"Seriously?!" Minri proclaims and draws attention to herself as Eunyi just laughs,

"Yup. All of it. Fake."

"Oh my God... My life is a lie,"

"Shut up," Eunyi replies while laughing, and Minri joins her.

"Oh wait, so then... Everything makes sense now."

Eunyi nods,

"When did the articles of us dating first come out?" she says, hinting for Minri to put everything together. It takes a few seconds of Minri thinking before she says,

"A few days after Brian's mom slapped Jae at the airport... Wow, I'm oblivious,"

"Just a tad." 

Minri throws a balled up napkin at Eunyi who just laughs.

"Sungjin~" a voice familiar to the both of them calls out from the door, and they both turn to see Brian entering the cafe.

"Oh, great." Min says,

"I thought you two talked things out?"

"Yeah! But, it's still awkward," she whispers, putting on her hood and Eunyi just laughs.

"He didn't see us, it's fine."

Min watches as Brian talks to Sungjin, an interaction she feels like she hasn't seen in a while.

"You think you'll get over him?" Eunyi asks, and Minri doesn't answer right away. She's watching Brian as he talks converses with Sungjin, until he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone,

"Jae?" the girls overhear and then Minri finally answers Eunyi's question.

"I will, soon enough... You?"

Eunyi takes a quick peak at Brian whose smile is bright as he continues talking on the phone, she's not really focusing on the words, more on how happy Brian looks.

"Yeah, eventually." Eunyi answers.

The girls continue talking about different topics, and Minri's listening to Eunyi's opinion on potatoes being the most versatile vegetable as her eyes follow Brian's figure as he leaves the cafe, his steps lighter and his smile just a tad brighter than what it had become.

"Man. Eunyi is the best,"

"I know, right?" Jae agrees, shaking his head in admiration as he settles into the couch. It gets quiet, but it's not tense or awkward.

"Brian." Jae says after a few minutes,

"Now what?" he asks and it takes a few moments for Brian to process that the author is referring to them; whatever they were.

"I... I don't know. I know what I want to happen but... It's gonna be a hell of a journey to get to where I want to be."

Jae looks at him with eyes that aren't sad, just a tad bit tired.

"What about you?"

"Hm?" the author hums in response and Brian says,

"What do you want to happen? What're your hopes for us?"

"You just fulfilled one of them,"

Brian gives a sweet smile,

"And what is that?"

"Being able to say 'us'. To refer to you and I using a collective term. I like that." 

Jae thinks for a while before saying,

"I want to be able to openly call you mine. I want to hold your hand while walking down the streets, I want to not feel like I've done something wrong after I kiss you... and sometimes,"

He looks at Brian who's listening intently,

"I want you to remember. That's only sometimes, though, because I'm grateful that you've managed to fall for me again."

"It wasn't that hard," Brian comments and smiles at the way Jae's eyes widen slightly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Do you need to ask that at this point?" 

Jae's reply makes Brian chuckle lightly and he nods,

"Fair enough."

The blonde gives him a smile, and Brian asks

"Would you be willing to give us a chance?"

"Uh-"

"Wait." he cuts off,

"Let me rephrase that." Brian says and then continues,

"Would you be willing to give me a chance?"

That's a different question, and both of them know that. Brian is aware that them as an item and he himself are two different things. He awaits the answer of the question that has several alternative ways of wording it. However by asking it like this, asking if Jae's willing to give Brian a chance means that with Brian comes everything. By willing to give Brian a chance, Jae is saying that he is willing to go through the suffering again, willing to risk being forgotten again, risking the scandals, the hate, his parents; all of it... The weight of this question is heavy, carrying everything they both stand for, and so whatever words come out of Jae's mouth are just as heavy.

"Yes." he says, and Brian feels this wave of relief.

"I am willing to give you a chance... I'm willing to bet my heart on you despite the odds being against me; against us."

"But what about you?" Jae continues,

"Absolutely. I'm absolutely willing to give my all into us despite us not being an absolute."

"Are you using literary devices to impress me?"

"Is it working?"

The two laugh it off because they both know the road ahead of them may not be too joyful and amusing, so they decide to laugh and smile while they can. It gets quiet as neither of them know how to proceed after confirming their feelings.

"I'm scared." Jae admits,

"I'm scared of your parents, I'm scared that one day you'll think you've made a mistake and go back to Minri... I'm worried that you'll forget me again, and I'm scared of getting hurt by you again, because clearly, the last time it happened I wasn't able to recover or move on."

He looks at Brian with a smile that makes him feel apologetic. 

"But, I think you are too." the author says before going on,

"You must be scared of your parents too, it must be terrifying knowing you can black out one day and wake up not knowing anything... Breaking up with Minri and pursuing feelings you have for a guy despite only having feelings for a girl for as long as you can remember. So I appreciate-"

His words are cut off, once again because Brian couldn't hold back anymore. Jae's learning to not feel guilty after their lips meet, and Brian just becomes fonder each time. This kiss lasts longer than it did the last time, and Jae subconciously wonders if they'll just become increasingly longer each time... and he figures that he wouldn't mind. Brian pulls away, and habitually starts off,

"Sorry," Jae gives him a look that doesn't look all that happy,

"I don't want you to apologize for ki-"

"For not doing that sooner." Brian continues and Jae just stares at him for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and turning away as a big smile forms on his face.

Brian laughs, watching Jae's cheeks flush with a faint pink and then it gets quiet again.

"Hey..."

"Hm?" the blonde hums in response,

"Do.. uh, are you free... Would you like to, uh," Brian's sad attempts at asking Jae out are cut off when Jae starts laughing and Brian just feels embarrassed.

"Geez, is that how you got Minri? You're so smooth.." he teases, and the other smiles. Once the laughter dies down, Brian exhales and says confidently,

"Would you like to go on a date with me? This Friday, perhaps?"

Jae gives him a warm smile and proceeds to reply,

"I would love to."

Brian feels a wave of relief, but he doesn't know why he was anxious in the first place.

Friday rolls around, and it's around 7pm at the moment. Jae is sitting in his car, fixing his hair in the mirror, adjusting his glasses, and basically fixing things that didn't need fixing. He's in the parking lot of the live club, Brian had asked to meet him there because he said he wanted to enjoy some music. Jae gets out of his car, fixes his jacket and checks out his reflection in the window one last time before he goes inside. The dimly lit space is familiar, and he looks around for Brian for a bit, before concluding he doesn't see him. Jae pulls out his phone to text him before the next performer makes his way to the stage, and sure enough, it's him.

Brian sits comfortably on the bar stool, holding his guitar close as he speaks into the mic.

"Uh, good evening everyone." he starts off, and Jae smiles,

"The song I'm about to perform for you guys is one that I wrote with someone in mind. It's not that amazing," he says and Jae automatically doubts him,

"But it is special if I do say so myself." 

The two make eye contact and Jae's smile only gets wider as Brian finishes off his opening ment,

"So, yeah! Hope you guys enjoy."

Jae leans back in his chair, anticipating the sounds that are about to fill the room.

The song starts off with an intro of the chord progression, and the author subconsciously stops breathing as Brian gets closer to the mic, takes a breath and begins,

Stop the awkward distance between us, so frustrated

The one who seems so close but far

Yeah, it's you.

Brian finds Jae's eyes again, making sure the latter gets the message of this song.

Day by day I

Am fulfilled by you

Close my eyes and you show me that

I am totally attracted to you

He goes into what Jae assumes is the chorus,

I think I'm crazy 

From the first moment I saw you

I think I'm crazy

I want you, I want to have you

Baby, you

Baby, you

Baby, you

Brian smiles at Jae, and the author sees the repetition as an obvious hint and can't help but feel happy about it.

He finishes off the performance without any mistakes, at least none obvious to Jae's ears or eyes, and the satisfied expression on Brian's face supports that. The crowd gives him a much deserved applause and he walks off stage with a smile. He puts his guitar back in its case before making his way to Jae.

The two stand facing each other for a few moments, Jae trying to word a compliment or any form of dialogue, really. Before he can, Brian affirms,

"That song was for you."

The other nods and replies,

"Thank you. It was amazing, seriously. That voice and the way you play your guitar..." he trails off and sighs, 

"Thank you for agreeing to come out with me tonight."

"The rest of the night awaits," Jae replies and with that, the duo head outside and begin walking around town, but not before Brian drops off his guitar in Jae's car.

The evening is just beginning, they're making their way to a restaurant that Brian had made reservations at.

"Can I ask how the song came to be?"

"I was just thinking about you; about us. At first, I was going to name it 'J' but, figured 'You' would be just as obvious to you, yet vague to those that don't matter."

"Why would you think naming it 'J' would be a good idea?!"

"Hey." Brian says and turns to Jae,

"You named your bestseller after the phrase on my tattoo, okay?"

That shuts Jae up as he continues walking quietly, murmuring to himself in defeat. Brian laughs, and says triumphantly,

"Now, we're even."

"Don't worry, one day I'll write another bestseller to get revenge,"

"Revenge? How can you get revenge when I'm avenging myself-"

"Shh, shh," Jae hushes and puts a finger up to Brian's lips,

"It's okay. It'll make sense one day," 

Brian rolls his eyes and swats Jae's hand away from his lips. Once the restaurant comes into view, still quite far away, he grabs Jae's hand,

"Let's go!"

They take off, and the action takes the other off guard as he questions,

"Wha- what? Why are we running?!"

"Because," Brian turns to look at Jae, and his smile is stunning.

It looks peaceful, but the kind of peace that comes after a storm, or more of an internal peace when you finally accept yourself. Maybe Jae is reading way too much into it, maybe it's not that deep or meaningful.

"I feel like if I run, maybe I can catch up,"

"What? Catch up to what? Or who?"

"Catch up on the time I've lost. All the moments I could've been holding your hand and taking you to nice restaurants."

Jae stares at Brian's hand and finds that their fingers are intertwined. He doesn't know when it transitioned from his hand being around his wrist, leading the way, but he doesn't object. The author's grip gets a little tighter, and with that Brian's smile gets wider. Jae begins running to match Brian's speed, resulting in the two young men looking like a pair of children playing a game of Man Hunt.

Once they get to the restaurant, Jae's panting and doubled over while Brian checks in for the reservation.

"I hate you for making us run,"

"You're just out of shape, it was like a 3 minute run."

"My burning lungs say otherwise,"

"If your lungs are burning, stop wasting oxygen by complaining and just walk to our table!" Brian says, laughing as Jae once again rolls his eyes.

The two sit down, and receive their menus. The restaurant isn't too fancy, but it's definitely an upgrade from the diner they used to frequent. Jae spends a couple of minutes deciding what to order and by the time their waiter comes, the 2 order smoothly. Minus the part where they bickered over which dipping sauce to order with the calamari, which results in the waiter bringing both the garlic butter and the honey mustard. Once the appetizer arrives, and shortly after, their entrees, the two start talking over light bites of food.

They're discussing the clumsiness of penguins, Brian commenting that they can't help it considering they're always on ice. Jae brings up the fact that when he was little, he wanted a penguin as a pet and the other replies that he'd much rather have a panda. They spend almost 2 hours just talking about this and that, nothing in particular.

By this point, their meals are almost done, Brian's leaning on the table, his chin resting in the palm of his hand as he just stares at Jae who is passionately talking about horror stories.

"And they're just so interesting, you know? We don't know if it's true or not but just the idea of it being a possibility can keep people up at night. I especially like the ones that are short, you know, those 2-sentence horror stories? They're so cool, 'cause they use minimal words but they still give you that unsettling feeling..." Jae slows down and his voice drifts off, noticing Brian staring at him.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"I think you're my soulmate."

The statement catches Jae off guard,

"W-what?"

"I really do."

"Why're you saying this all of a sudden?" 

He's clearly flustered and Brian is saying it so naturally that Jae questions if he's hearing correctly.

"Fell for you once, but forgot you and that me is gone. But, I meet you again... and it happens all over again. You know, I thought I was going to marry Minri, and I had no objections to that, didn't mind settling down with a nice girl who made me feel happy... Then you come along, and all of a sudden I start to question my definition of happiness. I start to not want to put a ring on Min's finger because I don't think it's my place."

Jae stares back, not knowing if Brian's done talking, but he decides the latter has cut him off before so, he proceeds to say,

"I can't tell you that I am, but I can't deny it either. Us meeting again may not be fate considering I didn't move away in hopes you would return... But I do want to hope that you're my soulmate. I want to think that you're the one the Heavens have made for me, the one whose hands feel so natural in mine, whose lips fit perfectly with mine... I think it's you who completes me."

"I should be saying that," Brian replies,

"I can barely remember myself, I'm hardly anywhere close to being complete... But you," he marvels at the art, the wonderous thing, that is Jaehyung.

"You make me feel like I'm not missing anything, like I'm not incomplete. You make me look forward to moving forward, rather than destroying myself trying to remember the past."

They share the silence, their eyes not leaving each other's.

The waiter is about to take their plates away when he notices the two sharing a moment, and slowly walks away, smiling to himself.

"I like you," Jae's the one to break the silence, and his blunt words make Brian laugh.

"I like you, Brian Kang." he repeats and this time it makes Brian a little bit happier.

It's the other's way of saying he doesn't expect Younghyun to return, but it's okay; because Jae likes Brian. Jae likes the one who can play guitar and sing, he likes the guy who doesn't think vanilla is boring, who can't draw. 

Jae likes Brian, and that's all that matters at the moment.

They talk for a few more minutes before calling over the waiter to give them the bill, Brian pays and Jae calls dibs on the next dinner.

They're walking now, the night artificially lit by the streetlights and stores and cafes that are still open.

"I swear, if you pull that crap again and make me run I'm going to throw up on you."

Brian laughs as he comments,

"You're disgusting."

The two walk to a nearby park, but they don't just sit on a bench. They're both on the swings, pumping their legs to reach the maximum height. 

"I'm swinging higher than you," Jae taunts as he sticks out his tongue,

"That's 'cause you cheated and started swinging earlier!"

"Not my fault you were slow and didn't run to the set," 

Brian looks baffled,

"You fully warned that you would puke if you ran!"

Jae laughs, it's full and sincere and it makes the other smile.

"Strategy." he replies,

"Strategy, my ." and with that, Brian jumps off his swing, sticking the landing.

"Aw, you're quitting?"

"I wanted a good view of you failing to land."

"Oh shut up,"

"Don't worry! I'll be here to catch you" Brian says along with a wink, and Jae pretends to gag.

Jae proceeds to jump off the swing, and sure enough his jacket gets caught on the chain. Brian immediately reacts, running to him as he flails, panicked. The fail causes Jae to end up in Brian's arms, and the two share eye contact before bursting out in laughter.

"You freakin' jinxed it!"

Brian's basically cackling, rolling on the ground,

"You're getting woodchips in your hair." he says and the latter clearly doesn't care.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you actually failed,"

"I hate you." Jae replies and begins walking away

"C'mon, it was funny," Brian says as he pulls Jae closer by his hand.

"Let me go-"

"No." he says as he pulls Jae into a tight hug,

"Not again." 

That makes Jae blush, and he can't really hate the way Brian makes him weak.

The date ends off with Jae dropping Brian off at his apartment. It's currently almost 3AM, and honestly speaking, neither of them could tell you where the hours went.

"You sure you don't wanna come up for some tea or coffee?"

Jae shakes his head,

"I need a break from you, we spent like 8 hours together." he jokes and Brian nods his head in agreement,

"Next time, then?"

"Definitely." 

Brian's walking away from the car, when Jae yells out,

"Hey, Brian!"

He turns around,

"Thank you for today! I'm looking forward to a lot more nights like this in the future!"

The moonlight catches Brian's dashing smile,

"Good night! Drive safe,"

And with a nod, Brian watches as Jae drives out of the apartment complex. Brian's walking back into his apartment when he hears the ear-piercing screeching of tires and the frantic blaring of horns. The sound of a crash cuts through the relatively peaceful night, and Brian's stomach drops. He feels his legs go weak as he turns around and begins sprinting to the place where the car alarms are coming from.

He practically drops his guitar case, in hopes of getting there just a bit faster because who knows what difference a second can make.

As he's running, a faint,

"Jae..." escapes his lips as he can't help but worry.

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

THE SONG BRIAN SANG IS DAY6'S UNRELEASED SONG "YOU" you guys should listen to it! just click here!

guys, i can explain- LOL sorry it took so long to update! BUT- how did you guys like How Can I Say, and the most recent I'm Serious? Needless to say, I loved them both. Day6 never disappoints, their music is freaking amazing. Do you guys see all the comments on the MVs, people saying they're new fans and ready to stan? that makes me so proud and happy, they're finally getting the recognition they deserve. ANYWAY ABOUT THIS CHAPTER;

aha yes... that ending (: pls don't hurt me-  I figured I needed to spice things up a bit :'D

Are you guys still here, do you guys still read this? LOL please don't give up on me yet! (: 

Please please pleeassseee leave a comment on your thoughts of this chapter! if you're new to this story and just binge read all the current chapters, props to you considering the chapters are relatively long! xD 

anyway! thank you guys so much for the constant support, and comments. i freaking love comments, and can y'all believe we have 126 comments right now? that's insane! I hope that number continues to grow. I don't really care about the views or upvotes, but being able to discuss and interact with readers is really important to me. so leave a comment! LOL

I hope it doesn't take me this long to update the next chapter, but if it does, you guys can yell at me. love you guys, until the next update, PEACE! - Zen

OH WAIT Y'ALL, if you guys wanna talk to me about anything (i like convos) just message my kakao! @zenpsj.