forever ; hyungwonho

03

CHAPTER THREE

"LOOK at this flower!"

hyungwon held up a vine with tiny, orange flowers attached to it, yellow splotches dotting the petals.

"don't touch that," hoseok smacked the plant from the younger's grasp. "it could be poisonous."

but hyungwon only picked it back up, pretending to lick the flowers, just to annoy the other for being overprotective. hoseok let out an overly-dramatic, exasperated sigh, flailing his hands in front of him. he muttered why do i even bother? before turning around to scavenge for more edible fruit near by.

food rations were low in town, so most people resorted in planting their own vegetable patches- it wasn't technically allowed, but that was only if you got caught. when that did occur, however, the higher people in power would take away the produce and destroy the rest of the plant. other people decided to try to search for any wild fruits, in hope it wouldn't end up killing them.

once, hoseok and hyungwon attempted to grow their own vegetables behind hoseok's house, but it ended up dying after a week because they forgot to water it.

the more the two boys walked around the outskirts of town in search for food, the closer they reached the border, and the closer they reached the denser part of the forest- also known as 'the maze'. branches hung low, and trees seemed to twist in ways that made you feel dizzy just looking at them.

hyungwon bent down, picking at a small strawberry bush, "do you ever wonder what's past the maze?"

"everyday," hoseok replied, eyeing the mysterious forest.

he then looked down, watching as hyungwon grabbed a hand full of red berries. the younger inspected them before placing them into the plastic tub.

"do you think the safe place exists?"

"i don't know," hoseok frowned. then, as an afterthought he added, "i hope so."

hoseok took the tub from the other, starting to head back along the muddy path they came from. hyungwon trailed behind, but after taking a few long strides, he was now walking next to the other. they traveled in silence - well, a part from the squelching sound their shoes made - it was nice, and the shorter could only wish it would be this peaceful forever. he knew very well that it was impossible.

letting go of the container with one hand, hoseok slowly reached out, grabbing onto hyungwon's hand. on prompt, the taller entwined their fingers, moving closer to the older boy.

when the silhouette of the worn-down town came into view, hyungwon halted in his tracks, also causing hoseok - who was still holding his hand - to stop suddenly, almost falling backwards onto the ground.

"can we just stay here for awhile? i don't feel like going back there so soon," a subtle flow of desperation could be hinted in his voice.

hoseok tightened his grip around the boy's hand, leading them to sit down on a fallen tree. putting the plastic container on the grass, hoseok let out a tired sigh, and leaned his head on hyungwon's shoulder.

"you know," hoseok started, smirking slightly, "in my happy ending we live in a castle. it's just us. no one can order us around; no one can hurt us."