Paper Boats // xiaodery

nineteen

Shortly after they established their relationship, August rolled around.

The boys decided to spend the day at the beach, since the weather wasn't completely unbearable. But it was super windy, making it easy for grains of sand to get into people's eyes.

"Wanna do something interesting?" Hendery asked, squinting his eyes from the wind.

"Like what?" Xiao Jun followed up with, turning his head to look at the other for a few seconds.

"Do you wanna go to the aquarium?"

"Uh, sure."

"Great." Hendery beamed, showcasing his perfect smile. "Let's go then."

And so, the two boys ended up at the aquarium.

"We are not going to see the crabs." Xiao Jun stated seriously.

"Why? Oh yeah, you're scared of those things." Hendery laughed, doing his usual habit of dancing while walking as they entered the place. Xiao Jun glared at him.

They examined multiple types of animals, ranging from different types of fish, to other creatures like eels.

Walking under the huge overhead tank, the two gazed at the various species, pointing at ones that looked interesting. Xiao Jun watched Hendery's expression light up as he looked around, especially when they fed the sting rays.

"You're so cute." he randomly blurted, watching the stingrays swim around in the pool.

Hendery chuckled, only causing Xiao Jun to melt even more.

"Thank you." he eventually replied, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.

The aquarium date was overall full of bliss.

After being there for hours, they decided to go to Xiao Jun's to chill, but not before they grabbed ice cream.

"You guys are official?" Renjun furrowed his eyebrows, watching the males buy their ice cream and grin like idiots.

"Yeah." Hendery piped up, quickly kissing Xiao Jun's temple, who blushed in response.

"For the sake of my sanity, please no PDA."

"You jealous?" Xiao Jun arched an eyebrow, a cocky smirk on his face.

Renjun flipped him off very casually.

They walked out of the shop and headed to the house, both of them sitting on the kitchen counter as they ate.

"You know Hendery," Xiao Jun started, taking a lick of his ice cream. "I never had the chance to give my insight on what you said about your ex girlfriend."

"Oh." the other visibly swallowed. "Sorry about that by the way. I just started venting."

"No need to apologize. Whenever you need to talk it out, I'll listen." he said, looking his boyfriend in the eyes.

Hendery blinked, he looked flustered as his eyes drew to the floor. "Thanks."

"But," Xiao Jun scooted closer. "I empathize with you a lot. When you told me you felt lonely until I met you, I found that I can say the same to you."

He inhaled, seeing Hendery's expression soften.

"My parents are always gone. I only see them on holidays and usually over the summer, it's always been like that. I was basically raised by my caregiver, but he passed away shortly before I graduated high school. I lived alone in the house for a while until I went to college, which I was lucky enough to earn a scholarship for." he begun.

"No matter how many people surrounded me when I was at university, I was always longing for someone to keep me company. Mainly my parents or my caregiver. I did have a couple of friends, but it just didn't feel right. I was still lonely."

Xiao Jun was so invested in his monologue he didn't notice the ice cream dripping down his fingers.

"I thought I would spend this whole summer alone. But then I met you at the docks and your chuckle was the sweetest thing ever, I couldn't help but swoon over it."

Hendery smiled a little at the statement.

"We started to hang out more. I realized you were a great person to be around and I admired your carefree and silly personality. I swear you're a child inside." he giggled.

"But most of all, you cured my loneliness. Thank you so much."

Hendery blinked a few times, processing the information. His lips parted into a smile, a breath of disbelief escaping his lips.

Xiao Jun placed his free hand on the other's cheek, his thumb gently running over the skin. "You're never alone Hendery. We will never alone again, okay?"

He nodded, drifting into the touch. Xiao Jun leaned forward, connecting their lips into a sweet kiss, tasting the strawberry ice cream Hendery had eaten.

"Your ice cream is melting." Hendery pointed out when they broke the kiss, eyeing the liquid that was now all over Xiao Jun's hand and down his arm.

"Shit." he realized, running his palm up his arm as an attempt to wipe some of the mess up. He had Hendery hold his ice cream as he jumped off the counter to wash his hands.