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Cairo is hot.
Well, Egypt is different—it’s special, it’s been his lifetime dream, he shouldn’t be bothered with how humid it is and how sticky his shirt feels like. It’s scorching hot, but it’s beautiful, how the people look so different, the buildings are colored in dark cream, the atmosphere’s festive. There are lots of stalls and transactions along the market street, busy yet relaxed, the people are loud and they ooze hospitality. Kids running and begging their mother to buy candies, playing chase, hugging each other. The sound of people bargaining, fruit vendors calling for pedestrians to buy the ‘freshest apples in town’. Shining antiques and its equally antique seller in turban, smoking thick, brown cigar and puff it just like another day will pass, so no need to rush.
There are also some Western-looking tourists which Yoongi can’t tell where they are coming from. The men wear sleeveless shirt and Yoongi envies how they can be so confident in their bodies—if he wears one, his arms would look like sticks, too skinny and too pale. So instead Yoongi wears a long-sleeved shirt, the material is thankfully thin cotton, the pattern is confusing but pretty. He bought it in Bali, and going to another summer-hot country is a justified reason to wear this champ. He even wears his straw hat, because Namjoon reminded him the danger of heatstroke like when Yoongi fainted during a charity run last year.
Yoongi checks his phone, the tour guide should be around here... since like fifteen minutes ago. He’s about to take the route again to kill time when he notices a panic-looking Asian in the middle of Egyptian people, his skin rich bronze, his eyes the brightest half moon and he’s trying to swim the people crowding for a street attraction. It must be his tour guide, Jung Hoseok! Yoongi beams up at the chance, waving his hand up in the air so the guy will notice.
“Min Yoongi-ssi?” the guy shouts from afar, causing several people to look at him due to the strange language he just spoken. Yoongi is flustered because he’s not used to the directness, but he nods and he tries to get closer at him too. Yoongi doesn’t know but maybe because of the attraction, a lot of people start pushing him from behind, making him bump with a lot of people going opposite, and he finally gets to Hoseok’s place before someone push him hard, making him crash with Hoseok a little bit too embarrassingly.
They don’t fall, thank God, but Hoseok is holding his arms to make him steady. He laughs at Yoongi a little, and Yoongi can feel his heart dropping. “I’m sorry, it must be very chaotic for you, Min Yoongi-ssi. I’m Jung Hoseok, we talked a lot through our emails, I believe.”
“No, no- not at all. It’s all very interesting. Nice to put a face to your name, Jung Hoseok-ssi.” Yoongi smiles back at the man in front of him. He’s not even a little bit different from his online persona, the guy he talked to before he fled to Egypt was a cheerful guy with excessive usage of emoticons and exclamation mark, and he doesn’t disappoint.
“And sorry for being late… ah, it’s just kind of a habit, I guess,” Hoseok scratches his head lightly, “maybe because we are close to the pyramids.”
“Stephen Hawking’s time dilution?”
“You know that?”
“Yeah,” Yoongi is proud for no reason, his chest afloat. “I read somewhere that because of the mass of the pyramids, time is going a tad bit slower. It’s still a debatable theory though,”
“Well, it’s still a bad excuse for my tardiness, but I’m glad you can accept that.”
Yoongi notices that this man is very generous in terms of laughing, smiling or chuckling that maybe, just maybe, people around him would feel happy all the time. “I understand that this isn’t Korea, anyway.”
“Thank you!” he grimaces, solidifying his impression of a bright person. “Now where should we go, Prince Ali?”
--
“So you have been living in Cairo since elementary school? Wow, that’s a long time.”
Hoseok dips his pita chip into his almost empty bowl that was filled with creamy, thick kind of soup, and answer Yoongi’s question. “Ah, yes. My father works for Hyundai, he still is, and we had to move because he was just promoted to work in the Egyptian branch. Now he pretty much manages it, haha.”
“You must be loaded, it’s nice.” Yoongi spoons his soup, and his tongue once again appreciates the rich taste and texture, Hoseok told him that this dish is mainly made of eggplant and he can’t think of how it could turn into something like this. “What’s the name of this soup again? Baba Gamsah?”
“It’s Baba Ghanoush, and no, being rich is not equivalent with happiness anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I used to be so depressed living here, since it was quite sudden of a move. I cried so hard before leaving Korea, to leave my friends, my big families, my house there... it was just sad. And it became worse when I arrived. At that time I didn’t know anyone, didn’t know how to speak the language, didn’t know what to do with different place and different culture. I made peace with myself when I hit puberty, so like, I matured at the right time."
He’s smiling again, and Yoongi can’t deny that the man in front of him is very sweet.
“I don’t know you could be depressed,” Yoongi spoons yet another one and munches it very enthusiastically even though it doesn’t need to be chewed like that—he doesn’t want to look like he’s too smitten or anything. “I mean, you are brimming all the time,” he looks at the bowl deeply, afraid of meeting Hoseok’s eyes or his response.
“Ahaha, you’re so funny,” Hoseok sounds amused. “Nobody is happy all the time, you know, are we a robot? But yeah, I try to be content with everything, since we only live once. It's not so bad after all, I'm thankful I get to know the Egyptians- they are all nice people. And to be surrounded by the historical wonders here? It's an honour.”
“True,”
“And what about you, Yoongi-ssi, is there like… anything you’re not satisfied with in your life? From what you told me before I know that you are an artist, and I really envy artists, they look like they lead a very free-spirited life!”
“Well, not really. Not when you have bills to pay or when you’re stuck,” he automatically pouts, thinking about noisy landlord or mails from bank. “But I don’t regret being an artist, it’s been my aspiration since I was a kid. And even though I’m Seoul-based, I get to travel to many places to seek for inspirations. Egypt happens to be one of my top bucket lists,” he explains, but surprised when finding that Hoseok is following his story attentively. “is… that what you call with free-spirited?”
“Absolutely, yes.” he grins, and Yoongi’s heart just did a backward somersault. “So what kind of an artist are you? I mean, my knowledge in art is limited but I atleast know that there are painter, photographer, musician…”
“I’m a multidisciplinary artist, I do pretty much everything you mentioned.”
“Multidiscipli-wow, that sounds like the most complicated Korean word I’ve ever heard.”
It’s Yoongi’s turn to chuckle, and he sips his cool sugarcane juice to ease the dry throat. “It’s not complicated or anything in reality, I just paint whenever I like it, but I sketch, write and compose most of the time. I also take photos, but I’m not really great enough to be declared a photographer. I can do some pottery because I took a class and as funny as it seems, I design jewelleries.”
Hoseok almost can’t keep his mouth from hanging loose. “It still sounds complicated to me though… wow, you’re so cool, how can a person do that much?”
Yoongi can’t help but blush, but then again maybe it’s due to the heat. He tries to change the topic to Hoseok, but it seems like Hoseok is very stubborn in knowing what he does in his life. “It’s not much, really, I mostly sit in a café, or walk to the park, or visit a marketplace- the reason I wanted to meet you in that market earlier.”
“Why market?”
“You get to see people, and their life, and how the world runs in such a space... see, I like people. I like to observe them, their habits, their features, how their culture reflects on their actions, and how they synergize and create the very situation happening before my eyes.”
“...Whoa- that sounds amazing.” Hoseok fawns over, earning a surprised look from Yoongi.
“How is it amazing, Hoseok-ssi, really.”
“You really sound like an artist just now, I was kind of star-struck.”
“What? That’s… silly.” he brushes it off, acting like he’s not affected when he’s actually blooming inside. He’s an artist, it’s a fact, but to have someone repeating it over and over makes him flushed.
“It’s true,” Hoseok is slurping the last gulp of his melon juice. “Your eyes were wandering somewhere really far, and the way you said it looks like you were immersed in something that I entirely couldn’t touch. It’s quite intense, if I should say.”
“God, that was rude of me then, I’m sorry.”
Hoseok looks genuinely riddled. “What’s the sorry for, I was complimenting you.”
And Yoongi doesn’t know whether it runs in Hoseok’s blood or because he lives in an entirely different place that he’s so bold and frank, but either way Hoseok gets him captived by his honest charm. He’s as clear as the daytime sky, purer than the white clouds- or maybe it’s because he resembles the sun itself.
Yoongi clears his throat. “Ahem, so, are we going to the Pyramids now?”
“Yes, but we have to go to somewhere before that.”
Yoongi is about to pay the bill when Hoseok waves his hand at the cashier, a local man who looks like the owner of the small restaurant. “He’s my friend and he owes me, so the lunch is on me.”
“Hoseok-ssi…”
“Just give me bigger tips later on, okay?” he playfully winks at Yoongi, before he exits the door, leaving Yoongi dumbfounded, his wallet open.
He can’t be falling in love with his guide, right?
Damn, that’ll be too easy of him.
--
Hoseok brings him to a simple-looking but beautiful building, just 10-minute walk from the restaurant, that turns out to be Hoseok’s house. He lives with both of his parents, and he introduces Yoongi as “an artist from Seoul, mom, dad, how amazing is that?”
Hoseok’s dad is a lanky man with big eyes and warm smile, and his mom is a petite woman whose eyes resembles Hoseok’s. They welcome Yoongi like he’s their own son, and a feeling of nostalgia rushes through him as if he was in Korea instead of Egypt. They even offer Yoongi to have lunch at their house- Hoseok needs to whisper to them that he and Yoongi ate already earlier. Hoseok’s mom is still insisting to bring Yoongi a package of her homemade kimchi and some sweet potatoes, “to be eaten during your trip,” she says, and his dad brings them to the garage.
“So, we are going to ride this to the pyramids,” Yoongi is wide-eyed, looking at the sturdy jeep in front of him after Hoseok’s dad revealed its cover. "This is so... cool."
“My dad is especially proud of this,” Hoseok looks at his dad before looking at Yoongi again, “he singlehandedly modified the engine with a Hyundai one.”
“Korean engines are the toughest in the world.” His dad agrees as he throws the key to Hoseok. “Now go before those polices catch you, son.”
Yoongi follows Hoseok to the car as they buckle up, Hoseok waving at his dad while Yoongi bows his head politely. But as soon as they go in the street, Yoongi can no longer hide his curiosity. “What’s with the cops, Hoseok-ssi?”
“Ah, that, my license was expired three days ago.”
“Oh,”
“'Oh' what?”
“I thought you killed someone. It kinda destroy the thrill, you know.”
And Hoseok spends roughly three minutes laughing at him as if it’s the funniest joke in the Upper Egypt that’s ever heard, hitting his wheel and wiping his sweat in the middle of crazy traffic in Cairo’s protocol streets.
Like it’s not hard enough to avoid falling in love with him.
Yoongi decides to snack on the sweet potato, looking at the scenery that unfolds. Hoseok is turning the radio on, and an Egyptian song plays, pampering Yoongi's ear with beautiful desert melodies. It really dawns on Yoongi that he’s in a foreign country now, with a foreign air to breathe, foreign language to speak… and not so foreign tour guide whose black hair is blown by the wind, now that they are going further from the downtown, more to the outskirts where the pyramids laid.
They get off from the jeep, with Yoongi still carrying his camera while they are greeted with the wonders of the world, sitting majestically before their eyes. “Welcome to the Pyramid Complex of Giza, consisted of Khufu’s complex, Khafre’s complex, Menkaure’s complex, the Tomb of Queen Khentkaues I and the most popular one, The Sphinx.”
"The Sphinx," Yoongi says that in a same time, and they look at each other, smiling.
"Fantastic, isn't it?"
"I just got a very intense goosebumps."
"Me too, all the time."
Hoseok has the audacity to ruin his amazement it by saying that they are going to meet random sellers trying to shove them ‘freebies’, which is not free at all. And yes, they really meet them, and Hoseok tells Yoongi that some are calling Yoongi ‘handsome, handsome like K-Pop stars’, that Hoseok muffles up his laughter until he can’t help it, laughing until he tears up, and Yoongi folds his arms while annoyedly waits for Hoseok’s laughter to die.
“Why are you laughing, Hoseok-ssi? I’m embarrassed, you know.”
“No, I’m sorry, but you really look like one, though,” Hoseok wipes his tears with his surprisingly nice-looking, long fingers. “Because you really dressed like a celebrity, and you have blonde hair, and with your shades on—it’s hard not to think that you’re a Hallyu star.”
Yoongi quickly removes his sunglasses, and put it in his shirt’s pocket. “I was avoiding of being looked at because my eyes are small, and this is what I get?” he sulks, but nevertheless still finds this situation amusing.
“But I like your eyes, though.”
“Why do you like to joke so much?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?"
"... okay, thanks."
Yoongi can’t tell whether they are flirting or not, because Hoseok is too friendly, but he is friendly to pretty much everyone in five kilometres radius, so how is he supposed to tell? Yoongi wishes for a Gizan spirit that works like an alarm each time someone’s flirting with him, now that he’s in the one of the most mythical places in the world.
--
"I will send them later to you," Yoongi says after he showed Hoseok the pictures he take earlier in the Pyramids. There are a lot of photos, like Hoseok holding Sphinx's head, Hoseok carrying the Khufu Pyramid on his palm, Hoseok laughing while riding the camel, and also Hoseok who was staring far to the desert with everything surrounding him blurring in the lens, like he was the centre of the universe.
They are walking out of the Giza Pyramid Complex, but for some reason that Yoongi does not know, they are not walking towards the car parking lot. Instead, they are going further from it, opposite from where they came from initially. The day is getting older and most of the tourist are gone already, afraid of getting stuck in the middle of Cairo traffic before dinnertime, and Yoongi can't see a flock of tourist in his sight anymore, and it's kind of peaceful.
Yoongi is wearing sandals, and some sands got into them as the wind caresses the desert surface. It's a nice feeling--time really feels like it's going slower, like they are living in a giant sand clock that rustles softly.
The man walking besides him is, Yoongi is convinced, no less than a sun deity. The palette of his skin is a magical work that compliments the expanse of golden dust bowl behind him. The way he talks, brimming with warmness that keeps one feels safe, brings another side of Yoongi that he never know he has. How Yoongi forgets to add the detail of his hair slightly curled, charcoal-colored of smooth rolls shining under the sky light. Later he will redraw Hoseok more carefully, because he drew him in a rush before, afraid of getting caught stealing the art.
Jung Hoseok maybe really is a reincarnation of Ra, the sun god that Hoseok showed him in the form of the pyramid's wall relief.
"Truthfully, Min Yoongi-ssi, I don't get it."
"Don't get what?"
"You're the tourist here, I'm supposed to take your pictures- and not the other way." Hoseok holds his chin with his palm, pouting cutely in front of Yoongi. "Is this how artists in the whole world act? They're too busy taking photos and forget to take one of themselves? Or is it because they can't trust ordinary people?"
Oh God (of the Sun), please help Yoongi from this quarter-life crisis. He can't afford to fall in love with a man during a trip just like that, can he? Even though he has the most mesmerising smile Yoongi has ever seen, and how he's so fun to be with- being around him makes most of Yoongi's day, and he's actually a total opposite of him, yet Yoongi feels like he can live with him for another hundreds of years, even centuries...
"I... am sorry Yoongi-ssi, was I being too comfortable with you? This is why people said I have no sense, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine," Yoongi answers shortly, knowing that Hoseok just misunderstood his silence earlier while in fact he almost screamed when he heard the word 'comfortable' and 'you'. Pleasepleaseplease. Please be comfortable with me all you want, he kind of wanting to say that, but Yoongi is not cheap, he is an artist, and he won't throw himself to someone he just met this morning. Right?
Oh no. Hoseok smiles again at him.
It leaves him wondering why they don't have the championship of falling in love in the shortest time in the Olympics, he could sign up as one of the athlete and win a gold medal--for crushing at this man who has been showing him the world he didn't know before.
Yoongi is crushing on his tour guide.
That sounds a little bit better than falling in love.
Yoongi is crushing on his Jung Hoseok.
That sounds way too imaginative, horrible, and guaranteed will leave him in pain afterwards.
"Yoongi-ssi, why are you mumbling to yourself?"
"Oh! Yes!"
That sounds way too excited. Yoongi is not a high school boy in love.
Hoseok moves forward to Yoongi, his gestures worried. "Are you sure you are okay? Was the weather too hot for you?"
"Yeah, I mean, everything is okay, I live by myself so I often talk to myself. Strange, huh?"
And then Hoseok's eyes sparkle, like Yoongi can testify in front of the court that they literally sparkle, as if there's a big firework festival inside his crystal eyes, one goes up after another, and of course Yoongi knows that it's because he's just a lump of embarrassing, molding cheese when he's in love, but he didn't guess that Hoseok has this kind of power to make him loses his mind like this. Will he make it to Seoul, or will he stay in one of Egypt's asylum, rotting with rats that will eat his dysfunctional brain, that's the part of mystery of this exotic country. All because of this harmless Cairo man looking at him. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You are simply the cutest person I've ever met." Hoseok sighs, and Yoongi thinks whether cute and weird have the same meaning nowadays, he's always behind when it comes to trend. He's panicking now, his travel insurance covers physical injuries, but what about the mental ones?
"Are you having fun teasing me all day long?"
"Why do you always think of me like that? It hurts you know, I'm always serious," and Hoseok makes up a straight face expression that is bordering constipated, "if I say I will kidnap you, will you take me lightly like this?"
"And then what? You will sell my organs in a black market?"
"I won't, but I'm gonna preserve them in some clay jars and mummify your body."
"I'm scared now."
Hoseok raises his eyebrows so high, and that's the most attractive thing Yoongi has ever seen in a man. "You don't look a little bit scared though? Why are you like this, Yoongi-ssi?" he laughs. "Okay seriously forget that, I'm terrified of mummies anyway."
"But you just told me you were afraid of bugs and spiders!"
"And mummies too, and all the scary things in the world like bungee jumping and roller coasters which is why I make quite a sucky person."
(That time, Yoongi doesn't realise that he is smiling so fondly at Hoseok, so sincere, and soft, it reflects that Yoongi is definitely smitten in Hoseok's gleaming eyes.)
"Anyway, we should go." Hoseok adds, showing Yoongi the time by his watch. "Can't miss the big show."
"Big show?"
"You'll see later," he mysteriously smiles while grabbing Yoongi's hand, making Yoongi's heart pumping in irregular beat.
"Do I have a reason to be actually terrified now?"
Hoseok doesn't answer, but instead he tightens his grip and brings Yoongi to an unexpected marathon, making a ruckus in the seemingly flat surface, the sands dusting everywhere like a pixie trace. They are having too much fun running, Yoongi's hat is flewn by the wind that is blowing faster around them, and Yoongi just laughs before he lets go of Hoseok and starts chortling gleefully because he's sprinting like a lightning, surpassing Hoseok behind so far he has to stop for awhile to make the competition fair. Hoseok shakes his head and he chuckles at the messiness, trying to catch up to Yoongi, looking closely at Yoongi like he's an unbelievable storm in his Sahara. They only stop running when Hoseok shouts to Yoongi, "It's enough!" while laughing so heartily, his breath still uneven.
"I got carried by the wind, sorry!" Yoongi shouts at him before he straddles closer, hands on his hips like an old grandmother. He still laughs at Hoseok, seeing him drenched in sweat, "I don't even know why I tried to outrun you, to be very honest."
"I think you literally got carried by the wind, Yoongi-ssi, it was kind of scary to see you run like that."
"Sorry, I was a runner in my school days," Yoongi makes a face that is equivalent to a silly emoticon in KakaoTalk, "here, use this." he offers a white, simple-looking yet classy handkerchief with his initials embroidered on it. It was a birthday gift from his late grandmother, the one that gave Yoongi the artistic blood running in his veins.
"Well I am offended you didn't told me beforehand," Hoseok jokes, and accepts it, wiping the sweat down his face. "It kind of explains why you are so fast and competitive," he stresses, but his expression affectionate. "Wait, was it okay for me to use this? It looks... precious."
Yoongi shrugs, "You're observant, but it's okay, she likes it if it's can be useful."
"Your girlfriend?"
"My granny."
"Ah," Hoseok nods softly, still looking at the handkerchief's design. "She must be an artist like you. It's beautiful."
"She was." Yoongi kicks some small pebbles that were underneath the sand. He can still remember how his grandmother introduced Little Yoongi to his first canvas, playing with colours, and coals, and water, until he was a convivial mess of a toddler, that brought laughter to the whole house.
"I used it well, thanks to your grandmother. I will return it tomorrow," Hoseok keeps the handkerchief inside his pants' pocket safely, and taps it lightly.
"She would be glad."
And they are drowning in a beautiful silence, with gazillions of emotions left unsaid, both of them tiptoeing carefully in an unknown area, uncertainty reigning the heart.
"Hoseok-ssi..."
"Yes?"
"Why are we standing in the middle of nowhere?"
And Hoseok's pupils dilate, looking at Yoongi as if he was just struck with a realisation lightning sent from heaven. "I forgot to explain to you, gosh, we were so busy running," he shakes his head, unbelieving of his little blunder, letting out a small laugh that grows familiar in Yoongi's ear, like his signature. "See, if your favourite place is market, Min Yoongi-ssi, then it's safe to say that this is mine."
"Really?"
"Turn your back," Hoseok reaches for Yoongi's shoulders, and turns him gently.
They were really facing a vast desert with nothing, but the second they change their direction, it's a little bit different now. The pyramids, looking like a small complex inside a snowglobe, are glowing because the sun that was once shining high above, is now parallel to the top of the Khufu's pyramid. It's so unearthly, a mystique power is ambushing Yoongi's senses it's almost like a dream to Yoongi, the marmalade sun going down slowly, slowly like a bedtime lullaby. "Sunset..." he murmurs, soft enough to be heard by the whispering sands.
Yoongi now sees it. The reason why this place is Hoseok's favourite. He quickly moves his gaze to Hoseok to look at his expression, only to find him looking at Yoongi closely before he averts his sight. If Yoongi didn't catch it wrong, Hoseok was sheepish, and sheepish is a new word for Hoseok in Yoongi's eyes.
"It's my personal 'sunset observation post', Yoongi-ssi," Hoseok adds rather a kind of jest, but a hint of adoration still strong in his voice. "I found it years ago, when I was so fed up with the pyramids, and everything Egypt, and my parents that weren't seem to understand my hardships. And then I ran away from them, haha, a stupid Korean little boy in the middle of a dry desert, and it was getting dark... I was afraid of everything, I was on verge of tears before I looked back and saw exactly what we are seeing right now."
"It looks like... the pyramids are swallowing the sun,"
"They embrace the sun," Hoseok corrects him, and Yoongi turns his head, finding that they are both rained by the lavish illumination on their faces, as if their faces are each other's mirror, echoing the beauty, echoing the sentiment they share.
"It was supposed to be a secret between me and Egypt..." Hoseok clears his throat, "but I decided to share it with you."
They stay, standing side by side, drinking the sight that is almost like a mirage, keeping it somewhere in the back of their memories, shoulders brushing slightly but no one is bothered to move. Yoongi can hear his heart thumping faintly, along with the rustling sand, as he nicks another glance at Hoseok.
"Thank you, Hoseok-ssi." he looks down, feet playing with the sand. It feels warm, like his heart.
"You're most welcome."
Hoseok drives Yoongi back to the front lobby of his hotel, because Yoongi has a party to attend, and he's hoping for Hoseok to really, really kidnap him somewhere far from the pretentious crowds he's going to meet, but Hoseok is silent along their way back, left hand on his lips, like he's engrossed in a deep thought, that Yoongi doesn't even dare to ask.
"See you tomorrow, Yoongi-ssi."
"See you."
Who is he to be crestfallen when there's still tomorrow, at least.
--
"You look like an angel, Yoongi-ssi, you're too bright you're blending with your shirt."
Yoongi squints at Hoseok as he slightly pouts, dressed in a white, short-sleeved shirt and fitted khaki pants, and he doesn't bare his feet again with sandals, opting for equally white plimsoll shoes. They just arrived in the Alexandria, city with endless impossibilities for Yoongi since it's filled with arts, like Hoseok explained, "a city totally made for you." Yoongi is backing the sight of Corniche waterfront, with lots of private boats and small-sized cruises, and the morning sun is just too good, its ray of light splashes around the sight and reflected at Yoongi because they are standing in front of the great Bibliotheca Alexandrina, both an amazing architecture made of glass and giant sun disk, and a home to colossal collections of books.
"I can't believe I still stick like a sore thumb here," he complains, looking at some Egyptian passersby who's staring at him. "I already left my sunglasses at the hotel room, for God's sake."
Hoseok grins, and reaches for Yoongi's wrist, dragging him to the inside of the massive building. The interior is designed with an exquisite taste, and it's one of those moment in life when Yoongi feels blessed to live. High, high ceiling and lots of Egyptian decorations that are surely a historical piece, each, no doubt from the excellency in the contours, strokes, and textures. He kind of wants to live inside the building, for eternity. "Pretty, right?" Hoseok stretches his arms wide and takes a deep breath, causing some people to look at them, but Yoongi isn't bothered this time, smiling at him because he feels exactly the same. "Very," he replies, and his legs brings him to the alignments of huge bookshelves made from strong wood, this one looks like teak after Yoongi observes it. Yoongi is particularly fond of wood science, and he likes to use the medium for his art pieces. "The strongest in the world, called jati wood in its origin language." he explains to Hoseok, tapping the shelf with his knuckle.
"You know a lot, Yoongi-ssi."
Yoongi picks up some poetry books, and asks Hoseok to read it to him. It's kind of a vehement, nearly religious experience, to listen at Hoseok reading the poetry in Arabic, and to hear him interpretating the meaning behind the words. Hoseok's voice is a little bit different from when he talks in their language; now it's deeper, rougher, yet soothing at the same time. Hoseok explains to Yoongi that the most beautiful book in Arabic is actually Quran, the holy book to Muslim people, no poetry book ever compare to it that it has the most complex sentences and structures humans can't simply form, or use in the daily life. Yoongi is busy scribbling down his travelogue as Hoseok speaks, and his excitement earns him another smile from Hoseok.
"You too, know a lot," Yoongi replies.
They are walking to the downtown Alexandria with ice creams in hand, bought from a street vendor who tried to converse with them in English, and Hoseok just let him, pretending to be a tourist like Yoongi. They got a free extra scoop each, and now it's starting to melt down Yoongi's hand, despite his best to eat it quickly. "What a messy eater," Hoseok teases him, his own ice cream is almost disappearing completely.
"Sensitive teeth," Yoongi defends himself, "I can't bite the ice cream." and it almost taint Yoongi's shirt before Hoseok suddenly wipes it with his handkerchief. Yoongi's handkerchief from yesterday. "Looks like I can't return it to you in a clean state despite washing it myself, Yoongi-ssi, I'm sorry."
"Don't mind it," Yoongi thanks him for the ice-cream-rescue-operations, choosing to take the handkerchief from Hoseok, wiping himself because he's too flustered from having Hoseok wiping his hand. Why is he so nervous? This is just a normal walk in a city, thousands of kilometres from Seoul, with a very charming tour guide...
"If you can't bite it, how are you supposed to eat it? You don't seem to be the type to lick it constantly," and Yoongi blushes even more, having Hoseok paying attention to a little detail like that.
"I... use my lips to separate it from the bigger part?"
"Ah, that's why you lips are swelling."
This is it. This is the time for Yoongi to die. "So tell me Hoseok-ssi, where are we going next?" he tries to start a more sensible conversation.
"Um, because you told me you have the whole day, I think it's best for us to keep walking around- you want to really experience the Egyptian life, right? First we are going to the Main Souq, it's a huge market, you will like it even better from the Cairo ones. I take the farthest destination so we can visit the others on the way back. We then will see Abu Abbas Al-Mursi Mosque, it's a magnificent place filled with exquisite Islamic calligraphies inside, actually it's one of the famous pilgrimage sites. And we will eat lunch around the Cleopatra's Palace, then we walk again closer to the downtown, and see Ras El-Tin Palace- we can't really go inside because it's currently serving as the Navy headquarters," he explains eloquently, like he's reading the palm of his own hand, and Yoongi is once again dazed.
"Then we will go to Anfushi, the place where Egyptians are celebrating their life. It's somewhat like a festival street with traditional coffee shops spilling on the street, shisha places, and the best seafood restaurants are there, nearing the location of a fish market I'm sure you'll like very much. In Anfushi we will have dinne-"
"Wait," Yoongi cuts him, his stomach hurts from restraining his laugh, "you just associated me with markets twice in a same breath."
"What an exaggeration, it wasn't in a same breath," Hoseok chuckles, "but I guess it's true, you kind of left me a deep impression with your market monologue yesterday."
"It wasnt a monologue, excuse you," and Yoongi is so fond, so fond that he shows his gummy smile to the world, exclaiming that he's very much in love with Jung Hoseok.
__
They are now sitting in one of the street restaurant in Anfushi, with Egyptian beer cans in front of them, gold with a Gizan pyramid symbol. If yesterday they were around the said pyramid, they are now going to look at the sunset in this small round table with checkered blue tablecloth, barely fit three, but it feels close and intimate. Yoongi pours the beer to a glass, listening to Hoseok spilling all his knowledge about Ancient Egypt and Alexandria.
Hoseok was right. Anfushi is a place to celebrate one's life. Yoongi tried the first shisha of his life, coughing but laughing because it tasted funny in his lungs, and Hoseok was so good at it he made silly attractions from the shisha smoke. They went to one of the traditional coffeeshop that Yoongi adored so much, every inch of it, and the owner was actually another friend of Hoseok, serving them the best Arabica coffee with a secret method of grinding. They also went to the fish market, Yoongi captured some of the best pictures there, before they went back to the restaurant area, empty stomachs rebelling due to the smell of grilled fish filling the evening air.
In Alexandria, the evening is more blue.
"Do you often go here, Hoseok-ssi?"
"Sometimes, to take a break from my routines. Alexandria is just... special, you know?"
In the distance, a group of street musicians are warbling their song, and on top of them are strings of small, yellowy lamps that each ends are hooked in the opposing buildings, making it looking even more like a festival or some sorts. The seafood tastes great- Yoongi is particularly drawn to the ink-grilled octopus, the booze is just right and the music alleviates the soreness from walking all day.
And then there's Hoseok in front of him.
Hoseok, once seated in a chair or another surface, is a non-stop chatter. His waffles starting from the politics situation in Egypt, to the haunted places in the historical ruins, too high-spirited for someone who is afraid of ghosts. Yoongi talks equally much when he's comfortable, but for now he prefers to listen at Hoseok's rambles because he wants to save the memory of a vibrant, dashing and enthusiastic tour guide once upon a time in the land of Pharaohs.
Being full and happy, they move to another side of the coast. "This is another personal favourite of mine, Yoongi-ssi," he says when they arrived in front of what looks like a small fort to Yoongi. "Built from the ruins of Pharos Lighthouse that was once one of The Seven Wonders of The World, it has been guarding the eastern harbour of Alexandria since the 15th century, this beautiful Citadel of Qaitbey, and it has a lot of chambers for us to explore."
"It looks closed, though."
"Part of the service of Jung Hoseok Tour is that you get a special night tour of this fortress."
"Cool," Yoongi whistles. "And how do we get inside if the front gate is locked? You have a key?"
"We climb."
"Seriously?" Yoongi measures the building height mentally, only to have Hoseok laughing at him. "Oh God, you're so innocent I feel bad now, I'm sorry, Yoongi- mmpfh, haha, Yoongi-ssi," the laughter becomes wilder.
Yoongi is as red as a crab they ate before, but luckily it's dark and there's no way Hoseok can tell. "You can't do that to your client, Jung Hoseok-ssi," he huffs.
"Sorry, sorry, it's just really fun to tease you."
They both don't know how to react afterwards, and Hoseok just walk back, Yoongi trailing behind him without a sound. It turns out that Hoseok fetches Yoongi to an empty land not so far from the fortress. Hoseok fishes out a Swiss army knife from his pocket and pokes a wooden plank open from the surface, something that looks like a basement door to Yoongi. "W- what did you just do?"
"Well, Prince Ali, this is what they call a secret tunnel, and I just opened it. It leads to the heart of the fort, and I swear I've tried it before, it's safe."
"Isn't this called trespassing?"
"Mm-hm."
"What if I get sentenced to death here?!"
"Sshhh," Hoseok puts a finger on his own lips. "You won't be punished for doing this. I, however, will get an earful from Egypt Tourism Authority, but only if we get caught so be quiet and believe in me." Hoseok activates the flashlight feature on his phone, and starts going down the stairs that were unseen before the light shone. Yoongi is still hesitating, but then Hoseok reaches his hand out to Yoongi, and so he wavers, accepting. He just signed himself on an illegal trespass, and he might be dead tomorrow, but he's with Hoseok so it's kind of... worth it.
(Yoongi is tipsy. Damn that Egyptian beer. He can feel his brain evaporating through his pores.)
With two phone flashlights shining inside the tunnel, it's still kind of dark that they have to stay holding hands. And it's subtle, but Yoongi can feel that Hoseok's shivering. "Hoseok-ssi, are you scared?"
"Not with you here, why?"
"Are you really not scared?"
Hoseok turns his head to Yoongi who's trailing him, only to find a pale face smiling at him that he shrieks, and it fills the tunnel but with a very satisfied sounding laughter harmonising with it. "Yoongi-ssi! That's seriously mean!" Hoseok scolds Yoongi who just directed the flashlight to his own face, looking like a Japanese child ghost from the famous Ju-On movie. Yoongi, however, still very much amused by the successful prank he falls squatting on the ground, shoulders shaking from the laughter. "This is," he still giggles, "this is a payback."
"Alright, alright, you got me, now get up before someone really finds us."
They continue walking with Yoongi still high from the satisfaction of pranking Hoseok, laughing a little without knowing that Hoseok is also smiling in front of him. When they meet stairs made of pressed sandblocks that leads the way up, Hoseok lets Yoongi goes up first, so that Yoongi can see the beauty of the citadel before him. The citadel is empty, of course, but there are several oil lamps installed on the walls, giving the castle a beautiful luminous impression. With such minimum lighting, the interior is still a rich Middle-Eastern style, and Yoongi is in awe. "It feels like we are going back in time," Yoongi rues, thinking why wasn't he born in the past.
Hoseok shows him the spiral staircase up, and they tour over the second floor that is filled with chambers, sadly locked shut. Knowing his disappointment, Hoseok leads him to a doorless room that contains a very steep and narrow staircase, and when they climb on it Yoongi can faintly smell the saltiness of the sea. Hoseok helps him up and a strong breeze greets Yoongi, his hair blewn and he can see the horizon blending with the water.
It's a spectacular view.
The moon, still as graceful as a queen, is reflected on the sea surface, making it look like a giant white marble ball drowning in a lake. There are still many flocks of birds flying over their heads, going home after a day of hunt. The flag of the fortress is waving, like it's asserting its dominance towards the relatively shorter buildings around it. Yoongi can see the Mediterranean Sea beneath him, and the ships with their twinkling lamps, and he can hear the waves, like the sound of his own heartbeat.
They both rearrange their breath, still huffing from the walk upstairs. But Yoongi knows that Hoseok already reads him, reads his keenness of this place, reads it from looking at Yoongi's flushed face. "I'm a little bit drunk, Hoseok-ssi,"
"I know,"
They lean over the deck's barrier, enjoying the tranquility presented for them, the zephyr still blowing softly. Yoongi is waiting for Hoseok to break the silence between them, but it looks like he doesn't intend to do so.
Yoongi brushes his hair with his fingers, letting the cool breeze to refresh his head.
"Do you see that?" Hoseok suddenly points out their right side, a dark yet calmer body of water. Together, they walk closer to that side. "It's the Nile Delta. I'm sure you've seen plenty bits of Nile River, but this is where it ends, where it all goes to the sea."
Hoseok continues, "You know, Yoongi-ssi, the Nile is basically everything to Egypt. Without Nile, Egypt just a giant desert without hope to live. The water is what drawn the people together, the most important to the greatest ancient civilisation, to the Egypt we know. When you think of Egypt, you must think of Nile and otherwise, because Nile is Egypt's lifeline. They are just like soulmates,"
"Like soulmates?"
"Like soulmates." he reaffirms, looking at Yoongi with a smile drawn on his face, showing his dimples.
Yoongi doesn't know whether Hoseok believes in soulmate, or whether he believes that he will meet the destined person for him, and Yoongi doesn't know whether Hoseok knows his true feelings, knows that Yoongi loves him, loves him so much his heart is threatening to burst, love him so much he would give his life to Hoseok, loves him so much even though they are strangers meeting solely because of Egypt and Nile, but if Yoongi believes in soulmate then it's the time, it's the time because he feels like he has been waiting for his entire life to meet Hoseok, that he feels like he can do anything when he's with Hoseok, because it feels too right, too right to be less than it, but then again soulmate doesn't work in one way, and he's unsure whether Hoseok feels the same-
"I like you, Hoseok-ssi."
He said it, he said it even if he's lying, because his feelings are more extreme, more demanding, and it's ugly, because Yoongi is greedy, he wants him to feel the same way, wanting Hoseok to be his, and it's ugly because he's lying, but he's lying because he's a coward, afraid of rejection, afraid of everything.
Soulmate, maybe, works in entirely different way that Yoongi can't really comprehend, just like the space that holds millions of mystery, how it makes Yoongi feels extremely small and insignificant, but he still admires how terrifying yet beautiful it is, and how complicated it is because at the same time it works like how it's supposed to be, like the Mediterranean Sea and its crashing wave against the fondation of the fort, that Hoseok is making the distance between them disappearing, his soft lips gently kissing him.
--