meeting!au
(Sungpil ✨)
(jaehyungparkian 🌉)

"Pour"
Day6

*

I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE AAAAAAAAA

pretty much what i meant when i wrote in the intro chapter about "preferred" hair colours or something:

young k / brunette ; jae / blonde

🌉

"you here yet?"

younghyun's breath caught in his throat as he tugged on his collar and brought his phone closer to his ear. "yeah," he finally breathed out.

"i don't see you..." jae's voice dragged off before he spoke once more. "what are you wearing?"

"a nirvana tank top and a red hat." brian shifted on his heels. "and i'm kinda holding a sign with your name on it..."

"oh." brian finally noticed a tall figure standing amidst the groups of bodies that were moving towards him in the wide expanse of the airport. he could see jae's bright smile even from so far away, the curve of his lips illuminating the boy's happiness. "i see."

"me too. now get over here." younghyun ended the call and lowered the sign so that he could outstretch his arms. jae's mouth visibly curved into an even wider smile and the obnoxiously tall boy bounded in the brunette's direction with his suitcase noisily rattling behind him. as soon as jae was in front of brian, the brunette pulled him in for a long, tight hug. "fuck... i've needed this for a while," he breathed out into jae's shoulder.

"me too."

✨

Sungjin scurried around the dorm he shared with Wonpil, making sure everything was tidy and organized for their pen pals' arrival. The Canadian and the American had decided to meet up in the summertime and Sungjin, along with Wonpil (whom he had moved in with that school year), alerted them to the possibility of an international meet-up in Korea. The two foreigners had agreed, and after busting their asses off at part-time jobs the entire school year, the pair were finally in Korea.

"Hey, Sungjin-hyung." Wonpil appeared from behind the door to their shared bathroom, fixing his shirt. "Have you texted Younghyun-hyung?"

"Yes, Wonpil-ssi. I have. He and Jae will be here in half an hour or so." Sungjin warmed at the sight of his best friend smiling from ear to ear, feeling himself calm down despite his previous nervous state. That's just what Wonpil did to him. And the shy boy knew why... But that didn't mean that he would let the younger boy know any time soon. Or ever, for that matter.

"Do you want me to make rice, then?"

"That would be great." Sungjin gave the brunette a soft smile and went back to his check on the dorm. He had to make sure everything was perfect for their foreign guests.

✨

Around half an hour later, Sungjin was straightening out the creases on their guests' cots when he suddenly felt something land on his back. Surprised at the sudden contact due to his jittery state, the poor boy jumped with a quiet yelp. The thing on his back let out a grunt followed by a laugh and a nudge to the back of his neck. "Yah, hyung! I just wanted to give you some rice."

"Ah, Wonpil!" Sungjin tensed up a bit before relaxing and leaning back into Wonpil's touch. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Wonpil nudged his nose against Sungjin's cheek this time, a broad smile gracing his cheeks. "Here. Try this."

He offered the older boy some rice that was stuck to his palm. Sungjin sat still a few moments before releasing a breath and leaning forward. His lips caught the skin of his dongsaeng's hand, his eyes closing as he picked up some rice and began to chew. The black-haired boy sighed in contentment. "It's very good," he told his dormmate politely, turning his head a bit to smile at the brunette.

"Have some more," the younger told him with a warm expression on his face.

"Okay." Sungjin turned back to Wonpil's hand and picked up some more rice with his lips, licking them after he was done chewing. The next time, he grazed his teeth over the brunette's palm on accident, his tongue making short contact with the flesh as he murmured out an apology before he picked up the last of the rice with his lips and ate it. "Thank you."

"Always."

Wonpil couldn't help but stare at Sungjin when he ate the rice. A slight tremor had passed through his arm all the way to his shoulder when the older boy had grazed his hand with his teeth, causing the brunette to jump a bit. He just hoped his hyung hadn't noticed. How embarassing...

Suddenly, the two heard a knock on the front door to their dorm and beamed at each other. "They're here!" Wonpil shouted out in joy, using Sungjin's shoulders to pry himself up and then offering the jittery boy his hand. "Let's go!"

"Mhm." Sungjin clasped his hand in Wonpil's and pulled himself up. Rather than letting go of his hand, the younger boy swung their hands backwards and forwards with a wide close-lipped smile and sneaky eyes. Sungjin sniffed and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just happy they're here."

"Good." Sungjin followed Wonpil to the door, their hands finally slipping apart as the brunette opened the entryway for their guests.

🌉

to say younghyun wasn't jumping in excitement whilst the two foreign boys stood before the door to their korean pen pals' dorm would be a lie. in the taxi, the pair had caught up on all the time they could not physically contact each other, subtle touches filling the small space between them where they were not literally pressed together already. as they talked about anything and everything, the boys lightly dragged their fingertips over each others' forearms and tapped their knees together. jae even grabbed onto brian's thigh at one moment when he was laughing too hard to properly function, and to say that wasn't absolute BLISS on brian's part... like DAMN. but anyway, now that they had arrived at their destination, the younger boy was bobbing up and down on his heels as he waited for the door to open. a few more seconds went by before younghyun felt the now-familiar touch of jae's fingertips on his lower back. "excited?"

"yeah," brian breathed out, reaching out to tug at jae's sleeve so the boy's hand fell to his hip. "i just want to sit down and talk with everyone."

"that sounds nice." jae beamed over at him, his eyes squinting out of happiness. his hand slid over to brian's lower back again so he could tug the younger boy closer to him. "i want to sit next to you."

"i want to sit next to you, too." brian breathed out, and the next moment the door was flung open by an excited-looking brunette.

"WOAH!!! sungjin hyung, they're so tall!!!" the brown-haired boy (who younghyun assumed was wonpil) leapt up to him and jae, strangling them in a hug that involved jumping up into the air and wrapping his legs around them both. brian gasped and somehow managed to hold on to the smaller boy before he could fall backwards onto the floor or forwards onto jae. after a few seconds of screaming on wonpil's part, the brunette jumped back down to the floor and smiled up at jae. "hi, jaehyung hyung!"

"hey, wonpil-ssi," jae chuckled out.

a form slightly taller than wonpil peeked out from the doorway and brian's smile grew. "sungjin hyung?"

the older boy finally stepped up to the door, shyly smiling over at his guests and waving a hello with trembling fingers. "h-hi, younghyun-ssi."

wonpil must have noticed how nervous sungjin was acting because he reached back to shove sungjin over to brian. "yah, sungjin hyung! now's not the time to act all shy!!"

"i know," the black-haired boy murmured, refusing to look up, a blush tinting his cheeks.

wonpil then did the most surprising thing ever. he jumped behind the older boy and shoved him forward so hard that he fell into brian, who quickly caught him and just barely managed to keep both of them on their feet. "it's nice to finally meet you in person, hyung," brian spoke, his breath a bit heavy but his pronunciation nonetheless spot-on.

"it's nice to meet you, too," sungjin murmured out, stepping back from the unintended hug and sending brian the brightest 'shy-smile' he had ever seen.

"you are literally bob the builder," jae suddenly said, causing brian to choke.

"what the fuck?" he hissed at jae, already starting to comically wheeze because it was true. IT WAS SO TRUE.

"yah! stop talking in english! what are you two laughing at?!" wonpil bellowed, pushing at their chests in mock anger.

"nothing," jae said in an innocent tone, switching back to korean as wonpil had asked him to.

"okaaaay... i'll let it go this time." wonpil sneakily eyed jae and then turned to sungjin. "why don't we invite them in, hyung?"

"sure." sungjin blushed and snuck his pinkie into a crease at the bottom of wonpil's shirt, then beckoned jae and brian to enter the dorm.

🌉

about a week later, jae was sitting on his cot, thinking over everything that had been going on. he was in korea with both his pen pals and the pen pal of his pen pal, for one. damn. and wow, was he happy when he was with brian. the brown-haired boy literally made him squirm and grin like a maniac. but jae honestly wanted to go out and spend a day alone with brian. a day with only them two; a day away from the hospitable boys who had so wholeheartedly taken them in.

sure, he had secretly pushed their cots together before brian could notice they had been lying a few feet apart before their arrival. he did it so he could be lulled by the peaceful sound of the brunette's soft, drowsy breaths at night (brian was a surprisingly fast sleeper; jae was not), so he could be closer to the younger boy (close enough, even, to find the brunette hugging him close in the morning, still fast asleep). jae's heart would beat with the power of a million butterfly wings and he would happily snuggle closer to brian, resting his tired head on the younger boy's shoulder.

jae soon found that wonpil was a surprisingly observant boy. "i got you and younghyun hyung tickets to the festival going on today." the brunette held out a pair of colourful tickets, jiggling them around when jae just looked at him with a stupid expression. "jaehyung hyung, take them! i know you want some time to be alone with him. now go get ready and i'll tell hyung!" wonpil displayed his signature wide smile and violently pushed jae toward the bathroom.

"thanks," jae finally breathed out in disbelief, a smile creeping onto his face as he ruffled wonpil's hair and ran into the bathroom to get ready.

✨

As soon as the foreign boys were out of the dorm, Wonpil turned to Sungjin. "Hyung, can we go for a walk? I want to feed the cats again."

The older boy paused, then nodded, and they headed out into the warmth of summer with bags of feed in hand. As the brown-haired boy kept up a springy pace beside Sungjin, a stray patch of sunlight hit his hair. The lock glowed orange for a second, and as the ray of light moved to Wonpil's eye, his iris lit up with a similar orange sparkle. Sungjin tried not to gawk as he felt a familiar orange fire consume his heart, so he just kept walking and would sneak glances at the happy boy beside him from time to time. The silence between them dragged out, but it had a welcome feeling, like the one Sungjin got when he watched a cat stretch its back as he waited for it to approach him for a pat or for some food.

Wonpil also enjoyed the silence; it allowed him to listen to the sounds of the city meld with the softer noises of nature, and it made him more conscious of each of the breaths coming from his and Sungjin's mouths. After a short while of walking, he turned to the older boy, incidentally catching his gaze. As the older boy frantically twisted his face away, a mad blush taking over his face (he knew he was blushing hard because Wonpil told him that his face sometimes seemed to burn brighter than Dowoon's when he knocked into Junhyuk at school), Wonpil released a laugh. "You don't have to look away, hyung! I'm not an emperor!"

"I know," Sungjin mumbled. He stumbled over a crack in the pavement and nearly fell face-first. His face took on an even darker shade of red and he lowered it even closer to the ground, embarrassed to the core.

"Hyung, you have to look where you're going, or you'll get hurt! Look up!"

"I know."

"If you know, why are you still looking so far down?" The younger boy stifled a laugh when Sungjin stumbled once more, and he used his free hand to steady the older boy. "Aish... Hyung, what did I tell you?"

"I'm sorry."

A strong gust of warm wind blew past their forms and the older boy naturally moved closer to his dongsaeng. Wonpil noticed, a small grin tugging at his lips. He saw something glint in Sungjin's hair for a second and turned to find out what it was. Upon seeing a flower petal stuck in his hyung's hair, the younger boy stopped. Sungjin stopped as well, slightly stumped as to why they were no longer moving forward. "There's something in your hair, hyung." Wonpil reached over to brush the petal from his hyung's hair, then smiled. "It's gone, now. Let's go." The younger boy started to walk again, watching as his hyung matched his steps once more. He swung his free hand back and forth until he finally felt it brush up against Sungjin's, and he noticed the older boy shudder from the corner of his eye. A few more seconds of walking and brushing hands and Wonpil finally felt the tentative sensation of fingers brushing his palm and holding his hand. His smile grew wider and he now swung both his and Sungjin's hand back and forth as they walked toward the alley popular with cats in their area.

🌉

the two tall foreign boys were walking around the fair, bodies pressed tightly together with jae's arm encircling brian's shoulders so they wouldn't get separated. everything was going well so far; the weather was great, both of them were having fun, jae's heart was doing flips... it was a really nice way to spend a wonderful day with a wonderful person.

"oooh! look, jae!! JAE! i want to eat tteok-bokki!! let's go have some tteok-bokki!!!"

a chuckle escaped the blonde's lips as he allowed the brunette to excitedly steer him toward the stall where tteok-bokki was being sold. "okay, okay. i know you like food, but isn't it a bit too early to eat a full meal?"

"no way!" brian kept heading toward the stand, rushing toward it as if it would run away if he didn't reach it in time. "it's never too early for a full meal!!"

"alright, alright, bro," jae chuckled out, starting to walk faster so he could keep his arm draped over the younger boy's shoulders. "but i'm not paying."

"who said you were paying? i can pay for my own meal."

"but i'm the one who brought you here."

"then you can pay for my meal."

"but you just said--"

"and you just said you were the one who brought me here." brian stopped as they reached the line of people waiting to order food from the stall.

"but i also said that i won't pay for your meal."

"that's rude, bro."

"you're rude! i'm your hyung!! show me some respect!"

"when did you become korean?" brian joked, nudging jae's hip with his own.

"well, we're in korea. i would be stupid if i didn't take the opportunity to get an upper hand!" jae shoved brian back and they kept shoving each other and holding back their laughter until they were finally stood in front of the stall. "what did you want again?"

"don't worry about it. i'll order for myself." brian placed his order, speaking in perfect korean that jae had a bit of a hard time following. "you want anything?" the brunette turned to him and jae turned to the board with all the meal choices plastered on it.

"can i just get some chicken?"

"dakgangjeong, then?"

jae peeked at the board, spotting what brian was talking about. it looked good to him, so he agreed. "can i get some rice with that, ajumma?" he politely asked the old woman at the stand. the woman nodded, smiling from ear to ear. it was cute... cute in a grandmotherly way. after they finished ordering all they wanted (including drinks), jae speedily whacked out his wallet and payed the woman. "thank you, ajumma." he smiled at her, then cheekily smirked at brian. "let your hyung treat you."

"thanks, hyung," brian muttered out, shoving jae's hip. they moved over to the side to allow other people to order. "why'd you do that? i could have paid!" the brunette murmured in english, shuffling his feet.

"i wouldn't feel comfortable with you paying. besides, i wanted to pay for you." jae pulled brian closer to him so he could pat his head.

"thanks." brian looked down with a smile on his face, then looked back up at jae. "i appreciate it, man. really."

"i appreciate you."

"i appreciate you, too."

🌉

soon enough, their food was ready, and the two boys headed over to an empty table they found. brian took off his backpack as he sat across from jae and started to open his chopsticks.

"this chicken is SO GOOD!!" jae rolled his eyes up into the top of his head and then offered brian some of his chicken. "want some, bro?"

"sure." younghyun bit into the piece of chicken and smiled. "you're right. it is good." he finished opening his chopsticks and tried some of his own food. smiling at the homemade taste, the brunette offered some to jae. "here. try this."

"it doesn't have milk or fruit, does it?"

"no."

"okay." jae took the ddeok-bokki in his mouth and his eyes grew wide. "yo, this is good, man!"

"mm."

they continued to eat and talk randomly, kicking each other under the table. brian was still eating when jae finished up and went to wash his hands. the boy decided to take out his sketchbook since his hands were clean and he wanted to make sure that he only had one page left (that he hadn't counted wrong). as his fingers flipped to the back of the book, he noticed a shadow approach him from behind. "fuck, jae!" he yelled, slamming the book closed and hugging it to his chest.

the boy who was looking over his shoulder pouted and tried to reach for the book. "but i want to see! show your hyung the book!!"

"no way! i'm not done yet!"

jae walked back to his seat across brian and plopped down on his chair with the pout still drawn on his lips. "what's so secret in there that i can't have a look?"

"it's just... really important. i'll show you when i'm done."

jae looked at him over the rims of his glasses and a soft smile came across his mouth to replace his pout. "okay. i can wait."

✨

Sungjin and Wonpil were sitting on a roof after successfully having fed the cats. It was raining, and the warm droplets created a calming atmosphere for the two boys. Wonpil slid closer to Sungjin and rested his hand on his hyung's.

The older boy nearly jumped out of his skin, grabbing onto his chest with his free hand and whispering out, "Why do you do this to me?" His fingers then reached over to tug at a strand of Wonpil's hair. "I think I'm stupid..."

"Why? Did I do something wrong, hyung?" Wonpil hesitantly removed his hand from Sungjin's and tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"No... I just..." The older boy groaned, pulling back his hand so he could hide his face in his palms and mumble, "I just can't talk about it normally," onto his skin.

"Oh." Wonpil shifted on the roof, feeling the raindrops begin to hit him a bit more harshly. At least they were still warm, comforting. "Okay."

Sungjin groaned again, muttering, "No, it's not okay. It's not okay, because I really just want to spill it out. How do you pour things out so easily all the time? You always say what you want to, but I just can't."

Wonpil rested his chin on his fists in a melancholy gesture, drawing his knees up to his chest so he could rest his elbows on his hips. "I don't always say what I want to say."

"You..." Sungjin looked at the younger boy through his fingers. "You can tell me anything, Wonpil-ssi." He paused, waiting for a reply. When none came, the older boy sighed. "How about... Tell me why you didn't want to go back to the dorm yet."

The brunette stayed silent a few moments longer. Then, suddenly, "I like the rain." Wonpil paused, looking up at the sky as best he could. "I think... in the rain, no one can tell if I'm crying or not."

"Are... Are you crying?"

"I'm not." Wonpil sniffled, drawing his knees closer to his chest. "But I might."

Sungjin scooted closer to his best friend, pulling the boy's side into a comforting hug. His warm arm was splayed over the younger boy's shoulders, protecting them from the rain. "If you cry, tell me. I'll let you use my shoulder."

"Can I use it even if I'm not crying?"

"Of course."

Wonpil tentatively placed his head on Sungjin's shoulder. The older boy held himself back from burying his nose in the brown locks of hair brushing his neck and instead patted them gently with his fingertips. The brunette wallowed in the soft feeling of his hyung's fingertips, his eyes closing in bliss. The sensation of the warm raindrops brushing his eyelids gave it all a calming feeling, bringing the boy to gently smile. Sungjin noticed the grin plant itself on his dongsaeng's lips and smiled himself, continuing to lovingly pat the smaller boy's head. Wonpil began to stir a bit and his eyes opened. He looked at Sungjin, to which his smile only grew. Then he caught the older boy by surprise when he gave him a kiss on the cheek out of no where. "Thank you, hyung."

Sungjin should have been used to Wonpil's aegyo by now; he had known the boy for years, they had been best friends for a long while. But his heart nevertheless raced every single time the younger boy did something like this. "You and your aegyo..." He turned away, hoping that Wonpil could not see the blush creeping up his neck.

"Hyung... You said I can tell you anything, right?"

"Yes."

"I like you."

Sungjin blushed, taking it as a friendly phrase. "I like you, too."

"No, hyung." Wonpil grabbed Sungjin's cheeks with the palms of his hands, bringing them face to face. "I really do like you."

Sungjin's cheeks burned and he had no idea if Wonpil could feel the heat on his hands. "I like you, too!" he repeated, struggling to speak with Wonpil's hands squeezing his cheeks.

"I'll kiss you if you don't believe me!"

"You kiss me every day, though."

Wonpil pressed a quick kiss to Sungjin's lips. "Like this?"

Sungjin's mouth was agape and he wasn't sure if he was drooling or if it was just the rain trickling down his face. He somehow managed to release some meaningless sounds before his system blew up and he acted without thinking. The poor boy leaned forward and brought his lips to Wonpil's, pressing them forward for a few seconds before he realized what he was doing. He ended up pulling his face back and falling onto his back in embarrassment once the realization hit him, his hands covering his burning face.

This time, Wonpil was just as shocked as the other boy. He turned over and lay down on Sungjin's chest, listening to the older boy's heart beat. A few moments went by. Then, "It's so loud."

"I'm embarrassed."

"Why?"

"I didn't tell you before I kissed you."

"Did you really have to, though?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

The quiet conversation continued even as Wonpil reached his hands up to pull Sungjin's hands away from his face. "Because. I need permission to... kiss you." The older boy tried to open his eyes so he could look at Wonpil, but the rain forced his eyes closed.

"You're the hyung here."

"But it's not respectful to force your dongsaeng into something, either."

"You didn't force me into anything!"

"But..."

"I kissed you first." Wonpil pursed his lips and placed his elbow on Sungjin's shoulder so he could rest his chin on his hand. His legs rose to swing around in the air as his thighs remained lying on top of the older boy's.

"But you warned me before you did."

Wonpil sighed in exasperation and leaned forward to press his lips to Sungjin's for a few seconds before pulling away. "There. Now I'm the one who did it without permission. Was it wrong of me to do that?"

"No-" Sungjin's voice cracked mid-sentence, "it wasn't."

"So why would it be wrong for you?"

"I'm shy," the poor boy mumbled out, tugging Wonpil down by his shirt so he would lie down on Sungjin's chest again. The younger boy found his head resting on his hyung's shoulder and he smiled, reaching up to hug the shy boy.

A few minutes later, Wonpil started to feel a bit uncomfortable. His back was soaked and the raindrops hitting it were sloshing against the wet fabric of his shirt. "Hyung, I'm going to sit up, now."

"Okay," Sungjin mumbled into his hair, causing small vibrations to travel down Wonpil's scalp.

The brunette pushed himself up and sat in front of his hyung after he pulled the boy into a sitting position. "Hug me, please." Then he respectfully added, "Hyung."

Sungjin wordlessly cuddled the younger boy closer to himself, his hands encircling the boy's waist. Wonpil's soaked back was resting on his dry chest, but that was okay; it was calming to hold the brunette in his arms and the older boy was not about to complain.

"I'm falling for you." Wonpil leaned into Sungjin's touch, watching the rain pour down the pipeline hanging from the roof they were sitting on.

"I'm falling for you." Sungjin brought one of his hands closer to Wonpil's and dragged his fingers over his dongsaeng's palm. His fingertips furtively slid between the younger boy's fingers as if he was secretly asking for permission to hold the brunette's hand.

The younger boy shyly smiled and gave in to Sungjin's wishes, bringing their hands together in a soft embrace as the warm rain continued to fall on their lightly-dressed figures. "Remember how we used to hate each other?"

"I do, unfortunately." Sungjin chuckled.

"You don't hate me anymore, do you?"

"I hate you just as much as you hate me."

"And how much is that?" Wonpil cheekily mumbled out.

"Not... one... bit."

🌉

meanwhile, jae and brian ran through the rain in search of a rooftop to hide under since they left the festival before it started raining. they finally succeeded in finding one, quickly sprinting under its shelter to escape the harsh waves of water welling down from the sky. "shit..." jae muttered out, wiping his glasses on his shirt sleeve which only made their lenses even more soaked. "i can't see anything."

"here, let me help." brian reached over to gently tug the glasses out of jae's grasp and wiped them with a handkerchief which had miraculously survived the downpour unlike most of the other things inside of his backpack.

"thanks, brian. you're a lifesaver." jae put the glasses back on and gave him an uncharacteristically warm smile, effectively managing to melt brian's insides until he swore he could feel them pour down the walls of his inner body. then a worried expression settled on the older boy's face and brian felt his entire body freeze, the once gooey substance turning into a cold solid that caused him to shiver. "but isn't your sketchbook soaked?"

"fuck..." younghyun dug around in his backpack, not caring that his hands were wet and that water was dripping from his fingertips onto the things in his bag. his fingers soon brushed the frayed edge of his sketchbook. he nervously pulled it out, seeing that the cover was still intact. "please be okay, please be okay," he muttered, not noticing jae looking at him with a guilty expression etched onto his face and with fingers jittering beneath the long sleeves of his sweater. younghyun opened the book, frantically sifting through the pages, not caring if jae saw them anymore. he just wanted to make sure they were okay. and luckily they were, because brian really did not want to lose it... he was almost done with it. he slowly let out a breath of utter relief and gently closed the sketchbook, turning to jae with a thumbs up gesture and a relieved smile. "it's good."

jae let out the breath he had not known he'd been holding and shakily nodded his head. "cool." he guiltily shuffled his feet, his eye starting to twitch out of nervousness. "i'm sorry. because of me it almost got destroyed."

"are you kidding me, jae?" brian asked with a questioning laugh. he carefully placed the sketchbook back in his backpack. after he zipped up his bag, the brunette turned to the fidgeting boy beside him and pulled him into a hug. "don't give me that crap. how would you know it would rain?"

"i don't know," jae mumbled, droplets of water sliding down his hair and dripping onto brian's shoulder.

"then don't be sorry."

"but i am sorry."

"you shouldn't be."

"but i still am."

"shut up, jae." younghyun patted the blonde's back, pulling him closer.

"okay." jae allowed brian to pull him closer and buried his nose in the younger boy's shoulder, his wet eyelashes leaving a soft trail of wetness on the semi-dry material of brian's shirt.

"are you crying?" brian asked with both concern and teasing laced in his tone.

"no," jae murmured, not even able to get mad or defensive. he was too comfortable in brian's embrace to care if brian was teasing him. "my glasses rode up when you hugged me and my eyelashes are wet."

"they must be pretty."

"i don't think so."

"let me check." younghyun slowly stepped back and took a look at jae's eyes. his eyelashes were indeed covered in rain droplets which made brian's breath hitch for no reason whatsoever. yeah, no reason. no reason at all. except for the fucking crush brian had on the boy in front of him... "wow."

"wow, what?"

"they're... beautiful."

"you're gross."

"why?"

"because."

"you're childish."

"no!"

"then why do you do this to me?"

"do what?"

"i don't know... pour inside of me??"

"what?!" jae's eyes grew to the size of saucers as did his mouth.

"i don't know how to say it... you melt me, you make me feel stuff, you're pouring!"

"stop it! shut up!" jae was red and his hands rose to his face to cover it with his sleeves. "shut up! you're so weird!"

"but... how do i say this..." brian frantically unzipped his backpack and pulled his sketchbook back out, handing it to a surprised jae and digging around his bag until he found his pencil. grabbing his sketchbook from the surprised boy, the brunette pointed at a small bench that was stationed beneath the rooftop. "sit," he ordered.

"wh- what?!" jae asked, his heart fluttering and his palms sweating. what was going on?!

"sit down!" brian nudged him toward the bench. "give me half an hour, okay?"

"okay?"

"cool." brian watched the confused blonde take a seat on the bench. the older boy hunched his back and looked down at the ground, which made the brunette twitch in slight annoyance. "hey. hey, listen to me. jae." he finally managed to get the boy's attention and walked over to briefly pull up his chin and smile at him. "sit up. look up at the rain. it's pouring... just like you."

"you're a fucking imbecile." jae couldn't help the small grin that grew on his mouth as he saw brian smirk, knowing that the last thing the boy said had been a joke.

"now shut up and look at the rain," brian said, patting jae's lower back to get the boy to sit up straight.

"okay," was the last quiet statement that either of them heard before all they could hear was the sound of raindrops brushing the landscape surrounding them.

brian carefully sat down on the ground before jae, opening his sketchbook and rifling through it til he got to the last page. he looked at the empty page for a few seconds before looking back up at jae. he saw the boy turn his face away at the last second, knowing full well that jae had been secretively glancing at him instead of staring at the rain as he had been instructed to. younghyun didn't mind, though. it was endearing after all. so he held back his chuckle and instead lifted his pencil, glancing at jae for a few seconds more before he brought pencil to paper, lead to crushed pulp, ready to create a masterpiece.

his hand never paused its movements. he was scared that the moment would end: that jae would leave, that the rain would stop, that the pencil would break. but he also made sure to keep his strokes light and focused, not adding details too early or too late. once all the proper abstract lines filled the paper, brian hummed to himself and began to add in the features of jae's face, from his dewey eyes to his arched-upwards, relaxed lips. then came the glasses, then the blurred backround with faint impressions of the rain bleeding onto the page. and finally the brunette carefully etched in the raindrops glittering on jae's eyelashes, neat semicircles glowing over the paper boy's eyes. when brian finally sighed out in relief, he looked up to see jae still faithfully looking at the rain, still as can be and almost definitely awestruck by the water dropping from the sky. the sight of jae in such a calm state brought a grin to tug at brian's face and the boy hesitantly closed his sketchbook, taking his time to put away his pencil before gently walking over to sit down beside jae. the blonde slowly turned his face to beam at younghyun, leaning into his warmth and placing his head on the brunette's shoulder. "what were you drawing?" he quietly asked as if he didn't already know.

"you know."

"the frog," jae said with a serious tone, pointing at a clay frog perched under the bench between brian's feet, "right?"

"are you joking right now?"

"no. why would i be?" jae immediately answered, his tone still serious and very much confused. "you were drawing the frog, right?"

"no," younghyun said in disbelief, drawing out the o. "here, dummy. see for yourself."

he passed jae the sketchbook, no longer shy. the blonde looked at him in confusion. "i can look inside?"

"yeah." younghyun fidgeted on the bench, suddenly shy and nervous. "i just wanted to finish it before i gave it to you." his personality was everywhere, today, he noted.

"gave it... to me?"

"it's for you, pabo. now open it." brian's cheeks were tinted a light shade of pink and he was so sure that his insides were gushing and pouring down the caverns encompassing his heart like fucking liquid giddiness by now.

"oh... okay." jae looked equally nervous as he kept his eyes glued to the sketchbook. his fingers shook as they turned to the first page in the book, his eyes growing wide as he began to read.

*

jae,

hi! this is brian. i mean, young k. i heard you like cheese. here's some unlike any other.

i've been drawing you for a while.

not in a creepy way!

not in a creepy way at all...

at first, i was just someone who drew you when you fell asleep during our skype calls.

then i started to draw you when you were busy studying while calling me.

and then i started to draw you with the excuse that i was drawing the frog poster behind you on the wall.

but that was all me drawing you as a pen pal. now that i have feelings for you, feelings that go slightly beyond platonic (you know what... it's not even slightly anymore, i'm far gone!), i want you to know. so here's the book of drawings i've made of you since our sixteenth skype call, since my feelings for you have grown sixteen-fold (is that even a word?), and since i've figured out just how much i want to... need to... pour out all my feelings to you.

love you, bro.

your brian.

*

jae sniffled, wiping his nose with his sleeve. then he turned to the first drawing, knowing that he would never get to it if he started to talk to brian now.

the first thing he thought when he saw the first drawing was, "wow... am i really that ugly?" the drawing had a slightly squashed face, the shading around his head a bit too heavy (which had caused everything to smudge, even spreading onto the page in front of it which in turn destroyed the equally terrible sketch on that page) and jae swore he saw a hint of snot and drool drawn on his sleeping features.

the blonde realized he must have said it aloud when a fakely-offended voice whined, "hey! i was only a beginner back then! it gets better, i promise."

jae looked over at the brunette, who was giving him his best puffed-out-cheek smile. jae couldn't hold back the smile crawling onto his own face and nodded, turning back to the book. he flipped the page, seeing more drawings littering the pages. this time, the strokes seemed slightly lighter (though they still smudged quite a bit) and the lines were slightly neater. jae also noticed dates written on the corners of the pages. his eyes crinkled into smiley wrinkles as he recalled just how long ago brian had drawn these. "they're actually really cute."

"i thought you said they were ugly."

"they are ugly. but they're cute."

"you're cute."

"okay." jae felt his heart flutter, his fingers in a flurry to turn to the next page already and see what was hiding there. he kept looking at the pages and turning them, watching them progress from smudgy blotches of attempted shading and line-making into masterful placements of shade and shape. "these are amazing," he breathed out, not being able to draw his eyes away from the emotion-rich sketches that made up the middle of the sketchbook, the blending of cross-hatchings and softer textures catching him off-guard.

"keep going. it gets even better." brian grinned, bringing his hand to caress jae's thigh as he leaned over to examine the artwork along with jae.

"how long did it take you to draw this?" jae pointed at a drawing of him sleeping in a hammock. he remembered that day; he had skyped younghyun when he had gone on vacation and had fallen asleep half-way into the call.

"about three hours." brian shrugged, brushing some wet strands of hair out of his eyes.

"what the fuck?! how?!!"

"how what?"

"how are you so patient?!"

"i don't know. i just like looking at you and drawing you. it's relaxing."

jae didn't know how to react to that statement, so he just gulped and turned to the next page. the drawings on the pages were less detailed than the one before, but they focused more on a body in motion, their lines streaked and mobile. "what about these?"

"five minutes."

"five minutes?!"

"yeah. these are just figure sketches. they don't take that long."

"but... how did you get all the lines right?"

"practice and observation."

"okay." jae shifted on the bench, turning to the next set of pages. there he saw yet another gray scale drawing of his sleeping profile. this one was very masterfully drawn: jae's cheekbones were sharp where they needed to be, his eyelids and lips soft in contrast, which moved the eye to rest on them and notice the clear relaxation and comfort drawn into the picture. "are there any coloured drawings?"

"no. i wish there were, but the colours weren't very clear on my laptop. if you want me to draw you in colour, i ca--"

"it's okay," jae squeaked out, clearly shy and embarrassed. "it's okay."

"i'll draw you again later."

"don't." jae couldn't stop the quiver in his voice.

"why not?" brian raised an eyebrow, bringing his face closer to jae's so the blonde was forced to look at him.

"because. you're weird."

"so are you. and i'm not complaining."

"i haven't finished looking at the book." jae quickly diverted the topic, flipping to the next page. his jaw dropped in awe at what he saw. it was a drawing of his entire bedroom, from one wall to the other, his bed and other furniture all spread across the two adjoining pages. the three-point perspective was on point; the seemingly simple complexity of it all surprised jae. but what intrigued him the most was the sight of his own figure curled up on his bed, a speech bubble etched above his slightly open mouth. it read, "i am not chicken little, bitch!!" and had a few frustration/anger marks drawn next to it like in a manga. jae stifled a laugh, turning to brian. "did i really say that in my sleep?"

"yeah."

"okay."

jae's finger flipped over to the next page and the next and the one after that, each of which surprised him and left him with butterflies in his stomach. sure it was a bit weird that he made a cameo in each of the drawings, but he was embarrassed by it, not creeped out. he was just embarrassed that younghyun had been paying so much attention to him while he had been doing nothing for the younger boy and had instead been dozing off and ranting to the brunette about his problems. he shut out the negative thoughts by turning to the final page. there he found the drawing that brian must have sketched only a short while ago. it was jae in the rain. the frog didn't even appear in the drawing. jae figured brian must have been focusing too much on him to even notice the clay figure sitting near his legs. the tiny details littering his features caught jae by surprise and caused his breath to hitch.

a few minutes of staring later, jae slowly shut the sketchbook, setting it by his side on the dry bench. he turned his body to face younghyun and unexpectedly grabbed his cheeks. the brunette gasped in surprise, his hands slipping up jae's thighs and gripping his hips. "brian, you are a fucking genius," jae said, smashing his lips onto brian's. the brunette's eyes opened wide and he didn't get a chance to kiss back because he was too surprised and because jae retracted his mouth two seconds later. "you made my eyelashes sparkle." his voice got lower and his words got slower as he repeated what he had just said. "you made... my fucking... eyelashes sparkle."

out of breath, brian gasped out, "they were even more sparkly in real life." his face started to tilt forward in pursuit of jae's lips. "i wish i could have drawn them even prettier..."

just as brian's breath fanned over jae's mouth, a finger rose to shield their lips from each other. it pushed back on younghyun's mouth until he was forced to sit back up and look at the pouting jae. "i'm pouring my heart out to you! shut up and listen!!" jae said with a whine, childishly moving his hands to shake brian's shoulders.

"okay, okay!" younghyun chuckled, placing his hands on jae's arms and giving them a light squeeze of encouragement. "i will."

"good." jae fixed his glasses and cleared his throat. "brian... you know what? fuck this. i fucking love you, man." giving up on what he had planned to do before (he really didn't feel like talking for a long time about just how much he appreciated brian anymore, because he was sure neither of them really needed that right now), jae settled for grabbing the boy's cheeks once more and bringing their lips into a softer embrace. and when brian smiled against his mouth and pulled him closer so he could tug at his lips, jae squished the boy's cheeks and felt a smile slip onto his own face.

***

i was literally laughing while i wrote this and i have no idea why

it didn't even start with the whole brian "pouring" conversation thing that had a weird sound to it, it started with the sungjin talking about how he couldn't talk about stuff the way he wanted to and i didn't write this in order so every time i reread something i would just cringe and start to laugh and i'm scared

PLEASE SAVE ME FROM THIS HELLHOLE I DUG MYSELF INSIDE OF PLEASE OMYLAWRD

Also... If you guys don't mind, I'd just like to ask for your feedback on whether I should write longer stuff like this or keep chapters short like I usually do :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day/night!