Path of The Wind // Joe Hisashi

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After a week of rarely interacting in person due to school work and such, Hansol texted Joshua at 11:44 pm. Joshua set down his pencil and kicked back in his chair to be in a more relaxed postion. 

Hansol DiCaprio: Let's hang out in my dorm right now? 

The sound of the message sounded loudly, and he expected his roommate to overreact at the sound but heard a snore as a response instead. As quietly as he could, he reached out to grab a sticky note and scribbled
'at a friend's dorm. text if worried.' 

Joshua gently placed the sticky note on the sleeping boy's cheek then left the dorm. He didn't pace himself to reach Hansol's dorm, but was able to get there in a short amount of time. 
Since it was getting late and the hallway lights were already dimmed to allow students to rest well, Joshua knocked quietly to only be heard by the dorm partners. 

The door was pulled open the second after Joshua removed any slight contact with the wood. "Aah, you're here! Okay bye Joshua. Take care of my son Hansol." Seungcheol said as he moved Church Boy to the side of the entrance. 

Joshua looked confused at the elder then at the host of the hang out. "He's going to try to find Jeonghan's dorm room." Hansol smiled slyly. "Jeonghan? Pretty angel? He's in dorm number 1004." Joshua replied a bit surprised. Seungcheol turned with a hint of jealousy. "How do you know him?" He asked as friendly as he could manage, which really didn't sound very friendly. Our friends know each other so we all just became this clique kind of.. Oh by the way Cheol hyung." Joshua said in sudden brightness as if he remembered the forgotten.

"Jiho-Woozi wants to make a song with you, so I'd really appreciate it if you did. I think the song would turn out really well." He smiled. Seungcheol smiled back. "I'll need his number." The elder said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Joshua began reciting the number as if he recited it on a daily basis but then paused to grin at something behind Seungcheol. 

"You can get it from the genius himself." Joshua flicks his eyebrows. "Oh, S.Coups!" Woozi bowed, his recently blond dyed hair moved with him. Seungcheol nodded in response. "I have wanted to ask you something. More of a request than a question, so coming to my dorm would also be a request on my behalf to you." The short blond half mumbled. "Well I don't know about right now since I'm going to someone else's dorm.." Seungcheol replied, glancing over at Joshua who was on the brink of melting into a puddle of smiles.

"Oh that's completely fine. Maybe anoth-" Woozi was cut off by Joshua. "Just take him to your dorm. It's 1004 right?" The blond nodded, which caused the eldest to swivel his head at the church boy with extreme speed. "Well you two can talk." He smiled at them and shut the door. Hansol seemed to be dying on the floor when Joshua finally turned to look at him. "That was nice of you, gentleman." Hansol cackled. 
Joshua's grin widens, his eyes formed into perfect crescents. "Hi, my name is gentleman Joshua." He bowed 90 degrees and started laughing but immediately his laughter ceased when he saw a familiar picture on the laptop screen in front of Hansol. "Oh my gosh, is that.." His voice was tinged with awe. "I wanted to watch a movie. A lot of movies, really, but hyung," He put his laptop down. "Let's go to the little shop by here with the really good steamed buns."

Joshua opened his mouth, but no words were able to travel off his tongue. Instead, silent words full of red travelled from his cheeks to Hansol's bright eyes. "Come on." The boy said playfully and latched a gentle hand on Joshua's forearm. He began pulling him towards the exit of the dorm building. "I remember I came here one time and the red bean paste buns were the best ones I have ever eaten." Hansol was chattering a bit to hide his nervousness. The method of "random" chatter worked quite well for that reason.

Joshua's throat tightened as a avalanche of words tumbled from his throat to the front of his throat. Unfortunately, the words stayed there, never going down. When they arrived outside of the small shop, someone tall pulled the door open. "Welcome!" A familiar voice called out happily. It came from behind the counter, where a figure with it's back turned stood tall. 

"Hello, do you have a dozen red bean paste steamed buns?" Joshua spoke smoothly despite those being his first words in the last ten minutes. "Ah, yes yes. Personally, I think they-" The employee's sentence was cut short when he turned around to face the customers. "Vernon!" The employee exclaimed. Hansol's eyes widened as did Joshua's. "You remember me?" Hansol asked, his tone matching his expression. 

"Of course!" The tall employee smiled, then glanced at Joshua. "Oh? You became friends?" He pointed his forefinger out at the pair. Both nodded at the same time, their movements looked completely synchronized. "Wow.." The employee's wrist went limp with his arm still erected on the counter. His eyes held a wondering look as he stared at the pair.

 "Uh.. Mr.Cha," Joshua spoke softly in an attempt to grab the employee's attention. "The steamed buns right! Sorry about that." The employee turned back around to grab a large, round, wooden container and thin paper. He continued speaking as he packed the buns. "You remember my name?" Hansol nodded, forgetting that the man couldn't see him. "Yes." Joshua replied before Hansol could. "It was months ago when you two last came in. Do you remember what happened?" Hakyeon began chuckling. "I got red bean paste buns and this one didn't." The younger chuckled too and placed a hand on Joshua's shoulder. 

He felt his face warming up at the simple touch of the latter. "That's right!" Hakyeon chirped. He was putting in the last steamed bun in the container before closing it with the matching wooden lid. "How lovely." He said to himself and grabbed a black plastic bag. "I put a dozen in, but you only have to pay for half." He set down the bag in front of the pair that gave it a puzzled stare. 

"It's because you came back to try our red bean paste buns, even if it's months after I told you to, you came." Hakyeon nodded at them, then placed a small rectangle in the bag. Joshua was the first to leave the stats of puzzlement, and reached into his pocket for the money. Hansol also left the emotional state he was in and reached into his pocket to pay for the buns but found himself empty pocketed. Joshua smiled,"I'll pay." He said kindly. Hakyeon grinned at them both, and waved to them on their way out. "What cute kids." He commented to himself as they left.
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Joshua walked in a quick pace with Hansol lagging a bit behind him. He stopped his feet for a bit to allow Hansol to catch up. "Am I walking too fast?" He asked and made direct eye contact. Immediately, he regret the decision as he felt his cheeks warm up. "Just a little." Hansol said in a voice meant to brush it off. "Oh, Sorry." Joshua replied then a pause filled in. He reached his hand out to Hansol's who stared in slight confusion. "Oh!" The boy exclaimed when he finally understood and grabbed ahold of the latter's hand. 

They continued on in silence, Joshua screaming inwardly to himself. The warmness of Hansol's surprisingly soft hands made him feel something. He couldn't find the word to describe the feeling but knew there was a word to describe it. It felt right. More than right. He went through all the words he could think of to match the feeling but was still unable to find a perfect match. 

Hansol was thinking of the same. His bright eyes stared at intertwined fingers. Only a wordless song entered his head which he couldn't think of the name. A soft melody which held a childlike melody to it. It was a calming song and Joshua reminded him of it. It was simply being around Joshua that reminded him of it. ", I'm being so greasy." He mumbled to himself. "Huh? Sorry I didn't hear you." Joshua said without turning around. "I didn't say anything." The latter replied with a soft laugh. 

Several minutes passed. They walked past coloured trees, a cold bite in the wind which caused them to walk shoulder to shoulder. The sky didn't hold complete darkness, it was scattered with stars and a bright round moon. It was a beautiful night. A beauty which demanded to be seen without words. They walked past the school building and reached the dorm entrance. "This vibe, it's really fitting to the movie we're going to watch."  Hansol whispered, close to Joshua's ear. Joshua avoided shuddering and nodded. 

Carefully, they opened the door. Making sure no administrators were about. When they were certain there weren't any around, they dashed up the stairs and all the way to Hansol's dorm. He opened the door, allowing Joshua to enter before him. Both took their shoes off, leaving them next to the door. Hansol flicked the lights on, Joshua reached into the plastic bag to pull out a pack of mints. He set them beside the laptop on the floor, and grabbed the box of steamed buns. He opened it, steam brushing against his face along with the lovely smell of steamed buns. 

"12:20! Tomorrow's a break day right?" Hansol said, taking a steamed bun that Joshua was holding out for him. Joshua nodded with a grin then bit into the warmth. "We can watch movies all night then." He grinned back then climbed into the bed. He patted the space behind him. Joshua climbed into the bed and watched the latter click play on the movie. The Studio Ghibli logo faded into the screen then faded away. Loud music began playing, a yellow screen decorated with cutely drawn creatures on the top and bottom. Names faded in and out as familiar characters walked across the screen.

Hansol detached his eyes from the screen to pull a cover over himself Joshua. The elder turned to the boy. "It's a little cold in here, and I want to enjoy the movie in warmth." He said with a smile. Joshua nodded. "Yeah." The elder replied quietly, a smile on his face as well. 

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Hello!! i know, it's been weeks since i updated this but i've been a little busy with school and i went to another country for thanksgiving break. i hope u all had a wonderful thanksgiving! The next update will hopefully not take so long, but no promises bc i lmao. if u weren't able to guess which movie they were starting to watch in the end, it's My Neighbor Totoro!! i 12/10 recommend this movie if u haven't watched it yet! rly great movie. okay, so i hope you all have a great day/night/evening!!