Kibum had visited Minho with Taemin enough times to be comfortable making the effort to go on his own. In the past when Taemin and Jinki had gone treasure hunting together, Kibum normally would’ve gone home or let the breeze carry him to whatever town was nearest him at that moment. Minho’s face was just too good to pass up so now he decided that he would spend that time visiting the island instead to “admire some of nature’s beauty” as he told Taemin. The only problem with visiting Minho was that Kibum had a tendency to miplain things. He’d promised Taemin that he’d be gentle and kind to Minho since he didn’t really have experience (that he could remember) with people. So anytime he went a little too far -- calling him babe, giving him hugs, etc -- he would immediately explain that it was a thing that friends do. The only problem was that he would have to go home and explain to Taemin and Jinki what he’d said so that they’d go along with it. Just because all three of them knew that he was pretty infatuated with Minho didn’t mean he wanted to say it to the other quite yet. So as he left to visit the island, he promised himself he’d be more careful about himself or at least explain things properly. As he got closer, he looked out for Minho on the beach. There weren’t any trees out, but there were a few flowers on the beach. Why couldn’t Minho just put out a sign to let visitors know what form he was in? He landed on the beach with a sigh and walked over to the flowers.

“Hey is that you?” he asked, leaning in to the flowers.

No reply.

“Minbabe, if that’s you and you’re just not answering me I swear I’ll-”

“You’ll what?”

Kibum jumped at the voice. He turned around to see Minho, arms full of similar blossoms. Realizing his mistake, Kibum covered his face with his hands to try and hide his embarrassment.

“I didn’t really have anything in mind, actually. I was just making sure you weren’t messing with me” he explained, trying to appear cool.  Minho laughed.

“So what brings you here today, Kibum?” he asked, kneeling down next to the flowers.

“Taemin is out with Jinki so I thought I’d come see you.”

Minho looked up with a suspicious glance then continued to plant the new flowers next to the already established ones. Kibum watched for a while, noting the tenderness with which he moved each flower.

“So what are the flowers for? Won’t they survive better in your garden?”

“They might,” Minho explained, wiping sand from his hands, “but I’m trying to practice growing hardier flowers and this is for me to see what way works best. Plus, if they’re out here then you can see them when you pass by but don’t have time to visit me.”

Kibum felt a blush rising in his cheeks again. Couldn’t Taemin have made a friend that wasn’t so cute and endearing? Minho finished arranging them and stood to admire his handiwork.

“They’re so pretty, Minbabe. They’re honestly gorgeous.”

“Really?”

Kibum looked at Minho, who was now blushing at the compliments and refused to make eye contact. As he looked at him, he noticed little flowers peeking out from his hair. After a moment, Minho had a full crown of miniature flowers like the ones he’d just planted. He finally turned to face Kibum.

“What about me? Am I pretty?” he asked shyly.

If Taemin was watching, Kibum hoped that he would send a lightning bolt right at this moment so that he wouldn’t have to answer.  Kibum felt the words falling out of his mouth before he could pull himself together to give a cool response.

“You’re prettier than all your flowers put together, babe.”

Minho beamed at the compliment and even more flowers grew in to fill the gaps in his crown. Kibum could not believe himself; even when he’d been this infatuated with people before he had never been this lame. He turned to look at the flowers.

“Do you want to go inside?” Minho asked, cheeks still rosy and beaming. “I know you don’t like to be out in the direct sun for too long.”

Kibum nodded and reached for Minho’s hand. He laced their fingers together and waited for Minho to lead him inside. When Minho didn’t move, he looked up. Minho was frozen, staring at their hands. It occurred to him that he may never have held hands with someone before.

“Is this ok?” he asked.

“What is this?” Minho asked, seemingly puzzled by the phenomenon.

“We’re holding hands, Minho. Sometimes people do it with friends and family. It feels nice and helps you feel safe,” he explained.

“Oh, ok. I like it.”

And with that, Minho held tightened his grasp on Kibum’s hand but still didn’t move anywhere. Kibum let himself enjoy the moment until he remembered he’d have to explain to Taemin and Jinki that they should expect this in the future. He really needed to work on this.