HALCYON

OSHIETE

February 16, 2020.
The Sunday after Valentine's, and one of the most highlighted nights of Bao and I's relationship.

Bao had sent me a message asking me to come to our park, and I had been texting him the whole day about random things before that.

I jumped at the slightest excuses I came up with for reasons to see him, so it was no shock to him when I immediately told him I was on my way. He just told me that he'd be on our bench like always, and I wondered why he even bothered telling me that if he was always there.
Lucy didn't question why I was going out late when I passed her in the hallway because she already knew about us. Plus, if I wasn't going out with Bao or her, who else would I possibly be going out to visit?

I had left on my pajamas and just slipped on some black slides and my coat in somewhat of a hurry to get to him. We had only been to the park twice, separately like this.
The first, was the first time I'd ever been there, on accident, and the second was right then. I was a bit anxious, I could admit that, and I had a gut feeling that the reason I was being called there was because Bao was too.

I was right.

The park wasn't far, so my little 'rush' was never needed, but I couldn't help but feel like it paid off when I was walking up to Bao in the sum of a couple short minutes. I had a smile on my face when I stepped on the fake wood underneath my feet, and my smile got even bigger when Bao noticed me and got off of our bench. He didn't even wait until I got to the bench to hug me.

He had his coat zipped all the way up, and since he didn't wear perfume, his usual scent was a bit covered.
I only say perfume, because well, I don't think cologne even sold anything that smelled so feminine.

His hands were cold when they brushed past mine on their way to my waist, but his neck was a bit warmer when I wrapped my arms around it. He must've either really wanted to see me, or really wanted to tell me something that had to be face to face I figured.
The latter was correct.

We walked back to the bench hand in hand like we would've in any other occasion, but the odd thing was that we didn't speak to eachother when we first got there, and we both stayed silent after a couple of minutes of sitting on our bench. Sure, we smiled at each other when I first arrived, but that wasn't enough to lighten the already apprehensive mindset I was in.

I wanted him to talk to me.

"Bao? You alright?" I asked him as I glanced down at our hidden intertwined hands.

I had pulled my coat sleeve over the both of our hands, and we both had our unoccupied hand in our pockets. His hand was warming up, but the mood wasn't.

"I'm all good, I just really wanna tell you something. Sorry to call you out here when it's cold but, well, I just thought you might wanna hug me after I tell you." He told me which made my brow furrow subconsciously.

I wasn't a fan of riddles, and it seemed like I was put into one at that moment. He said he was all good, and he looked all good. His eyes weren't baggy, his lips weren't too chapped, and his smile seemed genuine enough-but what was that last part for? He could've just said he wanted to tell me something and left it at that, but he didn't.
He was being honest, yeah, but was he getting to the point? Maybe.

"I have no problem coming here. Obviously, that's why I came." I said as I squeezed his hand.

My voice sounded lighter than usual, like it usually did whenever I felt like I needed to forget about myself and focus on Bao. It was a hidden skill I had gained after I witnessed his breakdown about his feelings for me a while back.
My statement made him laugh and squeeze my hand back before he continued.