Night Workout

Chapter 2: Last Night in Parts

JANUARY 4TH: PART I

They had chatted. After that IG Live turned private FaceTime they did on the stroke of midnight on New Year's, they chatted. P'Toie -bless him, saw their Live and texted Joong his schedule right after. Nine -self managing and equally self sufficient, wouldn't ever forget his own schedule. So they chatted. They ran through their schedules together and was equally delighted to have found an empty slot on the 4th. Well empty as empty can be for them -Nine still has a flight he had to recover from in the early morning and a family reunion to attend during the day, and Joong had some managerial work for his new gig. But they both got off in the afternoon and so it was the perfect plan.

They had both planned to have Nine be driven by his family to Motive HQ, take P'Toei's car, drove it to Joong's aunt's place to pick him up, and then spend a night at Nine's condo so they can leave together to Motive for their shared schedule on the 5th. It was an arduous plan but it had made sense to them. They would only get a few hours but it'll be enough for them. It'll be, wouldn't it?

The wait for D-Day was the worst. South Korea wasn't known for merciful winters, and Nine was paying the price. J'Mila wouldn't stop making fun of his red runny nose and chattering teeth. Nor would she stop rolling her eyes everytime Nine puts another souvenir into their shopping basket, fully intending it to be another Joong-only-gift. Back home Joong wouldn't and couldn't shut up about feeling partial. He went places, played with some beetles, fed a horse, ate at Instagram-worthy cafes, went for a swim -but he can't fight this feeling of emptiness repeatedly nagging at his insides. He just couldn't help but feel that all those adventures would've been better with someone else around -someone in particular. It drove his poor friend Porr mad -the guy even began questioning his choice of friends.

Both are respectively suffering. Counting down the days, hours, minutes, seconds until their anticipated meetings. Soon it drew closer and closer and then it was the day.

Nine was waiting in the car, Joong was all packed up and headed downstairs -Aunty was filming and making comments all along the trip to the parking lot, seemingly more excited about the reunion than they both are. Joong had to give it to her though -the whole day they had both been out and she had had to deal with him being a restless chatterbug about his P'Nine. So she had every right to look forward to having be rid of a tire-inducing teenager, and the filming was just a thing she does. They both got to the elevator and Joong made a joke about being picked up by a handsome Grab driver, and they both laughed along but none of Joong's words was a lie. His Grab driver is handsome, the handsomest there is. So they got to the parking lot, Nine greeted them and Aunty started a light banter with him. All three conversed, all three laughed -and when it was time, all three said goodbyes. The car took off and then there were two.

Nine drove, of course. He'd seen Aunty's Instagram Story that featured a driving Joong, but he'll be damned before he let the kid drive without a driver's license. Joong at least seemed content with that. Nine thinks he's just glad to have his "personal little driver" back, but Nine quietly enjoys serving a purpose for other people so he lets this one slides. It was 10 PM, the road was dark and there weren't many cars around. The trip between Aunty's place and Nine's condo shouldn't take more than 30 minutes but somehow it felt longer. Maybe it was this weird silence that befell them. This unknown stilted air that encompassed them and the car so suddenly -maybe that's why it felt longer.

They were fine when Aunty was around, they had been laughing around, joking, talking. Now that they're alone, that's suddenly gone. This was their long-awaited reunion, this was the moment they've both pinned for. So why are the words not coming out?

They stopped at a red light. The intersection is deserted but reliable-driver Nine would never run a light. For a second they have no excuse, one is free from driving and the other has only been staring at nothing through the side window. 10 more seconds of silence, and then there's a hand on Joong's thigh, prompting him to look. And then there's Nine with his beautiful hands and his beautiful hair and his beautiful eyes and his beautiful lips, and Joong's leaning over before he realised. The hand on his thigh jolts, then another hand grasped his shoulder, squeezed. Fluttering eyelashes, warm blushy cheeks, soft lips and tender kisses. It isn't their first kiss -far from it, but it never quite lost its magic. Joong's arms wrapped around Nine's form, gentle delicate touches growing hungrier each second. But then the lights shone green. With regret Joong separated their lips, stroked Nine's face to get him to open his eyes. Eyes now opened and alert, but the tender strokes never stopped. And then Joong's leaning over again but this time it's to whisper in the older's ears:

"Nai, let's finish this at home"

The "Nai" came out naturally, he's called the older without his prefix plenty of times before. So when Nine flinched at his words, was it the "finish" or the "home" that got him? Joong didn't get to figure it out because then Nine stepped on the gas and they arrived in record speed.