“I’m going to miss you.”

Sungyeol sighed nostalgically as he pressed a smile onto his face to show Dongwoo. His side of the room was currently cleaned up and empty. All of his clothes were packed into his suitcase and the sheets had been stripped from his bed. It looked as if he was never there.

He went over to give Dongwoo a big hug. “I’m going to miss you a lot too. You were such a great friend to have here in Rome.”

Dongwoo grinned as he embraced him tightly. “It was my pleasure. Thanks for letting me take you out to dinner last night. I’m sure Myungsoo must have wanted to do something together for your last night.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sungyeol chuckled. “I wanted to spend my last night with the person who welcomed me first.”

“Aw, don’t talk like that, you’re going to make me cry,” Dongwoo whined. He mocked a tear and laughed when Sungyeol punched his arm. “But I really will miss you, Sungyeol. You’re one of my only Korean friends I made while abroad. I’m so glad we got to meet the way we did!”

Sungyeol smiled brightly. “Me too! You have to come visit me in Korea, okay? We can meet over the summer!”

“Definitely!” Dongwoo agreed. “I’ll even book my flight tonight and message you when I’m visiting! It’ll be nice to go back to Korea with a different reason other than my boyfriend,” he laughed.

“I’d love that!” Sungyeol said excitedly. “Maybe you could even stay in my room for a couple months.”

“Oh, yes, and I’ll go in there and make out with my boyfriend too.”

“Dongwoo!” He could feel his face flush from the words. “That was one time, okay? Just once!”

Dongwoo smirked as he lifted up one of Sungyeol’s duffel bags. “As in, I only caught you once. I can only imagine how many times you guys did it without me catching you.”

Sungyeol groaned as he fanned at his heated cheeks. “Whatever, okay, it’s not even relevant anymore. Let’s just get going before I miss my flight, alright?”

“Okay,” Dongwoo sang, carrying his bag out.

Sungyeol shook his head as he pulled his suitcase behind him. He smiled though – he would really miss Dongwoo.

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When Sungyeol had arrived at the airport, the first thing he was greeted with was Myungsoo. Myungsoo had been waiting there patiently in the lobby with a box in his arms. The minute he spotted Sungyeol, he had placed the box on the floor and had run straight into his arms to embrace him.

“Cucciolo,” he whined into his neck. “Don’t leave me, Sungyeol.”

The taller simply hugged him back and kissed his temple. “I’m sorry, goyangi,” he whispered. “But I had to go back sooner or later.”

Myungsoo gripped him harder. “Can’t it be later? I feel like we just started dating and now you’re leaving me.”

“We’ll see each other again, I promise! We’re already going to call each other and video chat. It’s almost the same,” he tried to say.

“It’s not the same.” Myungsoo pouted. “Because I won’t get to be there to kiss you and hug you all the time like I can now. I’ll make sure to call you whenever I can.”

“Me too,” Sungyeol replied with a happy grin. “And we have to Skype every Friday, okay? Promise!”

Myungsoo nodded eagerly. “I definitely promise. I’ll let you talk to my cousins sometimes too! I know Davide will want to say hi from time to time.”

“And I can let you meet my family through the calls,” Sungyeol added excitedly. “See, long distance won’t be so bad.” He smiled at Myungsoo warmly. “It’ll make meeting each other again feel so good.”

“That’s true…” Myungsoo leaned into his touch and kissed his ear. “I won’t be able to touch you though and that’s torture.”

“Hey lovebirds,” Dongwoo piped up, nudging them. “I know you two are going to miss each other a lot, but we have to get going to Sungyeol’s terminal. Talk on the way, yeah?”

“Okay,” Sungyeol agreed with a nod. He grabbed the handle of his suitcase and waited for Myungsoo to pick up his cardboard box. As they began walking, he asked, “What are those?”

“They’re some gifts for you,” Myungsoo responded with a coy smile. “Remember how I told you that I was preparing a special something for you? This is it. It’s a little too big to be a carry-on, so I paid for it to be sent straight to Korea. You’ll have to open it there.” He winked.

“Aw, don’t I get to open it now?”

“Nope! You’ll just have to wait and see, cucciolo.” He smiled at him cutely and tiptoed up to kiss his cheek. “I promise you’ll love it.”

Sungyeol grinned. “I’m sure I’m going to love it.”

Myungsoo’s smile slowly faded as they got into the line for Sungyeol’s flight gate. He sighs became more wistful as Sungyeol stood in a place in line. He reached over to play with a few wisps of hair on Sungyeol’s head.

“You’re okay from here, right? You have your boarding pass and everything?”

Pressing his lips together in a tight smile, Sungyeol said, “Yeah. I have it right here.” He held up his boarding pass almost sadly. It really felt like he was saying goodbye now. He kissed Myungsoo one more time. “I’m really going to miss you.”

Myungsoo smiled at him, resting his hands on Sungyeol’s cheeks. “Me too,” he said softly, staring into his eyes almost imploringly, like he was begging him to stay. And to be honest, Sungyeol wanted to, but he just couldn’t.

“I’ll message you as soon as I get off of my flight.”

“Send me a picture so I know that you arrived safely!”

“I will, I will,” Sungyeol giggled. He sighed and reached for Myungsoo’s fingers. He brought them down from his face and swung their hands for a moment. With a melancholy smile, Sungyeol murmured, “It looks like this is really goodbye for now.”

Leaning up, Myungsoo kissed both of his cheeks – his left, then his right. Sungyeol giggled because it was so Italian of him, but it was an adorable gesture nonetheless. Myungsoo landed a peck on his lips right after with a whisper of, “A fra poco, cucciolo.”

See you in a bit.

Sungyeol exchanged some more goodbyes and hugs with Dongwoo and Myungsoo as much as he could before his line started moving up. The other two stayed behind the line boundary and waved to him as he moved farther and farther away. Sungyeol kept looking back to steal glances and wave at them before he couldn’t see them anymore.

But before he disappeared from them completely, he caught Myungsoo’s eyes and mouthed, a fra poco.

Myungsoo blew him a kiss back.

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When Sungyeol arrived back in Korea, the first he noticed was how much tanner he looked compared to the people around him. He had been kissed by Italy’s sun now, and it showed.

The first thing he did when he stepped off of his flight was to take the promised snapshot of himself for Myungsoo, messaging him that he was safe and unharmed. He didn’t have time to wait for Myungsoo’s reply before he found his family waiting for him. His reunion with them was so exciting and they were able to catch up over a meal afterwards.

He told them about all of his adventures, but most importantly Myungsoo. Myungsoo was the most important part of his adventure there because Myungsoo was still a part of it. He hadn’t left Myungsoo behind. Sungyeol was overjoyed when his parents declared their support and happiness for him.

After dinner they drove him home and left him alone to unpack all of his belongings and rest. The quiet felt foreign after a couple months of nearly constant activity, but now it was just him in his room. It felt good.

Now that he was alone, he could open the mysterious box Myungsoo had sent with him. It took a few moments to get all the packaging tape off, but once Sungyeol got it opened, his nose was met with a familiar scent.

Inside the box was a stack of shirts, a few letters, and two stuffed animals of a puppy and a kitten.

“No way,” he whispered to himself in awe.

He picked up one of the shirts and grinned as he realized it was Myungsoo’s. Bringing it up to his face, he could get a strong whiff of Myungsoo’s cologne. He laughed to himself as he imagined Myungsoo spending time to spritz all of his shirts with cologne. They were large shirts, probably ones that Myungsoo wore to sleep.

Also in the box was a letter from Myungsoo himself, filled with cheesy words of love. And attached at the back were even a couple recipes from his grandmother.

Sungyeol’s heart swelled with all the love he could feel from this simple box and the first thing he did was call up Myungsoo on the phone immediately.

“Hey.”

Sungyeol laughed. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, no, it’s okay. How was your flight, cucciolo?”

“Great.” He smiled, playing with the edges of his sleeve. “I opened the box you gave me.”

“Yeah?” The excitement in Myungsoo’s voice was clear.  “Do you like it? You can wear my shirts if you ever feel lonely and pretend I’m hugging you.”

“I love it. They smell like you and I love it.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Myungsoo chuckled. “I love you, cucciolo.”

“I love you too.”

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A few months had passed between them and needless to say, their relationship didn’t suffer too much. Despite the distance, they were still completely obsessed with each other. They couldn’t go a week without video chatting each other at least once, and more often than not, it was more than once.

Myungsoo was coming to visit the next week and Sungyeol was more than excited for him to come. He wanted to show him all around the area he lived and have him meet his family.

“I can’t wait to kiss you again.”

Sungyeol chuckled and nodded. “Me too, I can’t wait to touch you again.”

“You know how unfair you are? Last night you wore nothing but my shirt and boxers when we Skyped and I wanted to do nothing but kiss you. But I couldn’t.”

“But you’ll see me next week! You can kiss me all you want then.”

“You can bet that I will absolutely do more than that.” There was a pause with nothing but some white noise before he spoke up again. “Also, I didn’t tell you this last night but I meant to. It’s pretty exciting.”

“Mm-hm? And what’s that?”

“I decided to move to Korea.”

Sungyeol dropped the bagel he was eating and coughed. “Myungsoo, what?!”

He heard a clear laugh over the line. “Yeah, I’m moving there. I’ve already talked to my family about it and I’m going to move in with my dad until I can get a stable job.”

“Oh my gosh, Myungsoo, that’s great! What are you flying here for?”

“For you, of course! I know, before you tell me I shouldn’t waste money coming to live with you, but I made this decision on my own. And after I saw how we didn’t fall out of love after being separated for so long, I just… knew. I knew I needed to stay with you forever.”

With a scoff, Sungyeol murmured, “If I didn’t know any better, this would sound like a proposal.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not.” Myungsoo laughed. “Maybe in the future, but definitely not now.”

“So… do you know when you’re moving here?”

“By next year I’ll be settled down, I’m sure. It’ll take some time to get used to Korea but… I think you’re worth it all.”

“Aw, that’s sweet. But that’s amazing news!” Sungyeol smiled. “Anyways, I have to go take a shower now, so I’ll talk to you later?”

“Okay, cucciolo. Talk to later.”

“Bye, goyangi!”

“Oh, wait, before I forget! I have a surprise heading your way today! Make sure you expect it, okay?”

“Another surprise? What is it?”

“You’ll see, you’ll see! I think you’re going to love it!”

Sungyeol smiled and replied, “Okay, I’ll make sure I’m ready. I’m going to take a shower now. Kisses!”

He kissed through the phone and laughed as Myungsoo sent a noisy one back.

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When Sungyeol emerged from the shower, he felt giddy. He wondered what Myungsoo was sending to him later that day. Over the past few months, he had sent him more shirts, some more stuffed animals and more letters. It was always exciting to look forward to.

He rested his towel on his neck and stretched his arms above his head. Maybe he could cook something while he waited–

Sungyeol’s eyes widened and he froze all of his movement. He could hear something. His hands reached to cover his mouth because it was the sound of a guitar. A guitar strumming a familiar tune that only one person in the world new.

“No way,” he muttered as he forced his window open.

He almost screamed because there, on the sidewalk, was Kim Myungsoo, strumming his guitar and serenading him. Sungyeol laughed so loudly that he was afraid the whole neighborhood might hear him.

“Goyangi!”

“Cucciolo!” Myungsoo sang, waving up at him.

Sungyeol grinned so broadly, he wasn’t sure how to contain his happiness. “What are you doing here?!”

“I came early!” he called back, smiling. “Just for you!”

With an enthusiastic laugh, Sungyeol blew him a kiss. He waited for Myungsoo to blow one back before he threw his wet towel out the window and watched with satisfaction as it landed on Myungsoo’s face with a resounding plop.

At the very least, he ran down to jump into his arms and give him a kiss this time.