A/N I was listening to K-osts when I had written this, don't blame me.
Also, stream Home;Run!
::
"I love you."
His words were soft as she hid her face in his shoulder, fighting tears that would break her unruly confident facade. It was heart flattering, knowing that her selfish confession was met with equal affection. He pulled apart, grinning slightly, "I'm not ever letting you go."
Yuri giggled, wiping her eyes, "Let me go then." She said pointing to the food that was getting cold behind her.
"That's not fair." Seungcheol laughed as he hesitantly let go of her frame so she could set the table. "I am a little curious about the taste though." He watched as she set up a grill, "This is the first time you've cooked for me."
"Correction." She pointed out, all bubbly and smiling, "This is the first time I've cooked for someone other than myself."
"Really?"
Yuri nodded at her wide-eyed boyfriend, "If I make you say that it's delicious, it'll be your turn to cook next time." She winked at him.
Seungcheol looked at her in panic, "Yah, I'm not that good at cooking!"
She handed him chopsticks and offered him to come sit next to her as she opened the boxes. "Don't say it's delicious then," Yuri said teasing as she offered him kimbap, "I'll take it that you didn't like cooking, but it's okay~"
Seungcheol knew she was deliberately provoking him as he took a bite of the food. It had the taste of homemade food, something he treasured so much, a flavour of affection. Eyes narrowing, he looked at her, "Yuri, are you copying my V-live now?"
She hid her smile as she stuffed her face with food, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Coups rolled his eyes, "Sure sure, your highness." Chewing on another piece, he looked at her, a fake defeated smile on his face, "Its delicious."
::
"Has it happened before?" Yuri asked as they took a sip of their beer bottles, "The threatening? It seems like a perfect mechanism to drive away girlfriends."
They'd been staring at the starry night sky, the lights, all switched off from Yuri's balcony when she'd asked. Seungcheol looked at her, "You're a little too smart for your own good, do you know?" He shook his head, giving up, "But yeah, yeah this has happened before."
Yuri looked at her half-empty beer bottle, nodding. "I was right then." She mumbled to herself. Turning to him, she asked, "I'm guessing you've done something stupid to solve it by yourself this time?"
Seungcheol's face jerked in her direction in amazement, "What makes you think that?"
He couldn't believe she'd manage to figure out so much without him mentioning a single detail. Not only did she already know that there had been something similar in the past but Yuri was also sure that he'd done something by himself to solve it. Was she a clairvoyant or what?
"Jeonghan-ssi told me," Yuri spoke shrugging, not looking at him, "That you like to solve things all by yourself."
"Aish... He really doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut." Coups stood up to grab another beer since he was done with his, "What has he been filling your ears with?"
"Don't run away." Yuri looked at him as he kept away his empty beer bottle. "And don't change the topic."
"I'm not running away!" He pouted, "I was just getting a new beer."
He looked cute to her from the way he denied the obvious but Yuri held herself from speaking something far too straightforward again.
"Cut me some slack then." Yuri watched him sit by her on the couch, his hand wrapped around her shoulder, "I'm not even asking you who she was."
"Who?"
"Your ex." Yuri looked at his clear beautiful eyes as she spoke. His eyes were truly transparent, almost as if they showed every emotion he felt. "All I wanna know is what you've done after worrying all by yourself."
Seungcheol looked at her softly, his eyes speaking what words failed to express.
She whispered, "You tell me we're together but worry all by yourself." Yuri took a sip of her beer, looking away. The little gulp of beer lodged in her throat, to pull down the emotional weight she felt so strongly. Her words were a remembrance of how she'd so effectively failed to understand him, so much that he'd hidden away his problems from her. It was that guilt that pained her, jerked her awake and yet destroyed her. "I don't want to be the person you want to protect if you let yourself go unprotected in the process."
"Yuri..." Seungcheol's eyes turned soft, guiltily watching her frame as she refused to look at him, "Look at me."
She turned to him but the moment his hands touched hers, the moment she looked at his eyes, Seungcheol knew she was only a step away from breaking and wherever it was that her broken spirit would go, it would only bring blood, like broken glass tearing on the insides of her soul. At that moment, Seungcheol knew that he had to do something to stop her from hurting, to show her that no matter what the case it was, he would continue to love her, love them.
"Protect me then," Seungcheol whispered into the fleeting wind, a shattered smile on his face, "Kiss me."
Seungcheol's eyes were those of submission. For the first time in a long while, Seungcheol had decided he would let the weight fall on someone else's shoulder, divide and break till it fades away. He would give it to her, relieve her of the guilt she was feeling and let her carry his worries instead. He would let her choose.
"Kiss me."
And she did. Like a graceful dance fluttering over the tip of the lake, her lips found his, moving rhythmically as tears silently faltered downwards. His hand found its destination below her ear, with his thumb caressing her cheek as he kissed her back.
::