"I believe this is yours." Sungmin froze in his steps as he looked up at the stranger and the silver locket the other male was dangling before his face.

"I'm sorry, but I think you're mistaken. I do not, nor have I ever, owned a locket." Sungmin offered a slight smile and a polite bow before attempting to walk around the male.

A bit stunned, the stranger grabbed Sungmin's wrist, "Wait!" He exclaimed as he shook off his previous shock and tried to address Sungmin once more, "I have been searching for the person inside this locket all week! Just look at the pictures inside and then try to tell me that it's not you." He nearly pleaded, but his effort paid off as Sungmin’s curiosity got the better of him.

"Fine, open it up." Sungmin nodded his head toward the locket once he was facing the stranger again.

"Gladly." The slightly taller male made quick work of opening the locket and showing the tiny pictures to Sungmin.

"Kyuhyun..." Sungmin unconsciously murmured as a single tear slid down his cheek. His previously prim and proper facade quickly falling away, "I-I'm sorry, we haven't met before, right?" Sungmin asked as he raised his sleeve-covered palm to his cheek and swept the tear away.

"No, we haven't, I'm Heechul." The stranger introduced himself quietly as he stared openly at the other male.

"It's nice to meet you, Heechul, I'm Sungmin. May I ask how you came to possess that locket?"

"Sure, but shall we go inside the café on the corner? The wind seems to be picking up." Heechul prompted, and as though to prove his point a heavy gust came that had Heechul's shoulder-length hair whipping another his cheeks and ears. Sungmin quickly agreed and within minutes they were seated at a small booth with warm drinks and a small plate of tea sandwiches.

The two were inside the café for hours discussing random topics until they finally breached the topic of the locket again.

"To be honest, my friend picked it up off the street around this time last year and placed it in his jacket pocket; however he stopped using that jacket and subsequently forgot about the locket. Then he gave me the jacket at the beginning of the month, but I didn't actually try it on until last week... and, that's what brought me to this point." Heechul explained with a slight shrug, "I figured it had to be important to someone, and since you were in the photo, it had to belong to you- or someone you know."

Sungmin looked at the table for a moment before gathering his wits enough to speak again, "That locket, it was meant to symbolize my heart. It's the partner to the locket I have." He slowly explained as he fished his locket out from underneath his shirt and removed it from his neck before opening it to show the picture inside to Heechul, "This locket is supposed to represent Kyuhyun's heart. We exchanged them on our second anniversary. Kyuhyun held my heart, while I held his." Sungmin looked at the picture of Kyuhyun in his own locket before snapping it closed.

"Then, do you mind if I ask what happened? How did my friend end up with possession of your heart?" Heechul asked slowly, praying he wasn't asking the wrong question.

Heechul feared the worst though when he saw Sungmin's shoulder's tense, "As you said, he found it on the street, right?" Sungmin asked, looking up in time to see Heechul nod carefully, "Well, if you would be willing to go with me somewhere next Saturday, I'd be more than willing to tell you the answer."

"Okay, where will we be going?"

"You'll find out on Saturday."

After exchanging numbers, a meeting time and location, Heechul grabbed his coat and paid for their drinks and snacks, "Oh, here's your heart back." Heechul suddenly recalled the locket that was sitting in his pocket as he fumbled to pull it out; only to freeze when he felt Sungmin's hand on his forearm.

"No." Sungmin spoke quietly, but with enough force to let Heechul know he shouldn't argue, "Hold onto my heart for me, please? At least until Saturday." Sungmin  bargained, a weak smile tilting the corners of his lips up.

~-~-~

Heechul waited anxiously for Sungmin on Saturday morning, his fingers unconsciously playing with the locket that he had since placed around his neck. His mind kept flipping back to the past week, since he had exchanged numbers with Sungmin they had been sending text messages back and forth. They had sent so many messages that even his friends had started to comment on it to him recently. Smiling to himself at the thought of their conversation last night, he almost didn't hear the younger male's voice as he called out to him, "Heechul!"

Dropping the locket back to its position against his chest, Heechul turned to face Sungmin, "Hey, are you ready?" He asked instantaneously.

Sungmin gave a slight nod, "Sure thing." Within an hour, Sungmin had led Heechul to the graveyard just outside of town. Pausing, he looked up at Heechul, "We're almost there. A-are you sure you want to come in with me?"

Heechul grabbed Sungmin's hand, "Idiot, do you honestly think that I would back out now? Absolutely not. Lead the way." Smiling warmly, Heechul gave Sungmin's hand a reassuring squeeze.

Encouraged, Sungmin led Heechul through the graveyard, pausing before a grave that had a tree that hung over it, the lowest branch grazing along the top of the gravestone when a gust of wind would pass through. "Heechul, this is Cho Kyuhyun. He was my boyfriend and today is the one year anniversary of his death." His quiet words caused Heechul to stare at him. Although Sungmin had begun healing long ago, his eyes still held a far-off look as he recalled his lost love; despite wanting to say something, Heechul remained silent as he waited for Sungmin to continue. "H-he died saving me. I had an argument with my parents at a nearby restaurant and stormed out, Kyuhyun followed after me. I had been so enraged by my parents' narrow-mindedness about my relationship with Kyuhyun that I failed to see the truck that had been barreling down the street. K-Kyuhyun pushed me out of the way and the truck slammed into him. I-I pulled him to the side and when the ambulance came-"

"Sungmin, stop. Y-you don't have to say anymore." Heechul interrupted when he saw the tears streaming down the younger's cheeks, "I get it. I understand."

"S-sorry..." Sungmin squeaked out, "I-it's just... h-he died in my arms... h-he died for me! I-I s-still don't understand w-why h-he would..." He cut himself short as a sob racked his body.

Out of instinct, Heechul immediately pulled Sungmin into his arms, placing the younger's head against his shoulder so that he could cry with abandon. The lockets temporarily forgotten, Heechul turned his eyes to Kyuhyun's grave with only one thought on his mind, "I hope Sungmin can move on from you. If it's possible, will you give him to me, Kyuhyun?"