The sky is as clear and blue as the seawater.

Sunggyu adjusts his glasses and takes his time to look through the window, looking at the people walking by and notices his heart beating faster when the door of the café opens. 

Like a thunderstorm, his emotions stir inside of him and his cheeks are flushed when a kiss is pressed onto his right one.

"Hello." 

Sunggyu swallows hard, and cleans his sweaty hands on his jeans. The cup of coffee in front of him has gone cold. 

Woohyun, Sunggyu thinks, is a riptide, and he's afraid currents will sweep him out, away from him.

"Hello." he says back, and Woohyun grabs his hand, interlocking their fingers. 

It's nice, he thinks, being like this. Even when he returned home, the feeling of Woohyun's hands against him was like a permanent mark, and he spent more nights than he'd like to admit thinking about his smile.

Woohyun's lips taste of coffee and Sunggyu wants to remember the feeling forever -- when Woohyun leaves him and everything is long gone, he wants to remember the coffee and the stolen kisses under the blankets in cold Sunday evenings cuddling on his couch.

Sunggyu's scarf is too big, too big it almost cover his whole face, and Woohyun smiles wholeheartedly as he tries to pull the fabric down, giving a small peck on the tip of his nose, which is red and cold.

“You look like a reindeer.” Woohyun states, eyes sparkling mischievously, and Sunggyu feels himself rolling his eyes.

It's cold in the streets, and the snow is too thick, almost reaching their ankles.

“Be careful.” Woohyun grabs his hand, stuffed in a red glove. “We don't want you to fall and die.”

“You're so positive.” Sunggyu retorts, but grabs onto Woohyun's hand tightly. He hates not feeling the soft touch of his palm, or the roughness of calluses after long hours of hard work – and they are not pretty, but Sunggyu likes them, because they are part of Woohyun.

Trees are a reflection of what they once were and Sunggyu wonders, do they remember their old leaves, the ones that once warmed and filled them up with colours and joy. Do they remembers the old times, the good times. Will Woohyun still love him when summer comes, will he remember him.

The way Woohyun fingers interlocks with his and the way their palms are pressed together, Sunggyu thinks, he – Woohyun – has to remember this. Remember the forbbiden kisses and furtive touches, remember the coffee and the snow.

“Hey, hyung.”

Sunggyu looks up, and his heart skips a beat. Woohyun's eyes are really pretty, they glow like a star but pierce like a knife – just like Woohyun himself.

“Umm?”

“Will you still love me when the last snowflake remaining melts?”

It's a bit ironic, Sunggyu thinks, because he is the tree, and Woohyun is the leaves, so there's no way he would leave.

“Sometimes I feel you're drifting away and I can't stop you.”

“I love you.” Sunggyu says, and the snow crunches under his boots. “I will even when there's no snow left in this world.”

Even when you leave me.

Woohyun's hands feel reassuring and even if it's cold, he feels his heart clenching when Woohyun removes their gloves and holds his hand.

Not only his hands but also his nose, and Sunggyu can't help but laugh when Woohyun rubs their noses together before grabbing his chin and pulling him into a kiss. It tastes of coffee and snow, Sunggyu feels his knees getting weaker.

Is it in that street, in front of an old, red building, nose against nose and Woohyun's hand pressed flat against his lower back, that Sunggyu learns that even if Woohyun is a riptide, every leaf needs its tree, and the high-tide would always bring him back.