fourteen

"i just wanna get back to us." -more, 5 seconds of summer.

——

misun sat at her desk, the glow of her phone lighting the room in faint blue. her last message to jihoon still lingered on the screen, sitting there like something fragile. she didn't know if he'd reply again. maybe that one small exchange was all there would be.

but a few minutes later, her phone buzzed.

jihoon: that's good to hear. still doing photography?

her breath caught for a second before she typed back.

misun: yeah... i've been working with a studio. it's been busy lately.

she hesitated, then added:

misun: you?

a few seconds later, his reply came.

jihoon: busy with seventeen... we're working on our new album.

she could almost hear his voice through the words—calm, steady, the way it always had been.

she smiled a little, fingers tapping softly against the screen.

misun: you never stop working, huh?

jihoon: guess not. old habits.

she laughed quietly to herself, shaking her head. some things never change.

but beneath the easy words, there was something unspoken—both of them careful not to say too much, to stay on safe ground.

she stared at the blinking cursor for a while, trying to think of something else to say, something normal.

misun: it's nice hearing from you again.

he read the message almost instantly. her heart beat faster.

jihoon: yeah... it's nice. it's been a long time.

then nothing for a while.

on the other side, jihoon sat on his couch, phone balanced on his knee. he typed something, paused, deleted it. typed again. deleted again.

"i missed you."

delete.

"i think about you sometimes."

delete.

"i'm glad you texted me back."

delete.

he sighed, leaning back against the cushions. the blinking cursor on his screen mocked him. everything he wanted to say felt too heavy, too dangerous.

so instead, he just wrote:

jihoon: i'm glad you're doing okay.

simple. safe.

she read it, the corners of her lips curling up just slightly.

misun: you too, jihoon.

they said goodnight soon after, both pretending it was easy, pretending it didn't mean anything more.

misun: sleep well.

jihoon: you too. goodnight.

when misun set her phone down, she realized she was smiling—small and soft, like a secret she didn't want to let go of.

she whispered to herself, "goodnight, jihoon," before turning off the light.

and for the first time in a long time, she fell asleep with her heart feeling both full and completely uncertain.