molten silver ─ hyunjeong ✓

twelve

when jeongin awoke, it was to the gentle pattering of rain against the window.

as he groggily lifted his arms to rub at his eyes and rid himself of the lingering traces of sleep, he could feel a strange weight on his stomach when he breathed.

his eyebrows raised as he looked down, eyes landing on the source of the weight. hyunjin was awkwardly curled into his end of the couch, however, he had somehow wedged himself between the couch and jeongin, resting his head on jeongin's stomach. the storybook had been closed and carefully placed on the table beside them.

letting out a soft laugh, jeongin was still too sleep ridden to retaliate, and let his head drop back onto the sofa arm, careful not to jostle the sleeping boy. he let himself run his fingers through the nymphs soft hair, the strands slipping through his fingers like water a calming sensation. just as he was about to succumb to sleep once again, hyunjin let out a low groan, the sound reverberating against jeongin's stomach.

jeongin retracted his hand quickly as the nymph unfurled from his position. he bore a striking resemblance to a flower, his long limbs spreading open like the petals blooming under the suns gaze.

"oh i'm so sorry-" hyunjin sat up, blurry eyes trying to blink the sleep away, "i didn't mean to invade your space like that... i didn't realize. i hope i didn't smother you?"

"it's all good. i'm alive, aren't i?" jeongin answered jokingly, reaching up to pat hyunjin's head. "did you sleep well?"

"of course," hyunjin gave a small quirk of the lips as he stood up, stretching his arms above his head and arching his back like a cat, "i had an incredibly comfortable pillow."

swinging his legs off the couch, all of jeongin's bones creaked in protest as he stood up. the wooden floor was freezing under his bare feet, the fireplace having gone cold during the night, now filled with mere ashes and charred wood. squinting out the window told him absolutely nothing about what time it was. the sky was cloudy and grey, with no indication of where the sun was or how long they had slept.

hyunjin followed jeongin's gaze to the window and his eyes widened. immediately looking more awake, he turned back to jeongin and bounced excitedly on his feet, "it's raining, how wonderful!"

jeongin looked at him incredulously, realizing that the nymph wasn't being sarcastic, "the rain is wonderful? didn't you want to show me around today?"

"of course! rain means fewer people outside. fewer people means less chance of us getting caught. less chance of getting caught means—" his voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, " — more opportunity for us to do whatever we want to."

jeongin grimaced, but hyunjin didn't give him a chance to respond before he was shaking his arm.

"trust me, it won't be that bad! now let us wash up and get going, i don't want to waste any time!"

in all honesty, there wasn't much for jeongin to do, so he just trailed after hyunjin as the nymph bounced around with a bag in hand, watching as hyunjin stuffed a blanket alongside water bottles.

leading him to the kitchen, hyunjin dumped the bag on one of the dining chairs unceremoniously and turned to jeongin, "anything to drink before we're off?"

"tea would be nice."

as hyunjin moved around the kitchen, smooth and lithe as he just was, jeongin propped his chin on his hand, and watched the nymph with a soft smile on his face, a little surprised by the domesticity of the whole ordeal.

he hadn't realized that his eyes had been closing again before hyunjin set a teacup in front of him a little aggressively, some of the liquid sloshing out of the cup.

"we have no time for sleeping! there is so much planned for us today, and i shall not have you fall unconscious on me."

"i can't help it," jeongin grumbled. hyunjin had informed him that it was around noon when they had awoken, and considering that it had probably been early morning when they stumbled into the cottage, jeongin wasn't exactly awake yet.

"well, you will have to," hyunjin announced, "our time together is sparse, and i cannot bear to waste a single moment of time with you."

"that sounds almost like a love confession."

"it may be a little early for that," he winked, "but nothing is impossible."

jeongin let out a laugh, staring into his cup to avoid looking at hyunjin. he was certain he was the spitting image of a tomato.

"ready to go, my love?" hyunjin asked, his voice soft, but the teasing smile on his face was unmistakable. jeongin, who was gulping down the last dregs of tea, nearly choked.

"ready if you are," he managed to cough out, and hyunjin only gave him a mischievous smile. 

as hyunjin grasped his hand and dragged him out of the little cottage and into the gentle rain, jeongin wondered what he had gotten himself into.