Chapter 13: Can We Kiss Some More?

Can We Kiss Some More?

✿

The sun had already set; the sky was now swallowed by darkness. There were stars glistening in the heavens, the glow they possessed was reflected on the calm waves as the fresh smell of the sea lingered with the cold wind. Beomgyu breathed in. The smell of the ocean was strong yet soft in his nose; the scent tasted simple yet unique in a way. Beomgyu couldn't quite point out what it was specifically, whether it smelled like fish or salt. But surely enough, Beomgyu loved the smell.

Past seven in the evening, the others were now seated outside with a grill and a container of meat placed on the table. Lia, Huening Kai, and Hyunjin were all in their seats while talking with each other. On the other hand, Yeonjun and the remaining four were by the grill — preparing everything so they could start cooking.

Even though Beomgyu didn't know anything about cooking (heck, he doesn't know anything about the kitchen), he still wanted to help them. He followed what Yeonjun was telling him, be it: grabbing a utensil, or a piece of meat, or just watching the elder male cook.

With the given chance, Beomgyu could stare at the way Yeonjun looks while cooking, it was a cute sight: Yeonjun's brows were furrowed, nose scrunched up, lips pouty, and his entire focus would be on the meat and nothing but the meat. There were a few packs of ramen too, Beomgyu guessed they're for Yeonjun.

"Gyu," Yeonjun called, his eyes still fixed on the griller, "Hand me over the scissors," he lent out his hand without even sparing the younger male a glance.

Despite growing bored because he was only being bossed around, Beomgyu still followed and gave Yeonjun the scissors. He pouted, "Hyung, I wanna try grilling the meat too."

Yeonjun chuckled while cutting the meat into smaller pieces, "It's fine, Gyu. It'll finish faster if I cook them."

"But Hyung," Beomgyu stepped closer to him with a frown, "Just a few pieces of meat, please? It's boring to just stand here and watch you."

"Why?" Yeonjun finally looked at him with a sly smile, Beomgyu wished he never spared him a glance now. "Don't you like watching me?"

"Ah, come on," Beomgyu dramatically scoffed while rolling his eyes, "Can't you just let me cook? I'm not gonna burn it or anything. I've watched you long enough to know how it's done."

Yeonjun twitched out a smile, "All right, then. I'll be watching you this time."

With that being said, Yeonjun stepped away from the griller while looking at Beomgyu with a wide grin. Beomgyu wanted to shove his face against the sand but proceeded to just ignore him and grab the tongs and scissors. Yeonjun walked around him and stood beside the younger male, a fond smile painted with vibrant colors all over his lips.

Now it was Yeonjun's turn to stare at the little one: squinted eyes, frowning lips, and his gaze intently fixed on the meat. Yeonjun wanted to laugh, Beomgyu looked so cute. Nothing could ever compare to this; the smell of the sea with Beomgyu's bangs being pushed back by the wind.

"Stop staring," Beomgyu suddenly said, "Cook the ramen or something. I thought you wanted to finish cooking already?"

Yeonjun cleared his throat and threw the younger male a glare, "It's not like I complained when you were staring at me. You're being mean."

"Whatever you say," Beomgyu waved him off and continued to flip the meat on its other side. Yeonjun playfully scoffed and decided to help Soobin and Taehyun with the ramen.

Taehyun snickered while looking at Yeonjun, the elder noticed and raised a brow, "What is it now, Taehyun?"

"You almost looked like a married couple," Taehyun teased and Soobin chuckled along with him.

Yeonjun rolled his eyes, "We do not. You're not making any sense right now."

"Ah, right," Soobin nodded his head innocently. "You and Beomgyu actually aren't boyfriends and definitely not married. I get it, I get it."

"Shut up or I'm gonna shove this uncooked ramen inside your mouth," Yeonjun tried to threaten but the two only broke out into laughter. Yeonjun rolled his eyes again.

"Sure, I'm so scared," Soobin stuck his tongue out. "But on a more serious note..." Soobin threw the empty packs of ramen inside a plastic before speaking again.

"Why exactly are you two not dating yet?"

How many more times are people even going to ask him that before they give it up? Yeonjun sighed before glancing at Beomgyu who was still focused on sniffing in the meat's smell.

"I just don't really think much about that," Yeonjun merely shrugged, "It's not like we need it right now. We're on the same page anyway, I guess that's okay for now."

That's what Yeonjun had been thinking ever since they started confirming each other's feelings (rather indirectly yet it all made sense). The glances, the staring, the kisses, even those little moments: They were all enough to ease Yeonjun's doubts. As long as they were holding onto each other, then nothing else really mattered. It's not like Yeonjun would keep everything like this till the end, he'll make a move — just not now. Not yet. Perhaps soon, but surely not now. Besides, both of them knew.

Taehyun sighed out loud, "Still though. Don't hold onto that too much. Things can change, you better grasp him completely or you might regret it."

"Tae's right," Soobin nodded after tasting the newly cooked ramen, "Grab it while it's there. When that hand is no longer in sight, you'll keep looking for it when it's gone, but by that time, it's already too late."

Truthfully speaking, Yeonjun didn't know what to respond to that. Soobin and Taehyun were awfully right, but Yeonjun just needed a little more time. Mayhaps a bit more push as well. He just hoped that Beomgyu would be patient with him enough.

"Hyung!" Beomgyu called which snapped Yeonjun from his unresponsive state just a few seconds ago. He turned around to see Beomgyu looking at him with doe eyes. He softened.

"Yeah?" Asked Yeonjun while walking towards the younger male, the mouth-watering smell of the meat immediately made him drool.

Beomgyu picked up a piece of meat before answering, "Taste it. Just check if it's already cooked or something."

"Can you not taste it for yourself?" Yeonjun chuckled in disbelief.

Beomgyu sighed, "I don't trust my sense of taste. I think everything's delicious."

"Even burnt food?" Yeonjun laughed again. Beomgyu pouted and blew on the meat, "Not the point, just eat!"

Deciding not to push the younger male's buttons even more, Yeonjun gave in and opened his mouth — Beomgyu gently shoved the meat into his mouth and Yeonjun immediately chewed on it. With the taste quickly melting on his tongue, Yeonjun hummed in delight. "It's delicious," said Yeonjun with his eyes in the form of crescents.

Beomgyu was satisfied. Seeing how Yeonjun reacted to it was enough assurance for him. If Yeonjun's eyes light up in bliss along with his lips, then that meant Beomgyu succeeded.

"That's great to know," Beomgyu said breathlessly with a warm smile plastered on his lips, the faint color of red fire illuminated against his honey skin had Yeonjun staring.

"You two!" Hyunjin suddenly yelled which caught both Beomgyu and Yeonjun's attention. They looked at him with confusion while the others only tried to hold in their laughter.

"What...?" Yeonjun trailed off with curious eyes.

"You two look like a married couple," Hyunjin cracked out a laugh together with the others. Taehyun gave him a high-five. Yeonjun huffed in annoyance while Beomgyu had the color red dusted around his cheeks to the tips of his ears.

A married couple? Beomgyu glanced at Yeonjun who was still scowling at their friends. Beomgyu felt something warm in his chest. That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.

In fact, it's the only idea Beomgyu could ever think of with Yeonjun by his side.

✿

All of them had just finished eating dinner and were now exploring the beach once again. It was quiet, as tranquil as the ocean waves, the night never died down for the stars and moon continued to glimmer with the waves. Nothing looked like complete black right now, there was blue and there was white. Beomgyu loved staring at them all; the wholeness pieced together by totally different things.

Beomgyu tore his gaze off the view and decided to look at his phone instead. He opened an app and scrolled down his feed, he came across different uploads from his friends and coworkers. It looked like everyone was spending a little vacation today too.

"Hey."

Upon hearing that gentle voice, Beomgyu looked up and saw Yeonjun standing at a small distance away from him. The moon glistened above him with the little lights twinkling together with the glimmer in Yeonjun's eyes as he wore a warm smile. Beomgyu nodded, "What's up?"

Yeonjun only shrugged and made his way to Beomgyu with a curve in the ends of his lips. He leaned against the big rock where Beomgyu was sitting on and spoke, "What are you doing here?"

"No particular reason," Beomgyu went back to scrolling, "I just wanted some peace and quiet, that's all."

"Oh?" Yeonjun gasped and chuckled, "Did you just say I'm bothering you?"

Beomgyu laughed, "I didn't say that, you did."

"Hold on," Yeonjun turned and leaned his chest against the rough surface, "Am I really bothering you right now?"

"Gosh, Hyung," Beomgyu rolled his eyes, "You're not. I guess I can use some company."

Yeonjun fought back a satisfied smile, he bit his lip while leaning his back against the rock again, "If you say so."

Beomgyu spared him a glance before shaking his head, "You're a handful."

"Am not," Yeonjun scoffed while looking at the waves, "I just wanted some peace and quiet, too. And to have those would mean I need to be beside you."

"God," Beomgyu giggled, "You're being annoying right now. Stop with the cheesy lines."

"You can't stop me, I was born to put a blush on your pretty face," Yeonjun stuck his tongue out and chuckled at the younger male's reaction: his face scrunched up with a scowl.

Only the gentle rhythm of the waves went on after that. Yeonjun breathed in; the sea looked absolutely dazzling tonight. It made him calm as well, especially with Beomgyu's presence beside him. This was enough for him, enough for Beomgyu. They were right here, next to each other, close to each other.

Everything felt like home right now: the smell of salt, the sound of the ocean, the melodies of the wind ringing through their ears — it was music to their ears, they felt like they could hear the ocean right now — the moon shone brightly amidst the sky together with its lovely companions. Ah, yes. Home.

And suddenly, Beomgyu broke out into giggles. Yeonjun felt his heart stumbling down his chest as it failed to hold in the weakness it held for Beomgyu's sweet sound. He looked at Beomgyu with curious eyes, "What's got you giggling?"

Beomgyu smiled while looking at the elder, "Oh, my friend just posted a picture of him and his partner kissing by the ocean. I guess he's on a vacation too."

"Look," Beomgyu showed Yeonjun the picture, "They look really cute."

Yeonjun stared at him, the fresh wind cold against his skin but he didn't mind.

"I wonder how it feels like to kiss someone by the ocean," Beomgyu said without thinking, he was drowning in too much daydreaming, "I'm such a hopeless romantic, it's actually really sad."

Silence came. Yeonjun continued to stare at him and Beomgyu was still oblivious about what he just said. The things love can do to a person. It would be amazing to fall in love and kiss by the ocean, the waves crashing against their feet as their lips move in bliss. Beomgyu was such a romantic person, but at the same time, he often thought that he sounded so terribly hopeless.

Not really.

"You wanna know what it feels like to be kissed for the ocean to see?" Yeonjun asked as his hand crawled on Beomgyu's smaller one.

Heat immediately crept up to Beomgyu's cheeks as he heard his own heartbeat in his ears. He looked away from his phone and stared at Yeonjun with wide eyes. "W-well...I don't know. Why'd you ask?"

Yeonjun wanted to scoff. He gently tugged Beomgyu's hand and Beomgyu quickly hid his phone inside his pocket. Yeonjun helped him jump off the rock and swiftly pulled him closer by the waist.

He wore a cocky smile, "You know very well why I asked, Beomgyu."

Beomgyu swallowed back a gasp when Yeonjun tightened his grasp around his small waist, his hands were on Yeonjun's shoulders as he tried to avoid his piercing gaze, "Okay, let's say...hypothetically speaking, I do know what you're talking about. What is it that you're gonna do about it?"

Yeonjun chuckled at that, "Hypothetically? Seriously, Gyu? You really don't know?"

"You're full of layers, Choi Yeonjun. I don't know what's on your mind most of the time," Beomgyu rolled his eyes with a fond smile.

Yeonjun stared at him in disbelief, "All right, then. I'll show you what's in my mind."

And before Beomgyu could even speak, Yeonjun had already leaned in to claim what's long been his. Beomgyu should be used to this by now. He should be used to the warmth in Yeonjun's lips or the sweetness that comes along with them. He shouldn't be too shocked when Yeonjun started moving against his unmoving pairs. Beomgyu shouldn't lose all consciousness when Yeonjun started to gently pushed him against the rock. Beomgyu should be used to it. This was no longer new.

Yet every single kiss felt like the very first time.

It felt like kissing Yeonjun would have Beomgyu realize just how important Yeonjun was in his life. Beomgyu couldn't even close his lips now, not when Yeonjun was the one who opened his heart.

What would he even feel if Yeonjun weren't here?

The opposite of something warm and full?

Coldness and numbness?

Shallow and absence?

Beomgyu wouldn't want to feel all those. Having Yeonjun here — close and sweet against his lips with the salty scent roaming around the air — it was what he knew he deserved.

Yeonjun pulled away, "Do you get it now?"

"I..." Beomgyu stared at him, "Yeah...definitely."

With a dazed Beomgyu in front of him, Yeonjun just couldn't end it here. And so, he took Beomgyu's phone to check the time.

Half an hour past nine.

Yeonjun shoved Beomgyu's phone inside his own pocket before leaning down to Beomgyu's neck, and the younger male immediately felt his warm breath against his shivering skin. Yeonjun whispered, "It's not that late at night yet..."

Beomgyu remained quiet, his fingers digging deeper into the fabric of Yeonjun's shirt.

"Can we kiss some more?"

Yeonjun didn't have to ask.

✿ Bloom Again ✿

[a/n]: i'm not leaving that much author's note now, and if y'all read my other books, i'm guessing y'all already have a hunch why. or not...??? idk :'D