A/N: Now, I know some of you were upset that Sunggyu left, but this when Woohyun finally grows a pair and goes after what he really wants.

He knocked fervently on the door, calling out for the person inside it to come out. He knew he was probably disturbing the neighbors and they would most likely call security on him very soon, but he didn’t care. He needed this apartment door to open.

Finally, he heard the click of a lock and the door swung open, revealing a sleepy-eyed Myungsoo with disheveled hair. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the older male.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said, blankly. “What do you want, Woohyun-hyung?”

Without answering, Woohyun pushed past him and into the apartment.

“Sunggyu?! Sunggyu! Please talk to me! We need to talk!” he began yelling.

Myungsoo shut the door closed. “Hyung is not here,” he stated.

Another door opened and Sungjong popped his head out. “Who is that? Woohyun-hyung? Will you shut up, I’m trying to study!”

“He’s looking for Sunggyu-hyung,” Myungsoo stated, glaring at the older male who was frantically checking every room, calling out for his brother.

Woohyun turned to the younger Kim brother with pleading eyes. “Myung, please,” he begged, lips quivering. “Please tell me where he is!”

“He’s not here, that’s for sure,” the other replied. “And good thing too. He can be away from you.”

That sent a pang straight to Woohyun’s heart as his desperation grew. He had already gone to Dongwoo’s, but the other male had told him that Sunggyu never even called him that day. He even allowed Woohyun to search his apartment, but he wasn’t there. His last hope had been Myungsoo because if there was anyone else that Sunggyu trusted the most, it was his brother.

But, if Sunggyu wasn’t at his brother’s apartment, then where was he?!

He grasped the younger’s arm and pleaded with him. “Please, I need to talk to him. I need to fix this-.”

“It’s too late, hyung,” replied Myungsoo, coolly. “And I can’t tell you where he is. Not knowing that you’re just going to chase after him.”

“Myungsoo, please-.”

“Woohyun-hyung,” Sungjong interrupted, gently. “I think it’s best that you leave Sunggyu-hyung to himself for a while. Let him think and get his feelings together. I’m sure when he’s ready, he’ll talk to you.”

Woohyun stared at the maknae with tear-filled eyes. “He left me, Jongie,” he said in a broken voice.

His legs weakening, he dropped to the floor, heaving as his fists clenched and tears streamed down his face.

“H-He left m-me… A-And it’s all my f-fault…”

That was a month ago.

No matter how many times he had gone to see Myungsoo and Dongwoo, begging them to tell him where the older man was, they refused to say (or in Dongwoo’s case, didn’t know where he was at all since Sunggyu never told him). He even went to his office building to ask his co-workers, only to be told that the older had filed for leave. 

Woohyun tried to live normally again, but how could he? How could he go back to normal when he no longer had Sunggyu around him? How could he wake up in a cold bed and smile every day when he didn’t have anything to smile about? How could he enjoy a meal when he had no one to share it with? How could he enjoy a night out with his colleagues when there was no one waiting for him at home?

He still occasionally called Sunggyu’s phone and left him messages. They were never answered, of course, but he couldn’t find it in himself to stop. By this point, it was borderline harassment and he was even surprised that Sunggyu hadn’t reported him or changed his number yet.

But, that gave him hope… just a little hope that maybe the older still had feelings for him, even after he hurt him.

“Hey, Gyu,” he said into the phone after it was sent to voicemail. “How are you today? Me, I’m still missing you every day. I saw our neighbor Mrs. Choi walking her shiba inu on my way home today. I remembered how afraid you were of her.” He chuckled, fondly. “Remember when you used to hide behind me when they passed? I think she was looking for you today… the dog, not Mrs. Choi.” He chuckled again before his smile morphed into a frown. “I’m not giving up on you, Sunggyu. I love you too much to let you go just like that. I miss you so much…”

With one last “I love you”, he hung up and fell back into his bed, staring up blankly at the ceiling. He turned his head to the empty spot beside him and felt the heaviness in his chest again. So, he grabbed Sunggyu’s pillow and hugged it closer, breathing in the older’s scent still on it. It wasn’t Sunggyu, but it would do for now.

He fell asleep, whispering “sorry’s” to the person he wished was there holding him.

Woohyun’s weeks of wishing, hoping, and nagging finally paid off one day.

After work, as usual, he went to see Myungsoo at his apartment. And as always, the younger was scowling when he opened the door.

“I know you’re not going to tell me anything,” Woohyun said, not allowing the younger to speak first. “But, I’m not giving up. Unless I hear from Sunggyu, himself, that he doesn’t want me anymore, I’m not going to lose hope.”

Myungsoo raised an eyebrow. “You’re really annoying,” he stated.

Woohyun chuckled. “I was a fool for several months, Myungsoo. I want to make things right.”

The younger stared at him again with cold steel eyes, as if he was looking into his soul. Woohyun stared back, not to be intimidated.

Finally, Myungsoo sighed, closing his eyes. “I don’t understand what hyung saw in you,” he mumbled to himself. Opening his eyes, he looked at Woohyun with resignation. “Jeonju.”

For a second, the older could not comprehend. “Excuse me?”

Looking annoyed now, Myungsoo answered, “He went back home to Jeonju. He’s staying with mom and dad. If you want to meet up with him, then you better-.”

Woohyun shot forward, grabbed Myungsoo by the shoulders… and hugged him.

“Thank you,” he whispered, feeling himself shaking with the rollercoaster of emotions he was feeling – happiness, elation, fear, anxiety, and gratitude. “Thank you. You won’t regret this.”

“I really hope not,” Myungsoo mumbled as he pulled away from Woohyun, awkwardly patting his shoulder. “Look, I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for hyung. I know some part of him was miserable when he left, even if he said he had enough.”

Woohyun’s heart broke at that.

“So… do whatever you need to do… And don’t mess up this time.”

Woohyun swore he wouldn’t and thanked him again before leaving for home. He had some preparations to make.

Jeonju was just as he remembered it when he was last here, which was Christmas of the year before. Speaking of Christmas, it was almost that time of year again. He hoped that by the time the holidays rolled around, Sunggyu would be home with him. They had planned on spending it together, just the two of them this year.

Woohyun had taken a week off from work and drove down to Jeonju right after work. It was almost 7pm by the time he arrived and he was hungry, having only stopped once for a short snack on the way.

But, first, Sunggyu. He checked in at a cheap hotel since it was the closest to the Kims’ neighborhood and he wasn’t planning on spending too much time there anyway. After making sure his things were settled, he immediately left and drove to Sunggyu’s family home.

He parked a bit further from the house and walked the rest of the way, hoping to get rid of his nerves and anxiety.

When he rang the doorbell at the gate, Mrs. Kim answered it. She looked genuinely surprised yet pleased to see him.

“Woohyun-ah!” she exclaimed with a huge smile as she wrapped him in a hug.

The young man was wondering why she wasn’t throwing pots and pans at him for hurting her baby, but maybe Sunggyu didn’t tell her what happened.

“I was wondering when you would be stopping by,” she said, releasing him and stepping back.

Woohyun bowed low at a 90-degree angle in respect and greeted her.

“Mrs. Kim-.”

“I thought I told you to call me Umma,” she chided.

Woohyun swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn’t deserve such affection from the older woman… not when he had hurt her son.

She must have seen his hesitance since she smiled reassuringly. “I know what happened, Sunggyu told me,” she said. “And yes, I’ll admit, I was angry at first, but I also know how equally stubborn my son is. So, when he said that the two of you didn’t even talk before he childishly ran away, I figured that if you really loved him, you would follow him.”

Woohyun bowed again, regret on his face. “I’m sorry, I would have come sooner but I didn’t know where he was. Myungsoo finally told me.”

“Aish, my stubborn maknae,” Mrs. Kim said, fondly. “He’s too overprotective of his hyung, sometimes. But, I’m glad he gave in. I like you for my son, Woohyun-ah. You’ve always made him happy and this is the first major dispute you two had that resulted in my son leaving. So, I know you can still fix it.”

“T-Thank you… Umma. I… I don’t deserve it but... thank you…”

He felt the heavy weight on his shoulders lift and the ache in his chest dull a little bit. But, he wasn’t done yet.

“May I speak to Sunggyu?” he asked.

Mrs. Kim pursed her lips. “Actually, he went to the store to grab a few things for me. You can wait for him inside.”

But, Woohyun could not wait. He had to see Sunggyu, to speak to him.

“Actually, I think I’ll go meet up with him,” he replied. “I really need to talk to him and it might be better that it won’t be in the house.”

“Hmm… true… Alright.”

She gave him directions to the store and soon, Woohyun was on his way.

He felt nervous yet giddy. After a month of not seeing the older, he missed him more and more every day. Woohyun thought about all the things he would say when he saw Sunggyu again.

How are you? I miss you. I love you. Please come back to me. I’ll be better.

But, when his eyes caught sight of the object of his thoughts, his voice was stuck.

Sunggyu was walking his way, his mind appeared to be elsewhere as he lightly swung the plastic bag clutched in between his fingers. This was probably why he didn’t see Woohyun until the younger was right in front of him and he froze, tiny eyes larger than ever.

“W-What are you doing here?” he stammered.

Woohyun tried to smile at him; Sunggyu was still so handsome, but he looked so worn out. There were dark bags under his eyes, his hair looked flat and dull, and he looked like he lost some weight. The younger felt guilty that he could be the reason why the older looked that way.

He must have been staring too long as Sunggyu tried to walk past him.

“Wait, Gyu!” Woohyun grabbed his arm to pull him back. “We need to talk.”

“Well, I don’t want to,” answered Sunggyu, stubbornly narrowing his eyes at him. “Let me go.”

The older shook his hand off of his arm and sped-walked away. Woohyun followed, jogging behind him.

“Please, listen to me.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Just give me 5 minutes.”

“No.”

Woohyun jogged ahead and blocked the older’s path. Sunggyu tried to go around him, but the younger grabbed his arm and pulled him into a nearby alley.

“Please, just listen to me!” he exclaimed. “I’m sorry! Okay? I’m sorry about what I did to you, the things I said. I want to fix us.” He grabbed the older’s arms. “You’re important to me and I’m sorry I made you feel otherwise.”

Sunggyu didn’t reply and refused to look him in the eye, choosing to stare at the ground, instead.

“Sunggyu, please…” Woohyun pleaded.

“What can your sorry do if you’ve already hurt me?” he finally said in a soft voice.

It stabbed Woohyun’s heart and he couldn’t help but pull the older into his arms, holding him tightly. Sunggyu didn’t fight him, but didn’t hug him back either.

He couldn’t remember the last time he held Sunggyu like this, so close to his heart that he could feel him breathing, feel the older’s heartbeat against his own.

How could he have been such a fool to almost let him go?

“Well, what do we have here? A pair of scorned lovers?” a foreign voice interrupted the moment.

Feeling himself go cold, Woohyun turned around to see a group of four men all dressed in ragged clothing and generally looked like they were up to no good. His protective instincts flared, even though he knew that Sunggyu could take care of himself.

Sure enough, beside him, Sunggyu had pulled away from his hold and was frowning, disapprovingly, at the newcomers.

“We were just about to leave,” he stated, grabbing Woohyun’s arm and trying to pull him out of the alley.

But one of the men blocked their way, looking sadistically amused. “Hmm, no way, you gotta pay the toll,” he stated, smirking.

Sunggyu’s frown deepened. “What toll? There’s no-.”

“Give us everything you have,” another man said, stepping up.

Woohyun scoffed. “No way.”

The men laughed in response.

The first man’s eyes gleamed. “Then I guess we’re gonna have to take it by force.”

The next thing Woohyun knew, he was struggling with two guys attempting to take his wallet and cellphone. Sunggyu was hitting one guy with his bag of purchases, screaming bloody murder. Obviously, the men did not expect the two to fight back.

Something glinted from the corner of Woohyun’s eye and he caught sight of the first man coming up to Sunggyu with a blade.

It was all adrenaline from there. Woohyun didn’t know where he got the strength from but he kicked those two men away from him and ran with all of his hardest towards Sunggyu.

First, he felt a sting in his side and then the overwhelming pain as his flesh was ripped apart.

“Woohyun!” Sunggyu shouted, catching the younger in his arms as Woohyun stumbled, and sinking to the ground.

“, man, what did you do?!” one of the men growled at their companion with the blade. “I’m out of here! I didn’t sign up for this!”

And without another backward glance, he ran out. The rest of the men panicked and followed him, leaving Sunggyu and a bleeding Woohyun behind.

“I’ll remember your faces, you s!” Sunggyu yelled out after them, angrily. “I’ll get you arrested and I’ll sue-.”

“S-Sunggyu,” Woohyun called to him with a smile, happy to see the older act like his strong, resilient, and stubborn self again.

The older’s attention went back to him and his eyes were wide with worry and glistening with tears.

“W-Woohyun,” he stammered, attempting to stop the flow of the blood from the younger’s side with his jacket. “H-Hold on, okay? I-I’ll call for help.”

He tried to break away from Woohyun, but the younger grabbed his arm, forcing him to stay.

“Woohyun, I have to get help!”

“Are you hurt?” he asked, worriedly, lifting a hand to touch his tear-stained face. “They didn’t hurt you, right?”

“I-I’m fine, you ! Why did you do that?! That’s so reckless of you!”

Ahhh, how he missed that nagging voice. His thumb caressed the older’s cheek, affectionately.

“I’m glad… you’re okay,” he managed, as breathing felt more laborious now because of the pain. “I only want… you to be… safe…”

His eyelids were getting heavy now, feeling himself getting drowsy.

“W-Woohyun? Y-Yah! Stay with me!” Sunggyu began lightly slapping his cheek, his voice worried.

“I’ll always… stay with you… if you still… want me…”

He was really sleepy now.

“W-Woohyun! W-Woohyun-ah! H-Hyun! Don’t sleep! Come on! We have to get you help! Hyun-ah!”

But, Woohyun’s eyes were already closing and he drifted into sleep, his lullaby the worried voice of his beloved Sunggyu calling for help and nagging him to “stay awake, damnit!”

Despite the pain on his side, he only felt happy because finally, he was with Sunggyu again.

A/N: Oh no! Woohyun is hurt! :(