So when Woohyun had told him that he was a great cook, blessed with amazing skills and magical hands, Sunggyu had thought that he was only bragging, exaggerating. But the moment he had taken a bite of his cooking, had chewed, swallowed and savoured the lingering taste left on his tongue, Sunggyu thought that maybe, he wasn’t that good of a judge after all.

Woohyun was an amazing cook, if he were to be honest, but no, he wouldn’t be Sunggyu if he let the praise get to the younger’s head, so all he said after he had cleaned the plate thricewas—

“Thanks for the food, Woohyun. You’re a good cook, not great, but just good,”

Woohyun had laughed at that, hadn’t taken the words to his heart because he knewwhat Sunggyu had actually meant.

“Yeah, Gyu,” he’d snorted, “Please do tell me that beforeyou actually wiped the food clean from the plates. But, you’re still welcomed anyway,” he’d teased back, a supressed grin turning up the corners of his lips.

“Well, be grateful that I actually helped you finished everything up, okay? Otherwise it would’ve just gone to waste,” he retorted.

“I could’ve kept them in my fridge and maybe heat them up tomorrow for breakfast?” The other goaded.

“That – wasn’t wrong, but wasn’t right either. You could’ve just finish them here and now and then, cook something else for tomorrow. Isn’t it healthier that way?” He had blinked, tried to feign innocence, but whom was he kidding?

“Gyu, I don’t think you’re making any sense right now,” he huffed out a breathy laugh and shook his head, amused. “Alright, here. Take this and wait for me in the living room? We can catch a movie there.” He had told the other as he slid a mug of freshly brewed tea his way. Sunggyu had only looked up then, a silent enquiry of whatabout youwere sent the younger’s way when he had raised both his eyebrows at him. Woohyun had just tenderly smiled at him and nodded in response.

“I’ll be there in a second, hyung. Just need to do the dishes first,” he said.

“I can help? If you want?” Sunggyu had suggested, didn’t exactly want to be left alone to dwell with his stupid thoughts, but Woohyun, unbeknownst to Sunggyu’s inner turmoil had only carelessly dismissed the latter’s offer for help and said,

“Nope. Not a chance, hyung. I’d much prefer you stay in the living room and pick a movie for us.” He told him with a careless laugh, a laugh that had almost sounded like a mere mock in the elder’s ears.

It was stupid, Sunggyu knew that. He knew Woohyun probably hadn’t meant to make it hurt as bad as it did but it stung a lot nonetheless. It still broke his heart a little to guess the possible reason behind that refusal because he knew he was useless.

“Okay, yeah. That was a stupid offer. Sorry. I can barely see half of everything, wouldn’t want to destroy anything in here, right? Sorry. Uh, I’ll just take this,” Sunggyu had awkwardly took the mug into his hands, almost hissed out loud when his cold skin had connected to the hot surface of the ceramic before deftly continued. “And I’ll just wait for you in the living room, quietly.” He finished, avoided the other’s eyes as he swiftly made his way over to the living room, leaving a more than perplexed Woohyun behind.

“Wait, hyung, that wasn’t –“ He began, almost instantly ignored the dishes in the sink as he wiped his wet hands unto a wet towel and tailed the other from behind, following suit as he took his seat beside Sunggyu on the couch.

“Hyung, I’m sorry. That wasn’t what I meant when I—“

“It’s fine, Woohyun,” Sunggyu had interrupted however, shaking his head as he placed the hot mug unto the side table. “No, it’s okay. I get it, Woohyun. Go do the dishes, or whatever. I’ll keep quiet in here,” he spoke, the tone of his voice obviously laden with hurt as he pretended to skip through the Movie folders on the television screen using the remote control.

“Oh god, hyung! That’s not what I meant, seriously. I didn’t think you’d take it that way. I’m sorry, hyung. I seriously am,” Woohyun had tried again. He sounded desperate enough to correct Sunggyu, but the elder didn’t have the mood to listen so he tried dismissing the whole situation all over.

“It’s really fine, Woohyun. I understand, so just go.” He told the other, finality in his voice as he shooed the other off but Woohyun was adamant about proving him wrong, so he had promptly grabbed the remote from the other and put it away, wanted Sunggyu to pay attention to him.

“You don’t understand, hyung. You wouldn’t understand because I haven’t told you anything yet and you just, you just—,” The younger wanted to explain, probably tried to, but strangely, words just didn’t come easy for him then and Sunggyu failed to understand what he had wanted to convey, probably had even misunderstood the frustration that leaked just from the tone of the younger’s voice alone.

“I just assume a lot of things, right? Yeah, I know. I’m sorry that I in all this not knowing . I’m not usedto it, okay?” Sunggyu’s voice had quavered a little, was probably bordering on shedding some tears even at this point and God, why was he so sensitive today?

“,” He had heard the younger cursed. “No, hyung. That came out verywrongly. God, how should I even say this?” Woohyun almost bellowed then, had taken a deep breath in and slowly exhaled it back out just as he cradled Sunggyu’s face into the cup of his hands and forced an eye contact.

“I didn’t want your help not because I thought you might destroy things, hyung. I don’t care if you break anything or everything. That doesn’t matter. But I just don’t want you injuring yourself. I mean, after that stunt I pulled just a while ago, I just thought, that, I don’t know, it might be bad for you, I don’t want to see you hurt, or I just, I – okay, I’m not making too much sense either, am I?” Woohyun sighed heavily, his hands falling uncertainly to his side when he wasn’t able to properly explain. Sunggyu just took a longer look at Woohyun’s remorseful feature, bottom lip caught between his two rows of teeth before he eventually allowed himself to curl a small, weak smile at the other.

“Okay, okay, I get it, Woohyun. Thank you, but that was totally unnecessary.” Sunggyu replied. “I’m not thatweak, am I?” He asked back, a brow smugly rose as if to challenge.

“Honestly?” Woohyun started, had probably wanted to tease the elder a little, had only wanted to chase all this heaviness between them away even if only slightly, but the moment he had seen Sunggyu snapped his head at him and narrowed his foxy little eyes in a particular challenging glare, Woohyun knew when he should and shouldn’t be crossing a line.

“Ok, nope, not at all. You’re totally not weak, hyung. You’re actually the strongest of ‘em all. Dwayne Johnson who again?” Woohyun pressed his lips into a thin line as he purposely gripped onto the elder’s biceps just for good pretend measure.

“Yeah, I thought sotoo,” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow smugly once again and snorted before he actually, honestly smiled a little more.

“But okay, since we’re already on the topic of that stuntyou pulled this evening anyway, so we might as well talk about that now,” He began after a while, saw the way Woohyun’s eyes flickered briefly at the mention of that but he just ignored it anyway. He needed some answers now.

“So, Woohyun, why do you always seem to do that?”

“Hm? Do what?” Woohyun question back, confused.

“You know you did that too last time when I had that accident. Didn’t you see the traffic light? Or do you always have that suicidal tendency? Do I need to be worried?” Sunggyu asked albeit lightly, hadn’t wanted to make this conversation any heavier than it already was.

“No, no, I’m not – it’s not that. I’m, I’m just careless. I didn’t see that one coming,” Woohyun had looked flustered as he answered, eyes slightly evading Sunggyu’s searching ones and he knew the younger wasn’t lying, but he also knew it wasn’t the complete truth either. But he could let that go for now.

“God, your carelessness will be the death of someone, you know.” The smaller male had joked. “And you already almost caused mine twice,” Sunggyu tried to lighten the atmosphere, had even followed that up with a genuine chuckle just so Woohyun would feel less burdened and less nervous about it. But when he’d briefed a look at the younger, he knew he had messed things up the moment he had even brought up the word death.

“Okay, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. , sorry. Don’t look like that. That accident was already over way long time ago and you already apologised like gazillion times for that stunt today. So it’s fine. We’ll get over it. I’ll get over it.” Sunggyu immediately scrambled to fix that look. He didn’t want to see that look on the other male’s face at all, didn’t like to see a sad, guilt-ridden Woohyun. But the latter had only shaken his head then, smiling weakly as if he had wanted to explain, wanted to try at least but the words, the words just wouldn’t flow.

“Gyu, that accident, it was, it’s just, it wasn’t supposed to—” Woohyun had struggled and Sunggyu understood that struggle all too well. So he hadn’t forced them out, but just barely helped as he gave him an outlet.

“Which accident?” He had enquired in a voice so low and so yielding. Kim Sunggyu probably already guessed which one the other had meant; but he had still asked, just thought that it’d be easier for the other to talk if he had.

Sunggyu watched how Woohyun had then gnawed on his bottom lip a little too harsh just as he brought up his hand and ghosted a finger gently, hovering just over Sunggyu’s scar on his left eye. He wasn’t pleased when he saw how hard the other was biting on his own lips, hard enough to drain blood probably but he hadn’t actually commented on that, had only let the finger grazed at the scar tenderly before he gave the other a curt nod to continue.

“I didn’t see you that time,” Woohyun had started; voice almost a whisper while his sight had remained on the jagged scar. “I didn’t actually think you’d be there, Gyu, what more to save me. God, I was so stupid that day. I had almost literally killedyou.” He had relayed with a heavy glower on his look and Sunggyu’s face had immediately morphed into his own deep frown when he digested the words.

“Hey, of course you wouldn’t know I’d be there to save you. I did it out of instinct. In fact, I didn’t even know it myself until it happened. I was already running to you before I realised it so why would you even blame yourself for not knowing what would’ve happened?”

“But I–“ Woohyun hesitated, had seemed like he wanted to say something more, and Sunggyu knew there was more behind that, but Woohyun had stopped himself, hadn’t allowed himself to say more other than—

“It shouldn’t have happened that way.” He said. And that’s okay for now, Sunggyu had thought. He’ll tell me when he wanted to, he told himself just as he opened his mouth to tell the other—

“That’s what we call destiny, Woohyun. No one knows what will happen until it’s happened. I may have the Eyes before that, but I don’t think I would’ve done any differently even if I could turn back the time now.” He said, eyeing Woohyun carefully but the latter had just shaken his head then, even sighed a little as he gazed back, his eyes intense.

“No, hyung, you don’t understand. You wouldn’t know what I would’ve felt if you had really died, hyung. God, you wouldn’t know,” Woohyun had sounded so utterly despaired just as he wiped down on his face, his hand trembling a little as he did so and Sunggyu just desperately wanted to understand him, wanted to know why would the possibility of his death break him so much but he hadn’t known how to do that, didn’t know how to break Woohyun open and delve into his feelings. So the only thing he could do was the complete opposite. He talked instead.

“Okay, so you might have felt guilty about it, maybe, but you’ll live, Woohyun. A passing away of someone you barely know will just be another memory once enough time flies. You’ll be just fine, I’m sure,” Sunggyu tried, had wanted to convince the other of that but if he thought Woohyun would agree with his words willingly at first, then he was excruciatingly wrong because Woohyun had only exhaled so loudly and so heavily at him as he had shaken his head insistently, had looked at him as if he was a lost cause.

“No, hyung. You don’t understand. I really don’t think I could li—“ Woohyun abruptly halted his sentence as he gazed at the elder male.

“Could?” Sunggyu asked with a brief raise of eyebrows, but the younger had only shaken his head again and breathed out shakily.

“No, nothing, hyung. I – I just don’t think I’ll be able to make the, the guilt go away so.” He told him instead and oddly, Sunggyu knew that was not what the other had meant to say, but he also knew that that will be all that he got from the other so he just nodded his head pliantly.

“Right, so the guilt will stay for a while, of course that’s bound to happen. But I’m sure it’ll fade with time. Time always heal, remember?” He said, had said them so gingerly because he didn’t want to hurt the other’s feeling. Woohyun hadn’t exactly looked convinced at his words but the curt nod of his head and that weak curl of his smile was already enough for him to know that he was at least heard.

Then, unexpectedly—because Sunggyu hadn’t expected it at all— the conversation somehow took to a different turn when Woohyun had asked,

“Is it still hard, hyung?” His voice was a little timid then, but his eyes were imploring, searching into Sunggyu’s gaze, looking for his own answer deep within them. And Sunggyu’s brows immediately joined to form a confused frown at the question.

“Hard what?” He’d asked back.

“Is it still hard seeing my face?” He finally asked fully and suddenly, Sunggyu could hear the echoes of his own words in his head as he recalled what he had once said.

“Why can't you understand that right now, seeing your face was the last thing I wanted?” It rung.

“Does the scar on your eye still hurt?” Woohyun had added when Sunggyu hadn’t answered, his thumb already caressing the scar tenderly, stared at it intensely. And Sunggyu could hear it all over again then.

“Why can't you see that every time I see you, the scar on my eye hurts so very much?”He recalled.

God,Woohyun still remembered his words – those words that he’d once said in the haze of his breakdown. Sure, he knew he had meant the words when he’d said them before, but that was then. Sunggyu knew it was different now,verydifferent. And he knew he had to tell that, had to convey that to the other, so he tried to do just that.

“Woohyun,” he had called softly, staring back into those hesitant orbs.

“You know, I don’t really think I’ll be able to forget what had happened then ever,” Sunggyu spoke, ingesting the way the other had almost flinched at his words so he took the other’s hand into his own to comfort the other.

“That accident was just the biggest, too big of a turning point of my life for me to just forget. I lost half my vision then, and not being able to see half of what I was used to, was so difficult, Woohyun, stilldifficult. And that wasn’t the only thing I’ve lost. The Eye, the one gift I’ve had since I was a child, was lost too in that accident. God knows how hard it is not being able to see further into the future, to feel so uncertain about them.”

“I know I had put all the blame on you before, had hated you so very bad, but Woohyun, that was just me being stupid, being blind. I know I said that I didn’t want to see you before, I remember saying that this scar used to hurt whenever I see you. But right now?” Sunggyu gripped the other male’s hand a little stronger, had wished that he would forget those things he’d once said, had wanted to show him of what he felt now instead. So he did just that.

“Right now, the first thing I wanted to see every morning is you, Woohyun. Right now, the scar on my eye still hurts sometimes, but I think, now, it hurts even less every time I see you. I don’t know why, or how it changed, but right now, there’s nothing that I want to change. Right now, I’m just happy, just happy and contentbeing with you.” Sunggyu shifted closer as he gazed deep into those eyes.

“Youhelped me move on. I’m moving on with my new life, Woohyun.” And Woohyun, Woohyun was rendered speechless as he listened. He wasn’t even able to form any coherent thoughts when he stuttered out messy words.

“Sunggyu, I, that’s, wow, I, I don’t know what to say, I–“ he tried responding back, tried but was probably a little too overwhelmed with the whole thing that it turned out disastrous and Sunggyu just had to interject with a kind smile.

“You don’t have to say anything back. I, I just wanted to tell you this. I wanted you to know because you deserve it. You’ve been nothing but nice to me these past months so, I—” Sunggyu didn’t even get to finish his sentence when Woohyun had already pulled him into his own arms and tightly huddled the other against his sturdy chest.

“Thank you,Gyu. Just, thank you.” He had mumbled then, too much feeling poured into those words and into that embrace, and Sunggyu was okay with that, more than okay because Woohyun’s hold was always so warm and so cosy, and he liked feeling safe while he was in it. Softly and gently, Sunggyu chuckled and pulled away, his palms pushing against the other’s chest while he tried to suppress a yawn.

“Yeah, it’s nice hearing your gratitude, Woohyun but I’m sleepy. You can worship me tomorrow so can we go to sleep now?” The smaller of the two asked with a cute, tiny pout and Woohyun actually guffawed as he looked at the other unbelieving.

“You’re so—aish, I can’t believe you,” he laughed a little bit more along with a light shake of head. “Anyway, it’s almost midnight now. No wonder you’re so sleepy. It’s already past the bedtime for the elderly.” Woohyun teased back and Sunggyu just nonchalantly punched the other’s shoulder for that, a pout already puffing out on his lips.

“Yah, the disrespect.” He impishly rolled his eyes at the other before they fell into a soft, rhythmic laugh.

“Anyway, there’s my sister’s room, if you’re comfortable to sleep there,” Woohyun had eventually offered, eyebrows rising higher curiously when he noticed a subtle blush creeping under the elder’s skin, suddenly seeming a little shy about something.

“Uh, actually, I was wondering if we, if we could sleep together?” Sunggyu had quietly voiced out and winced when it came out slightly wrong.

“Uh, no! Not like that. Uh, I just mean, I kinda don’t want to be alone tonight. I’m still a little–“ He quickly scrambled to clarify himself but Woohyun was already chuckling at the elder then.

“I didn’t even say anything, Hyung.” He teased, laughed a bit more when he had noticed the dust of red under the other’s skin intensified. “I get it, hyung. Come on, let’s go to my room then.” He said as he took the elder male’s hand and led the way.

It was a little awkward at first, as they laid themselves on the soft mattress side-by-side. Their bodies stiff and the space in between them a little too big that Sunggyu had nearly toppled over at the edge of the bed if Woohyun hadn’t swiftly pulled the other closer as they faced each other.

“Thanks,” Sunggyu eventually told the other as soon as he’d managed to slow down his erratic heartbeats, only barely recovered from his mini heart attack when he had almost fallen over. Woohyun had just quietly shaken his head then, his gaze on Sunggyu fond and warm as he brushed the elder’s bangs away from his eye. Sunggyu stared at Woohyun’s face and suddenly, he recalled their conversation from earlier.

“Woohyun?” His voice was low and quiet as he garnered the other’s attention. Woohyun barely hummed back as he played with the other’s hair strands.

“Do you miss your family?” Sunggyu asked and Woohyun’s eyebrows almost immediately perked at the question.

“Of course I do,” It was probably a strange question at a strange time, he knew that but Sunggyu was just happy nonetheless that Woohyun hadn’t evaded his question this time.

“Then, why did you come back to Korea alone?” He followed with another question, curiosity gnawing on his chest. Woohyun’s fingers had only barely stopped playing with his hair then but Sunggyu had already missed the feeling.

It took some time for Woohyun to answer the question, but the answer had still came and that was already extraordinary enough. He didn’t even mind that the answer he had given then was oddly vague.

“I have something really important that I wanted to do here,” he heard Woohyun answered.

“Is it like, chasing your dream?” He had asked again, wanted to see where this conversation would go as he waited for Woohyun to find the right answer. But he didn’t even have to wait when the other had replied almost soon after.

“Yeah,exactlymy dream.” He had said with no hesitation at all. And Sunggyu really wanted to prompt further, but he didn’t know what were the borders when it came down to Woohyun’s life, so instead of delving more into it, Sunggyu had simply asked—

“Did you succeed?” And Woohyun smiled so earnestly at his question that Sunggyu felt a tiny bit proud for being the cause of that.

“In a way, yeah, more than I can imagine, actually,” He had answered, his lips stretching wide.

“That’s really great, Woohyun.” Sunggyu told him instead.

They both had remained quiet after that, neither of them saying a word as they let the silence settle between them comfortably. Sunggyu would’ve thought that Woohyun had already fallen asleep if it weren’t for the voice that came from said male.

“Sunggyu?” he heard the other call his name, eyes closed just as Sunggyu quietly listened to him.

He hummed back a response then, had forgotten that it was mostly dark and Woohyun couldn’t possibly see his nod at that moment.

“I really wanted to thank you.” Woohyun voiced out after, and almost like an automatic response, Sunggyu peeled his eyes open and frowned at the other, didn’t matter that he couldn’t even see his expression then.

“Again?” Sunggyu had pouted, frown still marring his look before he heard a soft chuckle coming from Woohyun and he relaxed just the slightest bit.

“Yes, but not for that reason, Gyu.” The younger explained.

“Okay, good. So, what’s it for then?”

“I just wanted to thank you for saving me back then. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to thank you for that. I’m alive now because of you.” Woohyun had deftly answered and there was definitely something funny going on in his stomach then when he had heard that. He wasn’t really trying to ask for a Thank You back when he’d subconsciously decided to save the other. Heck, he didn’t even think about getting one if he were to be honest, but hearing it now and so earnest and just so sincere, Sunggyu had just suddenly felt like, yes, it was worth it, so definitely worth it.He didn’t even think he could feel so happy and just so content just from hearing a simple Thank You.

“I—well, yeah, okay. You’re welcomed, Woohyun. And I know I might sound repetitive with this, but I’m just going to say it again anyway. I don’t think I would’ve done it any other way actually. Even if I have the ability to turn back the time, I would’ve still saved you, Woohyun. I don’t know why I think that, but I just do. So you really don’t have to thank me because I wantedto save you.” Sunggyu responded, his chest warm and pleasant as he told the other. He could feel the mattress shifted slightly then, had guessed that the younger was shifting closer, had only confirmed so when he heard Woohyun’s voice so close to him, could almost feel the warm breath that fanned against his face.

“You have no idea how much those words really mean to me, hyung. You really, reallyhave no idea.” Woohyun said, voice barely a whisper but he heard them anyway. They were too close for him not to hear them, so soclose.

“Well then, enlighten me,” The elder had grinned, jokingly taunting too as he rambled on. “I really don’t think my words would’ve meant that much to you. I just told you what I—“

His words were pushed back by a startled squeak when he felt soft, warm lips catching his own into a breath-taking kiss. Sunggyu could only blink his eyes then, didn’t even have the mind to close his eyes so he could relish into the kiss because he was just so, sostartled. For a brief moment, they had pulled away so they could breath back the air that was stolen from each other then, had only stared owlishly into Woohyun’s fond gaze in a daze before realisation finally settled into his head and he immediately felt blood rushing under the skin of his face as he blushed mad crazy.

“You really, reallyhave no idea, Gyu,”

Woohyun had repeated just as he’d swept in for another chaste kiss, then another, until Sunggyu finally relented and had actually, shyly kissed back.

“Yeah,” Sunggyu had breathed out, looking up just as fondly at the younger hovering above him. “Yeah, I really have no clue at all,” the elder had concluded with the lightest, contented smile ever, before it had disappeared just as their lips met halfway, melding into a kiss they were never going to get enough.

The next morning, Sunggyu had woken up feeling the lightest he’d ever been since that accident. When he’d opened his sleep-laden eyes, the first thought that formed in his head though, was that everything that happened last night was actually just a dream, a good dream at least. The Talk, the Almost Confession, and especially the Kiss—kisses actually— they all had almost seemed surreal that he might’ve believed his first thought if he hadn’t heard the soft grumble that had came from his side, if he hadn’t felt the arms wrapping around him shifting and squeezing him closer.

And Kim Sunggyu had blushed then, only then realising that both of them were honest to God cuddling all night long. It wasn’t even their first time cuddling, but God, it felt even more embarrassing to know that they had cuddled willingly this time. Although Woohyun might or might not had to struggle a little bit last night just to get Sunggyu to concede and let himself be cuddled.

Only until then did it really dawn on Sunggyu that everything Last Night was very, verymuch real. So, soreal and not at all a Dream kinda real. And Sunggyu realised, albeit a little late, that he was just happy, a lot happy that everything had turned out the way it did, and he just couldn’t help when a huge smile was already threatening to settle itself unto his lips.

His smile had actually, impossibly grown even wider, a blush fast to colour his cheeks when he had remembered their many, many Kisses from last night. He was smiling a little too much in fact, recalling memories of Last Night that he didn’t even realise that Woohyun was basically watching him all these while, eyes fond and deep with infatuation as he waited for the other to notice.

It was only after a brush of their lips and a loud yelp from Sunggyu later when the elder had actually found out that Woohyun was already wide-awake.

“Yah!” Sunggyu pouted then, playfully shoved at Woohyun’s shoulder as the other hovered just above him, his arms planted firmly at both sides of Sunggyu’s head. His blush could only darken as he bit on his lips, watched the way Woohyun’s eyes were gazing at him warmly and he’d already felt a little overwhelmed being woken up to such affection.

“Wait, how long have you been awake?” The elder asked suspiciously and actually squeaked when Woohyun had leaned down to press a soft kiss on his nose. Sunggyu laughed a little at that and told the other to just “stop doing that”. Woohyun had just grinned then, had beamed a satisfied smile as he lifted a hand and brushed some of the other’s hair strands away.

“Long enough to watch you smile stupidly, that’s for sure.” He had still teased the elder despite the tender smile that seemed to be permanently etched unto his lips.

Sunggyu’s tiny eyes expanded comically as he sputtered out nonsenses for a while. If one’s biology allowed blood to rush even more to the same area at once, Sunggyu was sure his blush would have coloured his face a deep red at this point, probably exploded too with the amount of heat that was pooling under his skin far too much for his own good.

Woohyun had only chuckled then, just enjoying the pleasant, beautiful view just beneath him early in the morning.

“Good morning, Gyu,” he finally said once Sunggyu had stopped squirming and everything felt just so domestic and so surreal that it had the elder stopped evading his eyes as he bit unto his bottom lip and gazed back up into Woohyun’s staring ones, a smile already curling at the corners of his lips then.

“Morning to you too, Woohyun.” He’d said back, warmth coursing through his body all over.

“Aww, don’t I get a pet name too now? I already call you Gyu,” Woohyun huffed out his lips, pouting petulantly and Sunggyu had to giggle a little at that.

“Why would you get a pet name now?” He creased his forehead and faked obliviousness just for the sake of teasing the other.

“But Gyu, I thought we already established this!” Woohyun whined out loud and Sunggyu wished he didn’t find out how much he had actually enjoyed seeing a whiny Woohyun.

“What? Establish what, Woohyun? I didn’t remember us coming into any agreement last night?” Sunggyu blinked his eyes innocently. Yeap, two could play the same game, he thought.

“I thought our magical kisses last night already sealed the deal!” Sunggyu had almost actually snorted at the word magicalbut he thought he would let that go just so he could tease the younger further.

“Nope, didn’t remember any deal. Did I remember a deal? Most definitely not.” Sunggyu shook his head and actually laughed out loud when Woohyun whimpered even louder, grumpily as he let his weight plopped down and buried his face into the crook of Sunggyu’s neck, nuzzling deeper as he squeezed Sunggyu in his arms.

The elder just deftly brought his hand up as he played softly with the short strands of Woohyun’s hair just by the hairline of his nape.

“Okay, okay. I definitely don’t remember any deal but I’m willing to make one now, if you want,” Sunggyu had spoken so softly that he was sure Woohyun wouldn’t have heard if he wasn’t already so close to him—too close that there was barely any space left between them as the younger had him sandwiched to the bed.

Then, barely, pleasantly, he felt warm breath grazing the skin of his neck before he finally heard Woohyun quietly murmuring against his skin.

“Would you be mine then?” He asked.

And Sunggyu had to inhale a quick, sharp breath then, hadn’t exactly been prepared to hear such strong words for such a simple question. He had expected something simpler, maybe something corny or cheesy along the words like, “would you be my boyfriend?” or “would you go out with me?”

He definitely hadn’t expected thatif he were to be completely honest.

“I—that was—uh,“ Kim Sunggyu stumbled, was just so lost of words as a furious blush quickly marred his pale skin yet again.

Woohyun had only chuckled against his skin then, knew how flustered the elder was with the way he was asking. And so, tenderly, Woohyun peppered soft kisses just over the small patch of Sunggyu’s skin and held him tighter this time, encouraging. And as if in response, Sunggyu found his arm shifting back from the younger’s nape to his waist, had let his arms circled around the other as Sunggyu tried bringing them closer than they already were.

“Only if you be mine too,” Sunggyu finally, finallymanaged to answer and he could already feel the ghost of Woohyun’s huge grin against his neck then.

“I’ve been yours since the start, Gyu. That’s no difficult task.” The younger had told him and god, he didn’t actually think that the metaphor of fireworks exploding could feel so real when he had felt something akin to giddiness bursting cheerily deep within his tummy. But he felt it anyway, and he knew he was going to cherish that feeling for a long, long time.

“Okay,” He huffed out a shaky thrilled breath. “Well, I’m yours now then.” He told the younger, didn’t even regret the words he’d let out when Woohyun had shot up so abruptly, eyes gleaming so lively and lips stretching so wide as he really, really looked at the smaller male.

“Then, do I get a pet name now?” Woohyun had asked instead with a humongous grin and Sunggyu just had to bark out a laugh at that, shook his head too at how persistent the other was about getting a different name.

“Sure, but you actually had a lot of pet names if you didn’t already realise,” Sunggyu said, had nodded his head as he looked up with a cute grin. Woohyun had only blinked his eyes few times then, waiting albeit impatiently for the elder to say his much-awaited “pet name”.

“Then tell me again,” he’d urged the other and Sunggyu just had to grin mischievously now.

“Well, for starters, I already call you Stalker—” Sunggyu begun, had spoke them so sweetly with a grin so sneaky that it had actually caught Woohyun off guard.

“Wha—“

“Oh, there’s more actually. Like, Creep, ert and Molester. Do you want more?” Sunggyu just blinked his eyes dangerously adorable at Woohyun’s perplexed look.

“But, Gyu! That’s—that’s not even pet names! That’s, those are just bad names!” Woohyun had whined, pouted his lips even harder before he grunted and removed himself from Sunggyu. Soon after, he had already plopped down beside him on the bed, huffing and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Aww, is my Stalker sulking now?” Sunggyu cooed at the other as he shifted onto his side, staring at the younger male’s profile with a pleased grin. Woohyun however, decided to play cold as he just huffed again and shifted just a tad bit farther.

So maybe Sunggyu had teased a little too much, but he liked the Effect it had on the other, liked this new and fresh side of Woohyun that he had never seen before, would’ve never seen if they hadn’t reached to this point actually and he absolutely loved and cherished every second of it.

“Okay, get up, Stalker. We’re going to be late to class now. Come on,” he said as he sat up, smiled a little more when he saw Woohyun unmoving, pouting even harder if that was even possible.

“Fine.” Sunggyu mumbled quietly, had only contemplated for brief seconds before he could change his mind. Resolving himself in his mind, Sunggyu decided to just itand immediately dived down to place a quick peck on the other’s lips. Well, at least he tried so when it had landed on the corner of his lips instead, because yeah, his half-vision be damned. The elder flushed an even darker shade of red when Woohyun had looked at him wide-eyed, had even seemed fairly amused at his missed aim.

“Shut up, don’t say anything. Now get up, Stalker. We’re late.” Sunggyu tried his best to will the dark shade away. Woohyun had complied then, hadn’t said a single word about it, but he was beaming and laughing so pleasantly when he had cradled Sunggyu’s face in his palms and placed another chaste kiss on the corner of his lips.

“Want more of that next time,” He told the other with a grin before letting go and made a mad dash into the bathroom, leaving Sunggyu amiably startled behind. The latter had only so softly brushed a finger over the area he was just kissed then, and suddenly, he just couldn’t find it in himself to hate his half-vision now, not when it had made him feel a little better, had felt a little special too. Yeah, so maybe his half-vision wasn’t so bad now.

Surprisingly, they had managed to make it to their first class on time just as Mr. Kang had arrived. The elder male had raised an eyebrow at them then, enquiring at their mad entry, looking dishevelled and breathless just as they skidded to a stop in front of the hall’s entry. But he only brushed it off with a shrug when he motioned them to enter first and both of them grinned apologetically as they rushed to their seats.

Three hours of endless, boring lecture later, the bell had rung and Sunggyu was just so glad that it was finally lunchtime then. But just as he thought of having lunch as soon as possible to quench his hunger, another thought had quickly flooded in.

Sungyeol.

His -up.

.

He had almost forgotten all about it. How could he even forget? Ugh. He had almost felt like ripping his hair out for even forgetting about it. He then turned to look at Woohyun whose hand had been waiting for Sunggyu’s, his cheeky grin slowly turning into a mild frown when he saw the other’s frantic look.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked gently, shifted closer as he took the elder’s hand into his own by himself.

“Sungyeol, I, I forgot about him, about my -up yesterday, and I, I just— I didn’t do—“

“Hey, hey, look, calm down,” Woohyun spoke, and so softly squeezed his hand as he gazed into his eyes deeply. “I know you messed up yesterday—“

“ed up. I ed up, Woohyun.”

“—I know you messed upyesterday, Gyu but I’m sure Sungyeol would’ve understood. He knew you were stressed yesterday. All you need to do now is see him and talk. Explain.” Woohyun had told him, had even looked firm as he pressed on his hand tighter as if also telling him that everything’ll be fine, that he’ll be there if he needed him. And Sunggyu had to swallow down dryly, dreaded that very Talk because he understood that it would mean revealing a lot of things. He didn’t know if he was ready for that yet, but he knew he needed to fix this. Fix the things he’d ed up and he would do anything to mend it, ready or not.

Weakly, Sunggyu had nodded his head and just let Woohyun pull him to the cafeteria. Half of him, his cowardly side, had wished that Sungyeol wouldn’t be there, but another half of him sort of hoped that he would because he couldn’t go on with anything knowing he’d hurt his best friend. As he slowly saw the dreaded cafeteria in his sight on their way there, Sunggyu had imagined all sorts of situations playing in his head. Like, Sungyeol not being there, or Sungyeol there and ignoring him like he never existed, or worse, Sungyeol there looking so angry with a possible weapon of murder, a sharp fork probably, in his tight grip. He had expected and imagined a lot of things, but the scene he was gifted with was something he could never, ever pictured at all.

Never would have he expected to see thatjust as he had glanced sideway and outside the building, his steps coming to an abrupt halt as he pulled Woohyun along with him, jaws hung low and eyes wide as saucers.

“What? What’s wrong, Gyu?” Woohyun had asked worriedly, before he noticed that Sunggyu was staring at something. Quickly, he turned his head to look at the same direction and immediately, the younger had mirrored the elder’s reaction soon after.

“What the .” Woohyun commented, disbelief evidently colouring his look then.

“Uh, are we, are we supposed to ignore that?” Sunggyu had finally managed to gather enough strength to pull himself together and asked out loud.

There Sungyeol was, in the middle of the leisure area just outside the building, actually making out with a Kim Myungsoo while other students gawked at the blatant show of affection.

Sunggyu had almost wanted to sprint there and separate them, and maybe demand a huge, immediate explanation from both of them but the thought had only remained so when everyone could hear that ing, sneering comment.

“ing !” A voice had shouted loudly from a small crowd and Sunggyu could already feel the anger bubbling through when he had seen how Sungyeol had flinched at the words and instantly pulled away, looking frantic and embarrassed.

If Sunggyu had wanted to sprint and force an explanation from Sungyeol then, now he had only wanted to madly bulldog his way through everything and punch an apology out of that filthy mouth. But he hadn’t even the need to do that when Myungsoo himself had perked up, calm but almost thunderous with his deadly glare and growling voice.

“Dare say that again and I’ll ing destroy your face, .”

Sunggyu blinked his eyes hard at that, a little touched at the words but also a lot surprised by the huge plot twist that he most definitely did not expect.

“I’ll say it however many times you wanted then, you ing fags.” That same, annoying voice spoke again and that was it. Sunggyu let Woohyun’s hand go and bulldozed his way through.

“You er—“ Myungsoo had cursed, had wanted to launch himself unto said male when Sungyeol’s hand had shot up to stop him and Sunggyu had just suddenly appeared out of nowhere to pounce on him instead.

“Gyu!”

“Wha—“

“You er!” He’d growled so loud as he punched the other’s nose particularly hard. He swore there was a cracking sound as the other’s nose bled red, knew that something was probably broken then, but Sunggyu didn’t actually have the heart to care, had probably felt satisfied even, say if he didbreak something. The deserved that, he morethan deserved that.

“You dare say anything more about my best friend and it won’t only be your nose that I break!” Sunggyu growled even louder, had barely registered the whistles that had whooped out, cheering him on. It was only when Woohyun had come and pulled him off the did he realise that he had punched someone in front of a crowd but he wasn’t even mildly surprised that he couldn’t even care about that at that point.

“—you head! Why are you backing him up? He’s obviously a , making out with a guy for anyone and everyone to see. The he thinks he is then? Unless you’re a ing like him too.” He jeered and mocked as he wiped the blood off with the back of his hand. Sunggyu was fuming then, was ready to pounce on him again but Woohyun just firmly held him still, his voice calm and challenging as he spoke up.

“So? What if we are too?” He’d said before he had swiftly, and so suddenly held Sunggyu’s head in his hands and pulled in for a kiss. Sunggyu couldn’t exactly help the yelp of surprise he had let out when Woohyun did that out of nowhere but then again, he just couldn’t seem to care right at that moment because although it was a short kiss, it was still a kiss nonetheless and it had just left him a little breathless.

The elder had only barely heard a soft “what the ” coming from both Sungyeol and Myungsoo amongst the loud gasps that came from the other crowds when they both had pulled away. Woohyun just cheekily grinned at the blushing elder before he turned back to the and raised an eyebrow, looking smug.

“So, did you like the show? Or do you want more for your little fantasy that will never ever come true with that ry attitude of yours?”

“r—er. ing fags.” The other spat angrily.

“If that’s all you have to say to us, I’m afraid I don’t understand why an idiot like you could be in a university as famous for only bearing the intelligent ones as this.” All three of them had actually and accidentally snorted at Woohyun’s words then, pride growing larger in his chest when that could only ramble out utter nonsense in response before he had left in a fit full of anger and defeat.

“Wow, Stalker. I didn’t know you had that in you.” Sunggyu had told him with a proud smile just as he turned to look at the younger.

“I could say the same thing to you too,” Woohyun started. “Let me just say, that’s surprisingly a very good aim for you, Gyu. Don’t you think so too?” Woohyun said and smirked knowingly, waggled his eyebrows teasingly at the elder. And Sunggyu couldn’t really blame himself for furiously blushing again.

“Shut up, Stalker,” was the only retort he could think of while he rolled his eyes fondly, shoving at his shoulder too just for good measure. Woohyun laughed out loud just as he pinched the elder’s nose and Sunggyu scrunched back his nose in pretend disgust.

“Okay, ew, what the . Kim Sunggyu, explain. Now.” He heard Sungyeol spoke and it pulled them out of their little world. He turned to face the other two, was just about ready to beg for forgiveness from Sungyeol but then, the look that his friend was giving him was telling him enough. Enough to know that Sungyeol probably had long forgiven him, hurt probably still there, but still forgiven anyway. So instead of repeating his train-long of apologies, Sunggyu cracked a knowing smirk.

“Yeah, ew to you too, Lee Sungyeol. ing explain to me. What was that blatant making out?! And with Kim Myungsoo to boot! I thought he wasn’t even gay!”

“Ew, he’s the gayest of us all, Gyu. How could you even think he’s not even remotely that?” Sungyeol scrunched his nose, quickly and cheekily stepping away when he saw Myungsoo bulging his eyes wide at him for spewing all that .

“Well, for starters, he stepped on your junk when—“

“Okay, stop! Let me stop you there! I do not fancy letting the whole school know about my embarrassing story.” Sungyeol held up a hand. “Okay, maybe a drunk me didn’t tell you the whole story. But I may or may not told you about the ‘before’ story.”

“What before story?”

“Uh, the story before the whole big fight. Actually, the story of what happened that night when we went celebrating for our theatrical play.”

“Okay, spill. What the happen? I know something did because you guys were acting weird after that night. Wait, did you guys after?”

“What? No! No, no ing! Oh god, will you please quiet your voice down? We just kissed, probably almost made out, but Just. Kissing. Well, Myungsoo kissed me first but I kissed back, so.”

“Okay. No wonder the . So, uh, what happen then? I mean, how’d you made up to the point of making out in the middle of the street? Geez, I don’t think I can erase the image of both of you making out now. Ew.”

“Well, after, you know, yesterday? When we, uh, fought, I kinda stormed out of the infirmary right? Apparently Myungsoo was outside waiting to come in to visit you and he heard everything so, when I came out, I didn’t notice he was there but he followed me back like a creep because he never said anything. I didn’t even realise he was following me. So when he stopped me from entering my house, I was surprised. Then, we fought, I almost punched his handsome face and then, here we are. We only made out here because we were just trying to say our goodbyes, you know but somehow, we just, yeah—“

“Ew. Sweet, but okay, ew. That’s too much corniness coming from both of you.”

“But hey, you. You have some explanation to do too! What the was that kiss? And that flirting? And that extra little nose pinch and even more extra nose scrunch? That’s so disgusting coming from your stone cold heart.”

Sunggyu didn’t even have the strength to blush anymore.

“Uh, yeah, that. I’ll tell you but not now.”

“Gyu!”

“We have lunch to eat! Let’s go before class start again!”

“Fine, but I wanna know the full story!”

“Whatever you want, your Highness. Now, food.” Sunggyu smiled as he pushed at his friend’s back, leading his reluctant self to back to the cafeteria.

Kim Sunggyu was just glad. He was glad he hadn’t lost his best friend, hadn’t really known what he would’ve done or be if his friend had decided to hate him because of all the s he’d given the younger friend. He was just so, veryglad that it had ended well.

Their lunch afterwards had only fared for barely twenty minutes then because class was starting and they had to separate soon after. Sunggyu had left for his Piano lesson, Woohyun for his singing, Myungsoo for his Gym session and Sungyeol for his acting class. Kim Sunggyu had barely even noticed the time when the bell had rung, telling him that it was finally the end of day. Quickly and excitedly, he gathered the music sheets into his bag pack and hurried to leave, to meet his Stalker on his way out as they had promised prior to their class that afternoon.

He knew he had looked a little too smitten, but as soon as he had seen the younger leaning back against the wall waiting for him, Sunggyu hadn’t even bothered to hide his eagerness as he waved hugely at the other. Woohyun had noticed almost immediately so he took it to himself to walk back to Sunggyu before he swiftly took the latter’s hand into his and interlaced their fingers together.

“Home?” Woohyun had simply asked and Sunggyu had simply shaken his head. “Your home.” He had answered a little shyly and Woohyun would never say no to a shy Sunggyu. The elder had already texted Sungyeol earlier that he would be going back with Woohyun and the other had only sent back a suspicious “ok, &tak3 car8u and—“ and the text had stopped there. Sunggyu wanted to ask back what he had meant with such a weird text but thought better of it when he thought of the possibility. He shivered at the image of the two of them making out.

And then, before they knew it, too immersed with their shared heat from their joint hands, they had already reached Woohyun’s front door but didn’t get to step in yet when the younger had suddenly halted their steps.

“. Sorry, Gyu. I forgot I needed to pick something up from the store. Would you mind waiting inside for me? It’ll just be 15 minutes top.” He’d explained and Sunggyu had only shrugged his shoulder mindlessly then, didn’t exactly mind waiting a little bit. It wasn’t like he was rushing home anyway.

“Okay.” Sunggyu responded instead as he took the other’s key and invited himself into the house. Woohyun immediately rushed off to the store while Sunggyu had already toed his shoes off and cozied himself up on the couch in the living room.

Yet not even a minute long after, he had heard the sound of the lock being clicked open and Sunggyu frowned. He quickly stood up and went to the entryway.

“Woohyun? Did you forget to bring something with— Oh,” Sunggyu had to blink his eyes then, a little taken aback when he saw a beautiful lady struggling to come in with her huge, maroon luggage. Sunggyu didn’t even get to feel that spark of jealousy and distrust to find out that a pretty woman had a copy of Woohyun’s key when the lady had chirped out, clearing the doubts even before it could form.

“Oh, wow. Kim Sunggyu?” She asked out loud, her eyes widening a little as she stepped inside even further, left her humongous luggage behind as she stood closer to him.

“You know me?” Sunggyu asked back, eyebrows already connected into a frown then, confused.

“Of course I do! Oh god, I can’t believe Woohyun actually managed to find you! He never told us anything anymore after that!” The woman was borderline shrieking at this point, but that hadn’t been the matter that Sunggyu was concerned about.

“Wait? He talked to you about me?”

“Well, of course he did! Oh god, you’ve grown up so well! How are you doing? You look so different compared to when you were younger. In fact, you look even better now. But your eyes, I don’t think they’ve ever changed. Your eyes are still small as ever.” She had said, had cooed even as she scanned him from head to toe.

Okay, rude, Sunggyu had thought but dismissed it quickly.

“Yeah, I’m, I’m good. Well, as good as I can be. And I’m sorry, if I seem rude but I honestly don’t understand. Like, how do you know so much about me? I, I don’t think we’ve met and I don’t think I’ve ever shown Woohyun my old photos either.” Sunggyu didn’t even hide the look of confusion marring his feature then.

Yet she had only pouted, oblivious to it all.

“Yah, how could you forget about me but remember Woohyun? That is so unfair!” She whined childishly and Sunggyu could already see a faint similarity now but he was still confused nonetheless.

“Um, sorry?” Sunggyu tried and she just clucked her tongue at him.

“How could you even forget? I was your classmate first. You can’t seriously forget about me. It’s me, Chungha!” She pointed a finger at herself.

“Still didn’t ring a bell?” ‘Chungha’ had only puffed out a sigh and shook her head when Sunggyu winced a look of apology. “I’m Woohyun’s sister, the girl you once saved from drowning when we were little? Back in Jeonju? Rang a bell now?” She prompted and—

“Chungha?That Chungha with the malfunctioned lifejacket and a no swimmer?” Sunggyu had clarified.

“Rude, but yes! You finally remembered!” Chungha had almost yelled and jumped a little for finally being remembered.

“Wait, you’re –“ Sunggyu deftly pressed a thumb on his throbbing temple, “you’re Woohyun’s sister?”

What.

“Oh god, you don’t remember, do you? You don’t remember saving his life as well back then?”

“I saved his life too?” Sunggyu had asked, feeling his headache worsening. And he swore he’d seen Chungha’s face hardening for a brief second, but it was barely there, almost too fleeting that he wasn’t so sure if it had even happened.

“Yeah? A few times? Though I particularly remember this one time, well, I don’t think our mom was seriously going to kill him. But back then, our mom was pretty mad at him for causing the boat to flip over—“

“That was him?”

“Yeah, but you actually had convinced our mom not to ground him because you backed him up and told her that Woohyun only fought that other boy because he was bothering me, sort of protecting me. So yeah, you kinda saved his life then too.”

“I—I didn’t know. I didn’t remember any of that actually. And he, Woohyun, he never told me any of that either.” Sunggyu could already feel the incoming headache waiting to assault him then as he massaged his own temples.

“Oh,” Chungha let out in a low mumble, a look of realisation slowly dawning on her just as she said— “Oh . Oh , Woohyun’s seriously going to kill me now,” it was probably meant to be a whisper but Sunggyu had still heard them anyway.

“Then, I guess you probably didn’t know about why he’s back here as well?” She had asked afterwards and the speed of her tone changing from cheery to almost serious then had only made Sunggyu felt wary now.

“Well, he just told me that he’s here to chase his dream.” Sunggyu supplied and Chungha very slowly nodded her head, probably had another realisation going through her mind then.

“Oh, well, that’s not wrong too. Good for you then,” she said carelessly with a tone that Sunggyu didn’t particularly like.

“Chungha, what are you hiding?” Politeness was already thrown out of his window when he had asked the question. His curiosity was killing him and he wanted to know, needed to know what else Woohyun had been hiding from him.

“If you don’t know, then I really don’t think it’s my place to say, Sunggyu,” Chungha shook her head.

“Chungha, please. Whatdidn’t he tell me? Or what elsedidn’t he tell me?” Sunggyu knew he was already begging at this point, but who cares?Who cares when there were so much he didn’t know about himself, about Woohyun, about their past? Sunggyu definitely didn’t care now.

She had seemed hesitant at first, as if contemplating what she was about to do, but that hadn’t lasted very long when she had just barely shaken her head as she was probably throwing any hesitation out her head.

“Well, Woohyun’s only reason for returning to Korea,” she sighed, “was because of you, Sunggyu.”

“Me?”

“Yes, it has alwaysbeen you.”

“But I don’t understand. He said it was his dream he’s chasing here and you told me it wasn’t wrong.”

“Yeah, of course it wasn’t wrong. Because his dream had always been you, Sunggyu. His dream had always been to look for you.”

finally! The romance and the Kiss! But anyway, yeah, comments? :)

p/s: I edited a short part of this chapter today! 13/01/2019 @ 12:36 P.M. UTC