THIS CHAPTER........ have i said it about every chapter so far. maybe. but THIS ONE IS EVERYTHING TO ME 😭😭😭 i love it all it's so slice of life and so THEM and so so cute and sweet the entire way through! i love that it starts, same as last chapter, with this sort of Understanding that feelings have changed, that they don't view the other quite the same way, but this time it's JUN who gets to have his realization (his hiyori awakening <3) and it's just such a slow slide for jun, it's so DIFFERENT from hiyori's life-altering realization because it just makes SENSE to him. of course he loves hiyori, why on earth wouldn't he??
It feels natural, like holding Hiyori’s hand, or like how their voices harmonise when they sing, or how so often, it feels like Jun was made to be in Hiyori’s life.
like.... this line is literally the culmination of this entire story. this is everything that you've built this hiyojun up to be. it's natural, it's fate, it's INEVITABLE. they were meant to love each other, and i love how happy the realization makes jun 😭
i also do love the little detail of sleepy!hiyori on the morning of the shrine, he's just so cute and i loved the mental image of this disgruntled little 15-year-old hiding under the covers and wanting nothing more than to cuddle with jun and go back to sleep ❤️❤️
Ever since his realisation, that one afternoon years ago, Hiyori has only fallen more in love with Jun. Looking back, when he was thirteen, he barely knew what he was feeling. Now, his feelings for Jun have grown into something comforting, something reassuring, something so deep that he feels they will never change.
and then hiyori's feelings and the fact that he understands them now!! it's so heartwarming that he's been in love for two whole years and he's patiently waiting for jun, and he's able to find such comfort in how dearly he loves jun <3 and the title of the fic as a line aaaaaaaaa i love when this happens!!!
and hhh them talking about their parents 😭😭😭😭 it hurts that they're literally just kids but they still have to have that conversation and accept that there's just nothing they can do to make their parents love them :(( it HURTS but at least they have each other!! and they know it!!
AND THE CONFESSION....... please enjoy me restraining myself from quoting the entire confession at you right now
The back of Hiyori’s neck tingles, and he feels his own breath catching in his throat. Once again, he wonders what it’d be like to simply tell Jun ‘I love you’. Confessing is scary, but there’s this little voice in the back of his mind that says, What if… What if he loves you back? Wouldn’t you want to know? Wouldn’t you want to tell him?
Jun opens his eyes, and they’re bright and full of life.
“Ohiisan, what did you mean, ‘what’s next for us’?”
THIS. AUGH. they literally have the exact same thoughts at the exact same times it makes me crazy!!!!! hiyori thinks it and it's like jun knows and that prompts him (our sweet, stupid, impulsive boy <3) to mention it as if he knows already 😭 crazy. i'm crazy.
“Because it depends on someone else,” Hiyori says finally, his voice barely above a whisper.
Amazingly, Jun smiles. “I see.”
Hiyori blinks. Butterflies erupt in his stomach, but he tries not to get his hopes up. Surely this doesn’t mean what his brain is trying to tell him it means.
AAAAHH. hiyori's so unsure and scared but!!! his jun is perfect!! and sweet and so in love with him too!! and i just...love a hiyojun confession where they both are Pretty Sure the other one feels the same but they're still scared to say it (even though literally anyone else could tell with one glance that they're both head over heels lmfao) and then!!!! and then!!!!
Jun closes his eyes. He takes another deep breath, and just when Hiyori is about to ask if he’s okay, Jun blurts out:
“I love you. I’m in love with you.”
And he opens his eyes again.
AAHAHKFNLGNDSLJGUDG!!!! jun-kun!!!! my brave brave boy!!! i LOVE how hiyori has been agonizing over the idea of confessing for literal years now, and jun beats him to it!! it's so so so them, and it's so natural! it all goes back into the way they both go about their realizations i think? hiyori intellectualizes it so so much, and the idea of confessing is just as life-altering as falling in love in the first place, so he's afraid to do it because in his mind, no matter how it goes everything will change irrevocably. but for jun, falling in love didn't change anything, it was just acknowledgment of his feelings that have always been there, so to him a confession is just as natural (even if it's scary but he's brave!) and i just. ough.
“Pretty, huh?” Hiyori asks, fully aware that he’s fishing for compliments. But he just told Jun all of the reasons he loves him. It’s only fair Jun gives him some compliments in return, right?
i love him <3 my stupid full-of-himself idiot <3 never ever change hiyori-kun please always be this annoying
He lifts both his hands to gently cup Jun’s face, and the movie-like slow motion is suddenly back. Hiyori lifts his head a little, and Jun shifts forward a little, and the next thing Hiyori knows, his eyes are closed and their lips press together.
It’s a little awkward at first, and their noses bump together until Jun figures out to tilt his head a little bit. Jun’s lips are so soft against his. Hiyori didn’t know lips could feel this soft, or that a kiss could feel like this—so sweet, so warm, so full of all the emotions he’s been carrying in his heart for so long. It’s as if every unsaid word, every meaningful smile, every touch they’ve shared over the years is poured into this single moment.
and the KISS aaaaaa!! it's so cute and it's so awkward teenage boy 😭😭😭 i also love how it's jun who has to figure out to tilt his head, because of course it's jun who has to go and do the extra step and not hiyori lmfao. but it's just so.... this kiss is so amazing and i LOVE that it's all slow motion and so feeling -based and it's so emotional and i just...adore these two so much. i'm so so happy they get to kiss now!!
this confession is EVERYTHING you built it up to be, it is the PERFECT catharsis after this beautiful slow burn we've followed these two through ❤️❤️ i am pretty sure i've already told you at some point that reading this part was actually making me kick my feet and giggle, and i am pleased to announce that even now, on i think my fourth read of this chapter? i am kicking my feet JUST as much and i had the biggest grin on my face! this scene is just SO cute, and i love it to pieces!! it is absolute perfection, and the whole thing just screams hiyojun, but in the soft way that only you can write them!!
and the end <3 it's the perfect way to wrap up their story! this is everything that happens before high school, and it really perfectly encapsulates your entire Point of how exactly their lives would've changed had they met sooner, and you can even tell in just this tiny snippet of their reimei life! jun is right, he (and hiyori) have nothing to worry about anymore, and they can just be happy and in love and live together now ❤️
WOW. what a journey you've taken us all on with this entire fic!! i loved this idea literally from the second you shared it, and i ADORE how it turned out!! i knew it would be incredible, but this is actually a masterpiece, and one that i will absolutely be coming back to read many, many times for the rest of my life. i'm seriously so honored that i've been able to cheer you on through the entire process of writing, editing, and posting this, because this fic was ABSOLUTELY worth the wait and worth all the struggles you had with it! your love for these two babies is woven into every single sentence, and you painted such a clear picture of both of them and their relationship through every single moment they spent together ❤️ it's so deeply them that i could genuinely believe this was canon if they didn't already have established backstories! you built them into exactly who they are in canon, but just...happier. everything is the same, except they've helped each other to be a lot more okay than they would be on their own! this is an incredible fic borne from such an original and fresh idea for this ship, and you perfected it!! from the title, the first sentence, and all the way to the last, this story is OUTSTANDING, and it's seriously changed my life 😭 i will literally be thinking about these babies forever now.
CONGRATULATIONS for making it to the end of the fic!! i'm beyond happy that you were able to post it, because this story needed to be shared!! i hope you're so so proud of yourself for finishing, because i'm absolutely proud of you!! you've truly created something comforting with this fic, and now i have something i can come back to every time i want to read something that feels like a warm hug from start to finish ❤️ good job!! congratulations again, always and forever, and i cannot wait to see where your inspiration takes you next! ❤️
one of my favourite thing about (childhood) friends to lovers, is how it can the changing of feelings can be such a slow slide, and I think that was the case here, too. especially jun, hiyori is just the most important person in his life, and it doesn't matter what "label" he puts on the relationship. it's just hiyori, and he loves him with all his heart.
my favourite scene here was I think when they're studying, and hiyori is just casually touching jun, because that's how they ARE now, and jun just spaces out because he feels nice and it feels good to have hiyori's attention and his touch, and he's SO close to realising... idk, that was my favourite scene to write I think, because he'd just feel special and so in love and. to me, that's hiyojun.
ahem.
also, another fun fact... I was going into the confession scene thing it'd be hiyori who would be the one to confess, but then as I was writing it, it was JUN who said the words first haha, and I was just as surprised as hiyori, probably. but like you said, it just FIT! jun is so brave and he wants hiyori to be happy more than anything, and he KNOWS that he can make hiyori happy, and it just... makes me emotional ;;;
but in the soft way that only you can write them!!
I think this is the nice thing someone's ever said about my writing 😭😭😭 I love writing them soft and feeling good and special and in love, and I'm SO glad it shows!!
thank you so much, for all your encouragement and kind words. this fic will forever be super special to me, so thank you for going on this journey with me, it wouldn't have existed without you, I can safely say!! ❤️
Comment on something comforting
edensquare on Chapter 5 Mon 17 Mar 2025 10:30PM UTC
Last Edited Mon 17 Mar 2025 10:31PM UTC
Comment Actions
Fireborn on Chapter 5 Wed 19 Mar 2025 08:57AM UTC
Comment Actions