Sohee was lying down on her bed, arms raised as an organic bipod to keep her phone positioned precisely in front of her face.

At the other side of the screen was a similarly positioned Hoseok. Laying down on a bed, sleepy eyes, silent.

There was nothing more to talk about but for some reason, nobody wanted to terminate the call. They were probably not even paying attention at the video call window, which was true (at least for Sohee, because she was at that moment leisurely scrolling down through her instagram feed).

Then, a sudden high yelp broke the stagnancy of the night.

"Are you okay?!" Hoseok jumped up in panic when he heard a pained moan coming from the dark screen of his phone.

"Yeah.... I dropped my phone on my forehead."

With Sohee's explanation and tiny reassuring laughter, he was no longer worried. "I thought you had a heart attack."

Sohee snorted when she saw that he seriously thought her health was jeopardized, "what do you think I am? An 80 years old grandma?"

"You could be," he pouted and slowly laid back down on his visibly untidy bed.

Once again they fell into a pocket of silence. But now it was different. It wasn't mindless like before when both parties were doing their own business. At least now they were aware of one another. Looking shyly into each other's eyes and a sudden bop in the nose by a sleepy Sohee.

"You should sleep," he finally said his mandate after she yawned for the third time in a stretch of one minute.

But she didn't budge, not even moving an inch or batted an eyelash as she brought her phone closer to her face. "If I kiss this phone, will we be connected?"

Hoseok was speechless. Rightfully so, as he expected Sohee to just be joking, but her face never broke into the laughter he was waiting to happen.

"I hope so," he finally answered after he himself joined her seriousness for this matter.

He really did hope so, as the next thing he said was an invitation, "we can try and see what happens?"

Sohee's serious demeanor cracked with a smile. They knew what will happen, but they still tried this absurd long distance couples' activity.

Closer and closer the phone went. Should she kiss the camera? Or the position of his lips as she saw it before she closed her eyes?

Where was her breath? There was nothing. Did he aim correctly? Was he going to kiss her on her left eye instead? This is very confusing.

Their lips did touch the screen at the same exact time, which was an amazing feat of its own, and for a second there was a flash of memory so strong they thought they're going to see each other in the flesh when they opened their eyes.

"I'm going to miss you so, so, sosososo much," Sohee's grip around his back was deathly tight that he couldn't wiggle out of it. Well, not like he wanted to do so anyway.

The long hand of the clock ticked and Sohee really needed to go behind that gate. She ain't no important person so the flight would've easily go without her. And with much difficulty, Hoseok pried her fingers away.

"Get me a koala," he playfully nudged her nose with his index finger, which she easily swatted away.

As she was picking up her handbag from the floor, Sohee didn't notice how hard he was scrunching his face to prevent those tears threatening to fall. They were already around the rims of his eyelids, so close yet miraculously he managed to them back in when she stood proudly before him.

But the grin on her face once again faded into a frown and Sohee sighed, "I don't want to go."

"Shush!" He gave her a harsh pat on her shoulder as he pushed her further into the departure gate, "don't say that, you HAVE to go."

The clock ticked once again. She would have to run to catch her flight at this rate, but Sohee couldn't care less.

She patted her lips while wiggling her eyebrows, "give me a quick one."

Hoseok acted like he didn't want to do it, but in the end it was just that. An act.

His fingers entwined comfortably around hers, and he went closer. Closer and closer. Her breath was warm, trembling a bit, probably due to extreme nervousness and pure fear.

When they did touch, her fingers immediately clenched into a firm fist, trapping everything in their holds. Her lips were tense, as if they were involved in an ongoing fight of wether they should give in or pull away.

In the end she pulled away, and the quick one really turned out to be a quick one.

Sohee took slow steps backward, eyes still petrified on her object of affection, who was hastily shooing her away.

'Go, run, you'll miss your flight,' Hoseok mouthed when she was about to take a turn, probably the last time she'll see him for the next year and a half.

She waved her hand one last time and gone was he from her sight. She suddenly felt bad. Saying goodbye to her parents were easy. Consoling her crying mother was easy. This was not. This was so much harder, and she felt silly when she brought the back of her hand to her lips, as if the pressure of her own skin could bring back the soft sensation of his kiss. It did manage to do so, faintly.

But her skin was warm.

The phone screen was cold.

Sohee realized it'd been a year since they shared that awkward 'quick one', and the pang of her longing hit her hard.

'Don't cry,' she repeatedly told herself as she squeezed her eyes tightly together. 'Take your time, don't cry.'

Only when she was no longer gripping her phone with a claw-like grip did Sohee decide that she was ready to face him again.

She pulled her phone away from her face and all that inner pep talk for keeping a positive expression came crashing down with a broken sob when Sohee saw that Hoseok was already waiting.

Waiting with streaks of tears running down his cheek.

That night they didn't terminate their call.

Hoseok did pester her to go to sleep as soon as possible (after forcing her to wash her red face with cold water first, of course, and blow her stuffy nose so that she could have a good night sleep), and she did listen to him. But nobody wanted to close the call. It wasn't even talked about, just a collective understanding reached through silent pleading looks that screamed of loneliness.

Goodnights were exchanged and he could see nothing in the dark when she turned off her bedside lamp.

"Tell me about your day," she mumbled with half mushed between her pillows.

"Again?" He didn't mind doing so, he wouldn't mind even if she asked him to read her the entirety of Les miserables. He was just asking for the sake of asking questions.

"Again."

Sohee closed her eyes when he started his story. He adopted her lazy voice, calm, and low, and slow. By keeping her phone close to her ears and utilizing her imagination hard enough, she swore she could feel him lying beside her.