The ravenous man chewed the bottom end of his pen as he scrolled through the webpage of apartments. It was early morning and he was sat at his kitchen table, looking at different apartments on his laptop. He already had an apartment chosen that he liked. In fact, he was to meet with the landlord later in the day. However, he liked to keep his options open.

He stopped his chewing to take a sip of his flavored water. “Why is apartment hunting so hard?” he sighed, tapping his pen against the keyboard. He clicked the ‘next’ button on the page for the nth time that morning. All of the apartments he liked were either barely affordable on his income or too far from where he wanted to be.

His search was soon interrupted by the chiming of the doorbell.

Jaejoong furrowed his brow in confusion. He wasn’t expecting anyone. Without thinking much about it, he stood up and went to answer the door.

“Joongie!” Junsu immediately hugged his neck as soon as the door opened. Jaejoong chuckled at his cousin’s cheerful greeting.

“Junsu! What a delightful surprise.” He closed the front door once the younger had finally released his embrace. “What’s all this?” he questioned, seeing Junsu pick up two large brown paper bags that he dropped before hugging the elder. “Auntie had asked me to drop this off to you.” Junsu answered, handing the elder the two bags.

Jaejoong looked inside the bag and saw that there was a variety of foods stuffed inside them. He let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “I can’t eat all this. I’m sorry that she made you come all the way out here.” He apologized sympathetically to the younger. Junsu shrugged, “I was planning on stopping by anyway.” He grinned.

“Well, you can take a seat in the family room. I’m going to put these in the kitchen. And I’m sure you’re hungry too. Do you want some?” Jaejoong offered. Junsu nodded vigorously, “I’m starving, and your mom’s food is the best.” He said, rubbing his tummy. Jaejoong only laughed, heading to the kitchen first.

Junsu hopped on one of the couches, stretching his stiff limbs. “Awe~, this house is so nice. Did I tell you that I envy you sometimes? You get to live in such a nice home without paying any rent!?”

“Yes, plenty of times.” Jaejoong chuckled, “But you don’t even like the country.” He reminded, preparing a plate of food for his guest. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the house.” Junsu said. Jaejoong hummed in agreement, “So what brings you here?”

“I’m here to visit my favorite cousin of course.” Junsu answered when Jaejoong joined him in the family room, handing him his plate full of food. “You’re welcome.” Jaejoong laughed, witnessing his cousin immediately dive into the food. “Thank you~!” Junsu thanked with stuffed cheeks.

Jaejoong sat on the other end of the couch and watched his adorable younger cousin. “You know your mom is worried about you.” Junsu said.

“You don’t visit as much anymore or even call. Look how skinny you’ve gotten!” Junsu continued between bites.

Jaejoong could hardly take his cousin seriously. He was adorable when he ate and Jaejoong was thankful for it, or else he might’ve actually felt bad from the younger’s words.

“Why does it feel quieter than normal here?” Junsu questioned more to himself as he looked around, eyes jumping over the music box on the mantel.

~

Two months couldn’t have gone by any faster, especially for Jaejoong. However, the two months didn’t go to waste. Yunho treated Jaejoong well. They spent as much time as they could together, taking even the littlest things to heart. They went out to the park, too long walks on the weekends, worked in the yard together, and went to the Jazz club every Friday night. They did everything together.

Their farewell was an emotional one…at least for Jaejoong.

Both of their families had gathered to send him off. His mother, Yunho’s mother, and Yunho’s sister all cried. Even Yunho’s father and brother were misty-eyed. Yunho seemed to have been the only one ecstatic about the situation and assured everyone that he’d be fine.

Jaejoong chose to suppress his emotions. He didn’t want to ruin it for the younger. The best he could do was keep a poker face and force a smile when appropriate, until he went home…alone. Only then did he let out the tears he held back those two months.

However, it was as bad as Jaejoong had imagined t to be. They made it work. Yunho had been determined to make it a comfortable transition for Jaejoong, despite the fact that he was many miles away.

They video chatted every chance they got. And when Yunho visited, Jaejoong stopped all his work and spent the short time with him, and each time they went to the Jazz club. They even wrote letters back and forth to each other like they had when they first met. Jaejoong always looked forward to these letters each week, appreciating them more than he had years ago.

‘I feel like I’m falling in love with you all over again.’

Yunho had written in of the letters.

‘I promise I’ll be back soon.’

Jaejoong listened to the small radio almost religiously. He had to play it at least once a day. To his own surprise the music did bring a sense of Yunho into the atmosphere, as if he could almost actually feel his presence.