"It's a set," jeonghan whispered. "We have to keep them together. Always."
The same words.
seungcheol remembered how small jeonghans voice was back then. The hope in his eyes. The nervousness in his hands.
He also remembered the tightness under his...
Jeonghan crunched his face at the latest message from his mother as he stepped into the hotel lobby. An acquaintance had bumped into her and now they were all to have tea together.
A fun way to spend the afternoon.
He was shown to the table quickly by an amiable waiter, whose cheery mood did not reflect his own at present.
There was an older lady and a man with their backs to him as he walked over. His mother looked up and smiled. He knew that smile. Professional and cordial. A signal for Jeonghan to be equally so.
Jeonghan put on his best front as he approached them.
"Mother," he greeted with due deference.
"Han, meet Mrs Park and her son," she introduced warmly.
There was a split second of confusion and realisation as he turned to face the pair.
"I thought it might be you!" Woojung laughed. "What a small world!"
"Oh, you know each other?" The lady seemed pleased.
"Yes, from college." Jeonghan managed to recover from his surprise. "Nice to meet you, Mrs Park."
"Such a happy coincidence," his mother chimed in as he sat down. "We were talking about how he has just returned from abroad."
"It's good to be home,"Woojung commented. "I'm still trying to settle in."
"The family home is big enough but he wants his own space," Mrs Park remarked with a sigh.
"Young people are like that these days," Jeonghan's mother agreed amicably.
"Have you found somewhere?" Jeonghan asked, picking up the cup in front of him.
"I have but it needs a bit of work," Woojung replied and gave his mother a charming grin. "It's good that we met your mother. I really appreciate the help."
"Not at all. My associate will reach out to you," Jeonghan's mother said smoothly. "Of course, if there are any problems, feel free to call me directly."
"Thank you very much," Woojung said sincerely.
Jeonghan watched the exchange with an underlying sense of discomfort which he couldn't quite explain. He had to ignore it for the rest of the afternoon and focused on the conversation.
At the end, when they parted ways, Woojung smiled. "Let's catch up sometime."
"Sure," Jeonghan agreed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
His gut was right.
It helped that Woojung didn't believe in subtlety.
Jeonghan frowned at another message on his phone. Then he glanced at the gift which landed on his desk at work. Tickets for a sold-out play which he would love to attend (and Seungcheol would do almost anything to avoid).
The tickets also came along with a bouquet of flowers. Blooms of deep red carnation.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
An invitation to drinks afterwards.
His colleagues clamoured around him.
"Oh, are these from your partner?"
"So sweet!"
"It means love, you know."
He smiled weakly and excused himself to the stairwell. Seungcheol was away in another city for work but Jeonghan dialled his number.
"Hannie?"
"Uh, can you talk?"
"Yeah, I'm in a cab to a meeting. You okay?" Concern seeped into cheol's voice, against the backdrop of traffic.
"Yeah, I'm okay. It's nothing urgent," Jeonghan said sheepishly. "Woojung invited me to watch a play."
"Right."
"So I thought I'd let you know."
"There's something else," Seungcheol said evenly.
Damn him. Jeonghan mumbled, "He sent me flowers."
"Flowers," Seungcheol repeated.
"Red carnations," Jeonghan admitted. Not that Seungcheol knew what they meant.
There was a steady sigh before Cheol asked, "Is it that play about an existential crisis?"
"It's a very famous piece of literature!" Jeonghan was indignant.
"If you say so. When is it?"
"This Friday."
"I'm only back late that evening anyway."
Jeonghan queried, "Are you saying you don't mind if I go?"
"It's just a show. And you really wanted to watch it," Seungcheol reasoned.
Jeonghan wasn't sure if he was glad or irritated with Cheol's logic.
He huffed, "Not that I am asking for your permission, you know."
"I know," Cheol remarked drily.
"Nevermind, I'll see you soon." Jeonghan rolled his eyes for no one to see.
"See you."
They hung up and Jeonghan griped inwardly. Shouldn't his boyfriend be displaying a tiny, minuscule bit of..something? Why was Seungcheol so damn mature about it anyway?
A message from Seungcheol popped up soon after.
'I'm going to send him flowers which say 'Fuck Off'. Enjoy the play.'
At last, a message he was happy to receive.
Jeonghan grinned and KNEW that he was being childish. But this was much better.
