His cold gaze was fixed on the laptop screen and he blinked his eyes occasionally so it would not dry. For a couple of minutes, nothing had popped up in Jihoon's mind. And he knew that staring at the laptop screen while hurting his eyes in the meantime would never lead him to anything and it was never going to work.

     Lyrics sheets were scattering on the desk but it never disturbed Jihoon's sight, though. Because he was too used to it that it unknowingly had been a part of him despite he liked when everything was organized and neat. Jihoon retrieved his A5 notebook and turned to the latest page where he jotted down something.

     However, it was just a word after a word which made no sense to him. Frowning, Jihoon grabbed a black ball pen and began to cross some words out, only to be replaced with the ones he thought were right and accurate. But, none of them seemed to flow well as he would like to. And at last, an audible sigh of frustration escaped from the lips of the dejected guy.

     Out of idea, Jihoon was hopeless at the moment and wondered if he still could make a song for the group in the near future if this was how it looked like to write the lyrics. His canned coffee had been emptied long ago and the only thing Jihoon could do right now was to put his heavy head on the desk and sighed.

     “Why is it so hard?” he mumbled, making an inarticulate noise.

     It was then the door to the studio room creaked open and a familiar figure walked in to greet the frustrated producer with a big smile plastered upon his face.

     “Jihoonie!” It was Seungcheol, as he had expected.

     Reluctantly, Jihoon lifted up his head and gave the taller one a bored look. “What?”

     If anything ever happened to Jihoon, Seungcheol would be the first one to acknowledge it. Because he was the only person who would burst into the studio room out of the blue and every day without fail. The only person who would dare to tease Jihoon despite he was in his bad mood and likely would swing his guitar in the air with all of his might and rages. And the only person who would come to him with a wave of hope and strength Jihoon himself could not explain with words.

     Settling down on the chair beside Jihoon, Seungcheol looked full into his face. “You okay?”

     “You think?” Jihoon arched his brows, expecting an answer from Seungcheol's point of view.

     “Well, I think you're not. Is that correct?”

     “Precisely.” And with that, Jihoon leaned his back against the straight-backed chair, sighing out loud.

     Upon seeing the younger one, Seungcheol briskly sat up as he made his final decision. He seized Jihoon's arm, forcing the other to stand up as well and followed his every step. Blanked and baffled, Jihoon tried to stop Seungcheol, but the latter was way too stronger than he expected.

     Jihoon realized that they were out of the studio room and were heading to the elevator. Before long, the door to the elevator slid open and Seungcheol pulled the younger one inside with less effort. As soon as the door closed and the silence was about to sweep over them, Jihoon with his furrowed brows gave a questioning look at the leader and opened his mouth.

     “What do you think you are doing right now, hyung?”

     “Don't worry, my Jihoonie. I'm just helping you out,” Seungcheol answered, calm.

     His reply only made Jihoon frowned more. “Helping me out with what?”

     “I noticed that you look tired and kinda messed up. Because your messy desk spoke it out. So, why not you hang out with me tonight and have a break for a while?” A wide smile lit up his delighted expression as he voiced out his thought.

     “Without asking me in the first place?”

     “Pretty much.”

     “I bet you knew that I have lots of work in the studio room, right?”

     Seungcheol heaved a sigh and wore a dejected look on his face. “It won't take up hours, Jihoon. You really need a break after all. Overworking yourself is not good for you and your health.”

     “Wow, look at you speaking of such kind of thing.” Jihoon looked at the eldest one, amused when he used the words which sounded bizarre in his vocabulary.

     “What? I'm just taking care of my little brother. That's what a leader like me is supposed to do, am I right?”

     His reply got Jihoon smiling wide. He personally thought that even if Seungcheol was not a leader of Seventeen, he still would act like this. He still would take care of the younger members more than he took care of himself. He still would scold Soonyoung if he kept on practicing and forgot his lunch. And he still would take Jihoon out for a hangout tonight.

     “But...is it okay if we go out just like this?” Jihoon asked soon as the elevator stopped and both of them walked out to the ground floor.

     “It's okay as long as we have this.” And with that, Seungcheol took out two face masks and shoved one into Jihoon's palm. He covered his face with the soft cloth mask and fixed his red cap he was wearing all the time. “Manager hyung don't know about this, so let's keep this as a secret, okay?”

     Unbelievable. That was what Jihoon thought when the tall guy made the statement. Was it legit if they freely went out of the building without telling their manager? What if their manager noticed they were missing? What if he knew that the two of them were sneaking out of the building illegally? Jihoon didn't want to confront their chairman. Not when he felt himself shrinking in front of the man because of Seungcheol's crazy idea.

     “Hyung, are you crazy?! I'm not gonna do this.” In an instant, Jihoon stopped and shot Seungcheol a sharp look.

     “Why? We're out of the building already. Hurry. Wear that mask and come with me.” Without waiting for the young one's reply, Seungcheol just grabbed his arm and dragged the petite boy away. Flustered, Jihoon quickly wore the cloth mask Seungcheol gave him and silently trailed beside the latter in a slight exasperation.

     It was dark outside, as usual. Not many people were seen to be walking down the quiet and deserted street and most of the shops had closed down already. For a split second, he wondered if Seungcheol was in his right mind at this moment since it was nearing midnight and it absolutely was not a good idea after all to have a hangout. In addition, they just got out of the place illegally with no permission from their manager.

     But the look upon Seungcheol's face told him the opposite and Jihoon trusted him.

After a long walk, they arrived at an ice cream parlor, which luckily was still opened, and Seungcheol took out his wallet from the pocket of his jean as they strode towards the counter. “What flavor do you want?” he asked, raising his brows at the frowning Jihoon.

     “Huh?” was what Jihoon replied to him.

     “Chocolate or vanilla or mint or...”

     Jihoon blinked a couple of time and quickly replied, “Chocolate.”

     “Okay.” Seungcheol turned to look at the man who happened to be the one in charge of the counter and smiled amiably with his eyes. “Two chocolate ice creams please.”

     The man nodded and reciprocated the smile before he turned his heels around to grab two small bowls. Seungcheol who was calm as ever looked around the place, silently admiring the simplicity of the ice cream parlor they had entered. There was no colorful decoration ornated its wall and ceiling like one would see in some ice cream shops. Just some pictures of ice creams and a large logo of the shop. But the elegant vibe this ice cream parlor gave off was no joke and it looked like they had just entered a luxurious, expensive restaurant.

     Yet, it was simple. Literally simple. Just like Seungcheol.

     Jihoon wasn't aware that he was staring at the latter all the time until Seungcheol waved his hand at his straight face and asked if he was okay.

     “Oh, I'm...o-okay.” Embarrassed, Jihoon immediately looked away to hide his blushing cheeks.

     Seungcheol giggled at the petite guy's jerky movement and took the bowls of chocolate ice cream on the counter. He then passed the bowls over to Jihoon who was still blushing and told him to reserve a seat for them.

     “I'm gonna pay for the ice cream,” said Seungcheol and before long, he averted his eyes on the man with green notes in his hand.

     With his head hanging low, Jihoon hurried towards an empty seat by the glass wall and sat down in a haste. He cursed himself mentally for doing the thing he considered stupid in front of Seungcheol. Frustrated, Jihoon cupped his cheeks which were still hot with shame.

     “Pull yourself together, Jihoon,” he whispered to himself and gently patted his cheeks.

     It was only then Seungcheol approached the young one and plonked himself on the seat across Jihoon. Nonchalantly, he pulled a bowl towards him, pulled down the cloth mask, and scooped a spoonful of chocolate ice cream.

     Unlike Seungcheol, Jihoon just stared at his ice cream as if it was a poison and merely played with the spoon. It's not that Jihoon didn't like it. He did. Just something had been bugging his mind and Seungcheol somehow noticed that.

     “It will melt down,” the latter said, breaking the silence that enveloped the two of them for minutes.

     “Huh?” His small eyes widened as Seungcheol's voice rang through the cold air.

     “That ice cream.”

     Jihoon looked down at his ice cream and blurted, “Oh.” Before long, he picked the spoon up, scooped a spoonful of ice cream and right before he stuffed it all into his mouth, Seungcheol extended his hand and pulled down the face mask that covered Jihoon's face. Frozen, Jihoon was clueless as to how should he react to this.

     But the latter just beamed and pulled his hand back to grab the spoon. “We're hanging out right now. So, please forget everything about your works and the studio room for a while, okay?” Seungcheol looked full into Jihoon's face later on and twitched his lips into a reassuring smile.

     “Okay,” Jihoon replied in a low mutter and continued to feed himself with the ice cream.

     Before long, silence swept over the two boys again for none of them had spoken. Somehow, it appeared weird to Jihoon in a few ways. This kind of silence was different from what he often experienced in the studio room when he worked on his music alone in the midnight. The common silence he had been prone to all along was filled with distress, pressure, and darkness to the point where Jihoon felt like he was locked in a cage he himself entered.

     However, he never knew that silence could also feel this way. Warm and full of composure. It was as if it filled in the gap between him and Seungcheol in the way words could never do. It was as if a little fairy had come into the ice cream parlor and waved her wand, sprinkling her magic dust on them magically. And Jihoon liked it, though. He liked how weird this silence could be and he liked how it slowly and tenderly put back all of the pieces Jihoon lost back then when he was in the studio room together.

     Along with the lights from the quiet city which blinked like stars in the night sky, everything felt cozy as if he was at home. With a mind free of worries and stress, sitting across Seungcheol while having a bowl of chocolate ice cream, everything was a bliss. It looked simple yet magical to Jihoon for some unknown reason. A second later, Jihoon stole a quick glance at Seungcheol who had emptied his bowl and was leaning against the couch relaxingly.

     A few more spoons and Jihoon was done with his bowl of ice cream too.

     “I wish...”

     Seungcheol fixated his eyes on Jihoon who opened his mouth after a long pause.

     “It can be like this forever.” And with that, their eyes met.

     Listening to the small wish of Jihoon brought a smile upon Seungcheol's face. “But...how long is forever?”

     After a short pause, Jihoon put on his usual straight face and replied, “Just a second.”

     “Eh?” Puzzled and surprised, Seungcheol's eyes widened at the unexpected answer Jihoon gave him and leaned forward. “What do you mean by that?”

     “Hyung, let's go. I'm worried if manager hyung found out about us and you know how dead we're gonna be later, right?” Stuffing the last scoop of ice cream, Jihoon promptly stood on his feet and strode towards the exit door without waiting for the other guy.

     Flustered, Seungcheol sat up in a haste, trying to catch up Jihoon who had left him behind.

     They walked down the street, faces softened by the dim light that came from the lampposts. Since barely anyone was there, Jihoon took off the face mask and shoved it to Seungcheol's palm. The latter, on the other hand, shot Jihoon a puzzled look and glumly stuffed the face mask into the pocket of his parka.

     “No one's here so I don't need the face mask anymore,” said Jihoon after a short pause.

     Seungcheol too took off the soft cloth mask that covered half of his face and replied simply, “Okay.”

     “Anyway, thank you for tonight. It was...”

     “Refreshing? Good? Lovely?” Excitement sparkled in his big eyes as Seungcheol cut off Jihoon's sentence in his usual animated manner. It was as if there were stars glinting in the latter's black orbs which unknowingly attracted Jihoon.

     But he covered it up with his deadpan look and heaved an audible sigh. Instead of continuing the rest of the sentence, Jihoon left it hanging for Seungcheol to fill up the blank space with whatever word he liked.

     “Or maybe it wasn't good at all?” His voice went low as he said it and the spark in his eyes soon disappeared, leaving it dark and glum just like the color black.

     Jihoon made a sudden stop which astonished Seungcheol as the tall guy diverted his eyes on him. On the other hand, Jihoon stared deep into Seungcheol's eyes and wore his sweetest smile ever to him. “It was refreshing, good, lovely, amazing, fantastic and wonderful, Cheol hyung. Thank you very much. Now, let's go back to the building before we literally die in the hands of manager hyung, okay?”

     “Alright!” Seungcheol blurted enthusiastically after hearing Jihoon's response. And with that, he slipped his arm into the petite one's and walked back to the building.

     Although Jihoon was quite taken aback with the latter's sudden action, he acknowledged this childish side of Choi Seungcheol who was the leader of another bunch of crazy and uncontrollable kids, except for him. Though his height and his petite body matched the title “kid” very well, Jihoon didn't like it when people thought of him that way. Because he was now a legal adult who produced songs for Seventeen as well as a leader of the vocal line.

     And yes, he was proud to admit that.

     Before long, they were back in the building and lucky enough, the manager hyung was out for a sudden meeting during their hangout. Soonyoung, Seungkwan, and Seokmin, being curious as ever, bombarded them with questions only to be left unanswered by Jihoon.

     “Don't forget to come for practice!” Seungcheol reminded the producer before he locked himself in the studio room once again after the hangout.

     Later on, Junghan inched closer towards Seungcheol before he nudged the leader and raised his brows at him. “Did I miss anything interesting?”

     “What does that suppose to mean?” Seungcheol replied, brows furrowed in astonishment.

     Junghan opened his mouth, almost said something when Soonyoung shoved the guy aside and gave Seungcheol a glowering look.

     “Did you sneak out of the building with Jihoon, hyung?” The boy asked with hands on his hips and lips pouted.

     “Yeah. So what? He's not in a good mood anyway, so I took him for a hangout.”

     “Illegally,” Seokmin added, narrowing his eyes to slits as they met Seungcheol's. A second later, Seungkwan joined in with his arms crossed and a judging look upon his face.

     An audible sigh was all Seungcheol could afford at this moment when the three kids stood still before him, having a silent strike. Junghan was not helpful at all despite Seungcheol would love to call him his friend. Because all that he did right now is lying down somewhere on the couch, eyelids slowly darkening his vision as he left Seungcheol with three rebellious kids to be handled.

Jihoon stared down at one of the notebook's page that was now filled with his handwriting. His black orbs followed after every word written on the paper, assuring that everything flew smoothly as he wished. And it did. A small smile was tugged at the corners of his lips, lighting up his face. Thanks to the hangout he had last night, that today seemed brighter than yesterday.

     Jihoon realized he owed it all to Seungcheol, the only person who would burst into the studio room out of the blue and every day without fail. The only person who would dare to tease Jihoon despite he was in his bad mood and likely would swing his guitar in the air with all of his might and rages. And the only person who would come to him with a wave of hope and strength Jihoon himself could not explain with words.

     And...he was the main reason why life was still worth living even when everything crumbled before Jihoon's eyes.

     Rolling up the sleeve of his navy blue shirt, Jihoon stared down at the slight cut he once made by the time the company stressed him out for a new album. It seemed stupid right now to him, but back then, that was the only option left for him to deal with the whole situation. Until Seungcheol knocked his knuckles on the bathroom door in desperation and asked if he's going to stay longer in the cubicle because the taller one really had to pee.

     And for a split second, Jihoon pondered alone. If Seungcheol didn't come and knock on the door at that time, something terrible might have happened to him and it would all fire back to Seventeen, their manager and their chairman as a whole. If that ever happened, Jihoon would put all the blame on himself for everything.

     “Jihoonie!” Speaking of Seungcheol, here came the mentioned one with a bright smile formed on his lips without fail. He nonchalantly approached the petite guy and sat down on an empty chair beside Jihoon. “How are you?”

     With a sharp stare, Jihoon replied, “Hyung, we see each other every day. You even come here way too often than the manager hyung. Please don't ask me such kind of question.”

     “But who knows if you're sad inside? Although we see each other every day, no one knows what really happens inside,” Seungcheol lifted up his index finger and gently prodded Jihoon's chest, “this little heart of yours.”

     His reply got Jihoon entirely speechless for a brief second before the latter diverted his attention to the notebook that laid on the desk among the music sheets. He picked it up and Jihoon who merely watched in silence as Seungcheol opened it and surveyed every page of the notebook heaved a breath.

     “So, you're quite productive today, huh? Perhaps, it's because of last night?” Seungcheol lifted his brows up in excitement as he spotted the page where Jihoon filled up with lyrics for the new song he was working on. “Interesting.”

     Jihoon grinned at his words and sighed. He looked at the latter whose eyes were fixed on the lyrics Jihoon wrote and opened his mouth to say something. That was when Seungcheol noticed him and reciprocated the look.

     “Hyung, I wish you could stay with me forever,” Jihoon said after he successfully had mustered all the courage to say it all out.

     However, Seungcheol gave him a blanked expression instead. “What did you say just now?”

     “I said I wish you could stay with me forever,” Jihoon reiterated what he had told Seungcheol earlier which brought the taller one to a slight surprise.

     “Well, is your forever last only a second long or...”

     “No. It lasts longer than that. It lasts longer than a second. Longer than a minute. Longer than an hour. Longer than a day. Longer than a week. Longer than a month. Longer than a year.”

     “Wow. That kind of forever?” Seungcheol lifted an eyebrow, slightly amused.

     Jihoon nodded. “I wish you could stay with me forever and even longer.”

     It took Seungcheol exactly a minute to interpret every word Jihoon had spewed out to him. And it gave him butterflies in the stomach which Seungcheol found a bit uncomfortable and awkward. “You know what, Jihoon? You just gave me goosebumps.”

     But Jihoon seemed to mean everything he had told him just now.

     “I think you're exhausted right now, am I right?” Seungcheol placed his hand on Jihoon's shoulder and tapped on it suavely.

     Shaking his head, Jihoon replied, “I really mean it, hyung.”

     Seungcheol fell silent at his words and for a few moments of silence, they merely exchanged a look with each other. After all, that was what Seungcheol planned to do. Staying with Jihoon all the time, always and continually. Even if distance parted them, Seungcheol's heart would always belong to Jihoon and Jihoon only.

     The young one might not know his true feelings towards him, but by learning Jihoon's wish today, little did Seungcheol know, it was just a new beginning to a beautiful future. In which he truly hoped so.

     “If that so,” Seungcheol blurted, breaking the silence, “I'll get you your canned coffee, okay?”

     And with that, he sat up on his feet, beamed at the petite guy and strode towards the door. But then, Jihoon's voice stopped Seungcheol from completely disappeared from the young one's sight.

     “Can you get me juice instead?” asked Jihoon awkwardly.

     Seungcheol didn't give him any response because a smile was enough to tell Jihoon all that he needed to know.

     Jihoon looked on in silence as Seungcheol left and made his way to the vending machine which was quite far from the studio room. However, the latter never complained about it. He never whined about how long the walk was just to get him the drink he wanted. And he never stopped himself from voluntarily went there and bought him the cold beverage. Sometimes, Jihoon thought that Seungcheol was dumb for running an errand for the younger one.

     But that was what made Seungcheol looked precious in his eyes.

     And Jihoon knew he simply could not let the latter walk out of his life that easily.

     Something hit him and in an instant, Jihoon seized his notebook and clicked the black ball pen. He then carefully wrote something underneath the last line of the lyrics and beamed in contentment. This whole song he wrote, how Jihoon wished Seungcheol knew it was for him all along.

Will you stay with me forever and even longer?

 

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A/N: Thank you for reading! Stay strong, okay? :)