♦ After that night , Their journey took several turns with each glance directed at each other , more like stolen, with each teasing remark from Chanhee and each scoff from Byunghun who appeared to be annoyed yet was undeniably shy on the inside .

And then bloomed the red rose . ♦

One day ,  Byunghun was strolling by the mall heading to a small cafe after a tiring work day.
Leo was spending time with his grandfather and it was the perfect opportunity to have some time alone  to reflect on oneself.  Not that he minds his nephew being around , he just feels the need to spend some time alone like anyone else .
He knew the day was gonna be awesome the moment he found a table far away from the crowd ,  perfect place for the likes of him .
So settling for his order as he flipped the pages of the menu ,  Byunghun waited comfortably spacing out every once in awhile .

Then a  chuckle resonated about .

" Are you stalking me? "
Hell no ..
That voice..

Turning around ,  Byunghun 's thoughts were unfortunately confirmed . It took him a few moments to register his current situation .

" No .  if I knew you were gonna be here ,  I would have never came . "
Byunghun retorted ,  ready to leave before even getting to tell the waiter his order  .
Yet somehow he started to regret his words.
So what if chanhee happened to be there ?
It’s not like the elder owned the entire city , right ?

Chanhee decided to make use of the younger's deep - in - thought - state and also quit the tease .
 

" Okay . since we are both here . How about we join tables ? " Suggested Chanhee whilst Byunghun only rolled his eyes and stood up making his way out of the cafe nonetheless .
 

“ Hey ?  When are you gonna stop treating me like a stranger ? "
Following after , The elder nearly snapped gripping Byunghun’s wrist spinning him around .
" How do you want me to treat you ,  Chanhee ?  What are we ??!! " Byunghun for the first time maintained eye-contact as he gazed about the elder’s doe - like eyes like he was digging for an answer he had craved hearing long time ago  .

Chanhee parted his lips but nothing came out  , his grip on the younger remarkably loosening .

Instead ,  he gulped staring at Byunghun before voicing his thoughts .  " We are ..  an awkward middle ..  "
Byunghun narrowed his eyes quizzically somehow encouraging Chanhee to speak , yet silently  urging and challenging the elder to enlighten him .

" We are not strangers ..  but we both know you are attracted to me - "

Byunghun was about to interrupt but Chanhee didn’t give him a chance as he quickly added " And it’s okay ,  I’m attracted to you as well.  "

At that , Byunghun averted his eyes elsewhere growing stubborn .

And Chanhee was fine with it . As long as the younger hears him out . Everything was gonna be fine . He had heaved a sigh before carrying on .
“ Thing is .. we are both not acting according to such attraction. “

As he explained , Chanhee allowed himself to gaze back at Byunghun’s face waiting for his reaction .

“ So , Byunghun " Chanhee  started huskily , getting closer to the younger who stepped away as soon as he registered the fact he was getting cornered against  the railing .
“ If I ask you out ,  would you say yes ? ” With each letter and not just word ,  Chanhee had gotten even closer making Byunghun widen his eyes in disbelief .

What if someone he knows sees him in such situation ?

What about people passing by ?

" Chanhee ?! " He warned ,  his face heating up as the elder secured his hands around the small of Byunghun’s waist.

( Two males almost flushed against each other in public )
For someone as shy as Byunghun ,  that equates to walking about - -  in a court.

Of all things , Byunghun buried his head in Chanhee’s chest to both ,  hide his face from each and every passersby as well as Chanhee himself whispering  " I hate you .."

The thing that made Chanhee chuckle adoring Byunghun’s flustered state .
The next thing Byunghun knows is his hood getting placed  over his head and a hand dragging him away .

Byunghun didn’t dare to look up because he felt like everyone was staring at him judging him intensely .  

And as he started to calm down ,  he realized he was being dragged to a restroom he didn't even know existed .
It was an old one  , rarely visited by anyone .

And Chanhee knew that .

As Byunghun started to process he was being cornered alone with the love of his life that he didn’t want to admit such thing to ,  he started to fight back trying to pull away .
" Hey ?! "
Chanhee 's only response was " Come on , we are official now.  "
" Who said so ? " Byunghun scoffed before asking .

" I did . "
In a swift moment ,  Chanhee pulled the other to a stall taking advantage of the mini argument as a sort of distraction .

" But I didn't say yes ! " Retorted Byunghun nearly stuttering .
“ You didn't because you were shy ~ “
“ Look ,  Byunghun . If you didn't want me ,  you could have pushed me away ,  slapped me or any of those rejection  reactions . ”

Flustered ,  Byunghun averted his eyes as he tried to come up with a smart response , but in vain . " I..  I didn't do that because I would have attracted unwanted attention ! "
" Really ?? " Chanhee got closer as he asked that making Byunghun even more nervous .

The younger nodded  shrinking back against the door
" only that ?  " Chanhee asked again pushing the issue further , teasing and Byunghun denied once more clinging to his grounds.

" You are such a liar, Byunghun .  " by that time  , Chanhee was whispering it seductively , his breath tickling Byunghun’s neck .  

Despite all the denying and as if Chanhee's words were the trigger ,  Byunghun squeezed his eyes shut giving in ,  circled his arms around Chanhee's neck and tilted his own head so the elder has better access .

The younger bi