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His bags were unpacked within minutes, considering he only brought clothes and the dresser that Ho-yeol had in that room was depressingly empty.

When he emerged, Ho-yeol was nowhere to be seen, but Jun-ho assumed he was still in the house as he hadn't heard his door open or close.

Now that Jun-ho looked around, it was strewn with colour palette ideas, possible venues and budgeting pointers, especially on the coffee table. There was a neat stack of business cards in a holder around the middle.

He picked one up to read it.

"Han Ho-yeol, Wedding Planner. Here to make your big day even bigger at a better price," it read.

That was just like Ho-yeol. So extravagant.

"Do you like it?" There he was. 

"It's very you." Jun-ho said simply.

Ho-yeol just laughed and patted his shoulder. "Want some ramyeon like old times?" 

Jun-ho nodded. He hadn't eaten since last night. 

"Alright. Be right back." Jun-ho sits on the floor by the couch. 

He thinks about the call they had once received while sitting in this exact spot. They often ate ramyeon here during leave. 

Now that he thought about it, when they were enlisted, they were very nearly inseparable. They spent leave together, they spent a good amount of time together on duty, and even at times when Jun-ho wanted to be alone, there was Ho-yeol making sure he ate.

He was there for him when no one else was. 

He was roused from his thoughts by Ho-yeol resting a cold drink against his neck, which he took. 

"Thanks." Ho-yeol smiled and sat next to him.

"What are you thinking about?" Ho-yeol asked, taking a bite of ramyeon. 

"Nothing." Jun-ho gives the automatic response he's gotten used to giving his mom.

"It didn't look like nothing. You looked pretty happy there for a minute." Ho-yeol teased. 

Jun-ho froze. Did he? Was it showing on his face?

"Is something wrong?" Ho-yeol sets his now-empty ramyeon wrapper down. He always was faster at eating.

When Jun-ho doesn't answer, Ho-yeol hugs him, bringing him into his chest.

Jun-ho panics and shoves him away, running into his room and slamming shut the door. He twists the lock and falls into bed. 

He wants to cry.

Why in the world did he react like that to something Ho-yeol did all the time?

What's wrong with him?

There's a few minutes of silence, then a soft knock at the door.

"Jun-ho?" It's Ho-yeol. "Can you unlock the door for me?" 

He slinks to the door and unlocks it, slowly, carefully. He doesn't know why he locked it in the first place.

Then he jumps back under the covers to hide from his stupid actions. 

"I'm coming in." Ho-yeol said. The door opens slowly, and his soft footsteps cross the room in no time.

He sits on the bed near Jun-ho's feet.

"Can you sit up so we can talk face to face, love?" The soft name for him made him sit up and allow the blanket to fall from his shoulders. 

Ho-yeol pats the bed next to him and Jun-ho reluctantly sits there, nearly touching from the proximity. 

Slowly, Ho-yeol turns to him, opening his arms and looking at him as if to ask for permission. Jun-ho silently nods and Ho-yeol hugs him close to his side.

The first thing that Jun-ho notices is how warm he is. He's like a human blanket, and he's generous enough to share it.

"I'm sorry. Was it something I said? If it was, I really didn't mean to hurt you at all." Ho-yeol said, his voice soft. This wasn't typical of the loud corporal that Jun-ho knew. 

Jun-ho tensed up at the contact, then relaxed into Ho-yeol's body. "No..I was just- I'm not used to you anymore. You're so different from everyone else I've been around. I don't- I don't know why I reacted like that." 

Ho-yeol sits there with Jun-ho in his arms with three things going through his mind at once.

'ah, I missed this..'

'did I really stay away that long? now I feel like total shit for not reaching out sooner..'

and

'oh my fucking god was he always this damn adorable?'

Instead of any of those things, he says "That's my bad. I'm sorry. You'll..have plenty of time to get used to me again." There's a note of guilt in the older man's voice that Jun-ho doesn't fail to pick up on.

Jun-ho nods, and Ho-yeol lets him go. Jun-ho hastily scoots away and puts his hands on his knees.

"Yes, well.. I was just thinking about how it's nice to be back here." Jun-ho says.

"Now that I've deemed that I didn't hurt you in any way, are you ready for the details and what I'll have you do?" He asks. Jun-ho nods quickly.

Jun-ho is a little embarrassed at how easily he curled into the Corporal.

"So first, I'll probably have you grab me stuff from my room when the clients are here, because most of it I keep in there..oh, client hours! Client hours are from 10AM to 1PM, then at 3PM to 7PM. They have to be pretty long because of the time it usually takes to drive here..I'm the only planner in the area." 

Ho-yeol's eyes are bright when he's talking about his job. Jun-ho can sense his passion.

"Since client hours start earlier, I have to ask that you probably don't walk around without a shirt. Or pants." Ho-yeol spaces off.

Jun-ho is a little concerned as Ho-yeol's ears go red and he clears his throat. "Anyway. The job is really simple. You'll be doing things like answering the phone and scheduling things.." Ho-yeol indicates a phone hanging on the wall.

"I finally set up that stupid house phone and changed the number on my business card..and my website, actually. Okay. That's about it. I'll teach you the scheduling when someone calls tomorrow." Ho-yeol looks at Jun-ho, then stops.

"Sorry. That was a lot. Do you have any questions?" Ho-yeol . 

"No. It's..fine. I understand everything so far." Jun-ho smiles a little, nodding to Ho-yeol.

Ho-yeol ruffles his hair. "Good then. I'm glad you're a fast learner babe~" He teased. He places a hand on his shoulder with a grin. 

Jun-ho felt his face get warm, but Ho-yeol was already walking out of his room. 

Vaguely, Jun-ho wondered if he was ill. He never had this sort of reaction to Ho-yeol before today..right? 

Except he did. He did react like this when he was alone.

When Ho-yeol did those things for him, when Ho-yeol hugged him, when Ho-yeol pretended to beat him up while in actuality he was checking on him.

But it didn't make sense.

This wasn't what they were. They were just partners. That's it. So why..

..does he feel his heart racing like this?



"weddings are planned, falling for you was not." han hoyeol x ahn junhoWhere stories live. Discover now