Chapter Text
Despite the unrelenting sun and rising temperatures of the day, Dumulmeori is overflowing with visitors. There are lots of families with young children, plenty of out-of-towners and tourists (Soonyoung can tell so easily who they are), and pockets of local elderly folk getting their daily exercise in.
If there are lots of couples meandering about too, Soonyoung chooses to ignore them the most. It makes his mind wander off too far into dangerous territory.
“In the winter, when it’s cold enough, it’ll freeze up along the banks and you can walk on it,” Soonyoung tells Mingyu about the merging rivers, smiling to himself at a memory of himself and Jihoon sliding across the ice when they were kids.
The pair are on the path near the riverbank. It would only take a few steps down the slope for Soonyoung to dive in. He had waded around there a few times in the past, just up to his knees, catching tadpoles and the like.
“What? You can safely walk on the river when it’s frozen?”
“Well, I don’t know about safely…” Soonyoung hums, head tilting in thought.
“Then why on Earth would you do it?!” Mingyu’s voice squeaks as it raises an octave, but Soonyoung doesn’t miss the laugh that’s caught in his throat. It causes his smile to grow.
“Everyone does it!”
“Everyone? Or just you?”
“Really, everyone! Kids, parents, grandparents… it’s like a seasonal tradition.”
Mingyu full-on laughs then, squatting down and dipping his fingers into the water, splashing them around. “Well, I hope I get to see this in the winter sometime then.”
“Me too.”
Soonyoung says it without thinking, catching himself a moment too late. So stupid, he internally berates himself, for a number of reasons. Beyond the fact that it seems properly too eager of him, the reality is that Mingyu won’t be around these parts in wintertime. He always made it sound like staying with his grandmother was a temporary thing, like a summer getaway to help him clear his head over whatever it was that had him so down the first day Soonyoung had met him.
It makes him think of all the things he’d like to show Mingyu that he probably has never seen or experienced before. Even just around these parts, there is so much: the lush lotus fields at the Semiwon gardens, the landmark of a hot dog stand up the way where Jihoon and he ate five each one time, the nearby strawberry fields his godparents own that he visits every late winter to gorge himself on the sweetest, juiciest berries.
Thankfully the younger boy saves him from his own spiraling thoughts.
"Speaking of tradition, it seems like there are a lot of festivities and stuff here," Mingyu points out. Soonyoung wonders if a question will follow as he watches the younger boy pick up a rock (the wrong shape, Soonyoung notices instantly) and attempt to skip it across the calm surface of the river. It sinks as soon as it hits the water.
Rather than looking sheepish, Mingyu looks intrigued and even a bit determined. His eyebrows pull together slightly and Soonyoung watches as his tongue pokes out at the corner as he goes to grab another rock.
"Here," Soonyoung suddenly interjects, his hand reaching out and gently circling around Mingyu's wrist. "You want to find one that's smooth and flat. Nothing too tiny either," he explains. It's not necessary for him to keep a hold on Mingyu, but his skin is warm and even though it's slightly sticky with a film of sweat, Soonyoung thinks he could awkwardly hold his hand (erm, wrist) like this for the rest of the day.
With his free hand, Soonyoung finds a rock he deems decent enough for skipping. It's longer than his palm, all round edges, and has a pretty, smooth slate-colored speckled surface. "This one should be good." Reluctantly, he lets Mingyu's hand go free and slides the stone into his palm.
The rock looks hilariously smaller in his grasp than in Soonyoung's own. It's a good excuse for Soonyoung to stare and ogle a bit, noting how smooth Mingyu's skin is compared to his own (a few weeks of hard farm life labor haven't undone what Soonyoung assumes is Mingyu's much more indoor, plush Seoul life), the broad width of his palm yet the stocky chunkiness of his fingers. His hands are somehow hot yet cute and Soonyoung isn't sure how hands could be so–
"--you show me?"
Soonyoung blinks rapidly, finally tearing his eyes away and forcing them up towards Mingyu's face. He's smiling lightly and Soonyoung sees little droplets of sweat sliding down from underneath the blue cap pulled down to Mingyu’s eyebrows.
"Show you...?"
"How to skip rocks."
Soonyoung lets out a puff of laughter before nodding. He stands and starts surveying all the pebbles and stones around their feet, looking for a decent one to demonstrate the throw he's had perfected since he was in elementary school. Mingyu suddenly slides in front of him, his back to Soonyoung's chest, barely a few centimeters between them.
The wind picks up a bit and Mingyu's loose short sleeve flutters against Soonyoung's forearm. There's a waft of something earthy yet spicy that fills his nose; he wonders if Mingyu put on cologne today.
"So do I need to hold my arm a certain way?" Mingyu asks with a glance over his shoulder, his elbow lightly bumping into Soonyoung's chest.
He's a bit stunned, unsure of what to do as his brain simultaneously malfunctions and melts within the depths of his skull. Mingyu is standing oh so close to him, definitely the closest the two of them have ever been. And he seems so casual about it, so at ease.
Okay, alright. So Mingyu wants a practical (a physical!!) lesson. Then Soonyoung can be cool, calm, and collected too.
He sucks in a quiet breath between his teeth that make a whistling sound far louder than he intended. Super cool, Soonyoung. But Mingyu seems none the wiser, fiddling with the flat stone in his cute/hot hands.
"You need to hold the rock correctly first," Soonyoung starts, flexing his fingers in an attempt to calm them before he gingerly curls them around Mingyu's own. He carefully maneuvers the stone around, pressing their joint index fingers along the curve of it. "Like this. Sort of like a frisbee or something."
"Oh, I see," comes Mingyu's quiet reply. Soonyoung might have missed it had he not been hyper-aware of anything and everything about the younger boy in that moment.
"Then keep your shoulder down, your arm close to your slide. You're gonna flick mostly with your wrist," he further explains, his fingers all but dancing up to grasp Mingyu's bicep. His big, firm, flexed bicep that has Soonyoung momentarily forgetting where he is (and who he is).
"Like this?" Mingyu questions, moving his arm back and forth to demonstrate. Soonyoung doesn't realize he does it, but he places his free hand on Mingyu's other shoulder as he adjusts the younger's position.
"There. Now try."
Letting go of him seems so sad because Soonyoung doesn't know when, or if, he'll get another chance to touch him like that again. But it's more than worth it when Mingyu pulls back and lets go of the rock. It skips twice (Soonyoung's record is nine times, but who's counting?) and the way Mingyu's face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning has fireworks bursting in Soonyoung's chest.
He seems eons away from the sad chocolatey faced boy he first met.
"I did it!" His voice cracks in a way most unbefitting of his physical stature, but Soonyoung can't help matching the grin on his face.
"You did. You're a natural."
"I have a good teacher," Mingyu replies quickly, poking at Soonyoung's side playfully.
They lapse into silence for a few moments and it makes Soonyoung's skin itch. Not in an uncomfortable way, but it has him replaying the past few minutes in his head over and over and he wishes he could use his own powers in the moment to cool his flushing face down.
"Should, um, we sit for a bit? I brought some snacks," he tells the taller boy, patting the messenger bag he has slung around on his backside.
"Sure. It's a perfect view here."
He hands Mingyu the mat he had folded up and brought along, allowing the other to pick a nice spot in the grass and set it up while he fiddles with the other items in his bag. He had made a sweet and refreshing watermelon sorbet in the morning and while he packed it in a cooling bag, it was just for show. It's not like he could bring a tub of sorbet out with no packaging and go, 'Hey, wow! It didn't melt! What are the chances?'
So while Mingyu is cutely trying to keep the corners of the mat from flapping up in the wind, scurrying back and forth on his hands and knees, Soonyoung quickly cools down the plastic tub with his powers. Not to perfect consistency (some melty-ness will play into the reality of it all), but enough so it's still cold and oh so invigorating.
Once he's finished, Soonyoung turns back around to plop his bag on the mat and sits down beside Mingyu, their knees brushing.
Mingyu gasps, pulling at the opening of the bag to peek inside. "You brought ice cream?"
"Oh no, no. Something more refined for such a lovely setting," Soonyoung boasts, pulling the container from the cooler bag and popping off the lid. The color is bright and vibrant, a lovely deep pink that reminds him of the innermost gradation of a mugunghwa's petals. Delicious, pretty, and patriotic.
"What flavor is it?" Mingyu inquires, Soonyoung not missing how he seems to subconsciously lick his lips.
Instead of answering, Soonyoung pulls out a spoon and gets a beautiful curl of the icy treat onto it. He holds it out for Mingyu to grab but in his true butterfly-inducing fashion, Mingyu simply pops the spoon in his mouth hands free, allowing Soonyoung to feed him.
"Wah, hyung... watermelon!" he cries out, slightly muffled by the sorbet.
"Is it good?" Soonyoung asks curiously. Of course, he already knows it's good. It's been a summer staple of his since he practically started the whole ice cream thing. It had the resounding approval of his entire family, his friends, his neighbors. But at the moment, Mingyu's endorsement seems to mean the world to him.
"It's amazing! It's sweet yet light... it's not too icy. How did you manage to keep it from melting?"
Soonyoung laughs a little bit and shrugs off any potential lie of an answer he could give. "I'm glad you like it."
"You really have a gift, hyung." If only you knew, Mingyu-ya.
He scoops them each a small bowl while Mingyu digs through the bag and lays out wet tissues and water bottles, as if it's a proper picnic. A mid-day summer rendezvous. Perhaps even a date? Though Soonyoung definitely knows better than to let those ideas take any root in his mind.
"So," Mingyu starts, his hand never stopping as he spoons pile after pile of already melting sorbet into his mouth. "Will you be at the market this weekend?"
His hometown held regular markets throughout the year, usually once a month. Soonyoung didn't often promote his own business at them (it was too open to properly work his "magic"), but he usually got roped into helping his family.
"My mom will be selling flowers so I'll be helping her out." It was far from his favorite activity but what was an only son supposed to do? "Are you gonna visit?" He tries to dampen the hope in his voice as he asks.
"My grandma wants me to help with her cart," Mingyu says, swirling his spoon in the now pink soup of his bowl. He holds it up to his mouth and Soonyoung watches as he drinks, his Adam's apple bobbing and neck all shiny with sweat. "She says I'll help her business? Whatever that means."
Soonyoung snorts. Yeah, there's no doubt about that. Half the town seems enamored with Mingyu (he willfully ignores how he is one of those enamored), so of course everyone will flock to Mrs. Kim's cart to chat with her charming, handsome grandson from out of town.
"What?"
"Huh?" Soonyoung blinks, his eyes honing in on how pretty and pink Mingyu's lips look glimmering under the hot summer sunshine.
"You laughed when I said I was helping." The younger is basically pouting, slick bottom lip jutted out and cheeks flushed and round.
Soonyoung screams internally and wraps himself up in invisible tape to keep from wrapping Mingyu up in his arms and squeezing him to death.
"Oh quit it, you bozo," he says, trying to seem more friendly and less desperate. That doesn't stop him from grabbing a tissue and pressing it to the other's lips. It sticks and Soonyoung tries to not think too much on how soft and wet his mouth felt in the brief contact. "I laughed because of course you will help business. Look in a mirror, in case you've forgotten. The whole town already adores you."
This seems to render Mingyu shy, he sheepishly peeling the tissue from his lips and wiping at his mouth with it. He keeps his gaze low, towards the mat beneath them, but Soonyoung sees his smile and the color lingering on the apples of his cheeks.
"Will you come say hi? If you have some time?" Mingyu finally speaks up.
It seems like such a silly request, as if hoping for a greeting is asking too much of someone. Soonyoung thinks about how that's the least of what he'll do. He knows he'll probably be stealing glances at Mingyu the whole morning, finding any excuse he can to wander over and peruse the chives and ginger, wondering what flowers (if any) Mingyu likes best... "At the market? Of course I'll come bother you."
Good, Soonyoung. Keep it light and friendly.
It seems to be enough for Mingyu who grins cutely again before clearing his throat and extending his now empty bowl forward.
"Um, hyung? Can I get some more?"
---
After polishing off the entire container of sorbet, Soonyoung showing Mingyu how to make a whistle with a blade of grass, and dipping their feet in the river (where Mingyu slips and soaks himself from the waist down; it was precious and hilarious and Soonyoung had allowed himself to stare a bit too long at the way Mingyu's gym shorts clung to his thighs as Mingyu stumbled out an explanation that he is incredibly clumsy), they finally decide to head back.
Mingyu's sitting on one of Soonyoung's old hoodies that was balled up on the floor of the truck in an attempt to keep his dad's seat from getting too soaked. The radio is playing 'Lucifer' and the breeze floating through the car from their rolled down windows feels absolutely heavenly. They are most definitely not holding hands, but when they hit a bump in the road, their fingers brush on the shared middle console armrest.
He asks Mingyu about Seoul, questions that aren’t too deep (nothing like the ones constantly at the forefront of his mind: why were you so sad that day we first met? And what did you run away from?). He sticks to simpler things, like what he wants to do for a living (architecture), what he does for fun (bike riding, drawing, and cooking), and what he likes best about Soonyoung’s hometown (the ice cream, he declared quite cheekily).
Soonyoung thinks this may just be one of the best days of his life.
He realizes the hour drive is honestly all too short as they encroach on his neighbors' farms. They pass the school and the singular post office in town, and by the time they reach Soonyoung's shop, he barely has his foot on the gas. They're basically crawling down the road but if Mingyu has noticed, he doesn't say anything. He just wants to keep this day going for a little bit longer. Maybe Mingyu does too.
The only thing that snaps Soonyoung out of their little bubble is a honk of a horn behind them. An old blue bongo truck crosses the dashed line and Soonyoung sees Mr. Ko lean across the passenger seat as he passes them.
"What are you doing, Soonyoung-ah?" he calls out, no malice in his voice, just confusion.
"Sorry, Mr. Ko!" Soonyoung yells back, offering a wave and a quick head bow as an apology. He hears Mingyu giggle from the passenger seat and he smiles over at him bashfully.
Picking back up to standard speed, they arrive at Mingyu's grandmother's place all too soon. He carefully drives up the long dirt road until he's only a few meters from the house.
"Thanks for today, hyung. I had a really fun time with you."
Soonyoung's stomach swoops. He didn't just have fun, but he had it with Soonyoung. Maybe even because of Soonyoung. The smile that stretches across his face comes all too easily.
"Me too. One of the best days I've had in a while," he admits before he can overthink his words.
It seems to go over well though because Mingyu's expression only seems to brighten.
Eventually he opens the door and hops out, balling up the wet hoodie in his hands.
"I'll wash it and give it back to you next time?" Next time. Soonyoung is so glad there will be a next time. "Tell your dad sorry about the seat for me." Soonyoung waves him off. It's not a big deal and if it was, he'd just get Jihoon to warm it up and dry it off quickly before his dad was any the wiser.
"I'll see you later," Soonyoung reluctantly says, switching the car back into drive once Mingyu shuts the door.
"See you tomorrow!" Mingyu corrects him.
When Soonyoung arrives home, he doesn't even care that his mom has him prepping all her supplies for the market until his fingers ache from cutting and tying precious little ribbons.
Nothing could dampen his mood, not even Jihoon's family dropping by with a bowl of hwachae and his cousin ridiculing him the moment their parents are all out of the room.
"Lord, you're embarrassing," Jihoon mutters as he slurps up the fruit-infused cider from his cup. "Cool this down, it's gotten too warm.”
Soonyoung doesn't even mind when Jihoon wallops him for turning their evening snack into a popsicle unintentionally. He's floating too high on Mingyu cloud nine.