“Make sure you get back here before seven!”

                “I will, mom!”

                With that Zelo closed the door of his parents’ hotel room. He went there some time later after they had their breakfast together, just to tell them he was going out for a walk. Sure, his suite in that grand hotel had everything he needed to avoid him from getting bored but since he had already came this far to this city, he should take a chance to take a look around. Moreover, it’s the city of Busan.

                Who knew he would end up being in Daehyun’s hometown. If his parents could tell him earlier where they would be going after he was forced to leave in the middle of the school trip, there’s a possibility that he would bring Daehyun along. He wouldn’t be so bored then.

                He didn’t plan to go far from the hotel but he was searching for a place to ride on his skateboard. The sidewalk was full of locals and tourists so he didn’t want to take a risk in causing a scene there if he accidentally collided with one of them. The best choice was to go to a park. But he still didn’t see one after half an hour of walking.

                Zelo halted his steps for a second to wipe the sweats off his forehead. The blaring sun made him drenched and thirsty. Looking around, he spotted a convenience store and without thinking twice, he went there because something cool would be really great right now.

                His feet brought him to the fridge in instinct. He stood there, scanning all kinds of beverages the store got as his hand was already holding onto the handle of the fridge door. But before he could make a decision, someone called out his name from his side.

                “Zelo…?”

                Zelo whipped his head towards the voice and he was greeted by a surprised look of his one and only roommate. He should’ve been surprised too but he may have felt a bit…happy? He was not really sure so he didn’t know what kind of face he should wear now.

                “What a rare chance of bumping into you here. What are you up to?”

                Daehyun’s question snapped Zelo out of his reverie. “Oh…” He turned his body to properly face the older boy, his hand was still stuck to the fridge handle while the other was fixing his cap. “Um… I followed my parents on their business trip,” He spoke up before adding with a roll of his eyes, “Well, forced to follow them, you know, that family meeting?”

                “Ah… But why didn’t you tell me you’re coming to Busan?” Daehyun sounded like he was whining, as if he was pretending to sulk over it.

                Zelo was somehow amused by that. He folded his arms across his chest. “I thought you’re still going on the student council’s trip. It’s supposed to end today, right?,” He said in return. “So why are you already here?”

                Right after those words left Zelo’s mouth, Daehyun’s expression changed. His face immediately darkened and Zelo thought he had said something wrong.

                “I’m… not feeling well. So I returned early,” Daehyun uttered casually.

                Zelo arched up an eyebrow. “Really? You look fine to me.”

                “I feel better after coming home,” Daehyun shrugged his shoulders. “Why aren’t you with your parents?” He created a new topic.

                “My dad has a meeting right now and my mom will be hanging out with the wives of my father’s colleagues later.”

                “I see…” Daehyun nodded in acknowledgement.

                “Where are you heading to after this?”

                “I’m actually on my way to my grandma’s house,”

                Right, his grandma, the one he’s really close with, Zelo thought. No wonder Daehyun was clutching bread, milk and some snacks in his hands. His grandmother must’ve asked him to run an errand for her.

                “Really? Can I come with you?” Zelo voiced out.

                Daehyun had a thought for a moment before nodding his head. “If you’re okay with it, I won’t mind.”

(｡◕‿◕｡)

                Both of them took a bus to go to Daehyun’s grandmother’s village. Daehyun had switched from being Zelo’s roommate to Zelo’s tour guide. He was constantly telling the younger what’s this and what’s that along their journey by the bus.

                When they got off, they had to walk some distance into the village. Zelo helped Daehyun carried one of the grocery bags while at the same time, he was busy taking pictures of the beautiful sights he could rarely see in his hometown, Seoul. Sometimes, he would secretly include Daehyun in his shots and sometimes he would purposely tell the older boy to pose for them. In some way, he also managed to take some selcas with his roommate.

                Eventually, they arrived at grandmother’s place; a traditional Korean house. Daehyun took off his shoes and Zelo copied his act, setting his skateboard against the wall afterwards.

                “Halmeoni, I’m home!” Daehyun exclaimed after sliding the wooden door open, welcoming Zelo into the house.

                “I’m in the kitchen!” An elderly woman's voice shouted back.

                Daehyun went to find his grandmother with Zelo tailing behind him. “Halmeoni, I’ve brought a friend with me,” He announced.

                The old woman who was cutting some vegetables at the table lifted her head up to have a look. She smiled widely once she laid her eyes on the tall young boy. “Hello, there!”

                Zelo bowed to her politely. She reminded him of his own grandmother, the one he wasn’t really close to because of her strict nature. They didn’t look so old and were still fit to do the house chores. But Daehyun’s grandmother had some sort of warmth radiating around her. It made him felt welcomed there.

                “This is my friend Zelo,” Daehyun introduced the other. He took over the plastic bag from Zelo’s grip and put those bags together on the table. “He’s from Seoul,” He informed properly to his grandmother so that she wouldn’t use her thick Busan accent on the city boy. “He came here for a business trip with his parents and I met him at the convenience store by chance.

                “Oh,” She paused for a moment, probably to set her mind on the normal accent she should be using with the boy. “Welcome to Busan! I’m sorry but what’s your name again?”

                “It’s Zelo,” Daehyun repeated on his friend’s behalf.

                “Just call me Junhong, halmeoni,” Zelo chimed in.

                “That’s more like it. Have you had lunch yet?”

                “Sadly, no,” Zelo pouted while rubbing his empty stomach.

                “Then you should have lunch with us,” Daehyun’s grandmother suggested.

                “Sure!”

                Daehyun straightaway helped his grandmother to cook without being asked. He told Zelo to rest anywhere in the house or go to his room if the younger wanted to. But Zelo insisted to give a hand too so Daehyun’s grandmother had him clean the bean sprouts. It’s the simplest thing to do in the kitchen; just get rid of the black parts, compared to Daehyun who was standing by the stove, handling two pots at a time.

                Zelo would make a conversation with Daehyun’s grandmother once in a while. But with Daehyun’s back facing him, he had a good time admiring his roommate from behind. Daehyun never joined in the conversation though. The older boy seemed to be totally immersed in his own world.

                Zelo noticed something. Ever since he met Daehyun at the convenience store, he could sense something was off. He knew Daehyun was hiding something from him. He was sure something happened on the school trip while he was gone. But he didn’t know how to dig it out when Daehyun was acting nonchalant about it.

                The lunch was done and Zelo was drowned in the heavenly taste of the dishes in his mouth. He almost cried as he stuffed more food, gobbling it up like he hadn’t eaten in days. This was the real Korean meal! Not like whatever he had at the hotel or the little amount of dishes his maid made at home or the plain food he had at the school cafeteria.

                Daehyun was amused seeing his roommate having such appetite. He felt full just by looking at Zelo eating. And his grandmother absolutely loved someone like that, who could eat up all of her cooking. She kept telling Zelo to have more and Zelo was really glad to do that.

                “Wow, I’m so full! My stomach had never been this full since kindergarten,” Zelo commented as he flopped down onto Daehyun’s bed. Daehyun only chuckled at him while cleaning up some mess in the room.

                Zelo looked around the small area. His own room was ten times larger than this but somehow Daehyun’s room was very neat in contrast to his total wrecked room. Even his maid didn’t know where to start cleaning that they decided to just clean his room on the weekends.

               “So you have your own room here,” Zelo spoke up.

               “Well, since I always come here and sleep over, halmeoni decided to make this room mine,” Daehyun pulled out the chair from his study desk and sat across the other.

               “Your siblings aren’t jealous of you?”

               Daehyun shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes?”

               “What about your cousins?”

               “They can use the other rooms but they rarely visit here anyway.”

               “And this is my first time in a village. I don’t think my own grandparents have ever lived somewhere like here,” Zelo shot up to go to look out the window. The wind was still blowing despite the shining sun and the view was full of green trees. He averted his eyes back to the Busan boy. “Aren’t you going to show me around?”

                Daehyun stood up with a frown. He stepped up to stand next to the taller boy to have a look outside too. “There’s nothing to show you here.”

                “But I’d love to have a look around,” Zelo gripped Daehyun’s arm, tugging it like a pleading child. “Come on, it’s rare for me to get a chance like this.”

                “Fine.” Daehyun breathed out, finally giving in to Zelo’s request.

(｡◕‿◕｡)

                Zelo was certainly a five year old, Daehyun thought. They had walked further into the village and Zelo was all jumpy and excited every time he saw something; a field of crops, chickens in barn, a stork, a goat, even a wheelbarrow. Daehyun could just facepalm whenever Zelo went “Oh! Oh oh oh! Ohhhhhhh!!!”

                And now Zelo was observing a frog on the side of the road. Daehyun stood still behind the crouched city boy with arms crossed over his chest. The wind started to blow harder so he looked up to the sky. It was slowly getting cloudy.

                “Looks like it’s going to rain,” Daehyun uttered.

                Zelo immediately stood up but something behind Daehyun caught his eyes. “What’s that?”

                Daehyun turned his head to where Zelo was pointing. “That’s mud field. I always play there when I was a kid.”

                He turned back to Zelo and a deep frown appeared on his face when he found the younger was staring at him with a huge grin.

                “It’s not wrong to play after you grew up,” Zelo wiggled his eyebrows.

                “What do you me-”

                Before Daehyun could finish his sentence, Zelo pulled his hand, causing him to stumble forward. The long legged boy began to run towards the mud field and Daehyun was struggling to match up with the steps that were twice as his.

                “Wait! Your clothes will get dirty! Take off your shoes!!” Daehyun warned out loud.

                Zelo stopped abruptly, resulting in Daehyun almost crashing onto the ground. Thanks to Zelo’s strong grasp of his hand, he was pulled back and saved from getting his face plummeted onto the ground.

                “Okay, I’ll take off my shoes but I don’t care about my clothes,” Zelo removed everything including the socks until he was bare feet.

                Out of a sudden, Daehyun had his glasses stolen away from him and before he could react, he found himself being lifted from the land. He let out a loud yelp when his stomach was on Zelo’s broad shoulder, his hands and legs dangling in the air. His shoes were quickly taken off by the excited boy and before he could say anything in protest, Zelo was already running on the mud field.

                “No! Put me down!!” Daehyun yelled.

                With hysterical laughing, Zelo actually obeyed. He carefully but quickly put Daehyun down, the victim’s sunk into the deep mud.

                Daehyun was annoyed as hell. He slowly pulled out his mud dipped hands with a face of a murderer. However, Zelo ignored that fact and smeared more mud on Daehyun’s face instead. Then he laughed like a maniac again.

                Daehyun gritted his teeth while glowering at the irritating face of an overjoyed city boy. Without a second thought, his hand collected the mud before throwing it towards Zelo. Unfortunately for him, rather than the body, the mud hit Zelo’s head. Zelo flinched back and Daehyun gasped.

                “I’m sorry!!!” Daehyun tried to get up to check on Zelo but the mud was really slowing him down. He was still struggling to stand on his feet after a whole minute. When he was on all fours, a glob of the dirt suddenly struck his arm. And there’s the annoying laughing voice again.

                “Hit me if you can!” Zelo dared before running further from the older boy.

                Daehyun chased the other right away after he managed to get up. A war of mud had started. Both of them kept returning the hits they received, taking turns in chasing and being chased, helping each other when one of them was stuck in the mud. They were playing like the time when they’re still kids and the smile never left their faces.

                Zelo felt relieved, as if he had accomplished his mission. He could finally see Daehyun’s genuine smile again. Every time the older boy laughed, his heart fluttered in delight too and he would take a moment to admire the beauty before his eyes.

                Much to their dismay, the rain started pouring down. Both Daehyun and Zelo halted their steps to look up at the dark sky.

                “Awhhh, just when we’re starting to have fun…” Zelo complained. He kept his narrowed eyes at the raining clouds. Quite a while later, he realized that the other boy had turned silent.

                Zelo shifted his gaze to Daehyun. The older was still standing there, the raindrops washing away the mud on his body. His face was almost cleaned nicely as he kept it up facing the sky. But his eyes were closed when those tiny droplets fell into his face and slid down his smooth skin.

                That’s when Zelo noticed it. Daehyun was actually crying. He sure Daehyun was and he didn’t hesitate to approach him. His hand unwittingly moved onto Daehyun’s small back.

                “Are you okay?” He whispered.

                Daehyun was quick to drop his head. He rubbed his face a couple of times and slicked back his wet hair. Then he turned to the younger, nodding at him with a faint smile.

                “Then what’s with the tears?”

                Daehyun tensed for a second but he swiftly covered it up by laughing it off. “They’re not! It’s the rain.”

                When Zelo didn’t seem to believe him and kept the inquiring gaze on him, Daehyun thought of another way to escape the awkward situation. “We should hurry home before the rain gets heavier,” He initiated the walk, shuffling out of the murky mud field to grab his things and jogged along the path to his grandmother’s house.

                Zelo heaved a deep sigh, his hands resting on his hips. He was one step closer to make Daehyun spill out the thing that had been bugging him. Now that it had turned out to be like this, maybe Daehyun would probably tell him about it sooner or later. If Daehyun needed some time for himself, he would surely give it to him.

(｡◕‿◕｡)

                Checking himself in front of the long mirror hanged on Daehyun’s bedroom wall, Zelo found that the older boy’s shirt was a little too small for him. After making some weird body gestures, he decided to change to a thick sweater instead, or he would end up ripping the shirt. Even the sweater could barely fit his large built and he was already hot after a few minutes even without zipping the front. Thank god Daehyun’s shorts looked quite alright on him, if not only an inch shorter above his knees.

                Daehyun’s grandmother had asked for his wet clothes right after he arrived at her house. She said that she would wash them for him and quickly dry them since they were the only pair he got. Of course he didn’t bring anything with him when he randomly followed Daehyun here, except for his iPhone, iPod, wallet and skateboard.

                Speaking of the Busan boy, Zelo didn’t see him since he got out of shower. Daehyun’s grandmother was the one who told him to borrow Daehyun’s clothes in the meanwhile. So he stepped out of the room to search for the other. The house was quite big if he could’ve explored it thoroughly.

                He bumped into Daehyun’s grandmother on the way. The old woman was carrying a hamper full of clothes, maybe intending to wash them as well. Zelo volunteered to help but she rejected him.

                “If you’re looking for Daehyun, he’s outside, sitting alone at the corridor,” She said.

                “Oh…yeah, I was looking for him.”

                “I don’t know if you’re a close friend of him or not, but I really want that boy to talk to someone. He’s acting really strange ever since he came back from his school trip. I wonder what’s bothering him so much. He wouldn’t tell me no matter how many times I asked about it,” She confided in concern.

                “Actually, I kind of noticed it too. Don’t worry, halmeoni. I’ll try to do everything I can to cheer him up,” He convinced her with a reassuring smile.

(｡◕‿◕｡)

                Zelo inhaled deeply before opening the sliding door. It was already dark outside but he could still catch a glimpse of the familiar skinny figure sitting at the end of the corridor.

                Daehyun had turned his head when he heard the door opened. As he saw Zelo was already approaching him, he hastily hid his face by looking down, his hands were busy wiping his eyes under the glasses using the long sleeve of his shirt.

                Zelo quietly sat himself next to Daehyun. He stared at him while his mind was busy thinking of a way to start a conversation. It was silent except for the sound of the drizzling rain. But despite that, Daehyun still didn’t lift his head.

                “I’m borrowing your clothes,” Zelo blurted out the most appropriate words that crossed his mind.

                Slowly, Daehyun turned to look at Zelo’s body, still having his head downcast. “I see…” As slow as he was, he only realized that Zelo’s front torso was showing after a few seconds. Blush crept up to his cheeks. He wondered why Zelo didn’t zip it up. He then realized again that Zelo was wearing a thick black sweater which he would usually use during winter.

                “It’s quite warm. Why are you wearing that?” Daehyun finally looked up, linking their eyes together.

                Zelo saw how red and swollen Daehyun’s eyes were. He concluded that the older boy was crying for a long time before he came and it only made his chest tightened. “This one fits me the best. Others fit like a glove.”

                Daehyun’s lips stretched into a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked so sad that Zelo couldn’t bear watching it anymore.

                “What’s the real reason you left the trip?” Zelo asked frankly.

                Daehyun’s smile disappeared. He dropped his gaze back to his shoeless feet. He was really trapped right now. He knew he could never lie to his younger roommate. The boy seemed to know everything about him just in a single glance. He really wished Zelo could be by his side all this time and now that the said person was really here, he shouldn’t waste this rare chance, right?

                He sighed heavily, mustering all his courage to speak about it out loud. “I s-saw Yongguk h-hyung and Y-Youngjae…o-on the b-bed…”

                Before he could even finish his sentence, Daehyun was already a crying mess. He couldn’t hold it in when he’s in front of Zelo anymore. He didn’t want Zelo to know in the first place but when he thought back, Zelo was the only one who he could tell about it.

                Daehyun took off his glasses to put it aside. He was sobbing so hard he couldn’t even slow down. His hands were constantly rubbing his eyes but the tears kept on flowing.

                Zelo chewed his lip while rolling his eyes at the mention of the two jerks who were responsible in hurting Daehyun. His heart clenched painfully at the sight of the crying boy. A beautiful person like Daehyun didn’t deserve to be hurt like this.

                Zelo shifted closer to the other before enveloping the small shaking body in his arms. Daehyun didn’t push him away. The older seemed to calm down a bit but the tears were yet to stop and he just let them wet his bare chest.

                “You shouldn’t cry over something like that…” Zelo muttered, his chin moving against Daehyun’s smooth hair.

                “I d-don’t k-know…why am I c-crying…” Daehyun hiccupped in between his reply.

                “You’re mad at them?” Zelo rubbed Daehyun’s back to help him reduce the hiccups.

                There’s a long pause before Daehyun thought he could speak more properly. “I don’t t-think I’m mad at them. I just felt…left out. They’re my b-best friends. Why didn’t they tell me that they’re to-together? Why did they seem so g-guilty when I found them doing…that? I felt like I was a nuisance to them…and they’re s-slowly drifting away from me. Yongguk hyung said that I’ve changed b-but what about them? Does he think he’s still the s-same person as before?” Daehyun poured out all his feelings to Zelo without any filter, his fists tightly gripping to the sweater.

                Zelo looked down to Daehyun, his cheek pressed onto the latter’s temple. “Well, people change. I…don’t know what to say but, I heard that friendship can hurt more than love. Maybe they’re not serious with each other,” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they’re just playing around. You know, buddies. That’s why they don’t want to tell you about it, afraid if you’d be disgusted by them.”

                “But why?” Daehyun whispered in return. “Why did Yongguk hyung want to do it with Youngjae?”

                Zelo stopped rubbing Daehyun’s back before pulling apart from the older boy. He held onto Daehyun’s arms as he stared into the other pair of teary eyes. “You wanted him to choose you instead?”

                “No!” Daehyun denied heartily. “I don’t think they’re like that. It’s not like them to do something like that…”

                Zelo exhaled, his grips slid down the arms to Daehyun’s hands. “Do you still like him? Yongguk hyung?

                Daehyun blinked his eyes a couple of times, not expecting the question to suddenly pop out from Zelo’s mouth. He averted his gaze down. “I…confessed to him…before that,” He then looked up at Zelo in a confused state of mind. “But after everything that happened… I don’t know anymore…”

                Zelo didn’t say something right away. Instead of feeling disappointed, he actually felt proud of Daehyun who was being so brave to finally admit his feeling to Yongguk. “What did he say?”

                Daehyun recalled every incidents of last night before shaking his head. “Nothing…? I don’t know because I went away after that and when I got back…” His speech was cut off when he was getting teary again.

                Zelo scoffed in disbelief. Just how could Yongguk do such things with Youngjae after Daehyun had seriously confessed to him? Really, he would’ve punched that scumbag if he was there.

               Zelo brought up his palm to Daehyun’s cheek. “I think you’ve liked him long enough until you only see him in your eyes,” His thumb was caressing the skin under Daehyun’s eye, grazing over the tiny mole that enhanced Daehyun’s beauty. “Won’t you try to look around you? Won’t you give a chance to someone else who wants to love you?”

                That exact moment, Daehyun felt like another door was opened for him as he gazed into Zelo’s longing eyes. They were drawing him in and he could do nothing but to let himself be enraptured by the other. Only then he realized, he had been longing for this person too.

                Zelo slipped his hand around Daehyun’s thin neck, the other hand was still gripping the smaller one. In the blink of an eye, he was already claiming Daehyun’s rosy lips in a breathless kiss.

                Daehyun shut his eyes, feeling the warmth of Zelo’s soft lips pressing against his. His heart was thumping loudly, his head was tilted to the side as Zelo deepened their kiss. His body was gradually leaning backwards but their lips kept moving together in sync. It was so dreamy-like that Daehyun wished this moment could last forever. That’s when a ringing sound broke their lovely silence.

                Zelo pulled apart in surprise. He looked so agitated while Daehyun seemed to have his soul out from his body. Zelo wanted to say something to the older boy but the phone was ringing nonstop. So he thought it’s better to finish the business with whoever the caller was.

                He fished out the phone from his pocket and grunted when he saw his mother’s name on it. A woman’s shrill voice could be heard as soon as he answered it. Daehyun was finally back to the real world. He frowned at Zelo who was repeating the same words of ‘yes’, ‘okay’ and ‘I know’ over the phone.

                “It’s my mother,” Zelo uttered after he hung up. “She told me to get back now,” He scratched his head awkwardly.

                “Ah…” Daehyun didn’t want Zelo to go. He wanted him to stay by his side tonight. But nothing could come out from his mouth, not even asking what just happened between them.

                “I’ll…go get my things…” Zelo got up and went into the house.

                A minute later, he came out together with Daehyun’s grandmother. She told him to be careful on his way back and made him promised to pay a visit again. Zelo thanked her for everything and decided to just leave his still damped clothes here.

               He then turned to Daehyun who was still seated at the same spot. The older boy hadn’t put on his glasses back. He wondered if Daehyun could saw the smile he was craving for him.

                “I’ll see you again, Daehyun hyung,” Zelo said normally. Daehyun only nodded back at him with a straight face.

                After saying his finaly goodbye to Daehyun’s grandmother, Zelo finally left the house for real. Daehyun had never felt so lonely in his life. It got colder in every step Zelo took, walking away from him.

                When the younger boy was out of sight, Daehyun heard his grandmother calling him in and he quickly obeyed her.

                Daehyun didn’t cry anymore that night but he couldn’t sleep either. His mind was busy piecing everything together and sorting out his messed up feelings. What about the warm kiss Zelo gave him? It’s the second one so far. What about the fluttering feeling in his chest when Zelo did that? Why didn’t he push him away? Did Zelo like him? Did he like Zelo? He didn’t know about anything anymore.

(｡◕‿◕｡)ﾉ

Mid-sem break is nearing and I wish I can update more often by then...

But BAP is making a comeback!! So if I don't update as often, you must know that I'm busy fangirling over them >.<

Thanks to all upvoters, subscribers, readers and commenters!!! I love you guys ♥♥♥