“You better hurry or we won’t wait for you anymore!” Seongwoo calls out to his Busan boyfriend as he makes his way out of the house where the rest of friends were. The said Busan boyfriend merely chuckles with a shake of the head while he finally knots his shoelaces.

Daniel looks up at the smaller male with his other friends looking all hyped up and energetic, a stark contrast to how he first met him a few months ago. It felt like it was just yesterday when Seongwoo would remain adamant about wearing his glasses at all times, but now he would switch between his contacts and his glasses sometimes depending on what goes with his outfit the best. For today, he opted for his comma hair and contacts.

The only thing shocking?

He chose the blue ones over the transparent pair of lenses and Daniel felt stunned when he first saw it being worn voluntarily. Last time he saw those icy blues were the singing competition and its already been months since then. It was just right to feel as surprised as he was when he first saw it.

Their freshman year has just come to an end and it was now the start of their summer vacation. Since the first few weeks were still vacant, the whole gang decided to tag along with Seongwoo since Incheon was obviously much closer than Busan and Jeju.

Surprised would be an understatement to describe his mother’s reaction to the news. Nonetheless, she was happy to know that her son finally brought home some friends and she was more than excited to meet them.

She just didn’t think the crowd would be this big. Good thing she was the type to cook more than enough and so their first meal wasn’t a problem. Within his small neighborhood, it wasn’t a surprise when they all instantly knew about the huge number of visitors as Seongwoo’s friends. When they knew at least half of them were majoring in voice, they insisted on another karaoke night by the streets similar to how they celebrated the holidays.

And of course, being the rambunctious and loud bunch they were, they all became ecstatic over the idea and even thought of the songs they wanted to sing even though it was still five hours away. For the meantime, Seongwoo decided to do the same thing he did to Daniel when he first came to Incheon.

He brought them all to the market.

It was actually an errand he had to run for his mother since they needed to restock on some food but he decided to let them tag along instead of leaving them bored in the house (even though they didn’t look the slightest bit bored since they were about to marathon the Descendants of the Sun).

Daniel stood up and straightened his clothes as he finally finished putting on his shoes and headed to where his friends were gathered on the sidewalk. “Took you long enough” Jaehwan comments and Daniel fakes looking offended, “That was barely three minutes!”

“Alright, before another banter starts and wastes time, we should go now” Minhyun interjects as he drags Jaehwan by the forearm before he could even come up with a comeback while Kang Choding huffs in mock triumph as if he won over a significant debate. Seongwoo only chuckles as he slips his fingers into his. “Let’s go you giant baby” Daniel scoffs, “As if you’re any more mature” Seongwoo merely rolls his eyes and sighs in a dramatic fashion to fake offense. Daniel just finds it funny (the usual shallow happiness).

“Well, let’s not waste any more daylight!” Seongwoo announces as he leads the way with Daniel by his side.

~ .oOo. ~

“Woah!”

“It’s huge!”

“Look at that thing there!”

“Where―?!”

Just as they arrived, the group was quick to disperse and only Seongwoo and Daniel were left behind looking dumbfounded at what just transpired. Coincidentally, they looked at each other at the same time and blinked before they ended up laughing. “And to think they call us childish,” Seongwoo comments as he walks over to different stalls to buy what his mother asked him to.

“Well, I admit to being childish but wow. I didn’t think they would be too” Daniel comments while following the smaller male around. “I guess you could say we all have that childish side inside of us,” Seongwoo says as he makes his way towards the very familiar stall.

“Ahjumma~” He calls out and the said woman turns around, a smile instantly adorning her features as she sees the handsome young lad. “Seongwoo-yah!” Sungha calls out with a smile. “Back already?” The young lad nods with a smile, “I already finished my freshman year! Hasn’t been long since I came back” Sungha hums in acknowledgment, “So it really was your group of friends that became the talk of the town?” The young boy blinks, hand reaching up to embarrassingly scratch at his head “Y-Yeah, that’s them…”

“Oh dear me, am I seeing things right or are your eyes really blue?” The elder woman asks as she leans forward to get a closer look. “Ah well… It’s still quite a mystery to me how I ended up having these but I guess I eventually found them interesting?” Another hum as she gently holds his chin to examine the piercing blue irises. “I must say, it’s been awhile since I last saw your eyes. They were always hidden by those glasses of yours.”

“Ah… well… I just recently thought of making use of my contacts more often…” He shyly says and it makes Sungha smile. “A wise choice, Seongwoo-yah. You should let people see your eyes more often, they’re more beautiful than you think” Seongwoo chuckles with a smile and nods, “No worries, I will”

“Seongwoo!” Before any of the two could say a word, a very familiar Busan accent interjects. Sungha looks over Seongwoo’s shoulder and instantly smiles at the sight of a familiar face but with shocking silver locks framing his features. “Daniel!” She exclaims out of delight and surprise at the strange choice of hair color. “My, that’s quite a bold color there but it suits you well” Daniel smiles with pearly whites on display as Sungha runs a hand through his silky silver hair.

“Thanks, Ajumeoni” Daniel flashes a smile, “You didn’t tell me you brought Daniel with you,” She says and Seongwoo merely scratches his neck along with a sheepish laugh, “You were going to find out anyway” Though Sungha still ‘reprimands’ him about not telling her earlier.

“Ah! Ahjumma!” Seongwoo starts with excitement lacing his voice, “Did you hear about the karaoke night later?” He asks and Sungha nods with just as much excitement, “Well, of course, I heard your other friends were vocal majors so it was meant to spread around this neighbor. You know how almost everyone loves to sing”

“So you’ll be there?” Seongwoo asks for the sake of being sure and Sungha nods with a smile, “Of course, I will! Who am I to miss every opportunity to hear you and your friends sing together?” She says with a fond smile as she pats Seongwoo’s shoulder. “I’ll be sure not to disappoint!” Seongwoo says after he finally pays for the vegetables he was looking for. “We’ll see you later!” He waves before going over to another stall for the other items.

“He’s never looked happier about singing before,” Sungha comments. Daniel just so happens to overhear before he could go after Seongwoo. “I guess you could say something happened to make him enjoy it more than he initially did.” Was his vague reply before he did a quick bow and went after Seongwoo. Sungha chuckles as he watches them both disappear into the crowd with Daniel’s hand wrapped around Seongwoo’s wrist as they continued to talk amongst themselves.

“It seems more like something happened after a certain someone came into his life.” She says to no one in particular before diverting her attention back to the couple who just approached her stand.

~ .oOo. ~

The trip to the market took longer than expected as the night breeze was already starting to caress their skin leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. The troublesome group immediately changed into warmer clothing once they got back at the house and prepared for the long karaoke night ahead. The vocal majors were already one step ahead as they kept on debating who would sing first with each individual defending their preferred genres of music.

“Well this is going to be fun,” Seongwoo comments as he chuckles while watching the said vocal majors debate about which genre to start with. Minki nods agreeing with Seongwoo’s statement but because of an entirely different reason, “Better watch over Jaehwan and make sure he doesn’t consume too much alcohol” Well, he did have a point. Jaehwan tends to be the loudest both with and without the influence of alcohol but his loudness is on another level when he’s drunk.

“I’ll just have to steal the bottles when he’s going overboard then” Daniel suggests with his bunny teeth smile but Seongwoo smack his shoulder with a pout, “Oh no, mister. Just because you have heavy alcohol tolerance, that doesn’t mean you get to drink to your heart’s content. It’s still best to keep it controlled” Seongwoo nags while Daniel pretends to be that child that gets his candy stolen. Seongwoo isn’t having any of it though as he nonchalantly shrugs it off leaving Daniel pouting at his failed attempt.

“Are we all ready?” Seongwoo asks as he sees most of his friends were already dressed. “Just a bit!” Came Daniel’s voice and Seongwoo shakes his head with a sigh, “See? I told you you’d finish earlier if you dressed up while talking” Daniel shrugs it off and claims how they aren’t too far from the area anyway. “Well,” Seongwoo turns to the group, “You guys should go on ahead, Daniel and I will just follow” Of course, the others don’t let him off from their usual teases and jokes that make Seongwoo’s face turn into a red hue while making their way out.

“Be sure not to take too long!”

“Use protection!”

“Have mercy on the neighbors”

Seriously, how did I end up with these people? Seongwoo shakes his head and sighs. Not like he regrets meeting them anyway. The others were completely gone after their small joke fest and Seongwoo was left waiting for Daniel.

“How much longer are you going to take?” The raven-haired boy calls out just when Daniel comes out of the room. “I’m done!” He announces while straightening his leather jacket over an all-black ensemble with tight jeans bearing holes by the knees. Seongwoo tried not to stare, he really did but it was difficult when the black goes so well with his silver hair (as if it wasn’t a standout on its own). Both were about to make their way out the door when Seongwoo’s mother comes out of the kitchen holding two large containers.

“Do bring these for me― Oh! I see you’re using the blue ones today! It’s quite an eye catcher” The elder woman says and it has both Seongwoo and Daniel raising an eyebrow. “Wait, you bought this?” He asks while gesturing towards his eyes. “Of course, you told me your contacts already expired so they needed to be replaced”

“Y-Yeah I know but… blue?” Seongwoo says, still looking perplexed yet surprised. “Why? Do you not like them?” She asks and Seongwoo wildly gestures, “No! No, I mean― Why blue? I-I was… just curious” He shyly replies while fidgeting with his fingers. The older woman only chuckles at the childlike behavior.

“I thought you might have grown tired of the usual transparent ones so I got you a pair of blue contacts to if you ever felt like going with something different.” She simply replies with a smile. “Well,” Seongwoo starts, hand brushing just beneath his eyes as he flashes a wide smile, “I loved them, thanks, mom” The said woman smiles back with such affection as she pats his head just as how she usually does when he was a child. “Glad to know you did” Daniel who stood by the side the whole time smiles at the entire scene. It’s not every day you get to see other parents interact with their child anyway.

“Well then, why don’t you bring these down to the party? They requested me to cook these earlier” Mrs. Ong said as she hands them both large containers of food. “Will do Mom~ See you later!” Seongwoo calls out as he rushes to the door not bothering to wait for Daniel who was left behind with mouth left agape. “H-Hey wait up!” He says before giving the elder woman a quick bow and running after the older male.

“Yah! Don’t leave me behind!”

“We both know you don’t have a problem catching up!”

The elder woman left by the doorstep chuckles at the childish behavior for two freshmen students and yet she smiles as she watches them walk further away. She couldn’t help but look back at how Seongwoo has grown to the man that he was now.

That boy grew up watching music shows and developing a special passion for music since he was a child. Everyone adored him for his kindness and his voice, his visuals just happened to be a bonus but it wasn’t always why people ended up loving him. It was always because of how he could make anyone smile since he had a greed for gags despite having such a handsome face.

But years passed, and Seongwoo suddenly became timid and passive. A complete 180 turn to how he grew up as a child and she couldn’t help but feel disappointed for not even knowing why. She tried her best to get him to open up but Seongwoo remained adamant and would always say that he was fine and nothing was wrong. She didn’t want to push him further so he let him be and continued to watch over him from afar.

Seongwoo hasn’t sung in awhile since he turned passive. That was what gave her the idea that the ‘something’ was related to his singing. Something that could have damaged his confidence completely. Which is why when she heard him singing when he was alone in his room, a smile instantly made its way to her lips. He hasn’t given up, he just needed a small push. She’s been trying to do so for years, but maybe it was time someone had to intervene and take over the task.

So when Seongwoo came home for the holidays, she was greatly ecstatic over the arrival of Daniel. Daniel, a large yet bright boy, was someone she saw as special who managed to bring out the old Seongwoo every now and then. That was when she knew that Daniel might have been the ‘someone’ he needed all along. Daniel has made him smile and laugh more than he ever did in the past years and it makes her heart swell with so much love at seeing the wrinkles of happiness that were once lost.

She didn’t need to think twice to know that Daniel and her son might have been something more, but that didn’t stop her from letting them stay together. Seongwoo has suffered long enough for reasons she didn’t know. Yet, he was now acting like how he usually did when he was just eight and she couldn’t possibly be happier. Although the world may not smile down on their relationship, she wouldn’t stop them from being together.

When she looks back at the retreating backs of her son alongside Daniel, she sees that all too familiar wrinkle just by his nose when he scrunches them up while laughing. His imperfect teeth as he smiles and laughs at whatever Daniel said, even hitting him on the shoulder when the joke was probably annoying. That was when she knew that Daniel was indeed the one.

Daniel was the person who could make his darkest days happy and she wouldn’t let anything take that away from Seongwoo. For some reason, if Daniel was the one with him, then she didn’t feel the need to be worried since she was sure that he would be in safe hands.

She was just really happy to know that Seongwoo finally met someone who brings out the best in him.

Notes:

And that puts an end to the long 25 chaptered story! Technically it could have ended in the last chapter but I felt that it still needed a closure after that soooo.... here.

It's been so long since I first posted this fic. I remembered how I used to think if this story would even be received well yet it just reached a thousand views and I can't possibly be more thankful than that. Throughout the entire process, it was a worthwhile learning experience that I'll surely remember in hopes of learning from my mistakes.

To those who stuck with this since Chapter 1, we finally made it to the end! Thanks for all the support and time you gave to this work and I am grateful for all the motivation you have given me as someone who is completely new to the concept of writing. Words cannot express how much I appreciate all the comments and kudos you've left to let me know I'm doing a good job. And so, I hope I can still continue to live up to your expectations in the future C:

The story is over, but my love for this ship isn't! (LOL) Which is why I just wanted to leave a heads up that I still have another story in the works! Though I'm not doing it alone, it's a collaboration with my friend KangAshley. It's been a challenge to write since it's way out of our comfort zones but I believe the result will become worth it in the end. Do keep an eye out for our collaboration!

Once again, thanks for all the support you have given towards this work and 'til the next story!