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“Okay, so…we’re dating now, aren’t we?” Kalim asks as he shakes the half-empty bottle of boba tea he held in hand. He watches the tapioca pearls bob up and down, in some quaint rhythm, and waits for them to cease their movement before he turns to look at the boy seated in front of him, a slight pout evident on his lips. “…So what do we call each other?”
Seconds of placid silence pass them by. Silver blinks once, and then twice. “Let’s just call each other like how we usually do,” he almost says out loud…
…but his expression betrays his thoughts before his words ever could—and his beloved chimes into a magical laughter just as quickly.
“You were thinking of calling each other the same way as before, weren’t you? Hahaha!”
The Diasomnian’s ears burn red. He looks down at the iced tea plastered on the table, hesitant to meet Kalim’s gaze. “Forgive me,” he manages to say. “This is the first relationship I've been in, and…”
“Haha, hey, no need to feel down because of this! Yours wasn’t a bad idea, anyway!” Soft, unblemished hands grasp Silver’s calloused ones, prompting the aurora-eyed boy to raise his head. He finds his love smiling blindingly. “It’s just that having terms of endearment is the easiest way to make romantic relationships different from friendships. Like…”
Kalim raises a finger to the air before continuing. “What’s something about this date that is the same as our old hangouts?”
“We…still went to the same café we’d sometimes go to on weekends?”
“Bingo! And now…what’s different about the two of us now?” The Scarabian puts his hand down, yet another smile gracing his face. He tilts his head sideward, expectant. And with that, Silver notices something…
“Your earrings…are different than usual,” he realizes, pensive, but slowly getting more certain with each word he spoke. His gaze grazes over the attire Kalim wore for today. “And your outfit isn’t what you’d usually wear, too. It’s more…stylish?”
A pause. The both of them blink.
“I…I mean, you’re always stylish,” Silver stammers in continuation. “But this time…it’s like you gave your outfit more thought than you would’ve if we were still friends.”
Hearing that, the smile etched on Kalim’s face brightens.
“Exactly! The same goes for you, right?” Garnet red eyes scan Silver from top to bottom, fascinated and adoring. The Diasomnian wounds up flustered. “You’re looking especially handsome today, Silvy~ Hehe..”
The aurora-eyed sophomore averts his gaze. “You didn’t tell me we would decide on the nicknames now…”
“Aha, but we’re just getting started! Isn’t that right, love?” Kalim giggles, giddy and drunk with whatever it was in his boba tea. He didn’t tease him this much before… Silver tries to inch his hand farther away, but Kalim is quick to grab hold of it yet again. “Or should I call you my sweetie? My habibi? My baby?”
“Not that last one. No.”
“If you say so, my hubby~ Darling! Honey! Cutie pie! Sugar!”
Unconsciously, Silver breaks into the most stupid smile he’d ever had in his life. Never had he ever thought he’d indulge in a conversation like this… It all feels like a dream.
Loving Kalim and being loved by Kalim…feels as beautiful as a dream.
A wonderful dream come true.
“—And, oh, how about this one?” Silver almost feels his heart leap from his chest when Kalim interlocks his fingers with his own. He feels a spark when aurora eyes meet charming, garnet ones, and his heart melts—like snow to the warm sun—when Kalim smiles at him like he’s the only one he sees. “Silv, mind if I call you mine?”
Ah.
What a silly question.
It’s something they both already know the answer to.
Swiftly, the silver-haired Diasomnian inches their entwined hands closer to his lips, his gaze with his beloved never once breaking.
“There’s no need to.”
Before Kalim can register what happened, a kiss has already been planted on the back of his hand, and lidded eyes looked at him with a fervor of one so in love.
“I’ve always been yours.”
Always, and forevermore.
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(What seems like minutes and minutes of forever encompassed the space between the two of Class 2-A. Face flushed red, Kalim’s lips twitched as he stammered—
“This… This is still the first date, you fox!”
They decided to just call each other by name after that.)