Sungyeol immediately knew that the person in front was associated with L’s past, and the way L seemed so nervous made him clearly understand that L didn’t want him to know about any of those things.

The laughing person was in fashionable dress, which made him seem like some idol. Sungyeol was looking to and fro between L and the person when the person approached them. Since L was perplexed, Sungyeol was the one who gave his hand for a handshake to the stranger.

“Annyeonghaseyo hyung-nim. I am Lee Sungyeol.”

Returning the gesture, the stranger replied, “Wow! You speak Korean! I thought you are Japanese. Myungsoo ah, you are lucky to get a Korean person here. By the way, I am Dongwoo.”

“Ah..Dongwoo hyung, nice to meet you. I am Korean plus Japanese. If you don’t mind, I will excuse myself since if we are late, I can’t get the ticket.”

Only after Sungyeol left, Myungsoo looked at Dongwoo.

“What are you doing here hyung?”

“Ah…I am here for my work. I look after marketing department at my job so, I had gone to Kyoto for a field visit. Now I am back here to submit the report.” Dongwoo gave the details.

Seeing Myungsoo standing still, Dongwoo spoke up, “Sungyeol seems like a nice kid. So better not let him go away from you just because you shut him out of your life.” By the way Myungsoo stood like a statue, Dongwoo figured out that the young boy had kept Sungyeol some secret. Dongwoo waved to Sungyeol who was smiling and waiting for his travel partner. “He is waiting for you, go, open up and try and see the world is beautiful and there are people beside your brother who can love you with all their might.”

Myungsoo didn’t speak a word when he bid goodbye to Dongwoo. Many things were going on in his mind. He was scared to face Sungyeol as well because what if he asked him “Who is Myungsoo?” or “Who was the hyung we met earlier?” or anything related to his past.

~~~~~~~~

Sungyeol understood that L wanted time to expose himself. He kept onto his self-promise that he would not intervene in the past of the Silent Prince but will always stay by his side as a good friend.

So, to break the awkward silence, Sungyeol asked, “Hey L, have you ever made Takoyaki?

“No.”

“Then the first thing we are going to do as soon as we reach Kyoto is eat our own made Takoyaki!”

~~~~~~~~

Seeing Sungyeol so excited, L was really relieved. Good thing that he didn’t want to dig about his past. He was not ready for it.

~~~~~~~~

Breathing the fresh air, Sungyeol and L got down at their destination. SUBWAY Kyoto Porta was the place they first went to.

Sungyeol thought that he would need to guide L in making the dish but amazingly, L was more perfect than himself. L was more Japanese than himself, if that was even possible. The shape and taste of L’s  first made Takoyaki was so delicious, Sungyeol was his fingers.

“Um…its so yummy!” Sungyeol complimented sincerely making L to smile his full smile showing his dimples for the first time which made Sungyeol to go blushing so hard.

“Why is your cheeks so red?” L asked worried. “Was the Takoyaki very hot?”

“Nae…its so hot so my cheeks must be red.” Sungyeol tried to calm down.

~~~~~~~~

After fulfilling their hunger, they went straight to Sungyeol’s grandma’s home.

A huge smile and a warm hug welcomed the duo. Grandma kissed Sungyeol in cheeks fondly.

“I missed you so much dear.”

“Me too, Grandma. I missed you soooooooooo much more.” Sungyeol showed with his arms spreading out.

Grandma chuckled seeing the childish behavior but was glad to see him cheerful.

“My Yeollie have become so thin. Don’t you eat properly at the dormitory?”

“I have not become thin, Grandma. I am as chubby as usual.”

“I can even see the cheek bones here.” She pinched Sungyeol’s cheek to prove her point.

“Ouch. It hurts Grandma.” Sungyeol tried to pry away the hand of the old lady.

Seeing a young handsome lad standing a bit afar watching the scene tenderly, the Grandma knew that he was the friend Sungyeol talked about.

“Come here, L dear. Why are you standing so far?”

Grandma pulled L into a hug and kissed L in his cheek as she had done to her grandson.

L’s eyes swelled up due to the affection. He missed the warm hug of his mother, the pat of his father, most of all, he missed the bone crushing hug his brother used to give him. He missed Sunggyu so much at the moment.

Sungyeol and Grandma were talking so affectionately. They were catching up with all the things that they missed. L was thinking if he had gone back to Korea for the vacation, he would have talked similarly with Sunggyu. He was feeling bitter and sad thinking about his hyung so, he just excused himself from the duo silently.

L was remembering all the happy moments with Sunggyu back then. They were inseparable, L used to follow his hyung everywhere. They used to lie to their parents that the fee for the outing is 500 KRW while it was 400 KRW so that they could use the remaining amount to buy the hot bread from their favorite store. They used to make mix of watermelon, ice and milk when they felt very hot. L had his favorite bamboo pillow and they used to quarrel for its possession. Once he had pranked Sunggyu by adding salt in the coffee…Sunggyu’s reaction had been hilarious. Sunggyu always flaunted about how handsome his brother was.

L’s eyes were filled with tears due to the over whelming emotions. Sungyeol entered the balcony at the same time. L rubbed his eyes hastily but Sungyeol caught the sight. He wanted to know what was bothering him so much and wanted to tell him to share his burden but instead he just sat beside L, put his shoulder around him and said, “The view look so beautiful from here, right.”

L just hummed in response. He wanted to tell Sungyeol everything but was afraid if the other would feel him as a burden as well. He didn’t want to get hurt. He wanted to be independent.  He didn’t want to share the emotions with other knowing that he will have to suffer the heart break later.

They stayed like that only for few minutes embracing the silence and letting the cool wind wrapping them. L felt drowsy, maybe the whole day trip made him tired. His head was swaying this side to that side due to his sleepiness and Sungyeol pulled him softly and let L’s head rest on his shoulder.

Sungyeol was busy grazing the stars when L opened his eyes slowly and saw the position. L immediately got erect, “Sorry. You must be feeling cold.” L felt sorry for letting the tall boy stay in cold with his shoulders to feel numb.

“Nah..It’s  okay. I love the view from here. It actually felt nice being here and taking time to ponder in thoughts.” Sungyeol actually felt nice being able to be that close to L. The Silent Prince was like a character from a manga.

L wondered what could be the happy virus thinking about. For L, Sungyeol was like a free soul with no worries, no pain, no heartaches. But then again he remembered the night when Sungyeol woke up with all sweats.

“Let’s go in. Else we might have to spend the holiday resting in bed due to sickness.”

Both of them went in to go to bed.

~~~~~~~~

The next day, they set out for the tour around Kyoto. First place they went to was Arashiyama. The place was filled with temples and shrines, but the star attraction was the famed Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. L clicked pictures of the groove, Tenryu_ji Temple, Kameyama-koen Park, Rakushisha Poet's Hut and many others. The mountain across the Ōi River, which forms a backdrop to the district, made the photography more interesting.

After the tour, they went to Hiranoya for tea.

L was scrolling through the gallery of his Nikon D500. He had that beautiful smile decorating his face.

“Seems like you are fond of the place.” Sungyeol asked.

“It’s so beautiful Yeol. The place and the environment around here. I am feeling like I reached to another world. Thank you so much for bringing me here.” As the photographer was concentrating in his work, he missed the shade of pink that decorated Sungyeol’s face hearing the nickname for the first time. Sungyeol could see the pure smile in L’s face for the first time.

“See this one, the shrine looks so artistic. Here the little girl is smiling so cutely seeing the tall bamboos. In this the bird looks so cute sitting near the monkey.”

L was genuinely happy and Sungyeol could ask for nothing more.

“Um…L, about yesterday….” Sungyeol wanted to ask something about the day before and the smile in L’s face immediately faded.

L was sure now Sungyeol wants to know about the laughing person and his past.

A/N : Will L be able to tell about Myungsoo to Sungyeol now?!

Let’s see in the upcoming chapter.

Btw, INFINITE being Ambassador for “2041 Antarctica” Project by W Foundation is so praise-worthy. They always makes us feel so proud^^