Sungjong had swallowed his tongue. Or maybe his ears had finally died. It was the only reasoning he had for why he couldn’t respond to what the elder was saying. He was quite sure the other was speaking Korean, but maybe he’d swapped to Japanese…or English.

“Are you still listening to me, Sungjongie?”

Again came the other’s voice, and the maknae swallowed before he nodded. Well, that put to his theory of the other not speaking Korean, and of his ears not working. He could definitely understand the Korean leaving the other’s lips, and he could definitely hear him. So why… why couldn’t he respond? His new theory: he couldn’t have possibly heard what he thought he heard, and therefore couldn’t respond because he wasn’t sure what to answer.

“C-can you… repeat those words?” Sungjong asked in a half whisper, flushing when the elder chuckled and brushed his fingertips along his cheekbone. “I think…I m-misheard what you said.”

There was the longest moment of silence as the two stared at each other, one slightly trembling, the other all smiles, before the elder laughed. “I love you, Sungjong-ah.”

His heart soared. He hadn’t misheard, hadn’t imagined the words or thought he’d said them even if he’d said something completely different. That one sentence made the maknae smile bright, and he was tempted to leap into his hyung’s arms. Though, he managed to keep his sanity, and instead kissed the other happily, earning a look of shock in response.

“I love you too, Hoya hyung.”