His hands fumbled with the coins in his palm, counting them out, once again in relief as he found the nickel he needed within the deep fabrics of his jean pocket. He quickly shoved them one by one into the coin slot, his body shriveling up a bit from the cold air seeping through the cracks of the old, tattered phone booth no one used now in this twenty-first century.

His fingers pressed at the phone's buttons slowly, almost hesitantly doing so. This number was embedded into his mind as if he had been burned there -- even if he had wanted to forget it, it was still there, constantly poking at him from the back of his mind. As the phone started to ring, he held back his breath, eyes staring out into the scenery of the city from the small panel of the window from inside the booth. 

Ring, ring, ring.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

Beep! Finally... 

Hey, this is Onew! Sorry I can't come to the phone right now, I'm probably too busy eating chicken, or annoying Jonghyun.
Leave me a message, and I'll be sure to return the call ASAP!

The familiar voice he hadn't heard in almost two weeks made his mouth go dry, his throat scourging up to swallow the lump as a beep resounded at his ear to let him know when to start the message. He had just drank a cup of coffee only minutes ago, yet he felt as if his throat was parched dry. With a cough to clear his throat, a hand nervously pushed away his own bangs.

"Uh -- hey, Jinki. This is... Jonghyun, as you might already know. You... still haven't changed your voicemail yet, hah. I -- I know we promised not to leave any messages anymore but... Today's your birthday, and... I really wanted to wish you a happy birthday because... it's... your birthday." His hand shook, as he let out a sigh, shoving it into his pocket. While his lips parted to speak, no words came out -- even if he knew the other that would soon receive this very message wouldn't bother listening to all of it.

"Look I -- I miss you, Lee Jinki, I miss you so damn much. I miss your nagging, your little texts, the good mornings, the way your hair smells..." His voice trailed off, as his body had now fallen onto the ground, not even desiring to stand up no more. He rested against the wall of the phone booth, the phone still at his hand.

"Happy... birthday, idiot." Quickly letting the phone back onto the stand, he hung up, messing his own hair up with a growl.

"Stupid, tard -- what was that about? Why even..." He bunched up his fingers into a fist, slamming it against the walls, only to recline back with a small whine.

"Ow... ."

A pitiable laugh at himself resounded between the four walls, just collapsing back onto the floor. The weight of his head rested on the surface of the walls, eyes glancing back out into the city.

It wasn't the same. The city he had come together with his boyfriend -- ex-boyfriend... the city they had admired so much, in which both of them had journeyed to accomplish their dreams that differed so much. The city wasn't the same. His mornings weren't the same. His days, nights... he himself wasn't the same anymore without him. 

With wandering eyes, his mind processed everything laid in front of him in view from the small glass panel. It was around 25 degrees, pretty chilly for the city. On top of that, the occasional wind was blowing everything laid on the streets. His eyes followed the journey of a wandering Mountain Dew can. It had been blown off of the pile of trash into the garbage disposal at the corner of two streets, having crashed to the sidewalk below, now rolling. The can stopped, suddenly having pale, long fingers wrapped around the metal. Jonghyun's eyes blinked for a moment, eyes being lifted from the can; his attention being stolen by the boy who had picked up the can, shoving it back into the trash can. 

A defined jawline. Streaked, yet faded out blonde hair, with natural, non-dyed black hair seeping at the ends. Eyes curvy, almost as if it was such that of a cat's. Lips rosy and pink, full of color. Perfectly aligned teeth. 

Jonghyun blinked again, finally catching himself staring at the strange, foreign boy outside. The boy's head was turned sideways, hair blowing in the window. He was about to cross, waiting for the light to turn green. At this moment, Jonghyun had quickly picked himself off from the dirty floor of the phone booth, having pushed the door away to make his way out, eyes never leaving the sight of the boy's. 

His feet led him to the other end of the cross walk, staring at the blonde haired stranger from just meters away. Cars, buses and taxis passed between them, yet Jonghyun's stare at the other had never faded out once. As the signal on the light turned from a red hand to a green man, he made his steps slow. The two figures were almost approaching each other, but headed toward two different directions. The blonde's eyes were distracted by something far off in a distance, but with a fraction of a second, they met the eyes of Jonghyun's. A smile was flashed, as Jonghyun suddenly felt something click -- yet at the same time, feel himself lost. 

Steps stopping, he stood at the edge of the sidewalk, having safely made his way across the cross walk. While passing the blonde, he had caught the faintest aroma of his feminine cologne, wondering if it was something from Bath & Bodyworks. He stood there, trying to sort himself out. The blonde seemed so familiar...

That smile, those hands... this scent. 

This familiarity... what was this?