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He didn't know how long he's been driving, the sunlight shining through his window is making the patch of skin on his arm heat up and it made him want to turn the car around to get his windows finally tinted. But when he finally saw the familiar chipping paint of his mother's bakeshop walls, all his irritable mood melted away.

Jeonghan still had to figure out how to solve two problems before walking in there though, the first one was how to answer his mother's questions about his recent case he won a few weeks ago since the man he helped walk free isn't exactly innocent, the second one was much simpler, and that's how to peel off the sticker on the cupcake box sitting beside him without leaving any marks or residue.

He didn't understand why he even decided to bring a box of cupcakes to his mother who could make cupcakes 10x better than what he was about to bring her right now.

A knock on his window snapped him out of his sticker peeling crisis, he looked out and saw a face that's way too familiar.

"Shua?" Jeonghan asks with a delighted tone as he rolled down his window.

"You're actually here?" Joshua gasped, "I thought your mom was joking!"

Jeonghan finally opened his door and walked out to hug the other, he can't even remember the last time he initiated one. "Why are you as tall as me now?"

"We've always been the same height, dumbass."

That was true, despite how much better Joshua carried himself when they were teens with his branded clothes given by his mother than made Jeonghan feel slightly smaller when he walked beside him with his outfit that was thrown together in five minutes with a protein bar in his hand as breakfast. But now here he is, in his navy pin-stripe suit his mother would probably call him out for.

"Before you get in there though, I have to warn you about the fine specimen your mother calls adorable."

"Who?"

As if on cue, the bakery's front door opened. "Josh, Ms. Yoon is looking for you."

Jeonghan lets go of Joshua to look at the person who called him, he had long lashes that created shadows on his cheeks, lips that stretched into a smile revealing the dimples his mother definitely told him about over the line.

This must be Seungcheol.

"Oh, you should take Jeonghan to look around instead?" Joshua glanced back and forth between the two of them, Jeonghan was about to decline when Seungcheol agreed with a smile.

"No, it's okay." Jeonghan waved his hand to decline, "I'll go in with Shua, I really want to see my mom."

As much as he would love to look around and see what else they've done with the place aside from replacing the tables Jeonghan used to hate and adding a parking space (that was thankfully free for him to occupy), What he really needed to see right now is his mom, Seungcheol opened the door for the both of them to enter before going in last.

"You go first, Jeonghan," Joshua tells him and he didn't need to be told twice, walking towards the backdoor where they work on their pastries and other dishes before sending them out, the familiar smell hits him before he could even spot his mother, But he eventually sees her rolling up some dough as she mixed the food coloring in, he noticed how she gave up on covering her white hair by coloring it constantly.

Jeonghan smiles at the sight, it's been a while since he saw her working on something.

"Joshua? I need you to deliver this to the address I sent you earlier today," Jeonghan didn't dare to correct her and simply approached her side.

"Hm? I think that's a weird shade of blue you're putting in, though." Jeonghan says, his mother eventually looks up and there was a pause between them. "Seriously, your favorite son is here and you're looking for Joshua?"

She leaves the dough on the table and turns to him, covering up her surprise by narrowing her eyes playfully. "It took you too long to visit your mother and you still look like you're on your way to work."

"And you're not going to give me a hug because of that?" Her face melts into a small smile, he doesn't miss how she holds back her tears as she pulls him down to a hug, Jeonghan knew that her flour-covered hands were going to ruin the back of his blazer, but he could care less about that at the moment.

It's always been just him and his mother, his father was out of the picture since he was five and his mother told him why when he was old enough to understand, Jeonghan didn't ask any more questions about him as he wasn't very interested to know anything about the man who left them, but Jeonghan makes sure to be better than he ever was.

Jeonghan was told to go back to their apartment to rest after a few minutes of catching up, his mother wasn't very happy when she found out about the case he just worked up but they quickly avoided the topic and changed it to a lighthearted one.

What surprised him was that when he entered his room, everything looked different. The change made him call his mother in a rush to ask her about it.

"Oh- I let Seungcheol borrow it for a while when you weren't here, but don't worry, the sheets are freshly washed and he cleaned everything up as much as he could." She explained, Jeonghan didn't really mind but he was very concerned about one thing.

"Are we going to stay in the same room?"

Her mother paused, giving away the answer before she could even open her mouth to speak, "Yes."

-

Choi Seungcheol has been working for Jeonghan's mother for years now, he knew the regular customers who come in once or trice a week but treated the new once the same, he made sure to make everyone comfortable as much as he could no matter how rude some of them can be sometimes.

No one's ever had a problem with it before, but of course, it won't always stay that way.

"Sir I'm sorry but I really can't refund your money for a half-eaten cupcake," Seungcheol replied with a soft tone, not wanting to earn the other customer's attention.

"It's rotten!"

"I believe those were freshly made by my mother this morning?" Jeonghan said from behind, the sudden appearance made Seungcheol flinch, Jeonghan glanced at Seungcheol for a moment, "Why aren't you telling this man to fuck off?"

"Are you telling me to fuck off?" The man grunted.

"No, he will." Jeonghan tilted his head towards Seungcheol who did nothing but look at him with a confused expression, "Go on."

Seungcheol just let out a frustrated sigh before walking over to their glass shelf, grabbing two cupcakes, and put them in a box, handing it over to the customer. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, we'll do better from now on."

He could feel Jeonghan's burning gaze on his head but paid it no attention, letting the customer take it from his hands and leave. Seungcheol then pulled out his own wallet and paid for the pastries he just gave away.

Jeonghan heard that Seungcheol was a good person, but he didn't expect it to be this much.

"You're too kind for your own good." Jeonghan clicked his tongue, "Ma wants you in the kitchen, I'll take over for a while."

"Thanks." Seungcheol rushes to the back leaving Jeonghan at the counter, it's been a while since he's been here but everything is thankfully the same aside from the new glass shelf the marble table, a group of students walked in and Jeonghan's mind wandered into a bunch of questions, what if he stayed here? what if he gave up law and decided to help out his mother? would he be like Seungcheol, too?

Probably not, but he'll never know anyway.

the following days were the same, Jeonghan nagged Seungcheol almost every day but the other still didn't listen, only giving him a smile and random explanations Jeonghan would never believe, even if some customers were drinking from Seungcheol's kindness, Seungcheol himself turned a blind eye to it. But every time Seungcheol smiles at him, it worries him, was he actually just an oblivious ray of sunshine, or was all of this a mask to hide some sort of anger?

Either way, Jeonghan was somehow drawn in, finding Seungcheol like a crossword puzzle on a newspaper, you can easily find out the answers by flipping it over, and yet you don't because your determination to learn is stronger than your determination to win, unfortunately for Jeonghan, Seungcheol makes him feel both.

"Oh, it's Mingyu!" Seungcheol gasped beside him one day in the middle of Jeonghan's complaints about a customer earlier, Jeonghan turned to see the person who just came in. "It's been a while since I've seen you!"

"How have you been? Is Ms. Yoon here?"

"My mother's at the back preparing some stuff, why?" Jeonghan butts in, but now that he's seeing this Mingyu guy up close, he actually looked familiar. "Are you that guy who brought a puppy to school during kindergarten?"

Mingyu's eyebrows joined together as if he couldn't remember the mess he made by bringing a pet to school that day, everyone was screaming, the children were running, and Mingyu himself was crying. "Yes?"

"Oh, how's the pup?"

"She died a few years ago..." Mingyu rubbed the back of his neck as he answered, "But she gave pups and they're all well today."

"I'll call Ms. Yoon for you?" Seungcheol offered, but Mingyu was quick to refuse.

"It's you I actually need to ask, I'm sorry for the short notice but would you be able to prepare three hundred cupcakes by tomorrow afternoon ?"

"Three hundred cupcakes? tomorrow afternoon?" Is this where Seungcheol finally refuses someone? When he finally thinks about himself rather than trying to please the person in front of him? "Sure, we'll try our best! May I ask what this is for?"

"It's my friend's wedding and they're celebrating it here, they wanted the best cupcakes and I could only think of yours." Jeonghan glanced back at Seungcheol, Mingyu probably already went to different bakeries in town and was rejected, and so he comes to Seungcheol, does Seungcheol not see this?

"Then we'll make it extra special for them, thanks, Gyu. Do inform them that the downpayment should be sent today and the rest of the payment should be sent when they arrive at the reception." Mingyu nods understandingly, thank Seungcheol again before taking his leave.

"Shouldn't you tell my mother first about this?"

"Ms. Yoon and I have prepared five hundred cupcakes before, we already know how we start and this will be easy," Seungcheol assures him, giving him a small pat on the shoulder before going to the kitchen. He had doubts, though, Seungcheol seemed like the person who would overexert himself without asking anyone for help.

Jeonghan was actually worried.

But as they worked, all he could do was watch and offer his help once in a while (mostly by washing dishes but he didn't mind) Seungcheol was right about what he said that they knew where to start because they've done this before, although what their problem should be is how they finish it.

They gathered the ingredients the same day Mingyu told them about it, his mother insisted that they should start immediately to avoid any delays, opening the shop only until lunch before closing to work on the orders, but as expected, things went downhill.

There was a light rain when Seungcheol said he'll be staying overnight to finish more so they won't be struggling as much the next day, Jeonghan monitored the time and how hard the rain became every hour that passed.

"Ma, don't you think Seungcheol should be home by now?" Jeonghan asks, his paperwork scattered on the dining table as he wrote down things that his brain could barely filter into words. He shouldn't be worried about Seungcheol, he shouldn't worry about a grown man's decision and yet what his mother tells him is exactly what he wanted to hear.

"You should go pick him up, take your car." Jeonghan stands up without another word and grabs his keys.

Seungcheol on the other hand was freezing.

Despite having an umbrella to keep him from getting wet, his clothes were too thin to keep him from getting cold. "Aish... Choi Seungcheol when will you learn how to drive and save yourself from this?"

His mother used to say that to him every time she had to pick him up from school during thunderstorms, he was only a minor when she asked those questions as a joke but he realized that until now, it still applied to him.

"Hey, get in." A startled scream escaped Seungcheol's lips, dropping his umbrella at the process, once he realized that he was now directly getting hit by the rain, he used his arms to cover himself.

"You could've approached me slowly!" He was cold, but his face was fuming red in annoyance

"Oh! You broke out of it!" Jeonghan gave him an open-mouthed smile that was mixed with surprise and amusement.

"Broke out of what?"

"Your little oblivious sunshine image." Jeonghan was just teasing, but Seungcheol's face faltered into an expression that seemed like Jeonghan had offended him with his words. "You know what? Just get in!"

Seungcheol crouched down to grab his umbrella and rushed into the car, Jeonghan turned up the heater and Seungcheol quietly thanked him for it. "What did you do in there that made you stay up so late?"

"I planned to go home a few hours earlier but the rain kept pouring," Seungcheol says through gritted teeth, Jeonghan noticed how cold he still was and grabbed a spare jacket from the backseat, tossing it to Seungcheol. "It'll get wet."

"Just dry it after you use it, hm?" Seungcheol nods, taking the it from Jeonghan and put it on himself.

But Seungcheol didn't have the chance to dry the next day or the day after that, in fact, Jeonghan had to wash it himself since Seungcheol caught a fever the morning later, Jeonghan caught him shivering in his sleep just as he was about to go to bed himself, gripping onto the sleeved of the hoodie that was lent to him as if he'll get the warmth that he needed by doing so.

"Seungcheol?" Jeonghan shook his figure awake, but Seungcheol didn't get startled this time, instead, his eyes opened slowly, his once bright eyes were framed behind his long lashes, too tired to lift them fully.

"Is it time for work?" He asked groggily, Jeonghan clicked his tongue at the automatic response.

"No you selfless bastard, you're sick." Jeonghan made sure to emphasize how annoyed he was.

"I am?" Seungcheol reaches up to touch his face, "Can you give me some paracetamol? Please? I'll be better in the morning."

Jeonghan knew that wasn't enough to break a fever but what else was he supposed to do? He was a lawyer, definitely not a doctor, so he brings Seungcheol what he needs and gives him an extra blanket. Hoping that he was right about getting better in the morning.

-

Jeonghan could hear Seungcheol and his mother softly arguing about something outside his bedroom door the next morning, he glanced at the messy couch with the blanket and pillow pooling underneath it. Was Seungcheol usually this messy? hopefully not, he didn't want to clean up after the other every morning just because they share a room. If he is, Jeonghan will definitely make him sleep in the living room.

"Seungcheol, I know how much you treasure your recipe but what if you spread your virus on them, hm? If you won't think about yourself then think about the other people!" Jeonghan pulled his door open just n time to see Seungcheol look down, his mouth forming a pout and he would've chuckled at his child-like reaction if only he didn't hear what his mother just said.

Was baking really the only thing that could make Seungcheol this sad? No, what Jeonghan said last night definitely affected him.

"Can I at least stay and watch? Who's going to help you with them?"

"I will," Jeonghan butts in, "You instruct me with what to do and I'll do it, unlike you, I know how to listen, Choi."

And that was the first time Seungcheol smiles at something he says, and it was also the first time he follows.

Jeonghan finds himself struggling with a piping bag a few hours later, he kept adding less or more swirls than Seungcheol instructed him to and his mother's kitchen has never been this noisy.

"You're really bad at frosting, you said you knew how to listen!"

"It's been a while!" Jeonghan defends himself, "I couldn't buy Ma these kind of fancy piping tips before and it's my first time enjoying them, okay?"

Seungcheol grins and stayed silent, leaning back to watch Jeonghan struggle and waste frosting, Jeonghan says he was having fun despite the mess but curses a lifetime's worth whenever he messes up, earning him a smack on the head from his mother in return. It was a miracle they even finished in time, even Joshua himself who intentionally arrived a few minutes late was surprised to have them be the one waiting.

Seungcheol's fever didn't get better like he said it would, and even if he acted like he was, he was urged to rest by Jeonghan himself.

"You know, you're not as mean as you try to make yourself to be. Is it because you're a lawyer?" Seungcheol asked as Jeonghan puts a wet towel on his head.

"Shush, I'm doing this because I don't want to be in charge of your work tomorrow. You know that Ma is going to make me do all that."

Jeonghan still took care of him the whole day, either way, brought him soup his mother made, took his temperature, and didn't say anything mean for the rest of the day.

Seungcheol ended up feeling fine the next morning, finding Jeonghan sound asleep with his cheek resting on top of the paperwork he was most likely working on all night. Seungcheol let him rest and turned his heel to get ready for work.

"Seungcheol, what are you doing? It's too early." Jeonghan's voice stops him in his tracks. "To work?"

"Yeah... I feel better now, really." Seungcheol said, proud of his recovery. A lazy grin stretched Jeonghan's lips.

"There's no work, dummy. Ma said that we all deserve a vacation so I had to get all this work done before we do." Jeonghan lifts a paper and shows Seungcheol even if he could barely see it from this distance, but it was enough to make Seungcheol sigh in relief and grab himself a glass of water, noticing the mug with folded empty packets of coffee inside.

"What are you working on?" Seungcheol asked.

"Old cases, actually. I'm scared I'll forget how to think about them once I get back like my thoughts will be filled with beach sand."

"Then just tell the unnecessary thoughts to... fuck off." Jeonghan turned to him in surprise, "Don't give me that look."

"No, but I used to think you're weird, and now you're actually learning from me, good job, young padawan." Jeonghan smiles at him, and Seungcheol takes note of Jeonghan's different kinds of smiles. His annoying smile, his teasing smile, his 'I'll tear you into pieces smile.'

And the smile he's receiving now? Is Jeonghan's sincere smile, meaning he's genuinely happy, only happens when his lips stretch the widest making his eyes turn into crescents.

Seungcheol makes it his little mission to make Jeonghan smile in every possible way he could, because to him, smiles were poems that you won't understand unless you read it out with actual emotion unless you read it out while feeling the same way the writer did when they wrote it. But aside from all that, Seungcheol just really wants to make Jeonghan smile, because he wants to save Jeonghan from becoming empty like a forgotten poem like what Seungcheol's father became.

Seungcheol doesn't remember how long it has been since he went to the beach with someone, the beach is just an hour's drive away from the bakery itself and yet in all those years he's been here, he only went there once.

"Seungcheol, you look like a lost dog by just standing there," Jeonghans said as he approached the other, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing, really." A lot of things. "Do you wanna swim?"

"We just got here."

"So?" Seungcheol shrugged, "Do you have a better plan?"

Jeonghan meets his eyes and a glint of mischievousness appeared in his eyes, "I do, actually."

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows but followed Jeonghan anyway, they both made their way to Jeonghan's car and noticed the mess in the backseat, there were stacks of files and paper on both the seats and the floor making Seungcheol wonder if this was a car or a mini-office.

"Where are we going?" He asked as he put on his seatbelt, Jeonghan doesn't answer and started the car, driving them out of the place and to wherever Jeonghan was planning to take him. Seungcheol looks around and spots the sunroof on Jeonghan's car. "Can you open that?"

"No." Seungcheol doesn't push it further and pouts, a few minutes later, the window beside him rolls down, he let out a gasp of surprise and looked out the window to enjoy the view and the fresh air it lets in, missing the fond look on Jeonghan's face.

Seungcheol makes a few comments about what he sees outside the window, hoping Jeonghan would reply but he gets nothing, that doesn't stop Seungcheol from talking though. Once they pulled over, Seungcheol was the first one to rush out of the car.

"This is a school," Seungcheol says, looking up and down the gate that was keeping them from going in. "Why are we here?"

"It was my school, I wanted to visit it again but I didn't want to go alone," Jeonghan explained, slamming the car door shut and stood beside Seungcheol, taking in the view of the building inside. "Let's go in?"

Jeonghan immediately noticed the hesitation on Seungcheol's face. Okay, maybe it just needs a little push. "I'll treat you food later?"

"Could've said that first."

In the end, they managed to make their way to the rooftop, Jeonghan was surprised that he still knew his way around after so many years and Seungcheol was glad because it wouldn't be very nice if they get lost.

"The view is nice here." Seungcheol comments, leaning over the edge to see the ground beneath. "Was this your little hideout or something?"

"Not really, I've only been here once and I don't know- I just missed it." Jeonghan didn't look like an outcast to have a hiding spot, Seungcheol imagined him to be someone who's always around his friends, having group studies, always together at lunch. But then he grew up so immersed with work and now he's all-

"How about you? What was your school like?"

"Oh uhm- it was nice. I graduated top of the class and I had pretty good friends, nothing too special."

"Top of the class? Really? Why are you still here?" Seungcheol just laughs at his reaction but Jeonghan wasn't going to have it, "You've got to have a dream or something, or is it really making cupcakes?"

"Let's just say I planned it all from the start." Seungcheol turns to look at Jeonghan and thinks about it for a moment, he knows that Jeonghan wants to know more about him- not because he's into him but because he's curious, the same way Seungcheol is curious about him too. But Seungcheol doesn't give his story away to Jeonghan for now. "How did you know you wanted to become a lawyer?"

The question seemed to make Jeonghan excited, "Well, at first I wanted to be a policeman because even if it doesn't look like it, this town suffered from criminals back then. The children would be afraid to play outside and I would look outside the window hoping I'd catch the culprit."

"Did you?"

"No, my mom started her bakery then so I spent more time helping out. But I kept up with the news and during an advertisement break, there was an ad for suits, and I wanted to be in a suit. So I asked my mom what job required suits and the first thing she thought of was lawyers. " Jeonghan was pretty bummed out when he found out years later that not only lawyers wear suits, but he already researched a lot about them and he didn't want that knowledge to go to waste, so he continued that little dream without knowing that he'd actually end up as one.

"I thought you'd have a superhero origin or something," Seungcheol snickered, "What was the last case you handled?"

"Well- uhm," Jeonghan cleared his throat, he never had any problem talking about his cases, he tells his mother about it every time he asks so what's stopping him now? the bubbling insecurity in his stomach just because he's talking to Seungcheol? "I let... a bad guy go."

"A bad guy? Murder-level bad guy?" Seungcheol's voice was filled with too much concern for Jeonghan's liking, but he doesn't answer. "Wow."

"Terrible, right?" Jeonghan turns to see Seungcheol nod, a pout forming on his face as he gave Jeonghan a short glance. "Do you think I'm terrible, too?"

"Depends, were you happy when you did it?"

"Not really." Jeonghan answer quickly, way too quickly. He didn't have time to even think about what he actually felt, did he even feel anything when that man was released because of him? or the only thing he cared about was winning the case? no matter which side he fought for. What he knows for sure was that he didn't like the confident smile of the man when he spots Jeonghan in the courtroom, because the both of them knew he was going to get out of there with Jeonghan on his side. "It's like I don't have a heart, don't you think?"

"Well, what you did is a bad thing. Don't do it again. But If you did, then why are you here? taking a vacation with your mother and a guy you barely know instead of staying in the place that makes you feel like you have power?" Seungcheol knew he had to elaborate some parts, but Jeonghan should be smart enough to get what he means, he hopes so, because Jeonghan should know that he didn't lose his heart just because he defends people who did, maybe he will one day, but not the Jeonghan he knows now.

Jeonghan wanted to thank Seungcheol for not hating him, but he doesn't, even if deep inside he worries that Seungcheol was just too kind to admit it.

The hand that slips on his own makes him think otherwise.

Jeonghan keeps his promise and treats him out for food, unfortunately, the place they picked didn't really have the best-tasting steak but Seungcheol seemed satisfied enough that he wasn't the one paying for it.

They get distracted in the middle of eating anyway when Jeonghan started telling Seungcheol stories bout his first case and how nervous he was.

"You know when people stare at you as if they're expecting you to perfectly cast a harry potter spell in front of them? Jeonghan asks.

"Yeah," And Seungcheol pretends he knows what he's talking about.

"That's what it feels, but you end up just saying the most mundane things, and if feels like none of it even matters, even if in the end- it actually does." Jeonghan's stare moves to the distance, he's probably thinking about something too deep that he doesn't even notice that he's stabbing the wooden table and not the meat on his plate.

But Seungcheol only realized that a few seconds later, too.

Yoon Jeonghan is handsome when he thinks.

"Anyway, is your food good?"

"Y-yeah."

"You don't elaborate on your answers when you're lying. Let's go get some ice cream later to make up for it?"

"Yeah." That's the only word Seungcheol's brain can process at the moment, but he really wants that ice cream and so he continues, "What's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

"Strawberry." Jeonghan's eyes lit up again, "You can put strawberry anywhere and it's already good,"

"Like this steak?" Seungcheol suggests, Jeonghan scrunched up his nose and shook his head, grabbing his water and took huge gulps as if someone actually made him eat strawberry steak.

Seungcheol learned a lot about Jeonghan that day.

But Jeonghan barely knows anything about him, and so the curiosity only grows.

-

"Why are you looking at him like that?" Joshua asks Jeonghan three days after that day, they're sitting on the sand making random shapes out of the sand- well at least Joshua is, Jeonghan on the other hand is too busy observing a certain boy.

"He's just so... annoying." Jeonghan clicked his tongue, finally tearing his gaze away from Seungcheol. "Look at him, he's like an excited little puppy."

"He's always like that around Mingyu," Joshua said, biting back a smile when Jeonghan's attention started to focus on everything he said. "I don't know, I think they like each other."

"It wouldn't surprise me, they're both acting like dumb puppies."

"Kim Mingyu is a doctor." Jeonghan glared at Joshua who laughs as he puts a hand on Jeonghan's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze as the other refused to look in Seungcheol's direction for the rest of the day.

Jeonghan should probably move on from it, it's not like Seungcheol's the only one in the world who had plump lips the Jeonghan dreamed about pressing his own lips against or curly hair that Jeonghan wished he could run his fingers through. It's not like he's the only Choi Seungcheol in the world who would listen to his stories with lips slightly parted, letting out the softest gasp Jeonghan has probably ever heard.

"Jeonghan!" Seungcheol approached him, giggling. "Oh- is something bothering you?"

"No."

"Hm, I was hoping you can come with me to borrow some surfboards?" Seungcheol's hand latched onto his arm, making Jeonghan inhale deeply. "Ms. Yoon said you like surfing."

"And I heard you can't surf." Jeonghan raises his eyebrow at him. "are you asking me to teach you? I won't. Ask Mingyu to do it or something."

"He has to go home because he has a date later." A date? isn't Mingyu single? Jeonghan side-eyed Joshua who quickly stood up and fleed away from the scene. "Please?"

Jeonghan groaned, "You're really annoying, you know?"

Jeonghan taught Seungcheol for exactly 30 minutes before the other told him he gave up because Jeonghan won't let him go to the water yet, even after explaining that he had to learn the basics first before doing that, they both just ended up sitting on the sand ith their unused surfboards as they watched the other people around them have fun.

"Where's Ms. Yoon?"

"Probably somewhere chatting with strangers," Jeonghan said.

Seungcheol nods, resting his head on Jeonghan's shoulder, and closed his eyes for a moment. "My dad was a lawyer too, you know?"

"He was?" Jeonghan asked, was Seungcheol opening up to him?

"Yeah, but my mom didn't like it because he became too busy for us." He continued, "When he and my mom split up, he made me promise that I'll take care of my mom and I said Dad, I already know that. So he tells me to make her proud, but not too proud."

"Did they ever get back together?"

"No, My father died a year later and Mom got sick a month before I graduated and moved here." Jeonghan didn't know if his heart should feel heavy or not, Seungcheol talked about it as if it didn't affect him anymore so he guessed that he should just listen, let Seungcheol express his story however he wanted it to be expressed. "I thought my mom wouldn't want me to be stuck in an office my whole life so i figured that being kind to people would make her proud enough."

"Is that why you treat everyone the same? even those who are rude to you?" Jeonghan's question isn't about cracking Seungcheol anymore now, it's simply because he's enamoured by Seungcheol's like without knowing what drove him to feel such way. Curiosity? or just Seungcheol himself?

"No, I feel like I need to be kinder to them because they're having a bad day, and being rude to them in return would make their day worse." Jeonghan smiled at Seungcheol's words, he then started to wonder how many angry customers he had to smile at for the past years, how many people drank off his kindness just to get what they want?

Seungcheol lifts his head up and laid his head on Jeonghan's lap instead, eyes still closed. "Do you mind?"

"Go ahead." Seungcheol then drifts off after a few moments, Jeonghan had to stay still and glare at whoever was too noisy around them, not caring if they were strangers.

"You should stop being so kind," Jeonghan whispers to his sleeping figure, reaching out to brush the hair from his face. "Tell them to fuck off sometimes, that's okay too."

Seungcheol lived his whole life trying to live up to promises, holding him back from dreaming of something bigger and yet deep inside, Jeonghan was thankful, if not for those promises, Seungcheol wouldn't be here with him and give Jeonghan the chance to fall in love.

he wasn't exactly in love right now, but he knows that soon, he will.

-

Seungcheol wakes up in a bed, he looks around and wondered how he slept for three hours straight without waking up even for a moment.

He searches for his phone and thankfully finds it on the nightstand, squinting on the screen as he reads through the messages.

Jeonghan: Hey.

Jeonghan: Wake up.

Jeonghan: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Seungcheol laughs before replying.

Me: Is this your way of asking me out on a date, Yoon?

Jeonghan: No, but can you come out for a while? I have dinner.

Jeonghan: Wear something warm.

Seungcheol rubs the sleep off his eyes and searched through his clothes for a coat, shrugging it on before looking for Jeonghan outside. It wasn't really hard to spot him since the bright glow of a bonfire where Joshua, Jeonghan, and another stranger were huddled round.

"There he is!" Jeonghan stretched his arms up and waved at him. "Goodmorning!"

"Yeah, good morning." Sengcheol plays along and sits beside him, a little too close. "Marshmallows?"

"Jeonghan said he wanted a camping vibe." The stranger says, "I'm Seokmin, by the way. You must be Seungcheol."

"Nice to meet you." Seungcheol reaches out for a handshake and Seokmin gave it a short shake. "You said you have dinner."

"Oh, you're actually hungry? I'm sorry, I'll go get you some." Jeonghan stands up and dashed back to the hotel, Seungcheol then noticed the looks Jeonghan's friends gave him, but they all resumed burning some marshmallows in silence.

"How long have you and Jeonghan known each other?" Seokmin asked him.

"Well, he's been here for about two weeks? So that long." Seungcheol answers.

"Wow, Jeonghan didn't even pay attention to anyone who courted him for ye-" Before Seokmin could finish his sentence, Joshua shoves a handful of marshmallows in his mouth and gave Seungcheol a tight-lipped smile.

"Sorry, he's just very drunk," Joshua says, and Seungcheol doesn't ask about it further since he was clearly desperate to shut Seokmin up.

Jeonghan comes back empty-handed, and when Seungcheol asked him bout it, he said that the nearest store he could buy food from was 7-11, and they had to walk a bit far for that. "It's okay, I can just eat tomorrow."

"I- no. Get up. We're getting you some ramen."

"But-"

"Get up." Jeonghan tugs on Seungcheol's collar, eventually making him stand up and follow Jeonghan to his car. "You lovebirds enjoy your time, hm?"

"Yoon Jeonghan!"

"I hope you choke on air." Seokmin and Joshua said simultaneously, but Jeonghan just winked at them in return.

On the other hand, the drive to 7-11 was silent. it was just like that time when Jeonghan picked Seungcheol up in the middle of a thunderstorm but this time, Seungcheol wasn't freezing, and Jeonghan jamming to the song that played on the radio.

"You're cheerful today," Seungcheol said.

"Is it weird?" Jeonghan glanced quickly at Seungcheol, "Ma said my voice is good."

"I like it." Seungcheol assured him, "Would be nice if you open the window above, though."

Jeonghan just gives him a look and looked back on the road, they pulled over in front of the small store with a light that made the road in front of it seem like they're standing under the sunlight. Jeonghan pushes the door open and made Seungcheol sit on one of the stools as he paid and prepared the food, grabbing two bottles of water for both of them as well.

"Here." Jeonghan placed the cup noodles in front of Seungcheol who immediately dug in, hissing when the hot soup burnt his tongue. "Dummy, what did you expect?"

Jeonghan opens a bottle of water for him and Seungcheol immediately takes it from his hands, "Hey, I don't know if I should wait for a little longer and Seokmin told me i should do it as soon as I have the chance but- can we go on a date tomorrow?"

Seungcheol choked on his water and spits out some of it as he gasped for air, coughing out the itchiness on his throat. "Yep, you should've waited for like... one more minute."

"I'm sorry I have no idea how to do this." Jeonghan apologized but Seungcheol knew he was holding back a fit of laughter as he did so. "Is that a yes?"

Seungcheol looked up at him, "No."

Jeonghan was silent, "What?"

"I thought the little moments we spent together were already our dates." Seongcheol grinned at him, "You don't have to impress me with dates, I already like you."

Heat rose up from Jeonghan's stomach to his cheeks, numbing his tongue, preventing him from saying anything decent. "You know, you look very kissable right now."

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows at him? Kissable? he was sure that his hair looked like a bird's nest, face still swollen from his sleep and Jeonghan finds him what?

But is he really going to miss this opportunity? "Well then, are you going to do something about it?"

Jeonghan does, in fact, does something about it. He pulls Seungcheol by his collar and just as their lips were bout to meet, Seungcheol yelped.

"What?" Jeonghan pulls back, also startled.

"You did it so suddenly!" Seungcheol hits Jeonghan's chest, face reddening.

"Okay, okay." Jeonghan laughed, straightening his face before inching closer again "Incoming.."

Seungcheol bursts into laughter, "Why did you say that?"

"I thought you wanted a warning!" Seungcheol still kept on laughing, Jeonghan was embarrassed at this point. It was his first kiss and he wished that the gods of the mood maker would just cut him some slack. "Are you okay now?" He asked.

"Yeah," Seungcheol took a deep breath. "kiss me." Jeonghan leaned in again, without a warning this time. Eyes flickering to Seungcheol's eyes then down to his lips before pressing them together, it wasn't anything intense, just a shy peck that leads to more and eventually lasted longer until Jeonghan couldn't keep his hands to himself that he had to snake it around Seungcheol's waist.

"Sir, we're closing soon." Seungcheol's eyes snapped open at the voice and his first instinct was to push Jeonghan away, both of them were panting, cheeks red and Seungcheol's chest feels like hell.

"Sorry about that." Jeonghan apologized to the worker, "Finish your ramen in the car, let's go."

The silence returned again as soon as they got inside the car, Seungcheol's ramen was already cold enough to be placed on his lap but he feels like his appetite won't return until he recovers from what happened.

"Do you think I was awkward?" Jeonghan asked from the driver's seat.

"Not at all, do you think I was? It's my first kiss."

"Me too."

Another moment of silence.

"So can you open the window now?"

And Jeonghan does, Seungcheol gasped and popped his head out of it. "Happy?"

"Very!" The roof of Jeonghan's car thankfully wasn't dirty, he suddenly felt the engine start. "You're going to drive now?"

"It'll feel nice if I do," Jeonghan says, reversing the car so they can get back on the road. "Unless a fly hits your face."

"Really?"

"Kidding, I'll play some music, okay?" Seungcheol doesn't reply and lets him do whatever he wants, soft music fills his ears and for some reason, it fit the moment too well. He tilts his head up to look at the stars, then a little lower to see the street lights blurring past them "Is it nice?"

"It is." Seungcheol breathes out, he wants to do this every night now.

Jeonghan wakes up with Seungcheol's arms around him, his own hands were on Seungcheol's hair and he realized that he must've fallen asleep while admiring them overnight.

"Cheol?" He tapped the other's cheek. "Wake up."

"Hm?" Seungcheol hummed, "Sleep more."

Who was Jeonghan to refuse extra sleep? "Okay, okay." he snuggles closer to Seungcheol but realized that he can't fall back asleep at the moment, and he can't suffer from this alone.

"Wake up!" He taps Seuncheol's shoulder continuously, giving him no choice but to open his eyes. "I can't fall back asleep."

"That- that's sad." Seungcheol closed his eyes again, so Jeonghan tapped his arm again. "I'm up! I'm up!"

He's definitely not up, his soft snores filled the room once again and Jeonghan groaned. He was trapped in Seungcheol's arms and that didn't really matter since he had no plans of getting up anyway, so he just stares.

"God announced his favorite when he gave you your eyelashes." Jeonghan touched his cheek and brushed his eyebrows with his thumb, "I can't believe I get the chance to see you this close."

Seungcheol shifts in his sleep. "You're still annoying, though. You make me not want to leave."

He felt stupid whispering what he feels to Seungcheol whenever he's asleep, but no one's going to stop him from doing that, and so he continues. "But you're right."

Jeonghan grabs Seungcheol's hand and put it on his chest, he knew that if Seungcheol was awake, he'd perfectly feel Jeonghan's thumping heart under his palm.

"It's still here."

-

It didn't take Ms. Yoon too long before she found out about it, starting from Jeonghan who would actually smile at the customers, to Seungcheol who designed the cupcakes a little extra every since they came back from their vacation.

Aside from those, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Jeonghan's hand would be around Seungcheol's waist, and Seungcheol would hold onto Jeonghan's hand every time he had the chance. If they weren't near each other enough, they'd look at each other in a way most people would find annoying.

"Jeonghan, come here." Ms. Yoon calls him to the kitchen one night after closing, "Are you going to tell me something?"

"Is this about me and Seungcheol?" Jeonghan has never been this nervous in front of his mother ever since middle school when he told her that he was caught cheating on a test, that one ended on a good note, though.

"Of course it's about you and Seungcheol, but I don't care that you're together. What I'm worried about is that if you're willing enough to continue your relationship with him after you go back to the city."

Jeonghan nearly forgot about that, he got so used to the feeling of being home that the paperwork he brought here to finish was left untouched. "I- I am."

"Jeonghan, you know what happened with his father, right?" Jeonghan nods. "Promise him that you'll make it work, I want you both to make it work."

"I'll take care of him, Ma." Jeonghan holds her hand to show more of his sincerity. "Trust me?"

Jeonghan and Seungcheol don't talk about how the end of the month slowly neared and simply enjoyed their days together. Jeonghan managed to find a restaurant near the town with great food and even wore his suit to the occasion.

"Should I wear a suit too?"

"You look great in whatever you wear." Seungcheol ended up wearing a suit anyway and asked Jeonghan if he looked as intimidating as the people he sees in court but his hair threw the image away.

"You like my hair," Seungcheol says as Jeonghan pushed it back with some hair gel, straightening out some of the curls. "They'll grow out of the curls, though."

"It's fine, you're still cute." Jeonghan gave both sides of his cheeks a pinch.

Seungcheol was amazed at how pretty the table cloths were the whole night and Jeonghan almost considered buying him a whole table set that he could set up so he can have dinners like this every time he wanted.

On that night though, Jeonghan couldn't help but ask, "When did you realize you liked me?"

"Hm," Seungcheol pondered for a moment, wiping his lips on a napkin before continuing. "I found you really attractive the moment you came in, I hated you the first week you were here, and I had a crush on you while you were taking care of me."

Seungcheol hated him? Jeonghan recalls his first week– it was filled with him nagging on Seungcheol telling him to curse back at anyone who curses at him, he didn't think it was too much then.

"How about you?"

"Probably when I kissed you."

"Only then? What did you think of me before you kissed me?"

Jeonghan tapped his finger on the table as he thought of an answer.

Before he kissed Seungcheol?

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day That was the message Jeonghan sent him before all of it happened.

"I thought you were pretty." Seungcheol would ask for him to elaborate, but he doesn't. But this conversation made Jeonghan wonder if Seungcheol was already in love with him, or if he was in love with Seungcheol, he didn't know anything about love or what it feelf like to fall in love with someone but what he knows that it takes time.

And Jeonghan knew they needed more time.

Their conversation progressed from topic to topic and Seungcheol, the clumsy person thatbhe is, accidentally spilled wine all over them and Jeonghan didn't really like the way the people who helped them clean it up looked at Seungcheol, having to end their night sooner than he planned it to.

"Do you really have that much money?" Seungcheol curiously asked him on their way home, "When you told that guy you could buy the whole restaurant when you got angry."

Jeonghan's lips twitched upwards, "Not at the moment."

"You're scary when you're angry." Seungcheol thought, "Have you seen me angry?"

"Only when you sulk."

Seungcheol tries to make a mean face the whole car ride as if he wasn't beside Jeonghan the whole time, asking Jeonghan's opinion from time to time if he looked angry enough to scare the latter.

What he didn't know was that he'll experience that side of Seungcheol pretty soon.

Jeonghan spoils Seungcheol the following days, and Seungcheol did the same in return. Especially when Seokmin and Joshua finally made up.

"Made up? They were together before?" Seungcheol asked Jeonghan before the couple arrives, they set up a double date since their first meeting wasn't exactly ideal.

"Seokmin broke up with Joshua right after graduation, it was a pretty big fight and they still won't talk about what happened but I'm just happy they worked it out." Jeonghan was right, seeing Seokmin and Joshua together looked like they've done this before, they're easy and comfortable with each other that you wouldn't even realize they broke up in the first place.

And seeing that was where Jeonghan's doubts started, he spent the next day and the day after that making sure Seungcheol was comfortable, not knowing that the more he stressed out, the more it became worse.

Jeonghan is a busy guy, barely has the time to call his mother whenever cases pile up, and even if he had so many things to tell her, he'd hesitate.

What makes him think it won't happen with Seungcheol, too?

It happens three days before Jeonghan leaves, his worries started to get ahead of him, and so he drowned himself back into his paperwork to distract himself, not knowing that Seungcheol was feeling alone during those times.

"Hannie, is something wrong?" Seungcheol sits in front of him on the bed, careful not to move any paper around, Jeonghan ignores his presence so he tries again. "You can tell me."

Jeonghan finally listens to him and removes his glasses before looking up at Seungcheol, "I'm leaving in three days."

"And?"

"I think we should break up." That's when Seungcheol's face darkened, his eyebrows joined together and all Jeonghan wanted to do was brush them back into place and take his words back. "I don't think you'll be happy if-"

"That's stupid, Yoon Jeonghan." Seungcheol cuts him off, he was breathing heavily as he spoke, "You said you'll make it work."

"I know, but I worried! What if I can't? Isn't it better if we end it now?" Now that he was voicing his thoughts out loud, it felt stupid, as if he was back in his first court case.

"You don't mean that..." Seungcheol says, voice softening for a split second. "You know what? Stay here."

Jeonghan's eyes follow Seungcheol's figure exiting the room and returning with a cupcake with strawberry slices on top. "I'll give you these only if you don't break up with me."

"Seungcheol-"

"Strawberries make everything better," Seungcheol recalled, "So don't break up with me, make a better decision."

Jeonghan took a little while to think, but Seungcheol waited for him patiently, leaving the place on the nightstand before walking out. "Take your time."

Jeonghan closed his eyes and lead back to rest his head on the headboard, eventually reaching out for the cupcake.

This was the first time Seungcheol is being selfish, desperately wanting Jeonghan to change his mind and stay with him, but he doesn't eat it.

Leaving it in the sink for Seungcheol to find in the morning.

-

"You'll call?" Seungcheol's voice was muffled by Jeonghan's shirt, he was trying his best not to cry by burying his head on Jeonghan's shoulder but they both knew that once Jeonghan walks away, he'll fail.

Jeonghan knew he should probably tell Seungcheol to let go, because they've come to an agreement already. Jeonghan explained why it wouldn't work for now, but this time it was his turn to promise him something.

"Of course I'll call." Jeonghan tries to soothe him by rubbing circles on his back. "Unless you call first, I'll pick up every time if I can."

"Hm, and you'll come back next summer? You promised."

"I might be here sooner." Seungcheol lifts his head up to give Jeonghan a weak smile, his smile turned into a frown and Jeonghan couldn't help but match his frown as well. "You big baby."

"Stop taking bad guys in, okay?" Jeonghan nods at him, wiping away the tears even if they were replaced by more. "I don't care if you go broke, I'm sure Ms. Yoon wouldn't mind hiring another person."

"Right," Jeonghan laughed, "While I'm not broke yet, tell rude people to fuck off, hm?"

"Okay, I probably won't do that." Seungcheol grins at him before scrunching up his nose leaning towards Jeonghan "Can I kiss you?"

Jeonghan should push him away, he knows he should. But instead, he nods and lets Seungcheol press a kiss on his nose.

"We,"

On the cheek,

"Are,"

And on his forehead.

"Groot."

"Jesus, Seungcheol you always find a way to ruin the mood!" Jeonghan playfully shoves him away while laughing as well, but Seungcheol doesn't walk back closer, worried that he won't be able to let him go.

"You know, I think I would love you if you stayed a little longer." Jeonghan couldn't help but agree.

"Then next time, I will."

"Oh! before I forget!" Seungcheol reaches out into his pocket to pull out a box, tossing it to Jeonghan who barely caught it in his hands. It was suspiciously light than he expected, but he'll find out why later.

"I think we don't know each other long enough yet to get married, Cheollie." Jeonghan smirked, "But I accept."

"It's not a ring," Seungcheol rolls his eyes, "Open it when you arrive there, okay?"

"Okay, boss." Jeonghan puts it in his own pocket. "Mom's waiting for me outside, you're really don't wanna wave me goodbye?"

"Not really, You might find me in your trunk."

Jeonghan then walks up to him and realized that he really wanted to kiss Seungcheol. they've gotten less awkward since their first one and hopefully, they won't go back to zero when they meet again. But just like when they made Mingyu's 300 cupcakes, they'll know how to start.

But this time, they won't plan its end.

"I'll see you around."

Jeonghan walks out of the house and gives his mother a tight hug, whispering a thank you to her ear, promising to stay safe and call more frequently than before.

"You take care of yourself." Jeonghan pulls away.

"We'll be fine."

Jeonghan finally enters his car to start his drive, but before he does, Jeonghan pulls out the box from his pocket and opens it, Seungcheol wouldn't know about it if he lets his curiousness get to him again.

He opens the lid off the box with high expectations and–

It was empty, with only a piece of paper taped on the bottom.

'Oh, It's empty? Yoon Jeonghan's heart should be in here! Too bad you must've left it back home :( then you better come back soon! Don't worry, Cheollie will keep it safe for you.'

Jeonghan clicked his tongue and closed the box.

"Really, really annoying."