SECRET EMBRACE | Jeonghan X Joshua | JiHan

EIGHTEEN

Jeonghan

Back at his apartment, Jeonghan let out a quiet sigh as he stepped inside, the familiar scent of his space wrapping around him like a warm embrace.

He shrugged off his jacket, tossing it onto the couch before making his way to the bathroom. The warm water cascading over his skin was refreshing, washing away the fatigue of the day. By the time he emerged, dressed in a loose t-shirt and comfortable pants, he felt lighter, more at ease.

He wasn't particularly hungry-he had already grabbed coffee and cookies on the way home-he wasn't hungry, so instead of heading to the kitchen, he flopped onto his bed, sinking into the plush mattress.

He missed his bed. He loved his sleeping routine.

His fingers lazily reached for his phone, unlocking the screen with a swipe.

First, he checked the campus page. Nothing interesting. The usual announcements, a few discussions, and a couple of posts that didn't catch his attention.

He exited the app with a huff and switched to Instagram, scrolling through his feed absentmindedly. His thumb hovered over photos, liking whatever post appeared, barely paying attention.

Then, a notification caught his eye. His besties group chat-one with his best friends: Seungcheol, Seungkwan, Mingyu, and Minghao.

Group Chat: Jeonghan and the babies

Seungkwan
Look at this!!
Love birds are making us single people suffer again.
@mingyu @the8hao

[attached photo of Mingyu and Minghao holding hands at a café]

Mingyu
It's not our fault you're all alone, Kwannie.

Minghao
Just get a lover @Seungkwan

Seungkwan
🤬

Seungcheol
Anyway
When's basketball practice?
Need to plan

Seungkwan
Yeah
When are we playing?
@Jeonghan answer

Mingyu
Where's he?
Haven't seen him ages

Jeonghan read through the messages, a small smirk tugging at his lips at the usual banter. He quickly typed a response.

Jeonghan
Practice?
Whenever
Just tell me the time

Within seconds, Seungcheol was back.

Seungcheol
Btw
What were you up to today?

Seungkwan
Yeah
We haven't seen you
Did you go to shopping?

Jeonghan
Nah
Busy with a presentation

That was all he said. He should've known that wouldn't be enough.

Seungkwan
Presentation?
For what?

Mingyu
Physics Presentation
Wait🤨
@jeonghan you really did it?

Seungkwan
WDYM @mingyu
He's literally top
So why asking REALLY DO IT?

Seungcheol
Sus🙄
Jeonghan. Answer

Mingyu
He's literally with that guy in their group

Seungkwan
Who?
YOON JEONGHAN???
GET YR ASS HERE

He rolled his eyes at their curiosity but ignored them, deciding not to feed into their questions. He knew that, they'd eventually know that. Plus, mingyu was in his lectures, so there was no need to hide but he ignored answering for a while.

However, another message popped up. This time, it was a private chat from his best friend, Seungcheol.

Seungcheol
What. do. you. mean. by. 'busy with a presentation'?
Who's mingyu talking about?

Jeonghan hesitated for a moment before replying.

Jeonghan
With Joshua

That was it. No elaboration. But, of course, Seungcheol wasn't one to let things slide. Of course he did want to know about every single thing about jeonghan. His other half.

Seungcheol
Oh? Joshua?
THAT BOY, JOSHUA???
Since when do you two work together?
Tell me more
What did I miss?

Seungcheol
Did something happen?
HE WAS LITERALLY HAVING A BEEF WITH YOU
🙄

Seungcheol
HELLO??
EVEN THE WHOLE SCHOOL KNOWS THAT
Don't ignore me, Jeonghan

Seungcheol
Jeonghannie-ah....?

Jeonghan let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head. He had a way to shut Seungcheol up. His fingers quickly typed out a new message.

Jeonghan
Did you contact Chan?

The moment he sent it, Seungcheol disappeared like dust in the wind. No reply. No read receipt. Just silence.

Jeonghan smirked. Works every time.

Shifting onto his side, he let his gaze wander-and that's when he noticed them. The two keychains from earlier, sitting on his nightstand, bathed in the soft glow of his bedside lamp.

Reaching out, he picked them up, letting them dangle from his fingers. The small plush charms swayed slightly, their soft colors standing out against his skin. He stared at the Cinnamoroll keychain, his thoughts drifting back to Joshua.

Why did this remind him of Joshua?

He didn't know.

But as he lay there, the corner of his lips lifted into a smile-one he didn't even notice forming.

---

A sudden vibration from his phone pulled him from his thoughts. Another notification-a new follower on Instagram. At first, he ignored it, assuming it was just another random person drawn to his account, either because he was popular or because they found him attractive. It happened often enough that he barely spared these notifications a glance.

But for some reason, this time, he checked.

His eyes landed on the username: josh.hong.

It struck him immediately. It was eerily similar to Joshua's. Could it really be him? Or was it just a coincidence?

Curiosity sparked as he clicked on the profile. The account was small-only 95 followers, following 104. Not exactly the kind of numbers he'd expect for someone like Joshua. The profile picture wasn't of Joshua himself, either. Instead, it was a simple image of a guitar.

There were ten posts, but they were all hidden behind the privacy lock.

Should he send a follow request?

Normally, Jeonghan never paid much attention to his new followers. He wasn't the type to go snooping, and with 3.4k followers yet only following 213, he kept his circle relatively small. But this time, something was different.

He hesitated only for a moment before giving in to the curiosity bubbling inside him.

He tapped the Follow button.

Barely five or six seconds passed before the request was accepted.

His heart skipped a beat as he immediately clicked in.

Sure enough, it was Joshua.

Photos of him filled the feed-some candid, some posed, intermixed with shots of books, cafés, cups of coffee, and warm, aesthetic moments captured in quiet corners of the world. It suited him perfectly.

Just like him, Jeonghan thought.

ᝰ.ᐟ

Its been a while, ryt. I miss jeonghan sm. Give SVT a lot of love. 💎
하니행
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