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“thank you for meeting me out here, seungmin.”
seungmin looks up from the makeshift map in the note left on his cabin door earlier this morning, and he’s met with hyeongjun standing there near the creek in the forest, his hands awkwardly placed over his chest and covering the camp half blood logo. he crinkles up his nose at how formal hyeongjun sounds, before folding the note back up and putting it back in his pocket. “yeah, no problem. what did you want to talk about?” he steps closer, going further into the wooded area that he had asked him to meet him at.
“not here, um… we still have a little further to go. i want to show you something.” hyeongjun holds out a hand, the square bandage plastered on his face preventing him from smiling most of the way, but seungmin sees a sparkle in his eyes that makes up for it – and how could he ever say no to him?
“okay,” seungmin says, taking a hold of his hand and gesturing to his bandaged cheek with a finger. “but are you sure you’re doing okay?” he asks before he can stop himself, and hyeongjun nods in response immediately like it was some sort of automatic reaction. seungmin clarifies with, “i mean, after the whole arena thing. i think jeongin kind of startled you.”
they had gone to the arena earlier this morning for skill-building and training for the day, and still a little hesitant with a sword, hyeongjun hadn’t quite blocked the ares kid’s strike correctly and had ended up with a cut on his face right where the helmet opened up. it was an accident – and seungmin already knows jeongin had apologized to him when he found him in the infirmary, but he also knows that hyeongjun was still thoroughly embarrassed from how ‘easy’ it was to beat him at sword fighting. he had even agreed with jiseok, an apollo kid, who had patted his shoulder as gunil, another apollo kid, had patched him up — and had brought up maybe switching to archery instead. a no contact sort of fighting style.
hyeongjun doesn’t answer seungmin’s question, falling quiet as they head further into the woods and off the beaten path, and he tightens his hold on his hand.
when seungmin had first met hyeongjun – the new demeter kid at the camp – seven months ago, he was just as quiet as he had seemed from awkward glances across rooms and on opposite sides at the campfire. he remembers when they connected eyes from across the mess hall, and it made his heart flutter when he gave him a shy smile. it still does when hyeongjun smiles at him and – isn’t that funny? a hades kid, being absolutely head over heels for the sweet looks he gets from him. and seungmin knows that myths have nothing to do with his own feelings, but he still thinks it’s a little ironic that hades and demeter aren’t necessarily on the best terms, to sum up all the different versions of the stories he’s been told throughout school and ancient mythology at camp on mondays.
(but gods, the smiles are so worth the teasing that jungsu, an athena kid, gives him almost immediately after, when seungmin, with a pink face, bashfully looks away from the demeter table.)
despite being new and quiet, it never stopped hyeongjun from engaging in conversations with his two newfound friends, but hearing how loud jiseok and jooyeon, an aphrodite kid, could be, they seemed to drown him out if they accidentally got too rowdy and started talking over each other.
fortunately for gunil – and unfortunately for seungmin, no longer being the little kid under his wing – once he had finally combined the two friend groups into one due to his godly-parent connection to jiseok, the three had fit perfectly into his heart. his role as the oldest hyung and camp counselor had seemingly cranked up to eleven and he was already treating jooyeon like he was the best thing in the world. he wasn’t wrong, entirely, since it was completely on par for him.
seungmin remembers seeing jiseok playfully rolling his eyes and gunil grinning, knowing that his half-sibling was a little jealous of the attention he was giving jooyeon. he also remembers seeing jungsu, gunil’s boyfriend, happily playing along, though there was a slight furrow in his brows as he practically tugged on gunil’s sweatshirt just to hold onto him. but he also remembers giving hyeongjun small glances every once and a while, ones he’d catch and give him soft smiles back as he joined in the topic the other four were talking about. as the conversation had slowly progressed, they came to find out that hyeongjun was then the second youngest, and it naturally resulted in gunil getting him into a loving hug and trying his best to cuddle him.
the laughing fit hyeongjun erupted into after the first initial shock was what made seungmin wish he had a reason to be that bold.
now, seven months later, seungmin has quickly gotten accustomed to having hyeongjun around him more often. he’s gotten used to seeing him around, being around him; when he sees him laughing along to one of his jokes, or him giving the soft smiles that seungmin adores, it makes something in his chest swell at the sight.
it’s not a crush. or at least that’s what he told gunil and jungsu when they recognized him staring off into space – since they happen to pretend like they know everything about love and relationships just because gunil finally asked jungsu out three months ago, and seungmin doesn’t buy any of it.
it’s not a crush, despite the cheeky comments he gets from both jiseok and jooyeon, comments that hyeongjun seem completely oblivious to.
it’s not a crush, no matter what gunil says, even if seungmin knows he’s right – he knows it is, but he won’t admit that out loud.
(okay, it might be a crush.)
seungmin doesn’t force hyeongjun to elaborate about the arena thing, instead looking around at the trees as they walk deeper into the forest. the dryads around this portion poke their heads in their direction to see what they’re doing, and he’s careful to dodge rogue low-hanging branches as he holds their gaze – before they disappear behind leaves of the bushes and trunks of trees. he’s not sure where hyeongjun is going, only having the map that he was given, and even that had been just to get to the starting point – but he trusts him, and figures they’re most likely going to some secret hide-out. seungmin feels a little honored, really.
it’s about five more minutes in silence before hyeongjun pushes some branches out of the way, and seungmin peeks into the space to see a clearing in the middle of the woods. it has mostly purple flowers in a smaller circle around the edges of the clearing, almost as though it was a garden someone chose to grow out here or a little field of flowers that had been tended to over time.
the sunlight is pouring in through the leaves, creating little patterns against the flowers as the breeze gently flows through the grass. hyeongjun steps forward, and seungmin quickly follows – and as soon as they both step foot into the clearing, the woods are suddenly a little too quiet. hyeongjun sits down, and seungmin does the same, but he ends up accidentally sitting a little too close. “how did you know this was here?” he asks, facing him as he examines his surroundings. it was a little ways away from the camp, it wasn’t on their map in the blue house, but as he looks around, he can see it was still inside the magical barrier due to the slight disturbances in the sky.
there’s the sound of leaves bustling around behind him, and seungmin turns to see a quick blur of a face before it disappears behind a tree. hyeongjun only grins. “a dryad told me about it,” he explains, before he gestures to the tree he was just looking at. “chaeryeong-noona, can you please give us some space for a while?” seungmin hears some giggles as more leaves rustle, but eventually the sound fades as he figures chaeryeong listens to him and walks off. “sorry. i usually come here when i need time to think, or if i need to clear my head, but i wanted to show you this little spot, too.”
“it’s nice.” seungmin says, his voice ending in a squeak when he realizes they’re still holding hands. he hadn’t even realized, despite their awkward sitting position, and even though he’s going against his better judgment, he slowly lets go. he hopes hyeongjun isn’t offended by it. “do you come up here a lot?”
he nods. “i do. it’s become my little space to just sit, because… this whole demigod thing–it’s all still new.” hyeongjun says quietly, his fingers absentmindedly tracing over the bandage on his cheek. “and i think they expect me to fall into this quicker than i can. i know it’s been seven months, but… still.”
who’s they? seungmin wants to ask, but he answers honestly with, “it’ll end up working out, and i know it seems like a lot but you should go at your own pace. who cares what they say?”
when seungmin had first come to camp, he tended to avoid most of the others and they tended to do the same; until he had been ‘adopted’ by jungsu, who then had introduced him to gunil. they had become his best friends – friends who didn’t care about what his godly parent was, or the fact that he was a part of the big three, as if that still mattered anymore.
he knows hyeongjun is mostly talking about the arena, fighting monsters and not quite being deemed ‘worthy’ of going on quests yet, but he does understand what he means. it was overwhelming just for seungmin to figure out that this world exists, and the monsters he’s encountered always seem to zone in on him just because of who his father is, but he’s learned over the years he’s been at camp that it gets better.
hyeongjun hums at this, though it seems a little dejected as his eyes fall to the ground, looking at all the flowers and plants surrounding them. seungmin had figured this would be one of the places within the camp that he hides away in, it just happened to make so much sense.
he knows this new plan might lead to some shit from demeter if it ends up being executed poorly, simply snapping a flower from the earth right in front of hyeongjun, but he does it anyway – the intrusive thought then being the only thing on his mind. he looks for the best looking purple flower he can find, before picking it and cleans the dirt off the stem, leaning over and tucking it behind his ear.
hyeongjun looks back up to him, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as seungmin then fixes the little red wisps of hair stuck around the flower petals, and gods, he’s so cute. “what was that for?” he asks quietly, though thankfully it doesn’t sound like he’s disgusted or angry, like he was worried about. maybe the only repercussion he’ll get is from demeter herself, which he can accept.
he’s surprised he hasn’t been struck down yet, honestly.
“no reason,” seungmin answers, even though there is definitely a reason. there is something pretty about seeing him with a flower, one from hyeongjun’s own little hideout, tucked into his hair but he knows he can’t say any of that out loud yet. “i didn’t know if it would make you feel better… but i thought it would be a good idea.”
“the flowers, they’re… they’re bellflowers, because of the shape,” he mumbles softly, and seungmin listens with all of his attention to encourage him to delve into more information, but hyeongjun falls quiet as he momentarily blanks on what he wanted to say next. then, he smiles and says, “you need one to match, too. the purple would go well with your silver hair, i think.”
he’s already scanning through the flowers swaying in their little circle before seungmin can even deny him because it wouldn’t be the same. but as he determinedly picks one and cleans it off, scooting forward to tuck it behind his ear, seungmin realizes that he doesn’t even want to say no to this, and the proximity makes his head spin as he watches hyeongjun focus, feels his fingers in his hair and the flower stem fitting snug against his ear. he’s definitely a lot closer to him than they were before, and even after the flower is properly placed, hyeongjun doesn’t move, save for his hands that slowly move down to the ground to keep himself planted with two open palms against the earth.
“pretty,” he breathes out, his doe-eyes sparkling.
oh.
seungmin almost chokes on a questionable attempt to ask what that meant, but it seems like hyeongjun hadn’t expected himself to say it either, since his face is flushed red as he bows his head. still, he can keep his cool with this. he can. “you’re the one that’s pretty,” he finally says, and he would be almost a little amused with how red hyeongjun’s face is only if his own face didn’t match.
“no, i’m not,” hyeongjun had finally brought his arms up to cover his face. seungmin just laughs as he does his best to gently pry away his hands, seeing pink cheeks and a bright smile when he successfully gets him to stop hiding.
“you are so, so pretty.” he says before he can stop himself, almost sending hyeongjun into another fit of shielding his face, but thankfully he’s still got that soft grip on both of his wrists and it’s easier for him to look at him when he says that. hyeongjun glances up at him, he finally looks back up at him, and it’s not like seungmin’s words are false, either – because he truly is gorgeous.
he’s cute when he’s all bubbly, excitedly animated about some topic as he talks with his friends. he’s stunning when he’s focused, deep into a book or his own thoughts as he sits outside on the demeter cabin’s porch, planting seeds with his siblings. he’s handsome when he’s doing what he loves, playing his guitar and practicing different chunks of unnamed songs with jiseok and jooyeon in their free time.
he’s pretty sitting like this with him, his face flushed and his smile genuine and his eyes full of something seungmin’s not quite sure of - with the purple flower still tucked behind his ear and contrasting against the copper color of his hair and his tan skin.
and yes, okay, maybe his friends were right with how whipped seungmin ended up realizing he was, but it doesn’t matter because the only thing that does matter right now is hyeongjun.
hyeongjun looks as though he wants to say something, his mouth opening to almost form a word before it closes again, and seungmin suddenly feels himself rapidly declining into the territory of what a terrible mistake. maybe he’s read this entire situation wrong, maybe the blush was out of embarrassment and the smile actually out of pity, and the fact that he still has ahold of hyeongjun’s wrists was probably making him uncomfortable. immediately, he lets go of him, leaning back a bit to let there be some space between them.
“i’m sorry,” seungmin apologizes after a moment of silence, and his face only burns more as he finally catches up to the little bit of shame that must be following his odd confession.
“don’t say sorry,” hyeongjun gets out, though it’s quieter than before – a lot more unsure, and it does little to comfort the unease that fell over them. “i said it first.”
“i meant mine.”
“and you think i didn’t?” the question immediately asked after seungmin’s makes him pause. he studies hyeongjun and realizes how his eyes are still sparkling, still saying everything he needs to know - and seungmin is slowly starting to understand. if jungsu was here, watching from the sidelines, he’d be practically begging him to get to the point faster. “seungmin…” the way hyeongjun calls his name admittedly makes his heart flutter more. “i’ve had a crush on you since i got here, and when gunil-hyung pulled us into your friend group. i like you, of course i’m going to think you’re pretty.”
which is ironic, because seungmin's had hyeongjun in his head since he got here too. the only thing he can offer up is a small, “oh,” which in turn seems to sound like a bad thing, because of how easily hyeongjun deflates, his shoulders sagging and his eyes dimming a little. he knows he has to say something, say anything, and he almost feels like gunil and jungsu are watching and impatiently gesturing for him to fucking hurry, but he suddenly can’t think. “right. yeah, well, that’s good.”
that’s good? seungmin, are you an idiot?
pushing the frustrated shout of imaginary jungsu’s voice out of his head, he clarifies his thoughts by adding on, “i like you too. i have ever since you got to camp. you can ask jungsu-hyung, he knows all about it.” he lifts a hand to press it against his uninjured cheek, the other going to rest on his waist and finding that to be more comfortable.
hyeongjun’s eyes sparkle again, even though the hesitancy is clear on his face. “i honestly wasn’t sure if you would,” he says, giving him a bit of a sheepish grin, “but i’m glad i did say something to you. i’m… i’m still a little nervous, though, even if that’s a little silly.”
“i can tell,” seungmin teases, but he knows he can’t really say too much about it – because his heart is still racing in his chest. “but you don’t have anything to be nervous about, because i like you, hyeongjun. i really do.” and he’ll say it as many times as he needs to, just because it’s finally so good saying it out loud, saying it to him because he feels the same.
it’s nice studying his face up close, seeing how the sunlight reflects in his pretty brown eyes, the grin slowly morphing into a soft smile that seungmin absolutely adores.
he sees hyeongjun quickly glance at his lips before looking back into his eyes again, and oh. seungmin is almost about to ask if that’s what he had wanted, before hyeongjun quietly mumbles out, “can i kiss you?” his hands move to wrap around seungmin’s shoulders, effectively enclosing them in a small bubble between the two – one that causes his heart to ring in his ears as he then nods his head.
“yes,” he says, and hyeongjun meets him in the middle, pressing his lips against his own.
it’s a sweet kiss, only lasting for a few seconds, but it’s something that makes seungmin’s heart flutter even when hyeongjun pulls away only a little, still in their bubble they’ve made for themselves.
“you know,” he says, and seungmin gives him another kiss, though it’s against his temple by the two freckles placed on the corner of his eye. his fingers lightly mess with the hem of hyeongjun’s camp shirt, feeling the thread underneath his touch. “i always found myself wondering if you did like me. jiseok and jooyeon would always talk to me about it, and tease me about it – not in a bad way, or anything, just… they noticed. i’m surprised you didn’t.”
seungmin watches him carefully. “jungsu-hyung and gunil-hyung were the same way. i didn’t notice anything on your side because i was too busy trying to get them to keep quiet – just in case you didn’t like me like that.” he lifts his hand from where it was on his waist, using his thumb to stroke over the medical tape gunil used to keep the bandage in place. “speaking of them… do any of them even know where we are right now?”
hyeongjun shakes his head, a sheepish look washing over his features. “not specifically. i just told them we were going to a cool spot, but that’s about it… i’m sorry.”
seungmin grins, gently pulling him in for another kiss – and it’s just as soft and sweet as their first. he does make sure he pays attention to how happy hyeongjun looks afterwards, a smile on his face and his eyes sparkling. “good,” he says, snickering a little, “that means they won’t be able to bother us for now.”
“bold of you to think they wouldn’t already be looking,” he teases, and seungmin nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders because he knows he’s right. jiseok and jooyeon were probably leading the pack, gunil and jungsu following after in search to find the secret area. “i did say it was a really cool spot.”
“then, let’s stay here for as long as we want. this spot can be our little secret place, yeah? if that’s okay with you?”
hyeongjun nods his head before hesitating for a moment, and seungmin watches the change in his expression as he tilts his head a little, curious to what he’s thinking. “are we…” he starts off, his voice almost a whisper, “are we dating?”
seungmin swears he swoons as he feels hyeongjun’s fingers carding through his hair, a little shy as he waits for the answer. “yeah, if that’s okay.”
“you do know our friends are going to be so happy that we’re together now, right?” hyeongjun asks, basking in the sunlight and seungmin keeps his gaze on him, “i think they’ll be really happy for us.”
“i think so too.”
and seungmin is entirely expecting their reactions when they both eventually resurface from the woods to head to the mess hall for dinner. they’re walking together, hand in hand, and it still makes his heart flutter as they brave the crowd. no one really seems to pay attention to them, which is nice – except for when they finally get to the hades table.
(all six of them have started sitting there when gunil expanded their friend group, just because it’s the table with the least amount of campers, and no one really minds them.)
gunil simply grins at them, though seungmin was expecting something outlandish and absolutely embarrassing. jungsu gives them two thumbs up as they sit down, already bracing for the conversation that was brewing under the surface. once hyeongjun tells them that they’re dating, the word boyfriend making him a little giddy – and seungmin watches with stars in his eyes – he’s surprised by jooyeon’s loud congratulations and whatever dance jiseok does.
though, despite all the commotion, seungmin can only pay attention to how bright hyeongjun’s face gets as he watches his friends go wild.
“nice flowers,” jungsu teases, and seungmin doesn’t even have it in him to give him a snarky response because they are nice flowers. they’re pretty bellflowers, and they’re from hyeongjun’s – their – hideout. he simply grins at jungsu and thanks him before reaching over to readjust hyeongjun’s flower, just to make sure it’s secured and it doesn’t fall as easily. he even checks his own to do the same. they ignore the groans that come from their friends, a teasing complaint about the honeymoon phase beginning.
(hyeongjun then leans over and gives him a quick kiss on the nose, and seungmin knows he’s whipped.)
“listen, i don’t know where you two went,” jooyeon says, a smile on his face as he completely abandons picking at the food on his plate, “but i’m glad you did.”
seungmin tightens his grip on hyeongjun’s hand, looking over at him with adoration written over his features as he looks at him, too.
“me too.” they both say in unison.
❀