-Late spring of 2010-

“Cheers!”
“To nailing the finals!”
“For freedom!”

The cheers were many and overlapping when Jaehwan and his handful of friends and dorm mates raised their glass bottles of the cheapest beer and let them clash so the glass rang like bells in the small shared livingroom of the sharehouse a selection of them lived in, Jaehwan and Hakyeon included. Outside the rain was roaring and the air was thick with choking humidity; washing all possible plans of going out to a restaurant and get some grilled pork or chicken and soju that night.

Inside they would stay. With their beers and total lack of chairs, the nine boys almost turned men spread out on the floor around a low table full of bottles – full and empty the like. Jaehwan and Hakyeon sat side-by-side and shared grins while clashing their glasses together for an extra cheer only for the two of them before finally drinking the entire contents of their bottles in one go.

This was how Jaehwan spent many weekends after he entered university the year before. He was a freshman and most of the year had been spent either studying or building up his resistance to alcohol.

Or visiting or talking to Wonshik on the phone. His longing for him was a growing, dull, constant ache.

“Let’s play a game!” Hakyeon’s friend Minhyuk declared as he started opening new bottles of beer for them all. “Looser takes a shot of soju!” He continued, holding up their precious single bottle of soju in store – none of them willing to do a grocery store run to get more. But they had lots of beer to compensate.

A collective mess of groans and cheers filled the room, Jaehwan cheering because he’s good at games. “Let’s play 3-6-9!” He suggested and shared a look with Hakyeon who also preferred the game. They grinned at each other as the crowd agreed to their suggestion, knowing they would beat them all under the table.

Jaehwan was tipsy and too concentrated on the game to notice the ringing sound in the background.

“Hey, Jaehwan, the phone’s ringing.” Hakyeon pulled him out of his concentration from beside him, pushing his shoulder with his own so he lost balance and fell backwards. Laughing and a little disoriented he didn’t quite understand why the share house’s home phone ringing had anything to do with him, until he caught Hakyeon’s eyes and remembered.

Wonshik.

He had been complaining to Hakyeon all week about how they hadn’t been able to call each other since last Friday. More than a week without talking was a personal record for them, and he hated that fact. What if it grew even longer next time? What if they drifted apart? Was Wonshik giving up on him?

A sudden feeling of urgency had him scramble to his feet, his socks slipping on the wooden floor clumsily as he made his way to the phone resting on a table in the far corner of the room. The phone was old; left there by their landlady for emergencies and for her to contact them off their cellphones, and the sound it made was loud and shrilling – hurting his ears.

“Everyone shut up!” He shouted at the others, now playing without him and Hakyeon – who was busy looking at Jaehwan – and making a real racket. “Be quiet!” He demanded and they lowered their volume just a little after an extra reminder from Hakyeon.

Jaehwan picked up the phone as soon as his hands reached the old fashioned receiver, making a metallic ringing sound as he lifted it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey.”

Jaehwan’s face changed from curiosity and light concern to a full smile and a blush creeped its way across his face and ears. He turned and looked at Hakyeon excitedly and his friend flashed him a relieved smile before Jaehwan turned back to face the wall and talk to his boyfriend in peace.

“Hey.” He breathed back with a slight chuckle. He could hear the relief in his own voice. He was sure Wonshik could hear him smiling.

“You didn’t answer your cell.” Wonshik said, but he didn’t sound accusing or annoyed, simply stating a fact – yet Jaehwan felt sorry, his forehead leaning to the wall in front of him as he bit his lip in guilt.

“Yeah, it’s broken.” His fingers played with the phone cord as he spoke, trying not to speak loud enough for the other to hear. He wanted their conversation to be private. More than anything he wanted to be alone with Wonshik, but talking on the phone was the second best thing.

“Again?”

“I need a new one, but I can’t afford it.” He sighed.

“I’ll help you.” Wonshik’s innocence and his eagerness to help and give whatever he could leaked through and Jaehwan flashed another smile to the wall at how cute it was.

“No, you don’t have to. I’ll save up eventually, promise.”

“But I want to.” Wonshik said stubbornly, his deep voice going deeper as he spoke more quietly as if speaking for to himself than Jaehwan. Maybe because he knew he had lost already.

“I won’t let you, you need to save up for a keyboard, remember?” He said, but his voice was drowned out by the loud cheers of the friends behind him – someone finally lost the game and had to drink – and Wonshik couldn’t hear half of it.

“What? I didn’t hear you. Are you having a party?”

“We’re having some friends over- hang on.” He looked around and saw the kitchen door, and after eyeing the phone cord for a moment he walked over and stepped inside. The cord was barely long enough for him to step in and close the door behind him, the sounds from the room becoming muffled behind the thick wood of the old door. The cord was stretched to its limit and Jaehwan had to sit down with his back to the door in order to hold the receiver up to his ear. “Okay, I’m here.”

“I missed you this week. Sorry for not calling.” Wonshik said then and Jaehwan could hear his guilt. He felt his chest ache at the thought of Wonshik’s sweet eyes looking at him and curled himself up with his knees to his chest. “I missed you too.” I said so softly it was almost a whisper.

“It’s lonely. Without you here.” Wonshik said and Jaehwan closed his eyes and a sorrow grew within him. It was getting harder and harder for them to be apart, a side of him he never knew existed. It wasn’t like him to be dependent on others, but with Wonshik it was different.

“I can’t wait until summer break. Be prepared to have me move into your bed. I won’t leave it for a second the entire break, just you wait.” Jaehwan joked halfheartedly, trying to act less sad than he really was. Even though Wonshik wasn’t far away, they hardly got to see each other in person with their schedules making it challenging to meet. Jaehwan wasn’t allowed to have overnight visitors either. He couldn’t wait for him to finish high school and catch up with him to university.

Wonshik chuckled quietly and Jaehwan couldn’t help but smile. He loved that laugh so much. “I don’t mind.” Wonshik said and Jaehwan could picture him smiling.

“I want to see you.” Jaehwan said quietly, closing his eyes to try picture his face but not quite managing to. Wonshik sighed into the receiver and his breath made horrible sounds in Jaehwan’s ear, making him flinch.

“It’s our 2 year anniversary next Sunday.” Wonshik’s voice lingered on the sentence, thinking. “How about I take the train in and we spend the day together?”

Jaehwan smiled warmly, cradling the phone to his face and his insides tickling him with feelings of affection. Of course Wonshik would count the first time Wonshik confessed to him as their anniversary, and not the day Jaehwan actually accepted to date him – much later. He liked that he didn’t have to tell him that he liked him even that day, even though he rejected him.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” He answered warmly; his voice had gone soft and mushy, like they were flirting on the phone under the covers of their beds. “How about we just hang out in a coffee shop and talk?” He suggested softly.

“I’d love that.” Wonshik answered softly, matching Jaehwan’s tone.
“I can’t wait.”
“Me neither.”

They both paused naturally, their thoughts lingering on meeting the other in one week and being able to hold each other again. To kiss. To see the other smile. Jaehwan bit his lip to keep himself from laughing happily at the thought.

“How was your week?” Jaehwan murmured after a long silence.

“Crazy. I had a group project and my group members were horrible.” He sighed, very obviously still annoyed. “I thought I was a mediocre student, but these people really didn’t care about the result.” Wonshik sounded so pained and Jaehwan hurt for him. In order to be accepted to a university in the city, closer to Jaehwan, Wonshik was working really hard to improve his grades last minute.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Was it hard to get a good grade?”
“Yeah, I had to pull everyone else’s load on top of my own. But the worst part was not being able to talk to you.” Wonshik’s voice cracked slightly, then him concealing it with a cough, and Jaehwan frowned. “You should have called anyway.” He tried, but he was met with a tired sigh.

“I got home in the middle of the night every day, I didn’t wanna wake you.”

“I don’t mind. If it’s you.”

Wonshik paused at that, and Jaehwan heard his breath hitch. He was touched, it always made him quiet. He tried to picture his blushing cheeks and red ears, a slight smile on his small lips. So loveable.

“You won’t mean that anymore when I call you at 2 am.” Wonshik’s tone was light, so close to a chuckle. It made Jaehwan want to make him laugh.

“But my curses are better than nothing, right?” He said and Wonshik laughed properly and Jaehwan’s heart swelled within him and he closed his eyes as if it would make him hear better.

“You’re right.” Wonshik said then. “All I need is the sound of your voice and it will have made my day.”

Jaehwan groaned and he knew Wonshik was smiling smugly at the cheesy line. He knew he loved them and all the cheese he could provide, no matter how much he groaned. Still; he called him an idiot, which made him laugh again and Jaehwan counted that as a personal win.

“I need to go to bed now, sorry.” Wonshik said and Jaehwan felt sad again. He would talk all night if he could, even if it just meant hearing him breathe on the other side.

“I really missed you this week.” Jaehwan felt like he had to say it again to make it clear enough to the other that his longing for him was getting worse. His affection for him was growing. Bigger and stronger, day by day.

“I missed you too. I’ll call again tomorrow, okay?”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Good night.”
“Night.”

--

AN: For those who might be confused: this is a blast from the past. When Kenvi was in the early stages of dating and Jaehwan is off in university and Wonshik still stuck in high school because he’s 1 year younger. Hope you enjoyed~

- Viking