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Suho let out a sigh of relief when his laptop screen showed that the payment was made.
It was the third week of may, and he had been organizing a surprise for his bestfriend’s—now crush—birthday, that was coming soon.
That evening, Suho bought two tickets for the brand new aquarium that Sieun had been talking his ears off about, but he didn’t tell Sieun that, not yet.
He was too curious to see Sieun’s reaction when he’d eventually tell him about his birthday gift, so he couldn’t bring himself to spoil anything—it was a surprise, after all.
Suho had known for a while that he had feelings for the other.
He loved everything about Yeon Sieun, from head to toe.
He especially loved watching his eyes sparkle when he was talking about something that he loved, like that day when he was telling him about how he really wanted to go to that aquarium or when he ranted about new things he learned at Eunjang. He felt special, somehow. Seeing that expression on Sieun’s face wasn’t a thing for everyone, it was a reward, he felt lucky. He was glad that Sieun trusted him enough to let his emotions slip. He knew Suho would never judge him anyway.
Those eyes. If he could, he would dive into those dark pupils and never get out ever again.
“Sieun-ah!”
Sieun turned towards the voice that was calling him.
His eyes landed on Suho who was lying slightly against his bike with his arm raised. He was wearing basic black jorts with a white t-shirt whose size seemed smaller but somehow still fit him perfectly, defining his broad shoulders. Sieun’s eyes then landed on the taller’s biceps, Suho kept going to the gym every weekend—even though he didn’t really have to since it’s been a while since…the accident, and he now regained all of his strength back—but nonetheless, he still believed that working out was necessary.
It took Sieun a while to realize that his stare lasted a little longer than he meant to.
He forced his gaze onto Suho’s face, who was now approaching him.
“Why are you here? I thought you had work?” Sieun asks once they’re close enough to hear each other through the loud noise coming from the late friday night crowd.
“My shift ended early so I thought it’d be nice to pick you up from cram school,“ He smiled. “You hungry? Wanna go eat something?”
“No, I already ate. Thank you though.”
“That’s okay, I’ll just drive you to your place then.”
They headed to his bike and Suho picked up a navy blue helmet, that was now labeled as Sieun’s.
Sieun kept stressing him every time he’d give him his red one, so he decided to buy a new one (even if the thought of his helmet on the other’s head made the blush reach from his neck to his cheekbones.) Sieun was too stubborn, especially after what had happened, so he won and got what he wanted—Suho’s safety.
He gently placed it on the shorter’s head and pulled down the visor.
Before they drifted off, Sieun hesitated before gently placing his hands on Suho’s waist.
“C’mon Sieun-ah, don’t be so unsure. You can hold on more tightly. You won’t hurt me and you won’t bother me, I promise.”
It’s not that, Sieun thought.
He just hummed and wrapped his arms around the other, interlocking his fingers onto Suho’s front and resting the side of his face on the latter’s shoulder blades.
They rode back home in silence, but not an awkward silence—it was calm, comfortable even.
That’s the kind of silence they always shared.
Once they reached Sieun’s apartment door, Suho hesitated before asking if he could stay over and sleep at his place.
Sieun agreed—as always.
He loved when Suho crashed on his couch (it’s not like his parents were there to complain about him anyway.) He loved when they would spend weekend nights watching movies that they both knew neither of them was really paying attention to. He loved Suho’s company in general, even when they’d sit on the floor in that comfortable silence eating whatever food they ordered.
They were now on the couch.
Sieun was sitting with his legs crossed while Suho rested his head on the other’s tigh. Sieun softly ran his fingers through the man’s soft hair, a habit that they randomly created without them themselves even noticing.
They chose a Netflix series that Juntae claimed was the best ever created and begged them to watch.
They were almost halfway through the first episode when Suho broke the silence.
“Sieun-ah,”
Sieun ripped his gaze off the screen to look at Suho instead, who tried lifting his head back to get a better view of his best friend’s upside down face.
“Tomorrow’s your birthday,” He continued.
“Mhm, I know.”
“I got something for you.” Suho got up, making the other’s hand fall from his hair—that were now neatly combed, as if he actually passed a comb through his dark locks—down to his lap.
He reached for his backpack that was left near the entrance when they arrived.
He opened the small front pocket and took out the tickets that he printed when he bought them.
He handed them quietly to the confused Sieun, who was watching him this whole time. The tv series totally forgotten (as if they were ever interested in it in the first place.)
“What’s this?” Sieun asked.
Suho scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “They’re tickets for that one aquarium that just opened. You still want to go, right?”
A pause.
“What do you think? It’s okay if you changed your mind, I can still resell them—“
“Suho, this is perfect. You know how much I wanted to go there. Thank you so much, really.” And then, Sieun smiled. Actually smiled, whole teeth in display, and Suho genuinely thought he was going to have a heart attack, right there, in the middle of his crush’s living room.
That night, Sieun insisted that Suho was going to sleep in his bed, with him. He couldn’t bear seeing him sleeping uncomfortably on his small couch, especially after the huge gift that he gave him.
They fell asleep together, limbs intertwined under the covers and warmth radiating through their bodies.
“We arrived!” Suho said, parking his bike outside the aquarium’s entrance.
Earlier that morning, the two of them woke up, had breakfast together and once they were ready to go, they hopped on Suho’s bike and headed to the awaited place.
The aquarium was huge. It was on the edge of the street, facing the ocean from behind.
The walls were painted in white stripes with a blue background. There were little fishes and other sea creatures with happy faces printed all over.
A big queue was beginning to form around the ticket booth—good thing Suho bought them in advance online.
When they entered, they were blinded by the blue lights that were flashing the main door.
After taking his time admiring the amused expression Sieun had on his face, Suho asked, “What do you wanna go see first, Sieun-ah?”
Sieun turned to him, “I’d like to see the turtles, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it is! It’s your birthday, after all. Let’s go!” Without even thinking, he grabbed the shorter’s hand, but didn’t make a big deal out of it—as if his heartbeat wasn’t going crazy. It was too late to let go, anyway. And Sieun wasn’t complaining. Weird, he thought.
When they reached the turtles area, Sieun immediately started scanning the tag that informed the visitors about various curiosities of whatever creatures they were looking at.
Suho just stared, stared and stared. His eyes looking from Sieun’s long lashes down to the bridge of his nose, taking his beauty in. That’s it, he thought. He was going to confess to him today. He didn’t care if Sieun didn’t love him back. He didn’t care if he’ll feel humiliated after, he just had to take this off his chest.
“Are you even listening to me?”
Suho physically flinched. He knew he was zoning out, but he seriously didn’t realize that Sieun was talking to him. He immediately felt bad.
“Sorry, I was zoning out,” he admitted, “what were you saying?”
“I said that turtles are among the most ancient creatures on Earth. They’ve been in this world for over 120 million years, even before the dinosaurs. Isn’t that insane?”
“Yeah, it is.” He chuckled.
“…They have a very hard carapace, or shell, made of keratin…” Sieun continued explaining new facts while Suho was fighting the urge to ruin the moment by shutting him up with a kiss.
The evening went on like that until it was lunch time.
The tickets that Suho bought included lunch, that you could only get if you payed extra, and since he wanted to make this day special, he didn’t think twice before paying for it.
They chose a small table near a large window with an ocean view.
Sieun ordered some japchae while Suho ordered bibimbap.
“How are you liking it so far?” Suho asked.
“It’s really nice, more than I expected. What about you, do you like it?” Sieun reshot the question.
If you like it, then I do too. Suho didn’t vocalize his thought, obviously
“Yes, I do.” He went with that.
When the food came, they ate in silence. Sometimes sharing a word or two, but mainly focusing on stuffing their bellies with food.
When they both finished, Sieun stood up, making it obvious that he—or they—were leaving.
“Wait,” Suho quickly said, wrapping his hand around the other’s wrist, “not yet.”
“What do you mean?…We finished eating?” Sieun’s confused expression was too cute, and Suho couldn’t not pinch his cheek, which made the latter’s ears gain a bit of color.
“There’s something else coming. Just wait a minute, please.” He offered Sieun a small smile.
He sat in his chair again, slightly confused but interested on whatever Suho had ordered.
The waiter returned after some minutes, carrying a tray with a small cake and some candles on top. “Happy birthday.” He wished Sieun.
“…Thank you.” He mumbled in response. He looked at the sweet before looking at Suho with everything but embarrassment in his eyes. Suho knew that Sieun would get embarrassed whenever he did something for him in public—but this time, for whatever reason, he didn’t. Sieun himself was confused by whatever he was feeling at the moment, but he just brushed it off and didn’t think about it too much.
“It was originally dark chocolate, but since you don’t like it, I asked them to use milk chocolate instead.” Suho smiled, “C’mon, eat up!”
“Suho you really didn’t have to—“ “Of course I did Sieun-ah! You’re turning 21! It’s a huge number, you know? Hurry up and blow the candles, don’t forget to make a wish!” He quickly interrupted whatever nonsense Sieun was about to say and nodded to the cake with his head.
He faced the sweet in front of him and closed his eyes, a small smile threatening to escape.
I wish that nothing ever happens to Suho again, please. Let him stay happy and healthy. Forever.
It’s been a while since they finished eating and they were now looking at the penguins—or atleast, Sieun was. Suho was too busy looking at the other’s side profile, scanning and memorizing it as if Sieun was going to disappear at any moment.
In his head, there was chaos.
He kept thinking about different scenarios of how he should confess his feelings to his best friend.
‘Sieun-ah, listen, I’ve been in love with you since the day we met and I just cannot get you out of my head, can I kiss you?’
Boring, plain and uncreative. Honest, yes, but still a big no.
What if I just kiss him out of nowhere?
Absolutely not. It will just scare him away and make things harder and awkward.
What if I just—
“Suho-yah,”
Suho jumped—for the second time!
“Hm? Yeah, uh what?” Suho couldn’t help but slightly panic, it was the second time he ignored Sieun—even if he didn’t mean to, of course. Nonetheless, he still wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall out of his reach.
“Is everything okay? You keep zoning out. Are you bored? We can leave if you want.” Sieun’s tone was slightly worried, but he tried not to show it too much.
“I’m okay, don’t worry. I’m sorry it’s just that…” that’s it Suho you can do it, he said to himself, you’re so close! “It’s just—“
“I love you.”
…What?
A beat.
Two.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while now,” Sieun softly said, “I’m sorry if this isn’t the best time to say this and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way it’s just—I’ve been liking you for years now and I couldn’t bear it anym—“
Sieun’s words were cut off by Suho’s lips against his own.
He froze for a second, before eventually returning the kiss and melting into it.
The kiss was gentle, soft, full of love and unspoken words that they both understood and felt, even if neither vocally said them out loud.
That was their bond, understanding each other without saying anything.
When they parted Suho wrapped his arms around his now lover’s waist and rested his chin on the shorter’s shoulder.
“I love you too, if that wasn’t clear already.”
Sieun snorted and wrapped his arms around his neck.
About an hour later, when they finally decided to go—and after sharing more kisses in between different species—Suho still hesitated to hold Sieun’s hand. Sieun noticed. Nothing Suho did or felt went unnoticed by Sieun’s attentive eyes. That’s why he made the first move and slipped his palm against the man’s and interlocking their fingers together.
“…Want to stay over tonight?” He proposed.
He thinks he has never seen Suho nod that fast before, ever.
They were sitting next to each other on Sieun’s bed. No movies, no noise, just them and their fingers intertwined.
“You haven’t told me for how long you’ve been liking me,” Sieun softly said. His digits gently tracing small circles over the boy’s knuckles.
Suho turned his head to face his boyfriend.
Boyfriend. He still had to get used to this. If you ever told him that this was all a dream, he would’ve believed you.
“For how long I can even remember, Sieun-ah. I can’t think of a moment in my life from when I’ve known you that I hadn’t had feelings for you.”
At that, Sieun flushes like crazy, and Suho thinks—knows—that he’s the luckiest man alive.
He leaned in to quickly give Sieun’s slightly parted lips a small peck, just because.
“What about we sleep, hm?” Suho gently said, removing a strand of hair from his lover’s face.
Sieun smiled and rested his head on Suho’s open arm, using his bicep—that he had been secretly obsessing over—as his personal pillow.
Suho’s fingers got lost into Sieun’s hair, lulling him to sleep.
They fell asleep together, but tonight, there’s something heavy inside their chests. Not tension, not unspoken feelings.
It was love.