Stumbling Backward(JOOKYUN✔️)

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Changkyun doesn't want to use the outing with Jooheon tonight as a distraction from yesterday's events, but he almost cannot help it. He desperately wants to ignore the stirrings in his heart that his brother left there. Along with the ones that remain from the night his family passed.

He tries so hard not to recall that night with each and every breath he takes. But sometimes he cannot fight away the memories. Sometimes the burn of flames that licked at his heels curl up and peel back his mind's eye, forcing him to remember everything. Every. Single. Thing.

Blinking as hard as he can without hurting himself, Changkyun shakes his head just as hard. He cannot think like that today. He doesn't want it to be, but the date is an excuse to pretend his life is normal. Whether he admits it aloud or not, that is what tonight is. It will be fun- he's sure of that. And it will be a momentary lapse in the agony he's been wandering through as of late.

He doesn't know where Jooheon is planning on taking them tonight, though he wishes he did. He isn't one for surprises, scheduling one of his favorite past times. But Jooheon had assured him the night before that Friday would be an adventure. Changkyun's everyday life is a new adventure, and he isn't sure if he wants another one. So he avoids Jooheon for most of the day to mentally prepare himself for the battle of emotions that are sure to toil through his stomach once they escape the apartment.

It comes around soon enough, four P.M. That was all Jooheon had told Changkyun about their evening together. That they would leave at four, and be out until late in the night. Knowing not how to dress for the occasion, Changkyun steps from the bathroom in a plain black T-shirt and a pair of grey chinos. He doesn't have many pieces of wardrobe to choose from, though Jooheon had taken him to a clothing outlet once or twice to help the younger expand his horizons. It hadn't done much, for he still only wears the same old jacket and hat atop every outfit each day anyhow.

Despite the plain clothes he's donned, Jooheon smiles when he steps from his own room in a similar outfit. Changkyun is happy to see the deep crimson of Jooheon's shirt, having told the older that the color was very pretty against his rather pale skin. Changkyun is also ever so grateful to see that the older has put himself in a pair of dark wash jeans, thanking the heavens that the younger hasn't under dressed for their outing.

"I hope you're hungry," Jooheon says mischievously, clasping his hands together before his face in an impish sort of way. His eyebrows, low over his eyes, wriggle about dramatically as he watches Changkyun shift in place.

"Absolutely," Changkyun admits after a moment to catch his breath. He cannot believe this is his first date, and he's using it as an excuse to avoid the rest of his life. "Do I still not get to know where we're going?"

Jooheon shrugs, gesturing towards the front door. "I'll tell you on the way."

Jooheon does not tell Changkyun on the way, and the younger hates the silence. He hates it for the whole twelve minutes that they sit in the car. He hates it all the way to their arrival at a rather dodgy looking pizzeria a few neighborhoods away from their now shared apartment. "Pizza?"

Changkyun doesn't mean to sound disappointed; pizza is one of his favorite foods from his childhood in America. He just wasn't expecting something so... Typical. Jooheon thankfully doesn't catch his tone and lets his lips part in a wide grin as he parks and turns his car off.

"Don't worry about the neighborhood," Jooheon mutters as the pair exit the car. Changkyun glances about, shifty gazes finding his from the nearby sidewalk. He avoids the glares and forces his eyes to remain on Jooheon as the blonde leads them towards the pizzeria entrance. "I grew up around here, so I've got a bit of 'cred."