molten silver ─ hyunjeong ✓

sixteen

hours passed under the kiss of the starlight, passed as they shared kisses under the starlight.

surrounded by the dreamscape reserved only for them, jeongin couldn't help but let himself sink into the long grass, the earth cushioning him as he let out a content sigh. hyunjin settled next to him, slipping his hand into jeongin's and leaving it there. they lay there, watching the fathomless night sky through the waving grass.

many words danced on the edge of jeongin's tongue, but they all seemed too cloying, too saccharine. they didn't explain the sheer amount he just felt. propping himself up on his elbow, he allowed himself to lean over and kiss hyunjin's cheek, his own flushing with colour.

"i'm glad the universe led me to you, hyunjin."

hyunjin looked at him with those beautiful eyes, "the universe only led you to me, jeongin. i'm eternally happy that you chose me."

"i would always choose you," jeongin watched as a silverfly floated past them, "in any universe or lifetime, i would choose you."

"maybe in another lifetime, we'll be made without so many obstacles forcing us apart."

"maybe..." jeongin pondered the sentiment, letting himself realize that he would have to leave soon, "but our meeting will always be a blessing, no matter how long or short."

"look who suddenly became a poet."

"it's your fault."

hyunjin closed his eyes and laughed, his face turned to the sky.

later, as they finally forced themselves to walk back to the cottage under the approaching light of dawn, they clung to each other as though one of them would disappear at any given moment.

eventually they were able to stumble into the cottage, not without jeongin nearly walking into the door beforehand. despite the yawns that escaped the both of them, they couldn't bring themselves to go to sleep, scared to interrupt the atmosphere that surrounded them.

so instead, hyunjin dragged jeongin into the kitchen.

"we're baking a cake," he announced, throwing open the cupboard.

"it's dawn," jeongin deadpanned.

"and?"

jeongin only let out a sigh.

they worked in tandem— well, sort of. hyunjin threw instructions at him, and jeongin would struggle to do them, much to hyunjin's amusement.

"have you never baked before?" he asked, a brow raised as jeongin let out a squawk of panic as he nearly dropped an entire basket of eggs.

"i always used to bake with my mom," jeongin explained, pausing slightly at the mention of his parents, but then smiled to himself, "but my dad and i weren't the most trustworthy people when it came to baking, so she used to make us do all the easy stuff."

hyunjin laughed and bumped jeongin with his hip, "well i'm not about to let you off easy, so better get cracking. literally."

"make another egg pun and i'm leaving." jeongin stuck out his tongue, gingerly cracking the eggs into the bowl and grimacing when some got on his fingers. "ew, it's so slimy!"

"oh poor baby," hyunjin pouted from where he was haphazardly pouring flour into a separate bowl, "can't handle getting a lil messy?"

he lifted a flour filled hand toward jeongin, and the younger's eyes widened as he caught onto what the nymph was planning.

"don't you da-" he started, but trailed off, spluttering as he received a handful of flour to the face. shaking his head vigorously to shake off the fine powder, he blindly reached out to grab onto hyunjin's arm, "i'm going to get you back for that!"

"try me," hyunjin challenged, a glint in his eyes. jeongin grabbed flour in his fist, throwing it towards the nymph, who only hopped out of the way. hyunjin continued to dance out of the way and dodging jeongin's lousy aim with ease, much to the other's chagrin. hyunjin gave a small twirl, "i'm waiting, jeongin."

that was his mistake. as hyunjin's attention left him for that split second, jeongin leapt onto his back, nearly bringing them both down. luckily, hyunjin managed to stay upright, but didn't have time to stop the entire cup of flour jeongin poured over his head. hyunjin let out a shriek that was very unlike him, and jeongin couldn't stop the loud laugh that escaped his lips. as hyunjin managed to unattach the younger from his back, jeongin immediately sank to the floor, his legs giving out from laughing so much.

"you should have-" he wheezed through bursts of laughter, "-heard yourself!"

hyunjin threw more flour at his face in retaliation, but his whole body was shaking from laughter as well. joining him on the floor, both of them laughed till they were clutching their stomachs from the pain.

when jeongin finally calmed down enough to open his eyes, he looked at hyunjin to see the nymph's eyes shining with mirth and his mouth curved in the most genuine of smiles. on pure impulse, he leaned forward to kiss that smile and ignoring the mildly unpleasant taste of flour. he didn't really care if he got to kiss hyunjin, and the nymph reciprocated immediately, the smile never straying from his lips.

sure, both of them were covered in flour, the powdery sensation a little uncomfortable against his skin. sure, their baking project was completely abandoned messily on the counter. sure, they were sitting on the floor and jeongin's butt was starting to hurt just a teensy bit.

but did he mind? not at all. because hyunjin's arms around him, the feeling of hyunjin's heartbeat underneath his palm, made everything fall away.