Bueno (or Meow)

{8}

"- Damn, thought I'd never see them again."

Jungwon makes a face.

"- Good evening, hyung."

Long story short, Jungwon has been hanging out with Jay for the past four days. He did not have anything else to do and find himself doing nothing apart from getting bored. His grandma had scolded him endlessly for spending his week with a friend without telling her about it. The scolding got pretty dramatic and painful when she brought up literal heart attacks. Jungwon had been visiting Jay with no purpose in mind. He told himself that if Jay rejects him, then he is not worth being friends with anymore, though Jungwon was absolutely positive Jay wants to see him as much as Jungwon wants to.

Day 4 sees Jungwon at the threshold of Jay's apartment again, and for the first time, bringing Jay his clothes again.

"- I'm sorryyyyyyyyy. It completely slipped my mind."

"- Would you believe it if I told you that each time you show up I believe it's to give them back?" Jay snorts. He opens the door further, and Jungwon hops inside.

"- Very much, yes."

Jay disappears inside his bedroom for a little while before showing up again.

"- Oh, hyung. You're going out?" Jungwon asks when he notices that the boy is wearing his outdoor clothes.

"- 'Was gonna walk a bit, wanna come with?"

"- Yeaaaaaaaaaaah, let's go watch the setting sun; the sky's been legendary this summer." Jungwon cheers. He keeps his shoes on when he sees that Jay grabs his own along with the keys.

"- Is that so?" Jay hums.

"- Pink and orange."

"- Fancy."

"- I once fell off a seesaw when I was young." Jungwon tells him without much thought. His days as a cat had made him less of an overthinker, or at least, these holidays.

Jungwon knows this completely relaxed state of mind he had been experiencing since he has turned back human will not last. Nonetheless, he wants to enjoy the feeling to its fullest.

A late night escapade to a small playground with someone he knew for barely two weeks and a half, but whom he likes in a very special way was not how he imagined himself spending the beginning of these summer holidays at all. He has not told Sunoo about Jay yet, but he knows that Sunoo figured out that something was up and Jungwon was hiding it from him; Sunoo did not prod the matter further only because he was too busy with his own holidays.

"- I didn't like playing the seesaw. I always preferred the swing."

"- The swings were always crowded. It was impossible to play it comfortably." Jungwon responds. He looks down at the bright green of the seesaw he is riding and wonders how it looks so new when the park seems to be abandoned. "- I used to go alone, so when I would ride the swing, I'd feel stressed out because moms of other kids would pressure me, telling me to hurry and get up so that their kids can play, too. 'Specially if the brats start throwing tantrums."

"- The seesaw was as popular." Jay laughs. "- I remember kids grouping themselves in six on each side. It was insane." He says while shaking his head. "- so remember when I was 14 and still played the seesaw, a girl, maybe... 9 or 10 years old wanted me to get off and let her play, so she asked me 'doesn't it hurt you boys, anyways?'"

"- Oh my god..." Jungwon breathes out. Then, he starts laughing as well.

They play for a little while, until Jay halts, and Jungwon's legs dangle in the air, so he swings them arbitrarily for fun. Silence stretches between them, and Jay's eyes are not looking at him, or at the starless sky. He has been doing so for quite a while since they both got on the seesaw, but now, he was looking down. Jungwon did not care about moonlight or bright stars as long as the street lights rounding them permitted him to distinguish the expressions of Jay's face.

Jungwon knew that the silence would not be for long, for Jay seemed to have something to say; he also appeared to be hesitant because he did not know how to say it.

"- Is it weird?" He asks him.

"- What is weird?" Jungwon half-smirks. He feels a bit amused at the vague question. It was ironic, because there was a bunch of things that has been weird between him and Jay since their very first meeting.

"- The fact that we ended up here of all places."

Jungwon looks around. The playground was nice.

"- I like it here." He smiles. "- We're still kids, yeah?"

"- You don't wanna grow up?"

"- When I see all the grownups, no." He shakes his head. "- I don't want to become a grown up."

Jay scoffs lightheartedly. It is also a bit of a smirk, as only the left corner of his lips lifts up slightly. Jungwon thinks that he looks very attractive when he does that.

"- That's new." He mumbles. "- Let's go back, hm?"

"- Yeah, my thighs are starting to kill me." Jungwon groans. They would also start aching when he was a child, yet he would play for hours and ignore the pain just because he was cared more about having fun than being hurt.

Jay chuckles and prompts himself up in the air, as Jungwon goes down until his soles are touching the dusty ground.

Jungwon throws his left leg above the seat, slow and careful, and slides down as slowly, so that Jay reaches the ground safely. However, Jungwon ends up stumbling and falling onwards.

Jay makes a fuss about it.

"- It's nothing, I swear."

Again, Jay ignores his statement as he cleans his very much fine knee with some damp tissue. They were still in the playground, sitting on one of the green benches. Jay has insisted Jungwon does not walk until his legs and thighs are feeling better.

"- I remember seeing Jake taking care of Sunghoon. Sometimes, Jake reminds me of myself and how I act with you. How I always wants to take good care of you." Jay shares, caressing his reddened fingers.

"- Thank you for everything, Jay-hyung."

Jay looks up and offers him a kindhearted smile.

"- Are you really feeling alright?"

"- They are just little scratches. I didn't really fall, just stumbled, and my knees didn't even touch the ground, don't worry." He reassures, closing a hand over Jay's own.

Jay looks at their hands.

"- I don't know if... Whatever is between Sunghoon and Jake is true love, but... Sometimes, very often, I feel that... The way I act with you is very similar to the way Jake acts with Sunghoon." Jay tells him.

Jungwon frowns through the sudden revelation, and it takes him two seconds too late to understand what Jay's words insinuate. Jay's eyes shift away from him, as though Jungwon is painful to look at.

"- I think it was a mista-"

"- I like you." Jungwon blurts out. The last thing he wants Jay to do is tell him how he regrets confessing to him. He saw it in movies; the couple would take an eternity to get together because the one who confessed his feelings first would run away and start avoiding the other.

This story ain't a slowburn.

"- I like like you." Jungwon emphasizes, tightening his hold around Jay's hand.

Jay stares at him, then, he smiles, and Jungwon's heart cheers.

"- Me too." He whispers.

Feeling a little too daring, Jungwon leans in and kisses him on the cheek. He feels like melting chocolate when his lips touch Jay's hot skin, and wishes Jay's heart beats as fast as his.

"- We're dating now, right?"

"- Yes, we're dating."