not normal for him.
People usually blur together.
Moments fade.
Details don’t stay.
But Hong—
stayed.
And now—
he’s the one pulling away.
Nut leans back, staring at the ceiling.
It doesn’t hurt.
Not in a way he can clearly name.
Just…
uncomfortable.
Like realizing something shifted without him noticing.
Like arriving somewhere too late—
and not knowing when exactly it stopped waiting for him.
He doesn’t say that, though.
He just sends another message days later.
Another “hey.”
Another attempt at something that doesn’t have a name.
Because if there’s one thing Nut does know—
it’s that he doesn’t like losing things.
Even the ones he never fully held.