Homemade Dynamite

When We're Young

Jongin pauses in the doorway of his home, one shoe lying on its side and the other halfway kicked off. He finds himself startled by the sound of laughter, feminine laughter, familiar feminine laughter, and hurriedly kicks off his remaining shoe. He follows the sound straight to his kitchen, his eyes catching sight of three familiar heads of hair, two girls, and a guy Jongin hasn’t seen in months. Byun Baekhyun is in his kitchen and is the first to notice his arrival. His hair is a sandy blond now, different than the deep dark red it was the last time Jongin has seen him. His smile is still the same and it broadens as he moves over to Jongin.

“Jongin,” he says, breathing the name out in that excited tone he uses, the one that makes him sound like he’s seconds away from breaking into laughter. “Have you gotten taller?” His eyes are narrowed in false suspicion as he regards Jongin from head to toe.

“I think you’re just shrinking,” Jongin teases, grinning as Baekhyun’s face contorts into a look of mock offense. “What are you doing here,” he asks, turning away from his brother’s best friend to speak to the girls that have remained silent since his entrance. Soojung pulls a face at Jongin, but Jinri’s smiling as she leans against his kitchen counter.

“We’re here to see our precious Jonginnie, of course,” she says in a saccharine voice. Her hair is cut short, shoulder-length and framing her face, and she’s got a hint of a tan now. He missed her, he missed them both. He’d met and befriended Sehun, but that just made him miss them more.

Some nights, after spending the entire day with his neighbor, he would wonder how it would be to hang out altogether. Sehun and Jinri were cut from the same cloth, both tall and naturally pale in appearance, and vibrant and outgoing in personality. They had an uncanny ability to draw people in without evening trying.

Baekhyun is closer to the kitchen exit, his eyes are narrowed, and his lips are stretched into an exaggerated frown. “Where’s hyung,” Jongin asks, seeming to pick up on the man’s anxiousness.

Baekhyun turns towards him, frown beginning to look much more like a pout now even as he throws a glare towards the kitchen exit as if it has just offended him. He’s supposed to be getting ready, but he’s taking too long,” he says with an annoyed sigh. He looks from Jongin to the exit once more before slipping out of the room, calling loudly for Jongdae as he begins stomping up the steps. The high-pitched yips of Jongin’s dogs follow after him as they emerge from their hiding spots spurned on by the noise.

“So,” Jinri says, stretching her hands above her head and walking towards Jongin. “How has your summer been?”

They head to his bedroom, Jinri leading the way as if it’s her home and Soojung trailing behind them. Inside his bedroom, Jinri takes a seat at his desk, Jongin plops down on his bed with a grunt, and Soojung falls to the floor, leaning against the bed with closed eyes.

Jongin taps Soojung’s shoulder as Jinri launches into a retelling of their summer together. Soojung tilts her head back to glance up at him with a smile, head knocking against his arm in response to his silent question. If Jinri and Sehun were similar than he and Soojung were in the same. Introverts by nature, the pair of them tended to themselves deep into their own heads on many occasions.

Jinri lets out a dramatic gasp that catches the pair's attention, Jongin sits up on his bed to get a better look at Jinri, his face losing color as he catches what’s in her hands. There are no secrets between the three of them, Jinri is much too invasive for there to be and Soojung’s always there laughing at his misfortune. The girls have a knack for coming across Jongin’s most embarrassing secrets and this time he’s scrambling up to get that book away from Jinri.

“Really, Kim Jongin? You can’t draw me, but you can draw windows.” She says the world windows such an incredulity that in any other instance he would have laughed. Now, Jongin’s trying to calm down the beating of his heart while remaining as calm as possible, relief pooling in his stomach.

“I don’t draw people,” he says, hoping that he sounds causal. He takes the sketchbook away from Jinri. She doesn’t put up a fight, she sits back in her seat, eyes glaring at Jongin and full lips pulled into a pout.

“You drew Soojung,” Jinri reminds him. Jongin is only half paying attention to her, trying to stifle the urge to go through the pages in front of him. He knows it’s still there, knows that it hasn’t been seen, but he still feels shameful and frantic and he’s not sure why.

“When we were little kids. It was horrible.”

“It was lovely,” Jinri contradicts.

“I still have it in a safe place,” Soojung adds. “I think I might frame it one day. Jongin smiles at his friends’ words, feeling his heart finally begin to calm.

“Anyway,” Jinri stats, pulling her legs under her as Jongin walks back to his bed. He hides the sketchbook underneath his pillow and lays his head on top of it. “I heard you got a new neighbor.”

Jongin looks towards the window at Jinri’s statement, his curtains are open as usual but Sehun’s are pulled shut. Jongin guesses that he must be sleeping.

“He’s my neighbor’s nephew,” he explains.

“What’s he like,” Jinri presses. Jongin can’t see her but she has that annoyed tone to her voice that she often has been when she gets impatient.

“Weird,” Jongin breathes out, smiling at the ceiling, it catches both girls’ attention and they press him for more information. He didn’t have a problem telling Sehun about the girls, but doing the reverse makes him feel awkward, his stomach flutters with each word and he doesn’t know why. Maybe it’s because Sehun’s the first real friend he’s made since Jinri and Soojung and he’s a little bit possessive.

That night Jongin sketches closed windows and curtains underneath the lamplight. Sehun is still sleeping, his curtains still pulled tight and not a shadow in sight. He avoids the other pages of his book, the one Jinri had stumbled across and the one Jongin was glad she hadn’t.

******

His roots are showing more now, contrasting dramatically against the white blond whenever he’s under the sun. He’s dressed in white with faded denim shorts and his face brightens up when he notices Jongin approaching.

“Hi,” Sehun says in greeting once Jongin’s close enough. Up close his face is flushed a light pink, and it makes Jongin wonder how long he’s been sitting outside.

“Hi,” Jongin says in reply. He doesn’t know why he always feels like an idiot when just saying hello, he but does. Sehun grins wider, shuffling to the side to make room for Jongin. “Jinri and Soojung are back,” he states as he takes a seat.

“Ah,” Sehun voices, leaning back against the wall. He squints as he looks off into the distance. “I want to meet them.”

“Me too,” Jongin exclaims turning to face Sehun. "I want you to meet them too."

Sehun turns his head, his face is blank, but he stares at Jongin with an intensity that has him fidgeting. “You do?”

"Of course," Jongin replies. Sehun grins, but Jongin only gets a peak of it as he quickly bows his head and turns in the opposite direction. Jongin blinks twice, confused at first by the reaction until he realizes suddenly that Oh Sehun is flustered. Jongin wants to take advantage of the situation like how Sehun typically does to him but all he can do is grin to himself as his heart swells with pride.

"Do you think they'll like me," Sehun asks.

"I told them about you," Jongin says, smiling. He wants to grab Sehun's hand in reassurance, but he hesitates fingers flexing as they remain close but not touching the boy beside him. "Jinri and you will probably get along best. You’re both crazy and hard to get rid of." Sehun lifts up his gaze, meeting Jongin's eyes to glare at him. He pushes his shoulder into Jongin's making Jongin laugh at the action. "Soojung's a bit quieter, but you both have that witty thing going for you. If you run out of things to talk about you can always talk about how mean to me you all are."

"Poor Jonginnie," Sehun teases. "I bet they have a lot of interesting stories about you."

"New rule," Jongin exclaims. "You can't talk about anything embarrassing." Sehun laughs, falling back against the wall, nose scrunching up, and eyes curving, expression open and honest.

******

Jongin looks up at the feeling of vibrations on his desk. He picks up the phone beside his notebook and reads the message, turning his head to his window and locking eyes with a grinning Sehun.

“What are you still doing up,” Jongin asks him, once he opens his window. The night is human, the air thick and weighing him down, sticking to his as he leans out of his window. Just like most days the only sound that can be heard besides their voices in the rustle of leaves every time the window blows.

“Not sleepy,” Sehun shrugs. He nearly leans his entire torso out of his window, eyes narrowed into a look of contemplation. “Do you think I could make it if I jumped the distance?”

Jongin tilts his head, lips quirking into a smile at the randomness of the question. “Maybe? You’re probably the same size as the length between us.”

“Should I try it,” Sehun grins, pushing himself even farther through the window.

“Or you could just wait till morning to come to my house like a sane person,” Jongin suggests, he leans again the window, head tilted up as he tries to catch a glimpse of something in the night sky. “It’s too cloudy,” he muses. Sehun hums his agreement and Jongin looks back down meeting his eyes.

“What were you doing,” Sehun asks, he’s back in the safety of his room now.

“Nothing,” Jongin lies. “...Drawing,” he adds a moment later when he notices Sehun’s glare.

“Drawing,” Sehun repeats, leaning forward out of the window again. “What? Why haven’t I seen any of your artwork yet?”

“It’s not good,” Jongin answers immediately, just talking about it makes him feel insecure and embarrassed, he’s not sure he will ever be able to let Sehun see any of his sketches.

“But you enjoy it don’t you,” Sehun replies, it’s not a question it’s a statement. “People don’t willingly stay up late doing things they don’t enjoy.”

“I enjoy it,” Jongin mutters. “It doesn’t mean I’m not constantly frustrated by it.” he leans his head against his windowsill and heaves an annoyed sigh. “I can’t draw people even when I really want to. There’s always something off.”

Sehun bites down on his bottom lip, eyes warm on Jongin’s skin as he gets lost in thought. “Maybe you need a second opinion.”

“Maybe I do,” Jongin whispers.

******

It strikes him at the arcade when he gets fifth place in a drag racing game after a few elbow jabs to the arm and Sehun's cheering loud in his ear, it's ending soon.

Summer break is almost over, the change of season is fast approaching, before it school will have resumed. It the energy out of him, his mind clouds with thoughts of returning to school, returning to routine. Sehun seems to pick up on his mood and drags him out of the arcade. The sun has just set, the sky is a deep blue and streetlights light their way as Sehun leads him down a familiar path.

"What do you want to be," Sehun asks suddenly, his hands are in the back pockets of his cargo shorts and he walks with his eyes straight ahead.

"What," Jongin asks, speeding up to match his pace.

"You know," Sehun says shrugging his shoulders a bit, "after you graduate what do you want to do?"

"Go to university," Jongin answers on autopilot. It causes Sehun to stop in his tracks, head tilted as he regards Jongin with an indescribable look.

"But what do you want to do," Sehun asks again with emphasis.

"I don't know," Jongin admits. "I just want to go to university, I'd like to have as many options open as possible for when I finally decide." Sehun hums at this but stays silent.

"What do you want to do," Jongin asks.

"Move to France," Sehun admits.

"Why France?"

Sehun shrugs again. "I guess it's similar to your reason for going to university, it's what I think is the best way to accomplish my dream."

"What's your dream," They've long since reached their destination and Sehun sinks into the grass, hands resting underneath his head and eyes on the nearly empty sky.

“I want..." he trails off, lips pursing together as he finds himself lost in thought. "Not happiness, I'm pretty content right now. Freedom, I guess; inner-peace, maybe. I guess I just want to live as true to myself as possible, and France represents that. I can start over."

Jongin's silent, eyes on the boy lying in the grass as he realizes that there's still so much about Oh Sehun he doesn't know. Sehun already wants a do-over with life while Jongin feels like he’s never even started living yet.

"I'm going to finish my last year of high school here," Sehun tells him two days later.

Jongin’s looks up from his laptop to the boy stretched out on his bed reading one of his old comics.

"How come," Jongin asks.

Sehun's frowning, eyes fixed stubbornly on the comic between his fingers. "We agreed it would be for the best."

Jongin thinks he's talking about his parents, he only gets that cold when his parents are brought up. Months of friendship and all Jongin knows about Sehun's parents are that they can't take proper care of pets and Sehun resents them for not taking proper care of him as well.

"I hope we're in the same class," Jongin says. Sehun's lips quirk and the furrowed skin between his eyebrows eases away.

"I do too."



Sorry for any typos I'm just really happy I was able to update before the month was over.

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JungLife
The final update should be coming in the next few weeks. This last chapter is a lot longer than I first thought it would be and I'm not fully finished yet, but I think you'll like it ❤️❤️❤️

Comments

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OdetteSwan
910 streak #1
Chapter 12: I was so afraid that the the aunt will catch them kissing.
OdetteSwan
910 streak #2
Chapter 5: I was thirsting for a Sekai story and I got this from a recommendation. I just started it this morning and I couldn't stop.
Soojung is quite perceptive and Jongin srrms to be clueless. But Soojung seems to be encouraging Sehun.
Meeshma
#3
Chapter 14: Really loved story. Sweet simple happy ending . Thank you author for a wonderful story.
kaigom
#4
the plot sounds interesting gotta read asap :):33
NoorKyra
#5
Chapter 13: Wah.....!!! The epilogue.... I'm so glad Jongin is coming out to his mother...and relieved that his mother never judge him and accepted Sehun..

Awwwwwwwww.... What a lovely chapter....

( ˘ ³˘)♥
NoorKyra
#6
Chapter 12: Wow....!!! Jongin's first thought of Sehun... he's an idol ....??!!! Yeah..... he's can be an idol for his handsomeness...



But ... My gosh.... Jongin finally confess and the real kiss as a couple...





Oooooh.... That's so sweet...



⊙.☉


Oh...... Erm......Eeek.......!!! I'm still want an epilogue... Yeah ...after a year gap and into medical college... I want Sehun with white coat....



Soojung and Jinri..... May her soul rest in peace..... I love this two...
stern270 #7
Chapter 12: They finally got together ❤️ the end was so sweet, I loved it, thank you for writing this
Luna1601
#8
Chapter 11: Update sooon. Aigoo. This is extremely GOOD
stern270 #9
Chapter 11: I hate that boy, how could he do that to Sehun. But i'm glad now he has good friends that care about him
NoorKyra
#10
Chapter 11: One chapter....??? Wait ...no....... I more.....


*pout*


(。•́︿•̀。)