“Youngjae?”

In the middle of the canned food isle, Youngjae is trying to decide between two brands of tinned baked beans when someone calls out his name. Whirling around toward the direction the voice just came from, Youngjae finds someone standing there. For a few moments he just stares blankly and then his jaw drops as he is hit with recognition.

“J-jaebeom hyung?” Youngjae breathes in shock, his heart rate picking up pace instantly at the sight of an old friend from college and probably the biggest crush Youngjae has ever had in his entire life.

“Hi, Jaebeom greets, clutching on to his shopping cart. He knows he is probably smiling like an idiot, but it can’t be helped. He’s been hoping to naturally run into Youngjae here in Seoul one day, but didn’t think it would ever happen. 

“Hi.” Youngjae replies, fully turning towards Jaebeom now to give him his full attention. It’s at this moment that he takes in the whole of Im Jaebeom in his handsome glory. Maybe it’s because no one ever really looks good in past times thanks to advancing trends, but Youngjae thinks Jaebeom looks a whole lot better now than back when they knew each other in school.

Gone are the ripped jeans, the T-shirts with naughty messages on them, the blonde hair and the sneakers. Jaebeom looks more mature and sophisticated now with his neat dress pants, button down shirt and long trench coat. His (now) dark hair looks longer than Youngjae has ever seen and it’s neatly styled with a part down the middle so that it falls to either side of his head. Jaebeom looks like an actual accountant, but Youngjae certainly isn’t complaining. Jaebeom looked great before and he looks great now. “I didn’t know you were back in town.” Youngjae speaks up again, scrambling to fill the silence that’s quickly becoming awkward.

“I’ve only been back for 4 few months. I run my own wealth management service now. I worked for my company for a long time and did some growing. It was time to start my own thing.”

“That’s amazing. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. What’s going on with you? Are you a practicing psychologist now?”

“Yeah. I have a practice at a hospital. I’m in the middle of furthering my education so that I can start a private practice someday.”

“That sounds good. I’m glad you’re doing well for yourself.”

“Thanks.”

They fall into a silence during which Jaebeom steals a moment to give Youngjae a quick once over and appreciate how good he looks. He still looks as cute as ever despite the aura of maturity he has now. Youngjae gained a little weight and he styles his hair a little differently nowadays and Jaebeom swears that’s that has changed. His eyes are still warm and optimistic with enthusiasm, his smile is still bright and he still has his perfect set of teeth. It must be Youngjae’s day off today since he is wearing jeans and a sweater. He looks great.

Jaebeom never forgot Youngjae for a single second and he has desperately been trying to get back in touch with him. The social media option has always been open of course but there was no way to contact Youngjae and not cause a fracas.

To put it simply, Youngjae is Jaebeom’s best friend Mark’s ex-boyfriend. That’s why it’s technically wrong on so many levels that Jaebeom has had a crush on Youngjae for years now and has been actively trying to contact him. That’s also why even though Jaebeom found out when he got back To Seoul that Mark and Youngjae are still raising their pet dog together and were still very much in touch, it’s been impossible for Jaebeom to satisfy his curiosity about what Youngjae is up to these days. Jaebeom has been dying to know how Youngjae is, to see him, but he can’t just simply ask Mark so many questions without raising eyebrows.

 Even now, Jaebeom shouldn’t be thinking about keeping in touch with Youngjae no matter how glad he is to finally see him again. Yet when Jaebeom opens his mouth again to speak, exactly the opposite of what he should be doing is what tumbles out, “we should hang out some time, if you don’t mind.”

Youngjae’s smile is threatening to split his face in two. “I’d love to catch up. Is tomorrow too soon? We can have lunch together or something.”

“Sounds great.”

“May I have your number?”

“Sure.”

*********

 Jaebeom is literally hyperventilating when he gets home to his other best friend Jinyoung’s apartment. “I agreed to have lunch with Youngjae.” He says to Jinyoung who is causally seated on the sofa and surfing through TV channels. Probably sensing that a juicy story is coming on, Jinyoung puts the remote control down and pats the space beside him on the couch, inviting Jaebeom to sit. He waits until Jaebeom puts his shopping bags on the floor beside the couch and takes the seat offered and then he asks, “Calm down and tell me what happened, slowly please.”

While taking deeps breathes to try and calm down, Jaebeom appreciates Jinyoung’s never ending patience. “Okay, I met Youngjae at the grocery store-”

“The same Youngjae you had a crush on while he dated Mark?”

“The very one.”

“well that’s exciting, isn’t it? All you’ve talked about for forever now is is your hopes of seeing Youngjae again.”

“I didn’t think it would ever happen. When I met him today, I was so ready yet not ready at all.”

“I don’t think you can ever really be ready for something like that, but anyway tell me more about this lunch the two of you have tomorrow.”

“We had a little small talk and then out of nowhere I blurted out the offer, Youngjae said yes and here we are.”

“So you are panicking right now through all fault of your own?” Jinyoung chuckles, amused by how ridiculously silly his friend is being. Jaebeom is too preoccupied with his problems to take offense. In fact Jaebeom doesn’t even notice when he launches into gushing about how good Youngjae looked at the supermarket.

“He had the cutest sweater on. His skin looked softer and paler than I remember. I think he gained a little weight too.” Jaebeom smiles dreamily. “I don’t know how he can look younger after years have gone by. I think my heart stopped when I saw him.”

“wow. Sounds like he got dreamier.” Jinyoung is grinning as he asks, “Please tell me you didn’t embarrass yourself in front of him.”

Jaebeom groans and drops his head on his friend’s shoulder, shamelessly snuggling.  “I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t embarrass myself in front of a crush.”

“So, have you thought about what seeing Youngjae again entails?”

“Not really.”

“Let me rephrase. Are you going to date him?”

“I can’t. I’ll be the that still has a crush on his friend’s man.”

“Tell him your feelings are recent.”

“That doesn’t make it any better. I don’t want Youngjae to think of me as the desperate dude the tries to hit on his friend’s ex.”

Jinyoung chuckles and fondly ruffles Jaebeom’s hair, “how loyal of you. I’m a proud best friend.” he pauses for a beat and then asks, “So what will you do then?”

“I have no idea.”

“Any plans to keep seeing each other after tomorrow’s lunch?”

“I hope so, but I’m not sure Youngjae will want to continue hanging out with me. On top of that, he could already be seeing someone else. I don’t know that he is single. Actually I doubt he is single. Why would someone like that be single?!”

“Don’t start stressing already. One day at a time. For now let yourself enjoy the fact that your long time crush is back in your life.”

Jaebeom grins, “I guess you’re right.” His mind wonders off thinking about Youngjae. He’s not sure how long he’s been at it when Jinyoung nudges him and successfully pulls him from his thoughts.

“hm?” Jaebeom turns towards Jinyoung, who now looks rather solemn.

“I think I’m going to break up with Jackson.”

Jaebeom just regards his friend for a little while, waiting for him to say more. The mood has drastically changed suddenly. Gone is the bright Jinyoung from just a second ago and has been replaced with a sad and pensive version of him. Jinyoung must have been gloom from the moment Jaebeom came home. Jaebeom berates himself for being so hung up over Youngjae that he didn’t notice his friend’s anguish.

When it becomes clear that Jinyoung won’t say any more, Jaebeom answers, “Is it the distance?”

“I just can’t anymore. I think I deserve better.”

“You do, but Jackson will be crushed.”

“Yeah.” Jinyoung lets out a shaky breath

“I read the news articles you forwarded to me, the ones about people spreading malicious comments about Jackson’s record label. He must be having a hard time right now.”

“He is and I hate to end things with him at a time like this, but there is never a right time to breakup with someone. I have to do it.”

It appears Jinyoung has made up his mind, so Jaebeom decides to give up trying to discourage him. Instead he asks, “Are you okay?”

“No.” Jinyoung’s voice cracks and he drops his head on Jaebeom’s shoulder.

Jaebeom wraps his arm around Jinyoung shoulders and gives him a comforting squeeze. “”you’ll be okay, both you and Jackson.”

********

Youngjae gets home and takes his groceries to the kitchen to pack them up their designated places. He is still positively buzzing with excitement and can’t stop smiling because he can’t stop thinking about his encounter with Jaebeom earlier. Just as he is about to start taking the groceries out, his dog Coco rushes into the room and greets him with excitement, pawing at his feet and eagerly looking up at him.

“Hey, honey.” Youngjae coos, leaning down to pick his baby up. He kisses her on the head and scratches under her chin. “How was your day, hm? Are you doing okay? I hope you weren’t scared here by yourself”

Coco’s sitter Minho had an emergency and had to leave earlier than usual this evening. Minho’s shift is supposed to end when Youngjae gets home between 6PM and 7PM. 

Youngjae does a bit more cooing until his phone vibrates in his trousers pocket and interrupts him. Putting Coco down, Youngjae reaches into his pocket and takes out his phone. It’s his little sister calling.

“Hey, cute Oppa.” Yerim says the moment Youngjae answers, even before he says anything.

“What do you need, Yerim?” Youngjae drawls, smiling fondly as he walks to his living area, Coco in tow.

“Can’t a girl call her beloved brother on a Thursday evening?”

Yougnjae and his sister are very close indeed, so much so that Youngjae knows when she is hiding something or trying to get something from him.  

“Again, what do you need?” he sits down on his couch and Coco jumps into his lap and lies down in position for Youngjae to pet her, which he does.

She sighs, “Alright I need someone to go to the farmers market with tomorrow afternoon.” With more cheer to her voice, she goes to explain. “Chan oppa is making me a home-made pizza tomorrow night, so I need to buy ingredients.”

“Then go to the market with him.”

“He is using his lunch hour to work on his art this week.”

“What art?”

“Painting.”

“An interior designer who is also a guitarist, a singer, a rapper, a music producer and now a painter- wow.”

“He is trying his hand at art as well nowadays.”

“What can’t your boyfriend do?”

“He is a man of many talents.” There is pride dripping from Yerim’s words. “So you’ll come to the market with me?”

“I have plans.”

“Dropping by your place to check on Coco?”

“Excuse me. I have a life.” Youngjae quickly jumps to his own offence. His completely non-existent social life doesn’t particularly bother him, but it’s also true that he wants to appear cool in front of his sister. It’s a big brother thing.

Sadly Yerim knows Youngjae as well as he knows her, so she sees right through his lies.

“No you don’t.” she chuckles like the very idea of Youngjae knowing some people is hilariously impossible.

“Actually I have a date.” The words fall out of his mouth before he can stop them, and he instantly regrets it because Yerim won’t leave him alone about this until he has given her all the details.

He holds the phone away from his ear to steer clear of Yerim’s deafening cheer on the line.

“Oh my God, oh my God. Finally. Who is the guy?”

Youngjae shyly ruffles the hair at the back of his head and tries not to blush as if Yerim is in the room with him. Sometimes it feels like she is since she knows him so well.

“Well it’s not a real date. We just made plans for lunch.”

“But you like the guy, right? I can tell. Who is he? Do I know him?”

“It’s kind of embarrassing for me talking to you about this.”

“But I’m your sweet little sist