JL didn't know where he was going until he saw Steven.
Just -- there. Outside the side of the tent, lit half-gold by the floodlights and half-dusk by the sunset bleeding over the bleachers. Hoodie on. Earphones half-in. Like he couldn't decide if he wanted to hear the world tonight or pretend it didn't exist.
JL stopped walking. Not because he meant to.
His feet just... stopped.
Steven looked up.
No flinch. No Hey, you okay?
Just eye contact that landed too softly, too much. Like Steven already knew.
JL felt everything catch up with him all at once. The yelling. The walking. The running, even when he wasn't on the track. He was still too hot. His throat ached. His ribs still hurt, not from sprinting -- from all the things he had said.
His hands were shaking. He didn't notice until he tried to clench them and they wouldn't stay closed.
And Steven just -- held his gaze. Didn't flinch. Didn't smile.Didn't ask.
JL didn't say a word. He didn't have to.
Steven opened his arms.
JL stepped in.
No warning. No words. Just forward. Into Steven's gravity like it was a solution. Like it was a place to land.
He pressed his forehead to Steven's shoulder. Not lightly. It was like collapsing into something solid for the first time in hours. His fingers hovered for a second before they found Steven's back -- unsure, then anchoring.
Steven exhaled once. Soft. Almost a hum. Then he moved.
One arm wrapping behind JL's ribs. One hand on the nape of his neck, warm and steady. His chin, tucked into JL's hair.
Steven didn't ask what happened.
Didn't say, You look like shit.
Didn't say, I knew this would happen.
Didn't say anything.
He just held him.
And JL --
He let himself be held.
Not in that performative way. Not the hug where you're still pretending you're okay and it's just a social gesture.
He leaned in.
Let his weight settle. Let his chest un-clench. Let the tears burn the backs of his eyes but not fall -- because even this, even this safety, felt like it could slip away.
Steven didn't pull away.
Didn't shift.
Didn't ruin it with a joke or a question or some kind of absolution.
JL closed his eyes.
He didn't know what it was called when someone held you like this -- not because you earned it, not because you explained anything, but because they wanted to.
Whatever it was, he needed it.
And Steven gave it.
Just for a minute.
Maybe more.
YOU ARE READING
Running to You | Park Han + JL + Steven | Haneulz + Stejay AU
Fanfictiontrack team AU | love triangle | slice of life | slow burn | found family | comedy + longing + insane rizz JL transferred to Korea's most elite sports university hoping for a fresh start. He didn't expect to be rooming beside the nation's top sprinte...
