Jeonghan checked the time on his phone, he'd been waiting at the arrival gate for about half an hour. He'd originally planned on getting to the airport around the same time Mingyu's flight landed but his excitement got the better of him. He'd arrived with his hair still damp from the shower and his socks mismatched. He wanted to feel embarrassed but he didn't, not in the slightest -- nothing could stop him from acting like a lovestruck teenager, not even the judgemental old Japanese woman who stared at him from across the airport.

Jeonghan's lips curled into a smile when the automatic doors opened and out came his favourite palm tree. Mingyu was dressed in a simple black tracksuit with a duffle bag slung across his broad torso. His bandaged hand was clutched close to his body while the other held his passport. His lover's sharp canines flashed as they spotted one another. Jeonghan immediately slid his hands into Mingyu's hair and tip-toed to give the taller man a gentle peck on the forehead.

"Hey stranger," Jeonghan said with a smile.

"Hey," Mingyu replied, his good hand Jeonghan's lower back.

"Come on, I'll drive," Jeonghan ushered his lover outside.

"You have a car?" Mingyu cocked a brow.

"Company car," Jeonghan dangled the shiny silver keys between his elegant digits.

Mingyu got into the front passenger seat and buckled himself in. He simply stared out the window as Jeonghan drove away from the airport and toward the city, he didn't know how to start up a conversation. Part of him wanted to immediately start apologising some more but the other side of him didn't think that apologising in a car was the best way to do it.

"Still planning on groveling?" Jeonghan asked, he looked over briefly at Mingyu before turning his attention back to the road.

"How'd you know?" Mingyu's eyes widened.

"Because you're biting your nails," Jeonghan answered before reaching over and taking hold of Mingyu's hand. "You do it when you're contemplating."

"Oh," Mingyu replied, his hand tightened around Jeonghan's.

"I said it was fine, you don't need to say or do anything," Jeonghan assured.

"But I was such a ," Mingyu pouted.

"And so was I when you first started at the company," Jeonghan said. "Remember how badly I treated you? You managed to forgive me so I should do the same."

"You know, now that you mention it, you let me get away with a lot more than you used to."

"Do I?"

"Yeah, back then you used to shut down almost everything I had to say."

"You didn't exactly leave a good first impression, Kim Mingyu," Jeonghan gave his lover a look. "That little 'pretty boy assistant' comment landed you straight on the blacklist."

"I knew that would come back to haunt me," Mingyu scratched his head.

Jeonghan smiled watching Mingyu turn pink.

"You weren't what I expected when my dad said he'd have someone mentor me, it threw me off. I expected some old ball bag who smelt like cigarettes but I got you instead, I say dumb stuff when I get nervous."

"I know," Jeonghan nodded with a chuckle.

"Needless to say, I wasn't happy about your arrogance or your rigid way of doing things but I was still very much attracted to you. In my eyes you were this untouchable person who was in my dad's favour, his golden boy, something that I wanted to be -- I simply didn't like you because you were something I wasn't."

"So you were jealous of me?" Jeonghan asked.

"Very," Mingyu replied.

Jeonghan nodded.

"That night at Minghao's art exhibition, that was when I started to realize what I had wasn't some little crush," Mingyu continued. "Seeing you smiling so much with someone else wasn't a very nice experience. I know it was just your brother but in that moment I wanted to snatch you away."

"So you dragged me into the bathroom of all places?" Jeonghan chuckled.

"It was the best I could do," Mingyu said with a shy smile.

"It's nice to finally hear about it, I don't think we've ever touched on any of this," Jeonghan acknowledged.

"We were too busy fighting about footwear," Mingyu reminisced thinking about their countless nights in the meeting room.

"You've changed quite a bit, Kim Mingyu," Jeonghan brought his lover's hand to his lips and gave the back of it a quick peck.

"Tell me how, I want to know what you thought of me as well," Mingyu pushed.

"I obviously thought you were handsome, you were the living embodiment of the phrase 'tall, dark and handsome' but your mouth was an issue."

Mingyu pouted.

"Of course I didn't help the situation and met hostility with more hostility so that's not all your fault. We were both forced into positions we didn't want, me as your mentor and you as the one being mentored."

"When did your feelings start to change?" Mingyu found himself asking, it was a question he desperately wanted to know.

"Very early on but I just didn't want to admit it," Jeonghan answered. "You were impulsive, impatient, quick to get upset and you were so desperate for attention. You reminded me so much of Dokyeom, I found it endearing but I also had to remind myself that you were my boss's son. Before you came along all I ever cared about was my job and my younger brother but somehow you made me start to question my priorities, you made me want more -- that terrified me."

"So you started finding excuses not to want me," Mingyu guessed.

"I did," Jeonghan nodded. "But your stubborn self didn't give up, you kept chasing, you kept giving me reasons to stay and you broke through the walls that I was convinced were impenetrable."

"What do you think of me right now?" Mingyu turned to look at Jeonghan, he swallowed.

"From a business standpoint, I think that you're a smart young man who is capable of amazing things with a little bit of positive reinforcement and a guiding hand. But as your lover I think you're affectionate, sometimes bordering on needy. You're impulsive but it's because you don't want any opportunity to slip you by, you don't hesitate. You're so very stubborn but you can also be undone with a few sweet words. Despite my every attempt to run away you always caught me and made me face my feelings, you didn't let me make excuses. You made me love you."

Mingyu froze.

Jeonghan froze also realising what he'd said. He started frantically blinking, his palms became sweaty and his breathing became uneven. He'd said it. He'd said it out loud.

"You..." Mingyu swallowed. "You love me? Me as in Kim Mingyu?"

Jeonghan felt very hot, he the air conditioning. "I do."

"I...I love you too, Jeonghan-hyung," Mingyu reached back over to grab Jeonghan's hand -- their palms were both equally sweaty.

"Thank god," Jeonghan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Soonyoung silently fanned the fire under the charcoal grill for the second day in a row. Being at his childhood home made him feel so nostalgic. It brought him back to a time when he was still just a teenager dreaming of running away to the big city. He'd spent his nights outside on the same plastic stool fanning the fire for his mother so