Maddox: βIf this song is about anything, itβs the way I feel about youβ¦β
You and Kyungmoon had met almost a year ago at a small coffee shop where you used to work at over the summer. He was a regular for some time, always ordering a hot tea of some sort, and eventually you started looking forward to one anotherβs short visitations. Once you told him youβd be ending your work in the summer in order to finish your education in the upcoming fall, he asked for your number, and you became great friends even after you left the shop. Recently, though, youβve become much closer, and would even probably call him one of your current best friends.
βKyun,β you call from across the room of your apartmentβs living room settee. Kyungmoonβs sitting across from you on a sectional sofa.
βYes?β He looks up at you, tugging one of his headphones behind an ear.
βIs it cold in here for you, too? Can I turn up the heat a bit?β
He smiles. βYouβre cold?β
You nod, wrapping your blanket over your legs tighter.
βCome here, then. Iβm actually kind of hot,β he says sweetly.
Your face brightens up and you reach for your blanket and computer before proceeding to make yourself comfortable next to him. He takes the blanket he was wrapped under and drapes it over you.
βWhat are you listening to?β You look up at his headphones, then peek over his computer.
βI recorded a few things last night. Iβm listening over them again to see if theyβre any good.β
βI bet they are good,β you smile. βAll your music is so good! My favorite of yours is Color Blind.β
He laughs lightly. βThanks, but this oneβ¦ I canβt figure out what Iβm going for. I donβt know if itβs a love song or a heartbreak song. What about you, what are you working on?β He looks carefully over your shoulder at your own screen, to which you reply, βOh, Iβm still procrastinating on finishing an assignment. At least Iβm almost done.β
A few seconds of silence pass by before you speak again. βWhy is your song about love?β
He sighs and removes his headphones, leaning back on the sofa to contemplate at the ceiling. βYou know, maybe itβs about having a one-sided feeling.β
βHow so?β You tug your blankets higher to your shoulders.
βWellβ¦ I donβt know. For this song, I want to feel in love, I think. But the words keep coming down to a feeling of heartbreak, and that's probably because I donβt know the answer to the other end of this crush.β He turns bright red, looking away from you now. He canβt help a small smile slip out, and you catch him anyway.
βKyun, youβre in love!β you giggle.
βNo, this is for a song!β Heβs laughing too now, hiding himself completely over the blanket.
βNo, I think youβre in love! Youβre way too shy about these things!β you lightly tug at his side of the blanket. Heβs resisting, and youβre both sharing laughter and playful shoving amongst one another. Heβs completely flustered under the blankets, unwilling to show his face to you.
βFine,β you huff. βI wonβt actually force you to say anything. Maybe your song should be about the frustration of love, instead.β
He comes up from under the blanket and stares into his computer for a second. βMaybe youβre right.β
You turn and smile at him, and close your computer. βIβm usually right, and you know that.β Your eyes feel heavy, now that youβre warmer in the otherwise cool apartment. βIβm gonna take a short nap. Wake me up when youβve made a breakthrough with your song.β
He opens his arm around you, and you snuggle next to him for a moment, his computer on his lap.
This was what you loved most about him. Not only was he a close friend, but the love itself was very platonic. And very mutual. Or at least, you always thought of it like that. He was the kind of person you could feel safe around, comfortable to share your doubts and wishes without him coming off as too judge-mental, too possessive, too jealous. However, not all of your exes understood this, and they tended to break things off when their jealousy overwhelmed them. And thus, he would once again become the pillow you clashed into at times of despair after every single end of your relationships.
But what you didnβt know? The platonic love on his end slowly started to become a little tooβ¦ real.
For a few moments between you dozing on and off, he watches you quietly, unable to comprehend the overwhelming feeling heβs overcome with at this very moment. You were always so sweet to him, so fair and so good. When you worked at the coffee shop, it didnβt take many visits for you to ask about why heβd only get hot teas. That was when you learned he was a singer. And since then, you made sure to make the best for him, always giving him words of affirmation when heβd come in before and after long work hours. Even now, he never went to the recording studio without a tea thermal from you.
He was slowly falling for the way you made him comfortable, for the way you accepted him whole, and especially now once you became closer and learned of all his humane flaws.
Heartbreaks arose for him when youβd date other people. Hearts would skip beats when heβd find out your relationships didnβt work out. Anxiety would rise seeing you get heartbroken by exes undeserving of you. And the closer you seemed to grow as friends, the shyer he seemed to become.
Maybe I amβ¦ flustered, he thought to himself. Iβm always flustered around you nowadays. If this song is about anything, itβs about the way I feel about you.
Seeing you sleep on him comfortably, he shut his computer off and gently ran his fingers through your hair, slowly caressing your cheek once he felt you were asleep. He leaned in close to you, embracing you in a full hug.
βI think I am in love with you,β he whispered into you, placing a gentle kiss on your head.
Several seconds passed after that moment, the quiet rain and distant thunder murmuring in the background.
You smile secretly to yourself, unbeknownst to Kyungmoon. If only he knew that you werenβt asleep yet, and if only he knew that once you did βwake up,β heβd be in for a pleasant confession from you as well.
You sleepily extended your arm out, calculating for your hands to fall into each other. You acted like you were still in a deep sleep, and just so happened to hold hands amidst your slumber.
Another smile discreetly escapes your hidden lips as you feel him gently caressing his shy, firm fingers against the back of your palm, a reassuring gesture you knew so well.
My platonic love.
No, not anymore.
I think Iβm in love with you, too.
In a matter of minutes, you both did end up falling asleep on each other. Hands and arms wrapped around each other, heads resting into one another, the blanket cocooning both your bodies into one.
You didnβt know when exactly it happened, either, but at one point along your friendship, your platonic love mended into a truer feeling of love for the boy you once made hot teas for in a familiar coffee shop, somewhere far, far away.
