One Afternoon in the Park

The River and the Bus

The two made their way to Han Park where they found the ramen vending machine. Jaebum let Jinyoung go first, and he found himself studying the features on Jinyoung's face as he carefully selected what he wanted. He felt his cheeks get warm and there was a little drop in his stomach as Jinyoung turned his head and looked into his eyes.

"Your turn." Jinyoung stepped aside and let Jaebum go as he went ahead to wait for the machine to serve what he chose.

After Jaebum selected his meal the two went to a picnic table. Jaebum immediately started stuffing his face. Jinyoung just watched him for a moment, trying not to audibly giggle. Jaebum lifted his gaze to the younger after his 3rd mouthful.

"Are you going to eat?" He asked, after swallowing.

Jinyoung kept smiling and nodded, looking down to pick up his chopsticks and break them apart.

The two ate in comfortable silence, just the sounds of their slurping noodles. Every so often they let their eyes meet, giving each other a slight smile and a sound that would say "This is good."

After they both finished their meal, they cleaned up and decided to walk by the river for a bit.

It was a cool fall evening and the trees were glowing the same way they were when they first met.

"This was the perfect day to do this." Jinyoung stated as he looked around at all the people passing by.

Jaebum just nodded in agreement, more focused on the numerous couples they passed, a few of them holding hands. He almost blushed, forgetting that holding hands was a thing. Of course, he wasn't even sure if this was a date, and even if it was it was far too soon for something like that.

Just as he was thinking this, the back of his hand brushed against Jinyoung's. A chill ran up his spine, and he instinctively took a step away from him.

Jinyoung looked at him, a bit shocked that he moved away, but didn't say anything.

'Did he even notice what just happened?' Jaebum thought. He's probably just not trying to make things awkward.

The two kept walking along, talking about their interests. Jinyoung gave book recommendations and Jaebum gave film recommendations. Jaebum promised to read The Little Prince and Jinyoung promised to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

As the sky began getting darker the two leaned on a railing, quietly watching the sunset across the river. Eventually, Jinyoung took in a deep sigh and stretched his arms in the air over his head.

"Wellll we did the cutesy park walk. I think it's late enough to excuse having a drink or two? You know any good bars?" Jinyoung asked.

"Actually, yeah, I have one I go to all the time down the street from my place. It's kind of a dive bar but I know all the people there, and they have a lot of beers on tap. We'd have to take the bus if that's okay with you."

"Dive bars are the only kind of bars to go to. Let's do it!" Jinyoung excitedly walked ahead of Jaebum towards the bus stop.

Jaebum chuckled and shook his head, trying to catch up with the younger who was extremely energetic out of nowhere.

They got on the bus, which wasn't too crowded. They chose seats towards the back away from the few people that were already seated on the bus.
Jaebum sat first, next to the window, and Jinyoung plopped himself down next to him. The older had sat on a bus next to other people before, but he had never realized how close it got when doing this. He felt warm, and a bit shaky as the thigh of this beautiful man was pressed to his.

As he looked at the closed space between their legs, he realized that Jinyoung was also giving off a sudden nervous energy, as he tapped his fingers rapidly on his leg. Then he saw Jinyoung leaning closer to him, but still looking forward. He almost leaned away, worried the younger would feel the heat radiating from his face. But Jinyoung stopped just before their cheeks brushed.

"There were just too many people at the park." He said, just barely over a whisper. He sounded so serious. Jaebum was trying to process what he meant, when he saw Jinyoung's hand slowly slide over to his own, just slightly brushing over it, hesitantly.

Jaebum knew he was blushing now, a lump caught in his throat and he couldn't say anything, not that anything was coming to mind anyway. Jinyoung slowly slipped his hand under Jaebum's, interlocking their fingers. Jaebum's fingers closed without even thinking about it.

Jinyoung finally turned his head toward Jaebum, who was still just staring at their hands.

"Is this okay?" Jinyoung held his serious tone.

Jaebum opened his mouth to speak, but still couldn't. He simply just snapped his mouth shut and nodded, before slowly letting his eyes glance up, make eye contact with Jinyoung, and immediately whip his head to look out the window.

He could hear Jinyoung chuckle lightly, and felt him relax, letting himself lean back against the seat. The two just sat there, hand in hand, silently.