withstand the winds of time
pairings: hyunghyuk, side showho genre: fluff, angst, growing up au, rated t warnings: underage drinking, drunken kissing, homophobia words: 832
summary: Minhyuk once described him like a willow.
Tall and thin and always threatening to snap in half if a particularly strong wind happened to pass by, but Hyungwon has never really taken any stock in Minhyuk's musings.
Tall and thin and always threatening to snap in half if a particularly strong wind happened to pass by, but Hyungwon has never really taken any stock in Minhyuk's musings.
Minhyuk once described him like a willow.
Tall and thin and always threatening to snap in half if a particularly strong wind happened to pass by, but Hyungwon has never really taken any stock in Minhyuk's musings.
Hyungwon, though being the younger of the two, has never really known Minhyuk for being serious or for acting his age most of the time. Minhyuk is a bright ball of energy, something that used to piss Hyungwon off when they first met, but eventually, after a little prodding from Minhyuk, he managed to get over his initial aversion to the boy and let him into his life.
Slowly, they had become friends and even more slowly they became lovers. Hyungwon had never actually planned on letting his feelings for the elder show until Minhyuk had gotten drunk one night in their junior year of high school and kissed Hyungwon at the party they were at.
A very sober, very timid Hyungwon had kissed him right back and then pulled away when he realized that Minhyuk wasn't in the right state of mind to really consent to anything. Even something as simple as a kiss was pushing it.
So Hyungwon had backed off and let Hyunwoo take Minhyuk home, much too afraid of what he may have done with such an eager and willing Minhyuk hanging off his neck. And then the next day, Minhyuk acted like he had no memory of anything ever happening and Hyungwon eventually let that go too, much too invested in their friendship to let one drunken kiss ruin it.
They continued as such for some time after that, neither of them all too willing to make a move or to even acknowledge what they both knew. It took Hyunwoo and Hoseok's persistence and, thankfully, less alcohol for them to finally to sit down and discuss what had been going on between them since that fateful night back in high school.
Of course, they hadn't immediately begun dating either. Instead, Hyungwon insisted that they talk first and that the rest would follow if it really was meant to be. Minhyuk had readily agreed and they began flirting while they texted, learning new things about each other that their adolescent friendship hadn't had the chance to show them before.
Minhyuk likes cuddling and holding hands and he adores being the big spoon. Hyungwon had no qualms with any of these new developments and by their senior year in college, he and Minhyuk had moved into an apartment together. Hyunwoo and Hoseok came over often and it wasn't until Hyunwoo texted Hyungwon to help him get an anniversary gift for Hoseok did Hyungwon realize that his two older friends had been together for years and he had somehow never noticed it before.
His head must've been so far up Minhyuk's ass that he had missed this important and crucial piece of information. Minhyuk, admittedly, had thrown a bigger fit than Hyungwon thought him possible, but Minhyuk has always managed to surprise him where it counts the most really.
And maybe that's why life has been so well with Minhyuk. They got married a few months ago, when same-sex marriage had finally been legalized, and they had timed their wedding so that it wouldn't coincide with that of their friends'.
The wedding had been spectacular and everyone who had mattered to them came. Everyone that is except for Hyungwon's father.
Hyungwon always knew that his father had only been tolerant of Hyungwon's sexuality because there hadn't been a possibility of Hyungwon actually marrying another man, thus ensuring that one way or another, his son would end up with a woman who would bear his grandchildren and continue the family line. But once the situation had presented itself where Hyungwon really could marry Minhyuk, he took it with both hands and never looked back.
His father hadn't came, and his mother long since dead had only been present in spirit. Minhyuk hadn't left his side that day and had insisted that they leave earlier than what was planned just so that they could hide out in their car in a parking lot somewhere while Hyungwon cried before they drove to the airport to get on a flight for their honeymoon.
And while Hyungwon sometimes misses his father, he knows he would never have chosen the lifestyle his father had planned for him. Not when Minhyuk exists and especially not when Minhyuk loves him without any reservations.
Minhyuk had told him during their honeymoon that Hyungwon was still a willow. Tall and thin, but if a particularly strong wind were to pass by, Hyungwon wouldn't threaten to snap in half. Instead, Hyungwon would move with the wind, following its flow and intensity just to make sure that above all, he perseveres and continues on with life just as he had been and just as he will continue to do.
Especially with Minhyuk - his lover, husband and other half all rolled into one - by his side.









