People. Too many people behind him, beside him, even below him, their endless chatter creating a numb buzz. Jongin wasn't too fond of crowds, and the metallic railing in front of him became his pathetic little shelter. He grabbed it tightly with both hands as he looked over the crowd, thoughts lingering with Kyungsoo. Surely Kyungsoo wouldn't be all that happy about this situation either, and maybe that was the reason he wasn't there. Maybe all that stuff about the video conference with that orphanage they'd returned from a week ago was just an excuse. Having Kyungsoo around him would have definitely lifted his mood. Who he got instead was-
"It's already quarter past seveeeen," Chanyeol whined, and Jongin felt his presence closely behind him, "when are they going to start, I can't wait any longer, I'm too excited!"
Yes. Of course Chanyeol would be free to attend the beneficial concert they'd been invited to. Of course. To be very honest with himself (and Jongin was always very honest with himself), Jongin was aware of the fact that if he had to choose... he would've chosen Chanyeol over Kyungsoo, too. Because whereas Kyungsoo was strong, but also slightly reluctant and anti-social, Chanyeol was in his element at a situation like this. There was no reason to worry Jongin might represent their team in a bad way, because Chanyeol would surely take the lead and show enough enthusiasm for both of them.
And also being around Chanyeol had stopped being a chore, really. In this odd way that his best friend Sehun had called love-hate relationship when they'd last skyped. Jongin would rather prefer something less strong, maybe fond-hate, but the essence was right.
Still. All these people were a different story altogether, and being so close to Chanyeol wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind either, though it was inevitable.
"Do you still have enough room?" he breathed right into his ear and Jongin squirmed away, resisting the urge to slap him or better yet, tackle him. But the alternative option would be to have strangers press up against him, and that was not an option right now.
When the music started, Chanyeol's obnoxious cheers almost drowned out the thrumming bass and Jongin swore his ears were ringing. He still put up a mask of cheerful, albeit shy interest, in case someone decided to take a photo of them. It wasn't that he disliked music, oh no. But he just wasn't comfortable in this situation. A nagging voice told him that it had been a long time since he'd been truly comfortable anywhere that wasn't his apartment.
The concert was a collaboration of two artists. One of them, a girlgroup, brought a loud and daring image with lots of heavy instrumentals and energetic voices, and Jongin liked them. If only Chanyeol would stop yelling and clapping and jumping and-
the Southener crashed into him from behind, pressing him against the railing, to which Jongin replied with a glare sent over his shoulder.
"Sorry, I was pushed!" he yelled over the noise, and both his hands found their way to the railing, in order to prevent the incident from happening again. Jongin felt cased in and it made him feel odd.
"Maybe you should stop jumping like a gummiball, then!" he retaliated, and with a laugh he rather felt than heard, Chanyeol placed his chin on Jongin's shoulder, nudging him playfully.
"You should relax a little! Concerts are for fun! No one here is watching you, the photos will be taken later, so what stops you?!"
Jongin shrugged him off stubbornly and he relented, though the Southener's hands remained on that railing. No one was watching them? Really?
He wanted to mistrust the airhead behind him, but Chanyeol had this annoying talent of knowing exactly when a camera lense was pointed at him, posing and smiling almost compulsively whenever it happened. Probably a habit of being in the spotlight for too long. And really, Chanyeol had once again voiced out the exact same thing he'd pondered earlier.
You should relax a little - when was the last time he'd relaxed? Even at the dance studio he still felt a little isolated and foreign. Both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo probably thought he was just very, very stuck up, which wasn't fair. It wasn't his fault that the circumstances hadn't been favorable thus far. But they were now, right?
After all, he was in this big, anonymous crowd together with a familiar person whom he could trust. Sure, maybe he didn't want to rely on Chanyeol, but it was a fact that he could, whenever he wanted to. And maybe he should prove him exactly what kind of a person he could be.
The Eastener closed his eyes and wiped his mind blank of anything but the music. God, he'd missed loud music. Back at home he'd loved to go to clubs with his friend, just freestyling for hours on end. All the unique little audio tracks creating a song together, fierce synthesizers, pumping bass, strong vocals...
It was amazing how quickly he could fall into the song and translate it to his muscles. Sure, he was a little rusty at first, but that dissolved after a mere minute. Maybe his body had been aching to let go for far-too long already. His motions weren't very big or attention-seeking at first - after all, he didn't have a lot of room to work with. Still, the mere feeling of the song flowing to the different muscles in his body, coaxing them to move, was immensely satisfying. At this point he'd all but forgotten about Chanyeol, who was around him like a barrier between him and the noisy crowd. He was reminded quite rudely when the momentum of the crowd pushed them together, making light-weight Chanyeol a rather firm and quite aggressive presence. To his surprise, the other sought distance quicker than before, obviously flustered over pressing up to Jongin who had been in the middle of his small, sensual grinds.
It sparked something in him. A fond memory of the days when he'd been out to club and his friend would never fail to give him an exasperated grin.
Because Kim Jongin could be a ing tease.
And this was such a brilliant opportunity, it was impossible not to take it and throw Chanyeol off for once. Biting his lip in concentration, Jongin changed strategies and began to move with purpose - and that purpose was to with Park Chanyeol. Metaphorically-speaking. Mostly. With him dating Kyungsoo he was pretty sure he had the right gender for this. Now teasing was an art he'd perfected long ago. Start out slow with a few brushes of your bodies, all innocent and accidental. Notch it up a bit, but always stay one with the song, make the other question his own innocence. And for all the great understanding Chanyeol had of him, Jongin was pretty sure he'd catch the poor puppy off guard nonetheless.
One song later had him openly grinding against the body behind him. It was almost too easy, with the way he didn't see his face, and Jongin was seriously enjoying this. His eyes were fixed on Chanyeol's white knuckles around the railing, which occasionally twitched, but ultimately stayed where they were. No matter how harsh and unwelcoming Jongin would be, Chanyeol was impossible to faze. But this... this worked almost too well. He arched his back into another hard movement that bled into a flowing one, and Chanyeol squirmed. Another provocative movement and Jongin shamelessly confirmed that he was hard, grinning to himself, his amused snicker drowning in the noise.
"Don't do that...!" Chanyeol finally called into his ear and Jongin turned his head to shoot him the most innocent look he could muster, tilting his head in a questioning manner.
Chanyeol didn't buy it for a second.
"We both know you're doing this on purpose!" he whined, and no, Jongin couldn't contain his grin any longer.
"But you told me to relax!" he protested, underlining the statement with another body roll.
Chanyeol squirmed even more, one hand instinctively flying to his waist to stop him, but the gesture turned out too intimate, and Chanyeol stuck to the railing after that, looking adorably out of his element and mildly helpless with his flushed cheeks and shining eyes. If he thought this was bad, he definitely wasn't prepared for the second artist, a boygroup who brought the slow, filthy rhythms.
Jongin thoroughly enjoyed his predicament, because he was a terrible person like that, and after the concert, the poor Southener had to awkwardly tie his jacket around his hips to hide the result of Jongin's skilled, naughty moves. His hands remained folded in his lap throughout the whole interview afterwards. and high strung on his own emotions, Jongin made the infamous v-sign for Chanyeol with a cheeky grin.

"Oh my god, you're so mean!"
Jongin only smiled to himself in silent content while Chanyeol took the lead, padding down the hallway and towards his apartment. He still let him in, because that was the original plan and Chanyeol was stupidly nice and unable to stay mad at him for too long.
"Oh no, the remorse. I'll never get over this, what to do." Jongin said monotonously, and earned himself an actual glare by Chanyeol (which was about as threatening as a man-sized puppy could get).
"Whatever, I'll shower first." he said in a 'take that' voice, and Jongin whatever-ed himself to the couch, already flipping out his phone.
When he stepped out half an hour later, he found a written note on the table that told him Chanyeol was out to get pizza downstairs. Even Jongin couldn't find it in himself to argue when pizza was involved, so he sank into the couch with a soft sigh, toweling his damp hair and looking around the apartment aimlessly. It was more of a loft, really, but instead of the street lights below, Jongin was more interested in the interior, trying to spot changes from the last time he'd been here. Soon he found himself pacing down the room, looking at the countless photos on the wall. He wasn't trying to fool himself - he was clearly looking for a photo, a memo, just something... indicating that Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were now a couple. It wasn't like he doubted it - ever since they'd returned from their little trip, the change was apparent. The Southener had begun to relax, to be more touchy and open, though their displays of affection remained subtle, at most. Still, Chanyeol was leaning towards Kyungsoo... and away from him.
Jongin silently huffed in self-deprecation. Well, of course he'd pull away. Relationships were above friendships, they always were.
Still. That didn't change the fact that there was not a single sign that Chanyeol was in a relationship now. Nothing. The only addition to the already plastered wall was a photo of the three of them, obviously printed from the net and taken during their summer project. Hm. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He saw his name out of the corner of his eyes and found it on a little sticky note on the crowded desk. It was taped to a simple USB stick and said nothing but:

Jongin - track 1!!

Unable to contain his curiosity, Jongin reached for the stick. The note had caught quite a bit of dust. Maybe Chanyeol had changed his mind about showing him this? With a shrug, he approached the ridiculously big stereo in one corner of the room. It looked rather expensive, to the point that even Jongin touched it gingerly as he switched it on. Plugging the USB stick in was easy, switching into the correct mode wasn't any more of a challenge. Track one was called 'Child of the Universe', and started out rather quiet, with a female voice speaking over a minimum of acoustic guitar, voice rather hollow and a tiny echo making it sound like she was talking into empty space.

Is it wrong to love more than one person?
Whom did I borrow this luck from?

Jongin's fingers froze on the button, and just like that, he was hooked. The words hit and resonated like he was the empty space she was singing into.
Chanyeol wanted him to listen to this, because Chanyeol understood Jongin in a subconscious, eery way. And maybe he was one step ahead of Jongin himself yet again.

Why is falling in love this easy?
Are the best things always elsewhere?

"Hey Jongin- no, wait, don't listen to this-"
He hadn't even heard the other arrive, but now he was by his side, fumbling on the stereo in an uncharacteristic effort to stop him. Jongin protested almost instinctively, latching on to the song that was flooding the speakers, pushing at Chanyeol's hands.

Why am I under your spell?
When will my life finally begin?

Chanyeol's resistance was fading, and soon they were both standing there, hands oddly intertwined on the stereo as the song launched into the refrain, and Jongin felt the goosebumps running down his arm almost painfully.

I, a child of the universe,
am perpetually seeking completion
Seeing that truth will forever be out of reach

This hit home so hard that it pressed the air out of his lungs. Why? Why did Chanyeol see all this in him? Why did he have to understand what he shouldn't be able to understand?
And why was Chanyeol the one whose fingers were shaking?
Jongin turned his head to see... that he was crying. Not flat out wailing, but harshly blinking against the silent tears running down his cheeks, and Chanyeol was crying.
Jongin stared at him with wide eyes, the song currently forgotten.
Normally, he'd be all snarky and make fun of the Southener at any given instance, but he'd never seen him like this before.
Before he could begin to think of something to say, Chanyeol lowered his gaze, attempted to draw away, and Jongin acted out of instinct. In one swift move, he'd pulled the other into a hug which sent them tumbling, and Jongin pulled him down to the floor, into a comfortable, sitting position. The tall body in his arms was warm, and Chanyeol only hesitated for a second, before accepting the gesture and leaning into it, burying his face in Jongin's neck. What a role reversal, Jongin numbly thought, as his hands reached up to pet the silver strands., feeling the shivers racking the other. He wanted to ask him for the reason of this outburst, but he didn't. He didn't... dare to. Chanyeol was always simple and open, like a loyal little puppy, but this side of him was deeper, and Jongin didn't understand any of it. It was like looking into a loyally serving mirror, only to find out that there was a whole world beyond the glass. Hot tears stained his freshly showered skin, and he felt the others hands draw him in even closer.
One thing was certain - it was the song. The song which was reaching its second chorus.

I, a child of the universe,
am perpetually seeking completion
Seeing that truth will forever be out of reach

Under the brilliantly shining stars I'll find what I'm yearning for
A place in the universe of my dreams

"It hurts," Chanyeol mumbled, voice rougher than usual as he drew away to look at Jongin with red eyes. "It just hurts so ing much. I'm sorry..."
What are you apologizing for, Jongin wanted to ask, but his mind and body were so numb and fuzzy. With shaky fingers, the Southener reached out to wipe at Jongin's face and oh, he was crying, too.
Since when? And why? Was it because of the song, because Chanyeol was breaking down, because of something else altogether?
With a choked huff, Chanyeol pulled him closer again, either hiding his own pathetic expression or saving Jongin from having to bare his. Maybe a little bit of both.
"I meant to show you this because it reminded me of you," he began, hands firmly pushing against Jongin's shoulder blades, who just let it happen as he stared at the carpet with glassy eyes, "but... but now it reminds me of myself, too. What a joke..."

Jongin didn't reply, but he didn't laugh either. For the longest time, they were sitting huddled together on the floor while the song found its end in an endlessly repeated question that was calling out into the emptiness.

Why is falling in love so easy?
Why is falling in love so easy?

...why is falling in love so easy?

A short, but impactful chapter...!
I've been itching to write this, and I could have ventured into a much longer chapter, but it felt right to leave it at this for now.
The song I mentioned is indeed called 'Child of the Universe' by Austrian singer Christina Stürmer, and I allowed myself to stray a little from a literal translation, in order to get the meaning across and keep lyrical devices.
There are multiple versions of this song and basically no good translation, so sorry for not providing a link. I might add the rest of the verses at a given time.
It's basically Jongin's song, though the exact reason for that will only surface later.

Much love,
Sugar-and-Salt~ ♡

P.S.: If you're interested, the band Nini was jamming out to was Blackpink - and the one after that was NCT c: