10 p.m., only a dim light filling up the room they shared, the sound of grasshoppers faraway and the Summer's warmth slowly appearing. They were both laying down in bed, Hansol resting on Byungjoo's chest, slowly and tenderly drawing small circles with the tip of a finger on his arm. Sometimes softly, almost brushing, and sometimes intense: Byungjoo loved it and it always made him fall asleep mid sentence, which would make Hansol feel overwhelmed by the cuteness of his boyfriend and it'd place an everlasting smile on his face. This time was no exception; however when he was about to fall asleep he heard Hansol saying, with an almost inaudible voice: 

- Don't you feel like this destroys you sometimes?

Byungjoo thought just for a second that he was hearing nonsense, the weight of his sleepiness being the responsible for it.

- What? - he mumbled, fighting for his eyelids to stay open.

Hansol, that up until this moment was looking at a random point in space, more likely looking into his inner world rather than observing the outside world, looked up and saw his boyfriend's confused gaze.

- I asked if you don't feel like this destroys you sometimes. - He repeated.

Realizing that Byungjoo had no idea of what he was taking about, he went on:
- You know, this. What we do. Don't get me wrong, I love being with you but sometimes it hurts to know that we have to hide our love. - There was sadness in his voice, but his half smile softened the harsh reality of his thoughts. 
- ... Yes, it hurts sometimes. - He admitted - But honestly, all the pain goes away everytime I manage to find at least five minutes to hug you and tell you how much I love you. Even though I have to hide my love for you as if it was a crime, I feel freedom whenever I can look at you for more than two seconds just to realize how beautiful you are.  

Hansol was speechless. During the whole year and a half of their relationship, he never heard Byungjoo opening himself with words like that. Sure, he always made Hansol feel the most loved human being on Earth: paying attention to details, listening to him without trying to correct or change his thoughts, always remembering him about all the positive things he achieved in life and that it was important for Hansol to embrace himself the way he was, putting into practice the deepest unconditional love.  But he never was the first one to say 'I love you', he was more of a 'I love you, too' type of guy. And even so, he would whisper those words without making eye contact and with a bright red shade spreading on his face.

He felt the world stopping. Once again, it was one of those moments when Time seemed to look upon those two boys being completely in love and decided to stop for a second just to give them the space to look at each other without the fear of being exposed. Byungjoo noticed how life was slowly blooming again in Hansol's eyes, those eyes in which he always found his world and the strength to keep going. Those eyes, that often reflected Hansol's inner paradise but also his inner hell. His gaze, that also reflected his passion: whenever he danced, felt Byungjoo's body against him, argued about something that mattered to him, or sang. In that very moment, his eyes reflected Eternity. That's how he decided to call that energy that appeared in Hansol's eyes every once in a while, but that it would leave the biggest impression on Byungjoo. 

Without saying a word and letting a solitary tear go, Hansol gathered himself the best way he could at that moment and kissed his boyfriend with a hand cupping his face and another memory to treasure in his Paradise: a place where both could be free.