They agreed to meet at noon, at a place Vick suggested, a little restaurant that had western food and was one of his favorite places to eat. But at 11:30 Vick was already sitting at a table waiting for Jiyong to arrive. Last night Vick had trouble sleeping because Jiyong was the only thing on his mind. When he had his eyes opened he thought of the present Jiyong, but when he closed them, he dreamed of his childhood Jiyong. He went back and forth all night long, slipping in and out of sleep, tossing and turning. And right now he was feeling the effects of his restless night.

As he waited for Jiyong to arrive he ordered a cup of coffee, hoping that it would wake him up a wee bit before he came, and thought back to the night of the exhibition.

He thought about all the beautiful photographs that Jiyong took. All the different places in the city he had never been to before. Or how Jiyong made him see things he had never noticed before about the city. Also the way he explained and described them, anyone could tell that it was really his true passion.

But the thing that stood out the most from that night was how comfortable Jiyong and he had become with one another in such a short amount of time. It almost felt like they were kids again. Granted they only spent maybe an hour together, but it was enough to solidify something for Vick.

He needed Jiyong back in his life. Even if Jiyong doesn’t remember him, he needs to have someone who is thoughtful, compassionate, and gentle to help him change into the better person he wants to be.

Vick looked at his phone to check the time and realized that it was already 12:15. He was just about to text the missing man, when the door to the restaurant opened and in walked a windblown Jiyong.

Vick’s heat skipped a beat as he watched Jiyong scan the occupants to find him. He was wearing a fitted navy blue wool jacket, a grey scarf, and a black beanie that showed some of his blonde hair peaking out of the front. But what had gotten his heart beating faster, was not the clothes, but the cherry red cheeks and nose that Jiyong must have gotten from walking in the cold.

He watched as Jiyong stood on his tiptoes to gain a better view to find him. He must have been getting frustrated with not being able to spot him because he started to bite his lip. When Vick saw that little gesture, he thought his heart would burst. How can someone be that cute when they’re just looking around a room?

Vick was lost in his own thoughts because he was startled when Jiyong finally come over to the table.

“There you are. I am so sorry I’m late. I was walking over here and I got a little lost and then I saw some things that I wanted to photograph and-“ Jiyong stopped talking  because of the way Vick was looking at him. “Are you ok? Am I rambling too much? I tend to do that sometimes.”

Vick just watched as the young man fidgeted in front of him, loving how adorable he always looks when he gets flustered. Finally he decided to let Jiyong off the hook and replied, “No no, it’s ok. I just got here too.” He bit his tongue as he told the little fib.

Jiyong sighed and smiled as he said, “Ok good. I hate when people have to wait because of me.” He pulled out the chair and sat down, placing his bag in the seat next to him and proceeded to take off his hat and scarf.

Silence fell over the two of them as Jiyong looked over the menu. Since Vick was a regular he already knew what he wanted, so he took this time to continue staring at Jiyong.  He noticed Jiyong started doing something that Vick remembered from their childhood. As Jiyong read the menu, he used his finger to help him follow along and he silently mouthed the words. Vick remembered that Jiyong would do that because he always had a hard time reading Hangeul. Now he guessed that it had just became habit over time.

While still looking at the menu Jiyong spoke up and asked, “What do you recommend?” When he finished the question he looked up and found that Vick was watching him but as soon as they made eye contact Vick looked back at the menu. A little color rose to Jiyongs cheeks.

Without skipping a beat Vick answered, “Well depends on what you’re in the mood for. For something light maybe chicken salad, for something a little heavier they have great spaghetti or burgers. Really they have anything you could possibly want.” He glanced back to Jiyong and saw that he had looked back at the menu, nodding his head.

The waiter eventually came up, taking their orders, and left them to continue talking.  They started talking about anything and everything. Almost as if their gallery conversation had never stopped. Vick talked about his stay in Japan. Jiyong talked about the shoot he did 2 days after Vick left.

“She was a dream to work with. I told her that the last model I had called me a .”

“Hey, I didn’t even really know who you were when I said that.”

“Yes, but you still said it.” Jiyong raised his eyebrow and glared at Vick.

Vick looked away from the younger mans judgmental gaze for a second and then look right into his eyes and said, “I truly am sorry about that. I was just having a bad morning.”

“Even so, you shouldn’t call people names.”

“Yes I know. I’m working on that.”

“Really, how so?” Jiyong took a sip of his water and waited for Vick.

Vick took a deep breath and thought about how he should answer.

“Well the photo shoot with you got me thinking about some things. Actually a lot of things.” Vick paused, drank some water, and continued. “As you probably guessed, talking about my past is something I try to avoid but for some reason I found it easy to talk about it with you. And afterward, on my way to Japan I remembered something’s and it made me realize…” He took another sip of water and looked at Jiyong.  “It made me realize that I’ve become the type of person who an old friend would hate the most. And I don’t want to disappoint him any more than I already have.”

“And who is this old friend you’re speaking of?” Vick looked down and smiled to himself at Jiyongs question. “If he can change Vick this much, I’d like to meet him.”

Vick looked back to Jiyong, still smiling, “Maybe I’ll introduce you someday. But I haven’t talked to him in years. He might not remember me.”

“With a face like yours, I’d doubt it.” Jiyong clapped his hand over his mouth as soon as he finished. His face turned a vibrant shade of red as he realized he had said those words out loud. Thankfully their food arrived at that exact moment and Jiyong could not have been happier to see a plate of spaghetti.

Vick watched as Jiyong flustered about trying to use their food as a distraction, laughing to himself. He let Jiyong believe that it did indeed distract him and they began to eat. 

They continued to talk, skipping over Jiyongs little comment, and started talking about random things here and there. They talked about their favorite foods, types of music, movies, and books. And they found out that they actually had a lot more in common.

They had finished eating and were walking out the door as Jiyong was putting his scarf back on. He started to say something about enjoying lunch when he spotted something down at the end of the street. He started walking towards it taking out his camera and then crouched down. Vick walked up behind him trying to see what had interested him, but couldn’t see what it was. Finally Jiyong stood up and turned around bumping into Vick.

“Oh, I didn’t think you had followed me. Sorry about running off like that.”

“What did you see?”

Jiyong looked down at his camera, fiddled with it, and then turned it towards Vick.  The picture was of a little girl bundled up in jackets and scarves, running around with a bright yellow balloon in hand.  What stood out the most was that the little girl and her balloon were the only things in color. Vick looked up and realized that they were right next to a business building, and the crowd was full of people wearing monotone colored suites.

He looked back down at Jiyong and said, “You really do have an eye for things. I can’t believe you saw that from all the way back there.”

“I didn’t see the girl really. I just saw this little burst of yellow popping up and I got curious.”

Jiyong looked back at his camera to look over the pictures he had just taken. Vick watched as he slowly started biting his lip again, another habit he must have picked up. But this habit was going to be the death of Vick if he didn’t do something to make the young man stop.

Without thinking really, Vick brought his hand up towards the top of Jiyongs head and ruffled his hair a bit. Jiyong scrunched down at the contact and froze for a minute.

This felt familiar for some reason. He looked up at Vick and stared at him. Why did this feel so familiar? There was something just on the edge on his memories. He thought and thought until something in the back of his mind clicked. And then he in his breath.

“Hey Jiyong. Earth to Jiyong.” Vick said as he waved his hand in front of the young man’s face.

“Huh... Wh-what. Oh sorry.”

“Are you ok? You’ve gotten pale all of the sudden.”

Jiyong blinked and looked away mumbling, “O-oh ye-yeah, I’m… I’m fine. I…uh… just remembered that I have something that I need to talk to Seungri about. I’ll see you later.”

Jiyong started to walk away when Vick caught up with him.

“Hey wait, are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yes I’m fine.” Vick reached for his shoulder and turned him around. When he looked at Jiyong again he saw that the man looked normal. Color was back in his cheeks and a slight smile on his face. “See I’m fine.”

“Ok. I’ll… umm… text you later then?”

“Yeah that sounds good. Maybe we can meet up for lunch again.”

“Yeah sure…”

Jiyong waved goodbye and left Vick standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a confused look on his face. As soon as he turned the corner he stopped and leaned against the building.  He looked up and saw his reflection in the window store front. His hair was all over the place from a moment ago when Vick ruffled it. As he brought his hand up to smooth it down he whispered to himself.

“He can’t be…”

He shook the thought out of his mind, reached into his bag and grabbed his beanie. He put it back on and continued walking down the street.

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So I just want to point out that its been a month exactly since I started writing this and I want to thank you all for reading it!

Honestly I never would have thought that this many people would like my story. Reading your comments makes my day and gives me a that little boost to keep on writing.

Hugs for everyone ^~^