[EN] For you are mine at last - JeffBarcode

Chapter 1

The spot where he usually parks his car in the company is still there for him. He doesn't know why he thinks about that because it hasn't been that long since he was last there. Exhaustion has hit him. It feels like his head has been taken over by a thick gray cloud, which takes over his thoughts and, somehow, reaches his eyes that he has been fighting so hard to keep open. He's been in Bangkok for a week, but it's the five weeks he'd spent away on forced vacation far from everything and almost everyone that make him feel his chest heavy. They haven't even allowed him to take his guitar with him, because it would also mean work.

He takes his hands away from the steering wheel and rubs his eyes before checking his appearance in the rearview mirror. Luckily he doesn't show the mess he is inside. He leaves the car with his belongings with the calm of someone who isn't extremely late. It was very hard to leave bed that morning.

Jeff walks slowly into the building and throughout the corridors, from where he can already hear the noise from his friends and coworkers. He decides to stop for a moment before being seen and takes a deep breath as he leans against the wall next to the door. Try as he might, he can't clearly understand any of the lively conversations taking place in the next room or identify some of the voices he hears. Not even the one he wants to know is there.

He's learned that during his absence his friends agreed not to disturb him. The only way they would reach him would be through Pond, who was always talking to his mother. He didn't tell anyone, except Pond, that he would be dropping by today. The idea was to surprise them, although he is almost certain that he will fail in the mission because of the anxiety that starts building from his chest towards his throat and the back of his neck. He starts to sweat.

"Hey, P'Jeff!"

He's sure the way he startles makes it look like he has been standing there longer than he has and the smile he offers Build must have come out a little weird if the way Build looks back at him confused is any indication.

"I'm late, I know", He dismisses with a playful smile, playing with the strap of his shoulder bag.

"You didn't tell us you were back!" He wraps him in an awkward hug and Jeff closes his eyes as he hears his friend's familiar laugh.

When they move away, Build still holds him by the shoulders and watches as if checking that everything is in place, to which he only responds with a nod. He feels his hand touch his shoulder as he turns to walk through the door to meet the rest of the guys. The first one to squeak in celebration upon seeing him is Apo, cheerful as always, but what takes him by surprise is the thump he receives on his shoulder when he feels a body collide with his.

"P'Jeff!" The voice that inundates his ears, head and the rest of his body, pulls from his chest the first genuine laugh of the day. Jeff raises his eyebrows as he realizes that he now has to look a few centimeters up to catch the boy's eyes.

"Hey" His voice comes out low, just enough for Barcode to hear, as close as he is.

The laugh and familiar sounds that the younger emits while shaking him between his arms causes a chuckle to escape his lips. Barcode's distinctive scent makes him dizzy in a different way from the intoxication he's been feeling lately. It's a smell Jeff didn't even know he could recognize, let alone miss. His mouth waters to the point of needing to swallow with certain difficulty. Only then does he realize how dry his mouth was, just like his throat.

His body is quickly embraced in a group hug by everyone else, which causes him to end up getting even closer to Barcode, enough to lay his head on his shoulder. He feels his batteries recharge completely. That big hug dissipates the cloud that has made him company and takes away any trace of fatigue.