“Jongin?”

Sehun’s eyebrows furrowed with concern when several seconds passed and no one replied.

“Hello? Jongin?”

And still, no response.

“Uh, Jongin, I’m gonna let myself in, okay?”

And yet again, nothing.

“Jongin, you’re—you’re not hurt, are you?” The lanky model gingerly shucked off his shoes before walking through the front hall, eyes darting every which way in hopes of spotting the missing artist. “Um, are you eating dinner right now?”

But both the kitchen and the dining room were empty.

“Er, are you…napping?” Sehun cautiously poked his head into the living room and looked around.

But the couch was bare, although the throw pillows were slightly knocked askew. Not that it brought any more clarity. Anyone could have been here earlier and forgotten to tidy up the space.

The model exhaled loudly, ducking back out, before cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting, “Alright, Jongin, you’d better be upstairs. We’re too old to be playing hide-and-seek in your gigantic house.”

By now, he didn’t expect any reply. So when his statement was met with complete silence, Sehun only let out a short snort of mild disbelief before heading to the curved, ivory staircase and lightly jogging up the steps.

Once he was on the second floor, the model quickly surveyed the area and noted two closed doors in particular: Jongin’s bedroom and Jongin’s work room.

Despite knowing that the missing male most likely wasn’t there, Sehun still peeked inside the artist’s work room to fully confirm his hypothesis before quietly shutting the door to the untouched space.

He then pivoted to his best friend’s bedroom, loudly rapping his knuckles against the wooden door. “Jongin, are you in there?” Again, there was no response, so Sehun groaned as he pressed his forehead against the door. “Oh god, please, tell me you’re in there,” the model murmured under his breath before grasping the golden doorknob and pushing the door open.

However, the action was immediately met with some resistance and the bedroom door refused to budge further than a few inches. Sehun soon realized that there was something blocking it from fully opening and he frowned as he urgently applied more pressure to the door.

“What the… Why won’t it—”

Although it was rather dark inside the bedroom, the model could still make out the lumpy shape of something relatively large and solid on the floor. So Sehun cautiously poked the lump with his socked foot before loudly yelping when his ankle was captured in a frigid, vice-like grip all of a sudden. The tall male managed to keep himself upright by tightly clutching the edge of the doorway like his life depended on it, but his heart still jumped out of his throat from the unexpected occurrence.

“Oh my god, Jongin, is that you?!”

“Sehun…” The artist’s fingers tightened around his ankle.

“What’re you doing?! Why’re you on the floor?!” The taller male hastily reached down to try to pull up his distraught best friend, although it was rather difficult since the door was still only partially open. “C’mon, up you go,” Sehun coaxed as he carefully pried Jongin’s unnaturally cold fingers from his ankle.

Since he was still wrapped up in his indigo blanket, the artist’s mobility was somewhat restricted and his movements were quite stiff from crouching for so long. The two best friends almost tripped over each other and the thick blanket in the process of getting Jongin to stand upright. Sehun didn’t know how they managed it, but within a few minutes, his haggard best friend was on two feet, although still leaning against the door frame with the indigo blanket draped over him.

Although Jongin’s hair was somewhat concealed by the blanket, Sehun could still see that it was an absolute mess. The dark locks were brushed askew, stray hairs matted against the artist’s sweaty and ashen face. Jongin was hunched over and looked incredibly small for someone with a usually impressive stature. His face was as pale as white paper and his body shook with slight tremors, almost as if he were constantly shivering from the nonexistent cold.

However, what truly set off the alarm bells in Sehun’s head was the unfocused and haunted look in Jongin’s eyes as the artist gazed into the distance.

After staring at his best friend with unconcealed despondence for several seconds, Sehun unabashedly moved forward and s his arms underneath the blanket to wrap them around the other male in a comforting embrace. “What… What happened, Jongin?”

“I… I don’t know,” the artist replied, voice cracking several times, as his forehead dropped down to rest on Sehun’s right shoulder.

“How long were you sitting on the floor?!” the taller male fretted, hugging Jongin even closer. “How long have you been alone?!”

“I… I don’t know,” Jongin listlessly repeated. “Yixing… Yixing’s not home, is he?” This time, there was a touch of panic in the artist’s scratchy voice and Sehun could feel him tense up against him.

The model soothingly patted his back and murmured, “No, he’s not. It’s just you and me right now.”

Some of the tension instantly melted away with that reassuring response, causing Sehun to let out an audible sigh of relief.

The two best friends stood there for several minutes, holding each other in complete silence. Sehun continued patting Jongin’s back, wordlessly rubbing circles in between pats to lessen the immense pressure that had built up in the other male’s rigid muscles. Once he felt Jongin had sufficiently loosened up in his arms, Sehun slightly pulled back and sent his best friend a small smile. “How’re you feeling now? Better?”

Jongin nodded. “Yeah, a bit. Thanks, Sehun. I… I really needed that.”

“Of course. Anytime, buddy.”

The artist then shrugged the thick blanket off of his shoulders and bunched it up in his arms before heading back into his bedroom. Sehun followed him, reaching down to pick up a loose corner that was dragging against the floor. “Oh, thanks for catching that too, Sehun.”

“No problem,” the model replied with a grin. His expression then switched to one of concern as he asked, “Is everything okay, Jongin? Your text was worrying enough, but finding you like this was…honestly pretty scary.”

The artist slightly winced upon realizing the depth of how distressed he had seemed earlier, now that his head was a bit clearer. “Sorry, Sehun, I didn’t mean to freak you out. I guess I just kinda…lost my mind earlier,” Jongin sheepishly admitted as he dropped the blanket back onto his bed.

“That’s okay,” Sehun replied with a reassuring smile. “I’m just glad you’re not hurt or anything like that.” The model then swept his arm around the room while asking, “Do you want to stay up here and talk about what spooked you or should we go downstairs to the living room?”

There was a slight pause as Jongin’s eyes darted between his bedroom and the staircase before he quietly asked, “Actually…could we…go to your place instead?”

Sehun’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Uh, sure, yeah, that’s fine with me. But isn’t it easier to stay here?”

Jongin shook his head. “Yixing and Jongdae will be back soon, and I don’t know how long it’ll take to…explain…everything. So I’d rather not be at home when they get back.”

“Oh, okay.” The model slowly nodded. “I mean, I get not wanting Jongdae to be here for such a vulnerable discussion, but what about Yixing? Are you sure you don’t want to include him?” Sehun pointed out.

Jongin bit his bottom lip as he briefly contemplated his answer before nodding resolutely. “I’ll tell him eventually. But not yet. Not right now.” His jaw noticeably tightened as he darkly added, “Not until I figure out what’s going on.”

The model breathed a short sigh of relief, already seeing bits of his best friend settle back in his normal disposition, before nodding back in acknowledgment.

The worst was over now. Thank god.

Feeling more at ease overall, Sehun beckoned to the ivory staircase. “Alright then, ready to go?”

After letting out a deep exhale, Jongin nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

However, just as the two best friends padded down the stairs, they suddenly came face-to-face with Yixing at the bottom of the steps.

“Sehun?” The manager looked at the pair with bewilderment etched all over his thin face. “Jongin didn’t tell me you were coming. Are you having dinner with us tonight?”

“Oh, uh…hey, Yixing…” The model glanced over at his best friend, whose shoulders were tensed up again as his head hung low, pointedly facing the floor. “Well…um, actually…I’m just here to pick up Jongin to have dinner at my place,” he hastily lied, trying not to internally weep over the lost opportunity of a free high-quality meal. “We didn’t know when you and Jongdae were coming home, and Jongin got hungry a while back,” Sehun continued fibbing while nervously smiling at Yixing. “My schedule today ended about half an hour ago, so I stopped by on my way home to make sure he didn’t starve, y’know?”

“You could’ve texted or called me, Jongin,” Yixing gently reminded the artist. “I would’ve raced home if I had known.”

Jongin only grimaced while Sehun let out another nervous chuckle. “No worries, you’re good, Yixing! I’ve got it all handled.”

“I can whip up something in the next ten minutes if you’re both fine with waiting just a little bit longer,” the Chinese male quickly offered while heading into the kitchen. “I know you both like fried rice and tomato egg drop soup,” he continued while peering in the refrigerator, taking stock of the available ingredients inside. “I can also fry up some gamja-jeon and boil some wontons if that isn’t enough.”

Sehun’s mouth immediately began salivating at the thought.

“I can also cut open our first watermelon of the year for dessert,” Yixing cheerfully added while lugging out the giant fruit from the refrigerator and placing it on the kitchen counter.

“Yes, please!” Jongdae suddenly shouted from the front hall. “I’ve been craving watermelon all week!”

Jongin’s body stiffened even more at the sound of his older brother’s shrill voice.

The artist’s reaction, slight as it was, didn’t go unnoticed by Sehun. So he let out a small sigh to himself, promising to return in due time for the Chinese male’s delicious cooking, before saying, “It’s totally fine, Yixing! Besides, I’ve got some prints at my house that I want Jongin to look at.” Sehun wore a comically pinched expression as he explained, “Donghae and I aren’t agreeing on a few choices for my new headshots, so I need Jongin to break the tie.”

“Are you sure, Sehun? It really is no problem at all to make an extra portion for you,” the manager reassured him. “You know you’re always welcome at the dinner table with us.”

Which only made this all the more woeful.

But the model couldn’t let himself get distracted from the true issue at hand. He had a best friend who needed rescuing.

So with a lopsided smile, Sehun answered, “It’s okay, Yixing. Really. Thanks for the offer though! I’ll take you up on it next time.” He then began tugging Jongin through the front hall, giving Jongdae a quick wave as they passed the older male.

“Oh, hey, Sehun,” the secretary greeted, his voice tinged with a mild note of surprise. “Leaving already?”

“Yup! See ya, Jongdae!” Sehun swiftly said as he swung open the front door and lightly pushed Jongin through the entrance. “Have a great dinner, guys! Oh, and don’t worry about us, Yixing! I promise to bring Jongin back in one piece before midnight!” the model called over his shoulder.

“Thanks, Sehun!” the Chinese male called back before the door completely shut. “Come visit again soon!”

With one last longing glance at the house, Sehun turned back to his best friend, who was still tense and tight where he stood. “Alright, buddy,” the model said, slinging his arm around Jongin’s wide shoulders, “let’s get going.”

The artist silently nodded, keeping his head low as he followed the other male to his car.

--

Jongin and Sehun were now settled in the model’s living room with a giant bowl of raspberries perched on the couch cushion between them. By the time they arrived at Sehun’s house, Jongin’s stomach actually had started growling, to his slight embarrassment. So now they were snacking on the sweet berries that Sehun had scrounged from his refrigerator while silently lamenting the delicious dinner that was about to be served in the Kim mansion.

“It’s just like old times,” Sehun said as he washed the fruit in the kitchen. “Remember how both your mom and mine only ever gave us fruit for our after-school snacks?”

Jongin nodded. “Weren’t raspberries your mom’s favorite?” he quietly asked.

“Yeah, I don’t know why, but she was obsessed with them for an entire year. I mean, they’re delicious, so I don’t blame her.” His best friend let out a short chuckle. “Maybe that’s why I keep buying them every week. I guess they remind me of her.”

The artist wore a tight-lipped smile as he stared at the fruit, reminded instead of someone else who had recently bought raspberries when they had gone grocery shopping together. Even though only two weeks had passed since then, for Jongin, it already felt like a lifetime ago after not seeing the ophthalmologist this afternoon.

Jongin wondered if Kyungsoo had shared those raspberries with anyone else or if he had eaten them all alone in his big house. He hoped it wasn’t the latter.

The two best friends chatted mindlessly for a bit about the model’s upcoming schedules—several commercial films alongside a handful of rising actors and actresses, and his usual print photo shoots for the top fashion brands in the country—and looked through a selection of Sehun’s newest headshots, one of the few truths amongst all of the lies he had told Yixing earlier. Jongin was noticeably more relaxed and his face was no longer ghost-white from stress. In fact, the artist had even genuinely laughed a few times when Sehun comically reenacted any minor pranks he had played on Donghae recently.

After the pair landed on their final choices for Sehun’s main headshot, which would replace his old one on his agency’s website, Sehun decided that it was time to redirect the conversation back to his best friend and kindly asked, “Are you ready to talk about what happened now, Jongin?”

The small smile on the artist’s face faded in an instant, but Jongin also knew that he couldn’t continue running away from this mind-breaking realization any longer. Especially now that he was using his best friend to hide away from everyone else after the giant fuss he had kicked up earlier. So after swallowing another sweet raspberry and finishing the rest of his glass of water, he slowly nodded and said, “Yeah…I think I am.”

Sehun sent him an encouraging smile. “Awesome, I’m all ears.”

Jongin briefly chewed his bottom lip before leaning back and saying, “So, uh, basically…I had a bad day today. Which isn’t new, per se, but…I ended up lashing out at a bunch of people, including Yixing. That’s why he wasn’t home when you came over earlier.” The ends of the artist’s lips were downturned in remorse as he picked up a handful of raspberries from the fruit bowl. “I, um, yelled at him and told him to leave me alone. And I think he heard that as me telling him to get out of the house, but maybe I’m just assuming things and selfishly making everything about me again,” Jongin ended with a hollow laugh.

“I’m guessing you haven’t said sorry to him yet?” Sehun asked with a knowing look.

The artist nodded, guilt etched all over his pallid face.

“Well, I’m definitely making sure you apologize to Yixing tonight after I send you back home. If I don’t get a text from him confirming that you did, I’m going to hire him as my new manager instead and pay him double.”

“You'll give Donghae an aneurysm if you actually go through with that,” Jongin jokingly predicted with a lopsided smile.

“It’s fine. He’ll live,” Sehun replied flippantly before tossing another raspberry into his mouth. “He’ll just throw some other hot guy with half as much charisma at Sunggyu and pray that he lives up to Sunggyu’s sky-high standards before blowing up my phone with a million texts, begging me to reconsider when the new guy inevitably fails. But with Yixing managing my career, I might even outgrow my agency,” the model mused with a devious smile. “Okay, yeah, I’m definitely stealing Yixing from you.”

“No shot. You’ll never abandon Donghae unless he throws you to the wolves first,” the artist said, knowingly calling out his best friend’s bluff.

“Which he’s done plenty of times, mind you,” Sehun glibly replied before briefly lifting up his right leg to tap Jongin with his socked right foot. “Anyway, back to the original subject. So you were in a bad mood earlier, which isn’t new. But,” the model straightened up as his tone turned somber, “the state that I found you in earlier is new. Seeing you break like that in front of me, knowing that it was even worse before I got there… Now I truly understand why Yixing panicked so much when you went missing during that heavy rainstorm a few months back.”

Jongin looked away in shame.

“At the time, Jongdae and I thought you were just temporarily off the grid to get some peace and quiet. But now I know it’s much more serious than that.” Sehun leaned over the fruit bowl to place his hands on the artist’s shoulders. “You’re my best friend, Jongin. I’m sorry I haven’t been a very good one lately, but I’m here now. And we’re going to solve whatever issue is plaguing you.”

“Thanks, Sehun,” Jongin murmured as he raised his head up again to meet his best friend’s strong gaze. “And I’m sorry for constantly worrying you and everyone else with my problems. I just… I barely understand what’s going on myself.”

“So that’s where I come in,” Sehun said, releasing Jongin’s shoulders and leaning back to grab another raspberry from the bowl between them. “Just like old times, we’ll piece everything one by one and crack the codes. We were the best treasure hunting duo in elementary school, remember?”

The artist couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile as he nodded. “I still have the gold cup we won in third grade.”

“Exactly, we work better together than we do alone. It’s always been like that,” Sehun proudly stated. “So you don’t have to deal with your problems on your own, Jongin. I’m here for you. Yixing has always been there for you. And Jongdae…will come around one day.”

Jongin immediately let out a snort after hearing the model’s last comment. “Alright, alright, I hear you.”

A beaming smile appeared, highlighting Sehun’s handsome features.

As the giddiness settled, Jongin let out a long exhale, feeling his hands start to shake again from a mixture of both anticipation and apprehension. His best friend noticed his jitters and placed a comforting hand on the artist’s knee. Jongin smiled gratefully at Sehun before furrowing his eyebrows in determination and saying, “I…think I know…why I was having such a difficult time earlier today. Why I’ve been having a difficult time in general lately…”

“Okay, that’s good to hear.” The model nodded supportively. “What’s the cause?”

“Uh, well…I…um…” Jongin let out a short cough, trying to squeeze the sentence out of himself, despite how scary it was to even just think about it. “I… I think I…like someone…” Jongin painstakingly revealed, his voice just barely above a whisper but without any of the bite that usually coated his words.

Sehun immediately dropped the raspberry he was holding, mouth completely agape. “You what?! Wait—wait a second, who?!”

The tips of Jongin’s ears instantaneously burned red as he gruffly replied, “Someone you don’t know.”

The model pointedly raised an eyebrow at his response. “Seriously?”

Jongin popped another raspberry into his mouth and took his time chewing it before finally swallowing and sighing loudly. “Okay, fine. It’s… It’s…” He took another deep breath and leaned his head back against the top of the couch, eyes closed while his heart began thumping loudly again within his chest.

Sehun patiently waited for his best friend to reorient himself, watching him with a hint of concern in case Jongin suddenly fell apart again.

Luckily, the other male soon opened his eyes again and loudly exhaled before facing Sehun with a pained expression. “It’s…Do Kyungsoo… My... My ophthalmologist…”

And Sehun’s eyes immediately grew as large as saucers upon hearing the answer. “Your eye doctor? You mean the one I referred you to?”

“You referred me to an insufferable, lovesick fool,” Jongin corrected with a derisive snort. “Kyungsoo is nothing like Kim Junmyeon,” he added, spitting the other ophthalmologist’s name as if it were venom.

“I mean, Dr. Kim has always seemed pretty normal to me whenever I go in for my appointments,” Sehun commented with a shrug before doing a double-take. “Hold up, since when were you on a first-name basis with your ophthalmologist?”

“Uh, maybe a month ago? Something like that.”

“It’s already been that long?!” Sehun squawked.

“Shut up,” Jongin muttered while chucking a handful of raspberries at the other male’s face.

Sehun somehow managed to catch them all and then stuck his tongue out at the artist before tossing the raspberries into his mouth. “So what’s the issue here? Did something happen between the two of you?” The model’s eyes suddenly narrowed with deep-rooted concern as all of the playfulness seeped out of his voice and he asked in a low voice, “Did he hurt you in any way?”

Jongin rapidly shook his head. “No, don’t worry. It’s nothing like that.” However, the artist then groaned as he leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. “Oh god, this is all so stupid.”

“No, it’s not,” Sehun firmly countered. “You’ve never been in this situation before. I don’t blame you for freaking out a bit.”

“You mean, freaking out a lot,” Jongin flatly said. “I had a full-on meltdown earlier. All because of some stupid crush.”

“It’s not stupid and you’re not stupid either,” the model stated with a sympathetic smile. “You’re dealing with some unfamiliar emotions and it’s hard to figure out all of this on your own when you don’t really understand what’s even going on in the first place.”

“I just don’t get why I’m reacting so viscerally to anything related to him,” Jongin murmured, bringing his knees up to his chest again, as if he were back in his bedroom. “He wasn’t at my appointment today because he’s currently overseas for a conference and I treated it like the world was ending, which is so dumb.” He let out a laugh filled with contempt before adding, “What kind of moron loses his cool in a situation like that?”

“Well, this is the first time you’ve ever admitted to liking someone after thirty years of never letting anyone in,” Sehun pointed out. “I think this constitutes as a pretty big deal.”

“But I shouldn’t be burning bridges over this either,” the artist conceded, resting the back of his right hand over the top half of his face and shielding his eyes from the bright glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling overhead.

“And I’m glad you realize that,” Sehun agreed. “That’s the first step to fixing any bridges you have burned.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Loath as he was to admit his glaring faults, Jongin knew his best friend was right. After all, it had worked when the artist finally swallowed his pride and extended an olive branch to Kyungsoo months ago.

And that was probably how he had landed in this increasingly complicated situation in the first place.

How ironically fitting.

“Are you going to tell him then? Or ask him out on a date?”

The artist uncovered his eyes and then stared down at the half-empty fruit bowl, mindlessly glancing over each small raspberry. Several seconds of silence passed before he simply replied, “I…don’t know…”

Sehun slightly tilted his head to the right, large eyes looking back at his best friend questioningly. “What’s holding you back?” he quietly asked.

Jongin hesitated again, trying to wrack his brain for a comprehensive answer. But as always, it was terrifyingly blank with no clues to lead him on the right path. He grudgingly repeated, “I…don’t know,” after letting out a deep sigh and looking back at the other male. “This whole…thing…is just so—so frustrating,” the artist bit out. “Just—just—why him?”

“I wish I could answer that for you, Jongin. I really do. But you’re the only one who truly knows, deep down,” Sehun gently said. “And it’s okay if it doesn’t make sense right now. Love rarely does,” he continued with a dry chuckle.

Jongin’s cheeks instantly flamed as he balked at his best friend’s last statement. “I never said I was in love with him!” he defensively declared before hastily scooping up a handful of raspberries and throwing them into his mouth, keeping his gaze firmly averted from the lanky model.

This time, Sehun’s laughter was more heartfelt as he watched the artist grow more and more flustered by the second. “I know, I know. I’m just saying, in general, love and other emotions like it can be really confusing at times. And you don’t need to beat yourself up for not understanding exactly how you feel right now. Whether it’s infatuation or love or lust—” Jongin choked on the raspberry he was currently chewing, sending himself into a coughing fit as he tried to dislodge the berry from his throat. “—you’ll figure it out eventually. And if you decide to ask him out or confess to him, maybe Dr. Do can help you understand what you’re feeling,” Sehun suggested before reaching over and refilling Jongin’s empty glass with more water. “And please don’t die in my house before you confess to him,” he quipped as he handed the glass to his best friend. “Yixing will kill me.”

“Then don’t—say—stupid—things—” Jongin hacked out in between coughs before downing the glass of water. “Idiot,” he muttered afterwards as he set the empty glass back down on the low table in front of the couch.

“Hey, I’m just trying to be realistic,” Sehun explained, holding up both hands in innocence. “You haven’t filled me in at all on how you and Dr. Do even got close enough for you to feel so strongly about him. For all I know, he could be the hottest guy in the country and that’s why you fell for him.”

The artist scowled. “Do you really think I’m that shallow?”

“No judgment here if you are,” Sehun cheekily replied as he lowered his hands. “Anyway, how did it happen? What’s the story?” The model’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he began badgering his best friend for more details. “Make sure you start from the very beginning and don’t leave out a single thing!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll talk,” Jongin relented with a tired sigh while reaching down for some more fruit. However, when his fingers touched nothing but air in the now-empty china bowl, his eyes darted towards the kitchen. “But first, we’re gonna need another bowl of raspberries.”

♈♈♈