Quiet | Seungjin

30

"Hi," Hyunjin beamed as Seungmin opened the front door for him. He peaked past the boy's shoulder and waved to Mrs Kim, calling out a gentle, "we shouldn't be gone too long."

Sending him a small smile, the woman nodded and said, "have a good time—call if you need anything."

"C'mon," Seungmin urged as he stepped past the door frame, quickly reaching out to link arms with the elder.

After dropping Seungmin off at the passenger door, Hyunjin skipped over to his own, excitedly climbing into the car. "We didn't talk at all last night..." Hyunjin rambled, referring to the small conversations they would have over text almost every night, "did you have a good day?"

Seungmin let out a soft mhm, not wanting Hyunjin to take his eyes off the road to see whether he nodded or not.

"My dad finally got home yesterday," the boy continued, wanting to fill the silent space of the car, "it's been like...five weeks since he was home last—I just know it's been at least a month."

Intrigued by his words, Seungmin turned towards the elder and asked, "why was he gone?"

"My dad's a truck driver—he always goes on longer trips and then spends a couple weeks at home with me and my mom. He used to make shorter deliveries when I was little so he could be around more but now that I'm grown up he picks the longer routes because it makes more money."

Seungmin let out a small hum of discomfort as he tried to will himself to say just a few more words. He closed his eyes for his a moment, squeezing his fists at his side. Feeling a hand trying to loosen up his clenched fist, the younger opened his eyes and saw Hyunjin's hand resting on top of his own.

"It's okay," Hyunjin reassured softly, his eyes still focused on the road as he tried to make a left turn, "you're okay."

A welcome silence enveloped the two while Seungmin straightened out his fingers, placing his hand carefully in Hyunjin's.

"You don't have to says anything to me—ever. I don't want you to force yourself to talk to me just because it seems like I want you to or something. I'd be fine—we'd be fine even if you don't say a word the whole time we're together."

Seungmin nodded to himself, listening to the elder's words while he fidgeted with Hyunjin's hand.

A smile rested on Hyunjin's lips as he pulled into an unfamiliar parking lot. "Well we're here..." he spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence too badly.

✨✨✨

Although pottery felt like the most frustrating thing in the world when they first started, Seungmin was actually proud of the vase he made. It wasn't perfect—it was actually quite lumpy—but he still thought it was astonishing he made something like that with his own hands.

The instructor had to help most of the people in their small class countless times just to make sure they had something to bring home. But, Hyunjin, once he started he seemed to be able to do it all by himself. It didn't come as a surprise though, as Seungmin knew the elder excelled in almost everything artistic.

"It's so cute," Hyunjin spoke at last as he looked over at the clay vase in front of Seungmin.

A subtle scowl rested on the younger's lips, his eyes traveling between his and Hyunjin's finished pieces. If it was a contest, there would've been a very obvious winner; however, Hyunjin was convinced otherwise.

"I think it's nice that it's a little lopsided. It has a some character that way."

Seungmin laughed at his words, quickly turning away as the instructor began to talk about what to do with the drying clay before they were dismissed from the session.

After setting their pieces up dry, the two headed out towards the parking lot. Hyunjin couldn't help but smile as they walked side by side, shoulders almost touching. He reached over and gently intertwined their fingers.

"Did you at least have fun?" He asked.

Looking at the boy next to him, Seungmin nodded, a soft smile rising towards his lips. The two stopped walking, coming to a halt in the middle of the parking lot.

No words were exchanged between them, only the gentle gaze into each others eyes. They just looked at each other for a few moments until Seungmin let out a small huff, his eyes quickly falling down to the wet pavement underneath his feet.

"You're hands are so cold," stated the elder to break the quiet between them. He brought the hand he was holding up to rest underneath his chin, trying to warm the boy up.

✨✨✨

"So you actually had a good time?" Hyunjin asked as the two sat in his car parked in Seungmin's driveway, wanting to spend just a few more minutes together.

Seungmin adamantly nodded.

"Would you even tell me if you didn't?"

He shrugged.

"Well I had fun. It was nice to take you somewhere. We hang out a lot but this...this was formal."

"It's a date," Seungmin spoke quietly.

A grin broke out across Hyunjin's face when he heard what the younger said. "It is a date," he confirmed happily, "I would've had fun wherever we went. I always like spending time with you."

"Can you...close your eyes?"

Hyunjin shot Seungmin a confused look but still listened, letting his eyes flutter shut. There were several seconds of nothingness and Hyunjin was quite frankly tempted to just open his eyes until he felt a hesitant hand resting on the side of his face. Once again, the younger paused, taking a few moments to work up a little courage before pressing his lips so softly against Hyunjin's cheek he almost didn't feel it.

"Okay..." Seungmin whispered as he pulled away completely, "thank you—bye."

Quickly opening his eyes, Hyunjin saw Seungmin scrambling to open the car door, trying his hardest to get out as fast as possible.

"You don't want me to walk you up?" Hyunjin called out as the boy climbed out of the passenger seat.

He leaned down to look through the window and shook his head, his cheeks painted a bright shade of pink. With one last smile, he waved to Hyunjin and set off towards the front door, not having any courage left to look back.

In the solitude of his now empty car, Hyunjin brought his fingers up to ghost over the space where Seungmin's lips had been just a minute prior. "Kim Seungmin," he whispered to himself as he watched the boy walk through his front door, "you are going to drive me crazy."

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