Painted Blue (JOOKYUN✔️)

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Hoseok keeps trying, much to Changkyun's dismay. The older cannot stop how he feels, and while Changkyun wants nothing more than to reciprocate, his heart still wanders after blue. He hasn't seen Jooheon in six weeks, not since the accidental glimpse he'd caught of the blonde's departure. There's still a resonating ache in the young man's chest each time he thinks of his lover, and just how long they've been without one another.

A total of eleven weeks, seventy-seven days, and most of them ending with a struggle. Changkyun finds many nights he spends alone rougher than they ought to be. Old friends tempt him, beg for him to return, find that familiar high. He wants to, desperately he yearns for that subtle bubble in his gut to burst and tug him away from reality. But he can't.

Whether Jooheon can recognize it or not, Changkyun has made the turn towards a new stretch of life. Pain from the past isn't meant to hold him back, and he has moved on. He doesn't cry anymore, and he can find pride in his ability to keep up on a life alone. He's moving forward, despite the dwindling hope that Jooheon will come back. The small glimmer of excitement he gets when he recalls old moments, now stale over time.

Hoseok can see the light in Changkyun's eyes each time he mentions the man he once had. The man he hopes one day will be by his side again. While Hoseok hurts, he tries not to let it show too bold on his face. He understands how a heart works after years of chasing after one for himself, and he knows that Changkyun hates himself more and more each time Hoseok hurts.

But Hoseok can see each time Changkyun hurts. Each time he laughs, how the darkness settles beneath his eyes and his smile falters too soon. Each time he hides away to eat, embarrassed to need something more than a few morsels. The older man notices too much for his aching chest's own good.

He nearly hates himself when Changkyun's light returns for a moment. It's stark, dangerous, an powerful. More glorious than a sky of one thousand suns. He is stunning when he smiles, but Hoseok knows the younger will never shine half as bright for him.

Hoseok's heart crumbles the day Jooheon accidentally paints the sky blue. Changkyun has left another disaster in his wake.