kiwikihyuk

“So, what are your plans for the break?”

​

Hyungwon looked up at Minhyuk, who was sitting across from him at the table in their university’s dining hall. The dining hall was unusually quiet, most students having left for home already, so they could talk without having to yell at each other.

​

Before Hyungwon could answer, however, Kihyun groaned from his spot beside him, stabbing the food in his plate with his chopsticks a little too forcefully.

​

“My parents are going out of town for three weeks,” he explained, “so I’m just going to be home alone.”

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“What, they didn’t wanna take you with them?” Minhyuk teased, making both Hyungwon and Kihyun roll their eyes.

​

“It’s not that. I had told them I didn’t want to go.” Kihyun shrugged then sighed. “They’re going to visit my brother and there’s even less to do out there, so I figured maybe I could just stay home with our dog. But now they’re telling me they’re taking her with them!”

​

Hyungwon shot Kihyun a pitying look. Anyone who knew Kihyun knew how much he loved his dog.

​

“I’d rather hang out with a dog than hang out with you, too,” Minhyuk giggled, ignoring the glare Kihyun gave him.

​

“I’m just gonna be stuck at home by myself,” Kihyun continued with a sigh, pressing his cheek against the table. “I wish you guys lived closer, or something.”

​

“Well-” Hyungwon started, only to be interrupted by Minhyuk.

​

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” he reassured Kihyun. “It’s not like you live in the middle of nowhere, you’ll still be in the city!”

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“But no one else will!”

​

Hyungwon tried again. “Maybe-”

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“Just get a job then.” Minhyuk waved Kihyun off.

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“For three weeks?!”

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“I have an idea-” Hyungwon sighed when he was cut off again.

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“I don’t know, offer to walk your neighbour’s dog twice a day or something-”

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“Guys!” Hyungwon finally exclaimed.

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Eyes wide, the two boys turned to face him at his sudden outburst, Minhyuk with his chopsticks halfway up and his mouth hanging open.

​

“I’ve been trying to say something for the past ten minutes!” Hyungwon huffed, frowning at Minhyuk. “Do you ever shut up?”

​

“Is that all you wanted to say?” Minhyuk rolled his eyes lightheartedly and shoved his food in his mouth. “You didn’t have to yell for that.”

​

“Oh my god, you’re exasperating,” Hyungwon groaned. He turned to face Kihyun then, pretending like Minhyuk wasn’t there, and gathered all his courage. “I was going to say, why don’t you come over to my place? 

​

“Oh.” Kihyun’s eyes widened as he considered it. “Won’t your parents mind?”

​

Hyungwon shook his head. “Not at all. They’re always happy to have people over at the lake house.”

​

“I’m sorry,” Minhyuk piped up again, Hyungwon resisting every urge to roll his eyes. “The lake house?!”

​

“Yeah.” Hyungwon shrugged, still looking at Kihyun. “We usually go there over the summer. We’ll be driving up a day or two after I get home, so we can come pick you up on the way or something.”

​

“I wanna be rich, too,” Minhyuk grumbled. “A lake house…”

​

Ignoring Minhyuk, Kihyun hesitated. “That seems like a lot of hassle…” 

​

“It’s not, I swear.” Hyungwon smiled then, trying to keep his composure despite his heart racing. “But if you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

​

“Can I come?!” Minhyuk asked.

​

Hyungwon finally turned to glare at him. “I didn’t invite you. Besides, don’t you have things to do this summer? You were just going on and on about how you’re so excited to go home.”

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“Yeah, but like… A lake house. Is it big?!”

​

“I guess?”

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Hyungwon should’ve known Minhyuk wouldn’t stop there. “If Kihyun says no, can I come instead?”

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“No.”

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Minhyuk frowned, jutting out his bottom lip. “I hate you.”

​

“Whatever.” Hyungwon turned to face Kihyun again. “So, what do you say? You don’t have to stay the whole time if you don’t want to.”

​

Seemingly having gotten over his initial shock, Kihyun bit his lower lip. “Are you sure it won’t be a problem?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

​

“Well… Okay, then, yeah. That sounds like fun.”

​

Hyungwon couldn’t stop the wide smile from gracing his face, which only grew when Kihyun returned it.

-

“Woah.”

​

Hyungwon turned to face Kihyun, who had just crossed the threshold into the house, and tilted his head. “Do you like it?”

​

Kihyun nodded, looking around the living room area. Hyungwon watched as he took in the dark wood accents which nicely contrasted the white of the walls, the high ceilings with the wooden beams going across, and the furniture his parents had carefully chosen to be both durable and comfortable. Hyungwon had been stepping foot into this house for as long as he could remember, its novelty dying down pretty quickly, but seeing Kihyun marvel at the sight made him regain an appreciation he had lost. Perhaps it was made better by Kihyun simply being in it.

​

They had gotten a late start to the day due to Hyungwon’s inability to wake up early, so the sun was already dipping close to the horizon. Hyungwon’s mother ushered him to show Kihyun to the guest bedroom, Kihyun giggling behind his hand while Hyungwon grumbled.

​

“Go get settled and then come back out for dinner!” she told them, then disappeared into the small kitchen behind Hyungwon’s father.

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“It’s in the back,” Hyungwon explained, practically dragging his bag on the ground while Kihyun followed along, looking at the family photos on the wall as they passed by them in the hallway.

​

“Here’s the guest room.” Hyungwon pushed open the dark wood door to reveal a bedroom with a huge window with curtains pushed aside to reveal the view of trees and the lake. The bed in the corner was already made in light blue sheets, with various sized pillows lining the sides of the bed that touched the walls.

​

“It’s a bit small, I think it was supposed to be an office,” Hyungwon explained, stepping aside to let Kihyun in. “I hope it’s okay, though.”

​

“Small?” Kihyun repeated, looking at Hyungwon with wide eyes. “I think my bedroom at home is smaller than this…”

​

“Oh.” Hyungwon avoided Kihyun’s gaze, feeling a little sheepish.

​

“Dang, Chae. You really are rich,” Kihyun teased, putting his bag down by the bed. “This is really nice.”

​

“Um, yeah.” Hyungwon wasn’t sure how to answer, his embarrassment still lingering. “Anyways, just- Feel free to put your clothes in the dresser if you’d like, and, uh, the bathroom’s right there.” He stepped into the hallway and pointed to the left. “I’m just gonna put my stuff down in my room, and then- uh- I guess we go have dinner?”

​

When he looked back at Kihyun, the boy was tilting his head to the side with a small smile. “Why do you sound so awkward? It’s just me.”

​

That is why, Hyungwon thought.

​

“Weird having you here, that’s all,” he ended up saying, then immediately regretted it. “Not in a bad way!” he then tried to backpedal, hands waving in front of him. “I just meant I didn’t think we’d ever be hanging out here together.”

​

Kihyun, much to his relief, just laughed. “You’re weird. Anyways, I’m going to change, so see you in a bit.”

​

Hyungwon chose to just nod, and closed the door to Kihyun’s room. His heart pounding, he made his way to his own bedroom, just across the hall from Kihyun’s, and immediately flopped down onto the bed as soon as he entered.

​

This was going to be an interesting break.

Dinner with Hyungwon’s parents was fairly uneventful, Kihyun effortlessly making conversation while Hyungwon ate in silence, simply watching. Hyungwon’s parents had both immediately taken a liking to him and Hyungwon couldn’t blame them; Kihyun was easy to like, and Hyungwon knew that maybe a little too well.

​

As they conversed around him about school and hobbies, Hyungwon couldn’t help but lose himself in thoughts of Kihyun. He couldn’t believe that he was here, that he had agreed to spend his break with him. He couldn’t believe that he had the courage to even ask Kihyun to be there with him in the first place. Minhyuk had texted him a string of emojis after the whole conversation ended, each one more suggestive than the next. Hyungwon forced himself to stop thinking about it when Kihyun turned to him, smiling widely, asking him to corroborate the story about their university dorms he had been telling his parents.

After dinner, the two of them did the dishes, chatting softly. Hyungwon’s parents had left them to their own devices and suddenly, Hyungwon was feeling nervous. He wasn't used to being alone with Kihyun like this, even though it was an opportunity he had dreamed about for months. Now that he was here, though, he had no idea how to go about it.

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He ended up asking the first thing that came to him. “Do you wanna watch tv or something?”

​

Kihyun looked over at him and shrugged. “Sure. Have any in mind?”

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“Not really.”

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Laughing softly, Kihyun dried the last plate, putting it away in the cabinet beside the sink. “Okay, I guess we can figure something out.”

​

“Or, um. There’s an ice cream place that’s open late, not too far from here. We can walk down, if you want.”

The glint in Kihyun’s eyes told Hyungwon that he made the right call.

-

It had been a week since they got to the lake house, and Hyungwon was still feeling nervous around Kihyun. His heartbeat raced every time he got close. Earlier that day, his knees nearly even gave out, all because Kihyun held his hand. They had been on a walk around the lake when Kihyun wanted to climb the hill to get a better view, and when he noticed Hyungwon struggling, offered him a hand. He held it all the way to the top and then a little more, until they sat down cross legged on the grass to look out at the setting sun over the lake. Hyungwon couldn’t focus on anything other than the feeling of Kihyun’s hand for the rest of the night.

​

But all of that was forgotten now. It was pitch black outside and Hyungwon was in the comfort of his own bed, nearly lulled to sleep when suddenly, the windows began rattling. Startled, he sat up, realising quickly that it had begun pouring outside.

​

Trying to calm his racing heart, he laid back down, but he only had peace for a moment before he heard the rumbling of thunder. Squeezing his eyes shut, he pulled the sheets tighter around him. In his arms was an old frog plushie that he had since he was a child which was ripping at the seams but he didn’t care as he held him close to his chest.

Suddenly, a flash of light lit up his room for a split second, and he jumped. He breathed heavily, knowing that the summer storm was only just beginning. He knew he had to get his mind off of it, and fast.

​

Reaching over the side of his bed, he pulled his laptop out of his bag. He laid back against the headrest, pulling the sheets up with him, and propped the computer on his lap. But as he held the power button, he realised with a sigh that the battery was dead, and he had left the charger in the living room.

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Living room…

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Maybe a movie will help, he thought, but as he sat down on the couch with his blankets and plushie, he realised that the power had gone out.

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“Oh my god, this can’t get any worse,” he grumbled.

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Lightning struck again, and he jumped.

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“Okay, maybe it can…”

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He tucked himself in the corner of the couch, wrapping the blanket tightly around him. In his fear, he realised he had forgotten to take his phone with him, but it was too late now. He couldn’t risk walking all the way back to his room, not when thunder or lightning could strike him at any moment.

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The next thing that startled him didn’t come from outside--it was the sound of a door opening. He turned with wide eyes, shaking slightly in fear, to face the source of the noise.

​

“What the fuck, Kihyun!” he hissed, seeing the other boy walk out of his bedroom with bleary eyes and his phone flashlight on.

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“Hunh?” Kihyun squinted at where Hyungwon was sitting, pointing the light over to the couch. “Won? Why are you out here?”

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Hyungwon immediately looked away, not wanting to admit to Kihyun that he was terrified of the storm. He couldn’t even appreciate the low rasp of Kihyun’s sleepy voice. 

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Curse this storm.

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Very quickly, and much to Hyungwon’s dismay, Kihyun figured out what was wrong. Silently, he walked over to where his friend was sitting, and flopped down beside him. He dimmed the flashlight and turned to look at Hyungwon.

​

“It’s a pretty bad storm, hunh.”

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Hyungwon simply nodded, and Kihyun hummed, turning off the flashlight completely.

​

And then Kihyun dropped his head onto his shoulder with a yawn, and it truly felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. 

​

“Storms are scary,” he murmured sleepily, his attitude a complete contrast to his words. “But it's okay, I'm here.”

​

With drowsy hands, he tugged the blanket from Hyungwon’s lap onto his own, curling up closer. Within seconds, he was asleep again, but Hyungwon was still frozen in place. His heart had never beaten that fast in his life. 

​

After a few moments of panic, he tentatively rested his head against Kihyun’s. When Kihyun showed no sign of discomfort, he allowed himself to close his eyes, taking deep breaths. But once again, he should’ve known it wouldn’t last very long. 

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The next strike of thunder rattled his bones and he jumped, knocking Kihyun off of him. 

​

“Shit, Ki, I'm sorry.” He quickly put his hands on either side of Kihyun's face. “Are you okay?”

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“I'm fine,” Kihyun said around a yawn. “Maybe let's go to your bedroom. I think it's louder out here by the windows.”

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In his bedroom? Both of them? Never mind, Hyungwon’s heart could beat faster. 

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Kihyun stood up, the blanket slipping off his lap, and extended a hand towards Hyungwon. 

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“Come on,” he murmured, taking Hyungwon’s hand in his once again.

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Quickly, Hyungwon grabbed his blanket and plushie, and let Kihyun guide him back to his room. His grip on Kihyun’s hand tightened as the thunder rumbled again, but Kihyun didn’t seem to mind.

​

As they walked across the open living room towards the small hallway, lightning suddenly flashed, lighting up their faces. Hyungwon yelped, taking a step closer to Kihyun who just laughed sleepily.

​

“It’s okay, come on.”

When they entered the bedroom, Hyungwon practically dove into the bed, making Kihyun laugh. He climbed on on the other side, pulling the sheets out from under Hyungwon to cover both of them. Hyungwon turned to face Kihyun then, one hand holding his frog and the other lying in between them. Even in the low light, Kihyun looked tired, but before the guilt could creep up on Hyungwon, Kihyun slipped his hand into his.

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“Is this okay?” he asked quietly. 

​

In his daze, Hyungwon simply nodded, then squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment when he realised Kihyun probably couldn't see him.

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“Yeah,” he whispered.

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“Okay,” Kihyun whispered back. He then rolled onto his back, taking Hyungwon’s hand with him, and placed it against his chest, holding it tightly. 

​

Somehow, even with his pulse racing, Hyungwon slept soundly through a storm for the first time in what felt like forever.

When he woke up the next morning, the sun was shining, and Kihyun was still beside him.

​

“Good morning,” Hyungwon mumbled, yawning.

​

Kihyun moved his phone away from his face so that he could look at Hyungwon. “Good morning, did you sleep okay?”

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“Yeah.” Hyungwon pulled the sheets back up over his nose so Kihyun wouldn’t see him blush.

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“You snore really loudly,” Kihyun teased, poking Hyungwon on the side.

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“Oh.” Hyungwon couldn't even retaliate, his body suddenly hyper aware of how close they were.

​

“Should we go out today?” Kihyun asked, eyes flitting to the window behind Hyungwon. “It looks nice out, after all that rain.”

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“Everything will be wet and soggy,” Hyungwon whined, wanting nothing more than to stay in that bed with Kihyun for the rest of time. “Let's just stay in.”

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“We can go into town.”

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Hyungwon knew he was fighting a losing battle. “It'll be humid out.”

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“You're no fun.” Kihyun pouted, meeting his eyes again. “It's summer and you want to just stay indoors. I shouldn’t have agreed to this.”

​

Groaning, Hyungwon turned onto his back and closed his eyes again so that he wouldn’t see Kihyun pout and end up saying something stupid. “Fine, let’s go out.”

​
 

Hyungwon should’ve known better than to let Kihyun plan their day. He groaned as he stepped over yet another log, one hand holding his red bucket hat firmly in place on his head.

​

“I can’t believe you want to have a picnic after a rainstorm,” Hyungwon muttered, finally catching up to Kihyun.

​

“Your parents have this nice picnic blanket, it would be a shame to not use it!”

“We haven’t used that thing in years,” Hyungwon sighed, following Kihyun onto a dock. “You do know our house has a dock too, right?”

“I know.” Kihyun nodded as he set down the blanket on the dark, damp wood. “But I saw this one the other day when we were walking through here, and it seemed more peaceful.”

Humming in agreement, Hyungwon looked around. “What if it belongs to someone else?”

“Then we’ll leave.” Kihyun shrugged, then stood with his hands on his hips and looked around as well. “I don’t see a house nearby, though.”

“I guess it's fine…”

Kihyun then waved his hands down at Hyungwon. “Come on, sit down.”

The two of them sat facing each other, the bag of food Kihyun brought placed in between them. 

“Your mom got us some kimbab from the store,” Kihyun said, pulling two packets out of the bag along with disposable chopsticks. 

​

“Is that all you brought?” Hyungwon asked, wrapping his fingers around the edge of the bag to see inside as well.

“Be patient,” Kihyun huffed, smacking his hands away. “We also have the drinks we got the other day.”

He pulled two cans of cold strawberry Milkis out of the bag, handing one to Hyungwon who took it happily, his annoyance quickly dissipating. Sipping it slowly, Hyungwon watched Kihyun pull out a small takeaway box of dumplings and sauce, some rolled omelette his dad had made that morning, and various other snacks. 

“Wow, you really prepared a lot,” Hyungwon pointed out, picking up one of the chocolate biscuit packs.

“Your mom told me to take all of it, she says it’s been sitting around for too long,” Kihyun chuckled, reaching over and swiping a biscuit from Hyungwon’s hand.

“Hey!” Hyungwon exclaimed, looking at him in disbelief as he just laughed, shoving the whole thing in his mouth. 

But Hyungwon couldn’t even pretend to be mad, and soon enough, they were both laughing together. 

​
 

“And then, then-” Kihyun wheezed, trying incredibly hard to get through the story without laughing, “Then Minhyuk literally just fell face first into the pool! Fully clothed and everything!”

Kihyun’s laughter rang through the air, infectious and all-consuming. As they laughed together, Hyungwon couldn’t focus on anything else other than Kihyun’s smile, his dimples under his eyes, the way he was clapping his hands together.

When their laughs dissolved into heavy breaths, Kihyun turned to look at Hyungwon again. At that point, they had finished all the food, and were leaning back on their wrists, enjoying the shaded warmth of the dock. They were close enough that their shoulders bumped a couple times, but Kihyun didn’t seem to mind, which eased Hyungwon’s nerves.

“You know,” Kihyun started, a smile still on his face, “I really like spending time with you.”

Hyungwon’s nerves flared right back up.

“Don’t look so shocked!” Kihyun then laughed again, shoving Hyungwon’s arm gently. “We never get to hang out like this at school. It’s nice.”

“Yeah, no, um-” Hyungwon cleared his throat, trying not to say anything stupid. “It’s nice.”

“You know, I used to feel like you didn’t like me.”

“What?” Hyungwon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Why not?”

Kihyun just shrugged, still smiling. “I don’t know. You were kind of… Hard to read. I felt like you were judging me silently. But then it turned out that you just don’t have any thoughts, ever.”

“That’s rude!” Hyungwon cried. It was his turn to shove Kihyun, who just kept laughing as he pushed him.

“I’m just joking!” Kihyun pushed him back, their hands meeting palm-to-palm. And as if it was the most natural progression of events, Kihyun slotted his fingers between Hyungwon’s, holding his hand tight as he pushed again. “But it really did feel like you didn’t like me!”

“Well, I really like you!”

Oh, shit.

Shock overcame Hyungwon’s body as he realised what he let slip. Panicking, he ripped his hand away from Kihyun’s and slammed it over his mouth.

He watched as Kihyun processed what he just said, his smile turning into surprise.

He wished the dock would break and drop him into the water.

“What?” Kihyun asked.

Hyungwon winced in embarrassment. “Don’t make me repeat it.”

“Are you serious? Like- For real?”

Groaning, Hyungwon hung his head back, staring up at the tree above them, uncaring as his bucket hat fell off his head. He was too far gone at this point to pretend like he didn’t mean what he had said.

“Yes, for real.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, this is weird, I-” Hyungwon tilted his head forward again and faced Kihyun. “I didn’t want to tell you. It just- I don’t know, it sort of happened.”

Kihyun just smiled, tilting his head to the side as he looked at Hyungwon. For the life of him, Hyungwon couldn’t decipher what he could be thinking.

“If you wanna leave, that’s fine, I’ll-”

“No, you idiot.” Kihyun laughed. “I like you, too.”

It was Hyungwon’s turn to look surprised. Out of all the possible responses, that was the one he was expecting the least.

“What?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

Hyungwon’s eyes couldn’t get any wider if he tried. “What do you mean?”

“Minhyuk’s always teasing me about it. I was convinced he’d told you by now.”

Hyungwon huffed. “No, he never said anything.”

“Why do you sound annoyed by that?” The amusement was clear on Kihyun’s face.

“I-” Hyungwon shook his head. “Let’s not talk about Minhyuk right now.”

“You’re right.” Kihyun nodded, then smiled widely. He shuffled closer to Hyungwon, their shoulders fully touching, and turned slightly so that he could see him better. “Let’s just not talk altogether.”

“What does-”

And then Kihyun was kissing him.

Oh my god, he was kissing Kihyun.

He hadn’t made the smartest moves all day, but Hyungwon was determined to redeem himself now.

Cradling his cheek in his hand, Hyungwon pulled Kihyun closer even though there was nowhere he could go. He tilted his head to the side and kissed him in a way he had only ever dreamt about. Perhaps it was too much for a first kiss, but Hyungwon didn’t care. It had been too long.

He felt a hand slip into his hair and he sighed softly, which made Kihyun smile into the kiss. 

After a moment, Kihyun began to pull away, but before he could get further, Hyungwon was kissing him again. This time, he laughed fully, and Hyungwon ended up kissing his cheek before pulling away properly.

“Sorry.” Hyungwon felt sheepish, and knew that his blush must’ve been bright red.

“Don’t be.” Kihyun still had a hand in his hair, which slid down to the nape of his neck.

Hyungwon bit his bottom lip and looked at Kihyun, still in disbelief that that had just happened. 

“Can- Can I-” He stuttered, then exhaled sharply, trying to regain his confidence. “Can I kiss you again?”

In that moment, Hyungwon was convinced that nothing could rival the sun better than Kihyun’s smile.