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Seonghwa woke up and was quick to notice that the usual warmth accompanying him on the bed was missing. He raised himself, resting his weight on his elbows, and looked at the empty space on the bed with a frown and a confused expression on his sleepy face before he noticed a small note placed onto the nightstand. He reached over, letting out a little huff in the process, and grabbed the piece of paper to examine it. The raven-haired boy furrowed his brows as he read it, trying to fight his sleepiness so he could take in the messily written words.
"I'm going out for a bit. Don't wait for me and eat – I prepared you a small breakfast. I don't know when I'll be home, but don't worry about me. Love you. ♡"
Seonghwa smiled sheepishly as he read the note – Yeosang always used perfect grammar and punctuation, no matter the occasion, and the older boy found it quite cute. He wondered where could his boyfriend be, but shrugged it off – Yeosang would tell him when he came back, so there was no use in trying to guess.
He got up from the bed, stretching his body with a groan – it was pretty sore after work yesterday, and he yearned for a simple massage to relax his aching muscles, but that would have to wait until his lover was back. Yeosang was the best at them, and Seonghwa thanked the Gods for it – if it wasn't for the boy, he would have a lot of physical problems with his body despite his young age.
The raven's thoughts wandered off to the gentle way Yeosang would trace his fingers through his skin, applying pressure in places and drawing grunts and moans from Seonghwa whenever he found a place where the older was sensitive. Seonghwa could swear that Yeosang's hands were magical - he seemed to know all of the elder's sweet spots and loved teasing him until Seonghwa jokingly slapped his arms away because he couldn't take it anymore.
The male ran his fingers through his messy hair and shook the thoughts about his boyfriend out of his mind. He padded towards the bathroom to get himself cleaned up before making his way to the kitchen, where – as the note had said – he found a plate placed on the table, waiting for him. Smiling, he took the fork and after mumbling a soft 'thank you' towards Yeosang, he began eating.
Seonghwa was laid on the couch and in the middle of watching a movie when the front door opened with a click. His eyes darted towards the entrance and his lips stretched into a wide smile when Yeosang stepped in, taking off his jacket and approaching him with heavy steps. The elder's grin disappeared upon noticing the glum expression on his boyfriend's face, but Yeosang didn't say anything – he only plopped down on the couch next to him, muttering a quiet 'hi' as he did so.
Seonghwa swiftly sat up, looking at the boy with worry. "What's wrong, love?" he questioned cautiously, reaching over to brush a strand of hair away from Yeosang's eyes. The younger didn't reply straight away; he pursed his lips, sniffling lightly before offering a weak 'nothing' in return.
The older frowned but didn't press it. He knew that if he was too insistent, Yeosang would simply close himself for the outside world and proceed to reply with only a word or two and a nod or shake of his head. Seonghwa didn't want that to happen, and he knew that whatever it was, he'd get to learn it sooner or later – his lover always shared everything with him. They trusted each other with their life, and the older was positive that even if there were any secrets amongst them, they either weren't of any importance or were going to be revealed at some point.
Seonghwa shifted his position, sitting closer to his boyfriend as to wrap his arm around Yeosang's waist and embrace him into a warm hug. The younger rested his head on the elder's shoulder with an almost inaudible sigh, lacing his arms around Seonghwa's waist as well.
They stayed like that for a while, with nothing but soothing silence surrounding them until Yeosang spoke up, voice hoarse and raspy. "I hope you liked the breakfast I made for you," he hummed in Seonghwa's shoulder softly. The older chuckled, running his fingers through Yeosang's freshly dyed hair. "It was very good, thank you," he answered sincerely before placing a chaste kiss on the younger's temple. Yeosang let out a sound in the back of his throat, a mixture of pleasure and displease, making his boyfriend giggle.
The younger abruptly sat up, looking at Seonghwa with – perhaps determination? – in his eyes. "Let's go somewhere," he suggested, waiting to see what the older would say. "Sure," Seonghwa replied straight away. "Where do you want to go?" he questioned, watching as Yeosang stood up and skipped towards the door, grabbing his phone and wallet.
"I don't care. Somewhere. Just the two of us."
It wasn't even five minutes later when they were out of their apartment with nothing but their phones and wallets shoved in their pockets – upon Yeosang's request of 'no hyung, no preparations, let's just go'. Seonghwa pressed the unlocking button on the keys and both of them got into the car, buckling the seatbelts as the older started the vehicle. He reached over to play the radio, but Yeosang slapped the male's hand away which earned him a confused look. The younger sighed, shooting his boyfriend an awkward smile, and shifted in the seat until he got comfortable.
Seonghwa didn't question it – again – but he couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. Yeosang was never one to do things unplanned or avoid playing music while they were traveling – even if it was just for a few minutes.
The journey was filled with a thick silence – no longer that comforting, quiet atmosphere that usually surrounded them – and it was something new and unpleasing, making Seonghwa's stomach twist into a knot of worry. Neither of them spoke – Seonghwa was simply driving, not having any idea where they were going, and he often stole little glances at his boyfriend. Yeosang was looking at the scenery out of the car; he'd opened the window slightly, letting the wind blow into his hair, not caring that it was getting messed up. He was gnawing at his bottom lip – as usual – and was deeply lost in thoughts about something.
Seonghwa frowned slightly as he took notice of the way Yeosang's eyebrows were knitted together; his eyes were glossy, and there was an evident pout on his lips as well as the bottom one was trembling from between his teeth – it didn't take a genius to realize that Yeosang was on the verge of breaking into tears.
The older boy slowed down the car – they were in an empty road far from any village, so no one would be bothered by it – and reached over cautiously to place his hand on his boyfriend's thigh. Yeosang flinched and tensed under the touch, snapping his head in Seonghwa's direction. "Are you sure everything's fine?" the older questioned, drawing his eyes away from to road to look at the younger for a second.
Yeosang hesitated before nodding, turning his attention back to the scenery displayed outside. "Please, please just-" he stopped, taking a few deep breaths, "just drive." Seonghwa sighed, feeling his chest clench uncomfortably upon seeing his lover in such state. "Okay," he replied unsurely, "tell me if you want to stop somewhere."
It was around an hour and a half in the drive when Seonghwa was starting to feel like he'd go crazy – the ride was filled with nothing but silence and if he didn't love his boyfriend so much and wasn't so worried, he would've flipped and at least turned the radio on. Plus, the gas that they used was going to give them a hard time later, but that was okay; Seonghwa could just take an extra shift to cover the money that they'd use to for it. Right now, the only thing that mattered was Yeosang and if his happiness meant working a few hours more, it would be worth it.
Seonghwa didn't want to bother his boyfriend in any way, but the ride was making his mind a slight mess and he had unconsciously started to hum to a melody that was playing in his head in an attempt to fight that tense silence and calm his thoughts.
Yeosang shifted his gaze towards him and watched the older boy for a few seconds before making up his mind and reaching over to the glove compartment, taking out the CD's that the two of them owned. He skimmed through them until he stopped at a visibly old and used one, taking it out of the pocket and shoving it into the opening of the CD player.
A cheerful tone played and Seonghwa broke out of the trance he'd fallen into, glancing at the younger with both gratefulness for playing music and worry because, in the beginning, Yeosang had wanted only silence. The said boy seemed to notice the mixture of emotions that were playing on the older's face, and he chuckled softly before assuring him that it's okay. "It was getting pretty dull," he whispered as he fiddled with the sound until he decided that it was at a perfect volume.
Seonghwa tapped the steering wheel with his fingers in rhythm with the music – the younger had played their favorite album, and he so wanted to sing along to the songs with his boyfriend, but he knew that at a situation like this it just couldn't happen.
He was completely oblivious to what could have occurred; just yesterday everything had been fine – they'd gotten home from work together, gone to eat at Seonghwa's favorite restaurant and then watched "Brother Bear" at home, cuddled on the couch with popcorn in their laps for Seonghwa and gummy bears for Yeosang (that boy couldn't live a second without shoving something sweet in his mouth). It'd been a perfect evening, and the older couldn't find anything that could be the cause of his lover's sadness right now.
He was beyond concerned – Yeosang just looked so off. It was no new thing that the boy was shy and introverted, but when it came to Seonghwa, those things seemed to disappear in the span of a second. Something in the older made Yeosang feel safe and relaxed, and after they'd gotten together all those years ago, the younger always was at peace around his boyfriend and usually shared everything with him without Seonghwa even having to ask.
Sure, there were those times where the younger just completely shut himself for the world, but his lover always knew what to say in order to get him to open up. It had never been quite like how it was right now, and that's what was concerning to the older. He knew that he could be overreacting a bit, but seeing the one he loved in such state – with tears threatening to spill from his eyes at any moment – was not something he could just sit back and watch calmly.
Seonghwa didn't think that he could get even more worried, but when the album reached a certain song that he knew was Yeosang's favorite and the younger boy didn't make even a move to suggest that he'd noticed it, Seonghwa couldn't take it anymore.
Yeosang never, and that was quite literally never, skipped singing along to that one song. He'd once told his boyfriend that it was his favorite ever since he'd first listened to it and that it held a special place in his heart. It wasn't some extraordinary thing – just a simple catchy song that got stuck in the head from the first listen. Yeosang often got shy when he told others that it was his favorite, thinking that it was childish or too messy to hold such title.
Seonghwa had giggled the first time he listened to it, but he'd quickly cut it out upon noticing the pout that was evident on Yeosang's face. The younger never fully explained the exact reason as to why it was his favorite song, but the older didn't need to hear it know how special it was for him. There was such a childlike excitement in Yeosang's eyes whenever they played it, and the happiness that filled his body as he sang along to the lyrics, not caring who heard him or that he wasn't the world's greatest singer was enough to show the importance of the song. It was so entertaining to watch the younger get all giddy over it, and Seonghwa could never stop the smile that crept up his face every time.
So yes, when the song played and Yeosang stayed quiet, still looking out of the window, Seonghwa's frown grew even bigger and he had to inhale deeply a few times to restrain himself from stopping the car right away. He was about to speak up when the younger beat him to it – the boy must've noticed the way the older squeezed the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles went white.
"Around forty minutes away is the meadow that we like to go. We can stop there if you want or if you're tired," he declared with a voice a bit higher than normal and shaking slightly towards the end. Seonghwa hummed a sound of agreement, focusing back on the road.
He hadn't even noticed that he was driving towards that place until Yeosang mentioned it. It may have been his instinct taking over when the younger had just told him to 'go somewhere' and it had led them to a place that both of them cherished highly. It was there all those years ago when they had met when their families had gone on a picnic, and it had been there when Yeosang had confessed about being in love with him and they'd shared their first – unexperienced, messy, yet perfect – kiss.
Seonghwa loved how the younger always seemed to know just what was going through his mind. It was no unusual thing for him to open his mouth to say something, only to be beaten by Yeosang who answered the unasked question with a steady voice, as if that was the easiest thing on earth. It didn't surprise either of them, though; they'd grown so close to each other and they knew the other one so well that, for some, it was scary.
It was probably around noon when they finally reached the small meadow, exhausted from the hours they spent in the car and from the hot summer weather. Seonghwa pulled up on the side of the road where there was a spot for a few cars to fit – he hated taking the car into the actual meadow; it was quite disgusting to see a large machine parked into it when you wanted to go there to get away from the town and all its belongings. The pair of them got out of the vehicle and Seonghwa clicked the button on the keys to lock it before he felt Yeosang lacing their fingers softly.
They walked towards their favorite spot – a large, beautiful three – slowly, the silence from earlier still present. The younger led them to said three, sitting down and dragging his boyfriend with him. Seonghwa hesitantly snaked his arm around Yeosang's waist who in return laid his head on the older's shoulder – like they'd done this morning.
At first, neither of them spoke; both of them were afraid to say what was on their mind and were trying to gather their thoughts and find the perfect words to voice it all out. They could feel the other boy's body tense slightly whenever they moved a bit to get more comfortable, and both of them wanted nothing but to just cuddle and forget everything else.
It was Yeosang who broke the silence with a hushed whisper and a sniff. "I told them," he croaked out, lifting his head form the older's shoulder and hugging his knees close to his chest. Seonghwa looked at him, admiring the beautiful view that was Yeosang with the wind blowing in his face lightly and prying the boy's hair away from his forehead.
The older was quite sure he knew who his boyfriend was talking about, but he wasn't going to take any chances right now. "Who?" he asked softly, crossing his legs in front of him and leaning forwards slightly.
Yeosang shifted his gaze towards him again, studying the older's face for a second before mumbling out a reply. "My parents," he sniffed, raising his arm to rub his eyes. "They didn't take it well."
Seonghwa whined, muttering an 'oh, baby' before bringing the younger into a tight embrace. Yeosang buried his face into the older's shirt, a few sobs already escaping his mouth as he finally allowed himself to let it all out.
"They said that I'm a disappointment for 'turning out this way'," he choked out, clutching Seonghwa's shirt in his fingers. "They said that all I do is mess up and disappoint them, starting from school and then my job and now for dating a boy."
Seonghwa could barely make out what the younger was saying from the way Yeosang had buried his face into the older's shirt, and from the cries that shook the boy's body. He rubbed his back soothingly, peppering small kisses on the top of his boyfriend's head. "You're not a disappointment, love," the raven-haired boy said, whispering the words in Yeosang's ear. "You're everything but a disappointment."
That only seemed to make everything worse as Yeosang's sobs grew more intense and he started shaking even more. "That's a lie, that's a lie," he declined, "they're right. Ever since school, I don't do anything correctly. I only got bad grades and my job is shitty." He hesitated for a second before speaking up again, more quietly this time. "You're the only good thing that has happened to me, and now they say they don't like you. They haven't even met you!" the boy exclaimed. "How can they judge someone they've never met before? That's horrible!"
The younger boy was feeling a mixture of anger and sadness and took both of them by surprise when he suddenly stood up and began jumping around, movements laced with frustration. He then ran towards the three Seonghwa was still sitting under and punched it harshly.
"They don't know a thing. Stupid homophobic pricks," the younger muttered underneath his breath, hitting the poor three between every word and not caring about the pain he was starting to feel in his knuckles.
He probably would've kept at it if Seonghwa hadn't stood up the moment the younger started punching the three and hadn't pulled him away, taking a hold of his wrists and wrapping himself around Yeosang's shorter frame.
"It's okay, baby. You don't have to injure yourself over them, though," the older chuckled, bringing one of the boy's hands up to examine the damage – some scratches and a fair amount of blood streaming down the honey skin. Yeosang huffed but complied, relaxing into Seonghwa's embrace. The older placed a soft kiss on the male's forehead, brushing away the strands of hair away. "Come on, we gotta get you cleaned up," he urged the younger and walked him towards their car.
Seonghwa took out the first aid kit and grabbed a few band-aids, alcohol wipes and after cleaning his hands, he started gently patting the cuts to clean them, giving Yeosang a peck on the cheek whenever he felt the boy wince. The older then proceeded to put the band-aids carefully on top of the bigger cuts, kissing the spots wherever the younger had injured himself.
Yeosang's body shook slightly from the outburst and from all the emotions he felt, but he let the older patch him up without protesting; he just stared at the boy, breathing choppily as he did so, and tried his best to calm down - Seonghwa was right. His parents wouldn't change, but that didn't mean that he had to keep any sort of contact with them. They always brought him down with their harsh words, and maybe that was part of the reason he was as shy and introverted. The boy didn't like this at all since it did get pretty frustrating at times, but he was trying to get out of his shell, and he'd been doing pretty good. Having someone like Seonghwa as support was amazing, and Yeosang couldn't believe how lucky he was for being the one to have earned the raven-haired boy's love.
Seonghwa was just plain gorgeous, in every possible way. Yeosang could never find the right words to explain what he felt for the older, but he didn't really need to do it - just the way his face lit up whenever the boy's name was mentioned was enough to tell a whole story. Yeosang was never a person of words; he preferred letting his body say everything, and he was glad he'd found someone like Seonghwa who was able to read that language perfectly - they truly were a beautiful couple, and the love they held for the other was incredibly strong.
Seonghwa was starting to put away the used things - he didn't fancy leaving any sort of trash here, or anywhere - when his boyfriend approached him with sly steps and wrapped his arms around the older's waist, resting his head against the boy's back.
"Can we stay here tonight?" Yeosang hummed, the sound getting slightly lost in the fabric of Seonghwa's shirt. "I don't wanna go back in the town yet."
The older sighed and nodded, turning around to face his lover. "Good thing that we carry a tent and some blankets in the car," he chuckled, cupping Yeosang's cheeks, "or else mister 'don't bring anything, let's just go' would face a disappointment."
Yeosang giggled, lifting his body a bit to peck the older's lips. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. I just wanted to get out, I didn't think straight," he mumbled, letting go of the older and skipping towards the car to take out everything they'd need for their little, unplanned camping. "We don't have any food though, so sorry about that," he added apologetically. "It's pretty much my fault."
Seonghwa shrugged him off with a wave. "It's okay, it's just one day. Plus, I need to lose some weight anyway," he joked, yelping as Yeosang shoved him playfully. "Don't you dare do that, Park," the younger threatened before bursting into soft giggles as his boyfriend raised his arms up in defense.
The shorter boy shook his head with a sigh and a loving smile stretched across his lips. "Let's just get it all ready before it gets too late," he said, opening the bunk of the car to search for the tent.
Though it didn't take them a long time to get everything ready - both of them loved camping, so they'd gotten used to putting up the tent and preparing what they needed - the sun was starting to set around the middle of their work. Once they were done, they let out a relieved sigh - if they had started just a bit later, they would've had to do it in the dark, and that wasn't something either of them enjoyed too much.
Yeosang had lit up a small fire in front of the tent and the rising moon found them sat in front of the flames, a large blanket wrapped around their shoulders as they stared at the fire with glistening eyes; a warm silence - thankfully, no longer that tense and worrying one from earlier today - filled the chilly night air, settling between the two boys with a content sigh and a gentle breeze.
Seonghwa had his arm wrapped around the younger's shorter frame, keeping the boy as close as possible, and he was rocking them back and forth softly in a rhythm of some melody playing in his head. He let his eyes fall shut, listening to the sounds of nature and to the little popping of the fire in front of them.
The boy felt a palm touch his chest lightly and push him down on the ground. He obliged, shifting around until he got as comfortable as he could before Yeosang laid next to him and placed his head on the older's chest, listening to the stable rhythm of Seonghwa's heartbeat.
It was Yeosang who spoke up first, voice hushed and almost inaudible. "I love you," he ushered out, wrapping his arms tighter around the older's torso. "I love you so so much, baby," he repeated softly, tangling their legs and snuggling against his lover.
Seonghwa smiled sheepishly, playing with Yeosang's fluffy hair. "I love you too, angel," he whispered, adjusting his position as to be able to look at the younger through his eyelashes. Yeosang's features broke into a warm smile, and he raised himself up to capture Seonghwa's lips with his own in a soft, lazy kiss.
"Thank you for today. It meant a lot to me." Yeosang mumbled into the other's mouth, not wanting to break the kiss just yet. "No problem," Seonghwa hummed, leaning in a little more and supporting his weight on his arm. It was all so soft yet so intimate, and if they could, they would've kept at it the whole night - but the cold forced them to scramble inside the tent after they put out the fire, and they snuggled against each other with the blanket laid across their bodies; the morning found them sound asleep and still holding onto their significant other as if they were afraid he would disappear.
They couldn't expect everything to be fine. That was impossible, and both of them knew it. There would always be ups and downs, love and hate, but what they did know was that they had each other's help and support to make it through the hardest things; so it didn't matter that Yeosang's parents sucked, and it didn't matter that they'd need a lot of time to find good, stable jobs, and nothing mattered when they were here, and they were together, in a mess of tangled limbs and whispered 'i love you''s, because they had each other, and that was more than enough.