“and the winner is home by botanica! congratulations, boys!” star cheers with a little ‘woop!’ and confetti canons blow at her announcement.
immediately, all the boys broke out into huge smiles. except for peach, who stood in place motionless for a few seconds longer than, was probably normal with a pure dumbfounded expression. it wasn’t until eli not so gently jabbed him with his elbow and leaned into his ear to whisper a hushed, “dude, we won,” that his ears stopped ringing and he could see the numbers on screen again. he looked down to see summer approaching him with the trophy.
he took the trophy, obviously, and bowed gratefully to summer, who smiled brightly in return. he watched as she ran over to the other members, giving each of them a high-five and noting how ren in particular laughed loudly at the difference between their hand sizes.
to say they were all overwhelmed would he an understatement. to be frank, they were all expecting third place, and would’ve graciously taken it. but they were first, their first win, during their debut no less! even with the mcs and other groups cheering around them and confetti raining down on them, it still didn’t quite feel real.
clover, who had managed to snatch the microphone away from peach without him noticing, brought it to his mouth and simply said, “woah.” causing eli, who was standing behind him, to snicker a little too loudly.
“okay, before i say anything,” he continued, making his way back over to peach, “i think our leader should talk first.”
peach quickly shook his head, but clover insisted with a quite whisper of, “c’mon!” so reluctantly, peach took the mic.
“i am not physically capable of doing a speech right now,” he said, still staring wide eyed, “it hasn’t hit me yet, but it will soon, someone else please take this while they have the chance.”
a few of the members and other people on stage laughed at that, and jaeyi was the first to take the microphone away from peach.
“wow, um, okay!” he started, with pink cheeks and a smile still as bright as the second the win had been announced plastered on his face, “um... thank you! where do i start, oh my goodness, this is crazy. we just debuted, so- okay, wow i did not think this would ever? happen? i’m bad at speeches someone else take this!” jaeyi held the microphone at arm’s length like he was dealing with something particularly smelly, and clover snatched it out of his hand again at an almost impressive speed.
“since i’m the only one here that can keep my composure-“ jaeyi playfully shoved him in the shoulder, “first of all, thank you! all of you! especially interstellar and view, who we got to share the stage with, and star and summer and taeji too!”
“not to mention our whole staff team!” tian added, who was now standing by clover’s side, “this wouldn’t be possible without them, and that includes our managers, production team, stylists, all of you!”
“okay, now, c’mon baek, you’ve gotta say something,” clover insisted, holding out the microphone in peach’s direction, who was now, hiding behind jaeyi with his hands over his face.
“did it hit him yet?” clover whispered, to which jaeyi quickly nodded.
“can you just say something super quick?” jaeyi nudged him, and got a loud sniffle in response. but finally, peach wiped his eyes and grabbed the microphone.
“...we did it!” was all he said before tearing up again. “but i think the most important people to thank are our fans. thank you to our blossoms for always supporting us, and i promise we’ll work harder from now on. it means the world to me, truly, and i hope you know that,” is all he got out before ducking behind jaeyi again, who went in for a hug.
“i’ll deal with this!” ren proclaimed, putting an arm around peach, “if you see him cry anymore you’ll start crying, and it’ll be a mess.”
“no i won’t!” jaeyi protested, his eyes obviously already glossy.
“keep it together for the encore stage, yeah?” ren said quietly, looking down at peach, who nodded quickly. the instrumental for home began playing, causing all the boys to look up, including eli and tian who were busy throwing handfuls of confetti at each other. peach looked down at the audience with wet eyes, smiling brightly for the first of many times that night before he began singing.
BLOOMING is the debut single of STARMAKER ENTERTAINMENT’s new boy group BOTANICA, and it’s available digitally and physically. the single was released on july 25, 2020 and was promoted from july 26th until august 31st, however they revived no music show wins. the single contains two tracks, HOME, which serves as the title track, and JUST ONE DAY, a promoted bside.
TRACK LIST:
HOME (title) insp
JUST ONE DAY insp
STYLING:
ERA HIGHLIGHTS:
WOOO HOT HOT DEBUT !!!
sorry i’m just excited
people were sorta iffy on them at first which is very valid w smk’s track record of rookies
but they warmed up to them eventually because THEYRE SO CUTE !!!! they’re SO CUTE SO CUTE
people loved the music video there wasn’t much of an overarching story it was just really pretty
omg they were so happy to debut like especially peach and clover bc they trained for a while . i mean peach was more like “ohmygod :( it’s happening omg :(“ and clover was more “omg fucking FINALLY”
people were the most nasty to jaeyi :((( mostly bc he was with the company for a lot shorter than some other trainees and people were saying he shouldve trained for longer but shut up goeun knows what she’s doing
they had all the support they needed from their seniors anyway :(( fruit basket mentioned them , both soloists mentioned them , and solar were like all up in their business
they’re so close with solar honestly it’s the cutest THEY DID A VLIVE TOGETHER !!!
their interactions just :((( i cant i’m so sorry i actually can’t they have the best bond they’re so comfortable with each other
mostly
a lot of them trained together so some of them knew each other from beforehand !! clover was actually supposed to make it into the solar lineup but he didn’t . no ones ever specified the reason
(it’s bc they didn’t get along if there’s one member of botanica that most of solar don’t get along with its clover)
he was on that same predebut dance team as mj and milo and they just haven’t been close since then ??
i should probably get into the actual debut now ??? that’d be ideal
they didn’t get any wins this time around mostly due to fans taking a while to warm up to them so they weren’t promoted as well as they could’ve been ?
they did manage to get on a few variety shows though and we really got to see their personalities shine :( they’re so funny
they started a vlog series too where we also got to see a lot of their personalities ! and like just how much of a mess they all are like in every single vlog peach is either stressed as fuck or asleep ren is just on a different plane of vibe and in every single one there’s at least one clip of tian eating
tian start a mukbang series on youtube i think we’d all benefit from that
peach had light pink hair and it suited him so well it looked so good
ren’s hair was long and curly and dyed brown ! what i said abt his dead ass scalp
jaeyi had this purple ish colour that looked GORGEOUS omg
clover had bright red hair ! and he ROCKED it
eli had long ish brown hair bc he didn’t cut it out of spite . for who ? who knows
tian’s hair was an obnoxiously bright orange omg it was so bright it gives me a headache
the styling was so pretty it’s annoying these dudes didn’t ever not look good like . all the white and pink and blue
there was a lot of blazers and a lot of oversized button down shirts it’s hard to explain but i know what i’m thinkin of
they also had a lot of flowers :((( they had flowers in their hair for a few of the stages
the makeup . ethereal
someone give the makeup artists a raise right now please thank u
but also the just one day stages . they were always dressed in white it was all white and sparkly they looked so pretty
for one of the stages they were all wearing angel wings :(
ok but then they did a special stage which was a cover of how you like that by blackpink and people lowkey lost their shit over it it was so good but it was like . the complete opposite of their own music but they slayed
they uploaded a dance practice with vocals to the uncensored version and just . CLOVER SAYING “BRING OUT THE BOSS BITCH” THATSE ALL thank u
so uh . overall ? pretty solid debut 10/10 we stan
can’t lie i love the cover look at her she’s lowkey a rip off of the ruby (april) but it’s cool it’s all good
genre : i’d say mostly ?? fluff ?? but angst if u squint
warnings : mild sexual content (making out and all that jazz but no Actual Sex) , baekhan’s an overly emotional horny bitch , chanseong doesn’t know how to properly process feelings , it’s just kind of a disaster !
words : 2.5k
[ 2017 ]
if you’d asked baekhan how he’d landed someone like yoon chanseong in college, he would’ve had no clue. part of him still doesn’t understand it today.
chanseong was that kind of guy that everyone got along with. you know the ones, the ones who present themselves as so charming and down to earth that it’s impossible to not get along with them? that was chanseong in a nutshell, and the only connection baekhan had to him was one class in which they sat next to each other (that chanseong mostly slept through anyway). he found that watching the sleeping figure next to him was much more interesting than listening to the droning professor. that was the only time he ever recalled looking forward to that class.
now, without making this sound too much like a badly written bad boy x shy guy wattpad novel, as it always goes, baekhan was dragged to an off campus party by a mutual friend one night, and sometime during that night, they got introduced to each other. baekhan vividly remembered his first thought about him being something along the lines of, “he looks like the type of guy to say offensive slurs when he’s drunk and only gets girls to fall for him because of his looks” which, he realizes now, may not have been super far off (except for the offensive slurs part, at least to his knowledge). but god, his head was spinning so hard under the deafening music and colourful lights, baekhan was willing to take such a risk.
“so...” chanseong started as he leaned over the side of the armchair he was sitting on, getting almost uncomfortably close to baekhan’s face, “what’s your name?”
“yes,” baekhan answered immediately.
he laughed, “sounds... exotic. alright, now what’s actually your name.”
“right,” baekhan mentally punched himself (more than once), “not right- that’s not my name, my name is baekhan. we have a class together.”
“do we?” chanseong said, raising his eyebrows, “which one?”
“the one that you sleep through every day,” baekhan snorted, “we sit next to each other and i swear- every time i look over, you’re passed out.”
chanseong shrugged, “i don’t need that class anyway, it’s boring.” baekhan noticed how the taller boy’s gaze trailed up and down what he could see of baekhan’s body (respectfully) despite his particularly unflattering outfit (loose jeans- cuffed obviously- and a t-shirt probably four sizes too big- any fitted outfit on a day he was going out to eat was a big no-no for him!).
“so what do you have in there?” chanseong asked, gesturing to the plastic cup baekhan held in his lap, “anything exciting?”
“whiskey,” baekhan answered without thought, naming the first alcoholic drink that came to mind. it wasn’t whiskey, it was sprite, plain sprite. but yoon chanseong was hot, and he wanted to appeal to what seemed to be his type.
chanseong stifled a chuckle. “sure,” he said, leaning over a little more to look at the contents of his cup. it definitely wasn’t whiskey, he wasn’t stupid, but he appreciated the effort either way. “come on- get up, let me get you an actual drink.”
“and why on earth would i do that?”
he shrugged, “you look like you need some loosening up, you know? just like-“ he put his hand on baekhan’s shoulder, “relax a bit, you’re so tense.”
baekhan involuntarily lowered his shoulders a little bit, “do i look like the type of person who needs loosening up?”
“definitely.”
he scoffed, taking a sip of his not whiskey, “i like how you think you know what i need.”
“oh, i think i do,” chanseong retorted in a different, lower tone of voice, looking at baekhan with an expression of such confidence it made baekhan choke on his drink a little. chanseong smirked, sparing glances at baekhan’s lips, and the other seemed to catch on quite quickly.
baekhan awoke the next morning with a pounding headache in a bed that definitely wasn’t his.
“oh god,” he mumbled, immediately panicking and sitting up in bed. only then did he look down and notice that he wasn’t the only one in the bed. who would be sleeping soundly next to him but none other than yoon chanseong!
of course. of course drunken baekhan would get into a situation like this! and now slightly more sober (and very hungover) baekhan had to deal with it.
in his still half asleep state, surprisingly he could remember a good chunk of the events of the previous night, but most of it revolved around the two of them crashing through chanseong’s dorm room door in the early hours of the morning, making out fervidly and bumping into multiple pieces of furniture on their way to the bed. a lot of making out, baekhan definitely got pinned to the wall a few times, and whew, that’s enough of that! baekhan wasn’t sure he wanted to remember much more.
he only panicked more when chanseong stirred beside him.
when he inevitably woke up from baekhan’s hungover panicking, the latter was already out of bed plucking his clothes off the floor. the two made eye contact for a brief second, and baekhan immediately covered himself with his shirt.
“...baek?” chanseong mumbled, and oh god, the raspiness of his just woken up voice was hot.
“you remembered my name?” baekhan asked with genuine surprise.
chanseong scoffed, “of course i did, how could i forget? how could i forget you?”
baekhan didn’t know why that made his face flush. maybe it was the headache. maybe it was the fact that yoon chanseong was one of the most beautiful men he’d seen in any of his classes thus far, and he’d just woken up in the same bed as him and he remembered baekhan’s name. he honestly hoped it was the former, feelings in general weren’t his strong suit.
“do you know where my pants are?” baekhan asked instead of saying something hot back. he immediately cringed and mentally kicked himself in the shins.
but chanseong just laughed softly in response, “my guess would be somewhere...” he leaned over the side of the bed, gesturing at the rest of the clothes that had been carelessly thrown about the floor, “...somewhere around here.”
“oh... probably,” baekhan looked down at the several articles of clothing near his feet, “guess we weren’t very neat.”
chanseong shrugged loosely, “i’m a student, i live in filth, i don’t really care.”
baekhan chuckled, not registering that sentence as as much of a turn off as it would usually be, especially as he was always a particularly anal type of person (not THAT type of anal).
“so do you have anything going on today?” chanseong asked, still looking at baekhan (who was now on the floor searching for his pants) from the bed.
baekhan glanced up at him for a second, “...why?”
“just wondering, you seem like you’re in a rush.”
“oh! no, i’m not i just don’t wanna- inconvenience you i can be on my way now-“
“no, no, don’t worry about it,” chanseong reached out his arm, “it’s a long weekend, d’you think i’ve got anything going on?”
baekhan paused, then reluctantly replied, “good point,” avoiding eye contact with the male on the bed more out of sheer awkwardness than anything by instead gathering his clothes from the floor. but then, in true chanseong fashion, he said something that made baekhan immediately look at him.
“...care for a round two?”
baekhan’s head shot back around to meet chanseong’s, and the smirk on his face reminded him of the previous night, remembering the phrase “i think i do”, in particular quite vividly, in response to- who knows, probably something stupid that slipped past baekhan’s lips.
but inevitably, baekhan decided if he was ever anything more than paranoid, he was horny.
“oh why the hell not,” he declared, immediately climbing back into bed and mashing their lips together.
baekhan wasn’t sure how him and chanseong became more than just a one night stand, but it’s not like he didn’t mind.
but what kind of “more” were they, exactly? that’s where the two male’s opinions were slightly divided. unbeknownst to chanseong, who had more of an unspoken but very obvious in his actions “no feelings” sort of attitude when it came to them hanging out for the first while, baekhan genuinely wanted more.
they had a slight routine, meet up somewhere when their schedules let them, maybe go out somewhere, whether it was to hang out or get something to eat, and more often than not, they’d end up at one of their dorm rooms later that night, and- for lack of a better term- fuck. did baekhan enjoy this routine? ...not necessarily, but if he was spending time with chanseong, then he didn’t mind.
“i’m exhausted,” baekhan groaned, putting his feet up on the ottoman in front of him. that night, they were at chanseong’s dorm, and they’d ordered food and were about to put a movie on (baekhan’s idea), a calm night in at the end of the week, which baekhan liked quite a bit more than the same party scene every friday night.
chanseong laughed through his nose, “what did you do today?”
“oh god,” baekhan started, “i had to do this, like, dance thing at training today, and oh my god i’m horrible at dancing!” he laughed loudly, throwing his head back before continuing, “there’s a couple other trainees helping me, if i couldn’t sing i’d be a lost cause, i swear to god!”
“what-“ baekhan’s face fell when he saw chanseong’s confused expression, “training?” he asked with furrowed eyebrows.
baekhan’s eyes went wide, “did i not- oh my god! i forgot to tell you! i’m training at this company, i’m gonna be a singer!”
“and you’ve never told me this?”
“i’m sorry! i forgot!” baekhan exclaimed, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling brightly. “isn’t it exciting though? that’s why i’m always busy outside of class!”
chanseong nodded, “i’ve been busy too, i didn’t really notice,” he chuckled, “and it seems like it makes you really happy too.”
baekhan raised his eyebrows, “what’ve you been busy with? partying?”
“i attend more than one class, y’know,” chanseong flopped down onto the couch next to baekhan, who immediately snaked an arm around the taller boy’s waist.
“sure,” he gently cupped chanseong’s face in his hands before pulling him in for a quick kiss. “and you’re right, it does make me happy,” pulling him in again, their bodies were pressed against each other as they kissed passionately right there on the couch.
“and so do you,” baekhan said wistfully, breaking into a huge smile when they both pulled apart. he felt chanseong tense up under his touch at those words but before he could even register it he pulled the taller boy back in, who eventually eased up into another messy but fervid kiss.
alas, baekhan can’t always get what he wants.
he could barely see chanseong in the pale moonlight cascading through his bedroom window, although he could feel his body heat, which was arguably much more comforting.
he scooted closer into chanseong’s side, arms wrapped around his waist and his head near the crook of the taller boy’s neck. chanseong had told him, a few weeks prior, that he wasn’t a big fan of cuddling, but he stopped fighting it a while ago. which made baekhan think he changed his mind, or he just gave up trying to resist. both seemed pretty realistic.
“channie...?” baekhan mumbled into the darkness, and he felt chanseong’s head move slightly above him.
“yeah?”
“remember that night? at the party when we first met?”
“what about it?”
baekhan shrugged, “i dunno, actually, i’m just thinking about it for some reason.” he really just wanted to keep chanseong up with something to talk to, because he didn’t want to fall asleep just yet. “why did you- like- i guess what i’m trying to say is why me? there were so many people at that party- and they’re all hotter than me.”
chanseong snickered, “you’ve gotta stop being so insecure, you’re pretty. you’ve got a nice body, like- your waist and your-“
“aah! stop you’re gonna make me blush!” baekhan’s words were mumbled by him burying his face into chanseong’s chest.
the taller boy chuckled and said, “i mean i’m just stating facts.”
he sighed in contempt, laying there in silence with his head comfortably nestled under chanseong’s chin. it had only been- a few weeks? months, maybe? since they’d properly met, but it had began to feel so natural that it didn’t feel like it. chanseong felt like an old friend, and every time baekhan remembered they’d barely known each other half a year, he wondered if chanseong felt a similar way.
which is why, maybe, he was so comfortable being affectionate with him.
“i love you.”
it didn’t feel like it, but by the way baekhan felt chanseong immediately tense up, he realized that was the first time he’d ever said it.
after a few seconds of tension filled silence, chanseong sat up and said, “you know, i should probably be going home now.”
baekhan’s heart dropped almost immediately. he followed chanseong, sitting up with him with the false hope that he could somehow convince the taller boy to stay. “hey, hey, why so sudden?” he asked softly, taking a light grip on his arm.
“i just,” chanseong looked back, an unreadable expression on his face, “i’ve got stuff to do tomorrow, and i just remembered.”
“oh.”
“yeah...” he nodded awkwardly, and stood up with no further hesitation, baekhan followed, intending to walk him out.
“hang out tomorrow? when you’re not busy?” baekhan asked, standing behind chanseong who already had his hand on the doorknob.
chanseong looked back, and nodded quickly with a, “yeah, of course.”
and with that, he left without another word, leaving baekhan standing at the front door, dumbfounded.
baekhan usually welcomed the night sky with open arms, eager to succumb to her even on her coldest nights. sugar spilt over a black marble tabletop, just barely glowing in the pale moonlight, bringing a sense of odd comfort when darkness engulfed the city. yet, tonight, he lied awake for what was realistically just an hour or two, but felt like an unbearable eternity.
but, later that night when baekhan was finally almost succumbing to the night’s call, he realized.
botanica are up for the number one spot on inkigayo this week , help them get their first win !! if they win , i’ll do an honesty hour where you can ask them whatever you want !!
follow @inkigayokoc to see all the fun stuff and find the other lovely nominees here !!
DREAM is a surprise single dropped by smk boy group BOTANICA on their last day of debut promotions, august 31, 2020, at 1pm kst. the single was not promoted, nor was it previously announced at all, it was dropped seemingly out of nowhere, as “a gift to fans for supporting their debut” in the words of the boys.
TRACK LIST:
dream
ERA HIGHLIGHTS:
this wasn’t much of an era actually but yk
they did a vlive after they dropped it where they were basically just like “we wanted to drop it. so we did.”
i mean it was kinda like a gift to fans which is how they explained it like . dropping it at the end of promotions like here ! thanks !
it was announced by eli going on twitter and posting “aha what if we dropped a song today........ nah i’m kidding......... unless 👀”
SO LIKE
yeah
probably wasn’t the best way to drop it but who cares
they had fun THEY WROTE THE SONG TYEMSELVES ACTUALLY
THEY WERE CREDITED !!!!!! WHEEE
they said it was the most fun they’ve had writing a song so far bc they all did it together they all had their creative input yk
ok but bees got into a HUGE discussion about who was playing the saxophone in the song
tian said it was him but he’s literally never touched an instrument before . so who knows
(it was none of them they just like joking abt it)
— in which, peach always wants more than he can get.
this takes place in 2017 when he was in university !! also if u don’t know who chanseong is he’s baekhan’s ex !!
“so... what do you wanna do?”
“what do you mean? didn’t we just-“
“i know, but i mean like- do you wanna drive around? get some ice cream? stargaze?”
as baekhan examined chanseong’s blanket covered silhouette in the dim light of his own bedroom, even though he couldn’t the see the taller boy’s face, he could already tell what his answer was going to be before he even spoke.
“actually, i should probably get going-“ chanseong suddenly pushed himself up to a sitting position in bed, and baekhan sat up and grabbed hold of his arm lightly before he could stand up and get out of bed completely.
“nooo, channie, you should stay tonight,” baekhan pouted, clinging to his arm.
chanseong turned back to face baekhan, mumbling, “i don’t think anyone knows i’m over here. they’re probably wondering where i am.”
“so what? it won’t kill them to not know where you are for a few hours,” baekhan knew chanseong’s routine, they’d meet up somewhere during the day, maybe get something to eat, then go to one of their apartments for a movie or something (that would more often that not lead to a bit of “fooling around” let’s say), and then, either chanseong would abruptly leave or tell baekhan to leave, excuses usually being something along the lines of, “i have family coming over tomorrow”, or “i have someone coming to check my air conditioner in the morning” or whatever else. baekhan always left when he asked him to, not wanting to cause any trouble, but a large part of him hoped, every time, that at least once chanseong would change his mind and stay a night.
“i just wanna do couple-y things,” baekhan whined, still clinging to the taller boy’s arm, “isn’t that what we are? a couple?”
“well- yeah,” chanseong’s answer was unusually short and abrupt for such a question, but baekhan chose to pay it no mind, he knew him, after all, “but i gotta go, i’m pretty sure i agreed to let a friend stay over later.”
“and there it is,” baekhan said, an airy laugh passing his lips with a sour tinge that chanseong didn’t seem to notice (or willfully ignored), “you always have someone or something come up.”
“well- i’m a busy guy, you know,” was all chanseong could say, he chuckled nervously while baekhan still persisted.
“you should let me meet some of your friends, i don’t talk to a whole lot of people.”
“yeah, well i would, but they don’t know about-“ chanseong made a vague gesture, “us.”
baekhan shrugged, “so? it’s kinda hard to keep something like this a secret, unless-“ he gasped suddenly, “are they homophobic?”
chanseong scoffed, “no, at least i don’t think so. it’s just-“
“am i your first time with a guy?” the shorter boy asked, in a much more innocent tone that chanseong would’ve expected in regards to such a question.
“nah, no way,” chanseong replied, flashing a cocky smirk momentarily, “i just- i gotta go, you go to bed, you need sleep.”
“i’d sleep better if you were here with me...”
chanseong sighed, “baek, let me go home. we can hang out tomorrow, okay?”
“yeah, i’m just bugging you,” baekhan laughed through his nose, and chanseong stood up, grabbing his hoodie off the floor and pulling it over his head, not noticing the hint of disappointment in the shorter boy’s tone.
baekhan walked him to the door, like every night, and chanseong gave him an awkward side hug and a kiss and a promise to text him the next morning, like every night. one thing chanseong didn’t know about baekhan was how quickly he got sick of routines like this.
“do you want your shirt back?”
chanseong took one glance down at baekhan, noting how his (chanseong’s) shirt absolutely dwarfed his thin frame, and simply said, “nah, it’s fine.” baekhan smiled to himself, at least he had a piece of clothing that smelled like chanseong’s flowery cologne to get him through the night.
“so... when are you actually gonna stay the night?” baekhan said, stopping chanseong who was already opening the door to leave.
he shrugged, “we’ll figure something out.” he threw baekhan a lazy attempt at a half smile, but the shorter boy started into his eyes instead. he liked chanseong’s eyes, they always felt warm and comforting. he often found himself staring into chanseong’s eyes and wondering if he got lost in baekhan’s like baekhan did in his. he’d never mentioned it, but he’d mentioned how he liked baekhan’s lips, and cheeks, and waist... and hips-
“okey dokey, bye-bye channie~” he stood on his toes to kiss chanseong on the lips, softer than usual. the taller boy wasn’t much of a kisser in situations like these, and when he was the one in control, his kisses were rougher, a whirlwind of teeth and tongue that usually made a huge mess. baekhan preferred the former if he was being completely honest.
baekhan let his hand drop off of chanseong’s shoulder, and he was out the door and down the hall.
the echoing of his front door shutting made the apartment sound even more empty than it was.
baekhan sighed, making his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water before he went to bed.
maybe one day, he’d finally stay, but reasoning with himself was getting a little tiring.
baekhan heard a car start up outside his apartment building, and just barely saw faint headlights out of his peripheral, no doubt chanseong. he sat down on the kitchen floor, pushing his back up against the fridge and burying his head in his (chanseong’s) shirt. a position that probably would’ve looked hopelessly pitiful from the perspective of someone else. the smell of cologne engulfed him so badly it gave him a headache, but at least it smelled like channie.
his bed felt extra empty that night. even though chanseong had long gone, baekhan stayed on his side of the bed, like there was someone sleeping in his spot. instead, he clung to his body pillow, legs wrapped around as he stared up, not sleepy at all out his bedroom window. the light of day was long gone (like chanseong that night, which baekhan thought had some irony in it somewhere), the faint light of the stars like sugar spilt over a black tabletop barely reached his room, and instead of comfort, baekhan was left with a feeling of... he wasn’t quite sure how to describe it, discomfort? emptiness?
