Seonghwa couldn't help but notice the way Yeosang's eyes lit up as they approached a small shop.

"We're here," Yeosang confirmed, picking up his walking pace just slightly. He swung open the glass door of the shop upon arriving, gesturing for Seonghwa to walk in first.

The shop was a rather quaint one, its walls lined with books, knickknacks and assorted pens. If Yeosang had to give it a name he would call it an 'arts shop,' as that title described it most accurately.

"Sang! You're back!" came the voice of a rather short old lady who sat at the counter. Her face was warm and homey, a woman who could put you at ease just with a glance.

"Hi auntie," Yeosang greeted back. "Do you have any micron pens?" he asked, glancing around.

"In back with the ball points," she answered, gesturing towards the back of the store.

"My my, who's this?" the 'auntie' questioned, seeing Seonghwa follow closely behind Yeosang.

"Hi," Seonghwa said rather startledly, not expecting to be called out. "I'm Seonghwa, his... friend?" he answered.

The lady seemed to be delighted at this answer, and told him she was glad to meet him before returning to a crossword puzzle she had been doing.

Seonghwa followed Yeosang towards the back of the store, scanning over all of the items piled upon the shelves. The store seemed like a treasure trove of humanity's most niche items to be desired.

"I take it you know the lady who works the register?" Seonghwa mused, picking up a small wooden statue of a sloth and eyeing it in interest.

Yeosang nodded. "Yeah, my auntie? She owns this place. She's not exactly related to me but I've known her since I was a baby," he explained as he dug through a small bin of pen packages.

"What do you mean by not exactly related?" Seonghwa asked, now diverting his attention to the other boy.

Yeosang paused upon locating the type of pen he wanted. He stood upright, now making eye contact with Seonghwa.

"Well..." Yeosang spoke, offhandedly glancing across the store towards the older woman. "She was my mom's homeroom teacher in high school," he answered.

"Really?" Seonghwa asked, quite obviously surprised at that answer. "That's nice, I guess. You don't normally see people who are in contact with their teachers years after."

Yeosang stayed silent for a moment. "Yeah. I guess so," he agreed, glancing once more towards the lady.

"Anyway!" Yeosang abruptly changed the topic.
"This isn't the only place I wanted to show you, unless you just wanted to shop around?"

Seonghwa began to speak, but stopped as his gaze landed upon a small succulent plant sitting on a window shelf.

"Are these for sale?" he questioned, pointing at the small plant. Yeosang shook his head in an "I don't know."

"Ah," came the voice of the old lady, who noticed the boy's gesture. "You want a plant?"

Seonghwa nodded as the lady made her way over, surprisingly fast considering her dependence on her wooden cane.

"This one here is called a Kiwi Aeonium," she said, a sort of pride apparent on her expression as she talked about the succulent.

"Normally I sell those for ten," she paused, taking a moment to think. "But for you? Five dollars," she decided.

Seonghwa stared at her for a moment. "For me...? I mean, thank you, but why?"

The lady let out a hearty laugh. "Dear, you must be special if Sang brought you here. It's been years since I've seen anyone else," she said in a teasing voice.

"Auntie," Yeosang whined, the old lady only giving him a pat on the shoulder in return.

Needless to say, within ten minutes Seonghwa found himself to be the new proud owner of a succulent plant.

"Bye, I'll see you soon," Yeosang waved back at his auntie as the pair left the shop. Seonghwa, who held his plant in a small paper bag, held a small smile on his face.

"Hwa, are you okay?" Yeosang asked after the door shut. Seonghwa looked towards him as if he'd been snapped out of a trance.

"I'm a plant dad now," he said, pretending to wipe a fake tear from his eye. Yeosang almost groaned at the action.

The pair strolled for a while longer, popping into a couple of shops and glancing around.

Yeosang had to admit that Seonghwa was quite an fascinating person. Something about his mannerisms piqued Sang's interest, and he found himself more curious about the elder with every word he spoke.

Eventually, the two began to feel a bit tired of running around and decided to stop at a bench just outside of a candy shop.

Yeosang sat alone on the bench while Seonghwa went inside to grab a few items— Yeosang was too tired and didn't particularly care what the elder bought for the two.

The feeling of his phone buzzing in his pocket alerted him, and after a moment's hesitation he pulled it out to check the notification.

_
Messages
Mama💐:
Sang baby, when will you be home?
Reply when you can.
Love you ❤️
_

Yeosang narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the message. He'd sent her a text saying he would be out for a few hours, and figured it would suffice. Unless... she needed something?

Just as he began to type, he felt the weight of someone sitting on the bench next to him.

"Is this okay? I tried to get a variety," Seonghwa said as he showed a clear plastic bag proudly to Yeosang, filled with an assortment of candies.

"Woah, that's a lot. How much did that cost...?" Yeosang asked, almost nervous at the thought of Seonghwa spending too much money within the few hours they were out.

"Not much," Seonghwa responded, "They charge by weight."

Yeosang had almost forgotten about the text he'd received when his phone buzzed again— a new notification.

This one was simply for an assignment due soon, yet he immediately set his focus back to responding. "One second Hwa," Yeosang spoke as he noticed the dark haired boy begin to speak.

_
Messages
Mama💐:
Sang baby, when will you be home?
Reply when you can.
Love you ❤️

You:
I wasn't gonna be home for a little while
Why? Are you okay?
Do you need me to pick up something?
Read

_

Yeosang stared down at the screen, feeling something undeniably off about the interaction. As soon as the text was marked read he couldn't help but shake the strange feeling that he needed to go and find out what she wanted.

"Uh, Seonghwa," Yeosang started, the elder turning to look at him halfway through eating a gummy worm.

"I think I might have to go. Is that okay? It's not you, it's my..." Yeosang stopped speaking as Seonghwa immediately waved his hands for the younger to stop talking.

"I get it. I kinda caught the contact name off your screen. Is she okay?" Seonghwa asked, with Yeosang giving him a look that said he had no idea either.

"Well," Yeosang said as he stood up from the bench, "this was fun! If you wanted to, uh..." he paused, glancing over to gauge Seonghwa's reaction.

"We should do this again sometime," Yeosang finished, seeing Seonghwa smirk in reply.

"So the first date was successful?" Seonghwa said teasingly. Yeosang only rolled his eyes, not wanting to respond to those words.

"My place is the other direction from here," Seonghwa spoke. "So, bye then?" he said.

Yeosang nodded along, yet found himself unwilling to take the first footsteps to leave. "See you," he said, not noticing how Seonghwa seemed to glance around at that moment.

Next thing Yeosang knew, Seonghwa leaned down and left a soft kiss on his cheek, causing Yeosang's entire mind to go blank.

A sheepish smile adorned Seonghwa's face as he leaned back. "Bye for real now," he said. After giving a cute wave he turned on his heel and strode the other direction.

Yeosang stood on the sidewalk staring after him, his gaze locked on Seonghwa's figure that grew smaller along with the distance between them.

He had no idea what had just happened to him, or why his brain no longer wanted to form cohesive thoughts.

The only thing he knew for sure was that this would be haunting him all night.