Yongguk grimaced. It was hot. Not just a little hot, but melt-your-face-off stick-to-the-train-seats hot. Summer vacation was officially upon them and the weather was definitely proving it.

“Why are you fidgeting so much, hyung?” Junhong demanded, sitting close despite the heat.

“Because it’s hot,” Yongguk whined, fanning himself with his hand in a meager attempt to cool off.

Junhong made to scoot away. “Ah, sorry…”

Yongguk’s fingers tightened around the kid’s arm and dragged him back, so that their bodies were pressed even more tightly together despite the crowded train. “Shut up,” he muttered, a faint blush tinging his cheeks – though he would forever insist that he wasn’t blushing, it was just the heat, he swore.

Junhong smiled shyly and rested his head on Yongguk’s shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t mind ditching your friends this week?”

“Of course not. They didn’t care,” Yongguk replied, but that wasn’t exactly the truth.

Himchan had gone all sorts of ballistic when he’d told them that he wouldn’t be going on their annual trip to Sokcho Beach. The four of them had gone to the beach every summer for the past five years and Himchan had not taken the news well that Yongguk would not be joining them for the sixth summer in a row. He’d thrown a fit and he still wasn’t talking to Yongguk when the final bell of the semester rang, despite Daehyun and Youngjae doing everything they could to placate him.

It wasn’t that Yongguk didn’t want to go to Sokcho Beach with his childhood friends. He always had a lot of fun on those trips, though they consisted mostly of getting wasted and whistling at girls in teeny-weeny bikinis. It’s just, he was pretty sure he would have more fun with Junhong at Jeju Island for a week.

“Jeju Island?” his mother had asked when he’d told her where he was going instead of Sokcho Beach. “Isn’t that a couple’s retreat? Why are you going there with your friends?”

“Ah, I’m not going with Himchan and the others,” Yongguk had admitted, busying himself with his homework – homework! – so his mother wouldn’t look too closely at him. “They’re still going to Sokcho Beach. I just wanted to do something different this year since it’s my last summer vacation of high school.”

That’s when his mother had gotten all suspicious. “Bang Yongguk,” she’d said, voice rising shrilly. “You’re not going to this beach with a girl are you? Because I swear, I am not ready to be a grandmother yet and-”

“I’m not going with a girl, mom,” Yongguk had laughed, thinking that her becoming a grandmother was definitely not an option any time soon regarding him. “You don’t have to worry.”

She’d relaxed then, smiling a bit sheepishly at her quick assumption and turning back to the omelets she was frying. “So who are you going with?”

“Nobody,” Yongguk had lied. “I’m just going. I figured it would be an adventure and I could meet some new friends.”

Yongnam, who had been sitting there quietly at the kitchen table during this entire exchange, suddenly decided to get vocal. “You’re not going with that Choi kid are you?” he’d demanded suspiciously.

“Of course not,” Yongguk had lied, keeping his gaze steadfastly on the textbook in front of him even though he didn’t see a single thing written on the page. “I already told you I’m going by myself.”

It had been a real chore sneaking out of the house without being spotted. He’d had to text Junhong and tell him to meet him at the train station instead of at his house, as he couldn’t risk Yongnam seeing them leaving together. Junhong had seemed confused but didn’t question it, and he’d met Yongguk as arranged at the station.

“I’m really glad we’re going on vacation together,” Junhong said, smiling brightly as he watched the scenery flash by outside the window. They were almost to their stop by now, and there was the flutter of excitement busying itself in Yongguk’s stomach.

Yongguk squeezed the fingers laced through his own, unable to bite back his own smile. He wasn’t sure if it was because they were finally off doing something where they couldn’t be bothered or because they were getting out of the stuffy city for some much-needed fresh air, but Junhong seemed happier than he had in the entire time Yongguk had known him. For the past five months, Junhong had seemed tentative and uncertain, even when it was just the two of them; now it seemed that he was finally letting those inhibitions go and Yongguk couldn’t have been more pleased.

Secretly, he hoped to get to the bottom of Junhong’s mysterious injuries, but of course he wouldn’t say that out loud.

The KTX pulled into the station about twenty minutes later and they collected their luggage and disembarked. Then all they had to do was ride the ferry across to the island and catch a taxi to their hotel.

“This is great, hyung!” Junhong beamed, tossing his bag down onto the queen-sized bed and going straight to the window, looking out at the beautiful beach below their hotel. “I’ve never been to the beach before, you know.”

“So let’s go,” Yongguk urged with his signature gummy smile, the smile that Junhong seemed to bring out without even trying.

Though they were only staying in Jeju for a week, they planned to make the best of it. Yongguk didn’t have a whole lot of money saved up – he spent most of it just on the train tickets and hotel, after all – but he didn’t scrimp when it came to their vacation. They spent a couple of days sight-seeing around the island, but for the most part they hung out on the beach. For someone who had never been to the beach before, Junhong was a good swimmer – better than Yongguk, he had to admit begrudgingly. They wander around to the many outdoor restaurants for dinner and spend their nights comfortingly wrapped in each other’s arms.

“I really liked this hyung,” Junhong said one night. It was their last night in Jeju and they were sitting on the beach well past midnight, arms wrapped around waists and heads resting on shoulders as they watched the twinkling starts overhead. “I-I don’t really want to go back.”

“I know,” Yongguk murmured, pressing a tender kiss to Junhong’s forehead. “We don’t have much longer there, though.”

Junhong snorted. “You maybe don’t. I still have three more years of senior high. I’m not getting out any time soon.”

Yongguk took a deep breath. There was something he had been thinking about for a while, but he’d been too nervous to bring it up. He figured now was as good a time as any. “Junhonggie,” he said, and the younger made a noise to show he was listening. “I didn’t tell you, but I got accepted at Korea University.”

“That’s great, hyung!” Junhong said excitedly, but then his face fell. “Korea University is in Seoul, isn’t it?”

Yongguk nodded.

The younger swallowed audibly, throat clicking. “T-that’s far away, but I suppose I can come visit on weekends every now and then. Unless you don’t want that…”

“No, I don’t want you to come visit on the weekends,” Yongguk clarified. “I want you to move there with me.”

“What?” Junhong pushed away to give Yongguk an incredulous – and maybe hopeful – stare. “What are you even talking about, hyung?”

Yongguk took a deep breath, taking Junhong’s hands in his own. “Look, Junhonggie, it can work. I know that you hate it at home. You won’t tell me why, but I’m not stupid and I know that you hate it there. I can get an apartment in Seoul, and you can move in with me. You can got to school there and I’ll take care of you. I know your parents might not like it at first, but I’m sure I can convince them. Some bull about the educational system being better in Seoul or something.”

Junhong was silent for a long moment, so long that Yongguk was starting to regret ever bringing it up. “But why, hyung? Why would you want me to move with you to Seoul?”

Yongguk chewed on his lower lip. It was hard enough to admit it even to himself; saying it out loud was downright painful. But Junhong deserved to hear it, especially if he was seriously considering taking Yongguk up on his offer. “Because I love you,” he muttered, and, even though he couldn’t see it, he knew his face was as red as could be. “And I want to take care of you and protect you and stay with you. I don’t want me going to university to change anything between us.”

The slide of Junhong’s hand against Yongguk’s made him jump. The younger was blushing as he looked down at their linked hands. “I love you too, hyung. And I’d like very much to move to Seoul with you.”

Yongguk threw his arms around the kid and drew him flush against his body, holding him close and letting the warm feelings flood through his body.

Things were going to be okay, he thought to himself. They had to be.  

Ugh, they're so cute I want to barf

(and keep them for myself at the same time)

If you guys don't realize that this is the calm before the storm then...I don't even know. Things are never this easy OTL