sub x sub : hyunsung ✓

eighteen

They decided to take things slowly. After all, there was no one to bother them.

So it became a routine between streaming, hanging out at Hyunjin's apartment, and going on cliché dates. Lots of them.

Jisung was glad that the other opened up to him like that. Hyunjin was like an open book, but in a language, Jisung couldn't understand fluently. So Hyunjin helped him to understand.

He also listened to the blond. No matter when and how it was Hyunjin absorbed everything like a sponge and released it again at any random moment.

—

Tonight, Jisung had chosen a small restaurant not too far away. They walked, hand in hand, through a park. The green foliage as well as the wide lawn was dipped in orange. In the back, a family could be seen tossing a ball to their dog.

"What are we going to eat again?" Hyunjin asked, averting his gaze from the geese that had emerged from the water.

"Italiano." Said Jisung with a smile. The other made a happy sound and began to list all the types of pasta and pizza he was thinking of eating. (With the detailed reasons why they tasted so good to him.)

The pebbles crunched under their shoes. Jisung listened with a smile to what he was saying. He veered off-topic and began to rave about Italy.

"Lying on the beach like that and melting in the sun... must be wonderful," Hyunjin said.

"Or or!" He squeezed Jisung's hand.

"Walking through downtown, with branching little alleys. It smells good, the sun is burning from the sky. We could go visit art museums..."

Jisung nodded. "Sounds very tempting."

Hyunjin nodded enthusiastically. "You are hereby obligated to go to Italy with me sometime."

Jisung's smile widened. "Oh no... how awful."

He nudged him in return but then burst out laughing.

—

After wandering around the park for a short while and the city streets for a while longer, they found the restaurant.

Jisung, who had reserved the table, talked to one of the waiters and had her show him where to sit. It was a quaint little restaurant. Everything was, of course, Italian in design.

"I heard the chef is from Italy," Jisung said, taking his eyes off the menu for a moment.

"Really?" Hyunjin seemed enchanted by the ambiance. Several paintings were hanging on the walls, a candle stood on the red and white cloth that decorated the dark wooden table.

"They look real...I've never seen those before." Hyunjin said, pointing at the pictures. "I should ask who painted those. They look really pretty don't they?"

Jisung looked at the paintings for a while. There were sunny scenarios depicted. Something one could only dream of here at the moment. He nodded. "Yeah, it's got something."

A young waitress came up to their table. "Hello, have you decided yet?" Jisung shook his head, the other did the same. "Okay, can I get you guys something to drink to start with? I can highly recommend the red wine from our own house."

Hyunjin raised his head.

"It comes right from the family fields near Venice." She didn't need to say more for Hyunjin to order himself a glass. Jisung opted for water, then Hyunjin could drink as much as he wanted. As long as Jisung was sober enough to transport them both safely to Hyunjin's home.