Tired Lines; Soonhoon

06

☽

4:36 pm.

"How'd you spend your day?" is the first thing Jihoon hears upon Mingyu's entrance.

"How should I respond to this?" Jihoon calls form his spot on the couch. He can hear the sound of his roommate tossing his shoes off and walking into the living room, feels the cushion move behind him as Mingyu rests his arms behind Jihoon's head.

Jihoon instinctively moves away, not being too fond of the close proximity, but not before Mingyu can chuckle out a, "Truthfully, maybe."

"I stayed in, mostly," he answers honestly. "Only left to buy some food. I even got you that disgusting, literally heart-stopping cereal you like so much - you're welcome."

Mingyu hums out his thanks, ruffling Jihoon's hair (much to the latter's chagrin) before moving into the kitchen area , presumably to inhale the said cereal and consequently pass out from an overdose on sugar. Jihoon doesn't stop him.

Jihoon and Soonyoung did, of course, separate at some point. Soonyoung had left him with a smiling, "Goodbye," and a look that said something else - see you tonight, maybe? - to which Jihoon had tried his best to muster up something genuine in response. It's not that he has a hard time being sincere, he just has a hard time actually injecting emotion into most of the things he says. Makes it really easy to come off as rude, or fake; not exactly the impression he wants to make on Soonyoung, of all people.

Because Soonyoung comes off kind and warm, and Jihoon, embarrassed as he is to admit it, is struck by him.

9:01

He decides to come by at an earlier hour than usual.

The night café that Jihoon now considers a second home is, undoubtedly, much cozier and better decorated than his actual home. Soft, cushiony seats line the dark walls, fairy-lights and lowly-lit lamps hang here and there, the heating never strays from comfortable (something Jihoon can definitely appreciate as the Autumn chill sets in) - and Soonyoung, pretty and placid behind the counter.

Jihoon's brought his notepad with him, again, despite knowing it's useless. He'll probably leave it off to the side, favoring Netflix and only pretending to do actual work, and then he'll drag himself back to bed at whatever ungodly hour in the morning and feel bad for letting yet another day go by without making progress.

He's had slumps before, but none like this one. Jihoon decides it's nothing short of torture.

10:17

"Do you produce the songs you write?"

The question startles him, almost. It's the first thing Soonyoung's said to him since giving him his order, and Jihoon feels almost delighted at the barista's show of interest. He'd never say it, though, because it makes him feel silly. Delighted. Delighted, but silly. Hm.

"I guess," Jihoon says, his voice carrying a slight rasp from lack of use. He clears his throat and tries to ignore the way his cheeks flush a little.

"You guess?"

"I mean, yeah. Being broke most of the time makes it a little difficult to do so, but I try."

"Don't you have a job?"

"Yes."

Jihoon does, actually, have a job. He offers tutoring sessions to families living near campus; the pay is decent and the hours are flexible, and his help is needed plenty - but one of the high schoolers he'd been helping out with music theory lately has been on some family trip for the last week and a half. Which, thank fucking God, because Jihoon has found that it's a million times more difficult to teach and make sense when he's barely keeping his own head above the water as it is.

Soonyoung doesn't press any further, and it's not like he really needs to. Jihoon wasn't lying or anything, he does produce some of the songs he writes, usually enlisting Mingyu's help when it comes to vocals, or even singing himself, despite having to be on somewhat of a budget.

"Would you ever let me listen to one?" Soonyoung asks, and Jihoon would love to say yes, but his songs are wildly personal and the last thing he wants is for someone like Soonyoung to criticize something so dear to him; he's not sure his self-esteem could handle it.

When Jihoon doesn't respond right away, he continues, "I bet they're wonderful."

Soonyoung's eyes are lit up, two lovely smiles sitting right atop his cheekbones, and his lips are curved upwards in a way that's too, too cute for Jihoon to handle. He's so bright, so gentle, a full moon of a boy, and Jihoon would say yes if he were just a little braver, if only to see that smile grow wider - because it is so pretty, isn't it? And who would Jihoon be to deprive the world of such a pretty thing?

"Maybe someday," is what he says, and he wants to mean it.