“I still can’t believe you found a place like this,” Kihyun breathes out, stretching up on his tiptoes to reach some of the higher fruit. Hoseok smiles, doing his best not to coo as he reaches easily for the fruit just out of Kihyun’s reach. Kihyun mutters a sheepish thank-you as he takes it and puts it into his bag.

It’s amazing the difference a mere two centimeters will make.

“I knew you’d like it,” Hoseok comments, stepping back as Kihyun heads for the next tree. He’s not taking everything he can, but damn near as he’d immediately set upon the task of harvesting everything edible for the past few minutes now. Hoseok lamely shoves his hands into his pockets as he watches, the excitement just exuding off the younger man. He likes seeing Kihyun so happy… He hadn’t seen him like this much, just in small moments in the dining hall when he’d tried a new dish, and everyone had enjoyed it.

He’s proud he could bring such joy to Kihyun’s life, if even for a short time.

“I hate that you have to tell the higher-ups about this,” Kihyun suddenly says, bringing cold reality into their sunny time together. “They’re gonna this place dry of all its beauty…” He pauses in his stretching for another high fruit, his shoulders falling slightly.

Hoseok can’t keep himself back anymore. He goes and wraps his arms around the younger, meaning to comfort him. Kihyun makes a small noise of surprise at first, having not expected the older to suddenly hug him from behind. But, then, he relaxes against Hoseok’s chest. He leans back against him, reveling in the touch. His eyes flutter shut, and he just enjoys the birdsong surrounding them and the warm sunlight dancing through the leaves.

He opens his eyes after a moment, turning back around to nestle himself against Hoseok’s chest. He doesn’t care if this is about to border on the line of friendship to romance again. He just listens to Hoseok’s heartbeat, allowing himself this selfish moment of reprieve from holding himself together at his fraying seams.

Hoseok’s fingers card through his hair, and he hums in contentment in response. He feels safe here, in this beautiful place, in Hoseok’s arms. It’s safer than he’s felt in a long time, ever since this whole end of the world stuff began. In those first few, dark nights alone, before he’d found the compound, he’d wondered why he’d survived. He questioned what the point was of going on anymore.

But, then he found the compound, and he’d found Minhyuk and Jooheon, Hyunwoo and Changkyun, Hyungwon, and even Hoseok.

His small, contented grin grows at the thought of the older, even more so at how he’s so close to the man.

He moves automatically, then, on instinct. He doesn’t have the presence of mind, too lost in a mental haze, to hold himself back anymore. He leans up, tilting his head to the side to press a soft, gentle kiss against Hoseok’s lips.

Kihyun pulls away, blinking up at Hoseok’s look of shock.

Hoseok’s lips are slightly parted, morphed into the goofiest, most relieved grin ever, and Kihyun realizes what it is he’s done.

He’s just kissed Hoseok. He just, oh-so naturally, kissed Hoseok…

“Th-Th-Thorry,” Kihyun sheepishly stutters, his own lisp coming out as he’s so embarrassed. His face burns a bright red and he tries to squirm out of Hoseok’s hold to go drown himself in the pool of water nearby, because there’s no way he can even live with knowing what he’s done.

He’s never been so mortified before, never been able to not stop himself from doing something. But, to kiss Hoseok was such a natural thing, such a normal-feeling action, as if he’s meant to kiss Hoseok on a daily basis, that he hadn’t even thought about it.

Hoseok chuckles warmly, holding Kihyun in place. Kihyun looks back up at him defensively, his brow knitting together. He’s about to demand that the older let him go, to let him go die of embarrassment in peace, but the words die in his throat as Hoseok returns the kiss gently, his full lips brushing against Kihyun’s.

He presses their foreheads together, tears b at the corners of his eyes. Kihyun’s eyes grow to mere discs on his face, his lips pursed in confusion. His heart is going fifty bajillion beats a second, and his entire body feels as if it’s full of static electricity. His nerves stand on their ends. Does this mean…?

“I was going to confess to you with some long, thought-out speech,” Hoseok finally says. “But, I can’t even remember it now. Guess I really am an airhead, huh?”

Kihyun can’t help but laugh then, a hand coming up to cup Hoseok’s cheek. The older leans into the touch, his eyes closing to enjoy the intimate touch. Kihyun releases a shaky breath, chewing thoughtfully on the inside of the cheek.

“So,” he mutters, his mind zeroing in on the word ‘confess’, “you brought me here to… tell me how you feel?” Hoseok nods, figuring there’s no point in hiding it now. Kihyun, however, pulls away, stepping out of Hoseok’s reach. The older frowns, suddenly worried he’s done something wrong as the shorter crosses his arms over his chest.

“Hyung,” he says softly, his eyes falling to the impossibly green grass at his feet, “I… I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve had feelings for you for a while now, but… I never told you, because this is a dangerous, unpredictable world we live in now, Hoseok. I don’t want to open us up to that kind of heartache if we one day get separated, or even Infected. I don’t—”

“Kihyunnie,” Hoseok interrupts, stepping forward. He intends to close the distance between them, but Kihyun takes another step back, clearly not ready to relent. He bites on his lower lip, doing his best to not show how much that hurts despite always having been an open book. “I understand your reasonings, Kihyunnie, but you taught me that we should live now, in the moment. Because, otherwise, we’ll lose it, and that’s one thing we can’t afford to do in this kind of world.

“I like you, Kihyunnie, maybe even love you. You showed me there was more to this life than what I’ve lost, you’ve been my light of hope in this dark hole we call a world. Let me be that for you now. Let me show you there is a point to following your feelings, even if there is risk. Please, Kihyunnie. Just let me prove to you that I can keep you safe, protect you and your heart. I want to and will, if you only give me the chance.”

He falls silent after he finishes, worried he might start babbling. Kihyun’s eyes are glued to the ground, but Hoseok can see the wheels in them turning. He gingerly takes a step forward, and this time the younger doesn’t move away. Hoseok breathes a sigh of relief and closes the distance between them, reaching out with a gentle hand to caress Kihyun’s cheek.

Kihyun meets his gaze, and Hoseok feels his insides melt into an unseemly goop. The younger’s eyes are shining with emotion, wet with affectionate tears. He releases a shaky laugh, and he takes a step closer.

“Sure you weren’t a poet before all this zombie started?” he asks teasingly, resting his head against Hoseok’s chest. Hoseok laughs along, wrapping his arms around Kihyun’s small body and kissing his temple.

“For you, Kihyun,” he says softly, “I could be anything.”