3 Paths to Love

Chapter 30

Myungsuk swung his legs, the soles of his shoes brushing against the sizzling cement path. He hummed to himself as he watched Insoo pay for their ice cream; wearing Myungsuk's Galactica space cadet baseball hat, and the rocket shirt he bought for them.

Insoo carefully held the cones and maneuvered through the people on the path, making his way back to the bench, back into the tree's shade. "Here you are," he said, handing Myungsuk the tall strawberry swirl cup as he sat down. 

Purring, Myungsuk grabbed it, wiggling his toes at the visible specks of real strawberries. "Thank you, Insoo," he said and pulled down his mask and kissed his cheek.

"No problem," Insoo said with a shy smile. He shifted closer as he started on his chocolate-dipped chocolate ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone ice cream. Myungsuk stared.

"Would you eat anything with chocolate in it," he asked.

Insoo hummed at the thought before smiling. "Yeah."

"Even curry?"

"Even curry."

Myungsuk thought about what they would taste like. Hot, thick, semi-sweet syrup on its own was delicious. But mixed with rice or worse, vegetables– Myungsuk shook his head. "Ewwww."

Insoo burst out laughing and wrapped his arm around Myungsuk's shoulders. "Wouldn't you want strawberry curry?"

"No way! I wouldn't ruin strawberries like that." Cringing at the thought of hot strawberry syrup on rice. Myungsuk took a spoonful of his ice cream, enjoying the sweet, tart strawberries. Cold as they should be.

He leaned back against Insoo's arm and took a deep lungful of air. A mix of fresh-cut grass and Insoo's deep roasty scent filled his senses. The park was a peaceful bubble amidst the chaotic city.

Tucking one foot underneath himself, Myungsuk rested his knee on Insoo's thigh. "How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" Insoo looked up from his ice cream. "I'm good."

Myungsuk frowned. "Please be more descriptive." Insoo was getting better with communicating but still needed a reminder every so often.

"Oh, right." Insoo cleared his throat and shrugged. "I'm glad that I did better than I thought on my exams," he explained. "And my dad's going on a trip to London at the end of the month. He'll be there for a while. So the house will be quiet."

"And that's good?"

Insoo nodded. "Yes. Also–" he leaned closer to Myungsuk– "thank you for your sweater. It made my rut a lot easier," he whispered.

Myungsuk blushed. "You should thank the Bubbly blog. I got the idea from there," he muttered.

Chuckling, Insoo kissed his cheek and pulled back. "I'll make sure to send them a thank you then."

Myungsuk smiled and leaned into him. The week during Insoo's rut with no communication was torture. He pressed his nose against Insoo's shoulder and took in a deep breath of his scent, etching it deep in his mind. He never wanted to be away from him again.

They continued eating their ice cream in peace, with a few sneaky kisses here and there.

Scrunching up their garbage, Insoo tossed them into the trash. "Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked.

"Do I want to go for a walk?" Myungsuk nodded and slipped on his bag. "Yup!" He jumped up from the bench and took Insoo's hand. "Let's go to the stream," he suggested, as he snapped his mask back on.