In This Light; Soonhoon

act three

➴ scene 1

SOONYOUNG CAN HEAR the gravel under his feet, his soles rubbing noisily against the grain and then quieting suddenly when he stops in his tracks. The steam from his cup fogs up his lenses, and he rubs it away, blinking. "Christ," his voice carries over the few feet between them, "what are you doing out here?"

Jihoon raises his head slowly, glancing around before noticing the other boy. He squints. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Okay, but I asked first."

He slides over to make more room for Soonyoung on the bench, setting his paper on his lap with an eraser to anchor it. "Just drawing," he says simply.

"It's ass o'clock in the morning," Soonyoung remarks.

"Yeah, but the sky's pretty when it's this early. And like, I couldn't sleep." Soonyoung hums, tilting his cup towards him. Jihoon takes it with a nod and sips before handing it back.

"Same, actually. I had to stay up writing this bitch of a paper - why the fuck I'm writing papers in art school, I don't know - and couldn't fall back asleep once I finished."

"Yeah, and the best thing to do when you can't sleep is to go out and get yourself a coffee, right?"

"I never claimed to make good decisions," he says, and Jihoon snorts.

Soonyoung surveys the scene in front of him while the other goes back to drawing, pencil sliding on paper and the occasional sound of his eraser rubbing. They're sitting close enough for the shavings to fall on Soonyoung's lap, but he doesn't mention it.

Jihoon's right, the sky is pretty at this time. There's something about this hour that shades everything in blue, something light and breezy, as opposed to whatever sunshine yellow the rest of the day has to offer; the transition between 4 and 7am is almost candy-like, Soonyoung thinks he could eat the clouds.

"That's impossible."

"I know, dumbass, I was being poetic."

"Then I guess it's a good thing you didn't go for a degree in literature."

Soonyoung and Jihoon have spent more and more time in each other's company over the last few weeks, running into each other more often, sending more texts and hang-out invitations (after Soonyoung harassed him for three days straight asking for his number). Most of them go along the lines of I'm alone and working on a project, wanna talk? or I'm in a slump and the last thing I want to do is work, please distract me. Soonyoung's pretty good at that - distracting.

But this is the first time, he thinks, that they've been so secluded. They often meet at cafes, in classrooms, splayed out on the grass in the park, always around other people; and this is still them, still the same dynamic, but something feels a little different when they're all alone like this. The mood feels a little more stripped, fresh and laid bare. It gives him more space to think about the stuff he usually doesn't.

Like Jihoon, who Soonyoung sees often enough but never regards as a particularly significant figure in his life. Soonyoung doesn't tend to dedicate a lot of his conscience to the people he knows - Wonwoo's been his best friend since high school, but the only time Soonyoung really thinks about him is when he's actually present, or brought up in conversation.

"I should think more," he says - ironically - without thinking. Jihoon laughs.

"Yeah, put what little brainpower you have to the test."