so far away | yoonkook

night : 02

and yoongi ends up knocking at namjoon's door at ten in the evening, gestures uneasy from trying to adjust to the new environment. yoongi's almost clearly shivering from the unbelievable climate drop in the main city.

it wasn't this cold in daegu. sure, it took three layers to get him all warm and cozy but in seoul it seems like the least number of layers one could use was five. he swears he might turn into a block of ice if he doesn't get any shelter soon.

he and kim namjoon met way back at an interschool competition when yoongi was a representative marshal for the rival academy and namjoon just so happened to be in his table.

"because it's fuck o'clock, I've got an entrance exam for university tomorrow-"

ever since they agreed on practicing whenever the time for contests came around, they developed this type of unusual interdependence where yoongi couldn't guess if namjoon was normally this snappy or if he was just forcing himself to like yoongi.

"-and there's another stray at my doorstep."

yoongi nearly flinches at the term 'stray'. he glances to the ground for a second then looks back up to lock gazes with namjoon.

"what brings you to this side of the world?"

"I've told you beforehand, I need a place."

namjoon furrows his brows. "I haven't received any messages, neither through e-mail nor text."

"what?" yoongi's tone rises. "I sent them four nights ago, explanation and all, and you told me it was 'fine' and that I could stay. here. have a look."

yoongi takes his phone out to show namjoon the texts and kim grabs the device from him, scrutinizing. the way namjoon's expression hardens makes yoongi chew at the inside of his cheek. he stares sternly at the screen, as if yoongi had purposely offended something related to his beliefs.

yoongi knows just how much namjoon valued all that intellectual jargon and could imagine what type of fight would go on if someone crossed his line. but yoongi swears he wouldn't want to come across as forceful. namjoon's probably the only one who would take him in.

he brings his palms together and tries to blow some heat into his fingers. they are now freezing to the tips.

was it just him or did it get even colder?

namjoon folds his arms against his chest after he hands back yoongi's phone.

once the device is set inside his pocket, yoongi tightens his grip onto his bag and tries to control his legs from shaking. the backpack's really weighing him down now.

"I understand." namjoon says later on and his voice is softer.

there's a hopefulness that brims in yoongi's chest once these words were uttered.

namjoon opens the door even wider and tilts his head to one side, permission for yoongi to enter.

"shoes are left near the door, though. and you get to stay on the couch until the kid in the guest room decides to get his own place." namjoon says, walking behind the counter separating the living area and the kitchen.

after setting his bag down, yoongi begins untying his laces and places his sneakers against the wall on the door's left side. it's already full on the right side, with shoes lining the concrete divider up to the corner. after all, namjoon isn't the only one living in this space anymore.

yoongi takes a moment to glance around the home.

for him, it's an odd little environment with an intricate arrangement. white couches, white coffee table, white walls, and white vases. there's a pop of black here and there, like the striped black pillowcases, black mantelpiece, and the sleek black flat screen tv. then there's the occasional blue. blue lampshade, blue picture frames and blue rug that brings everything altogether.

namjoon is very particular with design and is very neat, yoongi can see that.

when he finishes observing the specifics in namjoon's abode, yoongi goes back to namjoon himself. he notices that the guy's been watching him. he holds a mug close to his lips. this time, a yellow mug. plain and simple with a white rim.

"who's the kid in the guest room?" yoongi gets curious enough to ask.

namjoon is keening at him. his eyes have an evident glint to them, bright, as if he's just discovered yoongi's biggest secret. and yoongi can't escape the fact that it makes him extra wary.

"you'll meet him soon enough."

yoongi nods.

he's not really interested about the other 'stray', as namjoon had referred to the other occupant. yoongi's more concerned about the idea of sleeping soundly at namjoon's without cops bursting through the door to take him back where he was running from.

now that he was far away, he hopes that everything he'd purposely left behind doesn't bother him anymore.

everything except hoseok, of course. because disappearing came with a price, a price as high as leaving hoseok behind. yoongi did not intend to abandon him. and he hopes hoseok knows this.

because yoongi's wrapped up in the concept that it'd be more painful to live feeling lost than to get lost and live.