1/1

Jisoo first met him when he was dashing down the halls, late for class. Of course as luck would have it, he had to turn the corner and crash into someone. That someone being Chwe Hansol.

“I’m so sorry—excuse me—“ Jisoo stammered, helping Hansol up as he’d been knocked off his feet. Hansol took his hand and Jisoo shook off the feeling of warmth as Hansol’s palm slid easily in his. Once on his feet, the other smiled at him. “No biggie, thanks.”

Glad that Hansol took it so good-naturedly, Jisoo nodded and rushed off for class, a wonderful 8 minutes late when he arrived.

The first thing Jisoo noticed about Hansol was the fact that he smiled really widely. Like, you could practically see his molars with how far his smile stretched. His teeth were in perfect, blinding rows and Jisoo wondered if Hansol was aware of the fact that he would be a perfect candidate for a teeth whitening commercial. Or one of those models for toothpaste and mouthwash. Or a model in general because his looks were certainly up there.

On the topic of smiles, it seemed that Hansol laughed a lot. Whenever Jisoo caught Hansol in the hallways or at the school cafeteria, the latter always seemed to have heard the funniest thing in the universe and be laughing his head off. You could practically hear his laughter down the hall.

For whatever reason, Jisoo found himself intrigued by Hansol. However, being the naturally reserved being he was, he never did try to approach Hansol again.

Keyword: try.

Because as luck would have it, he crashed into Hansol again. This time, he was in no hurry, he’d been minding his own business and looking at his phone. He probably should’ve been paying more attention to his surroundings because the next thing he knew he ran into something—or should he say someone.

“Ow, sorry—“ Jisoo looked up to see the face that’d been occupying his interests for a while now and his voice died in his throat.

“Ah sorry, looks like we’ve run into each other again,” Hansol said with his usual grin. “I’m Hansol, by the way. Figured we should get to know each other if this is going to become a regular thing.”

Jisoo smiled back. “I’m Jisoo.”

“Sweet. I’ll see you around, then?”

“Yeah, sure.”

It was short, but Jisoo couldn’t help but be happy by the brief period of interaction.

The third time he ran into Hansol was entirely his fault. Jisoo was carrying a stack of books to deliver to a classroom and was walking at a rather speedy pace to get the chore over with. Since he could hardly see in front of him he had no idea Hansol was crouching down to pick something up until his legs crashed into something hard and all the books fell over, some landing on the poor guy in front of him.

“Oh my god—I’m so sorry—“ Jisoo apologized relentlessly, hastily helping Hansol up. The latter rubbed his lower back where a book had landed on him but nonetheless flashed him a smile. “No biggie, sorry for being in the way.“

“Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere?” Jisoo persisted. Hansol nodded to the first question and shook his head to the second, momentarily resembling a bobblehead.

“Don’t worry about me, Jisoo.” It was the first time Hansol had addressed him by name and Jisoo couldn’t help the warm feeling spreading in his chest. “Need help with the books? I’m free.”

Jisoo shook his head, not wanting to burden him any further. “No, I got it. Thanks, Hansol.”

Hansol smiled and waved him off, and it took all of Jisoo’s willpower not to run off with the stack of books again.

Things kind of became routine after that. Not the crashing into each other part—Jisoo made sure of that—rather the getting to know each other better part. It turned out they had a class together—astrology—and the pair bonded over the fact that aliens were real and to find proof of their existence.

“It just—makes sense, you know? If the universe is ever expanding there’s just no way we can be the only life forms out there.”

“Totally. It’s stupid and narrowminded to think humans are the only ones that exist when there’s like, a trillion light years of unexplored space.”

Jisoo couldn’t help it, he liked being with Hansol. The other was just as geeky and into so much of the stuff he himself liked. They could talk for hours over anime or over star signs and whether that stuff was even real, and Hansol was just so amiable and openminded about everything that they just clicked.

It seemed that Hansol didn’t mind Jisoo either, or at least that’s what he hoped. The skeptical side of him wondered if Hansol just put up with him because he had to, or if Hansol had other friends he preferred to hang out with and talk to.

One day, Hansol came over to his place for a project—some cliché solar system model thing—and things were going great until Jisoo tried to pry open a can of paint and some ended up splashing on his face. Hansol laughed at first before grabbing a tissue nearby and leaning over.

“Here, be more careful next time,” he said with a grin. Jisoo expected Hansol to simply hand him the tissue but to his surprise Hansol gently dabbed at his face, removing the bright orange paint off his chin. For a moment, it was completely silent and their eyes locked briefly before Hansol retreated to throw the tissue away. When he turned back around, Jisoo could’ve sworn Hansol’s face was a shade pinker than it’d been before. But maybe it was just wishful thinking.

After they finished the project—thankfully without getting paint all over themselves—Hansol turned to Jisoo with his phone in hand. “Hey, Jisoo?”

“Hm?”

“So like, high school’s almost over, you know? Only half a year left.”

“Yeah…” The thought made him feel slightly melancholic.

“So like, is there anything you want to do especially? Like a bucket list of sorts?”

“Huh, now that you mention it, there probably is. Well, I can’t quite recall what it is…”

Hansol then turned to him excitedly. “Well, okay, I have this list I’ve been keeping for a while now. Here, look—“ Hansol scooted closer to him, so that their shoulders brushed each other and he showed him the screen of his phone.

Ditch class
Prom
Pull an all-nighter
Kiss someone under the bleachers
Spray paint a wall

Jisoo chuckled. “This is actually pretty tame, I’m impressed.”

Hansol gave him a look. “What? You expect me to try something illegal? Maybe in college, but not yet.”

Jisoo shook his head, still smiling. “No, I like it. Can I add something?”

Hansol gave him the phone and Jisoo tapped away.

Break into our school and swim in the pool

Hansol groaned. “I thought you were the good kid!”

Jisoo laughed. “Oh, I am. I’ve always wanted to stay at school at night though. The pool is just a bonus.”

“What if we get caught?”

“Our school is horrible at security. None of the cameras work. Besides, the worst we’d get is a detention, let’s be honest.”

Hansol shook his head, but his usual grin was already back on his face. “Okay, okay. Anything else?”

Jisoo thought for a while but nothing else really came to mind. They decided to stick to this list for the time being.

So that was how the quest to fulfill their bucket list began. They decided to start off with the easiest, which was the all-nighter. Jisoo came over to Hansol’s place and the pair stayed up playing video games and watching anime.

“I knew he was evil all along! I told you, the quiet ones are always the villain.”

“Okay, okay, you win, Hansol.”

“Just like I won in Overwatch earlier—“

“Oh my god, that was one time!”

It turned out to be a lot easier to stay awake when you were bickering over petty stuff. Jisoo finally gave up, flopping onto the bed with a sigh.

“Hey Hansol?”

“Yeah?”

“Who else are you doing this bucket list thingy with?”

Hansol looked at him, surprised. “Nobody. Just you.”

Jisoo sat up, not sure if he’d heard correctly. “Nobody else?”

Hansol shook his head, lying down on the bed next to Jisoo, rolling over to face him. “Nah.”

Jisoo looked down at him, still taken aback. “Why me?” he asked before he could stop himself. Surely Hansol had other friends, friends he was closer with.

“My friends would probably find it nerdy or dumb. Too much of a hassle.”

Jisoo sensed the insecurity in his voice and he couldn’t help but smile, placing his hand on Hansol’s hair and ruffling it slightly. “Well, I don’t,” he reassured.

“Exactly my point.”

Jisoo’s hand lay on the crook where Hansol’s neck met his shoulder and he let it rest there, still sitting up and looking down at him. Hansol met his eyes for a moment and all of a sudden things got quiet, and Jisoo faintly heard the sound of crickets outside.

“It’s already 5 AM. We’re nearly there,” he mumbled softly.

“Yeah…”

“What do you want to do now?” He felt restless all of a sudden.

“I dunno…”

“Hey, can I see your bucket list again?”

Hansol sat up, rummaging for his phone and handing it to Jisoo. “Here.”

Stargaze on a roof

Hansol looked at him, and Jisoo had that familiar twinkle in his eye when he was planning something. “Do you know how to get onto your roof?”

They had to try and keep quiet as they ambled onto the slate tiling of the roof. It wasn’t hard, the balcony made it easy to get there. Hansol himself had been there multiple times. He helped Jisoo up, grabbing the latter’s arm securely as he pulled him up, his other hand holding Jisoo by the waist as support for when Jisoo nearly slipped on the edge.

“Thanks,” Jisoo said a bit breathlessly, their faces close enough to see each other’s reflection in their gazes. The sat down far from the edge, and Jisoo noted the fact that their hands were still entwined as they stared at the twilight sky.

“So, what’s the point of stargazing exactly?” Hansol asked him.

“I’m not really sure. I think it’s an aesthetic thing. But we’re into astrology so maybe it’ll be useful.”

Hansol snorted, trying to figure out some constellations. Jisoo pointed overhead.

“I think I see the big dipper.”

“That constellation looks like you,” Hansol replied, pointing to another group of stars.

“How?”

“It looks like someone who can’t beat me in Overwatch—“

“Gah—shut up—“

Hansol laughed, his arms pulling inwards and Jisoo was suddenly yanked closer so that their shoulders collided, hands still locked together. Instead of apologizing, Hansol turned to look at him, and Jisoo looked back, silence engulfing them.

“Can I say something really cheesy?” Jisoo asked. Hansol briefly broke eye contact to follow Jisoo’s lips as he watched him speak.

“Go for it.”

“There are a lot of stars out tonight but none that beat the stars in your eyes.”

“Nevermind. Never do that again.”

And then they were laughing, Jisoo’s eyes crinkling at the corners and Hansol’s smile pulled so wide it hurt, and it was really nice, and soon the sun began to peak over the horizon and they decided to call it a day, and then they started laughing over that because I see what you did there.

Overall, they managed to get 2 things off their bucket list. Which was also quite nice.

Ditch class
Prom
~~Pull an all-nighter~~
Kiss someone under the bleachers
Spray paint a wall
Break into our school and swim in the pool
~~Stargaze on a roof~~

“So, I was thinking,” Hansol said one day in the school hallway, standing alongside Jisoo at the lockers. “Wanna try ditching class for a day? School’ll be over in like, 3 months anyway. What’s a little learning to miss?”

Jisoo paused, thoughtful. “I guess. Okay, so when should we?”

“How about now?”

“Wh—now? Like right now?”

“Sure.” Hansol stuffed his hands into his pockets and swayed on his feet eagerly.

Jisoo sighed. “You know what? Fine. Let’s ditch.”

“Sweet! Where to?”

They ended up casually strolling out the front gates (yeah their school was really lax on security) and headed down the block to where rows of stores were located.

“Do you have any money on you?”

“Yeah, if you count 20 bucks as enough.”

“I got 30. Let’s do this.”

They ended up spending all their money on arcade games, the staff giving them wry looks, probably wondering why two high school guys were here during school hours, but said nothing of it.

“No offense, but you’re not very good at this,” Hansol said after beating Jisoo once again at the basketball free throw booth.

“Says the one that lost to me at the archery game.”

“This and that are different.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

After blowing all 50 bucks away at the arcade, they realized they’d been at the place for 2 hours. Not bad. But now they were bored and broke.

“Now what?”

“I dunno, I’ve never ditched school before, to be honest.”

“Me neither. We’re such good kids.”

“Our mothers should be proud of us.”

They ended up walking aimlessly down the block, looking at different stores. At one point Jisoo grabbed Hansol’s arm, hooking it around his own to stop him from crossing the busy road and left it there afterward. Hansol made no movement to shake it off and casually adjusted his arm to entwine more snugly in Jisoo’s grip. They continued like that for a while until Jisoo pointed out that school was almost over.

“Well, that was sorta anticlimactic. I was expecting police officers to corner us in an alleyway and drag us back to school.”

“You watch too many action movies.”

“Well, excuse me for having an active imagination.”

Jisoo sighed. “Well, it was kinda nice. Like one of those typical first date scenarios, you know?”

Hansol blinked. “Yeah, I guess…” The tips of his ears turned red. Possibly from the slightly chilly weather, Jisoo reasoned.

They walked back together, arms finally unlinked as they parted ways to go back home.

“That’s one more thing to cross off your bucket list,” Jisoo reminded him with a smile.

Hansol nodded as he pulled out his phone, silently crossing it off.

~~Ditch class~~
Prom
~~Pull an all-nighter~~
Kiss someone under the bleachers
Spray paint a wall
Break into our school and swim in the pool
~~Stargaze on a roof~~

He paused, thinking to himself for a moment before he hastily added.

~~First date?~~

He shook his head and erased it right away.

“Spray painting a wall shouldn’t be hard,” Jisoo reasoned one day as they sat across each other during study hall, supposedly reviewing astrology notes but nobody ever studied during study hall anyway.

“Nah. It just matters where you do it, because that stuff doesn’t come off.”

“Hm…” They pondered where they ought to put their scheme into action.

“Aren’t there, like, graffiti walls downtown? We could try those,” Hansol noted.

“Hm, good idea.”

They ended up buying cans of spray paint and hauling them into a car. Hansol, who’d recently go this license, was still iffy about driving downtown but did it nonetheless, and the pair reached one of the graffiti walls they’d seen before and got out the cans.

“So, what do you wanna write?”

Hansol grinned. “How about…” He started spraying some letters onto the wall.

Jisoo still can’t driv—

“Hey!” Jisoo protested, shoving Hansol lightly. “I told you, I’m just not that interested in getting my license right now.”

Hansol snickered. “Sorry, sorry. Here.” He drew a heart around Jisoo’s name, taking his time to make sure it came out evenly.

Jisoo rolled his eyes and turned away to get a can of paint but Hansol faintly caught the smile on his face as he did.

They began writing random messages on the wall, Jisoo practicing his signature “In case I ever get famous!” and Hansol writing lyrics to songs. Suddenly Jisoo had an idea.

“Here, this’ll be our reminder that we were here.” He began spraying heavy across the wall.

JS + HS = FOREVER

He followed it up by drawing a huge loopy heart around the letters. Jisoo turned to Hansol with a silly smile on his face. “Get it? It’s like that stuff couples do.”

Hansol nodded, reading the words with a dumb grin on his face as well. “Yeah, it’s so extra. I love it.” He tacked on a couple XOXO’s to finish the job and they marveled at their work.

“Good enough?”

“Totally.”

“Wait, we should take a picture before someone ruins our masterpiece.”

Hansol pulled out his phone and turned the front facing camera on. Then he slung his arm around Jisoo and pulled him closer, angling the screen to capture the wall behind them as well.

“I’m making this my phone background.”

“Wait—I’m taking one next.” Jisoo quickly pulled Hansol back and snapped a photo, although this one was more focused on the two of them rather than the wall behind them. He smiled. “One more down.”

~~Ditch class~~
Prom
~~Pull an all-nighter~~
Kiss someone under the bleachers
~~Spray paint a wall~~
Break into our school and swim in the pool
~~Stargaze on a roof~~

“You don’t have a girlfriend, right?” Hansol asked casually at lunch, sipping on a can of coke.

“Nope. Never have, actually.”

“Hm. We need to find someone for you to kiss then. To get that off our bucket list.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve kissed before, just never under the bleachers. So I guess I need one too.”

“What else is there?” Jisoo had stopped eating and was looking at Hansol curiously. “On the bucket list.”

“Um…just prom and the breaking into school thing.”

“Wanna try that, then? We only have 2 months left of school. It won’t kill us.”

“Honestly, you look so much more innocent than you really are,” Hansol teased with a grin.

Jisoo pouted. “Ah, seriously? I’m not saying we should break into a bank or that we’re damaging anything! It’s really not that big of a deal. People at our school do it all the time.”

“Yeah, okay. Totally.” Hansol leaned forward across the table, resting his chin on his palms. “So when do you want to?”

“Tomorrow night? It’s a Saturday, there’s no chance anyone’ll be here.”

Hansol nodded. “Okay. Tomorrow night it is.”

It was about 11 at night when Hansol drove up to Jisoo’s house, motioning for him to get inside. “You brought a change of clothes, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s do this.”

They arrived at their school and it was actually quite easy to find a way in. They felt like criminals on the run from the police and it was pretty fun. The back of the school gate was always left unlocked and so they entered, face to face with the pool.

Hansol pulled off his shirt easily and Jisoo’s face turned pink, hastily looking away. Hansol noticed and laughed, tossing his shirt at Jisoo.

“What, are you gonna swim with your shirt on, pretty boy? Come on.” He was already in his swim trunks so he jumped right into the pool.

Jisoo rolled his eyes at the name but mustered up the courage to remove his t-shirt and join Hansol. He hissed over how cold the water was despite the fact that it was spring. Hansol’s gaze ran over Jisoo’s torso for a brief moment before they met his eyes.

“You’re skinnier than I thought. Do you eat enough?”

“Of course I do! I just have an overactive metabolism.”

“Pft, okay.” He splashed some water in Jisoo’s face and Jisoo was quick to retaliate, and then it became a splashfest. Jisoo grabbed Hansol’s shoulders and pushed down to try and get him to go underwater but Hansol fought back by wrapping his arms around Jisoo’s waist to pull the latter down with him.

When they’d both exhausted their energy, they sat at the edge of the pool, feet swinging into the water. Hansol’s mouth hurt from laughing so much, while Jisoo had nearly doubled over in the water trying to stand up due to the laughter.

“We’ve been doing pretty well getting this bucket list stuff done,” Jisoo reveled.

“Yeah. I’m impressed, honestly.”

“The next one’s gonna be tough, though. We need to find someone to kiss first. Prom is at the end of the year so it’s probably a good idea to do that one last.”

Hansol nodded, staring at the glowing pool. “Well…you know how high school’s all about experimentation and stuff, right?”

Jisoo nodded, noticing Hansol fidgeting with his hands and biting the corner of his lip.

“So like…to save us the hassle…we could…I dunno…do it with each other? To get it out of the way and all.”

Jisoo stared at him; to say he was surprised would be putting it lightly. But Hansol seemed just as taken aback by his own words as well, rapidly waving his hands. “I mean—never mind—you know what—forget I said that—“

“Do you want to?” Jisoo interrupted quietly, face slightly pink. “I don’t mind—just to get it out of the way and all...”

Then Hansol was on his feet, helping Jisoo up, hands linked as the pair ran and ran towards the football field where the bleachers were located. They made it underneath one and Hansol finally stopped, turning around, breathing heavily.

“We didn’t have to run,” Jisoo pointed out, heart pounding loudly against his eardrums. “No one’s after us.”

“It makes it feel more dramatic,” Hansol retorted a little breathlessly. “And to be honest, I like the thrill.”

They locked gazes and suddenly Hansol was much closer, his hands lightly gripping Jisoo’s waist like before, only this time the gesture made Jisoo’s heartbeat speed up and his arms found their way over Hansol’s shoulders and around his neck, and then their lips met, and it was awkward at first but then suddenly it became really nice, and they could hear each other’s heartbeats resounding as they pressed up against each other, Jisoo’s hands knotting into Hansol’s damp hair and Hansol’s fingertips pressing against the bare skin of Jisoo’s back. They both tasted like chlorine from the pool and there was nothing very picturesque about the scene, making out underneath the school bleachers on a Saturday night, but somehow when they pulled apart, smiles made their ways to each other’s faces and then they were giggling, laughing because hey, that wasn’t so bad after all.

~~Ditch class~~
Prom
~~Pull an all-nighter~~
~~Kiss someone under the bleachers~~ ;-)
~~Spray paint a wall~~
~~Break into our school and swim in the pool~~
~~Stargaze on a roof~~

“Was the winking face necessary?”

“Absolutely.”

Prom at their school was a big deal, there were always a ton of posters lining the hallways a month before the actual date. Jisoo and Hansol agreed to go with each other to save themselves the hassle of trying to find a date.

“So am I going to pick you up or are you going to be picking me up?” Jisoo asked him.

Hansol scratched his neck. “Uh…since I drive I guess I could pick you up. Should I come with a bouquet of roses as well?” he added teasingly.

Jisoo laughed. “If you want. But they have to match our suits. Oh! That reminds me, we have to be matching too. What color tuxes and ties do you own?”

It turned out that Hansol only owned one tie, a simple black one, as well as only one suit, also in black, so Jisoo took the liberty of buying him a light pink tie to match with his pink suit.

“You own a pink tux? Why?”

Jisoo shrugged. “The color works pretty well with me.”

The day finally arrived, and Jisoo couldn’t help but feel nervous for whatever stupid reason. It was like he was going on a date or something, which was dumb, since it was just a prom date as friends. But he couldn’t help but slick his bangs up with hair gel and let his mother apply the faintest bit of eyeliner for emphasis. She was quite excited for him as it was his first time going to prom, he usually chose to stay at home. When Jisoo looked in the mirror he was actually surprised that he looked quite nice, but the nervousness was still there.

The doorbell rang at 6:30 and Jisoo answered it. The moment he saw Hansol whatever greeting left him and he stared. The black suit looked so sharp on Hansol, bringing out his light complexion. His hair was also slicked back, his jawline exposed more prominently than usual. In his hands were a bouquet of pink roses, and he smiled as he looked at Jisoo.

“Wow.”

“Wow is right.”

“Jisoo? Why are you just standing there? Let him in,” his mother chided, ushering Hansol inside. “We need to take prom pictures!”

So the pair was forced to pose for a series of pictures from an enthusiastic mother. Neither minded too much, except that they were on a schedule and needed to be at school by 7. After she’d finally had her fill, they left and climbed into Hansol’s car.

“Sorry about my mom, she’s really into all this stuff.”

“No biggie. You look great by the way,” Hansol said, rearing the car out of the driveway and down the road.

“Th-thanks, you too,” Jisoo replied, adjusting his tie. Hansol grinned at him through the rearview mirror and some music, letting a relaxing silence fall between them. When they arrived, Hansol told Jisoo to wait and got out and opened the passenger side door. Jisoo chuckled at that. “Trying to steal my gentleman act, Hansol?” he teased, taking the latter’s hand and stepping out of the car. It was well known that Jisoo’s nickname was the gentleman.

“It’s for formality’s sake, Jisoo. You can be the gentleman another day.”

They walked hand in hand down the school corridors to the ballroom where it was being held. The place was decked out entirely, head to toe in black and white streamers, black and white balloons, the lighting soft and music nice. They stopped by a table full of food and shrugged, deciding to eat first.

“I don’t even know what half these things are,” Hansol muttered, examining something that could possibly be a chocolate éclair but was orange inside.

“Still tastes good.” Jisoo looked up and stifled a laugh when he saw some of the chocolate had gotten on Hansol’s upper lip. “Here, stay still.”

He grabbed a nearby tissue and gently wiped the chocolate off, while Hansol quietly stood there, letting him do so. “Thanks.”

“Just returning the favor.”

Hansol smiled and for a moment he looked lost in thought when the music shifted to some slow dance-type ballad. They looked at each other before ambling to the dance floor and the pair immediately got lost among all the swaying figures.

“Have you ever slow danced before?” Jisoo asked.

“No, actually. I’m betting you haven’t either?”

Jisoo shook his head. Hansol decided to put his arms around Jisoo’s waist again and Jisoo wrapped his arms around Hansol’s neck. Then Jisoo decided to rest his head against Hansol’s shoulder, since he’d seen people do stuff like that before in movies. It was comfortable enough, and he could just make out Hansol’s heartbeat beneath the noise.

“This isn’t so bad,” Hansol murmured, and Jisoo was surprised by how close his voice was to his ear, and how low it sounded in the din of the room.

“Yeah,” Jisoo replied into Hansol’s shoulder. They swayed around for a while when the tempo changed and the music turned more upbeat.

“Ah, looks like the romantic stuff is over now,” Hansol said as Jisoo got off him. The latter rolled his eyes, cheeks slightly flushed. “I can’t dance to save my life so I’m gonna sit out of this one.”

“Ah, me too.”

They ended up straying away from all the activity and out the back to where the pool was. There were a ton of people there, hanging out or making out in the corners. You could still hear the music as the pair stopped by an empty bench and sat down.

“This’ll be the last thing on our bucket list,” Jisoo mumbled, staring at his feet.

“Yeah, kinda feels weird to know that it’s all finished now.”

“Mm.”

They stared at the pool in the distance, and it reminded them of the kiss that followed up soon after.

“It was fun, though. Thanks for coming up with it,” Jisoo said with a sigh.

“Thanks for agreeing to do it with me.”

They sat in silence for a moment when Hansol glanced at Jisoo. “By the way, are you wearing eyeliner?”

“Yeah, I was wondering if it was even noticeable,” Jisoo replied shyly.

“Well, it looks good on you. Side note, you need to pull your hair back more often. Like seriously.”

Jisoo smiled bashfully and looked back at him, scratching his arm. “Thanks, but…okay I’m going to say something cheesy…have you looked in a mirror lately? You look amazing.”

They both laughed and noticed that people were slowly leaving, drawing back to the indoors. Jisoo sighed. “Hey Hansol?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s something I want to add to the list.”

Hansol handed him the phone and Jisoo tapped away, biting his bottom lip. When he finished, his face was redder than usual and Hansol was curious to know what he’d added.

“Can I see?”

“Wait—not yet,” Jisoo replied. At that moment someone pulled out a hose and lost control of it, spraying water in the direction of the pair, Hansol quickly pulled Jisoo closer to him to avoid the spray as well as protect his phone.

Their bodies were pressed up against each other again, and when Jisoo looked up, their noses nearly brushed against each other. Jisoo averted his eyes and moved so his head was comfortably on Hansol’s shoulder again.

“Hey Hansol, can I tell you something?”

“Go for it.”

“I think…I think I’m in love with you.”

There’s a moment of silence as the words hang in the air. Jisoo wondered if he should have said it. In hindsight, he had no idea if Hansol was even into guys, hell, the fact that he himself was into guys was a newfound revelation for him. Granted, he’d never dated a girl before but he’d just never dated before, period, so maybe that’s why his first confession was towards the guy that made his last months of high school so interesting and enjoyable. Sure, they’d shared a kiss—but it was for the bucket list, it was under the pretense of the whole “experimentation in high school” trope. Sure, Hansol had been closer to him than any of his other friends and vice versa, but that was where the line was drawn, at friendship. Sure, they’d agreed to the whole JS + HS = FOREVER thing, but it was seen as a joking matter at the time.

“You’re in love with me?” Hansol repeated quietly, not making any movement to get Jisoo off his shoulder, instead he ran a hand down Jisoo’s back. Then again, he’d never shied away from physical contact.

“Yeah,” Jisoo replied softly. “You make it really hard for me not to.”

“Since when?” Hansol asked, his voice not accusatory at all.

“I…I’m not sure. Maybe since I first met you.”

“I told you to never be cheesy again.”

“Sorry, it’s my middle name.”

Jisoo got off Hansol’s shoulder, his face and ears rosy. “If you don’t like me back, it’s fine, you know. I’m fine with being friends.” He ignored the way his gut was twisting and turning in anticipation over Hansol’s response.

Hansol smiled slightly, ducking his head. “No, I-I like you too. I just never expected you to—you know? It just seems kinda unreal.”

Jisoo raised his eyebrows, not believing the words. “You-you do?” His voice came out breathless. Perhaps because he was still holding his breath over Hansol’s reply.

“You don’t do all this stuff with someone—I mean, we kissed,” Hansol replied, his face also beginning to turn red. “It usually means something.”

They looked at each other again, and then it was like their arms somehow found a way around each other because they were kissing again, and it was possibly better than last time, maybe because they knew their feelings were mutual, maybe because this time they were fully clothed and tasted like sugary sweets instead of a school pool, maybe because Jisoo already knew where to slot his arms and Hansol already knew where to hold onto, maybe because there was light floaty music in the background and an amiable mood surrounding them. Whatever the reason, it was nice. It was really nice.

“Who knew the person I crashed into 3 times would end up being my boyfriend?” Jisoo wondered aloud.

Hansol laughed and shook his head. “Well, I guess I’m glad you did.”

“Or should I say…you fell for me? Get it? Because I ran into you—“

Hansol groaned and swatted him on the head.

Yeah, it was really nice.

It wasn’t until much later that Hansol recalled that Jisoo had added something to the list. He pulled out his phone and a smile immediately found its way to his lips.