𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

#.. THIRTY-SIX

as christmas approached them, everything seemed to get better. gunil was finally released from the hospital.

he was no longer in a condition where he had to depend on the nurses and mushy food, because the wound would rip again if he ate solid food.

just as soon as he left the hospital, jiseok and his nom were waiting outside. it was the first time they saw gunil without the bandage after the wound healed.

if both of them didn't know him, they'd be terrified. the scar was big, spreading across his whole throat, the seam still visible as they stitched the slit.

his mother was the first one to step closer and pull her son in a tight hug. no words were said. except...

"they put your father in prison" she told him in a soothing voice, making gunil back away in shock to look in her face, to detect whether she was lying.

she wasn't. "huh?" "he was charged four years due to second degree domestic assault. you'll never have to see him again."

four years weren't a long time but that didn't matter. after he and jiseok finish school, gunil wanted to move away anyway.

"and i talked to the facility. you'll be staying there on the weekdays but you're allowed to visit me at the weekends."

"thank you" gunil's voice surprised her, not having heard her son talk at all the last weeks. it still hurt to talk and it was audible that it did. quiet and raspy, despite him looking like he was really trying to speak up.

they stopped hugging as gunil turned to face jiseok, who looked at him with a smile, his eyes glassy.

his mother told them to wait there, as she'd get the car and drive towards them. there was no parking lot nearby, and she sensed that they might need sole alone-time.

"you look so pretty" gunil remarked, putting his one hand on jiseok's cheek as the other pulled his body closer by wrapping around jiseok's waist.

the younger smiled even wider. "i'm so happy for you!"

it stayed silent after that, gunil just finally happy that he could hold jiseok again, jiseok's eyes unable to not stare at the scar.

with their chests pressed together, they each felt their rapid heartbeats. and laughed about it.

"everything will be okay" jiseok then said out of a sudden, slightly rising himself onto his tip-toes to give gunil a kiss on his forehead.

and this time, gunil believed jiseok's words.

[...]

for seungmin and jungsu, everything was fine, as well.

packed in their thick winter jackets, they laid on the grass of the park, watching the small particles of snow glide down.

with their hands intertwined, seungmin couldn't stop thinking about anything else.

their kiss was a few days ago and since then it became more frequent that they were holding hands, jungsu loving to sneak in some kisses on seungmin's cheek.

but they never got official. they never spoke out the words that would confirm their love for each other.

until seungmin asked. "what are we?"

it came out of a sudden, disrupting their comfortable silence. jungsu propped himself on his elbow, turning to the side to face seungmin.

he seemed confident, asking "what do you want us to be?" as if it wasn't obvious. as if it wasn't obvious that seungmin has dreamt about being jungsu's for a long time.

seungmin copied jungsu's pose, both of them looking at each other with so much adoration in their eyes.

and there seungmin got it. he saw the spark in jungsu's eyes, the small curve in his lips, indicating a faint smile. jungsu wanted it too.

"a couple" he mumbled, still too hesitant to voice it out loud. but jungsu heard him just fine.

he felt his own heart skipping beats, his whole body feeling jittery and nervous. but he didn't let it show.

"so, may i be yours?"

jungsu's question swung in the air, seungmin barely believed what he just heard. never in this lifetime did he expect to hear that from jungsu, his first love.

it was clear now that jungsu reciprocated whatever seungmin felt. and it gave him a confidence boost.

"only if you kiss me" the younger remarked playfully, both of them having a happy grin on their faces as jungsu pulled him closer and gave his lips a short soft kiss.

it was really just a small peck, and seungmin was not satisfied with that. so once jungsu pulled back, he was surprised by seungmin, who tackled him gently, his elbows resting on each side of jungsu's head.

there was no time to think, their lips instantly crashing together in a more passionate, lascivious kiss.

for once, seungmin did not care whether people were passing by or not. when will he be seventeen again, kissing his love on the cold grass of a snowy winter night?

besides, it was dark anyway, people wouldn't recognize that the freshly couple did not consist of the stereotypical constellation.

by sitting up, jungsu forced the younger to sit on his lap, arms wrapping around each other just to be closer.

until jungsu suddenly shoved some snow into seungmin's jacket, making the younger squeak in shock, pushing jungsu.

"hey!" he shouted with a laugh, trying to shake the snow down. jungsu just laughed, not expecting a tiny snowball to hit him right in his face.

they didn't have that much snow to start s fight, just a thin layer laying on the ground, but they still gave it their best.

they would definitely get sick afterwards but they didn't care.

seungmin and jungsu found their way to each other.