"Are you nervous?" Jaejoong glances at his mother who is busy fixing his tie and nodded. Not because of the wedding, he wants to say. It is for an entirely different reason. Beside him, his cousin Yoochun notices his anxiety and squeezes his arm for comfort, but even that does nothing to ease his worries.

He is only able to breathe a sigh of relief as soon as his mother successfully walks out of the door, a huge smile on her face. Right then and there, Jaejoong wants to run after her and apologise, but he knows he couldn't if he does not want to ruin his great escape. He does not want this. The wedding is something he is forced in. He did not even know who his wife to be was until a few days ago. She is lovely, to say the least, but the best he could offer her is friendship.

Everyone knows his heart belongs to someone else already. Though no matter how much he fights for it, for their love, it is not enough to convince his parents that what he has with his other half is something real. That Yunho is real and would make him happier than any girl ever could. He tried to make them understand, he really did, but he's had enough.

Jaejoong clenches his fists. He loves his parents dearly, but right now, his and Yunho's happiness are the most important. For so long, he has given them the right to dictate what he should do and not do with his life. Just not when it comes to the matters of the heart. Six years ago, he started dating Yunho behind their backs only to be found out a year later. Naturally, they were against it, but Jaejoong's feelings for Yunho was too intense that none of the verbal and emotional torture his parents put him through got him giving up. He loves Yunho too much to let their get to him.

"I support you." Looking up in surprise, he finds Yoochun smiling at him. "I know you're going to run away. I heard you one time..." Yoochun explains. "You were talking to him. Jaejoong hyung, I just want you to be happy and you are the happiest when with him."

"Yoochun-"

"Go," He blinks, not quite sure what his cousin means. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop that night. You had a messy plan, I'm not going to deny that. So I figured I should take the matters into my hands. I love you hyung." Jaejoong knows tears are already streaming down his cheeks, but he could not be bothered to wipe them dry, to overwhelmed to do so. "I can't bear seeing you go through this loveless marriage that would do nothing but tear you apart. So go. Get inside the groom's car and the driver will take you to him."

"Yoochun-"

"I know. I'm the best." His cousin chuckles and he wants nothing more than to envelope him in a tight hug. And so he does.

"I love you too, Yoochunah." Jaejoong whispers, his face buried on Yoochun's neck. "I'm going to make it up to you as soo-"

"Just be happy, hyung. Please be happy with him."

"I will be. I promise to call you once we've settled. I don't know how or where, but we'll find a way. Thank you." With one final squeeze, he lets Yoochun go and heads to the car that will take him to the love of his life.

He owes Yoochun his life.






As promised, the driver takes him to the bus stop. The car does not even make it to a full stop and he already sprints out of it. His face would have kissed the pavement if not for the familar arms that catches him and pulls him in a hug.

"You look good." He chuckles. Trust Yunho to compliment him on his wedding day.

"And so do you."

"You're just saying that. We both know I-"

Jaejoong presses a finger to his lips and shakes his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. You always look good to me." Standing on his tippy toes, he plants a kiss on his lover's chapped lips. He smiles and shakes his head, fishing out a lip balm from his pocket and smothers some on Yunho's lips. "You never use the balm I gave you." he scolds very lightly and promptly pecks him on the lips for the second time. "There, all better."

Their fingers are intertwined when the bus stops in front of them. They both step inside without a particular place in mind.

"Wherever this takes us." Yunho whispers in his ear. He could only swallow a sob as he understands the deeper meaning behind those words.





They arrive at Donghae three hours and a half later, freezing cold and starving. Hand in hand, they stroll around the unfamiliar place until they spot a convenience store. Yunho hates instant food and as much as he wants to feed him something decent, he has no means to do so at the moment. "Later." he tells him. Later when they find a temporary place to stay at. He will cook him a feast, that's for sure.

"See that wasn't so bad." He chuckles at the sulky Yunho when they step out of the store, stomachs no longer growling for food.

"I know." replies Yunho. "I just wanted to eat your homecooked meals as much as I could. You know, to stuff myself up until it's time to go."

Jaejoong hits him on the arm. "Shut up. I don't want to talk about that." He would continue to berate Yunho for saying such words if not for the car that stops in front of them. The lovers look at each other, having the same thought in mind. Now they aren't bad people but desperate times call for desperate measures. They have to survive. As soon as the driver of the car steps out, the couple waits for him to step inside the convenience store before hastily getting in the temporarily abandoned car.

"Hey he practically gave us a free pass to steal his car when he didn't even turn the engine off." Yunho comments as he drives away. "."

He replies with a smile and reaches out to take Yunho's hand in his. "Yunhoyah, take us to the beach."

"Okay, my love."





The beach is therapeutic.

Both are silently grateful that not many people are present. Jaejoong never liked crowds. Sitting in between Yunho's legs, Jaejoong leans back against his lover's broad chest as they watch the sunset.

"I need to undergo chemotherapy in two weeks." Yunho mutters after a long moment of silence. Jaejoong could already feel his eyes sting but he tries his hardest to blink back his tears. He hums in response. "Dr. Shim told me I can fight this."

"He's right." He wants to give himself a pat on the back for keeping his voice stable. He cannot show Yunho that he's scared. He has to be strong, not just for him, but for both of them.

It hasn't been long since Yunho was diagnosed with Leukemia which came as an utter shock to both of them. Hereditary, the doctor told them. While his mother was free of the illness, one of his uncles wasn't.

If it broke Jaejoong, it broke Yunho even more. Both were in denial for quite some time and the gravity of the situation only hit them when Yunho's uncle passed away barely a month after they were delivered the bad news.

"I'm almost bald and it feels like I'm enlisting in the military all over again."

"Bald or not, sick or not, thin or not, I still love you." Jaejoong says firmly. As if to prove the intensity of his love, he slips his hand on his pocket and takes it out, fists clenched. He feels Yunho's hands around his middle tighten a little which urges him to open his fist that reveals two silver rings.

Yunho gasps. "What-"

He does not reply and instead, he takes the smaller ring - because Yunho's fingers have become thinner from the sickness - and slowly slips it in Yunho's ring finger. "I, Kim Jaejoong, promise to love you and be with you for as long as I live. No matter what happens, I will never let you go." A soft kiss is pressed on to the rather bony finger and he tilts his head a little to look at his boyfriend who is smiling through his tears.

That triggers the endless flow of his tears. He does not bother to make himself stop sobbing as Yunho takes the bigger ring in his hand and slips it in his finger. "And I, Jung Yunho, cannot promise anything but as long as I am breathing, my heart will only beat for you. My first and last love."

Jaejoong finally throws himself at Yunho, embracing him so tight as if he is scared that if he doesn't hold him tight enough, he will slip through his fingers. Yunho hugs him back with as much intensity.

"We should name our child Donghae." Yunho says out of the blue and it gets Jaejoong crying harder. He buries his face on the taller man's chest as they both lie on the sand, limbs tangled together. "When we adopt. I want him to be Donghae."

"He will grow up handsome and a heartbreaker."

"Yes. And when we get to save enough money, we will build a house near the beach. Our Donghae will love the beach, you know."

"Just like his daddy."

"So you're admitting you're the mommy?"

"Well, no, I can be the papa and you can be the daddy."

"Fair enough. I'm going to take cooking classes too and I'm going to be a better cook than you."

"That's fine. What else do you want, Yunhoyah?"

"You. Just you, Donghae and happiness."

They do not know what tomorrow would bring or how long Yunho will still be given the chance to live, to breathe, to physically be with him, but what they do know is that their feelings would never waver in sickness, in health and until death do them part. Physically, because their hearts would always beat for each other.