It's Just A Picture (BL)

The fact that they looked exactly alike amazed me and without a word, I took up my little camera and took a picture of them.

They both stared at me with no expression on their faces and no words said.

I realized what I had done and quickly apologized.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You two looked so pretty and I like pretty things, so..." I felt awkward by the silence.

Their gazes were sharp, staring at me. Did I make them unhappy by taking a picture without their permission? Would they tell their father on me?

What if Grandma gets fired because of me?

So many random thoughts started playing in my head and I started blaming my stupid impulse when one of them said,

"You said... Pretty?"

"Uh, yes." I said and noticed his green eyes glimmer. "You're so pretty."

"Me too." The other boy pointed at himself. "Am I pretty?"

"Yes, you're both pretty." I said and suddenly started laughing. "So adorable."

As soon as I said that, they both seemed to have found something they liked and the corners of their lips twitched as if itching to curl up into a smile.

"I'm Lee Dongwoo." I quickly introduced myself, stretching out my hand for a handshake.

"Lee ... Do-dong-woo?"

"Yes, that's it." I said, feeling excited.

Just as I noticed earlier, it seemed like they were not very familiar with the language. Well, they looked more like foreigners and that fascinated me even more.

"Too hard." The one with the green eyes said, shaking his head. "Me... Lorenzo."

"Matteo."

They both introduced themselves and suddenly huddled together as if discussing something amongst themselves.

Lorenzo and Matteo, that was going to be a little difficult to call.

'They must be Italian. I heard Italians were the ones who had such names.' I thought to myself and they both ended their discussion and turned to me. Lorento pointed at me and said,

"Dongwoo might be a bit difficult to remember so..."

"You'll be Lorento." He declared which surprised me.

"Lorento?" I tilted my head. Hmm, coming out of my mouth, it actually sounded easy to pronounce but my tongue had a problem twisting correctly so I laughed. "Alright, I'll be Lorento."

They looked pleased as I accepted the name they gave me.

"And in return, I'll give you two names that I find comfortable calling. How's that?" I asked and their faces seemed to twitch a bit in excitement.

They drew near and I stared at them both.

Wow, I should've thought that through first. Giving a name wasn't easy, even if it was on a whim.

"Hm, how about we call you Seojin." I said to the one with green eyes. "And you'll be Seojun."

"What does...?"

"... It mean?"

They both asked.

"Seojin means precious and Seojun means ruler." I patted their heads. "So together, you're both precious rulers."

They seemed to like the name a lot as their expressionless faces brightened a bit.

They were little angles, honestly. So cute.

Suddenly, they both held my hand and said,

"Play."

"Oh, you want me to play with you?" I smiled. "Sure. I'll play with you."

They were so young. They were 11 and I was 15. I was 4 years older than them. Taller too. So it felt like I was responsible for them.

I was in middle school but didn't have any friends. These two were my only friends and from that day, I frequently visited. I never got to see their father because he was always away so I was always comfortable with them.

I spent two years with them. They learned the meaning of Hyung and decided to call me that instead since it meant we were very close.

And also because there was no one else calling me that.

They grew to like me more and more as the days passed, grew dependent on me, and gave me things I never even asked for.

Just to make it fair, I made sure to teach them to speak Korean fluently. It seems like they stayed in Italy since they were born and only came to Korea when they were 9.

During those times, I was happy. So happy that I failed to realize that happiness was always short-lived with me. Because of me, so many bad things tend to happen.

Drunken with this new happiness and companions, I failed to tear myself away and stop a misfortune from happening.

*****

I typed away on my laptop and paused. Remembering the past only brought back nostalgia and a bit of heartache.

'I'll fill the form quickly and submit it.' I thought to myself. 'Thank God my laptop was in my backpack. I don't know what I would've done otherwise.'

Seojin permitted me to use his picture so I was in the process of editing and submitting it.

I stared at the picture once more. It was truly a masterpiece.

These two were honestly photogenic. The camera loved them. It was the same back then and it's the same even now.

I reached out to press the keys on my laptop but tossed, closed my eyes, and sighed,

"Can you please stop staring?" I asked and opened my eyes, looking at the two who were sitting on the couch opposite me and staring intently.

"Oh, my bad. Are we distracting you?" Seojin asked.

I sat back and rubbed the back of my neck.

They were a handful, honestly. Why did they even like me so much? It wasn't like it had anything to do with romantic feelings but after so many years... Shouldn't they have moved on from the familiar affection they had for me?

I shut my eyes again.

'If they both knew I was gay, would they stir clear from me? Will they finally hate me like they should? They would be disgusted but that's better than having to take in their friendly selves and ruin their future.' I peeped at them. 'That aside, they don't even know what they're doing to my poor heart with their beautiful smiles.'

I shoved my fingers through my hair, feeling awful.

'I'm such a horrible person for thinking that way about them.' I lowered my head. 'Gosh, I must be mad. They think of me as their Hyung while I... '

I sighed and raised my head only to find Seojin's face right in front of me, only an inch apart and he asked,

"What's wrong?"

"Ahh." I shuttered back in fright. Why was he so close? Our lips almost touched.

"Did I scare you? My bad." He said but he didn't look like he was apologetic at all. At least, not with that smile.

"Lorenzo, Hyung will fall if you scare him like that." He said. "You have to approach him slowly."

"Teach me what I don't know, Matteo." Seojin folded his arms.