Chapter 9

P.S. Just so you know, in Korea, kids don’t have Saturdays off. Also, many kids study until 10pm-midnight at school or at a tutoring school on weekdays. The exams define your life there. If you don’t do well, you won’t get as good of a job. It’s crazy o.o

Also btw.. xD I hardly know anything about night life in Korea. So I’m making stuff up from my minimal research. Lol

Aaaand another P.S. Let’s pretend Seunghyun is shorter than Jonghun here. They’re a couple years younger here anyways. :D

“So what are you in the mood for?”

Seunghyun looked up in thought. The two of them strolled along the city sidewalk. Thankfully for the two of them, Jonghun lived pretty close to downtown, so they’d been walking for only a couple of minutes.

For a Friday, it was pretty busy. Most students would be studying at school right now, but who cared? They could always study at home. Possibly.

Seunghyun’s face lit up. “Mmm… I like beef. Let’s get beef.”

Jonghun smiled curiously. “Pfft. Okay.”

Seunghyun’s face went cross. “What? Is something funny?”

“No. You just sound so excited. Like a little kid. It’s cute.”

It’s cute. The words sank in and his face reddened. “Whatever.”

They continued talking for a few minutes when they finally arrived.

Downtown.

All thoughts of beef left his mind.

There were lights everywhere, people, shops and food stands all around. Seunghyun’s eyes widened. It was unreal. He’d only been to a big city twice in his life. He never had to go into the city; he had everything he needed to survive in the countryside. This wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen before.

Dazed, he walked forward, taking in all the sights. Jonghun, barely containing his amused smile, followed behind.

There were people dressed in crazy clothes. There were large groups of friends. There were couples. There was people carrying way more shopping bags than it seemed was possible. A group of thug-looking people walked by and, intimidated, Seunghyun scurried back to Jonghun’s side.

He took in the buildings. They looked tall from far away, but he didn’t realize they were that tall. He looked straight up. They appeared to shoot up into the sky. They almost seemed like they were going to fall on him.

The city was so bright. So many lights came from the stores and streetlights. Everyone seemed busy doing something. Seunghyun marveled at everything, mentioning every little thought he had to Jonghun. He would just agree and smile.

“Ah… I’m tired,” Seunghyun complained. He plopped himself onto a bench and leaned his head back.

“Well duh. You were practically running around for an hour. You didn’t really need me to show you around Busan,” Jonghun said with a smirk.

Seunghyun glared. “Yah. You didn’t spend your whole life never seeing anything like this, did you?” He turned away with a triumphant grin. Then his face softened. “This place is amazing. It’s so new to me. And I’m so happy… I’m so happy that you’re…” Seunghyun stammered, now staring at Jonghun. He stared back, an astonished look in his eyes. …Here with me. They both blushed and broke away from each other’s eye contact.

What are you doing Seunghyun?! Think. Think before you speak goddamnit.

“Here with you?” Jonghun said, finishing Seunghyun’s thoughts perfectly. Seunghyun looked up, stunned. He’d basically read his mind. Was he that obvious? Or maybe it meant something. His head was dizzy.

“Wh… O- of course not-”

“I’m happy that you’re here with me, too,” Jonghun said with a true smile. Seunghyun’s heart pounded like a drum as always, but this time he didn’t have a nervous feeling. He felt… comfortable. Content. He couldn’t contain his smile.

There were so many people walking around, so much noise on the streets. But it was as if they were the only two people in the entire world.

He suddenly stood up and clapped his hands together. “Okay, no more break. Time to eat something.”

“I thought you’d never say it,” Jonghun joked.

They made their way through the crowd and into the part of town with all of the food. There was an overpowering throng of people in every square feet of space. Seunghyun had a hard time catching up to Jonghun, always being bumped and shoved by passersby. Okay, the sights were amazing, but this was something he had to get used to.

Just then, he felt like somebody had punched him in the arm. He stopped walking when he felt the pain. “Ah, what the f-” He looked back. A lady with a giant purse had crashed into him, but she just quickly walked on, jabbering on her cell phone. What did she even hold in that purse, people?

He turned his head back to the front. He could barely see Jonghun’s head. He tried pushing people this time, his injured arm close to his chest and the other outstretched in front of him, but he was falling behind. He was not about to get lost in a ginormous mass of people, alone in an unfamiliar place at night.

“Jonghun!” he called. He couldn’t see him anymore. He didn’t know what to do.

He then felt a hand grab his, and he was quickly dragged forward. “Ah!”

Shocked, he tried to pull away. But he looked up and realized who it was; Jonghun. He kept a firm grip on Seunghyun’s hand, making sure it didn’t slip from his grasp.

They cruised through the crowd. Seunghyun couldn’t take his eyes off of Jonghun. And then his hand. And then Jonghun. Jonghun’s hand was so warm.

As soon as they made it to a clearer, less congested part of the road, they slowed to a stop. Seunghyun was panting from their hurried pace.

“Don’t ever let me lose you like that again. Okay?” Jonghun said in between pants. His eyes smiled.

“That’s only because some lady attacked me with her purse,” Seunghyun mumbled.

“What?”

He really did sound like a little kid, complaining about a little slap on the arm. Well, actually it wasn’t very little. It hurt like a mother and would probably bruise later. But Seunghyun felt like he should at least man up a little. What if Jonghun got annoyed with Seunghyun’s childish complaining? “Mm… nothing.”

Jonghun looked skeptical. “Alright. Food,” Jonghun said as he started walking ahead. They were still holding hands loosely. Nobody could see that they were because the street was still packed and their hands were covered by their jackets, but Seunghyun definitely noticed it. It filled his mind like a flood. Jonghun was voluntarily holding his hand.

What did everything mean? He was giving all kinds of signs of affection, and Seunghyun noticed them plain and clear. His teasing, his smiles, his touch, his actions. He wasn’t that naïve. But Jonghun could easily just be joking around and being friendly. Just because he did those things didn’t automatically mean he liked him.

Plus, they were both boys. Jonghun would never date another guy; he didn’t seem like the type. Even Seunghyun had a bit of a difficult time thinking about him in a relationship with another guy; heck, he’d only discovered his biuality a couple months ago. But it had grown on him, and the more he got used to it, the more he wanted it. The more he wanted Jonghun.

But he’d never go for him. Jonghun would probably think it was too weird. His heart sank at the thought of never being with him.

But… he could still enjoy this moment, couldn’t he? He was here with Jonghun now, holding his hand. They were having a fun night together. He felt closer to him than ever. He lightly squeezed his hand tighter, and Jonghun returned the squeeze. His heart pulsated.

The two of them laughed as they walked down a quieter street eating their ice cream cones. The sun had gone down, but they hardly noticed.

Seunghyun didn’t even want to think about how much they’d spent.

They’d visited almost every food stand. They ate like goats (haha see what I did there). They’d had beef, like Jonghun promised, barbeque, rice cakes, squid, more beef, fried sausage on a stick, all kinds of things. Even with their gluttonous appetites, they still weren’t satisfied. They’d even visited the shops. They rocked their LED-lighted Mickey Mouse ears, new high-top sneakers and new graphic t-shirts. Who knew if they were going to ever wear them again? It didn’t matter then. They were too caught up in the moment.

Jonghun was telling stories of weird things that had happened when he’d been downtown. “…So then the guy’s leotard ripped up the stomach. It was ing hilarious.”

“Really??” Seunghyun said, choking on laughter.

“Yeah. You should’ve seen the look on his face after it happened.”

“That’s great.” Seunghyun wiped the tears he had gotten from laughing so hard.

“You know, we should do this more often. There’s still so many things I need to show you.”

“How often do you come here anyways?”

“Oh, I used to come here all the time. Like… every couple of weeks. I don’t go as often as I used to, though.”

“What? Why did you stop??” Seunghyun asked, perplexed. “I would come here every day.”

“Got too busy. School and stuff.”

Seunghyun nodded in understanding. “You didn’t… go by yourself, did you?”

Jonghun gave him a look as if to say, ‘what do you take me for?’ “Of course not. I came here with…” he paused. “…Hongki a lot.”

Hongki. No. No, don’t you dare think about it. He’s just going to sit in your mind and ruin your fun. You don’t want to feel guilty the rest of the night. “Ah.” He tried to sound as indifferent as he could, but it hadn’t worked out so well.

“Hey, let me try your ice cream,” Jonghun said. Seunghyun stopped walking and held out the cone to him. He’d gotten a unique flavor, a peppermint-flavored vanilla with chocolate chunks in it. Jonghun held onto the cone to support it. He wrapped his mouth around the top of the ice cream and slowly took in some with his lips. He then went for a second bite, this time with his tongue sticking out, doing the same thing with his lips as he toothlessly bit into the ice cream.

It almost looked like he was… making out with his ice cream.

“Mmm. That’s good,” Jonghyun cooed, smiling. He had a bit of white cream around his lips.

Hey. Let me try your ice cream.

Ice cream.

Mmm. That’s good.

Cream.

.

What? What had he just thought? His face turned beet red as he stared in bewilderment at Jonghun. He was now the cream off of his lips. The lip- thing he always did. The bruise was still there too.

Seunghyun was feeling . “” . Down there.

Oh god. Nonononononononono. Not right now, Seunghyun. He fought as hard as he could to resist the urge to pounce on the Jonghun and his lip- seductiveness.

He’d been attracted to people before, but nothing ever like this. He was almost afraid of himself.

“Hey… there’s one more place I want to show you. Is that alright?”

Dang it. Wait, not dang it. That was a good thing. That meant he could take his mind off of Jonghun’s attractiveness. Just… breathe. “Yeah, sure.” He exhaled his deep breath, hoping he expelled his naughty thoughts along with it. Jonghun led the way.

“Here, wanna try my ice cream?” Jonghun held out his chocolate ice cream.

“Nope. I’m fine.”

“Okay, you’ve gotta close your eyes now.”

“What? Why? I wanna see it,” Seunghyun whined. Jonghun slapped him lightly on the face and put his hands on Seunghyun’s shoulders. He spun him around so his back was facing him, and he led him forward.

“Oi. Don’t back sass your hyung,” Jonghun said jokingly.

Seunghyun pouted, but closed his eyes. “Yes, hyung.”

They continued walking for a couple of minutes, Jonghun occasionally asking “did you open your eyes?” Seunghyun’s answer was obviously “no” every time.

Seunghyun was more than anxious. He felt like his feet were going to start running by themselves. What was it that he had to keep his eyes closed? He had no clue. A gift? Yeah right. A party? He liked the thought of it, but if he had to take a lucky guess, there probably wouldn’t be a party out in a quiet, lonely park. Did he have… other plans? Hah. Okay Seunghyun. You can put your dirty mind away now.

Just as Seunghyun was about to ask when he could open his eyes, Jonghun granted him permission. His eyes burst open.

“…Wah…” was the only thing that came out of Seunghyun’s mouth. There in front of him was a view like that of a professional painting. The lights of the city, blues and greens and yellows and pinks, were scattered across the ocean like abstract flower petals. The colors bounced and glimmered with the water as the tide rolled in and out. He could smell the night ocean breeze. He looked above him at the crescent moon, and underneath it, an apple tree. The mixture of bright colors also hit against the leaves of the tree and the unripe apples hanging from it.

He couldn’t describe it all in one word. It was breathtaking to say the least, but that just didn’t seem like enough. It made him feel like he was on another world, nothing like Earth. He’d never seen anything like it. Although, he thought, one thing that would make it so much better would be…

Seunghyun’s thoughts were interrupted when Jonghun touched his arm. He shuddered and drew in his breath. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Jonghun had rested his head on Seunghyun’s shoulder.

Seunghyun’s heart throbbed. Suddenly, he pushed him off and turned his head away. “Hyung… stop teasing me like that. It’s not funny.” He clenched his bad hand into a fist, trying to calm himself. He couldn’t tell how Jonghun was feeling because he’d turned away.

Why’d you do that, Seunghyun? You just ruined the moment. Good going. But wait… Right. He’s straight. Stop fooling yourself. He’s just pulling your strings. I don’t know why he is, but just give it up.

He felt Jonghun’s hand brush his cheek. Surprised, he looked up. Jonghun stared at Seunghyun, his eyes filled with desire. He came closer.

It was just like the time in the music room.

Their noses touched. He paused for a slight moment. Seunghyun’s heart was about to stop.

Jonghun slowly closed his eyes, and his lips met Seunghyun’s.

It all hit him at once.

The butterflies, the moment, reality.

Jonghun was kissing him.

He was kissing him.

They were so close. His lips were warm and soft. He smelled of chocolate.

Seunghyun’s eyes were wide open. He was too stunned to breathe.

Jonghun pulled back the slightest bit, their noses still touching, and looked into Seunghyun’s wild eyes. Jonghun smiled. “Who ever said I was teasing you?” he whispered.

Seunghyun gazed into Jonghun’s eyes. They sparkled.

Jonghun loved him back.

This wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t like in the music room where all the emotion had suddenly vanished. This was really happening.

“Jonghun…”

He couldn’t hold them in. He felt tears well up in his eyes. He felt like an idiot crying over something like this and in front of his hyung at that, but he was so happy. Happier than he’d ever felt in his life.

He embraced him and he kissed him back underneath the lit apple tree. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ahhh, finally. The kiss. x) 
I revised this so many times thinking "hmm, so should this happen?" "Nah, I'll change it." "No wait, I'll change it back." It was a long process. lol
I stayed up til 5am doing this.... o____o but it's okay because I'm just gonna sleep in and be a lazy tomorrow morning. Oh wait, it is morning. Haha. The sun is coming up right now, actually... I was supposed to go to bed at midnight and I told my parents that I would and yadda yadda I'm rambling. Why are you reading this? Who are you? 

But yeah, sorry this is so late. School is just a wonderful place, isn't it? :) hah sarcasm.

To those people that are concerned about Hongki, he's coming up next. :D
 

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