The sky is blue and clear, with white clouds here and there. Not too much to make the sun not shine through, but just enough to create shades for people to walk under and do things comfortably without feeling too hot. It’s perfect weather, in Yifan’s opinion. And he kind of hopes that it’s a good sign that today’s date will turn out good. For him, and for . . .

 

Junmyeon, who is now sulking on the passenger seat.

 

“Yifaaaaaaaan,” Junmyeon whines, and Yifan turns his head to the side to see Junmyeon leaning his head on the car window. “Would you tell me where are we going?” Junmyeon questions for the nth time ever since Yifan told him that he had prepared something for their date today.

 

Yifan has been firm at his decision to keep their date course today a secret, to the point that Junmyeon threatened Yifan with boycotting their date if he keeps being so secretive about it. Yifan ran out of the door of his apartment in an instant that day, taking the bus to Junmyeon’s workplace to convince the younger that he wouldn’t regret going on the date.

 

In the end, Junmyeon complies with his whim. After all, Yifan secretly knows Junmyeon has always been a curious cat.

 

The car stops at the traffic light, and from the corner of his eyes Yifan can see Junmyeon looking around; possibly, for a street sign so he can get a clue of where they’re heading. The universe seems to conspire with Yifan too, because his mini sedan is surrounded by big SUVs all around, thus blocking out Junmyeon’s view.

 

Junmyeon leans back harshly on his seat, clearly not liking his unsuccessful attempt. His mouth naturally forms a pout, which makes Yifan almost give in because he just can’t bear seeing Junmyeon turn all sulky. But, he catches himself just on time with the traffic light turning green. His attention is now on the road once again.

 

“You’d better not be some kind of a cold-blooded murderer out to hunt someone like me to bring back to your house, only to turn me into the ingredients of your next dinner. You’re not, right? We’re not going to one of your abandoned villas in the countryside, right?”

 

“I think you should cut your hours watching Hannibal. It’s unhealthy how dramatic it made you.”

 

Junmyeon just sticks his tongue out jokingly as a response. And the ride goes on, with Yifan singing his heart out along a sappy ballad playing on the radio.

 

​

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​

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“A hospital?”

 

It’s the question voiced by Junmyeon when their car makes a turn to the entrance of the hospital where Yifan reveals his cousin works at. Yifan wants to ignore the slight disappointment he hears on Junmyeon’s voice, but he couldn’t deny that it does bring him down a little bit. Maybe he should’ve taken Junmyeon for a romantic lunch, Yifan’s pessimistic side argues.

 

Yifan sends a quick text informing his cousin that they’re at the hospital already and will see him in a bit, before turning to Junmyeon. “We haven’t got into the best part yet. Now let’s go inside and I’ll show you why we’re here.”

 

​

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​

 

“Guys! Finally! I thought you weren’t coming!” A familiar voice is heard as soon as Yifan opens the door. There’s a Kim Minseok, Head of Pediatric Department, written on a gold plate plastered in front of it. Yifan only laughs as a reply and says hi, before dragging Junmyeon inside the office with him.

 

Junmyeon has been looking around ever since they stepped inside the hospital just then, and Yifan hopes it’s the smile of fascination he sees on the smaller’s face.

 

“I’m Minseok, Yifan’s cousin. You must be Junmyeon. I heard a lot about you.” Minseok introduces himself, offering a hand to Junmyeon.

 

“Yes, I’m Junmyeon. I hope you only heard good things, Minseok-ssi?”

 

Minseok is about to answer when suddenly, his pager rings. He excuses himself as he pulls out his pager from his pocket. He groans when he sees what’s written on it.

 

“Guys, I’m sorry I have to go now. There seems to be an accident near here and I’m needed at the emergency ward.” Minseok walks past them and pulls out some latex gloves from the compartment. He then turns to face Yifan, “The clothes are on the wardrobe; you guys can roam around the hospital as you like. But, remember, avoid eye contacts with the nurses, avoid bumping into any doctors.”

 

Minseok is out the door before Yifan could reply anything, only to re-appear again seconds after. With his head peeking out from behind the door, he says, “And it’s nice to meet you, Junmyeon! Minseok-hyung is fine with me. And enjoy the date! Yifan owes me a lot to for this!”

 

Well, trust this cousin to reveal too much information, Yifan internally groans. Junmyeon will surely ask about this later. “Now, gotta go to save some lives!”

 

After Minseok disappears again, Junmyeon turns his attention to Yifan, questioning eyes drilling straight into Yifan’s. “Mind to explain?”

 

“So, you told me a few weeks ago that you like Grey’s Anatomy, right?” Yifan starts, “You couldn’t stop talking about it for these past few weeks. And you said you were curious about how it feels to be an intern like the guy Jay . . . ”

 

“It’s Jo, and a she.” Junmyeon corrects.

 

“Nah, I’m sorry. Like Jo, the character you like so much on the series. And then I got an idea!” Yifan grins so wide it almost hurts, “Boom! Today you’ll experience how it feels to be like them.”

 

Junmyeon grows silent after Yifan finishes with his talking, only looking at him with an apprehensive expression on his face, which . . . scares Yifan, actually. He had already prepared himself for Junmyeon to run out of the room and ditch him and leave him heartbroken, or something.

 

Clearly, he is not prepared for an armful of Junmyeon throwing himself at him and wrapping his arms around his waist. All of the insecurities clouding Yifan’s mind earlier dissipates quickly when he hears Junmyeon’s muffled “Thank you”.

 

The smaller steps back for a while, allowing a few seconds before tightening his hold around Yifan once again, looking up to Yifan with new excitement clear in his eyes. “I’ve always wondered how it feels like in real life. And, can we start with seeing Minseok-hyung in action?”

 

 

​

​

The emergency ward is indeed, crowded. The extent of the accident Minseok mentioned before must be worse than expected because the doctors seem to be a bit thrown off by the number of patients wheeled into the room from time to time.

 

Yifan is slightly thankful they decided not to wear their scrubs right now. If they did, they would surely be pulled in to help if the medical team saw another potential helper. In this case, ‘free interns that have nothing to do’, they barely even know how to treat wounds properly. Both he and Junmyeon don’t want to cause any further harm to the patients, really.

 

Everyone is moving so fast. Nurses with bottles of povidone and gauzes dash in and out the makeshift room separated by blue curtains. Doctors pace left and right, checking every patient unattended and giving orders to the nurses about the necessary additional examinations.

 

They spot Minseok beside one of the beds talking to a boy, distracting him while treating his open wound. Minseok looks up once and meets Yifan’s eyes immediately.

 

“What are you doing here?” He mouths, brows furrowed. Yifan only gestures at Junmyeon, who is too busy looking at a doctor trying to do a reposition on a dislocated arm of a patient. The scream emitted by the patient has both of them wincing in their place.

 

“We need Doctor Lu here! Patient has gone into an A-fib!” Suddenly, a nurse shouts from one side of the room. The other nurses and doctors stop their work for a while, but quickly returning to their jobs once a man comes running into the direction of the nurse who shouted before.

 

He must be Doctor Lu, Yifan guesses. The said Doctor Lu climbs up to the bed and quickly does a CPR procedure, and Yifan is sure to catch Junmyeon gawping at the sight.

 

“Junmyeon,” Yifan pokes the shorter’s waist, trying to get his attention but to no avail. The moment they stepped into the room, Junmyeon’s attention is completely at everything in the room but him. Yifan doubts it if Junmyeon even remembers Yifan is beside him right now.

 

“Excuse me.” A voice comes from beside Yifan. “Are you two one of the patient’s family? If yes, you can proceed to the waiting room, it’s a bit crowded here for now.”

 

“Ah, we’re just lost and accidentally walked in here. We’re sorry, we’ll go out of the way right now.” Yifan bows in apology, pulling Junmyeon out of the emergency ward. Once they’re good metres away, Yifan turns around to face Junmyeon who has been quiet on their way out. He finds the smaller male sulking.

 

"Hey, is it because I dragged you out of the room just now? I'm sorry, I didn't want us to get into trouble . . . " Junmyeon shakes his head.

 

“What happened? I thought you liked it there?” Yifan places his hands on both of Junmyeon’s cheeks, thumb caressing the soft skin underneath.

 

Junmyeon sighs, looking away. “It’s just, I wish I can help someone in a way too. But I’m not a doctor, I can’t help the patients.”

 

“Junmyeon," Yifan chides softly, his heart hurts at Junmyeon’s broken tone. “You not being a doctor doesn’t mean that you can’t help them, I’m sure we can find another way to help them somehow.” Yifan says, relief flooding his mind when he sees a small smile forming on Junmyeon’s face. “Now, why don’t we change into the scrubs and look around other places? I want to show you something too.”

 

Junmyeon’s ears perk up at Yifan’s words, eyes lighting up in excitement once again. “Something? What is it?”

 

 

​

​

The elevator dings when they arrive at their destination floor. It’s the floor especially for children. But, instead of heading to the room where rows of bed and curtains can be seen from the outside, they proceed to the other side of the floor. They stop when they’re in front of a door.

 

“Yifan, where are we?”

 

“This is . . . the Superhero Room, as they like to call it. Truthfully, it’s the room for children who need to have their chemotherapy session. A few years ago, Minseok decided to renovate the room, and making it look like a playroom instead. He asked me to help. One of my favorite works, to be honest,” Yifan explains before opening the door.

 

As soon as he steps into the room, they are welcomed by the loud shrieks of children, some of them coming to wrap themselves on Yifan’s legs.

 

“Hello, little superheroes!” Yifan cheerfully greets, crouching down to their eye level, “How are you doin’, today?”

 

“Uncle Fan, I missed you . . . ” A little girl, Sophia, dressed in purple pajamas suddenly cries, and Yifan hugs her when she walks to him.

 

The other children around him are still talking, competing to tell Yifan their stories of the food they ate, the people they met, or the new lessons they learnt.

 

“Guys, how about we go to the study room, sit together, and one by one, tell me what your story is? I’ll tell you something about mine, and also introduce you to a new friend here, a new uncle.” The children all nod, happy to be have Yifan there again and excited to have a new uncle. “You guys go first, okay? I’ll be there soon.”

 

“They know you?”

 

Yifan stands up, Sophia still in his hold, but now her crying has stopped. Yifan knows she always has a soft spot for him, and Yifan starts to feel guilty for not visiting here for a long time. “Yes. I come here every weekend. Playing, or telling them stories. But I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t dropped by for maybe, a month?” Sophia squirms on his hold again so Yifan sways side to side again, lulling her.

 

“That’s nice of you,” Junmyeon says, his face breaking into a soft smile. His hand reaches up to touch Sophia’s hair, lightly caressing it. “I’ve never thought of you to be the type who spends his weekend in here, at the hospital. No offense.”

 

“None taken,” Yifan grins, taking a step closer to Junmyeon. “And I live to surprise people. How many times have you been surprised by me, today?”

 

“You see the box connected to their IV?” Yifan turns around to show Junmyeon Sophia’s arm, there’s an IV connecting to a box with a Wonder Woman logo on it. “It’s Minseok-hyung’s idea. We call it Power Boxes. So every time they are here, they’re ‘recharging’ their powers. This way, they wouldn’t be afraid of getting their chemotherapy. Now, are you ready to meet more of them? They are waiting for us in the study room.”

 

Junmyeon reaches for Yifan's arms, clutching onto the armsleeve. He hesitates, before asking, “But, will they like me? I mean, I’m awkward with strangers. And that applies to little kids too, so . . . ”

 

“They’re nice kids, Junmyeon-ah. They’ll love you as much as I do.” Yifan’s hand reaches out for Junmyeon’s, and he quickly intertwines their fingers. Junmyeon’s hand is still as soft as how Yifan remembers it to be. “Trust me, okay? And even if they don’t like you at first, you have me. Just tell me when you’re uncomfortable. Alright?”

 

The children are sitting down in a circle formation in the middle of the room, leaving an empty space for two people in between. “Guys, let me introduce who I brought with me today.” Yifan gestures to Junmyeon, and Junmyeon waves his hand to the children. “He’s Uncle Junmyeon.”

 

“Hello, Uncle Junmyeon.” The children greet together, some of them waving their hands at him. One of them suddenly comes up to Junmyeon, asking if he can sit on Junmyeon’s lap. Yifan sees the panic on Junmyeon’s face at that instant, so he squeezes his hand as an encouragement, sending the younger a smile. Once Yifan is assured that Junmyeon is comfortable with Yoongi, Yifan turns his attention to the other kids.

 

“Uncle Yifan! What’s your story for today?”

 

“Have you guys heard about the 11:11 wish?” Yifan asks, earning a chorus of ‘no’ that fills the room.

 

“So, my mother once told me that if you write your wish on a piece of paper at night on 11:11, you’ll have your wish come true.” A series of ooohs erupt among the children, some of them looking at Yifan in fascination, waiting for him to say more about it. “That got me thinking, how about we try it tonight?”

 

“Yes, yes, yes, Uncle Fan!!” The boy sitting next to Yifan yells excitedly, “Can we wish for anything, Uncle Fan?”

 

“Umm, my mom said, always start with a small wish first,” Yifan answers. 

 

“Can I wish for a fried chicken, Uncle Fan? I really want to eat it, the one at the hospital is not tasty.” Another kid asks again, already smiling wide at the thought of eating his favorite food.

 

“Of course, guys. So, don’t forget to write your wish exactly at 11:11 together tonight. And put it on your bedside table and go to sleep immediately after. They won’t come true if you stay up too late, okay?”

 

They go on listening to the children’s stories, and once they were done, it’s finally time for them to take a nap. Yifan and Junmyeon help put them into their respective beds. There is a group of children who’s loving Junmyeon too much already, never wanting to leave his side and refusing to go to sleep unless Junmyeon will be the one tucking them in and giving them kisses on their foreheads. Yifan feels a bit jealous, but he quickly slaps himself mentally for even thinking about it.

 

“What now?” Junmyeon looks up at Yifan once they’re out of the room. “We wait, of course. At 11:11 PM, we’ll go in to collect their wishes and try to make it come true by the morning.”

 

“Oh my God, Yifan! Was that the reason why you told them about 11:11?!”

 

Yifan takes one of Junmyeon’s hand, linking their fingers together once again. He likes how his fingers fit perfectly between Junmyeon’s. With his past boyfriends (or girlfriends), it was always too big or too uncomfortable. “I told you there is a way for you to help them even if you’re not a doctor. This time, together, we’ll help them make their wishes come true.”

 

“Yifan, I can’t . . .  I can’t say . . .  anything. A ‘thank you’ won’t be enough for everything you’ve done to me, today.” Junmyeon’s eyes are glistening, like he wants to cry.

 

Yifan quickly pulls him into a hug. “It’s really nothing, darling. Now, how about we go to other places while we wait?”

 

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​

 

“Yifan, look! Look! The left one on the end! His nose twitches!” Junmyeon squeals, pressing his face on the glass as if doing it will make him closer with the babies inside the room. They are on the fourth floor right now, the maternity department. Junmyeon immediately ran off to the nursery, being immensely excited about it.

 

There’s one baby that’s drawing their attention. The baby is the only one awake, eyes wide open and blinking cutely as she yawns. Yifan coos at the scene, wanting to hold the baby close to him and maybe feed the baby her bottle.

 

“Excuse me.” And for the second time that day, they are interrupted by someone. And this time, it’s also one of the nurses. “Are you one of the interns here? I didn’t think I’ve ever seen you before.” She asks, sharp eyes scanning Yifan and Junmyeon from head to toe.

 

“They’re with me.” Minseok suddenly appears out of nowhere behind the young nurse, surprising her. The startled nurse quickly bows in respect to Minseok. “They’re in my exchange interns program, so that’s why you never saw them before.”

 

“Ah yes, I’m sorry, Doctor Minseok.” She bows once again before apologizing to Yifan and Junmyeon. She excuses herself soon after.

 

“Hyung! Thank you!” Yifan runs to hug his cousin in delight. If not because of Minseok, they would have probably been kicked out immediately once the nurse checks the interns data and doesn’t find their names.

 

“I saved you two this time. No more later, okay?” Minseok threatens, but there’s no real venom in his voice.

 

“Junmyeon, do you want to feed the baby?” Minseok suddenly asks. “It’s time for them to eat.”

 

“Can I, really?! Can Yifan too?!”

 

Minseok hums, “Yeah, as long as you both can hold them right. You both can do that, can’t you?”

 

“Yifan! We’re going to hold the baby! I’ll be like, Alex Karev!! You’ll be like, Arizona!” Junmyeon squeals, pulling Yifan together into the nursery. Yifan can only laugh at Junmyeon’s behaviour, making another note in his head to search who in this world Alex Karev and Arizona are later.

 

While looking at Junmyeon who is now feeding the baby in his hold, Yifan fondly smiles at the thought that Junmyeon will be a great parent someday. And Yifan solemnly wishes that he’ll be right by his side to experience it together.

 

​

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It’s 11:15 PM and they are sneaking into the Superhero Room.

 

Now that the children are all asleep, the room is quiet. There are around 15 little beds lining up at one side of the big room, but only 12 of them are used. As expected, there’s one piece of paper roll on each bedside table. They collect the paper rolls and bring them out, choosing to look over them in the break room. Thankfully, the break room is empty for the night. There are no interns—real interns—on standby.

 

“Did I see someone wishing for the boy group EXO’s newest album? She must be a fangirl.”

 

Junmyeon reads the paper Yifan offered him, “Ah, it’s the little Ahyeon. Will there be any record store open at this hour, though?”

 

Yifan shrugs, “I don’t think so, but I shall ask for help from Jongin. He usually teaches trainees until late night at SM so probably he can get an album from the headquarters.”

 

They move on to the other requests. “I want to make my mom smile. (Is my wish too big?)” Yifan reads. “It’s from Sunwoo . . . What can we do with this kind of request, uh? It’s not something that can be bought?”

 

“I heard Sunwoo said that his mother likes flowers, and her favorite is roses. Can we perhaps buy a bouquet for him so he can give it to his mother? I have a friend who opens a flower shop, and I’m sure she’ll be able to prepare it early in the morning.”

 

“Okay, deal! We’re done with Sunwoo . . . ” Yifan writes off their plan on a piece of paper, doesn’t forget to tick Sunwoo’s name on the list too.

 

By midnight, they have their jobs divided. Junmyeon will grant any wishes related to food. His task will be to buy food ranging from fried chicken, tteokbokki, hamburger, bubble tea, and even jjajangmyeon. And Yifan will handle the other wishes. Like roses, little Ahyeon’s EXO album, toy trucks, new stickers, new notebooks and so on.

 

They decide to sleep for a while because they will have to wake up early enough to get everything and place it on each bed before the children wake up. Yifan asks whether Junmyeon wants to go home or not, but the brown haired male declines. Stating that he wants to spend the night at the break room like an “intern” he is. He hangs up his white coat on one of the bedpost, and slipping into the cover quickly.

 

“Good night, Yifan. . .” Junmyeon manages to say before he drifts off to sleep.

 

“Good night, Junmyeon.” Yifan replies as he slips into the cover on the separate bed next to Junmyeon. He puts a rolling paper on the table next to his, a different one from the others. His own wish he wrote on 11:11.

 

Mom, my wish is not too much. Right?

 

 

​

​

“Uncle Yifan!!”

 

“Uncle Junmyeon!!!”

 

Two sets of screams are heard at the same time when Yifan and Junmyeon appear once again at the Superhero Room that late morning.

 

The children are all on the floor, still clad in pajamas. Paper wrappings and plastics are scattered around the carpet. Boxes of chicken, tteokbokki, hamburgers are open for them to eat together. What’s important out of all that is the smiles on their faces. Yifan catches the same, delighted smile in Junmyeon’s face too before the smaller strides ahead of him first and joins the others.

 

“Uncle! I finally ate hamburger today! It’s so delicious! Do you want to take a bite?” Kibum offers Yifan as he sits beside Junmyeon. The younger immediately scoots closer to him, and Yifan can feel him leaning his body against his.

 

The children are all taking turns to tell the two about what they got when they woke up this morning. Yifan is thankful they are living in the twenty-first century when 24/7 shops exist, thus helping him and Junmyeon to complete all the wishes before the children wake up.

 

“The flowers are all so pretty, Uncle! My mom cried when I gave it to her, but she said they were tears of happiness!”

 

“The tteokbokki is just like my father used to buy, Uncle!”

 

“Uncleeee, Suho oppa is so handsome in the new album! I want to marry him someday!”

 

“Uncle, look! My Power Box looks even prettier with the new stickers! Do you want some uncle? I’ll give you!”

 

Junmyeon has been silent the whole time, only nodding now and then to acknowledge the kids. A tear slides down his cheek when Yifan casts a glance at the younger, but the smile on his face tells him that it’s not because of sadness.

 

“Uncle, can I wish for another thing tonight? I have something in mind!”

 

Yifan smiles at them fondly, “Nah, the thing about wishes are, you can’t be too greedy about it. You guys might got your wish today, but we can’t be sure you’ll get what you want easily tomorrow.”

 

The children’ faces are suddenly decorated with frowns. But, whether they like it or not, Yifan has to slip in a little lesson for them.

 

“But, do you guys know what it takes to have your wishes come true? You have to pray, and do your best. In anything. Remember uncle’s words, okay?” The children are all nodding to Yifan’s words, some are still sulking but Yifan is sure they’ll get over it soon.

 

“Uncle, did you write your wish too last night?”

 

The question catches Yifan off guard. He casts a glance at Junmyeon, who is now looking at him directly. His eyes are unreadable, like he knows something Yifan doesn’t. Yifan can’t quite put it.

 

“Yes, I did.”

 

“What did you write, uncle? Did you get your wish this morning?”

 

Junmyeon is now looking at him more intensely as he awaits Yifan’s answer. Yifan avoids his gaze as he replies, “I can’t tell you what I wrote last night. It can’t be true if you tell people about it.”

 

“And no, guys. I didn’t get my wish this morning.” Yifan smiles sadly, and it mirrors at the children’s faces. They make their way to do a group hug for Yifan. “It’s okay, guys. I can wish for it again tonight and do my best. That’s what I told you before, right?”

 

After that, they stayed for a while and said their goodbyes to the children right before lunchtime to avoid bumping into any nurses. Junmyeon hasn’t said a word to him ever since Jihyo asked Yifan about his wish, opting to busy himself with the children. Nonetheless, Yifan can see the younger stealing a glance or two at him with the same unreadable expression. Maybe Junmyeon is watching him all the time, but Yifan is too scared to look at Junmyeon to notice.

 

The walk towards the break room to change to their scrubs is also quiet. Yifan finds himself helpless at the situation. Did he say something wrong? Did he do something wrong?

 

“Jun—”

 

He doesn’t manage to finish his sentence because a pair of lips prevents him from doing so.

 

Junmyeon pushes him inside the room, skillfully closing the door behind them with a swing of his leg. Junmyeon’s arms loop around Yifan’s neck, his thumb tracing little circles on Yifan’s nape that sends shivers down his spine. Yifan finally decides to close his eyes and reciprocating Junmyeon’s kiss with the same eagerness.

 

“Is . . .  This . . .  Alright?” Junmyeon mutters, panting when they pull away a few seconds after, their cheeks flaming red. “I’m sorry I surprised you, I . . .  I didn’t know what got into me ever since I saw your 11:11 wish this morning and . . . ”

 

“You . . .  you saw my wish? The one . . .  the one on the bedside table?” Yifan sputters.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to! But I thought it was one of the children’s wish so I—”

 

This time it’s Junmyeon who doesn’t get to finish his sentence because Yifan closes the distance between them once again, this time braving himself to sneak his arms around the smaller’s waist to draw their bodies closer. The kiss falls into a languid rhythm, Yifan taking the lead for now.

 

Seconds pass and they are out of breath. Yifan pulls their mouth apart to give both of them space to breathe, but not far enough to feel Junmyeon’s breath caressing the slope of his nose. He can feel his heart beating strongly inside his chest, adrenaline pumping through his veins. In the midst of it all, a thought flashes inside his head.

 

What if it’s just a one-time thing? Something Junmyeon did just because he saw my wish?

 

As if reading his mind, Junmyeon says, “You probably think . . .  That it’s only me trying to make your wish come true . . . ” Junmyeon trails off. “But it isn’t. It is all because . . .  I wanted it too. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time actually. But I’ve always been scared, I didn’t want you to think that we’re going too fast or anything . . . ”

 

Yifan feels somehow relieved at the revelation. Knowing Junmyeon also wants this. They both want this. He shakes his head, smiling. “No, no, Junmyeon. We’re going to be just fine. You’re perfect. We’re perfect.”

 

“If you say so . . .  Can I ask for another kiss?” Junmyeon asks shyly, another set of blush making its way to his cheeks again.

 

“Anything you wish, my darling.”