The hours flew by in the blink of an eye as Jongin and Kyungsoo continued chatting at Café Noir.

In fact, neither of them realized how late it had gotten until Baekhyun came over to say, “I don’t want to interrupt your conversation, but I have to close up now.” He smiled ruefully while pointing at the silver watch wrapped around his left wrist. “It’s already past ten and I have a couple of deliveries coming in tomorrow morning at five, so I need to catch some sleep. If it weren’t for that, I’d totally let you guys stay longer.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry for staying so late, Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo hastily stood up and grabbed a napkin to wipe down the table. “I completely forgot that you usually close up at ten, otherwise we would’ve left long before this.”

“Nah, there’s no need to apologize, Kyungsoo.” The coffee shop owner beamed brightly as he placed his hands over his friend’s busy hands to stop the ophthalmologist from cleaning. “You know you’re always welcome to stay as long as you want.” Baekhyun then scrunched up his nose as he complained, “I don’t know why the delivery guy always insists on coming so early. You’d think he’d be asleep at five o’clock like any other normal person would be, but nope! So now I have to wake up at some god-awful hour to sign off these deliveries. And Jinki isn’t scheduled to open tomorrow, so I can’t make him sign them off instead.”

As the coffee shop owner dramatically faked his tears, Kyungsoo laughed and patted his friend’s back. “Alright, we’re getting out of here now, so you can go home and get some rest. I’ll drop by tomorrow for lunch, okay?”

“You’re the best, Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun squealed, wrapping his arms around the ophthalmologist in a tight hug. “Text me what you’re craving later and I’ll order it in the morning!”

“Will do! Thanks again for letting us stay so late! See you tomorrow, Baekhyun!”

Jongin followed Kyungsoo out of the door, awkwardly mumbling his own thanks to the coffee shop owner who smiled cheerily as he waved goodbye to the pair.

As they stood outside of the coffee shop, Kyungsoo gestured to his car that was parked at the curbside. “Do you need a ride home?”

The artist’s heart immediately sank when he realized that he now had to go home. And that meant having to face Jongdae and Yixing once more, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Even though he knew he couldn’t run away from them forever, Jongin wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as he possibly could. “Um, I know I’ve taken up a lot of your time already, but do you think we could hang out together a bit longer?” He stared down at the sidewalk, holding his breath as he anxiously waited for Kyungsoo’s response.

“Do you not want to go home yet?”

“Not yet,” was the artist’s answer in a barely audible whisper. “I—I’m not ready yet.”

“Okay.” Kyungsoo smiled in understanding. “Is there anywhere else you want to go then?”

Jongin was about to shake his head, since he hadn’t thought that far, when his stomach noisily growled, reminding the artist that he hadn’t eaten dinner yet. A red flush immediately crept up his neck while Kyungsoo tried—very unsuccessfully, to Jongin’s chagrin—to stifle his laughter.

“Let’s get some food first and then we’ll figure out where to go. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah,” Jongin mumbled, internally cursing his stomach for being so loud.

They stopped by a street stall and bought two cartons of piping hot tteokbokki to eat for dinner. This time, Jongin insisted on paying since he pointed out that the reason they had missed dinner earlier was because of him. Kyungsoo tried to shift some of the blame onto himself, saying that he should have been aware of the time, but Jongin managed to hand his credit card to the stall owner first, courtesy of his long arms.

The two males then returned to the ophthalmologist’s car, since Kyungsoo had another place in mind for them to enjoy their small meal at. After driving for about fifteen minutes, they reached a grassy hilltop that was decently secluded from the rest of the city. Jongin hugged the warm cartons of spicy stir-fried rice cakes to his chest as he followed the ophthalmologist, who was carrying a picnic blanket that had been sitting in the trunk of his car, up the hill.

Kyungsoo laid the blanket on the ground and then sat down. He patted the spot next to him, motioning for the artist to sit there. Jongin carefully knelt down and set the cartons on top of the blanket before prying off the plastic lids, allowing bursts of steam to escape. Kyungsoo then passed him a pair of wooden chopsticks, already perfectly split into two, before they each picked up a carton and began feasting on the street food.

Even though his mouth burned from the spiciness of the gochujang, Jongin loved the chewiness and the savory flavor of the stir-fried rice cakes. Luckily, the red chili paste wasn’t too hot, so he pushed himself to endure the stinging pain. His stomach also felt comfortably warm as he gulped down mouthful after mouthful of the spicy rice cakes. Kyungsoo watched the artist out of the corner of his eye, the ends of his lips curling upwards in amusement at how vigorously Jongin was devouring his dinner.

Once they finished eating, Kyungsoo collected the empty cartons, paste-covered chopsticks, and plastic wrappers before tossing them in a nearby trash can. After the ophthalmologist returned, the two males sat cross-legged on the picnic blanket in companionable silence, staring up at the starry night sky. It usually wasn’t this clear or this dark, due to the light pollution from the city. But tonight, the stars twinkled vibrantly against the expanse of black and it was comforting to know that some light could still be seen in the darkness.

Kyungsoo suddenly broke the stillness by saying, “I used to stargaze a lot.”

Jongin turned to face the ophthalmologist and raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Really? I feel like most people our age don’t do this nowadays, especially now that we’re adults with jobs.”

A low chuckle escaped Kyungsoo’s lips before he replied, “That’s true. I haven’t stargazed in a long time, but I used to do it regularly with someone I knew back in the day. He loves the galaxy and anything related to astronomy or astrology.”

“Do you…not keep in contact with him anymore?”

“No,” Kyungsoo replied sadly as he continued gazing upwards. His right hand slightly shifted over his knee and a faint ray of white light from the waning moon glinted against the onyx ring around the ophthalmologist’s right pinky finger.

The artist waited for the brown-haired male to elaborate, but when he didn’t, Jongin chose not to pursue the topic any further. It really wasn’t any of his business whether or not Kyungsoo kept in contact with old friends. It wasn’t like Jongin still talked to most of the friends he’d made while attending high school or university.

Not to mention, the onyx ring was much more captivating to look at and think about. Deciding that a chance to smoothly segue into talking about the intriguing piece of jewelry would most likely never present itself, at least not any time soon, Jongin boldly asked, “Where did you get that ring?” He was glad it was too dark to see much, since that meant Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to witness how the artist’s hands trembled as he asked the question.

“Are you talking about this one?” The ophthalmologist slipped off the onyx ring and placed it on his right palm before holding it out to Jongin, who nodded in confirmation. “It was a gift from the guy I talked about earlier, the one who loves outer space.”

Jongin furrowed his eyebrows in bewilderment. Friends didn’t usually give rings to each other, from what he knew. Did they? “Why did he give you a ring?”

“Well, it was supposed to be a promise ring,” Kyungsoo explained, gently rotating his hand and watching the ring roll around his palm.

“You mean you dated this guy?”

Even though it was dark enough to hide the unbridled shock showing on the artist’s face, Kyungsoo could hear it in his voice so the ophthalmologist couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at Jongin’s response. “Yes, he’s my ex-boyfriend. His name is Ok Taecyeon.”

“How did you meet him?”

“We were in the same Korean literature class during our sophomore year. He was having trouble keeping up with the lectures, since he wasn’t very good at Korean yet, so our professor asked if I could tutor him. We became good friends because of that.”

Jongin stared at the ophthalmologist in confusion. “Isn’t he Korean? How does he not know the language?”

Kyungsoo chuckled as he explained, “He’s actually Korean-American and his first language is English. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in the United States.”

“Did his parents not speak to him in Korean at home?”

“They did, but he would respond to them in English. And Taecyeon didn’t really enjoy going to Korean school when he was a kid, so he stopped learning the language pretty early on,” the ophthalmologist added with a rueful smile. “It wasn’t until he was in high school when he realized how useful it was to know a second language.”

“Is that why he came to South Korea for school?”

“One of the reasons,” Kyungsoo answered, slightly nodding his head. “Taecyeon also wanted to explore another country and he thought the best place to start was here since it held a degree of familiarity culture-wise. It was still quite an adjustment for him though, having to become fluent in Korean in such a short time so that he didn’t fail any of his classes. We used to joke that it was a miracle he ever made it to his sophomore year, considering how much he was struggling before I met him.” The ophthalmologist chuckled to himself again as he gazed at the onyx ring on his palm.

“Oh. How did you start dating then?” Jongin didn’t know why, but question after question kept flying out of his mouth. He really had no business trying to pry details regarding Kyungsoo’s love life from the ophthalmologist. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but let his curiosity take control. This was all so…unexpected.

“I guess it just somehow happened,” Kyungsoo answered with a nonchalant shrug. “We shared an apartment after graduation, since we both didn’t have much money. I was in medical school while he was working as a freelance photographer. I didn’t really have time to meet people, except for my classmates in medical school, while Taecyeon was busy filling up his schedule with as many jobs as he could find. Since we were already friends beforehand, our relationship naturally progressed into something more intimate as time went on.”

“What—what did you like about him?”

There was a pause as Kyungsoo carefully thought about his response, his left pointer finger mindlessly tapping his chin, before he said, “Well, he was basically my best friend. He­—”

“Wait,” Jongin couldn’t help but interrupt, “isn’t Park Chanyeol your best friend?” Did that mean the guitarist really was something more to Kyungsoo?

The ophthalmologist smiled wryly as he clarified, “Chanyeol and I have been best friends since we were children, but we drifted a bit after high school since we ended up attending different universities. I was also hyper-focused on getting accepted into medical school while he was working on his music career, so we stopped prioritizing each other and only met up once in a while during school breaks.” A flash of guilt momentarily appeared on Kyungsoo’s face, but it was too ephemeral for Jongin to properly process.

“So then, Ok Taecyeon replaced him as your best friend.”

“I wouldn’t say replaced,” Kyungsoo slowly said as he thought of how to explain his relationship with both males. “More like, Taecyeon happened to come into my life when I was gradually becoming a hermit and he kept me from being the anti-social person I would’ve become since Chanyeol wasn’t always with me anymore.” He stopped rolling the ring around in his palm and just stared at it with an unfathomable expression. “I didn’t realize it at the time, or maybe I didn’t want to come to terms with it, but I was lonely and Taecyeon drove away the loneliness after we became friends.”

Jongin stayed silent. He knew all too well what it felt like to be lonely. To be alone.

“Anyway, going back to your question, I guess I really liked how philosophical Taecyeon is and how much he genuinely loves life,” the ophthalmologist reminisced, a gentle smile adorning his face. “It’s amazing how he can find beauty in just about anything and capture it with his camera. He’d always say that it’s all about your perspective, how you look at something.”

Even though he knew Kyungsoo wasn’t trying to make a jab at the artist’s pessimistic outlook on life, Jongin couldn’t help but feel defensive when he heard the other male’s words and the artist scowled as a result. There wasn’t anything wrong with being cynical. It was safer to be skeptical, to question everything. Blind faith and naivety only ever led to disappointment and regret.

“I’m probably making Taecyeon sound really naïve, but he honestly isn’t,” Kyungsoo quietly added, as if he could hear the artist’s thoughts. “He’s smart, one of the smartest people I know, and he understands how the world works. He knows that there’s a lot of ugliness in society and in nature. Utopias don’t exist, only in pipe dreams. He knows that. We both know that. Everyone knows that.” The ophthalmologist took a deep breath before continuing, “But because he can see both the good and the bad, co-existing as all other opposites do, Taecyeon appreciates the small nuggets of beauty that much more. I’ve never met anyone else like him and I don’t think I ever will.”

“Why did you two break up then?” Jongin asked in a clipped tone, since he was still somewhat irritated over how much Kyungsoo lauded his ex-boyfriend’s supposedly one-of-a-kind optimism, which it wasn’t. Plenty of people believed they knew and accepted every facet of life like Ok Taecyeon apparently did. Then, immediately realizing how invasive the question was and how rude he sounded, the artist quickly backtracked and said, “I mean, if it’s okay for me to know. I completely understand if you’d rather not talk about that and I’m really sorry if I brought up any bad memories.”

The ophthalmologist only chuckled at how flustered Jongin was becoming. “No, you’re fine. It wasn’t a bad break-up or anything like that. We left each other on good terms, actually, which I’m grateful for.”

“Oh, that’s good,” the artist replied. However, he still wanted to bash his head into the ground for being so awkward.

Kyungsoo laughed again at how Jongin was squirming in place and how badly the artist was trying to conceal his fidgety movements. “Don’t worry, Jongin. I’m not hurt by the question at all. It’s natural to be curious and I guess I’ve only spoken positively about Taecyeon so far, so it makes sense as to why you’d be curious about the reason we aren’t together anymore.”

The artist nodded, his ears flaming with embarrassment. His only saving grace was that it was too dark for Kyungsoo to properly see anything. For once, the darkness was actually useful.

There was a long pause as the ophthalmologist thought deeply about this matter. Jongin was beginning to fidget again, wondering if he should completely switch the topic, before Kyungsoo finally said, “I honestly don’t know exactly how we ended up at that point, but the simplest way to explain our break-up is that we aren’t right for each other right now.”

Jongin took a moment to clear his throat before saying, “Uh, I don’t think I understand…”

There was another pause before the ophthalmologist spoke again. “Taecyeon and I… We’re currently at different stages in our lives and if we had continued our relationship, we probably would’ve ended up hating each other instead of staying as friends after the break-up.” Kyungsoo smiled as he spoke, but his eyes betrayed the depth of sadness within him that he was otherwise concealing quite well in his tone. “Like I said earlier, the two of us worked so well together because we’re such opposites, so our strengths and weaknesses complemented each other. But our dreams are also too different, too vast for us to compromise and Taecyeon realized that before I did, if I’m being completely honest.” The ophthalmologist let out a mirthless chuckle.

Jongin was beginning to regret asking about Ok Taecyeon, since Kyungsoo was clearly becoming uncomfortable as he recalled his past relationship. Even though the ophthalmologist had insisted that there were no wounds from the break-up, that didn’t seem to be the case based off of his current countenance. “Kyungsoo—”

“He didn’t want to stay in Seoul anymore,” the ophthalmologist continued before Jongin could change the subject. “His dream is to travel the world and take photos of every beautiful thing that exists on the planet before he dies. And that’ll be a lifelong journey for him, because everything is beautiful to Taecyeon.”

The artist lowered his gaze and kept silent as Kyungsoo poured out his heart.

“It wasn’t like he wanted to travel alone. He wanted me to come with him, so he could share all of those beautiful moments with me. For Taecyeon, it would’ve been perfect if the person he loved the most had gone with him to see everything that this large world has to offer.” The ophthalmologist’s voice then dropped an octave. “I was the one who refused to go with him. I had just finished my residency and was studying for my board certification exam. Then, I planned on opening my own clinic with Junmyeon—you know him as Dr. Kim—since we wanted to go into private practice together. There are a lot of other details that you’re probably not interested in—”

Jongin wanted to interrupt and say that he was interested in knowing all of the details, but he ultimately decided to keep quiet.

“—so the bottom line is that I prioritized my dreams over Taecyeon and he prioritized his dreams over me.” Kyungsoo let out an audible sigh and stared down at the ground, his bangs falling forward to slightly cover his eyes. His right hand was now clenched in a fist around the onyx ring, concealing it from view.

Jongin inwardly winced when he thought about the hard, sharp edges of the ring digging into the ophthalmologist’s palm. That had to hurt, yet Kyungsoo made no move to unfurl his fist.

After more than a minute of dead quiet, the artist opened his mouth to say something but Kyungsoo beat him to it. “After we both accepted that we couldn’t—or rather, we wouldn’t—give up our dreams for each other, Taecyeon and I formally broke up with each other. He still lived with me until the end of our housing contract, since we had signed both of our names on the lease, but neither of us renewed after. I found a smaller apartment to live in by myself while he decided to move back to Boston and be with his family for a bit before heading to Nepal for the first stop of his worldwide journey.”

“Why Nepal?” Jongin wrinkled his nose in confusion as he thought about what the tiny South Asian country had to offer. If he were Ok Taecyeon, he would’ve chosen some place more active and diverse, like London or Tokyo.

“From what Taecyeon told me, Nepal is a relatively cheap country to live in and the scenery there is beautiful,” the ophthalmologist explained. Kyungsoo grinned widely as he recalled Taecyeon’s words when the photographer had been excitedly describing the beginning of his new nomadic life. “Nepal has several World Heritage sites that he wanted to visit as well, like Lumbini which is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama.”

“Is he Buddhist?” the artist asked, recognizing the Buddha’s birth name.

Kyungsoo shook his head. “He’s never practiced Buddhism, but Taecyeon wanted to pay his respects to someone who made such a huge impact in history.”

“Oh, okay. That’s pretty cool, I guess.”

“Yeah, Taecyeon is more cultured and adventurous than I could ever hope to be,” the ophthalmologist commented with a half-hearted chuckle. “He even climbed up to the top of Mount Everest while he was in Nepal, so he got to cross that off of his bucket list. He sent me a couple of photos after he reached the summit and that’s when I fully realized that we made the right decision to break up.” Kyungsoo smiled sadly as he finally let his arms relax and fall to his side, the onyx ring briefly rolling onto the picnic blanket before stopping several centimeters away from the ophthalmologist’s right hand. “He would’ve hated staying in Seoul with me while I established my practice and it wouldn’t have been fair for Taecyeon to miss out on so many amazing opportunities, just because he was in a relationship with me. In the end, despite how much Taecyeon and I cared about each other, it just wasn’t meant to be since we have such different end goals. While I wish things had turned out differently, I am thankful that we’re still friends and I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

There was a slight pause before the artist lamely said, “Not being with him… It’s… It’s not the end of the world. Things…will get better…” As soon as he spoke, Jongin wanted to punch himself in the face since he knew he was the last person to spout this kind of idealism when it was something he struggled with on a daily basis. But he didn’t know what else to say to lift up Kyungsoo’s spirits and the artist knew he should say something, regardless of how nonsensical it sounded, especially coming from him.

“Thanks, Jongin. You’re right. At the very least, I know Taecyeon and I are both happy with where we are right now, and that’s enough for me.” Kyungsoo then smiled brightly at Jongin, as if he hadn’t just revealed something extremely personal to him, and said, “By the way, I’m quite interested in hearing about your artwork, if that’s alright with you. I’ve never been a very creative person myself, but I’m fascinated with the technical process of deciding between art mediums for specific ideas and I’d love to get some insight from a professional.”

At first, the artist was slightly taken aback by Kyungsoo’s sudden request, but he swiftly adjusted and decided that it was only fair if he took charge of the conversation after putting Kyungsoo through a significant degree of emotional distress. If it weren’t for Jongin’s needless curiosity, the ophthalmologist wouldn’t have had to relive the pain of breaking up with Ok Taecyeon, which had to hurt, no matter how much Kyungsoo said otherwise. Even though, Jongin honestly didn’t want to think about his artwork right now, he owed it to Kyungsoo to take his mind off of his ex-boyfriend.

If only Jongin hadn’t been so nosy in the first place…

All because of that simple onyx ring…

--

Jongin was so engrossed in the conversation that he hadn’t realized how much time had passed until he finally noticed the flashing light at the top right corner of his cell phone, signaling a new message notification. After unlocking his phone screen, the artist found one text message from Yixing, asking him to come back home since it was getting late. Jongin let out an involuntary groan at the unpleasant thought of returning home and possibly seeing Jongdae, who was most definitely still angry at him.

Kyungsoo looked at the artist questioningly, his head tilted slightly to the left as his large brown eyes blinked owlishly. “Is something wrong?”

“Not really. Just my manager asking me to come home, even though I really don’t want to,” Jongin said, muttering the last bit under his breath.

The ophthalmologist glanced at his watch before softly saying, “I know home is the last place you want to be at right now, but I really think it’s time to go back.” Kyungsoo looked up to make direct eye contact with the artist while continuing, “It’s almost one in the morning. Both of us should be asleep by now.”

Jongin forced himself to bite back the retort that was threatening to jump from his lips, since he knew Kyungsoo wasn’t trying to be patronizing. It was just in his nature as a doctor to look out for his patient’s health, even when he was off-duty. Several seconds passed in complete silence as Jongin internally reined in his emotions before he finally deemed himself calm enough to say, “Okay, I’ll go back.”

A noticeable smile of relief appeared on Kyungsoo’s youthful face upon hearing the artist’s decision. He hadn’t expected Jongin to agree so easily, but he wasn’t going to complain about it either, especially since he’d had no other ideas on how to convince the artist to return home.

Jongin then gruffly added, “Thanks for being here with me tonight, Kyungsoo. I really enjoyed talking to you and I feel a lot better than I did earlier. And I appreciate you going out of your way to help me since I know it’s probably not how you expected to spend your Saturday evening, especially after working all day.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Kyungsoo quickly answered. “It’s really no problem and I enjoyed our conversation as well.” He smiled brightly as he stood up and dusted off his pants.

The taller male also stood up before bending down to pick up the picnic blanket from the ground. Jongin lightly shook off any dirt that was stuck to the bottom before neatly folding the blanket and handing it off to Kyungsoo, who nodded his thanks.

The ophthalmologist then gestured to the base of the hill where his car was waiting. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah,” the artist exhaled loudly, “I’m ready.”

It didn’t take long for the two males to walk down the grassy hill and arrive at Kyungsoo’s car. The ophthalmologist went to unlock the trunk first, so he could put away the picnic blanket, before going to the passenger’s side and unlocking the door for Jongin. “I’ll drive you home,” he offered when the artist sent him a perplexed look. “There’s no point in you wasting money on a taxi when I can drop you off on my way home.”

Deciding that he would much rather be driven in Kyungsoo’s car than a stranger’s taxi, Jongin murmured, “Thank you,” as he sat down in the passenger’s seat and closed the door after him.

Within minutes, the ophthalmologist was also safely strapped in the driver’s seat before he inserted his key into the ignition and began driving. Jongin inputted his address into the navigation system for Kyungsoo and then fell back into his seat, gazing out of the window and into the night.

The sky was dark with thousands of brilliant white dots decorating the inky black expanse. Some stars twinkled more than others. Some were bunched together while others shone alone. The waxing gibbous moon was bright white as it hung overhead.

Jongin wondered what Ok Taecyeon saw in the night sky, what the beauty was in this canvas of black. He wondered how often Ok Taecyeon had taken Kyungsoo to gaze at the twinkling stars, probably on a hilltop where the light pollution from the city was less severe. He wondered what Ok Taecyeon and Kyungsoo had talked about whenever they had stared at the beautiful constellations together.

And then he wondered why he cared so much.

♈♈♈

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON!! I hope you have an AMAZING, WONDERFUL day today because you deserve the world and I MISS YOU SO MUCH!! I will make sure to tag you in a bunch of SAT memes later, because DUMB MEMES = LAUGHTER and LAUGHTER = HAPPINESS and you deserve HAPPINESS every day!! I wish I could be with you for your special day, but just know that Kyungsoo and I are with you in spirit!! Even though life has been crazy with so many changes and unexpected surprises (/cries in enlistment), OUR FRIENDSHIP IS A CONSTANT and I am so grateful that you have blessed my life with your presence for so many years. You inspire me every day to be the best version of myself and I am SO SO SO thankful for your support, because I honestly would not have tapped into my creativity as much as I have these past few years without you pushing me on. And even though we're far apart right now, WE STILL HERE SUPPORTING EXO LIKE WE ALWAYS DO AND REACTING TO THEIR MVS TOGETHER, even though they're really tryna make us cry this year. OTL But it's okay, because sad hour with Kyungsoo is always welcome. :') Everything will be okay in the end and we're all growing together!! I HOPE YOU HAVE MANY AMAZING EXPERIENCES THIS UPCOMING YEAR, in spite of your busy schedule, BECAUSE EVERY YEAR IS ANOTHER CHANCE TO GROW INTO OUR FULL POTENTIAL. And your potential is OFF THE CHARTS because you're a hard-working, driven person WHO WILL ACHIEVE THE SUCCESS YOU DESERVE. And to celebrate, as we always do, your Egg!Soo collage is below!! MAY HIS BALDNESS BLESS YOUR DAY. Thank you for always being there for me and I'm always here for you!! AND WE WILL SEE EACH OTHER SOON!!