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“Our school used black blazers back then, but I bought mine two sizes too big and ended up walking around like an insurance agent half the time until I grew into it”, Seokmin explained while going through the landslide of options displayed in the racks in front of them.
Minghao flipped through a couple of blazers himself, but he was already mostly set on the navy blue selection. “We usually wear…”, he paused, not quite sure how to explain it to his boyfriend in korean, “it’s like tracksuits? Like a full set and we’re all covered up unless it’s PE class. It was comfy but the colour was just-”, he shuddered at the memory.
Seokmin had finished going through everything and headed back towards him. “So? Has my fashion consultant decided on something?”. He leaned forward and enveloped his lover in a side hug and gently pecked his cheek.
Minghao let his eyes close to savour the split second gesture of affection before nodding his head. He plucked out a navy blue blazer with white detailing around the seams. Pushing the item of clothing into his boyfriend’s chest, he nudged his chin towards the direction of the changing rooms before adding, “and grab a red tie too…”
The corners of Seokmin’s eyes crinkled as he directed a fond smile towards Minghao, “yes~”, he acknowledged in a sing-song tone. As he turned, he stopped to look back at Minghao who was busy looking for the same blazer in his size. “Hey,”, in almost a half whisper, “thanks for doing this with me, I love you.” Minghao knew he was referring to putting up with Seokmin’s unorthodox date ideas without the words having been spoken. He looked up, a gentle smile on his face. “I know, I love you too.”
—
“Looking handsome as always, boyfriend of mine.”, Seokmin jokes, assuming a fake posh tone.
Minghao rolled his eyes before playing along, nodding solemnly in agreement to the statement.
Seokmin let out a hearty laugh.
He calmed down and promptly regarded his boyfriend again. “I booked a cab, it should be at the lobby soon. Shall we?”, he said, signalling to leave and offering his hand to Minghao who gladly accepted it.
—
The journey to Seokmin’s school was expected to take less than 20 minutes assuming traffic was smooth. Having heard that from his boyfriend, Minghao had decided to take a quick nap in the car. Closing his eyes, he had a hard time dozing off despite the comfy seats and cooling air conditioning. Minghao looked to his right, wondering if Seokmin had been able to fall asleep unlike him, since a comfortable silence had fallen between the two from when they first got in. Contrary to that, his lover was quietly watching the landmarks that passed by as the car drove through the streets.
“A penny for your thoughts?”, he said softly, careful not to utterly startle the other.
As if he’d been deep in thought, it took a second for Seokmin to zone back into what Minghao said. “Hm?”
Minghao smiled with all the fondness of the world. “You seem to have a lot on your mind?”, posing his words into a gentle question, an offer, I’m here for you, I will listen if you would like to share.
At that, Seokmin shook his head as a silent reply. He reached out to hold Minghao’s hand in his as thanks before adding, “I was just looking to see if I could remember these roads.”
—
When they arrived, Minghao explored the area around the main entrance as his boyfriend engaged in conversation with the security guard. A kindly old gentleman who had been working for the school since Seokmin’s days there. Seokmin was absolutely delighted that Mr Kim still recognised him. “How could I forget that smile of yours?”, the man had said, which only caused the one currently on Seokmin’s face to shine brighter.
There wasn’t much else around the front other than the water feature behind the guardhouse so Minghao found himself studying the well-maintained pond and the variety of fishes that resided there. Soon though, he felt an arm bump against his and fingers interlocking each other. “Let’s go?” Seokmin said, excitement visible in his cheery expression.
With that, the two headed inside the school’s main building; Seokmin leading the way except for mini pit stops when he found something newly added to the compound since his graduation.
Having explored every other nook and cranny- even the toilets - the couple finally settled on exploring the classrooms, promptly strolling into the first one they saw since Seokmin, as he had bashfully admitted a while ago, had forgotten his Class name. Was it 2A? Or E….or C??
Looking at the neatly aligned rows of desks, Minghao glanced back at his boyfriend and saw him letting out a sweet sigh. “Just as I remember Hao…”
—
"I bet you would've been such a popular kid since you've got dance and all that"
The two had walked a fair bit thus far and decided to stick around the classroom a while longer.
"mm can't say the same for you, choir boy", Minghao teased, giggling at Seokmin's affronted expression. His lover surely did wear his heart on his sleeve and he loved him for it.
“Do you think we would've been classmates?" Seokmin pondered out loud, smiling at the thought of a very cute and very shy 17 year old Minghao being introduced to their class...
"Hi everyone, my name is Seo Myungho and I've just moved here from China. Please take care of me."
At the back of the classroom, sat beside the only empty desk left, an equally adorable 17 year old Seokmin sat up a little straighter in his seat, nervously adjusting his collar and eyeing the new boy in awe. Focusing in class might pose a challenge now…
“I don’t think young me would’ve been able to mentally handle meeting you in class, let alone ask you out, like, ever.”
Minghao laughed, if not only because of his own imagination of their 17 year old selves meeting, but also Seokmin’s serious expression in regards to his hypothetical gay panic.
“I’m flattered, my love,” he starts, the last bit of his giggle still evident in his tone, “but I’m sure you would’ve been able to cope, eventually at least. Look at us now. Plus, I bet little me would have found you cute too.”
“Too?”
“Nothing much has changed.”
Seokmin was left with nothing to retort, opting to pout instead, and this did not help disprove his boyfriend’s point.
“As a representative for Mini Seo Myungho, current Myungho says he’d probably say yes if mini Seokmin asked him out.”, Minghao beamed at the other.
The sun was starting to set. It was a long day today and Minghao had just finished his supplementary lesson. He wasn’t falling behind a lot, but the foreign language was still a cause for concern for him and he’d rather be ahead of things than let himself slowly lose his tempo. Hence, longer hours in school. Hence, the sunset.
The sunset, and a boy standing near the guardhouse. A beaming Mr Kim, and the shy boy standing near the guardhouse. The boy, the sunset, a single rose.
It’d been for him apparently. The rose, the blushing boy. If the sun didn’t set every evening at this time, Minghao would’ve thought the boy in front of him had been the one to paint the skies for this very occasion…
“Minghao, go out with me?”
“Babe, I greatly appreciate your confidence in me but I doubt baby Seokmin would dare confess. If he did, I’m sure he’d find a way to mess up or make himself look like a complete fool in front of you…”
Minghao had a weak appetite for the school provided lunches, often opting to nap away the free time and hold out till he could get home and order some Chinese takeout. This wasn’t much, but all his parents gave him was a hefty monthly allowance before shoving him to a whole different country so he might as well find use for it. If the “it” in question was a subpar rendition of what he had grown up eating in his hometown, then that was that.
Today though, the boy had found himself roused from slumber before the bell rang from the PA system. Groggily sitting up, he nearly knocked over the foreign items placed at the top of his desk. A packet of milk and a red bean bun. Strange.
Even stranger was the fact that his deskmate, Seokjin? No, Seokmin was already seated next to him. The aforementioned boy had his arms crossed in front of him to cushion his head as he leaned over, fast asleep. It seemed somebody else had decided to skip break in favour of a nap.
Leaving him be, Minghao decided to munch on the snacks he could only assume was left for him. As he struggled to peel open the plastic encasing the bread, he felt a shift from his side. Looking to the left, he met eyes with Seokmin, who was very much wide awake and very much trying to peer at him from a gap between his arms. This startled the culprit of course, who jumped in his seat and whipped his head back to its original “I-am-pretending-to-sleep” position.
“Um, did you want some?” Minghao started. He’d definitely been weirded out by his seatmate’s antics but he wasn’t about to be a bitch about it.
He’d finally managed to open the plastic wrap, peeling a bite of the bread off and holding it out in Seokmin’s direction.
Slowly, Seokmin sat up. His ears burned red from having been caught in the act.
“Uh- sorry. I mean…No! A…as in-”
Minghao saw the poor guy scrambling for words. He grabbed Seokmin’s hand and placed the piece of bread onto his open palm. “Here, don’t bother, I’m not judging if you wanted a bite.”
The boy looked down at the piece of bread in his hand, still not moving to place it in his mouth. Looking back up, he gulped as if trying to swallow down his nerves. (What for? Minghao thought to himself)
“Actually I got those for you, Myungho. I-”, he looked back down at the bread in his hand.
Minghao raised a brow, thoroughly confused.
“I like you! No wait- I mean, yes but I’ve liked you since…”
Minghao took a good look at the flustered boy in front of him, his seatmate, Lee Seokmin with the crooked bangs and the goddamn bread still in his palm and- why was his cheeks getting hotter?
“So would you like to go out with me? Um- it’s okay if you don’t feel the same but maybe you’d like to grab ice cream after school one of these days? Or-”
Ah, fuck. He’s cute.
“Yes,” Minghao smiled, “I’d like that.”
Minghao grinned, “fair enough, glad you’re self-aware. With your reputation you might’ve waited up til graduation and still not confess”
“Hey!”
“In that case maybe young me would’ve lost his patience and confessed first.”
“That’s possible…”, Seokmin sulkily relented.
“Very. But if I did then I’d probably even it out by making you be the one to do up a promposal. For fairness.”
“Fairness?”
“Yes, fairness. Relationships are all about balance.” He joked, “Unless your school didn’t have those things?”
“We did.”, Seokmin said, starting to get hyped up just by the idea of prom, “Actually let’s just head over to the assembly hall right now. I’ll show you the hall and the stage and everything!”
—
The walk to the assembly hall was met with little trouble thanks to the signs strewn all over the campus directing the couple along the way. Seokmin was also surprisingly familiar with the route there which helped speed things up as well.
Minghao felt his jaw drop as he took in the sight before him. For what he’d assumed was an ordinary school, the assembly hall was huge. “Woah…What kind of budget do you guys have… This…Did they spend 70% of it just on this?”, he uttered, completely in awe.
Seokmin jogged up to the stage placing his hands by his mouth, pretending to yell. “Yah! Seo Myungho-ssi! I love you!”, making sure to drag out the last bit dramatically. With that, he scurried to explore the backstage.
Minghao laughed at his antics before spreading his arms out and doing a spin from the spot where he stood. “This is huge!” Closing his eyes, Minghao let himself imagine a young Seokmin asking a young Minghao for a dance. Clumsy arms and stiff legs. Two boys dressed up to the nines, maybe with the exception of ugly ties they’d borrow from their fathers.
Eyes still shut, Minghao sighed out loud to no one in particular, “prom would’ve been crazy”
“It would’ve.”
Not expecting a reply, or Seokmin to have appeared so suddenly, Minghao startled and opened his eyes only to find his boyfriend holding out a large pink cardboard sign.
It was pink alright. And obscenely sparkly. But it read:
“ go to prom with me? Spend the rest of my life with me?”
Stunned, and frozen in place, Minghao stared on as he watched Seokmin gently place the sign on the ground behind him and went down on one knee. Reaching into the pocket of his rental school blazer, he procured a small velvet box, one that opened with a click to reveal a sleek silver band.
“Would it be cheesy if I said, everyday feels like prom when I’m with you?” Seokmin spoke, still on one knee. His lips quirked up into a nervous half smile.
“I…”, Minghao sputtered, the tips of his ears turning pink as the realisation slowly hit him.
“徐明浩, 嫁给我吧. (Xu Minghao, marry me)” Seokmin thought that it would be cute to learn this line in his boyfriend’s first language. Perhaps it was the nerves but hearing the practised words, he felt like maybe he messed up the tones. He couldn’t help but slowly feel overwhelmed with jitters no matter how long ago he had planned to do this, no matter how long the box sat in the deepest corners of his sock drawer, hidden from plain sight. Gathering his focus back on the man in front of him, Seokmin watched Minghao's expression absolutely melt; his worries washed away in a flash.
“Seok…”, Minghao started, cursing at the tears that were threatening to fall, “yes. Oh my gosh-”
Seokmin wobbled as Minghao fell forward to hug him. At this point he still hadn’t gotten up from his kneeling position. He gladly wrapped his left arm around Minghao’s figure as he placed the ring box on the floor to free up his other arm. Just as he was about to go ahead and return Minghao’s embrace with both arms, he heard a soft gasp. “I think I ruined it”, Minghao whispered.
Seokmin was used to being at the other end of the stick majority of the time he nearly forgot how wonderfully adorable his lover could be at times. “Ruined what, love?”
Minghao slowly broke out of their embrace and gestured vaguely, “just. This.”
Seokmin broke out of his mini reverie and glanced towards the ring box sat on the floor by his side, before looking back at Minghao’s face. “Take two?”, he smiled.
Minghao nodded resolutely.
“Take two.”
—
Take two worked out for the best, in favour of both parties. Seokmin’s nerves were no more and he managed to recall a greater percentage of his speech.
With a dashing smile directed at the love of his life, he began, “I am in love with you. I love you, just as the stars love the moon. I want to spend the rest of eternity with you. If you will let me. I’m sorry I never got to spend prom with you but I guess what really matters is every other milestone we have yet to go through, together. 徐明浩, 嫁给我吧.”
Minghao nodded, refraining from speaking lest the waterworks start again. He let Seokmin slip the beautiful silver band over his fourth finger and everything felt right. The new weight that found its way onto his left hand. Just like Seokmin had found his way into his heart. As if everything had been written in the stars. Like how every sun has its moon.
“Care for a dance?”
—
Two grown men holding a prom they never got to share, doing a slow dance they never had. Young Minghao would’ve cringed to high heavens. Current Minghao, however, couldn’t help but let his thoughts drift to cheesier lands. Written in the stars. One Xu Minghao, and one Lee Seokmin. Till death do us part.