Afterglow can be as good as or even better than the event itself. It can be long-lasting and resistant against any down-bringers.

This wasn’t one of those times, when WooHyun didn’t want to open his eyes because they were heavy and still full of tears, no, this time he didn’t want to open his eyes, because everything felt too good to be real and would probably disappear the very moment his eyes would open.

He felt warm, safe and really and truly content – his heart beating in steady rhythm along with another heartbeat he could hear and feel as well as his own.

A pair of arms was securely wrapped around him – that he could feel – holding him close, as if guarding him from everything and everyone and that was a feeling WooHyun needed. That was a feeling that glued all his broken pieces back together, but not in the same messy way they were ordered before (no wonder they collapsed and scattered away so easily) – they were being put together in a new way, a way that wouldn’t let him to fall to pieces ever again.

WooHyun finally opened his eyes, blinking slowly a few times, before looking up from the bare chest that was right before his eyes, to meet SungGyu’s warm gaze.

“What time is it?” he asked quietly, his hand moving from SungGyu’s chest, where it was lying, around his middle, pulling them a little more closer.

“The alarm hasn’t gone off yet.” The red-hair replied, running his fingers trough WooHyun’s hair, making the later to shut his eyes and let out a pleased sigh, before opening his eyes and looking at SungGyu again.

“Then why are you awake?” WooHyun asked, his fingers drawing random patterns on SungGyu’s back.

“Just woke up 10 minutes ago and didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.” The red-hair replied, quite shocking WooHyun. As far he knew, one thing SungGyu liked for sure was sleeping.

“Then what do you want to do, until the alarm goes off?” WooHyun moved a little, so that his face would be more in one level with SungGyu’s than before.

“What we’re doing right now is fine.” He replied with a smile, pressing his lips against WooHyun’s for a brief kiss, making the later to smile.

“I wonder how I didn’t… fall apart even harder without you.” WooHyun admitted with a sigh.

He had silently thought about what would happen, if by any chance he would have to part his way with SungGyu’s, and now, he realized he would fall even in deeper abyss than he was before.

Who would have thought that someone could mean so much to him only after a bit more than three months?

“You shouldn’t think about things like that.” SungGyu said his fingers back playing in WooHyun’s hair.

“I can’t help myself.” WooHyun admitted with a sigh. “Because I even think about what would happen, if we would have to part now…”

“Seriously, don’t think about that.” SungGyu probed up on his elbow, hovering above WooHyun. “We can’t part until your fixed… and after that as well.”

“Why do you want to fix someone like me?” WooHyun asked, looking straight in SungGyu’s eyes, to be sure that reply is genuine, though all SungGyu’s words were always like that.

“Maybe… because I need… someone to fix me?” SungGyu said, each word leaving his lips slowly and hanging in the air for a moment.

Only now WooHyun realized that he wasn’t the only one needing a healing or fixing or how ever you call that.

SungGyu had been alone for so long, struggled so much and WooHyun almost felt like their roles should switch now, that he should be the one doing his best and giving all he can give to SungGyu and don’t bother him with his own scars. But knowing SungGyu, that wasn’t how it worked.

“And, am I helping?” WooHyun asked and received a nod in reply.

“You can’t even imagine how much.” SungGyu said, gently caressing WooHyun’s cheek.

“Then it’s a good deal for both of us.” WooHyun smiled, his arms wrapping around SungGyu’s shoulders, pulling him closer. “And also a guarantee we can’t run away from each other.”

SungGyu smiled in return and leaned closer, pressing his lips against WooHyun’s in a kiss, to which WooHyun replied right away, letting both of their lips find their perfect sync and move against each other in a way that made WooHyun to slowly melt in SungGyu’s arms, pulling the later even closer.

He run his tongue over SungGyu’s lower lip in one of those short moments of separation and couldn’t held back a moan when SungGyu’s tongue touched his, invading his mouth and sending shivers down WooHyun’s spine with every move.

He run his hands over SungGyu’s shoulders, up the back of his neck to tangle in his already messy red-hair, pulling him even closer (like that was even possible), his body arching in to SungGyu’s when later’s hands started to caress his sides in such careful and sensual way WooHyun started to loose control over his actions.

He let one of his hands to wonder down SungGyu’s upper arm and then back up, in the kiss when SungGyu run his fingers over WooHyun’s bare thighs starting from his hips and going to down to his knee and then back up.

A loud ringing suddenly went off right next to their heads, startling both of them near senseless.

“No…” WooHyun whined, his arms going around SungGyu’s middle, trying to hold the later in place when he reached to turn the alarm off.

“No, no, no…” he whined even more, feeling SungGyu shifting closer to the edge of their bed-place.

“I so want to stay in bed with you all day,” SungGyu wrapped his arms around WooHyun again, pulling the later closet to the edge of the bed as well, “or at least continue what we just started, but if we continue, I doubt we will be able to stop.”

“And we have our responsibilities, right?” WooHyun pouted, knowing well enough that it was true.

“Yes.” SungGyu sighed, placing a kiss on WooHyun’s forehead before getting up from their bed-place, what now looked more like a nest with blankets and pillows messed up, and started to look around for his work clothes.

With a deep sigh, WooHyun sat up pulling the blanket he was covered with around his shoulders and followed SungGyu with his eyes.

Something on SungGyu’s lower back caught his attention. At first it looked like a spot, but the more WooHyun tried to understand what it was and looked at SungGyu moving around the small room, the more he realized that it was a… tattoo.

As if on a magic touch, SungGyu finally stopped pacing around the room. His back was turned to WooHyun while the red-hair was pulling on his underwear and now WooHyun was sure – that was tattoo.

It wasn’t big and it wasn’t small either - placed on SungGyu’s lower back, right on his spine. It was round shaped – a dragon making the circle- with a Chinese hieroglyph in the middle. Definitely not a combination someone would choose just because he wanted a tattoo, which didn’t leave many possibilities on what the tattoo meant and why SungGyu had it.

“SungGyu?” WooHyun finally spoke. “Does that tattoo mean what I think it means?” he asked.

The red-hair tensed as if he had just been struck by lightning. WooHyun could swear he heard a quiet ‘damn it’ being uttered.

“SungGyu…” he bespoke the still motionless red-hair again. “Tell me, please.”

SungGyu finally moved, turning his head to look at WooHyun over his shoulder.

With a deep sigh he sat down on the edge of their blanket-nest.

“Remember I told you about me working together with loan-sharks?” SungGyu asked, not looking at WooHyun.

“Yes.” WooHyun answered quietly.

“They weren’t just ordinary loan-sharks.” He said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “It doesn’t matter how they call themselves, but the fact is that for nearly a year I was a part of them and that’s not something you can just erase so that no traces are left… just like a tattoo…”
“But why did you join? Was the reason the same as you told me before?” WooHyun moved a bit closer to SungGyu.

“Yes. I was young and stupid and saw that as a chance to keep the diner and live a nice life.” He said with a sigh.

“And why didn’t you tell me the truth?” WooHyun looked at SungGyu, who was looking at the floor, avoiding WooHyun’s gaze.

“I couldn’t just tell you that I was a part of a gang and that I’m marked as one of them for the rest of my life, now could I?” SungGyu finally glanced at WooHyun. “Beside, there’s a big difference between things a helper of loan-sharks and a gang member need to do.” He looked at his hands, clenching them in fists after a moment. “I have done things, that could get me in jail for quite a while and… there are times when I remember them and can’t believe I can just live further with all that stamped on me with the seal on my back.” He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed loudly.

WooHyun was at lost for moment or two.

He could have never imagined SungGyu as someone who had something so dark (not even mention specific things, he knew it was something dark) to hide deep in his soul and carry trough his life. But that didn’t change the SungGyu he knew - not by slightest bit.

He moved as close to SungGyu as he could, wrapping his arms around the red hairs middle, resting his head on his shoulder. “Everything is fixable.” He murmured.

“Not this, WooHyun.” SungGyu sighed.

“Past is unfixable, but I can fix your soul, like you’re slowly fixing mine.” WooHyun nearly whispered, tightening his grip around SungGyu.

“Do you think you will be able to do it?” SungGyu put his hands on WooHyun’s.

The raven-hair nodded.

“As long as you’re fixing me, I will fix you.” He said placing a kiss on SungGyu’s shoulder, before resting his cheek against it. “As you told me something more about your past… should I do the same?”

“What exactly?” SungGyu turned his head toward the shoulder WooHyun was resting on.

“You assume that SungYeol was my only one before you?” WooHyun asked, well knowing how many meanings the question had.

“You spoke about him like he was.” SungGyu said, turning his torso a little, making WooHyun to straighten out.

“There was one more before him – a person who I now despise more than I… despised my self.” WooHyun sighed. How such a nice beginning of a morning could lead to these conversations.

“He, Kibum, was my first… everything, but at some point he got bored and found someone else to… toy with.” WooHyun sighed again.

“You loved him?” SungGyu asked, now looking at WooHyun.

“No, just that the first ones are usually special… before they turn out to be -holes.” WooHyun said with a faint smile. “He was my ‘friend’ afterwards, until I ended up with nothing.”

“And why didn’t you mention him before?”

“He didn’t have any influence on what had happened…”

“Maybe he had.” SungGyu interrupted. “He was the first one who started breaking you apart, don’t you think?”

“I guess so…” WooHyun sighed yet again and the very moment SungGyu’s arm wrapped around him, pulling him to his warm embrace.

“And we had such an amazing start of the day.” SungGyu said, lying his head on top of WooHyun’s.

“I knew we should have remained sleeping.” WooHyun wrapped his arms around SungGyu’s middle, snuggling closer to him.

“At least nothing is being held back now, right?” SungGyu looked down at WooHyun, who in return looked up at him.

“No.” WooHyun smiled, receiving a small smile in return, followed by a brief, sweet kiss.

They both might be more broken and shattered than most, but WooHyun knew they could fix each other – make all others scars to disappear.

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Greetings!
A new, quite short (probably the shortest ever) chapter is up. I didn’t want to add the next events already, so I rather kept it short.
Title: NELL – Afterglow (‘Separation Anxiety’, track 8)
Anyway – this is SungGyu’s big secret, that lured part of you here from ‘Can You Smile’. Just imagine how mad at him everyone would be for judging MyungSoo, if they would know his past! (*wants to add a spoiler, but doesn’t)

On another note- thank you for all tour lovely messages on twitter, I really appreciate them!

AND don’t forget about Fan-Art contest!!!

Till next time!