It was kind of like a Ghibli movie.

Daehyun was tirelessly climbing up the steps, easily skipping over the cracks in the concrete. His steps were light and agile. Everything he saw made him gasp. Every little thing or detail that caught his eye made him bounce, excitedly yet quietly calling for Yongguk,

“Hyung! Hyung, look!”

This time it was a squirrel. Daehyun descended the few steps he was ahead of Yongguk. He stood close to the elder, tightly holding onto his sleeve.

“Look,” Daehyun whispered, not to scare the creature away. With his free hand he pointed the tree high above them. “Just there. Do you see it?”

Yongguk didn’t at first. He had to squint through the monotone yet somehow still lively colour palette and the moving shadows of the forest before he was able to spot the fur ball. Once he did, his lips slowly stretched into a smile.

Daehyun’s enthusiasm was contagious and Yongguk didn’t mind.

He could use a bit of carefree fun at the moment. There was something weighing him down that Daehyun had no knowledge of, but that would soon be made apparent to him. Once they reached the shrine, once Yongguk found the perfect spot.

They stood perfectly still and watched the squirrel climb up the tall tree, disappearing into the tallest branches.

Daehyun took a deep breath and puffed it out. He started tugging on Yongguk’s hand again.

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

Yongguk let him take the lead. Frankly, he didn’t have the strength to keep up with Daehyun’s pace at the moment. Besides, he wanted to watch him in all his glory, looking like a pastel anime character. It was easy to visualize; Daehyun with his backpack that had multiple pendants and pins on it, wearing his Kyoto t-shirt that he changed into immediately after they got it at the gift shop – he was running up the steps from one tall red torii gate to the next, stopping every now and again to admire the flowers by the path. It was easy to imagine some spirit walking out of the forest and interacting with him, when Daehyun himself didn’t seem real.

Truth to be told, none of it did. Their entire trip to Japan had been fuzzy to Yongguk; no matter how hard he tried to focus he simply couldn’t. The small box in his pocket was burning through the fabric, he was anxious to finally pick it up. Every time he so much as put his hand over it, his heartbeat quickened.

Daehyun had increased the distance between them. He was looking ahead, up the side of the mountain. He turned and waved.

“Come on! I can see it from here, it’s not much further!”

He thought that Yongguk was tired. He didn’t know that Yongguk was just delaying the moment of truth.

Besides, letting Daehyun walk ahead and have his fun created more than perfect opportunities for spontaneous pictures that would later make Daehyun blush.

He waited for Yongguk at the top.

When he finished his climb, he hardly got to throw a glance around before Daehyun latched onto his arm. And so he looked around with Daehyun stuck to his side.

It was a magnificent edifice. The main hall was framed by the enormous Romon Gate at the entrance of the shrine.

And as magnificent as it was, Yongguk knew that it wasn’t the place as soon as he saw it, if only because of all the tourists. It would be difficult to find in a site like this, but it had to be something secluded, that will only be theirs.

Daehyun popped his chin on Yongguk’s shoulder, lacing their fingers together. “I want to take be an annoying couple and take stupid pictures of us kissing but it’s way too awkward to ask someone to take those pictures,” he said, not really sounding all that hurt that they wouldn’t get their cliché photos. He was far too impressed by everything else he got.

Yongguk could take him to the end of the world and Daehyun would still consider it the most beautiful vacation, as long as they got to live through it together.

“That’s okay, we can always take equally as stupid selfies,” Yongguk offered.

Daehyun smiled wide, the kind of smile that made his cheekbones pop, and gave a happy nod of agreement.

And selfies they took. They were hugging in all of them, kissing each other’s cheeks in most and full-on kissing in some. Likely neither of them would want to even post those last ones, but there’s this one where they were near pulling away, smiling and looking at each other, both looking like they hold the entire world. That one might be posted to some social media.

After a walk around the complex, it was the time to see what everyone came there to see; Senbon Torii, thousands of torii gates. They were densely lined up in, creating two archway-like paths. Hiking trails led up the mountain after the two rows with more gates on the way.

“Which one do we take?” Daehyun asked, looking between the two paths, then up to Yongguk.

They felt like portals to him. In favour of that impression was the fact that from a certain angle you couldn’t even see where the path lead – it looked like you could walk into the row of gates and end up on the other side of the world.

But Yongguk knew that one of these ‘portals’ would take them to the perfect place, he just knew it. Now was the time to be optimistic. He looked between the two sides a few times before confidently saying,

“The left one.”

At first they didn’t talk. Yongguk admired the writings on the pillars while Daehyun seemed to have been counting the torii gates, but eventually he gave up since there were far too many. Instead he tried to catch the landscape that could be seen between every two gates; images of the forest were flashing as they walked.

Yongguk squeezed Daehyun’s hand which got his attention. However when he looked over, Yongguk was acting as if he hadn’t done anything at all.

“Do you want to go all the way up?” Daehyun asked, trying to snap the elder out of his daze.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but he had noticed Yongguk losing focus more often those days. Daehyun wasn’t expecting him to act like himself – hypersensitive and aware of everything around him – that just wasn’t Yongguk. It balanced out, really, his calmness and Daehyun’s chaos.

But this was different, something was on his mind. The worst part was, Daehyun couldn’t figure out if it was something bad, regular or good.

Yongguk nodded quickly. “The view’s supposed to be breathtaking.”

Daehyun pressed himself closer to the elder, resting his cheek on his shoulder. “Are you sure? It’s a long way to the stop spot.”

“No, I want to go,” Yongguk assured.

“You seem tired, that’s all.”

Yongguk smiled and shook his head. He brought Daehyun’s hand up and pressed a kiss to the back of his wrist.

“I’m fine. Besides, I thought you’d want to go,” he said.

Daehyun raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say that? Is there food up there?”

Yongguk grinned and nodded.

Daehyun gasped, offended. “Food isn’t all I care about!”

The other just looked at him and Daehyun caved.

“But okay, that long walk will make us hungry. And I read about the local sushi and udon, we need to try it!”

This comment got a bright laugh out of Yongguk and Daehyun couldn’t have been be happier. Perhaps things were alright after all.

Getting out of the rows of gates truly was like stepping into a Ghibli landscape. Paths split and lead different ways that would end in the same spot, but it was thrilling to feel like you could get lost following one of those.

Yongguk let Daehyun take the lead, he seemed far too excited about it. And either way, Yongguk would follow him anywhere.

Daehyun was as tireless as he had been on their way up to the shrine. But this time, Yongguk stuck to him and followed his pace. He wanted to have him close, he needed it to keep his heart from bursting.

Daehyun took turns that no one did, trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of the other tourists. They weren’t truly worried about getting lost because there were marks and signs all over to prevent any straying. But the fact was, they were alone. And it was perfect.

Torii gates were scattered here and there along the way, smaller than at the shrine, but just as mesmerizing. The two walked for a bit less than half an hour and before long, after one right turn, they found themselves on a clearing with many red gates huddled up on a rock on the side of a cliff.

Daehyun spun around and hooked his arms around Yongguk’s neck. “We can take a break here.”

It was evident that he was still worrying, thinking that something was wrong. And he had reason to believe so because the rising anxiety made Yongguk look like he was nauseous. He was starting to tremble, he could feel the beating of his own heart in his throat.

It was the place, Yongguk was sure of it.

“I don’t need a break,” he said, placing his hands on Daehyun’s hips. In any other situation Yongguk would have embraced him and held him, but now was an exception.

“I do have something to tell you.”

This was it, there was no going back now.

Daehyun’s arms slipped until his hands rested flat on Yongguk’s chest. “What’s up?” Perhaps he was a little concerned. He’d been expecting this the entire day, if not their entire vacation because of Yongguk’s odd behaviour, but he had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Yongguk tightened his grip on Daehyun’s hips a fraction out of pure anxiety. He’d gone over it in his head so many times, he’d tried to map out exactly what he’d say, but in all honesty it was foolish to believe any kind of plan would be relevant in this situation.

Because nothing existed in that moment other than the clearing and the two of them.

“I love you. I don’t say it often, but I do my best to show it. For the past few years I hope you’ve felt as loved and cared for as I have, because really... You’ve brought so much light and gentleness in my life.” He took a shaky breath and cupped Daehyun’s cheeks, then pressed a tiny kiss to his slightly pouty lips.

Daehyun’s own heart rate had increased. He still what to expect, he only knew that thankfully it was nothing bad. He was torn, trying to figure out why Yongguk was telling him all of this while trying not to miss a single word.

“Hyung, of course I have...”

Yongguk smiled and kissed him again. “Shush, hear me out.” His hand left Daehyun’s cheek and they locked pinkies like they sometimes did. “Daehyun, the thing is... I want to have this—” He ducked his head and pressed a kiss to Daehyun’s hand. “—for the rest of my life, if you’ll have me.”

His heart stopped. Before he fully caught on, Yongguk had stepped away and pulled something out of his pocket.

Daehyun bit his lip to stifle any squeals that were building up, he wanted to at least appear mature about this. He gripped on the hem of his Kyoto shirt, watching Yongguk get down on one knee.

He popped the little box open, but Daehyun wasn’t even looking at the ring. He had his eyes on Yongguk, blinking, trying to get to stop his tears from ruining the view.

Yongguk said it steadily, all at once, “Will you marry me?”

Daehyun nodded, currently unable to conjure a verbal response. He was bouncing with excitement and exhilaration. He opened his arms, waited for Yongguk to stand before he tackle-hugged him.

Yongguk pressed the ring to his chest to protect it, hugging back with one arm. He was laughing in relief and pure joy.

Daehyun scattered kisses all over Yongguk’s cheeks, lips, nose, forehead, anywhere he let him really. Even as he pulled away he still kept his arms around Yongguk, he wanted to be close to him, to the current source of all his happiness.

“Did you – oh God – did you bring me here to—?” Daehyun rambled. His cheeks nearly hurt from smiling.

“I knew I’d do it at some point... I just grabbed the opportunity,” Yongguk said. His voice was quiet, he was shaken up by the tension that had suddenly left him as soon as he saw Daehyun’s response. He was barely keeping himself up, holding Daehyun’s waist like a lifeline.

Daehyun rolled his eyes and pecked Yongguk’s lips. He laughed in delight when he pulled away.

And as much as he shared the delight, Yongguk felt compelled to remind him. “Dae...” He lifted the little box that still contained the ring.

“Oh! Right, sorry..”

Yongguk burst out laughing, shaking his head at Daehyun’s silliness.

He only took a good look at it once it was on his finger. It was a gorgeous little thing, simple and engraved, but the meaning, the promise it held was the most important to Daehyun.

Neither of them could get that dazed smile off of their face, stealing glances at each other as they continued their hike. That time when they held hands, the picture was somehow... Complete.