My Other Half [Jaehyungparkian] (suspended)

Chapter Sixteen - 3

Younghyun almost ran to Sungjin's house. It was a bit far, but he could not bear to wait at a bus stop. His nerves would not take it. People sent him weird looks as he passed by their side, but who cared?

He arrived in front of the building panting. He took his time to steady his heartbeat and fix his look as he waited for the elevator. He wished he could run up the stairs too but his body screamed in disapproval. Now might be time to resume proper fitness training.

Two minutes later, he was knocking firmly on Sungjin's door. The owner of the apartment took way too long to open for his taste.

"Younghyun?" The musician barely looked surprised.

His eyes showed a mix of sympathy and understanding. Younghyun was tempted to fish for answers and decided against. Behind the owner, he noticed Jaehyung's unmistakable silhouette looking.

He expectantly waited for him to come by the door. Instead, he faced Dowoon who actively attempted to block the view to the inside.

"Dowoon? Why..." Younghyun shrugged and looked back at Sungjin. "Where is Jaehyung?"

Dowoon looked hesitantly toward Sungjin.

"He's not here," he said with an unconvincing undertone.

"Where is he?"

Dowoon hesitated a breath too long, looking at Sungjin for some kind of support.

"I need to see him. I really need to. So let me enter. Please," he almost begged.

"Younghyun..." Sungjin called him with something that awfully looked like pity. "I don't want to interfere. That's not my job."

"I need to talk to him."

"I know. I want to let you in as well, but even if I do think you two should talk this out, I can't go against Jaehyung's will."

"I can't let this happen. He can't walk away from me without any explanation. He can break everything we build so far. If he doesn't want to hear from me, I want him to tell me directly. Then..." He took a deep breath, "I'll make sure to respect his wish too."

"It's okay."

Following the muffled words, Jaehyung reached to the door and bypassed his two friends. He did not have to ask for the two to give them privacy.

Jaehyung looked tired, sleepless and resigned. Younghyun could not tell if it was a good sign. Yet, he felt a sudden relief to have him in front of his eyes.

Silence wrapped them and their gazes met, mesmerized, unable to look away. They both missed it. Even after such a short time, they did.

"Why did you run away?" Younghyun started. "What happened? Didn't you get it? Or is it me who misunderstood what we have? The song was for you. You know it right? I wrote those lyrics thinking about you and chose to sing it for you..." he explained, not missing time with roundabouts.

Jaehyung's look was pensive and he took a heavy breath. He looked down and a soft melancholic smile took place on his lips. He should be happy hearing these words. I had waited to hear them for a while now; during all that time they spent together. He closed his eyes and memories of the performance played behind his eyelids.

It took only three minutes of an impromptu performance to realise he didn't know Younghyun as much as he praised himself for. Three minutes to realise he completely misunderstood everything they had been building from the start.

"You... you never told me you could sing," he breathed out painfully, almost whispering.

Jaehyung looked strong and fragile at the same time. Unable to cry, yet on the verge of tears. Everything in him was contradictory and Younghyun did not know how to act at all. He wanted to hug Jaehyung, nothing more.