My Lifeline - Jaywon Shortstories

The Grandson Pt4

Thank you all for the replies on the 100k special✨
I love you, thank you for being my people🫰

~

Jay walked, no expression on his face. He had his headphones plugged in, The Truth Untold playing on repeat.
Ever since he had woken up this morning, everything had been horrible. Finalizing his luggage, riding the bus, drinking bad coffee...

The little screen displayed his gate and he just walked, following the big signs.

After a few minutes, he had reached his destination. It was quite empty. Just like Jay's head.
He chose a seat and just let his body fall.

He didn't care about the physical pain.

It was nothing compared to what he was feeling inside. Hurt. Pain. Emptiness.

He had come to Korea to see his grandmother, how could he have known that his whole life would be flipped over in such a short amount of time. How could a simple encounter change him to his core like that?
It wasn't that he had found Jungwon cute.
It wasn't about how he loved every facial expression the latter made.
It was simply the fact that Jungwon felt like a part of him.

In a week, Jungwon had managed to challenge Jay's point of views, making him think about deeper and more important matters than he usually did.
Can you picture the kind of conversations people usually have at three am, when everyone is asleep after hours of partying, except for two or three philosophers? Those conversations during which you truly get to know someone's opinion, during which you feel comfortable enough to just share and invent a new and better world?

Well, Jay and Jungwon had had a lot of them, but without the partying before. Amongst his friends, Jay was usually considered as the mood maker. He showed a playful and jokester persona that everyone loved. That meant that the latter wasn't used to displaying his deeper thoughts about the world, the ecology, the overpopulation.

However, with Jungwon everything felt natural. They could spend hours talking about which Zelda was their favorite just as well as what they would do to achieve world peace. And Jay had loved everything about that.
Not once had he felt like he had said too much, even when Jungwon didn't agree with him. Instead of fighting -which he would have with his friends back home- Jungwon always engaged the discussion to explain his thoughts.

And it just worked. For once, Jay had felt respected and heard.

And all that was doomed to be left here. 

The blue screen displayed the hour of his flight. Jay was still early. His grandmother had made sure he'd get to the airport four hours before his flight, just in case.

A sight later, Jay decided to add loneliness to his pain. He took his phone and scrolled through his text messages with Jungwon, remembering how excited he had been to chat with him.

After their encounter at the convenience store, the two men had eaten tteokbokki together, blessed by the neon light of the store.
Jungwon had suggested taking Jay to some cool spots in Seoul. The latter had obviously accepted and they soon developed a routine.
In the morning, Jay would visit his grandmother, then he would meet Jungwon for lunch and they would go out during the afternoon and come back just in time for Jungwon's shifts at his part time.

Jungwon had showed him his favorite coffee shops, parks, shopping mall, temples, everything. Jay had insisted on treating Jungwon with as much food as the later wanted. He said it was his payment for Jungwon's kindness.

Every day, Jay found himself falling more and more for Jungwon. As time passed, he kept noticing new things about the younger, like the way his hair moved on his forehead, the way he smiled with his eyes or the way he tilted his head when he asked something.
Jay had engraved every little detail in his memory, knowing that their time together was counted.