Hojoon gently tugged Jiho out of the cafeteria and around the corner of the hallway before stopping and turning to sigh in frustration.

 

“Jiho, don’t you remember what we talked about?”

 

Jiho tilted his head to the side, as if he were in deep thought, then opened his mouth and whispered a hushed “Ohhhh”.

 

~~~~~Flashback to yesterday in the History classroom~~~~~

 

“Hey—where are we going?”

 

“Just to the History classroom, I’m kinda curious….”

 

Jiho’s eyebrows furrowed together as he was led out of the cafeteria and down the hallways until they both arrived in front of the History classroom. Jiho’s face flushed a bright pink color as Hojoon squeezed his hand before letting it go as he dug around in his pocket, searching for something. Jiho smiled bashfully, nibbling on his lower lip as he watched Hojoon as he pulled out a key from his pocket, sighing with relief with a victorious smile on his face.

 

“Found it, finally.”

 

“Hojoon?”

 

Hojoon looked up, his smile faltering slightly as the look on Jiho’s face made him feel concerned.

 

“Hmm?”

 

Jiho shifted his eyes away from Hojoon worried gaze as his cheeks flushed a deeper red color as he mumbled,

 

“Wh-what exactly are you doing?”

 

Hojoon let out a long sigh, a comforting smile softened his previously concerned features as he unlocked the door to the History classroom and pushed the door in, gesturing for Jiho to enter first. Jiho hesitated, shooting Hojoon a glance of uncertainty, only to be met by Hojoon shaking his in mild disapproval.

 

 “Tsk… Jiho, why are you so nervous? I’m just going to ask you something” he joked.

 

Jiho walked into the dark classroom, gulping as Jiho followed him inside but left the door open, allowing some light from the hallway to stream in. He nearly jumped out of his skin as Hojoon suddenly spoke in the presently dark room.

 

“Oh, hey, yeah this isn’t right—hang on.”

 

Hojoon stepped towards the wall and flicked the light switch on, flooding the room with light from all angles. Jiho blinked and winced at the sudden change in light, but immediately felt relieved and sighed contentedly, only to gasp in surprise as Hojoon turned and stepped close towards him, his face alight with curiosity and mischief.

 

“So Jiho, you know your friends and stuff, right?”

 

“Uh—well yeah. Hansol and Byoungjoo right?”

 

Hojoon nodded enthusiastically,

 

“Yeah them. I… Well whenever I see them, I get a weird feeling that there is something going on between those two…"

 

“… You’ve noticed too?” A small, sly smile began to tug at the sides of Jiho’s lips as he placed his hands on his hips. Hojoon nodded, the corners of his lips turning up into a satisfied smirk.

 

“Yes, there is definitely something going on, and frankly I think it’d be super fun to see what’s up. But—there is one condition: you have to do it.”

 

Jiho raised his eyebrows as he realized what Hojoon meant.

 

“You want me… to stalk my friends?”

 

 

 

 

“Yup.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Okay let’s do it.”

 

 

 

Hojoon nearly burst out laughing at Jiho’s complacent attitude but the commotion outside of the door made him halt abruptly as the teacher walked into the room, successfully cutting off their conversation. As he walked by Jiho, Hojoon whispered in his ear “I’ll text you some details later.”

 

Jiho turned and stood face to face with Hojoon, merely centimeters away as he smirked coyly,

 

“Doesn’t texting me involve you having my number and me having yours?”

 

Hojoon stared into Jiho’s eyes and almost forgot the totally smooth and savvy line he nearly purred out, “Oh yeah, I guess that would be necessary. How about you let me have the pleasure of texting you?”

 

Jiho grinned as he in air through his teeth before fishing out his phone from his pocket, nodding at the teacher and greeting him before heading towards his seat with Hojoon following close behind him. He sat at the desk and held out his hand, palm up and wiggling his fingers as he waited. Hojoon raised an eyebrow before sighing as he pulled out his phone and unlocked it before handing it to Jiho. The sassy diva nodded approvingly and typed in his number into Hojoon’s phone and likewise to his own before handing the device back to Hojoon. He shrugged his shoulders and pouted cutely,

 

“Looks like we’ll see what happens after school, won’t we?”

 

~~~~~End of flashback~~~~~

 

Jiho nodded and bit the inside of his cheek, a feeling of nervousness trickle down the back of his neck.

 

“I remember now…. But still, I was kiiiiinda curious as to how they’d react, and I’m almost positive Byoungjoo has caught on anyway…”

 

Hojoon cocked an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes curiously.

 

“Really…? Already? How?”

 

Jiho scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he glanced around, avoiding Hojoon’s prying gaze.

 

“Well, I think he saw me last night by accident when I was following them down the street... It was later in the evening…”

 

Hojoon nodded slowly,

 

“Yeah, well I guess that can’t be helped, and it’s not like it’s a super serious thing anyway. So don’t worry about it if you mess up. The worst thing that happens is they see you and question why you just happened to go the same way but they’ll probably just wave it off.”

 

Jiho groaned and stomped his feet childishly,

 

“AhhhhHH! But Hojooooon! That’d be so weirrrrrd! Think of how awkward that would be! Ugh, I think we should just leave them alone; it’s not like they’re doing much anyway.”

 

“Oh yeah, that’s what I keep forgetting to ask you—what happened, exactly?”

 

“Well I only got to follow them after they left once the rain stopped, so all they really did was walk on the road and talk. At one point Byoungjoo I think noticed me and walked into some shop for some reason, and at that point I gave up and just went home.”

 

Hojoon groaned and glanced around the hallway, making sure they were still the only ones there as he leaned closer to Jiho’s face and spoke lowly.

 

“You didn’t notice anything else?”

 

“W-Wellll….. Hansol seemed really jumpy and pretty shy– more than normal...And even Byoungjoo seemed kind of off….”

 

Jiho shook his head and waved his hands around in the air, 

 

“You know what? Let’s just let them tell us once they’re ready.”

 

Hojoon nodded slowly before grabbing one of Jiho’s hands and laced their fingers together, smiling as Jiho blushed furiously and looked around the hallway in a desperate attempt to avoid looking at Hojoon, stuttering out,

 

“Wh-wh-what are y-you doing?”

 

Hojoon smirked and stared down at his hands, rubbing patterns on the back of his hand and played with his fingers as if he were totally fascinated by the long digits of pale skin attached to the boy before him.

 

“You’re just…. Pretty… " he admitted lamely, "And I guess I can’t help myself whenever I see you,” he purred out, slowly dragging his gaze up from Jiho’s hands up his neck and eventually to his eyes, which were flicking around as he blushed a deep red color that spread down to his neck and his ears. Hojoon raised his free hand to flick a stray strand of hair off of the other's forehead before he ran his hand down the side of Jiho’s face and underneath his chin, tilting it upwards with his fingers delicately to get a better look at Jiho’s eyes.

 

“Jiho.”

 

The commanding tone in Hojoon’s voice made Jiho snap out of his embarrassed haze and stare back into Hojoon’s intent stare and gulped. Jiho didn’t trust his voice to work properly as he was far too embarrassed to even look at Hojoon without his heart racing and the blood pounding in his ears, but clearly his emotions were written all over his face because Hojoon chuckled lightly and let his hand fall from Jiho’s face,

 

“You’re speechless, but who wouldn’t be? After all, if I remember correctly ‘Jeon Hojoon, y name, isn’t it?’ I feel like, you said that at one point…” As he talked Jiho got progressively more and more antsy and attempted to get away from Hojoon’s general area, but the fact that there was little space between him and Hojoon and frankly no space Jiho and the wall, it proved impossible to get away, so all Jiho could do was sit there and blush up a storm as Hojoon spoke. “And at one point there’s the whole time you fangirled over my jacket that I wore… I didn’t know you thought it was that hot. Hell, if I’d known I would have worn it a lot more–"

 

“Well then, would you lookie here Dongsung? Looks like our favorite hallway is taken. And by two of the more popular couples in this frikin gay- high school, not like we’re an exception or anything~” 

 

Hojoon sighed in annoyance and turned his head to see two guys standing a few meters away from them with, a smirk plastered on the shorter one's face. The taller of the two had an arm slung around the other’s shoulder and looked considerably more innocent* than the shorter, spunkier looking guy with maroon** colored hair. The shorter one shrugged the other’s arm off of from around his shoulders, muttering “Yo, we can do our thing later."

 

The taller boy groaned and complied, albeit very annoyed, and crossed his arms.

 

“Who are you guys anyway?”

 

Jiho’s squeaky voice broke the awkward atmosphere as he glared at the two boys who interrupted his and Hojoon’s little moment. The shorter boy snorted arrogantly,

 

“What. You don’t know us? Wow, and I thought Dongsung was out of the loop—"

 

The taller guy, or Dongsung, punched the shorter boy’s shoulder roughly, making the other wince before he continued.

 

“Okay so maybe he’s not that out of the loop, but still. How do you not know me and Dongsung? Well who the cares, I’m Sangwon and he’s Dongsung, like I’ve said a hundred times. Get it?”

 

Sangwon smirked as if he were satisfied with his own statement and pointed at Hojoon.

 

“All right , we said who we were, which was absurd enough considering everyone knows us, but who are you? OH WAIT,” he held up his hand as if to stop Hojoon from speaking which he wasn’t going to anyway and kept going, “I already know you two. Jiho and Hojoon, the so called ‘iest couple of all time,” he spat, “I don’t see the appeal honestly, I mean you—“ he pointed to Hojoon, “Are frikin short and you—“ he then pointed to Jiho who was beginning to get highly irritated, “Are ing tall! Like what the heck man, what did you eat as a kid?! And why is the shorty doing all the stuff and how the hell—"

 

Sangwon’s outburst was cut off by Jiho gently prying Hojoon off of him and stomping forward to grab his collar roughly and growling through gritted teeth, “I don’t know why you think you’re such a hot shot, Sangwon, which, by the way, I know exactly who you are, you freak. In fact, wasn’t it you who messed around with Jin Hyosang?? Hmmm, does that ring a bell?”

 

Sangwon smirked and pushed Jiho off of him, surprising the latter with his strength.

 

“Yeah, that was me. What about it? Did you really think that would bother me or Dongsung? ‘Cause HAH, joke’s on you because that only happened because we were both really ing bored okay? And I’m though with feeling bad about it so screw off!”

 

“I dunno, you seem awfully defensive for someone who claims to be over it,” Hojoon interjected, stepping forward to stand next to Jiho and mimicked the other boys, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes threateningly. Sangwon opened his mouth to retort but stopped when Dongsung head locked him from the side and held him there, smiling icily,

 

"Sorry, he's just pissed that you're in our hallway. So would you do me a favor and scram? I doubt either he or I will bother you again if you do."

 

Hojoon snorted at his arrogant attitude, but decided it would be best if they left anyway, since class would start up again fairly soon and hooked his arm around Jiho's arm and walked in the direction of their History class. Jiho followed grumpily, still feeling irate from the taunts and teasing. He dragged his feet along, whining

 

"Hojoooon... Why were they so mean?? What's wrong with them?!"

 

Hojoon smiled at Jiho's childish actions and kept pulling him in the direction of the classroom, making a half asses attempt to comfort him.

 

"I don't know Jiho, but it's not a big deal. I bet they were just gonna hang out there and were pissed we beat 'em to it."

 

He stopped a little ways from the doorway, spinning around to grin mischievously at Jiho and took a quick step towards him, surprising the latter and made him take a sudden step back. Hojoon nibbled on his lower lip, 'Do I....... Or do I not.... Is it too soon..?'

 

Jiho frowned,

 

"What?"

 

He waved his hands around in front of Hojoon's face comically, trying to get his attention and break his blank staring contest with the wall, which Hojoon was definitely winning. Hojoon shook his head and gave Jiho an odd, calculating look, as if he were sizing Jiho up for something. His grin fell into a concerned half smile as Jiho kept speaking now that he had Hojoon's attention.

 

"Great, now that you’re not staring into the fourth dimension—what's up? How come you're acting so strange all of the sudden–"

 

"Hey Jiho are you free after school?"

 

"Are you listening to a thing I'm saying?! I just asked you why–"

 

"No, no I listened and I promise if you answer me it'll all make sense, okay? Now are you free?"

 

Jiho narrowed his eyes and tapped his toe on the ground, searching Hojoon's features for some kind of hint as he hesitantly mumbled,

 

"Well I'm just a student so yeah, I guess I'm free. Why–"

 

"Will you go on a walk with me in the park? I have to ask you something."

 

Jiho gasped and choked on air, hitting his chest and coughing violently, shooting Hojoon a hurt glare as the other stifled his laughter. Once he controlled his useless lungs he flicked a stray hair out of his flushed face,

 

"S-sorry? W-wait a minute—is this some really lame way of asking me on a date?! I thought you were a lot more smooth than that."

 

Hojoon shrugged carelessly,

 

"Well surprise, I'm not. Well, not today... Anyway, will you?"

 

Jiho tucked backthat same damn piece of hair that repeatedly fell in front of his face and blushed as he looked down at his toes, biting his lower lip trying to hide his victorious smile.

 

"Well... I guess. But it better be worth my time, you hear me Jeon Hojoon?!"

 

'Gotta play sorta hard to get... You know, so I don't seem easy..... But that's hard to do around him cause daaaaaaaamn'

 

Hojoon grinned his nearly blinding-white smile and nodded, assuring him,

 

"Oh, trust me, Shin Jiho, it'll be far more than just worth your time."

 

With that said, it seemed as if the end of their conversation magically cued all of the students to come flooding the hallways because holy crap: class starts in five minutes! Jiho cursed as he realized he left his bag in his previous class and walked swiftly away towards the gym with Hojoon closely following him.

 

"Shoot, I left my backpack in the gym... Ahh, I hope it's still open..."

 

"Do you know when the last PE period is?"

 

"Yeah, my class, 5th period. Conveniently enough."

 

Jiho stormed up to the double doors that lead to the gym and yanked the handle, yelping in surprise as it swung in easily making him stumble backwards. He regained his balance and his surprise as a male student and another girl fell down in front of him as if they'd been leaning against the door, huddling in each other's arms. Hojoon raised an eyebrow suspiciously,

 

"Yooncheol? What are you doing with her? Who is she anyway and why is she on an all-boys school campus?"

 

The lanky and awkwardly tall boy, Yooncheol, stumbled to his feet and pulled the girl up and behind him protectively, his eyes full of fear and aggression.

 

"I-it's not what it looks like Hojoon I–"

 

"I think it's exactly what it looks like. Look, I don't care who you date, but girls from another campus are absolutely not allowed here, you know this. I'll pretend I didn't see this if you take her back to her school or home or whatever immediately, understood?"

 

Yoonchoel nodded shakily and turned to face the girl, forcing out a smile and muttering,

 

"Let's go?"

 

He rushed her off in the direction of the school's entrance, gently tugging the girl by her hand all the way. Jiho breathed out slowly, placing his hands on his hips in astonishment.  

 

"Sheesh... Since when did you order people around? Are you some kind of class rep or something?"

 

Hojoon smiled secretively and shook his head slowly.

 

"You've stalked me quite a lot but you don't know about that? Yeah, I guess you could say I'm a class rep, but I don't do much other than keep the kids in line. The main class rep does the majority of the work; I'm just an assistant."

 

Jiho nodded before dashing into the gym and grab his bag before speed walking back to his class, leaving Hojoon to close the doors and walk beside him until they barely made it to class on time.

 

 

 

 

The end of the day seemed to rush by as Jiho's heart pounded in anticipation for Hojoon and his little park 'date'. He didn't really know whether or not to actually call it a date since they weren't technically dating, but that was the closest word he could think of to describe it so he settled with it.

 

'Going on a date with Hojoon...'

 

Jiho shivered at the realization as he walked to the school entrance, undoubtedly where Hojoon would be waiting for him. Never in a million years would Jiho have thought this day would come, but just like how life likes to slap him with surprises, here was yet another one. He felt jumpy and nervous, something he never felt unless he was around Hojoon. He frowned. 'Stupid crush...'

 

Once he saw Hojoon waiting patiently in front of the entrance Jiho's frown was replaced with a cute grin as he flounced up to Hojoon and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, causing the other to turn around slowly, a smile gradually appearing on his face.

 

"Ready?"

 

Jiho nodded and tucked his chin down into his jacket, shivering from the cold wind as he tried to speak, his voice muffled by the jacket.

 

"Yeah, but where to?"

 

Hojoon proffered his arm, which Jiho gladly took, his head spinning as he allowed Hojoon to lead him down the sidewalk as he explained,

 

"There's this park a little ways down here that I've seen a million times on my way to school but haven't bothered to actually explore. It's really pretty and I thought it'd be nice to walk there with you."

 

He saw, out of his peripheral vision, Jiho open his mouth but only to close it again as he stared at Hojoon. He smiled and glanced over at Jiho, only to see him tear his gaze away from him to stare at the ground in front of him, mumbling

 

"O-oh... I see. Well that's nice of you, thanks~"

 

Hojoon grinned and tugged his jacket up to cover his own lower half of his face and kept walking slowly, matching pace with Jiho.

 

Jiho felt a rush of accomplishment flood his senses, almost making his stumble and want to laugh out loud. Hojoon had been planning this? Words could not express how special he felt in that moment. It was probably a good thing that it was so frigidly windy that day or else Jiho would have blabbered that entire time away.

 

Hojoon looked up and smiled,

 

"We're here!"

 

Jiho looked up to see a sign that read 'Flowering Age' on it and smiled.

 

"It's too bad that it's the wintertime, otherwise I bet this place would be gorgeous, huh?"

 

Hojoon nodded and turned to follow a dirt path that lead through a tunnel formed by trees, the limbs frozen together with snow and ice that was illuminated with lamp posts every now and then. It was a fairly poorly lit path, considering it was meant to be used by the public Jiho mused. 'It's probably because it's the wintertime. In the spring it'd be a lot better since the trees wouldn't be weighed down and frozen together by snow and ice... Still, it's sort of creepy... And dark....'

 

Jiho glanced over at Hojoon,

 

"H-hey, Hojoon, w-why's it so dark?"

 

His question hung in the air, seemingly frozen by the cold and by time as Hojoon remained silent for a split second before replying.

 

"I don't really know, but it's probably because of these trees being frozen together... This park is meant for spring, so that probably explains the lack of lamp posts."

 

He glanced over to meet Jiho's gaze and smiled warmly.

 

"Is it too scary? Should we go somewhere else?"

 

Jiho giggled and shook his head,

 

"No~ And don’t treat me like a kid! I was just curious as to why you'd bring me here. You aren't planning on doing something weird, riiiight?"

 

Hojoon shook his head and looked forward again and noticed a bench a few hundred meters in front of them. It was one of those swing type of benches that oftentimes he'd see couples sitting on, swinging back and forth gently and generally having a peaceful time. He smirked as an idea surfaced in Hojoon's imagination.

 

"Hey Jiho, let's go sit on that bench swing, huh?"

 

Jiho blinked innocently to see what Hojoon was talking about. A bench swing a ways in front of them with a flickering light post next to it. Jiho shuddered. This place gave him an odd sense that something was off, but it was mostly just the dark he suspected. He nodded enthusiastically.

 

"Yeah sure! But it's gonna be really cold... I don't want to freeze my off..."

 

Hojoon chuckled at Jiho's childish concern and unlinked their arms only to wrap his arm protectively around Jiho's waist, smiling as Jiho jumped at the sudden change of movement. It took him a moment to get used to it before he pressed closer to Hojoon, seeking more warmth and protection because frankly he felt a lot more secure with Hojoon holding him close. Jiho sighed in content, almost forgetting his cold surroundings.

 

His cheeks flushed a bright pink color as Hojoon chuckled lowly, pulling him to sit on the bench, hissing slightly as the cold wood touched his and back. Why he agreed to walk with Hojoon in this cold the rational part of his brain will never be able to figure out. Jiho unconsciously snuggled up closer (if that was even possible) to Hojoon, wiggling around until he was comfortable in the other’s embrace, humming in satisfaction.

 

Hojoon bit back a smile as he watched Jiho cuddle up next to him like a little kitten, silently congratulating himself on choosing to do this on a cold day rather than on a warmer day. He prayed that Jiho wouldn't realize what he was doing and get shy or something and began to talk.

 

"So... From what I've heard, you've liked me for quite a while. How long has it been exactly?"

 

Jiho hummed as he thought back, smiling before answering

 

"Second year, or sophomore year for me. You were a junior I think-"

 

"Oh come on, you knew I was a junior."

 

Jiho huffed and lightly hit Hojoon's shoulder out of embarrassment.

 

"SH-shut it..... But I guess... Yeah you were a junior."

 

Hojoon nodded slowly, nibbling in his lower lip as he thought up another question.

 

"Ah, so you've liked me for two years now, right?"

 

"Well y-yeah, I thought we'd established this already... A-and it's embarrassing to talk abouuuut," he whined.

 

"I was just making sure! Anyway, what is it you like about me?"

 

"Why don't I ask you the same thing hm? I've already answered once; it's your turn now, ok?"

 

Hojoon  nodded, running his hand up and down Jiho's side gently and rubbing patterns in it, smiling as he felt Jiho relax in his hold. The fiery diva he had grown to know and like was a tamed little kitten under his touch, something he knew he would grow to love even more.

 

"So, are you gonna answer me or not?"

 

'He may be a kitten now, but he's still got that feisty tongue in him... Hah, but I love that...'

 

"What. Why I like you?"

 

Jiho nodded, his hair fluffing up as it rubbed against Hojoon's chest, tickling up against his chin. Hojoon smiled at the tingly feeling and smoothed Jiho's hair down.

 

"Hmm... It's hard to say really..."

 

"If it's hard to say then do you even like me?"

 

"Valid statement, but—wait. Who said I liked you?"

 

'Bad move.' Jiho immediately tensed up and went silent. Hojoon let out a long and deep sigh, his hand dropping from Jiho's head to grab his clenched fist which gradually opened up, allowing him to intertwine their fingers. Jiho let out a shuddering sigh and squeezed Hojoon's hand pointedly.

 

"Just— never mind. Anyway, it's hard to say because I've known you for quite a while actually..."

 

Jiho sat up a bit to stare at Hojoon quizzically.

 

"What...? How have you known me?"

 

Hojoon smirked.

 

"What, you thought you were so secretive about your crush on me? I'll admit, I didn't notice you right away, but seeing you in the hallways basically every day and feeling you stare at me made me sort of notice."

 

"... Crap, I was that obvious?"

 

Hojoon chuckled and massaged Jiho's fingers gently, staring at their hands interlocked together.

 

"Well, yeah. Anyways, I kept seeing you stare at me, but whenever I'd look your way you would scamper off, blushing like crazy and bumping into people. I figured that I was too scary to talk to you, so... I ignored you. I felt like I shouldn't scare you and that ignoring you would be best..."

 

As he paused he heard Jiho mumble "meanie...", and smiled bitterly.

 

"Yeah, it was mean, but it didn't last long. You know, you grew up a lot over the course of last year and probably over the summer because when I saw you again at the start of this year, I... quickly gave up on the idea of ignoring you. Simply put, I wouldn't be able to anymore, so I decided to start, well, pursuing you... And it really helped once your friend Byoungjoo came over to me and told me about you. "

 

"That little– what did he say?!"

 

"Whoaaaa whoa, calm down he didn't say much. He just said 'Hey my friend Shin Jiho really looks up to you, and I think you two would be great friends. He's out in the hallway now, so if you want to talk to him this is a good time.' Then he left the classroom. I left a few minutes after him and then you know what happened... After that, I was determined to um.... Well...."

 

Jiho sat up all of the way when Hojoon took his other hand and held it lightly, the heat radiating off him causing Jiho to think something was up. The lamp post's light that had been flickering the entire time, giving the atmosphere an almost fairy-like feel to it, finally burned out, leaving the boys in a puddle of shadows. Jiho jumped at the sudden darkness and squeezed Hojoon's hands for support, whining like a lost puppy.

 

Hojoon frowned at the loss of light, now unable to see Jiho's face. He held onto Jiho's hands and tried to calm him down.

 

"Heey, it's fine. This light's probably been about to shut off for a while... We just happened to witness it, lucky us," he remarked.

 

'Now that I think about it... It's actually probably better this way.'

 

"Hojoon, I uh... This is probably a bad time to say th-this but..."

 

Hojoon's heart nearly dropped as he felt how shaky Jiho's hands were and how frail his voice sounded. He swallowed hard.

 

"What?"

 

"I-I'm kind of... Afraid of the dark."

 

Hojoon sighed out a long breath of air, feeling relieved it wasn't something worse.

 

"O-okay, sorry... But this won't be long, okay? I'm right here, like literally right here."

 

Jiho giggled nervously and squeezed Hojoon's hands again, as if he were assuring himself that Hojoon was really right there. Hojoon took a deep breath before talking again, relaxing as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to see the outline of Jiho's face.

 

"W-well, my eyes can see you a bit, so you can see me a little, right?"

 

He saw Jiho nod and smiled.

 

"Okay, well that's good... Anyway. Where was I....?”

 

"After B-Byoungjoo t-talked to you.... D-damn it's g-getting cold..."

 

Hojoon shuddered and nodded.

 

"Y-yeah, don't worry I-I'll be quick."

 

"Don't rush; you should take your time... I get a feeling that this is important," Jiho said quietly, a smile clearly on his face judging by the way he talked. Hojoon nodded.

 

"Well, honestly... After t-talking to Byoungjoo about you, it g-gave me a pretty big b-boost to talk to you, so I have been, kinda... And the more I talk to you the more I realize how much I regret not talking to you earlier... And, honestly Jiho, you probably deserve better. I'm not beating myself up or anything because clearly I'm doing something right if a guy like you likes me. The more I'm around you, t-the happier I am. Before I s-say anything else, d-do you feel the same?"

 

Jiho swallowed and nodded.

 

"I c-can't put into words how happy I am to just be around y-you a lot, much less having you a-actually like being around me..."

 

"W-well it's not just, me liking being around you... Shin Jiho, I really like you and... I was just wondering, would you mind being my boyfriend?"

 

Jiho bit his lower lip hard, almost enough to draw blood as he held back squealing. He opened his mouth to talk but only let out a hushed squeak. He coughed and tried to regain his composure, taking in a deep breath before trying to speak.

 

"W-would I mind?! Well firstly, I think it's only fair for me to say Jeon Hojoon, I really, really like you too and would love to be your boyfriend!"

 

(Barfs at cheesiness xD)

 

Both boys let out a long sigh of happiness before giggling into the frigid evening air. They had arrived at the bench in the late afternoon, but had been walking and now talking for a couple hours now, and the sky was dark with the early winter's night. Jiho completely forgot about his fear and launched himself forward to give Hojoon a massive hug, giggling as they both leaned against the back of the bench, Jiho practically sitting in Hojoon's lap.

 

The warm air passing past his ear reminded Hojoon of his original plan, making him gently push Jiho back so that he could see he face once more. He chuckled as Jiho bit his lip cutely, staring angelically back at him. Hojoon flashed a smile before leaning in slowly to capture Jiho's lips against his own, warmth spreading through his chest as he wrapped his arms around Jiho's waist and pulling him closer.

 

Jiho gasped into the kiss but melted immediately into Hojoon's embrace, his mouth moving fluidly against the others, placing kiss after kiss on his lips. It was innocent, a kiss that was testing the waters to see if it was okay to go deeper. Jiho giggled as Hojoon kissed his lips one last time before planting a kiss in his cheek, pulling back to admire Jiho's dazed but content face. He rested his forehead against Jiho's, smiling as his eyes glittered with unshed tears of happiness.

 

Hojoon raised his hands and cupped Jiho's cheeks, gently wiping away his tears, asking quietly

 

"Why are you crying, beautiful?"

 

Jiho giggled through the overwhelming amount of emotions he was feeling right then and placed another kiss on Hojoon's lips, followed by another, and then another, until he finally pulled away.

 

"I just... I'm so happy... And c-cold," he mumbled, giggling at his last words. Hojoon smiled and pushed Jiho off of him only to stand up and wrap his arm around Jiho's waist once more, shoving his free hand into his jacket's pocket as Jiho snuggled against him again, whining at the loss of warmth from standing up.

 

Hojoon began walking towards the park's entrance slowly, peppering light kisses all over Jiho’s face. The other giggled at the tickly sensation on his face. Hojoon smiled and paused momentarily to ask,

 

"How about I walk you home?"

 

Jiho whined at the suggestion, pushing Hojoon’s eager face away from his own, ‘As much as I don’t mind him doing that…’

 

"But then you'd have to go all the way back to your own home alone..."

 

Hojoon grinned mischievously,

 

"So we should just split up now and go home our separate ways?"

 

"Wha- No! No that's not... That's not what I meant! I just..."

 

"Just tell me Jiho, I can't read your mind very well..."

 

Jiho smiled and blushed, suddenly feeling slightly subconscious that Hojoon was a bit shorter than him.

 

"Maybe that's cause my head is closer to the sky than yours is~"

 

Hojoon growled playfully and tickled Jiho's sides until he apologized.

 

"S-sorry! It just k-kinda struck me that I'm taller than you..."

 

"Not by much! Anyway, where's your house at?"

 

 

 

 

 

Jiho lead Hojoon down the street his house was on, smiling as he passed by anyone on the streets. He stopped in front of his house and glanced at Hojoon.

 

"Well, this is it!"

 

Hojoon looked behind him at the house and shivered, nodding approvingly.

 

"Nice! C-could I walk you in or would that be weird?"

  

Jiho shook his head and lead the way up to his doorstep.

 

"No, not really. I live with my mom and my dad, but my dad usually work pretty late, so I doubt he's home. Oh, and please be careful if you meet my mom. She has a very weak immune system and gets sick easily, so try to like, not cough or touch her please."

 

Hojoon nodded and waited patiently a little ways behind Jiho, unsure of how to act. After Jiho knocked on the door he opened it to see his mother coming in that direction slowly.

 

"Ahh, Jiho! Where have you been?? It's getting quite late you know... Here, let's shut the door, hm?"

 

Jiho gave his mother a warm hug before gesturing for Hojoon to walk in.

 

"Mom, before we do that I'd like you to meet someone. This is Hojoon. Hojoon, this is my mother."

 

Hojoon bowed respectfully, Jiho's mother doing likewise with a smile on her tired face.

 

"Ahh, it is nice to finally meet you Hojoon! I've heard quite a lot about you from Jiho."

 

Hojoon smiled, suddenly feeling a sense of dread.

 

"Ah, is that so?"

 

Jiho's mother's eyes crinkled up into half-moons as she smiled and nodded. Jiho smiled awkwardly,

 

"O-okay, well that's that. Um, Hojoon, how far is your home from here?"

 

"Not that far actually. I'm kind of surprised you live here because I actually live about a block or two away. About ten or so minutes away."

 

Jiho relaxed visibly and sighed in relief, nodding slowly.

 

"That's good. Well, I think you better go now before it gets too late..."

 

Hojoon nodded and gave Jiho a quick hug before bowing to his mother.

 

"It was a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

 

Jiho's mother nodded.

 

"Likewise. Please treat my son well. He hasn't dated much so please be gentle with him."

 

Hojoon gawked slightly at Jiho's mother, Jiho just as surprised as Hojoon was.

 

"P-pardon?"

 

"Mom! What are you saying?"

 

"Oh please boys, I saw you walk up together and based off of my Jiho's face, I could tell he was very happy and the only reason he'd be that happy was if he were with a friend or you Hojoon. I've never seen you before, but I could tell you were someone important to Jiho."

 

Hojoon nodded, still stunned by Jiho's mother's observant behavior.

 

"He's talked about you a bit, but not much I'm afraid, so I don't know much about you. You'll have to come over again, yes?"

 

Hojoon nodded slowly before bowing once more.

 

"Yes I will. I'd love to speak with you more and learn about Jiho~"

 

He smiled at Jiho before excusing himself from their home. He walked down the steps and down the sidewalk swiftly, his heartbeat racing. 'His mother is something else... But I'll have to speak with her again for sure.' He walked for another ten minutes or so until he arrived at his own home and let himself in, grabbing something to eat before finishing his homework and going to sleep, a permanent smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep, happy thoughts swirling around his mind.

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: An entire XeJoon chapter :3 And a long on at that 0-0 ^-^ a little present from me~?

 

Btw: * Dongsung/ Gohn. I made him innocent cause he just kinda gives me vibes of a child who doesn't know much... aside from the whole ppeaeppaero/ppeppero/pepero day thing xD

**Sangwon/Yano: the maroon hair is just to match his personality xD

 

Anyway

 

It took a little while to write, but it was certainly pretty fun ^_^

I'm more proud of this chapter than I've been of the past few chapters, so I hope y'all enjoyed!

OH! Thx to kaisoo4eve for the suggestion~! <3