No one knows how long they’ve been staring at each other. Junhoe’s drawn in those eyes that’s looking at him at that moment. ‘It’s been a while, hyung.. Your eyes are still the same. Still captivating like the first time..’ He smiled at Hanbin.

“Why are you here?” He looks away and stared outside the window. ‘Just why are you all looking for me? Why?’

“What a way to say hi.” He chuckles. He smiles at Hanbin. “Won’t you even ask me to sit?” Hanbin glared at him before he asks him to sit down. He smiled widely at him before he sat down in front of Hanbin.

“Hi.” Junhoe says at him after a while. He looks at him for a moment before he smiled shyly. “Hi.” Junhoe’s still smiling widely at him. ‘Still annoying as ever..’ Hanbin thought.

“How did you know this place?” He asks. He’s hoping that Junhoe is the last one to show up suddenly like this, because if there’s anyone planning to go after Junhoe, he might already explode. Junhoe only looks at him. “I’m asking you.”

“Donghyuk told me.” He says hoping Hanbin won’t get mad. The latter only nods at him. “You like something to drink? Hot choco?” He looks at him, a bit surprised. ‘He still remembers..’

He didn’t realize that he still haven’t answered Hanbin’s question until he flicked his forehead. “Ouch! What was that?!” He whines while holding his forehead. It didn’t really hurt, to be honest. He was just startled. Hanbin chuckles. “You’re spacing out, idiot. And I didn’t even flicked you that hard. Jeez.” He makes a funny face mocking Hanbin while still rubbing his forehead. “You still want the hot choco or not?”

“Yeah. Sure. Thanks.” He calls for waitress to ask for the hot choco and it was brought to them after a few minutes. He looks at Junhoe and there is that smile again on Junhoe’s face. Hanbin just shook his head in disbelief and smiles. He can’t believe that this person is in front of him right now. ‘Is this a sign from the heavens? Do i really need to go back?’

“When did you arrive here?” He asks Junhoe.

He drank a bit of the hot choco before answering. “Yesterday evening.” Hanbin nods. “I see. But what brought you here, are you also like Donghyuk trying to make me go back? Because if that’s the case, my answer is, I won’t go back anytime soon.”

He looks intently at Junhoe hoping that he understands.

Junhoe lets out a sigh and looks at him. “If I really can’t change your mind, I won’t force you. I’ll be staying here for a month anyway. So, i’ll still get to see you.” and he smiles widely at Hanbin.

Hanbin was taken aback at what he heard. A month? He’s gonna stay here for a month?! “Are you insane?!” He asks, eyes wide open.

He just laughs at him. “No, i’m not. If there’s anyone insane between you and me, it’s you.”

“What are you even going to do here for a month? This is a freaking rural area, Junhoe! This is not even close to the city.”

He says and lets out a heavy sigh. He can’t believe this.

“Calm down. Jeez. I planned this carefully, okay? Stop freaking out. I just want to see you, okay.”

“But still…” He doesn’t know what to say. This is stressing him out more than he thought. He might look like he’s overreacting but this really bothers him. ‘Will he be okay here?’

“Don’t over think, okay? I’m just here to annoy you for a month.” And there is that gummy smile on Junhoe’s face that makes him want to hit him on the head.

“Don’t you dare, and don’t bother me when i’m working. If you do that, i swear, i’m gonna make you go back to where you came from.” Hanbin glares at him. He only laughs at him, annoying Hanbin more.

“I know, i know. Don’t worry, i’m a good guy.” And he scoffs when Junhoe winked at him.

“You’re disgusting.”

Junhoe laughs. “As if! If I know, you liked it.”

He just shook his head. He doesn’t want to think of the possible mess that’s coming for the next days with the guy infront of him. He might have a headache.

“Whatever. I’m going out. You coming?” He asks as he stood up.

“What? Where are you going? Can’t you let me finish my hot choco first?” Junhoe whines and Hanbin can’t do anything but to sit back down. “Fine, take your time. We can go a bit later. I’ll just go get a book.”

Junhoe only nods at him. He went to the bookshelves and grabbed a book. Before he can even sit down, someone called his name.

“Hanbin!” Both he and Junhoe turned to look at that person.

It was Jinhwan.

“Hi hyung!” He waves at him. Jinhwan walked to where they are and sat beside him. “What brought you here?”

“I went grocery shopping, so I decided to stop by.” Hanbin only nods.

“You’re cooking?”

“Yeah. What do you want for dinner?”

“Ehem.” Jinhwan turned to look at where the sound came from and it’s only then that he noticed that there’s someone sitting in front of them.

“He came back?” He asks Hanbin, referring to the guy in front of them thinking he’s Donghyuk.

“No, he’s not Donghyuk.” Hanbin smiles and looked at Junhoe. “He’s another friend.”

“Hi, I’m Junhoe. You are?” He offers his hand for a handshake. Jinhwan smiles and shook his hand.

“Jinhwan. I’m korean too.” Hanbin chuckles.

“What?”

“Do you really need to say that?” Hanbin mocks him and Junhoe started to laugh.

“Yeah, well, I can tell you’re korean too. Judging by your name and he just called you hyung.” Junhoe says as a matter of factly.

“Wow. Are you really going to be like this? Are you joining forces just to tease me?” He scoffs and drank a bit of Hanbin’s coffee.

“Why don’t you join us for dinner?” Jinhwan asks him.

Junhoe turns to look at Hanbin asking for permission. He only smiles at him and nods.

“If it’s okay, I would love to.”

“Okay. Good. I’ll be going, then. See you later.” He stood up.

“That fast? You just came here to drink my coffee?” Hanbin says in disbelief.

“Well, that’s the main reason. I just asked what you want for dinner out of curiosity. I will still cook whatever I want anyway.” Jinhwan says casually.

Hanbin just shook his head. He might have a headache talking with these two.

“Nice, very nice. That’s very nice of you.” He just says at Jinhwan.

He laughs at Hanbin and turns to look at Junhoe. “Take care of him. I’ll see you guys later.” He says and Junhoe just smiled at him.

“I will. Yeah, see you later. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Bye hyung!” Jinhwan only waves his hand at them and left.

*****

Donghyuk just came back from France and luckily, he still has a few days of holidays to meet up with his friends.

He was about to unpack his luggage when he heard the bell rang.

“Wow, i just came back and they’re already here?” He says to himself in disbelief. Well, he only knows a few people who would crash his house late in the evening.

He has barely opened the door when his friends already attacked him with the hugs.

“Donghyuk-aaaah!” one guy shouts while still squeezing him with the hug.

He managed to get out of the hug before he hits the last guy that hugged him. “I just came back and you guys are already here?! Unbelievable.” He scoffs while all of them just grinned at him.

“You were gone for a week. We already missed you.” Bobby says while raising his brows.

“Yeah. We missed you.” says Chanwoo.

Donghyuk scoffs. “As if! You probably came here to ask for chocolates, aren’t you?”

“Well, that’s partly true. So, do you have  something for us?” Yunhyeong nudged him by the shoulder.

Donghyuk just shook his head. “You guys are really something. I haven’t even unpacked yet, but the chocolates are there in my luggage.”

Without wasting any second, they jumped in

onto his bed and opened his luggage.

“As expected! You’re really the coolest Dongdong!” Yunhyeong says. Donghyuk just laughed.

He was changing clothes when he heard Chanwoo.

“Donghyuk-ah!”

“Yes?” He turns to look at Chanwoo. He froze when he saw him holding a book. It was Hanbin’s.

“Where did you get this book?” He asks a bit too seriously that made the other two guys look at him.

“What is it? It’s just a book Chanwoo. Why did you suddenly became serious?” Bobby asks, a bit confused.

Yunhyeong grabs the book and looks at it. ‘Oblivion by K.H.’ it reads.

“Isn’t it just a normal book?” He asks Donghyuk.

He doesn’t know how to answer especially when Chanwoo is looking at him intently.

“Y-yeah. I bought it at some random bookshop.” He looks away.

He’s thankful that Bobby and Yun didn’t ask him any more questions. When they already got what they came there for, Bobby and Yun decided to leave since they both still have work. Chanwoo stayed for a bit longer.

“So, you want something to eat?” Dong asks Chanwoo.

“You found my brother?”Chanwoo asks.

He looks at him and sighed. “Yeah. I met him there. He’s running a cafe in France.”

“Where in France? Is he okay?”

Donghyuk nods. “In Limousin. Yeah, he’s okay. Still the hyung you know.” He smiled at Chanwoo.

“That’s a relief. Is he finally going back?”

“Not yet. But soon, Chanwoo. Soon.”

Chanwoo became silent for a moment. Donghyuk knows that he misses his brother.

“Junhoe is there, isn’t he?” Chanwoo asks after a while.

He nods. “Yeah. I hope he can change his mind this time.”

“I hope so. I really miss my brother.” Chanwoo says. Tears welling up a bit.

Donghyuk pats him on the head and sat beside him. “Don’t worry too much, okay? You’ll see him soon.”

“Why are you so sure?”

He smiles at Chanwoo. “Because I know it.”

*****

The walk to his apartment isn’t so peaceful like it used to. Well, Junhoe is with him and all he does is sing for the past minutes.

“Hanbin hyung.” He hears the person beside him.

“Hmm?”

“Who’s Jinhwan? And how did you meet?”

He looks at Junhoe and smiled. “He’s my roommate. I met him in the cafe, he was looking for a place to stay two years ago. I also needed help with paying the bills and such, so I decided to offer him the extra room in my apartment.”

“I see. Is he treating you well?”

He smiles at the question. “Yeah. He somehow became my family here. Like a real brother.”

“That’s a relief. How have you been these past few years?”

He became silent. He asks himself how has he really been these past few years. Nothing much has changed if he’s going to be completely honest. The scar in his heart hasn’t healed any better.

“Well….i’m like how I am the last time you saw me in Korea. Nothing much has changed.... I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice to live here because I don’t feel any progress in myself. I….i still feel lost, Junhoe.”

He doesn’t know what response he’s expecting but it’s clearly not the warm hug from Junhoe. It feels comforting in a way and he’s thankful for it.

“Because you’re still dealing with it alone. I don’t know how I can make you feel better, but I’m always here for you, hyung. You know that, right?”

He chuckles and pulls himself away from the hug. He pats Junhoe’s shoulder and continued walking. “Thank you. For being here. I still think it’s ridiculous that you’re going to stay for a month, but maybe it’s not so bad.”

Junhoe nudged his shoulder and laughed. “You see! Now, all you need to do is admit that you missed me!”

He just shook his head while smiling. “You’re crazy.”

“Well, yes I am.”

Jinhwan is still cooking when they arrived at the apartment.

“Hi, hyung!” both said in unison. Jinhwan was startled.

“Wow! We just met and you already call me hyung?” He says to Junhoe. Junhoe just smiles awkwardly at him. “I’m still not done cooking,so you can do whatever you like.”

They both nod and went back to the living room. Hanbin went to his room to change clothes while Junhoe stayed in the sofa.

He looks around and it’s just a simple apartment. Cream walls and black furnitures. The interior definitely shouts Hanbin. He bets his room has the same color motif too.

Hanbin came out of his room in his sweatpants and a white shirt. ‘Why does he always look good even when wearing just a plain shirt? I must be insane’

“I know i’m handsome but please stop staring at me.” Hanbin says at him.

He scoffs and smirks at him. “Sorry. Can’t help it, too beautiful for my eyes.”

“Oh my gosh, are you really going to flirt with each other in front of me? Unbelievable.” Jinhwan says while putting the pan in the dining table.

Hanbin blushes and escapes to the kitchen. Junhoe just laughs and went to help prepare the table.

Jinhwan cooked pasta for their dinner. During the time while they were eating is just full of casual question and answers between Junhoe and Jinhwan, trying to get to know each other. Hanbin is just eating quietly since he doesn’t like to talk while eating.

“Where are you staying, Junhoe?” He hears Jinhwan ask. Right, he forgot to ask Junhoe that too.

“I’m staying in a hotel. It’s not too far from Hanbin hyung’s cafe.” He says after chewing his food. Hanbin looks at him.

“And you’re going to stay there for a month?”

“No, i’m not that crazy. Jeez. I already looked for cheap apartments where I can stay, so don’t worry.”

Hanbin nods. He’s thinking of offering his apartment but where will Junhoe sleep? They only have two bedrooms.

“Why don’t you accompany Junhoe to his hotel, Hanbin?” Jinhwan says to him.

“I am actually planning to do that.” He says not looking at them.

“Okay.” Jinhwan says. Trying not to smile.

They finished dinner after talking with each other. Junhoe helps them on cleaning up.

“So, see you again sometime.” Jinhwan says half-hugging Junhoe.

Junhoe pats his back. “Yeah. See you. Take care of Hanbin hyung, always.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s getting late, you should go now.”

“We’ll get going, hyung. I’ll be back later.”

Jinhwan just waves at them and closes the door. Hanbin chuckles in disbelief. ‘That hyung..unbelievable.”

The walk to Junhoe’s hotel was quiet. They don’t know what to talk about, but the silence is rather calming than awkward. Before they know it, they already arrived at the hotel.

Junhoe hesitates to asks but does it anyway. “You want to come up for a bit? I also have something to give you.”

Hanbin nods. “Okay.”

The hotel room looks decent. It’s big enough for Junhoe and it looks like it’s not that expensive so he felt a bit relieved. He sat down on the bed while watching Junhoe rummage through his luggage. After a while, Junhoe handed him something. It was a hoodie.

“What is this?” He looks at Junhoe, confused.

“It was your brother’s.” Junhoe smiled. “Ch..chanwoo?” He nods.

“He knows?” Junhoe shook his head. “No, he doesn’t know yet. He gave that to me a long time ago when he learned that we’re looking for you.”

Hanbin just nods his head and lets out a sigh. “I see.”

“Hyung.” Junhoe squats down in front of him and holds his hand. He looks at Junhoe. “Hmm?”

Junhoe then pushes his sleeve up and looks at his wrists. He didn’t see it coming so he quickly pulls his hand to hide it, but it’s too late, Junhoe already saw it.

He grabbed Hanbin’s hand again and looks at his wrists again. There are scars but there are some fresh cuts too. He sighs and turns to look at Hanbin.

“Hyung. Can you promise me that nothing more will be added to these? I’m here now hyung, please don’t cut again. Okay?”

He looks at Junhoe’s worried face. He doesn’t like worrying this kid, he doesn’t deserve to have worries like this.. “Okay, hyung?” Junhoe asks him again.

Hanbin nods. “Okay.” and turns to look away.

------------

Song for this chapter: Look after you - The Fray

So, how was it? This took me a while to post because I'm stuck on what this chapter should be. I know the story's a bit slow, but I want them to deal with things and problems while still figuring out their feelings.

And as you can see, I changed the structure of the story. I did it so that it's easy to read.

I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading!