The Hideout I Need

Chapter 17: A walk in the park

"And what flavor would you like?" the cashier asked the two boys standing in front of the counter.

"I don't know, I've never tried this before..." Hyeong-jun frantically stood, looking up at the big and complicated menu for bubble tea. There were, like, 12 different flavors of fruit tea and 12 different flavors of milk tea. And 12 different flavors of pearls. How in the world is it possible to measure sweetness in percentages? He was never good at quick decisions like this. His stress levels were already rising. Hyeong-jun looked panicked at him, "Tae-young, can I just have whatever you're having?"

Tae-young giggled at Hyeong-jun's embarrassment and nodded, "We'll take two large Thai Milk Teas with tapioca pearls, extra pearls in both of them. I'll be paying," Tae-young said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks," Hyeong-jun smiled. He flirtatiously linked his arm with Tae-young's. Only, of course, Tae-young had no idea it was flirtatious.

"Got it, you guys can take a seat and we'll call your order, what name should we write on them?"

"Young-tae," Tae-young said in all seriousness, causing Hyeong-jun to snort. Young-tae. What an adorable nickname.

"Thank you, it'll be ready shortly," the cashier signaled for them to sit down while waiting after Tae-young had paid, "Next customer?"

The two boys sat down on one of the shop's tables and chairs to the left of the counter. Hyeong-jun looked back up at the menu and shook his head in confusion, "That menu is gonna give me a stroke."

"I still can't believe you've never tried bubble tea before," Tae-young giggled.

"Me neither, honestly!" Hyeong-jun laughed, "I don't know, I guess I just never thought to try it. We usually go to restaurants or maybe a cafe every once in a while since Won-jin became a coffeeholic."

"No joke, once you try bubble tea, there's no escaping."

"Don't get my hopes up," Hyeong-jun joked. He looked out at the small store's interior, a calm smile on his face. The line was incredibly long, business must've been doing great.

As they sat and waited, Hyeong-jun started thinking about the summer trip. It was insane how it had already been almost a month since then. This trip must've been the best one yet. He thought about the night he and Tae-young were looking at the stars, a small smile slowly creeping upon his face. His heart tingled at the memory. And that was only the first night of the trip. Every day after that was lovely as well. They went to the local town, which was quite small, and tried a bunch of local restaurants that Won-jin loved and wanted to share with the guys. They went to the beach most days. They definitely watched a lot of crappy movies. Tae-young and Hyeong-jun even had another late-night conversation on the terrace on day 4. It had been an amazing trip. An amazing, heart-fluttering trip.

"Two Thai milk teas for Young-tae," one of the workers yelled, snapping Hyeong-jun out of his reminisce, causing him to laugh out loud at the nickname.

"Here!" Tae-young raised his hand as if he were a student taking attendance, and smiled as he walked up at got the drinks.

Tae-young was right by the way, the taste was straight-up addicting. The sensation of tapioca pearls was something Hyeong-jun wasn't prepared for but immediately fell for. Huh. Kind of like Tae-young, right? No, wait, that's a dumb comparison. Don't compare your crush to food, kids.

They decided to take the drinks to-go, the weather was amazing anyway. The mid-July heat was surely hitting Seoul, today being the first time Hyeong-jun left the house without a jacket or hoodie this year. They walked away from the crowded walking street and down through a park. The trees were so lively and colorful and many kids were playing or people just lounging around the park. Hyeong-jun seriously loved summer.