Steal His Heart - Hyunlix

Proposal

Hyunjin got out of the car and stood still for a second. Memories were flashing through his head. Memories of Felix, of his smile, of the way it felt to kiss him.. the words 'I love you' slipping out on accident. It hurt momentarily, but he couldn't help smiling softly.

"Oh my god.." Minho rolled his eyes with a disgusted look. "You are so hopeless. Come on Romeo." He grumbled, opening up the trunk of his car to reveal the carefully curated box of supplies for the night. He grabbed the bags of stuff he needed for the proposal itself while leaving the single box of art supplies that Hyunjin packed.

"Do they know that you are planning to propose?" Hyunjin asked genuinely, eyeing the large amount of stuff in the dancer's hand.

Minho chuckled and smirked lightly. "Lix is very hard to say no to." He responded in amusement.

Hyunjin couldn't even argue with that. He simply nodded his head in understanding and followed the older inside.

"I haven't been back here since dad died." Minho stated with a nonchalance in his tone that took Hyunjin by surprise.

"Felix mentioned that... how come?" The artist followed up.

For a split second, distrust flashed across the dancer's face, although the expression went back to neutral soon after as he sighed, seemingly collecting his thoughts.

"Honestly.. because of my mom and Lix."  He responded softly. The expression remained in its usual neutral, almost flat, state, although the tone itself held a hint of something Hyunjin couldn't quite distinguish... maybe resentment? It was close to anger but not aggressive or harsh.

"After dad died, it felt like they were trying to continue on with life as if nothing happened. I didn't want to override the memories with him by trying to make new ones. I didn't want to write him out.. so I never went back.. until now."

Hyunjin's immediate instinct would have been to try to comfort Minho..  but there was the self preserving side that was screaming at him that nothing good could come out of trying to comfort the guy he thought hated him up until earlier that day.

Instead, his mouth moved without checking with his brain first and he asked the one thing he wanted but figured would get him punched.

"So what made you want to propose here?"

Minho stopped and looked at the artist with a raised brow.. an unnerving raised brow.

Hyunjin pursed his lips apologetically and looked the other way, abandoning his hope.

"Every year, our mom and dad would kiss under a tree at the very end of the trail.." the older continued after a slight pause.

Hyunjin couldn't help but smile softly, the statement only emphasizing the importance of the location in their whole family.

"Did Felix tell you about hi-" Minho started hesitantly, surely trying to beat around the bush and not expose his brother.

"The tradition with Wooyoung...?" Hyunjin completed. "He did."

Minho pursed his lips in unexpected sympathy and started walking again. "Well, I hated that tradition since they took it over. But, honestly, a part of me was jealous. I wasn't the biggest fan of Woo for obvious reasons.. but Felix found something that made him feel closer to dad. I guess.. I don't know.. I hoped that it would feel like dad was there if I went to a place that he loved so much. I want him to know that the stupid jokes he made since we were kids ended up being reality. I want him to see that I'm happy." He finished off with a shrug.

Hyunjin's smile widened. "I think that's beautiful." He commented, an idea popping into his head.

As soon as they made it to the tree at the end of the trail, Hyunjin put the box of art supplies down and looked around him. "So... what all do you want in the portrait..? Are we talking about just you and Jisung? Or the entire family?"