— As moments passed him by, as his fingertips tapped against the polished wood of his kitchen table, causing small rings to spread through the coffee in the porcelain mug before him, he sighed. He kept his hair tied back in the same way he always did, prodding a finger to the small space between his eyebrows before resting his forehead against the table itself. Boredom would be one way to describe it, loneliness another. (The latter being the one he refused to admit to, obviously.) So of course, when he heard the rap of knuckles against his door, he almost flew out of his chair, stopping so abruptly he almost toppled over when the voice echoed in his ears. It didn’t make sense to him, he couldn’t get the pieces of the puzzle to fit together properly. But if it really was Ilhoon standing on the other side of that door, Sanggil wouldn’t know what to do. It made that little, rare, spark of excitement revive itself, warm up his chest with such speed that he wondered how it could have remained dormant for such a long time. Though his steps were a bit slower, controlled. Because no, he didn’t want to make it apparent that he he probably had missed Ilhoon as much as he, assumed, Ilhoon had missed him. It just didn’t work with his image.

But as he pushed the door to his apartment open, expression as nonchalant as it usually was, containing the flow of emotions in his veins became difficult. “ Ilhoon. ” He said, almost a bit breathlessly, and without noticing his hues of light hazel grew wider. Because even though he had believed his own expectations, it was so extremely difficult to comprehend that, yes, he was there. In the flesh. And Sanggil wasn’t lonely anymore. Therefore, forced into silence as he stood, almost dumbfounded, eyelids fluttering rapidly, it was  on awkward instinct that he grasped for slim shoulders, tugging the other towards himself for the sake of enveloping him in a, as always a bit too harsh, embrace. Because if anything, he needed proof. He needed to feel that he was really there.

            Because lately,

                       the only company Sanggil had

                                                were the voices in his head.