chapter 20 | sea salt ice cream and sweet kisses

“I honestly feel like a stalker. He deserves his privacy,” Hoya says as they peer up from behind a bush. They’re watching Sunggyu and Woohyun walking in a park, hand in hand, talking about something that makes Sunggyu giggle and Woohyun smile at Sunggyu.

            “Oh hush, child. You know you’re just as curious as I am,” Sungyeol shakes his head, his eyes never leaving the couple.

            “That may be but I’m not a creepy stalker,” Hoya defends and Sungyeol just scoffs.

            “This is my Gyubaby here; I need to keep a close eye on him so Woohyun doesn’t go too far. My baby’s innocence is precious.”

            “I can’t tell if he’s joking or not,” Yongguk whispers to Hoya who just shakes his head.

            “I am very serious when it comes to Sunggyu. I may seem like I’m joking all the time, but I get very protective of Sunggyu. He never used to be able to stand up for himself and I was always there to protect him. Even now, I get so worried about him. I just can’t leave him alone. I’m so afraid he’ll get hurt again.”

            Yongguk looks at Sungyeol with surprise. Sungyeol’s expression is suddenly serious and very sincere and he realizes then how much Sungyeol cares for his cousin. “When did Sunggyu get hurt?” he asks.

            Sungyeol sighs. “Woohyun isn’t Sunggyu’s first love,” Dongwoo explains. “He fell in love with a boy before high school. That’s when he first realized he didn’t like girls.”

            “They made fun of Sunggyu. It got out that Sunggyu was in love with this boy and they tricked him; they got the boy to send a message to Sunggyu telling him to meet him after school. Sunggyu’s always been naïve and gullible so he of course said yes. But when he met up with the boy, it turned out that most of their grade had showed up to make fun of Sunggyu and call him names. He was traumatized and hurt so deeply he didn’t go to school for a few days and then transferred schools,” Sungyeol finishes, his expression grave.

            Yongguk looks at Sunggyu who is looking ecstatic with Woohyun, imagining how he must have felt to be made fun of by his entire grade when he just realized his ual orientation. Maybe that’s why Sunggyu is so shy; he’s afraid of opening up to people because he’s afraid they’ll judge him. Yongguk understands and feels sorry for him.

            “Now shush; they’re leaving,” Sungyeol says, gesturing for them to follow him. They follow the couple into one of the more quaint streets with little shops and cafés lining the street. They discreetly follow behind, going totally unnoticed by Sunggyu or Woohyun.

            “They’re going into the ice cream place,” Dongwoo says and they find outdoor seats at the coffee shop directly across the street. Sunggyu and Woohyun are buying ice cream and they can tell that Woohyun is paying despite Sunggyu’s protests.

           Across the street, Sunggyu is tugging on Woohyun’s sleeve and telling him that he’ll pay. “This is a date, Gyu. Of course I’m not going to make you pay,” Woohyun replies.

            “But I can’t let you pay for everything. I’ll feel bad.”

            “Jeez, Sunggyu. It’s okay; this is my treat.”

            Sunggyu grumbles something about Woohyun being way too nice for his own good while Woohyun pays. He hands Sunggyu his ice cream and leads him to a table at the very back corner. Sunggyu peers at Woohyun’s ice cream questioningly as he his own strawberry ice cream. “What flavour is that? I don’t think I’ve ever seen blue ice cream before.”

            “Really? You’ve never seen blue ice cream?”

            “No, there aren’t many blue foods in the world. So what flavour?”

            “Sea salt.”

            “Sea salt?”

            “Yep.”

            “What does it taste like?”       

            “Sweet and salty at the same time. It’s really good. Want some?”

            Sunggyu looks skeptical. “Salty ice cream?”

            Woohyun rolls his eyes. “Just try some. It’s really good. You’ll love it, I’m sure.” Woohyun holds out his ice cream to Sunggyu. Sunggyu eyes it carefully before slowly leaning a little closer. He darts his tongue out and it, looking thoughtful as he tastes the ice cream.

            Just like Woohyun said, it’s salty and sweet and surprisingly good (but it’ll never beat strawberry). “It’s good, surprisingly.”

            “You can’t get it everywhere. But you can get it at this particular shop and that is why this place is my favourite.”

            “Since I had some of yours, do you want some of mine?” Sunggyu asks.

            Woohyun grins and removes his hat. Sunggyu tilts his head, slightly confused, when Woohyun leans over and holds the hat up in front of their faces. Woohyun pecks Sunggyu’s lips and swipes his tongue across his bottom lip, tasting the remnants of strawberry ice cream. He pulls away and leans back in his chair and places his hat on his head again. “Sweet.”

            Sunggyu blushes and his ice cream. Woohyun is going to be the death of him.

--

            “They look so cute together!” Dongwoo squeals as they watch Sunggyu and Woohyun walking down the streets, stopping to look at the street vendors, their hands clasped tightly together. Woohyun is putting on different pairs of silly glasses and making funny faces at Sunggyu, causing him to burst into laughter.

            “Are you satisfied yet? Sunggyu’s really happy with Woohyun and Woohyun seems to really like Sunggyu. Isn’t that enough?” Hoya asks Sungyeol, who’s eyes are still trained on the couple.

            “I need to confirm that Woohyun will never hurt Sunggyu,” Sungyeol replies. Overprotective is a word that can describe Sungyeol. But Sungyeol has his reason; it was the hardest thing to watch Sunggyu go through that pain and he never wants Sunggyu to feel it again.

           “Just let him be, Hoya. The only way to convince him is if he sees it for himself,” Dongwoo whispers to Hoya. Yongguk is cluelessly watching.

            Dongwoo places his hand over Hoya’s and he doesn’t realize how much he’s making Hoya’s heart race.

--

            The day is starting to fade into evening and Woohyun takes Sunggyu to his home. Sunggyu still blushes when he remembers their confession and Woohyun tells him that pink is a nice colour on his cheeks, causing Sunggyu to blush more.

            “Sunggyu!” he hears a voice when he enters the house. Hye Mi runs up to Sunggyu and into his arms. Sunggyu (with much more effort than an average person would need) lifts her into the air and spins her around. “Why haven’t you been coming?”

            “I’ve been… busy,” Sunggyu replies.

            Hye Mi pouts and Sunggyu puts her down. “Woohyunnie and I missed you. I thought you broke your promise.”

            Sunggyu leans down and pinches her cheek. “I would never break a pinky promise!”

            Hye Mi giggles and hugs Sunggyu. “I’m glad. Now he’s not so lonely anymore,” she whispers loud enough for only Sunggyu’s ears.

            “I feel neglected now. My own baby sister is stealing away my Sunggyu!” Woohyun fakes hurt in a dramatic tone, clutching his heart. Sunggyu rolls his eyes and Hye Mi pulls away from him. Sunggyu grabs Woohyun’s hand and drags him into the kitchen. When Sunggyu is about to take his hand back, Woohyun lifts it up to his lips and kisses his knuckles and then his wrist and continues to leave kisses up Sunggyu’s arm until he gets to his shoulder.

            “W-Woohyun!” Sunggyu squeaks.

            “Ew!” Hye Mi is hiding behind her hands as she enters the kitchen. Sunggyu takes this oppurtinity to pull his arm away from Woohyun’s grasp. Hye Mi runs over to Sunggyu and pulls him away. She looks over her shoulder and sticks her tongue out at her older brother while Sunggyu remains completely oblivious.

            Maybe having Hye Mi there isn’t the best idea. Woohyun frowns; who would have known his own little sister would be such a ?

Not proofread (what a f**king surprsise, I hope you were sitting down). Sue me.

I was playing Kingdom Hearts dos recently and I happen to absolutely adore Roxas (not because he's voiced by Jesse McCartney of course not) so that's where I got the idea to use sea salt ice cream. 

I've been thinking lately that maybe - since I am unable to do it myself - I should get a co-author to write some for me. Unless you guys don't want that. 

(I don't even know who to ask)