Autumn was spreading its chilly breath of wind through the now sparse orange and red leaves on maple trees and the black hair of the two young men in school uniforms. Yong Soo bounced in his usual energetic manner a couple of steps ahead of the lazily walking Zhao, moving backwards with his face towards his brother as he was excitedly telling him about some trivial thing that had happened earlier that day as if it truly was something worth mentioning.
"And then I told him ice cream was invented in Korea, but he wouldn't believe me!" he was currently saying, waving his hands in a manner he had no doubt picked from one of their Italian acquaintances. Zhao's reaction was naught but an ever so slight twist of the corner of his lips, more for just the mere pleasant situation than for the amusement the story brought, which was closer to none at all in any case. Yong Soo huffed and turned around, walking with his hands stuck in his pockets in a very rare manner for a moment before twirling around again and grabbing a hold of Zhao's wrist.
"Let's run," he suddenly said, and Zhao could see there was a glint in his eyes that he had never seen before but was instantly able to interpret. He barely had the time to nod as Yong Soo already brought him into a sprint the likes of which he had never liked before, and they stormed through the streets paved with yellow leaves, through the cold wind that wasn't able to chill their now burning hearts, through a park and a pile of leaves in an extremely childish manner. Finally they were forced to stop as Zhao was panting heavily and leaning slightly on his older brother to gather his strength and calm his breath again. The bright rays of the sun were resting upon a solemn, august Catholic church upon a hill in front of them, but neither paid any attention to the architectural beauty of the building as they stood and looked at each other, both knowing what was to come.
"Hey," Yong Soo said tentatively, as if poking the ice on a lake to see if it was steady enough when he knew he would step on it whatever the results of the poking should be. Zhao looked at his brother, and he knew, as well as the other, that there would come a time they would regret it all. He knew that it made no sense, and that it was wrong, but at the moment none of that mattered. Right now, there was but him, and Yong Soo, and the leaves dancing in the air around them. And thus, Yong Soo claimed his virgin lips with a chaste kiss lasting a mere moment that for them was the eternity, and it felt like the sunrays were bestowing their warmth upon them in a bright halo right there beside the church steps. As their lips parted Zhao smiled, and Yong Soo intertwined their fingers, smiling back to him. They knew there would never be a happy ever after for them, but for now they were there, and their fingers were woven perfectly together as if they were always meant to be held in such a manner. They knew the risk they were taking but for them it did not matter, for they'd rather live than conceal themselves in a mocking rip-off of a life, an existence where they would never come to learn the true meaning of love. Whether they were going to regret it, they couldn't yet know, but that was a problem of the future, not the present.
"Hey," Yong Soo said again, grinning. "Let's run."