In This Light; Soonhoon

act two

➴ scene 1

SOONYOUNG ISN'T FULLY aware of anything for a moment, just a soft blur of lights and color between his eyelashes, but then he blinks and the image sharpens. Pencils scattered haphazardly, a tangle of fairy lights hanging loosely against the back wall; a jar laying on its side and murky water spilled, pooling, dripping through the cracks and down the side of the table. Soonyoung blinks again, and suddenly there's Jihoon, sighing and bent over the mess with a wad of paper towels.

"You move in your sleep a lot, you know," is what he says, and Soonyoung can only register the words a second or two after they're spoken. "Here I am," he continues, "trying to do my work in peace, and you decide to start thrashing around. You're lucky none of this got on my paper."

"Would you have yelled at me if it did?" Soonyoung asks, and it comes out stretched around a yawn. He gives a lopsided sort of smile when he sees the look on Jihoon's face.

"What's funny?"

"You," Soonyoung says simply, still smiling. "It's like you're trying to look mad, but you can't."

"Right, well. Just know that I'd actually be pissed if your dumb sleeping habits managed to ruin my entire painting."

Soonyoung yawns again, arms folded between his chest and the table. His eyelids droop and his vision runs slowly across the room, taking in the scene around him; he's quiet for a minute before asking, "Were you here before I crashed?" Beside him, Jihoon's painting sits unfinished and his bag hangs off the back of his chair. "Because I don't think I remember you were."

There's a pause, and Soonyoung glances over to see Jihoon balling up the last of the paper towel. The tension between his brows starts to melt until his eyes have gone completely soft, lips pinched to one side. "No," he says. "I showed up a little later, you were already asleep."

"Oh. Okay." Part of him is flattered that Jihoon chose to sit next to him without any real obligation to - the rest of him is saying it's not a big deal. And it isn't, really, but Soonyoung appreciates it anyway.

"I'm almost finished with this," Jihoon starts, coming around the table with a newly-filled jar of water. "A little more coloring to do, but otherwise I'm done."

"You're killing it," Soonyoung says, moving his chair closer, and he doesn't have to look to know Jihoon is probably blushing. "It looks incredible."

"It's ... I mean, thanks. I think it turned out alright, too. I kind of like it."

He says it quietly, unsteadily, like the words are off-balance, and it makes Soonyoung want to squirm. There's pity tapping against his insides, some sad sympathy at the sight of the boy next to him - Jihoon just seems so cautious in everything he says and does, almost delicate. Like one blow could send him tumbling. He seems wary even just going to grab his paintbrush.

"What are you so nervous about?" Soonyoung asks, and Jihoon's hand stutters mid-reach. "You're so quiet about everything. You know, you're allowed to be proud - it's really pretty, Jihoon. You know that. You can say that."

Jihoon doesn't respond right away, his lower lip caught between his teeth and gazing at the picture he's made. "I don't know," he says. "I'm just not super confident."

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

Soonyoung thinks. He doesn't know what kind of advice to give, but maybe consolation would be better.