Minseok has never been one to get homesick easily. He hadn't felt it when he'd gone on school trips for an entire weekend, when he'd spent his senior graduation trip on the road with his friends, or even when he'd spent three months away from home in the States for a summer camp. It had been easy not to feel homesick when he knew that his home was always a place that never changed, no matter how far away he got from it. After all, there were always people waiting for him when he got back.

And he hadn't felt it for the entire first year of university in America. His parents hand been thrilled when they saw the letter from a top notch Ivy League school, ushering their son to take his chances at an economics degree whilst they boasted to all their friends.

But the semesters kept rolling and the work, stress, and distance from home has slowly been taking its toll on him. He'd closed himself off, hidden away in his room more often and kept to himself with headphones on as much as possible. His grades would slip when a pang of homesickness hit hard and knocked him breathless. He's forgotten assignments when his old high school friends wanted to spend their morning chatting over Skype, and he'd spend hours into the night feeling himself smile and laugh and be loud like he'd been used to- when he knew there were always people waiting for him.

But this week alone, he's been knocked back onto the ground. A failed midterm is more disappointment than he's ever had to deal with in a week, not to mention running on two hours of sleep a night because of his two essays due. The constant kakao messages from Chanyeol, his boyfriend, had helped him push through, but it really just wasn't enough.

Friday is his reprieve from the week, the day he waits for all week long just so he can see Chanyeol again. By the time his classes are over and he'd locked himself up in the library to finish his World War II history paper, it's almost time for their meet up.

He bounds up the stairs two at a time, key to his dorm room already clenched tight in his fist. He can hear the chatter of each floor dim and wane as he makes his way to his room. Everyone's making plans to go out tonight.

By the time he reaches his door, hand poised to unlock it, his roommate steps out in a well pressed tux and hair slicked back with copious amounts of gel. "I'm heading out tonight, bro. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" his roommate calls out as he walks down the hall, eyes already searching for his friends. Minseok barely manages an answer before his roommate has already disappeared.

He's almost thankful that his roommate had decided to go out this weekend. It meant no disturbances with his Skype call and no feeling awkward as he talked aloud in there stiflingly quiet room.

He kicks off his shoes into his closet, tosses his jacket onto his bed, and eagerly sets his backpack in his desk chair, pulling out his laptop and plugging the charger into the wall. He opens it up, signs on, and opens up his Skype log to see Chanyeol already online, a barrage of messages waiting for him in the chat window.

>> hurry back to your room!!!!
>> i'm ready when you are!!
>> ( ˘ ³˘)❤

Minseok smiles, quickly clicking the video call button and sliding into his chair. It takes a few moments of staring at Chanyeol's profile picture before the ringing stops, one of them both during Minseok's senior graduation trip. Chanyeol had held the camera so high that Minseok had been squinting in the sunlight to even see the camera, whining at Chanyeol to pull the camera down. (Chanyeol had mainly wanted him to admit he was short, one of the very few things Minseok refuses to do.)

The phone stops ringing and Chanyeol's profile picture disappears, the screen filling instead with Chanyeol's messy room and the boy nowhere to be found.

Minseok waits for a moment before Chanyeol comes running into the video frame and sliding so fast into his chair that he almost tips over. He quickly straightens up, pushing his long, brown bangs out of his warm eyes.

He starts waving and talking excitedly into the camera, but Minseok doesn't hear a thing. He frowns, and Chanyeol stops talking and mirrors his frown.

"I can't hear you," Minseok shouts into the microphone of his laptop, but Chanyeol still looks confused. "You're on mute!" he shouts, mouth moving slowly in the camera and hoping Chanyeol catches on.

The younger finally does after almost a minute at staring puzzled at the computer. His brows furrow and his lips pull in tight as he stares at his computer screen, fingers tapping away at the keyboard.

"Now?" Chanyeol's static voice comes through the speaker. Minseok's heart feels more at ease.

"Yeah, I can hear you now," Minseok says. Chanyeol smiles widely, waving excitedly again.

"How has your week been?" he starts. His eyes keep shifting slightly from the webcam to his screen, as if almost unsure where to look, even though they've Skyped every Friday since the beginning of Minseok's first year in university.

Minseok swallows. "Horrible, actually," he mutters, eyes staring intently at his hands folded over his desk. He hopes Chanyeol can hear him. "I'm just glad Friday rolled around."

Chanyeol frowns, leaning back dangerously in his chair. "Wanna talk?" he asks, but the video lags and the audio breaks up and Minseok is only left with pieces of Chanyeol at a time. It's like grains of sand slipping through the gaps of his fingers- he's too slow to catch it.

"It's nothing really," Minseok starts, though his eyes can't meet the computer screen. "I'm just tired. I've had a lot to do this week."

He's had a lot do to this week, in addition to being weighed down by emotional stress. His two papers, homework assignments, and midterm this week had left him tired. Then he'd missed his mother's birthday in the middle of the week, even though he's never missed a single one. And overall, he'd missed Chanyeol too. Their constant messaging wasn't enough for him. He couldn't see Chanyeol whenever he wanted when they're millions of miles apart. He couldn't just talk to Chanyeol as he needed, not when they're separated by over twelve hours. He couldn't be held in comforting arms when he was tired or feel the warmth of Chanyeol's beating heart and shy kisses when the winter old had sunk deep into his bones. He couldn't hear Chanyeol's laughter, see Chanyeol's smiles, feel Chanyeol's calloused fingers from the guitar entwined with his own, nor even joke over the comfort of Chanyeol calling him short.

This is the time that he needs anyone to tell him that the stress is worth it, that the emotional roller coaster he's been on all week is important to someone other than himself. He's locked away his feelings when they've been too hard to deal with, but he's bound to explode and by then, he doesn't know if he can put himself back together alone.

The pixelated Chanyeol he gets once a week isn't nearly enough. His chest feels so empty, like it could collapse in on itself.

"And I've missed you. I've missed you a lot."

Chanyeol smiles sympathetically, eyes quickly glancing off screen. "I've missed you a lot too. I think about you so much, and I know that the amount we can talk and see each other isn't enough. It's hard for me too."

Minseok hadn't realized how hard this long distance relationship would be. He couldn't be there in Chanyeol's life. Chanyeol couldn't be in his. He only has memories and phantom touches to hold on to in the darkest moments.

He sighs, pressing the heel of his palms into his eyes. "Chanyeol, this is so hard," he whispers. He takes in a shuddering breath and clenches his fists. "I just want you with me so much."

The screen blurs for a moment as Chanyeol shifts around. The video quality dies out and Chanyeol's warm eyes and soft smile are nothing more than a blur of colors and blocks of pixels as he rests his head over his folded arms, tilting the camera angle. Minseok's heart clenches like it's being wrung out.

"I know it's hard, baby. But we just have to put up with it for a little longer," Chanyeol says, pleads, because he needs Minseok to keep holding on to them. He has his own bad weeks, his own nights of grappling heartache that he spends restless in his bed, tossing and turning until he's worn himself out by staring at the catalogue of photos of them on his phone. He needs Minseok just as much.

"We'll see each other soon. Just a few more months."

It's a weak excuse, but they don't have much more to hold on to. In a few more months, Minseok's semester will end and he'll have three months of summer vacation to spend back home- to spend with Chanyeol if his parent's don't force him into summer classes. But it's only three months. He'll have to leave eventually.

"It's such a hard wait," Minseok says, pulling his hands away from his face. He feels the familiar sting of tears at his eyes and the painful tightening of his throat.

Chanyeol squints at the screen like he's trying to read Minseok's eyes because he knows, even if they're thousands upon millions of miles apart, how hard Minseok is struggling.

"Hey, don't be upset," he sighs, hands itching to reach through the screen and cradle Minseok's face in his palms, remove all his burdens and lighten some of the weight on his chest. "You have to smile in the saddest of times or else things will never get better."

Minseok doesn't think he can smile, but Chanyeol looks expectantly and so he tries. His lips turn up just slightly and his teeth peek though between his lips and the more Chanyeol looks excited, the easier it is to smile.

"See? Don't you feel a little better?" he asks. It didn't really make him feel any better, but he's sure it made Chanyeol a little happier. That's enough for him.

"Yes, it did. You're right. Somehow, you always are."

They chat long into his night and into Chanyeol's morning, Chanyeol laughing at any story Minseok's got about college life in America and Chanyeol spewing the latest gossip between their high school friends and juniors.

Minseok hasn't talked to his high school friends in a while, the people he's stuck with even since middle school. He had last talked to Luhan a month ago, Joonmyun almost three months ago, and he doesn't even remember the last time he texted Yifan. It's like they had all just grown apart, like the eight years they spent together in school staying up late, copying each other's homework, cramming and quizzing each other for exams during lunch, didn't matter anymore.

He doesn't want that to happen between himself and Chanyeol.

"Minseok?"

He startles, looking at the computer wide-eyed and a little frozen. Chanyeol's playing through a new song he's written, but the audio occasionally breaks up and Minseok doesn't have the heart to tell Chanyeol he couldn't listen to every bit of the song.

"Yeah?"

Chanyeol looks a little forlorn at his guitar, fingers going limp on the strings. "We can make it through this. I'll always wait for you to come home."

Minseok feels determination surge through him. He plays with the loose strings on his sweater, hiding the pink flush of his cheeks. He doesn't really know what he did to deserve someone as wonderful as Chanyeol- someone willing to put up with him when he's upset and ease his worries when he's stressed. Why Chanyeol has been there for him at every single step and more baffles him sometimes when he's curled in his bed, waiting for exhaustion to put him to sleep.

He's glad that Chanyeol can be there for him, even if there's an unsurpassable distance between them. Sometimes, that's all he really needs.

"I'll be waiting to come home, Chanyeol," he whispers softly as Chanyeol's called out of his room by his mother, probably nagging him to come downstairs for breakfast. Minseok can't help but laugh as Chanyeol frustratedly stomps off screen, echoes of his shouts in the hallway filtering in as background noise.

"I have to go now, Minseok. But if you ever need to talk to me- more than we usually do- you just let me know, okay? I'll talk to you as soon as I can."

Minseok knows Chanyeol will keep true to his promise. He hasn't ever let Minseok down yet.

"Alright, Chanyeol. I'll keep it in mind."

They have a lengthy goodbye as they sign off, Chanyeol being the first as his mom threatens to enter his room if he doesn't come down for breakfast. Minseok sits at his desk for a little longer, waiting for his heart to calm a little before he drags his body to the bed. The sleep missed for the week is catching up to him.

He doesn't feel quite so alone or quite so upset with himself any longer. He's glad to have Chanyeol around.

A/N: well there's that xD i hope you all enjoyed it and let me know what you think! thanks for reading!

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