hinamizawa | hyunsung

three

"i think you're kinda cool,
i think you might be kinda cool,
at least to me, you're cool"

...

when hyunjin woke up in the morning, he began to truly dread having to get out of bed & choose an outfit from his wardrobe that'll inevitably cause him to get ridiculed or even beat up. he began to wonder if it was still about how he looked, or if it was about how he is.

he remembers the set that jisung had bought him yesterday, & he hesitantly pulled it out of the paper shopping bag. he held the shirt & jeans up to his figure, staring at himself in his full-length mirror before slowly putting the outfit on.

he posed in the mirror experimentally, overthinking his mannerisms & movements. he shoved his hands into the spacious front pockets, feeling a chunky piece of jewelry in one.

he pulls it out of the pocket, tearing his eyes away from the mirror only to look at the necklace. it was sparkly with cheap-looking diamond stick-ons, & a large heart-shaped charm.

he supposed this was one of the items that jisung added to the purchase to make it cost $45 altogether. it made sense that it was cheap considering the quality, but hyunjin felt touched that jisung added this for him anyway.

he carefully clasped the necklace around his neck, taking one last look at himself in the mirror before leaving his room to finish his routine.

...

after school, jisung decided to wait outside for hyunjin. he was in no rush, so he waited for 10 minutes until he finally saw hyunjin approaching him in the outfit he'd bought him just yesterday. jisung smiled to himself.

"hyunnie! see, i knew you'd look great in that," he complimented while looking the taller boy up & down, then he noticed that hyunjin's shirt had a faint dampness to it.

he raised an eyebrow & hyunjin gave an embarrassed smile before explaining, "someone bumped into me & spilled some of their water, b-but i'm sure it was an accident!"

jisung shook his head & huffed, pulling hyunjin close to his side as they walked away from the school.

"anyways," hyunjin spoke, "this necklace..." he held onto the large charm. the shorter boy smiled widely, "yeah, i thought it was cute & cheap, so i added it."

hyunjin smiled back, "thank you 'sung. oh, are you wearing one too...?"

jisung nodded & pulled on his own necklace, "yeah! we're, like, matching." hyunjin giggled at this.

the two boys walked aimlessly until jisung sat down on a bench, hyunjin shyly sitting next to him. they sat in a comfortable silence for a moment until hyunjin spoke again.

"'sung?"

"yeah, hyunnie?"

there was a small pause. "thank you."

"for what?" jisung turned to him with a soft smile.

"for always being here for me..." hyunjin said quietly, "sometimes i feel, like, pathetic. i can't even stand up for myself, & i don't know how to fix myself."

jisung frowned & held hyunjin's shoulder comfortingly, "there's nothing to fix, hyunnie, except for the way you treat yourself. i wish you could see yourself through my eyes, because i really think you're the coolest." he gave a small smile, & hyunjin blushed & shook his head.

"i'm serious. i don't know if you know this, but last year i went through something similar. it was hard, but eventually i became more confident & stopped caring what other people thought about me," jisung said. hyunjin nodded as he listened & reached his hand out to rest on jisung's.

"it's still hard for me to make friends, & even now, you're my only friend. so, i should be thanking you as well," the shorter boy giggled. "thank you for being my friend."

hyunjin rolled his eyes playfully, "don't thank me for that. i wanted to thank you even more for always trying to make me feel better about myself, for always telling me that it'll be okay... i feel safe with you, 'sung. thank you."

jisung cooed & pulled hyunjin into a hug, petting his long hair. "i'm happy you feel safe with me." there was another pause. "if i'm being honest, hyunnie, i really admire you."

they slowly pulled away from the hug & hyunjin looked at him, tilting his head a bit. "really?"

jisung gave a helpless smile, "really," he went on, "& i want to be by your side to help you whenever i can, however i can. i want you to feel safe & happy in your skin, hyunnie."

hyunjin covered his smile shyly. "you're too nice, 'sung. i love you," he said the last part barely above a whisper as his eyes welled with tears.

jisung heard it anyway, & he pulled hyunjin in for another warm hug. "i love you too, if it wasn't obvious already," he said against his shoulder with a laugh.