With You, Under the Stars

X. Whispers at Dusk

"Yeonjun? Ya with me buddy?"

The two friends sit on a bench at a lookout over the city to watch the sky and clouds change colors before it's time for Yeonjun to go to school. They stopped by a little boba shop on the way, and now Yeonjun is mindlessly chewing on some tapioca pearls as his thoughts wander.

"Oh, huh? What were you saying? Sorry, I was daydreaming."

"Mmmhmmm, I can see that." says Wooyoung, who then takes a big sip from his drink with blaring eye contact. Swallowing down that big gulp, Wooyoung mouth goes into a line, "Do you even know what I was talking about?" he says with the utmost sass. Yeonjun chuckles nervously, "Uhhh... You were complaining about Hongjoong being so bossy?" Wooyoung scoffs, "Ha! Why would I complain about that? Like I would want that to stop. But no, I was talking about how I want to get a pet bird but Hwa thinks I wouldn't be able to take care of it properly..." Yeonjundoesn't think he heard him right but couldn't get a word in, wait so we're just gonna skim past that first part?  However, Wooyoung aligns Yeonjun's confusion with his own on the matter,"Right! I should be able to get a bird if I want to! I mean, if I train it to sit on my shoulder all day then it can eat when I eat, drink when I drink, potty when I potty... I don't see the issue!"

Yeonjun shakes his head with a sigh. "Oh, Woo." He raises his hand but Wooyoung blocks it, "I know you are not about to pat my shoulder and call me a simple-minded pretty flower again, right?"

"Uhhhhhh..." Yeonjun's eyes evade Wooyoung's suspicion, "Nooooo, I was gonna pat your head and call you a simple-minded lil' weed, you silly."

Wooyoung decides to let this one slide with just a slap on the shoulder for the sake of time. "Hey, I actually wanted to talk to you about something kinda important."

Something important? Wonders Yeonjun, he can't help but be surprised by Wooyoung taking on this foreign concept. "Oh? Like what?" After two seconds of studying his oddly stern face, Yeonjun quickly becomes worried. Wait, what if it's actually something serious?!

"Yeonjun..." the blond begins. He downcasts his eyes to the ground and clenches his fists, almost like an attempt to will courage out of thin air. "I know we only recently reunited just this year, but..."

Oh no, what's he gonna say? Is he in some kind of trouble?! Well, at least he can't get pregnant.

"...how would you feel about coming to stay with me and my family over winter break?" Wait what. "I know some of the fam can be classist assholes, haven't even told them about San," he adds, "but mom and dad have always really liked you. They were basically jumping for joy when I told them that we became friends again!"

That totally was not what Yeonjun was expecting and he lets out that breath of anxiety with ease. "Wow... Ok, yeah! That'd be so fun! I'd have to talk with my parents about it of course, and make sure testing is all good, and talk about it with Soobin and the others –"

"Wait, why do you need their permission?"

"From my parents?" But Yeonjun read the look Wooyoung gave him and understood who he was referring to. "Oh." He's talking about Soobin. "Well..." Yeonjun tries to come up with a reason for why Soobin would come up when discussing his plans of travel, but his thoughts only get jumbled up. "Well wouldn't you talk with your guys before you travel? Especially San or Hongjoong?"

"Mmmm, I wouldn't ask them, I'd just tell them, but that's different."

"How so?"

"Because Joong is our captain and San is my boyfriend."

Yeonjun tisks his teeth, "Yeah? Well...." A sarcastic chuckle escapes his mouth when nothing more valid than Wooyoung's reasons comes to mind. "I can talk about traveling stuff with my friends if I want to, Woo." He makes sure to say this as non aggressively as possible. He's trying to work on not being so hot headed, after all, as well as take account of his friend's feelings. And this one in particular tends to be more on the sensitive side.