- Set a few weeks after "Distance" -

For the first time in maybe 5 years snow fell in Seoul. Feeling a little childish with how giddy it made him feel, Jaehwan walked through the very same park he usually spent his sleepless nights, on his way home from a long day of work. It had been a good day; he was only a few shows away from having two months of cleared schedules and then it was back to practice for his next musical coming up in the spring. He walked with a bounce in his step as he watched the snow fall slowly to the ground around him and making everything white. If Wonshik was up for it he would drag him with him out right before bed to make a snowman or maybe even some snow angels.

Wonshik was home and had vowed not to take on any new projects until after Christmas. They didn’t do much for the holiday usually, but Jaehwan wanted him at home with him – for them to have some quality time and relax together for several days and spend Christmas day with Kevin*. And then they would spend New Year’s Eve at Hakyeon’s party; a tradition in the making. Wonshik’s last long trip away had been rough on them both and they needed time together to recuperate. At that very moment Wonshik was waiting at home with delivered pizza, at least that’s what his text from earlier had promised.

The air was cold and dry, frosty white mist coming out of Jaehwan’s mouth in puffs as he walked out of the park and onto the street where he lived. A bright light caught his attention; the antique shop across the narrow one-way street was still open. Jaehwan checked his wristwatch quickly, confirming that it was very late for such a shop to be open, and crossed the street in curiosity. The antiques shop didn’t actually have any regular business hours; it was open whenever the owner felt like it, it seemed. Wonshik had pointed it out several times after noticing once at first when he had tried as much as five times in a week to go buy them a new coffee table (he had insisted on buying an antique for some reason he never really explained), only to find it closed every time he tried. Then; one day Jaehwan was simply out to buy some eggs for breakfast at the convenience store beside the shop, it had been open and he had quickly texted for Wonshik to come and buy that stupid table right away or else they might never get one.

Apparently that was the only time Wonshik had seen the shop open for business.

It was most certainly open that winter evening when Jaehwan crossed the street and peeked through the window that was casting light so brightly it made the snow in front of the shop window yellow almost all the way across the street. The shop owner had decorated prettily with Christmas lights all over the shop, it looked like.

Never having been inside the shop before and with his curiosity awakened; Jaehwan entered the shop, a bell chiming above his head as he pulled open the heavy wooden framed glass door reading “Mr. Kim’s Antiques” in English. He realized quickly that ‘antiques’ meant all old things when he saw the vast amount of stuff all over the shelves and floors of the over-furnished room. It was like a jungle of wooden furniture and knick-knacks and books and big watches making loud ticking noises out of synch. He thought that if he had entered this shop as a kid he would think of it as magic. Even now, as an adult, it kind of was.

Despite the sound of him entering, nobody entered the shop to greet him. No eccentric Mr. Kim to complete the image of this shop being a massive strange among all the normal you would find once you went outside. Jaehwan walked around carefully, trying his best not to touch anything with his body or his backpack as he made his way down an aisle of shelves filled with animal figures of all sizes. They looked worn and faded, but he could see the appeal. These were things from a very different time. But they did not make him stop moving. He felt drawn inwards through the shop, past several beautiful and not-so-beautiful pieces of furniture and lamps and art and so on, until he stopped at the sight of an acoustic guitar.

It didn’t look as old as many of the other things in the shop, and very well maintained. It was in a dark brown wood material and had a shiny finish that made it look very clean. Still; it looked like it had some stories to tell. Jaehwan couldn’t take his eyes off it.

“You’re meant to have this guitar.” A voice sounded behind him and Jaehwan almost jumped out of his skin. Turning around in horror at first, only to find an old, grey and very short man stand there smiling friendly at him.

“What?” Jaehwan asked dumbly, even though he had heard the man clearly.

“The guitar is calling to you.” The man said matter-of-factly. Of course the guitar was calling for Jaehwan. The most natural thing in the world. Jaehwan cocked an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. He had heard many salesmen’s bull trying to talk him into buying something he didn’t need.

He had felt drawn to it though.

“What’s its story?” He challenged the old man. It was probably Mr. Kim himself. The man smiled at him again and then gave the guitar a long look, the pause between them bordering on uncomfortable when he finally spoke.

“It’s Japanese. Nothing special. An exchange student sold it to me three years ago. He said it was a gift from his girlfriend, but they broke up and he couldn’t bear to look at it a moment more.” The man shrugged at the story. Jaehwan was almost a little disappointed at the lack of drama in the story, but then again; if the story was dramatic it was most likely not true.

“Maybe it’s bad luck.” He joked, but the man frowned at him with angry eyebrows.

“Nono, this guitar bears a message of love! Don’t you feel it?” He said with true conviction. Jaehwan felt himself believing him. Then he felt a little annoyed with himself for being so gullible.

“But they broke up.” He countered.

“Yes, but it was gifted by a girl much in love it took harbor in the guitar. Like a vessel. It attracts people who are in love; I have seen it many times in this shop. You’re in love with someone currently, no?”

“Yes, but-“

“See?! The guitar knows! It is calling you.”

 At that point Jaehwan had had just about enough of the man. He wanted to go home and eat pizza with Wonshik and maybe have a bath after. Maybe even with him. He was already later than promised by simply entering the shop, he didn’t have time to stand there and talk legends with an old man.

“Sorry, I need to go home.” He said, avoided the man’s eyes and turning towards the door. He only walked two steps away from the guitar before he felt the same feeling of being drawn towards it again. He turned his head to look at it again.

“How much is it?”

--

Wonshik’s pizza was late. So was Jaehwan. Getting worried if the pizza wouldn’t arrive before Jaehwan, and then for the safety of Jaehwan who was walking home from the subway station across the park; Wonshik stared at the wall clock intently from where he stood in the middle of the living room. He was in an awkward stance, stopped up in-between walking from the bedroom to the kitchen after realizing how late it was already and how nothing was on time. Not even him. The table was supposed to be set by then, the pizza should have been there already and Jaehwan should be standing in the doorway untying his shoes – according to his own calculations. Granted; he did have a very complicated relationship with time. It always seemed to run from him when he needed it the most, only to be too slow for him when he needed it to be faster. And then it would disappear altogether whenever he and Taekwoon were working on something good.

He stood frozen, just staring at the clock, for several minutes before he finally snapped out of his trance at the sound of the doorbell. Pizza, finally.

He was able to set the table and light some candles before Jaehwan finally arrived at their entrance, carrying a big case of…something.

“Hey, thank you for waiting. I got caught up with something.” Jaehwan explained as Wonshik immediately walked up to him for a welcoming quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll explain once we eat, I’m starving.” Jaehwan smiled happily at him and Wonshik would never say no.

“What is that?” He cocked an eyebrow at the big case. It looked old and worn, a faded black color covering the awkward shape. Jaehwan grinned at him while taking off his shoes. “A gift.”

Wonshik’s eyebrows raised in simultaneous surprise. “For who?”

“For us.”

Wonshik’s eyebrows spoke of surprise again. “From who?”

Jaehwan laughed and kissed him again quickly and then made his way past him to the kitchen, the case bumping into him as it passed. It had made him blush. “From the universe.” Jaehwan said with amusement and Wonshik was very confused. He followed to the kitchen and finally caught a proper look at the case, realizing what the shape was. “It’s a guitar.” He stated.

“Yup.” Jaehwan confirmed and set it down beside the table and sat down, clearly ready to dig in. He barely waited for Wonshik to sit down before the first slice of pizza was in his mouth and he was chewing happily.

Jaehwan told him about the strange happening at the antique store across the street with great feeling – Jaehwan’s a fantastic storyteller – and put much emphasis on how he felt as if the guitar had made him enter the shop in the first place. It was the kind of story Wonshik would normally blow off as a mere fantasy, but he felt himself becoming convinced from how Jaehwan told the story. It still sounded strange to him, though, and he wouldn’t be convinced completely unless he felt something too when faced with this strange guitar.

“Kinda cool, isn’t it?” Jaehwan grinned at him while grabbing a third slice of pizza and Wonshik thought he looked at least 10 years younger. And so cute he almost couldn’t bear it.

“How much did you have to pay for it though? It sounds like something you would have to pay a fortune for.” Wonshik asked worriedly, thinking Jaehwan might have been ripped off by this old man. If so; he would take that guitar and march into that shop and really let that man know just how ty he was.

“That’s the thing! He gave it to me for free! He said it chose me. Sounds like something out of a Disney movie, doesn’t it?” Jaehwan laughed.

“It really does.” Wonshik said fondly, slowly melting into his chair at how happy Jaehwan was this evening. Jaehwan being happy wasn’t exactly a rare thing, but their moods had been strained lately after his return from the US. Both of them had felt it and they had talked about it, but they couldn’t really see any real solution to it other than to spend some quality time together to get comfortable again.

That strained feeling felt but a faint memory at that moment, with Jaehwan smiling and grinning and laughing at him with stories of a guitar attracted to people in love and therefore attracted to him.

Wonshik loved him so much then. Impossibly so.

--

Jaehwan helped Wonshik with the dishes before he grabbed the guitar case that had been given along with the guitar and carried it to their livingroom area and their couch. He set the case on top of the coffee table and waited for Wonshik to sit down beside him before he snapped the locks open and revealed the guitar.

It was a beautiful guitar from a Japanese brand and the sight of it made Wonshik gasp quietly. At the sight of it Wonshik had expected to feel something similar to the feeling Jaehwan had described having in the shop, but that was not what he felt. A warmth spread through his body; the same warmth he would feel whenever he felt fond of something Jaehwan did or said – something completely ordinary but still so like Jaehwan, things you noticed when you truly knew him.

“Whoah.” He breathed, staring at the instrument. Jaehwan sat still beside him, smiling.

“It feels strange, doesn’t it?” Jaehwan asked him softly, almost whispering as if scared of ruining the moment.

“Yeah.” Wonshik answered. His fingers twitched. He wanted to touch it. “Can I?” He looked at Jaehwan for permission.

“Of course!” He exclaimed in return. “I was hoping you’d learn how to play. I’m sure Hongbin’s willing to teach you the basics.”

“I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the guitar.” Wonshik murmured as he reached out and lifted the instrument from the case. On the inside the case was stunning, covered in red, soft, velvety material and the name of the brand in golden embroidery. When he settled in the corner of the couch with the guitar settled in his lap so he could pluck the few notes he actually knew, Jaehwan watched him with bright, shining eyes that spoke of great happiness. To him, Wonshik with the guitar was a true vision. He looked incredibly handsome holding the instrument and he kind of wanted to jump him right away, but he didn’t want to disturb. Instead he settled with imagining Wonshik playing songs that he could sing along with and bringing the guitar with them to the park in the summer to play for the people passing by. Maybe even have Hongbin and Hakyeon tag along and play as well. The thought of it alone made him extremely happy.

Even though the guitar was obviously out of tune and the strings desperately needed changing, Wonshik spent a lot of time just getting to know the guitar with his hands and trying to make little funny-sounding melodies that made Jaehwan laugh or sway in his seat. A melody sounding like a lullaby was given a slightly eerie, creepy effect with the strange tuning – making them both laugh out loud at how it made them shiver.

“We should probably get it tuned.” Wonshik smiled, petting the guitar before setting it back into the case.

“I’ll have Hongbin do it tomorrow.” Jaehwan promised and moved across the couch so he could settle into Wonshik’s lap, head resting on his chest so he could hear his heartbeat. Wonshik’s arms embraced him in a tight hug and then relaxed, one hand his side and the other threading through his hair, slightly tugging at it at times the way Jaehwan loved it. Jaehwan hummed in satisfaction and felt like everything was back in place again after what felt like a long time. For them it had been. A dark cloud that had refused to leave them no matter where they went.

Now it was gone.

--

AN: There’s usually a little snow in Seoul every winter, so don’t take my word on weather-details of this chapter…

Happy New Year dearest readers! Sorry for being gone so much, life has been holding me back for quite some time but I'm currently making my comeback! It begins with this wonderful mushyness and I hope you still have some Christmas spirit in you to enjoy the magic, haha~

*’Spend Christmas with Kevin’ is a common term in Korea, meaning that you spend Christmas watching the movie “Home Alone” about Kevin McCallister.