Rome (Wasn't Built in a Day) (River)

[Jin-hwan "Jen" Park]

Honest Abe’s was a clean, simply-decorated restaurant in downtown Pilot Ridge. To Jin, who associated River with things like singing to animals and binging on candy and giggling for largely no reason, it didn’t seem like the kind of place that his new friend would work. It was so normal that it was almost nondescript; in other words, it was very unlike River.

This wasn’t to say that Jin-hwan wasn’t enjoying himself. The food was good, if a little greasy, although he hadn’t said anything because River had gone to the trouble of cooking it himself. They’d spent about forty-five minutes at the booth in the corner, Jin nibbling on his French fries as politely as possible.

He kept looking at River, then looking away.

It reminded him of the night before he’d left for Hammel. David’s mother had taken Jin and his best friend out to a roadside diner, David’s favorite, for cheeseburgers and ice cream.

David had cried at the end of the night; innocent, twelve-year-old tears.

But he didn’t want to remember it…

Eventually, they’d made their way out of the restaurant and into the cold again. Night had fallen even though it had only just turned six o’clock. The stars were bright in the clear sky.

“Thank you for the food,” he said politely, once the gates of the Institute had become visible. He wanted to say something else, something more characteristic, like we could have just gone to the cafeteria, you know or the French fries were so greasy that I’m going to have acne for weeks and it’s all your fault, but the words wouldn’t come.

[River Tseung]

Had River not known any better, he would have thought this was a date.

They were alone, he had invited Jin to the place he worked, like a typical boy-asks-girl-after-girl-reads-manhwa-to-boy. Only... Jin was a boy. Heck, River didn't even know if he liked boys. He'd never been good at reading that in people.

I don't like boys, he thought to himself, even as he watched the other student picking at his french fries, his shiny hair looking silky smooth in the dim light of the restaurant. .... Do I?

The little skips he got in his chest each time Jin looked at him was starting to speak otherwise.

He was still mulling over these thoughts, intensely aware of how close they were walking and the way their elbows brushed every once in a while.

He probably has a girlfriend anyway, he told himself. He's nice, and smart, and really pretty....

The internal voice sputtered a bit.

Jin's words shocked River out of his uncharacteristic mulling; he had hardly realized how quiet he was until Jin broke the silence. "Yeah, of course," he replied with forced nonchalance. "It's the least I can do after you spent so long reading to me."

He fell quiet again as they passed the gates, his shoes crunching in the remains of the snow; a few white flakes had begun to fall a few minutes before, and River lifted his face to catch one on his tongue.

After he did, he dipped his head and smiled shyly. "Want to hang out in my room for a while?" he asked uncertainly. An idea came to his mind, and River's spine shot up straight, his inner child taking over for a moment. "We can build a fort!" The perfect thing to do on a dark, snowy evening.

[Jin-hwan "Jen" Park]

It was the first time since they’d met that River had been quiet, and Jin wasn’t sure what to think. In the yellow light of the street lamps, the other boy’s hair was that color.

No, he corrected himself silently and immediately.

This was totally different. So why did the nostalgia keep rising in his chest like an ache? Whatever good memories of friendship and camaraderie he’d had, he’d left them in Los Angeles. In two years, he’d be gone – studying in New York – and where would his classmates be? Probably not there, that was for sure. It just wouldn’t make sense for him to start getting attached now.

He learned from his mistakes…

“A fort?” he repeated dryly. He gave River a look that oozed skepticism. “God, I haven’t built a fort since I was, like, six. I don’t know if I even remember how.”

They were nearly back at the dorms. The snow had begun to fall more steadily.

Enthusiasm had made River light up like a beacon in the night. Jin-hwan wanted to resist. He did.

Okay, so he learned from his mistakes sometimes.

“Fine,” he sighed, using a gloved hand to swipe his bangs back into place. This time, he reached the door first; he tightened his grip on the handle and almost released it instantly, but a moment’s hesitation caught him, and he managed to hold it open.

[River Tseung]

River wasn't too afraid of getting attached... Even if he should be. He was a senior now, with nothing keeping him from graduating on time if all went well, so he'd be off to college by next year. At least, that was the plan. There was always the possibility of taking a year off, and he was willing to roll with whatever life threw his way.

Well, everything but this ridiculously pretty boy that was making him all sorts of flustered in ways he had never been flustered before. Seriously, what was happening?

"Really?!" he exclaimed, as if this was the most absurd thing in the world. "I built one last week! I have a ton of blankets and pillows and stuff we can use." His dimpled grin fell in place. "There's not really a how. You just... Throw stuff together until it works!"

Oooh, he was excited. River hefted the bag of sweets he had bought while they were in town on his arm, already imagining tossing the blankets up, throwing pillows at each other, laying inside and talking about who-knew-what until they fell asleep...

He was getting ahead of himself.

"Yess!" he squealed, taking one of Jin's hands in his own and tugging, before realizing what he was doing and dropped it a moment later, cheeks flushed pink. Nothing wrong with it... he told himself as they reached the door. He smiled brightly at Jin as he held the door, reaching down to pull lightly on his shirt as if he needed further cajoling. River stomped up the steps two at a time, soon reaching his room and tugging it open.

He tossed the bag of sweets on his dresser and pulled off his coat, shivering in his t-shirt. "Um... I'm just gonna..." Without saying anything else, River darted over to his closet and quickly tugged off his shirt, pulling on a sweatshirt in the blink of an eye. There, nice and comfy.

River turned around, beaming at Jin. "So. Fort?"

[Jin-hwan "Jen" Park]

“Of course you did,” Jin replied sardonically. For a moment, he didn’t realize that he’d actually said it out loud. Whoops – slipped. “In that case, I’ll defer to your experience.”

Throw stuff together until it works. That would definitely be a new experience for Jin-hwan – his preferred method was something more along the lines of obsessively correct things for hours and stew in a puddle of self-hatred until it was tolerable.

River’s hand closed over his own, then, and Jin blinked, momentarily frozen in place…

Why does it feel so similar?

The other boy turned away from him to bound up the stairs, and Jin-hwan was left behind, a flush of embarrassment of surprise still lingering on his cheeks.

Why…

It took him a moment to recover. By the time he reached River’s dorm room, the other boy was shedding his clothes.

Jin-hwan looked at the ceiling pointedly. He was having a lot of feelings right now, and those abdominal muscles weren’t helping. Seriously, was he doing it on purpose?

No, he thought. He’s too stupid to do something like that on purpose.

“Fort,” he agreed, somewhat wearily. He lowered his gaze to a now-fully-clothed River and sighed. “Where are we going to build it?”

[River Tseung]

The quip went right over River's innocent head, and he simply bobbed his head and smiled wide. "Good!" he chirped. "I have a lot." It would be the best fort ever. Although... He told himself that every time he built one.

And if Jin-hwan decided to get picky with it, well, River would stuff gummy bears in his mouth until he stopped! Because it wasn't about being perfect, it was about having fun. And then demolishing it afterwards.

As for Jin's thoughts on River's impromptu strip.... There was a tickle of thought in the back of his head that, after the small glances and nervous flushes that had been going between them, Jin might think he was doing it for some sort of... Darker intentions... But he wasn't! Really! He was just cold. In fact...

"Are you warm enough?" he asked as he turned back around, pulling his hands up into his sleeves. "I have some, um, sweaters and stuff if you want..." River trailed off. Jin was always so perfectly put together, River had to wonder how uncomfortable he was. He'd stay in pajamas all day if he could.

But yeah! Fort! River rummaged around in his closet and produced several blankets, as well as a couple extra pillows. "All over!" he exclaimed. He pulled out the chair by his desk and propped it in the middle of the room by his bed, then tossed a blanket between it and the mattress and pinned it down with a couple pillows. "Just throw blankets up wherever there's room," he giggled, already reaching for the next one. "From the dresser to the bed, or the table... Whatever!"

He passed behind Jin with the blanket and, on a whim, tossed it over the boy's head, still giggling. "Wanna put on some music? I have some speakers on the dresser," he offered, pointing. "Whatever you want!"

[Jin-hwan "Jen" Park]

Was this guy seriously offering Jin his clothes to wear? What, were they married now?

“I have three layers on,” he informed River. “Besides, I don’t strip randomly in front of others, like some people.”

Even in the locker rooms, Jin always changed in the stall…

He’d hoped that his reproachful tone would knock some sense into the other boy’s head, maybe give him some notion of propriety, but River was already rambling around in the closet. He came out with an armful of blankets; Jin took one from the top of the pile and stared at it.

“Whatever,” he repeated, watching the other boy drape a blanket haphazardly across some furniture. “Right.”

He unfolded the blanket he’d picked up with care and turned a full, slow three-hundred-and-sixty degrees. Eventually, he spread it over the edge of the table and onto the desk. He weighed it down with the edge of River’s laptop. He studied it critically with his hands on his hips.

Not exactly Frank Lloyd Wright, but…

He could feel River bouncing all over the room like a hyperactive bee, and was just about to say something about it when the room went dark. It took him a moment to work out what had occurred – he didn’t spend a lot of time with his head under blankets as a general rule.

“What—“ he said quietly, attempting to move his arms under the heaviness of the blanket. After a few moments of wrestling with the fabric, he managed to free himself from it. As it slid off of him, there was the slight crackling of static electricity; his hair, once perfect, was now sticking awkwardly to his face. He brushed it aside, annoyed.

“Do you want to die?” he asked. He dropped the blanket and began rummaging around in his tight pockets. After some effort, he managed to produce a wrinkled dryer sheet, which he hurriedly rubbed all over his hair.

“How am I going to put on music if you throw things on me?” he asked dryly. He eyed River warily before turning to the speakers, which were already hooked up to River’s iPod; he began scrolling through the songs with a practiced flick of his thumb.

After a few moments of pondering, he selected a song.

[River Tseung]

River suddenly became very flustered, his cheeks flushing and his arms flailing outward as Jin spoke. "There's nothing wrong with it!" he stammered. "We're both-" Boys. Why couldn't he finish that? This was all just so confusing to him, the poor boy didn't know what to think.

His cheeks were still very pink as he fumbled around, hoping Jin wouldn't notice just how bewildered he was over this entire thing. Darn Korean boy and his perfect hair and cute lips and adorable shortness, mumble grumble....

River busied himself with tossing his blankets over various places, pinning them down until they were secure and his room was starting to look like a sea of draping cloth. He hoped Jin was enjoying himself - he seemed to be critically eyeing his one blanket, which River nodded encouragingly towards. "Perfect!" he chirped, just before he blinded the boy with the blanket.

His reaction, though he should have expected it, made River blink and stare. He had to press his lips very tightly together to keep himself from giggling at Jin's hair; while he normally wouldn't have repressed the laughter, the look on Jin's face (and his threat) told him that probably wouldn't be a good idea. "You look fine without your hair perfect," he said softly, hoping the boy would take it well. More than fine...

River shook himself out of his daze, picking up the blanket Jin had dropped to the floor and tossing it over a last section of open space. He gave the other boy an innocent blink, crossing his hands in front of himself as he waited to see which song Jin would choose.

Ohhh....

"I learned this dance!" he exclaimed, then quickly added,".... Kinda...." As the words started, he rubbed his hands together in front of himself like they did in the music video, and attempted to twist his feet in next, instead bumping himself into Jin and nearly tripping over his own feet. "..... Sorry....." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't say I was good at it..." River gave Jin a sheepish smile, feeling more and more ridiculous as the night went on.