chapter title from: i like you - day 6

Sunlight is streaming through the windows between the thin curtains, leaving a golden glow in the living room; hinting the beginning of a new day. Seungcheol slowly cracks his eyes open, and his arm feels dead, detached from his body; like it had been weighed down by something -  or rather, someone – all night. Soft pink hair smelling vaguely of jasmines tickles his chin, and he nuzzles his nose into it, getting drunk off the sweet, familiar scent. Nestled in his arms, his head leaning against Seungcheol’s chest, snoring lightly, is Jihoon, who’s still fast asleep with his lips slightly parted; his pretty hands clutching Seungcheol’s shirt tightly even in his slumber. The surfer’s barely awake, but it’s already a good morning for him. He wouldn’t mind waking up to this view for the rest of his life, all warm and comfortable cuddled up with the person he likes the most in the whole wide world…even if it means his limbs would feel numb for the rest of the morning. He lets out a little happy sigh, smiling to himself as he holds Jihoon even tighter, not planning to let him go anytime soon.

They’d fallen asleep together on the couch last night, after staying up late, watching some old Japanese animated movie that Jihoon claimed had been a huge part of his childhood. Wide eyed and excited, they’d settled into the fast-paced plot; a magical adventure full of laughter and tears that vaguely reminded Seungcheol of his eight-year-old self, sitting in front of the television every Saturday morning, waiting for his favourite cartoon to begin.

Instead of the movie, Seungcheol had spent about half of the movie watching Jihoon, smiling fondly when the pink-haired man exclaimed excitedly as recognised the songs on the soundtrack, singing them enthusiastically with his beautiful voice that sent fluttery tingles down to Seungcheol’s toes.

Seungcheol doesn’t remember when he fell asleep last night cuddling Jihoon; but they’d been talking about their lives and their thoughts and dreams, long after the movie had ended.

“So you’re here on vacation...why LA?” They were sitting on the couch, a considerable distance from each other; when Seungcheol asked the question out of nowhere.

Jihoon smiled. “Soonie was here, and he invited me out. Needed a break from work.” Jihoon started telling Seungcheol about his dreary accounting job, and the surfer listened intently to Jihoon’s rants about work and some guy named Mingyu from Human Resources. Seungcheol got the picture that Jihoon didn’t particularly like his job, and it didn’t sound very enjoyable, as well - the idea of sitting at a desk balancing accounts all day gave Seungcheol back pain.

To cut his long story short, Jihoon was simply doing it because he was good at it, and it paid well.

“Wow.” Seungcheol said. He couldn’t imagine Jihoon in a suit, crunching numbers eight hours a day, at least not with his adorable strawberry hair. He’d pinned Jihoon as one of those artistic types, collecting records and listening to just about all kinds of music with expensive bass-boosted chunky headphones, writing poetic lyrics to match with the beautiful melodies he’d created.

“I found my job a bit...dull, and I wanted an escape from all of it.” Jihoon let out a sigh.

“Well, I’m glad you came here. Seungcheol moved closer towards Jihoon, resting a hand on Jihoon’s knee, squeezing it in reassurance.

“Yeah.” Jihoon fiddled with the hem of his shirt, mentally drained after pouring out his bottled-up worries. He felt lighter, like a burden had been taken off his chest. He hadn’t thought about his boring job this much since he arrived in Los Angeles.

He’d always kept it to himself, how much he hated his job, fearing that admitting it out loud might just become solid proof that he’d made a mistake in choosing his career path. Sure, he made enough to survive in Seoul, but he never found the same passion in counting other people’s money as he did with music - always feeling like a soulless computer, analysing confusing numbers for a lifetime.

Maybe this had been what he needed all along - a talk with someone he trusted; though it wouldn’t fix things immediately, at least admitting it was a stepping stone towards better things. Jihoon bit his lip, wondering if Seungcheol might judge him from his life choices.

“To be honest, life never goes the way we plan it to, I guess. I came here to pursue acting, but I never got my big break...look at me, I’m just a surf instructor, and I have massive student loans to pay…” Seungcheol leaned back in his seat, staring at the wall.

“At least you like surfing.”

“I suppose I’m getting comfortable with it. It doesn’t really pay much, but it’s nice to just chill and catch a wave whenever I want.” Seungcheol turned to Jihoon. “You know that saying: choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life?”

Sounded like someone he knew, trotting around the world with a camera pressed to his face, wearing a perpetual smile - “I think you just described Soonie.”

“Exactly.” Seungcheol grinned.

No one said anything for a while, until Seungcheol piped up with a question.

“You dislike that job, don’t you?”

Jihoon kept quiet, though his counter argument (it pays well!) was already at the tip of his tongue. Someone - Seungcheol - had finally laid it out there; the deep dissent he had for his job, the hard truth. It was making him miserable, and the idea of going back to it made him feel nauseous.

Sure, he did well counting other people’s money. But he hated the dissatisfaction he felt every time he finished work, the dreaded feeling that he wasn’t doing enough with his life. It seemed like a dead end for him, hindering his dreams of pursuing music, his true love.

He mulled over Seungcheol’s earlier words.  Soonyoung definitely had fun skipping around the globe with his video camera, carefree. And Seungcheol seemed to be comfortable being a surf bum, despite making less than what he needed to survive. What they had in common was happiness, something that Jihoon wanted too, and he knew for sure that he was never going to find it in his dead-end accounting job.

There was one sure thing that guaranteed him freedom and happiness, and that was music.

Whether it was one instrument and four simple chords, or a whole orchestra that needed precise composition for a perfect blend of harmonisation between so many complex instruments - everything about music entranced him.

He remembered being fourteen years old, young and starry-eyed, writing his first song on the piano. The euphoria he’d felt when he’d finished writing his composition; an entirely new high that lifted him up to the stratosphere, making him feel like he owned the world. The relief he’d finished something he started, and the emotional baggage he’d released in the form of song.

A brand new mixture of feelings that he’d only felt once in his life - the happiest he’d ever been.

He’d never expected to feel it once again when he’d sung the same song for Seungcheol recently, boldly wearing his heart on his sleeve, expressing his emotions through music - the only way he knew how to do it.

And writing a whole new song after his hiatus, for a special someone who made his heart soar, who made him feel a million different things - that was how powerful music was, evoking new emotions he’d never really bothered to explore before. 

Jihoon looked at Seungcheol, wondering how a person could reignite the fire he used to have for music, which was now burning brighter than ever - his musical inspiration spilling over into his imagination, songs singing in his head, waiting to be heard by the world.

Finding out that someone else had the same joy he had with music made him even happier, and there was this tiny little voice in this head that kept saying - music makes you happy; music IS your life.

But would he dare trade money for happiness? After all, money doesn’t buy happiness, but hey, you need money to function in the world - Soonyoung didn’t travel the world for free, lucky boy had access to his whole trust fund when he turned twenty; and that’s what he’d been spending on his travels. Soonyoung didn’t make money travelling and vlogging, but he’s having the time of his life doing both.

“Well, I can see you really love music. Your songs are amazing.”

Jihoon could only smile at Seungcheol’s praise; but his mind was preoccupied elsewhere.

It would take great courage for him to leave his job to pursue music. A foray into murky waters, that held its own risks - the music business was a different ball game altogether. Music on its own was beautiful; but business was the factor that could make or break an artist in the industry.

That would be a bridge he’ll cross when he gets to it - there was no use of worrying himself to death right now.

“Hey. You look tired.” Seungcheol opened his arms wide, as if inviting Jihoon to come closer. “Cuddle?”

Jihoon easily moved towards Seungcheol, snuggling into the surfer’s arms as if he belonged there. His anxiety for the future washed away as he focused on the present instead, breathing in Seungcheol’s familiar scent that reminded him of the beach.

Safe, warm and secure. There was nothing for Jihoon to worry about.

At least for now.

Seungcheol moves slightly to get a better view of Jihoon’s angelic sleeping face. He looks younger, peaceful; and a fond smile automatically appears on Seungcheol’s lips.

Seungcheol’s scared to move, just in case he wakes Jihoon up, so he takes his time memorising Jihoon’s sleeping features into his brain, reaching out to trace the outline of Jihoon’s jaw with his finger. Without really thinking, Seungcheol nudges Jihoon’s chin up gently for a better angle to appreciate his existence.

Seungcheol leans down and gently kisses Jihoon’s pink hair, letting his lips linger as he breathes in the faint jasmine scent.  Jihoon doesn’t even flinch at the touch, so he does it again. And again. And again, peppering kisses on Jihoon’s face, moving ever so slightly, and slowly inching towards his little rosebud lips, until the pink-haired angel opens his eyes sleepily, blinking at Seungcheol in confusion.

“Good morning.” Seungcheol mumbles, planting one more gentle kiss on Jihoon’s cheek.

A slow smile spreads over Jihoon’s face, and he snuggles even more against Seungcheol’s shirt when he hears the surfer’s deep morning voice. The tips of his ears turn as pink as his hair - this is one good morning he never wants to forget.

It’s still early, barely 8AM, but Seungcheol’s got his weekly swimming class down at the public pool later, teaching toddlers how to swim under the scrutiny of their mothers. Seungcheol’s got half a mind to cancel and stay in with Jihoon all day, lazing around on the couch doing nothing. Teaching small kids swimming isn’t the easiest thing to do, and it’s the last thing on his mind right now.

But he’s never one to shirk his responsibilities, and his class (and their parents) would be waiting for him - these lessons are his bread and butter - the only income he’ll make for the time being. Even so, it’s not about the money, because Seungcheol hates letting people down, so he steels himself and convinces himself that he’ll be able to spend more time with Jihoon later that day.

Seungcheol slowly extricates himself from Jihoon’s clutches, but Jihoon growls in dissatisfaction when Seungcheol moves a muscle, so the surfer relaxes back into his initial position, with Jihoon’s pink head resting against his chest. Jihoon looks like he’s going back to sleep again, and it breaks Seungcheol’s heart a little to leave him alone for the day.

But if he gets paid enough this time, maybe he could take Jihoon out on a date somewhere. The thought comforts him - there’s never enough time to spend together with Jihoon, finding out all his little quirks and getting used to them. He tries to imagine the smile on Jihoon’s face - complete with his cute eye smile - when he presents Jihoon with the biggest buffet spread this side of the West Coast: Jihoon sure eats a lot for such a small person.

So for Jihoon, he’s got to go to work.

A few more minutes of cuddling won’t hurt, though, so he sits there, gently Jihoon’s strawberry hair. Minutes tick by quickly, and Seungcheol regrets that he doesn’t have enough time to spend with Jihoon even though he stayed overnight. 

“Jihoonie, I’ve got to go.” Seungcheol whispers.

“Nooooooo.” Jihoon snuffles into Seungcheol’s chest, clinging onto him tightly.

“I’ve got a swimming lesson to teach after this, and I need to swing back to my place to grab a few things.” Seungcheol doesn’t mention that the ‘things’ he needs are the brightly coloured floaties he’d tried to make Jihoon use the first time he taught him how to swim - he’s still miffed that Jihoon didn’t like the donut floatie that he thinks that Jihoon would look absolutely adorable wearing.

(He makes a mental note to enlist Soonyoung’s help to stuff Jihoon in that particular donut floatie sometime so that all his wildest dreams come true.)

Jihoon releases Seungcheol from his embrace, who gives him an apologetic smile. Running his fingers through his tangled pink hair, he leans back onto the couch as he lets out a yawn, watching Seungcheol collect his belongings.

He absently checks his own phone, just in case Soonyoung’s called or messaged him, but his inbox is unusually empty. Seungcheol is preparing to leave, and Jihoon watches him, feeling a pang in his chest that he’s going to be alone for the rest of the day; or at least, until Seungcheol finishes his lesson.

It’s weird how he’d grown onto Seungcheol’s company - now being alone seems alien to him, the accompanying silence keeping him on edge. Jihoon follows Seungcheol to the front door to see him off; and the surfer looks like he’s in a hurry...

“Can I come over to the pool? It’s not like I have anything to do.” Jihoon blurted out, toying with the hem of his crumpled T-shirt.

Seungcheol pauses at the doorway, mulling the idea over.

“Maybe I could try swimming again.” Jihoon takes a step closer towards Seungcheol, feeling desperate.

“Sounds like a good idea.” Seungcheol nods and smiles that adorable gummy smile that practically makes Jihoon melt to the floor.

Jihoon visibly brightens up, his adorable smile matching his strawberry hair for a youthful image that Seungcheol can’t shake off his mind. “So I’ll see you later?”

“Definitely. I’ll send you the location of the public pool. It’s not that far, anyway.” The surfer’s smiling as equally wide, tapping on his phone.

Jihoon’s cell bleeps with a new message - Seungcheol’s already forwarded the location of the public swimming pool. They stand in the hallway awkwardly for a few seconds, waiting for the other to initiate some kind of farewell gesture, but Seungcheol simply disappears out of the door with a quick wink and an easy smile, making Jihoon wonder how could someone possibly look that good when they’d just woken up.

Once the door slams shut, Jihoon meets his reflection in the hallway mirror, and his hair looks terrifying, sticking out in all directions. It’s a miracle that Seungcheol didn’t run off screaming seeing him like this. A bit of regret washes over him in retrospect, wishing that he’d given Seungcheol a hug or something when he left. The house feels empty without anyone else around, and he drags himself back to the living room, flipping the television on for some background noise he doesn’t feel lonely.

Looking back at Seungcheol’s text, Jihoon’s heart leaps at the prospect of seeing the surfer again. He replays the memory of Seungcheol waking him up with good morning kisses as he flops back onto the couch. Jihoon smashes his face into a cushion in embarrassment, because it wasn’t part of his wet dreams; Seungcheol actually did that in real life.

He takes his time to prepare, not wanting to appear to enthusiastic or desperate; even taking time to comb his unruly hair into something remotely presentable. Then he sits down, debating with himself if a shower before a swim would be counterproductive, since he hasn’t had a bath since yesterday. (He decides to have one, anyway, dawdling; peeking at the clock too many times to make sure that he’s fashionably late but not too late to turn Seungcheol off.) Then he takes some time to slather about half a bottle of sunscreen onto his precious skin, hoping to avoid sunburn again. 

It’s a while before Jihoon leaves home for the town pool; butterflies fluttering around in his tummy, nervous to enter the water again, and nervous to see Seungcheol in his element. With kids.

Emphasis on that last phrase.

With kids.

It’s a beautiful day for a walk, though Jihoon would’ve preferred to stay indoors rather than roasting himself under the hot sun; but his will to see Seungcheol is stronger than anything else, and he hums as he follows the directions to the public pool, immersing himself in his surroundings.

The palm trees lining the boulevard look picturesque against the azure sky, and Jihoon pauses to snap a photograph. Is it just him or is today extra beautiful? 

Jihoon arrives at the public pool to find Seungcheol in the middle of his swimming lesson for toddlers. It’s chaos, really - what else can you expect when you put about five kids together by a swimming pool? Three boys are playing tag by the poolside, ignoring Seungcheol, their swim instructor; who’s too focused on teaching a young girl with pigtails in the pool. He’s trying to get her used to the buoyancy of the water, too occupied to yell at the three rowdy boys running by the pool (Jihoon wouldn’t mind if one of them falls in, but that would surely invite a lot more hassle especially on Seungcheol’s side as their instructor.) Meanwhile, another boy is crying loudly, reluctant to get into the pool, while his mother tries to persuade him with some toys.

The whole scene reminds Jihoon of his childhood - that summer when he’d signed up for swimming lessons with Soonyoung, when they were both ten years old. He’d been the slowest kid to progress. Everyone else including Soonyoung, were already swimming pros, within three lessons, while he stood awkwardly by the poolside with his little kickboard, too frightened to enter.

Ten-year-old Jihoon didn’t appreciate the need for swimming, since he’d already planted the idea of never going to the beach in his stubborn little mind, so he thought there was no need for him to learn how to swim. He never had the motivation, even under his former swimming coach’s patient guidance; and encouragement from his grandmother and Soonyoung.

At least now there’s a cute guy to motivate him to swim, which is even better.

A bunch of bikini moms are lounging around with their mimosas by the pool, trying to look as glamorous as possible on cheap sun loungers like they’re a bunch of desperate housewives vying for attention from their kids’ undeniably hot swim instructor. As Jihoon passes by them, he overhears Seungcheol’s name being uttered by the gossiping mums. Of course, who can resist the shirtless surfer patiently handling kids, teaching them how to swim? Seungcheol’s oblivious to it all, encouraging the girl he’s teaching patiently, as she splashes around in the water with a happy smile.

Jihoon picks out a shaded lounge chair, away from the bikini moms, unsure if Seungcheol’s aware of his presence. He sits there alone, feeling awkward, thinking that the bikini moms are probably talking about him, since he’s the odd one out at the pool - he doesn’t have a kid to send to the swimming lesson. In fact, he looks young enough to be a kid to join Seungcheol’s class, and he laughs at himself because that’s the exact reason he’s here. He settles back, ignoring the desperate housewives and turns his attention to Seungcheol instead.

Seungcheol seems to be pretty good at handling kids, and it makes Jihoon’s heart flutter a little - no wonder those bikini moms are fawning over him.

The way Seungcheol smiles brightly when the girl successfully swims a few away, splashing around happily in her unicorn floatie that looks vaguely familiar - it’s one of the outrageous kiddie floaties that Seungcheol had brought for Jihoon for his initial swimming lesson back at Joshua’s family mansion, a memory which feels like a lifetime away, even though it had only been mere weeks.

Everyone who’s watching Seungcheol lets out a swooning sigh collectively, Jihoon included. Why does it seem like everything Seungcheol does is heart fluttering?

Seungcheol calls the three bo