It's been an evening of quiet delight, drinking his favorite cherry green tea and writing down lyrics that actually sound right.

Jonghyun takes out his notepad for another line but decides against it, his eyes bleary and hand aching from the pen. Instead he opens his computer and scrolls his social media.

Twitter is full of crazy fans as usual and Jonghyun snorts at a particular fan (jjongjjonginmypanties to be precise) as they write 180 lettered sonnets about his eyelashes and his thighs.

Jonghyun would like to wax poetry about a particular someone's thighs and eyelashes as well but he keeps himself together enough to forget them for this one night. Even as the cherry in his tea tastes like their chopstick and their perfume and everything he's ever dreamed of.

*

He's been scrolling for an hour, laughing at stupid images and humming at thoughtful quotes. He opens instagram a few minutes after 10 pm and stumbles upon an image of a quote that takes him a second to understand. And a quick google translate as well.

"isn’t it amazing!! six continents, seven billion people on the planet, and a whole lifetime of choices and outcomes and in this particular string of decisions, in this point in time, out of everyone i get to meet, i got lucky enough to know you"

 

And Jonghyun thinks of the lyrics he just wrote. And how he's so amazingly grateful to be lucky enough to know them. Him.

"Hey, sorry for interrupting but are you gonna be here for long?"

He's missed the knock on the studio door. The scent of cherry or peach perfume that follows him everywhere.

"No, no it's fine. I'm just finishing up. You wanna record something?"

He looks at the quote from the corner of his eye and takes a careful whiff of the perfume surrounding him.

"Yeah. I kinda have some beats in my head that I think might work for our new album."

He smiles that smile Jonghyun loves so freaking much and he isn't sure how he can spend another day without kissing it.

He's silent for a moment, stuck in his own thoughts, the whirlwind taking him to another place and another time. Arms around arms and heated cuddles in the middle of the night. Parisian baguettes and Italian ciabattas, the ones he loves to make.

"Do you want to listen to 'em maybe?"

He smiles but it's weary. Especially so when Jonghyun startles, his jacket covered shoulders now bare as the cloth hits the floor.

"No, I think I better get some sleep."

He returns the smile now. It isn't half as sugary sweet as his. It isn't half as big nor half as warm. But it's heartfelt. It's all the kisses hello and kisses goodbye he's never willing to act upon. It's the 'i'm lucky i got to know you' that coats the inside of his mouth and makes his tongue so heavy he cannot speak.

"Okay. Get some rest!"

He closes the door behind him and wraps the jacket tighter around himself. Thinking that one day there might be some other arms he's going to love. Some other person whom he's so glad to get to know.

One day.