Yesteryear

Fencing

"Hah! And that's a feint for you!"

Seungyoun lunged at Wooyoung with his sword outstretched. In perfect form, his body followed and twisted his outstretched arm forwards.

Wooyoung parried his hit in the last second and dodged right. As Seungyoun adjusted to the new movement, Wooyoung ripped his sword around to the man's left unprotected side. Harmless, his dull tip dug into the thick fabric of Seungyoun's suit.

Both of them sprung back. Wooyoung stood in position with one hand behind his back and his sword stretched out at his side. When Seungyoun suspiciously lifted his mask to check the indent Wooyoung's weapon had made in the fabric of his jacket, his lips pursed.

"Wrong, that's a feint for you," Wooyoung corrected him with an angelic grin. The surprise in Seungyoun's eyes was worth every drop of sweat.

"You're good at this. One day you might be better at it than I." With a dreamy sigh, Seungyoun pulled his helmet off entirely. His sweaty hair stuck to his forehead.

Wooyoung dropped his position to join him for a water break on the bench. Seungyoun wiped his sweat off with his towel while he checked his phone.

"When did you say you want to leave? It's been a week. I expected you to set one foot into the institute to readjust the coordinates before you ran off into your immortal's arms again," Seungyoun said in mock shock. Wooyoung grinned at him.

"I have something to do in between. Figured it would be a good idea to brush up on my fighting skills, too. Not that I don't fall into San's shadow every time, but this is my time to shine."

Wooyoung's favourite era of his studies had been Victorian England. He adored the etiquette, the fashion, and the dreamy movies that came out of it. Usually, San was so charming that Wooyoung could only stare at his glow. This time, he wanted to woo San as well. As long as the man let him and didn't turn the tables on him again by being even more alluring.

"Yongguk suggested I go with you and stick around nearby to finish my report on nonsensical Victorian healing methods. I told him I would rather go once you're back. I don't need to torture my poor eyes with the sight of you being all lovey-dovey with that dude."

"If you say it like that, it sounds as if you are jealous," Wooyoung teased back. His giggle ended in a squeal when Seungyoun whipped his sweat-stained towel at Wooyoung.

"So you will tell him there? To come here?"

Wooyoung nodded nervously. He had been up these past few nights thinking about it. The idea of meeting San as an equal after so long and going on a casual date with him had his heart gallop with excitement. Yet he worried. What if San changed his opinion, after all? What if he found something more important to do that kept him busy until Wooyoung was old and grey? What if he couldn't be there until their age difference (look-wise) made it awkward?

Now that the goal was so near, Wooyoung was overcome with insecurity. It felt too good to be true; as if Wooyoung getting hit by a bolt of lightning was more likely than San actually showing up.

Sometimes when those thoughts deteriorated too much in his sleep-addled brain, he feared what would happen if San never showed up at all and Wooyoung looked like a madman in front of his colleagues.

"I will, yes. I plan to leave London after two weeks and then give him another two weeks to show up here." Until then, Wooyoung hopefully would have prepared enough and be confident in meeting San in his time. Not that he wouldn't spend every minute in distress until the man embraced him again.

"So you could be home during Christmas. If we don't bother Yongguk that day, he will rot away in his room again. Remember it." Seungyoun glanced out of the window. It hadn't snowed yet, but the days were cold and grey. Like every year, they hoped for some snow on Christmas at least.