XI

The week passed surprisingly quickly for Christopher. Before he knew it, Saturday was here, and in less than an hour he was supposed to pick up Hyunjin at his house. Now he was currently standing in front of the bathroom mirror, doing everything he could to keep his breath as fresh as possible. Sure, he'd already made out with the boy a few times, but still, he wanted to smell and taste as good as possible on their first official date.

He stepped back from the mirror a little and took stock of his clothes. A plain black shirt and black jeans wouldn't do any harm, would it...?

He was tying his shoes when his mother caught him. "Are you going?"

Christopher nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I don't want Jin waiting for me."

Mrs. Chan nodded with a smile. "Then enjoy. Take care of yourself and him."

"Don't worry, I'm planning on it. I don't know what time I'll get home."

"Whatever, but text me when you have time, okay?"

"I'll be in touch," he promised her, and then he put on his leather jacket and bade her goodbye. He made sure to check if h had the tickets in his pocket before he left. He had them.

***

He rang the Hwangs' doorbell half an hour later. It wasn't long before his lover was smiling at him between the doors. "Hi."

"Hey. Mind if I'm a little early?" Christopher returned the wide smile.

"Not at all. Come in," Hyunjin pulled him in by the arm, then kissed him on the dimple of his cheek. The smaller of the pair felt himself begin to blush.

"You look beautiful," he commented on his appearance when he finally got a good look at him. The taller man wore a loose white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black jeans that hugged his legs perfectly. He also noticed that his eyes were highlighted with brown eyeshadow and a bit of mascara, and his lips wore a thin layer of lip balm almost invited him to kiss them. So he did.

Hyunjin smiled into the kiss and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Thank you, you look very handsome too. I'm glad to see you."

"Me too," Christopher smiled back as he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him even closer to him. "How are you? Have you eaten anything?"

"Even better now that you're here," the younger man replied, then kissed him between the eyebrows and stroked his hair. "And don't worry, I had dinner before you came. I wanted to ask..."

"Tell me," the elder urged him after his partner had been silent for a while.

"Can I... can I put a little makeup on your eyes, please? If you don't want to, it's fine, I just thought of it," Hyunjin stammered nervously.

Christopher gently took his face in his hands and pressed his lips softly against his. He remained in this position with him until the younger man relaxed again. "You can. You don't even have to ask, darling," he whispered into his lips as he gently broke the kiss.

"Darling...?" Hyunjin spoke just as quietly, almost as if he was afraid that he would ruin the moment in question with words. The next moment, he bit his lower lip to keep the tears from rolling down his cheeks.

The elder's eyes widened in horror. "Is something wrong?"

The taller one shook his head and smiled, a few tears rolling down his face. He took a breath to say something, but ended up kissing Christopher on the forehead instead, hugging him a little tighter.

Christopher returned the firm grip. This time it was he who stroked the other's hair.

"Thank you, Chris," came the murmur after a moment, followed by a small kiss on his neck.

"For what?" He tucked an older strand of hair behind his ear.

Hyunjin pulled back a little from the hug and rested his forehead against his. "For everything," he smiled, kissing him on the nose. "Can we go upstairs now so we can make it?"

The smaller man nodded with a broad smile. "Sure."

So the younger one took him by the hand and led him to his room, where he sat him down on the double bed.

While Christopher waited for the other to find the eyeshadow, he looked around the room a bit. It wasn't very big, but one person could fit comfortably. Hyunjin had a closet with a mirror, a desk with a few drawers (one of which he was currently rummaging through), on which a digital alarm clock was placed, a small bookcase next to which he had a folded up mattress and a massage roller, and a laptop on the nightstand.

"I got it," Hyunjin declared enthusiastically, already making his way over with both the tiny palette and the brush. Then, with a wide grin, he sat straddling his lap and pushed his chest down to lay the other down.

"In this position?" laughed the elder, stroking his lover's thighs.

"What, are you uncomfortable?" Hyunjin raised his eyebrows with a laugh.

"I'm comfortable," Christopher chimed in.

"There you go," the younger man soothed him with a kiss.

"I love your kisses," the smaller man murmured as his lover pulled away a little.

He responded by kissing him again before breaking the kiss altogether. "Shall we?"

Christopher nodded and stroked his cheek.

Hyunjin settled comfortably on his lap and applied some shade to the brush. "Close your eyes." Once his lover did as he was told, he began to carefully apply the dark brown pigment.

"This is so nice," the elder murmured. His lips curled into a satisfied smile.

"I'm glad," smiled the long-haired boy, moving the brush to the other eyelid. "You can open now," he announced when he was satisfied with his creation.

So Christopher slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times. "How does it look?"

"You can see for yourself, but trust me when I tell you that it suits you," Hyunjin smiled and leaned down to kiss him again.

"I believe you," the elder smiled and returned the kiss.

"We'd better go, so we can get there on time," the younger one stated, straightening up, but still not leaving his place on the elder's lap.

"What time is it anyway?" Christopher lifted his head to look at the alarm clock.

"It'll be a quarter to nine soon," Hyunjin sighed, then very reluctantly got up from his seat and stretched. "If I'm not mistaken, the concert starts at nine."

The taller one nodded, then followed his lover. Before they left the room, he took a quick look at himself in the mirror to assess his creation. "It doesn't look bad at all."

"Do you like it?" the younger one blinked and bit his lower lip.

"It's different, but I'd probably get used to it. I like it," he nodded.

The taller one's whole face lit up. "Thanks."

Christopher kissed him on the cheek. "Nothing to thank you for, you're handy. Now come on, so we can catch some good spot."

"Talk about yourself, I'll see," Hyunjin couldn't resist laughing.

"Shut up," laughed the elder, gently bumping his arm with his fist.