Eunhyuk curls his fingers carefully around the weight in his palm, bringing the tablet up higher. It's such a small thing, but the magnitude of the gesture isn't lost on him, not when he knows how deeply private Luke is, how stubborn he's been with his own suffering. Eunhyuk should be happy, and he is -- because he can tell that this is Luke's way of confiding in him. He doesn't have the head for science that Luke does, but the numbers appeal to him in the same way. They can be a comfort when nothing else can, a real, tangible thing that could mean the difference between life or death. Eunhyuk thinks of all the numbers scrawled onto whatever scraps of paper he could find, tallies written under two neat categories: survivors and the dead. Long nights spent with just him and those numbers, until every face in that little community bled into the page.
back then, it had been easier to think of everyone else that way. but it's impossible now. His chest feels tight, packed with all the emotions that prevent him from breaking Luke down into a set of data. His worry, his longing, his hopes, his fears -- all a tumultuous rush seeking to break free from his usual stoic expression, maybe in the form of an embrace, like a child would, suddenly afraid.
instead, he places the tablet beside him on the bed, and then reaches for Luke's hand. the tightness in his chest loosens, eased by Luke's physical presence, and the fact that he's still here with Eunhyuk,]
...Luke.
[the name lingers, less because Eunhyuk doesn't know what to say, and more because it might be enough. the gratitude implicit in his tone, the softening of his features that anyone else might not be able to tell. then another beat of silence, before the corners of his lips quirk up, just a little]
You still can. [his thumb slides along the edge of the bracelet] I'll wear a bracelet too, if you make one for me. We can match.
[as human as he is now (or at least he fervently hopes that he is), there's no telling of what the future will hold for either of them. and it seems only fair, that Luke can keep track of him in this way too (LIKE HE'S NOT ALREADY? CAN U GUYS EXCHANGE RINGS LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE)]
no subject
Eunhyuk curls his fingers carefully around the weight in his palm, bringing the tablet up higher. It's such a small thing, but the magnitude of the gesture isn't lost on him, not when he knows how deeply private Luke is, how stubborn he's been with his own suffering. Eunhyuk should be happy, and he is -- because he can tell that this is Luke's way of confiding in him. He doesn't have the head for science that Luke does, but the numbers appeal to him in the same way. They can be a comfort when nothing else can, a real, tangible thing that could mean the difference between life or death. Eunhyuk thinks of all the numbers scrawled onto whatever scraps of paper he could find, tallies written under two neat categories: survivors and the dead. Long nights spent with just him and those numbers, until every face in that little community bled into the page.
back then, it had been easier to think of everyone else that way. but it's impossible now. His chest feels tight, packed with all the emotions that prevent him from breaking Luke down into a set of data. His worry, his longing, his hopes, his fears -- all a tumultuous rush seeking to break free from his usual stoic expression, maybe in the form of an embrace, like a child would, suddenly afraid.
instead, he places the tablet beside him on the bed, and then reaches for Luke's hand. the tightness in his chest loosens, eased by Luke's physical presence, and the fact that he's still here with Eunhyuk,]
...Luke.
[the name lingers, less because Eunhyuk doesn't know what to say, and more because it might be enough. the gratitude implicit in his tone, the softening of his features that anyone else might not be able to tell. then another beat of silence, before the corners of his lips quirk up, just a little]
You still can. [his thumb slides along the edge of the bracelet] I'll wear a bracelet too, if you make one for me. We can match.
[as human as he is now (or at least he fervently hopes that he is), there's no telling of what the future will hold for either of them. and it seems only fair, that Luke can keep track of him in this way too (LIKE HE'S NOT ALREADY? CAN U GUYS EXCHANGE RINGS LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE)]