Spring’s sweet and the air is green and the breeze is cool and refreshing, like a sip of lemonade.

It’s been like that for a while; Junmyeon never really payed attention to the seasons, and it wasn’t his job anyway. A year has passed and they’re college freshmen now, slightly wiser and not older at all. They’re still sitting under a tree and they’re still leaning on each other through thick and thin, and Junmyeon depends on Yixing more than he would like to admit, because to him it’s still ironic that Yixing doesn’t need his help at all.

Yixing sighs and lets the back of his head touch the tree’s trunk behind him, closing his eyes to hear nature’s call. “I love spring so much,” he mumbles happily, a tiny grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Everything feels so much lighter, don’t you think?”

A bird chirps in the canopy above them and Junmyeon scratches the back of his neck. “I do,” he admits openly, looking at the boy sitting next to him with nothing short of love in his eyes. Yixing’s hair is slightly longer at the front, falling into his warm brown eyes and framing his face perfectly; Junmyeon has to resist the urge to kiss the crown of his hair, because then Yixing will demand an explanation, like he always does.

Flowers bloom everywhere.

"I really don’t think you do," Yixing states good-heartedly, lacing his fingers with Junmyeon’s and giving his hand an affectionate squeeze, as if saying, You’re dumb, but I still love you. “Spring is not something you can simply understand. It’s like trying to shove a word into a bottle, or trying to create perpetum mobile. It’s impossible.”

"Then why did you ask me that?" Junmyeon protests, more than a little offended. "Geez, if I’d known that you were going to say something deep and inspirational, I would’ve just kept quiet."

The other boy snorts and shakes his head disapprovingly. Birds fly above and fluffy white clouds sail in pure blue skies, sending their shadows down to say hello to passer-bys. “You might as well just not talk at all.”

It’s quiet for a while and Junmyeon opens his heart and tries to listen to what spring has to say. Yixing’s head dips a few times before coming to rest on Junmyeon’s shoulder, his eyes closed and his breaths even, and Junmyeon finally realizes.

"You can’t isolate spring," he says out loud, and he doesn’t care that Yixing isn’t awake to hear him say that, or that he probably sounds like a complete idiot. He gets it. "Spring is vast and it’s not always the same. The weather changes, nature changes, the way people think of spring changes. You can’t isolate spring."

A green grasshopper lands on the ground next to his thigh, and Junmyeon smiles at it. Leaves block the sun. Time crawls on.

Yixing shifts a little, turning to bury his face in the juncture between Junmyeon’s neck and shoulder. “Now you’re getting it,” he mumbles lovingly, his lips pressing against warm skin, sending tiny fireworks up Junmyeon’s spine.

There’s no way to describe this moment in just a sentence; it’s like trying to shove a word into a bottle- it just won’t fit, because different people see the world in different ways and words don’t always live up to real life anyway. But if Junmyeon had to, he’d describe this moment as pure, green spring.