The palace tour ended right after the procession was complete and Taeyong couldn’t help but notice the creases Jaehyun had left on the hem of his jacket. He was about to smooth it out when he paused. He liked it, he figured. It sounded stupid but Taeyong liked that Jaehyun had left small yet visible traces on him.

The sun was finally hanging directly over the city, now that it was already a bit past noon. The snow that lined the roads this morning had melted and in their place were puddles and ice.

‘Where are we going next?’ Jaehyun asked delightedly, spirits evidently lifted from the Korean-drama lookalike he had just witnessed.

‘We’ll follow Cheonggyecheon Stream until we get to the end and then walk five more minutes to the left. There’s a pretty good restaurant.’

The wide pavement opened up into a stream, contained on both sides by concrete steps. The stream was not frozen, to Jaehyun’s delight and he could hear the soothing gushes pouring from what seemed like a mini dam.

Taeyong was zoned out once again, eyes focused on something in the distance.

Jaehyun wasn’t curious enough to pry and took in his surroundings. The sound of children screaming in glee, down jackets wrapped around their small bodies as their parents chased after them. Young couples warming their hands in each other’s embrace, whispering sweet nothings as if living in their own little world.

‘Taeyong!’ Jaehyun called out, beckoning Taeyong to walk over. ‘Do you have a dollar to spare?’ Jaehyun asked. He pointed to a small sign saying: Make a wish coin toss. How incredibly childish, Taeyong mused, never once did he believe in these things. In his twenty-three years of living, he had come to know that the world was not a wish-granting factory. There was nothing such as a miracle and wishes simply did not come true. It was a harsh world and he had bore the brunt of it. Snapping out of his sad, sappy life, he handed over a coin. He won’t make it, Taeyong thought and was immediately proved wrong as Jaehyun’s coin (or more like Taeyong’s) landed atop the pile of coins in that bronze bowl.

‘Go on, make a wish,’ Jaehyun urged, proudly pointing at the coin that was now unrecognizable in the pile.

‘You make a wish, you tossed it.’

‘Oh come on Taeee…’ Jaehyun whined. Taeyong froze. It wouldn’t have struck anyone as something shocking but to Taeyong, it meant something. Tae. He had called him ‘Tae’. It was as if Jaehyun had struck a cord within him that he unwittingly softened. ‘Let’s… both make one.’

Jaehyun was pretty, Taeyong registered as he scrutinized the younger’s face. Smooth milky skin, adorned with long lashes and dimpled cheeks. Jaehyun was taller than him by less than half a head but with his childish delight and demeanour, it was hard to treat him any more than a high school kid. Jaehyun was taking his sweet time to make that wish, Taeyong figured, but that just gave him more time to survey the younger. Jaehyun’s locks framed his chubby cheeks perfectly, dark brown and glossy, Taeyong wondered whether he was born with them or if it was an expensive dye. The corners of Jaehyun’s mouth was upturned as if locked in a sweet dream but at that very moment, Jaehyun’s eyes snapped open as he declared he was done with his wish.

‘That took you long… How greedy are you?’ Taeyong commented.

‘Not as greedy as you, mister my-eyes-were-glued-to-your-face-the-entire-time,’ Jaehyun laughed as he ran forwards before he could even see Taeyong flush a shade of crimson.

-

Taeyong was just as eloquent in Korean as he was in English and Jaehyun couldn’t help but wish he, too, had that ability. Taeyong had picked out several ‘chef recommendations’, together with some of his personal favourites that Jaehyun apparently ‘had to try’. Jaehyun was glad Taeyong seemed to have warmed up to him. It was just three hours into their day, perhaps the rest of the week wasn’t going to be so painful, he hoped.

The small shop was very homey for one smack in the middle of a tourist area. The atmosphere was warm and cozy, not crowded enough to make their ears ring, but packed enough to reassure Jaehyun that this was indeed a place that was popular with the locals.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jaehyun could see two girls whispering. No, those couldn’t be whispers. They were obviously talking about him, not even attempting to stay discreet as the girls fixated their gazes on him.

‘Wow, he’s hot,’ the girl in pigtails breathed. Jaehyun could vaguely make out what they were saying with his limited Korean. Thank goodness for Korean dramas, he thought for the millionth time in two days. Jaehyun could feel Taeyong tense up as his jaws clenched slightly but he assumed it was because, well, it was Jaehyun who caught their attention instead of Taeyong himself.

‘I know right! Should we…’ the other girl piped. Jaehyun couldn’t hear what the other had suggested because they were served and his attention had shifted to the platefuls of Korean pancake, dumplings, marinated beef and so much more. Just as he was about to raise his chopsticks, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

‘Annyeonghaseyo,’ the girl in pigtails greeted him with a bright smile. She couldn’t have been more than twenty years old, her features beautifully carved yet regretfully overly matted with makeup.

‘Uh hi,’ Jaehyun hesitated.

‘Oh, you’re not Korean?’ the girl was taken aback. It must’ve been his wholly Korean appearance again.

‘Partly Korean,’ Jaehyun answered.

The girl seemed to be contented with that response and moved on to introduce herself in her broken yet understandable English.

Jaehyun looked over to Taeyong who was similarly frozen with a piece of kimchi dangling dangerous from his chopsticks. It was a funny sight seeing the seasoned veg swinging like a pendulum in front of Taeyong’s expressionless face. Unreadable.

It was as if Taeyong had seen Jaehyun look at him that his façade cracked and offered, ‘Need a translator?’

The girl was a university student apparently and being as forward as she was, had volunteered to bring Jaehyun around the city after knowing that he was new here.

Jaehyun wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sure, he knew he looked good, hell, all his friends told him that. But being approached by a young woman out of the blue in a foreign country? Even that was too much for him.

‘Maybe some other time,’ Jaehyun smiled politely, ‘I should get back to my friend here, he’s showing me around this week.’ Taeyong couldn’t help but feel a slight tinge of happiness rising from the depths of his core.

The girl courteously nodded and returned to her table, still chattering to her friend, possibly reporting her encounter with the handsome stranger.

‘So, a ladies’ man are we?’ Taeyong joked, transporting the soggy kimchi into its rightful place and chomping away.

The rest of the meal was ate in silence as Taeyong seemed to have reclined back into his icy façade and Jaehyun took the liberty of initiating conversations that merely ended with a few grunts from the older.

It wasn’t toward the end of the meal that Jaehyun began to feel an uneasy pang of discomfort creeping from his stomach. Damn it, must be that stomachache, he thought. It was proof of his terrible acting because within seconds, Taeyong had begun to notice the younger’s face slightly contorted and breaths growing heavier.

‘You okay?’ Taeyong asked, brows furrowing in concern.

‘Yeah,’ Jaehyun breathed. Who was he kidding, he sounded like a strangled animal.

‘You don’t look so good,’ Taeyong stated matter-of-factly. Jaehyun’s crimson cheeks had turned pale, lips rid of colour and the same thin s