The8 of Jun || JunHao

Online Love

It was a rainy day, but Junhui finds himself sitting in a coffee shop only two blocks away from his apartment to meet up with a friend. Scorching hot coffee in hand, he stares anxiously at his phone on the table, waiting for it to light up with a notification. He waits, and waits some more, but it never happens. He hears the front door chime, but he doesn't look to see who entered. He and Joshua were the only two people who ever comes to this coffee shop at the ungodliest hours of the day, anyways.

Junhui finally tears his eyes away from his phone to look at the boy who plops down on the seat across the table, his usual order of blueberry muffins in hand. "Sorry to call you out here again." He says sheepishly. Joshua takes a big bite of his muffin before answering. "You're lucky I was still up doing some sheets when you texted, or else you'd have no one else to cry to." Junhui just rolls his eyes at this, finally able to crack a small smile after a long anxious day.

There was a long period of silence: Junhui now staring at his phone again, and Joshua studying the sullen look on his friend's face. "Can't sleep?" Joshua finally asks, taking his friend's attention away from his screen. "Yeah. I keep thinking about him, wondering why he hasn't answered yet."

"I tell you this a lot, and I'll never stop saying it, but I told you this was a bad idea."
"—this was a bad idea." Junhui sing-songs the last part of his friend's sentence, having heard it one too many times.

This makes Joshua purse his lips in annoyance. "If you're tired of hearing me say it then maybe it's time to follow my advice. How about that?" Junhui stays silent. "Look," Joshua starts, trying to figure out how to say his next words in the least painful way to Junhui as possible. "I know e-dating is a trend these days, but your case sounds hopeless. Do you even really like this guy? Or are you just telling yourself you do? You don't even know his real name!"

"Of course, I do! I hate that I do, but I can't help feeling butterflies whenever he finally replies, or feel sick to the stomach when he doesn't. I can't stop the urge to stay up all night just to talk to him because our time zones never match. I hate how I get excited to fall asleep because I know I'll meet him in my dreams, even though I have no idea how he looks like." Junhui takes a deep breath as he stops himself, afraid he'll spill all the contents of his heart right there in front of Joshua.

There was another long pass of silence, with Junhui reverting back to his catatonic state of staring at his locked phone and Joshua silently trying to weigh in the severity of his friend's feelings.

"You should probably get back to your dorm and get some sleep if you want to make it to your exam tomorrow." Junhui tells Joshua, an apologetic smile on his face. Joshua checks the time on his wristwatch and agrees. Standing up to leave, he says, "Do whatever makes you happy, Junhui. Just make sure you won't be left crying by the end of it."

All alone in his table, a now-cold cup of coffee in his sweater-covered hands, Junhui decides to text first. As he was just about to unlock his phone, it finally lit up with a notification for the first time tonight.

The8

>> Sorry! I was busy all morning. I think it's midnight for you now, so I hope you're asleep. Goodnight, ge.

This causes a smile to bloom on Junhui's face, quickly typing up a response of "Goodnight, The8. I love you."

He stares at his message, his thumb hovering above the send button, before deciding to delete it.

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based on conan gray's song 'online love' and my own online simping experience