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Minho has loved Chan almost as long as he has found his passion in photography. It was around his second year of university when he saw the elder male for the first time—he had been starstruck since then.
Chan was beautiful, handsome and Minho’s attention was captured.
The day he first talked to Chan, thanks to his friend Felix is still evident in his memory. Felix who has never told him that he’s friends with the beautiful and sweet Chan.
“You are Minho, right?” He remembers how his heart stopped for a second as he took in the sight in front of him—Chan, with his blond locks smiling at him, so brightly.
Jisung was next to him, laughing quietly, not being used to seeing Minho like this. Minho is a lot; he’s confident, straightforward, and honest but not shy, at least not until he has met Chan.
“Yeah, that’s me. You’re Chan, right?” And he knows he is Chan; he knows how old the elder is and that he was born in Sydney. Having asked Felix more than one question about the latter after figuring out that the two males are friends.
He didn’t know back then just how important Chan would become to him. Chan was his crush back then, the person that makes you feel warm and like a teenager again. But now, six years later, Chan is so much more.
Chan is his muse, his lifeline, and most of all, he has become Minho’s home.
“Minho?” He looks up, smiling as he sees his boyfriend lean against the door. Chan looks beautiful in the afternoon sun, which is currently shining through their bedroom window.
“Yeah?” He sits up; the bed underneath him feels soft yet too cold; Chan wasn’t next to him. “You are free tomorrow, right?”
There’s a smile on Chan’s face, and it makes him wonder what his boyfriend has on his mind. “Yeah, Hyunjin gave me off.” His heartbeat starts to pick up as the elder moves closer until he sits next to him. Their thighs touch each other, spreading warmth in Minho’s body.
“What would you think about a road trip?” He perks up at that; it has been ages since he got the chance to spend a few days with Chan.
Both of their work lives keep them more than busy. Chan spent most of his days locked up in a studio while Minho drove from location to location taking different pictures.
“Just us?” The smile on his face spreads even further when his boyfriend nods. One of his hands taking hold of Chan’s. “Yeah, I thought we could go tonight, just travel north and see where it takes us from there?”
Minho looks at his boyfriend, beautiful Chan, with his curly blond hair and brown eyes that shine brighter than the milky way. “You know I love you, right?”
One of his hands searches for his phone, having to take a picture of this, of the bright smile that is currently spotted on Chan’s face.
“Can you not?” Chan shakes his head, but the fond smile still stays, and it makes Minho’s heartbeat speed up. “It’s not my fault that you’re so beautiful.”
He takes another picture before he puts the camera away, enjoying the sight with his own two eyes. One of his thumbs slowly caresses the slope of Chan’s nose before he travels down to the elder’s lips.
“As much as I love this, I think we should go.” He nods, taking one last glance at his boyfriend. Before he stands up, Chan follows him.
“I thought we could head towards Port Stephens?” It’s not the first time Chan has mentioned Ports Stephens, an area of New South Wales. They first moved to Constitution Hill, a suburb of Sydney, two years ago after Chan was promoted.
It wasn’t easy on both of them, especially on Minho; he never really had the best talent in speaking English and has felt more than at home in Seoul. But it wasn’t something new that Chan had missed Sydney for years, so when the opportunity was there, it was hard. But both of them knew that it didn’t matter what they would choose as long as it ended up with them being together.
“That would be nice. Are we going to take your car?” Chan takes Minho’s hand as he leads them towards their house door. One of their cats can be heard meowing in the background.
“Yeah, I actually prepared everything in my car. Also, Seungmin and Changbin are going to come over and take care of the babies.” Minho gleams at that because Chan is perfect.
“Gosh, you’re truly the best.” He wraps his arms around Chan as they waddle towards their car. And he really doesn’t care if anyone sees them like this. Because being with Chan makes him forget the whole world around him.
The sun set about thirty minutes ago, and the moon was high up in the sky, illuminating the road ahead of them. Trees surrounding them, the silence only gets broken by the radio, singing soft tunes.
Chan’s eyes are entirely focused on the road, while one of his hands is placed on Minho’s thigh, a soft grip on it.
The younger one has fallen asleep soon after the sun went down, one of his hands curling protectively around his camera, which he used to take another hundred pictures of Chan—saying something along the lines that it’s not his fault that Chan is such a good muse.
And he knows what the younger means by that. No one stirs up his creativity as much as Minho does. He never had a hard time coming up with lyrics, but since he has met Minho, writing has become even more accessible. One look at the beautiful man makes him come up with enough ideas for a new song.
He loves moments like this when it's just him and Minho. And it doesn't even matter if the younger is awake or not; he's thoroughly enjoying this moment.
It's been a while since they were able to take a break like this, just them, thoroughly soaking in each other’s presence, enjoying every moment of it.
It takes another two hours until Chan reaches their accommodation, Minho still sleeping quietly next to him.
“Baby?” He softly pats Minho’s cheeks, smiling as the other grumbles something and tries to turn away from his touch. Failing due to the buckled seat belt.
“Minho, wake up, love, we are here.” One of his thumbs softly plays with the warm and soft lips of his boyfriend, which only leads to another grunt.
Chan knew that both of them had pretty busy schedules, most of the time failing to get enough sleep. He unbuckles his belt, so he can get out of the car, opening Minho’s door quietly, not wanting to scare his boyfriend. It’s quite a known fact that if Minho isn’t woken up with care, he gets grumpy.
“Come on. Don’t make me carry you in there.” With one hand, he starts to massage his boyfriend's nape, the other placed on Minho’s godly thighs.
The sight is beautiful, a blessing from Minho’s milky skin to his eyelashes framing his closed eyes. He loves everything about the latter, the slight pout formed on his lips. The lips he loves to kiss.
“Are you finished with staring?” He is startled by the familiar voice, realizing that the younger one looks at him, fully awake.
“How long did you play pretend?” He shakes his head, cheeks blushing at being caught staring at his boyfriend. “Mhmm, I woke up when you slammed your door, but I could tell you tried your hardest to be quiet.”
There’s a moment of silence as they both look at each other, enjoying this moment that is shared between them. “You’re the worst, Lee Minho.”
The name falls quickly from his lips, being so used to it. Still, it makes him think about them, their future.
“What's going through your head?” Minho presses a short and gentle kiss on his cheek, eyes shining as he looks at him.
“Nothing much, just how lucky I am.” And that’s partly the truth because Chan knows he’s lucky, but he’s also one to push his luck, so he hopes that for once, he doesn’t push too much.
“I’m pretty lucky too, you know. My boyfriend is quite charming.” Minho smiles and sticks his tongue out. Unbuckling his seatbelt before he steps out of the car, Chan automatically wraps his arms around Minho’s thin waist.
There’s still time until they have to check into their hotel room, and this moment is too beautiful to be put on pause.
“I love you, Minho.” The words are still as special as they were when he first had muttered them to the latter.
He tugs Minho closer, waiting for the response, but his boyfriend seems to have another idea, as, within a second, the all too familiar sight of the camera is back. Shoved in his face as the lighting seems to explode in his vision, making him groan.
“Way to kill a moment.” All he gets is Minho’s giggle as a response, and at that moment, it's not that bad that he can barely see.
If Minho has to decide what his favorite moment is of the day, it's without a doubt this; Chan sleeping.
Something is calming about watching his boyfriend sleep, seeing his bare-toned chest rise and fall with every breath he takes.
Chan’s blond hair is a mess of curls looking in every direction, but still, it's how Minho likes them the best. When they stick up, he can tell that his boyfriend has been tossing throughout the night. A habit he used to hate about the elder.
Minho always was a light sleeper, so the first few nights he spent with Chan weren't easy, and waking up due to the other’s tossing was a given. But now, years into their relationship, he finds it quite cute, not that he would let Chan know.
His eyes wander further down, staying locked at Chan’s nose. Minho has always loved Chan’s nose; it’s the perfect size for placing soft kisses onto it. And Chan is the ideal height for Minho to do just that.
Chan’s lips have always been perfect for Minho’s, big enough to engulf his lips with warmth and tenderness. Kissing Chan comes with so many different things, from the heat to the softness to feeling complete. He loves it so much.
The elder is always so beautiful, so it’s really not his fault that his hands automatically find his camera that was placed just a few feet away.
He takes a look through the lenses, holding his breath because Chan is stunning to the eye, and it’s kind of unfair how the camera will never capture the true beauty of his boyfriend. Not when Chan seems to glow underneath the sun rays that started to peek through the window.
He takes picture after picture, noticing once again that no matter from which angle he takes the snap from, Chan ends up looking angelic anyways.
Minho is too busy taking pictures of his boyfriend, leading him to fail to notice that the latter woke up. “No, not again.” Within seconds Chan tackles him and pushes him flat on his back.
“Capturing me in your sleep. It's getting creepy, Minho.” He looks up at the latter; Chan is currently straddling his lap, too focused on holding Minho down.
One of his hands reaches for his camera again, and within, he’s back at taking pictures of his wonderful boyfriend, much to Chan’s dismay.
“I hate you.” Minho chuckles at that content with the pictures he had taken.
Minho had first picked up photography when he was twelve years old, and it was fun, but it never was something he saw himself pursuing.
Not until he was sixteen and he took his camera everywhere with him. Falling in love with capturing the different sunsets, the many cornfields, and just every landscape he was able to spot.
And now he’s twenty-six, and his camera is always focused on this one smile—the brightest in the world, /Chan’s smile/.
“Are you taking pictures of me again?” Minho lowers the camera as he looks at his boyfriend, smiling cheekily. “Maybe?”
Chan shakes his head as he steps closer. “Look at this view, you have the most beautiful sea in front of you, and you still take pictures of me?” The elder male wraps his arms around Minho’s waist as they stand face to face. He could feel Chan’s warm breath against his face.
“No sea will compare to your beauty.” It’s a cheesy thing to say, but Chan makes him do cheesy things. He pulls the camera back in front of his face, only a few inches away from Chan. His thumb presses the knob, and he takes another picture of his boyfriend—a smile on his face.
“You are the worst, wasn't almost blinding me yesterday night enough?” Chan’s cheeks are red, and it makes him smile even further. The elder’s skin is slightly tanned with the rising temperature; the Sydney sun does wonder to his boyfriend.
Not only is his skin more tanned, but Chan’s eyes seem to shine brighter too. And Minho is glad that they got to do this, able to break free from their busy schedules for a while. Chan radiates;
He seems to be at home.
“You still love me.” Minho pushes himself closer to Chan, his lips slowly leaning onto the other’s mouth, capturing Chan’s lips in a slow kiss.
“Of course, I love you, but what is your boss going to say when all your pictures are just of me.” Chan is now the one who smiles cheekily. He doesn’t think Hyunjin would mind, but still, Minho was allowed to take the whole weekend off under the promise to take pictures of the landscape.
And he knows Chan is right; he should be taking pictures of the landscape; it’s what he expertises in, because he couldn’t take photos of anyone but Chan.
Beautiful Chan who stands in front of him, surrounded by sand, and the sea. Eyes glistening, almost as if they hold all the stars.
“I think that’s a risk I’m willing to take.” He closes his left eye while he looks with the right through the camera, pointed at Chan.
The elder’s blond hair moves with the wind. His lips are curled in a smile, and his eyes settle on Minho. Looking at him challengingly, and he’s so in love.
“Let me take a picture of you for once?” Chan’s lips are formed in a pout, and his eyebrows are knitted together, and if you ask Minho, he looks ridiculous.
“With my camera?” It’s not uncommon for Chan to take pictures of him, but usually, he would use his phone and not ask for his camera.
“Yeah.” Chan’s voice is chipped. He almost sounds nervous, making Minho wonder what's going on in his boyfriend’s mind. He doesn't want to stress Chan, even more, so he hands him the camera, not asking any further.
“Do you want me to stand in a particular spot?” He eyes the latter, trying to read Chan’s body posture. Minho has gotten quite good at understanding the elder’s body language.
“Look towards the sea and away from me.” He raises his eyebrow and bites his tongue, not wanting to add a snarky comment. “Alright.”
He turns around, focusing on the beautiful sight in front of him for the first time. He could still hear Chan behind him, but his focus was for once not on the elder but on the view in front of him.
The sea is colored in the most intense turquoise he has seen before it starts to blend into a darker blue. The waves crash onto the shore, leaving a calming noise as they pull back into the sea once again.
The sun is still high perched on the sky, shining down on them, and the sand feels soft between his toes.
He takes a deep breath, smelling the fresh salty wind that comes with the waves. He has missed this, enjoying the view without his camera for a change.
“I’m finished; you can come and look.” The nervousness is still laced in Chan’s tone, and it makes the curiosity in him rise. Wondering what the elder was so nervous about.
“I’m coming.” He turns around at that and musters the latter. His camera is being hold in a tight grip which he would usually scold Chan for, but he’s sure it has to due to the fact that the latter is nervous.
“Do you want to give me the camera or?” He stretches one of his hands out, waiting for Chan to decide what he wants.
It takes another couple of seconds before he has his precious camera back. Unharmed, luckily, but quite sweaty, and it’s so untypical of Chan, his mind starts to think about why his boyfriend has been behaving so weirdly.
“Just look at the picture, Min.” He presses the gallery button, searching for the picture Chan just took. There’s one of Minho’s back. “That’s a nice shot.”
He skips to the next one, another still frame of him. His finger pressing the button one more time, he stays still trying to take the photo in front of him in.
It’s a picture of Chan’s hand, and for a minute, he wonders if it was taken by accident. But then he catches sight of a silver ring that fits perfectly around Chan’s ring finger.
It’s a new one; he has never seen it on his boyfriend. It’s a silver band embedded with a single stone, simple but yet so beautiful.
“W-What.” He looks at Chan, trying to catch sight of the other’s hands but what he sees shocks him even more. Chan is kneeling on one leg looking up at him with the biggest smile.
“Lee Minho, there has been a question I wanted to ask you for a while.” He gulps down, his eyes closing for a second wanting to see if this is all real or just a dream.
But Chan is still there in front of him, wearing his smile and everything feels so perfect. “Ask away.” He tries to sound stable but he knows that he can’t fool Chan.
“Will you marry me?” He nods his head rushing to hug Chan “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Minho wraps his arms around the elder’s neck tightly, and for once he doesn’t crave to capture the moment, no he wants to live it.
Feel every moment of it. Because nothing has felt as good as this, being held in Chan’s arms a ring slipped over his ring finger, and the wind blowing through his hair.
Minho loves this, being here with his person, and being in love.