This chapter and several following it were inspired by royalvelvet

It was a long day at work for the both of them. Jinki could practically see Jonghyun's exhaustion escape the younger's body in waves, so he constantly worried about what he could do to make Jonghyun feel better. While they worked, Jonghyun would sometimes sneak glances at Jinki and smile widely to him, making the elder blush and smile right back, and neither thought of their fatigue until the initial warmth of seeing each other faded away. 

It'd been a month since they confessed their love to each other, and in another two months, Jonghyun was to become an artist. Jinki's heart swelled in pride whenever he thought of Jonghyun's progress, as the male's vocals became stronger and more passionate each passing day. 

After Jonghyun's vocal lessons for the day ended, Jinki snuck up behind the slightly shorter male and gave him a gentle back massage, "Are you ready to head home?"

Though Jonghyun's body slouched forward and Jinki could see his eyes droop, the younger shook his head defiantly, "There's somewhere I want to go with you, first."

Jinki's eyebrow shot up and he stopped his hand movements, "What are you planning, Jonghyun?"

Jonghyun merely took the opportunity to grab Jinki's hand and pull him out to the front of the building. Jonghyun flagged a taxi, which was when Jinki realized they weren't going home, since his house was only a few blocks away.

"Where are we going?" Jinki tugged on his hand and stood stubbornly for an answer as a taxi stopped in front of them, but Jonghyun somehow got him into the taxi and sat down next to him. 

"The beach, please." Jonghyun was addressing the driver, but he was smiling widely and glancing at the elder through the corner of his eye, "Does that answer your question?"

The elder could feel his cheeks heating up, because he had always had a fascination with the beach, but he'd never had the time to go to the beach. His excitement quelled down, however, when he realized that Jonghyun was still slouching and trying to hide his fatigue. Jinki turned his head to watch Jonghyun, his narrowed eyes telling Jonghyun he didn't particularly want to go out at that time.

"What are you giving me that look for?" Jonghyun's eyes widened as he made contact with the elder, leaning away in case Jinki would swing at him.

"You're tired." Jinki could even feel a pout form as he spoke, turning to the window with a sulking expression, resulting in Jonghyun's light hearted chuckles. He reached over and shoved Jonghyun lightly, a sigh escaping his lips, "It's not funny, idiot."

Jonghyun caught his hand again and pulled Jinki to him, and in shock, Jinki let his head crash onto Jonghyun's shoulder, the younger sifting through his hair as he'd done several times before.

"You're right that it's not funny." Jonghyun's voice was soft and he pressed a kiss onto Jinki's temple, "And I might be tired, but you don't know how long I've been waiting for the chance to go on a date with you."

"Date...?" Jinki was confused at the words, since they were already married and thus didn't need to go on further dates. Jinki's own fingers were playing with Jonghyun's, as the younger had never let go of him, "Most couples go on dates before they get married, you know."

The younger chuckled again, a beautiful sound that had Jinki's cheeks heating up more. Jinki looked up at Jonghyun, and Jonghyun pulled his fingers out of the elder's hair in order to gently cup his cheek and kiss him on the lips.

"But we're not like most couples, now are we?" Jonghyun pulled back slightly, just to whisper against Jinki's lips.

Jinki merely rolled his eyes and pulled himself away, turning back to the window and ignoring the other as he watched the scenery pass by their taxi. Though he was absolutely touched that Jonghyun would want to go out on a date with him, there was no ignoring the fact that the younger was exhausted.

The latter sighed and leaned against Jinki's shoulder, shutting his eyes, "Fine, I'll sleep until we get there. How does that sound?"

Somewhat satisfied about Jonghyun's answer, Jinki smiled and kissed the top of his head before turning back to the window once more. He didn't know how far away the beach was, so he could only hope it was at least half an hour away. It was only five minutes, however, and while Jinki was slightly distracted by the sand and water, he didn't know Jonghyun was still awake enough to pay for their ride. When he did notice, Jonghyun had already jumped out of the car and ran over to his side, opening the door and smiling widely.

Jinki would have liked to get angry at the male's behavior, but he decided against it due to Jonghyun's sweetness, and grumbled as he stepped out of the car. Jonghyun slipped his shoes off and then held his hand out, and being left with no choice, Jinki followed suit, and trudged beside the younger as he made his way onto the sand.

He discovered almost instantly that sand was his least favorite kind of rock material to walk on and scowled as he tugged on Jonghyun's hand, "Can I put my shoes back on?"

Jonghyun gave Jinki a look that seriously rivaled one of Kibum's "what are you saying?" looks and laughed softly, shaking his head, "Trust me when I say you'll enjoy having no shoes on."

Before Jinki could question him on what that meant, they walked down the sand and onto the most shallow parts of the water, where Jinki cautiously took a step into the water and could hear himself laugh brightly as the water and sand moved against his feet, chilling and soothing them at the same time. It wasn't long before they let go of each other's hands and started splashing water at each other with their feet, Jinki finally running out of the water an hour later with soaked pants and pruned feet.

It was then that Jinki realized the sun was setting, and with a soft gasp, he plopped himself onto the sand. Jonghyun just watched him for a moment from the water, a small and fond smile playing his lips for a few moments before he followed the elder's example and took a seat next to Jinki. As if on impulse, Jinki leaned closer to Jonghyun and wrapped his arm around the male's back, and Jonghyun quickly did the same to him.

"It's beautiful." Jonghyun was the first to speak, and it was in a simple tone, one that spoke volumes about the natural beauty of the beach.

Jinki turned his head to glance at Jonghyun for a moment, before that moment turned into minutes of him simply taking in what was the most beautiful person he'd ever laid eyes on. Jonghyun's face was exhausted still, but the younger had a wide grin on his face and his eyes twinkled as he watched the sun finally disappear. Jinki couldn't help but squeeze the younger lightly, turning his gaze back to the sky.

"Yeah." That is all he could respond with without sounding like a cheesy fool who was obviously falling head over heels for the man in his embrace.

They sat there a while longer before Jonghyun snapped to his senses, bringing confusion to Jinki as the younger stood up and hauled Jinki up with him.

"He's going to kill me." Jonghyun didn't look at Jinki as he started walking again, but his arm was still wrapped tightly around the elder that stumbled to march his shockingly fast pace.

"What do you mean?" Jinki sputtered, but Jonghyun was too busy murmuring to himself to hear, and Jinki simply followed after him to see what was going on, before his eyes widened at what he saw.

Just a few feet away sat a picnic blanket, as well as food, and a tall candle that hopefully wouldn't tip over and cause for the rest of of the things to catch fire. Jinki slowly pulled his arm away from the younger, who had turned to see his reaction, and walked over to the blanket. He took a seat on the blanket and chuckled, looking back at Jonghyun.

"Alright, who helped you with all of this?" 

Jonghyun grinned lightly and stepped over to the other side of the blanket and sat down, leaning back on his arms as he spoke, "Kibum told me he'd help me as long as I gave him a plan. So..."

He didn't say anymore. He didn't have to, either, because the next moment, Jinki had leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips, "You're amazing, Kim Jonghyun."

The younger kissed back, and when Jinki pulled back, Jonghyun grinned up at him and sneakily wrapped a hand around the back of Jinki's neck, pulling back into a slightly heated kiss.

Jinki didn't pull away for a few moments, simply because he believed Jonghyun deserved the kiss after how thoughtful he had been, but even he was exhausted and had to pull away eventually. They ate while holding hands, and at the end of their dinner, Jinki packed everything including the blanket into the basket before the two stood and walked in the direction of their home.

As they walked home, they talked about everything that was on their minds; Jinki's parents who lived a few hours away and ran a butchery, Jonghyun's parents' upcoming death anniversary, Jonghyun's approaching debut, Woohyun and Kibum's wedding, and their own plans for the future as a married couple.

"I say we get another puppy." Jonghyun suggested, his grin stretching into a slight smirk, "Roo has been getting lonely lately."

"No." Jinki shot down the thought immediately. It wasn't anything against the pup in particular, but he was still terribly scared when Roo barked for no reason, or ran at Jinki for a petting when Jinki actually thought the pup was trying to bite him.

"A child, then?" Jonghyun was more hesitant about this, and Jinki knew it was his insecurities of the past speaking.

Jinki stopped walking immediately and turned halfway, pulling the younger into a tight hug and smiling gently as he kissed Jonghyun's ear, "I think it's a little early for us to talk about having children around, but I know that one day, if we do decide to have children, you'd be an amazing father."

Jonghyun relaxed into his hold, and Jinki had to bite back his chuckles when remembering how tense the younger probably was. When he deemed himself relaxed enough to speak again, Jonghyun sent the elder a smile that had his cheeks heat up once more, "I love you, Jinki."

And then, it was the elder's turn to be unable to speak as he turned away and kept walking. Though he'd already admitted his feelings for the younger, every time he tried to sat it after, it'd just end in Jinki blushing and flapping his lips around like a fish. Like he was then.

"Sometimes I feel like a e. You're so adorable you can pass off as a five year old." The younger snorted lightly as he spoke, and Jinki's eyebrows raised as he didn't know how to react. Jonghyun took the confusion as the perfect opportunity and leaned up to kiss the elder once more,

They parted and kept walking, flirting as they went and occasionally stopping each other with kisses. It was a surprise to Jinki that they even made it home, and Jinki quickly claimed the bathroom to ready himself for bed. When he stepped out of the bathroom and into their bedroom, Jonghyun was already fast asleep. Jinki smiled fondly and undressed the male, replacing his day's clothes with his pajamas and trying to not look at his body. After giving the younger another peck on the forehead, Jinki laid down and curled himself against Jonghyun's body, letting his exhausted eyes shut.

And maybe it was a dream, but he could swear that a muscular arm draped itself around his waist and kept searching until the hand connected to it found Jinki's and laced their fingers together.