In Dreams (Jayhoon)

Page 20

The light chime from the phone placed beside the boy woke him up from his slumber. He opened his eyes, exhaling a sigh. It was Monday again. The day he despised the most ( other than Thursday, of course). He groaned, turning his alarm off and sat up. He didn't bother checking his notifications, as all he remembered was drinking heavily on Sunday night and passing out, kinda forgetting about work for a while.

He gargled and spit in the pearl-colored sink and sighed, lifting his gaze up to meet his gaze in the mirror. He felt oddly tired– exhausted– if he had to say. Eyes droopy, cheeks dusted light pink. The light bulbs brightened his soulless expression slightly, giving his face a beam of light.

His father called last night. Something he wasn't expecting; the company would be taking an approach to elucidate their productions, and to grow their business; the party and collaboration was lingering on the top of his head. He would lose focus if he had thought about his father. So then, why'd he call suddenly? He wasn't worried, was he?

He turned the faucet on and splashed his face with cold water, the string of pain throbbing inside his forehead. He knew he shouldn't have drank much.

____

Jay leaned on the counter, biting down on the apple while reading the emails on his phone. His thumb hovered over an email from Sunghoon. When did he send me this? He thought. "Ah, whatever. I'll read it properly at work." He said, and discarded the rest of the apple in the trash after finishing it. Jay stepped outside his house, locking the door and anticipating whether or not he should knock on Sunghoon's door.

He remembered Friday night and a small smile curved on the corners of his thin lips. He sighed and decided to knock on the door. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

He knocked twice. No answer. Until the third time, Sunghoon finally opened the door, and stood there with a light smile playing upon his lips. The older's tie was loose, hanging off his neck like a string, while the top buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned.

Jay ignored that. "Good morning, sir." He said, and bowed lightly. "Morning," the latter responded. "Sorry, I woke up a little late today." Sunghoon muttered, gesturing to the boy to come in. "Thank you," Jay whispered and situated himself on the couch, once again whilst the older worked on fixing his tie while frying an egg. Jay noticed but decided not to say anything, as it would be really awkward if he randomly asked out of nowhere to fix his tie.

"Jongseong-ssi," Sunghoon called out, "If you don't mind, can you fix my tie?" He asked, as he dropped the tie and turned his head toward Jay. "I'm having a hard time doing both at the same time." Jay gulped and nodded. "Yeah, sir." he answered and stood up, placing the briefcase on the leather couch. He walked up to the older, who was using the chopsticks to fry the egg. He let his fingers roam through the seam on Sunghoon's tie, lightly caressing it to gather it in one place. He made sure to keep distance between the two to not make it awkward.

Am I the only one feeling awkward right now?

"And...done!" he mumbled, looking up and meeting gazes with Sunghoon. The older smiled and moved back. "Thanks," he muttered, burrowing the wooden chopsticks in the egg. Jay sighed and watched as Sunghoon carefully placed the egg on the platter, tossing the frying pan in the sink.

"You hungry?" He asked, glancing over at Jay who refused politely. "Appreciate the offer, sir, but I am not really hungry right now." Sunghoon nodded in response, and poured himself a glass of orange juice. He seemed to be pondering over something, Jay assumed, as the latter stood there for a good two seconds, staring at the glass on the counter. "Would you want some orange juice, then?" Sunghoon asked, and Jay reluctantly accepted. He was a little thirsty.