uhm, hi? i'm sorry for not updating this story for so long, i kind of had personal reasons for it. but i'm trying to get back to it, so here i am :) it's getting a bit longer than i expected... will it become another multi-chaptered fic without me being able to control anything? @_@ anyway, i still really hope you'll support me... i was really happy to discover some ppl waited for it to get updated, THANK YOU! i... feel good writing this and i appreciate your words :)

happy 718, by the way! let's shower these 2 who are as precious together as individuals with love^^

ba-dump♥

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“Meerkats?” Hyukjae asked with a soft chuckle, but Donghae could only nod while looking at him without any emotions described on his face.

He was concerned. Concerned of what the man could think of him revealing this side of his.

“That’s unique,” the raven head concluded. “Never heard of someone wanting to pet meerkats. Why them?”

The photographer’s eyes sparkled and he shoved his phone into Hyukjae’s hands to show a meerkat picture that was set as his lock screen. The raven head had to bite his lips to prevent a huge silly smile appearing on his face.

“They’re adorable,” Donghae explained eagerly. “Look at their cute noses…And paws… And they’re super small! They’d be so nice to be around… You know, there was a channel that kept airing shows about different animals, and I fell in love with meerkats by watching those shows. I wish I could take pictures of them and…” the guy looked into Hyukjae’s eyes, as if deciding whether he could trust the man with whatever he was going to say next. Satisfied with what he saw, the photographer added, “I would love to pat them. If they’ll allow me to.”

Listening about meerkats while talking to a guy who wore as many layers of clothes as a cabbage – apparently Donghae felt cold easily – in the middle of nowhere, hidden from people in mountains, wasn’t what Hyukjae could expect from this holiday. But that was the best part of it.

“Have you ever Googled whether it’s possible to… I don’t know, own them? Or to take pictures of them somewhere in Korea if you don’t want to have a wild animal in your house?”

Donghae tilted his head.

“No.”

“Why so?”

“Isn’t it insane? I mean, if I had normal wishes then it’d be fine, but…”

“Who said your wish is insane?”

“Uhm… everyone?”

Hyukjae wasn’t that good when it came to understanding people. He always envied those who could make conclusions by listening to others and understand their characters better just by observing their habits. He…wasn’t like that. He was too simple for that, but there was one thing he had in advantage. He could be accepting.

He didn’t need to be a genius to understand that apparently Donghae’s surroundings… well… deserved to get better. From what he saw, the guy in front of him couldn’t think of himself as of a famous, successful and cool photographer. The guy in front of him was timid, insecure and wary. He kept checking on Hyukjae’s reaction to everything he did, and that was… upsetting. Yeah, maybe he was quite peculiar, but did anyone deserve to be treated poorly to the extent that person was afraid of meeting someone new just because they were different?

“Well, if your wish is different from what most of people desire it doesn’t mean it’s weird, it means your way of thinking is unique,” the raven head said with a smile eventually. “Isn’t it what makes you a great photographer? You need to see the world differently to make your pictures stand out among others. Why is that weird?”

Donghae returned him a smile. Of course he did, but this time it happened not only because he was copying Hyukjae, but because he felt… so nice. Naturally, people in comments kept praising his works when he posted something on Instagram. People in the industry kept doing so too, but… It’s been a while since someone Donghae was close to just casually dropped a compliment instead of finding flaws in him.

Not like he and Hyukjae were close already, but…

“You must be weird too, Hyukjae,” the photographer uttered. “That’s why you’re talking to me.”

The raven head’s eyes widened, but the very next moment he laughed. Donghae observed him carefully, noticing how contagious his gummy smile looked. How those happy wrinkles around his eyes looked like sunrays. How his face had a defined jaw, but whenever he was laughing it looked round, so the man literally looked like a Sun. Donghae did his research and found out Hyukjae usually kept referring to himself as to Moon, that was his stage image. The photographer couldn’t understand why when it obviously was a Sun in front of him. The only Sun his eyes didn’t hurt looking at. The only Sun he wanted to…

“I for sure am weird, but I really enjoy being weird with you,” he said, and Donghae felt something he struggled to feel for a long time

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

His heart ba-dumped! His heart ba-dumped, but Hyukjae didn’t seem to notice it. He then looked away as something from afar caught his attention, and Donghae’s desire became so strong…

The man discovered his hands were holding a camera before he even realized what he was doing. Click! And he took a picture of the man in front of him. It was done so fast, without him having any second thoughts. Just a picture of Hyukjae that should’ve meant nothing, but… Then Donghae looked at it on his camera screen and realized something.

That picture was perfect.

The scenery complimented it so well. For some odd reason Donghae really wanted to sit somewhere in the mountains, so he brought Hyukjae there. It was too cold to sit on the ground and somehow there were no benches, but the photographer thought it through and brought pillows with him, surprising the raven head when he took two huge pillows out of the backpack. So here they were, sitting in the mountains with an infinite sky and small houses that looked as small as if they were made for dolls on the right, and a wonderful mix of green, yellow and red from the trees that were losing their leaves, but still had plenty of them on their branches on the left. And Hyukjae in the middle of that beauty. Not laughing anymore, but the glint of the previous emotions was still alive in his eyes. His smile not as wide anymore, but still genuine, his posture relaxed that indicated he definitely was comfortable around whoever was beside him…

A model. Hyukjae was a model that could look perfect on literally any picture, that’s what Donghae thought that moment. The picture was rushed, looked a bit unprofessional and so not like whatever the photographer used to post on his account, considering he barely allowed any people on his works because that wasn’t a source of his comfort. But now, looking at that picture, he could only think of…

“Hyukjae, can I post a photo of you on my Instagram?”

Donghae blurted it out before he could think about it carefully. Not only he took a picture without the man’s consent – which was really, really bad! – and he, as a photographer, never allowed himself something like this, but also that apparently was a bit too much to ask from someone he barely knew… It was their third time seeing each other and their first time doing it intentionally, but…

Donghae, who didn’t feel comfortable with people around for so long, suddenly discovered he… wanted to keep taking pictures of that person in front of him. He came here to rest from the work that became too routine and had nothing that could be considered as art in it, just money involved, he came here to find his inspiration, and found Hyukjae.

The picture was so unprofessional and it was obvious it was taken by accident, but the guy took so many photos while staying here, and they looked better than anything he did lately, yet still not satisfying enough. But he was looking at this picture and thinking it was perfect. As strange as that was, Hyukjae made it perfect.

“Huh?” the r