celestial strings | h.js

two.

His mother had some groceries delivered to the apartment the other day, and they came with a pack of dry ice to preserve some of the food that came in the box. The icy air surrounding it had felt refreshing to Jisung that all he wanted to do was touch it. He was advised against it multiple times, which only made him want to do it more.

"Oh jeez–please don't do that," you groaned.

"What the–you and Seungmin are so annoying! It's not like I'll die from it!" he slurred out animatedly.

"I'm sure it's not just me and Seungmin." You rolled your eyes.

"Well, yeah? Of course, my mom would tell me no. That is when you guys come in and encourage me to try it out! Parents say no; friends say yes!" he spilled confidently. "Hyunjin was in on it! He's the true ride-or-die, I guess."

You narrowed your eyes at him and leaned your body to the side. You looked out the convenience store doors. Felix perked up when he saw you looking by the wall. He clapped his hands with a bright smile, waved, and looked to the side to pull Hyunjin out from hiding. Hyunjin stumbled with a curse, but he let Felix hold on to his wrist in excitement from seeing you again. Looking up from the floor, Hyunjin searched for your eyes. He pulled a face at the deadpan glare you sent him from miles away; he knew there was a reason for it. He just wasn't sure what Jisung told you.

"The first thing he does is talk shit about us to [Name]," Hyunjin muttered.

Felix giggled, clearly not a care in the world now that his friends were making up with each other. Seungmin rolled his eyes with a scoff and made sure his comment about how Jisung was only talking about Hyunjin was loud enough to be heard. The two got into a minor hissy fit, where Seungmin remained still and Hyunjin looked more exhausted than ever. You could see the grimaces on Hyunjin's face from inside the store.

"Those two are at it again," you muttered to Jisung.

"They always are," he said mindlessly, playing with your fingers. "Did I tell you about what happened the other day at the library? It was so stupid. Hyunjin was–"

"Ow! Hey!"

Jisung looked up innocently when you winced after he pulled a hangnail off your index finger. A small apology threw up from his stomach when you glared at him. He smoothed over the sore spot with the tip of his finger, rubbing the redness gently and slowly erupting into laughter upon your persistent grumpy expression.

You didn't pull away from him. He thought that meant something. Forgiveness, perhaps. Forgiveness that was given without the presence of an actual apology; forgiveness reserved only for those who are the dearest to us; forgiveness that was strong enough to shape the air around you, making everything mellow and soft again. And you two would not hurt each other again. You two would never hurt each other again.

"We all missed you a lot," he said as he let go of your hand. "I missed you a lot."

"Enough to trip and fall?" You smirked in amusement.

Jisung sighed with a quirk on his lips, embarrassed. "Yeah."

It took one final stare—this time, both of you could see that it was longing eating away at your irises—before you two broke down. Silent tears fell down Jisung's cheeks as he reached for a hug. You returned the embrace with equal devotion in your strength, both of you doing your best to crush each other's bones and physically submerge yourselves into each other. Anything separating your bodies was a nuisance at this point; your clothes, flesh, skin, everything.

"I love you," he mumbled. "Let's never do that again."

"Okay," you nodded, "I love you too."

You two would not hurt each other again. You two would never hurt each other again.