Taekwoon woke up pretty early that morning, since he had work early in the morning. He was working as a teacher in the kinder garden and he couldn't be happier about his job. He had always loved children and working every day there made him feel both happy and excited. Taekwoon let out a happy sigh, rubbed his eyes and slowly got up into sitting position, looking to his right where his lover was still soundly asleep. His heart filled with happiness and he smiled. Who knew that just being around Wonshik would make him so happy?

He and Wonshik met 8 years ago for the very first time. At that time, Wonshik was still a student and his part time job was a waiter in Taekwoon's favourite restaurant. The fact that Wonshik kept on watching him from afar didn't go unnoticed from Taekwoon's eyes. Wonshik never made it a secret that he was interested in him and before Taekwoon noticed it himself, the feelings were mutual. He kept on going to that restaurant more frequently, just to see him. Then one day, Wonshik finally gathered up enough courage and asked him out and they've been together ever since. And after years of dating, Wonshik finally asked Taekwoon to marry him, to which he of course said yes.

Taekwoon came a bit closer to the younger man and gently brushed some of the hair from his face, so that he could enjoy watching his sleeping face for a few moments before going of to work. Wonshik was rarely home, because his work required him to be from house a lot. But Taekwoon didn't mind it too much, because being in a relationship with an award winning scientist wasn't so bad. He chuckled when Wonshik frowned when his fingertips came in contact with his forehead and Taekwoon leaned down, brushing his lips gently against Wonshik's forehead.

As he did that, the younger male slowly opened his eyes and let out a loud yawn, making Taekwoon giggle. He felt bad that he woke Wonshik up, because he knew that the other one must've still been tired, since he came home pretty late last night. But on the other hand, he kind of hoped for the other one to wake up before he would leave.

“Good morning,” said the older one happily and buried his long fingers into Wonshik's hair, making him almost purr from the sensation and Taekwoon's smile widened when Wonshik yawned again, slowly opening his eyes.

“'Morning,” said Wonshik and then looked up at Taekwoon's face and smiled as well. He then looked around the room, searching for the clock. It was still pretty dark, so it must've still been very early. “What's the time?” he then asked in the end, because he couldn't locate the clock anywhere.

“It's six,” said Taekwoon.

“It's still early,” said Wonshik, yawning again. “Why have you woken up this early?”

“I woke up because I have this thing, called work,” said Taekwoon and his smile widened when he saw how Wonshik rolled his eyes.

“Don't go yet,” said Wonshik, grabbed Taekwoon's wrist and pulled Taekwoon back down. As Wonshik pulled his arm, Taekwoon lost his balance and fell back down onto the bed, landing on top of his lover and both of them burst into loud laughter. “Come on,” said the younger one then and placed his arms around Taekwoon's waist. “We barely see each other because of my stupid job, I miss you,” he said. “Can't you just call in that you're sick or something?”

Taekwoon smiled but shook his head. “You know that I can't do that.”

“But, Taekwoon!” whined Wonshik and gave Taekwoon one of his sweetest puppy-eyed look and in the end the older one just couldn't say no to his lover.

“Fine,” he said slowly. “I'll stay home for one extra hour, but then I'll have to go, understood?”

“Yes,” said Wonshik happily.

Wonshik then held Taekwoon closer to himself and turn themselves around, so that he was now the one who was laying on top of Taekwoon. He then leaned down and watched how Taekwoon closed his eyes. Wonshik allowed himself to stare at Taekwoon's full lips before finally closing the distance between them by pressing his lips on top of Taekwoon's. To Wonshik, Taekwoon was perfect, he still couldn't believe that the older male was his. He could still remember how nervous he was when he first asked Taekwoon out and then almost died because when he said yes. He still didn't know why Taekwoon said yes back then, because he was just a student. But then Wonshik promised to himself to work hard in life, because he wanted to become someone who Taekwoon would be proud to call his lover.

Wonshik placed his hand behind Taekwoon's neck and then pulled him even closer. Taekwoon, who was lying underneath him, placed his arms around Wonshik's waist and pulled him closer to himself. They both exchanged a few more kisses and it was Wonshik who broke their kiss. Taekwoon opened his eyes and curiously looked up to the younger one.

“I can't wait for us to get finally married,” murmured Wonshik and Taekwoon's entire body heated up when the other one said that.

“Me too,” said Taekwoon happily. “I love you so much, Wonshik-ah.”

Wonshik didn't say anything. Instead, he crushed their lips together and put his strong arms around Taekwoon's body and held him tightly to himself. He loved him too, so much that it hurt. Taekwoon meant everything to him. Was there even a point to how much you can love another human being? “Same here,” whispered Wonshik and chuckled when Taekwoon buried his face into the crook of his neck and then started showering in with feather light kisses.

“You know, I was thinking,” said Wonshik and the other one looked at him curiously to what he was going to tell him. “I know how much you want to be a dad and have children... So after the wedding, we could adopt or-”

“Seriously?” asked Taekwoon, interrupting Wonshik. His heart fluttered with joy when he heard Wonshik say that. It was true that he loved children and being a father would mean the world to Taekwoon, but he kind of gave up on that wish because he knew that Wonshik never was too keen on having kids. “B-but I thought that you didn't want to have any.”

“Well, I changed my mind as you can see,” said Wonshik and smiled because he knew that he had just made Taekwoon very happy. “I would like to have a pair of children running around the house,” he then added.

“I would love that too,” said Taekwoon and then hugged Wonshik tighter. “Thank you,” he then whispered into Wonshik's ear, making him chuckle.

The two of them spent quite a few more minutes lying in the bed, cuddling and enjoying each other's presence. It wasn't until Taekwoon got up and notice that it was already really late and he knew that he should get going to work. He quickly left the bed, got ready and then returned to the bedroom, to say his goodbyes to Wonshik.

“Aw, you're really going then,” said Wonshik kind of disappointed, because he thought that he managed to win Taekwoon over with his aegyo from before. He then pouted, but in the end he dragged his tired body out of the bed and followed Taekwoon to the entrance door.

“When are you coming home today, Wonshik?” asked Taekwoon.

“I'm not quite sure yet, but I will be late. We're currently working on a very important discovery and well... they do need me there,” said Wonshik and scratched the back of his head. Even though he loved his job, it did kind of knowing that Taekwoon spent most of the days alone in the house. Taekwoon never complained about it, but Wonshik knew him well enough to know that he was lonely without him around. “I'm sorry.”

“Why are you apologising? Of course they need you, you are the best,” said Taekwoon and then winked. “It's okay. I'll wait for you here to come back then,” added Taekwoon.

“Okay,” said Wonshik, placed his fingers under Taekwoon's chin, pulled his face closer and gave him a soft kiss. “Have a great day at work then,” he said. “I love you.”

“You too, have fun,” said Taekwoon and smiled into their kiss. He then opened the door and turned around to Wonshik one last time, waving to him. “Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

Later that day, Wonshik finally got himself ready to go to work as well. He knew that he was going to have a long and hard day at work, but that didn't matter to him at all, because he knew that in the end of it, he was going to see Taekwoon. The other one promised him to wait for him to return and Wonshik couldn't be happier, because usually Taekwoon was already asleep by the time that he came back home.

Even though work was quite difficult, Wonshik didn't really care because his team was on a verge of discovering something that would completely change the lives of people. Wonshik and two of his other friends, Hakyeon and Hongbin were making a device that would allow people to travel through time, a time machine basically. Even though it seemed impossible a few years ago, when they started working on this device, the trio was convinced that they were really close to making the thing actually work and Wonshik couldn't be more excited.

By the time that Wonshik was over with his work for that day, it was already really late and when he looked at the clock, his eyes widened when he saw that it was close to 10 pm already and he let out a silent curse. He really was annoyed with himself for leaving Taekwoon to be home alone all the time. He was rubbish and he really did wonder why on Earth was Taekwoon still with him. But in the end, it didn't really matter to him and he knew that Taekwoon would never leave him. However, something did seem a bit strange to Wonshik that day. Throughout the whole day, Taekwoon didn't send him one single text. That was a bit strange to Wonshik, because the other one would constantly text him. In the end, Wonshik came to the conclusion that Taekwoon must've been really busy. Maybe he was preparing for their wedding, or maybe he prepared something special for him at home?! Because of that, Wonshik decided not to think too much about it because he didn't want to be paranoid about every single thing.

With a smile on his face, Wonshik got into his car and drove off home, his heart fluttering with happiness because he was finally going to be able to see his fiancée. Wonshik chuckled and his whole body warmed up because he was so happy that he was finally able to call Taekwoon that. He knew that their wedding was going to be perfect.

But when he finally reached home, he noticed that something was strange and he furrowed his eyebrows. At first, it seemed really strange to Wonshik that house looked really dark. Even though Taekwoon would go to sleep, he would always keep the lights switched on for Wonshik, just to let him know that he was home and so that the other one wouldn't worry. Wonshik pushed his lips together and his hold on the steering wheel tightened a little bit.

Was Taekwoon not home? Maybe he went out drinking with his friend Jaehwan? Did something else happen?

Wonshik quickly shook his head, trying to remain calm because he knew that there was a completely logical explanation for why the lights were switched off. Taekwoon was probably just really tired when he came back home and he just fell asleep without switching the lights on. However, when Wonshik was about to park his car, anxiety started kicking in again because the space where Taekwoon's car was supposed to be parked was empty and at that point Wonshik knew that Taekwoon wasn't home, which was strange. If he had some plans to go somewhere, he would tell him.

The man quickly got out of his car and almost ran to the house. He tried to open the door, but it was locked and Wonshik's chest tightened. He cleared his throat and quickly unlocked the door, practically running inside.

“Taekwoon, are you home?” he tried, but he knew that it was kind of pointless since the other one wasn't home.

The next thing that Wonshik did was search every room of their house, just to see if he really was alone in it. When he saw that Taekwoon was nowhere to be seen, Wonshik's heart fell to the pit of his stomach and he felt sick. He looked at the clock and when he saw that it was already 11 pm, the panic only started raising. Then a thought hit Wonshik... did Taekwoon decide to leave him?!

No, he wouldn't... would he?!

Wonshik was immediately on his legs and he went to the bedroom, to see if Taekwoon's things were still there. He was shocked to see that all of Taekwoon's stuff was still there and he then sat onto the bed, trying to clear his thoughts. It didn't make any sense why Taekwoon wasn't home. His stuff was still there, so then... where was he?

Wonshik quickly took his phone into his hand and typed a short text to Taekwoon, saying 'Hey, where are you? It's really late and I'm beginning to freak out.' Wonshik then went back into the living room and he decided to watch TV, because he needed to keep himself busy since the whole waiting thing was driving him mad. However, watching TV didn't really help, because he kept on looking to his phone, in hope that Taekwoon would reply to him, but he had no such luck. He tried calling him, but Taekwoon's phone went straight to voice mail and in the end Wonshik gave up on calling him. But still, he just couldn't stay still, so Wonshik just kept on sending texts to Taekwoon, even though he knew that he wouldn't receive a reply.

'Come on I am really worried now. Did something happen? Where are you?'

'You know how much I hate it when you don't reply to me. Come on, I love you. If something happened, we can talk about it. Please!'

“Just come back home.”

“Please reply to me. Taekwoon, where are you?”

“Please... I am begging you.”

“!” said Wonshik and threw his phone onto the couch, because he knew that it was useless. Wonshik then looked at the clock once again and his eyes widened when he saw that it was already past midnight. At that point, Wonshik was really worried and his fear only worsened when he took a glance at the TV screen and saw that the news were showing a building, which looked really familiar to the place where Taekwoon worked at.

Wonshik straightened himself up and took a closer look at it. No, it really was the kinder garden where Taekwoon worked at. At that realisation all of the colour left Wonshik's face because the caption on the screen said ''An accident happened in front of the kinder garden, one person died.''. Wonshik froze and then his hand automatically grabbed the remote control and Wonshik raised volume up, so that he could hear what really happened there.

“Today, at 9 am, a horrible accident happened in front of the kinder garden,” said the reporter. “Luckily, thanks to a very brave teacher none of the children were hurt.”

“Oh thank god,” whispered Wonshik and let out a deep sigh. However, his heart then stopped yet again. Didn't that caption say that someone died? So if the children were okay then...? Wonshik suddenly felt sick down to his stomach. He felt how his stomach twisted when he saw Taekwoon's car on the screen. The car was okay, but it was parked in the middle of the road and something was definitely off about that. “B-but Taekwoon wasn't hurt.. I-I mean he c-can't be... he's just-”

“The fact that children are safe is thanks to the very special teacher, as we mentioned before. However,” said the reported and made a short pause. With horror in his eyes, Wonshik watched how the woman's face got really serious. “There was one person that got hurt and later passed away. The whole incident happened when the children were getting ready to go on a field trip and were waiting for the bus in front of the kinder garden. Before the bus got there, a drunken driver appeared out of nowhere and drove towards the group of teachers and children. The driver almost injured some children, but thanks to the young man, a teacher, nothing happened to the children. However, as he tried to save the children, the driver ran over the young man,” went on by saying the reporter. “The man, who is believed that was the most liked teacher among the children and other staff, passed away later in the hospital.”

That was when Wonshik stopped listening to the reporter because he knew that Taekwoon wasn't coming back home. At the kinder garden, where Taekwoon worked, he was the only male teacher and that information was enough to let Wonshik know that his lover was dead.

At first, he didn't do anything. He just sat there, staring at the TV screen and not believing it. It couldn't be true. There was no way that Taekwoon had died. Wonshik didn't cry, he couldn't. All of his emotions were numb and he couldn't even think properly. The TV reporter suddenly started moving slower, why? And why couldn't he hear her? He could clearly see that she was moving her lips, so that meant that she was speaking. Instead, Wonshik could hear the sound of his racing heart and his rapid breathing.

“Taekwoon's dead,” whispered Wonshik and made a short pause. Saying that felt weird, it didn't sound right. It was like Wonshik couldn't really grasp the real meaning of those words. “He's dead.”

Wonshik kept on repeating this sentence over and over again in his head. He wanted to understand it, he wanted to feel something. But he couldn't, he was just empty. He then felt how coldness started creeping into his heart and he got up onto his legs. He couldn't sit still anymore, he needed to do something. The man then started walking around in circles and was still repeating ''Taekwoon's dead'' over and over in his head.

He couldn't be dead! There was no way! Wonshik knew that the other one was just going to walk through the door any time soon. Wonshik's eyes looked towards the door, because he just wanted to make sure. Maybe he didn't see it right; maybe the accident happened at some other kinder garden. It couldn't just... Taekwoon just wasn't dead, period. A picture of Taekwoon laying in the coffin came in front of Wonshik's face and he just had to sit down. He felt sick, he needed to throw up.

Wonshik got onto his legs and practically ran into the bathroom. He needed to calm down! He looked himself in the mirror and almost couldn't recognise himself anymore. That person staring back at him couldn't be him! He felt sick again and he ran to the toilet, emptying his stomach in it. As he was done, he rinsed his mouth and then went back into the living room and looked around it. It suddenly felt so empty and cold.

He then looked at the TV screen again and Wonshik's eyes widened when he saw pictures of children carrying small banners, thanking Jung Taekwoon because he managed to save them. So, it really was Taekwoon. And that was when all of Wonshik's emotions came rushing back into his body and he just collapsed, falling onto his knees. It only then hit him that Taekwoon wasn't coming back home to him. He wouldn't able to see his smiling face, he wouldn't be able hold him in his arms ever again.

Taekwoon was gone.

A loud scream left Wonshik's mouth and then tears started rolling down his face. It hurt, it hurt so ing much. He suddenly felt how his lungs lacked air and he started gasping for it, but he failed every time. Why? They were supposed to get married, they would be so happy together. Wonshik's crying and yelling got louder as he was still struggling for air.

“No, no, no,” said Wonshik in between the sobs. “Oh god... why?”

What broke Wonshik's heart even more was the fact that he didn't know it until now. He wasn't there for Taekwoon when he was fighting for his life, Taekwoon was all alone when he left this world. Wonshik cursed himself for paying more attention to his work and not to Taekwoon. Maybe then he could do something about it! Wonshik felt how a sudden rage started building up and he just stood up, walked over to the desk, where he kept his things for his work, and threw all of them onto the floor. But he was far from being done.

Books kept flying off the shelves, glasses breaking. It wasn't until Wonshik was completely exhausted and he fell back onto the floor. He brought his legs up and he hugged his knees, burying his face into them and he then just cried. For the next hour or so, the only thing that was heard in the room was Wonshik's loud sobbing and begging Taekwoon to come back. Suddenly, someone knocked onto the entrance door and Wonshik lifted his head. It was probably the police.

He then got onto his legs and walked over to the door, opening it. He didn't even look at two men who were standing in front of them. He kept looking down on the floor, tears still streaming down his face.

“Sir we-” started a young man, but the older policeman stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

“He knows already,” he whispered. “Sir, we're sorry for your loss,” he then said and looked at Wonshik.

“I want to see him,” whispered Wonshik.

“This is exactly why we're here. We would like to-”

“W-where is he?”

“He's still in the hospital, sir,” said the younger one quietly.

“Can you take me to him, please?”

“But-”

“Yes,” said the older male. “You may come with us, we'll take you there.”

“T-thank you,” whispered Wonshik and then followed the two men to their car. Wonshik felt how his legs were really weak and he could barely walk. He didn't even know why he said that, he just wanted to see him one last time. He wanted to say goodbye.

On their way to the hospital, Wonshik kept hugging his trembling body and silently crying in the back of the car. Neither of the men spoke, they kept silent because they knew that Wonshik would prefer it that way. When they finally arrived, they took Wonshik to the room where Taekwoon was still in and then left. Wonshik saw that Taekwoon's family was already there and he almost broke again. He was glad, Taekwoon wasn't alone when he passed away.

Taekwoon's sisters were crying, his parents as well. When they saw him, they didn't say anything. It wasn't a surprise to Wonshik, since they have always hated him. But much to his surprise all of them left the room and Wonshik's eyes went to the bed where someone was lying. He couldn't see the person's face because it was covered, but he knew that it was Taekwoon. With shaky legs, he slowly went closer. He then pulled the cover off of Taekwoon's face, his eyes wattering again and his lower lip started shaking. It felt so surreal, it looked like Taekwoon was just sleeping and he just wanted to go out and yell at them that they were wrong, that he wasn't really dead.

Taekwoon's eyes were closed and when he touched his cheek, he left out a loud sob. His cheek was so cold and Wonshik placed a hand over his own mouth to control his breathing. He sat down and gently took Taekwoon's cold hand into his own.

“Oh god, please tell me that this is only a dream,” said Wonshik. Oh how much he wished that this was just a horrible nightmare. He was desperate to wake up, to see Taekwoon soundly asleep next to him. “Just open your eyes, please. Do this one thing for me Taekwoon and wake up,” he kept on talking as his entire body was shaking uncontrollably. “Don't be dead... please.”

Wonshik would do everything just to have one last day with Taekwoon. He was angry with himself that he couldn't say goodbye to him. If he could just turn back the time then he could... Oh wait! An idea popped into Wonshik's mind and he was immediately on his legs. Turning back the time, wasn't so impossible anymore, now was it?

He knew that the device wasn't going to be ready for at least a couple of years, but still he couldn't lose hope. If he could manage to complete that machine then he could meet Taekwoon again and make things right! And that was exactly what Wonshik promised himself to do. He went closer to Taekwoon again and leaned down, pressing his lips against Taekwoon's cold ones.

“I promise to save you,” said Wonshik with tears in his eyes. “You'll see, I'll see you again Taekwoon really soon, I promise,” he then added and covered his face again.

To be continued...