Dejun x Joohyuk

@☭ Xiao Dejun Joohyuk had no idea where Dejun was getting those clownfish facts from, but they were bizarre, to say the least. He wasn't sure how much he believed it, laughing nervously when Dejun proclaimed loudly to the entire submarine that he was a small clownfish rubbing on Joohyuk. But once again, Joohyuk didn't mind if everyone thought they were an item. It was almost like he could puff his chest out at this, as if he could say that he had a beautiful omega by his side too and that he wasn't a lonely widower pining for his late wife. "Eo... but if I'm the coral, I can't do anything back? I guess I can just provide protection for you."

@☭ Nam Joohyuk Dejun sputtered out in laughter when Joohyuk accidentally revealed his true thoughts. "But didn't you say lantern sharks are cute hyung?" he asked, "I meant it as a compliment!" Though, since Joohyuk wasn't a fan of it, then Dejun would look for another sea creature to compare him to. While he was admiring the little clownfish, a sudden thought came to his mind, "Hyung, did you know all clownfish are born male? And then when the alpha dies, then another one morphs into a female alpha that can give birth. That's crazy right?" he asked. Joohyuk's comparison made him giggle and he jabbed the older's arm playfully, "Hey! I'm not that small! If that's me then...mmm, that bigger one next to it that's rubbing on the coral is you!"

@☭ Xiao Dejun "What?" Joohyuk blurted out. "Why am I like that thing? It's so small and ugly." The clownfish were much cuter and smaller, so why couldn't have Dejun compared him to that instead? Was Dejun trying to say something about him? Joohyuk touched his face subconsciously. "Eo... yeah, I see it," he said, bending close to the glass to examine the said clownfish milling about the reef. "Wow, they're so tiny. I guess that puny one over there is you." Joohyuk pointed to the smallest one. "Aw, I think it's a baby."

@☭ Nam Joohyuk "Yeah! I didn't think I'd ever consider sharks to be cute," Dejun said, finding the small creature to be kind of funny. Sharks were known to be scary, but he supposed every species had their own outliers. It was almost like Joohyuk, who was the only cop that Dejun didn't consider to be scary. "You're like a lantern shark hyung," he commented, though he didn't give the older his reason why. As the last of the lantern sharks swam out of their way, they came into view of a beautiful artificial coral reef. "Wahh, look at the colors!" Dejun gasped, shifting towards Joohyuk so he could point it out to the older, "See it hyung? There's little clownfish in there!"

@☭ Xiao Dejun Joohyuk quieted when Dejun spoke. Of course, Dejun meant no harm and knew nothing about Joohyuk's history, but it still didn't stop to serve as a reminder that Joohyuk had been close to becoming a father before it was all taken away from him in the span of a single second. Sungkyung had said he had his way with children and that he would be a good father, and Joohyuk had been all too excited to prove it. He managed a small smile, letting Dejun change the topic once again. "Mm, those are lantern sharks. They're the smallest sharks in the world. They're cute, aren't they?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk Dejun was impressed with the control that Joohyuk had over the young ones! Not only had Joohyuk spoken in such a calm voice, but he also didn’t need to repeat himself more than once. “Much better,” Dejun agreed happily when Joohyuk squeezed his hand, then giggling as he leaned in to whisper into Joohyuk’s ear, “Maybe you need to open a parenting class hyung. You did something that not even some parents could manage.” Now with their view unobstructed and no annoying noises to disturb them, Dejun could lean back and experience the submarine’s gradual dip into the aquarium. They were soon deep under water, and he could feel the pressure building in his ears. “Wahhh, this is cool,” he noted, wanting Joohyuk to know Dejun approved of his choice, “Those look like sharks! But are they really? They’re kinda small-”

@☭ Xiao Dejun Joohyuk nearly missed what Dejun was trying to tell him when the younger grabbed his hand. Now that they were sitting safely inside a submarine, already having acquired their preferred spot, there was no reason for them to keep holding hands. Although Joohyuk participated in his fair share of skinship with his friends when he was younger, they had all mostly grown out of that by the time they graduated university. He swallowed hard, but he didn't push Dejun away, instead automatically turning to the children now tapping the glass beside. "Kids, the operator noona already said you can't tap on the glass. Sit down, please." The pups looked up to Joohyuk, then, as if a Command had been enacted on them, they returned to their parents' sides, sitting obediently as the ride began to move. "There," Joohyuk said, giving Dejun's hand a squeeze. "Better, right?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk As a cop, Joohyuk was probably really good at maneuvering through big crowds, which was how he and Dejun ended up sitting in the best spot of the entire submarine. There was no space for people to sit in front of them, and they had full access to the views behind and in front of them. A few children squeezed beside them, trying to jump up and tap on the glass before the ride even began. If only they knew they were sitting next to a law enforcer. Since Joohyuk had not refused holding his hand earlier, Dejun took hold of the older's hand again, making a silent gesture at the kids around them and sighing at how their parents were letting them run wild like that. The intercom rang and their ride operator began with the introduction and safety guidelines, one of which was to not tap the glass to disturb the sea life outside. "Hyung," Dejun leaned in to whisper into Joohyuk's ear, his lip grazing against the shell of the older's ear, "Should we tell them that the kids next to us haven't stopped tapping since she started talking?"

@☭ Xiao Dejun "Please, enough with the ice cream," Joohyuk said, although he was sure if Dejun asked again later, Joohyuk wouldn't hesitate to buy it for him. Once it was their turn to get in the submarine, Joohyuk pushed Dejun ahead of him, holding his wrist tightly as he descended the narrow ladder in case he slipped. Once Joohyuk was inside, he yanked Dejun with him to brush past the children and sit in the prime spot where there was a large window behind them as well as one directly across, meaning no one would be able to get in Dejun's way of the viewing.

@☭ Nam Joohyuk Joohyuk probably didn't know where Dejun was trying to go with his aquarium inquiry, but he supposed that viewing the fish displays inside a building would be something akin to a date ambiance too. Joohyuk eventually let go of his hand and upgraded to gripping his shoulders instead. Dejun was eager to act as a puppet on the string stepping forward in line whenever he felt the little pressure from Joohyuk, though he had no clue what the cause for the sudden intimacy could be other than the fact that they were getting more comfortable with each other. Taking the ball and rolling with it, he tilted his head back and looked up at Joohyuk from behind him, "Western food! Hyung let's get pizza!" he exclaimed, "And mint choco ice cream!"

@☭ Xiao Dejun "Mm, I think so. I remember there's a really big viewing glass inside the building, so we won't have to line up for the ride again. We can go take a look after this." Each time the line shuffled forward, Joohyuk noticed the family behind them trying to sneak up, as if trying to get ahead of them in line. Joohyuk stopped leaning on the railing and pulled Dejun to walk in front of him, using his own body to block the entire walkway as he held onto Dejun's shoulders and propelled him forward each time. "Later, we should try to get a lunch spot early. It gets so busy a bit after noon. Let's see... do you want Korean food, Chinese food, or Western food?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk "I dunno~" Dejun chirped in response to Joohyuk, "I've never been inside a submarine ride before!" And that much was true. Unlike the rollercoasters and other normal rides, the submarine seemed to hold a larger capacity of passengers, but each voyage also took much longer. From what Dejun could see, there were two submarines at work, each one coming around every 10 minutes or so, which made the length of the entire experience more than 20 minutes in total. The more that he thought about it, the more excited he was to be in an enclosed space with Joohyuk. "Hyung, you said they have an aquarium? If we want to see the fish again, we have to get back in line?" he asked, eager to return if things worked in his favor.

@☭ Xiao Dejun Joohyuk felt Dejun touch his hand, and he knew the right thing to do was shake it off or shift so Dejun was only touching his wrist. He did neither—he did nothing but close his fingers a little tighter around Dejun's. He just didn't want to lose Dejun in the crowd, he told himself. It wasn't romantic or anything, although if others looked at them and saw a mated couple, Joohyuk wouldn't think to correct them. Even when they joined the line for the submarine, Joohyuk didn't let go, and this time his excuse was that it was quite dark inside the building they queued for the submarine ride in. "I don't think we'll get wet... it's a submarine," Joohyuk said. "Do you normally get wet in subs?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk Lotte World had so many attractions that even if they spent their entire day here, it was going to be difficult to cover everything they wanted to. Dejun didn't want to waste any time planning on where they should go, so he snagged any suggestion that Joohyuk threw his way. "That sounds fun!" he agreed readily, turning frantically to find a sign that would lead them to said submarine ride, "Are we gonna get wet in there hyung?" he asked, knowing that some rides liked to incorporate the 3D experience and spray the guests with water when they were inside. "Ahh whatever, I guess it's still early so we can dry off by walking around after." Letting Joohyuk lead the way, Dejun bashfully gripped onto the older's hand again. His excuse was that there was too big of a crowd that could separate them, though he wished that soon, he'd just take hold of Joohyuk's hand without needing any good reason to.

@☭ Xiao Dejun Dejun didn't even give him a chance to recover before dragging him off, practically running toward the next attraction. Joohyuk was pretty sure he tore something in his shoulders during that vigorous twisting, but he didn't let anything on, jogging along with Dejun to avoid the crowd streaming out of the teacup ride. "How about the submarine?" Joohyuk suggested, trying to keep his panting to a minimum. "It goes underwater! And they have a real aquarium that the ride brings us through, like a real submarine. It's super immersive. You wanna do that?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk When Joohyuk took over, the wheel actually started to spin! In his excitement, Dejun pushed even harder against the wheel, though he could tell that it wasn't moving so much because of his contribution. But still, the wind in his face and the slight dizziness that came with the spinning made him giggle and cheer loudly to set the mood. Joohyuk looked like he was doing just fine too, which was probably because of his training as a cop. Once their three minutes came to an end, Dejun pushed the door open first and got off, grabbing Joohyuk by the wrist, "You okay hyung? Are you dizzy?" he asked, his face lit up with a smile, "What should we do next!"

@☭ Xiao Dejun The teacup was much more bearable than Joohyuk thought it was going to be. He assumed he would be knocked out from the first spin, but when Dejun gave his distress call, Joohyuk jumped into action. He grabbed the wheel, one hand on the left, the other on the right, braced his feet against the ground, and gave it a big wrench. It was indeed hard, and it took nearly all of Joohyuk's strength to rotate the wheel. A quick glance at the other teacups in their vicinity with children spinning the wheel like tomorrow told Joohyuk their wheel was probably busted, but that didn't mean he could stop. Since Dejun wanted the wheel to be spinning the entire time, Joohyuk spun it the whole ride for him, enthralled by Dejun's whoops and cheers.

@☭ Nam Joohyuk "It's an iconic ride!" Dejun reasoned with Joohyuk, pouting at the older when he was called a child. As if he wanted to disprove his point, he looked around them and scanned the other people in line, "There's other adults too! And they're older than both of us too!" he quickly reached the conclusion, though he didn't acknowledge that most of the other adults in line were with their children. Dejun eagerly moved forward in the line until it was their turn again, and once again, they were one of the earliest of their group to be admitted inside. Joohyuk was so thoughtful to pick out a color that he liked, and Dejun beamed as he took one side of the teacup, "Yes! The entire time hyung!" he exclaimed, putting his hands on the spinning table in the middle, ready to push. After the operator examined their safety restraints and closed their door, the loud carnival music came on in the background and they began to move. To his surprise, the spinning disk was heavier than Dejun expected, and his arms started to get sore right away, "Hyung! It's hard!" he uttered while straining to move it.

@☭ Xiao Dejun "Well, I'm sure if you told me quietly, the wish gods wouldn't hear," Joohyuk said. Still, since Dejun said no once, he dropped the topic. It wasn't like Dejun had much to wish for other than good grades and a flourishing social life. He looked in the direction of the ride Dejun pointed at. "Spinning teacups? Are you a child? Ah, wait- you are." They joined the line, which was quick moving considering the set up of the ride. Picking out a mint-green cup, Joohyuk dragged Dejun through a sea of running children to get in their cup, spreading out so they each sat on one side of the wheel. "Are we spinning this or no?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk "You never know hyung, it could!" Dejun said, shrugging and smiling secretively once they were headed away from the fountain. Vaguely aware of how close their bodies were to each other and how Joohyuk's arm was out to shield him from the crowd around them, Dejun wondered if he was receiving special treatment or if Joohyuk was acting like a cop on duty. "Now hyung, you know the first rule of making a wish is that you can't tell it or else it won't come true!" he scolded Joohyuk when the older started to pry. He beamed at Joohyuk's confidence in his dance abilities though, and he nodded, "If you're there to watch me hyung, I'm going to win for sure." Realizing how cheesy he sounded, Dejun cleared his throat and looked up at the arrows that showed them different directions, "Ooh! We should go on that one next!" he said, pointing at what looked like a spinning ride, "Looks so fun!"

@☭ Xiao Dejun Joohyuk couldn't help but laugh again when Dejun wound his arm up and pitched the coin like a baseball. "Aigoo, does throwing it farther make the wish more likely to come true?" Joohyuk guided Dejun away from the gathering crowd at the fountain, his hand light over the small of Dejun's waist. "What did you wish for?" he asked, giving Dejun a nudge against his side, wondering if he could dig up anything to embarrass him with now. "Let me guess. Winning the council position on the dance club? You know you don't need a wish to do that." As cheesy as it was, Joohyuk knew Dejun would appreciate hearing the encouragement.

@☭ Nam Joohyuk Dejun's mind had gone in a direction that he wasn't used to -- as they fixed up their appearances and made their way towards the next attraction, he wondered: What would Joohyuk sound like...if he were in the bedroom? Of course, Dejun had no prior experience or expectations to compare Joohyuk to, but he'd consumed enough media and learned well enough in school that making noises as part of was normal. But maybe he was getting a bit too ahead of himself when Joohyuk handed a coin to himself. Above all else, that was what had to go well first: his confession. Accepting the coin from the older, Dejun nodded and held the coin with both hands, bringing it to his chest. He closed his eyes and lowered his head to think of his silent wish, /"Please, please, let him accept my feelings today. I wish he returns the feelings as well."/ After wishing it thrice, Dejun opened his eyes and chucked the coin as far as it would go, landing it in the middle of the fountain.

@☭ Xiao Dejun Picking up Dejun’s headband, Joohyuk slid it smoothly over his hair again. He grinned, not at all embarrassed by Dejun’s observation. “Was I very loud? It was just the sound of joy.” Following the path, their next point of interest was a little fountain that people turned into a wishing well. It was a complete change of pace, but Joohyuk pulled Dejun over to watch the dancing streams of water and multicoloured lights. “Do you want to make a wish?” Joohyuk knew of this fountain, of course. This was where Sungkyung visited five times in one Lotte World visit to pray for their pup. He had prepared a coin for Dejun, too, and he passed it over now. “It’s a Lotte World tradition.”

@☭ Nam Joohyuk The ride was over much too quickly - Dejun had just began to lean into the thriller aspect of plummeting down the slopes. When they approached the platform again, he cheered loudly, both to let Joohyuk know that he was enjoying himself and also to catch his breath after such an exciting experience. He didn't realize that his legs had gotten a little weak after being on the ride, which led to gripping a handful of Joohyuk's shirt as he stood from the cart to exit. By the time they were off, Dejun felt the world spinning around him. "Oh my goodness-" he gasped, holding his head and turning to beam at Joohyuk as the alpha fixed his hair for him. "Ahhh...I dunno hyung! I paused to take breaths!" he admitted shamelessly, then patting his chest, right over his heart, "That was so fun though! If there's time later, we should ride it again!" He giggled as he added, "I didn't know hyung's scream could sound so...so loud!"

@☭ Xiao Dejun “Don't laugh at me if I scream okay?"

“That depends on how you scream,” Joohyuk said, doing a tug on Dejun’s seat restraints himself after the crew member came to put them down. The coaster set off with a jolt, rumbling on its wooden tracks as they were carted up to the tallest drop and dangled in the air before plummeting without warning. Joohyuk cheered with Dejun, throwing his hands up for a second before deciding he needed to hold the bar to ground him—he couldn't handle as much as he used to, it seemed. By the time the rollercoaster jerked to to a stop, Joohyuk's hair was windswept and his legs were buzzing from the adrenaline. He pushed his headband back over his ears, laughing harder when he saw Dejun's even messier head. Once they got off, Joohyuk reached out to sweep Dejun's hair back into place. "I heard one single, long scream the whole time. Want to make a guess who it was?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk "I'm scared, but I'm going to do it no matter what!" Dejun reassured Joohyuk. Overcoming the fear of the ride was also part of the experience for Dejun, and he wanted to feel the rush of a rollercoaster with none other than Joohyuk by his side anyways. Once they weaved through the many guiding fences to get to the front of the line, Dejun entered the cart first. Seeing that it was a lap bar instead of a full on restraint that they had to put on for safety, he knew that this wasn't going to be too bad to handle. And with Joohyuk taking the outermost seat next to him, he had every reason to push himself closer to the older. "Hyung, are you good at rollercoasters? Do you scream? Don't laugh at me if I scream okay?" he haggled at Joohyuk, rubbing his hands in excitement as the intercom went off with safety precautions. Then, the sound of the breaks went off, and they were on their way up.

The rollercoaster had a few hills to climb, and the drops were fast, but they were all incredibly fun. Dejun screamed at the top of his lungs just as he warned Joohyuk he would, and the feeling of wind against his face and his heart racing was absolutely exhilarating. Anytime they slowed before being jerked forward again, he would glance over at Joohyuk, giggling in all his excitement.

@☭ Xiao Dejun "You're so scared? Look at the kids around you," Joohyuk said with a laugh, reaching out to pull Dejun back in when he was practically bouncing about now. "Let's sit in the front, obviously. I didn't bring you all the way here so we could cop out on a children's coaster." It wasn't fully a children's coaster, per se, but it was definitely on the mild end to start off with. The line wasn't too long, with them only having to wait for one additional train to sit in the front. As promised, Joohyuk let Dejun slide in first so that Joohyuk would take the very last spot on the outside.

@☭ Nam Joohyuk Since the background wasn't the most attractive right outside the headband store, Dejun made a mental note to pull Joohyuk in for a selca at a more suitable location later. Knowing that they had the rest of the day to get the perfect picture also put him at ease, and he didn't linger too much longer in the store in favor of going out to explore the amusement park. It was much, much bigger than Dejun expected it to be, and he marveled at all the different options they had. Dejun didn't usually go for the common rides like the carousel, but since Joohyuk brought it up first, Dejun assumed that the older must've wanted to ride it. "Mm, alright hyung!" he agreed, wanting this day to be as meaningful for Joohyuk as it was for himself. Since they hadn't eaten too much yet, and the lines were manageable, he agreed to the rollercoaster ride. "Let's go hyung, I'm so scared!" he giggled as they got in line, "Should we sit in the front or the back? Hyung, you sit on the outside okay? I'm gonna be too nervous!"

@☭ Xiao Dejun "I already saw them when we were walking up," Joohyuk said, feeling extremely proud that he managed to pick something that Dejun really liked. "It's cute," Joohyuk said, watching Dejun pose this way and that. Once Joohyuk paid for their ears, they headed back out to the playground, following the flow of people to the first point of interest—carousel. It was a must-do for couples to take their photos at the carousel, according to Sungkyung, but it had to be at night, with a balloon. Joohyuk reached for Dejun's sleeve and pulled him past it. "Let's come back to this last. Want to do on that rollercoaster first?"

@☭ Nam Joohyuk Dejun's heart fluttered when Joohyuk got so close to him, but then his stomach flipped over twice when the older straightened up and put the headband he chose on Dejun's head himself! Dejun searched for himself in the mirror, then gasped when he realized why Joohyuk had refused him in the first place. "Hyung! This is the first pair I chose for you! Now I know why you didn't want it!" he laughed, adjusting the ears so they were tilted slightly on his head, appearing even more cute, "I like them~" he confirmed, turning to Joohyuk and cupping his hands under his chin in a 'V' shape, "What do you think? It matches with my outfit too huh!" Dejun was going to keep these headbands as an artifact of the most magical day of his life. "I think we decided then, let's get these two!"