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Daeyeol feels a bit like a salmon swimming upstream as his feet maneuvers him past the rush hour commuters, careful as to not bump into anyone. He eyes the short line before the card reader and checks his watch. It's three minutes past eight, and then it's his turn to tap out.
He does little jogs every ten seconds or so because his messenger bag keeps thumping against his side, until he finally stops, panting as a result of not working out for over two months. Sungyoon's gonna laugh at my jogs if he ever saw it, Daeyeol thinks when he catches sight of SPORTS SCIENCE on the back of a familiar jacket. Sungyoon is hunched over something on the stone bench with only one strap of his backpack hanging off his shoulder. Daeyeol huffs, shaking his head before making his way to him.
"How many times have I told you," Daeyeol starts, tugging on the black backpack from behind. The motion causes Sungyoon to look up from his phone in surprise, though the expression quickly melts away, morphing into a relieved smile. "Don't put your bags behind you when you're sitting. What if someone grabbed it?"
Sungyoon, for some reason, doesn't say a word, but the smile is still there. Daeyeol takes this opportunity to apologize. "Sorry I'm late, there was an emergency at the Analyst Department. You must've waited long." He finally lets go of Sungyoon's bag.
Despite the scolding, Sungyoon still doesn't double-strap. He usually listens to him, but he seems to have a knack for annoying Daeyeol like that once in a while. He will allow the single-strap this time just because he's cute.
"No, I just got here," Sungyoon replies with that same smile. Daeyeol tilts his head in silence, watching Sungyoon stand up and grin at him. As if knowing what Daeyeol was about to ask, Sungyoon offered more explanation. "I hung out with Seungcheol after lab."
Daeyeol merely nodded, his right hand fixing the strap of his own bag.
It's kind of funny how Sungyoon's smile grows bigger when he inhales a deep breath, as if it's charging up. Daeyeol has certainly had moments where he suddenly thought of it and chuckled to himself. "Did you eat, hyung?" Sungyoon asks, putting his phone in the pocket of his varsity jacket.
Daeyeol shakes his head this time.
"What do you wanna eat?"
He looks around.
"Anything's fine."
Sungyoon purses his lips, head turning in search of the perfect restaurant for the night. While Daeyeol waits for the verdict, he's content on watching the younger's contemplative look and listening to mumbles of, "...but I'm not in the mood for that."
After much deliberation—he can see that—Sungyoon finally points past Daeyeol's shoulder, to the path where he came, and asks, "How does Spicy Octopus sound?"
Daeyeol doesn't look back, just trusts where Sungyoon is pointing at. "Sounds great," he replies, and with that, Sungyoon starts leading the way, although he halts not long after so Daeyeol can fall into step next to him.
The octopus restaurant is tucked between a snack shop and a barbershop and it has one of the best cheese pizzas Daeyeol has ever tasted. Daeyeol may or may not have mentioned it to Sungyoon in hopes that he would let Daeyeol have the last slice. Sungyoon doesn't touch the last slice, not even sparing it a look as he gets busy with the octopus and the rice and the salad.
Daeyeol smiles and takes the last piece of the heavenly pizza that Sungyoon pretends not to notice.
"Right, hyung," Sungyoon says after Daeyeol is done telling him about the gym that his office is planning to construct in the building. He picks up a piece of octopus and puts it on Daeyeol's plate. "They're building a fitness park behind my faculty."
"Huh. Finally," Daeyeol answers, and he shudders at the memory of walking past the lot from his own faculty to pick Sungyoon up at the Sports faculty. "That lot gave me the creeps. Felt like a snake was gonna slither out and swallow me."
"Please don't give me images," Sungyoon sighs, shutting his eyes to get rid of the horrifying and disgusting picture.
Sungyoon opens his eyes and they both look at each other in silence before they shudder in unison.
Desperate to change the subject, Daeyeol stuffs some salad in his mouth and asks the other, "Have you thought about where to apply for your internship?"
Sungyoon's hand stills above a piece of octopus, his face looking like he just remembered that he left the stove on at home, before his eyebrows contort into a frown. "Ah, hyung!" He picks up an octopus piece between his chopsticks and is about to flick it at Daeyeol, but decides against it and eats it instead. "For a moment I thought I had skipped a year and I'm suddenly a fourth year."
Sungyoon purses his lips, this time in an attempt to pout, and Daeyeol fights the urge to hold his cheeks between his fingers and purse his lips even more. "I didn't mean to scare you like that," Daeyeol laughs.
"I don't have to worry about it until next year," Sungyoon says, lips back to their normal shape, "so just hold on to that question."
Daeyeol chuckles and puts a piece of octopus on Sungyoon's plate as an apology.
--
Walking Sungyoon home used to be just "walking home" before he had to move out of his room on the 14th floor after he graduated. Daeyeol could probably still drop by Sungyoon's dorm room on the 13th floor without having to report to the security guard. He hasn't been there in, what, four months?
"There's an art exhibition at Insa-dong this weekend. Are you busy?" Sungyoon asks as soon as they walk past the main gate. The campus' parking lot is void of anyone but the two of them, so Sungyoon takes the chance to discreetly hook their pinkies together.
Daeyeol glances at their hands and replies, "I don't think so. I can go with you."
He glances up and sees the small smile on Sungyoon's face, barely visible under the dim streetlight that doesn't quite reach their side of the path. "Good," Sungyoon says.
They stop right behind the first pillar of the dorm building entrance, the light now bright enough for Daeyeol to notice that Sungyoon's smile has slipped off.
"What's wrong?" Daeyeol asks, moving his hand to softly squeeze their linked pinkies.
Sungyoon looks up at him and sighs. "I don't wanna go home yet," he says, the end of his words coming out all whiny and adorable to Daeyeol's ears. This happens once in a blue moon so he has every right to bask in it.
Daeyeol lets go of his hand from Sungyoon's pinky grab so he can playfully shove Sungyoon's shoulder. "Stop whining. You have an early class tomorrow."
The mention of early class makes Sungyoon roll his eyes with a grunt. "Fine," he relents. "We're gonna see each other in two days anyway."
"That's the spirit," Daeyeol grins.
When none of them makes any attempt to part, Daeyeol breaks the silence and says, "Thanks for waiting for me." He repositions the strap of his bag on his shoulder to hide the fact that he's actually too bashful to say such a thing.
Sungyoon's smile blooms again, as contagious as a cold under the rain, and Daeyeol feels the corner of his mouth tugging upwards. He can see the gears turning in Sungyoon's head, trying to come up with a better comeback that will sound like the main lead in a novel, so Daeyeol clicks his tongue and turns Sungyoon around instead, facing him towards the lobby entrance.
"Go. Or I won't wake you up tomorrow."
By now, Sungyoon's smile has turn into breathy laughs, and Daeyeol has a hunch that he's got a plan to tease him just before he goes. As soon as he thinks about it, Sungyoon turns back to him under his hands and takes a step back. Daeyeol lets his arms fall to his side as he waits for the younger's next move.
Taking a deep breath, Sungyoon suddenly bows to him, a perfect ninety degree, and says, "Goodnight, hyung," in the most formal form possible albeit his tone was teasing. He straightens himself and continues with a wave of his hand, "Please be careful going home."
Daeyeol, though, is still loving it. "Nice. I like this," he says, a playful, shit-eating grin on his face. The last time Sungyoon has ever talked to him so formally like this was the first week of them getting to know each other. He never bothered Sungyoon about talking formally again since then, but it's nice to hear him use it. Though it sometimes makes him feel like an old man. "Text me when you're in your room," Daeyeol adds.
"Yes, sir," Sungyoon replies and makes a gesture to salute Daeyeol, his face mirroring the older's wide smile. He's about to turn back around towards the lobby entrance when Daeyeol suddenly says, "Wait."
Sungyoon stops mid-turn and raises his eyebrows quizzically.
Daeyeol looks around the area. Two of the classrooms on the ground floor with the windows facing outwards have lights on, but they're at the far ends of the building. He can see someone walking out of the main office building some 800 meters away from them towards the main gate, and the lobby is empty. Sungyoon is still looking at him.
"Come here," Daeyeol mutters as he pulls Sungyoon by the hand, bringing him back to stand behind the pillar. Sungyoon quietly lets himself be led, merely blinking up at Daeyeol.
As soon as they are behind the pillars, Daeyeol's hand moves to the back of Sungyoon's neck and lightly pulls him close until his nose is buried in the younger's hair. He strokes Sungyoon's nape a couple of times before finally kissing the top of his head. Daeyeol can hear the smile in Sungyoon's breath.
When Sungyoon pushes himself apart from Daeyeol, he's looking at him proudly. "You've come a long way, hyung," he says.
Now it's Daeyeol's turn to roll his eyes as Sungyoon laughs. He doesn't need to be reminded how averse he was to showing any affection towards Sungyoon in the beginning stages of their relationship. Daeyeol once again playfully shoves his boyfriend in the shoulder and tells him to go inside.
Sungyoon's still sniggering when he waves Daeyeol goodbye and enters the building.
Daeyeol has just taken his first step down the stairs to the subway when he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. He has an idea who it may be.
"I just took my shoes off," Sungyoon says on the other side of the line. "Seungcheol's already asleep," he continues, voice dialed down to a whisper.
Daeyeol smiles, walking idly to the gates. "You should go to bed too."
He hears Sungyoon yawning so obnoxiously that he has to distance the phone from his ear. He almost misses it when Sungyoon mumbles, "M'kay." With a sniff, Sungyoon reminds him to text him when he's home.
"You'll probably be asleep by then," Daeyeol absentmindedly says as his finger taps on the machine to top up his card.
Sungyoon's soft "Doesn't matter," rings louder in his ear than the lady in the machine telling him to put the money in. Daeyeol lets out a scoff but eventually says, "Okay, I'll text you later."
Daeyeol taps his card and passes through the gate with ruffling in his ear. He guesses Sungyoon's probably taking off his jacket. "'Kay. Don't forget to wake me up tomorrow," Sungyoon says, his speech slurred with fatigue.
"If I remember."
"Hyung."
Daeyeol snickers. "Okay, okay. Don't worry about it."
There's a comfortable silence on the other end—Sungyoon breathing into his phone, the humm of the AC—before Sungyoon says, "See you Saturday," and adds, with a sleepy whisper, "Love you."
Daeyeol doesn't even check his surroundings when he feels a smile quickly forming on his lips. He's usually pretty careful about this, but now, at 10:45 PM after a long day that ends with the man he loves, he doesn't care if people stared at him.
"Love you too."