JUST NOT PRETEND | SY ✓

Chapter 20 - Without

The aroma of dakdoritang fluttered around as Yeonjun danced around his steps in the kitchen, a apron tied around his waist as his socks clad feet padded around the tiles in a rhythm with a soft hum of one of his favorite songs, At My Worst by Pink Sweat$— melodious tune us reverberating around.

As a student biomedical sciences, his exams had already ended for this semester, just four subjects to sit for over a week and he is done, but unlike him his boyfriend— still, he isn't somehow used to this term of reference for Soobin— has six subjects, so more five days added to his exams to end.

His eyes flickered towards the clock, it's late around nine and he had to catch hold of his phone looking over the boiling pot of chicken stew, seeing the bubbles pop up and burst deciding it's cooked, he turns off the gas walking towards the fridge, his fingers moving around his phone screen to turn off the song and later ring up Soobin before he pressed his phone between his ear and shoulder taking out the radish kimchi stored, keeping it out for it's cold temperature to moderate hearing the rings go.

"Hello?" The voice came out of the device, positively sounding heavy and tiresome.

"Hey," Yeonjun merely breathed out, "Binnie, when are you coming home, baby?" He asked next, now-a-days it's been a habit to use sweet names for his boyfriend because he somehow knows that Soobin's nerves relax as soon as he is acknowledged by an endearing term, especially baby, Soobin likes being called that.

And he is Yeonjun's baby, he has always been just more in a platonic way before now it's just romantic. Intimate.

"After half an hour?" There is a question in his voice and Yeonjun's eyebrows instantly furrow as his eyes again swipe up to the clock.

Then Yeonjun sighed, "You skipped your lunch, I'm concerned." He lets out his words, not even bothering to hold them back, because if guilt tripping Soobin into being home sooner and actually consuming something is getting done, the rest of the other things don't matter. Not for now at least.

"I'm sorry for concerning you," again, the voice sounded very delicate, just a whisper and there was silence for a while and Yeonjun didn't speak either knowing Soobin had to say something, "I'll be home sooner, for you. Love you."

"Be safe, I—" Yeonjun bit down his bottom lip, he didn't want to say it until he actually knows he means it, it doesn't mean he hasn't being harboring feelings for Soobin, he is falling. He is. Just is still trying to get it more sure for himself because Soobin only deserves genuine feelings, "I miss you," the words change their course from what they were in his mind and then ended up being something completely different on the tip of his tongue and falling out of his lips as something else.

A soft sigh was heard, Yeonjun swore he  knew corner of Soobin's lips quirked in a smile as he heard the next words from his phone, "we cuddled all night, and I literally woke with you tucked in my arms, not even a day since that, hyung." Then a laugh is heard as if punctuating his— very much butterflies inducing— words.

"But, I was sleeping," it's almost embarrassing how Yeonjun whined out his words, "and you were gone before I woke up so I don't remember, come back home, I'm cold." He pouted, hugging around himself as if it was actually the environment around him that was cold.

It was just the loneliness slipping into his heart, freezingly so, making his body crave for the warmth that radiated from Soobin.

This is how you feel when the person you love isn't around you, right?

Missing every second of their warmth, their hands running down your spine, their lips on yours, and hands around your waist pulling you in in such a way that leaves you both baffled and wanting more.