In His Arms - Wonheon ( Wonho x Jooheon )

Chapter 67 : A Gift

“I have a present for you.”

Jooheon picks his head up from the tablet he’s holding and looks toward Wonho as the blond enters the living room. There’s a small box in Wonho’s hands with a bright red bow on top and Jooheon perks up in interest. He sits up on the couch and quickly drops the tablet onto his lap, giving Wonho is full and undivided attention as he comes and sits right next to him. Jooheon is turned sideways on the couch, sitting criss-crossed with his legs beneath him, causing Wonho to twist his torso so that they’re facing each other.

“Do I get to open it?” he asks. His gaze darts from the bow, to the box, to back up at Wonho’s anxious face. 

Wordlessly, Wonho nods and he holds it out, waiting for Jooheon to take it. Normally Jooheon wouldn’t hesitate twice after being given a gift but there’s something about Wonho’s face that makes him pause. There’s apprehension practically bleeding from the blonde. Wonho’s eyes are tight and his lips are red like he’s been biting into them, and seeing Wonho like that makes Jooheon second guess whether or not he should actually accept the gift. It makes him wary and as he glances back down at the box, he realizes that his hand is outstretched but it’s not making any move to take the gift from Wonho.

“I’ve thought about it for a while, Jooheon, and even though I don’t-- I don’t think this is a good idea-- but I want… you deserve this.” 

Jooheon stares right into Wonho’s brown eyes. He say anything in return because he doesn’t know what to say. Wonho must realize it too because instead of waiting for Jooheon’s response, he carefully extends his arm and drops the box into Jooheon’s hand. 

It’s incredibly quiet as Jooheon pulls it into his lap. He darts one last glance at Wonho’s anxiety-filled eyes before his fingers prop the lid off. And when he sees what’s inside--

He gasps.

“Wonho…” Slowly, and with shaking hands, Jooheon reaches into the box and grasps the item inside. He hasn’t seen it in so long but there’s no mistaking what it is. 

It’s his phone.  

Jooheon knows he’s staring at it like it’s something he’s never seen before, like it’s something alienish, but he can’t help it. It’s his goddamn phone , case and everything, just like how he last saw it. 

It’s Wonho that reaches out and taps the home button, lighting up the screen. And then Jooheon’s looking down at a picture of him and Jisoo taken right before he left. His mom had taken it right after they finished packing up his car and she snapped the photo just as him and Jisoo started laughing so their mouths are open and their eyes are clenched shut and they look insane but-- but they also looked so happy and that’s why Jooheon had set it as his wallpaper. 

And seeing it now, makes tears wield up in Jooheon’s eyes. 

“You can call them, Jooheon,” Wonho’s soft voice pulls him back into the moment, and he just now realizes that Wonho’s hands are gently holding onto his, cupping the phone too. “I want you to call your mom and sister. I--I want you to but… but you can’t-- they can’t know, Jooheon.”

Jooheon is hardly paying attention to him. His thoughts are racing a million miles a second and he’s clinging onto the hope that maybe he’s actually going to talk to his family for the first time in months and it’s because of Wonho , the same person who took them all away. The phone feels heavy in his hands yet also so extremely fragile like it’s seconds away from crumbling into dust. 

Wonho’s right hand finds Jooheon’s chin and forces his head up, until Jooheon’s looking directly at him. “Do you understand? I’m going to be right here through it all and if you do anything--” Wonho swallows heavily and Jooheon can see so much emotion in those dark brown eyes that he can’t fucking breath. “Don’t ruin what we have.” 

Jooheon can hear the warning. He’s not ignorant to know that this gift doesn’t come with a minimum of a thousand do’s and do not’s. He knows what he’s being told and he knows what he isn’t supposed to do.

So he nods. 

Wonho nods too, like he’s reassuring himself, or maybe the both of them, and then, his hand moves from Jooheon’s face and taps the phone app. It’s Wonho that finds the ‘Mom’ contact and it’s Wonho that hits dial. 

It’s Wonho that clicks the ‘speaker’ option and it’s Wonho’s eyes that Jooheon’s frantically darts to as the loud ringing suddenly echoes into the room. 

Jooheon can feel his heart pounding in his chest, can hear the blood roaring in his ears, but when the line clicks, everything seems to suddenly stop.

“Jooheon?!”