It was the light coming through the window that woke Junhwe up. He slowly rubbed at his heavy eyelids, trying to blink the sleep away as he sat up in his bed.

The first thing he did was to look around him, feeling relief wash over him as he noticed the mop of orange hair poking out from under the blanket.

When Junhwe had accepted for Jinhwan to sleep over, he had forgotten to think through what it meant. Junhwe didn’t really want anybody to sleep in his mother’s bed, but he couldn’t really let Jinhwan sleep on the couch downstairs on his own.

Junhwe would have let Jinhwan use his bed and he would have slept on the couch instead, but he knew very well how utterly uncomfortable that couch was. He had slept on it a few times where he had been to lazy to crawl up the steps to his room and he had bitterly regretted that choice.

And so, they had decided to sleep together. After all, even if Junhwe’s face had turned crimson at Jinwhan’s offer, they were a couple and it was only normal for them to share a bed.

Yet, Junhwe had remained awake for a few hours, feeling all giddy at the warmth next to him. At last, exhaustion had forced him into a dream-less sleep, but he had enjoyed every single second he had had to listen to Jinhwan’s even breathing and look at his cute sleeping face.

Junhwe knew that he was far too gone.

Slowly, he sat up, trying not to wake Jinhwan who was still sleeping soundly. He stretched out his arms above his head, feeling content when he heard the satisfying pop of bones. A quick look at his phone on the bedside table told Junhwe that it was only 7am and that he still had a bit of time left before waking Jinhwan up.

Junhwe knew that they both started at 9 on Tuesdays and the last bus that they could take to arrive on time was at 8:30.

Junhwe put his phone back on the bedside table, before turning around and looking at Jinhwan. The older man’s face was covered by the blanket and Junhwe was suddenly remembered of the day on which he had tried to take a look at the man’s sleeping face. He hadn’t succeeded.

With a small smile, Junhwe gently uncovered the elder’s face, pushing the white blanket away.

Jinhwan’s eyes were tightly closed, his small hands curled up into tiny fists. The older man’s breathing was even, his chest slowly raising and falling steadily. The faint light from the morning sun coming through the window was illuminating Jinhwan’s face gently, making his pale skin glow even more than what it usually did. The man’s pink lips were slightly puckered and Junhwe almost kissed the pout away.

Without making any sound, Junhwe slowly crawled out of the bed and left the room, closing the door as gently as he could.

Junhwe was feeling pretty kind and unusually caring and so he decided to set up a whole breakfast for Jinhwan.

Just as he was about to walk down the stairs, Junhwe stopped in his tracks and looked back at the door next to his own – his mother’s bedroom. With a small smile, Junhwe made his way towards the room,

As he stood in the middle of the room in silence, Junhwe felt his heart beat pick up. He missed his mother, he missed her a lot, but at least the pain wasn’t so strong any more. He had managed, over the past weeks to put her stuff away into crate boxes.

He had considered Jinhwan’s offer through, and even if he wasn’t exactly ready to leave his childhood house, he knew he was going to, at some point.

The house was way too big for him to live in it alone and he knew that never ever would he have the courage to clean the whole thing. Junhwe wasn’t very fond of spiders.

Junhwe had decided that he was going to put away all of his mother and his own stuff in moving crates, take all of that over to Jinhwan’s flat and sell the house. Junhwe didn’t really need any money yet, since he had inherited all of his mother’s, but it could always come in handy.

He had big plans, and he was looking forward to finally leave the sad and empty house to live with his boyfriend, but he was also scared.

Junhwe took a deep breath and left the room. He walked down the stairs in silence and entered the kitchen, choosing to set up breakfast instead of rehashing negative thoughts.

The only thing Junhwe could try to do was to prove to his boyfriend that he had chosen the right partner. Junhwe was tired of being an idiot child. He was 20, and he really needed to start acting like his age.

The thing was that Junhwe was a terrible cook, and that he also didn’t even know what Jinhwan liked for breakfast. He knew that the elder loved coffee, and it was his only solid guess.

And so, Junhwe made coffee. Or rather, he tried. He had somehow managed to set the water temperature too low, and so the powder had not correctly blended, resulting into a cup of brownish water with floating particles.

With a sigh, Junhwe placed the cup on the table and turned towards the stove, lost in thoughts. He didn’t know how to cook at all, and for the past months he had went to the nearby bakery to get breakfast.

It would probably look less fancy to have a poor croissant on a plate rather than a home-made traditional breakfast, but Junhwe knew very well his more than lacking ability to cook. He’d rather go out and buy Jinhwan something than poison him.

And so, Junhwe left the house, huddled in a warm jacket to shield himself from the fresh morning breeze.

The bakery was less than a block away and even Junhwe’s oh-so-infamous laziness wasn’t going to keep him from walking there. As soon as he arrived, he bought a few pastries for the two of them and quickly headed back.

“Where were you?”

Junhwe almost had a heart attack. He had just locked the front door when Jinhwan had suddenly spoken up, scaring the life out of the poor boy.

Junhwe slowly turned around, his arms filled with pastries before taking in the sight that was Jinhwan.

The elder only had a shirt and his underwear on, revealing the expense of his flawless milky-white skin. His eyes were puffy and red, a clear sign that he had just woken up and his hair was a complete mess.

Jinhwan looked a lot younger and vulnerable than Junhwe knew him to be, and this pure sight brought a grin to his lips despite him.

“Don’t laugh, I woke up all alone and the best was super cold.” Jinhwan whined with a yawn.

Junhwe felt his cheeks heat up, not used to such intimacy and domesticity between the two of them. He was embarrassed but it was a good kind of embarrassment and Junhwe reckoned that he probably could get used to that warm feeling spreading throughout his chest.

“Sorry, I went out to buy breakfast.” Junhwe said with a smile as he walked past the elder and dropped the bags on the table.

The cup that he had left there was empty, and he couldn’t hold back another grin when he thought how bad it must have tasted.

“Did you drink what was in the cup?” He asked with a small laugh.

Jinhwan’s nose scrunched up at the question. The elder eyed with a badly contained disgust the empty cup and slowly answered, “Yes, I did drink that thing.”

Junhwe would have almost been offended if he hadn’t been aware of how terrible the coffee he had attempted to make truly was. He apologized to the elder with a small laugh before dropping down on one of the chair, ready to devour the croissants.

He was quickly joined by Jinhwan who, although very ungrateful for the drink, seemed very happy with the food.

“Thanks for breakfast, that’s very kind of you, Junhwe” Jinhwan said after a while, his voice sincere and eyes soft.

Junhwe shrugged, cheeks red, and chose to stuff his face with delicious pastries instead of answering. He had never been good at dealing with praises or gratitude.

Soon enough – which seemed way too soon for Junhwe – the two of them had to finish up their meal in order to get dressed and leave for college. They were approaching the end of the year and each lesson was important, especially for Jinhwan since he was a senior. He had to study for his finals and being late to lectures was probably not the best way to have a spotless record.

Once sat on the bus, both a bit breathless from the run they had had to do in order to catch the bus, Junhwe was reminded of the first time that he had ridden then bus with Jinhwan.

The mere memory of his creepy attempt at smelling Jinhwan’s cologne was cringe-worthy enough for him to almost face-palm.

Thankfully, if Jinhwan remembered, he didn’t mention anything, and the ride was pretty uneventful.

Jinhwan, as – almost – always was taking his lecture in one of the hall in the second building, while Junhwe was in the first one. And so, with an awkward wave of the hand, the two of them parted to attend their own schedules.

Junhwe noticed, when he entered his classroom, that Donghyuk was thankfully already there, and so he went to sit next to his friend. He knew, however, the second he saw the boy’s mischievous smirk, that he was going to have a very long first period.

“So, are you dating Jinhwan yet?” Donghyuk asked, his voice honey-like.

Junhwe almost denied, because he knew that Donghyuk was going to , but he was far too proud and happy of his relationship with Jinhwan not to brag.

“Well, yeah, we’re dating.” Junhwe whispered.

Junwhe was very thankful that there weren’t a lot of students present yet, because Donghyuk outwardly squealed without an ounce of self awareness.

“Dude keep it down!” Junhwe cried out as he punched his friend’s shoulder rather gently.

“But that’s adorable!” Donghyuk answered, eyes glinting.

Junhwe sighed, but he wasn’t really annoyed. On the contrary, he was actually happy that Donghyuk supported their relationship. He also thought, with amusement, that Dongmin would probably react the same way when he would tell him.

That thought suddenly reminded Junhwe, that he, indeed, should contact Dongmin.

And so, as soon as the long hour of listening to the endless squeals of joy from Donghyuk ended, Junhwe rushed out of the room and sent a message to his bestfriend. The text was short and clear. He wanted to see him to talk. Where? He didn’t know. When? He didn’t really know either.

But Dongmin was used to Junhwe’s personality, he would easily come up with a place and date.

He came up with that so easily even that less than five minutes later, just as Junhwe had been about to enter the room for the next period, he received a message from Dongmin.

His best friend suggested that they ate lunch together out in town and talked a bit, which was exactly was Junhwe had wanted.

“Hi bud!” Junhwe greeted happily as he unceremoniously dropped down on the chair in front of Dongmin.

His best friend eyed him warily, visibly surprised by Junhwe apparent joy, which was a very rare sight.

“Hi...” Dongmin said, unsure, as he sipped down on his milkshake.

Junhwe’s smile only widened. Dongmin had cut his hair short, slightly shorter than before. He looked even younger that way and Junhwe’s heart warmed as he thought back on their middle school days.

“That hair cut suits you,” he said easily, eyes glinting with happiness.

Dongmin froze in place as he looked at his best friend in silence. He was completely bewildered.

“That place is really nice, I’ve never been here before,” Junhwe added at his friend’s lack of answer.

The place was actually indeed pretty nice. It was a place that only offered waffles and Junhwe didn’t usually craved sweet things for lunch, but he knew how much Dongmin loved waffles, so he didn’t really mind.

He just wanted to spend some time with his best friend.

“Who are you and where is my y Junhwe?” Dongmin asked suddenly, his eyes still wide open in surprise.

“Too happy to be y,” Junhwe said quickly before picking up the menu and settling on something to eat.

He was hungry.

Just as Dongmin was about to speak up, a waitress walked up to their table to take their order. It came to no surprise when Dongmin asked for the biggest and the sweetest waffle, and it even brought a smile to Junhwe’s lips to be able to hang around his best friend like before.

Junhwe ordered one of their savoury waffle, and a milkshake after Dongmin had recommended the strawberry one.

As soon as the waitress had left, Dongmin spoke up.

“So what is making you that happy?”

Junhwe could help his smile to widen and his heart beat to pick up in expectation.

“I’m dating Jinhwan Hyung.”

At that, Dongmin’s jaw dropped so low that Junhwe feared it might hit the table. His best friend shook his head in disbelief, eyes wide in shock.

“You’re kidding.”

Dongmin wasn’t exactly behaving the way Junhwe had pictured it, but it wasn’t like he seemed angry either.

“Well, no, I’m not kidding.”

Dongmin’s mouth slowly closed, then he nodded once, and then twice, still very much in a shocked state.

“Don’t take me wrong, I’m really happy for you, it’s just… Well… Jinhwan is… And you’re...” Dongmin trailed off as he awkwardly gestured towards Junhwe.

Junhwe knew what Dongmin meant. He, himself, was worrying about the choice Jinhwan had made.

“I know, we can’t mate but it’s a life commitment for Jinhwan Hyung anyway.”

Dongmin nodded again, his eyes softening when he took in Junhwe’s worried features.

Junhwe had spent a whole night next to a sleeping Jinhwan thinking about their relationship and what it implied. Junhwe liked Jinhwan a lot, and even if he felt awkward using a different word to label his feelings, he was pretty sure that with a bit of time, he could only fall head over heels in love with the perfect human – or rather Lycos – that Jinhwan was.

Junhwe wasn’t planning on ever stopping liking Jinhwan, but he knew well that it wasn’t how feelings worked.

It had only been after hours and hours of useless thinking that Junhwe had given up. After all, he couldn’t know what the future held and the only thing that he could do was to try to be the perfect ‘mate’ for Jinhwan, even if they could never become linked the way Lycoi were.

Junhwe was thankful that Jinhwan had chosen him and he was determined to make the elder happy with his decision.

“I’m taking this very seriously, so you don’t need to worry.” Junhwe stated, trying to look as honest and genuine as possible.

He knew that it was very much unlike him to sound so mature and he almost expected Dongmin to burst out laughing, but his best friend only nodded, his face just as serious.

“Hey, by the way, that reminds me that I had a favour to ask of you.” Dongmin said out of the blue, looking suddenly very uneasy.

Junhwe cocked his head to the side in a silent question.

“Jinhwan isn’t exactly rich and ever since I left his flat, I know he’s been having trouble paying the bills since we don’t split any more...” Dongmin trailed off.

Junhwe listening attentively. He had been aware that things had been a bit rough for Jinhwan but he hadn’t thought that it was that bad.

“I know you’re living on your own, so I thought maybe… You could, well…” Dongmin cleared his throat awkwardly. “Since you’re dating...”

“You want me to move in with him.” Junhwe stated, almost snorting when Dongmin nodded shyly.

“I mean, you do what you want, I’m just suggesting it. I’m feeling bad that I left him all alone to pay the rent.”

Junhwe hummed in thoughts. He had already been considering it for a while, hell, he had even started packing a few things. He had simply not expected things to go that fast.

But maybe it wasn’t really that fast. In all, Junhwe had already known Jinhwan for half a year and he had lived with him in his flat for a week, and then they had shared a room for a whole month.

He knew the elder pretty well, and they were even dating now, even if it had been only a few days. Junhwe knew that couples don’t exactly move in after two days of relationship but he and Jinhwan used to be friends before being lovers. They had went through a war together and they knew each other well enough.

Plus, Jinhwan needed a bit of help for the rent and Junhwe had a lot of money saved up from his own part time jobs and his mother’s legacy.

He had made up his mind.

“Well, Jinhwan Hyung had already offered for me to move in with him so...”

Dongmin’s face seemed to suddenly light up like a Christmas tree at Junhwe’s words.

“You’re the best,” Dongmin said, his voice sincere and eyes honest.

Junhwe gave his best friend a wide grin.

A few minutes later, their food arrived and they both dug in without further ado – they had been starving. Unlike what Junhwe had expected, the waffle was pretty good and very fluffy, which only contributed to increase his good mood.

Once they both had finished eating, and drinking their milkshakes, the two boys fell back into their usual routine of small talk and stupid jokes.

Junhwe hadn’t even realised how much he had missed being this casual with Dongmin.

“By the way, when are you coming back to school?” Junhwe suddenly asked, remembering that he had seen Haneul on campus the morning.

“Soon, we’ve recruited a few Lycoi and we’ve got Leads so everything is settled for the pack.” Dongmin explained.

Junhwe hummed in acknowledgement. He missed sitting next to Dongmin. Thankfully, most classrooms had way enough space for three people to sit on the benches and Junhwe was going to be able to sit with both his best friend and Donghyuk.

The two boys were so similar that Junhwe didn’t worry even one second about the two of them getting along.

1’o’clock was growing near and so the two boys paid for their food and left the restaurant. Dongmin needed to buy a few things for the flat and Junhwe had a few things planned for the rest of the day so they bid each other goodbye and they both left, not without huge grins, to do their own stuff.

Junhwe was supposed to attend his practical research course on Tuesdays afternoon but he was dropping the class next year and it always bored him out of his mind so he chose instead to walk back home, since he hadn’t been too far, and put things away.

Jinhwan had already everything he needed in his flat, and so Junhwe had decided to sell the house with all the furniture inside, he would earn more out of the sale this way. The only thing he was taking along was the mess of things that belonged to him in his bedroom. Books, clothes, a few old toys and the things that he had been gifted over the years. Packing – or rather throwing all of that into boxes randomly hadn’t taken long and Junhwe was done completely putting away his own stuff only two hours later.

The only other thing he was taking were his mother’s work related papers. She had never had any real belongings beside jewellery and clothing. Junhwe was not going to keep the latter but he did put the jewellery away in a box to keep it as a memento.

By 6pm, Junhwe was completely exhausted and drenched in sweat, but the house had never been this clean and everything, save for a few clothes that he could roll up in a bag and toiletries that he would need, was packed into crates.

Junhwe had put everything away more on a whim than because of reflected thoughts. Hearing Dongmin say how hard it was on Jinhwan, and yet never hearing the elder complain had made Junhwe realise how hard his boyfriend was truly working.

Junhwe hoped that Jinhwan would be happy to know that Junhwe had finally made up his mind and wanted to move in with him.

But Junhwe didn’t really know how to tell him. He knew that it was the kind of things to be told face to face but Junhwe was just too scared. He knew it was lame, and he almost regretted pushing in the button ‘Send’ as soon as he did, but it was too late. He had sent the text, and he was too nervous to look at his phone.

Once again, the text had been short and simple. Junhwe wanted to move in.

Junhwe almost had a heart attack when his phone suddenly rang. He thought of not picking up, too scared at the idea of speaking with the elder, but he had decided to start acting like an adult.

And adults aren’t exactly scared of answering phone calls, especially ones from their lovely boyfriend.

“Hi, Hyung.” Junhwe said, voice tight.

“Hi, uh, could you open you front door? I might be on the other side.”

Junhwe’s brain stopped working. He was still all sweaty from the cleaning he had done, his hair was a complete mess and he hadn’t even had the chance the brush his teeth yet.

He took a deep breath to calm his heart down, hung up and walked up to the front door, opening it swiftly. Jinhwan was indeed standing there, wearing one of his many signature oversized hoodie and smiling widely.

“Sorry, I know it’s sudden, but I wanted to talk to you face-to-face.” he said sheepishly.

Junhwe shrugged the apology away, letting the elder enter the house.

As soon as Jinhwan was inside, his eyes stopped on a few crates in a corner of the living-room, his smile only widening.

“So you really want to move in with me?” Jinhwan asked.

Junhwe felt the blood rush to his face.

“Well yes, I really hate the emptiness of this house and I know you’re struggling with the rent, so...” Junhwe trailed off, feeling only further more embarrassed when Jinhwan’s face went from surprise to genuine happiness.

Junhwe was indeed far too gone.

28^th April 2017, Seoul.

The next days had gone by too quickly for Junhwe’s taste. Jinhwan and himself, occasionally helped by Donghyuk or Dongmin, some days even Haneul, had moved out all of Junhwe’s stuff to Dongmin’s old room at Jinhwan’s flat. They had decided to put Junhwe’s mother’s stuff in Junhwe’s new room as well, since there wasn’t exactly anywhere else where they could have been put.

Before Junhwe knew it, all of his clothings and crates were over at Jinhwan's and there was nothing left in the house.

He had felt a vague ache in his heart when he had contacted an agency, telling them he wanted to sell the house. He had had to fill in a few papers and it had definitely been the least enjoyable experience of Junhwe’s entire life.

Thankfully, once he had been done with the paper, the agency had taken care of all the rest.

The house wasn’t sold yet, but Junhwe didn’t have the key any more and he hadn’t gone there for more than a week already.

He didn’t feel any sadness, but maybe a bit of nostalgia invading his mind now and then when he thought back on his childhood room.

But he had needed the change. He felt happier now that he was living with Jinhwan. His surroundings weren’t so quiet any more and it wasn’t empty at all.

Junhwe stretched out his arms above his head as he took the familiar path down the Seoul cemetery. He almost never went to his mother’s grave, but he knew that the next days were going to be busy with exams and he probably wasn’t going to be able to come any time soon.

It was around 2pm and the weather was very warm for the end of April. The sun was shining down Junhwe’s nape strongly, making him worry about getting sunstroke.

As he walked down the small path through hundreds of other graves, Junhwe thought back on all the events that had happened in his life during the past months.

It had taken only a mere second for his life to completely change.

Six months ago he had learnt about the existence of Lycoi, and how his best friend wasn’t human, nor was his favourite Hyung. There were days on which Junhwe wished he had never found out, because that would have meant that he would never have found out that he wasn’t human either.

But then he remembered that his mother would have still be taken as a hostage and without the protection from the Cloud Pack, he would have most definitely been killed as well.

Junhwe had been angry at first, he had been so furious with Mino that he could have punched the man. But now, months later, Junhwe understood that he had probably tried his best.

At least, Junhwe was alive, and he should probably be thankful for that.

Things might not have turned out the best way possible, but it could have been way worse.

Junhwe was safe, the war was over and he had managed to be happy again and he was determined to keep that happiness.

Junhwe glanced up at the expanse of blue that was the sky, feeling a soft smile spread out on his lips.

He was thankful, for everything that had happened. Of course, it had been painful, and it still was, but it had gotten better.

After a few minutes of walking, Junhwe finally stopped in front his mother’s grave. It had been made out of white marble and under the strong sunlight, the stone almost seemed to glow.

The ground was dirty and filled with fallen leaves, but Junhwe sat down in front of the grave nonetheless.

“Hi mom,” he said, his voice incredibly loud in the solemn silence of the graveyard.

Although there was a smile on his lips, Junhwe had to fight back the tears. Coming here always made him way too emotional. Never before had he craved a hug from his mother as bad as he did in that moment.

His mother had always been a rather cold woman and they almost never hugged. Now that she wasn’t there any more, Junhwe found himself wishing that they did hug more when he was younger.

He had never told her, but he really loved the way her long jet-black hair smelt.

Maybe it was about time he did.

“I really loved your hair, mom,” he said, his voice dying out from the emotion.

Junhwe took a short break, looking up at the sky once more. He didn’t even really know what he should tell her. She probably couldn’t even hear him anyways.

“I...I love you, mom,” he then said, fighting the sob that had threatened to leave his lips.

Junhwe had been the typical hormonal teenager, acting as if he was better than everybody else and being completely and utterly ungrateful.

Now he regretted acting the way he did. He should have told her that he loved her more.

Junhwe took another deep breath, calming his heart down and trying to ease the knot in his throat. There were many things that he wanted to tell her, but he knew that if spoke again, he would end up crying.

Junhwe didn’t want to cry any more.

He slowly got up, brushing a few leaves off his pants and with a last glance to the grave, he left the cemetery. He could always come back in a few months. He wanted to find the time to visit his mother.

For now, Jinhwan was waiting for him, back in their flat, their home.

There had been bad days, there had been terrible days, but now that the storm was over, Junhwe could enjoy the spring of his life to its fullest.

Now, he had a home to come back to.

Now, Junhwe could feel the happiness of saying ‘I’m back!’ and hear, soon after, the clear voice of his boyfriend telling him ‘Welcome home!’.

Maybe love was about being lost and confused, or maybe it was about feeling like your heart is about to explode.

Either way, Junhwe didn’t care. All he knew, and all he needed to know, was that he was happy, and that the people that mattered to him also were.

The End.