The sun peeked from the thin translucent white curtains on Seonghwa's room. The light strokes hit the bed and warmed certain parts of their bodies. When one of them got to Seonghwa's face he slowly woke up, a tiny man with his cheek on his chest. Once again, immense happiness travelled his body as he recalled yesterday events and realized it wasn't all a dream.
He kissed the top of his head, smelling his hair and ruffling it after. Hongjoong woke up because of the gentle touch, he knew who owned those hands.
"Good morning" Hongjoong mumbled as he fixed their position to be able to hug the older. A thought came through his mind... <<What if I shower him in kisses? Will that be too much? But I really want to... Fuck it, I'm doing it>>.
So he did it. He cupped the older's face and covered him with kisses.
Seonghwa smiled widely, the kisses tickled and he was trying to playfully kiss Hongjoong back.
This was the joy people described as the first phase of love: Falling in Love – Limenerence.
In 1979, Dorothy Tennov coined the term “limerence” for the first stage of love, characterized by physical symptoms (flushing, trembling, palpitations), excitement, intrusive thinking, obsession, fantasy, sexual excitement, and the fear of rejection.
Although that last point looked to be over with, it wasn't at all. The fear of rejection at any point was still there, what if it was the heat of the moment or a stupid decision Hongjoong made? What if Seonghwa loses interest in him after a week? The thoughts were there, at the back of his head, but both ignored them and continued to trust each other.
"St-stop it!" Hongjoong said between laughs as Seonghwa kissed his neck—
"Yah guys wake up it's almost laun— Oh sorry doesn't know you were already on top of each other!" San said and got out of the room as soon as he finished announcing.
Hongjoong buried his head on the pillow embarrassed, Seonghwa tapped his shoulda and asked what happened. He didn't hear San enter.
[San just entered and saw us] He was blushing timid but his smile and giggles never left. [He said it's almost lunchtime and to wake up, ] he finished.
Seonghwa nodded and kissed his forehead one last time before getting up and stretching his whole body, making a little noise that Hongjoong found adorable. He also got out of bed, wearing Seonghwa's black t-shirt and grey shorts as pyjamas.
The taller took his phone and went through his notifications, Hongjoong stepped his way to Seonghwa's side like a baby penguin.
Suddenly the oldest jumped and celebrated, throwing his hands in the air and hugging Hongjoong as tightly as possible, a squeaky laugh escaping his lips cutely.
[Wait what's going on?] The shorted smiled at him. Seonghwa showed him his phone, an e-mail showed.
To: park_seonghwa@gmail.com
From: soulhospital.access@gmail.com
Subject: Day and hour for Cochlear implant surgery.
Dear Park Seonghwa,
We are here to confirm that it is going to be possible to perform surgery on your hearing.
After exhausting examinations, we told you it'll be possible to do it, and you later told us you wanted to get the surgery.
We are glad to tell you that the exact hour and date of your surgery has already been set. We will welcome you to the operating room on the 26 of May, at 10:05 am.
The payments and taxes will be talked about in the future, for now, enjoy your time before the operation and contact us if you have any doubts.
Please come to a medical exam on the 20 of May, 08:00 am prior the surgery to check everything is correct.
Sincerely, Seoul Main Center Hospital.
Hongjoong read and as soon as he finished he hugged his—new—boyfriend, swinging him from side to side.
"Oh my Gods, I'm so proud of you, you deserve this is you want it and they say it'll be safe so don't worry, I'm also scared but it's going to be okay I swear ill be there with you all the time and when the surgery finishes and then I'll be there when you first get to hear things and see if it works but if it doesn't, it doesn't matter much because you have been living a joyful life without hearing so its no big deal but if this is your decision and what you want I respect it so much and I want you to be the happiest person ever oh my gods oh my gods—" He said, realising he was an asshole and he couldn't hear him say all those things.
He backed off and wrote everything ad send it to him as a text message. <Thank you :) > He replied.
"Hey what is Hongjoong shouting about?" San takes and signed as he entered the room one more time.
Seonghwa and Hongjoong looked at each other with accomplice's eyes, Seonghwa needed to tell them now that it was official.
[I'm getting a cochlear implant on May, ] He shyly said.
[Oh that cool- WAIT. WAIT A DAMN MINUTE.] San signed shocked with his mouth open.
[YOU ARE WHAT NOW? FUCK CONGRATS!] He went to hug Seonghwa who accepted with a smile on his face.
Like this, little by little, Seonghwa told his friends, all giving positive reactions and encouraging words but... He was nervous and scared. How could he not? The world he knew was about to change completely. Yes, he had gear before but this wasn't the same.
He doesn't remember how birds sing or if water made a sound when poured onto the glass.
He doesn't recall the voice of his mom, the sound of rain or even if light made any sound.
But he remembered that sunset when he was with Hongjoong and he described the sound of things.
He said that birds singing sounds like sparkly stars and that autumn leaves sound like bitting crispy chips, but that sounds didn't catch his attention as much as his voice. He wants to hear his soft link voice, the soft voice of the mullet guy.
He wants to hear him say his name and he wants to hear how their voices differentiate. How Seonghwa's purple tone is different from Hongjoong's pale pink one.
He wanted to hear him say things like "I miss you" or "look at this new flip I learnt today!", maybe even a " Please shut up,". If it came from the younger, all words would be heaven.
But fear still filled him. He knew how to talk, and his doctor said he was very good at it but what if when he hears people talk he can't understand them? What if he's been saying things wrong? What if they can't understand him anymore? What if the sound isn't pleasant... What if he doesn't like how things sound?
Well... He can always turn off the thing <<Hey, that's an advantage!>> he thought.
At least the money wasn't something he had to worry about. His parents had plenty and were down to pay for this the first time he ever mentioned it, so that was done.
---
"So you and Seonghwa Hyung are finally dating!" Jongho shouted from the bathroom.
"No need to tell everyone on the block," Hongjoong replied from the sofa. The two, Mingi and Yunho were watching a film together.
"My bad, my bad," he entered the room with his hands up and sat beside the older.
"How does it feel?" Yunho turned to him.
"Honestly, I felt shocked at first because I couldn't believe it. And now, I'm still shocked and cannot believe it. It feels like a dream that is too perfect!" He explained.
"Well, some tough things happened before you two could have this perfect time... So it's thanks to you guys," Mingi cleared.
"Not all love stories end nicely," Yunho started.
"You know about that, don't you?" Mingi asked. Was that guilt on his voice?
"Yeah, you know too, am I right?" The tallest answered, looking directly onto the other's eyes.
"I'm sorry Yunho," Was all he said.
"There's no need to." Yunho smiled.
"Wait, what the fuck was that, guys?" Jongho looked back and forth from Yunho to Mingi.
"Hold up," Hongjoong remembered that talk they had the night of the 24th of December.
"Mingi is your high school best friend?" He had his eyes wide open.
"Yeah, who else would it be?" Yunho laughed.
A/N: still can't process we are in 2021 I'm still not over Blood, Sweat and Tears help.
Anyways here is Hongjoong: