Chapter Text
The morning that follows last night is complete hell.
Jaehyun wakes up to a pounding headache, rubbing the sides of his temples as he tries to suppress the pain. He tilts his head towards the window and expects to see the sun, only to find it missing. The skies look like it’s about to rain, and if Jaehyun hadn’t known any better, he’d think it’s past noon.
It dawns on him that he’s waking up on the bottom bunk, Sicheng’s bed, and he frowns trying to recall how passed out he was that he couldn’t bring himself to climb up his bed. Then all of a sudden, Ten is barging through the front door and marching towards him. His brows are knitted together and if Jaehyun is being honest, this is the most terrifying he’s ever seen him.
“Jaehyun, what the fuck was that all about?” He’s visibly annoyed as he stops right in front of him on the bed. “I took us to that party because I wanted you to work things out with Sicheng, not find a different guy to make out with. What is wrong with you?”
Jaehyun makes a sour face. It’s too early for a scolding, and he feels his head pounding harder to Ten’s shrill voice. It’s times like these where he couldn’t help but wish he’s waking up to the same two bottles of Pocari Sweat he usually does to in the mornings of a hangover, but obviously, he’s caused all of them too much trouble for the past 24 hours to be granted a request.
“Please stop shouting,” he groans, sinking his head back in bed as he presses on his forehead harder.
“How are you making this harder than it is? I thought you’d finally tell him by the end of the night. I didn’t–”
“You were wrong, okay?” Jaehyun blurts out. “He doesn’t see me like that. Not in the same way I do.” Although this isn’t the first time he’s saying it out loud, it sure hurts just as bad. “He said it himself. In front of me . You were wrong. We both were.” It pains him to bring back the memory of that night– of Sicheng blatantly refusing the idea of them, but Jaehyun knew he had to acknowledge that he and Ten had both miscalculated. “I’m his friend, Ten. There’s nothing more to it. Now please leave me alone.”
Ten pauses, speechless. And if Jaehyun is thinking right, maybe he looks a bit dejected, too. Jaehyun watches him peel his eyes away from him and Ten glances up, looking at what's above him. He opens his mouth as if to say something, and that’s when Jaehyun realizes it:
Sicheng is on the top bunk. On Jaehyun's bed.
Sicheng heard everything.
Ten seals his lips shut, and to the best of his ability, nods in acknowledgement. “I’ll be in my room when you’re okay,” he says, although Jaehyun couldn’t be sure which one of them he's referring to.
He watches Ten walking towards the door and carefully closing it shut, and Jaehyun sinks back on the pillow, staring at the wood of the top bunk above him.
If it’s true that Sicheng heard all of that, then he sure as hell is good at pretending not to. Jaehyun waits as he hopes for Sicheng to strike a conversation. His eyes pierce through the bedframe above him, thinking maybe if he gazes at it long enough, then Sicheng would say something. Let him know that Jaehyun stood corrected. That he was wrong.
But he doesn’t.
Jaehyun shuts his eyes and drowns in the silence, willing himself back to sleep.
-
He wakes up to find two bottles of Pocari Sweat beside the bed, and for a second there, Jaehyun thinks things are back to normal. Like the past few hours have been nothing but a horrible nightmare. But right now, it’s particularly hard to ignore that Sicheng is missing in the room.
Jaehyun’s head is still throbbing so he opens the lid on one bottle and chugs it down until it’s half-empty, hydrating himself with electrolytes just before he heads out to Ten’s room.
When Jaehyun creaks the door open, he hears Sicheng speaking in Chinese, most likely thinking it’s Ten walking in, so when he turns and sees it isn't, he stops mid-sentence and lets out an, “Oh.”
Jaehyun couldn’t help but notice the sudden shift from the enthusiasm in his voice.
“You’re up.”
Jaehyun nods, stepping inside as he shuts the door behind him. “Hey, uh. Thanks. For the sportsdrink.”
"You're welcome," Sicheng says back, although he doesn’t prolong the conversation. He’s sitting down on Ten’s bed and is staring at the phone in his hands that he’s now started to gain interest in. It’s never been this painfully dull between the two of them, and if it ever was this monotonous, it was barely in uncomfortable silence.
He starts to get up, placing the phone in his pocket, but before he could leave the room, Jaehyun stops him.
“Listen,” he starts.
Sicheng pauses. His face is expressionless, but he waits for Jaehyun to go on.
“Doyoung… Doyoung didn’t do anything. Please don’t take it out on him.”
Sicheng shakes his head slightly, eyes now avoiding to meet Jaehyun’s gaze as they land on his feet and he mutters under his breath. “I don’t.”
“I kissed him first.”
“I didn’t ask,” he snaps quickly, finally looking up at Jaehyun.
“Okay. I just... thought you should know–”
“Well, I didn’t.” Sicheng’s voice is growing more frustrated, and Jaehyun could only assume it’s the reason why he’s been trying to keep quiet. “I don’t care who you hook up with, Jaehyun. I mean, this isn’t the first time, obviously.”
“I’m just saying don’t be mad at him . ”
“Who says I’m mad?”
“You definitely sound mad right now.”
“Well, it's not my fault I'm so hard to read, right?” he asks dryly.
Now it’s Jaehyun who’s looking down on his feet. If there’s one thing he wishes he should’ve kept to himself last night, it was saying that about him. It isn’t until Jaehyun is sober does he realize how unfair that was– he wasn’t in a position to demand anything from Sicheng. But this is what he wanted, right? He wanted to provoke him all night long, and he finally got what he asked for.
In front of him, he hears Sicheng take in a deep breath. “What do you want me to say, Jaehyun?” he asks with the same weary voice he had since last night, and in a small voice, Jaehyun answers honestly:
“Just say you’re mad at me.”
He gets the courage to look up at him. Sicheng’s throat bobs, but he’s pursing his lips and shaking his head lightly. His eyes turn to glance at a backpack on the floor, and Jaehyun quickly recognizes it as the same bag he used to pack light when they visited his mom.
“I’m- I’m staying over at my mom’s place,” Sicheng says, confirming his suspicions. “I know the flight’s tomorrow night, but I can just meet you at the airport by noon. I already told Ten, and he said he’s going to take you there. He’s bringing the rest of my bags anyway, so…” His voice trails down to a stop, apologetic. “I wanted to stay with her for one more day, if that’s okay. I don’t think I could go back next year.”
“It’s fine,” Jaehyun says, voice almost a whisper as he peels off his eyes from Sicheng’s packed bags. “You don’t have to explain yourself, Sicheng. I get it.”
The stand in silence for a few agonizing seconds, but Jaehyun couldn’t bring it upon himself to strike a conversation.
Sicheng is staying with his mom, moving away from him before they could settle whatever this tension is between them. And frankly, Jaehyun has drained himself trying to figure it out himself.
He watches Sicheng pace for words. “Jaehyun,” he mutters. “Earlier today. About that thing with Ten…”
Jaehyun shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He offers him a smile, and he just hopes it doesn’t look as obviously pained as he feels.
-
Sicheng insists on heading out on his own to the train station. Normally, he’s no match to Ten’s persuasion but it looks like he hasn’t been in a good mood ever since his last night, so Ten lets him win this one.
They don’t entirely avoid each other before Sicheng leaves, but Jaehyun stays quiet, thinking if he opens his mouth one more time, he risks saying the wrong things again.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Sicheng says. “Terminal 1.”
He nods. “Tell your mom I said hi.”
Sicheng wouldn’t probably want to talk about him to his mom anytime soon, but he says yes anyway. And just like that Jaehyun watches him walk away, wondering how exactly they ended up in a situation like this– with him wanting to finally get the words out of his chest, feeling the words getting caught up on the back of his throat, and before he could even find the courage to spill it in the air, it’s already too late because Sicheng is already too far within reach.
He knows something has changed in them, but both of them are too stubborn to acknowledge what they’re facing. It’s the growing elephant in the room, and he knows he should’ve said something, done something to stop it from ruining a decade-long friendship altogether, but Jaehyun has run out of time. So he takes it in. He swallows the words and saves them for a rainy day, even if it meant being stuck in a barren wasteland.
-
“Thought I’d find you here.”
Jaehyun has been sitting outside his balcony, and he turns his head to the sliding door to find Kun standing above him, enough to warm up the cold breeze he’s trying to freeze himself on. He scoots over and lets him sit beside him, so Kun does, bending his legs to rest his elbows on as they watch the growing sundown traffic from outside the street.
“Doyoung was asking about you. If you were okay.”
“Well,” Jaehyun sighs. “I’m not on death row yet.”
Kun chuckles, pretending to take on the offer. “You did give us quite a scare last night, though.”
Although there’s no threat in his voice, Jaehyun winces, embarrassed at how he gave everyone such a hard time. “I really didn’t mean to worry you, guys,” he mutters.
“Eh.” Kun shrugs. “You came back safely, that’s what matters.”
“I fucked up. Might as well head home on my own if that means we’d be avoiding each other for the entire flight.”
“Hey,” Kun says in a scolding voice. The same voice he uses when the others get too rowdy. “If there’s anything I know about Sicheng, it’s that he doesn’t hold grudges.”
And it’s true. Jaehyun knows that much about him as well.
Sicheng brushes off inconveniences on his shoulders like he doesn’t mind, like he’s used to it. And Jaehyun has always kept a promise to protect him from all of it. Shield him. Which is why he knows how grave his offenses were when this time, Sicheng has drawn the last straw.
“Look,” Kun interrupts his thoughts, realizing maybe how troubled he looks. “Sicheng’s hometown? It’s personal for him. But get this: he brought you along. You. I mean, sure there wasn’t really any special occasion, it wasn’t Lunar New Year-special or anything, but out of everyone, Jaehyun,” Kun turns to him, “it’s you.”
It’s him. Out of everyone that holds close to Sicheng’s heart, he chose Jaehyun. And Kun isn't wrong about that.
“I hope you realize how much that means, Jaehyun. Not just to him, but to everyone.”
He starts to picture Sicheng: seated on the window seat of the train, staring out into the view as it shifts from city buildings to trees. Maybe he’s thinking about Jaehyun, too, coming up with plans on how they could mend things. Or maybe he just wants to get away and forget him. Jaehyun hopes it isn't the latter.
“We all do stupid mistakes when we start falling for someone.” Kun laughs softly and Jaehyun turns to him. He doesn’t bother telling him he’s wrong, because he’s not. Kun has been right all along. Jaehyun has been stupid. And more so in love. He rests a hand on his shoulder, nudging him reassuringly. “I promise you it’s going to be okay.”
When the temperature starts to drop, the two of them decide to head back inside the room. They run into Ten, who looks just as surprised to catch them having a little heart-to-heart talk. “Well, well well. What do we have here?” he asks playfully, giving Kun a teeth-baring grin.
Kun rolls his eyes, walking past Ten as Jaehyun locks eyes with him.
Ten smiles at him fondly, and if Sicheng never holds any grudges, then it looks like neither does he. “Hey.” He’s speaking before Jaehyun could go on and apologize for what happened this morning. “I know what you’re about to say. You don’t have to beat yourself up for it, Jaehyun. You’ve had a long day.”
Jaehyun shrugs, hanging his head low in defeat. “So did everyone else,” he mumbles under his breath. Ten may be so quick to forgive him, but he’s not sure if he can say the same to himself.
Then he watches as Ten’s shoes step forward towards him and he’s hooking their arms together. “Let’s head out to the Bund,” he says– sweetly, playfully. “One last time before you leave for tomorrow.”
Jaehyun is surely going to miss them.
-
The city lights that encompass the waterfront are still as beautiful as the first time Jaehyun first witnessed it, albeit a little colder. He can feel his nose getting a bit red, and his hands are starting to numb again, but he sets it all aside if it meant savoring this view one last time.
The rest of their friends meet them there after work, and they spend their weekend night together as they watch the the tourists begin to crowd and the skyscrapers begin to light up.
Jaehyun leans forward on the railing, seeing the ferries blink its lights as they head across the river. A young couple suddenly comes up to their group and starts speaking in French, holding out a camera to ask for a picture. Ten unhesitantly accepts it as he starts to lead them towards a good spot.
The others look unfazed. Maybe it happens often, Jaehyun guesses. Still, he turns around to see where Ten is taking them anyway.
Then he finds something else.
Something that makes his stomach sink.
Because there in the distance, his eyes find Sicheng.
Sicheng, who left earlier today for his mother’s home. Who kept avoiding Jaehyun’s gaze just before he turned his back on him.
But now he’s there, standing in the sea of the people, and no matter how many tourists are passing by and bumping into him, he’s not letting go of Jaehyun’s eyes either.
Without much thought, Jaehyun finds himself slowly peeling away from the railing, and his feet start leading him towards Sicheng, not bothering to let the others know what he saw.
He hears them call out his name, but he doesn’t turn back because he has so many questions, and they begin to pile more and more when he sees Sicheng, as urgent as he is, weaving his way through the crowd, trying to meet him halfway.
It doesn’t take long until they’re finally standing in front of each other, and Jaehyun could only describe it as something that feels like a click– like the last piece of a puzzle finding its way to fill in the empty space.
And there he is– right in front of Jaehyun. Right when he thought the next time they’d meet is on a plane back home, barely speaking to each other.
It reminds him of the same spot they were in just yesterday: both of them miserable, tired, and Jaehyun prickling his eyes with tears he kept pushing back.
“You have to listen to me,” he blurts out. Now, Jaehyun can never be sure how this is going to turn out, but if there's one thing he's sure of, is that he has to let him know now.
Sicheng was just about to open his mouth as well, and his eyes shift mildly in surprise, taken aback by his urgency, but he seals his lips shut and waits for Jaehyun to go on.
“I lied,” he starts. “When I told you I was coming with you to Shanghai for the winter break. I said it was because I was avoiding the weather–” he shakes his head, “I mean, it’s true but it’s not the sole reason I chose to go.”
Sicheng is eyeing him carefully, and for the first time in a while, Jaehyun feels like he can read what’s going on in his mind– almost like he’s hopeful for the next thing he’s about to say, so Jaehyun takes in a deep breath, right before he lets his heart take control of the situation.
“I wanted to spend time with you. Every single day that I don’t waste it with you it’s like- like I’m missing something. And it makes me feel so restless. Then I wondered if maybe it was you. Being with you, I don’t know if that makes sense, but it- it just feels right.
I insisted I’d go with you to Shanghai thinking all I ever wanted was to get a glimpse of your past, see the life that you left behind. But now, now I realize I wanted more than that. I wanted to be a part of your home, Sicheng.”
He shrugs, unapologetic as he lays out all his cards.
“All this time, I wanted to be a part of your home.”
Jaehyun lets out an exhale, and a fog escapes his mouth from his breathless confession. He watches as Sicheng starts to step closer towards him, not more than a few inches apart, then he pulls at one side of his sleeve to show Jaehyun a shiny, silver-plated bracelet.
Jaehyun looks down on it, trying not to distract himself from the warmth that’s encompassing them both, and he watches as Sicheng turns it over to reveal an engraved message on the surface: be brave.
“They gave me this bracelet. The first day we got here,” he explains. “I didn’t show it to you because I wanted to keep it for myself. A personal reminder, you know?” He runs a thumb over the letters delicately, eyes still glued to it. “I never saw myself as anyone who was brave, but I realized I was in a lot of things: starting a new life, learning a new language, putting myself on a stage during a recital. All of that was horrifying, but I pushed through.” He slowly looks up at Jaehyun. “But there was one thing I couldn't find myself to be brave of.”
When he finally lets his wrist down, Jaehyun lifts his eyes up to meet his again.
“Confessing to you.”
Him? Confessing to him?
“People think it’s so easy to say something, especially when it’s a language that isn’t their own. But the truth is, Jaehyun, I’ve been grasping for words. I didn’t know how to tell you, so I… I thought if I could show you instead, then maybe you’d realize. But everytime it gets there, I- I backpedal. I never wanted it to be weird, but at the same time I never wanted to make you feel like I didn’t want you either. But I do, Jaehyun. And… and…”
Sicheng sighs, wincing at how his words are falling to place, so he takes in one deep breath and spills out:
“And I swear I had a whole speech planned out, but you beat me to it, and I completely blanked so now I’m kinda just winging it, but fuck, Jaehyun, I like you.” He breathes it out in one go as if they were words he’s been holding in, and he says it again, surely this time. “More than a friend, I like you.”
Jaehyun blinks at him, mouth hanging open for a few good seconds before he’s breathing out a laugh. “You had a whole speech planned out?”
Sicheng squints harder, pressing a hand on his forehead as his cheeks begin to flush, but still, he smiles along with him. “Is that what amuses you out of everything I just said?”
There’s an undeniable grin on Jaehyun’s face, and he’s trying to find his own words, too. “Is... Is that why you’re here? I thought you…”
“I turned back.” Sicheng shakes his head. “I didn’t make it to my mom. I was maybe five stops away but I got off and took a train back. I went to the apartment and no one was there, then I figured this was the first place Ten would’ve taken you. I mean–” he shrugs, “–it’s his favorite.”
Jaehyun smiles, nodding to himself. “I think it’s starting to be mine, too.”
They start to hear faint giggling from the distance, and Sicheng squints, turning around to find their friends, huddled together against the railing as they lovingly look back to the both of them.
Jaehyun laughs, feeling his ears burning red when he realizes that they must’ve witnessed them confessing to each other. He turns back to Sicheng and asks, “Do they know?”
“That I came back? Nope.” He looks away from them and fixes his gaze back at Jaehyun. “My feelings for you? Way before I did.”
At this point, Jaehyun wouldn’t be surprised if his heart starts bursting out of his chest. It’s everything he’s always been waiting to, expecting to, praying to hear. And he finally gets to. But something still lingers on the back of his mind.
"But your mom…" he says in a small voice.
Sicheng shrugs. "She's a romantic, she'd understand."
Jaehyun sighs at him. Just how unpredictable is he? "So are you saying this is romantic?" he tilts his eyebrow teasingly at him, and Sicheng proves himself further.
"It would be if I kissed you right now."
It catches Jaehyun off-guard, looking surprised when Sicheng is cupping both sides of his face, and when he watches him start to smile– the same close-knitted smile that makes the apples of his cheeks prominent, Jaehyun couldn't help but do the same.
“Just so we’re clear," he mutters before he gets lost in a daze, "you’re kissing me and not the other way around, right?”
Sicheng grins shyly, and Jaehyun laughs, his face still held warmly in Sicheng’s hands. “Just shut up,” he mumbles back. He tilts his head, leaning forward, and Jaehyun meets him halfway.
Shanghai never really holds a fireworks show, not since a long time ago, but Jaehyun sure as hell feels like they just did for the first time in a while.
Sicheng’s lips feel warm against his, and the kiss starts out nervous, as if testing the waters. Sicheng's hands slide down to rest on both sides of his neck, and Jaehyun can feel people passing by and glancing at them but he doesn’t care. He’s kissing Sicheng, and lord knows how long he’s been dying to find out what it feels like.
When they pull back slowly, their eyes flutter to meet each other, and as soon as they do, they burst out in giggles.
“I change my mind,” Sicheng mutters when it dies down. Jaehyun furrows his brows in question. “Maybe I am mad at Doyoung.”
He chuckles, and Sicheng does too. Jaehyun's hand trails up to his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Although Sicheng is wearing thick, Jaehyun could still feel it beating out underneath his clothes. It’s as fast as his, and he just knows Sicheng had been as anxious as him until this point. His hands reach up higher up to his face, thumb brushing against his cheek delicately. Despite his fingers freezing cold, Sicheng leans into it anyway, all the while never cutting their gazes off.
Sicheng smiles at him softly, and proceeds to ask, “Can I do that again?”
Jaehyun doesn’t answer him, but instead leans closer, breathing him in one more time.
-
A year later...
“They’ve landed!” Sicheng beams. He’s looking up from his phone as he springs up to his feet from the lounge. “Ten just texted.”
His feet tap excitedly, and there's an undeniable grin on his face while Jaehyun gets up from the seat, turning to look at the arrival exit as he tries to catch familiar faces.
It isn't long until they see their friends pushing their carts out of the gates, and as soon as the rest meets their eyes, the luggage is long forgotten, and they race towards Sicheng and Jaehyun for bear hugs. Well, except for Kun, who’s the only able-minded one frantically trying to gather all of their carts before they wheel out of their sight.
“My gosh, you’ve gotten more handsome!” Ten coos, pinching Jaehyun’s cheeks to which Jaehyun winces in pain at.
Sicheng is busy being mangled by the rest of them, and Lucas wraps him by the waist, twirling him around in the air as Sicheng kicks his feet, begging to be put down.
Jaehyun laughs at the sight of them, and no matter how ridiculous they looked in the eyes of passersby, he couldn't help but miss this– the family he's met and made a year ago. The one thing he's been looking forward to as soon as autumn ended.
He turns back to Ten and wraps an arm around him. “Welcome to Seoul.”
-
“Do you live together now?”
The two of them turn to each other at Kun's question and bashfully shake their heads, letting out nervous laughter. Jaehyun's ears betray him by turning red, and Hendery couldn’t stop teasing him about it, pointing it out that even the waitress serving their food couldn't help but glance at him.
Yangyang gasps, "They do!" and Jaehyun covers his ears with his hands as best as he can, saving himself from as much further embarrassment as he can.
The truth is, they don’t. They don't meet everyday, with Jaehyun being busy with his job at a news firm and Sicheng being busy practicing for his shows, the only chance they ever get to see each other is on weekends.
But every once in a while, Jaehyun invites him over to his room to hangout (okay, maybe they makeout a little too), and it doesn’t take long for his parents to finally get the hint after one day. Jaehyun, unfortunately, had to physically stop them from giving him 'the talk' at age twenty four, and reassures them he's very much aware of what he should and shouldn’t do.
After that, Sicheng pretty much has been given full-access to their house. Jaehyun’s father loves talking to him about his favorite Chinese artists while his mother would most likely disown her own son for Sicheng, even asking Jaehyun when he would be coming over again so she could prepare what he likes. (“They like you more than me now. I’m their son!” Jaehyun would jokingly complain.)
They sleep in the same bed, too, when it’d be too late for Sicheng to go home. It’d be nothing but their heads and shoulders brushing against each other, lying down perpendicularly with their feet against the wall while Jaehyun attempts to name the constellations outside his window. Most of the time he’d fail, and Sicheng would laugh, reminding him which is which– but all Jaehyun could be reminded of is how this was exactly the moment he knew he loved him.
Sicheng’s dad never minded him sleeping over at Jaehyun’s either, because if anything, he’s the one who has been suggesting they rent an apartment together and be roommates. So Kun is right. Again. A year has passed and Kun is still right: at this point, they might as well just live together.
“So who bottoms?” Ten asks, and the others burst out in laughter while Jaehyun almost chokes on his food.
Of course, Hendery and Lucas start making bets on who does, and Dejun tries to tame them but ends up making a guess as to who it is, too. Sicheng sinks in his seat, burying his face under his hands.
Ten grins, biting into his chopsticks as he watches the two turn red. “Look at you two,” he coos, clearly enjoying them squirm. “Still couldn't keep each other apart."
"Someone stop him, please," Sicheng grumbles under his hands, and his friends only probe him for an answer.
Before leaving Shanghai last year, Jaehyun made a promise to become their tour guide whenever they decided to visit Korea, and sure enough, he stayed true to his word. He’s taken them to every crook of the city, brought them to every craving their hearts desired, and when they’ve finally filled their stomachs with as much tteokbokki as they could, he brings them to someplace they’ve always been dreaming of: a ski resort.
The place is roughly two hours away from downtown, but being huddled in a train ride to the hills with this certain group of people is enough to make those two hours entertaining. None of them have ever tried snowboarding before, so it was equally as amusing seeing them fumble and fall face-flat on the snow at their very first attempt.
“Show off!” Ten scowled jokingly when Jaehyun zooms past them down the hill with his board.
He bellows out a laugh, looking back to see them struggling to get on their feet, and when he turns around, he catches sight of Sicheng not too far from him. He’s doing pretty well on his own, and would’ve even gotten a perfect landing had he not smiled back at Jaehyun, and then he’s suddenly losing his balance, falling back on the snow. Jaehyun instinctively falls to his back as well, stopping right where Sicheng did.
“You okay?” he laughs, and Sicheng is rolling over, trying to get back up on his feet.
Sicheng nods, unclipping his boots as he smirks. “You were very distracting.”
"You just fell for me. Literally."
“Don’t push it.”
Jaehyun unclips his own and walks over to help him up, brushing off the flecks of snow that got on Sicheng's hair. "Hey," he mutters as soon as he’s up on his feet, voice shifting from teasing to empathic. "I'm sorry you couldn't go back this year."
Sicheng shakes his head at him. "Nah, don't be." He takes his board in one arm and Jaehyun on the other, dragging him out of the snow before someone accidentally crashes into them. "I knew it would be close to impossible as soon as we graduated, but next year I'm saving up enough so we could be together in New Zealand instead."
Jaehyun's eyes light up. "That means you're finally going to meet your nephew."
"Right? At last!" Sicheng beams at him, drawing out a fake sigh as he sits them down a bench, bumping his shoulder against him.
Jaehyun couldn't help but admire how his eyes glisten in excitement, and when Sicheng notices Jaehyun finding amusement in this, he glowers at him, planting his hand on Jaehyun's face to try and wipe it off.
Jaehyun ducks before Sicheng could get him, and he holds a grip on his wrist as he leans backward, trying to get Sicheng to fall.
Sicheng pulls his hand back before he could get entrapped, and Jaehyun smirks at him, eyes now fixed on the hill where their friends are learning to snowboard themselves.
They catch sight of Yangyang finally being able to maneuver without falling, and he's gasping in excitement with the rest of them. Jaehyun mindlessly glances back at Sicheng and finds him smiling to himself.
“You know,” Sicheng mutters. He shoves a patch of snow with his boot, scraping them away until he meets the ground, and quietly, he says, “You could come along if you wanted to."
Jaehyun feels his heart swell. A year ago, he has been the one constantly begging Sicheng that he would tag along, convincing himself and masking it as his desire to leave the snowy city. Now, it's Sicheng inviting him in, and Jaehyun couldn't help but think–
"That's your family though."
He's never met his sister in years, more so his extended family. Jaehyun tagging along would feel overwhelming, wouldn't it? His head fills with undeniable worry, but Sicheng turns to him, and without hesitation, he rids Jaehyun from it all.
"Exactly."
It falls out of his mouth so nonchalantly that Jaehyun is slightly taken aback. Then again, Jaehyun does consider him family. Hell, his own family considers Sicheng family. And maybe this is Sicheng's way of telling him that so is he.
So Jaehyun nods, and he watches as a smile grows on Sicheng’s face, eyes now darting down on his lips. Jaehyun mindlessly pokes his tongue out as he starts to wet it, and Sicheng starts moving closer, close enough to feel his breath. Jaehyun stays still, fluttering his eyes shut as he waits for him to fit their mouths together… and then Sicheng is dashing.
He blinks to himself a few times before he turns his head to the hill, and he watches Sicheng cackling as he tries to run away.
Jaehyun grins, getting up from the bench to start chasing after him.
"Wait, no, no, no!" Sicheng laughs, hands signalling a time out, but he has never been one to step back. When Sicheng realizes he wouldn't stop charging, he runs away further, zooming through his friends as they watch the two continuously chase each other.
“Stop running!” Jaehyun laughs a few feet behind him.
“I yield! I yield!”
They finally reach the top of the hill which is pretty much a free-for-all zone, and Jaehyun is panting breathlessly to a halt, hands on his knees. When Sicheng realizes he isn’t being chased anymore, he collapses to his back on the snow, catching his breath as his arms and legs are spread out on the ground.
Two kids suddenly pass by him, hopping across his stomach as they chase each other with snowballs, and Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile. It’s nostalgic, in a sense. It’s like he could picture the early stages of his friendship with Sicheng– him with his cast and Sicheng’s name written on it, almost like he imprinted his name on Jaehyun’s life.
Then all of a sudden, Jaehyun gets pelted with a snowball on the back of his head. He looks behind him to find Lucas grinning, and it isn’t long until it’s a full-blown snowball fight.
"Run!" Lucas yells to the others, and each of them waste no time retreating.
Jaehyun starts dodging and digging on the ground, balling up fistfuls and throwing them to whoever he could spot first.
When he turns, a snowball lands squarely on his face, and he swats it off to see Sicheng beaming at him, another one ready on his hand. He shrieks as Jaehyun drops all his ammo, suddenly running after him to finish where they left off, and then Sicheng is on his feet– laughter piercing through the field as if it's Jaehyun's favorite song.
It makes him wonder how lucky he could possibly be to have such a bestfriend to fall in love with:
The best friend he’s running around with in the snow, and even though snow isn’t his most favorite thing, it’s somehow starting to be.
The best friend he finally gets to lock in his arms, twirl around, and laugh breathlessly with, and when he finally squirms from his grip to turn and face him, ultimately leaning into to share a fluttering kiss with.
The best friend Jaehyun used to look at and wonder 'Out of all the people, why does it have to you?'
Sicheng. The best friend he’s now thinking could have never been anyone else.