Chapter Text
Red.
The boys clashed with the shades of red.
The wrath, the fury, the anger, one and all, boiling down to the burning red that filled the boys’ hearts. The same red that propelled them towards each other, the same red they felt as they stole glances at each other. Red was the courage they had to overcome whatever came in their way, red was their desire of things they thought were unattainable at a period of time. Red was what they saw when they skirted away from each other, red what they felt when they gently cradled each other’s hearts in their delicate hands.
With red came rage-fueled arguments, with red came an attempt to break promises, with red came confessions, with red came the dreams they never had dreamt of, with red came a new start, a new home.
For them, red was both the ugliest and most beautiful they had ever been together.
Red was how Han Jisung and Yang Jeongin loved.
Jeongin saw red.
“What’s wrong with you?” He shook off Jisung’s grasp and stepped a few steps back, “Can’t you see? I don’t want to listen to you!”
“Why not?” Jisung’s voice climbed up in volume to catch up to Jeongin’s, “Give me a reason and I’ll leave!”
“I don’t—just leave—now.” Jeongin clutched his head, nails digging painfully into his scalp.
“I won’t, Jeongin. Tell me what’s happening to you, please.” Jisung pleaded once again, stepping forward towards Jeongin as he flinched back.
“Jisung,” Jeongin steeled his voice, the same cold washing over them as he had felt for days now, nails still grabbing onto is hair, pulling as to physically restrain him from speaking but he just couldn’t stop and he hated himself so much for that, “I don’t want to tell you anything, leave, go to Minho or something, just leave me alone. I’ve had enough, I’ll go back to my town tomorrow and you can live yours freely, you don’t need to be stuck with me anymore.”
“Jeongin what?” Jisung asked, bewildered, “You’re not going anywhere. We promised we’ll break the curse together—”
“Oh, to hell with promises Jisung—” Jeongin sneered, he just wanted Jisung to leave him, if any of this continued, Jeongin would only hurt Jisung and he never wanted that, would never want to hurt Jisung who’s been so painfully raised to smile no matter what and he can watch how Jisung shivered at his place and Jeongin just wanted Jisung to leave because his rough edges would wear Jisung off because he could never be soft or delicate. Jeongin wasn’t what Jisung needed.
“No. No, no, you’re not going anywhere. You promised you’d come with me after breaking the curse, you promised.” Jisung shook his head, it sounded like he was convincing himself more than anything.
“Look,” Jeongin said through his clenched teeth, “Get your things and go over to Minho, he’ll most likely be of much more help to you, or call him over, I’ll leave just let me go.”
“Yang Jeongin, for once, just try to snap out of all this curse talking. Just tell me, so, I can help—”
Jeongin laughed, “Why do you care—”
“Why do I care?” Jisung asked eyes pointed at Jeongin, the silence growing overbearing by the second, “I know.” He said, voice progressively getting louder and louder, “I know. I know! I know! How dumb do you think I am, you’ve been lying all this while to me! It’s the curse, it’s the damn curse, you, of all people, should know, why I fucking care!”
“What—” Jeongin tried to utter out before he was cut off.
“It’s you,” Jisung said and Jeongin could hear how his voice shook in the same way it had back at the snack bar when Jisung told him about himself, “It’s you; It’s you; It’s you; How could I not?” Jeongin lifted his head slightly, his hair falling into his eyes, watching Jisung blink rapidly, squeezing his palm every second or so, trying so hard to not lose his composure just the way Jeongin stumbled, “And what’s this Minho, Minho? I am with you, right now, so, talk to me, it’s you. I’m selfish, Jeongin. I want to stay with you for as long as I can, whether it would mean I’d have to fight a witch or bring down the stars, I’ll find a way to do it all, if it meant I’d get to stay with you, don’t tell me to leave.” Jisung took a heavy step forward and Jeongin didn’t move, too busy gauging Jisung’s words, “Not like this. I’ve—I’ve never been this happy for a long while now, all because of this godforsaken town and that dingy snack bar and this obnoxious daycare and all the other boys and you. You who so easily saw right through me, you who never pressured me into talking, letting me take my time, you who felt like home. You have no idea how happy you’ve made me in the short while we’ve known each other and I’m so grateful for that.”
Jisung came close to him as Jeongin held his breath, watching him gently hold his hand and oh god, the warmth from the touch sent electricity coursing through his blood, warmth, he was rendered speechless, he had forgotten the feeling of warmth, the world glowing a tinge different as he stared at Jisung, the yellow-kissed skin vibrant. Jisung took a deep breath before continuing, “So, just let me help you because that’s the least I can do for you and I’ll leave then. Please.”
“Why?” Jeongin sobbed, Jisung’s voice ringing in his ears and as Jisung pulled him in for a hug, Jeongin had melted into the touch, the warmth seeping into his skin little by little made it hard for him to focus, his mind running into overdrive, because it had been one too many days without the warmth yet the bright red burned too much for him, anger spurting inside him, the same time this overwhelming happiness fills him with the returning yellows.
“I—” Jisung choked, his voice breaking at the end, shattering Jeongin’s heart in the process because this was all happening due to Jeongin and he squeezed his eyes shut, his head hurting, chest tightening way too much, “I love you.”
And Jeongin could breathe again. His mind so much clearer, his heart beating faster yet he’s never felt this light before, as though he was free-falling. He opened his eyes and the world was back to its shades, the red flowers no longer hurt his eyes, the orange of the sky sitting perfectly, it’s back, and Jeongin belatedly realized that it’s his pathetic loud sobs that fill the quiet road, Jisung’s hold tighten even more and Jeongin felt at home, the realizations settling into his stomach, he felt it again, the emotion the universe tried so hard to strip away from him. Jeongin knew; Jeongin knew; Jeongin knew, “I love you too.” Jeongin whispered, “I love you too, so much. Jisung, I love you.”
Jisung’s hand stilled for a moment, his grasp loosening before he tackles him into an even more secure hold, “So, let’s break the curse, okay?” And Jeongin laughed bright and loud, wiping off Jisung’s face before he hands move to his waist, he softly knocked their foreheads together.
“It’s gone, Jisung.” He laughed out, “It’s gone. You broke the curse.”
“Me?” Jisung asked, voice incredibly soft and the warmth that Jeongin felt listening to his voice with his clear head is enough to knock his breath away.
“You. When you said I made you happy, when you said you loved me, when you thought of me as your home, my god, Jisung, it’s you,” Jeongin just couldn’t stop grinning stupidly at Jisung, “It’s always been you. You are the reason the curse was broken.”
“You—” Jisung stuttered for a second, “—You told me to leave, you said that you didn’t want to tell me anything, you dumbass, stupid, idiot, imbecile, piece of—” He punctuated each of his insult with a tough hit to Jeongin’s chest.
“I’m sorry, so sorry, so so sorry, my head was a little too messed up.”
“I know that! I know.” Jisung whined.
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I love you.” Jeongin smiled at him again and Jisung hit him, weakly this time.
“You better,” Jisung sniffled, trying to glare him down but he looked so cute, “Can I kiss you?”
Jeongin would be lying if he said he wasn’t waiting for it, “Do you need to ask?”
“Just wanted to make sure, you know.” He mumbled, embarrassed.
Jeongin laughed, “Well, how nice—”
They kissed under the same orange sky they had first met.
They were back at the snack bar, chomping down on their food.
“So, where do we go from here?” Jeongin questioned.
“To Bradford,” Jisung quickly answered, taking another bite off his chicken, “I have unfinished business, need to clear up the whole running away mess that I created.”
“Wait,” Jeongin looked at Jisung, slowly inching his smoothie away from his mouth, “You ran away?”
Jisung chortled, “Well, what do you think? I randomly told my family that I’m going to the witch and they said their farewells and we parted ways?”
“No, but like—” Jeongin started, before he shook his head, “Leave it, this is something you would totally do.”
“Hey! That sounded like an insult,” Jisung pointed out, “And I did tell my sister I was going, just not where and why, also, left an emotional letter, if anything, that would probably make the talk easy for me.”
“Yeah, okay, you’re making my head spin.”
Jisung grinned at him, “Don’t I always?”
Jeongin tried to glare at him but he couldn’t hold back his smile, “Whatever but seriously, where do we go after you clear up the mess?”
Jisung hummed, “We stay together, for one, unless you wanna go?” Jisung looked up at him, and Jeongin made sure to enthusiastically shake his head to show how much he was appalled by the suggestion, and he watched Jisung’s shoulder sag in relief, “I wanted to stay here, actually.” He continued as had the softest smile on his face, “I’ve grown way too attached to this town.”
“Heh, same.”
“Though we won’t have any place to stay or money to eat here, we’re running out of it already.” Jisung stated.
“I know. I would’ve liked to stay here though.” Jeongin said solemnly, Jisung nodding along as silence settled between them, the thought of leaving the town bearing them down and the question of what they do next.
“Stay here.” A voice replied to them, sliding in Jisung’s smoothie on the table, Seungmin, “We’ve got a room free upstairs, you two can settle in there—”
“Seungmin, we can’t just stay there for free—” Jisung said hurriedly and before Jeongin even nodded along, Seungmin cut him off.
“Who said it’s for free?” He deadpanned, “You two work at the snack bar after your shift is over at the daycare. I can use a hand to two to help around in the evenings, it’s too much to handle myself.” Jeongin and Jisung shared a glance and Seungmin sighed, “Look, everyone’s gotten used to your presence, Woojin, Chan, Minho, Hyunjin, you’d be doing us more favor by staying here so just, stay.”
Jeongin and Jisung smiled each other, watching Seungmin’s ears turn red. Jisung clapped his hands together, “Well then, we’ll take you up for that offer.”
Pretty easy to figure out their future from there.
They left for Bradford the same evening, Jisung telling Jeongin that he just wanted to be over it and so they went back walking the same streets they came here from, laughing about one thing or other, hands intertwined together, the stars lighting up the same way it had that night except Jeongin could see it today.
They stood at the same inn Jisung had been staying at, Jeongin rubbing his wrist at where the writings were once imprinted, now pristine clean, “Should I come with you?” He said sliding his hand into Jisung’s once again.
“No,” Jisung breathed out, “No running. I will do it myself. Though—” He grasped both of Jeongin’s hand bringing it up to cup his face, “Promise you’ll be here to hug me if I run back crying?”
Jeongin giggled, “And where would I go when my home is right here with you, Han Jisung.” He jabbed at his heart.
Jisung laughed along, “I see you’re learning a thing or two from me.”
“Go, idiot. We need to go all the way to the other side of the continent for me to get my things.” Jeongin squeezing his hand as reassurance before Jisung entered the inn.
He knocked curtly at the door, shifting his weight from one foot to another, the door opened soon after, filling the dull corridor with too much bright light forcing Jisung to squint his eyes before he saw his sister standing there, jaw slacked at the doorstep.
“Hey…?” Jisung awkwardly waved before Sana pulled him inside into a bone-crushing hug.
“Jisung, you came back!” She exclaimed, voice overjoyed and Jisung knew she was crying already.
“What? You thought I was dead or something?” He grinned at his sister.
A gruff voice replied to him, “You’ve been gone for almost two weeks, boy, gave us enough time to think over every possibility of what happened to you. I still don’t know how she managed to convince me not to report to the police about you and get a search team ready just ‘cause you told her you’d be coming back—” His father stood just a hand behind his sister, “—maybe.”
“Yeah,” Jisung scratched his head as his sister let go of him, “Didn’t have a clarity of what I was doing?”
“I’m guessing it worked if the glow on your face is anything to go by.” His father smiled at him and it was the first time in a long while he’d chatted so easily with his father, which is a feat in itself even when not taking into account that Jisung ran away before an important meeting and disappeared off the face of the earth for two weeks.
Jisung grinned back, “It did, wildly different than I had initially thought, but yes, it did.” Jisung glanced back between Sana and their father, “I have a lot to talk about actually.”
His father nodded calmly, “And I have a lot to listen to.” He raised Jisung’s letter in his hand and Jisung thought maybe it was going to be easier than he had expected it to be.
Jeongin patiently waited outside the inn, praying that everything went well and he watched the door of the inn swing open, watched Jisung look around for him and then run straight into him the very next second after their eyes met, almost knocking him to the ground.
“What happened?” Jeongin asked both excited and nervous to hear how it all went and Jisung was grinning from ear to ear and that answered everything Jeongin had to know—
“Sana, my sister, she gets the business things and my father understands. He apologized even and they let me go on the single promise that I’ll visit them once in a while and oh my god—” Jisung ran around, jumping like a kid, “Jeongin, there’s absolutely nothing we can’t do!”
Jeongin let out a gleeful laugh too as he pulled Jisung towards him, cupping his face and kissing him.
“I love you.” He said, staring into Jisung’s eyes and he felt Jisung melt in his hold before he too wrapped his arms around his neck, a stupid grin on his face.
“I love me too.”
Jeongin whacked his head, hard.