[ Chapter 2 ]

Just like he promised, Joshua was back two weeks later to get his nails done. This time, however, he brought a small book with him that Jeonghan looked at inquiringly when he saw it in the other’s hand.

“Why did you bring a book? You getting nails done.”

“Oh, it’s not for me. It’s for you,” Joshua replied, offering the book to the older.

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Jeonghan smiled at Joshua’s Korean as he was given the book. Flipping through it, he saw that it was a guide to English grammar, filled with brief points about different topics of grammar that often trip people up. There were even marks in the margins of some of the pages. At closer look, it was notes by Joshua to Jeonghan either explaining things in a different way or connecting them to similar parts of Korean grammar.

Jeonghan’s eyes sparkled with happiness when he looked back at Joshua, and the younger tried to hide his blush by looking down and shifting his feet awkwardly on the floor.

“I got some help from friends for the Korean stuff, but uh…I hope you like it.”

“Joshua…I love it!”

And Joshua was so not prepared for the sudden impact of the slender man colliding with his chest, arms wrapping around his waist and squeezing tight while swaying back and forth in excitement.

“I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it!”

After the shock wore off, Joshua laughed and hugged Jeonghan back, noting that the beautiful long hair that had fascinated him the first day was just as soft as he imagined it would be. Not that he ever imagined how it would feel. Nope, he never did that.

“Tell me all of it while I do your nails! Teach me English!”

“Alright, I will do my best.”

Jeonghan pulled back from the hug with a sly smile on his face.

“You are improving, yes? I notice! You are studying!”

“I-I-I try…”

“Oooooo you are just too cute! What do I do? What do I do with you? I just want to squish you and keep you in my pocket, oh my gosh!”

Joshua tried to mask the look of surprise on his face when Jeonghan was suddenly lightly squishing Joshua’s cheeks with his very soft hands and speaking in rapid Korean. But just as quickly, the other was pulling him back into the salon to start on his nails, so Joshua had to quickly regain his composure to avoid tripping and falling on the way.

(Avoiding falling in love was a different story altogether, though.)

And just like the previous times, Jeonghan and Joshua exchanged language tips and tricks just as much as they exchanged shy smiles and laughs. They talked about their favorite food, favorite restaurants in town, favorite movies and TV shows and books – anything that they could share in order to learn more about each other. Sometimes, Jeonghan would challenge Joshua to explain in Korean why he liked a certain restaurant so much, and the younger would end up saying a half-formed sentence of mostly just nouns and adjectives without any connecting grammar. Which Jeonghan would then laugh at and start flipping through his new grammar book to point out the grammar points that Joshua was lacking.

After exhausting that topic, they moved on to talk about college courses, complain about professors and homework load, and bond over a hatred for anything math-related. And then on to talking about each other’s families, even Jeonghan’s childhood in Korea before his family relocated to LA. And before they knew it, Joshua’s nails had been drying for an hour already, the two of them too engrossed in their conversation to take note of the hours that had already passed.

It was Jeonghan that first glanced at the clock on the wall, having to give it a second look over as he calculated exactly how long Joshua and him had been talking. When they both realized it had been several hours already, way past the time a manicure usually takes, they looked at each other in surprise before laughing. No one else had come in ever since Joshua, so they never even thought to look at the clock. When their laughter died down, they continued to smile at each other, not sure where to go from there. Of course, Jeonghan didn’t want Joshua to leave. He wanted to keep talking to the cute, shy boy. And Joshua felt the same way about the longhaired man in front of him. But neither knew this about each other. So Jeonghan just looked at Joshua with a hesitant yet hopeful face, hoping the other wouldn’t leave but knowing that it was inevitable. Joshua’s mind was running a mile a minute trying to think of a legitimate excuse for him to stay…but it wasn’t storming outside, he wasn’t injured, and his nails were done too perfectly to say that Jeonghan needed to redo them. So Joshua tried the only other thing he could think of.

“I’m a little thirsty, could I maybe have some water before…?”

“Oh, of course!” Jeonghan replied, jumping at the opportunity to keep Joshua in his salon. “Come to the back and sit on the couch. More comfortable than this chair. I get us water!”

He happily ran off to the back room to get two glasses for them as Joshua made his way to the little couch in the back usually used only by employees. When Jeonghan brought the water, they immediately picked up right where their previous conversation had ended.

No other clients came in for the rest of the night, so the two never had to stop their conversation. The only interruption they had was when the woman at the front desk came back and asked if they all wanted to order Chinese for dinner. Joshua protested to being paid for, saying he owed Jeonghan for the past two manicures, but the older shot him down and paid for his share, making up excuses like how Joshua’s school tuition is higher or how Jeonghan should be a good hyung and pay for his dongsaeng’s food.

“I think we talk so long because there is no Wonwoo to interrupt us. That why we lose track of time,” Jeonghan commented as they waited for their food delivery.