Word Count: 2,600
Rating: PG (Swearing)

a/n: We know it's been a LONG time since we've posted, but after a break for our busy schedule, JKun working and me on my last semester of college, we've decided to pick up writing again! Thank you to those who have stuck around <3 ~C

My dearest princess Soojung,

    I can’t believe you’ve been gone for two months already! I still miss you as much as the day you left and everyone who says it gets easier as time goes on is a damn liar! :( It’s so hard for me to fall asleep without one of your goodnight kisses and I miss hearing your voice when I call to wake you up in the morning for class heehee ;)

Ah! But you know how much I miss you (you’re probably missing me just as much!) but how is London? I’ve been waiting to get more pictures from you! Is Big Ben really as big as it looks in the pictures? It must be since they call it BIG Ben ha!

    Remember how I told you I had an interview for a part-time photography job? Well, I GOT IT! I actually got the call the day after you left but I wanted to make sure it was a serious thing before I told you. Now I can start saving up to come and see you! So don’t go to any museums without me, ok? I want to see how beautiful you look next to all those pieces of art (I bet none of them compare to you <3).

    Don’t miss me too much even though I’m missing you every day, ok? I LUV U!

~Sealed with a kiss, your little Bean

Hongbin’s dimples were on full display as he delicately folded the pink stationery and slipped it into the even pinker envelope, normally one to detest such cliche romantics and corny jokes but hell, he was in love. After drawing his tongue along the edge of the triangular flap, taking a second to grimace at the papery taste, he pressed the flap down to close the envelope before pressing his lips to the point where it met the paper: officially sealed with a kiss.

“Ya, you’re so disgusting Hongbin, how does Soojung-noona put up with all that?” Sanghyuk, his roommate, had walked in right as he was finishing, having seen that ridiculous love-struck smile more than enough times to know what was going on, “How many letters have you sent her now? She still hasn’t written you back?”   

The envelope creased where Hongbin’s fingers pressed into it as he tensed at the comment, giving a small sigh but not losing the smile on his face as he set the letter down and smoothed out the creases, “I’m sure she’s just really busy studying and seeing the city when she gets some free time. I told her to make sure she enjoys her time there.”

Hongbin had met Soojung his first year of college. She had been his group’s orientation leader and though she had a bright personality and got along with everyone, he had noticed the extra glances she threw his way. Of course Hongbin was used to getting that from girls; he knew he was a very good-looking young man with blinding teeth, killer dimples and a toned body that always got people's’ attention.

There was always a lot of girls, and guys now, in college that had asked him out on but since that day over a year ago Hongbin only had eyes for Soojung. It had taken him a few months to be able to finally muster up the courage to ask her, but even as he called her to meet she had already figured out what he was planning, agreeing to date him before he had even officially asked. Sanghyuk had endlessly about that.

They had been dating for seven months almost to the day when Soojung had left to go study abroad in England, having only told Hongbin about it three weeks before she was supposed to leave. He had been justifiably upset but all it took was a few sweet kisses and reassurance from Soojung that she would be thinking about Hongbin the whole time and write him often, promising that she wouldn’t cheat and that they would be able to make things work while she was away.

Sanghyuk didn’t buy a word of it; he hadn’t liked Soojung from the second Hongbin had introduced them. He had told Hongbin as much, but Hongbin said he just needed some time to get to know her. They were sophomores now and if anything Sanghyuk had grown to dislike her more over time.

Sanghyuk saw the way Hongbin hung on her every word and followed her around like some lovesick pup. It was clear to him that Soojung, now a senior, was simply using young, naive, flower boy Hongbin as her little toy. Hongbin often called her “princess” which made Sanghyuk sick to his stomach because he treated her like she was royalty, spoiling her with expensive gifts that cost him months of his meager paychecks from the student union coffee shop he worked at.

“You should really just dump her, Bin," Sanghyuk insisted for the millionth time, met with an eye roll for also the millionth time.

“It’s only been two months, Hyukkie. Relax.” Hongbin ruffled Sanghyuk’s hair on the way out the door to go drop the letter in the mailbox in the lobby as Sanghyuk gave an annoyed grunt before flopping down onto his bed and pulling out his manga.

*~*~*

The last delivery of his boxes came today; moving across London with its narrow roads and different subway lines was a hassle, Taekwoon was thankful it was finally over.

Removing his set of ceramic bowls, warm-toned orange stripes against a cream background, he also became excited at the prospect of being able to cook his dinners. Taekwoon didn’t care much for the fast-food places here and he didn’t like eating out alone.

After emptying the box, he decided he would take a break and go through the rest of his mail. He expected most of them would be for the previous renter since Taekwoon only received bills and coupons; a catalogue to a clothing store, an advertisement for a local restaurant...there seemed to be nothing of importance until--he reached a bright pink envelope.

Flipping it around to study the front, he saw the name, Jung Soojung. The address was of course the one of this apartment. When he glanced at the sender's name and address though, Lee Hongbin, Seoul, it was confirmed the girl before him was Korean. Taekwoon hadn't met many Korean people in this city; he hadn't met many people at all due to his preference to remain alone. He didn't hate people per se, he just had a difficult time connecting to most of them.

As if on cue, a warm, furry body came rubbing against his shin, stepping over his toes. "Hi, Milky." He crouched down to give his pure white cat a good pet, rubbing all along her arching back and swishing tail.

Taekwoon then tossed the letter aside, forgetting about it completely.

A few days passed when Taekwoon came home late from the university, slinging his bag on the floor and collapsing onto the chair by the window, curling his legs up as he closed his eyes in exhaustion.

There were mid-semester exams approaching, and being a music major it meant he had to submit a complete, polished song. For someone like him, he liked to dive deep into the layers of a song and think intentionally about all of the transitions--well...it meant he was sitting for longer hours in one of the school’s music rooms.

Milky jumped onto the arm of the chair, meowing in consolation and trying to ease his anxieties. She rubbed against his black crew neck, leaving behind a few of her white hairs (Milky wasn’t the most compatible companion with his mostly black wardrobe).

“Thanks,” Taekwoon murmured, petting at the feline while his eyes slowly opened.

He glanced past Milky, to the side table with a stack of junk mail on it. Delicately sitting on top of the pile was that pink envelope. There was this sudden burning curiosity in him, Taekwoon always having been a curious cat, so his mother called him.

Reaching out to grab it, he ran his fingers over the names once again...Lee Hongbin. It looked like a love letter but it seemed odd for a male to send one in pink. After another few seconds of consideration, Taekwoon finally figured it wouldn’t hurt. The worst that could happen was the recipient or sender showed up at his doorstep and he’d just give it back. Slipping his finger beneath the seal, he freed the flap and opened it, pulling out the less pink paper within. Unfolding it, Taekwoon started reading the first words: My dearest princess Soojung…

A snort left Taekwoon, for he wasn’t really one into romance novels and this was sounding like one; however, he did like romance movies.

Reading on, this bubbly, reedy voice entered his head.; only a vivacious, enthusiastic guy could pen down such cheesy words. When he read the line comparing her to the beautiful art pieces, Taekwoon chuckled to himself, his fingers lifting up to rub at his temples in second-hand embarrassment.

By the time he finished, he did think it was a shame that this dearest princess Soojung would never receive such a high-spirited letter; it sounded like Hongbin really loved her. Maybe he should respond and let this Hongbin guy know she no longer lived here.

It took Taekwoon another while of consideration, leaving the opened letter on the table as he went about getting ready for bed: from brushing his teeth, toothpaste filling the crevices of his mouth as he glanced back at the unfolded pink paper, to giving Milky another round of loving pets, his thoughts drifting back to a good-hearted little Bean.

As he laid there in bed, arms folded beneath his head while he stared up at the blank ceiling, Taekwoon couldn’t take his mind off the photography-aspiring sender. Sighing out slowly, he came to a resolution, one that he hoped he didn’t regret.

Taekwoon smiled as he slipped the white envelope into the mailbox.

*~*~*

Hongbin knew it would be at least a couple weeks before his letter made it to London but he still couldn’t help the anxious glances he cast at the wall of mailboxes anytime he walked through the dorm lobby. He hadn’t even noticed until it was brought to his attention by a light punch to his shoulder from Sanghyuk, “Hey, you really need to focus on something else, Hongbin. It’s only been a week.”

There was no point in arguing against such an obvious truth. Hongbin wanted to justify that at least he had stopped running down three times a day to check but the words just died in the form of a reluctant sigh.

“You have plenty of other things to focus on,” Sanghyuk continued, “Like getting better at video games so I don’t always kick your .”

That earned a good-hearted snort and shove from Hongbin, finally letting his lips curl up into a smile.

Hongbin had been sulking around the dorm an awful lot, clearly off his video gaming as he hadn’t beaten Sanghyuk at a single game in weeks. Sanghyuk had even (jokingly) threatened to switch roommates if Hongbin didn’t step his game up.

“I do have my first solo photography shoot coming up, too. Thanks, Hyukkie.” Hongbin finally spoke, nodding to himself as he gave Sanghyuk a slightly too hard pat on the back as they crossed the street in front of their dorm, giving him a final smile before they parted ways to their head to their classes.

Unfortunately without Sanghyuk there to be his repellant, thoughts of Soojung plagued Hongbin’s mind the second they separated: a squirrel he saw scampering up a tree with its mouth full reminded him of how cute Soojung looked when she was eating, a woman out for a jog wearing bright green sneakers reminded him that that was Soojung’s favorite color, a stray cat meandering along the sidewalk towards him had dark brown fur the same color as Soojung’s hair and sharp, attentive eyes just like Soojung.

It didn’t occur to Hongbin just how ridiculous all this was until he was sitting in his math class, clearly not paying attention as he was listening to a little robin outside the window whistling and daydreaming about Soojung’s beautiful voice, when the teacher suddenly called on him.

“I miss my princess!” Hongbin had blurted out, loudly, when he was startled back to reality, the entire class erupting into laughs as Hongbin sunk down into his desk and wished he could melt into the floor.

Okay, so maybe Sanghyuk was right but Hongbin would be damned if he ever admitted it.

After his classes were finished for the day, thankfully free of any further embarrassing outbursts, Hongbin shuffled back to the dorm, toeing off his sneakers before tossing his backpack into the corner and flopping dejected down onto his bed, face first. The mailbox had still been empty.

Sanghyuk, who was sitting in his usual spot on the floor in front of the TV, paused the game and glanced back at Hongbin with a groan, “Dude, you really have to lighten up.”

Hongbin just grunted and mumbled something that sounded a lot like “mind your own ing business” into the blankets.

“Well fine!” Sanghyuk scoffed, turning back to his game, fingers clicking the buttons furiously as he unpaused, “I guess I won’t give you your mail-”

“What? I got mail?” Hongbin sprung up from the bed as if it had electrocuted him, about to tackle Sanghyuk but the the younger male was faster, quickly jumping to his feet and leaving Hongbin to grab nothing but air as he landed on the floor.

Sanghyuk held the letter above his head, arm completely stretched as Hongbin stood back up, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to grab at the letter. He was tall but Sanghyuk had just enough height on him that Hongbin was a mere few centimeters too short to be able to reach the envelope, “Damnit, Sanghyuk give it here!”

Hongbin had to resort to fighting dirty, taking advantage of Sanghyuk’s ticklish sides in order to wrestle the letter from him, before he was able to curl back up on his bunk and drown out the sounds of Sanghyuk’s video game as he examined the envelope.

Jung Taekwoon? Hongbin wasn’t aware that Soojung had any family in London that she could possibly be visiting, he actually didn’t really know anything about her family but why would a relative be sending him a letter?

Far too curious and emotionally exhausted from having waited for any sort of letter, he was less than delicate in the way he tore away the sealed flap as his wide eyes eagerly scanned the words on the page:

Dear Lee Hongbin,

    I am sorry to inform you that Jung Soojung no longer lives at this address. If you wish to find her new address, it won’t be helpful to ask me for I don’t know who she is. I hope you have her phone number or email address.  

By the way, Big Ben is quite big. It’s not as magnificent as the Eiffel Tower if you’re willing to travel to Paris. Also, congratulations on your new job. I hope it’s going well?

    I’m sorry you’re missing Soojung, but a better way to stay in contact would be through video chat. Do you have a smartphone or computer?

    Yes, I read your letter. I may not be Jung Soojung, but we share the same family name. It could’ve been meant for me with just a small mistake.

Did you really seal the envelope with a kiss? I touched the paper and just wanted to know if I should wash my hands.

~The new resident at this address, Jung Taekwoon