The past few months went by in the blink of an eye. Hakyeon has so much work to occupy himself with. Still he can’t help but call Taekwoon often… Too often… It’s as if he has to tell Taekwoon about every moment of his life. He calls at least once a week, if not more. Bad habits die hard. He tries however to lessen the frequency of his calls. When the urge is too strong and he needs to reason his silly mind, he calls Hongbin instead. Half jokingly, half seriously, Hongbin says he is Hakyeon’s sponsor in his fight against his Taekwoon addiction.

         It is still very difficult and he always has good excuses to relapse. Whenever he intends to wait another day before calling Taekwoon, Taekwoon calls him instead, or sends him a bunch of what seem like casual messages, but it is his subtle way to show he is starting to worry. In the end, Hakyeon just stops resisting. As he tells a sceptical Hongbin, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. Distance and work help him to find some kind of peace. Even if he indulges himself in the phone calls and in confiding to Taekwoon about his new life, he doesn’t long for the other man’s presence anymore. He even thinks that he has come to terms with his unwanted feelings. Until that last phone call, when Taekwoon announces him that he will be in Tokyo for a few days.

         “This is a two days conference but I can take a few more days off so we can catch up.” A silence. “What do you think?” Hakyeon had thought he was over it. But the way his heartbeats increase tenfold at just the idea of having Taekwoon back by his side for a few days, just the two of them like it had been when they were studying in Japan together, he realises he obviously isn’t over anything.

         “I don’t want to bother you if you’re too busy with work. It was just an idea…”

         “No, it’s great! Work just slowed down lately, don’t worry. When will you arrive?”

         “In a fortnight. I’ll text you the exact day. Is there a hotel you would recommend?”

         “What are you talking about? No way am I going to let my best friend sleep in a cheap hotel. And I thought you wanted to catch up! Just stay at mine while you’re here, it’ll be like old times…”

         Hakyeon swears that Taekwoon is smiling on the other end of the line. He’s so stupid. Whatever. He will cry over himself later. After he arranges everything with Taekwoon about his stay, Hakyeon calls Hongbin. The latter tells him he is a fool and he can’t deny it. Such a fool. But at least he has tried.

***

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