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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuSGLD-Secw

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"People...don't appreciate cynicism," Jae Wook said softly, when Geun Suk had led him up to his apartment and settled him on the warm, comfortable sofa, with a hot pot of tea on the coffee table.

On their way to the apartment, Geun Suk had asked Jae Wook, as soon as the latter had stopped crying, why he had set about hurting those children and how his mouth had been slit. These were not questions to which Geun Suk's research material could provide the answer and for a moment, his curiosity allowed Geun Suk to ignore the fact that Jae Wook had esentially been ressurected from the dead.

Jae Wook hadn't been able to answer Geun Suk at once. He was still hurting, in his heart at least, and he felt overwhelmed. He'd been given a second chance and he felt utterly raw at having been wrenched from his pit of misery and yet, having to deal with the actions he had committed out of despair.

What happened, he wondered, to the children whom he had attacked? Somehow (and he wasn't exactly sure how) he had defied death. But it hardly seemed that he could take back the actions that he had committed and now, regretted deeply.

And for the first time, someone seemed to care about him.

He trusted Geun Suk, even though he didn't really know how to start telling Geun Suk about himself.

Jae Wook gasped softly as Geun Suk sat down beside him and took his hands in his.

Geun Suk's cheeks colored a little, as the implications of the slightly intimate gesture dawned on him.

"I-I'm sorry," Geun Suk stuttered an apology as he slackened his grip on Jae Wook's hands. "I-It's just that you still seem cold..."

Feeling embarrassed by how inappropriate his impulsive action was, Geun Suk looked away in a desperate attempt to avoid eye-contact with Jae Wook. He felt terrible and somewhat disgusted by himself- he had probably made Jae Wook feel too uncomfortable to share anything with him and despite this, he had had the nerve to make a mental remark of how much Jae Wook's cream skin reminded him of the velvet underside of a rose petal. 

In surprise however, he looked up again when Jae Wook squeezed his hands, making sure that he didn't let go.

Jae Wook silently smiled at hm, his own once ghastly pale cheeks blooming beautiful with a lively rose shade. Wordlessly, he let Geun Suk know just how much he appreciated his touch. In order to share his story with Geun Suk, he needed to be strong and he wasn't sure if he could rely on his own stength at the moment.

Still blushing profusely, Geun Suk reciprocated Jae Wook's smile and squeezed his hands. As they looked at each other, communicating without words, Geun Suk became aware of the fact that he was indeed charmed by Jae Wook and wanted to know, with even more urgency, why anyone would have wanted to hurt him.

"...There's just no place for people who are different," Jae Wook sniffed a little, looking down at their joined hands.

With gentle encouragement from Geun Suk, Jae Wook gradually told his story, until words simply spilled from his mouth, each one matched with a multiplicity of tears.

"W-What do I-I do...?!" Jae Wook exclaimed, his words hitched with sobs. "I-I hurt all those children...!"

Not knowing what else to do, Geun Suk hugged Jae Wook and held him, as physical contact seemed no longer to be a barrier between them. Jae Wook was overwhelmed both with guilt and with despair at having to relive everything that he had experienced, in relaying his story to Geun Suk.

Geun Suk had tried to be strong, perceiving that Jae Wook needed to draw from his strength. But he found himself weeping alongside the younger man, feeling as though he, too, had experienced the rejection and injustices that Jae Wook had suffered.

He held Jae Wook for a while before answering, for he needed to a moment to think and stabilize his own frenzied emotions. No longer did it matter in the slightest that the man whom he held had once been dead. Jae Wook's skin was warm and supple, his heart beating and his heart wrought with a turmoil of emotion in which Geun Suk now shared.

The man in his arms was no monster.

"I...saw a film, once," Geun Suk began, when he had had a moment to collect himself and Jae Wook's sobs had been subdued to hiccups. "I think it was Gandhi, actually," Geun Suk chuckled, remembering having watched the film in an English class in secondary school. "A man came to Gandhi, terribly afraid that he was going to hell. He had killed a Muslim child because Muslims had killed his own son. But Gandhi told him that he knew a way out of hell. The man was to find a Muslim orphan, raise him as his own son and raise him as a Muslim." *

Jae Wook looked thoughtful, although still a little lost, and sniffled softly.

"I have the next few weeks off for Christmas," Geun Suk continued, with a smile. "And I was planning to volunteer at the children's hospital in town. They're always looking for more volunteers and you're welcome to join me, if you'd li-"

Geun Suk was unable to finish his sentence, for Jae Wook threw his arms around him and hugged him, hard. He was momentarily shocked, but soon recovered and hugged Jae Wook back.

"Thank you for believing in me," Jae Wook said, with quiet, but fervent gratitude. "You're the only one who ever made me feel like I matter..."

Just being with Geun Suk, in a solid, whole and undamaged body already felt like salvation.

-----

Nightfall had the two new companions lying in Geun Suk's bed, sharing one another's warmth. Seeing as Jae Wook had no where else to call home, Geun Suk had gladly opened his own home to him. It was only after he had opened his home to Jae Wook however, that the fact that he had only one bed in his home came to his attention.

Neither man wanted the other to sleep on the floor and they eventually decided to share Geun Suk's bed. Jae Wook had been hesitant, in his worry that he was being intrusive. But Geun Suk had insisted that his new room mate not have to sleep in the cold.

And even though it had been with a magnificent blush that Geun Suk had invited Jae Wook to be his bedfellow, the young man was ecstatic when an equally flushed Jae Wook clung to him like a Koala bear anchoring itself to an eucalyptus tree. Warmth was still such a novel feeling to him, after decades of icy cold chill, and nothing felt warmer than did Geun Suk's body.

Geun Suk found himself absent-mindedly Jae Wook's silk-like hair as the younger man slept, coming to a mental resolve that he would try his best to bring happiness into Jae Wook's new life.

Christmas was fast approaching, Geun Suk realized and hugging Jae Wook a little closer to him, Geun Suk mentally committed himself to giving Jae Wook a Christmas worth celebrating.

-----

Jae Wook soon felt as though he had been living with Geun Suk for his entire life.

Geun Suk's apartment, although not large, was cozy and on his first day living with Geun Suk, Jae Wook had cleaned his apartment room for him and cooked him a hearty meal. Cooking and cleaning were, amongst others, two skills that Jae Wook had always excelled at. But during his life (or, as he realized he ought to regard it as, his first life), he had been strongly discouraged from such "emasculating" chores.

He clearly remembered how horrible he had felt when, as a child one day, his father had given him a stern lecture about how "God intended for men to behave as men", when he had innocently declared to his family that he wanted to be able to cook just like his mother did.

But seeing Geun Suk beam at the meal that he had prepared and enjoy every bite, the rigid words with which his father had punished him couldn't hurt him anymore.

He was a man and he enjoyed cooking and cleaning. He was a man and was attracted to other men. He was a man;