nightlight | minsung

12

"A date?" Jisung echoed, gazing up at Minho with his pretty brown eyes. The rush of panic was contagious, and the older's cheeks flared a bright red as he realized what he had so boldy asked.

"I-I mean, only if you want to–" Minho brought out, removing his hands from Jisung's shoulder and rubbing his nape.

"Yeah, I'm just... surprised," the smaller admitted sheepishly, offering Minho a hesitant smile. "Do you mean, a date as in, right now?"

Maybe Minho was just imaginig things, but he thought to find hope shimmering in the boy's eyes. He didn't seem at all opposed to the idea of going on a date; if any, he seemed pretty excited. It gave the male a wave of relief and he let out a breathy chuckle.

"Err, I haven't planned that far," Minho said. "I had no idea what you would say if I asked you out."

"Of course I'd say yes, you dummy," the boy afore him smiled. "I would be more than happy to go on a date with you."

"Great," Minho grinned giddily. "It's all up to you whether or not you want to go out right now. If you prefer another day, that's totally fine with me. I mean, I kinda showed up here out of the blue."

Jisung seemed to think for a moment, throwing a glance over his shoulder at his desk that had papers sprawled out all over the surface. Minho figurded he had been working on his homework when he interrupted him, and he felt a little bad for disrupting Jisung's focus.

But Jisung merely shrugged. "Let me get changed into something more suitable and I'm good to go. So, casual or fancy?"

"Sung, I don't even know what we're going to do," Minho reminded him. Then, in a quieter tone he added, "I should've thought about that, shit."

"It's okay, Min," Jisung reassured him. "I really don't mind, you could take me to the junkyard and I'd be happy."

"Really?" the older asked.

"Mhm," the boy nodded. "It wouldn't be my first choice but I'd still follow you."

Well, if the junkyard was already enough to satisfy Jisung, he probably wasn't too picky. That left Minho with a lot of options, and he scoured his mind for any ideas. It was already pretty late in the evening, so the possible activities were limited. He pondered, wondering what the younger would like. He could take him out to eat, but he probably had dinner already and so did Minho, so it would be a bit of a waste. Fun daytime activities such as the zoo had already closed down, and Minho wasn't in the mood for famous nighttime activities like karaoke or something like that. It left him with only a single idea, and he hoped Jisung would agree.

"Do you wanna go and see a movie with me right now?" Minho suggested. "I know it's a bit cliché but it's all I can come up with at the moment."

"Clichés are clichés for a reason," Jisung laughed. "Count me in. Wait, let me check which movies are playing now."

He went over to his laptop and Minho trailed behind him, glancing over his shoulder as Jisung went to the website of the local movie theatre. There were various options, ranging from horror to childrens' movies. Neither of them held much appeal to Minho, but Jisung perked up at a particular movie title.

"Min, are you into Marvel?" he asked, looking at the older hopefully.

"I mean, the movies are really cool but I don't know much about the Multiverse and all," Minho replied. "Why? Are they playing a Marvel movie?"

"Ant-Man quantummania," Jisung said, pointing at the screen of his laptop. "It plays in an hour, so we can make it."

"Sounds like a date," Minho stated. "The previous Ant-Man movies were pretty fun."

"That's settled then," the angellic boy grinned, closing his laptop. "I think a pair of sweats and a hoodie are perfect for a movie night, unless you want me to wear something fancy?"

"I'd love to see you dress up for me, but for now let's go for comfortable," Minho  chuckled, finding joy in Jisung's obvious excitement. "It's not like I'm all dressed up or something."

He looked down at his clothes; a pair of plain black jeans and a hoodie that was currently covered by his raincoat. Nah, it was totally fine if Jisung would simply wear sweatpants and a hoodie. He still looked good, regardless.

"Then I'm good to go," Jisung chimed.

They left his bedroom behind and went down the stairs, where they found Mrs. Han in the hallway.

"We're going on a date, bye mom," the boy casually said, taking Minho's hand as he dragged him towards the front door. The oldest gazed back at the woman, who wore surprise upon her features before breaking into a smile.

"Have fun, boys," she said, waving them goodbye. "Don't come home too late."

"I'll bring him home, ma'am," Minho promised her, to which her smile grew even wider.

Then they exited the residence, and the older male boldly reached out to grab Jisung's hand. They held hands before, so surely, it wasn't weird, right? It felt natural to Minho, and it seemed that the other thought the same thing, for he didn't let go. Instead, Jisung exaggeratedly started swaying their connected hands back and forth on the cadence of their pace, seeming to enjoy it.

For once, Minho felt like he was afloat on cloud nine, surrounded by light instead of the perpetual darkness that lingered around him. He felt happy – genuinely so. Jisung agreed to go on a date with him!

Who knew what would come from this?