Chapter 11

*Main picture is the view that Jonghun and Seunghyun see~*

 

All too soon, Jonghun pulled away from Seunghyun’s lips to catch his breath.

Jonghun was panting, but he didn’t want to stop. He never wanted to stop. He wanted to be in this moment forever. He could tell when he looked into Seunghyun’s eyes that he didn’t want to stop either.

This was the kiss he’d been waiting for his whole life.

All thoughts of Hongki, his first kiss, his first love, were gone.

It was Seunghyun.

He was the one. He was certain.

 

Jonghun had first found the lake view on a chilly night in the fall a few years back. He was still in middle school then.

He’d escaped his apartment after a bitter fight with his mom. He couldn’t even remember what they’d been arguing about. It happened so often. He couldn’t keep track of how many times they’d argued anymore.

He ran. He didn’t know where to, or how far.

He just ran. It was his haven. He didn’t know why; he wasn’t an extremely athletic person.

It just calmed him for some reason. It took his mind off of things. He could focus on his feet steadily running across the pavement, the sound of his breathing, anything but what really bothered him.

That day though, the thoughts wouldn’t go away, even as he ran faster. This argument was brutal. He remembered the mention of Dad many times in their harsh argument. The words they’d thrown at each other stuck in his mind.

He wiped his tears as he ran. He didn’t want to think of the argument. His mom. His dad. It was all too much. He wished he were in a problem-free place where all his worries would never pester him.

He finally slowed to a walk after running for a couple minutes, hardly able to breathe from his sprinting and his awkward sobs from crying. He leaned over and clutched his stomach in an attempt to cool himself down. The frosty wind bit at his skin slightly, but he could barely feel it.

He walked on through a deserted park. He knew exactly which park it was because he and Hongki came there almost every day after school, but at night, the park had a different aura about it. He wasn’t scared easily, but even he found the tall trees and the ominous darkness a bit menacing.

He approached the apple tree. He was familiar with it; its red apples were unmistakable even under what little light came from the street lamps. He stared up at the outstretched branches as he walked, sniffling his tears. He already felt a sense of calm wash over him. Being in the park made him think of Hongki. Just thinking of him made him feel a bit happier. He was always there to crack a joke when he felt down. He always knew how to cheer him up.

He probably would have climbed the tree, grabbed some apples from it, and made up some intricate game to play. Or he would have until he started laughing again.

But… he wasn’t here to cheer him up now.

His feeling of tranquility vanished.

He really wanted to see him.

He closed his eyes before shifting his head back down. He opened them.

He froze in his tracks.

The city. The lights. The river. The colors. Everything complimented each other so perfectly.

He couldn’t move. It was like the scene was forcing him to stay put.

But he didn’t care. His eyes began to water again, moved by the view.

He didn’t know what intrigued him so much about it. He’d seen scenes like this all the time.

Maybe it was because this place was different. All of the other times had been at random places in the city. But this wasn’t some random spot. This was a place that meant something to him. To him and Hongki. It was like their tree house, or their fort. Their shelter where they could be themselves and run around like crazy kids did.

His heart was beating faster and faster as a tear rolled down his eye. He looked down to the sidewalk where his teardrop had fallen. What… what was this? Why do I feel like this? He had so many emotions going on at once. He clutched his heart.

Hongki.

Hongki.

He didn’t know why, but he wouldn’t leave his mind. His goofy, childish smile. Jonghun wanted to show this view to him.

He had to see Hongki. He didn’t think he could handle the night without seeing him. He turned around and broke out into a jog again, knowing exactly where he was going.

The whole way, he only thought of Hongki. Thoughts of his mom and dad and his tiresome home life tried to creep in, but Hongki seemed to push them out.

His chest was pounding more than usual. Why am I feeling so anxious?

He finally reached Hongki’s house, panting hard. He walked around back to Hongki’s window. He knew that around this time of night he would be on the computer playing Starcraft in his room.

He stared up at the second-story window, wondering how he could get his attention. He could throw rocks, but he didn’t want to shatter his window. That could’ve been hazardous. He probably wouldn’t have heard it anyways; when Hongki and Starcraft came together, Hongki had no ability to notice anything else around him.

Jonghun studied around the backyard. He then spotted a tree. His eyes traveled up to its branches, to which one of them came near to Hongki’s window. Bingo.

He picked up some rocks from the ground, stuck them in his pocket and released a breath, shaky from his earlier crying. He began to climb the tree. The trunk was slightly damp from rain that had fallen that morning, so his hands were getting dirtied as he ascended. He lifted his foot to catch the next branch, but it slipped in the process. His heart just about stopped. Ugh… gotta be careful, he thought. He continued climbing.

Finally, after an arduous amount of climbing, he was on the branch to Hongki’s window. He smiled to himself in satisfaction. He kept a tight hold of the branch and reached into his pants pocket. He whipped out a rock and aimed carefully, his tongue impulsively sticking out of his mouth. He then threw as hard as he could in the position he was in.

Hongki didn’t move a muscle.

Jonghun grumbled. “Aish, Hongki…” He tried a second time, digging his hands into his pocket again. The tree branch wobbled just a bit, Jonghun’s heart almost stopping again. He waited for a second, deemed it safe, and threw again.

Hongki looked up at his window. He stared dumbfounded at the window. Yes! Jonghun did a fist pump in the air. Hongki ran for the window and burst it open.

“Jonghun-ah! What the hell are you doing here?”

He blushed. Why was he here? “Uh… I wanted to see you.”

Hongki scoffed. “Really? You couldn’t be away from me that long?” Hongki struck a diva pose and laughed.

Yeah. I couldn’t. Jonghun kept his real thoughts to himself and retorted, “yah, why are you so arrogant?” He laughed along with him, trying to contain his real feelings.

Hongki’s laughter died down. “So Jonghun… how are you going to get off of the-”

Crack.

Jonghun was suddenly a couple inches farther from Hongki’s face. His eyes widened. A cold chill slithered through his body as he slowly glanced behind him. A wide crack showed through where the tree branch met the trunk.

He looked back at Hongki. His eyes were as wide as the full moon in the sky. Jonghun gulped.

“…Tree…”

He started to panic. It definitely was not the best idea at a time like that, but who would be able to think coherently when you were about to fall over two stories from a tree to the unforgiving ground?

“H… Hongki, oh my god, what the f- Hongki, what do I- Hongki, Hongki…” Jonghun spattered. Hongki was too stunned to move, but quickly snapped out of it. He his arm forward through the open window.

“Jonghun! Don’t look down! Try to grab my arm!”

Jonghun was even more frozen. His body was shaking with terror, but he couldn’t move any part of his body. Thoughts jumped around in his mind like a wildfire.

Great. Here I am. Hanging from a tree. About to die.

Why did I even think about this? Why the hell did I decide to climb a treewhen I could have used the front door? Where was my thinking in that?? Yeah, good going, .

I need to grab your hand. But I can’t move. Why can’t I move?

I’m glad you were the last person I saw before I died, Hongki. Goodbye world, he thought, writing his death wishes in his mind.

“JONGHUN!” Jonghun was whirled from his thoughts. “Jonghun, what are you doing!? Grab my hand! I don’t want you to die!”

Jonghun snapped to his attention. What am I doing!? Do I want to die?? No. Hongki doesn’t want me to either. You’re better than that, Jonghun. Without thinking, he drove his arm forward. He was panting in delirium. Hongki tried to lean out the window farther.

Their fingers brushed.

And the contact was gone.

“JONGHUN!”

All Jonghun could feel was the wild sensation of falling as he released the branch. The air on his face as he fell. He remembered the faint yelling of Hongki, and then his loud footsteps as he left his room.

He stared down at a patch of bushes waiting for him.

Oh. Huh. Maybe I won’t die today.

He closed his eyes, landing hands first into the brush.

Everything went black around him.

 

Jonghun’s eyelids fluttered open. The first thing he saw was Hongki’s eyes watching him intently from above. Hongki’s face lit up as Jonghun grabbed for his head, pain suddenly searing through it.

“Jonghun-ah! You’re awake! Are you okay?”

“Aish… not so loud, please…”

“Jonghun, I was sure you were going to die. When you fell I was like ‘okay, what the hell is happening’, so I ran down to you and you were still breathing but you were knocked out so I was freaking out and then I got my mom and-”

“HONGKI.”

“Huh? What?”

“Shut up. Just… for a moment. You’re making my brain hurt.”

“Oh. Sorry… Mom! Can you get Jonghun an ice pack? Yah, so we called your mom, and she said you could spend the night here. She didn’t want to strain you. She’ll come by tomorrow. We told her we got everything under control and that I’ll take care of you…”

Jonghun’s eyes narrowed as Hongki dragged on. Did his motor ever stop? He looked around. He was in Hongki’s bed. He’d been there so many times.

His head still hurt like a mother, but somehow, just being here with Hongki calmed him a bit, even if he didn’t know how to stop talking.

“How long have I been up here?”

“Only a couple minutes or so… You kept going in and out of consciousness. We should go to the doctor’s tomorrow.”

Hongki’s mom walked in with the ice pack covered in a towel and carefully placed it on Jonghun’s head with a smile. Jonghun smiled back and thanked her. “So does anything hurt besides your head? Your arm or your leg?” She asked slowly. “How many fingers am I holding up? What is your phone number?”

Jonghun answered the simple questions as he glanced down, perusing the scratches and bruises left on his arms from the bush. His face scrunched up at the sight. He attempted to move each body part one by one, but nothing seemed to be unbearable. Everything seemed to be okay, except for a little soreness in his arms, and of course, his seething headache.

“Alright. I think you’ll be okay for now,” Hongki’s mom concluded, standing from her position. “Tell Hongki if you need anything else, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you Mrs. Lee,” he called. He steadied the ice pack. He was glad she hadn’t asked why he was climbing the tree in the first place.

They watched as she left. Hongki diverted his attention back to Jonghun with a smile. “So, you’re okay?”

He sighed. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Cool.”

They stayed, staring at each other. Jonghun suddenly felt nervous, so he looked down. He mentally slapped himself. Why do you feel like this? Stop it.

“So you should get some rest. Supposedly according to the internet, I have to wake you up every hour just to make sure you’re still conscious. I’ll be over here playing video games…”

Jonghun’s hand reflexively reached out and grabbed Hongki’s arm as he stood up. He stared at the bed-ridden boy, confused.

“Uh… wait.”

He sat back down.

“Can… can you sing me a song?” He blushed furiously at his silly request.

Hongki, thankfully, smiled brightly. “Yeah! What do you want me to sing?”

“My dad… he used to sing ‘Hey Jude’ to me before I fell asleep.” Jonghun grinned at the memory.

“Er… okay, I’ll try. If you like broken English.”

“I don’t mind,” Jonghun replied assuringly.

“Okay, here goes.”

Hey Jude, don’t make it bad

Take a sad song and make it better

Remember to… let… hm hm hmm hmm…

Then you can start to make it better.

Jonghun laughed silently to himself, unable to erase his smile. His headache was starting to ease. Hongki’s beautiful voice filled the room, making Jonghun feel warm inside.

He was glad.

He began to drift away, off into a deep, peaceful land where the ocean view was in the distance.

 

And that ocean view was where he’d kissed Hongki.

Under the same apple tree.

He thought it was perfect.

Apparently Hongki didn’t.

 

He couldn’t even believe, at first, that he was even bringing Seunghyun here. He knew in his heart that the farther and farther they went down the sidewalk, this was where they were headed. It had been his plan the whole time.

It had been his and Hongki’s secret place. Just between the two of them. He never thought he’d have the courage to come here with someone else.

Of course, he never thought he’d love someone else other than Hongki.

But here he was with Seunghyun.

 

Maybe the place was like a test. If he ever loved someone enough, he would take them there.

He had countless girlfriends after Hongki’s rejection, but none he loved enough to bring him there.

He never thought someone would come along that he would ever love more than Hongki, but here he was.

He was kissing him.

And this time, it really did feel perfect.

 

 

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OMG SOOOORRRYYYY THIS UPDATE IS SO LATE DDD:

Sorry if this chapter is so random. lol it's like the OVA or filler episode or w/e in an anime. ahahaha
I wanted to touch a bit on Hongki's and Jonghun's relationship. I'll probably add more tidbits throughout the story.

This story is moving along so slow.... =.=; But I needed to update. I don't want to keep you guys waiting. xD

 

Btw I'm really sorry to all those that feel so bad for Hongki... D: lol I know, he's getting hit pretty hard and I'm not doing a ton to help him out.... >.< Don't worry he'll get a happy ending ♥

 

I'll update asap, I promise :DD

I like 'em comments ~ ♥ rofl