Chapter 8

Rust

 

When JongHyun hung up that night, he managed to slip in a few more hours of sleep before the sunlight woke him up eventually. The first thing he remembered besides the chat he had with Jessica the night before while being merely half-awake was the fact that he had an appointment at 2 that afternoon with Kris and his boss. He walked to the bathroom and looked at his ungroomed and unkempt face sleepily. It was hard to decide a shower, and maybe shaving afterward.

 

JongHyun decided before drifting off to sleep the night before that he was going to get everything taken care of today. He has a mission to go about accomplishing today.

 

After getting dressed and towel-drying his hair, JongHyun popped two slices of bread into the toaster and poured himself a cup of milk. Hopefully the milk hadn't expired; he was too much a morning coffee person to drink milk often. Maybe his lack of interest in milk was what caused his height. He never really looked into it, but surely, his mom would agree. Today was different, and while variables create risks, JongHyun wanted something different, something that gave him a tiny bit of hope that everything would run smoothly. No one knew what drinking milk would do, but milk tasted good with toast at least.

 

While putting on his shoes, his phone let out muffled vibrations against his carpet. He stopped tying his shoe lace to glance at it; it was Kris reminding JongHyun. Kris was a meticulous person, JongHyun must admit, nothing someone would expect from the co-captain of the basketball team. Time changes people, he concluded as he grabbed the manila envelope, his phone, keys, and closed the door behind himself.

 

They decided to meet up at a local cafe briefly while normally JongHyun would've reported to the the office. JongHyun sat on one side of the table. Kris accompanying his boss sat on the other. It was a brief twenty minutes max discussion, but JongHyun seemed to make his points clear. His boss seemed to like the ideas JongHyun presented, and by the looks on Kris's face, JongHyun knew he liked it too. It was all going well, but the hard part was yet to come.

 

The discussion was coming to an end when JongHyun bought up a new topic. He wish he could've told Kris beforehand, but it was too late for that now. JongHyun informed both of them about his imminent trip to New York. Of course, as long as he finished all his current projects, his boss had no objections, and simply wished him good luck, but Kris, on the other hand, wanted a bit of an explanation. Despite their business-based relationship, they grew cared for each other over the few years.

 

After being focused on his visa application paperwork, he remembered Krystal. He remembered her reaction and then the fact that she hadn't said anything to him since yesterday. She must've taken it harshly. It wasn't a big deal for most people, but he knew for a fact that it would most definitely matter to two people. Krystal was one, and he was still trying to figure out the aftermath.

 

JongHyun picked up his phone to call the other one: his mother. He hesitated, and looked at his watch instead. It was only quarter until two. He could afford some time. JongHyun gathered the papers into a pile, picked up everything he needed, and headed to his car. He backed out of his drive-way to go to the grocery store, picked up some of his mother's favorite snacks because he knew of nothing better to bring, and headed down to his grandmother's house.

 

Calling, he decided, showed no sincerity. Not to mention, he knew she wouldn't say much. That's why he decided to go see her instead. JongHyun hadn't seen her in so long. He'd been so caught up in his work. On the hour long drive there, JongHyun came to the epiphany that adults eventually come to—the reality that people will never appreciate their parents until they're too busy for them, too busy growing up to realize them growing old.

 

It was too late to back out on the trip now, and he certainly wasn't about to let his parents hold himself back. His nomad of a father who traveled more than he was at home, not so much, but more of his mother—she wouldn't want that. Yet at the same time, JongHyun knew that if he were to leave the country to live with Jessica, he'd be gone for a year at the very least at a time.

 

He thought about it. There was no mystery that he and Jessica were the best of friends. They've known each other since boys still had cooties. And even with cooties, she and her sister still played with him. Given, there was a year interlude where Sica stayed with her mother in San Francisco for a year in middle school. That was when he begin to grow close to Krystal.

 

They were so similar in many ways, but different in too many other ways. They both came from divorced families and shared an affinity for art. The two loved acting like they were forever five year olds and always believed that life shouldn't be taken too seriously because life doesn't take you very seriously. It sounds awfully pessimistic, but they too believe that pessimism shouldn't be mistaken for being realistic.

 

But Jessica liked typing notes; JongHyun enjoys the romance of hand-written letters. He finds writing fascinating, yet her expertise lies in the camera. It takes a herd of rhinoceros running to wake Jessica up, but JongHyun has always been a light sleeper.

 

Yet despite their complementary personalities, they will never cross the line of being the wall either one of them leans on. They care about each other; they understand each other. They know that the other one won't judge, and that the other one will trust.

 

Both Jessica and Jonghyun too, want the other one to find love and not express jealousy.

 

His heart began to sink a little when he realized that their relationship couldn't come to the point where they're increasingly becoming more like lovers. The two of them were as if sitting back to back—a wall to lean on, to provide warmth—yet they are never able to see the truthful faces and emotions of each other.

 

If they were to live together in a foreign city by themselves, this stability of a wall would crumble.

 

JongHyun didn't want that.

 

He thought he didn't, so he took the nearest exit, and turned around to drive back home. It didn't hurt to continue heading to his grandmother's place, but right now, was not the time for that. He had to get some things straight, and the first on that list was to cancel the flight to New York that Jessica paid for.

 

But not altogether. JongHyun had to pack his luggage anyways. 

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A/N: ITS REALLY SHORT I KNOW >_<;;

It's been awfully long, guise. I know, I know. I have all kinds of reasons and excuses, whichever you prefer, but the point here is that I updated. Although everything is unbeta and I'm just kinda going about writing whatever, it's pretty un-up-to-par per se. I don't remember what I had originally planned for this fanfic, but I think I'll just go with the flow, and hopefully my plot makes sense. Please do comment and tell me if anything isn't making sense because I haven't gone over what has happened, etc etc in a while. Thanks to all you guise who still read this! :D

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Comments

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JongsicaForever
#1
Chapter 7: LOL. it's okay! But I really really really love your story !
nerdscandy #2
I'm confused now... :O UPDATE? :)
JongsicaForever
#3
Jongstal v.s. Jongsica.
Jongsica shall win <3
JongsicaForever
#4
I like it ^_^ update soon
Annalise93 #5
ahhh..lol this is goood so far....
now that u mention it...when u read it the first time..then think about it..it makes perfect sense..the first time..i was confused L::D
please update :D