love you later | yeonbin ✓

052

They get ready for bed not much later after that. It has been a long day for everyone, exhausting and filled with many new memories. His parents had given him his gift a new watch after his last one had given up on him during his last visit. He places it on his nightstand, a fond smile on his face, before he slides underneath the covers where Yeonjun is already waiting for him.

"So," he says as he scoots closer. They're both on their sides, the faint glow of the small lamp on the nightstand giving Soobin enough light to look at Yeonjun's face. "Not so bad, was it?"

"No," Yeonjun laughs. "Not bad at all."

He reaches up to tuck a hair behind Soobin's ear, resting his hand against his jaw. "They're lovely people, I can see why you turned out so wonderful."

Soobin huffs out a small chuckle, but he can't keep his cheeks from turning a little pink. Truthfully, he never really admitted to Yeonjun how long it has been since he brought someone home to meet his family. All the relationships his parents had witnessed happened when he was much younger, before he went away to university. In retrospect, he could see that they weren't meant to last.

But the people Soobin had put his faith in before Yeonjun came along? The people who had left him while he was living in Seoul, the ones who had packed their bags to run from him first thing in the morning or refused to open their doors to him while he was holding gifts and a birthday cake? Those were the ones that had truly hurt. The ones who had left him to pick up the pieces with the help of Taehyun and Beomgyu, the ones who had shattered them into smaller bits every single time.

He isn't used to this either two parts of his world colliding. It makes him all the more grateful that things went well, that his family loves Yeonjun as if he was always meant to be around, and that Yeonjun seems comfortable too.

"What did you wish for?" Yeonjun asks softly.

"Can't tell you," Soobin shakes his head. "It's not gonna come true if I do."

Yeonjun pouts, and this time Soobin takes the opportunity to kiss him.

"That's just superstition," Yeonjun grumbles when they pull away. "I know a thing or two about magic and wishes and all that, so let me tell you that it's complete bullshit. Besides," he adds as he raises his eyebrows, "I am your soulmate. I don't count."

Soobin giggles, too endeared by the frown on Yeonjun's face, the seriousness in his eyes.

"Fine," he says with a quick peck to the little wrinkle between Yeonjun's eyebrows. "I'll tell you. Truthfully, I didn't quite know what to wish for. In the past few years, I was always dealing with a breakup. And at some point, I kinda started to dread my own birthday. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't stop hoping. And so I used to make wishes every single year. That someone would stay. That the next year I wouldn't be celebrating my birthday alone."

He watches the way Yeonjun's eyes go wide, his mouth dropping open. "This is the first year that it worked out. The first year where I asked for things to stay exactly the same. Because you're here, and I don't have to wait anymore. I don't want things to change."

His voice gets raspy towards the end, the emotion in it heavier than he expected. It's cheesy and slightly overdramatic, but he means every word. And, as expected, Yeonjun must know because his eyes get a little glassy.

Before Soobin can say anything else, he's pulled into a searing kiss. Yeonjun whimpers against him, pushes him back until he's flat on his back and Yeonjun can swing his leg over Soobin's lap. He doesn't stop kissing Soobin. Holds his face firmly between his hands, slips his tongue inside Soobin's mouth at his surprised gasp.

Soobin's head is spinning with shortness of breath, love, the scent of peaches, with everything Yeonjun. His heart is pounding, but when Yeonjun pulls away and rests his hand over it, he can't be embarrassed or shy about it. Not when Yeonjun is looking at him like he put the moon and all the stars in the sky.

Yeonjun doesn't go far, only looks at him with wonder for a split second, before he starts scattering kisses all over his face.

"I love you so much," he says in between kisses. Then he pulls away a little further so he can look at Soobin properly. "And I don't care if you just jinxed it by telling me about your wish, because this is something I can fulfill on my own. I'm not gonna go anywhere. You won't spend a single birthday alone anymore, not if I can help it."

The words hit Soobin in the best way possible, Instead of piercing through his heart, they fill the cracks that reopened just slightly when he talked about his past. Sometimes it feels like with Yeonjun's help he will be able to heal all those broken pieces until he is whole again.

Each smile, each word, each kiss makes. it a little easier to breathe, to let go of the pain he's held on to for so long.

He doesn't expect Yeonjun to heal him. And he doesn't think he's going to be able to chase away the demons of Yeonjun's past either. It's not how things work, He knows you can't love people whole. But loving Yeonjun and being loved by him feels a little bit like salvation. Like it's enough to give him the strength to heal himself, to patch himself up, and to release the things he doesn't need anymore like a balloon floating up into the sky.

He doesn't have the words to say how grateful he truly is, how much it means to him that Yeonjun intends to stay. Instead, he leans up for the softest kiss yet, slow and unhurried.

"Thank you," he whispers when he rests his head back down onto the pillow. "I'm so happy you're here."

And when he looks into Yeonjun's eyes, the way they disappear as a bright smile blossoms on his face, he knows it's enough.

Maybe one day he will find a way to put things into words-how much he loves Yeonjun, how much more intense everything seems when Yeonjun is around, how his heart sings when he hears the sound of his laughter. Or how much it aches when Yeonjun leaves, how desperately he wants to pull him back towards his apartment every time Yeonjun has to go back to his little cottage again.

For now, he twists around to turn off the light, pulls Yeonjun down until he's resting comfortably on his chest, and hopes that Yeonjun understands him wordlessly. That he can feel it in his touch, his kisses, see it in his eyes, and the pictures he takes. And when he thinks back to when they first met, how they slowly started to open up to each other even when it wasn't easy, he thinks that Yeonjun just might. After all, he had loved and understood him long before this night.

a/n] unfortunately we are slowly approaching the end of this book. four more chapters and its done!