Bang Yong Guk’s P.O.V

I took a deep breath, clenched my fist and started working: washing off all vegetables, nicely cutting them up, cooking them the way I remembered my mother used to do it – well, I tried. I prepared and cooked the rice, somehow also preparing the meat, not sure if I’d done it the right way. Still, I put it all on the table and cleaned up, in the end washing off my hands, exhaling as the sweat sled down my temples.

     I thought about taking a shower, but went straight for the bedroom, finding Junhong still asleep, far off in some weird, childish dream behind his closed eyelids. I smiled and chuckling, sitting down beside him on the bed.

     “He’s like an angel when he’s asleep,” I mumbled, the smile still covering up my whole goddamn face. And like a devil awake, the voice in my head said and I frowned. “Shut up, will ya?” I carefully let my fingertips brush his soft, blushing cheeks, gulping. I exhaled, trying to calm down my racing heartbeat, as I kept looking at his beautiful, peaceful, sleeping face. I loved his hair ruffled, and I let my hand run through it, getting paranoid as he frowned a little, his head somehow leaning in against my palm, the touch extending. But, I quickly took my hand back as he started moving a little around, waking up from his calm sleep.

     He slowly opened his eyes, looking straight up at my nervous face. “Please, hyung, let me stay?” He yawned, and I broke into a smile, ruffling his hair.

     “Sure. Breakfast’s ready, you coming?” I asked, his eyes getting wider.

     “Breakfast?” He asked, suddenly very interested and awake.

     I nodded, watching him as he smiled, hugging the pillow in his arms tighter. “Now, get your out of bed, yeah?” I chuckled and got up, walking out the bedroom. I heard him stumbled across the floor, right behind me as we entered the kitchen.

     He gasped, his jaw dropping as I turned around. “You made this?” He asked, quickly glancing at me.

     I scratched the back of my head, clearing my throat. “Well, yeah… I tried,” I said, slightly chuckling.

     “For me?”

     “Last night you said you were hungry,” I shrugged. “You must be starving now,” I said, the smile on my face disappearing as he threw his arms around, embracing me. But, to make it even worse, I felt him press his lips against my cheek, paying me back with a soft kiss.

     I gulped, almost falling to the floor as he let go of me, sitting down at the table. “Thank you, hyung!” He clapped his hands together and then immediately started eating. I shook my head, clearing my throat a thousand times before grabbing unto a chair, pulling it out and sitting down, my legs wobbly. Fortunately, he didn’t notice my embarrassing condition, all of his attention put on eating, smiling and clapping his hands together in approval.

     “I-I’m glad, you like it,” I said, looking away.

     “It’s delicious!” He giggled, doing some little random dance in the corner of my eye. I couldn’t help but smile, shaking the chills off me and looked at him, leaning back in my chair.

     After a while he looked up at me, chopsticks against his lips. “You’re not eating?”

     “Hm?” I raised my eyebrows, but then smiled, waving my hands around a little. “No, no, I’m fine. Just eat. Go on,” I said, and he slowly nodded. He then smiled devilish and continued eating, emptying every bowl and plate on the table, and I was pleased.

     He let out a big sigh and leaned back, hands resting on his bloating stomach. “Waah, so good!”

     I chuckled, nodding. “Good. You full?” I teased, watching him smile and nod. I laughed and got up from my chair and started cleaning up, throwing the almost clean dishes in the dishwasher, smiling by the memory of him clean all bowls and plates before concluding that he was done.

     “Hyung?” He asked, and I glanced over my shoulder, filling up the dishwasher.

     “Hm?”

     “How old are you?”

     I laughed. “Ya, you think I’m old?” I said, acting offended. “Why don’t you just call me ahjussi then?”

     “Well, if that’s what you’d prefer…” He muttered, shrugging while looking kinda mad, his cool and ignorant attitude surfacing.  

     I kept chuckling and then exhaled, closing the dishwasher. “I’m twenty-two,” I said as he looked at me, his face suddenly all cute and innocent again, his hair bouncing as he nodded, his eyes finding the floor. “You?” I sat down on the chair again, watching him blink a couple of times. This should be interesting…

     “Huh? Oh, well…” He started, making a face. “Sixteen.”

     My jaw dropped as my eyebrows rose. Well, it’s better than twelve. “Oh. Well…” I said, trailing off. Six years… That’s not that much is it? You already knew that he was young, why are you this surprised? Sixteen is okay! It’s… I can’t even remember myself as a sixteen year-old… He was ten back then, just a little boy. He’s still just a little boy… Just taller. Real tall.

     “That girl…” His voice made me snap out of it, returning to his now wondering, frowning face. “Was she your girlfriend?”

     “Huh?” I blinked, trying to understand his question. “Oh, God no!” I then shrieked, my eyes widening, realizing what he’d asked. “No way! Never! Never again!” I said, waving my hands around, feeling kinda sick just thinking about being in a relationship with her.

     “So… She was your girlfriend?” He asked in a tiny voice, and I exhaled, running a hand down my face.

     “Well… Yeah, but that’s a long time ago,” I said, a bad taste in my mouth making me frown.

     “I think she still likes you,” he said, looking down as he nodded. “A lot.”

     I didn’t like watching him be like that; somehow all sad and quiet, his voice low and tiny, his head lowered, eyes staring at nothing. “I don’t care. I hate her,” I said in a steady voice, exhaling. He looked up at me with big eyes, staring at me as if I was telling an awful lie.

     “Oh,” he then said, looking away again.

     “I like you better,” I said, smiling at him. It didn’t felt scary saying it straight to his face – I liked everyone better than her. Even strangers.

Junhong jumped up on the bed, snuggling into the sheets with a smile on his face. I laughed and poked him, standing beside the bed.

     “Ya, go home already,” I said, smiling at him.

     He shook his head, quickly grapping unto the pillow, hugging it tight. “Don’t worry. Daehyun-ah is covering for me,” he said, giggling.    

     I exhaled, feeling somewhat bad for keeping him there, but then on the other hand, I didn’t want him to leave just yet. “What a friend you’ve got ya, huh?” I said, watching him as he moved under the covers, nodding in my direction. He didn’t care to take any of his clothes off, but I didn’t complain – just thinking about it made me blush and sweaty, and I immediately pushed the thought away.

     “Yup, he’s one of a kind,” he smiled, glancing up at me.

     “Sure is,” I agreed, suddenly feeling quite awkward just standing there. I couldn’t just tuck him in like I’d done the night before – he was wide-awake now, staring at me, noticing every move I’d make. ”Well…” I bent down and ruffled his curls, silently smiling at his laughing face. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I then said, clearing my throat with a nervous look on my face. He nodded at me, his smile slowly fading as he relaxed; ready to doze off to his special place. And in a matter of seconds he closed his eyes, his breathings already slow and deep.

     Like some creep, I kept staring at him for a while, the sight of him sleeping so contagious – I felt my own mind getting all slow and woozy, and I yawned with a smile on my face. Time for bed…

     “Good night, Junhong,” I said in a low voice, some kind of reflex making me lean down, stopping only a few inches from his face. His warm breath against my skin made me close my eyes, kissing him on the forehead, his soft curls tickling my face. I made it quick, pulling away after a few, breathtaking seconds. Huh? What happened?

     My jaw dropped, realizing what I’d just done, my body shivering as the chills ran down my spine. My heart skipped a beat as he slowly opened his brown eyes again, looking straight into mine wide ones. My hands were shaking, my knees weak, my position rather awkward and embarrassing, still he just blinked a couple of times, staying completely silent as we stared at each other. I’m sorry, please, don’t be mad. It was a mistake, I didn’t–

     My troubled mind couldn’t keep up as I suddenly eliminated the space between us, carefully touching his lips with my own. My eyes closed, some weird feeling in my chest increasing, making me lean in closer, pressing my lips slightly harder against his, letting the kiss linger in the silence.   

… I’m gonna leave it here. In silence~