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Nothing happens when Reki and Langa meet. No one cheers, people don’t whisper about them, fireworks don’t explode around their face, the world continues turning.
But to Langa, it felt revolutionary.
Nothing, he had decided from that point on, could be more metamorphic than the moment he met Reki. It flipped his world upside down, a scene that would forever be imprinted into his brain, a core memory he would treasure in this life and the next.
To him, it’s more important than skating. He doesn’t think it would matter whether Reki introduced him to the concept of a skateboard or not, only that he met Reki. He doesn’t need skateboarding, but he needs Reki. He’d give up skating in a second for Reki Kyan.
Still, the moment he met Reki remained the memory carved into his heart, a painted picture so beautiful it would be dreadful to ever destroy.
But then the time comes when they’re standing in the skate park they always go to, one that’s become a second home to him (or maybe it’s just being there with Reki, but either way).
He laid down on the once smooth flooring, roughed up by the amount of times it had been skated over. “That was fun.”
“Yeah.” Reki grunted, sitting beside him and offering him bottled water.
Langa smiled gratefully, accepting the drink and taking a sip. “Reki, you’re amazing, you know?”
Reki’s cheeks flushed slightly, not meeting Langa’s eyes. “You say that a lot.”
“Because it’s true!” He responds with vigor, a confident smile on his face. He’s quiet, unsure a lot of the time, but whenever it comes to Reki, he was always certain in his words. Because, well, it is true. Reki is incredible, stunning, beautiful, and everything Langa has ever wanted. And he tells him so.
Usually, Reki blushes and tells him to stop, cheeks toning down to a deep red and a half smile on his face. But this time, Reki, clearly fighting color off of his cheeks, turns to him with surprising determination. “Langa….”
Langa’s eyes widen, eyes trained on Reki, who doesn’t seem to faze. He can feel his heart speed up in his chest as Reki stares at him directly, seeming to work up the courage to say something. “Reki…”
Almost instantaneously, so fast Langa almost doesn’t register, Reki’s hands are tangled in his hair as he presses their foreheads together gently. Langa can feel his own hands get sweaty, anticipation and nerves building up inside his stomach, fluttering like butterflies.
“Langa.” Reki breathes again, so soft and so pretty that Langa’s mind doesn’t work anymore. Whenever Reki says his name, his heart skips a beat, and this time is no exception to the past. But somehow, he feels so much more enamored, so much more in love.
Oh. He’s in love. That’s the word.
He’s always been in love with Reki, he thinks, from the moment he met him. He’s been in love with him for so long, it feels normal. It feels right, it’s always felt right. But yet, he’s never been able to identify the word for the way he felt. It’s stupid, now that he thinks back on it, but that’s not the time for this now.
He cups the side of Reki’s face, pulling him in closer by just the slightest.
“Reki.” He says, like it’s a prayer, like it’s the last word he’ll ever say again. “Reki.”
And that’s when it gets too much for the both of them, their hearts beating rapidly, breath mingling together, and they both lean in simultaneously to meet each other in the middle. Langa can’t even think about how it feels, because all he can think about, all that he can comprehend is that he’s kissing Reki and it’s definitely long due. He’s kissing Reki and it feels revolutionary.
They break apart, gasps for air in sync and he thinks that maybe they’ve always been in sync like this.
They make eye contact, and Reki looks away, cheeks burning. Somehow, Langa’s cheeks aren’t a bright red at all as he pulls Reki in for the second time, only this time he only presses a kiss onto the corner of his lips. Something sweet to savor for a second, and it just feels right on the occasion.
Reki squeaks in surprise, before blushing harder if it were even possible. And suddenly, Langa’s laughing, giggles coming out boldly and unstoppable. Reki stares at him for a second, before he begins laughing as well, their laughs harmonizing.
“I’m in love with you.” Reki says first, after he breathes slowly to contain his laughter. “I’m sure it’s obvious by now, but….”
“It’s okay,” Langa interrupts, the grin on his face wider than it’s ever been in a while. He can’t remember the last time he’s smiled like this, so wide, so unabashedly. “I’m in love with you too, Reki.”
And he thinks it’s beautiful, so beautiful, when Reki smiles, one of those soft ones. The ones reserved for him, the ones he gives when Langa says something particularly meaningful, and Langa finds him so beautiful.
“It probably feels dumb to say this, but….really?” Reki asks softly, looking at him, brown eyes deep with emotion that Langa never paid much attention to and he regrets it now.
And he’s tired of not telling him the things he’s thought before, too, so he blurts out everything he’s ever thought, everything he’s never said before. “Reki...you’re beautiful. You taught me what fun was, you taught me how to skateboard, you taught me...you taught me how to love. God, Reki, of course I love you.”
“Langa Hasegawa.” Reki says immediately after, voice rough with emotion, “You’re incredible. I don’t say it as much as I should, I never have, but you - you - look at yourself! You’re always encouraging me, saying things like that and making me feel good about myself, and you’re so pretty, and you’re kind and considerate and - you’re everything, Langa.”
And everything after that is a blur, because he remembers pulling Reki the second time, because finally his actions can mean more than his words. He wraps his arms around his waist, pressing kisses across his face and then finally, he thinks a core memory is added on, suddenly.
Because Reki painted another picture across his heart, another gorgeous one, something that was just as life changing as meeting him. And he promised to himself to never wipe that one out.
Nothing happened this time either. The world continued turning, as usual, only this time with two boys kissing in a skatepark.
But oh, how the world turns.