You Can't Cover Up My Heart

December 9th - December 13th

— December 9th

It's a Thursday night when Hyunjin invites Jisung into his apartment for the first time. The car ride there had been strangely quiet, even for a Thursday. Jisung hadn't plugged his phone into the radio, hadn't turned on music, hadn't offered the aux cord to Hyunjin, and hadn't made any comments about the silence. To say that Hyunjin was worried would be an understatement. Hyunjin is an empathetic person, and he knows Thursdays are usually hard for Jisung because of the shaming he has to endure from Richard and the rest of the faculty. However, he's typically a bit more talkative by the time they leave the company at night, so Hyunjin suspects something else happened today. Something worse, specifically. It's the type of funk that Jisung can't work himself out of, so, Hyunjin has to help. He's more than happy to be of service, though.

Jisung pulls his keys out of the ignition and moves to get out of the car, but Hyunjin grabs him by the sleeve and pulls him back in before he even reaches the door handle. "Come home with me." he blurts out. Jisung coughs out a laugh. "Okay, straight to the point. May I ask why?" Hyunjin sighs, loosens his grip on Jisung's sleeve, and slides his hand down to rest it on his thigh.

"I just..." he pauses to gather his thoughts. "You're sad today. I don't want you to be alone and sad, so come be sad at my place. We don't have to talk, but I am willing to bribe you with food." Jisung smiles slightly, and it's the first time today Hyunjin has seen him crack a grin. It makes him feel a bit better about the whole situation. "What kind of food?" Jisung inquires, rubbing his chin in fake thought. Hyunjin knows he's already made up his mind, but he decides to play along anyway. "Leftover pizza, cereal, maybe some Oreos. I might even have ice cream." Jisung chuckles, and that's definitely the first time Hyunjin has heard that today. Jisung is easy to bribe, and he smiles brightly at Hyunjin before saying: "Okay, fine. Lead the way."

Hyunjin doesn't even have time to apologize for the state of disarray his apartment is in before Jisung is slipping his shoes and coat off at the door saying, "Don't even think about apologizing for anything. You live here, so your comfort is more important than mine. Can I leave my shoes here?" Hyunjin nods, glancing around the space to make sure nothing inappropriate is out in the open. His apartment is a small one-bedroom place with white walls and little furniture. There's a small gray couch in the living room that's just barely big enough for either Felix or Seungmin to curl up on when they spend the night, along with a long wooden coffee table. Hyunjin just recently purchased a mountable flat screen television to put in the living room, and it was installed last week. A few boxes are still littered around the windows from the mounting equipment, but it isn't recycling day yet, and Hyunjin certainly isn't going to put cardboard in the trash. He's not a terrible person.

Despite the two wooden shelves on either side of the T.V., the apartment is sparsely decorated with house plants and a few random books here and there. Hyunjin had been telling himself that he'd really decorate the place once he was more financially stable since it seemed like he'd be staying here for awhile. As of now, he isn't as financially stable as he hopes to be in the future, so he hasn't decorated for real yet. Soon, he tells himself.

"I'm not hungry, but you're welcome to anything that's in the fridge or the cabinets. I know you didn't eat lunch today," Hyunjin offers, dragging Jisung over to sit at the bar in the little kitchen. This is the room Hyunjin uses least, but he still enjoys it, nonetheless. It's open and bright, and Hyunjin had the most accessories for the kitchen when he moved in thanks to his mother. A table runner, silverware, real plates, a coffee maker, and a teapot were some of the things he was lucky enough to have in his possession.