When Brian left Seoul 3 years ago for a job opportunity in Canada, he left behind various things. Things he promised he'd come back to, and now he finally is - granted, just a bit later than he originally planned. His parents expected him home for Christmas, but work didn't allow it, and then they expected him for New Years, to which he relayed the regretful news that another work thing had come up.

So, he exits Incheon airport already a month into the year that's no longer new but quickly passing, and is greeted by his parents who immediately tell him he's lost too much weight, and drive him home to a full spread meal. The car ride isn't that long, and Brian feels a wave of nostalgia, despite it only being 3 years, as they drive down familiar roads as the sun sets.

They catch up over Brian's mom's cooking that he's come to dearly miss amongst the ready meals he buys on the way to his office, and the constant take out due to his lack of time and dedication to follow a cooking book. 

"You're here for a while, right?"

"Yeah, I managed to get a month of vacation from work,"

"Rightfully so, you're always working!" his mom comments, and she's not wrong.

"I mean, that is what I moved there to do," he replies with light laughter,

"Still... You have to take breaks sometimes, visit us more often," 

"Yes, Mom, I'm sorry this visit took so long... I'll try and come home more," and she nods, satisfied, before urging Brian to eat more. 

"Did you already tell your friends you're back home?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting up with them tomorrow. Dowoon's having a get together,"

"Oh, you've all grown up now,"

"Hm?"

"Get together? It's a party," and Brian laughs,

"No, I still go to parties. This is a get together, they're different," he jokes,

"So that's what you and Terry do, huh?" his dad plays along and they all laugh.

Brian regularly called and video-chatted his parents while he was in Canada. Although he was an adult - busy, employed one at that - he understood that his parents probably missed their only child who moved across the world. He apologizes profusely for the long wait of his visit and his parents find comfort in the fact that he's staying for a month.

"Have you kept up with your friends though?"

"Honestly, not too much. Aside from the occassional social media post, I don't really know what's going on with all of them."

"How are your Canadian friends?" his dad asks,

"Good, they're good. You've met them through video chat," he says with a smile,

"Are you dating anyone?" and Brian chuckles,

"No, Mom, I'm not."

"Why not?"

"I don't have time! I barely had time to see my own parents, let alone get into a relationship.

"You should get married soon." his mom says and Brian starts laughing, almost choking on his food,

"I'm not even that old! I don't need to get married yet,"

"But isn't it lonely over there?" 

"Okay, Mom, we're done talking about this." he says with an amused smile while shaking his head,

"I get along just fine, thank you. Anyway, how are you both?" and they spend the rest of the dinner discussing the trivial things that seem to magnify in meaning when they're across the world. After dinner and helping his dad wash the dishes, Brian goes up to his room that's remained the same and sits on his bed while unpacking, and thinking. 

Although Brian actively kept up with his parents, his friends here in Korea are a different story. They all had their own lives, and sparing a few text conversations here and there, they didn't really talk. They congratulated each other on birthdays, or work promotions, but never went longer than a maybe 10 minute exchange of messages. That's why he was having mixed feelings about tomorrow, Dowoon's get together, wondering if things will be awkward. He wonders if his friends have changed as much as he has, if they'll have fun stories that aren't all just work related.

The sky's already dark when Brian goes downstairs and slips on his shoes,

"Oh, where are you going?" his mom asks from the living room,

"I'm gonna walk around a bit. I miss the neighbourhood,"

"Okay, see you." and he nods before he's out the door.

The neighbourhood that nurtured his childhood hasn't changed much, there have been a few upgrades to the local playground, but that's about it. He walks to the main street, to the strip where him and his friends spent most of their time, back in highschool and university. He looks inside the arcade where Jae got his hand stuck in the claw machine because they made a bet and smiles fondly, remembering the looks of disapproval they got from staff and other patrons. Brian continues strolling, noticing a few new shops which he checks out for no reason. 

It's not raining, but the ground is wet as he avoids puddles of melted snow and ice. The sidewalks are lightly salted to avoid ice build up, but it's not that cold compared to the winters he's experienced in Toronto. 

He passes by a familiar cafe that holds memories and figures he'll buy a drink and continue walking. He enters the cafe and is looking at the menu, that hasn't changed much the past 3 years, debating between an iced drink or a warm one. Once he's decided, he orders and retrieves his drink, and he's about to resume walking the streets but he sees someone sitting at a small table. Upon recognizing who it was, he freezes - or rather, he starts to thaw.

Oh, you've got to be ing kidding me.

They stare at each other, and Brian notices he looks good - better than when they parted ways. 

"Kang Bra," he says, lips parted slightly in surprise and his eyes looking at him with some indistinguishable emotion. That was a nickname only he called him, it developed some point in high school, but no one else calls Brian that. 

"Sungjin." he replies, not knowing if he should greet him with a smile, and contemplating if he should've greeted him at all. But it's Sungjin.

"You're back."

"Yeah, visiting for a bit..."

"Ah... It's been a long time."

"Yeah, it has." and Brian had every intent on walking away then, he had no reason to stay. He wanted to see the rest of the neighbourhood, see if more shops have changed, if the man who owned the restaurant him and his friends would visit every Friday still worked there, he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Do you wanna sit?" 

And yet, his body doesn't listen, because he doesn't give it a command of going away, he doesn't tell himself to deny Sungjin's offer and leave. 

"Sure." he says with a somewhat smile as he pulls out the chair and sits down.

"3 years, huh?" Sungjin says with a soft chuckle that brings Brian back to simpler days.

"How's Canada?"

"Good, good. Work is busy, but I can't complain," he replies, turning the question to Sungjin,

"How's Seoul?" and Sungjin smiles,

"Good. I can't believe it's already been 3 years since you left," he says, looking at his mug with a small smile, as if reminiscing.

"Crazy how time flies, huh?"

"Yeah...Now we're all grown up, working adults." and Brian nods.

They've both grown, Sungjin's previously black hair is now longer and dyed a light brown that suits him. He looks older, more mature, there's something about his aura that's different from what Brian remembers. He wonders how he's changed physically. He wonders if Sungjin notices that he pierced his ear, that his hair is back to black after dyeing it multiple colours throughout the years he's known him, that his hair style is slightly different, the part off to the side just a little, that he got a tattoo because him and Terry were bored one night and-

Brian just wants Sungjin to notice him.

"How are you, Bri?" he asks,

"I'm... Good. I've been good." he says, as if trying to convince himself.

"That's good to hear." and Brian nods, and Sungjin looks into his eyes,

"I mean that." but Brian doesn't know if he truly meant his response.

"How long are you here for?" 

Lie to him, don't tell him how long you're actually here for, don't tell him how long we have to fix things, don't tell him we have 4 weeks to see what'll become of us again... Don't....Tell him.

"A month."

"Oh wow, that's a generous vacation,"

"Yeah, well, after holding me hostage for 3 years, I think I've earned it," he jokes with light laughter,

"Fair say."

"How are you, Sungjin?"

"As decent as I can be," he answers with a pensive nod. They settle into stale silence,

"We're adults and we can't carry a conversation that well," Sungjin says with a laugh, mainly at them.

"I thought we were doing pretty well as exes," 

"And I thought we were doing pretty well in our relationship." and Brian smiles sadly,

"So did I." 

Where they went wrong is something Brian can't locate, but they went wrong. Really wrong. But Brian's not sure what's worse, how they ended things or the fact that he's not too sure if they really ended anything.

"You're going to Dowoon's place tomorrow, right?" Sungjin asks and Brian nearly chokes on his coffee,

"Y-You're going?"

"Yeah..." and Sungjin gets the message,

"Unless you don't want me to, I mean I totally get it, it's a get together for you returning..."

"No, it's okay." Brian assures, and makes a mental note to call Dowoon later.

"So...Kang Bra," Brian wants to tell him to not call him that because it still makes his heart flutter. 

"Tell me about Canada," and he does. Hesitantly, and leaving out certain parts and experiences from his 3 years in Toronto.

He brings up Terry and Don, his architecture work that he recently had a show for, his apartment and places he likes to visit around it. Sungjin listens to him with his chin in the palm of his hands and amongst the words of his life, Brian can't help but wonder what happened to them. He knows Sungjin, he knows his eyes that're looking at him so fondly, he knows that small smile that gets a bit wider whenever Brian mentions a funny incident. He realizes he's gone from telling himself to run so far away from Sungjin, to relaying the past 3 years without him to him. It was terrifying, the way Sungjin still had so much power over him without even doing anything, without enforcing anything.

Then Brian realized that Sungjin wasn't powerful, he was just weak. Which is why after getting more comfortable from talking about himself, he asks Sungjin,

"Tell me about Seoul." and it's Brian turn to listen, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms in his lap as Sungjin tells stories just like he used to. With that accent from his hometown, with animated hand gestures, with exaggerated facial expressions that he doesn't think Sungjin himself notices he does. Sungjin is a music teacher at a high school near Seoul, and Brian listens to various student stories.

"Do you still sing?" Sungjin asks, catching Brian off guard,

"Oh, no, no... I don't."and he recalls several karaoke nights in Toronto.

"That's a shame... You should start again,"

"Nah," he waves a dismissive hand,

"I wasn't that great-"

"Are you kidding? You're better than me." 

"I am not, everyone loved your rasp more,"

"Who cares what everyone liked? Your voice was smooth when you wanted it to be, raspy when you felt like it and your range!" Sungjin says, irritated, making Brian laugh and Sungjin smiles at that familiar sound.

"Let's find common ground on our duets, then?" he offers and Sungjin nods,

"Truce." he replies and Brian smiles.

He remembers singing in Sungjin's room, or his own basement, their voices mingling with the strums of an acoustic guitar that either he or Sungjin played. They used to joke about being on stage on day, but they were satisfied with school festival performances and other small stages. They were satisfied with each other.

They continue talking about trivial things, catching up and Brian almost despises the comfort and warmth Sungjin provides when they talk like this. It's only been 3 years, and honestly, Brian thought they flew by. But talking to Sungjin and realizing just how long they've been apart makes him feel like 3 suddenly had a 0 at the end. Maybe it was because Sungjin didn't come to the airport when he left, maybe it was because they broke up a week before Brian flew to YYZ, or it could also just be the fact that despite what they went through, he still missed Sungjin in those 3 years.

"Oh, shoot, I should get going," Sungjin says when he takes a look at his phone,

"I have a few theory packages to mark before Dowoon's thing tomorrow, so... Sorry to cut this short, Bri," he explains, getting up from his seat and putting on his jacket,

"Oh, no worries, I should get going too. I want to look around the neighbourhood a bit more," and they exit the cafe together and part on the sidewalk.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Sungjin prompts, and Brian just nods,

"Oh Kang Bra..." he never realized how much he missed that nickname,

"Hm?" 

"It was... good seeing you." he says, a sad smile for reasons Brian knows, and the same reasons he too has a sad smile and replies,

"You too, Sungjin." and Brian watches Sungjin's back as he turns and walks to his car. 

Brian takes one more look at the cafe that was their old date spot and wonders why Sungjin was there, having a drink alone.

 

When Brian gets home about 2 hours later than when he left, having spent half of that time with Sungjin, he says good night to his parents with no plans on sleeping. He checks the time, figures it's still reasonable and puts his phone against his ear as it rings.

"Hello?

"Dowoon-ah," 

"Yeah, Brian?"

"What the Hell were you thinking inviting Sungjin tomorrow?!" and the line goes quiet for a couple of seconds. 

"Aw ..." Dowoon mumbles and Brian would've laughed if it were different circumstances,

"Wait, how do you know?"

"I ran into him today..."

"See! It's fate! We invited him because he's our friend and you guys claimed that things were fine!" he hears,

"We?!"

"Yeah, this was a group scheme, I'm not taking the blame alone."

"I'm not going tomorrow." Brian says, 

"Bri!"

"Why would you invite him?!"

"If you ran into him and know we invited him, that means you guys talked," Dowoon defends,

"Yeah, so? We just talked."

"Talked enough for Sungjin to bring up this get together," he points out,

"I just don't wanna go if he's gonna be there..."

"Just come! You talked to him today, it can't be that bad tomorrow,"

"Yes it can- it will! It'll be a lot worse because we already talked today. 'Cause I'm an idiot and I sat down when he offered, and I'm clearly still not over him and putting us in a party with potential alcohol and no time limit from a closing cafe sets us up for a lot of things that I won't be strong enough to decline."

The line goes quiet again,

"Okay." Dowoon says,

"If you don't wanna come, I'll tell Sungjin it's cancelled and the rest of us can go grab a bite or something." Brian appreciates the sentiment but he groans,

"No, you can't,"

"Why?"

"Cause I told him I was going too. And it's Sungjin, he'll know it's because of me that he's getting cancelled on,"

"But this get together is for you coming home after 2 years. He'll understand,"

"It's because he'll understand that I need to go!"

"So why did you call me all angry if this is your conclusion?!"

"Because this is my first night in Korea and of course I run into him! And I'm mad at myself because I'm a mess in front of him, and I really wanna go to the get-together because I still wanna talk to him, because I still want him!" Brian rambles, frustrated and Dowoon's quiet for a few moments.

"This is gonna be a long vacation, huh?"

"Hopefully not."

"Honestly Bri, we can cancel it."

"No, I can do this. It's civil socializing... I'm 26, I'm grown, I can do this."

"Well..." and Brian scoffs,

"Wow, thanks that really boosted my confidence."

"I don't get why you and Sungjin broke up in the first place! And you both still want each other, so I don't get why it's that complicated,"

"Because things like this are never simple."

"Okay, fine I won't talk like I knew everything about your relationship. Just tell me if you want me to cancel tomorrow, or uninvite Sungjin. I don't want you to feel like during a party that's supposed to celebrate you being home in so long." Too late, meeting Sungjin again was the beginning of a snowball that in this fading cold will melt into nothing. 

"Thanks, Dowoon... I'll text you tomorrow."

"Dammit Sungjin, why'd he have to open his mouth?" Dowoon jokes and succeeds in making Brian laugh. They end the call with a good night and Dowoon assuring Brian that it's okay if he doesn't want to go tomorrow.

Yet he shows up in front of Dowoon's door, wearing a black turtleneck paired with a light brown, long wool jacket. He checks himself out using the camera on his phone, and then scolds himself, because why is he concerned with looking good. He exhales, wondering if fate will screw with him again and Sungjin will open the door, and he knocks. Thankfully, Dowoon opens the door for him, excitedly and immediately hugs him when the door's open enough. 

"It's good to see you!" Dowoon says, sincerely and with a wide smile.

"You too, Dowoon-ah." he replies,

"Is he here yet?" he whispers,

"Not yet, he said he'll be late." and with that, he hands over the bottle of wine he brought to Dowoon who brings it to the kitchen, and he greets the rest of the boys.

Jae and Wonpil are bickering over something stupid when they stop talking and get up with wide eyes and smiles to greet Brian. They each hug him, tell him it's been too long. Jaebum, Jinyoung and Mark greet him too and he gets startled by the dramatic scream Jackson lets out when he comes out of the bathroom and tackles Brian. 

Soon the initial excitement calms down and they settle in the living room to talk.

"Geez, 3 years!"

"Since I left. But have you guys kept in touch with each other?"

"We met up here and there, but life got busy." Jae says, 

"I'll drink to that," Dowoon says, bringing with him a case of beers from the balcony,

"You coming home was a great reason for us to all get together again." he says, sitting beside Brian and offering him a bottle, and he takes one, as he plans to take taxi home.

"So how've you been!" Jaebum asks, settling into the chair,

"Good," Brian responds with a nod and small smile,

"It was lonely at first but it's fine now."

"Lonely, huh?" Jinyoung asks, raising his eyebrows suggestively and Brian shrugs it off with a roll of his eyes and laughter. They hear a knock at the door and Wonpil, who was closest, goes to open it.

"Is it the food?" Dowoon asks,

"Not quite," Sungjin says with a smile as he's taking off his scarf,

"Would love to be someone's choice of take out though," he jokes from the foyer before walking to the living room and realizing Brian was there. 

"Is it snowing?" Jae asks upon seeing his jacket and hair sporting some flakes,

"It's just flurries. Nothing bad," he answers and greets everyone, him and Brian sharing an awkward smile. He sits on the a chair across from Brian, the coffee table in between them. 

"So Bri, go on about being lonely in Toronto," Jae prompts and Brian wants to reach over Mark and Jackson to smack him.

"It wasn't that lonely," he says, 

"Just different without all of you guys, you know?" and he looks around the room, eyes lingering on Sungjin just a bit longer than he'd admit.

"How have all you guys been though?" and they begin talking about the lives that continued once Brian left. The food comes in a few minutes later, and they continue talking about themselves, filling each other in, laughing altogether and reminding Brian of their high school and uni days.

"No one looks that different,"

"You were gone 3 years, Bri, not 30. Plus, you don't look different either," and the guys nod in agreement,

"Your hair looks good in black though," Sungjin comments, and Brian's slightly surprised.

"Thank you, that brown suits you," and Sungjin nods gratefully.

Of course, the inevitable topic of relationships comes up mainly because Jaebum and Jinyoung have gotten together and so after the teasing, the couple extended the question of,

"Any of you guys in relationships?" and there's a collective "nope" "no" and almost synced shake of heads.

"Really, Sungjin? I thought you were seeing that guy," Jackson says, oblivious to the way Brian stiffens at that sentence. Sungjin naturally shakes his head,

"Nah, things didn't work out, he was boring," he replies casually, and Dowoon and Jae share a look because Jackson just had to bring that up. Jackson just hums in acknowledgement,

"What was his name again?" Sungjin laughs,

"I never told you because I knew it wasn't gonna last." 

"Wow, that's mean,"

"That's realistic," Sungjin replies before taking a sip of his pop. 

"How about you, Brian? Got anyone in Toronto?" Mark asks, nudging him with his elbow and Brian shakes his head,

"Nah," he answers, 

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't really have time,"

"Not even for flings?" 

"Someone needs to lock Mark and Jackson up before Brian and Sungjin start feeling uncomfortable," Wonpil quietly whispers to Dowoon,

"I would but it's funny seeing them pretend not to care about each other's business," he replies and Wonpil suppresses laughter because he agrees.

"I-I mean, a couple flings here and there..." he admits.

That's why Brian can't feel any way about Sungjin having a potential boyfriend - it's not like he never messed with anyone in Toronto. Plus, it's not like they're dating, so Brian shouldn't care. And yet he steals glances at Sungjin to see if he reacts.

And soon enough, their large group conversation splits up into smaller conversations, everyone catching up with each other in detail. After a couple of hours, Jaebum and Jinyoung say they're going to leave, and offer to take Mark and Jackson home too, which they accept the ride gratefully. 

Dowoon's cleaning up the kitchen, Sungjin's helping him and Jae and Wonpil went to go grab some dish soap that Dowoon ran out of. Dowoon's phone rings and he tells Sungjin he'll be back before retreating to his room.

"Need some help?" 

Sungjin's turns from the sink to see Brian, as if he didn't recognize the voice.

"Yeah, sure, if you don't mind," and Brian walks to his side and helps dry the glasses.

"So..."

"So?"

"You came." Sungjin says and Brian snorts,

"Well yeah, it was for me, why wouldn't I?"

"'Cause I would be here."

"But you knew I was coming,"

"Not really. I didn't know for sure. When I asked you yesterday, you nearly choked on the fact I was going and the second time you just nodded..."

"So, knowing that, you still came?"

"I waited till you arrived to come."

"What?"

"I told Dowoon that I would go if you went, and if you didn't show, told him to text you I cancelled so that you could enjoy."

"He just said you'd be late,"

"And I was, no?"

"But you're still here." and Sungjin turns to him,

"Because I wanted to see you again."

"Don't do this Sungjin..."

"Because you don't want me to, or because you feel the same?"

"Because I know you know me, and I just needed to pretend like I had some resolve against you." Sungjin finishes the last of the dishes and says,

"Can we continue our conversation from yesterday?"

Brian puts the drying rag down and goes to the fridge, grabbing another beer and saying,

"Why not?" before following Sungjin to the living room where they just sit on the couch, talking. 

Brian's glad he grabbed another bottle, acting as liquid courage, the fluid feigned bravery that allows him to talk to Sungjin without becoming a mess. It's so strange. Talking to Sungjin like this, being close to him again. 3 years worth of time did no healing.

After another hour or so, with the 5 of them in the living room, Sungjin and Brian still on the couch, Brian gets up and takes out his phone.

"What's up, Bri?" Jae asks,

"I'm gonna call my cab now,"

"Cab?" Sungjin furrows his eyebrows,

"I could drive you home."

Tempting offers are usually not the best offers.

"Oh no, it's okay,"

"It's really not a problem. Why would you pay money? Or if it's me as the driver you're uncomfortable with, Jae or Pil can take you-"

"No, we're staying over."

"What?" Brian asks, amused,

"Yeah, they practically live here, it's annoying." Dowoon says, rolling his eyes,

"Hey, we help out around the house," Jae defends,

"Don't say that like it's our place!" Dowoon says, whipping a pillow at him.

"Are you sure you're okay to drive me?" Brian asks,

"I haven't had a sip of alcohol if that's what you're wondering," No, I'm wondering if I'll actually go home tonight.

"Just go with him Bri, a taxi would just be a waste of money," Wonpil prompts and he can't deny that. 

Brian knows he shouldn't, but he accepts Sungjin's offer. He curses at Sungjin who's seemingly such a giver, but he still says goodbye to Dowoon, Wonpil and Jae, thanking them for a good night. They get into Sungjin's car that hasn't changed, and he habitually reminds Brian to put on his seatbelt, just to make sure. 

"Do your parents still live in the same place?" he asks and Brian's staring at the soft flurries that land and melt on the windshield. 

"Sungjin..." Brian starts, 

"Hm?" and after a couple moments of silence he speaks again, 

"What's wrong, are you okay?" Sungjin asks, genuinely concerned.

"I haven't seen you in 3 years..." he starts and Sungjin nods,

"Yeah."

"Are you really gonna just take me home?" the question surprises him, but at the same time, he expected it from Brian. It's quiet for a few seconds before Sungjin responds,

"Do you want me to?"

---

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Ok I know I have that SungPil fic going on, but this story boutta be a short 3 chapters lol and I'll get back to that SungPil one ASAP! Anyway SungBri has been on my mind lately, so I hope guys enjoyed that :D

Please subscribe to my YT channel, where I do vocal covers, just click the photo below to check it out hehe

If you guys wanna be friends, I'm always down for convo and making MyDay pals! :D 

twitter & instagram: @zenkrcovers | kakao: zenaya

thanks for reading! <3 - Zen