Early December 2014.

It was when the autumn has gradually faded away from sight and the winter had finally made a visit. The frost was biting on his skin causing Jiyong to curl deeper in his pink scarf and tugged the gloves on his hands. Jiyong sniffed and scrunched his nose. This morning is too cold for him to handle. But recalling that he only have only a couple days more until his last day at school, Jiyong knock off his thought and silently smiled to himself.

Tomorrow is the day where his graduation ceremony will take place and Jiyong can’t be more excited at the thought of finally stepping out of the high school life. His final exam was passed with flying colours unsurprisingly. Hell, Seunghyun will probably flip tables if Jiyong didn’t, considering how many dates Jiyong had rejected as he rather stayed at home and revising his subjects. Jiyong was feeling a bit of guilty but like usual, Seunghyun would just waved his hand lazily and said it’s fine but you have to make it up for me after this, winking. It was nice knowing someone you love supporting you from behind.

Talking about Seunghyun, Jiyong figured there’s more under the bad boy image of his boyfriend that still hasn’t been shed as he keeps discovering new facts about Seunghyun. Like recently, Jiyong was stunned with an astonishing revelation that Choi Seunghyun is actually a smart kid hiding underneath his horrible lame jokes. The day they both retrieved their final exam’s result, Jiyong was shocked to find countless As jotted down on Seunghyun’s paper. As he ran through the name list for Students with Outstanding Achievement, Jiyong could not forget how speechless he was when he saw his boyfriend’s name also listed in it, aside from him and Youngbae.

Later that day, Jiyong gave Seunghyun a surprise visit at his home and kissed the guy hard on the lips which somehow quickly escalated to ripping of each other’s shirt as both of them tumbling back on Seunghyun’s bed, spilling loud moans and quiet whimpers as they both indulged into the familiarity of warm kisses and electrifying touches. They made love that night. There’s no holding back, only warm glides of lips against each other under a blanket of gentle caresses and sweet mutterings of love. Jiyong blushed, teeth latching on his lower lip as he tried his best to resist from smiling.

“Jiyong!” a voice called him and Jiyong turned around, smiling widely when he came to face Youngbae with his sweet smile.

“Hey, Youngbae”

“Want to walk to the school together?” Youngbae asked and Jiyong nodded quickly, accepting it without hesitation and grabbed his friend’s shoulder, walking side by side.

-

“Don’t say anything”

Seunghyun warned in instant, the moment Jiyong come face to face with his boyfriend, mouth agape wide and jaws almost fell to the floor, taking in the surprise in front of him. Eyes darted up and down as he marvelled the way Seunghyun’s now blue hair from the root down to the tip.

“God, I’m going to kill those two devils. I can’t believe they did this when I was sleeping” Seunghyun hissed and cursed Taecyeon and Daesung in his mind as he ran his fingers through his hair irritatingly, snapping his locker shut causing students passing by to jolt in surprise. When Seunghyun finally laid his eyes on Jiyong, Jiyong had to force his mouth shut and gulped down nervously.

“You look good” Jiyong blurted out.

Good is actually an understatement. The guy looked awesomely gorgeous. If Jiyong was given a chance to write an essay about how awesome his boyfriend rocking the blue hair, Jiyong would definitely does it without any hesitation. Jiyong his dry lips and gulped down, hard. Damn, Jiyong wishes he could run his fingers through those blue locks and gripped on it to the tips and maybe played with it—God, stop it Jiyong. You’re thinking nonsense.

“You’re just saying it” Seunghyun huffed a resigned sigh. Jiyong waved his hands around in a flash, head shaking left and right as he tried his best to deny Seunghyun’s words.

“No, I’m not! You look really handsome. I mean, look at how the girls are staring at you” Jiyong claimed out loud, hands gesturing towards a group of students which were busy giggling and chuckling at them. Seunghyun only narrowed his eyes at his statement.

Seunghyun clenched his jaws even tighter when he could feel everyone’s eyes on him, looking at him like a toy for mocking. He even managed to throw a glare at one particular boy who had eyed him from head to toe, causing the boy to run away scared.

“Thanks for trying but they’re probably busy making fun of my hair. And tomorrow is the graduation ceremony. Just great! it” he gripped on his hair frustratingly as if trying to pull it out. Jiyong just shook his head.

“Hey, look at me”

Jiyong’s plead met with a screeching silence instead so he pushed himself forward and take a hold of Seunghyun’s wrist. He can’t believe how Seunghyun can look adorable and sad at the same time. Either way, Jiyong decided to muster up his courage and grabbed Seunghyun’s face in place which Seunghyun resisted at first but soon complied after being persuaded with pouty lips Jiyong. They were looking each other’s eyes now.

“Listen, I won’t let you suffer alone, Seunghyun” the blue-haired guy just shrugged his shoulders. Jiyong pulled out a smile, silently hoping that Seunghyun would drop his mood and present him a smile. Unfortunately, Seunghyun still had that sad smile on his face and pulled away from Jiyong’s hands.

“I’m sorry, Jiyong. I’m not really in the mood. I’m going to the class” Seunghyun pulled out a cap from his bag and put it on, pulling it so low, covering his bright blue hair and his eyes in order to distract himself from any attention. Seunghyun gave Jiyong a weak smile before he walked away.

Jiyong can only watch his boyfriend’s slump posture fading away from his sight. He leaned back against the locker and pondered silently if there’s anything he can do to cheer Seunghyun up. Maybe, he should ask for Seungri’s and Youngbae’s advice. Or maybe—Jiyong’s eyes instantly widened, lips curling in excitement as an idea popped up into his brilliant mind. Tomorrow is going to be a good day, he convinced himself.

-

Jiyong is not the type to get late.

For the tenth time that morning, Seunghyun looked at the watch on his wrist once again and continued tapping his legs impatiently. He stood restless in front of the school gate, never stopping from looking around for any sign of Jiyong. He carded his blue hair to the back and sighed, the bell is going to ring in fifteen minutes and there’s still no Jiyong. Today is a big day for both of them so it’s unlikely for Jiyong to bail on him. Seunghyun straightened his posture and fixed his tie as he waited. Suddenly, his eyes enlarged dramatically as he saw a familiar face running towards him. Seunghyun can feel his heart stuck on his throat.

“Y-your hair. It’s—” Seunghyun spluttered in disbelief, index finger pointing at Jiyong who’s currently beaming brightly like nothing’s wrong.

“—Pink. Yup, I know. Do you like it?” Jiyong exclaimed cutely, playfully twirling his hair as his eyes twinkled in excitement. Seunghyun gawked at him, speechless.

However, Jiyong on the other hand never stop smiling, comfortably running his fingers through his pink hair. The sight in front of him is outrageous yet stunningly beautiful. Seunghyun can’t stop looking and it’s probably rude to stare but it, Jiyong looks so ing hot with pink hair and he would pay thousands dollars just to touch those pretty locks and Seunghyun wondered how Jiyong would look writhing under him with cheeks flushed and lips wet—. Control yourself, Seunghyun.

“W-why?” Seunghyun managed a stutter. Adorable, Jiyong thought to himself, shaking his head in wonder. Chuckling, Jiyong walked up and tugged Seunghyun by his pinkie.

“I told you I won’t let you suffer alone” Jiyong laced their fingers intimately, soft smile playing his lips. It took a couple of minutes for Seunghyun to comprehend, face went scarlet instantly as blush creeping down to his neck.

“You idiot” Seunghyun said yet his mouth only spread wider to present an amusing grin.

“Your idiot” Jiyong tiptoed and curled his arm around Seunghyun’s neck, pulling him closer and bumped their nose together.

-

The graduation ceremony was executed perfectly as they have rehearsed. It was entirely quite boring like usual with speeches after speeches, quote after quote, alongside with tears and smiles. And as they both had predicted, Jiyong and Seunghyun were the talk of the school from the beginning to the end of the ceremony because of their bright hair. They were also named as the cotton candy couple, Jiyong can only laughed while Seunghyun on the other hand had expressed that he likes the nickname and he shall call them ‘the cotton candy couple’.  

When the ceremony finally ended, Jiyong had threw himself towards Seunghyun and hugged him tightly and smiling a mile wide, congratulating each other.  Later, both of them found themselves laid flat, sprawled on the rooftop, hand in hand as they watched the blue sky.  

“I’m going to miss this” Jiyong said softly, eyes fluttering shut as he let cold breeze slap against his skin. He could hear Seunghyun hummed, fingers grazing against his before tangling their hands together and tugged just so Jiyong would turn and look at him.

“So…why pink?” Seunghyun spoke, voice rasped, looking at Jiyong’s hair.

“I think I recalled pink is your favourite colour. Is it not?” Jiyong tilted his head upwards cutely.

“I-it is” Seunghyun answered in confusion before smiling wider and proudly exclaimed, “Yes, it is. Pink is my favourite colour”

“Good. Great to know” Jiyong smiled, shivering slightly when there’s wind breezes through.

“Do you want to cuddle?” Seunghyun questioned shyly.

Jiyong nodded his head at this and beamed. Wanting to drape Jiyong under his arms, Seunghyun inched closer, opening his arm wide. The boy slipped under his arms easily, smiling when familiar warmth crept under his skin. Seunghyun nosed the boy’s cheeks and take a deep breath and he inhaled Jiyong’s cologne, remembering his smell. Jiyong freely leaned in and rested his head on Seunghyun’s chest.

Finally, Jiyong can feel free under skin without any mask on. He likes this. It’s nice having someone comforting you without needing to say it. Comfort is necessity, he learned that while being around Seunghyun. It’s not wrong having this and it’s not wrong for wanting to have this because they are only human, a fragile human being that only seeks for comfort and warmness. He felt warmth embraced him the moment he closed his eyes, hearing the calm heartbeat against the ribcage. Quiet, safe and sound.

It’s within this arms, Jiyong feels his heart content to the brim. It’s within this warmth that Jiyong feels secure the most. Jiyong doesn’t need any mask to shield him and he most definitely doesn’t need to go through the masquerade parade or false pretend anymore. With Seunghyun by his side, Jiyong can confidently smile under his skin because he believes along the road, Seunghyun is there patch him up and comfort him until the very end.