Monday arrives and life goes on as naturally as before. Sun still rises and sets, flowers still blossom and grass still grows, birds still sing and people still live their lives, and Jaehwan still gets up and leave for college without complaining – or at least, not too much. The flat seems strangely empty without Hongbin to nag at him for letting things hang everywhere, but he tries not to think about it too much. The knot in his stomach at the idea of sharing the same campus is enough for now. He grabs a toast in his mouth, not feeling like eating anything else yet, and motions towards his room to grab his bag when his gaze derives towards his window. Wonshik’s curtains are drawn, just like yesterday – not that Jaehwan is keeping track though. He purses his lips. Wonshik isn’t his concern anymore anyway.

With a swift move, he swings his bag strap over his shoulder and leave, prying out Wonshik out of his mind this time.

He slides a little note under Hakyeon’s front door for him to read and have strength today, for he knows his state is still delicate. Hakyeon has no one to take care about him – more accurately, he is not willing to – other than Taekwoon, and the latter simply ran away and vanished somewhere into the wild; Jaehwan feels like he should do his best to cheer him up, at least a bit, just like Hakyeon did when he was down himself. Despite saying that he will be fine, Jaehwan caught him staring in the distance with a sad look on his features, longing for something out of reach.

Jaehwan wonders for a second if he must have looked like this, during his and Wonshik’s date.

Of course not, he reasons himself. He wasn’t longing for Hongbin at all. Wonshik got everything wrong, everything twisted. As he thinks again about their altercation, he scowls, anger seeping through his veins, although far less intensely. Wonshik was wrong, all the way, and Jaehwan definitely doesn’t need him in his life right now. All that he needs is a strong cup of black coffee and good grades.

He orders an Americano at the first coffee shop he comes across, hot liquid nearly burning his tongue as he takes a sip, hurriedly leaving the place. On his way to college, he reasons himself. No need to make a fuss out of love life, he is done with that. He just has to focus on his classes and everything will go away.

Much to his dismay, his first class is cancelled, and he finds himself without any idea of what to do for the next two hours, left alone with his cup of coffee. He takes a stroll around the campus. Through the huge windows, he tries to see Hongbin’s fluffy pink hair but to no avail: only dark-haired students are bustling around doing experiments. He bites the inside of his cheek. Down the basement, people are playing soccer, and Jaehwan hesitates in joining them. Maybe a bit of sport would do him good, he wonders, dumping his empty cup before going downstairs. Surely enough, it would at least help him get annoying thoughts out of his mind.

“Hey,” he recognizes Dongwoo – chemistry major – bouncing towards him with a large grin. It’s a bit awkward to Jaehwan, but he got used to the latter hugging him as a greeting. “May I play with you guys?”

“Of course!” Dongwoo beams. Jaehwan forgets about his troubles already, in front of his friend’s happiness.

He lets go of his shoulder strap and join the rest of the team on the field.

Running, shooting, yelling do him good. The first ten minutes of running back and forth are pure hell but after a little while, everything gets better. The ache in his limbs lessens and lessens, he isn’t that thirsty anymore, and even the sweat forming on his forehead starts to feel like a reward for all his efforts. His mind is only focused on the game. The way players move around him, the ball slowing down and speeding up, his own feet carrying him towards the goal, the shouts and laughter. There isn’t any room to think of his worries anymore, only tactics and the smiles of his teammates when they score.

Time passes in the blink of an eye, and when the clock strikes nine and a half Jaehwan eventually realizes that he is supposed to attend his class in thirty minutes, but also that he is drenched with sweat.

“I have to freshen up before classes,” he excuses himself , waving goodbye to Dongwoo and the rest of his friends before making his way back upstairs. Even with his legs menacing to give way any minute now, he feels somehow better, lighter than before.

He enters the deserted bathroom, splashing cool water on his burning face. When he looks up, his reflection is smiling at him in the mirror. Its gaze is fiercer, livelier than before.

“You got this, right?” He whispers to himself, letting water drips on his chin and neck, “No more funny stuff. We’re gonna get things straight from now on. No more ing up everything.”

He smiles again before dashing out of the bathroom to make his way to the right classroom.

He is strolling down the basement when he hears someone playing piano. Although walking past the music room nearly every day, it’s his first time actually hearing music coming out of it during class hours.

Curiosity takes the best of him and he quietly peaks his head through the slightly opened door to spy on the mysterious pianist.

What he sees makes his throat tightens, and he immediately pulls back to press himself flat against the wall, eyes as wide as two saucers. “,” he mutters. On the other side, Wonshik hasn’t stopped playing. “,” he repeats, hitting his forehead with his palm.

He hadn’t even thought a second of this outcome.

But of course, of course he should have known that Wonshik would do a major in the same college, if he had taken a little more time into actually thinking, or listening to the other. He resists the urge to bang his head on the wall by fear of being too loud and getting caught.

“You’re just so, so lucky, aren’t you?” he whispers, talking to himself again.

He still closes his eyes to listen, though, and maybe, just maybe, the memory of Wonshik’s face comes to his mind again.

Maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t make him so mad anymore.

Wonshik’s hands travel on the white tiles, nearly mechanically. The melody is engraved in his head and he can’t get it out.

“ this,” he lets his fingers fall helplessly – the sound harmonizes and it’s even more ridiculous. He passes a hand on his face. Out of all the struggles he could experience right now, fate just decided to give him art’s block, and this is probably the worst thing that could happen.

He grabs his notebook where all of his notes are scribbled – in a bad handwriting – reading them carefully.

He hums, tapping the tip of his fingers on the wooden surface of the piano. He thinks about Jaehwan, just a bit, and sighs. He might have been a bit quick in his judgement, but how to do as if there was nothing when Jaehwan obviously had been more focused on other matters as they were supposed to be on a date?

He can do nothing but hope that Jaehwan would eventually move on and come to him.

Not that it would happen soon though, he snorts, recalling the way the other yelled at him to get lost.

It’s okay, he tells himself and he gets up, clasping the notebook shut to go to his classes. There are better things coming ahead.

The lab is on the other side of the building. Wonshik likes this part of the campus, quiet, nearly secret, where he can be at peace and let his mind wander. Even though chemistry isn’t his passion, it’s entertaining enough, and he knows he will be able to earn a stable job thanks to this, allowing him to do whatever hobby he would want to do in the future. At least, experiments are fun to do.

He is paired up with a tall good-looking guy he doesn’t know at all, even though the sight is familiar. He definitely saw his face somewhere, Wonshik knows it, but he is clueless.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” He asks after introducing himself, “Your face seems familiar.”

The flower boy studies Wonshik’s face for a second before shaking his head. “I don’t think so… I don’t think I ever saw you.”

“Ah, I must have mistaken you for someone else… My bad.”

“It’s okay,” the boy smiles and dimples plow on each of his cheek, “I’m Hongbin by the way, nice to meet you.”

Wonshik smiles in turn. “Nice to meet you!”

Hongbin turns out to be a surprisingly nice and fun guy despite the sad look Wonshik sometimes notice in his eyes – and he wonders what is up with him and sad people nowadays. It’s okay, he resumes, watching Hongbin smiling at their work; they will be okay eventually.

Maybe, along the way, Wonshik remembers when and where he saw Hongbin.

He refrains himself from asking about Eye-smile boy.

*

Hakyeon returns in his hands again Jaehwan’s little note, trying to gulp down his nervousness as the end of his shift comes closer. He reads the words for the fifth time that day, passes the tip of his thumb on the letters, ‘it’s okay to up sometimes’.

He fishes his phone out of his pocket, checking his inbox.

There are texts from his brother, some friends; even Minhyuk. He clasps it shut without looking at them.

He groans, collapsing on the counter, and Junmyeon looks at him with a softened gaze.

“Everything alright?”

“Yes,” Hakyeon lies, flashing him a smile, “Just a bit tired.”

He puts the little note back in his pocket before taking the next order, trying to pry out distracting thoughts. He tries to not hope too much for Taekwoon to come and order his usual latte, to see the younger’s face again even if he refuses to talk, just know, know that Taekwoon is still here, still with him. There are still his stuff at Hakyeon’s flat, clean, smelling good like his laundry, waiting patiently for him. It’s okay if Taekwoon doesn’t talk, he convinces himself, it’s okay if the subject doesn’t come up anymore between them, as long as Hakyeon gets to see him, as Hakyeon gets to love him.

He never thought something would evolve romantically between them. He never thought Taekwoon would have that kind of feelings towards him, and he was feeling bad about it. For how long had he been holding this to himself? But then again, wasn’t it just to make he feel better, because poor Hakyeon looked too miserable after his break up, just like Jaehwan pressed his lips against his to calm him down?

He gets snapped out of his reverie by Junmyeon nudging him lightly by the shoulder.

“Hey, Hakyeon, our shift ended,” he is smiling, again, and the corner of Hakyeon’s lips lift up against his will.

“Oh, yeah, let’s go.”

They go sit at the next nice pub in view, Hakyeon landing on a couch as Junmyeon go take their order, and he takes advantage of this break to retrieve his phone once again, typing Taekwoon a quick text.

‘Please come by at mine for dinner.’

Then he turns it off, heart still thumping in his ribcage. Junmyeon comes back with drinks and a smile, and Hakyeon forces himself to return it half-heartedly.

“It’s good to see you back and doing well,” Junmyeon says as their glasses twinkle together, “How have you been?”

“Oh, you know how ugly things are with breakups; but I’m fine now. I feel way better.” It’s not a lie, not the truth either, but Hakyeon doesn’t feel like pouring his heart out right now. “I had someone to take care of me.”

“You mean like…”

“My best friend.”

He composes himself for a second before putting his smile back on.

“But enough talking about me, how have you been?”

He would rather listen to Junmyeon talking than root on his own troubles.

Their talk last surprisingly long given the amount of attention Hakyeon is giving it. All along, he plays with the straw, dreaming of a warm latte and soft comforters, thinking about what he could cook for dinner, wondering if he should give Jaehwan a visit with a movie, pondering whether it would be good or bad to cuddle again with him. It’s not that Hakyeon doesn’t want to be here or take part to a conversation with Junmyeon, but it’s like all of his romantic interest in him has vanished along with the little bit of sanity he got left and that went away with Taekwoon’s kiss.

It’s not that Hakyeon doesn’t like Junmyeon anymore, but the memory of Taekwoon’s lips on his own is the only thing sticking to his mind.

They part ways and before Hakyeon goes Junmyeon plants a soft kiss on his mouth. It makes his stomach swirl as if he drank too much alcohol – although he just had one cocktail – but his insides doesn’t ignite like he expected them to do and he is left with this puzzling feeling as he boards the bus, fingers his lips absentmindedly.

It’s been three days in a row that Hakyeon received kisses, and each one was different.

He remembers all those days catching himself staring at Taekwoon’s lips for a bit too long, thinking at that time, it wouldn’t be anything special, would it?

Taekwoon and he had been friends for such a long time, and that was why he felt comfortable enough to let his train of thoughts wander that far, wasn’t it?

But he always had to catch himself up before making something that could up everything. Hakyeon was just so sure, so certain of himself when assuming that Taekwoon simply didn’t have any interest in love and that thinking of him that way would only hurt him, he had spent his time chasing after easy relationships and fickle love.

Of course, he had fallen in love with some, to the point that he would even damn himself for them, but at the end of the day, it was always Taekwoon, Taekwoon, Taekwoon.

It wasn’t romantic, and it shouldn’t be, in Hakyeon’s mind, for what they had was much deeper, on another level of the love Hakyeon could ever be able to display to anyone, and he only held it by the tip of his fingers, that unreachable Taekwoon who only let him approach and be close to him.

But even that, Hakyeon lost it, the moment he thought he could have it all.

He turns on his phone, praying for a reply.

But Taekwoon is giving him the silence treatment, for the first time since they know each other.

It’s okay, he reasons himself, as he gets home and cook dinner for two anyway. Eventually, he will be okay.

He startles as he hears the front door being opened.

Taekwoon steps into the flat without a sound. He sees Hakyeon’s shoes kicked there near the front door, and he gets them in the right place silently. He removes his own, hang his jacket at its usual place, and walk further. He counts down the steps to calm himself down.

When he gets to the kitchen, he sees Hakyeon’s back, apron tied around his waist, and it tears him a smile. The older seems concentrated into his cooking but Taekwoon sees very well that his hands aren’t moving. They’re trembling, and so are probably his own.

He doesn’t know where to start the explanation, so he just walks up to him, and wraps his arm round his small figure.

He closes his eyes. It smells like onion around them because Hakyeon is trying to do Taekwoon’s favorite meal and he always adds a ton of onion.

“You smell,” he says, and Hakyeon’s vibrating chuckle is the best thing he ever heard within the last twenty-four hours.

“Shut up,” Hakyeon replies, throwing a bit of onion at his face. Taekwoon frowns.

Hakyeon is sniffing and his eyes are watery, but that’s probably the onion’s fault.

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” his voice gets weaker at the end of his sentences, “As long as you’re with me, I won’t ask any questions.”

Taekwoon nods, chin poking into his shoulder blade, even though he knows he has answers to give.

“If you ask me, I will tell you,” he whispers.

Hakyeon let go of his knife to put it aside.

“Can you kiss me again?”

Their lips meet halfway as he turns around.

Taekwoon’s hair smells like onion for the rest of the evening.

Ambrosia – your love is reciprocated.

i had the worst writer's block for this one but at last i fnished! i got struck by inspiration just before going to classes, ahah... (i should go soon btw whoops)

anyway its good to be back on this story. things are starting to fix themselves! ofc neo will have another explanation part and ofc kenvi will reunite, ofc hyukbin will make up, and this fic will end in a few chapters.

don't worry though, i planned extras, and i will be writing plenty of little things before coming back one day with another chaptered fic!

we are nearly 200 subs and i'm amazed. thank you all for still reading this fic even though i am an awful writer ahah who updates too slowly as she promises things... i'm sorry.

THANK YOU ALL I LOVE YOU!