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jeongguk hummed as he weaved the pale purple flower into the crown. it suited the others strung around the wide circle, and it would certainly suit his hoseok-hyung’s light-colored hair when he placed it on his hyung’s head.
thoughts of his hoseok-hyung—his smile, his laugh, his scent—weaved their way through his mind, and jeongguk distractedly depleted the small stack of grasses and flowers next to him by threading them through the pretty crown he was creating.
when he reached out beside him and felt nothing but dirt and the smoothness of tree roots, jeongguk blinked repeatedly, dispersing most thoughts of his hyung, and looked down at the flower crown in his hands. every flower, leaf, and stem had been tucked in neatly, making the crown complete. now, all that was missing was the person to place it on.
jeongguk didn’t have to wait long.
his hoseok-hyung soon crested over the hill that held the tree sheltering him, and jeongguk felt himself smile as he kneeled. he always smiled in the presence of his hyung; especially when he was greeted with such enthusiasm.
“jeonggukie!” hoseok-hyung yelled. he was running to jeongguk now, arms outspread with a makeshift sack in his right hand.
jeongguk barely had enough time to place the crown down gently before his hyung was right in front of him, enveloping jeongguk into a warm hug.
“how have you been?” his hyung asked, eyes bright. “have you eaten already?”
jeongguk giggled, happy to be in the arms of his favorite person. “i’m doing great, now that hyung’s here! and i ate lunch already!” he exclaimed, pulling away so he could look longer at his hyung’s face.
his hoseok-hyung smiled at him, his hyung’s pretty eyes crinkled at the corners and his beautiful heart-shaped lips spread to show off his teeth. then, his hyung was leaning in, sweeping his nose with jeongguk’s twice before fitting himself against jeongguk and squeezing him into another hug.
“that’s great to hear, jeonggukie,” hoseok-hyung mumbled against jeongguk’s neck. “i’ve missed you.”
jeongguk almost wanted to argue they’d seen each other yesterday, so he couldn’t have been missed too terribly. but the truth was he’d missed his hoseok-hyung, too; probably just as much as his hoseok-hyung had missed him. so, he kept his wily thoughts to himself and enjoyed being in his hyung’s arms.
they continued embracing each other until his hoseok-hyung leaned back and separated them.
holding up the sack he brought with him, his hyung said, “brought us some berries to snack on, but you said you already had lunch, so…” he shrugged, but jeongguk saw a familiar glint to his hyung’s eyes, the hint of mischief in them. “guess i’ll just eat them all myself…”
“hyung!” protested jeongguk. he recognized the look in his hyung’s eyes, the purpose behind his goading, and played along, whining, “you know i always have room for berries! and you can’t eat them all yourself, or you’ll get sick! so, share some with me, hyung? please?”
hoseok-hyung thought a moment, but jeongguk knew his hyung— he was pretending to decide when his plan with the berries had likely been to share them with jeongguk all along.
“alright,” hoseok-hyung admitted. he tried to look annoyed, but jeongguk caught his grin and started grinning, too. “but only because i don’t want to get sick, jeonggukie,” he said, leading jeongguk back to the spot beneath the tree after ruffling his hair with a laugh.
jeongguk hurriedly sat down next to the flower crown, criss-crossing his legs with his back supported by the tree. he didn’t want to spoil the surprise of the crown just yet, so he made sure it was hidden beside him. as his hoseok-hyung sat next to him, fishing around in the sack and pulling out a lumpy handkerchief, jeongguk realized he didn’t want to stain the crown with berry juice. so, he’d have to reveal his surprise earlier than he wanted to originally.
“hyung, wait,” interrupted jeongguk. he stopped his hyung from unwrapping what he thought were the berries by placing his hand gently over his hyung’s. he stared into his hyung’s eyes when his hoseok-hyung looked up in confusion. “before we dig in, i...have something for you. can you...close your eyes for me, hyung?”
his hyung now seemed surprised, with lips parted and wide eyes. “sure, jeonggukie,” he said a moment later. he looked to have recovered from the initial surprise. slipping his hands off the handkerchief-wrapped berries and from beneath jeongguk’s hand, he raised them to cover his eyes. “let me know when i can take a peek!” he exclaimed cutely, and jeongguk mirrored his hyung’s grin.
wanting to ascertain that his hyung wouldn’t peek early, jeongguk craftily formed his response. “don’t worry, hyung.” he said, smirking. he tried keeping his tone light, not wanting to give anything away as he picked up the flower crown. “i’ll let you know when it’s safe to look so you don’t get injured.”
his hoseok-hyung jumped. “i-injured?” he squeaked. “i-i don’t— ggukie, i-if this is another snake—”
jeongguk giggled. his hyung was so gullible sometimes; he probably wouldn’t know what to do with the pretty crown once he saw it. “it’s not a snake, hyung,” jeongguk promised, smiling. he held it carefully in his hands, about eye-level, so his hyung could see it when he finally opened his eyes. “i actually think you’ll really like it. i spent the time waiting for you making it.”
“o-oh?” his hyung inquired. he sounded intrigued. “so, i-it won’t...bite me? or hurt me?”
jeongguk’s smile softened. “never,” he murmured. he never wanted to hurt his hyung. “i never want to do or make anything that hurts you, hyung. scare you? maybe,” he admitted playfully, “but this will do neither of those things, hyung. promise.”
jeongguk knew his plan worked when his hoseok-hyung sighed, seemingly in defeat.
“alright,” agreed his hyung. “i’m really...curious, but… i reserve the right to shove you if you’ve deceived me,” he added. “i mean it, jeongguk-ah. you’ll get a hard shove from hyung!”
“sure, hyung,” jeongguk soothed. he tried to contain his excitement, the flower crown shaking a bit in his hands. “i know you do. you can shove me if i’ve deceived you. you have that right, as only a hyung should.”
guffawing, hoseok-hyung shifted so he was kneeling. apprehension still showed on his face, and his arms twitched. “is it almost ready, ggukie?”
“yes,” jeongguk assured, moving the flower crown higher to compensate for his hyung’s eye-level changing. “ready, hyung?” he counted down from three before he instructed his hyung to open his eyes, preparing for the shove he’d surely get. “go on, hyung. open your beautiful eyes.”
hoseok-hyung blushed but dutifully opened his eyes. the apprehensive expression he’d been wearing melted into one of astonishment as he gazed at the crown in jeongguk’s hands. “you—” there was a brief pause, after which his hyung yelled, “that flower crown’s not going to hurt me, jeonggukie! but i just might hurt you!” then, he huffed and shoved jeongguk away.
jeongguk laughed as he fell backwards. he flung an arm out to the side, successfully catching his flying body with his palm on the patchy ground. luckily, the hand now holding the flower crown hadn’t been the one he’d caught himself with, so the crown remained intact. “hyung! you almost ruined your present!” jeongguk whined with wide eyes. “and me! momma will skin me if i get these clothes dirty!”
“well, whose fault is that, ggukie?” his hyung’s face pinched up as his lips pursed. his dimples popped out then, and his eyebrows furrowed. “as your hyung, i should tell on you for scaring me! and for lying!” he harrumphed, crossing his arms as he turned his head away from jeongguk.
“aw! come on, hyung!” jeongguk exclaimed, pouting. he scooted on the ground into his hoseok-hyung’s line of sight, wincing when he pictured how his mother would react later seeing the dirt on his clothes. “i was just playing around! i only wanted to see you wear this pretty crown i made for you!” he shook the flower crown enticingly, some of its leaves coming off, but his hyung forcefully closed his eyes and ignored him.
when hoseok-hyung obstinately kept his eyes closed and shook his head after more of jeongguk’s pleading to look at the pretty crown, jeongguk wilted. the flower crown hung limply at his side while he hung his head resignedly. “alright, hyung. i’m sorry. if you really don’t want it, i can give it to your noona—”
the flower crown was yanked out of his hand then, so jeongguk looked up in surprise to find his hyung lowering the crown onto his light-colored hair. his lips were still marred by a pout as he placed the crown on his head, but the crown’s purple-and-green theme genuinely complimented his hair.
“she doesn’t get anything, ggukie. not when you make it for me…” hoseok-hyung snuffed, before adding, “and don’t give your hyung anything i get you! it’s yours, ggukie. not his…”
eyes wide, jeongguk nodded. his hyung seemed a bit defensive, and jeongguk knew the best way for him to let his guard back down again was to listen to and agree with him. “what’s mine becomes yours, and what’s yours becomes mine, hyung. i promise i won’t give anything of yours away.” then, he enveloped his hoseok-hyung’s slightly shaking form in a hug, admitting, “it’s too precious to me.”
his hyung snuffed again. “good.” shifting around, hoseok-hyung delicately picked up the handkerchief. “i have something for you, too, ggukie,” he murmured. “if you want it…”
excitedly, jeongguk nodded, squealing out, “of course, hyung!” he curiously followed his hyung’s slow movements, wondering why he’d treat the berries they were about to eat with such care. “is it not the berries?” he probed, head tilted. he was starting to get hungry again. “i thought you brought us some berries,” he mumbled, pouting at the false promise of sharing food with his hyung.
“i did,” affirmed hoseok-hyung, focused entirely on unwrapping the handkerchief. “but i also brought you something else, ggukie. something special, like a—”
jeongguk gasped when the preciousness inside the handkerchief was revealed. “a flower? for me?!”
his hyung laughed while jeongguk continued to stare at the beautifully preserved wildflower. its petals were white and a bit wrinkled—likely from being wrapped up—but it was one of the prettiest, most precious gifts he’d received from his hoseok-hyung to date. the sunshine-y yellow center was reminiscent of the smile his hyung wore now, and the leafless green stem didn’t snap when his hyung picked it up and twirled it slowly between his fingers.
“pretty, isn’t it?” his hoseok-hyung breathed.
jeongguk hummed in agreement, entranced as the flower spun around one way and then back again between his hyung’s fingers.
“it was with a bunch of other different plants, when i saw it,” explained his hyung, still twirling the flower. “it looked lonely, and i figured it’d look happier if it was with you, ggukie.” he paused in his speech and movements, looking over at jeongguk thoughtfully. “do you maybe want to wear it? i’ve got my crown—” he gestured to it on his head before he held the flower higher. “—and you can have this behind your ear, if you want,” he suggested, eyes cutting to the flower before settling back on jeongguk.
“but it might break!” protested jeongguk alarmingly. he didn’t know what he’d do if the stem of the pretty flower his hoseok-hyung had given him suddenly broke. “i don’t want to ruin it, hyung,” he said, shaking his head as his hyung neared him. he repeated his words from earlier. “it’s too precious…”
hoseok-hyung pouted. “but it’d be prettier in your dark hair, jeonggukie.”
“hyung—” began jeongguk, to protest some more, but his hoseok-hyung interrupted him.
“it lasted all that time in the handkerchief! and if it breaks, i can always get you a new one!” reasoned his hyung.
but jeongguk didn’t want a new one! he wanted the one his hyung had already found for him. he’d been about to open his mouth and communicate that to his hyung, when hoseok-hyung’s voice changed:
“please, jeonggukie? for hyung?” his hoseok-hyung cutely whined out while he fluttered his eyelashes. the flower crown tilted a bit, now crooked on his head. “let hyung put the pretty flower in your pretty hair and make you pretty! please?”
being pretty was his hyung’s job, even with a crooked, pretty crown on his head, but jeongguk wouldn’t mind trying to be pretty for his hyung. so, he acquiesced with a light sigh. “alright, hyung. but be very careful of the stem—”
“i know already, ggukie,” assuaged his hyung after releasing a chuckle. “who do you think picked it? it wasn’t my noona or my mother…” he mumbled, leaning closer to place the flower behind jeongguk’s ear. he stuck his tongue out a bit in concentration.
jeongguk scrunched up his nose. he could either tease his hyung or...not, but he didn’t want to pass up this opportunity to taunt his hyung and maybe get another laugh out of him. “so, your father picked it? what’s he doing while we’re up here, then? waiting for you?”
hoseok-hyung cupped one of jeongguk’s shoulders while he brightly giggled. “what? no! father didn’t—” his hyung’s guffaw rang loudly in his ears because he was close and still focused on placing the flower behind jeongguk’s ear. it tickled as his hyung fiddled with its placement, his tongue sticking out again. “i picked it, ggukie! just me! now, hold still so i can—”
it was jeongguk’s turn to laugh as hoseok-hyung continued to shake in muted laughter against him. “i’m not moving, hyung! you’re the one who’s falling over and using me to hold you up!”
his hyung laughed again, but his giggles faded into a smile as he withdrew his hand. “much prettier,” hoseok-hyung asserted. “just like hyung said, ggukie.”
“ah, really?” jeongguk queried vulnerably. he wondered how a simple white flower would suddenly make him pretty—even prettier, in his hyung’s eyes—but there was no surface to gaze into and see the transformation for himself. “i can’t see it, so i trust hyung to tell me the truth,” he murmured shyly, the top of his ear itching where his hyung had placed the flower and his face now heating with his blush.
“look into hyung’s eyes,” insisted hoseok-hyung gently, and jeongguk blushed further as he listened to his hyung. he could see his reflection faintly in his hyung’s warm brown eyes, and, admittedly, he did look pretty. “i want you to see hyung’s not lying when i say this, jeonggukie.” his hyung’s eyes seemed to sparkle in the fading daylight as he said, “you’re pretty with or without the flower, jeongguk-ah. you’re happy, kind, a bit of a brat sometimes, but you really care for others. i’m lucky to have as lovely a dongsaeng as you, and it’s my pleasure to be your hyung. you— oh, don’t cry, jeongguk-ah! hyung didn’t mean to make you cry!”
jeongguk blinked his suddenly blurring vision. tears ran steadily down his cheeks as his heart soared. “hoseok-hyung,” he rasped out, seeing his hyung throw his arms wide in invitation. the knot of emotion in his throat, in reaction to his hyung’s honest words and actions, made saying anything else rather difficult. “hoseokie-hyung,” wailed jeongguk, lurching forward, and hoseok-hyung’s arms wrapped around him securely. then, jeongguk carefully buried his head in the space between his hyung’s neck and shoulder and softly cried.
his hyung whispered reassurances and other sweet compliments in his ear the whole time he cried and even a bit afterwards, where he’d just sniffled and blushed and whined in protest into his hoseok-hyung’s neck.
grumbles from jeongguk’s stomach were what pulled them apart a while later. his caring hoseok-hyung remedied that by offering jeongguk the berries he brought in the handkerchief. they shared them, giggling and licking the juices from each other’s fingertips, as the sun lowered behind them in the sky.
before long, they were bidding each other goodbye and splitting off in different directions at the bottom of the hill as night fell. and it was with eager twin shouts of promising to return tomorrow that amped up jeongguk with the excitement of what the next day would bring; all thanks to his amazingly loving hoseok-hyung.