#➤ ʰᵒˢᵘᶰᵍ ᵃᶰˢʷᵉʳ┊ ❛ open up your eyes ; open up your mind ❜

[starwhispcrs]

“hi, i’m gay. give me attention.” / from joohyuk to anyone you want to use <3

@wcvensouls // some meme !!

owlish eyes blink not once , not twice , but thrice in something akin to stunned silence , if one were unfamiliar with hosung . but what might be confused for astonishment is , instead , brain lagging in understanding just what joohyuk had said to him . it takes but a moment , like an old internet browser booting up slowly , to register that the other is demanding attention . and , perhaps , the hacker is feeling a bit lenient in his permanent insomnia ( or , perhaps , he wants to shoo the other away as fast as he can in whatever way he can ) .

" if i give you attention will you leave me alone after ? " deadpanned tone might trick someone into thinking he does not care . and yet , if he truly did not , he would not entertain joohyuk from the get go . no - hosung needs a distraction from the static in his mind , the ink stains under his fingertips , and he is only all too willing to give attention if it means he gets a distraction in turn .

[etastra]

“I really want pizza right now, think it’s open?” kaoru @ hosung !!

@tiltedsun // late nights !!

    for once, apartment is not filled with the obnoxious click-clacking of fingers flying across a keyboard ; for once, apartment is filled with the soft murmur of a movie playing as background noise, attention split between following the convoluted plot and fiddling with phone, two distractions meant to keep fatigued mind occupied before it spirals. exhaustion is heavy in his bones, weighing down body until hosung is an indistinguishable lump of soft hoodie and bundle of blankets. but it’s nice, to feel the barely there warmth of kaoru pressed against his side ; it’s nice, to let the comfortable presence of a friend chase away the nothingness in his mind.

     he’s almost startled, when soft voice sounds just above the movie. knowing the younger and his tendencies to fall asleep on any horizontal surface available to him, he’s more than a little surprised to hear he’s awake. it takes hosung a moment to shift from his sprawl, to claw his way past the blankets to squint at kaoru. “there’s at least three late night pizza places open, but only one does delivery this late.” of course the notorious night owl knows of all the late night, 24 hour fast food places within walking distance and delivery distance, given his own arrhythmic circadian rhythm. “the delivery one sucks but we can get it if you don’t wanna walk.”

[starwhispcrs]

❝ i think i forgot what human contact felt like. ❞ kaoru @ hosung !!

@tiltedsun // touch-starved !!

     for a moment, hosung contemplates admitting that he’s never really known what it felt like either, a sad truth only one other person knows of, an admittance of the horribly lonely childhood and adulthood he’s dealt with ( and still deals with, much to his unwilling acceptance ). for a moment, it sits on the tip of his tongue like an offering of kinship and apology and reparation for something not his own fault, for the loneliness kaoru must be carrying in his heart even now, for offering only playful banter and companionship. but he swallows it back, finds it tastes wrong on his tongue like an exacerbation rather than a salve, like he’s pouring salt directly onto the wound.

     for a moment longer, hosung is silent, wondering if there is even anything to say to the younger, if stilted consolations and awkward comforts are the right thing to offer when he has nothing else to give, when he doesn’t know what to say or do with this new information. silence is his response for one, two, three more heartbeats, before he’s letting heavy head fall to thunk against kaoru’s shoulder. he doesn’t think twice in letting cheek nudge in a rub not unlike a cat seeking affection, nor does he think twice about the way a knot loosens in his throat as he settles comfortably. “if you wanted a hug, you could’ve just asked.”

[starwhispcrs]

oh shut up, you love to disagree with me more than anything, it’s your favourite thing in the world. / kaoru @ hosung !!

@tiltedsun // text inspired !!

     for once, hosung is sat next to kaoru ‘pon his couch, rather than hunched over his keyboard and trying to fill the empty space around them with the click-clacking of his work while the younger snoozes away somewhere on the floor. and he’s content to let the quiet around them be chased away not by white noise as he’s oft prone to do but by idle chatter, attention drifting as he settles in comfort. except, naturally, kaoru has to go and say that. and, like clockwork, hosung is quickly grumbling a snippy retort before the other’s even quite finished his statement: “you shut up. it isn’t disagreeing, it’s correcting you because you’re wrong all the time.”

[starwhispcrs]

" i knew you wouldn't go to sleep willingly, so i brought you some chamomile tea and a blanket. twenty minutes of shut-eye, okay? " kaoru @ hosung uwu

@tiltedsun // simping softness !!

     is it ridiculous, to think that he knows those knocks and knows who’s at his door ? maybe as ridiculous as the fact he knows what kaoru is going to say as soon as he tugs the door open and allows him entry into his apartment, bruises smudged beneath heavy eyes and a sluggishness that is as befitting of him as his favorite baseball cap, or his oversized black t-shirt. hosung is settling into his desk chair just as the other presents the box of tea and the blanket, little furrow knitting itself between ‘brows as he stares at the items in hand before glancing up. “i’m pretty sure you’re gonna be the one passed out and not me.”

     but there is soft appreciation in roughened words, in the way he extends a hand to accept the blanket and mumbles into the fabric something like ‘make yourself tea too’. perhaps this is not a cure all to the night terrors he suffers from, but there is something kind, and embraced, in the gesture.

[starwhispcrs]

“I’ve run away from every possible fight that’s ever occurred in my life.” kaoru @ hosung :/

@tiltedsun // buzzfeed unsolved memes !!

     it must be three, four, in the morning, muted screen of phone still too bright but mind too restless, overwhelming, to even think about chasing sleep. he thinks kaoru has long since dropped off into slumber, as the other is silent where head is pillowed near thigh and body takes up too much of the too little couch ( finally the couch, and not stretched on the floor ). it’s too silent in his apartment, the faint ticking of the only clock in the living room deafening and the static bleeding through his thoughts coaxing heartbeat to steadily pick up pace. he startles, sudden and abrupt, when soft voice shatters the stillness ; phone falls onto stomach and hosung nearly convulses away from the other. but lethargic limbs do little more than twitch, and he’s instead squinting down at the darkness in the approximate area of the younger’s head.

     hosung wonders, for a fleeting moment, if kaoru speaks in his sleep, mumbling life into whatever dreams or nightmares form in thoughts. he wonders, for another fleeting moment, if he should even respond at all. but hand drops to rest tentative, then firmly, over shoulder, giving a quick squeeze before he thinks twice. “that’s not a bad thing, right ?” a rhetorical question, open ended in its soft inception ; he still knows so little about the younger, in a way that hangs heavy between them when faced with such comments as this. but he doesn’t pester and prod, doesn’t find it his place, and merely offers what reassurance he can that doesn’t taste wallpaper rough and tacky in his throat.

[etastra]

@tiltedsun asked : kaoru sets the small box in front of hosung, within it is two friendship bracelets, one for hosung that has stars along it; kaoru is unsure to as why he picked that, but he finds it befitting of his friend and the other one has various things from nature along with a fox. there's a teasing smile on kaoru's lips as he watches hosung, ever so excited to see him open it. ' happy birthday , old man. ' 

     he should have known something was up the younger’s sleeve, when kaoru did not immediately detour to the first open spot on his floor to curl up for an impromptu nap but instead trailed after hosung as the older made his way back to his computer setup. he should have known today wasn’t just another day in the week, not when he had woken to several text messages of promises and emojis and warmth from his boyfriend. but the days bleed together more than not, and the hacker truly did not think of the day as anything more than another day with little sleep under his belt, with the last vestiges of a nightmare curling at the edges of thoughts.

     it should be way too easy to slip back into the routine of his work, to tune out the younger as he does the rest of the world when scrolling html occupies screen and thoughts. but kaoru is as persistent as he is endearing, and the older squints up at him when he does not disappear from side, when he leans forward to plop a small box. an inquisitive little noise gets lost in his throat, dying when he opens the box and peers inside at the contents. the bracelet is pretty, shiny and new and something he doesn’t own, if only because it’s never caught attention. hosung lifts the bracelet adorned with stars in delicate hands, soft sound on tongue.

     “how did you -- ??” he’s so lost in tracing the adornments with gentle, reverent fingertips that he almost misses the celebratory hum on kaoru’s lips, almost doesn’t connect the dots that the younger shouldn’t know his birthday ( except his boyfriend had left post-its literally everywhere, wishing him a happy birthday ), until the playful words register. eyes snap up to meet the other’s, little scrunch in nose. he will deny ‘til the day he dies the glimmer that still lingers in eyes and the warmth that absolutely drowns him, just as he will deny the little squawk of annoyance that follows immediately after. “i’m not old, you shit !”

[etastra]

@tiltedsun asked : “You’ve got a fever. Of course I’m not going anywhere.” kaoru @ hosung 

     “you’re seeing things.” even on his worst days, there is always a semblance of coherency lilting over tongue, softened and scowled and embittered as it may often be, yet still very much present. and yet scowled words that fall from twisted scowl of a mouth are severely lacking in sense, a fact that goes completely unnoticed by hosung as he pointedly shuffles past the younger and towards the general direction of kitchenette, the singular goal of getting pure caffeine in his system the only thing on mind.

     the hacker pauses before coffeepot, fever-addled mind shortcircuiting for a split second as he tries to recall where he put his coffee mug ( was it the sink ? no, he washed it, so the cupboard ? no, the cupboard is just enough of a nuisance he rarely bothers with it ). “i always run hot.” it comes as an afterthought, rather than the insistent evidence that he is perfectly fine, kaoru, go do something productive besides worry.

[etastra-moved]

“is that my sweater?” iseul to hosung !

@mircges || soft hour || iseul → hosung !!

     the hacker had awoken to an ache so raw and fierce in chest that tears threatened to track salt down his eyes and breath had caught in throat, choking the sharp gasp that would have fallen from lips ; he tends to wake much later than iseul does on days the other goes into the bookstore to work, and those days are among hosung’s least favorite, if only because there is no reassuring presence at his side to coax nightmares away and soothe trembling heart. today is particularly rough, as heartbeat is a thunderous roar in ears and he is desperate for a distraction that has already left ; fumbling fingers hover over an open message to the mutant, typing and deleting and retyping fifteen different things before ultimately locking it and tossing it aside - iseul doesn’t need to be bothered, and hosung knows how to deal with night terrors plaguing mind.

     rather than settle at desk with something small for breakfast that will likely be forgotten within the hour, hosung spends what feels like too long perusing their closet, sliding garments aside and making a racket of the hangers to drive the static bleeding through thoughts out of mind and into silence ; he pauses when fingers brush a familiar sweater, and he spares less than a moment tugging it on, drawing hoodie up over head and melting into the weight of it. eyes flutter shut and the knot wound in chest loosens on his next breath. it’s easy to forget what had clawed attention and drove icy paralysis into shoulders when he is surrounded by iseul’s scent, spending a brief infinity allowing the comfort and warmth of iseul’s favorite sweater to settle on body like a shield. and, just like that, his usual day begins ; the only difference is he is dressed in a sweater not his own.

     hosung nearly forgets that he’s stolen iseul’s sweater until he hears the sudden inquiry, attention pulled from where he’s fiddling with phone to the mutant. he glances down at the sweater that is decidedly too long on thin frame, sleeves hiding hands and hem resting at thigh rather than waist, before he glances up to meet iseul’s gaze. it’s not often hosung steals the taller’s clothes, especially when the size difference between them is amplified whenever he tugs on a too long sweater or has to roll up too long pants legs unless he wants to stumble about the apartment, but there’s a certain comfort and reprieve that settles over him when iseul is away at work and hosung is missing him, when the abyss in mind refuses to recede and the other is not within reach.

     he’s not the sentimental type, not usually ; while there are instances in which hosung aches and yearns for a closeness that will not come for hours, he has spent most of his life alone and has learned to combat that ache, by throwing himself into work until he is drowning in it. but he doesn’t have to anymore, as there’s no need when all he has to do is reach out and feel iseul’s hand meeting his halfway, when all he has to do is settle against side and feel fingers brush through hair. the thought itself coaxes warmth to unfurl beneath chest, even as features remain neutral when he lets gaze flicker over the mutant’s, in search of a disapproval he knows will not be there ( he knows iseul likes seeing the garments draped over him, and he likes when iseul’s attention is on him like that ).

     an eyebrow arches in a silent query, a silent ‘and what if it is ?’ in the gesture even as a little smile breaks the otherwise neutral expression decorating countenance. “nope, it’s mine.” it most certainly is not, as most of hosung’s sweaters are well-worn with loosened threads and threadbare holes, and this sweater is definitely in a more pristine condition ( not to mention a tad too large on scrawny frame, but that’s neither here nor there ). he sets phone aside and stands to properly greet the other, to rock onto tip toes and tug on shirt collar in order to slide lips against lips in a hello. the hoodie over head slides off and he smiles into the kiss, the dredges of inky tendrils clinging stubbornly to thoughts all day dissipating into nothingness when he feels hands on his hips squeezing.

[etastra-moved]

iseul has work even though he'd love to just lie down and waste away the day with hosung. he detangles himself from hosung in their bed and slips out the bedroom, their cat watching him as he goes. he pulls out the box of chocolate he'd bought and the origami flowers he folded the previous day at work and sets them on hosung's desk. when cat comes to swat it, he brings cat into the room, puts cat on his pillow, tells him to be a good boy and pecks hosung, "happy valentine's, hosungie."

@mircges !!

     as good as dead to the world with the way exhaustion weighs upon him, hosung nearly misses the way bed dips and the familiar comfort at his side disappears ; he stirs momentarily, turns to face iseul’s side, but drifts back into unconsciousness a second later. it’s only when he hears a familiar voice whisper adoration through mind and press a fleeting peck that lashes flutter and unconsciousness washes away from him. exhaustion weighs more heavily upon mind, though and, as brief as his wakefulness, hosung drifts back into sleep, only just aware of comfort and honeyed voice wishing him a happy valentine’s.

     hosung knows he’s alone when he finally drags mind from a dreamless sleep what feels like minutes later, can already feel the lack of warmth at his side ( though there is something warm and furry pressed against the top of his head that he swears was not there when he fell asleep last night ), but disappointment has no room in his heart. he bolts upright suddenly ( ignores the cat’s disgruntled noise in response to disturbing his sleep ), listens for the telltale signs of iseul getting ready for work only to be met with an unfamiliar silence ; lips purse into a frown and he scrambles for his phone where it rests on night stand, thumbing it open and shooting off a rapid fire text -

     [ text ; 🐍 💕 ] why didn’t you wake me before you left

     a yawn catches in throat and hosung throws the covers off legs and lurches out of bed, phone grasped loosely in hand ; he knows iseul is likely not on break yet, won’t see the text for at least another half hour if the tiny clock in the top corner of his notifications bar is to be accurate, and so he shoves the displeasure of wishing the taller off for the day to the back of mind. his priority, as it always is when he wakes, is to brew a pot of coffee and check his work inbox. hair is a nest of disarray, sticking up and looking as though iseul had ran long fingers through and up in a teasing motion, though the hacker can’t be bothered to pat it down into some semblance of normalcy when caffeine is his priority.

    shuffling feet carry him out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen, nearly missing the presents resting upon desktop if not for the pop of color stark against black lacquered wood ; hosung pauses in his journey for caffeine, beeliniing towards his desk to sit heavily in his chair. when - when did iseul get a chance to make these ? he stares at the intricate folds of the flowers, cheeks aflame with a warmth that only iseul can put there, fingers delicate where they trace over the petals of the brightly colored flowers ; they’re all different, not just a rose as he half-expected them to be, and something swells within chest the longer he looks them over. it’s so simple yet thoughtful, in the way iseul obviously put time into each flower, in the way he can see how meticulous the folds are.

     he almost doesn’t take a picture, too lost in the wonder of the simplicity of it ( though that was iseul - adding reason and depth to the simple things, the things hosung has never looked twice at or as merely overlooked in his life ; adding color and life and sound to a world that was black and white and filled with static ), but manages to, after he spends what feels like an hour. he takes one, two, five pictures, arranging the flowers atop the chocolate box, against his keyboards, in his hands ( and they feel particularly precious when he holds them, touch delicate as if afraid one wrong move will undo all the hard work iseul put into them ), before he sends one off in as rapidfire a text as before -

     [ text ; 🐍 💕 ] attachment.img     [ text ; 🐍 💕 ] did you make these     [ text ; 🐍 💕 ] they’re beautiful.. thank you

     he stares at the intricate folds of the flowers, cheeks aflame with a warmth that only iseul can put there, fingers delicate where they trace over the petals of the brightly colored flowers ; they’re all different, not just a rose as he half-expected them to be, and not just in the cliche pink and red of the holiday spirit, and something swells within chest the longer he looks them over. something so simple as papers folded to mimic their living counterparts yet he is breathless, voice stolen so easily by iseul - iseul with his oddities and his scars and his teasing and his laughter and his comfort. he smiles down at his phone and sends one last text, caffeine forgotten as he relishes in his present.

     [ text ; 🐍 💕 ] come home soon so i can give you your gift

[etastra-moved]

❛❛ Lay your head in my lap and try to get some rest. ❜❜ iseul to hosung !

@mircges || sad & soft stars || iseul → hosung !!

     there is a resounding emptiness in head, filled not with cotton or scrolling html or even the endlessness of dreams just always out of reach once consciousness washes over him ; just a nothingness, an emptiness, reflected in blank stare and purple bruised beneath shallow eyes. it’s disorienting, as mind has always been filled with something, be it cotton, his current or future work, static, or a primal fear lingering just out of sight, but now there is nothing and it scares him. it scares hosung to the point where he seeks the other out, timid fingers clinging to shirt and holding fast, a desperate anchor that doesn’t quite pull mind from its nothingness.

     exhaustion slows already lethargic limbs into a sluggishness rivaling molasses, though it’s imperceptible with the way hosung is sat upon couch, gaze glazed and unseeing, ears deaf to whatever may fall from the taller’s lips. nothingness within mind slowly turns into static, and he doesn’t know if that’s worse ; familiar, yes, but with the static comes a spike in heart rate, a fear injected directly into veins and burning through body. attention turns from within to without, to iseul’s soothing voice dragging through the static, to iseul’s strong fingers wrapped over wrist of hand still clinging so desperately to shirt, to just iseul, iseul, iseul.

     the order goes unheard for a moment, for a moment that is an infinity, before hosung finds the energy he does not have to turn towards iseul and blink owlishly at him ; lips part as if to breathe a question, a small ‘sorry’ ready to fall from tongue, but he bites it back before it can escape, as iseul is looking at him with those eyes, with a kindness and a warmth and an overwhelming safety. what falls instead from lips is a shuddering sigh, and fingers loosen incrementally where they’re snagged in cloth, enough to slowly reposition himself from rigid uprightness to languid, loose, stretched out with legs folded onto couch and head pillowed in a lap.

     before he even settles fully there are familiar fingers combing through mussed up strands, stroking through bleached white in a rhythm that immediately chases away the static bleeding from thoughts. another shuddering sigh escapes and hosung forces himself to count sheep to the brushing fingers, forces taut shoulders and tightened body to melt into the cushions, melt under comforting ministrations. static melts into a blissful hum, though he’s unsure if it’s iseul’s own mindless humming that fills ears ( it doesn’t matter, because there’s a gratitude balling up in throat that threatens to choke him ).

     “thank you, iseul.” whispered gratitude is almost lost in its near silence, but he knows iseul heard it, can tell when fingers still for a brief moment only to continue as if they didn’t stop. eyes finally flicker shut and what greets him behind closed lids is not an overwhelming abyss but a welcome warmth, a gentle coaxing into unconsciousness that he so desperately and obviously needs after spending the past three days awake. before he completely succumbs, he swears he feels the whisper soft touch of iseul’s murmured ‘i love you’ brush against cheek and settle beneath skin, around heart, completely chasing away the nothingness, the static.

[etastra-moved]

❛❛ Let me hold you for a while. ❜❜ iseul to hosung !

@mircges || sad & soft stars || iseul → hosung !!

     hosung knows that the world has not been kind to iseul, in very much the same and different sense that it has not been kind to him ; he can see it in the way iseul is always aware of their situation and surroundings, is always making sure it is okay, and he can see it in the way the taller will just stare at him, as if blinking will erase the memories they have made together, will erase the shorter himself. he knows only so much, and it pains him to see those moments where the past weighs heavily upon shoulders, threatening to crush the other beneath them. it pains him and strikes a desire to chase away those moments, to press reassurance into skin with fluttering kisses, gentle touches.

     so when iseul requests to hold him out of the seeming blue, hosung falls easily into embrace, allows himself to be gathered up with none of the usual vitriol and mild annoyance that makes a home among vocal chords ; as much as it is a reassurance to the taller, the embrace is a content consolation to the hacker, a physical presence that chases away the gnarled maw of emptiness within thoughts as it dissipates whatever fears are lurking in iseul’s mind and heart. lashes flutter against cheeks and he falls further into arms wrapped ‘round shoulders, buries nose into crook of neck and listens to the steady thrum of a heartbeat.

     time freezes for hosung, the moments stretching into an infinity he does not want to end ; he relishes in the closeness that only thin cloth is a barrier between, relishes in the way familiar fingers brush through his hair in equal parts comfort and anchor, relishes in the way he can feel the taller loosen from tightened knot into languid presence. silence rests heavy on tongue for that infinity before he pulls away, enough to glance up, to seek out warm eyes hidden beneath glasses ( refusing to shy away even as icy fear trickles down spine in droplets ).

     “i’m not going anywhere, iseul.” it feels almost wrong, to be breaking the near terse silence that’s befallen them, but words are firm in their quiet uttering, as if he can sear that promise into the air and into iseul’s very being. he rocks up onto tip toes to brush lips to lips in a butterfly kiss, repeating words into the finite nothing between them, “i’m not going anywhere.” and then he surges forward to mouth those same words into lips, as if it will be physical proof that hosung will not leave iseul’s side, as if he can burn those words into both their lips so neither will doubt that what they have is fleeting.

[etastra-moved]

❛❛ I’m not going to leave. I’ll stay as long as you need me to. ❜❜ iseul to hosung !

@mircges || sad & soft stars || iseul → hosung !!

     hitching sobs are caught in throat, snagged in bramble and thorn and falling from lips in watery heaves ; it feels like forever and a half since he last awoke with a gasp stuck in chest and eyes wild and wide, feels like the night terrors plaguing mind and slumber are naught but a dream of a time before iseul, but suddenly they are all too real, a pick driven between eyes and filling mind with nothing but nothingness. it’s disorienting yet familiar, in a way a cycle of horror is, in the way there is always a brief reprieve from terrors and nightmares only to experience them all over again ; mind was bound to delve into an abyss eventually, even with iseul around to keep nightmares at bay for another dreamless night.

     fingers scramble for purchase on iseul’s shirt, face hidden in shoulder to muffle the noises wracking thin shoulders, to hide the hot tears streaking cheeks ; hosung has never awoken from sleep sobbing before, not since he was a small child and all that could provide comfort was the nanny hired by parents while parents were swamped with work, and it leaves him shaking, leaves him feeling unbearably vulnerable before someone who has seen the worst and has shown him the worst in return. for once he does not seek out soothing touch and quiet words as he normally does, hiding away as if afraid to see pity in the other’s gaze, as if afraid he is being a nuisance despite softened words reassuring him otherwise.

     “sorry, sorry, i’m sorry.” mantra tumbles off lips in wet tones, breathed into shirt and barely audible if not for the way hosung repeats them like it’s his dying breath ; he didn’t intend to disturb iseul’s sleep but the emptiness of the apartment felt too big and too small all at once, and he felt like there were hands wrapped ‘round throat and squeezing. he struggles to reign in the wavering tones, struggles to calm racing heart, struggles to bring himself down from the depths of endlessness that mind had dragged him to, and it feels like an unbearable infinity ( an infinity that, for one horrifying moment, feels forever ) is pressing down onto him.

[etastra-moved]

i want the k / hosung & iseul ajskk

@mircges || kiss the sky || iseul → hosung !!

15. kiss in the rain

     hurried steps are stilled when a hand curls over wrist, hosung freezing and whirling to raise eyebrows at the other in a query - the weather report had said it’ll start raining around now, and he isn’t keen on getting caught in the downpour of it anytime soon, but a mere touch of a hand around his wrist is enough to still the impatience in heart, the antsiness in feet. he turns to properly face the other, to cling to the material of the other’s coat where it bunches at his waist, head tipping up in a cant, in the silent inquiry that’s still writ in the rise of his brows: ‘what’s in your mind, snake ?’

     so lost in the mere presence and hidden gaze of the other that he doesn’t notice the first few droplets of water that fall onto hair until suddenly it’s like a running faucet is turned on, the sky ripping open and the weight of the clouds thundering down onto them. the yelp of surprise that would have fallen from lips is caught by iseul’s lips against his own, and suddenly the cold rain drenching them doesn’t exist ; suddenly it is just iseul, iseul and his wicked lips curled in perpetual smirk, iseul and his golden eyes, iseul and his cold hands framing his face, iseul and his comforting touch, just iseul, iseul, iseul.

     warmth rushes through him despite the fact clothes are steadily getting drenched, clinging like an uncomfortable second skin, and time seems to go in forever while simultaneously being suspended ; a soft noise dies in the back of his throat when lips finally part, hosung’s lashes dotted with raindrops and fluttering open. he’s standing on tip toes and leaning weight against the taller, fingers still curled tightly in the now wet coat, where it���s still bunched at the mutant’s waist. dark gaze flickers over the other’s features, over the rain speckling glasses, over the little smile curling at the corner of his lips, and a breathless laugh escapes him.

     “i love you.” words trip off of trembling lips into the space between them, the cool kiss of rain unwelcome in the heavy weight it adds to clothes, in the way matted hair curls upon forehead and clings to eyes, but discomforts are ignored in favor of breathing out the sentiment ; he won’t admit it aloud but it has been a desire in recesses of mind to slide lips in a rain-drenched kiss, like in those old romance movies his mother used to watch when she was stressed, and it is so fitting that his first kiss in the rain is likely iseul’s first as well.

     the sentiment filling eyes, however, disappears when a hair-raising clap of thunder sounds, hosung flinching with the intensity of it. he peers skyward, squints up at the pouring rain, before clammy hand slides to curl around iseul’s, tugging once. “i love you but i can kiss you inside, let’s go.” chattering words are undercut by the tiny smile curled at the corner of hosung’s lips, and the way fingers clench in a teasing motion around the mutant’s, before he tugs once more and turns to lead the way into the warmth and safety of their apartment.

[etastra-moved]

i want the k / hosung & iseul

@mircges || kiss the sky || iseul → hosung !!

6. gentle peck

     the click clacking of keyboard finally stills and silence fills the apartment, hosung sparing a cursory glance over his work before saving it with little regard to the minor errors he knows are in the coding ; excitement is dictating his actions today, and the usually meticulous hacker can’t be bothered to spare another moment on anything other than his plans for the day, on getting a start on the day. he whirls around in his computer chair to take in the mutant curled upon the couch, lost in slumber. an adoring smile tugs at the corners of lips as he tugs free his phone from sweater pocket, standing to snap a quick picture ( or two, or three, quick pictures, all saved in a little file full of pictures of the taller ), before he takes a few quick steps forward and sits his phone upon the coffee table to be forgotten.

     for a moment all hosung can do is stare, take in the lax lips, to the way lashes are fanned across cheeks, the way glasses are slipping down bridge of nose and threatening to fall off completely. he shuffles forward to hover over the mutant, plucking free wire rim glasses and setting them on the armrest gingerly. it’s a dangerous thing to do, he knows, he’s experienced before, but he wants to see iseul without his characteristic glasses ; he wants to see the other without the shield keeping the shorter safe, even if heartbeat kicks up a notch in tightening chest. infinity collapses into a second before he leans in to press a quick kiss to iseul’s lips, soft and chaste, before he pulls away quickly to see if the other has awoken. amusement curves lips and he leans in to brush lips over lips once more, slow and gentle and warm, taking forever when they don’t have forever.

     “get up, come on.” soft coaxes upon quiet tongue, lips brushing over lips as hosung has yet to pull far enough away to murmur words properly ; if he pulls back, he will lose the warmth that encompasses them in a snug bubble, and he wants to keep within for a heartbeat, a second, an infinity, longer. but the sudden trill of the alarm on his phone shatters the bubble and the shorter leans back, away, running a finger over the bridge of iseul’s nose in a fleeting gesture before poking digit over nose. amusement softens features, soothes away the exhaustion writ into his very dna code, as he watches the way iseul awakens, stirs from slumber ; though the fear of repeating a nightmare he faced what felt like an eternity ago churns stomach in icy trepidation, he refuses to back away. just one more second of memorizing iseul’s features, smoothed by sleep and missing the secrets held within it is enough to face the fear in the other’s golden eyes.

     an owlish blink and the moment is shattered further by an annoying rise in pitch of the alarm, hosung turning away to swipe it off the coffee table, to swipe the alarm angrily away, before device clatters to table and gaze returns to the taller, hosung taking the moment to replace iseul’s glasses upon nose crookedly. “come on, iseul. i’m taking you somewhere, remember ?” a surprise outing, one he hopes the other will enjoy even in its simplicity, will enjoy because of its simplicity. the nerves that are bound to crop up within stomach in the form of butterflies will come later, after they’ve taken a train and departed the station, but for now all that fills being is a sense of excitement, of an impending adventure, in showing the taller another small part of himself.

[etastra-moved]

🎉for hosung and iseul !

@mircges || hello new year || iseul → hosung !!

     it’s not new to the hacker, staying in on new year’s eve rather than going out, as staying in is much better than getting jostled about by drunken partygoers and picking out confetti from his hair and nearly going deaf from the sheer number of trumpets being blown at midnight. it’s not new but spending the end of the year with someone is so very new - it seems iseul is not the only one to celebrate something for the first time, and it causes a giddiness to spread through pit of stomach, coaxing a small smile to remain a permanent fixture upon countenance even when he isn’t looking at the other.

     the countdown is playing on the television and hosung is only half paying attention as the crowd on screen goes up in a roar, an echo of ‘FIVE !!’ rising from the speakers. gaze flits to the screen momentarily before it returns to phone in hand, where he scrolls mindlessly through social media, other hand resting interlocked with the mutant’s upon the latter’s lap. iseul’s hand squeezes around his and phone is locked and set aside, gaze finally remaining on the screen as a loud ‘FOUR !!’ sounds.

     heart rate picks up in anticipation, butterflies fluttering in stomach as the crowd on screen seems to grow impossibly further in volume, a booming ‘THREE !!’ echoing in skull. hosung straightens in his seat as he watches, as he waits for the clock to strike midnight, as anticipation to fulfill a silly little tradition ( just like with the costumes and the haunted mazes and the mistletoes, silly little traditions that mean the world to both taller and shorter ) curls through chest. the resounding ‘TWO !!’ almost goes unnoticed in the hacker’s growing excitement, his own fingers reflexively tightening around iseul’s in response.

     before the uproarious ‘ONE !!’ is yelled out, hosung is turning up and towards the other, already met with smiling lips and glittering eyes ; he can’t help but mirror iseul’s smile with a bright one of his own as he mouths a silent ‘one’, shifting closer to seal lips together, the ‘zero’ lost over his tongue, swallowed by the taller. the sparkly crown iseul had set upon his head an hour ago falls in the moment, in the way head tips up to meet the other in a lip lock, the tinny cheers from the television distant now that hosung is lost in the other. the fireworks he can just imagine exploding outside, on the forgotten television screen, and above dazzled individuals are mirrored in his chest, starbursts and supernovas colliding to fill him with a warmth and overwhelming love.

     “happy new year.” softened words upon languid tongue, the shorter pulling back to smile up at the other, to trace features with a gentle touch and gentler gaze. it feels right, ringing in the new year with iseul, sat upon the couch in their apartment, among the the comfort and familiarity of each other’s presence. it’s a moment seared in mind and in memory despite it being so fresh, a moment that is theirs to share and relish in when thorns crowd thoughts and black holes unfurl in chest. it’s the only way hosung wants to welcome the new year.