"Jooheon! JooHoney!" The boy giggled, tripping after his soulmate.

Jooheon didn't slow, face alight with laughter and the afternoon sun, he ran through the grass sending taunts over his shoulder. "Catch up! Why're you so slow?"

The colors were vibrant in mid May, the grass green, the trees brown, even the blue of the sky was a hue more extravagant. Or maybe it had something to do with his newfound soulmate. His next door neighbor Lee Jooheon.

Tripping over his feet, he stumbled on to the ground, laughing harder at himself. Jooheon raced back to his side, still laughing, taking his hands in his own to examine them for scrapes.

"You have to be more careful Minhyuk, what if you hurt yourself?" He scolded gently.

"You're here, I'm not scared of a few scrapes." Minhyuk smiled.

Jooheon pressed his lips to the scrapes and another to Minhyuk's forehead. "Let's go."

They tumbled into the library in a fit of giggles, hushing each other to avoid the librarian's harsh glare. In the corner, they took up their place in the cushions reading softly back and forth, sharing the books and the waning light of the afternoon.

The librarian rounded the corner, explaining in a soft voice that they'd be closing up for the night soon. The boys put their books back on the shelves and wandered outside.

Their houses butted up against each other with a small walking spaced between. Minhyuk's window had a small ledge around it, that's how Jooheon got in and out. He stepped in through the gap, and they hung out long after they were supposed to be sleeping.

Or if Jooheon just needed out of the house for awhile.

In Minhyuk's room, they sat with their backs to the bed, holding hands between themselves and playing one of Min's records softly in the background. Jooheon kept glancing at the window, listening intently for his dad's car.

"Jooheon, he'll come around when he finds out, I promise. He'll understand."

Jooheon swallowed heavily, but smiled anyway, pecking Minhyuk on the cheek. "I think I had math homework, I should go get it."

Minhyuk nodded easily, "I can help, I'm good at math."

"Making out isn't math, Minhyuk." Jooheon paused, one leg already on his own window.

"At least you admit I'm good at one of them.''

He laughed, shaking his head as he pulled himself through his window. Minhyuk watched as he dug around his backpack and looked over his desk, saw him tense up and look at his door. It opened the severe looking man who was Jooheon's father poked his head inside.

Minhyuk closed his eyes, letting his music and the warmth of his room wash over him. He hated watching Joohoney tremble around his dad. He loathed the white that boiled beneath his skin.

He shifted to sit beneath the window, just to close some distance while Jooheon followed his dad deeper into the house.

Same sex soulmates were never outrightly acknowledged, people knew they existed, but many people refused to understand it, the fact that it was the same. And Jooheon believed his dad was one of those people. He was terrified of being found out.

Minhyuk just wanted Joohoney to be happy. His parents were accepting and he felt like it was his job to shower Honey in all the love he wasn't rightly receiving.

A door closed and Minhyuk opened his eyes to a foot dangling above his head, it twitched in the air, hitting his face with a soft sound. Minhyuk laughed, ducking to avoid further hits and rolled out of the affectionately dubbed 'landing zone'. Jooheon was hissing something like an apology through his teeth.

Jooheon landed on his butt, apparently too hurried to make a normal entrance. "No math." He announced, facing the ceiling.

"No mEth??" Minhyuk gasped, gripping at Jooheon's arm.

They dissolved into giggles as Jooheon tugged Minhyuk closer and onto his chest.

"Since there's no math," He shrugged, a little breathless, and he leaned up to capture Minhyuk's lips with his own.