“Are you sweating?”

Ryeowook slapped Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “Shut up. I’m nervous! This is serious.”

The latter snickered, poking Ryeowook’s red cheek. “What are you nervous about? It’s just us. It’s what we’ve always been doing.” He pressed the palm of his hand against the shorter man’s jaw, along his cheekbone gently. “We’re just doing something that’s been a long time coming.”

Taking a deep breath, Ryeowook exhaled and slumped slightly. He knew there was nothing to be scared of. They were sitting in their apartment, on their couch, on a regular Saturday night. There was no pressure and no cameras and no ocean of trauma to separate them.

“Don’t you think we’re lucky?” Ryeowook suddenly asked, twirling the pen slowly between his fingers as he stared down at the document. “I…didn’t tell you, but I met him recently.”

“Who?” Kyuhyun cocked his head, wrapping an arm around the other man’s waist. He leaned into him, resting his head against Ryeowook’s shoulder.

“I guess recently isn’t a good word,” he mumbled, eyes unfocused, “it was quite a few years ago, but I just never forgot the look on his face. Well, your face.”

“A visit from the future me?” he prompted, surprise coloring his voice. “What did he want?”

Ryeowook frowned. “It was about second chances. I told him if it was me, I would’ve given him the second chance, but…,” he trailed off, shaking his head. “I don’t even know why I’m thinking about this right now.”

“Well, it’s part of their timeline too.”

“What do you mean?”

Kyuhyun sat up, running his fingers idly up and down Ryeowook’s side. “I mean that we’ve diverged a lot from each other’s timelines, and even our meeting was different. But this one moment, although I bet it’s different looks wise—it’s still the same exact event they shared.”

Ryeowook glanced at his partner. “Do you think we’re making a mistake? It seems like nothing went right for them. This especially didn’t go right.” He tapped the paper between them.

“It wasn’t the paper’s fault,” Kyuhyun rolled his eyes, leaning over to press a light kiss against the man’s throat. He smiled at the slight jolt it sent through Ryeowook’s body. Hugging him suddenly, he pulled Ryeowook into his lap. “I don’t think they regretted trying to love each other. Just like you and me. No matter what happens to us, I will never regret loving you.”

“When did you become such a softie?”

Kyuhyun just chuckled, kissing away the tears that slid down Ryeowook’s cheeks. “You were patient. You made me love you. You cook good food, too.” He laughed harder as the smaller man elbowed him.

Sliding off Kyuhyun’s lap, Ryeowook leaned back over the documents. Tracing Kyuhyun’s signature with his eyes, he resolved himself. There was only one thing missing from the papers.

It was all on him.

He pressed the pen down, swiftly signing off in each box. As he finished the last signature, he released a held breath. Looking up at Kyuhyun, he couldn’t stop the growing smile. “After eight years of friendship, we’ve finally done it, huh?”

Kyuhyun brushed his fingers through Ryeowook’s hair, dark eyes glowing warmly. “Yeah. Thank you for marrying me.”

***

The building was made up of three floors in one of the many skyscrapers of Shanghai. Rent was fair for the location, and thus far, they had been making more than ends meet. Kyuhyun was rather surprised by the success. Who would’ve thought the Chinese music market would be interested in Korean singers?

“Mr. Cho, here’s the mail.”

He looked up, nodding his thanks at the secretary. Shuffling through the envelopes, he paused at a light blue, square one. There was no sender address. Setting the rest of the letters down, he slid his finger along the seam of little blue envelope, tearing the seal.

Tugging out a cream-colored card, he flipped it open. There was only one sentence. No signature. But he knew who it was.

Let’s fall in love again in another lifetime.

Kyuhyun kissed the card, a smile on his lips.

.End.