Serendipity (A BossNoeul story)

Your Sights

The promo they filmed for the special episode event was posted on twitter that morning, business as usual, like nothing else had happened. Noeul retweeted it and got the notification that Boss had done the same. They had both shared it to their IG stories as well, but they had definitely been told to downplay social media that wasn't work related posts.

Noeul set down his phone. Then picked it back up. There were no unread messages.

He wanted to text, he really did, but what would he say? It wasn't the kind of conversation you could fix with a text.

He was usually pretty good at knowing what Boss was thinking. They had a way of just being in sync, but this time he didn't know the beat.

Boss was sensitive, it was one of the things that Noeul admired about him. But, it was also something he didn't know how to navigate as well.

He bit his lip, sighed, and unlocked his phone. It was only 9:30 am and they didn't have anything scheduled until well into the afternoon. Would he get a chance to talk to Boss before then? It was just a simple fitting and some blocking with the music team, maybe they could get dinner afterwards?

He mentally composed his message before opening his text app to reread their prior exchange.

Boss had said "We can talk tomorrow" and left it at that.

He ran a hand through his hair and put his phone back down.

You're giving him space. You let him know you were here, and said you were sorry, just let him tell you what he needs when he's ready.

****

Boss rolled over after he got the notification that Noeul retweeted the announcement. That meant he was awake. It was early still, so he didn't have to get out of bed yet. He scrolled through his phone looking at all the photos and videos they had taken together. He had kept every one that everybody else had posted to social media too. It felt so long ago... He smiled watching the video of him giving Noeul a rose for Valentine's Day.

There was a knock at the door.

"Son?"

"You can come in."

Boss sat up in his bed as his mom opened the door.

"Your sister is gone to school, and your dad is out, I came to see if you needed me."

He smiled, "I always need you, mom."

"Oh, don't flatter my sensibilities. I know you're grown now, but I'm your mother and you can't hide things from me, I can read you too well,"

She came to sit on the foot of the bed as Boss swung himself to put his feet on the floor beside hers.

"I'm not saying you have to tell me anything, your life is yours, but I do worry," She put a gentle hand on his back. "Did we put too much pressure on you?"

"Nothing that serious, Mama." He leaned towards her and bumped her shoulder gently with his own.

Her face softened into a smile.

"I must have done something right in my life to have such a son."

He allowed himself a breathy chuckle of pride as she pulled him into a hug and patted his head.

"If I said I think you raised me to know what I want and to go for it, even if it's hard, would you think that's good enough?"

"All I want for my children is their health and happiness." She added with a jovial mutter, "And I can confidently say I've never seen you give up on anything once you've fully committed to doing it."