“Chen get your out here now.” Clearly hearing Xiumin’s voice room the second floor of the hotel they were staying in the teen, rolling his eyes at the older boy’s apparent lack of consideration for people around him, pushed opened the bedroom window enough to lean out a little and look down at Xiumin. Standing in front of the hotel Xiumin grinned up at Chen and opening his arms out, presenting two rented scooters, one metallic yellow, the other a pale pink. The helmets matched the scooter colours perfectly and, unable to stop himself, Chen burst out laughing, quickly covering his face with both hands as he caught the attention of some locals walking by. Waving the helmets above his head Xiumin bounced happily and shouted again, “Get down here!” Hushing the older boy Chen spoke as quietly as he could while being loud enough for Xiumin to hear him.

“Would you be quiet, I’m coming.” Picking up their room key  as he left Chen ran quickly down the stairs and burst out the hotel, running into Xiumin’s arms immediately as he did.

“You’re so embarrassing>” shrugging off-handed Xiumin offered both helmets to the teen, taking the pink one Chen hoped onto the yellow scooter, liking the idea of mismatching Xiumin popped on the yellow helmet and sat, a little wearily, on the pink scooter. Smiling mischievously at the older boy Chen started the engine on his scooter and spoke over the soft him it released.

“Do you even know how to ride Xiu?” Putting his hand on the accelerator the older boy nodded.

“Start,” giving the breaks a little squeeze next he nodded again, “stop,” wiggling the front end of the scooter left and right a few times he looked at Chen, his excited grin still in place, “steering. I think I got it.” Laughing, softer this time, Chen gave Xiumin a little salute before turning towards a narrow road and pushed his scooter forwards as he accelerated. Loving the feel of the uneven pavement and the way the slow speed of the scooter gave him enough time to look around at all the shops and houses Chen found himself laughing at the pure cliché romantic holiday he and Xiumin had managed to create. He could hear Xiumin behind him and slowed down a little as the road became wider. Riding side by side the boys took in all the sights and smells the part of Italy they were riding through had to offer. Turning down some busy streets and finding themselves stuck in the midst of traffic one second only to be freely riding down practically abandoned roads the next. An hour into their slightly frivolous journey Xiumin pointed to a decorative fountain placed in the centre of what appeared to be a street market. Pulling over next to the older boy Chen removed his helmet and smiled broadly.

“Why’d we stop?”

“Bread.” Xiumin said the answer like it was the most obvious thing in the world but confused Chen rose his brow at the boy. Pointing to the market Xiumin got off his scooter and took the keys out of the ignition as he explained. “It’s a bread market. Can’t you smell it? Hundreds of different types of bread all in one place, let’s go.” Skipping to Xiumin’s side Chen allowed the older boy to pull him to one of the stalls. The teen watched intrigued as Xiumin muttered a small Italian phrase and the large man stood inside the stall smiled brightly. He made his response simple and, assuming Xiumin had spoken correctly, Chen continued watching while the man produced a platter of different types of read all cut up into bite size pieces.

“Close your eyes.” Looking the older boy up and down sceptically for a moment Chen let out a small sigh as he closed his eyes. “Now open your mouth.” Complying again Chen felt a small mouthful of warm, soft bread slip onto his tongue. Chewing slowly he tried to distinguish between the flavours. It had a definite sweetness to it, more sugary than he’d ever had before.

“Is there... honey?” Opening his eyes Chen saw Xiumin’s slightly shocked expression.

“Yeah, there is. It’s a sweetened white bun glazed in honey. You’re pretty good at this.” Sticking his tongue out in concentration Xiumin glanced over the other breads and signalled Chen to close his eyes again before feeding the teen a different type of bread. As soon as the flavour hit his taste buds the teen’s eyes widened as he chewed.

“Spicy. Like um... black pepper and um...” Touching his lips in thought Chen scrunched his face in confusion trying to decide what the other spice he was tasting was. Before the teen could react Xiumin stepped towards him and, moving his hand, he pressed his lips to the boy’s, pushing his tongue into Chen’s mouth quickly and dragging his tongue over the boy’s bottom lip before standing back again and smiling playfully.

“Chilly” Blushing a little Chen ducked his head and bit his lip lightly to stop his gasp of surprise escaping. Before he could react properly Xiumin was selecting another sample for him to try. The man behind the stall placed the platter in front of them and grinned happily, shouting something in Italian he caught the attention of some of the people around who looked over to the boys and smiled warmly at them as Xiumin popped a seeded bun in Chen’s mouth.