Work Text:
Sometimes, Kevin can get a little… out of control.
“Kevin,” Jacob calls out, but it’s no use. Heʼs automatically ignored by the figure that roamed around at the speed of light within their apartment. Jacob was barely able to keep track of what was happening, his roommate literally all over the place.
Jacob watches as Kevin travels back and forth from the kitchen to the living room to one of the bedrooms to the living room once more, trying his best to tidy up and get all unpleasant apartment spots organized. He’s repositioning furniture, getting rid of stray clothes and books… matters that weren’t given enough attention during the past few weeks.
From the book piles on the living room floor, to the slightly crooked framed painting by the bedroom door. Jacob hadn’t noticed these before. Kevin definitely gets a bit more attentive during these times, too.
As Jacob attempts to grab his roommate’s attention once more, their front door opens. Jacob breathes a sigh of relief when he sees who it is. Jaehyun! His well-timed savior!
As soon as Jaehyun steps into the apartment, he has to dodge out of Kevin’s way.
“Woah!” Jaehyun quickly steps back, staring after Kevin who had rushed by him, nearly knocking into him. Even then, Kevin didn’t pay any attention to Jaehyun’s arrival.
Kevin was also unstoppable during these times, Jacob thinks. Like a mini hurricane traveling around the apartment. Jaehyun meets Jacob’s eyes from across the room, frowning, before walking over to greet his boyfriend with a simple kiss on the cheek.
“What’s going on here?” Jaehyun asks, gaze trailing Kevin’s movements.
Jacob only sighs in response.
“Things didn’t go so well with… the plans,” Jacob whispers the last bit, grimacing. “The dinner reservation was dropped and the package isn’t arriving today. Shipping problems, or something like that.”
“Oh,” Jaehyun says, mouth in a thin line. He’s immediately sympathetic, Jacob can tell, watching as Jaehyun turns around to call out, “Kevin! Kevin-ah!”
They hear a crash from one of the bedrooms, before the sound of hurried steps make their way towards their spot in the living room.
Standing by the hallway, Kevin looks frazzled, to say the least. Hair messy, clothes looking like they’d been thrown on this morning without a second thought. There’s some panic in his eyes as he glances between the other two people in the room.
Jacob knows Kevin had a good night’s rest, content last night with how everything was going smoothly. All the exhaustion must be from the rush of waking up today and suddenly finding out that all your plans are ruined. Jacob feels bad for his best friend, he really does. He just doesn’t know what to do.
Luckily, Jaehyun does. “Yah! Calm down, will you, Kevin?” There’s a hint of concern in his words, like he thinks Kevin will pass out if he doesn’t stop his rampage any time soon. Jacob thinks he might be right, despite Kevin’s stamina.
Kevin takes a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. “I’m sorry,” he starts. “Juyeon arrives tonight and everything’s just. Horrible. What kind of restaurant cancels a reservation out of nowhere? And the gift was supposed to arrive today, but the shipping—”
Jaehyun waves his hands around, gesturing for Kevin to pause before he spirals further.
“Kevin, stop. Stop,” he says, and to that, Kevin groans and gestures to zip his own mouth. Jacob holds back a laugh. Ever the comedian, even when under immense stress. “This is Juyeon we’re talking about. It’ll be fine! You didn’t need the grand gesture in the first place!”
Jaehyun has a point. Juyeon liked simple things, but was still okay with extravagant surprises. Juyeon would probably understand the unfortunate circumstances, if told to him. If Kevin manages to plan something not as fancy as the ruined plans but still nice enough, Juyeon would probably appreciate it still.
“Yeah,” Jacob says, gentle. “It sucks that things aren’t going according to plan, but he’ll understand, Kevin. Try not to stress too much, alright?”
Kevin also knows this, but even so, disappointment washes over his features. Jaehyun immediately caves in, saying his name softly and lifting his arms for a hug. Kevin drags himself over, collapsing against Jaehyun’s chest. Behind them, Jacob makes sure to offer his hand, reaching out to squeeze Kevin’s with comfort.
When Kevin starts to tear up, Jacob feels his chest hurt in anger and similar disappointment. He knows how much Kevin’s been planning for Juyeon’s long-awaited visit. He had a restaurant booking set a week ahead of Juyeon’s scheduled arrival, and a package set to be delivered as Juyeon’s welcoming gift.
Jacob knows how rough the long-distance relationship has been for his friends, after all. They only saw each other in person every few months, so Kevin’s plans falling apart hours before the meeting… Kevin was right to feel so upset. Jacob’s glad about stopping Kevin’s panic, but still hurt at the sight of his best friend on the verge of tears.
“I just wanted it to be nice,” Kevin mumbles into Jaehyun’s shoulder. “I haven’t seen him in ages. I know he’s been stressed about stuff, too, so I just thought… it was going to be perfect tonight.”
Jaehyun gives him several pats on the back before pulling away. “If you ask me, Juyeon’s here for you,” Jaehyun reminds him, and the sentiment makes Kevin smile a little. “But if you still wanna fix something up, leave it to us! We can cook and—”
Kevin fully pulls away, laughing out loud. “I think I would be the only one doing the cooking around here. No offense, hyung.”
“Hey! I can cook sometimes!” Jaehyun glances back at Jacob. “Tell him, Cob-ah!”
“I can order the takeout,” Jacob says instead, getting a playful hit from Jaehyun. The silliness makes Kevin laugh harder, any signs of his previous sadness gone. “But really, we can help you out today, Kevin.”
Kevin nods, sending them a small smile. “Thanks, guys. Takeout is fine. I’ll… try to calm down with the cleaning.”
Jaehyun scrunches his nose. “Good, because Juyeon’s place is just as messy as yours. He won’t be able to complain!”
As Jaehyun and Kevin start talking about what to do, Jacob perks up at the distant creak of the front door.
Weird. They weren’t expecting anyone, were they? Nobody called out either, so it can’t be a delivery.
Jacob’s eyes widen in realization. Unless…
—
Juyeon was not the best with directions.
He definitely doesn’t regret getting an earlier flight in order to surprise his boyfriend, but he can’t say he isn’t frustrated at his own lack of proficiency in English and directions.
It was his own fault, he supposes. As Juyeon walks down an unknown street with his suitcase in tow, he scrolls through his phone, feeling more frantic than when he first arrived. He should’ve polished his English a little more before coming here.
What’s worse is that he tried to get directions in advance from his boyfriend of all people. He couldn’t risk telling Jacob or Jaehyun, so he settled with trying to subtly gain information from Kevin. But Kevin wouldn’t budge, insisting that he pick Juyeon up from the airport today. Any more straightforward and Kevin would have figured his secret out, so Juyeon had to drop it.
Kevin doesn’t know that there would be no airport pickups. Juyeon was already here. Instead of the flight time he’d mentioned through text, his flight was actually scheduled at an earlier time. Getting up so early in the morning wasn’t a hard thing for Juyeon if it was for someone like Kevin.
The bigger problem was that Kevin wasn’t responding now. Juyeon has no idea why. He scrolls through their chat just in case, but it still looked the same as it did a few hours ago:
Yesterday, 11:43PM
Hyungseo ❤️
see you tomorrow!
juyo :3
See you :)
✓ Seen 11:46PM
Today, 7:03AM
juyo :3
Boarding in a bit!
Will be gone for a while..
Love u
Today, 11:16AM
juyo :3
I know you’re picking me up
but what does your apartment
look like again?
juyo :3
Just curious
juyo :3
And excited
juyo :3
There’s signal on the plane right now btw
✓ Delivered
Juyeon cringes at his last excuse, clearly a weak one. He refrains from sending more texts, not wanting to risk Kevin suddenly seeing his messages and putting two and two together. He pockets his phone after checking Google Maps, concluding that he’s got the street right, but the apartment’s outer appearance was still a mystery to him.
After a few minutes of searching, Juyeon caves in and asks a local. His voice is shaky, a little shy, but the lady was nice enough to point him in the right direction. He thanks her profusely, bowing several times before rushing towards the building.
His cheeks feel a little hot, but no big deal! Anything for Kevin. He’s got the apartment number memorized, of course, so as he walks up the stairs, he lets his thoughts wander.
Today would end the 7 month streak of not seeing each other, Juyeon thinks. Spending last year’s winter break together only gave them a few days. Now, they have a whole week before the next semester rolls in. A week that Juyeon was excited to spend with his boyfriend that he’s deeply missed, away from all his thesis-related worries back home.
Juyeon deserves this. They both do. It’s been stressful for both of them—for Kevin and his pending exhibits, for Juyeon and his thesis drafts. Even more stressful than usual, with both of them being so far away from each other, away from each other’s direct comfort. Blurry screens and late-night talks were enough sometimes, but anything beyond that was always the dream.
So, to have some breathing time together… Juyeon reaches the top of the stairs for the right floor, breathing a little heavily. He’s tired, but he’s excited. He’s beyond happy.
He walks over to the right door based on his memory, adjusting his jacket and fixing himself up. Kevin was the one to visit him in Korea last time, and though this was Juyeon’s first time in Canada, he was definitely familiar with the apartment to some extent. He sees the vicinity every time they video call. He vividly remembers the thorough apartment tour Kevin had given him over call, too, when he had first moved in with Jacob.
Deep breath. One, two. Kevin’s gonna lose his shit. Juyeon feels a little smug about pulling this off without getting totally lost.
Juyeon finds that he doesn’t need to knock at all, walking through after quietly opening the door. There’s chatter inside, definitely involving a familiar voice, but when he tiptoes through the hallway, he first makes eye contact with a surprised Jacob.
The other two people in the room weren’t looking towards Juyeon’s direction, instead focused on bickering. He only has Jacob’s attention, the latter too shocked to make a move or say a word.
It’s as if Jacob was seeing a ghost. Juyeon can barely hold back his grin. Juyeon nods at Jacob, who rigidly nods back. He takes a deep breath before speaking up,
“Hyungseo?”
Both heads turn to Juyeon. Wide eyes, confusion written all over their faces. They’re both shocked, but Jaehyun’s the first to break emotion, letting out an abrupt laugh.
Kevin, Juyeon’s ever handsome boyfriend who makes all the butterflies in Juyeon’s stomach go haywire, turns to Jaehyun and Jacob with an accusing glare. “Did you know about this?”
“Nope,” Jaehyun simply replies, grabbing Jacob by the arm and pulling him up. “It’s time for us to go!”
Jacob barely gets to say his goodbyes with the speed of Jaehyun pulling towards the front door, so he settles for sending Juyeon a small smile. When there’s only the two of them left, Juyeon doesn’t know why there’s so much tension. It’s like their first meeting all over again. It makes him nervous and giddy at the same time.
He simply raises his arms as an invitation for a hug, uttering a small, “Surprise?”
Kevin nearly bursts into tears right then and there.
“Juyeon-ah,” he whispers, rushing across the room to collide against Juyeon.
They hug it out for moments that feel like an eternity. It feels good to finally be able to hug and receive affection from someone Juyeon’s been seeing through a mere screen for months. It fills his chest with warm feelings: finally being able to express his love this way.
When he hears Kevin sniffle against his chest, Juyeon pulls back, confused. “Are you—”
Kevin delivers a flurry of soft punches against Juyeon’s chest. Juyeon lets out a loud laugh at the action, watching Kevin wipe his own tears away. Juyeon helps him, gently swiping below his boyfriend’s eyes.
“I can’t believe you,” Kevin mutters. “And I definitely can’t believe I didn’t notice!”
Juyeon feels proud of himself for this one, mischief in his smile. “I was being obvious lately, but you haven’t been seening my texts today, so you couldn’t have figured it out.”
Kevin flusters at that, glancing away. “Sorry for not replying. I had some plans, but they weren’t going well. I was busy trying to… fix things.”
Juyeon tilts his head, curious. “Plans?”
Kevin sighs, stepping back, but still holding onto Juyeon’s arm. He drags Juyeon over to sit on the couch, and only then does Juyeon realize the state of the apartment. It was… clean, but there were hints of people in the middle of cleaning before Juyeon had arrived. It makes him a little curious.
“I was gonna take us out for some fancy dinner tonight,” Kevin admits. Juyeon’s heart soars, despite Kevin’s past tense. He feels grateful at the thought of such a gesture. His boyfriend could be so romantic sometimes. “But I woke up and our reservation was suddenly canceled. I’m still mad about it! It isn’t my fault that they messed up the scheduling. I had a package coming, too. A gift for you—I won’t tell you what it is, don’t look at me like that—but there were shipping issues, so it couldn’t arrive on time today.”
“Hyungseo,” Juyeon says, tone soft. All this effort…
Kevin shakes his head. “And I know what you’re gonna say. It’s fine, it’s fine, and Jaehyun said the same thing, too. But I don’t know. I wish I could have done something special for us today.” He looks down. “Since I missed you so much, too.”
Juyeon nods, understanding. He thinks about what to say.
“I love your efforts, Hyungseo,” he says, smiling. He won’t be invalidating the intent behind Kevin’s plans, even with the failure. Instead, he’ll offer alternatives he knows Kevin would get behind. “But we do have the rest of the week. Let’s try again and you can bring me anywhere you’d like later, okay? Let’s find a different restaurant, too.”
Juyeon reaches into his backpack, pulling out a sealed lego set box. It’s the Hogwarts Express set, which Kevin immediately recognizes with bright eyes.
“In the meantime, let’s order something? We can eat, watch that film you’ve been talking about…” Juyeon raises the box between them. “And maybe assemble this?”
Kevin nods, his smile finally growing. It’s one of his genuine smiles, Juyeon can tell, heart squeezing at the pretty sight.
“Okay, okay,” he says, sighing, but it’s a content sigh this time. He looks more relaxed about it, leaning a little against Juyeon’s side. “I’d love that, but… how the heck did you get here? I seriously can’t believe you.”
Juyeon shrugs against him, leaning down a bit and planting a quick kiss against Kevin’s head. “Google maps and memories of your apartment tour,” he answers. Kevin gasps at the latter answer, a little surprised. It’s been a long while since that tour, after all.
But just like waking up early, feeling embarrassed, or giving in to exhaustion, remembering wasn’t a hard thing for Juyeon when it came to Kevin Moon.
“You’re amazing,” Kevin says, groaning. “How am I gonna one-up you?”
“You don’t have to.” Juyeon grins. “I just wanted to do this for my boyfriend, that’s all.”
Kevin hits him, shy at his words. He gets up afterwards, pulling Juyeon up with him. “I redecorated my room. Let me show you.”
Juyeon nods, excited to see. Kevin mentioned this last week, but Juyeon had to hold back on asking for a tour, considering they’d be seeing each other soon. He smiles, happy that they can do this in person now. He tightly holds Kevin’s hand, letting himself be led around the apartment.
This was going to be a great week.