Hongjoong sprinted up the stairs of their building. He shivered all over after having forgotten his jacket during his hurried departure from home. His neighbour had held him up, needing him to watch her plants for a week in the upcoming school holidays. With more words than necessary, Hongjoong had agreed and promised the kind old lady his utmost expertise with her plants before he had run off. Now inside the ghostly empty building, Hongjoong froze his toes off. Christmas time was rolling around the corner, and it came with the first shy flocks of snow that tumbled from the skies tiny and inconspicuous in the mornings.

Up in the attic, Hongjoong turned on the heater and activated the computer. He had no mug to warm his icy hands on, so he returned to the second floor to get himself some hot chocolate. It wasn't quite as sandy and disgusting as their coffee.

As he waited, Hongjoong rehearsed everything he wanted to tell Seonghwa tonight in his head. He should ask about the grandma situation smoothly. After he had spent the complete day wondering if her dementia was good or bad on Seonghwa, Hongjoong ached for some answers.

Only if Seonghwa were comfortable talking, of course.

With his cup balanced on his sleeves, Hongjoong scaled the stairs again. The air in the stairwell was so crisp that he could barely detect the musty smell of the walls anymore.

While he sipped his hot chocolate, Hongjoong scrolled through chat messages and Seonghwa's social media. He had uploaded another selfie, and this one had Hongjoong blush and raise his brow at his phone at the same time.

Seonghwa had taken a selfie seated at his desk. It was angled from his lap up towards him, facing his pouty expression. He supported his face elegantly on one hand and sighed into the camera.

The caption read 'Everyone, how to flirt...' with one crying emoji and one smirking one.

Hongjoong scoffed at the blatant disrespect. As if the very existence of this post wasn't him flirting indirectly with Hongjoong. Both of them knew that Hongjoong watched over any updates.

In his private messages, San had forwarded the same post again to Hongjoong. The only thing he had commented on it was a precise 'lol'.

For a moment, Hongjoong worried his lip between his teeth as he considered replying to Seonghwa's question. Ultimately, he set his phone down to empty his mug though. Even without active flirting, Seonghwa did a wonderful job at wrapping Hongjoong around his fingers. Both with his kind heart and tender voice, as well as with the depths that his mind held. Beautiful in their darkness.

As it seemed, Seonghwa was at the station tonight. The classic predator was most likely Yeosang already. And Hongjoong suspected that the addition of bomb diffusing was another one of the stress factors Seonghwa hadn't accounted for.

Hongjoong slipped into his usual leather pants and jacket combined with the red shirt. With his bomb skills at the ready, he stepped into Seonghwa's dream.

The station was bustling. All kinds of people, uniformed and not hurried around between the crowded tables. They yelled orders at each other, bumped into the scurrying bodies, and created general mayhem that had Hongjoong lost like a deer that had been separated from its mother.

For a moment, he stood between all the people that pushed past him completely overwhelmed. Then, a hand wrapped around his, pulling him away from the storm.

Seonghwa's smile was partly apologising and partly delighted to see Hongjoong. Instantly melting, Hongjoong followed him.

"Sorry for the mess. Let's get out of here," Seonghwa grinned as he threw a door open. Hongjoong pulled his head between his shoulders when a sharp wind hit him and brought tears to his eyes. Hongjoong blinked them away, and his fingers around Seonghwa's tightened when he was temporarily overwhelmed.

A moment later, a warm arm wrapped around Hongjoong's shoulders and led him along. Hongjoong trusted him blindly while his eyesight still adjusted to the bright weather.

Clouds, everything he saw was clouds. But they were not above him. Above was only a blue sky. The ocean of clouds that moved lively like waves was below him.

They were on a mountain so high up Hongjoong had the perceiving of an aeroplane. He lost all words he might have come up with to illustrate the breathtaking view.

"Sorry also for choking you with that wind. God, I mess up a lot today," Seonghwa chuckled to himself embarrassedly. His palms rubbed some warmth into Hongjoong's shoulders.

They sat down on a bench hidden under a glass shelter with solid walls on three sides that blocked off all wind. From here, they had a spectacular view over the bit of the cliff in front and the endless clouds beyond. No other mountain breached the surface. When Hongjoong looked around, he spotted a grand resort that travelled all over the mountain chain and looked out over the ocean of clouds.

Stiff and with his legs aligned orderly, Seonghwa sat next to Hongjoong. His nervous fidgeting had Hongjoong chuckle, even as Yeosang pressed against the class next to them with his face contorted in a grimace of madness.

"You're doing fine. What is this place?"

Seonghwa perked up, glad to be ripped from his moments of misery.

"Oh, this is the Unkai Resort in Hokkaido! I went here as a kid once and I just loved the view."

"It's incredible, yeah. Thank you for showing it to me." With an affectionate smile, Hongjoong turned to glance at Seonghwa. A shy expression had taken over the man's features to shoo away his restless peers at Yeosang.

Seonghwa wore dark clothes that matched his hair today. Black jeans and a dark blue top. Subtle, but impactful on a man as handsome as him.

"We can look around if you want. Or we can stay and duck away from the wind."

Hongjoong gifted him a bright smile. Like a lion, Yeosang circled them with his axe poised as a deadly threat next to his carved features. The contrast was comedic and horrifying at the same time.

"Let's stay then. I won't hear you talk over the wind," Hongjoong replied charmingly. He was invested in the extraordinary cuteness that came with Seonghwa being shy. It seemed the man was planning something that had him fidget even worse than usual.

Flattered by the prospect that Hongjoong wanted to listen to him talk, Seonghwa told him the story of this place, and how his life connected to it. How it was one of the few trips his family including grandparents ever took and how it was only possible because his grandmother was away for the week. How he had felt the freest he had ever been and never wanted to leave.

Hongjoong listened to him fondly until he ended with a blush over having rambled.

"Your grandmother... What does she do that is so bad on you?"

Seonghwa glanced at his lap and his restless fingers. Then he looked around worriedly as if she could appear and nag him for speaking up.

"It's mostly how she treats me. You know, I have an older brother. She always favoured him and praised him. When it was about me, it was only ever that I am way too soft, way too weak. That I wouldn't be as successful as my brother. But then at the same time, she is a tyrant to everyone nearby. Things always have to be what she wants them to be. With no exceptions. Even my grandpa fears her and with that, there is no other person of similar rank that has a right to talk back."

Hongjoong hummed, his hand inching over to take Seonghwa's in his. In his grip, the man stilled and the faint smile returned to his lips.

Hongjoong already knew that Seonghwa was a very conservative man and vastly different from Hongjoong, who believed that people only deserved respect if they earned it. To him, old people were valuable and wise, but if he met a ghastly person, he also treated them as such. Seonghwa was too polite to do that.

"Since she's such an important family member we also can't shun her. But everybody suffers under her and her rigid rules. When we tell her that mom has an allergy to cats and if she could lock hers out of the room or visit without them, she refuses. She would rather see my mom suffer. When dad asks her for compassion over losing his beloved dog, she sneers and tells him to get a new one 'that stinks less.' One time they left me on a mountain road for two hours because I was being annoying after hiking for too long. I think I was five."

He spoke quickly as if all the pain just spilt from him with no end. There seemed to be a lot to tell, and the devil was in the details. That woman didn't do one bad thing she stuck to. The trauma she had put on Seonghwa over the years had accumulated.

"Sometimes she hit us as children, because 'that is the only valid form of punishment.' It doesn't hurt much physically, but emotionally it's all the worse. Since we were taught to trust and love her. And I want to do that. But she felt like a demon in our very own home."

Seonghwa sighed, his eyes lost as they regarded the clouds. His fingers drew mindless circles on Hongjoong's hand.

"When my brother and I had moved out, my parents lived together with her for a while longer. I got better through the distance, but whenever I wanted to visit the family she was there to poison my thoughts. I never came out to her, if you are wondering. She always says that all the homosexuals would find a bitter end in her cooking pan if they ever came near. She doesn't say it as a joke. Hearing that I had to take care of her was... devastating. I had finally healed, if the barest bit. The distance allowed me freedom of thought and speech, and my friends helped me understand it was abuse. Then this."

The shaky smile that Seonghwa gave Hongjoong appeared plastered onto his features. Hongjoong's heart ached for him and his dilemma. Seonghwa's own morals and the expectations put on him held him back from seeking the distance he so desperately needed. And from how he dreamed of that grandma, she caused some lasting damage.

Hongjoong wrapped their fingers together to give a tight squeeze. Seonghwa returned it, albeit weakly.

"Thank you for telling me. She sounds horrible."

Meek, Seonghwa nodded. His lips whispered a 'she is' that he didn't dare to say out loud.

Hongjoong saw how the lines connected. How the tyranny of the grandma was the reason for him becoming so subdued and cautious. How he tried so hard to please everyone and even had a job that was meant to protect and serve. Her mark haunted him through his whole life. And Seonghwa who had no rebel streaks and just never-ending hope and love to give was shattered by how it got met.

When Seonghwa stayed quiet and sad, Hongjoong twisted his upper body more towards him.

"Anything I can do to help? To help you return to merrier thoughts?"

A shy grin pulled on one corner of Seonghwa's mouth.

"You could get into my lap and make out with me," he suggested boldly. When Hongjoong rose his brow at him, he giggled behind his hand.

"Only if you want to. I'm not trying to get you to comply because you feel bad for asking."

Amused, Hongjoong held onto his shoulders as he swung his leg over. He settled in Seonghwa's lap and wrapped his arms around the man's neck. For a moment, Seonghwa's hands flickered between Hongjoong's waist and thighs, over-tasked with where he should grab him. They settled on his thighs ultimately, gently squeezing them.

"You're lucky, you caught me in a benevolent mood. I'm thrilled to deliver as many kisses as you may need to heal from that," Hongjoong muttered as he got more comfortable.

Pain carried in Seonghwa's eyes even as he smiled.

"That would be a lot of kisses."

"You'd be astonished how many I can give."

Seonghwa giggled into their first kiss when their lips met sweetly. His lips were warm despite the rather cool temperatures on top of the mountain. When Hongjoong melted into him and let go of all tension, Seonghwa's kisses deepened and he wrapped an arm around Hongjoong's waist to stabilise him.

Hongjoong had no way of knowing whether their kisses did the same to Seonghwa, but to him, kissing the man was like emptying all of his brain's worries. They melted away with the sweet warm affection they shared since they weren't more significant than Seonghwa's kisses either way. They could never be.

When Seonghwa pulled Hongjoong in closer around his waist, the man hummed into his mouth. He adjusted his legs until he was sitting directly in Seonghwa's lap, their middles brushing tantalisingly and Seonghwa's breath hitching. Hongjoong smirked and threaded his fingers through Seonghwa's hair. Seonghwa reacted with gentle shudders to the petting.

The cautious flick of a tongue against Hongjoong's upper lip had the man shudder and open his mouth for Seonghwa easily. Still foreign to each other, their tongues brushed against each other, getting a feel for more. Hot breaths mingled as their kisses gradually intensified, and the two men fell into each other with passionate clutches on each other's bodies.

Seonghwa's hands on Hongjoong's waist were soon like burning hot iron that faded into him. They guided Hongjoong into pushing his hips tighter against Seonghwa's as their movements grew more desperate and wanting. Hongjoong arched against him, a breathless gasp escaping him when Seonghwa sucked on his tongue teasingly.

Vengeful, Hongjoong pulled on the man's roots, just enough to have their lips separate and Seonghwa dip his head back. His expression was blissed out, and his breath hitched when Hongjoong dipped to his neck to kiss the soft skin there. Seonghwa's shudders in his grasp were endearing, and Hongjoong couldn't help but taunt him some more. He spread fluttering kisses near the man's ear and jaw, tasting the warm skin under his lips. When he finally returned to Seonghwa's lips, the man whined into his mouth impatiently.

Hongjoong let go of his hair again to caress it gently. His breath got stuck in his throat when Seonghwa guided their hips together searchingly. Hardened middles brushed with heat and brought moans to both of their lips.

Their tongues found each other again as they kissed their noises off each other. They had another minute before the lack of Seonghwa under his hands had Hongjoong wake in the psycho room.

He cleared his throat when he glanced at the status his dented pants were in. Then, he snuck down to the bathroom before anyone could see his flushed cheeks as he continued playing their passionate kisses in his head.

******
Chapter 38 will be the last one!