Distant Love 2
- OT7 reaction to crush/girlfriend moving back to their home country.
-The Maknae line, once again, I have no clue if Hanbin is with the hyung or the maknae… I will forever never know. Also, this is like 3 years late but tah dah, part two of distant love is finally here. I feel like I dropped the ball on this one a little bit but I really like how each story turns out.
Had it always been this hard? Hanbin had been at this game for as long as he could remember, locking up the best years of his life behind the glass window of the recording booth and sleepless nights penning down his thoughts. Even the most fleeting, mundane day dream could be turn into a hit. Yet for reasons unknown, the past few weeks, his heart had been heavy and his words, well to say they were shit was to put it lightly. Frustration at an all time high, Hanbin had considered nearly any and all options to put an end to this drought of the mind but none prevailed. The only thing left on the list was to destroy all his equipment and quitting altogether but that would be incredibly selfish, not only to himself and his family, but to his brothers. Even then, as he laid awake watching the clock ticking away, surrounded by balls of thrown away thoughts, that thought too teetering on the edge of becoming an action.
Jacket thrown haphazardly over his body, Hanbin traipsed through the halls toward the world he hadn’t seen in nearly 36 hours, eyes vexed by the brightly lit sunshine. He had no destination in mind, no plan of action, and definitely no heart to care where his feet were carrying him too. The next second he came to, his body slumped pathetically on the wooden bench of the nearby park, a raven colored puppy pawing at his foot. His eyes widen and for the first time in weeks, a smile bloomed on his chapped lips. Much to his delight, the puppy defied all his expectation and jumped right into his extending hands, happy to get the attention of the exhausted man who had been ignoring it for much too long. Although, it was probably only a few seconds but in puppy time, that was way too long.
“Oh my God, Ollie!” By the way the tiny little fur ball’s eyes had lit up, Hanbin surmised the voice belong to his owner and he couldn’t help but felt an overwhelming, unexplainable sadness washing over his body. He raised his head, temporarily forcing himself away from the tiny licks of Ollie to check the source of the voice.
“I am sorry, I am so so sorry… Is he bothering you? I’m so sorry. His collar slipped off and I’ve been chasing him for like 15 minutes. I’m such a klutz, I am so sorry.” Flustered and definitely looking like you had just ran a full marathon, you near died at the sight of your puppy sitting so perfectly in someone else’s lap.
“Hey, it’s ok. I-I kind of like him…” Hanbin mused dumbly for a second, too enthralled in the way Ollie pawing at his shirt to realize your panic gaze, probably ready to report a dog-napping in progress. “No! I didn’t mean- I just meant, I’ve been having a really rough few weeks and he, he’s helping.”
“Oh, well, we don’t have anything else plan so … I guess you can play with him for a bit more. He seems to like you way more than he does me anyways.”
“Thank you. I’m Hanbin.” He outreached a shaky hand, delighted when your small one slipped over for a timid shake.
“Does it mean nothing to you? Five years, Y/n.” Eyes redden but no longer was it out of the exhaustion of lacking muse, Hanbin vexingly tugs at the soft brown locks. Body thrown onto the bed that had shared so much laughters.
“Don’t you dare question me like that, Kim Hanbin. Every second of those five years, even the ones we spent fighting are the most precious thing in my life.” You couldn’t believe those words were coming from his mouth. A fire lit in your heart but just as with his, for a very different reason.
“Then how come it’s so easy for you to just throw it all away, leaving me like this? Just abruptly leave like I don’t mean anything to you.” Body could no longer contain the emptiness, that bitterness that had been eating away at his heart ever since he learned of the news. He stared back at you, broken and hopeless. Those loving eyes no longer shine with the starlight of a blossoming relationship but dull, dull just like everything that had happened to you, to him for the past month.
“Do you think I want to do this? Do you think it’s easy for me to leave behind the man I love, the person that had been there for me through all the hells of life and marry some dipshit, douchebag I don’t even know?” You didn’t mean to scream, but somewhere between the crashing and burning of all hope for a happy future and Hanbin’s despondent gaze, you lost it. He didn’t say anything, Hanbin didn’t need to for his hug says it all. The way his arms so desperately winding around your shivering body as if he could hug away every bad thing that had happened. You could feel his tears rolling down your bare shoulder as his face nuzzles deep into the crook of your neck as if the answer to the ending of your world lies within it. “I’m not leaving forever. I told you, I’m going back to tell them I can’t marry that guy and they can’t make me.”
“Is it because he’s a doctor and I’m not?”
“Hanbin…” You couldn’t bring yourself to answer that question so instead you call for him, call for him just as you had the past 5 years.
“It is… Isn’t it. Damn it. I have money, sweetheart, your parents know that, don’t they?” His hands gently pushing at your shoulders, a bit of hope flared up in the sorrowful smile cracking on his bleeding lips.
“I can buy them a house, cars, anything they want. Baby, did you tell them that? I- You don’t even have to work anymore. I’ll work extra, I’ll write even more songs, i promise! Just as long as they let you stay here.” What do you say to a man that has nothing left to lose…
“Baby, I’ll come back, I promise.”
“No you won’t… They say they’ll listen to what you have to say to get you to come home. But if you leave, I’m never ever going to see you again.” Frustration once more taut on his forehead, why couldn’t you just listen to him. What different does it make if you tell your parents you won’t be getting marry over the phone or in person.
“Hanbin, I’m not five. What are they gonna do to me? Take my phone away? Ground me? If they can’t see that you make me happy then it’s their lost.”
“They’re going to take you away from me! I- Why can’t you see that? If you truly believe they’ll let you come back here and be with me, why did you pack up all your things, why did your landlords said they’ll miss seeing us, why does Ollie suddenly needs to get a passport?”
“Ollie was getting a passport because I didn’t know if your manager would say yes to him or not. It was for worst case scenario, and I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone for and my lease is ending.” The weight of your body sinking down beside him barely there yet Hanbin feels as if the world was crashing down on his body.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m leaving Ollie with you for now, I just had to be sure he was allowed. And I was thinking of getting a place closer to your dorm when I come back.”
“You’re not lying to me, are you? Miss, Kim Y/n.” It had always amazed Hanbin what little you do could impact him so tremendously. The gentle hand rubbing circles on his back seemingly painting colors back into his life, spreading the warmth of a happy future so close he could feels it brushing against his fingertips.
“Kim? I’m not even gone yet and you already forgot my last name? My last name isn’t K-” That cheeky smile and the happiness spreading so softly on his tired, handsome features left your inside doing flips. “You still have the energy to joke?”
“I’m not joking, it’s gonna happen sooner or later so… I just thought might as well start now. Kim Y/n and Kim Ollie.”
“What am I going to do with you…” You sigh, happy Hanbin was back to being your adorable, cheeky monkey… Happy that once again, normalcy has already begin to return to your relationship.
The first time he had laid eyes on you, Donghyuk was undoubtedly moonstruck, beyond mesmerized in the way you move so beautifully to the sorrowful vocal of Baek Ji Young’s Like Being Hit By A Bullet. So much more than just the enticing choreography and a fluidity that had captured the his attention never quite like anyone had before, there was something so heartbreaking, something so hopeless in your expression and the powerful yet gentle movements that made him wondered if you lived through the heartache conveying through the song. Donghyuk found himself speechless, and even after the applaud of the crowd had long died out, he remained still in his spot, an inexplicable sadness left him empty as he watched you walked off into the night. He knew he had to find you.
Although the seed was sown from the very first second he had seen you, it wasn’t until the second time that Donghyuk truly believe you were his match made in heaven. Easy going with the brightest laugh to match your beautiful smile, he was in awe not only because your outer appearance but with the way you so effortlessly go about your day. Despite knowing each other for a mere couple of hours, you both had talked as if life long best friend reuniting after spending time apart. There was just something in the way you listen to him, not just listen but you heard him, saw him, and understood everything he had to offer. From happiness to moments he wished had never happened, from the most joyous occasion to times when you wanted to disappeared from this world, there wasn’t a thing being hidden as your weekly dinner turned near daily. In the moments apart, he longed for the day he could meet you, and when that day arrived, he wished it never have to end. Even when he was on the brink of passing out for exhaustion and hanging out meant slumping on the couch for a movie session, he treasured every single second.
The first time he had planted the softest, sweetest kiss on your cherry red lips, Donghyuk felt the whole world crumbled beneath his feet when you uttered the faintest apology before running off. There was no recovery, no taking back what he had just done. No matter how many texts he had sent, how many called went unheard by you, Donghyuk knew he lost you. For days he suffered, agonizing over a love that never was, questioning why did he had to ruin a perfect friendship when the doorbell rang loudly.
You stood there, eyes redden, lips still as soft and enticing as every moment before. Your thumb twirling in nervousness, no word was spoken and for what must’ve been the longest five minutes of his life, you both just stood there staring at each other. You asked him to stay silent, to let you finished before saying anything else and so he did. There was so much he wanted to tell you, to ask you as you spoke of just how much you valued his friendship, of the trials and tribulation of your past heartbreaks, of the kiss and of how long ago was your heart stolen by him. He held his tongue even if the words were already threatening to vomit, all the way until you said you had liked him so much and of being scare to get hurt again. The moment Donghyuk had found the courage to utter your name, you stole his words in the best way. Tiptoed and barely balanced, you pressed a quick kiss onto his chapped ones before dashing away once again… This time he caught you, and never letting you go.
Stepping foot into the cafe he once spent nearly every free seconds in, Donghyuk was taken down memories lane as his eyes take in the the familiarities… The changes. The wooden porch hosting your favorite spot in the cafe remains unchanged, yet the vibrant vines of red roses once meandered the awning shading the patrons now a mesmerizing shade of lilac and white, wisteria vines dance in the soft breeze. Donghyuk no longer frequent this quaint old place partly due to his hectic schedule, life of a growing idol leaves not much time for daily routine, partly… Partly because the biggest change of it all is that you’re no longer his.
He could hardly believes that it had been nearly two years since you bid goodbye, right here in this spot where he sits. You hadn’t said much, now that he thinks about it, you said nothing at all. Instead the tears and longing look into the distant did the work, your hands shivering in the hold of his.
Just as the bittersweet memories were taking him for a long ride, that familiar sweet voice steals him back to reality. It’s strange, so strange to see you stand there in the spot that had hosted so many dates, teetering in nervousness. Your hair is shorter… Not that he really minded even if time and time again he had expressed his liking to your heavenly soft, long locks.
“I’m sorry for calling you up so suddenly… I just, you know…” Donghyuk knows exactly what you wanted to say, because he too wants so desperate to convey just how much he misses you. Yet rather than being hasty, he hums softly, letting you quietly continue. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d say hi.”
Donghyuk contemplates the next few words very carefully, in fact, he had been pondering on what would be the right thing to say to you the moment you had left him nearly two years ago. He dreamt of this moment, yearning for it every waking second and now that you were here, nothing else matter any longer. He thought about lying, saying how great his life had been and all the things he had accomplished. He thought too, of begging for you to stay, for things to return to the long walk, basking in the night’s cold air. He thought about getting angry… Why would you give him the best year of his life then to only packed up and left without another word. You could’ve call, you could’ve written him letter, a text, anything at all but you didn’t. You left him in the dark.
“I miss you.” The second you came into view, Donghyuk lost all his courage, all the resolve he had, all the resentment, and all the pain. It was all worth it because you smile at him, the way you had so many times before. For a split second, your eyes widen in shock yet at the coaxing of his hands so warm against yours, that smile returns with the full force of a love thought to be lost.
For a long while, neither of you say anything but simply enjoying each other company for once the elation of reunion begins to settle, many things need to be discuss. Who know what will be in store for your future but one thing for sure, you’re stronger together and this time, there isn’t a thing in the world that can separate your hearts.
“Don’t you go falling in love with me now.”
A disgusted scowl teased on his lips was what met your nonchalant question, a scoff to follow, and a sassy “as if”. You didn’t know how or since when but there was a silent agreement to this strange friendship you’ve made with Junhoe. To unsuspecting stranger, it might as well had been hate coursing through your veins every time either of you open your mouth intending to speak to the other. Offhand comments, mockery, and just mutual sassing consisted of nearly 80% of your daily conversation but you liked it, and so did he.
“I’m just saying, it’s not hard to fall in love with someone this perfect.” You quipped with a quick jab to his side, snickering as the tall boy flopped onto the floor in pain.
“I hate you so much.” He sneered, hand rubbing at the tender skin, questioning every decision he had made that lead him to you.
“Yea, yea, love you too. Don’t deny your feeling, Koo. Just know, I won’t accept anyone’s hand until they could beat me. ”
As you sauntered away toward the locker room, Junhoe was suddenly reminded of the very first time you two had met. It had been very much the same situation, him flat on the floor and you, strolling off with the smuggest grin on your lips. See, look could be deceiving and never before had Junhoe felt as betrayed by his judgement as he had that very moment, heavy pants in his chest with his tail tucked between his legs and perhaps, ego more than just bruised. Who would’ve thought, Koo Junhoe, top of his Taekwondo class (both in size and in skill) had just got his ass handed to him by a girl not nearly the size of his arm. He wasn’t sure if the stars dazzling his vision were from being tossed over your small shoulder or the admiration he had for you, but there was definitely something stirring deep within his heart.
The small spars soon turned into friendly banters in the few moments of break and every single second he could afford after class before getting drag away by his manager. Gone was the timid girl barely speaking a few words, your smile shined through the sweat and exhaustion of rough housing. The rosy tinge on your cheeks after a particularly good match only added to the adorable way you lit up in victory, even if some of those victories were against Junhoe himself. Your strange friendship blossomed in ways neither of you could really anticipated, and before he could really understand his own heart, it was already yours.
“I told you not to go and fall in love with me, didn’t I?” Breathless and the softest tint colored your cheeks rosy, your chest heaves heavily as you lay flat on your back. The usual banter between you and him now coated with sorrow, your smile dull in comparison to the many shared with Junhoe before today.
“It’s not that hard to fall in love with someone this perfect.” svelte finger reaching out to rid the few beads of sweat falling down your smooth skin, Junhoe replied gently, not a bit of derision behind his words. The softest smile blooms on his lips and not for the first time since you bested him in a match, you’re lost. He lays there, pinning your body stilled underneath his and eyes studying the curves and edges of your features, utterly entrance by your beauty. Dainty kisses soon bloom against the softness of your skin, first shyly on the tip of your nose then your cheeks. It wasn’t until your arms had sneakily wind around his hips that Junhoe had found the courage to place a nervous kiss on your lips, one that soon turns heated.
You wished it was sunshine and honey that lead you to the most intense spar either of you had participated in that ended in Junhoe’s very first victory against you… to the moment where he had uttered those three little word. As you both lay there sharing body heat, those three little words slipped out with the utmost care yet it was just so effortless, so perfect. So perfect in fact you had forgotten all about the tears that shed as you pulled the white uniform over your body, all your strength was gone as you slumped onto the small wooden bench of the musky locker room. No matter how many times you close your eyes or shake your head till your vision blur, the disappointment in his eyes and that sorrowful sigh haunted your soul as it too, had yet come to term with event unfolding. You gave him one month, one month to make peace with his best friend disappearing from his life yet it wasn’t until the last week that it had really sinked in. One last spar he had said, one last time to determine once and for all who will be the champion of your little contest before you leave him.
“Why now? You wait until my last day here to tell me that?” You breathe out hastily, barely a second to spare when his love rains down with the force of all the years repressing the most powerful emotion known to mankind.
“You told me you won’t accept anyone until they could beat you… I just did.” He huffs out without a bit of hesitation, kisses resuming on your lips. Not that you mind, just, there were still so much more to say.
“You took that seriously? Damn it, June.”
“Yea, kind of. You’re really scary. Plus, I wasn’t sure … I was scared you didn’t like me back.”
“I know… I just, I wasn’t going to say anything but I don’t think I could’ve live with myself if I let you walk away.” For the first time since he got you under his control, Junhoe break away from your spell, pulling himself up, knees to his chest and head hanging low. The soft cherry locks damped, draping messily over his face hiding the falling pearls and quiet sniffles. “Now I wished I had told you sooner… I’m such a coward.”
“Don’t say that… If you are a coward, then so am I because I don’t think I could’ve either… leaving without telling you that, I love you too.” Your chest pressing tight against his slumped back, your arms pulling him close as if they could fix the imminent deadline being place over your intertwining hearts. For how long, neither did you know or care, you sat there with your head resting against the broadness of his shoulders, listening to his tears. You whisper endless words of love, hoping even through the sharp inhale of his cry that at the very least a few would reach his heart.
“I don’t really know how-” words choke in your chest, a sense of urgency racing against your fast beating heart. “I really want us, i want for there to be an us… I just, how is this going to work?”
“Sweetie, I don’t know either. I just know I can’t let you go. I can’t sleep at night knowing I can’t say I love you every day. Damn sure I would die before I let another man come and steal you away from me. So, can we just, for now, be us without any of the complication?”
“Yes, a hundred times, yes.” Without hesitation, never mind the boarding pass awaiting patiently on your nightstand, you leave your heart in his hand. Without hesitation, you both seal your future with another kiss, leaving the details for another day.
From the moment he had caught your soft gaze from across the busy restaurant, he knew that his heart would be in for a long roller coaster ride. Star crossed lovers, people called it. For a split second he had consider looking away, pretend as if that polite smile didn’t land a gut wrenching punch to his heart. Yet before that logical side of his brain could take over control, his heart had already sent a charming smile back your way, feet peddling through the crowd and step by step, he played right into the tragedy that to be your future relationship.
“Hey!” He said timidly, regret rummaging through his body because surely “hey” isn’t the best pick up line he could’ve come up with. Anything, he could’ve said, but he decided on “hey”.
“Hmm, fluffy pancake isn’t exactly in the itinerary of the rest of the crew…” He chuckled awkwardly, although deep down Chanwoo was thankful his “hey” hadn’t driven you away.
“Ah, same. What kinda crew are you in? the artistic dance type or harden criminal law breaking type?” You had just lean back against the wall with an inquisitive stare up at him yet how could someone be so effortlessly adorable doing just that? He was fucked, royally fucked, hard.
“Definitely the first one… Although, if I was into the second, would you still wanna talk to me?”
“Cool. Hmm, I’d say depend.”
“On if you’re in one of those mafia crew in like fanfic, you know tough on everyone else but soft spot for one very specifically descriptive average girl they met by chance. Usually there’s a love triangle, trapezoidal thing going on but eh, I’m not picky.” Rocking from your toes to your heels, you breathed out an answer that normally he’d find strange yet something in the way you had said it, Chanwoo was left intrigued.
“That was… Oddly specific.”
“Sorry, I talk about weird things sometimes. My sisters seemed to think that’s why I can’t find a boyfriend… Or friends in general. Not that I don’t have friends, I definitely do. I’m here with my friends in fact, well not here here, just Japan here. I- ” All the words that had been vomiting over the place was stolen right out of your throat. Chanwoo couldn’t help but stood there listening, a dumb smile on his lips as he stared, a dreamy look in his eyes. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I ramble when I get nervous.”
“Y-No…” Just as fast as that answer had left your lips, you turned away with the cutest head shake, a slight rosy blush on your cheeks but there was no hiding the way you bit back that little grin.
“Hmm, I’m Chanwoo, by the way.”
“So, you read fanfic often?”
“Read anything on iKON lately?”
“How long do you think we can keep doing this?”
Your heart nearly drops out of your chest as each word crashes down on your unsuspecting self with an emptiness never before had you experienced. The comforting warmth dancing about the quiet room suddenly no longer content, sinking fast as the atmosphere stiffen, your body no longer find solace resting against his… Not even the gentle passing of his large hand against the bare skin of your back could simmer the distress rising in your soul.
“Are you saying we should stop?” Not an ounce of emotion behind your words as you push yourself off his chest, deadpanning the messes sprawl across the span of his room, seeking for any and all reason to put distance between your bodies.
Who would have thought the serendipitous meeting between a boy and a girl, love at first sight in a foreign country would lead to a budding relationship of three years. Three long years of video chat dates and tearful airport goodbyes but neither of you would have it any other way. The desperate moments of wanting, needing to feel each other’s touches, the craving of body heat keeping each other warm in the dead of nights, it all intensified every single second you got to spend with one another. But it seems all road traveled must lead to a destination…Unfortunately, yours ended short of paradise.
“Because if that’s what you want then I won’t stop you. I’ve given so much of myself into this relationship that I can’t bear for it to be one sided.”
Chanwoo knew what a loaded question that had been, just as well, he knew once it was spoken, there was no taking back the damage done. No doubt there are much better ways to raise such a hurtful question but there was no helping the way it constricted his heart, wrecking his soul, more so than ever now that you were in his arms, so peaceful and content. He didn’t mean for it to upset you so but at the end of the day, he knows himself and he knows you… There was no point sugar coating something that could potentially ruin everything you’ve both had built, and so he decided to be blunt. Although staring at your back now, so small and vulnerable, sitting on your own at the end of the bed when his arms still wide open for you to lean into, Chanwoo wishes he didn’t have to do this… At the very least, beating around the bush doesn’t seems like such a bad option now.
“Baby, that’s not what I mean. I- We’ve been doing this long distant thing for three years now. If I really wanted to quit, don’t you think I would’ve done it a long time ago?” Shuffling his large body toward your shivering one, Chanwoo arms quick to wind around your body pulling you backward into a tight embrace. His chin resting on your shoulder and though you couldn’t see him, or rather bear to face him, you know for a fact that adorable pout is present on his soft lips.
“Then why did you say that…” The words choke out of your throat, melting away with the tears finally breaching its limit. With your back flushes up impossibly close to his chest, your hands move to enclose his, fearful of the day when this simple moment of being in each other’s arms will be nothing but a dream. “It hurts, you know.”
“Well, last night I couldn’t sleep, counting down the seconds until I could pick you up from the airport and…” A soft sigh falls from his lips, Chanwoo leaves you more confuse than ever, your heart in a shamble if this surprise talk will be for better or for worse.
“Channie, you’re scaring me.”
“Sorry, baby. I just, I don’t know why now but I couldn’t stop thinking about the future and I’d like to think one day, I’ll get to call you my wife. And I swear Hanbin hyung thought i went crazy because I wouldn’t stop smiling but I was so happy.” A soft giggle brushes against the shell of your ears and you too couldn’t help but smile, grinning like an idiot. “When I was waiting for you at the airport, reality settled in and for a second, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. One week is all I have with you, and I’m not complaining, I appreciate every second I have with you but for how long more? I can’t be selfish and ask you to abandon everything. At the same time, neither can I…”
“But that doesn’t mean I want for us to end. Just being with you, just to have you love me is already a blessing. I don’t know how or when, but in my mind everything will work out and I will be your husband. And hell, if we have to do this airport love thing for the rest of our lives, I will be there waiting for you the second you get off the plane.” A kiss gentle against your cheek yet the impact it has on your heart much more than any kiss you’ve shared with Chanwoo before. For how long, neither of you really bother with keeping track, you sit there in his lap, listening to the details of the days spent apart and the plan of the present. Soft kisses pressing against the warmth of each other’s skin, a new hope for a better future together in place of turmoil.