#tbz third anniversary | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jjyusmile · 4 years

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lee hyunjae - above the lights (ft. the boyz)

happy the boyz day!

pairing: hyunjae x {gender-neutral} reader x the boyz as besties

words: 3.9k

warning: mentions of food and drink! light mention of alcohol / alcohol poisoning

note: this is my present for the boyz third anniversary... I was inspired by the berlin boylog and their trip to the christmas markets last december. but I thought it would be cute for all of them to be there heheh! of course, I made it biased and a little romantically fluffy but this is to show my appreciation for all of the boyz! the romance is just to show this is a bec story :’) thank you so much for your support always!!

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stepping out of the restaurant, the chill in the berlin air washed over each of you as you stepped through the doorway onto the cobbled streets. wrapped in puffer jackets and scarves, hoods pulled up to shield your ears from the breeze. you all huddled under the cover that lazed over the shop entryway as rain drizzled from the sky. each of your cheeks tinged pink as the frosty chill nipped at your skin. eventually, warmth cascaded over you as heat radiated off the eleven boys clustered around you in an attempt to figure out where to go next.

as they murmured to each other, scrolling through google maps to gage your whereabouts, you looked up at the bare trees lining the streets. each was draped in strings of lights to the point where you almost forgot they wouldn’t blossom for another few months. the atmosphere surrounding you was festive and cheerful.

“it’s so pretty,” kevin came to stand beside you, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. you hummed in agreement not taking your eyes off the cascades of red and white that flickered along the street. you hadn’t noticed your hands were shaking from the bitter chill in the air.

you were pulled out of your gaze as elbows rested against your shoulders from behind; the proximity immediately warmed your body through. the comforting scent of your best friend surrounded you; sighing, your hands stilled and you melted into his chest. hyunjae chuckled as his arms came around your waist, pulling you into him. the murmurs became distant while you were distracted by hyunjae whispering close to your ear about how much kevin resembled a grizzly bear in his sherpa hoodie. shy giggles escaped your mouth as your hand shot up to cover your mouth; hyunjae hid his face in the crook of your neck to hide his own laughter.

the group had slowly moved down the street with you and hyunjae trailing behind. it wasn’t unusual. the shy touches followed by playful shoves… it had always been like that. except touches that were once familiar became more intimate. in your eyes, you were no longer just best friends. but you tried to ignore the tingles that ran up your arm when he mundanely passed you your morning coffee; the way he would pull you a little closer when you were all huddled around the small tv in sangyeon’s apartment; when your walks in the park turned into hours of sitting snuggly on a bench under the cherry blossom trees in the spring. the same way, right now, his hand brushed closely against your own. you welcomed the light touches under the chill int he air.

reaching a corner along the streets of berlin, all of you circled tightly around the fold-out map of the city, each one of you nudging the other to get a better look. how could a place so big seem so tiny on the crinkled pages that chanhee held out in front of him? eric closed his eyes and ran his finger in squiggly circles across the landmarks of the city. a squeal clouded your senses the moment changmin noticed eric’s fingertip grazing toward the oversized wooden stall wrapped in colourful lights -- the berlin christmas markets.

in a flash, changmin was running in the direction of the festivities, dragging younghoon by the cuff of his jacket sleeve; the pair were giggling like school children. seeing their energy dawned the realisation that you had been walking around all day -- your feet ached and you were overflowing in the warm vegetable soup you ate… and finished sunwoo’s bowl, too. your sleepy form was close to giving up and going back to the hotel until a figure stepped out in front of you and crouched down. juyeon turned to look at you with warm eyes and tinged pink ears that poked out from under his cap. a slight nudge of his head prompted you to jump on and then you were hugging his back as he carried you down the street. he bent down jokingly to tie his shoelaces with you still on his back. you giggled.

jumping down, rushed with excitement, you didn’t wait for wait from juyeon to finish, you pulled him up with a force that almost tore his arm off. he never got to finish tying his shoes. from behind, hyunjae wandered along the street, helping eric keep his balance as he stepped one foot in front of the other as he grazed the curb of the footpath. but his focus was trailed on you with a shy smile on his face. he couldn’t pinpoint what had shifted and when it did -- but something had definitely changed.

you skipped toward the rest of the group as you entered the markets, dragging juyeon in tow and immediately linking arms with sangyeon. he pulled you toward each stall that grasped your attention. the image of haknyeon trying to ensure the strings of cheese didn’t escape his mouth left you in a fit of giggles. the way these boys interacted with each other was like you were a big family. at one point, kevin gathered everyone in to fit on the tiny screen of his phone, your head squished under hyunjae’s arm as it wrapped around you to lift you up high enough to get in frame. a bundle of hysterics soon followed.

the stalls that lined each side of the market were flooded with smiles and families rushing around to get a glimpse of everything. the tree that perched at the center of it all loomed over you with flecks of gold as the sun began to set. each bauble glistened under the streams of sunlight that reflected against them. specks of light danced across the stalls. the market became too crowded for the group to stick together, you decided to meet back at the tree at 10pm. hyunjae ducked down quickly to kiss your temple with a whispered “see you later” moments before he headed off in the opposite direction without sparing you a glance; juyeon and younghoon were already aiming at targets in a competition to win the abnormally large stuffed panda. the action left you slightly disorientated as you stared at his retreating figure, all bundled up warm in his oversized puffer jacket that he always joked could fit you as well. distracted, haknyeon wrapped his finger around yours to drag you toward the stall filled with an array decorations.

changmin grazed his hand along the ornaments that dangled in rows along the walls. he picked up a snowglobe from the bottom shelf and eyed it carefully.

“something has changed, hasn’t it?” he asked, not takng his eyes off the glittering flecks that danced around the ornament as he shook it delicately.

the question startled you, a sharp inhale could have been heard from a mile away. you played with the sleeves of the jumper hyunjae had lent to you that poked out of your coat. “what do you mean?”

he directed his attention toward you as haknyeon stepped beside him, voicing his thoughts for him. “you’re not just… you two anymore. you’re… you two.”

a roll of changmin’s eyes met with a chuckle at hak’s choice of words -- ever ominous with next to no clarification.

you, on the other hand… you stood there unmoving. had things changed? they must’ve done for others to notice. hyunjae had become more public with his subtle flirting -- but didn’t he do that with everyone? you had always been close, closer than everyone else in the group… it was only natural that these moments happened every so often, right? but they weren’t every so often anymore, the voice in the back of your mind shattered any excuse you attempted to make. now that you thought about it, this was one of the first moments since you began your trip around europe that you were without hyunjae by your side. your mind drew back to the last moments you saw him. hiding his smile in the crook of your neck. a kiss to your temple. your eyes squeezed closed as your heart squeezed harder in your chest.

changmin noticed the change in your moon and diverted his attention quickly to the precious decoration that he shook a little harder between his hands -- flickers of glitter and fluorescent snow swooshed around the tiny bubble. “I think I’ll buy this one.”

you were glad for changmin’s thoughtfulness -- he always understood. the conversation had diverted from you sooner than it started.

it was only when you you found yourself in line for mulled wine beside kevin that you let your thoughts slip away. he had found you wandering the stalls alone when you lost the giddy twosome to the hook-a-duck game. and now your hands were stuffed into the pockets of sangyeon’s jacket as you leaned your head on his shoulder... chanhee did the same on the other side. the temperature had dropped significantly as the sun had completely set over berlin; you noticed the puffs of condensation that left sangyeon’s mouth in clouds of fog as he zipped his leather jacket up and over his chin. his bright smile was lit up against the strings of lights along the mulled wine stall. glancing sideways, jacob wasn’t too far away, snapped pictures of the decorations and families celebrating the festivity.

the front of the queue couldn’t have come fast enough -- it felt like hours before kevin stood at the small window in the stall ordering two mugs of red and two of the ‘white angel’… it was jacob that persuaded you against the red, reiterating that you were, in fact, an angel like him.

“but we have to match!” his giddy smile reached from ear to ear-- it was too cute to turn down. you weren’t much of a drinker, apart of the odd party that the boys used to hold at one of their apartments. those nights ended in hyunjae or a very reluctant juyeon holding your hair away from your face as the events of the night came back to bite you.

“fine,” you playfully rolled your eyes as you nudged his shoulder. he came over to rest his head against your own shoulder as chanhee stole sangyeon for himself.

an extra large stein of mulled wine was placed in your hands by kevin. it felt like you had been handed the mug of a giant, it being bigger than your own head; you had to use both hands to clutch around the sides, the warmth a welcoming feeling. you noticed, as you went to draw your first sip, that the mug was decorated in silver flecks as the words ‘white angel’ flicked in cursive against the liquid; your eyes drew back to jacob who grinned at you with a wink.

you didn’t miss sangyeon coaxing chanhee into trying a sip. his sweater paws gripped at the bottom of the stein as he tipped the liquid toward his mouth, sangyeon holding the burgundy liquid to make sure chanhee didn’t take an unfair shre. a loud bellow erupted from your stomach when chanhee’s expression morphed from curiosity to sheer disgust at the kitten lick of a sip he had taken. he turned to glare at you while taking the bottle of water from jacob’s rucksack to wash away the taste.

“I told you -- I don’t drink!” he exclaimed, playful eyerolls could be seen from left and right, even strangers in the queue enjoying the show.

“it’s not like we held you hostage and forced you to try it!” sangyeon countered, taking a large slurp from his drink. his eyes crinkled in slight disgust before his eyes widened as he stared at the liquid with fascination. a light giggle bubbled in your throat as you went to take a sip of your own.

you were perched on the end of a wooden table beside the tree, knees drawn to your body as you clutched the quickly evaporating warmth in the mug. you hadn’t even saved any for hyunjae. of course your thoughts would go straight to your best friend. you smitten fool.

your eyes became heavy with drowsiness as you watched kevin take pictures by the tree. they had found changmin and haknyeon as they wandered around aimlessly, stuffing their faces with powdered sweets. haknyeon stretched his arm out slightly to hold a candied strawberry in front of your face; your eyes widened slightly at the site and you took the sweet gratefully as he skipped back to the boys. the muffled silence drowned you as you sat by yourself, chin perched against your palm. you couldn’t help but let your thoughts wander to the boys that brightened your days.

in the distance, you noticed juyeon and younghoon giggling at the same game they hadn’t left since you arrived. not far behind them were eric and sunwoo; the redheaded boy looked around as if there were stars in his eyes… hood up to brace his features from the cold. eric chatted excitedly in his ear about one of his old family christmas traditions but his attention was focused on the strings of warm lights that hung above. distracted, you didn’t notice the first few toasted chestnuts that headed in your direction. it wasn’t until one landed softly in your lap, your gaze wandered your surroundings to find its owner. the rest of the boys were crowded around the tree, gleefully grinning as jacob captured their gentle expressions on his camera. kevin held his wine in front of the tree, phone camera at the ready to snap the perfect shot. but, none of them wanted your attention. your gaze shifted to the left where you noticed a familiar figure hiding behind the candy floss stall.

you were drawn in that direction.

you knew it was him before you even saw his face.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” you shouted, pretty much into the void, at the group. a barely visible thumbs up came from sangyeon who’s attention didn’t falter from the camera.

a chuckle escaped your lips as you wandered slowly toward the hidden rascal. he was delicately removing the shell of the next chestnut. you snuck up behind him, a cheeky grin washed over you automatically as a plan formulated in your head. tip toeing forward, your fingers stretched out as you neared his hoodie clad back, the fabric resting lightly against the top of his head. a quick countdown found you clinging tightly onto his back in an attempt to frighten him; a yelp sounded from your best friend as he dropped the remaining chestnuts from his clutches.

his hands flew up to clasp around your wrists. you didn’t miss the way his tense form faded away the moment he inhaled… did he recognise your scent? the same way you did his…

“you got me.”

his eyes crinkled as his head turned to face you, a smirk forming on his lips. the moment his eyes laid on your own they glistened in the most overwhelming way. each time you looked at him, with your face in such close proximity, you couldn’t help but feel warmth spread through your veins.

“I got you…” an intensity clouded his irises like the sweetest chocolate. your words had more of an impact than you had originally implied.

steadily, you unclasped your wrists from hyunjae’s warm fingers as you stepped down, feet placed firmly on the ground as you shyly grinned up at him.

“hi,” you chriped, the smile not leaving your lips for a moment.

“hey,” he whispered, eyes melting into yours.

without much thought, he intertwined your fingers snuggly with his own. leading you behind the stalls and into the unlit alley. you knew by the confidence in his walk that he had a plan up his sleeve. trailing behind him, your gaze was fixed on the smile that hadn’t left his lips. you couldn’t help but let your mind wander to the idea that he was enduring a similar inner conflict to your own. you weren’t just best friends any more.

you approached a dark, abandoned stall with a small ladder leading up to the roof. he stopped abruptly and looked down at you expectantly. his eyes flicked up to the roof and back to you… after you, his eyes said. his hands gripped lightly at your waist as he helped you up the ladder, fingers grazing delicately at the tshirt that rode up along with your sweater… his sweater.

it was the little things by now. years of small gestures that lit up the blood in your veins added fuel to the fire.

he wasn’t far behind you as you settled in, feet dangling over the edge of the unfinished stall, hyunjae settling closely beside you. your knees knocked against his, whether it was on purpose or not was a question left unanswered.

your eyes took in the sight before you; smiling children stuffing their faces with bratwurst, couples snuggled cosily in their pods on the ferris wheel -- the prime spot for a romantic evening -- and then your best friends. your eyes fell on all of them, messing around with eyes lit up like children on christmas morning. a smile washed over you subconsciously. they were the loves of your life -- every single one of them.

but your face was burning. the person that stole your heart without even realising wasn’t focusing on the flickering lights from below. a golden haze washed over his face, his features accentuated under the shadows. his eyes were boring into your own -- your skin of your cheeks could’ve melted at the intensity. his eyes were full of musical wonder.

“hey,” he whispered, again, face crinkling as his smile met his eyes.

“you’ve said that already,” you taunted, cheekily. a nudge against his shoulder to accentuate your joke.

“I know,” he paused. “my mind can’t come up with much more right now. I’m a little breathless.”

“right!” your focused drifted toward the festivities below you. “isn’t it incredible!”

it was his turn to pause. his fingers reached for your hand, intertwining with your own as he drew them into his lap. “yeah… it is.”

his tone brought you back to reality. you were sat here side by side, fingers intertwined delicately as his thumb grazed over the back of your hand. you noticed him exhale a shaky breath. your free hand lifted to brush the fallen strands away from his eyes as the wind blew softly. before you could withdraw your hand, hyunjae quickly clasped your wrist, pulling you closer to him, your noses brushing.

“jae?” it was your turn to release a shaky breath. you had tiptoed over “the line” for years now -- subtle touches, flirty jokes and much needed cuddles. but you had never been in this close... close enough to see the delicate bead of sweat that formed on the side of his neck. the lights from below highlighted his cheekbones in a subtle glitter.

he hummed in response, his attention focused not on your eyes, not on the fair below, but on your lips. his own plump lips forming a pout in temptation.

“jae…” you tried again.

his eyes fluttered closed at the plead in your voice. you didn’t know yourself whether it was an attempt to stop him, or, more likely, an urge for him to continue.

“I’m sorry,” his voice was strained, his fingers squeezing a bit tighter to reassure him that just because he closed his eyes, it doesn’t mean you disappeared.

you gravitated toward him. it wasn’t the holiday season, it wasn’t the subtle loneliness that sat with you throughout your unclaimed adolescence. you were never alone, because he was always there. even though it had shifted from being platonic, despite your hesitance, he was the one who you were drawn to no matter what.

his sweet gestures held more weight now. the way his eyes poured into yours lit a bundle of nerves that sat close to your stomach, releasing butterflies each time his eyes flickered between your own.

“don’t apologise,” your own eyes closed for a moment, inhaling deeply.

a brush of his nose against yours drew you back to reality, your eyes shooting open, blinking rapidly as your heart jolting in your chest. his breath fanned against your lips, your own doing the same.

a smile washed over his lips, eyes crinkling. “did you drink?”

“blame kevin, he bought it.”

he let out a chuckle as he nuzzled his nose against yours once more. comfort washed over you as you inhaled his warm scent, hints of cinnamon and musk.

“I’ll remember to thank him.” his smile was permanent now, it wasn’t disappearing for good.

“thank him?” you questioned, eyebrow quirking. the proximity heating your cheeks by the minute.

“I don’t think you would’ve agreed to have been here with me right now if you didn’t have a little liquid luck.”

you hummed, a giggle greeting your lips as they brushed over his. his eyes hadn’t flickered from your lips, waiting for the perfect moment. but as the wave of confidence took over, he realised that any moment with you was the perfect moment. as long as you were there, it would always be perfect.

he closed the small space and captured your lips with his in a delicate kiss. emotions that you had both swallowed throughout your friendship poured into it with such intensity it made your head spin. his head titled to deepen the kiss, his arms sliding up as his palm cupped your jaw tenderly, yours wrapping around his neck; your thoughts couldn’t wander far from your reality. as he pulled you to fit snuggly against him, your body moulded perfectly against his. his once cold fingers now sparked at each touch against your skin.

he pulled away for a moment only to place gentle kisses along your jawline to the sweetspot below your ear. he peppered kisses on every feature that he loved about you, careful to remember that you were still in the public eye, even though you were flying high in the sky at this moment. his forehead pressed against yours as he sighed in content. the moment you had been waiting finally became a reality; your hands coming up to hold his face in your hands, echoing his sigh.

your thoughts drew back to the inquisition of changmin and haknyeon earlier this evening, “they were right.”

he drew back slightly, careful not to let your palms drop from his face, with a questioning eyebrow raise, “who was right?”

you grinned widely at his jealous tone as you pulled him back in for another kiss. faint echoes cheers came from below as you moved away from his lips to find the commotion. your best friends were pointing and brightly squealing at what they had just witnessed, beaming smiles prevalent on all of their faces. a low groan escaped hyunjae’s throat as he attempted to hide in the crook of your neck, a familiar feeling washing over you as the shy smile made its way back onto your lips.

it didn’t stop his fingers from intertwining with your own again, though. and once the commotion had subsided, he pulled out a festive box filled with heart shaped chocolates, popping one into his mouth before giving in at your childish pout.

neither of you had felt as whole as you did in that moment... just above the lights.

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TO. the boyz

thank you for everything. you are the best thing that ever happened to me -- you are the reason I smile daily, along with so many other theb. you are a family that welcomes anyone with open arms. I hope it stays this way forever.

you deserve every happiness and I hope you know how much you mean to us all. always remember deobis love you.

I love you all so so so much.

A/N: thank you for celebrating the boyz third anniversary with me! I hope you enjoyed :’)

#오래도록_빛날_더보이즈의_3주년 #3YearsWithTHEBOYZ @WE_THE_BOYZ @Creker_THEBOYZ

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