Myungsuk swung his legs, the soles of his shoes brushing against the sizzling cement path. He hummed to himself as he watched Insoo pay for their ice cream; wearing Myungsuk's Galactica space cadet baseball hat, and the rocket shirt he bought for them.

Insoo carefully held the cones and maneuvered through the people on the path, making his way back to the bench, back into the tree's shade. "Here you are," he said, handing Myungsuk the tall strawberry swirl cup as he sat down. 

Purring, Myungsuk grabbed it, wiggling his toes at the visible specks of real strawberries. "Thank you, Insoo," he said and pulled down his mask and kissed his cheek.

"No problem," Insoo said with a shy smile. He shifted closer as he started on his chocolate-dipped chocolate ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone ice cream. Myungsuk stared.

"Would you eat anything with chocolate in it," he asked.

Insoo hummed at the thought before smiling. "Yeah."

"Even curry?"

"Even curry."

Myungsuk thought about what they would taste like. Hot, thick, semi-sweet syrup on its own was delicious. But mixed with rice or worse, vegetables– Myungsuk shook his head. "Ewwww."

Insoo burst out laughing and wrapped his arm around Myungsuk's shoulders. "Wouldn't you want strawberry curry?"

"No way! I wouldn't ruin strawberries like that." Cringing at the thought of hot strawberry syrup on rice. Myungsuk took a spoonful of his ice cream, enjoying the sweet, tart strawberries. Cold as they should be.

He leaned back against Insoo's arm and took a deep lungful of air. A mix of fresh-cut grass and Insoo's deep roasty scent filled his senses. The park was a peaceful bubble amidst the chaotic city.

Tucking one foot underneath himself, Myungsuk rested his knee on Insoo's thigh. "How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" Insoo looked up from his ice cream. "I'm good."

Myungsuk frowned. "Please be more descriptive." Insoo was getting better with communicating but still needed a reminder every so often.

"Oh, right." Insoo cleared his throat and shrugged. "I'm glad that I did better than I thought on my exams," he explained. "And my dad's going on a trip to London at the end of the month. He'll be there for a while. So the house will be quiet."

"And that's good?"

Insoo nodded. "Yes. Also–" he leaned closer to Myungsuk– "thank you for your sweater. It made my rut a lot easier," he whispered.

Myungsuk blushed. "You should thank the Bubbly blog. I got the idea from there," he muttered.

Chuckling, Insoo kissed his cheek and pulled back. "I'll make sure to send them a thank you then."

Myungsuk smiled and leaned into him. The week during Insoo's rut with no communication was torture. He pressed his nose against Insoo's shoulder and took in a deep breath of his scent, etching it deep in his mind. He never wanted to be away from him again.

They continued eating their ice cream in peace, with a few sneaky kisses here and there.

Scrunching up their garbage, Insoo tossed them into the trash. "Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked.

"Do I want to go for a walk?" Myungsuk nodded and slipped on his bag. "Yup!" He jumped up from the bench and took Insoo's hand. "Let's go to the stream," he suggested, as he snapped his mask back on.

The walk to the stream was short and Myungsuk bounced with every step on the way. When they turned the corner and the sparkling water came into sight, he let go of Insoo's hand and ran.

Crouching down at the edge of the stream, he rolled up his sleeves and reached in, the cold shuddering up his arm. Biting his lip, he grabbed a smooth, slick rock and pulled it out. He rubbed it between his hands, purring at the cold, smooth texture against his clammy palms.

"Having fun there?" Insoo asked, crouching down beside him.

Myungsuk paused and sheepishly held the rock out to him. "It's cold and refreshing."

Insoo nodded and took the rock, holding it between his hands. A smile grew on his face. "You're right. It feels nice. Perfect for today," he said and held it to his cheeks, chuckling.

Myungsuk giggled and pressed his cool palms against his face as well. It was just an insignificant river rock, but Insoo treated it with care and regard. Myungsuk's heart skipped a beat.

It wasn't about the rock. Insoo listened to Myungsuk ramble for hours about the stars, and Galactica, and anything else on his mind. Insoo could stop him any time he got bored, but he never did. Whenever Myungsuk would remember, he'd ask Insoo if he wanted to stop, and he'd always say the same thing.

"I like learning things that make you happy," Insoo said and held up the rock. "It's warmed up. Do you want to get another one?"

Myungsuk touched the rock and nodded. "Yup," he said and giggled as Insoo threw the rock, landing in the water with a plop.

"Plop," Myungsuk mimicked.

He grabbed two rocks this time. One was oblong and smooth, while the other was misshapen and cracked in the corner. Biting the inside of his cheek, he handed Insoo the smooth one before tossing the other one, resuming his search.

After cooling off with several rounds of rocks, they sat back, relaxing.

Myungsuk didn't want this date to be over. He wanted to stay here with Insoo, listening to the stream with the sun on their faces. But with every passing minute, another week of isolation loomed closer.

"Hey," Insoo said, his voice soft. "What's on your mind?" he asked and took Myungsuk's hand. He laced their fingers together and kissed Myungsuk's knuckles.

Myungsuk licked his bottom lip and stared at him. "I don't want today to end."

Insoo's concerned expression softened and he nodded. "Neither do I. I really missed you a lot."

"Me too," Myungsuk breathed out. Staring at his lap, he took in a deep breath. "My heat is in a few weeks," he said, scrunching up his nose. "And I always hate it, but I know this one will be even worse because I know you now," he confessed, wiping his eyes with his hand.

Insoo scooted closer and wrapped his arm around Myungsuk, pulling him close. "I'm sorry, Myungsuk."

"It's not your fault," he mumbled. Myungsuk rested his head against his chest, picking at the buttons of Insoo's shirt as Insoo rubbed his back.

This was a new wave of frustration on top of his usual grudge against his heat. He always accepted that heats were done alone, but now that he knew Insoo. A wave of frustration washed over him. The thought of suffering through a foggy daze with only memories of Insoo's scent and touch made him want to pull his hair out and scream.

Sometimes you just know they're the one. Myungsuk blinked. Sometimes you just know they're the one. Sometimes you just know.

You just know.

They're the one.

Myungsuk jerked up staring at Insoo.

"What is it?"

"Share my heat with me," Myungsuk blurted out.

Insoo's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Share my heat with me," Myungsuk repeated. His body buzzed with giddy and he shook Insoo's arms. "If you share my heat, we'll be together for the whole time."

Gaping like a fish, Insoo placed his hand on his. "Myungsuk," he said and cleared his throat. "We can't just do that. You know. We're not"–he bit his lip, his eyes flicking down to Myungsuk's neck– "mated," he managed to say. "We'd need to have a heat contract."

Myungsuk frowned. "What's that?"

Insoo looked away and cleared his throat again. "It's when an unmated omega and alpha want to share a heat or rut. It's a long process. We'll need health checks and a witness and... yeah."

Myungsuk beamed. So his problem was universal. "Perfect! Let's do that."

"Wait!" Insoo rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know..."

"Why not?" Myungsuk furrowed his brows. "You're the one who brought it up. Why would you know what a heat contract is if you don't want to use one?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Insoo's expression faltered and he hid his face in his hands. "Don't call me out like that," he mumbled.

"So," Myungsuk scooted closer. "Do you want to spend my heat with me?"

Insoo whined and cupped his hands out with a soft smile. Grinning, Myungsuk rested his face in his hands and giggled as Insoo squeezed his cheeks. Leaning closer, Insoo nuzzled their noses together. Myungsuk purred against him.

"Yes," Insoo whispered, smiling against each other's lips, their scents mingling together. "I'll share your heat with you."