Letters and Roses: Taegyu

37

(UNEDITED)
Sweat traced down Yeonjun's forehead, his heavy breathing was the only thing that could be heard in the empty field. The sun was setting in the horizon but that didn't stop him from practicing. The boy continued to repeatedly kick the ball towards the goal but misses every single time. Yeonjun let out a frustrating groan while kicking the ball harder but missing once again.

"Are you going keep kicking that ball all day?" a voice came from behind him.

Yeonjun turns around and notices Soobin's figure standing there. "What are you doing here?" Yeonjun asks running to get the ball and coming back towards the boy.

"I'm here to encourage you what else do you think?" Soobin says pulling a water bottle from his bag and handing it to his friend. Yeonjun takes it mumbling a thank you while gulping the refreshing drink. "Sit down for a second Yeonjun" Soobin says pulling Yeonjun's arm and guiding him towards the small benches on the side.

Yeonjun is confused but listens to his captain and sits down beside the boy. There was a long silence before Soobin decided to open his mouth, "what's wrong?" Soobin says breaking the silence. Yeonjun frowns holding the ball in his hands. "Nothing?..." Yeonjun says almost in a question.

"Yeonjun, I have been your friend for a long time, I can know when something is wrong with you" Soobin comments.

"Nothing is wrong Soobin," Yeonjun says about to get up to continue practicing but Soobin grabs his hand forcing him to sit back down.

"Hyung" Soobin says quietly causing Yeonjun to look at him.

"It's about Beomgyu isn't it?"

Yeonjun stays silent hearing the name and looks away avoiding eye contact with his friend. Soobin sighs finally figuring out what was wrong with his friend, but he still felt hurt that Yeonjun liked Beomgyu. There was another long silence before Yeonjun took out a small box from his bag next to him, he opened the box revealing a gold necklace with a small charm on it. The charm was a small gold and silver rose.

"I was going to give it to him on Valentine's day," Yeonjun says quietly almost in a whisper as he looks down at the necklace.

Soobin bit the inside of his cheek, containing the complex emotions that stirred inside him.

"Did you like him?" Soobin asks his voice becoming quiet as the seconds pass. Yeonjun reminds silent but eventually nods his head, shutting the box but not placing the box back in his bag.

"I placed roses on his desk every day hoping that he would catch up, but Taehyun got to him first" Yeonjun confessed holding the small box in both of his hands. Soobin placed his hand behind the boy's back slowly rubbing it to comfort the boy. "But it's always like that no?" the older boy asks looking at Soobin with watery eyes.

"No one seems to look at me the way I want them to," Yeonjun tells.

Soobin grabs the boy's arm scooting closer to him, "that's not true Yeonjun, there is someone out there that cares and loves you" Soobin says.

Yeonjun shakes his head looking back at the box, "no there isn't" he says in a whisper.

The older boy places the box next to him and gets up pushing the younger boy's hand away from him. "No one will," Yeonjun says placing the ball down and kicking it towards the goal but the ball bounces from the post rolling back towards him.

"No one will fucking love me" Yeonjun shouts in anger as he kicks the ball once again. He misses the net and the ball rolls down to the fence.

"Hyung!" Soobin calls out getting up and walking towards the boy.

Yeonjun walks towards the ball and kicks the ball toward the fence repeatedly in anger.

"Yeonjun" Soobin yells holding the boy's arm but the older boy pushes him away.

Soobin grabs ahold of the boy and pushes the older boy on the ground to grab his attention. "I do!" the younger boy shouts. Yeonjun finally controls himself as he looks up at Soobin in silence, shocked by the words that came out of his friend.

"hyung...I do...I like you Yeonjun" Soobin says his breathing becoming hitched as he uttered those last words. Yeonjun was breathing heavily as he stared into Soobin's chocolate eyes.

"I like you," Soobin repeats his voice becoming more stable and assuring.

"but- but you rejected me before," Yeonjun says his eyes trembling.

"I was just a kid back then, I didn't know anything about love. I was afraid that...our friendship would end" Soobin responds kneeling in front of Yeonjun.

"But every time I would see you with someone else, I felt mad at myself and finally realized that I liked you," the younger boy says reaching out to hold Yeonjun's hand.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Yeonjun says holding Soobin's hands tightly.

Soobin let out a sigh, "I was scared" he says softly looking down.

Yeonjun reaches for the boy's face, cupping Soobin's face with his hand while staring into the mesmerizing eyes. "You know how hard it was to get over you?" Yeonjun asks.

"I tried dating other people and made myself like others when in reality...it was always you," the older boy lets out. Soobin could feel his heart beating against his chest hearing those words. Yeonjun pulls his face closer and presses his lips against the younger boy's lips.

After so many years of waiting this was the moment both the boys have been waiting for. Soobin held the boy's neck in place while leaning in closer to the kiss before breaking it and pulling away. "Let's get out of here," Soobin says grabbing the boy's hand and helping him up.

Yeonjun smiles before walking towards the benches and grabbing his bag, he stops for a bit after looking down at the navy box that still stood on the bench before grabbing it and opening it.

The older boy takes the necklace and looks over at Soobin.

"It's a bit too expensive to waste," Yeonjun says causing a chuckle to exit Soobin's mouth.

The older boy places the necklace on Soobin before looking down at it. "But this time it has a different meaning" he lets out.

"Let's just go," Soobin says avoiding Yeonjun's eye contact as he drags the boy out of the field.

"Was there another reason you rejected me?" Yeonjun says placing his bag on his shoulder. Soobin rolls his eyes while smiling. "Yeah...you were kind of ugly back then," Soobin answers joking.

"Are you implying that I look handsome right now?" Yeonjun asks leaning towards the boy.

"Let me rephrase that, you looked uglier before"

"You are lying," Yeonjun says placing his hand on the boy's head and ruffling his hair. Soobin chuckles while holding the boy's hand. The boys walked out of the field holding hands, finally realizing how both of them felt.
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