For the following few weeks, Hongki and Jaejin repeated their routine – having breakfast together, spending their afternoons practicing in the studio, and occasionally have dinner together. Initially, they tried to hide it from the members and the fans, in fear that any misunderstandings will arise from their sudden increased interaction. However, after a while, both of them gave up. They just didn’t want to hide anymore. Slowly, pictures of the Lee brothers having dates and sneaky teasing between the two of them over social media platforms populated the Internet. No doubt, this fired the hearts of loads of HongJae shippers, and broke those of JongKi shippers, but they didn’t care. They were having fun, as brothers, right?

***

As Jaejin lay on the bottom of his bunk bed with his hand under his head, bathed in the soft moonlight, he sighed gently, reminiscing every moment that was spent with Hongki. He tilted his face slightly, just so he can get a glimpse of the fresh stalk of alstromeria sticking out from the transparent vase beside the window.

Is this an appropriate time to show him the Garden?

Since Hongki started becoming not only his personal voice coach, but his really good friend, this question ever so often appeared in Jaejin’s mind.

The Garden – a small plot of land Jaejin’s grandma left him – was a garden filled with alstromerias of different colors. It is a magical place. The sun would always shine at the right temperature and the breeze would gently caress your cheek as you ran past the bushes of flowers. It is a place where Jaejin spent most of his childhood in, and is a place where he regained strength whenever he broke down. He visits this place every week without fail, sometimes even every day, just to sit and bask in its perfection. The flowers he picked from this garden would only be given to people whom he treasured, and one of them – he knew deep down inside – was Hongki.

Thoughts of revealing the garden to Hongki ever crossed his mind, but none of them persisted as strong as this one.

Is it really time?

***

14 February, Sunday, 8:32am

It’s that time of the year again – single-awareness day.

Jaejin blew dry his hair and styled his quaff. He put on a black leather jacket, a silver dog tag and got ready to head out with his HSM cast.

A shirtless Hongki greeted Jaejin at the living room. With the bandage wrapped around his shoulder, Hongki looked liked he just walked out of Assasins’ Creed. He slouched in their white leather L-shaped sofa bed, browsing through some fashion magazine that he ordered.

“Morning hyung”, Jaejin practically sang out.

Hongki shot up at Jaejin’s greeting. He turned around, a bit too quickly, winced and smiled.

“Morning Jinnie.”

He turned back to his magazine double-time and started staring really hard at it. His breathing quickened and the tip of his ears started to turn pink. Fiinally, he took a deep breath and said,

“Kid, do you have anything on today?”

“Ne hyung, I’m meeting the cast today at Disneyland,” Jaejin replied without hesitation while putting his socks on.

“Ah…” Hongki tried to sound as nonchalant as he could.

“Wae hyung? Did you want to do anything?” Jaejin questioned with a puzzled look on his face. What was wrong with Hongki today?

“Nothing, I wanted to go out with you if you didn’t have anything on either,” Hongki said and paused. “Guess it’s just me and the TV then. Have fun kid!”

Jaejin couldn’t help but smile at Hongki’s response. Of course, he would ever be so ready to ditch anyone for his hyung.

“I can join you if you want hyung,” Jaejin offered.

“It’s okay jinnie, go have fun with your friends,” Hongki replied flatly.

“I mean it hyung. I would choose you over them, anytime,” Jaejin declared boldly.

Hongki’s heart skipped a beat. What was this weird feeling in his stomach?

He turned around soon enough and exclaimed, “That sounds like a nice date! Just a moment, I’ll throw on something presentable.”

Jaejin smirked at Hongki. He didn’t know why he said what he said just now, but he felt good about it. He quickly pulled out his phone to inform the rest that he couldn’t make it for the group outing after all.

This Valentine’s day was about to get so much better.

***

5 minutes later, Hongki and Jaejin were in the latter’s white convertible.

“So where should we go hyung?” Jaejin asked.

“Lemme take you to a place you’ve never been before,” Hongki said cheekily.

“I’m all up for an adventure,” Jaejin responded with equal excitement.

***

The two drove for a good 30 minutes, with Jaejin taking directions from Hongki. They pulled up in a narrow alley, next to a row of shop houses. Brick walls, graffiti, funky smells – definitely somewhere Jaejin wouldn’t visit on his own.

Hongki hobbled towards one of the metal doors and opened it gingerly as he signaled for Jaejin to follow him. The latter followed suit and took in everything that was around him.
 

They entered the back of a building and all Jaejin could see was stairs that led up. Music, techno by the sound of it, was playing above them. The paint on the walls were peeling off, but the place was still quite well-lit.

Meanwhile, Hongki scrambled around, looking for a piece of thin wire. He inserted the wire into a keyhole that missed Jaejin’s eyes on the left of the stairs. He bent down, and listened intently as he fumbled with the wire, twisting and turning it. Finally, a ‘click’ sound was heard. Hongki bared his devilish smile and extended his arm out, inviting Jaejin in.

It was another flight of stairs, leading down. The stairwell was illuminated solely by the rays of sunlight pouring in from the opened door. Jaejin held onto Hongki’s arm and helped him down.

Once they were on level ground, Hongki reached for something on the wall, and one by one the lights started to switch on, revealing a retro-looking bar.

The walls of the bar were plastered with old records, posters of classic idols and framed pictures of artists performing in the bar. On Jaejin’s left were rows of orange cushioned double seaters and rectangular ivory tables. On his right was a bar table that looked like one of those featured in 90s television shows. The counter tabletop was ivory white, and orange high seats lined up in front of the counter. Wooden shelves, presumably used to be filled with alcohol, hang from the ceilings behind the bar counter. Wine glasses, too, hanged upside down above the counter.

At the far end of the room was a small, elevated stage. The sparkly blue wallpaper still stuck onto the walls behind the stage. On the stage stood an old-fashioned microphone and a dusty grand piano. Hongki was already settling onto the squeaky old high stool. Jaejin joined him soon after, and sat in front of the piano.

“This place was my grandma’s. I used to come here as a little kiddo and sing in front of my grandma’s old friends.” Hongki reminisced fondly, staring into the empty room. “I didn’t come here very often, but whenever I did, I would go home beaming and grinning from ear to ear. It was place with very fond memories.”

“After grandma passed on, my father bought it and requested everything to remain untouched. I would come here every once in a while, when I feel like I’m starting to lose it.” Hongki explained, in a more mellow tone.

“It is quite a therapeutic place. I can see myself sitting here for hours,” Jaejin mumbled as he looked around bright-eyed. Jaejin laid his fingers on the keys of the piano, and started playing You Are My Life, their Japanese single, a soft, slow song fit for a wedding. Hongki and Jaejin soon jumped into a duet. Their voices intertwined with one another, just like how it did in the studio, only much softer and gentler now.

“Should we go and have more fun now?” Hongki asked after their little duet ended.

Jaejin eyed Hongki cheekily and nodded.
 

***

For the next 2 hours, Hongki and Jaejin walked down the streets and jumped into any store they found interesting. They popped into eateries, bakeries, boutiques, arcades, photo booths and finally ended up sitting in a café.

“Ya jinnie. I’ve showed you one of my hideouts. When are you going to show me yours?” Hongki poked.

Should I?
 

“Now,” Jaejin smiled. “Come on finish up. I’ll drive you there now.”

Hongki was taken aback by how direct and open Jaejin was. He was expecting an ambiguous reply. He quickly finished the last sip of his mocha and jogged after Jaejin. Now he was curious.

As Jaejin entered his car, nervousness overwhelmed him. He didn’t know if he was doing it right. But today he was going to put aside his worries and be completely honest with Hongki. It was time.

***

Another 30 minutes elapsed as they made their way to Jaejin’s garden. As soon as Hongki and Jaejin got off the car, a cooling breeze hit them, as if welcoming the new guest. They were just in time to catch the sunset. The sky was tainted pink as the ball of fire slowly descended into the horizon.

Hongki and Jaejin took a stroll along the fields, shoulder to shoulder.

“So I guess this is the place where you hibernate and heal?” Hongki was the first to break the silence.

“Mhm, I come here every week, just to water the plants, and spend some time away from all the hustle-bustle.” Jaejin replied. They moved to a flatter patch of grass. Jaejin lied down and stretched in the orange sunrays. Hongki settled down next to him and stared into the slowly darkening sky.

“You know, this is the first time I’ve brought anyone here,” Jaejin half-sighed, half-spoke. “Why are you so special,” Jaejin turned his head and stared at Hongki whose eyes were closed.

“Thank you jinnie. Really. The flowers at the hospital, they were from you right?” Hongki said, before turning to look Jaejin in the eye.

“Only for you.”

Jaejin surprisingly felt comfortable gazing into Hongki’s eyes. They were soft today, slightly brown because of the sun, and shiny as ever. They stared at each other without saying a word for what seemed like eternity. Smiles of comfort, relief and just – bliss, I guess – crept onto both Jaejin’s and Hongki’s faces. Their hands soon found each other and with fingers interlocked, they laid there till the sky had turned dark. The scene was as picturesque as it could get.
 

Hello:) Im so sorry to all my subscribers who have been pleading with me to update T^T Found time to finally write a good one so enjoy? Hopefully the next one will be next week.