SK8TEMBER'21 SERIES

Homesick.

As soon as winter came, Langa was feeling a little bit down. And Reki noticed it very quickly. For some people, Langa always looked stoic, cold or hard to approach. But after months of being friends —and now boyfriends!!— Reki was proud to say that he was lucky to see Langa's soft, friendly and charming side.

That's why he knew something was wrong with Langa the moment he laid eyes on him and the smile Langa directed at him didn't reach his eyes as normally did.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Reki asked, taking Langa's hands on his, caressing them with tenderness.

Langa sighed, knowing that there was no use in making an excuse.

"I'm feeling a little bit homesick." he admitted.

Reki cocked his head.

"You mean that you miss Canada?" he asked with curiosity.

Langa sighed again, nodding and smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah, it feels weird to be in winter and not see snow, or not feel cold enough to wear a lot of clothes until you look like a burrito... well, except for you, you're like a burrito all the year with all that many layers." he said chuckling.

"Hey! For the record, I'm a very cute burrito." Reki retorted, folding his arms and puffing his cheeks.

"That's true, you're the cutest burrito." he said, pecking Reki in the puffed cheek.

"Is it actually that cold in Canada during the winter?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah. The temperature we have here in Okinawa in the winter is more similar to the temperatures we have in Canada in the summer." he explained.

"No freaking way!" Reki exclaimed astonished.

Reki shivered imagining how damn cold it could be in Canada. He couldn't see himself living there, but he definitely wanted to experience it for real someday.

"What did you like to do during the winter? Besides from snowboarding, of course." he asked with a bright smile.

Langa looked at him with those sparkling eyes, and Reki knew he was at least helping his boyfriend to feel a little bit like himself again.

"I liked to spend the days with my dad watching movies. I miss going with him and my mom to the cabin in the mountains and yeah, snowboarding with him. The last year before my dad passed away we couldn't go to the cabin because my mom had a lot of work at the hospital that winter. But we had a really good time nonetheless. I liked to drink hot cocoa by the fireplace, too, while my parents sang silly songs that I loved. Mmm, maybe I'm not feeling homesick, maybe it's because this is the first winter I'm gonna be without my dad and I really miss him. Or maybe it's both things." he finally said with a little sad and nostalgic smile.

As soon as Langa stopped talking, Reki hugged him tightly, rubbing his cheek with Langa's.

"I promise that when we graduate, we'll go to Canada and we're gonna go to the cabin in the mountains and go snowboarding together." Reki said, wanting to do everything in his hands to make Langa happy.

"Really?" Langa asked with a hopeful look.

"Really, dude! I swear it." Reki answered with the brightest smile.

"Babe, you're the best." Langa said a little bit teary-eyed, hugging Reki tightly as well.

"Shut up... " Reki said embarrassed, cheeks burning hot, but smiling from ear to ear.

A few days after Reki's promise, the both of them decided to start saving all the money they could from all their hard work at Dope Sketch, counting the days left for their trip to Canada. Reki couldn't wait to freeze the hell out just to see everything that always made Langa so damn happy.

And after Reki was true to his word, they traveled together to Canada for the first time, doing everything that made Langa smile and being the happiest. But maybe that was just because Reki was there with him. They went to the city where Langa used to live and he showed him all the places that he was fond of; all the memories he had of that place that saw him grow to the boy he was now; all the places he loved to go with his dad. And Reki held his hand the whole time, making him remember he was never gonna be alone again.

They finally went to the cabin in the mountains and snowboarded together, and just like the fist times Langa got on a skateboard, Reki fell to his ass in the snow a whole lot of times. But Langa never made fun of him for that... or maybe he did, but just a little bit.

And when they were inside the cabin, they warmed up drinking hot cocoa in front of the fireplace, all of that, while Reki sang to Langa the cheesiest songs he could think of, making Langa blush and laugh, making him feel so damn lucky to have Reki in his life. And Reki felt the same; he felt incredibly lucky to have such an amazing boy by his side.

And he was determined to make Langa happy for the rest of their lives. Even if he had to freeze to the death every winter just to see his boyfriend smile so brightly just one more time.

Their first trip to Canada was amazing. And the second. And the third... and in their eighth trip to Canada, Reki finally proposed to Langa, making him a new promise: he promised that in their next trip to the mountains, he was gonna make it as his husband and they'll keep creating new memories together. And Langa cried of happiness, knowing that he was not gonna be homesick ever again. Not while he had Reki by his side.

Because Reki was his home, his sun and his everything.