Chapter  Eight: First Love

                Myung-soo woke up on his bed with a warm body pressed on his side and a faint breathing on his face. He opened his eyes to find an ever angelic face still there, so close and whose arms still around him. He looked around, and judging by the light that comes from the window, it was already afternoon.

                Myung-soo gently rolled away to make sure his hyung wouldn’t wake up. When he managed to get out of bed, he made his way to the kitchen to make some dinner for three.

                “Oh, you’re awake,” Myung-soo almost jumped in surprise when his mother suddenly spoke behind him while he has cooking.

“Mom, if you continue doing that, one day you’re going to kill me,” Myung-soo said.

“Baby, I don’t think that will happen,” Mrs. Kim said before she walked near her son. She looked at Myung-soo and slightly narrowed her eyes as if inspecting him carefully. Just like any other teenager, her actions just made her son feel nervous.

“Mom,” Myung-soo said, “Will you stop that and tell me what you want to know.”

“Myung-soo,” his mother paused for a while before continuing, “are you in love?”

“What? why would you think like that?” Myung-soo took a spoonful of the curry he was cooking and quickly blew it before tasting.

“Because… I saw you and Angel sleeping like a couple earlier,” Myung-soo almost choked while tasting the curry because of that. His mother just like giving suspense to everything.

“Mom!”

“Myung-soo, I’m your mother and I know that you like Angel–”

“Mom, stop it!”

“– and obviously he liked you too so I just want to tell you–”

“You think so?” Myung-soo was surprised that he said those words. Even his own mother seemed to be surprised with it, but after the initial shock, his mother just smiled and moved closer. “I just want to tell you that I will support you in whatever decision you’ll make. As long as you’re happy.”

“But mom, he’s my cousin,” Myung-soo said, “And, aside from that I don’t think it’ll come to that… serious point right away.”

“He’s a very distant cousin and I know you want to take things slow, but then you’ll never know…”Mrs. Kim rested her head on her son’s shoulder, “I just want you to remember that love is not about –”

“Mom! Shut up!” Myung-soo said while covering his ears. “Stop being too liberal for a while, please!”

“Baby, you have to listen. Here’s your mother trying to talk to you about the birds and the bees,” Mrs. Kim said while attempting to remove the cover from Myung-soo’s ears.

“Annyeong haseyo,” Someone spoke behind them.

“Oh, Angel, how’s your sleep?” Mrs. Kim said. Myung-soo quickly went back to cooking as soon as Sung-gyu came. He turned off the fire and took bowls from the cabinet, keeping his gaze away from his hyung. He just wished  his hyung didn’t hear them talking.

“Very energizing ma’am,” Sung-gyu said, “although I’m quite regretful of it. I think I’d find it hard to sleep tonight.” Sung-gyu approached Myung-soo and helped him arrange the table. On the other hand, Mrs. Kim eyed the two every now and then.

“Why didn’t you wake me up when you woke up earlier?” Sung-gyu said.

“Well, I didn’t want to bother you so…”

“If it is you, then it is not a bother at all,” Sung-gyu continued arranging the table. On the other hand, Myung-soo was so embarrassed to have his mother hear Sung-gyu’s words first hand, especially when she already knew that he liked the older.

Sometime while they were eating, Mrs. Kim received a call from one of her friends. “Oh… at the gym? Really? Sure…. Oh, don’t worry, my Myungie is already of age so I can leave him for the night,” Mrs. Kim glanced at her son before fixing her eyes to Sung-gyu, “and besides, he won’t be alone. Someone will be protecting him,” Mrs. Kim added.

“Mom, where are you going,” Myung-soo asked as his mom stood up and took her coat.

“We have a girls night-out, so I’ll be home late,” his mother said, “Myungie, finish your dinner okay?”

“Mom, I’m not a kid.”

“I know,” Mrs. Kim said. “By the way, if you guys plan to leave the house later, make sure you lock the house properly. And don’t forget to come back before bedtime, okay?”

“Mom!”

“Fine! I’m going!” Mrs. Kim felt after giving his son a peck and a light pat on Sung-gyu’s head.

“Your mom’s really nice,” Sung-gyu said while they washed the dishes. Myung-soo soaped them while Sung-gyu rinsed.

“Yeah,” was what Myung-soo only managed to say.

“You know what, you’re acting weird,” Sung-gyu looked at him with concerned eyes and Myung-soo just felt his heart skip a beat.

“I’m fine, I’m just…” Myung-soo couldn’t find the right words. Myung-soo thought of saying that he was tired, but then he slept for half the day, so it wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t really hear your conversation with your mom earlier,” Sung-gyu said, which surprised Myung-soo, causing him to blush. Sung-gyu must have noticed it right away so he tried to add, “but I didn’t hear it all… just the thing about the birds and…bees?”

Myung-soo swallowed hard. The atmosphere was unbearable but was quickly eased up by Sung-gyu’s next statement, “were you talking about ecology?” Myung-soo broke into laughter after that. He even struggled in soaping the last plate on his side. He felt better after the laugh, but swore a weird feeling would just arise from his gut whenever he stole glances at his Sung-gyu hyung.

“Myung-soo, do you want to go out with me?” Sung-gyu suddenly said. Myung-soo just stared at him wide eyed for a while so he continued, “well, since I’m sure we’d find it hard to sleep later, so I thought we should–”

“Sure,” Myung-soo wanted to say yes from the very moment Sung-gyu asked him, but the reason why it took him a long time before he answered was the thought of love. Did he just ask me out for a date? Could it possibility mean that Sung-gyu hyung really liked me too?

---o0o---

“Wow, you really like apples huh,” Myung-soo told Sung-gyu who was sitting beside him on a bench under an apple tree near the bay. “I didn’t know that the smell of sea water and apple would complement each other though.”

“It’s not the apples that we came here for,” Sung-gyu looked at his watch and said, “it’s going to start in about 10 seconds….and!” Suddenly fireworks flew to the sky and burst into colorful lights.

“Hyung!” Myung-soo’s eyes were still focused on the lighters, “how did you prepare all of this?”

“Aniya, did you really think I went out last night just to steal apples? ” Sung-gyu said, “I searched for a perfect gift for you. The apples were just a side trip.”

“Really?” Myung-soo said with the hint of disbelief. “But what’s with the gift? It’s not even my birthday.”

“I know,” Sung-gyu said, staring at the fireworks, “I just feel like it. Do you have to wait for an occasion before you give a gift for the one you love?”

Myung-soo stared blankly at Sung-gyu for a while, but based from his reaction he was trying so hard to process everything in his mind. After a while of silence, Sung-gyu looked at him so he quickly averted his eyes someplace else except into the other’s eyes.

“I…” Myung-soo knew that if he let go of the chance to tell Sung-gyu about his feelings, then he might not find another chance to tell it. For him, it was now or never. So in spite of the fact that he was still unsure of the status of his liking to Sung-gyu – whether platonic or romantic – he muttered, “I love you too.”

Silence lasted for a minute was excruciatingly long for Myung-soo, and because of that, he thought of taking everything back by telling the “of course, that is as a brother” but he wasn’t able to do it in reality. Sung-gyu suddenly spoke, “So, what are we now? Are we…”

“Boyfriends?” Myung-soo said softly.

“Yes… boyfriends,” Sung-gyu said with much conviction before he held out his hand to link with Myung-soo’s as they watched the lighters and stars up above together, as a couple.

---o0o---

Sorry! I didn’t warn you about this! I know some of you might not like the pairing, and yet some of you might hate the idea of boys liking boys, but… it’s all part of the story!

Please comment, I would like to hear your thoughts.