1
So Long
“Jongin Kim, for the last time stand up straight, hands out of your pocket and put your hands together like this, see? Much better”
Jongin didn’t see the point in putting his hands together and walking up to the altar for a weird old man to pat him on the head and tell him how he was one of God’s special little children. He especially didn’t see the point in his mother putting an itchy suit on him to receive his holy communion, he tugged at the straw coloured suit all day.
“Jongin, you’re going to walk up the aisle to the altar with Kyungsoo, is that alright?” Jongin squared up his teacher, “But he’s the NEW kid! I wanted to walk with Sehun” he tugged on the sleeves to his suit as his teacher patted him on the head, “Be nice Jongin, you two have to walk up next”.
Jongin can remember laying eyes on the small and nervous Kyungsoo, in his little black and white suit and shiny new shoes. He didn’t realise it yet but walking up the aisle with Kyungsoo that day would be something he would want to repeat again in the future, he just didn’t know how or when.
Jongin’s mother had dressed him up in a green sweater and some tanned pants before announcing that they were to visit the park. Jongin tugged at the itchy material of the sweater but this qualm soon seemed insignificant compared to the glee in his eyes when the huge jungle gyms, swings and see-saws appeared in sight, as if they just rose up out of no-where.
“Jongin!” Sehun yelled, “I bet you can’t race me up the slide!”
“Can too!” Jongin yelled back, pushing the smaller boy out of his way
“Lets go play on the monkey bars! I bet you’re not big enough to climb across them!” Sehun yelled before running and swinging across the bars.
Jongin ran after him and waited for the kid in front to be finished. The boy was taking an awfully long time; he couldn’t even swing properly. Jongin tapped his foot impatiently and erupted into laughter when the boy fell, as did Sehun. The boy who fell onto the sand looked up with watery brown eyes, it was Kyungsoo.
They never really talked after their communion but Jongin felt instantly bad for laughing and climbed down to help the boy up.
“Are you okay…”? He whispered nervously
The boy just looked at him until Jongin helped him up
“Do you want some help climbing? I can show you…” Jongin whispered again, timidly and awkwardly.
The boy just stared back before following Jongin to the stairs. Once on the bars, Jongin stood below him, hoisting the smaller boy up onto the bars and allowing him to use his shoulders as steps for his feet.
The boy laughed and so soon did Jongin.
“Do you want to play with me in the sand?” Kyungsoo said when they were done. “I can show you how to make mud pies in the dirt too!” he whispered
“I’m bad at making mud pies…also my mom probably wants-“
Before Jongin could finish, the younger boy was dragging him off to the corner of the playground.
“Then you put the twigs in the mud and press it like this!” Kyungsoo squeezed the mud tight in his hands before it squirted onto his clean white t-shirt. Jongin erupted into giggles before Kyungsoo sprayed some mud onto his face. Jongin gasped and soon the two boys had caused a whole mud fight in the playground.
As Jongin’s mother picked him up to take him home, over her shoulder Jongin waved frantically to his new best friend, the small and reluctant Kyungsoo who was just as eager in waving back at his new best friend.
“Mud Brothers for life”
“Get the hell up you lazy piece of !”
Jongin rose groggily as Kyungsoo swore and ran about the room opening curtains and getting ready.
“We’re late! It’s nearly nine o clock!” Kyungsoo yelled before leaving the room, running down the stairs and banging open some cupboards. Jongin had stayed over at Kyungsoo’s the previous night in hopes of doing a project; all they had managed to do was waste 3 hours and then watch a stupid horror movie.
Jongin climbed out of his makeshift bed on the floor and threw on a t-shirt before brushing his teeth and meeting Kyungsoo downstairs where the smaller one was in a fuss over his shoelaces.
“Here I’ll get that-“
Kyungsoo looked up, “T-Thanks…mm guess we shouldn’t have watched that stupid movie last night eh?”
Jongin laughed, “It was your idea, you and your twisted brain.”
“Hey can you give me a hand up Jongin?”
When Jongin extended his hand down, Kyungsoo grabbed it and pulled him down with Jongin falling on top of him. They both looked at each other before bursting out laughing.
Jongin was the first to his feet, “I’ll race you, 3…2…1-GO!”
“How the hell do they expect us to do this stupid assignment over winter break! I thought we were all coming to your house tonight Jongin for movies too!”
Jongin screwed his face up, “We should probably try and work on it before everyone else arrives tonight…or at least try?”
Kyungsoo looked up and smiled, “You realise we’ll probably just end up wasting six hours talking about random ”
Jongin smirked to himself, “Well as long as I’m spending it with you, no time is ever being wasted”.
Kyungsoo stared for a while before breaking eye contact, “Come on, it’s FREEZING outside!”
It was about seven that night when Jongin and Kyungsoo realised everyone else had bailed on them.
Kyungsoo shook his head; “It’s fine…we can just watch movies by ourselves…right?”
Jongin nodded, “I have a ton of scary movies upstairs”.
“Can you at least put the heating on Jongin, my bum is so cold”
“About that…mom didn’t actually tell me how to turn it…on…so yeah”
“Jongin you ing-“
The boys spent the night cuddled in blankets watching a cheap low budget horror movie that made Jongin yelp on occasion. He swore he was wasn’t scared though, he dared not appear scared in front of Kyungsoo who would make fun of him on end because of it. Before the two boys knew it, they had each other’s hands in their own and were lying, entangled in each other, on the mattress in Jongin’s room.
“Jongin I’m scared about the exam,” Kyungsoo whispered
“Don’t be” Jongin whispered back, “You’re going to do amazingly well”
Kyungsoo screwed up his face; “I doubt that…can you help me with this division?”
The two boys had decided to spend their spring day studying underneath the branches of a huge cherry blossom tree. Jongin brushed the fallen petals from his book and edged right beside Kyungsoo to help him.
“You got it right Kyungsoo, you’re going to do fine don’t worry…”
“What if we don’t get into the same university Jongin…”? Kyungsoo whispered, looking up as a petal fell onto his cheek
“Don’t talk about things that will never happen Soo” Jongin whispered just audibly as he reached over to wipe the petal off of Kyungsoo’s face. The two boys stopped and just stared at each other; Jongin’s hand caressing Kyungsoo’s cheek whilst their rosy red lips barely touched each other. Kyungsoo’s pale white hand flashed over to Jongin’s face and both boys had flung their books to the side and embraced each other in a soft hold of passion.
Outside there was no summer breeze and instead a hazy summer heat set over the city. Jongin woke up in a sticky sweat beside Kyungsoo. He rubbed his eyes and set over to the window and opened it. Kyungsoo stirred and woke up with a look of horror in his eyes: it was the day of university results.
“I really don’t-“ Kyungsoo started before being quieted by Jongin’s pink lips.
Kyungsoo looked up and the boys set about opening their emails.
“Seoul National” Jongin whispered, smiling; it was where the boys both wanted to go.
Kyungsoo stood up and looked away, “Busan National”.
The words were finite and Jongin embraced his soon to be separated from boyfriend.
A soft kiss was exchanged before Kyungsoo boarded the train with his luggage.
Jongin had decided to hold in his tears until Kyungsoo was gone, then he could cry to his heart’s content; he wanted to be strong for his soon to be gone boyfriend. Of course transferring was a possibility but it didn’t seem likely.
Kyungsoo clung to Jongin’s bigger body before being prised away by a bell telling them that the train was to depart from platform two.
As Kyungsoo boarded the train a single blossom petal fell upon his cheek and as Jongin moved to wipe it away a glass barrier separated their touch; Kyungsoo placed his feeble white hand upon the glass where Jongin’s bigger more tanned hand rested upon.
With April showers about to burst in his eyes, Jongin whispered, “So long”.
Jongin made walking past the train station his a permanent fixture on his walk to university every morning whether rain sun or snow.
He walked the same path, through the meadow, across the trees, under the big blossom tree, past the busy shops, through the train station and then onto the university.
“So long” He whispered as he walked past the desolate tracks to his medical classroom.
Jongin was alone. He had friends but he had no Kyungsoo.
Jongin made going to the café he went to with Kyungsoo a daily habit also. He ordered the same salted caramel hot chocolate that Kyungsoo would always order.
He would go into the same old sweet shop and order a pound of lavender sweets just like Kyungsoo would always do.
He would stay up and watch silly horror movies just like he and Kyungsoo used to do.
Jongin also made studying under the huge blossom tree a daily habit, right throughout the year and even when the heavy snow would cover Seoul in a deep covering of white.
Jongin fell asleep there one night, waking up shivering in the morning. He reached for his books at the side to find them kicked to the side. He jolted up to see footprints in the snow; they would have to have been fresh.
Looking at his watch he saw it was 7am; barely daybreak, the sun hadn’t even risen yet over Seoul.
Before him, however, was a figure of a man; a smaller man with delicate features. It was as if Jongin knew the man, he seemed familiar, he even had that same stupid smile that Kyungsoo had- wait.
Jongin staggered up, holding his head, believing that he was in fact high and that Kyungsoo couldn’t be here. The smaller man’s hands resting upon his shoulders was enough to persuade him that this was however real and that Kyungsoo had come back. Their lips crashed together in a fiery clash of tongues fighting against each other only this time Jongin let Kyungsoo win.
“Long time no see Soo” Jongin whispered half laughing to himself.
Kyungsoo winced his face, “You’re freezing Jongin, and have you become a hobo?”
Jongin smirked and pulled Kyungsoo closer, “Don’t ever leave me again Kyungsoo”
Kyungsoo smiled, “I won’t have to ever again…”
Jongin looked down with a serious expression, “You mean?”
Kyungsoo nodded and smiled placing his head on Jongin’s shoulder, “I transferred, and we can study under this tree for years to come silly billy”
Jongin smiled and took Kyungsoo’s hand in his, “Don’t you ever leave me again you bastard”
The boys both laughed to each other and fell into the snow with each other, arms flailing and legs kicking.
Jongin ended up over Kyungsoo, breathing heavily and smirking when he saw a petal stuck to Kyungsoo’s cheek. This time he didn’t wipe it off.
Kyungsoo smiled, “You’re not going to get that for me?” he asked teasingly.
Jongin shook his head and smirked, “I’ll have plenty of time to do that, for now I just want to lay with you here in the snow”
“You’re going to miss class Jongin! You’re going to waste hours here just with me?” Kyungsoo exclaimed half laughing.
Jongin laughed and shook his head before kissing Kyungsoo’s pink perky lips,
“Well as long as I’m spending it with you, no time is ever being wasted”
The two boys embraced in the snow.
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