Wonho wasn’t good at hiding his feelings; when he heard the word 'yes' come out of Changkyun's mouth, he wanted to get up and jump of pure joy. A big smile formed on his pink lips and he tried to hide it in vain: he couldn’t help it... he was very happy.

His enthusiasm was obvious to Changkyun, who shook his head and sighed without losing his smile.

“So... now we’re boyfriends?”

The brunette let out a childlike chuckle as he spoke, and Changkyun boy released his hand, his cheeks blushing. That whole situation was embarrassing by itself, and Wonho wasn’t helping.

“You need to stop doing that.” Hoseok raised an eyebrow and widened his smile at Changkyun's nervousness. “Could you try to be less...? Well, you know.”

“Less what?” he urged him to continue.

Changkyun shifted in his seat, not knowing how to say it. Finally he decided to get straight to the point.

“Less cheesy.”

Wonho's mouth opened in fake offense.

“Oh, Changkyunnie, you can’t ask me that.”

“…Don’t call me that.”

“Do you prefer puppy?” he asked amused. The snort he received in response made him laugh tenderly: he enjoyed too much annoying his Changkyun, who was so ashamed that he had covered half his face with one hand.

Then, someone clearing attracted both of their attention. The two turned their necks towards the person who was standing next to their table: she was a lady of fifty years, with short, dark hair; she looked at Wonho with disapproval and with his hands on her hips.

“Mom!” Hoseok exclaimed animatedly before getting up to hug her. Changkyun was surprised to hear that: what was his mother doing there?

The woman patted him on the back and pushed him away impatiently.

“What did I tell you about bringing your friends here?” she asked with a sour face.

“...That I should charge them double?” Wonho received a hit that made him laugh and surround his now smiling mother with an arm before speaking to Changkyun. “This is my mother," he explained proudly.

The black haired boy was so confused that it took him a couple of seconds to get up and bow at her properly.

“Ni-nice to meet you.”

“Oh, stop with the formalities!” she said, waving her hands. “All friends of my Hoseok will always be welcomed in my cafeteria.”

Her cafeteria?

Changkyun looked around and understood everything: so that was his mother's business...

“Ah! It's a really nice place," he hastened to say. It truly was a very cozy and pleasant place. Wonho's mother smiled warmly at him.

"Thank you, darling," she sighed, also glancing at the place with a tired face. “My Hoseok usually helps me maintain it, I don’t know what I would do without him." She looked at her son with adoration and Wonho smiled back. Changkyun also got a little smile for the beautiful relationship they had between the two: he stared at them, even feeling a little envious. “And what's your name, honey?”

The question took the little boy from his absorption and he lost his smile.

“I'm Lim Changkyun.”

She looked surprised hearing his name and she separated from her son, observing him incredulously.

“Is this the Changkyun that you never stop talking about?” The brunette’s cheeks blushed violently and looked at the woman with a face that said 'mom, I love you so much, but shut up please'. Finally, Wonho nodded feeling terribly embarrassed. “And why didn’t you say it before? Oh, honey, please sit down.”

Changkyun obeyed and the woman began to bombard him with questions about whether he wanted to drink or eat something, and that whenever he came there, everything would be on the house. Changkyun rejected her offers with kindness, but then she sat in front of him and started some kind of interrogation masked with gentle questions; the black haired boy tried to answer as best he could and looked at Wonho with panic.

"Mom," he called when he saw how she had cornered Changkyun; but she ignored him and continued with the conversation.

“Wonho told me you play the piano, how long have you been doing it?”

“Mom…”

“It’s been like... seven years.”

“Seven years? My God, then you must be so talented!”

“Mom.”

“And tell me, sweetie... do you have a girlfriend?”

“Mom!” Just then, both turned to Hoseok, who had red cheeks. The brunette took Changkyun by the hand and made him get up from his chair. “We're going for a walk," he said before dragging him to the exit of the cafeteria.

Changkyun let himself be carried away and looked back, saying goodbye to the woman as best he could.

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Wonho slowed down after walking five minutes through the different streets; when they reached an old and lonely neighborhood, he finally calmed down and stopped, letting go of Changkyun's hand.

The brunette stared at nothing without saying a word, and the little boy was worried. Hoseok rubbed his neck in embarrassment and avoided looking at him as he spoke.

“I'm sorry about my mom...”

"Oh, don’t worry," the pianist replied hurriedly. "She was really nice.” Except for the interrogation part, of course.

"I guess she really wanted to meet you," he explained with a nervous giggle. Changkyun raised an eyebrow and a small smile formed on his lips: he perfectly imagined Wonho talking about him day and night.

"She looked like a good person," he said, beginning to walk, putting his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. The older boy advanced beside him and smiled warmly.

“Yes, she is…”

Wonho's face lit up when he spoke of her: you could tell he loved her very much. They continued walking wrapped in a pleasant silence; the breeze and the distant humming of the cars were the only sounds that accompanied them along the stroll.

"So... you have a married brother," said Changkyun, hitting a pebble on the asphalt ground.

Wonho nodded and looked up at the sky. “Dong-Sun is younger than me, but that little brat was in a hurry to get married," he explained cheerfully. “He and Seoyul always supported me and helped me a lot... especially with mom.”

Suddenly, his smile faded away and he stopped walking. Changkyun also stopped, afraid to ask him about what happened with his mother; however, he finally found the courage to do so.

“What happened?”

The brunette sighed and shook his head, resuming the walk; Wonho smiled again, but this time he did it with great sadness, which didn’t go unnoticed by the little boy.

“It was quite a shock for her to discover that her son didn’t just like girls.” Changkyun listened attentively, feeling the pain in his words. “We argued many times... but in the end mom accepted me, and I love her for that.”

They continued to move aimlessly, enveloped again by the silence; Changkyun simply didn’t know what to say, however, he felt that encouraging words wouldn’t be enough. Little by little, he walked closer to Wonho until his hand lightly touched his.

Hoseok smiled and interlaced his fingers with Changkyun’s, whose cheeks were flushed by the simple act of holding hands. Everything was so new to him that he wondered how long it would take him to get used to these little signs of affection.

A chuckle escaped Wonho's lips and Changkyun looked at him with annoyance.

“What?”

"Nothing..." said the older boy, unable to stop smiling. “It's just that I'm happy.”

Then he began to swing their interlaced hands from front to back with enthusiasm. The pianist rolled his eyes, and couldn’t help catching the smile that shone more than the sun.

His dimples made their appearance, and Wonho watched them tenderly: he still couldn’t believe Changkyun was his little boyfriend. Mine and nobody else's.

Without taking his eyes off him, he began to slow down until he stopped, and Changkyun looked at him strangely; they stayed like that for a few seconds in which the black haired boy's heart was shaken by how he was being observed. Without warning, Wonho wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him toward him.

They stayed millimeters away, and all Changkyun could do was to put his hands on Wonho's chest and stare at him wide-eyed before his lips were caught by the other's.

Hoseok kissed him carefully, holding him firmly and bringing him as close as possible to him. He needed to make sure that the fact that Changkyun was there with him was real.

The small hands clung tightly to Wonho's shirt and closed his eyes, letting himself be carried away by the thousands of feelings that the elder provoked him; their mouths opened at the need to feel more, and both trembled when their tongues touched. With a little gasp, ChangKyun broke the kiss to look at both sides of the road, afraid that someone would come, but the street was silent and empty, giving them enough privacy to continue with their little make out session. Wonho reached for his mouth again with desire on his eyes, first going slowly and then moistening his thin lips with his tongue, caressing his hips on a way he knew Changkyun couldn’t resist. They started walking backwards, still kissing until the puppy’s back was resting on the wall of the street.

His heart was going a thousand times an hour and his head was spinning: he was only aware of the warm feeling that the pair of pink lips left on his. Wonho squeezed him against him and his hands slipped under Changkyun's sweatshirt, slowly caressing the bristling skin of his back. The younger sighed between the kisses: he felt very good in his arms that he wished to remain that way forever.

Little by little, the movement of his lips became slower; Wonho began to leave a trail of kisses from his commissure to finish on his forehead. Changkyun watched him trying to catch his breath and a little dazed, as if he had just awakened.

The brunette smiled at him tenderly and leaned back towards him, first giving him a short kiss, and then exploring his mouth with more eagerness. Changkyun's fine fingers rose up around his neck and pulled him closer: a warm sensation settled in his lower belly and invaded his body; he felt a pleasant tingle every time Wonho's tongue caressed his, every time his strong arms tightened against him, every time...

Suddenly, a great roar came out of Changkyun's belly and both of them opened their eyes. The black haired boy backed off, his cheeks even redder than they already were with embarrassment, and Hoseok began to laugh, resting his forehead on his.

"Shut up..." Changkyun demanded, completely embarrassed.

“The puppy is hungry,” he said in a mocking but tender tone.

The younger boy huffed at the annoying nickname, but didn’t find enough strength to get away from him: his pretty brown eyes were hypnotizing. Giving him one last peck on the tip of his nose, Wonho separated from him and pulled the phone out of the back pocket of his pants to check the hour.

"Soon it’ll be three o’clock... we still have time to eat something," he explained with a smile. Changkyun nodded and remained thoughtful; he had a weird feeling, as if he was forgetting something. “Is everything okay?” Wonho asked, his arm as he saw his expression.

Suddenly, the light bulb went on in Changkyun's head and he felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown on him: his piano recital was at three o'clock in the afternoon.

"Oh ..." he muttered, closing his eyes tightly. “I'm going to be late.”

“Late? For what?”

Panic rose up his throat and he walked away from Wonho, beginning to walk down the street nervously, not knowing what to do. The brunette followed him hurriedly to reach him, but the boy stopped suddenly and started walking in the opposite direction.

“The coordinator is going to kill me. God, what do I do now?”

“Changkyun!” Wonho's scream made him stop and finally look him in the eye. “For what are you going to be late?” he asked, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“For... my piano recital.”

Wonho took his phone out of his pocket to check how much time they had and finally spoke decisively.

“Trust me, you won’t.” Immediately, he took his hand before starting to run up the street. Changkyun followed his step as best he could; after two minutes, tiredness made its appearance and his legs began to weigh, bringing out his bad physical condition. However, the older one kept pulling him and he didn’t stop running.

When they passed MoMo Coffee, Changkyun knew they were heading to Wonho's car.

By the time they’d get to the recital, he would probably faint from fatigue on the piano.

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Hardly, Changkyun opened the door to the faculty hall and both walked briskly along the carpet in the center corridor. They had arrived ten minutes late and people had already taken seats. The little boy approached the front row where the music club coordinator was sitting and apologized numerous times, receiving a brief reprimand from him.

Then they both climbed the narrow stairs to the right and, behind the dark curtain, Changkyun left his backpack on the floor and fumbled out the sheet music and the case of his glasses still without catching his breath.

He was so nervous that he tried to open it from the wrong side; then, Wonho's cold hands settled on his and he looked into his eyes.

"Easy there," he murmured with a patient look. He took the case from between his fingers and opened it carefully, pulling out his glasses and putting them on him very delicately. Changkyun blinked a couple of times and pressed the scores against his chest: this situation reminded him of when Wonho had rushed to his recital to give him his newly arranged glasses, and he couldn’t keep his heart from beating wildly.

The brunette placed a lock of his black hair behind his ear and smiled tenderly before leaning down to give him a small kiss on the lips.

"Good luck out there," he said, winking at him.

He had even said the same words from two months ago... it was amazing how much their relationship had changed from that time.

Changkyun looked at him self-absorbed for a few seconds and walked towards the center of the stage with his cheeks slightly rosy. Once he took a seat on the bench, he placed the scores on the music stand while a voice on the speakers announced the piece he was about to play.

His eyes wandered momentarily to the audience, and he quickly spotted Wonho, who was the only person sitting in the back rows. The brunette waved at him animatedly and made a heart shape with his arms; the pianist couldn’t help but smile before concentrating on the instrument.

Taking a breath, he placed his right foot on the pedal and his fingertips on the cold keys. He felt a warm sensation rise in his chest and reach to his fingers: he was nervous, but also excited.

He was going to show that person so important to him his confidence on stage. He was going to show him his feelings through his music. He was going to let him know who Lim Changkyun really was.

"Wonho... hear me out."

And then, he started playing.