anti-romantic ; hajeongwoo

nineteen: lovers in the night

"Good work today, Jeongwoo! Youm've improved so much!" Jihoon hugged Jeongwoo tightly then patted his shoulder. "I'll see you again tomorrow, okay?"

Jeongwoo nodded as a response before he watched Jihoon wave him goodbye, walking his way home. He then let out a sigh as he left the building wearing his winter coat.

It suddenly came to his realization that spring would be coming soon, that's why he looked up and saw the cherry blossom trees blooming pink petals. Jeongwoo softly laughed as he hung his head low, walking home with several thoughts running in his head.

I'm starting to be curious of his music taste, what show he loves to watch, and his favorite ice cream flavour. Does he read books? What books does he read? Is he an early bird or a night owl? What's he passionate about?

"Shooting star!"

Jeongwoo stopped walking, hanging his head low. His grip to his bag tightened as he shut his eyes close.

I wanna know what's in your mind. I want to know what's in your world.

Light footsteps came closer to Jeongwoo which made him more nervous. "Jeongwoo-ah~!" The person kneeled down to Jeongwoo's level while he opened his eyes to see Haruto standing in front of him.

Jeongwoo then lifted his head, not believing that Haruto's actually here in front of him. "H-Haru... to... Are you released?"

Haruto let go of the cherry blossom petal he was holding, facing Jeongwoo too. "You're such a bad guy! You never visit me anymore! I've been looking forward to the sweet and spicy chicken..." He then hung his head low, frowning just by the thought of it.

Wait, no. I want to be in your world, Haruto. I want to be the reason you smile and laugh.

"S-sorry." Jeongwoo muttered softly with a smile, staring at Haruto's pale skin even though he wasn't wearing hospital clothes but instead, he was wearing casual clothing. "Are you okay now?"

Haruto smiled, showing off his clothes to Jeongwoo's face. "Yes, I was discharged yesterday! Asahi Hyung bought me new clothes to wear~!" He then held his bag tightly before continuing what to say. "Right, where's Junkyu? I want to celebrate leaving the hospital with him!"

Jeongwoo's smile dropped just by hearing Junkyu's name. "He's still at the building." He then turned back to the way he passed by a while ago. "I'll call him for you—"

"Wait!" Haruto stopped Jeongwoo by holding him with his cold and pale hands. "If he's busy right now, forget it. I'll just hang out with a bad person like you! You owe me a lot for not coming to see me."

Jeongwoo stared at Haruto's hand touching his, making his heart beat like crazy. "But then... it's almost night time!" He let go of Haruto's hand to check the time from his watch. "There's not a lot of things you can do at night time."

"Yes, you can! Actually, I've got it all planned already." Haruto hugged Jeongwoo tightly as he thought of the things they should do today. "We can eat sweet and spicy chicken, go to a festival and take photos there, and of course, we should look under the sky and wait for shooting stars!"

Feeling exhausted from the practice he has done today, Jeongwoo wanted to go home already. "We can just celebrate tomorrow, I really want to go home now—"

"Let's go!" Haruto pulled Jeongwoo behind his back as they ran together to a place far away at a slow pace.

—

Jeongwoo admired the strip of four photos that they recieved at the photo booth. One picture had them showing peace signs while laughing, One had Haruto pulling Jeongwoo's hair in a playful manner, One photo was captured while they were laughing after Haruto made a funny face, and the last was his favorite. It was both of them hugging each other while showing horns behind each other's heads.

He then wondered that even if he was tired from his career, Jeongwoo had a good time today with Haruto. Eating sweet and spicy chicken, stepping onto the hot sand of the beach, even watching other people dance Treasure J's songs on public was enjoyable. He was lucky to have Haruto and that he could hang out with him more now that he's released.

Jeongwoo looked up to his surroundings and felt peace on top of a rooftop. There were several stars shining brightly on him so he looked around to see if Haruto would be coming from that vending machine downstairs.

"Sorry, I took long! I couldn't choose between cola or milk but in the end, I chose cola~!" Haruto smiled as he threw a can of soda to Jeongwoo's direction while he caught it perfectly. He was gonna stand next to Jeongwoo when he accidentally tripped and fell on him instead.

Jeongwoo's arms were tightly wrapped around Haruto's waist while he frantically checked on him in a worry. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"Hey~!" Haruto replied in a teasing yet assuring tone. "I'm okay, there's no need to worry!" He then looked up to the sky with his lips forming a small letter o in amazement of the the night sky. "There's so much stars today!"

Jeongwoo looked up too, staring at the night sky with amused eyes. Haruto and he were distracted by the stars that noth of them didn't notice they were still in each other's embrace. Haruto noticed it first but then stopped when he saw that Jeongwoo was still admiring the sky.

"Look! There's a shooting star!" Jeongwoo pointed up with Haruto following his finger's direction. "Quick! Let's both make wishes!"

Haruto smiled as he closed his eyes, clasping his hands together. "I wish that Jeongwoo's solo will be a success!"

"Thank you..." Jeongwoo then closed his eyes too to wish for something important. "I wish Haruto will be really okay soon. I hope the way he feels right now isn't a temporary feeling..."

"Isn't it funny how our wishes switched from the first time we wished under the night sky?" Haruto looked down, letting out a soft sigh. He then gave Jeongwoo a satisfied smile once he looked down on him. "Thank you for making this one day special, Jeongwoo... I'm really happy for this one night with you... It even feels like we're lovers in the night!"

"It does." Jeongwoo smiled back as he ruffled Haruto's hair before he stood up from the ground with Haruto following him too. "It'd be fun to do this again with you now that you're released from the hospital."

Haruto stood next to Jeongwoo, facing him with sincere eyes. "I'm sorry, I lied."

Jeongwoo faced him with confusion in his eyes. "Hmm? You lied about what?"

"I still need to be treated. I'm not yet feeling well." Haruto avoided Jeongwoo's gaze, staring at the sky once again. "I was only give a one day leave from the hospital."

Jeongwoo's smile slowly faltered away after hearing what Haruto said. He couldn't even say anything after all the fun they had today.

"I wanted to do everything I want that I couldn't do between the four white corners." Haruto then hung his head low, tears dropping to the ground. "My condition... is getting worse."

Jeongwoo stayed silent but you could see the shock in his eyes. He wanted to cry, but at the same time, he felt numb, thinking that he already felt this way before with someone else.

"Just kidding!" Haruto laughed while he faced Jeongwoo with tears from his eyes. He wanted to feel better saying that, but he just ended up crying more because he knows that he would never recover from how bad his condition is getting.

—🍃—
I didn't really say I'll lower this chapter to a "no-angst chapter". I just said I'll lower the angst than usual so in the end of this chapter, you got gifted with a heavy drama :D