A/N: I wasn't going to post this specific chapter for a little while but it's Valentine's Day and I decided that you guys deserved a little bit of daejae fluff after all the non-fluff. So, here it is!

Dedicated to Tracy, whom I love. She is my Valentine uwu

      Middle School, First Year

      Daehyun's mind was focused intently on the story Suwoong spun as they sauntered down the streets, the bustling crowd around him of faces he would never remember passing by. The vendors of the stalls they passed sometimes called out to them, ushering them to their stores. More often than not, they were ignored by the two boys who had already indulged in a fair amount of food for the evening. They met with Minhyuk by a ddeokbokki stall and he joined them as they weaved their way around the summer festival. 

     Daehyun was preoccupied thinking of how excited he was to see the fireworks, when suddenly Suwoong shouted "Look who it is!" Daehyun followed the boy's gaze as he pointed over to another group of young teens crowded around the cork shooting stall. He recognised them instantly as boys from his school, but his eyes seem to gravitate to the boy who busily chewed on cotton candy. The boy's fringe fell in front of his eyes, and as he gently brushed it aside, he and Daehyun made eye contact. They both looked away, but a fleeting moment passed and their eyes found each other's once more. The boy eating cotton candy only looked away when his friend wrapped their arm around his shoulder a matter of seconds later. 

     Suwoong went in the direction of the group and the other two followed behind. When they arrived, there was an exchange of greetings and eventually the eldest boy, Seokjin, offered to walk around the festival together. And so they did, Suwoong easily falling into conversation with Hyunggeun and Minhyuk chatting excitedly with Sebin. Daehyun merely stayed silently, eyes glued to the ground as he shuffled after his friends, visibly uncomfortable. When he felt a nudge to his shoulder, he looked to his left to find the boy who had been eating cotton candy. The boy held out a piece to him, offering a gentle smile along with it. 

     "Here," He shook it a little when Daehyun didn't make a move to take it, "it tastes good." Eventually, he took hold of the pink delicacy and shoved it into his mouth. "I'm Youngjae. What's your name?"

     "...Daehyun."

     "It's nice to meet you, Daehyun."

      The group continued to walk around, often stopping at game stalls to play. When it came time for the fireworks, they settled on a large patch of grass, along with other excited people. Suwoong lay his head in Daehyun's lap, sending him a cheeky smile. "Daehyun, there's still five minutes until the fireworks start. Will you get me some shaved ice?" He asked, knowing the elder wouldn't say no to him. "I want lime flavour." When Daehyun agreed, Suwoong moved away and went back to his conversation with Minhyuk. 

     "Oi, Daehyun" Seokjin called out, "Can you get me some shaved ice too? Here, I'll give you the money." He fished out his wallet from his pocket and picked out a few notes, letting out a whine when Youngjae took them into his own hands. 

     "Hyung, you should buy it yourself." He huffed. 

     "Yah! Yoo Youngjae, give that back!" When the younger made no effort to move, Seokjin tackled him to the ground. They wrestled briefly until he managed to pry the notes away from Youngjae's fingers. Once again, he held them out to Daehyun, only for Youngjae to take them again. 

     "Jin-hyung, I'll buy it for you" The younger said, standing up and brushing the grass off his pants. "What flavour do you want?" 

     "Strawberry." Seokjin smiled up at him then handed him a few more notes. "Buy one for yourself too, okay?" 

      Youngjae nodded and turned to Daehyun, murmuring a quiet 'let's go' before walking off to find the shaved ice stall. They didn't speak, arms brushing against each other as they walked among the crowd. Both were using the excuse of being too busy searching for the shaved ice stall to talk. At the sound of a loud bang, they turned their gazes to the sky, now lit up with fireworks. 

     "Oh no! We're missing it!" Daehyun abandoned the idea of buying shaved ice, eyes wide in wonder as he stared at the sky, the firework display hidden by the trees and stalls before them. "Youngjae, come on!" He took off running, the younger following behind him at a slower pace. 

     "Daehyun! Wait...Daehyun!" 

     The elder threw a glance over his shoulder at the second shout of his name, calling back a quick 'hurry up' but otherwise continuing. However, he failed to notice his untied laces until he tripped, falling to the pavement with a thud.

     "Ah!" He shouted in surprise, hissing when he scraped numerous parts of skin. 

     By the time Youngjae arrived by his side, there were tears forming in Daehyun's eyes at the stinging sensation he felt in each scrape and cut. "Daehyun, are you okay?" Youngjae knelt down, worry shining in coffee coloured eyes, which Daehyun tried to avoid by lowering his head. "...does it hurt? Ah, I don't have bandaids..." He glanced around, hoping but not expecting to find a stall that would sell them. He sighed and returned his attention to Daehyun. "Are you crying? Don't cry..." Not knowing what to do, Youngjae gently placed his hand on Daehyun's back and rubbed gently, mimicking his mother's movements from when he was younger. "Daehyun...?"

     "I-I'm okay" He sniffed, bringing a hand up to wipe his cheeks. "It doesn't hurt" Really, he felt more embarrassed than hurt. 

     "Don't lie." Youngjae gently cupped Daehyun's cheeks, gently brushing his wet skin with his own thumbs. He tried to give a gentle smile. "Don't cry, either." He looked away for a moment, glancing around at the stalls again. One caught his eye and he left Daehyun's side momentarily, returning with a yellow and pink bracelet in hand. "Here" Youngjae slipped it over the elder's wrists and tied the ends of the string together. "Cool, right?" He his lips briefly. "Now that you have a cool present, you shouldn't feel sad, okay? Come on...we'll miss the fireworks"

     Daehyun let himself be hauled up by Youngjae, following the younger silently as he was lead through the crowd. He worried that Youngjae could feel his ever quickening heart beat through their interlocked hands. 

A/N: I would also like to thank ILaria Multi Shop for my lovely new poster. It's splendid!

If any of you ever need graphics for your fics, I really recommend them!