friend #hyungwonho

#36

On the Christmas morning, Hyungwon woke up to the sound of a door closing. Then he realized that he was alone in the bed but had been so well covered by the blanket he hadn't even noticed Hoseok's absence while sleeping.

He opened his eyes to see Hoseok standing in the front door and trying to be quiet while taking his shoes off. Hyungwon closed his eyes again and pulled the blanket in front of his face because he still felt sleepy. After a while he heard soft footsteps coming towards him.

"Merry Christmas," Hoseok whispered and leaned down next to him. He gave a kiss to Hyungwon's forehead because that was the only spot he could see from under the thick blanket. "Have you been asleep until now?"

"Where were you?" Hyungwon muttered, letting Hoseok know that he was awake.

"I had a customer. Now wake up, I bought you a Christmas present," Hoseok patted where he guessed was Hyungwon's shoulder.

Hyungwon sat up, still keeping the blanket around his shoulders. Hoseok came next to him. They were both wearing the red sweaters they had bought and as cringe as Hoseok felt, it was still nice.

Hoseok gave the gift bag in his hand to Hyungwon who got an excited smile on his face as he took it. He shook it a bit and heard rattle that sounded like a disk in a case.

"What is it?" Hyungwon asked and looked at Hoseok. "A movie?"

"I won't tell you. Open it up," Hoseok laughed and shifted closer to Hyungwon to follow as he started taking off the tapes Hoseok had closed the bag with.

Hyungwon put a hand in front of his eyes and he reached to the bag to take out what was inside with his other hand. He held the DVD box in front of his face and peeked at it from between his fingers.

"The Outsiders," he muttered the name that was written on it below a picture of seven boys. Then he took the hand off of his face to hold the box with both of his hands. "There is a movie!" he yelled and turned the box around to read what was written on the other side.

"I didn't know either until I saw it on the store this morning," Hoseok said and seeing Hyungwon bouncing where he sat, fanboying over the movie made his smile grow even bigger.

"Want to watch it now?" Hyungwon suggested and finally looked back to Hoseok, his eyes a bit glossy. Hoseok wondered how could he be that happy because of a simple thing like a movie - even when it was about his favorite book.

"Let's eat something first," Hoseok suggested and held Hyungwon's hand to pull him up from the bed with him.

Hyungwon set the DVD box aside and wrapped his arms behind Hoseok's neck. He pressed his lips against Hoseok's ones. Hoseok, who had to lean against the wall behind him when Hyungwon's weight suddenly came on top of him, was surprised of the sudden endearment.

Although he had been kissed by Hyungwon a few times before already, he was still taken aback every time Hyungwon was the one to approach him first.

"Thank you," Hyungwon said when their lips came apart. "I love you."

He got off and stood up from the bed. Hoseok, who was still holding his hand, followed him to the kitchen.

They started cooking together. Hoseok put a pot on the stove to boil water for ramen. Hyungwon snapped the instant noodles in half and put them in alongside with the seasonings.

"Is this really what we are eating on a Christmas morning," Hyungwon asked with a laugh, leaning his head against Hoseok's, his arm wrapped around the older guy's shoulders - the longer they were together the clingier Hyungwon got and now he couldn't go a minute without touching Hoseok in a way.

"Do you not like it?" Hoseok pouted and turned his head a bit but still couldn't see Hyungwon.

"I love it."

"I'm sorry, if we were with your parents, we would have a proper feast," Hoseok apologized and earned a shook of head from Hyungwon.

"I would rather be with you than anywhere near my parents," Hyungwon said. "I really don't want to see them."

Just as he had said that, his phone buzzed on the counter. He walked over to it as Hoseok continued watching the ramen.

'Merry Christmas, our dear son. Your mom and I want to apologize for what you must be going through right now because of our secret. We hope you try to understand out situation.

There is sweet potato noodles and pancakes in the refrigerator if you want to eat. Tell Hoseok we are thankful he takes good care of you.'

"Hyungwon?" Hoseok asked cautiously after Hyungwon had been staring at his phone for a while with a blank expression on his face. "Is something wrong."

Hyungwon pulled a smile back to his face and tossed his phone aside. "It's nothing," he assured.

Hoseok carried the pot to the table. They sat down and started eating the ramen straight from the pot.

--

They watched the movie next, cuddled up under the blanket on Hoseok's bed. They commented about how handsome all the actors were and Hyungwon blushed when he admitted he would kiss young Rob Lowe without hesitation. Hoseok found it cute and acted like he was jealous. Hyungwon pecked his cheek.

Even though they had read the book and knew what would happen, both of them shed some tears during the saddest parts.

"Oh, I just remembered I had something for you," Hyungwon said once the movie was over. He got up from the bed and walked over to his backpack that was on the floor in the kitchen. He took a plastic bag from there and came back to Hoseok. "It's not wrapped because I forgot to buy gift paper."

Hoseok accepted the plastic bag with a smile on his face. He didn't care about it not being wrapped, thought was what mattered the most, but he still found it amusing.

Hoseok untied the plastic bag and looked what was inside of it. There was a letter and a plushie. Hoseok took it out and recognized it be a character of Moomins, short girl with red hair and clothes.

"Are you serious?" Hoseok laughed and looked at the toy. "Did you buy this for yourself?"

"No... It's for you," Hyungwon looked away and scratched the back of his neck - he had totally bought it because he wanted it for himself.

"Thank you. It's really cute," Hoseok said and gave it to Hyungwon. Then he took the envelope and opened it. His face froze when he saw a check. "Hyungwon I can't accept this..."

"Why? Last night I saw you looking in that box you gave Hyangsook money from and pulling your hair out," Hyungwon started talking without breaks as if he had been planning this.

"This is two million won..."

"I know you have too much pride to ask for help but I don't want you working three jobs and doing unpleasant things for money," Hyungwon continued without even stopping to listen what Hoseok said.

"Hyungwon," Hoseok tried to get him to listen to him with a calm voice.

"Someone as young as you shouldn't be struggling this much to live and-"

"Hyungwon," Hoseok said again and this time Hyungwon stopped his sentence. "I will be fine. I just need few months to get my financial situation stable enough."

"I'm not taking that back," Hyungwon told after a while of silence. He was mad at Hoseok for being so stubborn. "You use it. Buy mat and some curtains. It echoes in here because it's so empty. Put the rest to a savings account."

Hoseok put the check back to the envelope and gave Hyungwon a frail smile. "I will."