Jihoon and Seungcheol’s friendship began in the most ordinary way, but the way it developed was out of the ordinary. They first met in an abandoned library on a dusty sunned Sunday, both looking for a quiet place just to think and maybe take a pause from the world that threaten to suffocate them. Jihoon just happened to trip over a floor spread Seungcheol and, deciding that he was too lazy and mostly done with everything, he refused to get up, only crawling a bit so he could rest his back on the shelf opposite to Seungcheol’s. They hold the eye contact for a few seconds before both decided to let it go. Somewhere between Jihoon’s struggle to fill his lyrics notebook and Seungcheol’s boredom they started to talk and a few hours later they both knew way too much about the other. It must have something to do with the therapeutic side of telling your problems to a complete stranger.

At that time Seungcheol didn’t know that Jihoon was the university’s famous prodigy and Jihoon had no idea that Seungcheol was one of those he himself liked to call ‘brain wasters’, a definition for those who had no idea what they want from life and just entered university in order to waste more time and their parents’ money. Jihoon found those fellows irresponsible human beings who can’t really make a decision for themselves. But back then they didn’t know such thing. Their meetings continued to happen at odd hours in Sundays mornings, caused by Seungcheol being a strange lark and Jihoon’s insomnias. Some times they just looked at each other for a brief moment, a silent salute, before continuing with their work. Other times they went behind the last shelf and talked about all and nothing, just like the first time. They couldn’t be called friends, nor strangers. Their link was strange but it has been just enough for both of them, just what they needed: someone to listen and not to judge. It took almost half a year for Seungcheol to accidentally read Jhoon’s name on one of the shorter’s notebooks and, deciding to keep their relationship fair, he introduced himself. They kept it like that, a secret hidden amidst many other in an old library.  Eventually they saw each other at school, they learn about the other’s identity, but choose to ignore it. They stay as ‘Sunday friends’ and nothing more.

So it’s an understatement to say that Seungcheol is confused as to how they end up like this. Deciding that moving is the best in this situation, he shakily raises his hand to lift the blanket. A quick glance is enough to tell him that he wasn’t wrong. He is indeed lying in a strange bed in what is definitely not his dorm room. The body that breathes softly beside him is as clothed as himself and by the mess in the room they surely were in a haste to get rid of any piece of clothing. 

The most upsetting part is the lack of memories that swirls around his throbbing head. The headache is nearly too much. He doesn’t remember the last time he felt like his brain was squished with such force, but, again, his memory isn’t the best at the moment. Or his balance, judging by how he ends face first on the floor when he tries to get up. He feels his limbs heavy and uncoordinated, his body drained of any energy. But he has to get up and out of here. Preferably before the pink haired sleeper gains conscience. Why, you wonder? It may be because Seungcheol is scarred since he has no idea how he got there or what he had done. Or because what he had done is way too obvious, but just as conflicting. Why? Because Seungcheol is as straight as a pole and he would have never done that. Or it may be because he is a ‘brain waster; exactly how Jihoon thought, and he is too irresponsible to face his own acts. It may be all of these, but he can’t bring himself to care. He just wants, no, knows that he has to get out of here. So he struggles to collect his clothes from the floor just as silently as his hangover allows him, not caring if he puts them on wrongly. He is almost on his way out when he sees his phone lying near the bed and he crawls to recover it. 

“Let me guess…” a clear voice scares the out of him and he looks up only to be met with Jihoon’s opened eyes. He definitely doesn’t look like a person that just woke up even though Seungcheol could swear that the shorter hadn’t moved an inch since he woke up. Was he awake all this time? 

“You don’t want to talk about this?” Jihoon finishes his sentence. Seungcheol just stares at him like a deer caught in the headlights, taken aback by the calmness present in Jihoon voice. He searches his face for any emotion that could tell him what the other was thinking, but he finds nothing. Jihoon’s face is serene, or maybe somber, and it annoys Seungcheol because he doesn’t know where he stands or what he should do. So he just stares back into Jihoon’s eyes and for the first time in more than a year since they’d met he doesn’t feel comfortable. It’s like Jihoon is scanning deep in his soul and the faint disappointment that his eyes show a few minutes later makes Seungcheol feel more judged than ever. Contrary to all of this Jihoon chooses to stretch the corners of this mouth in a small smile.

“You can go.” He whispers and turns around, letting Seungcheol stare at his . 
And as the older leaves the small studio and grabs a taxi all he can think is the disappointment mixed with sadness that Jihoon’s eyes decided to combine with that small smile.

The first time he saw Jihoon smiling he was mesmerized, enough to just stare for a few good minutes. It was in one of the early morning they used to meet. He had just arrived and he knew that it was going to be a ‘talking meeting’ since Jihoon was sitting on the wooden floor. The small boy had had his huge headphones on and was bobbing his head on a rhythm unknown to Seungcheol. And then the pink haired one smiled, his eyes closed and his face so peaceful. A smile so sincere and innocent, which brought dimples in his cheeks and made Seungcheol all breathless and giddy inside. 

That day he first listened to one of Jihoon’s songs and it left him wordless. He was amazed that such a small boy could hold inside such talent. In the hours they spent together that day he kept surprising himself secretly staring at Jihoon, flabbergasted as he remembered the shorter’s smile and song, hoping for more. For Seungcheol, Jihoon’s smile was something he saw so rarely that he came to cherish dearly. 

Remembering the smile Jihoon was carrying earlier, he can’t help but feel like a string that connected them crumbled, leaving his insides void.