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It was Myungjun’s first time on an airplane. Jinwoo had been explaining air travel to him for a while, showing him diagrams of how airplanes worked and what it was like inside of one. Myungjun remembered seeing a video Jinwoo showed him and he said, “Jinnie, that looks really cramped.”
Jinwoo snorted. “You’re just used to the big spaceships.”
Perhaps that was true. Myungjun’s eyebrows furrowed. “Well, even in the smaller spaceships, there’s still... space .” He pointed at the screen, at a woman who was forced to share an armrest with a stranger, and he asked, “Will I have to be squished like this?”
“Maybe a little bit.”
Myungjun narrowed his eyes. “I think I might go insane if I’m squished. Can we buy the airplane and have it all to ourselves?”
With a sigh, Jinwoo shut off the video and muttered, “Don’t I wish.”
His passport was all nice and pretty, too, and Myungjun marveled at the little booklet Jinwoo placed in his hands. “Jinwoo, it’s so cute,” he murmured. “What’s it for?”
“Travel. If you want to go to a new country, you have to use a passport.” Jinwoo flipped the book open for Myungjun and pointed with a proud smile. “Look! I even got your picture in here.”
Myungjun was still getting used to pictures . He didn’t have such a thing on his planet before, and seeing himself reflected in an image for the first time was beyond strange. Now, even, it was bizarre, if only because his image-self was unsmiling at the camera, staring straight ahead with such a serious expression. Myungjun grimaced and tried to close the book.
With a bit of laughter, Jinwoo kept it opened. “Stop it! You look cute.”
“Ew,” replied Myungjun as he tugged the book away from Jinwoo. “Let me see yours.”
But Jinwoo’s wasn’t much better, really. He didn’t look like himself. Myungjun even held it up to Jinwoo, comparing the two, and he found he liked real Jinwoo much better than image Jinwoo. When he told that to Jinwoo, he added, “I think it’s because you’re a real person here. Like, I can’t touch image-Jinwoo, but I can touch you .”
And Jinwoo had held him close and planted a few kisses across his face and whispered seductively, “Touch me all you want.”
Myungjun giggled and kissed Jinwoo’s nose. “Does Bin have a passport?” he asked.
Jinwoo whined, “I don’t want to talk about Bin when I’m trying to have fun with you.”
“Yeah, but does he?”
Jinwoo refused to talk, taking a vow of silence “until you learn I’m all you need right now,” which was maybe true, but Myungjun was far too curious to let matters go. He called Bin and his friend picked up on the first ring.
“Hey,” Myungjun said, forgoing any other greeting. He liked to get straight to the point. “Bin, do you have a passport?”
Bin responded, “Yeah. Did Jinwoo get you a passport?”
“He did! Now he says I can travel wherever I want to, except I’d have to travel in a plane, and do you know how tiny those planes are, Bin? Really tiny. The spaceship I came in wasn’t big, but it was a lot bigger than the airplane, but there was only one of me and I know on the airplane there’s lots of people. I asked Jinwoo if we could buy the airplane and have it all to ourselves, and he said he wanted to.”
“Of course he does,” Bin muttered, and then a bit louder he continued, “Why do you want to know if I have a passport? Are you inviting me on a trip?”
Myungjun hadn’t thought of that, but the idea of Bin joining along on whatever trip Jinwoo had planned was exciting. Bin was always a lot of fun, and so Myungjun said, “Let me ask,” to Bin before he called out, “Jinwoo! Bin wants to come!”
Jinwoo broke his vow of silence to ask, “Come where?”
“On the trip. That’s why we have passports, right? Where are we going? Bin and I can share a bed, if we need to.”
Jinwoo didn’t get the chance to respond before Bin started to laugh on the other line. “Myungjun, don’t bother asking! I won’t be coming along if it’s just you and Jinwoo. I’m sure he’s got something special planned for you.”
Myungjun wanted to say more, but then Jinwoo snatched the phone away and began to warn Bin about boundaries and of course you aren’t coming on our anniversary trip, you idiot.
Whatever Jinwoo had planned for them, Myungjun was excited.
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The plane wasn’t as bad as Myungjun had assumed it would be. He was given a seat by the window and he stared out in amazement, poking Jinwoo’s side anytime he saw something interesting. After the third poke, Jinwoo said, “Jun, we haven’t even taken off yet.”
“It’s still interesting. Look at those little cars. Are those cars? They’re so small!”
Jinwoo glanced out the window and hummed. “Baggage carts,” he pointed out. “They take all of the suitcases to the airplane and load them in.”
“Whoa.” Myungjun wondered what it must be like to have such a job. He decided that he liked his current job, and he would much rather make drinks than he would load up suitcases.
When the plane did finally take off, Myungjun was in far too much awe to keep tapping Jinwoo’s side. He watched as they flew over mountains, tall and jagged and beautiful, and they flew over vast expanses of green fields, which Jinwoo told him were farms and they were very pretty. Myungjun liked it best when they flew over what looked to be water; Jinwoo told him it was an ocean. “Like what you landed in when you came here.” Jinwoo kept his voice low as he spoke, and Myungjun understood why. There were other people sitting near them, and should word get out of Myungjun’s alien origins, there would be mass chaos. Or so Jinwoo always said, and Myungjun had no reason to not trust Jinwoo.
Staring out the window, Myungjun was reminded of his life on his old planet, Planet Seven. He thought back to the brown landscape, the lack of water, the absolute barren terrain. There were no mountains on that planet. They had no oceans and no farms. It was a miserable and horrible place, and Myungjun reached over to grab onto Jinwoo’s hand as he stared out the window, unable to tear his eyes away from such a gorgeous sight.
As if sensing his unpleasant thoughts, Jinwoo leaned forward and planted a small kiss onto Myungjun’s cheek. “Is it pretty?” Jinwoo asked.
Myungjun nodded his head. “The prettiest,” he responded.
“I don’t think it is the prettiest. I think the prettiest view is sitting right beside me.”
Myungjun glanced over at Jinwoo finally, spurned by such sweet words. He offered his boyfriend a smile. “I’m not prettier than Earth. Earth is the prettiest planet of them all.”
“You are prettier than Earth,” Jinwoo argued. “Trust me, I can tell. And I’m studying planets and solar systems in my classes, and after examining each and every one of them, I’ve determined that you are prettier.”
Even if Myungjun disagreed, he still couldn’t stop grinning. “My skin is too dark,” he whispered. “It isn’t pretty like yours.”
“I love your skin,” Jinwoo responded.
Myungjun wrinkled his nose. “And my face isn’t pretty, like yours is.”
“Your face is the prettiest face of all the faces.”
“No! No, yours is prettiest.”
Jinwoo giggled and planted another kiss onto Myungjun’s cheek. Myungjun was surprised. Jinwoo didn’t often kiss him in public, claiming he was afraid of being stigmatized. And yet now he had kissed Myungjun twice in public, and when Myungjun glanced around, he saw a few people had noticed the kiss.
“Jinnie,” he hissed, poking his boyfriend’s shoulder. “People are watching. You don’t like it when people watch.”
“I like it less when you criticize yourself,” Jinwoo retorted, “so I’ll kiss you as many times as it takes for you to recognize how amazing you truly are.”
Myungjun loved Jinwoo. He loved Jinwoo so much, more than he would ever love anyone, and knowing that his boyfriend was willing to be judged in public, just for him, made Myungjun’s heart beat heavily in his chest. He leaned against Jinwoo and mumbled, “I’ll recognize it for now. Just for you.”
Jinwoo laughed and ruffled Myungjun’s hair. “I’ll take it,” he responded.
The rest of the flight passed by smoothly. Myungjun happily informed Jinwoo when they had crossed the ocean and made it to land, and Jinwoo tried his best to guess where they were based off of timing and any particular landmarks he saw.
“How far away is the new place?” Myungjun asked. He didn’t remember the name of the city they were to land in, nor did he remember the name of the country.
Jinwoo checked his phone. “The plane is supposed to be landing around twelve,” he commented. “So I think we have an hour left before we reach Noboribetsu.”
Noboribetsu . Myungjun whispered the name, letting it roll off his tongue. “Is Noboribetsu the country?” he asked, “or is it a city?”
“City.” Jinwoo smiled at him. “The country is Japan.”
Jinwoo had told him a bit about Japan. He said it was an island nation that had a lot of similarities to Korea. The language was completely different, but Jinwoo assured him it wouldn’t be an issue. They had a travel book with translations, and Jinwoo knew enough to get by.
Myungjun turned his gaze back to the window and asked, “Islands float in the water, don’t they? They aren’t connected to any other pieces of land, right?”
“Right.” Jinwoo held onto Myungjun’s hand. “And Japan actually has a few islands that make up the country. We’re going to a northern island, one that’s known for its hot springs.”
“What’s a hot spring?” Myungjun asked.
Jinwoo grinned. He squeezed Myungjun’s hand gently and replied, “If I tell you, it might ruin the surprise.”
“But I’m curious, especially now that you’ve brought it up!” Myungjun whined. “Can I have a hint, please?”
“It’s hot.”
Myungjun gave a small huff and leaned against the window. He tried to tear his hand away from Jinwoo’s, but Jinwoo held tight and laughed all the while. “Stop laughing,” Myungjun fussed at him. “You’re supposed to be my boyfriend, and that means you should explain everything to me.”
“What’s the fun in that? I told you I want our anniversary to be a surprise!”
But Myungjun decided he would figure it out on his own, and by the time the plane had landed, he thought he got it. He tugged Jinwoo’s arm as they stood and said, “It’s a small body of water that’s hot, isn’t it?”
Jinwoo gave a low whistle. “I’m impressed,” he commented. “How did you guess?”
“Springs are bodies of water, and you said it’s a hot spring, so…” Myungjun shrugged his shoulders. “I might not understand everything about Earth, but I’m smarter than I look.”
“You look intelligent, don’t worry. You just also look absolutely precious when you’re thinking.”
Myungjun felt his face flush a bit, but he tried his best to hide with a scoff. “You’re just trying to get on my good side.”
“Is it working?”
Jinwoo was so cute. He was the precious one, standing there with such a big grin on his face, his eyes crinkled and his smile gummy. It was definitely working, and so Myungjun smiled back at him and said, “Maybe.”
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Their hotel was wooden and not at all what Myungjun had expected. The last hotel he had stayed at was when he went on a trip with Bin, much to Jinwoo’s chagrin, and the hotel was just as big and modern as Jinwoo’s apartment building. This was far different. It was only one story and had an odd roof and sliding doors rather than swinging doors.
Myungjun was still amazed with it, though, and he kept staring all around him until Jinwoo pulled him to the check-in desk.
Jinwoo struggled with Japanese, a language Myungjun had yet to hear, but the lady seemed to understand what he was saying, for she nodded her head and handed Jinwoo some keys. She pointed and gestured as she spoke, and soon enough, Jinwoo was pulling Myungjun along down the hallway.
“What did she say?” Myungjun asked. “What did you say?”
“I just told her we have reservations,” Jinwoo replied. “And she told me which room we’ll be staying in while we’re here.”
“And you did all of that in a language you don’t really know?”
“Yeah.”
Myungjun cooed and grasped tightly onto Jinwoo’s arm as they walked. “You’re super smart!” he exclaimed. “You’re the smartest boyfriend in the entire universe!”
He was happy to see Jinwoo blush, a pretty pink color overtaking pale cheeks. With a bout of laughter, he kissed at the blush and added, “I’m happy I have such an intelligent boyfriend.”
Jinwoo just grinned as he unlocked the door, which looked like a normal hotel door. Myungjun wished it was a sliding door, and he muttered that to Jinwoo. “It’d be cool if it slid, like the other doors we saw.”
“There’s a sliding door inside the room,” Jinwoo assured him.
Sure enough, there was. There was also futons on the floor, a small television, and a table with information and brochure. Myungjun was quick to drop his bags and hurry to the futon. “We get to sleep on the floor? ” he exclaimed in shock. “Is this how the Japanese people sleep?”
“Some of them,” Jinwoo replied. “And some sleep in beds, just like Koreans.”
Myungjun had only slept in beds before, and on couches when there were no beds available. This was new to him, and he wondered if it would be comfortable.
Jinwoo watched him for a few seconds before plopping down right beside him. “Hey,” Jinwoo said, catching his attention, “did you have, um...did you have beds on your old planet?”
Myungjun thought. Sometimes he found himself forgetting the horrible life he used to lead. Jinwoo always said that the brain liked to push aside unpleasant memories, and those memories were most certainly unpleasant. He could remember beds, though, that a few of them would share at a time. “Yeah,” he replied. Jinwoo visibly relaxed. “They didn’t have sheets, though. But it was fine, because we were all squished together on the beds, anyway, so if we were cold we could just curl into each other.”
Jinwoo frowned. He often frowned whenever Myungjun spoke of his previous life. He would also change the subject often as if to get Myungjun’s mind on happier things.
Now, though, he leaned in and kissed Myungjun softly. “If you’re cold, you have me to curl into now,” he murmured, “and I’ll always make sure you have plenty of sheets and warm clothes. I won’t let you get cold.”
Myungjun giggled against Jinwoo’s lips and responded, “But maybe I want to get cold so I can curl into you.”
“You can do that regardless!” Jinwoo exclaimed, and he grabbed Myungjun and held him close. Myungjun laughed in his embrace, grasping onto strong arms and kissing whatever skin he could find. “Maybe I’ll only do it when I’m cold!” he teased.
“Fine. Then I’ll do it to you.” Jinwoo fell down with Myungjun. Myungjun felt himself squished underneath Jinwoo’s weight. “How’s this?”
Myungjun gasped out for breath and couldn’t stop from laughing. “You’re going to flatten me!”
“No I’m not.”
“I’ll become a pancake!”
Jinwoo snorted and kissed the shell of Myungjun’s ear. “You’re so silly.”
“Says the one squishing me.”
“Alright, duly noted.” Jinwoo sat back up again and pulled Myungjun to a sitting position. He looked around the room and asked, “Do you want to go explore a bit before we visit the hot springs?”
Exploring sounded fun. It was a brand new place and Myungjun had been excited to see all the views Japan had to offer. However, he quite enjoyed being pinned underneath Jinwoo. That was probably the most exciting part of the trip so far.
He bit down on his lip and grabbed onto Jinwoo’s arms again. “Back on top of me,” he demanded.
Jinwoo blinked. “So you can become a pancake?”
Myungjun nodded his head and added, “And so you can have sex with me.”
Jinwoo didn’t need much more encouragement after that.
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They ate in the dining room alongside other guests, sitting on the floor in the traditional style. Myungjun stared at the spread of food they had been given but quickly stopped Jinwoo from grabbing anything to eat.
“I just…” Myungjun felt like he had to admire it for a few seconds. He wanted to burn into his memory all of the delicious plates that were stacked on their table. He wanted to never forget.
Jinwoo seemed to sense Myungjun’s emotions and he took out his phone. “Let’s take a picture,” he suggested, holding it far away from him. “So that way we can have a picture of the food, and the two of us.”
Jinwoo was so smart. He really was the most intelligent boyfriend ever, and Myungjun smiled, wide and proud. Jinwoo took a few pictures, asking Myungjun to switch up his expression each time for the variety.
“Do I look cute?” Myungjun asked when Jinwoo put the phone down. He wanted to make sure they weren’t like his passport photo, which he intended to change as soon as possible.
“You look adorable,” Jinwoo assured him. “Look.” He passed over his phone to Myungjun, who flipped through the pictures with interest.
While he had initially taken the phone to look at himself, he found he was unable to look at anything but Jinwoo. Jinwoo looked far cuter than Myungjun ever would, with his sweet smile and crinkled eyes. He looked precious, and Myungjun touched the image-Jinwoo briefly, poking at the round cheeks and small eyes. “You’re so cute,” he whispered, mostly trying to speak to image-Jinwoo.
Real-Jinwoo heard and laughed nervously. “You...you don’t have to say that. I’m not as cute as you.”
“You’re cuter ,” Myungjun cooed. “Hold on, I’m going to send this image to Bin and show off how cute you are!”
Jinwoo protested half-heartedly but made no move to grab the phone again, and he smiled all the while. Myungjun was a slow texter, but he didn’t mind taking his time to show Bin something this important.
[to: idiot] JINWOO! MYUNGJUN!
[to: idiot] img452
“There,” he said, satisfied, and he passed Jinwoo’s phone back over. “Did I spell your name correctly?”
Jinwoo look at the message and giggled. “Yeah,” he replied. “Looks good, Jun.”
“One day I’ll learn to write better in Korean.” Myungjun finally grabbed one of the dishes and sniffed it. “And then I’m going to master Japanese.”
“Are you?”
“Sure. Jinnie, what’s this?”
Jinwoo began explaining what each food was. There was a lot of seafood, which Myungjun had grown used to, but then there was weird stuff. Myungjun only took a few bites of each dish, worried he would upset his stomach too much if he shoveled it all in. It wouldn’t do for him to end up sick on the night of his and Jinwoo’s second anniversary.
They drank sake, too, an alcohol that Jinwoo said was a little similar to the soju he had already tried before. Myungjun liked sake much better. “It’s sweeter,” he commented, nodding his head in appreciation. He poured himself another small cup and added, “And it reminds me of milk.”
Jinwoo snorted. “How so?”
“I’m not sure, but it does.”
“Well, just don’t drink it as you would milk. Alcohol can make you sick if you drink too much.”
Myungjun was all too aware of that, and he contemplated Jinwoo’s statement for a second. He remembered when he first drank alcohol and became sick, mostly due to Bin egging him on and pouring his glasses. Bin also helped him to the toilet to puke, and when Jinwoo came home, Bin was yelled at. Poor Bin. Myungjun shook his head and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
“If Bin was here, he’d make me drink all of this,” Myungjun mentioned.
Jinwoo sighed. “That’s why Bin needs Dongmin with him at all times. Dongmin will hold him back from doing stupid stuff.”
Myungjun smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I like Bin. He’s really funny. Next time we come here, we should invite Bin and Dongmin! And Sanha, too, and Minhyuk. Sanha and I would have loads of fun here, and you like Minhyuk, don’t you?”
“I’m impartial to him.”
“Don’t say that . I know you like him.”
Jinwoo gave a small giggle and nodded his head. “Yeah. I like him just fine, don’t worry.”
“Do you like him as much as you like me?”
“Oh, Jun, I could never like anyone as much as I like you.”
Myungjun, happy to be given such an answer, returned to tasting all of the foods out before him, though he felt satisfied enough with just Jinwoo’s kind words.
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There were rules they had to follow in order to enter the hot springs. Jinwoo, armed with a knowledge of cultures that Myungjun still had yet to grasp, was careful to explain everything. The first rule made Myungjun wary.
“We strip before we go into the baths,” Jinwoo said. “And you can put your clothes here.”
But Myungjun, glancing outside, noticed other people already in the hot spring. “You told me I shouldn’t get naked around other people,” he murmured.
“Well, in these you can. It’s fine! I’ll be naked, too!”
Myungjun pursed his lips. The people in the hot spring had pretty skin, pale in color and flawless in every way. Myungjun looked down at his arms and asked, “Am I too tan for this?”
“There’s no such thing as being too tan ,” Jinwoo told him. “You look gorgeous, Jun. Honestly, the only thing I’m worried about is people finding you too attractive and trying to steal you away from me.”
Myungjun took a breath. “That will hardly happen.” He was still nervous, however, fearful that getting naked would bring to light his imperfections. When he looked at Jinwoo, he didn’t notice any imperfections. Jinwoo was literally perfect.
It was as if Jinwoo could read his thoughts, though, for he suddenly blurted out, “I get nervous sometimes, too, but it’s fine. Nobody will look at you. Nobody will judge you. It’s part of the culture to bathe in public, and everyone will accept you just fine!”
Myungjun shifted nervously. “It’s cold,” he commented, feeling a bitter breeze bite at his fingers. “Maybe we should bathe inside.”
“The spring is so warm you won’t even notice the cold,” Jinwoo replied. “Look, see the steam rising from the water? It’s really nice, Junnie.” When Myungjun still hesitated, Jinwoo offered him a dazzling smile. “We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
But they had come out for the hot spring. If they left now, Jinwoo’s entire surprise anniversary would be ruined. Myungjun didn’t want for that to happen. Besides, he was learning new things about Earth each day, and this was simply a new thing he had learned. Nudity never had bothered him before; it shouldn’t bother him now.
So he took his coat off and hung it up, then, with Jinwoo watching him and grinning, he tore his shirt off.
“It’s cold,” he repeated, shivering slightly now.
“We’ll have to hurry, then.”
They stripped in that little room. Jinwoo handed Myungjun a towel to cover himself, though Myungjun instantly wrapped it around his shoulders for warmth. It was such a different experience from what Myungjun was used to, and when he saw Jinwoo naked, he couldn’t help but laugh.
Jinwoo glanced at him, an amused smile on his face. “Why are you laughing?”
“This is so weird!” Myungjun said, giggling behind his hand. “You’ve always said we can’t be naked in front of others, and now we’re going to be naked in front of others.”
“In controlled circumstances, it’s allowed.” Jinwoo took Myungjun out to the spring and Myungjun hid his body behind Jinwoo. “Aw, Jun!” Jinwoo cooed. “Come on, sweetie, you’re fine.”
Yet Myungjun still giggled, overwhelmed by the weirdness of it all. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” Jinwoo took him to some stools and sat him down. “See this bucket of water and soap? You need to clean yourself before you enter the spring.”
“Why?”
“So in case you’re dirty you won’t spread the dirt to everyone in the springs.” Jinwoo sat beside him and began to scrub his skin down with the water. “Take care not to splash anywhere, alright?”
Myungjun watched Jinwoo for a few seconds before copying his movements. He didn’t think he was dirty. He had just taken a shower inside before lunch, and he whispered as much to Jinwoo.
Jinwoo smiled fondly at him. “Just in case, we should still wash here. Besides, it’s common courtesy to do so.”
“Is it culture?” Myungjun asked. Someone a few stools down was also washing.
“Yeah.” Jinwoo shivered a little bit, and then he asked, “Are you done?”
It took Myungjun a few seconds after Jinwoo to finish, but he nodded his head and showed off his clean body. “Do I look dirty?”
Jinwoo hardly looked him over, but he still said, “No, you’re fine.” Then he grabbed some smaller towels he had brought out and put one over top of Myungjun’s head. “Keep that there,” he ordered. “Don’t let it get wet, and don’t let your hair get wet, either.”
Myungjun blinked. He was mystified with all of the rules, and he asked, “Why?”
“Culture,” was Jinwoo’s response.
Myungjun gave a small hum and said, “Are you just saying culture to everything you don’t know how to explain?”
With a laugh, Jinwoo grabbed his own large towel covering his lower body and set it aside. “You caught me.”
Once they were fully in the nude they sunk down into the hot springs. Almost instantly, steam rose up and covered Myungjun in its warmth. His shivers from the freezing cold outside were gone, replaced instead by the heat that enveloped him. He sighed happily and leaned against the rocks that decorated the edge of the water.
Jinwoo, taking a spot beside him, asked, “You like this?”
“It feels really good,” Myungjun commented softly. He looked over at the other men who were seated in the pool. No one looked over at him. No one seemed to care that he was naked and sitting next to another naked man. Surely Jinwoo’s talks on modesty and conservative attitudes were useless in this country.
“Does the culture care if I kiss you?” he asked.
Jinwoo laughed. His cheeks were a little pink, though whether it was from the heat or Myungjun’s words remained a mystery. “Let’s save the kissing for the bedroom,” he murmured to Myungjun. “Public kissing isn’t...it isn’t popular here, I don’t think. Especially in the hot springs, and especially between two men.”
“Message received!” Myungjun exclaimed. “It’ll be nice to just soak in the water and not have to push you off of me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re so heavy,” Myungjun teased, enjoying the look on his boyfriend’s face. “If you kiss me, I think I’ll be squished to the bottom of the pool, and I might drown.”
“I wouldn’t —”
“I’ll drown , Jinnie.”
Jinwoo stuck his tongue out at Myungjun in retaliation, who simply laughed and lightly splashed Jinwoo with some of the water.
They sat in silence for a few minutes after that, and while Myungjun would normally want to talk and talk until his throat was sore, he found himself staring up at the night sky, counting the stars he saw and wondering why there were so many stars.
Then Jinwoo pointed out, “It’s snowing.”
Myungjun jerked up. “That’s snow?” he asked. He stared again, and sure enough the stars were falling from the sky. They landed in the springs and melted instantly, but just outside the springs, in the pretty grassy areas and further down, they were sticking.
He gasped and held a hand out to try and catch some snowflakes. With the heat flowing through his body, it was impossible, but he reached his fingers up to the snow, anyway.
Jinwoo watched him, a soft smile on his face, and Myungjun asked, “Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That...that it would snow here?”
Jinwoo wouldn’t answer, but his smile was the only response Myungjun needed. He grinned as he returned to Jinwoo’s side, glancing out over at the pretty snow falling all around them. “I love snow,” he whispered.
“I know you do.”
Snow blanketed the world in white. It was soft and clean and so beautiful. When Myungjun stepped into snow, it molded and fit his shape, and it made him think that he mattered to this world. This world wanted to keep him, and snow was pure indication of that. Snow liked him. Snow loved him. And Myungjun loved snow.
He glanced at Jinwoo and swallowed thickly. “I love you, too.”
Jinwoo was soft and clean and so beautiful. Jinwoo made him think he mattered to the world. Jinwoo wanted to keep him. Jinwoo loved him.
Myungjun loved Jinwoo more than he would ever love snow.
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They settled back down in their rooms with chocolate milks on hand. Jinwoo pulled the small table over to the window and they both sat on the floor, wrapped in what Jinwoo called yukatas , which Myungjun quite liked. He played the hem of his pretty, blue yukata as Jinwoo took a sip of the chocolate milk.
“Mm,” Jinwoo murmured, setting his glass container back down on the table. “It’s delicious.”
Myungjun yawned and nestled further into Jinwoo’s side. “Just like you.”
“I’m delicious?”
“Mmhmm.”
“I think you’re sleepy and don’t know what you’re saying.”
Myungjun wrapped his arms around Jinwoo and mumbled out, “I’m not sleepy. My eyes are wide open.”
“Sure they are.”
He glanced up at his boyfriend and widened his eyes as much as he could. “Uh-huh. They are. See?”
Jinwoo copied the action. His eyes were too small to be really big, and so Myungjun laughed at him. They returned to watching the snow fall outside. Myungjun wondered if the snow would fall enough that he could make a snowman. He would like to make a snowman with Jinwoo. He wondered also if it was legal to make a snowman in Japan.
“Tomorrow,” Jinwoo said after kissing Myungjun’s forehead, “we’ll go explore Jigoku-dani.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a pretty cool place, from what I’ve read. There’s gas that shoots up from the ground and creates steam.”
Myungjun had never heard of anything that spectacular, and he gasped in amazement. “ Gas? ”
“And some mountains. There’s a bridge to keep us safe, so we can look at everything without getting killed by exploding gas.”
“You’d better not get us killed, Jinnie.”
Jinwoo laughed. “I won’t, I swear it. I just think it’ll be fun to explore it with you.” He moved to sit with his legs under the table and then pulled Myungjun to sit in between his legs. Myungjun liked the new position and he nuzzled into Jinwoo’s chest. “It might still be snowing tomorrow, so we’ll dress warm.”
“Can we make snowmans? Is that legal?”
“Of course it’s legal, you dork.”
“Don’t call me a dork.” Myungjun yawned again. “Or else.”
“Or else what?”
He couldn’t think of anything to say, so he shrugged his shoulders. “Or else,” he repeated.
Jinwoo’s strong arms wrapped around him, holding him securely in place, and then he planted a kiss on the temple of his head. “Happy anniversary, Jun,” he whispered.
Myungjun fell asleep with satisfaction and happiness and love blooming in his chest.