“Come on, Wonnie!” Hoseok practically whines, pulling Hyungwon by the hand towards the door. Hyungwon had planned to spend the day catching up on some much-needed rest. He had planned to just have a day of relaxation… But, all that had been thrown out the window as soon as his boyfriend had walked into the room with a brilliant idea of how to spend their rare free day.

Hyungwon has to bite back a sigh as he allows himself to be tugged along, though he can’t deny the small smile that plays itself across his lips.

“What about that one, hyung?” Hyungwon asks, pointing to a nearby ramyeon shop. Hoseok hums, shaking his head yet again. Hyungwon has to fight back a grumble at this, rolling his eyes at how impossible his hyung is being.

It’s been a couple hours now since they’ve left the dorm, and they aren’t any closer to finding that perfect ramyeon shop Hoseok insists is out there than when they’d first left. He hadn’t been hungry when they’d left, but, after a train ride and this endless walking around, he’s practically withering away to nothingness.

“Don’t worry, Wonnie,” Hoseok tells him with a classically pure smile. “We’ll find the ramyeon shop eventually.”

“If you told me what exactly we’re looking for, hyung,” Hyungwon mumbles, scowling at the pavement, “then maybe I’d be able to actually help.” Hoseok pouts over at him, his bad mood incredibly apparent. A flock of people walks passed them, causing Hoseok to press closer to his boyfriend to avoid them.

“You didn’t have to come,” Hoseok mutters, his lower lip poking out. “You could’ve just stayed at home if you were gonna be like this…” Hyungwon immediately feels guilty, biting on the inside of his cheek. He regrets his own words, especially considering how strained things have been between them ever since the world tour… Spending countless days performing back-to-back stages, no matter how much fun they have, can be draining for anyone. Add that to how, despite loving each other, they tend to heads behind the scenes, and you’ve got a recipe for an incredibly stressed relationship.

They’d been working on getting back to how things used to be, but it’s been a lot of work. Communication has been a big part of it, and they’ve been doing pretty well so far. However, there are moments like these that seem to send them fifty steps backwards.

There’s a sudden gasp next to him, jolting him from his thoughts, and he’s stopped mid-step by the hand gripping his wrist. He looks over confusedly, daring to hope against hope that Hoseok has finally found his goal. Hyungwon glances towards the direction Hoseok is staring with his mouth slightly agape, but doesn’t have a moment to figure out why it is he’s staring at an entrance to a park before he’s being tugged forward.

Despite this, though, he can’t help but chuckle fondly under his breath. It’s moments like this, when Hoseok is beaming with an impossibly pure delight, that things feel like they did in the beginning: so new, so happy… so perfect.

Hoseok drags Hyungwon through the entrance gate, his smile never wavering despite Hyungwon asking him countless questions. Hoseok merely smiles quietly to himself, absolutely refusing to give his dongsaeng an explanation. This leaves Hyungwon to just watch where they’re going, trying to discern where they could be headed.

He looks over to the nearby river, and he can’t help but think of one of the first clandestine outings they’d gone out on when they were only trainees. That had been at this very park, which so happens to be his favorite spot… for obvious reasons.

It’d been during the 1:1 challenge on No.Mercy, when they’d been paired to go against each other in a battle of vocals and dance while also trying to complement each other. That part hadn’t been too difficult, to be honest. Hoseok had fallen for the beautiful model immediately upon meeting him. He’d been utterly enchanted by the younger, which is partly why he believes they had done se decently for the challenge.

Hyungwon and Hoseok had escaped from the dorm to celebrate, and make that fatal promise of doing anything they had to to debut together, if for nothing more than to spend many, many years with each other.

Hoseok finally comes to a stop in front of a cute little ramyeon cart near the river. He looks over to Hyungwon, making sure he knows where they are. Hyungwon smiles faintly, his eyes shining wistfully as the memories from that night overtake his mind. They’d kissed for the first time over a shared bowl of ramyeon from this cart, as they’d been too broke to buy a bowl for each of them.

“You remember?” Hoseok asks. Hyungwon smirks over at his hyung, somewhat amused by the nervous tone to his voice.

“As if I could ever forget,” he replies, pressing himself closer to Hoseok’s side. Pink dusts his cheeks in the most adorable of ways, and it’s all Hyungwon has in him to keep from kissing his temple. But, he has to restrain himself for now, as they’re out in public… He makes a mental note to kiss him, and kiss him hard, as soon as they’re back home. For now, he’ll just remain content to squeeze the older’s hand a bit tighter.

Despite now having enough money just in their pockets to buy the whole park enough ramyeon to go around, they still only buy one bowl. Hoseok eats noticeably less than Hyungwon, though, as he can tell the younger is obviously very hungry indeed. That’s how much he loves his dongsaeng… He’d willingly give up his ramyeon any time or day for him.

By the time they finish eating, it’s sunset. They linger on the bench, sitting as close as they dare to each other in public as they watch the beautiful shades of orange and red reflect themselves against the water’s surface. Hyungwon glances over at his hyung, his heart pounding a bit harder in his chest at his sheer love for this man. He leans over, casually resting an arm against the back of the bench.

“So, what do you say?” he whispers in the older’s ear ear, his warm breath tickling his ear against the chilly air. “Did we find the perfect ramyeon place?” Hoseok looks over at him, beaming from ear to ear.

“Definitely.” He pauses to sigh, resting his head atop his boyfriend’s shoulder. “I love you, Wonnie.”

Hyungwon chuckles under his breath, his delicate fingers gripping onto Hoseok’s arm.

“I love you too, hyung.”