𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

#.. THIRTY-TWO

in the darkest time of life
my heart succumbed to the past
i couldn't let go of the strive
to get happy, at last

then you, my timeless flower, appeared
shaking the brazen fall, the leafs
smearing away the salty tear
stealing away my heart like a thief

you cheer me up
you don't let me down
you would never break-up
you would never let me drown

your frame as dark as the night
a bat, a flying mammal
our minds connected like a channel
nested in like a parasite

your smile competes with the sun,
battling your darkest secrets,
nature's golden son,
another explanation is needless

you paint life's grey hues into a color
the subtle red and pink of love
a bouquet of flowers in a white-collar
give all i mentioned above

i love the way you smile
i love the way you dress
you're my exile
you're my success

and then your lips meet mine
moving up to cloud nine
entangled in a soft kiss
i sure know i will miss

there is no bad ending
not when it's with you, my muse
despite our life's blending
it still stays in bright hues

- lee jooyeon, class 2-1

[...]

"so that's why you needed my pictures" jungsu laughed as he and seungmin reached his and jooyeon's project.

they made a vision board out of the poem, each paragraph surrounded by pictures seungmin shot himself.

"it was joo's idea..." seungmin admitted, his cheeks growing red as he noticed that jungsu started analysing the lyrics.

jungsu seemed mesmerized, reading line by line as he whispered the words. then he stopped at the word love.

"and why did you use that photo of me there?" the elder asked, pointing towards the picture next to love.

it was the photo jungsu wanted him to delete at first.

seungmin grew shy, not knowing what to say as he scratched his head. "uh- i told you that i love your smile! so it's.. yeah um.. that's it.."

jungsu just nodded and flashed a small smile, though he seemed kinda sad. like he expected more.

"but it's so interesting. the poem and the pictures are two different ways of storytelling yet they still tell us the same story.

why aren't there any pictures at the last two paragraphs?"

it was a provocative question, seungmin knew by jungsu's grin. "oh!" he exclaimed, not knowing what to say.

he couldn't just say "because i don't know if you wanna kiss me" now, could he?"

jungsu rummaged in his bag. "your project is incomplete, though" he mumbled, smiling as he took out what he was searching for - a polaroid camera.

"let's finish it up, hm?" grabbing seungmin's hand, he started pulling him along, searching for something.

seungmin was lost. what was jungsu's intention? what did he want to do? the boy was full of surprises.

walking out of the hall, they quickly ran into jiseok and hyeongjun, who seemed to practise their song again.

"there you are!" the younger of the two exclaimed. "have you seen jooyeon?"

jungsu shook his head. "i thought he was with you. anyway, could you guys take a pic of me and seungmin?"

practically shoving the camera in jiseok's hand, he turned around to face seungmin.

"okay. ready?"

the moment jungsu's and seungmin's eyes locked, both of their hearts skipped a beat. despite the loud chatting of other students in the hall, they blended out everything.

they blended out the camera, jiseok's counting and the other's passing by. jungsu took a subtle deep breath before finally daring to take the final step.

just as soon as the camera clicked, jungsu's lips were on seungmin's, kissing him as softly as he could.

hyeongjun and jiseok were heard screeching and shouting, but jungsu was fully concentrated on making that exact kiss the best experience for seungmin.

it wasn't the first kiss for both of them, yet it felt like it. nervous hands on their bodies, too scared to do anything else.

but that wasn't necessary. jungsu pulled away again after something that felt like eternities, though it were just a few seconds.

their friends looked at them, stunned and in shock as jiseok clicked another picture, hyeongjun already holding the first one in his hand.

jungsu smiled upon seeing his black lipstick smeared on seungmin's lips, before turning around to face jiseok.

"thank you!" walking towards the two younger, he took his camera and the picture.

"you didn't tell me you're crushing on seungmin!" jiseok whisper-shouted, surprised but not disappointed.

and jungsu just laughed. "well, then let me tell you now - i'm crushing on seungmin. i'll come back later again!"

returning to the other, who still did not move a single inch, jungsu grabbed his hand again.

"let's complete your project, shall we?"