pairing: kim hongjoong x park seonghwa
summary: on one beautiful evening, seonghwa is reminded of how much he loves hongjoong.
the city comes to life under the last rays of sunshine on a warm saturday afternoon with the sound of cars and faraway chatter. in the middle of it all, stands a young couple, but the busy metropolitan life to fade away like a distant memory for both of them.
although neither of them enjoys the clamor that is ever so present in every corner of the big city of seoul, it never stops them from spending time together and searching for peace in total chaos. seonghwa loves these moments the most.
it's them against the world. at least this is what seonghwa feels each time they're walking down a crowded sidewalk, hand in hand, with stolen glances and hidden smiles.
it felt like this ever since he's laid his eyes on a shorter male dressed in flashing clothes with heavy makeup on and rocking a mullet. he might not have realized it then, but polar opposites do attract and like a moth to a flame, he's been drawn to 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
𝘩𝘪𝘮— kim hongjoong. his crush. his best friend. his soulmate and most recently... the love of his life. the one hwa can never live without.
once upon a time, hwa asked himself 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦? but he could never answer — he didn't know what love truly was.
now, however... now, love is waking up to arms wrapped around his waist from behind and a warm breath dampening the back of his neck.
now, love is going to work, ready to face new challanges, knowing that at the end of the day, he has someone to come home to. now, love is the strong smell of nail polish hanging in the air around their apartment once in a while.
now, love is silly fights over nothings and passionate make ups, so passionate that it leaves them tangled in the sheets, sore all over but content. now, love is one side of the closet organised by colour schemes and the other full of reformed clothes of all styles.
now, love is quiet nights in cuddling on the couch with a bowl of burnt popcorn in their lap.
("𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?"
"𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳!")
a chuckle leaves his mouth unexpectedly at the memory, which causes joong to look at him with a raised eyebrow as they cross the road, hands clasped together, and fingers intertwined.
but seonghwa only shakes his head and tries, unsuccessfully, not to smile.
his boyfriend leaves him be with a dramatic sigh and a fond look. he's already used to hwa's strange quirks and—
𝘢𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, seonghwa thinks as he looks at the shorter man's profile.
love is hongjoong's laugh, smile, passions, happiness. love is kim hongjoong and seonghwa is very much enamored with him.
and speaking of passions.... his boyfriend has recently picked an interest in photography, which is why they find themselves under a bridge half an hour later with joong enjoying the view through his camera lense, completely absorbed in his art.
seonghwa watches him and his heart suddenly sings a strong and very familiar melody that he can't pinpoint at the moment, because hongjoong is so beautiful like this.
he's always beautiful, of course, but seeing him relaxed and in his own element, under the slowly darkening sky and bathed in purple and orange hues...
he seems— no. he 𝘪𝘴 ethereal. and this beautiful man is his most precious treasure, so he can't help but pull out his phone and capture in time yet another special moment; because hongjoong may be a mere human in the grand scheme of things, but he is seonghwa's entire world.
the shutter sound of the camera catches his boyfriend attention it seems as he turns around to look at seonghwa over his shoulder curiously.
"taking pictures of the one i love i love the most," hwa answers easily as he takes another photo. "like you told me to, remember?"
hwa puts his phone away with a secretive smile, waiting. joong slowly lowers his arms in response and blinks a little confused, before his eyes soften and the dark pools hold so much love and appreciation that hwa feels light on his feet.
("𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘫𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘢𝘩! 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵?"
"𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘴𝘰, 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵.")
"yes... i remember," hongjoong whispers and the wind carries the soft words to seonghwa's ears.
the vulnerability in his lover's tone urges seonghwa to step forward just as joong turns slighty in his direction. he brushes the back of his fingers over the younger's cheek, before tucking his hair behind his ear with a gentleness reserved for hongjoong and hongjoong only.
"i'm always watching you, my love, because you're the one thing that captured my attention," hwa murmurs as he drops his hand from behind hongjoong's ear to wrap it around his waist and bring him closer.
the younger follows easily, unable to resist his boyfriend's sweet words and he melts in hwa's embrace.
leaning towards each other, the quiet of the night bears witness to a sweet confession out of many:
and then they're kissing under the stars, sealing the words between them like a sacred promise.
they find the peace they always search for in each other's arms and seonghwa finally recognizes the melody inside his heart that threatens to spill out.
it always beats in the beautiful rhythm of hongjoong's name.
