It was August already. Jisoo and Hansol had become great friends, they spent almost all day together, they hung out every afternoon, they went to the beach and they also became friends with two other boys from their music school, Andy and Will. They both were American and they were the nicest and coolest people ever.

Jisoo was finally feeling a bit better, but he still wanted to go back to Korea. His calls with Junghan were becoming longer and longer every time, once they spent four hours talking about anything and everything, they even sang as they usually did when he was in Korea. Jisoo would lie down on his bed and stay there for hours. Junghan had told him he got a job to be able to pay a plane ticket to the US, but he still had to save up a lot of money.

Jisoo told him about Hansol and since the boy wanted to meet Jisoo’s boyfriend they decided to meet once to make a Skype call and introduce him to Junghan.

“I’m so nervous” Hansol told him and Jisoo laughed.

“Why are you nervous?” Jisoo said as he set up his laptop.

“It feels like I’m meeting my brother’s partner of life and I hope I approve of this” Hansol said “He better be good”

“May I remind you I’m older than you?” Jisoo said and Hansol laughed.

“You may not need to do so” Hansol replied.

“Oh, and remember to talk in Korean, Junghan doesn’t get a thing when it comes to English” Jisoo said and Hansol nodded.

Junghan called him as soon as he was online and Jisoo picked up the call, making it a video call.

“Hi” Jisoo smiled when he saw his boyfriend’s face.

“Hellooo” he said in English and Jisoo face palmed, while Hansol laughed.

“He’s pretty good so far” Hansol told Jisoo.

“Please, drop the English” Jisoo told Junghan, who pouted.

“Ok, I just wanted to impress your friend” Junghan said “Hii” he said changing his expression in a split second “You must be Hansol, right?”

“Yes, that’s me” Hansol smiled.

“He was so nervous to meet you” Jisoo informed Junghan who laughed and Hansol hit Jisoo.

“Dude, don’t tell him” Hansol said in English.

“Hey, hey, no English, I want to understand everything in this conversation” Junghan said and Hansol smirked.

“He told me not to tell you, but it’s too late, little one” Jisoo told Hansol and patted him on the head.

They chatted for about two hours. Hansol and Junghan seemed to be getting along which calmed Jisoo a lot. Eventually, Hansol had to go home and Jisoo got the chance to ask Junghan about his friend.

“So, what do you think of him?” Jisoo asked him.

“He’s really cool” Junghan said happily “And he’s really handsome”

“Yeah, he is” Jisoo admitted.

“Do you think he’s handsome?” Junghan asked.

“Sure” Jisoo replied “But don’t worry, you’re still the most beautiful human being in the world to me, that’s never going to change”

“It better doesn’t” Junghan joked “I love you”

“I love you too” Jisoo smiled.

“Hmm, Jisoo” Junghan said turning pretty serious.

“Yes?”

“I’ve been doing my calculations, and I won’t be able to go there these holidays. What I am paid on the cinema is not enough for me to get a ticket, plus all the money I need to invest in college, I think it’ll take me over a year to save up” he told Jisoo, whose smile dropped.

“I understand… I know it’s not cheap to get a ticket” Jisoo said and Junghan sighed.

“Why are you so nice? Don’t be this nice, it’s going to be even more difficult for me get used to not seeing you in a year”

“I can get a job and pay part of your ticket” Jisoo suggested, clearly not listening to what Junghan had just said “There are plenty of part-time jobs here, I can save up so you can come”

“Jisoo, I won’t be able to come on Christmas holiday, you know that”

“What about spring break?” he asked.

“That’s too short, if I go I want to go for a whole month”

“And what about-” Jisoo started.

“Jisoo” Junghan cut him “Stop”

“Don’t you want to see me?” Jisoo asked.

“Of course I do”

“It doesn’t seem like it, it doesn’t matter if it’s only a week, what matters is that we’ll be able to see each other” Jisoo said.

“It doesn’t matter? Do you know how hard it will be to say goodbye to you again after a week? It’s going to be really hard, and you know that”

“It’s going to be even harder if you stay for a month” Jisoo said.

“So are you saying I shouldn’t go?” Junghan asked, getting angry.

“No! I’m not saying that” Jisoo replied.

“It sounds like it” Junghan said and Jisoo sighed “Jisoo, we can’t let distance do this to us. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye no matter how long I stay, it will always be hard”

“I know, but I don’t want it to be hard, I don’t want to say goodbye to you, not again, it was horrible the first time I did, and I want it to be the last”

“Then you don’t want me to go” Junghan said quietly.

“A part of me doesn’t want you to come, but the other part wants you to” Jisoo admitted “If you come we’ll know we’ll have to say goodbye eventually, we’ll get hurt and we’ll be sad”

“I think the fact that I can’t be with you every day hurts more than saying goodbye” Junghan said and Jisoo looked away, to avoid letting Junghan see him crying “I just want to get a second chance to touch you, I need to feel that you’re real, just once more”

“Stop talking please” Jisoo said and his voice broke at the last word. He turned around and cried.

“Jisoo” Junghan said, ignoring what Jisoo had just said “Turn around”

Jisoo did as asked but he didn’t look at Junghan. He kept his face looking away from the screen.

“I can’t stand this… I can’t stand not seeing you for a year…” Jisoo confessed and Junghan sighed, letting a couple tears fall “This is too hard”

“Jisoo, we promised we would get through this, it’s only been a few months, you can’t back out so soon” Junghan said weakly.

“Isn’t this hard for you?”

“Of course it is, I’ve been crying for three months straight, of course it’s hard for me”

“I can’t Junghan…” Jisoo said covering his face.

“Are you trying to say what I think you’re trying to say?” Junghan said “Don’t you dare be this stupid, if you say anything else I’m going to get really angry, and you’ve never seen me angry”

“Junghan, I just…” Jisoo started.

“Don’t say anything, you better not be thinking of ‘taking a ing break’ because I won’t ‘take a ing break’. Taking a break means leaving some distance and we’re miles and miles apart so a break is not an option and I’m not going to let you break up with me, because if you break up with me over this stupid thing you won’t see me ever again” Junghan said in a low voice.

“I’m sorry, Junghan” Jisoo said looking down.

“You’re a coward, you’re too scared to make a mistake, aren’t you?” Junghan asked him.

“Don’t make this any harder”

“I can’t believe this” Junghan shook his head.

“I’m not breaking up with you” Jisoo told him “I’d never do that”

“Then what the hell are you trying to say? We can’t be more apart than we are now, the only thing we do is talk on Skype, we barely text each other” Junghan said “We’re living a ing long distance relationship!”

“I just thought of taking…” Jisoo started.

“A break” Junghan finished “Ok, I’m done” Junghan said “Now you really pissed me off, congratulations”

“Junghan!” Jisoo yelled but Junghan shut down his laptop, closing it without even hanging up the call, but the laptop would do that by itself after closing it. He stood up and paced around the room.

“I really need to punch something” he told himself running his hands down his face and messing up his hair.

“!” Jisoo yelled and he let his head rest on his hands “What the hell do I do now?” he asked himself. He’s never seen Junghan angry, so he didn’t have a clue on what he should do now. Should he text him? Give him some space? Well, he made it really clear he didn’t need more space, Jisoo though, but he’s mad, so maybe it’s better if I don’t say anything? He’s mad at me, after all “I really ed up, didn’t I?” Jisoo wondered “Yes, I did” he replied himself “ it” he took his phone and texted Junghan.

Junghan, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, please, answer – JS

Then his heart and his whole world got destroyed by those five words he got as a reply.

See you in 4 years – JH

“No, NO!” Jisoo yelled at his phone “ no!”

He heard his mum go upstairs and she heard him for sure because she opened the door.

“Jisoo, is everything alright?” she asked quietly.

“NO IT’S NOT” Jisoo replied angrily “Because of you I had to come back here and because of you now Junghan hates me and he doesn’t even want to see me in the 4 years or however long we’ll be staying here!” his mum gasped at the hurtful words her son just said “Why did you have to bring me here?” he cried.

“Honey, it’s just a boy” she said, trying to calm him down, but it backfired.

“Just a boy?” Jisoo asked “Just a boy… of course…” he laughed sarcastically “For you it’s just a boy”

“You knew it wasn’t going to work”

“I thought you were the nice one” Jisoo said “I really hate what you’re doing to me. You know I could live happily in Korea, being independent, but no, of course you won’t let me. If it weren’t for Junghan you would’ve let me stay there, but since I had Junghan you were scared we were going to become really serious and be together for a long time, because you still want your grandkids, don’t you? Well, let me tell you something: forget about grandchildren, because you’re not going to get any, at least not from me, and unless you have another kid, you’ll have none if you keep treating me like I’m the plague”

“Jisoo, don’t you dare talk to me like that”

“Don’t you dare treat me the way you’re treating me” Jisoo fired back “You should be the first ones to support me in whatever I want to do, you’re my parents”

“That’s why we want what’s best for you, and being with that boy in Korea isn’t that” she explained.

“Do you even know me?” Jisoo asked “I feel like a ing stranger in this family”

“Jisoo, Junghan is a really nice kid, but you’re not meant to be together as a couple”

“How do you know that? By your fantastic sixth sense?”

“Because he’s a boy, two boys don’t have any kind of future together”

“We do” Jisoo said “We’re in love, mum, what don’t you get about that?”

“How do you know if you’re in love? You’re just kids”

“I know we’re in love, we’ve made love, we can’t live without each other” Jisoo said and he felt the need to punch a wall when he saw his mum’s horrified face.

“Y-you’ve made love…”

“Yes, in fact, our first time was the same day you told me we were coming here” Jisoo said “At home. Thank you”

“Oh my God” the woman said leaning against the wall.

“And it was amazing, so were the times after that time” Jisoo said and he was enjoying that too much “Now, please, leave my room”

~~~

Soonyoung was actually shaking. He was going to Seokmin’s house, alone, no one else was invited. He walked at a very slow pace so that he didn’t sweat that much and he didn’t end up looking like he just ran a thousand miles because that was not appealing. He didn’t know why he had to look that good to meet with Seokmin, but he couldn’t help but worry about these things.

He finally reached the other’s door, after he checked he was in the right place. He took a deep breath and rang the bell. He waited until the door was unlocked and opened, revealing a bright smiled boy.

“Hi” Seokmin greeted him and he stepped aside to let Soonyoung in.

“Hey” Soonyoung said.

Soonyoung didn’t know exactly why they met that day. Seokmin just told him to come over at a certain time and to wear comfortable clothes. Soonyoung just agreed and did what Seokmin told him.

“So, what are we going to do?” Soonyoung asked his friend “Since you didn’t tell me what we’re going to do”

“I know you enjoy riding a bike so I decided we could ride along Han River” Seokmin said.

“You should’ve told me, I could’ve brought my bike” Soonyoung complained.

“It’s ok, I have a spare bike for you” Seokmin told him and Soonyoung nodded.

“Alright, then” he said and Seokmin smiled “It’s been a while since I rode a bike”

“This is so great”

Both boys took their bikes and started cycling towards Han River. They rode as they competed against each other, they laughed, sang, tried to do some failed tricks, etc.

“Are you tired?” Seokmin asked Soonyoung.

“Not really, are you?”

“A bit, let’s rest” Seokmin said and Soonyoung followed Seokmin to a green area where people usually lied down to enjoy the sun and the sights of the huge river. So they sat down on the grass.

Soonyoung looked around and spotted an ice cream truck.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back” he told Seokmin who looked at him with a questioning look. Soonyoung ran towards the truck and bought to ice creams, both of them vanilla with strawberry syrup. He sat down next to Seokmin again “Here”

“Wow, thanks” Seokmin smiled.

“So tell me” Soonyoung started “What’s the reason behind this?”

“Behind what?” Seokmin asked as he his ice cream.

Date? It wasn’t a date, was it? He thought.

“This… riding a bike by Han River…” Soonyoung tried to explain.

“This is a date” Seokmin said. Ok, it was a date. Soonyoung thought.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Soonyoung asked “I would’ve dressed more nicely”

“You always look nice, there’s no need to put more effort in it” Seokmin told him and Soonyoung tried to hide his blushed cheeks by eating his ice cream.

“So… this is a date” Soonyoung smirked and Seokmin nodded “Someone has a crush~” he sang teasing Seokmin.

“Don’t you?” Seokmin asked him blushing. Soonyoung was caught off guard. Did he? Did he have a crush on Seokmin?

“I don’t know” he said “I’m really confused, to be honest”

“I get it, it’s ok” Seokmin nodded.

“I’m sorry I can’t give you a better answer”

“It could’ve been worse” Seokmin smiled and Soonyoung stared. How can he always be this bright? This boy is another world… he thought.

“Yeah… I guess” Soonyoung said quietly and Seokmin looked to the river.

“Next time we could ask Seungkwan to come with us, he’d have fun” Seokmin suggested.

“No” Soonyoung found himself saying.

“Why?” Seokmin asked him surprised.

“Because if he comes… it wouldn’t be a date” Soonyoung said and Seokmin chuckled.

“Alright… then we won’t tell him” Seokmin smiled.

They both finished their ice creams and Soonyoung sat a bit closer to Seokmin. Then he rested his head on the younger’s shoulder.

“I’m so tired after riding the bike” Soonyoung whined and Seokmin chuckled.

“Didn’t you tell me you weren’t tired?” Seokmin asked him.

“Yeah… but after resting for a bit I realized I was tired”

“Liar” Seokmin and Soonyoung sat up and glared at Seokmin “Ok, I believe you” Seokmin took back what he just said and he pulled Soonyoung back to the previous position, now resting his own head on Soonyoung’s.

They stayed like that for about 30 minutes. Watching the river, the people around them, commenting on what they saw and explaining stories to each other about what happened once when they went to Han River or whatever.

“I do have a crush” Soonyoung said surprising Seokmin.

“Are you sure?” the boy asked and Soonyoung sat up and looked at him.

“Yes” he nodded and smiled.

“That’s great” Seokmin smiled, showing his full smile, almost blinding Soonyoung.

“B-but I’m really confused, if I’m honest, I’ve never expected to like a guy” Soonyoung said and Seokmin laughed.

“I get it, it’s ok, I won’t rush anything, I want you to be as sure as possible before doing anything else” Seokmin said “I’m pretty confused myself as well”

“We’ll figure it out” Soonyoung assured Seokmin.

“How did you realize you have a crush on me?” Seokmin asked with a smirk plastered on his face.

“You’re not supposed to ask that, Seokmin” Soonyoung glared at him “You’re really weird”

“But tell me!” Seokmin whined.

“No way” Soonyoung refused and Seokmin pouted.

“Come on, come on, come ooon” Seokmin kept saying and Soonyoung still refused. The younger one threw himself on top of Soonyoung when the later turned his back on Seokmin crossing his arms over his chest.

“Seokmin, you’re really heavy!” Soonyoung complained.

“Come on, tell me!” Seokmin kept saying.

“Ok!” Soonyoung yelled “I take it back”

“You take what back?” Seokmin asked removing himself from Soonyoung.

“What I said about having a crush”

“You can’t take it back” Seokmin smirked “The feelings are still there” he laughed and Soonyoung glared at him.

“I really hate you” Soonyoung said and he laid down resting his head on Seokmin’s crossed legs.

“It doesn’t seem like it” he teased the older.

“Shut up” Soonyoung said, and he couldn’t help a smile appear on his face.