Work Text:
«I’m home!»
Seungkwan shouts as soon as he enters his and Mingyu’s apartment. Before getting inside the house, he was hoping that Mingyu would already be in the kitchen making dinner since he promised Seungkwan that he would have made some homemade pizza, and he has been craving it the whole day. However, when he notices that the house is empty and no answer is incoming, a wave of sadness floods his heart.
It has happened before for Seungkwan to come home to an empty house, since Mingyu is the one managing the New York firm of his family company, he can, on the one hand, delegate work but, at the same time, he can’t run away from work either. And yet, despite the last-minute calls and unexpected events, Mingyu has always made it on time when Seungkwan needed him the most. And well, it’s not like Seungkwan really needs him right now (a pizza isn’t that big of an emergency), but since today was supposed to be Mingyu’s free day, Seungkwan was anticipating spending time with his boyfriend. Or better. His fiance.
Fiance.
The word still sounds weird to Seungkwan’s ears. They have been engaged for almost one year, and he still hasn’t gotten used to it.
«That’s odd,» Seungkwan says, as he is currently on the phone with Jeonghan, who is bored at home alone. «Mingyu told me he would have stayed out of the office today but isn’t home.»
«Maybe someone called him last minute,» Jeonghan’s voice comes distant from the phone since, according to his words, he’s trying to crochet a scarf for Joshua and he can’t seem to get the hang of it. «Hasn’t he texted you anything?»
Seungkwan checks again on his phone, but the only notifications are the ones from his research team.
«Nothing, well let’s make the best out of this situation: you have more time to tell me about some gift ideas for Valentine’s Day.»
You know, Valentine’s Day is in two days, and Seungkwan, too busy organizing Chan’s surprise birthday party, has completely forgotten to buy something for Mingyu. It wouldn’t be too bad if it wasn’t for three main reasons: first, it’s their first Valentine’s Day after the wedding proposal, and screwing it up is the last thing Seungkwan wants; second Mingyu loves Valentine’s Day for some odd reasons Seungkwan can’t fully understand; third Mingyu is always thoughtful throughout the whole year, so Seungkwan wishes he could make one of Mingyu’s favorite days special for him.
«I told you, just get naked and wrap yourself in a bow and some flowers and tell him that you’re the best present he can get,» There is a small pause Seungkwan is leaving so his friend can tell him he is joking, but then Jeonghan continues. «I did that with Shua and he appreciated it.»
«Shut up,» Seungkwan tries to hide an involuntary laugh. «I need actual good ideas.»
«Mine worked, so, as a matter of fact, it was a good idea. But since you’re boring, maybe you can gift him a trip somewhere.»
«Using what money exactly?»
Seungkwan is grateful because he recently moved into Mingyu’s new apartment. Or better, Mingyu’s new penthouse, which was gently offered by Mingyu’s parents themselves for the newly engaged couple. “You deserve more space”, is what they said as a justification for the gift, but in reality —once they started living there— Seungkwan noticed that the space was too much and quite unnecessary. The house was great for hosting parties and as a safe nest for their friends to come over to do some work, due to its tranquility most of the time. Nonetheless, on every other occasion, in Seungkwan’s opinion, it was too quiet. And now, alone in this huge house, the loneliness is even louder.
Despite the loneliness of the huge space, living in that apartment, almost completely sponsored by Mingyu’s parents, has its perks: Seungkwan is finally able to save up more money. He still feels proud of himself when he was able to help his sister pay for her wedding dress, her tears of joy as he told her he would have bought her the dress of her dreams made him cry almost as hard as she was (he cried more than her). Another perk is that now he can sleep in peace without Vernon’s producing sessions at 3:00 am (but if someone asks him if he misses living with Vernon, he always says that a part of him does).
«Didn’t he give you his card?»
«Yes, but it’s for emergencies and I don’t want to use it for this,» The black card always feels heavy in his wallet. He has never used it and he plans on never using it unless he needs it for a life-or-death situation, even if Mingyu has told him that he can use it whenever he wants.
«Are you sure? This seems like an emergency to me.»
«At this point, I’ll just end up ruining the day since Mingyu surely thought about something great.»
«You can always rub in his face that he kept his family and their multi-billionaire company a secret, it always works with Shua when we fight over something stupid, » Seungkwan doesn’t find it as hilarious as Jeonghan does on the other side of the phone, but this time he lets a small laugh out. «And don’t worry about it Kwan, you’ll find something good. I’m going to work on this project now, let’s talk soon. And Shua told me to remind Gyu to text him the details of your flight for Spring Break this year, we can’t wait to have you two here again after so long!»
«We were literally there for New Year’s, but since I miss you too, I’ll remind Mingyu to send you everything. Bye Han, have a good day.»
«You too! And really, don’t stress too much about the present, you’ll find something.»
Seungkwan hangs up the phone, and now he feels lonely and disappointed himself because he can’t think of a good gift for Mingyu, the greenest green flag to walk on planet Earth.
Thankfully, Seungkwan hears the door unlocking. Mingyu has come home just in time to save him from an endless spiral of thoughts he was about to get lost in. For this reason, he immediately gets up and runs towards Mingyu, and jumps into his embrace.
Seungkwan immediately kisses him, warmly, and deeply, as if he hasn’t seen his boyfriend in ages. This is probably what his mother means when she sees the two of them and says “I wish I could be young and in love again”.
«Woah, you almost made me drop the shopping bag,» Mingyu chuckles and then leaves a peck on Seungkwan’s forehead. «I missed you too Kwan, but I need to go and make our pizzas.»
«Where were you though?» Seungkwan asks and takes the bag into his own hands to snoop inside. «I thought you were supposed to stay at home today, no office.»
«Oh, the thing is, this morning I woke up and made the pizza dough. Then I started cleaning after yesterday’s party, and while cleaning I accidentally dropped the tomato sauce, so I went out to buy more,» Mingyu justifies himself, and Seungkwan nods. «I didn’t warn you because I thought I would have come home before you, but then my dad called so I spent some time on the phone with him.»
«Is everything okay?»
«Yeah, don’t worry about it,» Mingyu leaves another peck on Seungkwan’s forehead and makes his way to the kitchen area. «Since you came home before I could start making them, let’s do it together. Go and change, I’ll get everything ready in the meantime.»
It isn’t the first time they have cooked together, it’s something they do every time they are not too tired, even if usually Mingyu, at some point during the cooking session, takes the lead and is the one doing most of the work while Seungkwan tells him about his day, what Jeonghan or Soonyuoung tell him on the phone, K-dramas he’s watching, and new K-pop releases. Seungkwan’s favorite moments though are when Mingyu positions himself behind him and guides him in what he is supposed to do, and well, sometimes it all turns into a make-out session (or more), with the food long forgotten on the counter.
However, this time around, Seungkwan is really craving that pizza, and nothing —not even his perfect fiancé— can distract him from having it as soon as possible. For this reason, he puts on his girl groups playlist, his apron, and the two of them start cooking together.
In between singing along, throwing some leftover flour at each other, and putting some tomato sauce on the tip of each other’s noses, time flows by and the pizzas are ready in no time.
«I’ll bring some leftovers to my mom tomorrow,» Seungkwan says, as he takes another bite. «I wish we could go to Italy to eat the one they made there, it must be so good.»
«It is, when I was around 10 we went to Italy on a vacation, and this is a recipe my mother got from an Italian chef. He gave it to her in the same city where pizza was created, mine isn’t as good, but I’m working on it.» Mingyu refills his and Seungkwan’s beer glasses. «Kwan, I need to talk to you about something.»
Seungkwan’s pizza bite suddenly becomes hard to swallow. Mingyu isn’t going to break up with him, right? Or wait, the call with his father, maybe… Maybe he is sick?
The air becomes heavy again.
«You know how my father wants me to take over the company, and well, until recently, I didn’t really know what to do,» Seungkwan nods, and takes a sip of beer. He knows where this conversation is heading, and he is also ready to face it. «But now that I took more responsibilities here in the New York firm, I realized that I actually like being in charge and that I would like to, you know, take my dad’s place as CEO, as he will become the president of the company. But this means…»
«Moving to Seoul?»
«Yeah, I haven’t confirmed anything to my dad, just that I would have talked with you about it. I don’t want to move to South Korea if you are not okay with it, I want us to be together, and even if my dad will be sad about it, he told me that I can stay here if I want to.»
Seungkwan stays silent and then smiles at Mingyu.
Seungkwan already knew about this, he was just waiting for the moment Mingyu would have brought up the topic to him. The fact that Mingyu’s father wanted his son to take his place later in the year slipped out of Joshua’s mouth more or less one week ago while Seungkwan was on a call with him and Jeonghan, and that Mingyu was thinking about actually accepting the offer slipped out of Wonwoo’s mouth when the previous week he was inNew York for a work trip and met up with Seungkwan before going for drinks with Mingyu and their friends.
Honestly, Seungkwan used to think he would have never lived outside of New York. That is the city has seen him grow up, fail, fall in love, get his first job and his first kiss, and it is the city where Mingyu proposed to him. He hates New York, but he can’t help but love it as well, it is a huge box where a lot of his favorite memories are stored. So this is why it was a bit bizarre that he immediately thought that moving to Seoul so Mingyu could pursue his dream wasn’t a bad idea at all, but that –on the contrary– he would have loved trying this new experience.
Is this what true love for one person feels like?
«Do you really want to go?»
Seungkwan is still smiling and can see Mingyu’s confused expression, but he can also see some spark in his eyes.
«Yes, I would really like to try. I grew up with everyone telling me that I will become the next CEO and I didn’t really like it, but now that I have the choice, I have realized that trying wouldn’t hurt. But I would be just as happy living here and managing the firm here.»
«I know you wouldn’t,» Seungkwan says with a pinch of scolding tone. «And, you know, you can be selfish for once and ask me to move to Seoul with you. You told me that you belong with me, well, I also belong with you. When I said yes, I knew that eventually we might have moved to Seoul, the moment came earlier than I expected, but Mingyu, I would love to come with you and support you.»
Mingyu’s eyes are now fully lightened up and filled with tears, ready to stream down his face. And, since he can’t seem to be able to talk, Seungkwan continues.
«I also think it’s time to tell you that I already knew about this since your cousins aren’t able to keep a secret, and well, NYU offered me to renew the contract for the next Academic year, but I told them not. Once I’m done with my current research and this semester, I will try and look for a job in Seoul, Shua told me that he will help me.»
«You, you what?» Mingyu, who most definitely thought that this wouldn’t have been the outcome of this conversation, is looking at his fiance in utter shock. «So? You knew?»
«For a couple of weeks now, but I wanted you to tell me everything.»
«And you already said to the headmaster you won’t renew the contract?»
«Exactly. One of these days I will also tell Chanie and Vernonie, and my mom and sisters.»
«You really would move to Seoul with me? For me?»
«Of course, is that even a question? I changed a lot since we started dating, and I would do that for you, but also for me. It will be good trying something new, you still don’t know if you will surely take over your dad, and if you will, then I guess we will have to stay there until you decide to retire, and only then we will talk about what to do next.» Seungkwan is now sitting on top of Mingyu, his arms embracing his boyfriend in a warm hug. «I would love to live with you in Seoul, to be close to your family and friends, and also to start a new life there. I have always been afraid of stepping outside of my comfort zone, but with you by my side, I can do everything.»
Mingyu, who now doesn’t have anything to say, just kisses Seungkwan. His lips still taste like the spicy pepperoni on his pizza, mixed with the tears of joy that were running down his cheeks to his mouth. It’s a kiss that says both thank you and I love you. It’s a kiss that, once again, seals the love they feel for each other.
Seungkwan is the first to break the kiss to look at Mingyu, wondering once again how good he must have been in his previous life to deserve him in this one.
«The wedding is in May next year, we can start properly organizing it while we’re in Seoul,» Mingyu kisses Seungkwan again and then he smiles into the kiss. «You know, check out locations, the flowers, the cakes, the invitations, the chairs, everything.»
Seungkwan’s dream has always been to get married in May, so of course Mingyu, on his mission to create the perfect wedding, has agreed on that. The reason why they are getting married almost two years after the engagement is that both of them decided to take things slow, adapting to the new reality of them living together and Seungkwan knowing the truth about Mingyu’s family. Now that almost one year has passed, Seungkwan thought that they could at least try and set an official date –rigorously in May– and maybe share their first ideas.
«You want to get married in Seoul?»
«Yeah, your mother has sent me some good locations for the marriage, I think getting married there won’t be too bad. This way my mother and my sisters can come to South Korea and visit it for the first time.»
«Are you on a text basis with my mother?» Mingyu seems more shocked than when Seungkwan told him he was up to move to Seoul just a few minutes ago.
«Yeah, one day she started sending me new recipes, then house decoration tips, and also job offers in Seoul,» Seungkwan explains. «She sent me also wedding locations, she says she can’t wait to see her only son getting married and she hopes we can do that as soon as possible. I think she’s trying to be civil with me now, I appreciate it.»
«I need to say something…»
«Nope, I told you this in confidence, she told me not to tell you about us texting otherwise you might think she is trying to control our decisions. I think she is trying, but since I know it, I can choose properly myself.»
«If she does something too weird, don’t hesitate and tell me.»
«I’ll let you read the chat later tonight.»
Mingyu laughs and then stands up, while picking up Seungkwan, who is still sitting on top of him, in the meantime.
«I already miss New York,» Mingyu nonchalantly says while looking out of the window. «Let’s watch The Devil Wears Prada once we’re done cleaning everything up.»
That sentence has sparked something in Seungkwan. He now knows what to gift his boyfriend for Valentine’s Day.
𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩
«So you can’t come with us shopping?» Chan and Vernon, who stopped by Seungkwan’s apartment for a quick breakfast, ask Seungkwan in unison.
«I’m sorry, I know I promised you I would have, mainly because I needed to buy a gift for Valentine’s Day, but now I have an idea and I need to stay home to finish it.»
«What idea? Are you seriously wrapping yourself as a gift as Jeonghanie suggested?»
«What? Of course not, did Jeonghan tell you that too?»
«He sent it by mistake to my chat instead of yours yesterday.» Chan explains while Vernon is still busy eating the eggs Seungkwan left behind.
«I’m making Mingyu a journal with all our memories in New York together,» Seungkwan disappears in his studio and then appears again in the kitchen, a navy box and a red bullet journal in his hands. He stops for a moment, realizing that to explain the reason behind his journal, he also needs to tell them that they will be moving. Seungkean looks at them. They will know eventually, and that also feels like a great moment to tell them. «Mingyu wants to take after his father at his family company, so he needs to go to Seoul and I will be going with him. In September we will be moving there.»
Both of them look at Seungkwan in disbelief, and Vernon drops his fork.
«That’s huge! Congratulations Kwan! I will miss you so much.» Chan stands up and carries the box to the table so he can properly hug Seungkwan and Vernon joins them shortly after. «Now who will I go to for my 3 am drinking sessions?»
«Move to Seoul as well. As far as I know, Mingyu’s family owns like 70% of the buildings in South Korea, they’ll find a house and maybe also a job for you.» Seungkwan jokes, but neither Vernon or Chan seem to laugh, deeply thinking about it.
«Soonyoung has told me they need some backup dancers and choreographers.» Chan starts and then Vernon continues.
«Jihoon and I call each other for feedback on our respective songs often, and he offered me to go and work with him there. The company those two work for is getting bigger and they need new employees.»
«But this is not the time to talk about this,» Chan states then and Vernon nods. «Those are just offers and maybe they are just joking around, I still have to finish this musical here and Vernonie has a contract, so we will see later. Show us what you’re preparing for Mingyu.»
Seungkwan wishes they could talk more about his best friends moving to Seoul as well, but he is in a rush to complete the present for Mingyu and he needs every spare minute before his fiance comes home. So he silently agrees with Chan and starts explaining his idea.
«Since I already knew we would have eventually moved to Seoul, a couple of months ago I started doing a journal collecting all of our memories together. Here’s the ticket to the Empire State Building, which was our second date,» Seungkwan starts turning the first few pages of the journal. «This is the ticket of when we went and watched Hamilton, instead this is a picture at my oldest sister's wedding, and these are some of the receipts from the University café when we used to meet when we were still friends but we started to feel something more. I also printed out some pictures I took of our Central Park dates and our past Valentine’s Days together.»
«Seungkwan, this is very sweet,» Vernon comments, going through some of the stuff Seungkwan keeps in his box. «Isn’t this from that one date where Mingyu ended up puking the whole night?»
Seungkwan takes the cinema ticket Vernon is holding and laughs.
«Oh yeah, he couldn’t digest his dinner well because it was freezing outside that night and he didn’t wear something warm enough,» Seungkwan chuckles and then points to a page. «Those instead are the tickets for the Knicks my boss gifted me. Remember you guys told me to try the How to lose a guy in 10 days theory, so I asked him to go and buy a diet Coke for me when the match was about to end on a draw and, when I asked him why he went, he told me he could have watched it at home but wanted to make me happy that moment.»
«I knew he was the one when he told you that,» Vernon states. «No basketball fan in their right mind would do that, you wouldn’t do that either. You found one in a million.»
«Oh my! Aren’t these the stickers from the first gay pride? I thought you lost them on the way home.»
«I thought the same thing, but then I discovered Mingyu, who was walking behind us with his friends, picked them up for me and didn’t return them immediately because we were too busy talking.»
A choir of aww echoes in the room and Seungkwan can see his own cheeks turning red.
«Are these the pictures from Seoul?» Chan takes them out of the box. «You have good eyes for pictures.»
«I almost deleted them all after the temporary break-up, I’m glad I still loved him too much to actually do it.»
Seoul memories don’t hurt as much as they used to.
Seungkwan has always believed that there is a reason why two people are exes and that they should never get back together. Despite his conviction, he agreed to marry Mingyu the moment he showed up at his house. Their break-up was messy, Seungkwan was basically forced to break up with Mingyu despite both of them were still in love and ready to sacrifice everything for each other. And well, them getting back together was probably the best, and maybe only, outcome for that situation.
«And these?» Vernon asks, taking out a small black box from the bigger one.
«Oh, those? They are the matching promise rings I bought for Mingyu, but he beat me on the timing and gifted one to me first. But the shop had a no-return policy after 30 days after the purchase, so I ended up keeping it and I couldn’t find myself selling it somewhere else.»
«What? And you’re keeping it here? You could have gifted it to Mingyu anyway.»
«But then we wouldn’t have matching promise rings. It’s okay though, it’s still a good memory.»
Seungkwan grins.
Mingyu gifted him promise rings on their first-anniversary date, it wasn’t something too fancy, just the two of them at their favorite spot out of town watching the stars. It was simple but romantic. For the whole night, the ring box in his jacket weighed more than it did on every other occasion, but when Mingyu took out two matching promise rings for each other, he couldn’t bring himself to take out his own box. He was thinking bout using it to propose to Mingyu, but his awesome boyfriend, once again, beat him on the timing.
«I’ll gift it to him when the right moment comes.» Seungkwan says, hiding the box. He has thought, for a brief second, that maybe giving the rings to him would have been perfect on Valentine’s Day, but he also thinks he needs an even more special occasion.
«If you want I can help you to finish this, thankfully I already have a gift for my girlfriend,» Chan says, and, before Seungkwan can accept his offer, he immediately starts sorting out all the pictures and memories. «Oh, this is for one of Vernon’s friends' underground rock band concert.»
«I’ll help as well, I’m single, I have no inspiration, and I work freelance, maybe a dive into the history of a cute relationship will inspire me.»
Seungkwan is glad those two also have been offered jobs in Seoul because he would miss them otherwise.
𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩
Seungkwan is shaking.
Valentine’s Day morning already started greatly: both of them had the same idea to make breakfast in bed for one another. They both sneakily got out of bed, Mingyu first when he thought Seungkwan was still sleeping, and then Seungkwan when he thought Mingyu was just going to the bathroom, only to end up meeting each other in the kitchen. So this is the story of how Mingyu and Seungkwan turned a surprise breakfast in bed into their nth cooking session together.
Initially, the two of them wanted to have a fancy dinner in a restaurant that Joshua recommended, but since both Mingyu and Seungkwan had long days, they decided to settle for take-out and sappy romcoms at home. Seungkwan decided that it was finally time to watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Mingyu, wondering if he will recognize that he used one of the tactics in the movie to test him.
They also agreed on no presents, but he’s sure that Mingyu is also gifting him something. And well, Seungkwan is really proud of what he prepared with Vernon and Chan, so he is shaking in anticipation to give it to Mingyu.
Seungkwan, who managed to get off a couple of hours earlier than he expected, was also able to stop at a store to buy some cute ornaments and flowers to decorate the house. The house was made even prettier when Mingyu came home with the biggest flower bouquet Seungkwan has ever seen alongside their favorite fried chicken.
The night goes by like any other night.
Seungkwan has always been a hopeless romantic, but being with Mingyu has made him appreciate romantic acts even more. Mingyu would gift him days at the spa, fancy nights out, and unexpected flower bouquets, Mingyu would surprise him with his favorite dinner and tickets for the volleyball team he likes. Mingyu would pick him up after a friendly tennis match with some of his old high school friends or after a long day at work.
Mingyu spoils him in every possible way, and Seungkwan still isn’t used to it and feels grateful every time. But, at the same time, feeling so loved became a huge part of his routine that even big days feel like any other day. Every moment with Mingyu is special, he treasures everything in his heart, from small cooking sessions to cuddle sessions to unexpected Mingyu visits after work.
Of course, Seungkwan does his best too: he asks Mingyu out for lunch when he knows he’s getting too absorbed in his projects, prepares his favorite dishes, and organizes cleaning sessions for the two of them because they always have fun cleaning the house together while singing to their favorite songs: Seungkwan also always tries to get tickets for baseball and basketball matches that Mingyu enjoys, and leaves him small post-its with encouraging and sweet quotes (he wanted them after they watched To all the boys I’ve loved before during one of their date nights).
Mingyu is now back on the couch, he stood up to get something as soon as the movie ended. Seungkwan knows it was his gift, so he also quickly stood up to go and get his, so when Mingyu came back, Seungkwan is waiting for him with sweet and innocent eyes and the gift hidden under the blanket.
«So did you really use one of those tricks on me?»
«Well, it was Chan and Vernon’s idea, and you passed with perfect grades, don’t worry.»
«It isn’t that funny,» Mingyu says, but Seungkwan can clearly see him grinning. «I can’t stop looking at all the decorations, every year you surprise me.»
«I know right? I know you like them so I stopped and bought some. I know South Korea is the homeland of couple culture, I can’t wait to see how we will spend the day next year.»
«I can’t believe you’re the one who is the most excited to go to Seoul now, I can’t believe I was scared to tell you.»
«I know, I am always full of surprises.» Seungkwan places a kiss on Mingyu’s lips. Seungkwan can almost taste his own strawberry lip balm on Mingyu.
«And talking about surprises,» Mingyu reaches behind his back and takes out a pink envelope. «Happy Valentine’s Day, I know we said no presents, but I got this for you.»
Seungkwan jumps on his seat and opens the red envelope.
It’s two tickets for 10 days in Italy early in June. And there is also a small note saying:
Now you can try Italian pizza and gelato you always talk about. And what about spending a couple of nights under the Italian sky in a bubble? Are you in?
«I would love that,» Seungkwan squeaks while going through the images of the draft of the itinerary Mingyu made. «I’ve been seeing so many videos about Italy, now I want to go there and have a spritz too.»
«Then we’ll go and have a typical Italian happy hour with spritz.»
«Thank you, thank you, thank you, I will never say thank you enough.»
Seungkwan jumps on top of Mingyu and kisses him again. Mingyu happily lets Seungkwan’s weight push his back down on the couch and Seungkwan places himself on top of him so he can keep kissing him better. It’s when he feels Mingyu’s hands running through his hair that Seungkwan knows it’s time to stop the kiss before he turns into more.
Kissing Mingyu is addicting.
His lips and tongue move in perfect sync with Seungkwan’s, just like their bodies do. He knows how to perfectly touch and treat Seungkwan, making him feel loved and taken care of. He treats Seungkwan like he’s the most precious jewel on Earth. He kisses Seungkwan like every kiss is their first and last. He kisses Seungkwan like every kiss is another way to seal their love forever.
So this is why Mingyu whines when he can’t feel Seungkwan’s lips on his anymore. He teases Mingyu, getting close again, almost like he’s initiating the kiss again. It’s in that moment, when their lips are dangerously close again, that Seungkwan whispers.
«Do you think I forgot about your gift?»
Seungkwan reaches behind him and hands Mingyu his present, precisely wrapped by his own hands (he learned when he was young, one of the many good sides of growing up with sisters).
Mingyu is even more excited than Seungkwan was when he opened his gift.
Seungkwan’s love language has never been giving gifts, but he’s now releasing that watching Mingyu opening his gift is more rewarding than receiving one.
«It’s a journal with all our memories together until now,» Seungkwan explains, as Mingyu silently goes through the journal, attentively reading Seungkwan’s notes at the beginning.
«Is this from the bouquet I got you on our first date?» Mingyu points at a dried flower on the first page and Seungkwan nods. «And this is from that bagel place that opened after I redesigned the place? And oh my, you still have the tickets from that Knicks game?»
«If you go to page 30, I made a playlist with all the songs we listen to every time you picked me up from my tennis evenings with my friends,» Seungkwan says, excitement growing in his chest. «And on page 31 there are some of our go-to songs at karaoke.»
«What is this?» Mingyu is pointing at a QR Code that Seungkwan put on that same page.
«It’s a cover of Age by Yoon Yongshing, I remember you insisted on hearing a cover made by me of that song, so I asked Vernonie for help and we recorded it and uploaded it on private on YouTube, only the two of us can access it.»
Seungkwan notices Mingyu's eyes start to get teary.
«No Mingyu don’t cry please.» Seungkwan tries to console him, but that seems to make Mingyu tear up even more.
«I can’t wait to listen to it every time I need it.» Mingyu almost chokes on his words. «Thank you Seungkwan.»
«This is the least I can do for you.»
«I can’t believe I thought I had the perfect gift since you kept talking about Italy, and then you showed up with this.»
Seungkwan can’t help, but lean towards Mingyu and kiss him again. It’s slow, he is enjoying every moment of it. Mingyu is smiling between the tears and Seungkwan smiles as well.
«You know,» Seungkwan stops the kiss and caresses Mingyu’s head. «You should finish flipping through it.»
Mingyu nods and keeps going through the journal, commenting on everything with Seungkwan, reminiscing their past together.
Their endless dates, the restaurants they tried together, the times they got drunk on red wine at home, the times they hung out with Seungkwan’s family, the brunches after long Saturdays out.
Every page in that journal is a page of their journey together.
Then he comes towards the end, and the pages are empty.
«This is for our next chapter in Seoul, you can fill it with all the memories you want,» Seungkwan illustrates the reasoning behind his choice. «Cafés receipts, songs that remind you of us, special and ordinary dates, if something makes you happy and you want to keep it in our memories forever, you can put it on here.»
That journal is Seungkwan’s love declaration. It is his way to show Mingyu his full support, to show him that he will always be there by his side.
Seungkwan doesn’t know what the future will hold for them. He knows it will not always be easy. He knows they will fight, just like it happens now and how it has happened in the past. He knows they will have to face new challenges. He knows there will be sad moments.
Seungkwan doesn’t know what the future will hold for him, but he knows that he knows that their future will be full of moments of happiness, that they will face new challenges side by side, that they can cheer for each other accomplishments.
Seungkwan doesn’t know what the future will hold for him, but he hopes that Mingyu will be by his side as long as possible.
Seungkwan doesn’t know what the future will hold, so he has decided to enjoy every moment with Mingyu.
Seungkwan doesn’t know where he would be now if he accepted the scholarship Yale offered him, or if he accepted the job offer from Berkley. He has sometimes wondered about it. He has wondered if destiny would have brought him to Mingyu anyway. Seungkwan likes to think that their love is so strong they would have met in one way or another. Seungkwan likes to think that he and Mingyu will meet in every universe because they are meant to be.