Hakyeon had ordered them two dishes in a fluid voice, pronouncing words Hongbin was sure had sounds that didn’t even exist, laughing when Hongbin tried to replicate the names. The atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable, and Hakyeon never ran out of things to talk to Hongbin about, going on about all kinds of topics. After he had talked for a while, he crossed his hands under his chin.

            “So what about you?”

            Hongbin looked up from where he was folding a napkin into squares.

            “What do you mean, what about me?”

            “You haven’t talked very much yet, tell me stuff about yourself, what’s your favorite color, dessert, what would you name a bird if you owned one, anything!”

            “Well my favorite color is navy, I like whipped cream cake. I have no idea what I would name a bird, I don’t know a lot about birds? I don't know what I would name one.”

            “But tell me more than that, like what do you like doing? Where’d you come from? When’d you decide to start drawing?”

            Hakyeon paused.

            “Why’d you draw me?”

            Hongbin decided to start at the beginning and put off answering the last question.

            “I really like photography, but I never would do anything with it, it’s just fun to do as a hobby. I’m trying to learn guitar, but since I’m left-handed it’s a little bit harder to do.”

            “Oooh, you’re left handed? That’s cool, what’s it like? Is it hard?”

            “Is it hard to be right handed? I have no idea.” Hongbin continued. “I’m from outside the city, in Ganghan, you know where that is? It’s pretty small, which was nice, but it got kinda frustrating as I got older, and my mom was just as frustrated with me lounging around as I was, so she told me to leave.”

            “What’s your mom like?”

            Hongbin paused.

            “Well I was never really that close to her, I was pretty self-contained, since my dad had moved to the south for work and only got to come visit sometimes. But she is really beautiful, and probably the source of all of my interests. She was the one who encouraged me to draw.”

            He paused again.

            “And as to why I was, what I was drawing earlier, I was just doodling and letting my mind picture whatever it wanted to, and I guess… the first thing I thought of was you?” He fiddled with the napkin in his hands, looking down.

            Hakyeon smiled at him.

            “I’m glad I can be such an inspiration,” he said, putting emphasis on inspiration.

            “Hmm, maybe I’d just call you a distraction.” Hongbin let a little smirk tug at his mouth.

            “First of all, how dare you. I’m a perfect inspiration, if I’m calling anyone a distraction here it’s you, can’t even focus with you around.”

            Hongbin laughed, and Hakyeon fake-glared at him from across the table. It looked like he was about to say something else, but the food arrived at the table and Hongbin triumphantly decided that he was the victor in the situation.

            The dishes were delicious, full of flavor and spices that Hongbin had never tasted before. Hakyeon made faces at him until he finally let him try a bite of his food, but the elf insisted that Hongbin had to give it to him, and so he had to resist “missing” and hitting the side of his face. Hakyeon offered some of his own plate to Hongbin, who leaned over and let Hakyeon feed him a bite of the colorful food. Both of the dishes were equally tasty, and Hongbin soon found himself scraping the bottom of the plate. Hakyeon grinned at him.

            “You’re a fast eater, did you like it?”

            “You’re one to talk, you’re already done, and yeah, it was really good, thanks for inviting me to come along.”

            Hakyeon nodded, and did the thing he does where he chews slightly on his lip when he’s thinking about something.

            “Do you want to come back to my house? For tea, or something.”

            Hongbin was slightly surprised, but also wasn’t against the idea, so he agreed.

            “Sure, that sounds good.”

            Hakyeon beamed at him.

            “Let’s go, then!”

            It was still light outside when they left the building, but the shadows were much deeper than before. It was still warm though, and Hongbin didn’t feel the need to put his jacket back on. Hakyeon kept asking him questions as they walked, so he yet again didn’t notice when he stopped in front of the elf’s house. Hakyeon laughed at him.

            Through the door was the same scene that Hongbin had seen last time, with a hall leading to the main room in the back. This time he had time to walk slowly and look at the pictures on the walls. Some of them were pictures of Hakyeon with other elves, and some were faces Hongbin didn’t recognize. There was a collage of frames that had pictures of Wonshik, Jaehwan and Taekwoon, and one of Hakyeon with Sanghyuk in the background baring his fangs at him. There was one bigger picture, looked like a painting, of Hakyeon smiling with another young boy next to him, which Hongbin figured was his old friend, and he kept walking.

            The lights were low when they walked in, and Hakyeon went around turning them back up, warming up the space.

            “Taekwoon is probably out doing some cat things, he’s often out late. Go ahead and sit down, I’ll get the water going. Or you can go look at that last door you didn’t get to see, I saw you eyeing it yesterday.”

            Hongbin’s eyes widened.

            “I-“

            “It’s fine, go ahead! I can meet you up there when everything is ready.” Hakyeon waved him off with a hand and turned back to the kitchen, leaving Hongbin to his own devices. Hongbin sighed.

            Was he really that obvious? Probably.

            He rotated on his heel, going back to the hall and finding the one door he had missed. He felt like this door was somehow important, and there would be something unlike everything else behind it.

            He was kind of right, at first glance. The only thing behind the door was a staircase, spiraling upwards. He looked up, and couldn’t see where it led, so he went ahead and started climbing. The lights weren’t on at first, but as he walked past them they flickered to life, illuminating a handrail and walls that had patterns swirling up the sides. As he kept climbing, the air got cooler and more open, and as Hongbin went step by step up the lights started to be further spaced. There was another door at the top of the staircase, and when he opened it he was greeted by something he would not have expected.

            The room he stepped into was big and domed, and part of it was open to the air, with a big deck looking out onto the forest. There were bookshelves lining the walls, and cushioned chairs in little clusters around the room, with lamps placed nearby. Hongbin stared around him, walking across the floor, practically feeling the room move with him as if it could sense him. The open side of the room had a breathtaking view, rising above some of the trees but there were still others that dwarfed it, making Hongbin feel insignificant. He could still see the stars, though, and he could see them far better than he could back in the city. There were a couple of chairs on the deck as well, and a telescope on the far edge. The breeze brushed over him, curling its way around the trunk and deck.

            Hongbin moved to the edge, debating whether or not to look down, before deciding that one look couldn’t hurt. He peered over the edge, and realized that he was a lot higher up than he thought he was, with the lights of the forest even farther away. The tree stretching below him had smooth bark, and when he turned his head to look up, the bark continues up before dividing into huge branches covered with dark leaves.

            “Do you like it?”

i love the idea of hakyeon having this kind of thing in his house

idk why

it just fits him

the telescope is taekwoon's though even though that isnt relevant and i dont even know if i'll mention it but now you know? i guess?

onwards we progress

IT GETS REALLY ROMANTIC IN THE NEXT CHAPTER REALLY FAST OKAY

i dont know what im doing

thanks for reading, commenting, subscribing and voting!

~Win