Chapter Text
Sitting under the stars and bathed in the gentle glow of the moon, nothing could have brought Junhui more peace and contentment. He leaned back, resting his weight onto his palms, and breathed in deeply the scent of grass and flowers. A light summer breeze swept through the area, rustling the leaves of the large trees around him and caressing his red locks. Smiling, he opened his eyes.
Everything looked spectacular: the vibrant colors of the multitude of wild flowers set against the lush grass blades swaying to and fro, the tress standing so gloriously tall, the silvery light of the moon illuminating the whole valley. The vast ocean of stars overhead made him sigh wistfully. Unworried, he collapsed into the soft grass, staring at the shining diamonds. The dancing grass tickled his exposed skin, and he giggled at the sensation, closing his eyes to enjoy the serenity of the valley.
Not long after, though, he heard a familiar chuckle, followed by an even more familiar deep voice.
“Out on another nightly expedition, princess?”
His eyes flashed open to see Wonwoo standing above him, hands tucked in his pocket, the perfect image of leisure.
Junhui wrinkled his nose and made a face. “Why must you insist on calling me that?”
Laughing, Wonwoo took a seat next to him. “Because it suits you?”
“Liar.” The nickname was a joke, born out of the one time Junhui wore a shirt with dozens of cartoon cats. When he bought it, he had been so distracted by the cats that the words printed on it went completely ignored: Cat Princess. Wonwoo had picked up on it right away and had yet to stop using it.
“Now I’ll never be able to wear my favorite shirt without thinking about it,” he whined.
Wonwoo laughed again, leaning down to stare at him. “Good.” He was so close, Junhui could see perfectly his captivating eyes change from purple to green out of amusement. Now, his piercing eyes were the color of the valley’s grass with specks of sapphire sprinkled all over. Junhui had never quite gotten over the breathtaking sight of his eyes, continuously marveling at how they change colors depending on his mood.
Junhui barely had the time to wonder what amused Wonwoo enough to prompt the change, that the latter smirked and stated, “I’ll be honored to be allowed to occupy your every thought.”
Heat rushed to his cheeks, and he clapped his hands over his face to hide. He knew Wonwoo was a flirt—a harmless one—but it didn’t stop his heart from beating out of sync. “Wonwoo!” he cried out, whining when he heard the other laugh. “Do your hobbies include teasing me to death?”
Once his laughter ebbed, Wonwoo reached over and mussed the red locks, prompting their owner to look at him properly. “Don’t sulk. Come with me. I’d like to show you something fun.”
At the prospect of spending more time with him, Junhui eagerly got to his feet and let Wonwoo lead him away.
Along the way to wherever he was planning to take him, he said nothing. Just held on to his hand and walked across the grassy hills. That didn’t particularly bother Junhui for he was not usually a garrulous person, either. Instead, he enjoyed watching the flowers swaying in the breeze as if dancing to a quiet song of the night.
The wind caught in his shirt and flew around his torso, tickling him; Junhui giggled. His companion turned around to see what caused the giddiness. Upon realizing it, he offered him a gentle smile that caused Junhui’s heart to flutter. The latter decided to distract himself by studying Wonwoo’s confident back.
Unlike Junhui, he was dressed more formally and slightly flashier. Almost as if he had run away from an important gala or the sort. Although he still wore a pair of dark red dress pants, the matching jacket that normally would accompany such a suit was nowhere to be seen. The top buttons of his white shirt had been undone to appear more casual and less restricting, but the golden threads embellishing his shirt spoke volumes about the formality of the event he had previously attended. Furthermore, his disheveled honey brown hair had the semblance of having been purposely mussed to efface any trace of prior courtly aspect.
Junhui’s mind didn’t have the time to think over the strange clothing and hairstyle, though, because Wonwoo stopped walking. Junhui peeked over his shoulder. As far as he was aware, this particular location didn’t have anything special. They were still in that flower valley; however, Junhui spotted a lake a few yards away from where they stood. The water acted just like a giant mirror, reflecting back the sea of gems in the inky sky.
As beautiful as the scene was, Junhui didn’t know why Wonwoo had led him here.
Curious, Junhui glanced over at him.
Instead of answering the unspoken question, Wonwoo instructed, “Wait here.” Then he dropped their hands and walked a bit farther away.
Junhui watched as Wonwoo bent down and quickly gathered a handful of wild flowers. He handed them to Junhui upon his return, motioning for the latter to rearrange them into a rough bouquet. While he worked, Wonwoo cupped his hands and raised them into the moonlight.
Doe eyes turning round with curiosity, Junhui watched him with wonderment. It seemed as though Wonwoo was collecting the moonlight into his cupped hands. He could see tiny pieces of silver falling into his palms as the light shone down, glistening and sparkling.
Grinning in satisfaction, Wonwoo turned back to Junhui. His eyes were now vibrantly blue with specs of sapphires, showcasing his excitement. “It worked!” he laughed. “Hold out the flowers, princess.”
Junhui followed directions, attention rapt on Wonwoo as the latter poured the silver light over the flowers. It settled on the petals, attracted to the droplets of dew, glowing even brighter.
He gasped in delight.
The show didn’t end there.
Wonwoo took hold of Junhui’s hands currently grasping the stems and tossed them upward, releasing everything into the air. The flowers flew up and slowly floated back down, carried by a soft breeze. They twirled and swayed, tumbling in the beam of moonlight. Sparkles caught in the light, glistening. By the time they reached the grass, Junhui had already seen the phenomenon. Falling from the sky together with the flowers were small, round and smooth stones the same color of Wonwoo’s eyes at this moment: clear blue with small bits of sapphire. To catch one, Junhui simple needed to extend his hands out.
“Wonwoo, what did you do?” Awe colored his voice. “This is... amazing!” A grin spread over his lips. “How did you do this?” he asked, taking a step closer to him, excitement rendering him restless.
Reaching out, Wonwoo stroked his cheek softly and smiled. He tapped Junhui’s full lips. “Secret.”
In one swift move, he dangled a silver necklace in front of Junhui. At the center of the chain, a blue stone hung there. Junhui glanced from the necklace to Wonwoo, full of questions and astonishment.
Without saying a word, Wonwoo motioned for him to turn around so he could attach the clasp behind his neck. Cool metal settled over his skin, and the small weight of the stone offered a strange sense of comfort. Junhui couldn’t help picking it up, tracing over the smooth surface with his fingertips.
“Thank you,” he whispered, looking up at Wonwoo again.
His eyes having returned to their usual violet shade, he smiled. Slowly, he reached for the stone pendant, elegant hand wrapped around Junhui’s. Gaze steady and piercing, he asked, voice low and enchanting, “Do you believe in magic?”
Junhui closed his eyes.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
His hand flew out to search for his phone by the bedside table to slide off the alarm. Groaning, Junhui huddled deeper under his covers, refusing to wake up. Last night, he had been too tired from work to remember to disable the alarm for good. No need for it anymore. It was summer vacation. He could afford to sleep in for a couple more hours, right? Hugging his cat plushie, he willed himself back to sleep.
No success.
Guess his body needed time to get out of the habit of waking up at dawn.
Flinging the covers back, he popped out of his cocoon and stared up at the ceiling. He sighed. Another dream about Wonwoo. Whoever he may be. Last night’s dream was the fourth one this week. What is wrong with me?!
Grabbing HuiHui, he pressed the plushie to his face and kicked out erratically, muffling his screams as he recalled the events in the dream, embarrassment burning the tips of his ears.
To dream of strange, beautiful places, and of an even more beautiful and stranger boy. When the first dream occurred a few months ago, he had blamed it on stress. At first, the dreams had been rather mundane. He just took walks with Wonwoo in the same flower valley, and the two talked, as if they had been friends for years. Despite knowing they were mere dreams, Junhui couldn’t get over how everything seemed so real, so vibrant and clear. Every morning, when he would recall the previous dream, he would always feel as though he relived a memory instead. There was no fogginess, no fuzziness. He could still retain the sensation of the grass under his feet, the floral scent lingering in his nose, the warmth of Wonwoo’s hand in his.
It felt real.
Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his hair. “It’s impossible. Why am I even thinking about this?” he mumbled to himself.
He laid in bed for another half hour thinking over things. He was now a high school graduate. His grandmother had been so proud of him, she cooked enough food to feed an entire army. He tried not to let his thoughts linger on how much he’ll miss her and her food once fall arrives and he’ll have to move away for college. He still had the summer with her. He’ll just try to make the best of it. Even if he had to work most of the time, but at least it was for the family business.
Before his parents passed away years ago, they had opened a small restaurant serving home-cooked foods from a multitude of cuisines. They were quite the foodies, always exploring and trying out new dishes.
After their passing, his grandmother took over the establishment, and with the help of Junhui and a few of his parents’ old friends, they’d managed to keep the shop afloat all these years. Aside from the handful of regular patrons who genuinely enjoyed their dishes and came everyday, most people visited Healing Bites out of the same bond that kept his mother’s friends working here and his father’s college friends helping them with yearly repairs. They served occasional out-of-town guests, too, of course, but the majority of their patrons were familiar faces.
In addition to the restaurant, they also had a few rooms on the second floor set aside for travelers passing by their small town to rest and eat. The rooms remained empty more often than not, saved for the few businessmen and rare sightseers, but since summer had arrived, they should see activity rise soon.
He glanced at the clock on his phone. It was a little early, but he might as well get out of bed now. Stretching, Junhui sat up and got ready for the day.
Once the morning rush ended, Junhui slipped into the kitchen in search for something to do before he could take his lunch break. Like for most restaurants, between breakfast and lunch, there was seldom any customers, giving him nothing to do but getting bored (if only there was no rule against using electronics during a shift…)
He spotted a few dozen cupcakes cooling on the rack and a bowl of icing sitting on the counter.
“Do you want me to help with the cupcakes?” he asked.
Bora looked up from prepping vegetables. “Oh, sure! That would be great. Thanks, Jun.”
“You’re welcome!”
After washing his hands, he parked himself on a kitchen stool and began to work, singing softly under his breath. Barely had he finished the first batch that Hayun burst through the doors, startling him and Bora.
“What’s wrong?” Bora asked, alarmed by the other woman’s frantic expression.
“Is Grandma okay?” Junhui wanted to know, stomach dropping in fear. With the lull in business, she had decided to drop by the market. She couldn’t have gotten into an accident on the way, right?
“She’s fine, just came back,” Hayun reassured him. Junhui didn’t even have time to sigh in relief that she continued in the same breath, “But we’re being invaded! I need you out front with me. Too many people to take care of. We gotta divide and conquer! Let’s go!” Not waiting a second longer, she turned around and grabbed an armful of menus. “Bora, get ready to cook like you’re on Iron Chef!”
The auntie burst out laughing, but nodded and hurried to her station.
As for Junhui, he quickly got to his feet and followed her orders, but he didn’t understand the rush. So they had more customers, although it was strange, not impossible. And what was the panic about? There can’t be that many people, this was Wildflower Grove, not New York City. Hayun was most likely playing drama queen again.
It wasn’t until he saw the masses right outside the kitchen that he understood Hayun’s baffled expression and frenzied behavior.
People.
Everywhere.
Some got seats and were already looking at the menus, others waited by the entrance, joking with each other. Through the windows, he could see a queue forming, lining the entire length of the building. He blinked several times. He doubted he ever saw this many people here. A mental image sprung through his mind of a box of sardines. It was so crowded, he had to literally squeeze his way through to get to them.
“We seem to have accumulated a little more than we usual do, I’m sorry, sir.”
“Could you come back in an hour, would that work for you? We’re truly sorry.”
“There’s a waiting list by the entrance, please sign in.”
After a while, he managed to reduce the crowd to a more reasonable size. Thankfully, the customers who couldn’t get a table were all courteous and polite. They didn’t mind his suggestion of going around town and returning later. With the issue of potentially going over the occupancy limit solved, now he had to deal with waiting on all these tables. Thanks to Hayun’s quick reflexes, a few orders had already been taken to the kitchen for Bora and his grandmother to prepare.
Hayun came up to him on her way to bring out drinks. “We can’t work this the same way we usually do, kid. Not with this many people.” She eyed the unusual crowded room. He nodded, listening to her proposal.
“We’ll divide the floor into quadrants to be more efficient. The corner tables are a little tricky, so let’s just split them. Tables 13 through 17 are yours. I’ll take care of the ones on the terrace. Good?”
Junhui nodded. “Good!”
Pumped full of energy, he spun around to start taking orders. Notepad and pen at the ready.
When he jogged toward his side of the floor, though, he came to an abrupt halt. He tried to blink to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. But no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, his vision remained the same.
Sitting at the corner table, a boy with disheveled honey brown hair and a white shirt with two top buttons undone stared back at him with violet eyes. As he registered Junhui’s shocked expression, a glorious grin spread over his lips, illuminating his handsome face. He sat back against his seat, one arm propped on the back of it as he assessed him.
Biting onto his fist was all Junhui could do to muffle a scream when he witnessed the patron’s purple eyes change to bright green.