Last remnants of snow have melted away, giving space for fragrant and colourful flowers to grow. Animals have woken up, birds returned home from warmer regions and kids are swarming playgrounds. Huskies complain, chihuahuas rejoice.
The spring is finally here, beloved by some and dreaded by individuals with violent body reactions to pollen, and those who consider insects their mortal enemies.
For Yn it means several things: he can doodle Matthew (now not so secretly) while he reads at the roots of an oak as old as time, he can walk the cute corgi of the elderly couple across the street and most importantly: he has to get rid of all his winter attire.
Yn is very susceptible to cold temperatures, a weakness of his that Matthew loves to abuse, to hold him as close and for as long as possible in the name of “exchanging body heat”.
As he clears out the puffy winter jackets and fluffy sweaters from their closet, he notices the boxes of his sketchbooks, still neatly tucked away and (in the end, unsuccessfully) hidden from Matthew’s sight.
He puts it on his bed and starts browsing through them, relishing in the nostalgia. Precious memories, captured hastily on the paper, each line and stroke of his pencil engraving Matthew’s radiance. Physical manifestation of Yn’s affection for his beloved.
And they say Matthew is the smitten one.
How endearingly ironic.
Some of his drawings are coloured, while some have added shades and depth, and some are just simple chibi- style doodles. Yn guesses it depended on his time and hiding spot.
Then he notices it.
In one drawing, Matthew has dark eyes, like the bitter chocolates his mother loves, but right on the next page they’re bright like amber. On another page the colour resembles hazelnuts and right on the opposite side they’re almost black.
“Holy shit.” Yn breathes. “Holy shit!”
They’re soulmates!
Of course they fucking are. There’s nobody who knows Yn better than Matthew, nobody understands him like Matthew.
And Yn knows and understands and loves Matthew like nobody else does.
His love for Matthew was a gradual, slow process, like coming up for air from the bottom of the ocean. It only makes sense that the change of Matthew’s eye colour would be subtle, but always there, waiting to be noticed.
He checks the clock. Matthew should have his basketball practice right now. It’s sunny, so they’ll probably be outside. There’s no time to lose. He has to tell him now.
Yn doesn’t even change his shoes, running outside in his slippers like an uncultured hooligan, clutching the sketchbook like a lifeline. Like he’ll die if he loses it. He just might, honestly.
Yn ignores the burning of his thighs and the pain of his feet, a result of footwear not meant for running. It feels like an eternity when he finally arrives to the court, heaving and sweating.
Matthew’s loving smile quickly falls into a worried frown as he runs to Yn.
“Yn? Yn what’s wrong? Are you alright?” He says as he clutches Yn’s shoulders. Yn can only nod, his damn lungs won’t let him punch out anything other than huffs, his throat dry. There’s so much he wants to say, but years of his hatred for cardio finally caught up to him.
Suddenly, Matthew gasps. “Baby, your eyes. T-they’re purple.”
And just as quickly Yn’s eyes changed, Matthew’s eyes turn bright yellow, reflecting his sunshine-like personality. Warm, bright, hopeful. Angel’s halo, a falling star lovers wish upon to guard their bond.
The sketchbook is useless now, so Yn drops it unceremoniously in favour of wrapping his arms around Matthew’s neck, leaning in for a kiss. As always, Matthew reciprocates eagerly.
“Does this mean what I think it means?” Matthew asks, voice raw and shaking with emotion.
"Yes." Yn confirms with euphoria. “I wish I figured it out sooner.” He admits. How much time have they lost?
“I don’t. We wouldn’t elope if you knew.”
Oh right. It’s because of Yn’s doubts and Matthew’s reassurance that they eloped. Yn scoffs and slaps Matthew’s shoulder lightly, punishing his cheeky behaviour.
“We should tell our parents.” Yn says. Their families are close as they can be, they deserve to know.
“About the elopement or the soulmate thing?” Matthew asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Either’s fine.” Yn shrugs, leaning in for another kiss, basketball practice be damned.
A/n: I know this one was shorter than usual but you know what, so am I, so booyah.
On a more serious note, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it <3
Matthew is hit with a mix of low quality cigarettes and liquor as he enters the establishment. The stench makes him flinch slightly and the rowdy loud customers somehow suck out the very little energy he had left. He's once again reminded why he avoids bars and pubs, but thankfully he's not here to drink and pretend to have a good time.
He looks around and spots Hao waving, Yn passed out next to him.
"Why did you let him get so drunk?" He asks as he approaches, his voice raspy with sickness and gaze accusatory.
"I didn't know he was this bad at drinking!" Hao says in his own defence. "I looked away for one second and he was completely faded."
Matthew sighs in annoyance, but decides this conversation is not worth continuing. Instead, he crouches next to Yn's sleeping figure. He caresses his hair as he whispers his name. Yn stirs and his eyes flutter open as he raises his head. He scans his enviroment before his gaze lands on Matthew and something in his eyes sparkles, a spark that sets Matthew's heart aflame.
"Morning, sunshine." He says as he smiles teasingly.
"Whatcha doin' here? You should be resting." Yn says, words adorably slurry.
"I should and I was, until someone decided to get completely wasted and now I have to take him home."
"Who?" He asks, looking around as if he wasn't the only one sleeping on the table a few moments ago.
"Take a guess, you goddamn oaf." Matthew says, not a hint of maliciousness in his words. He carefully helps Yn on his feet and leads him out." C'mon, let's go home."
The way home is short and despite his cold, Matthew doesn't have much trouble getting his roommate/best friend/the love of his life to their room.
Once Yn is sprawled out comfortably on his bed, Matthew goes to Yn's closet to find him a new pair of pyjamas. As he grabs the first pair his eyes land on, he notices a box he's never seen before stashed carefully in the back. He knows he should respect Yn's privacy, but Matthew has always been a little nosy, and this is the only chance he'll ever get to take a peek with no possibility of being caught. He looks back at Yn, hesitating, but in the end he gives in to his curiosity. He sets down the pyjamas and the box on his bed and removes the lid. It's a bunch of sketchbooks, nothing special, but it's strange Yn felt the need the hide them like this.
As he browses through them one by one, he understands why Yn buried them under his clothes.
The sketchbooks are filled with drawings of Matthew.