It was silent in the blue Mercedes as I peered out at the streets crowding with people. The young were enjoying their day window shopping and holding plastic cups of bubble tea, while the middle aged roamed around for a light snack before going back to the stacks of paperwork awaiting their return in the office.  

I gripped Woohyun’s hand slightly and he turned to look at me, his eyes slightly puffed and his face pale. He looked tired and just needed rest. I played with the fingers from his free hand and he gave me a small smile. Even though it was a small gesture, I could tell how much it strained him to do so.

He continued driving aimlessly around Seoul city, going everywhere and anywhere but back to the hospital. We stopped in front of our usual park and we decided to have a light stroll, to keep our minds off of things.  

I watched the leaves fall down gently around us and felt the crunch of those who had already dried from the harsh winter season from a couple of months before. I could see new flower buds forming, waiting for the perfect moment in spring to bloom into beautiful orchids and tulips. There was a soft breeze, slightly chilly but nevertheless refreshing against the warm sun shining down Seoul.  

Woohyun slightly dragged his feet and I knew he was tired from the lack of sleep, but not only from that, I knew he was tired of the whole ordeal he and his father had been through over and over again. I gave a small sigh and dragged Woohyun towards the bench located right in front of the water fountain.

 

His arm was secured tightly around me as I lay on his shoulder, the scent of vanilla filling my thoughts and calming me. I could feel the tenseness in his stiff movement and I sat up and placed my hands on his shoulders.

“You should get some rest, Hyun, you need energy for tomorrow too you know that.” I mumbled as I gently massaged his firm shoulder blades, secretly impressed at the amount of muscles he had. Damn, how did I not notice this before?

He paused and gave a relaxed sigh as he leant backwards against me, enjoying the well needed massage.

“Well, seems like I won’t need to be going into work tomorrow though, eh?” He said with a bitter smile, the irony thick in his voice. 

I gave a small nod and looked at Woohyun.

His eyes were fluttered closed, but his eyebrows were furrowed together, betraying the peaceful look that otherwise would’ve filled his face. 

I brushed a piece of hair off of his face as he reached out to grab my hand and kissed it lightly. 

"Gyu I know I’m being selfish, I know that. But this is my dream, this is my life that I have to give up. Why, why does it have to be me that has to give it up?" He placed his head down in his knees as he shrugged his shoulders in defeat. I lightly patted him on the head and brought his head down into my lap.

I soothingly his cheek as I started humming a song. I felt his shoulders lightly shaking and I looked into his eyes with a sad smile as I wiped away his silent tears.

“It’ll be okay, I promise. Your father is just worried about his business and his health right now. I don’t think there’s anything you can do more than to show him the support he needs. Once he recovers, maybe Boohyun will be ready to take over, right? It’ll be okay, and if not, you can rebel and let’s fly to Switzerland and open a Lindt Chocolate factory, yes?”

Woohyun laughed and nodded, fluttering his eyes closed and falling asleep, deserving every minute he could to regain his energy. 

 

 

“Hyun, I’m just going to get some groceries yeah? I’m running out of eggs and milk, I’ll be back in a couple.” I whispered into Woohyun’s ear as he stirred lightly from his nap on my lap. 

We were back at my apartment, and I rushed my sleepy eyed boyfriend straight to bed as soon as we got back so he could continue resting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this tired before and I didn’t want him to get sick, but of course, he refused to sleep unless it was on my lap.

So here we were, on my bed, my legs getting numb as Woohyun’s head lay heavily on my thighs for the past hour. I spent that hour trying to think of song lyrics for an upcoming assignment, but really, I just ended up staring at Woohyun’s delicate and perfect complexion while he slept. Okay, I only just realised how creepy that sounded. Remind me never to tell Woohyun how perfec- okay Sunggyu stop.

I lightly rolled the dark-haired ball weighing a million tonnes, (not literally of course), off my legs and squirmed a little as I felt pins and needles slowly recede down to my toes. I gave Woohyun a peck on his cheek and he hummed in reply, squinting his eyes to look at me briefly before closing them again. I scoffed and laughed at his funny expression when he slept. He looked so young and naïve. 

 

And because my boyfriend was so naïve, I’m thankful that he didn’t wake to realise that I wasn’t going to the supermarket at all, but left my apartment with my keys,  and headed straight for the hospital. 

 

 

A couple of nurses smiled at me as they rolled a trolley full of canteen trays, filled with leftovers from the end of the lunch. I smiled in reply and turned the corner, just in time to bump slightly into Mrs Nam.

“Oh Sunggyu! You’re here, I’m glad. How’s Woohyun?” She gave me a small hug and asked me, a worried look on her face.

“He’s fine, he’s sleeping like a big baby at my apartment.” I laughed, patting Mrs Nam arm to reassure her of her son’s condition.

“Ah, he was always a deep sleeper, thank you Sunggyu.” She gave me a genuine smile before telling me she was going to pop down to the canteen to get Mr Nam more food.

“Apparently the sandwich was cold and just disgusting,” she told me, rolling her eyes as she walked off down the hallway, away from the wooden door that read room 105.

 

I knocked on the door lightly before opening the room to see Mr Nam seated on his bed, today’s newspaper spread out on his lap, and the television playing the rerun of the soccer match between South Korea and Japan. He looked up, his glasses hanging on the end of his nose. His eyes lit up in delight as he welcomed me in.

“Sunggyu! What a pleasant surprise, I didn’t expect you to come back here, well, after what happened this morning.” He waved a hand as he disregarded the event lightly, but I could see the stern look in his eye as he waved me over to the chair beside his bed.

I sat down and gave him a light smile, 

“How are you feeling, Mr Nam?”

“Much better, thank you. A can’t kill me yet.” He chuckled, as he folded away the newspaper. 

I nodded before taking a deep breath to say something,

“I know why you’re here, Sunggyu.” Mr Nam cut me off before I could begin, giving me an understanding smile. He wasn’t hostile, nor did he look at me in a negative light, instead, he just simply smiled at me.

I slowly nodded and looked at him curiously,

“I know you want me to reconsider, because you want Woohyun to be happy.” He broke off, as he raised a glass of water to his lips.

“But I’m just worried. Can you understand that? What if one day, a maid doesn’t happen to find me struggling to breathe at the stairs? If Woohyun works at the office, I’d be able to spend more time with him as well. I miss that feeling. I miss not having enough time for my own son.” He gave a soft stare down at his hands as he expressed his disappointment in himself. 

“It’s pathetic isn’t it? Sacrificing my son’s happiness so I could have my own happiness? You must think I’m a terrible father.” He said with a sad smile. 

“No Mr Nam, I don’t think that at all. Woohyun misses those times with you too, trust me. There’s a look in his eye when he sees you, it’s a bit like a longing glance, but at the same time it’s a look of admiration. I know he admires you a lot.”

“You really think so, Sunggyu?”

“I know so.” I gave him an enthusiastic nod of my head and he laughed as he patted my head. 

“I’m just so tired sometimes, when I woke up in the hospital bed I realised that maybe there was a part of me that regretted waking up. It’s terrible, I know.”
“I think we’re all just a little tired, but sometimes we need to persevere through it all, and well, it just works out in the end, right?” I said, my voice hopeful.

He nodded and smiled widely,

“You’re awfully wise for your age. I can see what Woohyun sees in you.”

I blushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of my head nervously.

“You'll get better, I promise. My grandma died a strong woman but I believe that there isn't anything worth fighting for more than your family. Are you willing to fight Mr Nam?” I challenged him with an encouraging smile.

He looked at me for a brief second before smiling and nodding, 

“Yeah.”
 

“He's right you know, if you stopped being so stubborn and actually listened to everyone around you.” Mrs Nam entered into the room, in her arms a tray full of snacks and a cup of coffee for me.

“I know this probably can’t compare to what you can make even with your eyes closed, but it’s better than nothing, eh?” She smiled as she handed me the steaming paper cup. 

I smiled and shook my head, thanking her for her thoughtfulness. 

 

“Here you go, your highness. Hopefully this will satisfy your hungering taste buds.” She exclaimed childishly, her voice full of sarcasm. 

She placed the tray on top of her husband’s lap as she stared at him for a few moments, not saying anything. 

She gently hugged him around the shoulders and silent tears fell down her face. Mr Nam gently wiped them and kissed her on the forehead, 

“I’m not going anywhere, Taehee.” He whispered, as he tried to stop his wife from crying.

I grabbed a handful of tissues from the box beside me before handing them to Mrs Nam, who gratefully accepted them and dabbed at her eyes lightly. 

“Oh I’m just being silly, all this hospital drama is making me delirious.” She giggled as she wiped away her final tears. 
 

I sat there blankly, just watching the couple exchange silent moments of affection and adoration for each other. It was amazing that even after all these years, it was as if the spark that started their whole relationship had lasted even until now. I smiled as I thought about Woohyun and I in the future, I wonder if we’d be as greasy as we are even when we’re old and wrinkly.

“But honey, good news, Boohyun’s taking the first flight over tomorrow morning.” Mrs Nam said, her face immediately lighting up at the mention of her oldest son.

“Has Woohyun talked about Boohyun to you? They’re mighty similar and really close.” Mrs Nam turned towards me with a smile, 

I nodded in reply,

“I’m sure Woohyun would be happy to hear about that.”

“Boohyun said he wanted it to be a surprise for his ‘lil bro’, so all you need to do is  keep Woohyun preoccupied, but I’m sure you need no help in doing that.” She said as she gave me a teasing smile.

I laughed nervously and felt a warmth spread in my cheeks as I checked the time,

“Oh, I’ve been here for way too long, Woohyun still thinks I’m at the supermarket.” I laughed before grabbing my bag, and wishing Mr Nam to good health before bidding them goodbye. 

“See you later, Sunggyu. Thank you, you know, for everything.” Mr Nam looked at me with a grateful smile before giving me a firm nod. 

I smiled in return and nodded understandingly, before tilting my head downwards in a respectful bow. 

 

I scrambled through my apartment door as I saw Woohyun lazily flicking through the channels of my television. He stared at me for a minute before looking up at the clock, outraged at how long I had taken. His hair was slightly ruffled and damp, and he was wearing one of my bigger shirts which I had folded away in a drawer full of Woohyun’s things. Yeah, it wasn’t exactly the first time Woohyun had spent the night here before.

“I even took a shower before you came back, and you know how long I take in showers.” He said, as he walked towards me, lifting the heavy plastic bags as if it were as light as a feather.

I gave an exhausted sigh and managed to catch my breath, as I had just made the quickest supermarket trip ever. I felt like I had just run a marathon at the speed I was grabbing the eggs and milk and everything in between the aisles. Damn that supermarket for putting the necessities at the back.

“Sorry, the bus was late.” I mumbled an excuse, and turned to face the fridge, pretending to put the frozen products into the freezer to avoid Woohyun staring at me suspiciously.

He slowly nodded and helped me place the dry products into the pantry. 

“I’m feeling like pizza tonight, you up for some Italian?” He asked me, already reaching for the yeast and the flour.

I nodded and gave him a smile, hopefully hiding the guilt I felt from lying straight to his face,

“Sounds great, I want more mozzarella cheese this time, okay?” I swung my legs across the bench as I seated myself on top of the marble surface. Sometimes I would just sit here all night and watch Woohyun cook, it interested me to no end watching the man scrambling around the kitchen, but with a peaceful and calm look on his face. 

 

I disinterestedly flipped through a magazine as I waited for the dough to rise. A buzz went off from the oven timer as Woohyun reached over to grab the glass bowl; the pizza dough was ready to be kneaded. 

Woohyun got straight to work and I watched his arm muscles tighten every time he flipped the sticky mixture around to gain more access and elasticity in the dough. His shirt - well, mine, was rolled up just above his elbows, and the shirt was already too small for him, so when he tensed his muscles, I felt as if all hell was about to break loose. Not literally, of course.

I took a sharp intake of breath and Woohyun looked up at me, his eyebrows furrowed in determination and his eyes in surprise as he saw me staring at him.

“Like what you see?” He smirked, as he grabbed more flour from the container, preventing the dough from sticking to the marble surface.

I nodded and smiled as I placed my magazine aside.

 

He leant forwards and poked me on the nose, spreading flour all over my face,

I flinched and leant backwards to avoid getting more on me, and Woohyun chuckled as he leant forward, replacing his finger with his lips as he kissed me gently.

I leant into the kiss, wanting more before I felt Woohyun pull away abruptly, a smug smile on his face.

“There, now run along, you’re distracting me. At this rate, we’re not going to get anything on the dinner table.”

I pouted and wrinkled my nose, “I don’t mind.”

Woohyun laughed before grabbing me in close again to give me one more kiss, lasting much longer, and oh so much more satisfying,

“Happy?”

“Very.” I nodded enthusiastically and walked off towards my couch before Woohyun could see the blush already forming on my cheeks. 

 

 

It was just before midnight that Woohyun and I lay across from each other on my double bed, just simply staring at each other. Woohyun decided it was already too late, he was too comfy, and too tired to drive back home tonight, so of course, I had no choice but to house the childish man for the night. 

He leant forward and pecked me on the lips, 

“Okay I think we need to stop staring, or else we’re never going to fall asleep.”

I laughed and nodded, before turning onto my side, my back facing Woohyun as I mumbled a sleepy good night.

I felt him hum in reply and a ruffle of the blankets told me he too turned towards the other side. 

 

My thoughts were fluttering around as I began to draw into unconsciousness, grateful that sleep was just inches away. I felt an arm curl around my waist as I felt a sudden warmth around me.

I leant back into Wooohyun’s chest and cuddled closer to him, enjoying the warmth he was radiating.

I don’t think I’ve ever slept that well at night since, well, ever.

 

 

“Sunggyu, why are we here?” Woohyun asked me hesitantly as we stood in front of the hospital doors. 

“To visit your father, obviously.” I simply stated, not giving my boyfriend the satisfaction of a valid answer.

I gripped his hand tightly and dragged him up to the elevators, before stopping at Mr Nam’s room. 

I knocked loudly and waited a few seconds, I could hear a foreign voice laughing with Mr Nam, and I felt Woohyun’s head turn swiftly towards the sound of the laughter.
 

He pushed the door open and his face immediately lit up as he saw his brother sitting at the chair opposite his father.

“Hyung!” He exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about the whole ordeal with his father and dropping my hands.

I looked towards Mr Nam and he gave me a knowing smile, grateful that I was able to bring Woohyun to the hospital. 
 

“Hey lil bro! Did ya miss me?” Boohyun said in an American slang, his voice thick with happiness and playfulness. 

The two brothers embraced and punched each other lightly on the arm before Boohyun turned to me, giving me a friendly smile,

“And can I safely assume that this is the Sunggyu which I have heard so much about?” He gave me a wink as he offered out his hand,

“Hey there, I’m Boohyun, your boyfriend’s brother.” He said, with an emphasis on the word. I blushed in embarrassment and shook his hand shyly.

“He’s cute, nice catch, bro.” Boohyun grinned at his brother, still not letting go of my hand.

I awkwardly stood there before Woohyun broke off our handshake with a jealous glint in his eyes.

“Yah, he’s my boyfriend.” He said as he took my hand in his once again.

“Alright, alright. So Woohyun doesn’t like to share. Got it!” Boohyun waved his arms up in surrender and gave me a playful smile, making me laugh.  

 

I gave Woohyung a tight squeeze in the hand as he turned his attention towards Mr Nam, a little hesitant. He knelt beside his father’s bedside and bowed his head,

“I’m sorry for my outburst Appa, I understand what you want me to do, and I’ve decided tha-“ Woohyun started, his voice full of regret and sincerity. He mumbled slightly, evident that he was about to make a life changing decision.

Mr Nam smiled up at me before patting Woohyun on the head,

“Woohyun ah- I'm not going to force you to take over the company. I know you have your dream that you need to pursue, and I’d be selfish to take that away from you.” Mr Nam said in calm even voice.

Woohyun’s face wrinkled in confusion before breaking out into a wide smile,

“What did you say?” He suddenly stood up.

Mr Nam looked up at his excited son with a smile,

“I just had a talk with your brother, and everything’s under control from where he’s standing, so there’s no need for you to step in. Though, I do want you to be a junior partner of the firm, just come check in once in a while, will ya? Your old man needs some visits anyway.” Mr Nam returned the smile that had already spread widely across Woohyun’s face.

Woohyun nodded slowly, still in disbelief at his father’s sudden change in mood.

“This is weird, appa, are you sure?”

“Yes. Cooking is your dream, who am I to stand in the way of it? Go chase your dream, Hyun. You have the best person beside you with you all the way anyway.” Mr Nam said as he smiled gratefully towards me, giving a slight nod of his head towards me.

Woohyun followed his gaze and turned towards me with a smile, a look of appreciation and happiness in his eyes. I smiled back at him and nodded, telling him that this was indeed, happening for him. 

 

“Oh, by the way, I never actually called Mr Jung to tell him you weren’t coming to work. So you might have an angry chef yelling at you tomorrow.”

“I figured, I got a text this morning.” Woohyun simply waved away the matter as if it didn’t mean anything at all.

I stood there with my mouth wide, had Woohyun known it was going to be okay?

“Oh and for the record, I wasn’t about to give up my dream anyway. I was seriously considering booking tickets to Switzerland for tomorrow.” Woohyun said with a smug smile on his face, he laughed and patted his father on the arm.

Mr Nam looked outraged but shook his head at his naïve misconceptions.

“Ah, I should’ve known. But um, why Switzerland?” Mr Nam looked at both of us confusedly.

I laughed and Woohyun turned towards me with a bright grin,

“Switzerland just seemed like the place to be.” Woohyun said as we exchanged a knowing smile between the two of us, an inside joke that kept us smiling throughout the rest of the hospital visit.

 

 

A week later, after a few more checkups and to make sure Mr Nam was in full and speedy recovery, the doctor finally said he was able to be discharged from the cramped up room that he had been confined to for the past week. Boohyun was busy settling into the office, and Mrs Nam was at home getting everything ready for her husband to come back in.

So that left Woohyun and I to help him pack up his hospital room and prepare him for the way home.

I gently folded one of Mr Nam’s t-shirts and pants into a duffel bag, before placing his precious books on top of the pile of clothes, satisfied at my packing skills. 

I turned towards Mr Nam and Woohyun, who were casually chatting as they watched the morning news for today.
"Woohyun ah, did I ever tell you my dream job."
“Yeah, you wanted to own your own business. And here we are."
"No. That was before what I truly wanted to become. Your grandfather was so mad he wanted to disown me."
Woohyun looked at him in surprise as he placed down the duffel bag, prohibiting me from straining my back.
I scoffed and looked at Woohyun, giving him a look that told him not to underestimate me.
Woohyun smiled and patted my cheek before turning back towards his father,
"Really?" He mused in surprise.
"Hey hear me out first, I wanted to be the lead singer for a rock band. Can you believe that?" he chuckled to himself as he remembered his old memories.
"Those were some good times" He whispered to himself. 

Woohyun stared at his father in disbelief before giving me a glance and burst out laughing.
I laughed alongside him and patted Mr Nam’s arm, who had appeared to be thoroughly confused and clueless at our sudden outbursts of laughter.
"Woohyun wanted to be a rockstar too, I guess it's true what the day about like father like son." I smiled at Mr Nam as I remembered one of Woohyun and my countless conversations over our dinner dates.
He rubbed his chin in thought and nodded,
"Ah your mother was right then, all those years playing Led Zeppelin and ACDC when you were a baby did work!" he exclaimed in delight before a light shake of his head.
"Well, even though those times are behind us, but let's rock out karaoke at home sometime eh, Woo? Sunggyu you can join too, Woohyun tells me you’re a fantastic singer"
Woohyun smiled and nodded, giving me a gentle squeeze of the hand before he replied to his father,

"Sure thing, appa."

 

#

so all is well again ;) i'm going to skip a bit of time so we can have the full extent of more woogyu fluff before the fic ends! :)

thank you all for your comments! <3