love you later | yeonbin

012

If Soobin had thought their last conversation after Yeonjun had snapped at him had been life-changing, it was nothing compared to what happened after he officially offered his friendship to him. Yeonjun shines brighter now, isn't as guarded around him. He jokes around more, doesn't take everything so seriously. There is something magical in the air, something completely unrelated to the scent of peaches.

It throws Soobin off at first, hearing Yeonjun's laughter echo through the house so loudly. He only made a stupid pun he had heard Taehyun use before during another greenhouse visit, something that just slipped out, but Yeonjun's reaction made it seem like it was the funniest thing he has ever said. He's not prepared for the way laughter bursts from Yeonjun's lips, for the way he folds in half. On instinct, Soobin reaches out to steady him, makes sure he doesn't fall over.

It's a lovely sound, bright and sunny, and Soobin thinks it's a shame he hasn't heard it more often by now. So he tries, again and again, to make Yeonjun laugh or at least smile, with stupid jokes or silly faces, and it's almost a little too easy. Still, he can't find it in him to complain when Yeonjun's happiness feels like comfort, a warm hug on a cold day. He's not ready to think about what it means that it always feels a little bit like his heart is growing every time he succeeds to leave Yeonjun breathless and with tears of laughter sitting in the corners of his eyes.

At some point, he does get the chance to capture the sight with his camera. He has taken to carrying it around more often now, has asked Yeonjun for permission to take photos of the place. So Soobin snaps photos of Yeonjun's bookshelves, the flowers growing in his greenhouse, captures the way moonlight reflects on the pond in front of the house. He fills up his film quickly, is itching to develop the pictures to see how they turned out. He doesn't have to spend hours in the darkroom to know that his favorite ones will be of bright smiles and crescent eyes.

He's sitting in the alcove once again, phone pressed tightly against his ear as he is catching up with Beomgyu and Taehyun. When he first arrived, he called them more often, almost weekly to check in with them how things were going and how they were doing. This time, he actually has a reason to call beyond just catching up.

"So you're saying that you should be back around the end of June then?" Taehyun asks.

"If everything works out the way we want it to, then yes," Soobin answers and for once he doesn't have to try and keep his voice down. Yeonjun had left the house a while ago, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt. It was an unfamiliarly casual look on him and it haunts Soobin more than he would like to admit how well he pulled it off. "Yeonjun said he'd be able to gather enough energy around the solstice to make the string visible and cut it at the same time. He's triple-checking everything right now, but he said the solstice is our best bet."

He hears Beomgyu hum over the speaker, waits for the moment of silence to pass.

"I'm glad you're finally making progress," Beomgyu says softly.

"Yeah," Soobin answers but there's a lump in his throat and he has to swallow before he can continue. "Me too. It's taken forever to find a solution. It's nice here, but I miss home."

"Not what I meant." Soobin can't see Beomgyu, but he can hear the smile in his voice either way.

"Huh?"

"So. Yeonjun, huh?"

Soobin frowns. "Yeah?"

"How are things going? Is he still driving you insane?"

The change in topic startles Soobin a little bit. It punches a weak chuckle from his chest, but he can't do anything about the heat crawling up his neck. For a moment, he's glad that modern technology doesn't work out here, that he is reliant on this old cord phone and his friends aren't able to see the hint of scarlet sitting underneath his skin.