***

“okay. i can do this.” joonmyun says, full of determination. 

“you don’t have to force yourself, really. we could sign you up for the driving school tomorrow and—“

joonmyun snaps his head and looks at his boyfriend, squirming in the passenger seat. his hand is holding on to the dashboard rather too stiffly. “don’t underestimate me, wu yifan. teach me at least the basic so i wouldn’t look like some kind of dumb tomorrow.” he looks back into the steering wheel, staring at it so hard like it would magically tell him what to do.

“well,” yifan sighs. there is no way he could change joonmyun’s mind now. the younger could be so stubborn when he wants to be. “you could start the engine now by twisting the key to the right.”

“like this?” joonmyun reaches out for the car key, puts it in the ignition and turns it to the side. the engine fires up, letting out a loud sound. he smiles pleasantly.

yifan pulls the seat belt and secures it to its buckle. he instructs joonmyun to do so, reminding him that it’s actually to be done before starting the engine. “the car is an automatic, so it’s not really hard,” he says, briefly explaining what the pedals do and what would happen if he changes the gears. 

he looks up to joonmyun, who is frowning seriously as he tries to infiltrate the information into his head. his lower lip is naturally pulled out as he concentrates, making the picture cuter than what it should be. yifan chuckles, resisting the urge to steal a kiss from his boyfriend.

joonmyun has been so determined to drive since the night yifan fell sick and he had to go through difficulties of getting taxi at midnight to bring him to the hospital. he understands how it was hard for him, especially since they are only started living together three months ago and they’re still getting used to the neighbourhood.

“i got it.” 

yifan quirks an eyebrow at him, “really?”

“yeah.” joonmyun tries different grips on the steering wheel. the nervousness doesn’t escape yifan’s deep observation of his face. 

“hey, relax. don’t be so uptight.” he puts his hand on joonmyun’s thigh briefly, sending a silent support. “now release the hand brake while stepping on the brake pedal”

the younger does as he is told. he changes the gear to the driving one and slowly pulls back his foot from the brake. the car moves, and he freaks out.

“it’s moving!”

“good to know, sherlock,” yifan huffs. “it’s okay, try moving around here and make sure you don’t bump into the lamp post.”

“i can’t do this.” he panics, moving his foot either too fast or too slow. it takes them a while to make a u-turn at the field. 

“it’s okay,” yifan assures him, despite him gripping onto the handle too tight each time joonmyun presses on the brake. “first times are always bumpy.”

joonmyun pulls on the hand brake out of sudden, causing the car to jump a bit. it causes the little alpaca doll yifan has sitting in the dashboard to roll over and fall somewhere near his feet. “i’m sorry,” he says sheepishly. “i—it’s too much for me. can we stop?”

“yes, you were the one insisting to learn, weren’t you?” yifan picks up the alpaca and clears the dust by patting it lightly. he puts the doll back on the dashboard before he turns to look at joonmyun. 

his boyfriend looks uneasy, fiddling with his seatbelt nervously. driving for the first time is never easy. yifan remembers how he had nightmares of driving straight into the han river just because he couldn’t get the hang of driving yet. it’s terrifying at first, but not that difficult to master. he is sure joonmyun would be ready to drive on his own soon.

“do you want to get some crepes before we get home?” he asks. there’s a crepe parlour a few blocks from their apartment that got joonmyun’s attention since they moved in. they haven’t gotten the chance to try it, though.

joonmyun’s face lights up at the question, and there is no hesitation in his voice as he says, “yes!”

“fine. let’s switch place. there is no way we are getting there with you still in the driver’s seat."

***