↱REPUTATION↲ ⇾seongjoong⇽

열째

"Coffee at midnight, huh?" Hongjoong said once they were sat in the back corner of the coffee shop Seonghwa dragged him to.

Seonghwa spun his straw around in his drink; it made the ice clink against the sides of the glass.

The shop itself was small with slate gray walls and dark wood tables.

The barista behind the counter had a textbook opened on the counter next to them, presumably to get a bit of studying done in between the few customers during the late hour.

The heat was cranked up high in protest of the late night chill outside that bit at their skin and turned their cheeks red during the walk over.

Jongho had been confused, and only slightly miffed, when Hongjoong told him that he'd be leaving soon to hang out with Seonghwa.

He muttered nonsense about Hongjoong having to make up their movie night to him - to which Hongjoong told him that the next time around Jongho could pick any movie he wanted; even the cheesy romcoms that Hongjoong wasn't so fond of.

After a moment of speculation, Jongho finally gave in and called it a deal.

"I know, it seems weird but I like to come here when I'm stressed out. It's always so quiet and peaceful since hardly anyone knows of this place. Plus, the coffee's pretty good," Seonghwa pursed his lips around the straw of his drink and took a sip.

Hongjoong had to admit he was right, even his americano tasted better than he had expected.

Seonghwa had insisted on buying it for him since he was the one that asked Hongjoong to come out so late at night, even though he knew Hongjoong wouldn't even try to go to bed for another three hours or so.

"You said you like to come here when you're stressed out," Hongjoong said, "Are you?"

"Kinda, I guess."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Seonghwa shrugged and they both fell silent.

In the dim light Hongjoong could tell that Seonghwa's cheeks were still flushed from the cold; a few dark hairs peaked out from underneath his beanie and Hongjoong wondered if he were to remove the scarf Seonghwa was wearing - would there still be hickeys on his neck from three days ago?

Seonghwa kept his eyes trained on his drink - so Hongjoong busied himself with taking a sip from his own to let Seonghwa mull over whether or not he wanted to talk about it.

Hongjoong wasn't going to force him to if he didn't want to, but a small part of him hoped that Seonghwa would confide in him; show Hongjoong that he trusted him.

"Do you ever wonder if you made a mistake by pursuing music production?" Seonghwa suddenly asked.

Hongjoong slowly swallowed the coffee in his mouth.

"Sometimes, yes," he admitted, "Are you regretting picking dance as your major?"

Seonghwa didn't answer, which told Hongjoong everything that he needed to know.