From the Archive | EXOVelvet

Folder 2 : Half & Half (Sooyoung/Yixing)

Best friends Joy and Yixing like to share a bucket of Chickenjoy—half original and half spicy. The two love the food so much they'd have it for any meal. That evening, it was the strange pair's choice of pulutan as they settled at the beachfront of their friend Minseok's bar in La Union.

"Are you still going out with that guy," Yixing asked, opening a bottle of ice-cold San Mig Apple and handing it to Joy before grabbing another one for himself. When he was met with silence, Joy downing half of her drink in one go, he assumed Joy and the guy—Junmyeon—are still... something.

"Still?" Disbelief and amusement were evident in Yixing's voice. He pried, "May label na ba kayo?"

"Wala pa." Joy rolled her eyes at her guy best friend, taking a piece of spicy Chickenjoy. "Chill, Xing. We're taking things slow."

"Slow." Yixing chuckled, his dimple showing. "Ang sabihin mo ayaw niyang mag-settle sa iisang tao."

"Ouch ha."

"What? I'm telling the truth. I really dislike that guy." Yixing grabbed an original Chickenjoy, taking a bite from it immediately.

Yixing has always been verbal about his dislike towards Junmyeon. He wondered what kind of spell the asshat put his best friend in that Junmyeon was able to keep Joy in half a relationship for half a year now. Joy even makes excuses for him? Yixing wanted so much to huff. He doesn't know a lot about relationships but he knows Joy deserves more than that.

"Are you my dad," Joy questioned, rather bemused at how her drinking companion since college is acting.

"Asa ka. Kapag tatay mo kumilatis do'n, kakaripas ng takbo 'yung gago," Yixing replied, grinning at the thought. Maybe he should let the prick meet Mang Ben, Joy's father from whom she got her record-high alcohol tolerance.

"Masyado ka kasing um-FC kay papa. Ayan tuloy, ikaw ang gustong maging manugang."

This caused Yixing to smile like a fool. If he were to be honest, he felt butterflies. But Joy doesn't know this. She thinks Yixing is just being an ass.

"Anyway, kumusta trabaho?" Joy decided to change the subject, being done with Yixing's judgment.

Yixing finished off his chicken before answering. "I quit."

"Again?" Joy's eyes widened. Wasn't it just three months ago when Yixing got his job? "Xing naman. Di ka talaga papaabot ng isang taon sa mga pinapasukan mo?"

Yixing looked at Joy suggestively.

"Gago. I meant your work." Joy pretended to look at something interesting from afar to hide her blush, though there was nothing on the horizon but darkness.

"Alam mo naman eh. I hate full-time jobs. They ruin my creativity."

Joy wanted so much to roll her eyes.

The guy half-asses everything in life. He's been like this since they first became best friends in high school. His grades were always average, even if he was really smart. Now, he jumps from one job to another. If only he stuck with his first magazine job, he would have been creative director by now.

This is exactly why Joy couldn't entertain whatever she has for Yixing. Feelings, that's what they're called, her subconscious supplies. It almost caused the Chickenjoy she just ate to come back up her throat.

"At least you don't play around with girls," Joy said in exasperation. "Kailan nga 'yung first and last relationship mo? Around the time you got your fifth job, right?"

Yixing tried to get Joy off his mind, he really did. They are best friends, he told himself back then, and Joy deserves more than a man who couldn't figure out what the heck he wants to do with his life.

So, Yixing got himself a girlfriend, tried to take it so seriously that he almost thought he lost all his feelings for Joy. He was so good at it that the relationship lasted a year and a half. But soon, he began to question what he was doing it for. He wasn't even trying to fall in love with someone else; he was simply trying to stay away from his best friend who he was so foolishly in love with.

Realizing that he was being unfair to Seulgi, he broke up with her. He deserved that punch, he likes to joke. It was a wake-up call. He never got into a relationship again.

Yixing only hummed in response. Joy didn't have follow-up questions after that. For a while, they stayed silent. Joy closed her eyes and felt comfort in the sound of the waves, the cool sea breeze, the sand between her toes, and the presence of the man beside her.

"We'll always be best friends, right," Joy asked seemingly out of nowhere, eyes fluttering open.

Yixing didn't answer. Instead, he responded with another question with an amused smirk. "Where is this coming from?"

"Wala. Ina-assure ko lang—na kahit sino pa i-date ko at saang trabaho ka man mapadpad sa kung saang lupalop ng mundo—I'll still have you," Joy explained.

It took Yixing's half-drunk brain a few seconds to process this, but he nodded in understanding. He watched the waves keep on returning to the shore, touching but never staying. "Yeah. We'll always be best friends."

-

(Half & Half, o dalawang kalahating tangang nagtataguan ng feelings sa isa't isa.)