part 2 of a double update so don't forget to read the one before this

kinda creepy how this chapter is getting posted the day (ish) a friend of mine died

    The day of the funeral came and Ren put on a pair of black jeans and a black button up shirt. He braided his blond hair and pulled the hood up on his sweater.

    Minseok sighed and wrapped his arms around Ren.

    “Close your eyes.” He said softly before kissing the younger man and disappearing. They reappeared in a cluster of trees, far enough to not be noticed, but close enough to see the faces of the sizeable funeral.

    “Do you recognise people? Did I end up at the right place?”

    “Yeah… there's my parents. And my aunt. And my cousin… Han.” He swallowed harshly, “... Ooh, that's not good.”

    “What isn't?” Minseok asked, worrying that he did something wrong.

    “There's a flock of my ex girlfriends over there. Maybe this was a terrible idea. Let's go home and watch One Piece and forget I even suggested this.”

    Minseok nodded. “Did you want to get one last good look?”

    Ren nodded sadly but looked around the tree. He shot back behind the tree with wide eyes. “We gotta go. We gotta go!” He squeaked.

    “What's wrong?”

    “Jeonghan saw us. We have to go! Now!”

    Minseok grabbed Ren and took a breath. They disappeared.

And reappeared on top of the casket.

    They lost their balance and Minseok fell heavily on top of Ren. The clamps on the lowering device groaned ominously before Ren, Minseok and the surprised onlookers shrieked as the coffin fell into the ground.

    “Ow.” Ren groaned.

    Minseok and Ren tried to stand once again. Ren had fallen face down with Minseok on top of him once more. He pushed himself up at the same time as he wiped the mud out of his eyes. The ground was an odd squishy texture. He looked down and screeched.

    The lid to the coffin had come loose in their struggling and Ren was screaming into the face of his own corpse. Minseok picked him up and kissed him quickly to stop his screaming.

    They climbed up, several people helped pull them out of the ground.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Minseok spoke.

    “Uh… sorry. We kinda knocked the lid loose when I was trying to show him his own funeral. I misjudged how far away we were supposed to be. Sorry. Again.” They ran toward the main road as fast as they could.

    "Can we go back to the crematorium?” Ren asked, “I'd like to sanitize my hand with fire.”

    They ran for a bit before Minseok slowed down. Ren looked tired.

    “What the was that, Min?” Ren frowned, cradling his hand as if it was injured. He was struggling to breathe.

    “I don't think I can do it anymore today. We have to walk ho-" He was interrupted by a horn honking.

    “.” Ren squeezed his eyes shut.

    “It is you.” A broken voice came from inside the car.

    “No it isn't.” He sang, continuing to walk, shielding his face with his untainted hand.

    “Minki, don't be like this.” Jeonghan pled.

    “No Minki, only Ren.”

    “Minki, stop!” He shouted, “Why are you doing this?” His voice cracked.

    Ren made the mistake of looking at the man who was practically a brother to him.

    “Han… Minki is dead.” His blue eyes started to water. “He's laying in the hole back there.”

    “He would know,” Minseok said, “Got a handful of corpse face.”

    “Not the time, Min.” Ren snipped, glancing at him disapprovingly.

    “So. Who's this?” Jeonghan asked.

    “He's my... Uh. We take care of each other.”

    “You guys want a ride?” Jeonghan asked.

    “You want me to drive while you two talk?” Minseok asked.

    “Uh ok.” Jeonghan said.

    “Min… what the am I going to tell him?” Ren stage whispered.

    “Tell him anything. If you don't like how it comes out, I can drive the car off a cliff.”

    “One. There are no cliffs around here. Two. How do you know we'll survive that?”

    Minseok looked seriously pensive for a moment, “Yeah. The lack of cliffs could put a damper on my plans.”

    Ren smacked Minseok in the arm before opening the rear car door and hopping in.

    Minseok pushed the gas pedal a little too hard and everyone jerked back.

    “Minki…”

    “Ren.”

    “Minseok.” The smaller man driving said.

    “Not now.” The two men in the back seat shouted.

    “Your cousin. I could go so far to say your brother because I'm not gonna lie, you were as close as brothers could be, is in that box in the ground. He was hit hard enough to knock his skull from his spine.”

    Jeonghan bit his knuckle and made a high pitched noise. “But how did-”

    “Minki was in Italy. He was killed. I woke up in Minseok's bathtub.”

    “True story.” Minseok said over his shoulder. “Then I kissed him to shut him up.”

    “Shut up, Min!” He smacked the older man's arm “He doesn't need to know that.”

    “You’re not gonna make him pull over are you?” Jeonghan asked.

    “Uh no?” Ren replied. “We're in the middle of nowhere and I'd rather not walk a million miles.”

    “So… you kiss boys?”

    “He kisses me. All the time.”

    “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Ren kept hitting Minseok on the shoulder causing the car to swerve while Jeonghan looked on in confusion.

    “What's wrong with me kissing you?” Minseok pouted, “I love kissing you, and I thought you liked kissing me too.”

    “Now is not the time, Minseok. Please.”

    “When will the right time be, Ren? When we're making out? When we're cuddling? When I go down on you. Which won't be for a very long time.” He was frowning.

    “M-Ren? Your hair is red.” Jeonghan looked confused.

    “It gets that colour when I touch his weenie too.”

    “Minseok.” Ren growled.

    “Yes, darling?” He mocked.

    “I swear to god.”

    “You'll what? Kiss me breathless? Tell me not to say weenie in front of your brother?”

    “Minki’s brother.”

    “But you still love him too. Shame you can't bring yourself to tell him about us.”

    “There is. No. Us.” Ren replied.

    “What would you call what we’ve been doing for the past few weeks, Ren?” His nostrils fluttered and he ground his teeth.

  "Shock?" Ren was less than convincing.

  "Shock doesn't last nearly a month, ." Mineok snapped.

    The rest of the ride was uncomfortably quiet. Minseok was stewing, Ren looked as if he had practically fallen asleep on Jeonghan’s shoulder.

    Jeonghan looked down at Ren then to Minseok and out the window.

    “I wouldn't think any less of you.” Jeonghan said quietly.

    The string pulling at Ren's chest hurt. He brought his knees to his chest instead of admitting how painful it was.

    They arrived and as soon as the car was parked, Minseok rushed into the house, slamming the front door and dragging Sehun into his bedroom.

    Jeonghan gave Ren his phone number and turned down his offer to come in for some coffee. The younger man waved him off and slowly went inside. The closer he got to the bedroom he shared with Minseok, the stronger the pull on the string was.

    He heard a clatter noise and almost went to see if Minseok was ok before he heard Sehun moan loudly.

    He sat on the arm of the couch and stared at the floor until Hakyeon touched his shoulder. He jumped and slid off of the armrest, hitting the floor with a loud thud.

    “Woah, it's just me.” Hakyeon said softly. “You ok?”

    “I didn't land that hard.”

    “I mean, you two seemed to have an argument and now Min is taking it out on Sehun.”

    “What makes you think-”

    “Min is obviously livid and your hair is blue. Get talking.”

    Ren looked at Hakyeon with a little bit of fear in his eyes. “Uh. He apparently thought there was more to us than I did.”

    “You realise he probably thinks the universe sent you to care for his heart, right?”

    “What?”

    “You hold his heart, gentle, fluttering and delicate, in your hands. It gets weak if you don't talk to him honestly.” He surprised Ren by tugging on the red string in his chest. “This is probably here because you feel something too. You and Min. This isn't just about the .”

    “Of course it isn't. We've never-” Hakyeon looked surprised, “I've never had with a guy before, I wouldn't even know the first thing about it.”

    “Whaaaaaaat?” Hakyeon was floored, “But I've heard you two - Sounds- Enjoying. Not having ? Why ever not? You wouldn't believe how good it feels.”

    “But I don't even like guys. The thought isn't even remotely appealing to me.”

    “Have you explained this to Min?” He asked incredulously. “I've seen you kissing him, you obviously enjoy that. Are you sure it's not because you haven't tried it?”

    Ren shrugged. “It's different with him. I don't know. It's hard to explain.”

    “Do you care about him?” Hakyeon asked.

    “Obviously I do. I wouldn't have kept kissing him if I didn't.”

    “Ok. Imagine this. Because you haven't spoken to Minseok and if you continue ignoring the elephant in the room, he's going to give up on you. No more kisses. No more cuddling. He might not even let you touch him anymore in a friendly capacity. How does that make you feel?”

    Ren looked bereft. His hands gravitated to his chest and his fingers toyed with the string.

    “I'll let you think about that while Tweedle dumb and Tweedle dumber finish up in there.” He walked to the kitchen with a sigh, leaving Ren to listen to the other two through the wall.

    “Yes! -Min-there!” Ren's hair turned red imagining himself in Sehun's place. A few minutes later Ren's hair turned blue so quickly it hurt his scalp. The bedroom door opened and Ren was about to walk in, but Minseok had pulled Sehun into the bathroom.

    Ren walked into the bedroom, thinking maybe he could clean. The bed looked undisturbed. The desk was a mess. He would leave that for Minseok. He walked back into the living room and sat on the armrest.

    He heard the bathroom door open, but didn't react until he was suddenly lifted by Wonsik, deposited into Minseok's arms and locked into the bathroom.

    “You two talk.” Hakyeon's voice shouted through the door.

    Ren's hair turned pink again. Then blue. It kept wavering back and forth between pink and blue.

    Minseok put Ren down.

    “I-” Ren started.

    “You?”

    “I'm not attracted to guys.” He started. Minseok's face fell. “I- I mean I've never been. And you came along. With your soft, soft lips that I can't get enough of and those fingers that fit perfectly between mine and suddenly that doesn't even matter anymore. Still not attracted to guys but I'm stupid over you.” Ren looked confused, but he also looked amazed that the words even made it out of his mouth.

    Minseok twined their fingers on both hands together. Ren's hair turned lavender and he sobbed.

    “I want there to be an us …” Minseok smiled up at Ren, pulling him down for a soft kiss. “I don't know how far you're willing to go with me, but I'll be patient, whatever you decide. And obviously we have to be something.” He felt for the string he couldn't see and traced it to Ren's chest, “Or else this wouldn't be here.”