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Jin was riding his bike on the empty country road, the sun shining on his face. It was peaceful. He knew deep inside him he didn’t deserve this peace after all he has done but he grasped it anyway. Through his trail of thoughts, the image of his rival shoving him away from a grenade thrown by the army came back to him. Was he okay? Jin kept wondering. He should have tried to check on Hwoarang, he pondered. A bike’s noise coming to him from behind get him of his thoughts. Scared it was someone coming from him, Jin accelerated. The bike behind accelerated back, coming beside him. The biker saluated Jin with his hand.
Hwoarang.
Both stopped on the side of the road. Jin didn't know why he stopped. Hwoarang could be here to take his revenge. Afterall Jin hurted him multiple times, both in his Devil form and not.
“Hey!” Hwoarang spoke first. Jin noticed the other had his hair back to red and this made him think he preferred them this color. It really suited him the best, the red hair.
“Hey.” Both looked intensely at each other without saying the word.
“So… What’cha doing here? Don’t ya have things to do?” Hwoarang cut the silence short.
“I… I just wanted to clear my mind a little.” Jin awkwardly replied. He stared at the red-head and the eye-patch still on his right eye. Remorse, shame all came back to him and gave him shivers like icy water.
“It doesn’t hurt that much anymore, don’t worry” Hwoarang replied as if he could read the other’s thoughts.
“Oh… Ok. Great.”
“It’s not your fault, you know.” Hwoarang said.
Jin was somewhat relieved. He knew by now how blunt and honest Hwoarang was. If he told him it didn’t blame him for his eye, he really meant it. So Jin nodded in response.
Hwoarang’s scar throbbed at the flashbacks but did his best to hide it from his rival. He was honest with his feelings — he had never blamed the other for what happened back then.
Silence fell back into the duo. They both stared at the landscape beyond them: the endless sea and the sun slowly setting behind it. Hwoarang found himself thinking it could have been a nice date, if it was with anyone else.
The Blood Talon accepted his bisexuality and attraction to men a long time ago — he did fool around with several male partners in between Tekken tournaments and before — but he was only coming now in terms with his feelings for his rival. The man swiftly shot a look at the black-haired man before looking back to the sight before them.
“So… What are you doing to do now?”
“I don’t know. I guess I will try to… repair whatever I can.”
“You better watch out. Many wants your head.”
“I know. I know I can’t be forgiven just like that but… I want to try.” Jin replied with anxiety.
Jin’s mouth twitched and then looked back at the other man. This sight of the orange-yellow sunbeams hitting Hwoarang’s face hit him like a truck. Hidden feelings brutally came back to the surface. The man had a gut feeling for a while that he didn't only feel rivalry towards the Korean man but he never was in the right place to think about it further. And he felt like he shouldn’t, anyway. The other man would probably lash out at him if Jin dared to voice those thoughts.
“Hm?” Hwoarang raised an eyebrow when he noticed his rival was staring at him.
“Nothing. I just thought you were… strangely calm.”
“What?! You thought I was only coming at you for a fight?”
Jin snorted at Hwoarang’s surprise.
“Hm… Yeah, I guess.”
“We can do it right now if you insist.” Hwoarang taunted.
“I will pass.” Jin taunted back.
Both men let this unusually blissful and genuine moment take in them. Bliss like this was so rare during those times, with the war, with everything going on.
“Can I see your eye?” Jin blurted out. Instant regret hit him but it was too late to take it back.
“Ok.” Hwoarang replied with no hesitation. He then lifted his eye patch to show his hurt eye. A wide white scar was crossing all over it and the eye was only slightly opened.
“Like I said, it doesn’t hurt much anymore but I still can’t use it, haha.” Hwoarang explained as he touched said scar.
It pained Jin to see the other laughed it off like this.
“But I still can kick asses just as well!” Hwoarang added.
“Can I touch it?” Jin again blurted out without thinking.
Hwoarang, this time, seemed to hesitate before replying.
“Whatever you want. But you have a kink on that or something?” *
“N-no. I’m just… curious. I’m sorry if it upset you. I was the cause of it, afterall.”
“Nah I was just joking.”
Hwoarang walked to the man from his bike and approached his face to let him touch the scar. He felt Jin’s hand caressing over it and this sent him shivers to his spine. Jin didn’t touch him for long before taking his hand back. But both stayed in their position and stared into each other’s eyes.
The Korean was the one to make the first move and brought his lips to the other’s. Their lips were now grazing each other, as Hwoarang waited for Jin’s approval to go on. But the man was seemingly confused at Hwoarang’s attitude. So Hwoarang was about to move back when the other pushed his head back from behind to finally bring their lips together. The kiss was awkward to say the least. Hwoarang guessed it was Jin’s first. So, the Korean took the lead and put his hands on Jin’s shoulders while moving his lips. Jin followed Hwoarang’s movements, leaving the lead to the other, seemingly more expert in the field. Their lips stayed locked, only moving softly for some time. None of them could tell how long it lasted, as it felt like the time was stopped during their kiss. They then separated to breathe.
“I…”
“Sorry I went overboard there. You didn’t want it, right?” Hwoarang was scratching the back of his head.
“No! I… I liked it. A lot. I just wonder… What are we going to do now?”
“Let’s not think about it too much for now. We both have our businesses to deal with anyway.” Hwoarang said.
“... You are right.” Jin replied.
Jin caressed his lips. The kiss was stunning and still lingering on his lips. But Hwoarang was right: he still had many things to deal with before even thinking about the next step with the other. But Jin wasn’t sure he could shove his feelings into the back of his mind again.