The heat in Seoul was at an extreme & the two boys were exasperatedly fanning themselves. It was stupid, but Yuta & Sicheng had decided to go on an ice cream trip on the hottest day of the century. Trust either one of them to at least check the weather warnings beforehand. 

"Are you finishing that or ...?"

Yuta turned his head to the side to see Sicheng smiling at him, his ice cream cone completly devoured. Usually the normal Yuta would've laughed & eaten the ice cream in front of their eyes, just to tease them. However this is Sicheng & there's no such thing as 'Normal Yuta' when he's included. He easily handed over his half eaten vanilla cone and Yuta understood once again, why he felt those feelings. Sicheng's full lips broke into a childish grin, eyes twinkling bright and Yuta is entranced. Though it wasn't the first time.

"We should've invited the others too you know." 

The two were seated on a nearby bench, under the cooling shade of an ok tree. Not the most ideal place as they were quite close to a park which contained screaming children, but they managed. 

Sicheng pondered for a second before replying, "I don't think so. Taeyong still wants to murder us."

A mental image of Taeyong furiously shaking underwear in the air re-appeared in Yuta's mind & he burst into loud laughter. It was just one of those things that would never fail to put a smile on his face.

"Okay. Except for Taeyong." 

Sicheng his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. "Hmm .... Doyoung?" 

It was very hard not to notice the distasteful expression on Yuta's face and Sicheng noticed this. Despite being the older one, Yuta was quite easy to tease & Sicheng loved it.

"You know Doyoung loves you."

It's not that Yuta disliked that boy, more of the oppostie. In fact, Doyoung was probably one of the few people in his life who knew him like the back of their hand, along with Taeyong of course. Without these two, Yuta didn't know how he could survive. 

Yuta scrunched his nose, "He could love me in a silent way. From a long distance, far far away." Yes Yuta & Doyoung loved each other, but they also wanted to kill each other. It was a normalized thing.

Contrary to Yuta's sharp words, his eyes still contained warmth when talking about the bunny-like boy. Sicheng wasn't sure if it were the sunlight or the gentle breeze from the Oak tree, Yuta looked really pretty at that moment. As always, Sicheng pushed it far at the back of his mind.

"What did he say this time." A knowing expression played on Sicheng's features as he glanced at Yuta from the side.

Yuta hesitated for a second, he murmured, "Same old thing. About me being all over you & stuff .." Suddenly the ground seemed like the most interesting thing in the world as Yuta lowered his gaze down at the concrete floor. 

Sicheng sighed & replied, "I don't get it. The boys keep bothering me about it too, even though I made it clear countless of times that they're misunderstanding this issue."

It was as if someone threw a bucket of cold water all over Yuta, shining down a harsh new light. Raising his head up a little bit too quickly, Yuta furrowed his eyebrows  and  gulped,  "... Issue? .. What do are you talking about?" 

Unreadable, Sicheng wore a blank expression & Yuta was on the brink of losing it.

"So does it annoy you .. whenever I'm around you?" 

It hurt Yuta more than he thought it would, the fact that Sicheng had to tell the others to stop not once, but multiple times. All because of Yuta's overbearing & clinginess towards the younger one. 

There's a brief silence & Sicheng opened his mouth, only to close it again. A perplexed expression was evident on his face. He pressed his lips into a thin line before finally saying, "Yuta you could never ever annoy me. But we can't blame the boys for what they say can we? You're quite obvious with your affection." 

Sicheng let go of his usual posture & ended up looking down at his hands. "Its not entirely a bad thing. Though sometimes it gets a bit too much, even the fans think we're dating or something." He calmly mentioned, not too bothered by this situation. 

" .. Huh."  

The words 'countless' & 'issue' were ringing in Yuta's mind. It sounded even worse by the second and It was hard not to notice the tiredness & slight sharpness in Sicheng's voice when he mentioned the fans misinterpretation of their relationship. Yuta wanted to run away at that exact moment. He'd never felt so embarrassed in his entire life. Somewhere deep down,  Yuta also felt a tinge of disappointment. Though he doesn't protest against Sicheng's feelings. It's not as if you could force someone to return the affection you gave them, right?

Unaware of Yuta's sudden hostility, Sicheng stood up & dusted off his trousers, "If we don't leave now, Chenle's gonna  finish our food  supply for the month.

A cluster of emotions were flying inside his mind, yet Yuta remained silent as he stood up to walk the pace.

The two walked home side by side & for the first time ever, not a single word was said in between  them.