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The fan meeting yesterday was a huge success, at least to Keen’s definition of success. He knew GMMTV and his seniors had done bigger shows with bigger crowds in Taiwan before, but for newbies like him and Sea, Taipei treated them so well. They were both lying on their bed in the hotel, scrolling on X to understand fans’ feedback. They decided to have a slow morning before heading out to see the city in the afternoon.
“Fans love seeing us together, don’t they?” Sea told him while giving him his phone to see the tweet. Keen nodded and smiled with his eyes, “For the record, we do look good together, even I love seeing us together.” Sea just shook his head and giggled at Keen’s cheesy saying, but he didn’t disagree with him.
–
They were on the train heading to Beitou, a famous hot spring district in Taipei. Both of them looked around in awe, trying to take all of that colourful sceneries and lively sounds into memories. Taipei was so lively, so interesting, and so beautiful. And they were here, in Taipei, together. Keen could not hold his excitement in. Years ago, when he joined Project Alpha, he didn’t even dream of having opportunities working abroad like this. But now, he had those opportunities, and even better, he got to do those opportunities with his favourite person.
Sea didn’t say much, but Keen knew, he was as excited as him seeing Taipei’s beautiful skyline and listening to the sound of this megalopolis. Sea was busy taking photos left and right, he probably would post that for their fans to see. Keen not so secret take some photos of Sea. His partner was so damn handsome, and he was glowing under the sunlight.
“Are you taking photos of me?”
“No,” Keen giggled cheerfully.
“Let me take some photos for you too”, Sea offered.
Keen jumped right into modelling mode. “Make sure to capture the youthful energetic on-the-train vibe,” he directed. Sea just looked at him fondly and took a bunch of photos.
“Do I look good?”
“You know you always look good.”
“You’re lying,” Keen said teasingly.
“To me, you always look good.”
Keen just laughed looking at Sea’s silly face until both of them giggled together. They surely got some side-eyes from other people on their train carriage. But oh well, they were not loud, just young and a little bit crazy.
–
Beitou reminded Keen of Japan. The small village vibe, the architect, and the hot springs, all of that reminded him of the time he had in Japan.
“This place reminded me of Japan, do you think the same?” Sea asked.
“Yeah, but Tokyo was such a different vibe, Beitou is more like the Japan I usually see in anime.”
“Tokyo was so sci-fi, I like it, but I also enjoy this vibe.”
Both of them exchanged comments and jokes here and there as they explored the streets of Beitou. Sea pulled Keen to a small restaurant he found interesting and both of them had a nice omakase experience at a, surprisingly, affordable price.
“I’m so full!” Keen animatedly exclaimed.
“Me too ah, I feel like I can’t walk anymore.” Sea agreed.
“Come on, let’s walk for a while and head to the hot springs, I can’t wait!” Keen held his partner’s hand and dragged him across the street.
Sea laughed at his friend’s childish behaviour and then started chasing him. Both of them ran across Beitou’s streets, laughing, hearts so full.
–
Keen had already booked a hotel room so that they could use the hotel’s private hot spring bath. They could have gone to a public one, but they were shy. It was not the holiday season, so the hotel and its surroundings were quiet and peaceful.
Sea and he changed into their swimming shorts and went to the hot spring area. It was an outdoor one where they could see the night sky and the city skyline from afar. Keen tiptoed to test the water temperature.
“Ooi, it’s so hot!” Keen quickly pulled his feet back.
“Because it is a hot spring?” Sea looked at him making a face.
“I know, but it is still HOT!”
It took them a while to get used to the temperature. The moment he got comfortable with the water, Keen instantly understood why people love going to hot springs. It was so relaxing, and all of his body aches were starting to disappear. His muscles were thanking him. Sea shared the same feelings, as Keen could see. He closed his eyes to enjoy whatever was going on in his body.
Keen took a closer look at his partner, his silhouette glowing and dazing in the hot mist. Sea was handsome, everyone objectively agreed with that. But to Keen, there was something boyish in Sea’s beauty that made his heart miss a few beats. His partner was on the journey of transforming from a boy to a man in terms of looks, his features were refining every day that went by, but there were some boyish moments there. Keen loved seeing the tiny baby fat on Sea’s cheek, the way his eyes awkwardly asked Seen for help in an unfamiliar situation like a baby, and the way he stuttered when Keen hit him with some cheesy saying. All of those moments were so endearing to Keen. He knew that his partner would soon get used to his role and his new image. Sea would soon master the art of poker face and would know how to serve a look. Sea would soon make people scream just by looking at his jawline or mysteriously beautiful eyes. Keen knew that as he had absolute faith in Sea. But for now, he was happy staying where they were, enjoying the boyish features of his partner, just for a little while.
Sea opened his eyes as he could sense Keen was staring at him so intensely. His breath stopped at the sight in front of his eye. Keen was so unreal. And Sea could see there was so much fondness in his partner’s eyes. So much fondness that Sea sometimes wondered how could he be so lucky to have someone adore him just as much. Both of them were friends before becoming each other partners. He admitted the time working together and the filming of Only Boo had made their relationship progress and grow to what it was now. Sea caught himself thinking could this bond between them go any further? If yes, what would be the end goal? Soulmates? Family? Lovers?
He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to guess. “Focus and be present” Sea mentally noted to himself. He looked back at Keen, they didn’t have to say anything to each other. He loved the comfortable silence between them. Keen was such an extrovert, but being the one who constantly kept the conversation going could be draining for Keen. And Keen used to tell him that being by his side was so comfortable that he didn’t have to say anything. Sea took that compliment to heart, he wanted to be Keen’s comfort zone. His Keen was undeniably cute and beautiful. But maybe only he knew that his Keen was also very emotionally mature. Behind that bubbly image and energy was someone who was so in touch with everyone’s emotions. At least that was what Sea thought because Keen always knew what was going on in his mind even though he struggled to express it. Would he know what Sea was thinking? He wondered to himself. Anyway, maybe that was not important, and the untitled feelings he was having could wait. Looking at his seniors like P’Earth, P’Mix, P’First, or P’Khaotung, Sea knew they would have a lot of time together to figure things out. For now, maybe he should stop trying to label things and calling all of these feelings by name, he was happy with what they had now.
“So relaxing, and the sky tonight is wonderful, we’re so lucky today,” Keen exclaimed.
“Indeed!” Sea nodded.
“Now looking back, I couldn’t think we would have the opportunity to do all of this,” Keen commented.
“Me too, but here we are, in Taipei, together, enjoying hot springs,” Sea added.
“Yeah, here we are,” Keen smiled, thinking maybe this was happiness “together.”
Keen suddenly wanted to sing something, this was such a good atmosphere for singing. He thought to himself, trying to find a song. And he suddenly remembered the song he listened to on the airplane.
Do you hear me? I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Sea just looked at him and sang along because Sea was the one who suggested this song to him after all.
Boy, I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
Keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard
Both of them look at each other, smiling, and continue their unplanned duet.
Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh