(A few weeks later)

Over a month had passed since Jaehyuk passed Jaewon’s warning on to Junhyung. Nothing had happened at all, not even small incidents like what had happened with Hyunseung. It was as if Jaewon didn’t really mean to do anything, but Junhyung knew better.

He’d told Hyunseung about the warning he received, and the elder had been surprisingly calm, calling BoA and asking her if she could help. They met to discuss possible scenarios, but it was hard to say what Jaewon was going to do. Junhyung knew for sure that he wasn’t going to be the primary target – Jaewon would strike at those he loved. Hyunseung and Ilhoon were very likely targets, along with all their friends and their children.

BoA had frowned, then, saying that it was impossible for her to send so many guards out. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help, but her men were all busy on their own missions. Eventually, they came to an agreement. Kyujong and Jungmin would be sent to protect Hyunseung and Ilhoon again, just like all those years ago. Junhyung would monitor their friends, make sure they were safe. He was also tasked with fetching the kids to and from school, just in case Jaewon decided to make a move on them. Jungmin would be watching Junhyung when he fetched the kids, while Kyujong was to be with Hyunseung during his dance lessons, and whenever Junhyung wasn’t around.

Junhyung wasn’t sure if Jaewon knew that he had BoA’s help, but he was glad that Jaewon hadn’t made his move. It was Hyunseung’s birthday today and he wanted the elder to enjoy what he’d planned for tonight.

It was a fine Thursday morning, autumn was setting in and Ilhoon was up and ready to go to school. Junhyung had made sandwiches for breakfast, and Ilhoon was munching on them as his father made special sandwiches for Hyunseung.

“Appa, are you bringing me to school today or are you staying home to surprise umma?” Ilhoon asked, grabbing his glass of milk and gulping it down. Junhyung grimaced slightly, still caught between keeping his son safe and giving Hyunseung a pleasant surprise.

Seungie would never forgive me if I let anything happen to Ilhoon, Junhyung told himself. Finishing the sandwiches for Hyunseung, he looked at his son. “I’m going with you and the twins, of course! Umma wouldn’t like it if I don’t go with you,” he replied with a small smile. He trusted Kyujong to take care of Hyunseung; he knew the man would protect Hyunseung with his life.

Ilhoon frowned. “But Uncle Doojoonie can drive us,” he pointed out. Junhyung groaned inwardly, knowing that his son was trying to persuade him to stay home. “Umma would be really happy if you stayed home.”

“No, I’m going with you and that’s final. Go get your bag,” he said, leaving no room for argument. Ilhoon sighed and nodded, climbing off the chair and running to his room. Junhyung shook his head, wondering why Ilhoon had to be so smart for someone who wasn’t even seven yet. He quickly wrote a note for Hyunseung just in case the elder woke up before he got back, putting it on the bedside table and pressing a soft kiss onto Hyunseung’s forehead. The elder stirred slightly, turned to face the other direction, and fell back asleep.

By the time Junhyung went back out, Ilhoon was already putting on his shoes and ready to go. The duo went down, knocked on Doojoon’s door and waited patiently for the family to get ready.

-----------------------

When Junhyung got home, Hyunseung was still sound asleep. Kyujong told him that there’d been no disturbances while he was gone, and Junhyung thanked the elder. Kyujong then left, presumably to find Jungmin, saying that he’d be back at eleven. It was only about eight, so Junhyung decided to let Hyunseung sleep in a little more. The sandwiches had been put in the fridge, so he didn’t need to worry about that.

Grabbing his notebook, Junhyung looked over the song he’d written – Shadow. He finished writing it three weeks ago, then recorded it and submitted it to CUBE Entertainment just last week. They hadn’t gotten back to him just yet, but the look on their faces when they heard the song gave Junhyung confidence that they would use the song.

Junhyung spent the next hour or so scribbling down lyrics and tunes that came to mind. Before he knew it, it was about time to wake Hyunseung up. He took the two sandwiches out, arranged them nicely on the plate, before going into the bedroom were Hyunseung was still sleeping soundly.

“Seungie, wake up,” Junhyung called out, placing the plate of sandwiches on the table and throwing the note away. Pushing Hyunseung’s fringe to the side, Junhyung smiled lovingly at the man he was so lucky to call his fiancé. Kissing his cheek, Junhyung shook the elder slightly. “Wake up.”

Groaning, Hyunseung swatted blindly at where the noise was coming from. He smacked Junhyung in the face, earning an amused chuckle from the younger. Hyunseung cracked an eyelid open when his hand made contact with something solid, and he was met with the sight of a smiling fiancé.

“Did I hit you?” Hyunseung asked, embarrassed and horrified at the same time.

“Yes you did my dear husband-to-be. Now go wash up and eat your breakfast. Or you could eat before washing up,” Junhyung told him. “Happy thirty-first birthday, Seungie.”

The elder grinned, pulling Junhyung down on top of him and hugging him tightly before rolling out of bed. He quickly washed up before racing back to the bedroom, hopping into bed and smiling at Junhyung. “Feed me?”

Junhyung rolled his eyes in amusement, acceding to Hyunseung’s request anyway and picking up the sandwich. He’d cut the sandwiches in the shape of a heart, and then cut the letters J and S in each one. Hyunseung felt his heart melt into a puddle of goo as he opened his mouth and took a big bite of the sandwich. “Mmm, it’s amazing Junnie,” he complimented, taking another bite. This went on for the next fifteen minutes, and then Junhyung washed the plate while Hyunseung changed out of his pyjamas.

“You still have to teach today, don’t you?” Junhyung asked, as if he didn’t already know Hyunseung’s schedule by heart. Sighing, Hyunseung nodded with a small pout. He looked through the messages on his phone, replying to all his friends’ birthday wishes. Doojoon and Yoseob had already celebrated for him the night before, knowing that he had a date night with Junhyung today.

“I’d love to spend the whole day with you, but you know I can’t ask Donghee to give me the day off just because it’s my birthday,” he grimaced. “Even if I’m only teaching part-time.”

“I know, I know. Do you want to watch something on TV? You have over an hour before you have to get to work,” Junhyung said, already plopping onto the sofa and flipping through channels.

Hyunseung looked his fiancé over, figuring that he would get what he wanted on his birthday. “Do I get my present now?” he asked with a grin.

Shaking his head and patting the empty seat beside him, Junhyung replied, “I’ll give it to you later.”

“Then can I get my other present?”

“What other present?” Junhyung questioned in confusion, turning away from the TV to look at Hyunseung and understanding immediately. A smile crept onto his face. “Oh, THAT other present.”

--------------------------

It was six in the evening and Hyunseung was all ready to go for his date with Junhyung. Doojoon and Yoseob were, as usual, going to take care of Ilhoon for them. Jungmin and Kyujong were going to be guarding them too, of course. After giving Ilhoon a kiss on the cheek, Hyunseung went down to where Junhyung was waiting with the car.

“So where are we heading?” Hyunseung asked, not knowing anything about the date.

“You’ll like it,” was all Junhyung said.

Hyunseung rolled his eyes, watching as they went further and further away from their apartment. They were still in town, for sure, and Hyunseung couldn’t help but feel that the place was extremely familiar. It wasn’t when they neared their destination, however, that he remembered where exactly they were. “COEX Aquarium?”

Nodding, Junhyung drove into the carpark. “We’ll walk around a bit, and have dinner at the mall next door. Does that sound alright?” he asked, successfully finding an empty parking lot and stopping the car. Hyunseung grinned and nodded, getting out of the car and waiting for his fiancé to lead the way.

They spent the next hour walking around, thankful that it wasn’t too crowded since it was a Thursday. There were thousands of different fishes, and by the time they headed for dinner, he had a little less than two hundred photos in his phone. Junhyung had considered bringing the elder to the bird park, what with his love of Pororo and ducks, but he figured that that should be a family outing. After all, Ilhoon shared the same love for the feathered creatures.

The couple walked over to the mall, just a few minutes away from COEX Aquarium. Junhyung had, again, booked a table at a restaurant. Hyunseung sat down, admiring the décor of the place, while Junhyung excused himself. Clearly the younger male was going to the kitchen to get something, or to instruct the staff to do whatever he had told them to.

The younger male came back a couple minutes later, wearing a bright grin on his face. “I hope you love this,” he mumbled, more to himself than to Hyunseung. A waiter came out wheeling a plate of something covered by a lid, and stopped in front of their table, removing the lid slowly as if to keep Hyunseung in suspense. Beside the plate was a single lavender rose, a flower that Hyunseung had grown to love more and more as he received them.

A small gasp escaped Hyunseung’s lips, and he was smiling and tearing up. He didn’t even know why he was being all emotional; perhaps it had to do with the fact that this was the first birthday that he was actually celebrating with Junhyung. A heart-shaped cake, a medium-sized one, sat in front of Hyunseung, with ‘J + S’ written on it. Maybe it was too simple for some, but for Hyunseung, who had been through as much as he had, it was more than enough of a surprise.

“It’s really simple because I really didn’t know what I could do. I’m rusty with planning surprises and I understand if this isn’t enough to make up for the past seven birthdays that I missed. And…” Junhyung blabbered, obviously tense and nervous that Hyunseung wouldn’t like the cake and flower. Before he could start hyperventilating, Hyunseung turned and placed his lips over the younger’s, effectively shutting him up and getting him to relax.

“Don’t you know me well enough by now? All I wanted was to spend today with you,” Hyunseung said after he pulled away.

Junhyung grimaced slightly, knowing that it was the truth. “But you should also know that I’m scared of not being good enough for you,” he admitted with a small sigh. Hyunseung felt the familiar warmth that spread through him whenever Junhyung confided in him, whenever the younger told him things that he never would’ve told others.

“And you should know that I won’t ever think that,” Hyunseung replied gently. “I love this, and I love you. Now can I make a wish and blow out the candles?”

Junhyung managed a smile then, and nodded. The elder turned back to his cake, closing his eyes and making his wish before blowing out the candles.

All he wanted was to spend every birthday like this, and he hoped it wasn’t too much to ask.

---------------------------

The couple took a stroll around the park after they parked the car. They wanted to get home to see Ilhoon, of course, but it was nice to have some couple time.

Walking along the paths, Junhyung and Hyunseung kept their hands firmly in each other’s grip. They had been through a lot together, and it wasn’t easy for them to come back to each other, but they did. There was nothing that could make them doubt their love for each other, nothing that they wanted to hide from each other.

It was hard to admit that you were afraid, but Junhyung did it with ease, knowing fully well that Hyunseung wouldn’t judge him. “I dream, every night, that you and Ilhoon are taken away from me,” Junhyung said halfway through their stroll. “And it terrifies me.”

Hyunseung nodded, squeezing his fiancé’s hand reassuringly. “I know, but it’s not going to happen. And if it does, know that we’ll find our way back to you,” he said with a smile. Junhyung returned it with a smile of his own, glad that he had Hyunseung with him.

They spent most of the walk in silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence. That was, until Junhyung’s phone rang and broke the comfortable silence. He took his phone out, frowning when he saw the caller ID, and picked the call up immediately. “Jungmin?”

“We… we failed.”

Junhyung felt his heart stop in his chest, and he looked at Hyunseung in horror. “What do you mean?” he bit out unintentionally. Junhyung didn’t want to be angry at Jungmin or Kyujong – anything that happened wasn’t their fault, it was his. But those two words were causing his world to fall apart, and he couldn’t help but snap at the other.

“He got Ilhoon, and- god we’re so sorry. We couldn’t do anything about it. We’re at the hospital.”

Junhyung clenched his fist tightly, not saying another word before hanging up on Jungmin, and looking at Hyunseung. The elder returned his look with a worried gaze, and that slowly changed to one of horror. “Oh no.”

Junhyung nodded simply in reply, unable to find words, and they started running.

I AM ALIVE (and so is my laptop thank god)

I'm sorry for taking two months to update and BAM PLOT TWIST DUN DUN DUNNNN

Who honestly expected the ending of this chapter?

Ok anyway there's just a couple chapters left to this fic and hopefully I finish it soon >< No promises though

I hope you guys enjoyed this and imma unintentionally keep you in suspense by updating slowly because I can't think of what exactly is gonna happen in the next chapter :/

Oh wells. That's all for now, see you guys again next time! Annyeong~ ^^