umbrella { sunjay }

20.

!!song recommendation: mystery of love -sufjan stevens

"somewhere fun?" jay raised an eyebrow as he left the other male's hand hanging in the air in front of him.

"c'mon, trust me." 

after a few seconds, jongseong finally reached up and took the hand of kim sunoo before standing up from the bench.

"where will we go?"

"first, we need to go to my house." sunoo smiled so that his request wouldn't look more suspicious than it already did.

"are you trying to kidnap me, kim sunoo?" jay gave a teasing smirk as he watched the other playfully roll his eyes. even if he wanted to, sunoo wasn't capable of kidnapping a twenty-five year old professor.

"nooo, my car is at my house and we need it for where we're going." sunoo dragged out his syllables before turning around and walking. jongseong's hand still held in his own as he continued to move.

"are you gonna hold my hand the whole way?" now that he mentioned it, sunoo paused his actions and turned to look down at their connected hands. for an odd reason, the sight of their hands attached, gave sunoo a weird feeling. but he ignored it and detached their perfectly fitting palms.

"sorry, force of habit. i always hold eunjoo's hand when we walk." he smiled apologetically and proceeded to go forward. 

jay thought their hands together didn't actually bother him. he just said something incase sunoo realized his actions and became uncomfortable. he hadn't held his wife's hand in so long. that sort of physical touch was something he longed for. even if it was friendly.

"are you really not going to tell me where you're taking me? i feel like i'm being abducted." jay looked around franticly and pretended to be nervous. this made sunoo burst into a fit of giggles. when they had first met, he never expected such an intimidating man to be so goofy and funny. looks can really be deceiving.

he liked this side of him.

"it's a surprise. and i think you're gonna enjoy it so don't worry."

once they made it to sunoo's apartments' parking lot, they entered his parked car. it wasn't as much of a luxury vehicle as jongseong's, but it got him to where he needed to be and that was good enough for him. 

after strapping their seatbelts, sunoo turned to look at the latter who did the same. 

"you're spontaneous."

"i'm adventurous." sunoo winked jokingly before starting the engine.

❀

'aquarium' spelled in bold blue lettering was the first thing jay witnessed as he exited the vehicle. 

the drive there was actually relaxing. low music flowed through  the quiet air as the two didn't speak for most of the trip. sunoo reframed from talking too much, knowing he might have slipped up and revealed the 'top secret' he had planned.

"the aquarium?" jay stood in front of the car as he stared up at the building. 

his reaction made sunoo's smile falter. 

"do you not like aquariums?..." his voice was laced with insecurity. maybe his plan to cheer the older up was a complete fail. he couldn't bare if he accidently upset him even more than before.

"huh?" jongseong looked over to his side to find the younger slightly sulking. "wait no- i didn't mean it that way! i was just surprised because i haven't been to one in a long time. i'm excited trust me." jay's words caused sunoo to perk up and bring his cheerfulness back once again.

"really?" sunoo cheesed in glee as his eyes widened like a child at a candy store. 

jay felt his own cheeks lifting at the sight. "yeah. let's go!" 

he grabbed the younger's hand like he had done earlier in the day. catching sunoo off guard, sunoo had no choice but to allow himself to be dragged into the building.

after purchasing their tickets and finding their way, the two led themselves in front of a enormous tank that held different kinds of marine life. all swimming to their destinations.

sunoo was in awe. it didn't matter how many times he went to the aquarium in his life, he would forever be amazed by such beautiful creatures. every one was unique and had separate lifestyles, but they all lived together and in harmony.

"what's your favorite sea animal?" suddenly jay's voice interrupted his silent gawking at the multi-million gallon tank.

"hm... probably the whale shark." sunoo refused to remove his eyes from the blue colored water. 

"why?"

"well, for one, their patterns are beautiful. it kind of reminds me of a deer's spots." he chuckled softly to himself at the comparison. "and they're really big but they're not harmful to humans. i think they're gentle giants if you can put it that way. i think they can be misunderstood easily because of their size."

jongseong shifted his eyes over to the male to his right and watched how the deep blue lighting twinkled around in the reflection of his eyes. 

"i like beluga whales." he blurted out without blinking, afraid that if he did, he'd miss the way the water created an ocean in sunoo's honey deep brown eyes.

the younger finally averted his attention from the glass and rested his gaze on the other with a smile full of gentleness.

"they're very intelligent." sunoo agreed with his choice.

"yeah..." jay's tone came out more hushed than expected. this moment felt fragile to him and he didn't quite understand why.

"hyung, how do you think these animals feel as they swim all day?" 

sunoo turned back into the tanks direction. sunoo used to wish to be the same as a bird flying through the sky, or a fish that sliced it's fins through the deep waters. but he was only a human, and he could only admire the wings that soared through the clouds. and the scales that glistened and shined as the sun reflected onto the ocean.

"free." jongseong finally diverted his focus to look at the school of fish that all stuck together like their lives depended on it.

"i think they also feel connected. even though they're all differing species. they all share something in common, whether that be how their anatomy is similar, or they have the same hunting technique. and they all rely on each other in the ecosystem to live. which is also scary because if one part of the system is broken, the entirety of it collapses." 

"you think they need each other to live?"

"maybe not to live, but to survive and thrive as a whole, yes. they need one another in some way, shape, or form."

"you're smart, hyung." jay chuckled at the compliment and shook his head.

"i know nothing."

❀

"i know nothing, oliver. at least, not the important things." 

-call me by your name.