MOVED

You lifted your head to look back at Seungjun in no time. To be honest, you had no idea of what he was blabbing about at this point.

“Of course!” you automatically lied “well, not actually. I’m sorry, Seungjun.”

The guilty felt like fulfilling your head, then going down your throat and finally reaching your stomach. It had nothing to do with Seungjun catching you zooming out though.

He pressed his lips together looking frustrated but not really angry. You read something like “Should I repeat everything I’ve said?” impressed on his face. He was a simple guy. You were jealous of him.

It was that at some point in his monologue, a thought intruded your mind, pushing his voice to the side and stealing your attention. His words started to float away in the air as another narrative overhung heavy behind your eyes. You had dangerous thoughts becoming slowly more frequent. Now they even dare to greet you when you were actively occupied with tasks.

You sighed considering explaining your dilemma to the guy in front of you. You knew he would be sympathetic and maybe you could even share your pain with him. However, involving Seungjun would put him into trouble along with you. Consequently, it would be reckless of you. Even though he was your best friend, he was also your boyfriend’s best friend. You barely could deal with the idea of breaking Jaeyoung’s heart. Making it for real would hurt you like a sword. Your stomach tightened as you imagined a literal wound.

…

Jaeyoung and Yuto were already in the oldest’s garage when you arrived with Seungjun. The two guys seemed to have a trivial conversation as Yuto was sitting on the old massive soundbox that you got in a second-hand shop when the band was still a trio and you had no public. Jaeyoung was on the floor next to his drums, part of his butt occupied the end of the rug, where the large instrument laid on. The rug was quite dusty but none of you could bother to clean it. Yuto once told you that it looked awful but everyone came up with excuses not to take any action on the issue. “I hope no one other than us shows up here” he sighed giving up. He would never do all the work by himself.

A sweet smile took over Jaeyoung’s whole face as he turned his head to look at you and Seungjun entering. He often smiled with all his facial features, it seemed. That probably was definitive to make you fall in love with him back in your first year in college. You attended that class for a month when you had to work together on a project. He was so gentle to you that you could not help putting your heart right in his hands. His voice was always deep in the perfect tone to lull you into daydreams of being between his arms. But, at first, he was not able to see you as more than a friend. He used to give you shivers every time he tucked your hair behind your ear. Why the hell he did that if he were not falling in love? Sometimes you hated him, but not really. You could not hate the owner of the sweetest smile, it was against your nature.

You loved Jaeyoung for almost a year without getting anything in return, yet your pseudo-band was born. Him, Seungjun and you had the same sense of humor, even though your crush liked to pretend like he did not. 2DMH was your band name, the letters stood for Didn't Do My Homework. You attempted to open a concert still yet that year but they say something was missing in the music you made together. That thing happened to be Yuto, who was still minding his own business in Japan back then.

In the present days, the three of you, in fact, had the younger guy in your band. In reality, now you looked more like a real band and the recognition was coming more and more solidly.

Yuto stopped dangling his legs as his eyes found yours, but you were not supposed to look at him when your boyfriend was getting up to come to you. “Wassup, guys?” Jaeyoung said referring to both you and Seungjun but heading right to you. He cupped your face and pecked your forehead.

“Are we late?” Seungjun asked, picking up his cell phone inside of his jacket pocket and then panicking “Oh shit! Are my nails already dry?”

You smiled amused with his reaction as the other two guys looked clueless. “I guess the time we took to get here was enough to dry your nail polish”.

“Yey! Show us what you did” Yuto said cheerfully jumping out of the soundbox.

“What I did” you rectified, your frame warmly hugged by Jaeyoung.

“Well,” Seungjun started. “I felt like trying something new.” And raised his hands, so both Jaeyoung and Yuto could see them well. He moved his fingers in wave-like motions as his smile looked about to pop out of his face.

The other two exclaimed something about his nails looking cool at the same time. You could lay your eyes again on the sleek surface of his short nails.

“I got the inspo from my roommate though.”

“Ah yeah, Changyoon is stylish.” Your boyfriend commented. “Anyways, sorry for changing the topic, but Yuto and I have news.”

You pulled back from Jaeyoung so he and the younger guy could clarify the announcement.

“Do you all know Minkyun, right?” Yuto asked and turned to you and Seungjun, who nodded in a rush. “Well, his friend owns a club called Asteroid, they need a good band to play in their rock nights. They saw us playing last week”.

You played in the party to welcome the newcomers. You had so much fun that day, the sports arena was decorated with vibrant pennant flags, the makeshift stage looked so good with spotlights sparkling in different colors and directions from time to time. Freshmen as well as seniors having fun at the beginning of a new academic year.

“In short, we have an audition next week, so they’re gonna decide which band is performing in their house. If it goes right for us, we’re having a place to play every Saturday night.” Jaeyoung finished.

"You don't say” you said quite softly, the surprise making your eyes widen. It would be more than just having an established place to make concerts in, it meant the end of you all practically begging to play at random events all over the city. Sometimes you felt like an annoying kid, from your first concert to the present, you had not achieved big stuff. Performing at Asteroid would allow you to earn actual money from your hobby.

Your boyfriend laughed at your dumb expression. “This is true, babe. We were invited this time.”

“Well, then should we practice until our arms fall apart?” you joked.

“Or until our vocal cords are wrecked?” Seungjun added.

“I guess we’re gonna need our arms and vocal cords, but we should practice indeed.” Jaeyung headed to his drummer set in an inviting gesture. The way he glanced over his shoulders with a positive movement of eyebrows stirred a delicate smile from you. The two guitarists followed him to their usual positions. You threw an enthusiastic look to your bass, patiently waiting for you close to the roll-up garage door, before taking it.

…

You, Seungjun and Yuto took the metro together back to your places. Your weekly rehearsal in Jaeyoung’s garage went alright and you were fairly tired. Your boyfriend told Yuto to carry you home safely, which was unexpected because it was a while since the last time he joked like that. It was quite funny that your boyfriend was repeating those words exactly when your feelings for Yuto were emerging back. Even if he had never known about some happenings, sometimes he acted like he unconsciously felt the tension between you and the Japanese guy.

Seungjun said good-bye when the metro stopped at his station, obligating you and Yuto to be alone. It often happened that way, since the two of you lived in the same neighborhood, close to the college. Despite your confused friendship, you got along well, as if nothing had ever happened. The way your thoughts kept finding their way to him lately got you wondering if he was dealing better than you with the past. He was so equilibrated, a bit straitlaced sometimes, you found. Still, a nice guy to be close to.

The covered arm of his guitar laid between the two of you in the metro seat, you had left your bass in the garage this time. You ended up showing up at your boyfriend’s numerous times a week after all. Yuto was too quiet playing with his own fingers and it somehow infected you. You crossed your legs and fidgeted with the torn fabric of your pants. “Are you okay?” you finally asked.

“I’m just... Thinking.”

“About what? If I can ask you, of course.”

He breathed in deeply and released the air through his mouth in a noisy way. “Trip Advisor is about to close permanently. I have no idea of what to do if we don’t start working on that club for real. How can I found a boss as kind as Mr. Kim?”

Trip Advisor was the restaurant where Yuto worked at night and Mr. Kim was really nice since Yuto got day-offs to perform with 2DMH every time he asked for.

“You won’t have to. Please take it easy. We’re gonna get to play in Asteroid and the payment is good and you'll be getting the biggest part.”

You both stood up to get out of the metro. Yuto still had a concerned look, his eyes mirrored a million worries as you swerved away from the people walking their way inside the platform.

“But what if the owner chooses other-?”

“No!” you interrupted him. “It’s gonna be us. Forget the other bands”

Now you marched upstairs and you felt bad for having almost yelled at him. “Listen, I promise you that I’ll give my best in that audition and I can speak for Jaeyoung and Seungjun as well. If by any chance, they are dumb and don’t pick us, we’ll find another way. You can stay at my place. Anything!”

He nodded visibly grateful for your words, still, he struggled to give a side smile. He wanted to match your optimism so badly. “I can even stay in Jaeyoung’s garage” he joked and it felt as if the clouds were opening to the sun after the rain.

“Yes, you can even wrap yourself in that rug.”

Both of you stopped right in front of the building where you lived. Yuto had carried you home safely as promised. “Wanna go inside?” you did not understand why you asked that but he accepted the invitation and followed you. Maybe you just needed to stay together for a little bit, maybe he thought you had some bread hidden, some that you were now willing to offer him.

You internally joked, and consequently had to stop your laugh from coming. In fact, you fought yourself not to have weird thoughts about him when you were together. Being random and silly helped, yet sometimes his small gestures reminded you of why your heart skipped some beats for him.

The way he sweetly accepted to go upstairs and chill in your apartment sent you to about a year ago, when you barely knew each other. Back then, you felt bitter because it had been an entire year of you just being friends with Jaeyoung, no romantic interest could be noticed by his side. The very beginning of a new academic year got you in your worst temper regarding him. Therefore you avoided meeting him other than in your shared classes and 2DMH rehearsals. Your main excuse was being a volunteer at helping foreign newbies. You had been often paired with Yuto even though he did not need much help at anything. The two of you walked around and hanged out more than anything.

“I should have introduced you to the library today!” You remembered when you passed by the old building on your way back from your walking. You had only twenty minutes to go before your class. “Should I do it now real quick?”

“Oh! Why not?” he shrugged, his hands hidden inside the pockets of his dark jeans.

You two crossed the library lobby almost running to take keys and lock your backpacks before rushing yourselves to the middle of the silent sea of words. You did your best at explaining to him how that place was organized as you walked between full bookshelves. The Japanese guy followed you with the most adorable eyes during those few minutes you had to see as much as you could. You had no idea, but he had been already taught all that bullshit that you summarized in a rush, which he admitted you later.

You pretended to be angry at and he got easily fooled by the way you crossed your arms and said “What kind of idiot do you think I am?”

His way to apologize took you completely off-guard, causing a shock at your feelings. “Y/N, sorry if I upset you. It’s just that I feel like I can watch the same movie 79 times with you without getting bored.”

You unlock your apartment and both you and Yuto stepped out of your sneakers to walk inside in socks.

“You know what I think about our band name” he mentioned while you slid your window open.

You took a while to respond, one of your neighbors rode a bike down on the street. “I do! You love it” you pop up with a dumb smile.

Yuto burst into laughter. His expression was so pure as he clap his hands thanks to your sudden yet bold reply. You felt actually proud of drawing some amusement from him after the tension that surrounded his current situation.

Once he finally regrouped himself, he wiped his tears away with the back of his hand and talked back “I would never be part of a band named like that if I had friends one year ago.”

“Come on! Your life in Korea would be quite shitty if you hadn’t known us.” You spoke with overexcited manners, making a funny scene to maintain his mood up. Your hands sketched elastic forms in the air. “You may don’t like our name, but you love us. Just admit it, you love me.”

Coming back to the present scene, he was still not sure about the angle.

"Yoonie, my cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling" you teased.

His film camera covered part of his face, but not his plump lips. He bit the inner part of his bottom one in concentration.

"Okay, I'm gonna take it, don't move"

In the next second, he lowered the vintage device and revealed all his facial features once again under the sunlight. You made a small move to descend from the rock and he ran to catch you as if it was too high. In no time, his hand was there for you. That was like a metaphor for his care, he was always there when you needed an ear to listen to you vent; when the insomnia struke on you and the night felt too long; but especially every time life presented itself as a blessing and you had to share it.

It was the first time you both had your vacations at the same time and could go on a trip together. He was more excited than ever, wanting you and him to do every adventure that city could offer to the tourists.

"Can we go back to the cabin now?" you ask him as you step on the leaves adorning the ground, the sound of them mixing to the birds chirping.

"We still have quite a lot to see, love. There's a river over there."

He had showed the route last night and you knew the way to that river required a long hike.

"I'm so sorry, Yoon. I'm getting tired" you lamented holding tighter to his biceps.

He stopped the walking all of a sudden and guided your face to him. "Hey, don't be sorry. You can rest for the rest of the day, maybe even tomorrow."

"But you-"

"Shhh" He laid a sweet peck on your forehead in response, causing your eyes to flutter closed for a second.

...

After a long shower, you found Changyoon lying on the bed you shared. The first thing you noticed was that his mess had disappeared like magic. As unexpected as a magic trick, he had made the clothes he tried in the morning be vanished from your view. You expected him to deposit everything on the armchair close to the window.

"Aren't you joining me?" he asked since you had stopped on your tracks.

You kneeled on the mattress and suggested "If you give me a massage, I promise I'll be willing to go hiking to that river with you tomorrow!"

He shook his head and pulled you in silence, motioning your body to lie down. Both of your feet ended up on his lap. "No promise is needed. You're getting your massage. Are you doubting that I'm a good boyfriend?"

"Never" A smile took over your face. "I'm the one being a lazy boring girl/boyfriend"

"I disagree about the boring part" He lifted his face, so his eyes swayed from your feet to your face. He looked so calm, so relaxed. His thumbs pressed softly onto the arch of your right foot.

"Okay, I actually wanna visit the river. Maybe not tomorrow."

"No problem, baby."Now he rubbed the extension from the arch to the ball of your foot, applying a satisfying pressure. "This cabin is really cool. We should enjoy more of it" He winked.

You buried your head onto the pillow allowing your body to relax completely. "Sounds good"

"And hmm... Enjoy ourselves too".

You chuckled without lifting your head back to face him. "I thought you weren't thinking about it"

"You know nothing, sugar."

Your eyes kept open to the ceiling because did not need to move your eyes to knew that Changyoon had his demeanor shyly changing to a mischievous one.

.