chapter thirteen

today, tomorrow

 

a/n  apologies for the super short chapter, but I really did not want to put this along with the angst part. Hope you will like it the same \o/ (did I say angst? Yeah next chapter will most probably filled with angst)

_

Wooyoung didn’t meet Nichkhun at the end of the party.

For two whole days, Nichkhun was unreachable. Wooyoung feels sad but mostly worried that Nichkhun isn’t returning his phone calls and texts. He wonders what happened, wonders what’s going on. Is Nichan still around and Nichkhun’s whereabouts are only restricted to being around his brother? What is Nichan up to? What happened to Nichkhun? Question after question but with no answers in sight. Wooyoung can only pray nothing bad is going on and assure himself that it will be okay somehow.

Wooyoung stares intently at his phone, hoping that he’ll get a text or call from Nichkhun if he wishes hard enough. But of course it’s just a stupid wishful thinking. The phone stays silent and unmoving on his study table, and Wooyoung thinks another day will pass just like that without hearing anything from Nichkhun. He sighs, folding his arms on the table and leaning his forehead on them.

His ears perk up at the sound of the door clicking close. Wooyoung was about to turn to see who it is when suddenly he feels hands resting on either sides of him on the chair and turning it around, leaving Wooyoung gasping in surprise. Wooyoung falls back a little, feeling arms around his waist and a face buried on his chest, strawberry blonde hair— with a little black on the roots— greeting his sight when Wooyoung looks down.

“Khun?” Wooyoung hesitantly wraps an arm around Nichkhun’s shoulder and uses his other hand to gently Nichkhun’s hair. He’s glad to see Nichkhun but surprised and worried at his odd behavior. Nichkhun inhales deeply and murmurs “I’m sorry” against Wooyoung’s chest. Wooyoung moves his hands onto Nichkhun’s cheeks and pushes him away gently so he can see Nichkhun’s face. He frowns as he studies Nichkhun’s tired features with his eyes, thumbs rubbing on Nichkhun’s cheeks. “What’s wrong?” he searches for Nichkhun’s eyes. “Are you okay?”

Nichkhun grabs one of Wooyoung’s hands on his cheeks and presses a kiss on his palm. “I’m sorry,” he says again. Wooyoung’s frown deepens.

“Is everything okay?” Nichkhun manages a small smile and a slow nod of his head this time. “Ah, that’s good then,” Wooyoung says, although he is not sure if Nichkhun’s telling him the truth or not. He pulls Nichkhun closer and hugs him tight. “I missed you. Why weren‘t you answering any of my calls or texts?”

“I missed you too,” Nichkhun pulls his hands up and runs them down Wooyoung’s back. “Sorry. Nichan took my phone away.” Then he pulls away again. “Do you want to go out? Let’s go out,” he suggests. Wooyoung looks at him with surprised eyes.

“Now?” Wooyoung asks, glancing at the clock on the table. It’s almost nine in the evening. It’s not his usual bedtime yet but to Wooyoung, it’s still rather late to be going out around this time of the night.

“Yes,” Nichkhun pulls him up from the chair. “Come on. I asked your mom. She said okay.”

“But what about—” Wooyoung follows Nichkhun out of the room. “What about Nichan?”

“Let’s not worry about him,” Nichkhun says. “It’s okay. Come on, I wanna show you a place.” He takes Wooyoung’s warm, long coat from the coatrack and puts it on Wooyoung, along with his scarf and beanie.

“Hmm? Where are we going?”

“Somewhere,” Nichkhun smiles. “I think you’re going to love it.”

“Hmm well okay then, take me there~” Wooyoung says, letting Nichkhun holds his hand and brings him to the said place.






Approximately twenty minutes later, Wooyoung finds out that the somewhere Nichkhun meant is an outdoor skating rink.

“An ice rink??” Wooyoung stands by the fence, looking at the empty rink with glazed eyes.

“Mhmm,” Nichkhun grins. “You said you wanted to skate.”

“Mmmyeah. But I can’t skate,” Wooyoung admits sheepishly.

“That’s why I’m here, right? I’ll help you. Besides, there’s no one around so you don’t have to feel embarrassed if you fall down.”

“You won’t let me fall down,” Wooyoung says, half convinced and half threatening for Nichkhun to make sure he’s right. Nichkhun only chuckles back at him. Wooyoung sees someone waiting at the entrance and belatedly realizes the one in charge of guarding the rink is Chansung.

“I work here,” Chansung tells him with an easy smile on his face.

“Ah, I see…” Wooyoung nods his head.

“Well, I have to close up this place soon. I’ll see you guys again in half an hour?” he suggests to Nichkhun.

“Yeah, thanks Chan,” Nichkhun pats his hand on Chansung’s shoulder in appreciation. When Chansung walks away from the place, both Nichkhun and Wooyoung sit down on the bench to change into their ice skate.

“Are you sure this is okay? Where are all the people?” Wooyoung puts his ice skate on.

“Yes, I am sure it’s okay. Chansung said people don’t usually come here so late on weekdays,” Nichkhun stands up and offers his hand at Wooyoung. Wooyoung looks at Nichkhun’s hand and at the ice rink in hesitance. “I won’t let you fall,” Nichkhun assures. “I promise.”

“Mmmkay,” Wooyoung accepts Nichkhun’s hand and they both walk in to the ice rink. “Oh this is scary,” Wooyoung grips Nichkhun’s hand tightly, trying not to fall down on the slippery ice. The rink suddenly looks too huge to Wooyoung’s eyes with nothing for him to hold on to but to Nichkhun.

“Don’t be scared. Find your balance first. And don’t be too stiff,” Nichkhun says.

“Don’t let go, don’t let go!” Wooyoung shouts.

“Oh maybe I should,” Nichkhun teases, slowly letting go of Wooyoung’s hand. Wooyoung widens his eyes.

“Khunnie!” Wooyoung quickly grabs Nichkhun’s wrists before the latter one could get further away from him. Nichkhun bursts out laughing in amusement.

“What did you call me?”

Wooyoung ignores him. “Don’t scare me!” he whines instead. Nichkhun’s laughter dies down into chuckles before it fades into a smile.

“Slowly,” he says, skating backwards as he pulls Wooyoung forward.

“Don’t let go.”

“I won’t, I won’t.”

Wooyoung slowly gets a hang on skating but he’s still not sure he can and want to skate on his own just yet. In the end, Nichkhun sends him to the edge of the rink so Wooyoung can hold on to the fence while Nichkhun demonstrates on how to skate correctly to him.

“Be careful!” Wooyoung advices, holding the fence tightly for dear life.

“No problem~” Nichkhun singsongs as he skates and skates effortlessly around the rink. “I am good at this,” he says proudly, passing by Wooyoung and skating straight ahead to the other end of the rink. Wooyoung looks at him with childish amazement.

“Wow you’re really good,” Wooyoung agrees.

“Of course!” Nichkhun continues boasting. Beneath his tired and pale face, Wooyoung notices that at least the smile and twinkle in Nichkhun’s eyes seem genuine. This brings a warmth comfort and relief to Wooyoung and he can’t help but let out a small smile of his own. “Wooyoung, you should skate too. Nothing really scary, right?” Nichkhun calls over.

“Nah, I’m fine like this,” Wooyoung declines. “I’m not as good as you.”

“You’ll never be good if you stay like that forever,” Nichkhun makes a point. He brakes in the middle of the rink. “Come here,” he waves at Wooyoung. Wooyoung quickly shakes his head and waves his hand at Nichkhun.

“Khunnie~ you come here!” He knew it’d work instantly seeing how Nichkhun shakes his head with a grin on his face as he starts skating towards Wooyoung again. However, not half way through, Nichkhun suddenly loses balance and falls down on his back. Wooyoung feels his heart skips a beat and quickly rushes to Nichkhun. “Khun! Nichkhun, are you alright?” he calls for Nichkhun. Nichkhun shifts his gaze at Wooyoung, blinks and then starts giggling. “Are you alright?” Wooyoung asks again. He helps Nichkhun to sit and get up.

“Wooyoung,” Nichkhun says, his giggles lingering. Wooyoung looks at him with questioning eyes, unsure of what’s so funny about falling down. He holds on to Nichkhun’s arm to prevent him from falling again.

“What? Are you hurt somewhere?” Wooyoung checks. Nichkhun shakes his head and giggles some more.

“Wooyoung I— I think you just skated all the way here from there on your own,” Nichkhun comments in amusement. Wooyoung widens his eyes in realization as the words sink in. He turns to look back, realizing how far he skated without the help of other people.

“You’re right…” Now Wooyoung seems amused by it too.

“Now I know how to get you to skate. I just have to…”

“No! You will hurt yourself!” Wooyoung quickly stops Nichkhun when he saw what he was about to do. Unfortunately, this sudden action causes Wooyoung himself to lose his balance. He expected to be greeted by the cold, hard ice but...

“Wow, careful!”

Wooyoung feels an arm over his back before he falls down. His eyes quickly find Nichkhun’s, the smile on Nichkhun’s face disappears for a moment and replaced with worry as he balances them both on the rink. Wooyoung feels his heart beating a little faster from the shock and fear of falling down, but now that he’s looking at Nichkhun so closely like this, he knows it’s beating fast for an entire different reason.

Nichkhun is still looking at Wooyoung with worry in his eyes and Wooyoung realizes he likes the smiley, easy going and cheeky Nichkhun more than the tired, full of worries and doubt one.

“I like everything about you too,” Wooyoung blurts out. Nichkhun blinks at him in surprise as he straightens them both up. “I really do.”

“Wooyoung…”

“If there’s anything about this that I don’t like, it’s the fact that I didn’t get to meet you sooner.” Nichkhun stares at him. “I don’t like it either when the smile’s taken away from your face. Or when I can’t see and talk to you. Or when I have to be away from you and, and—”

“Wooyoung,” Nichkhun stops him. When Wooyoung stares into Nichkhun’s eyes, he sees another twinkle in them. This time, he can actually identify it as happiness. What’s even more heart-fluttering is the fact that Wooyoung’s probably the reason behind it. “I know. I understand how you feel.”

“Nichkhun...Nichkhun, do you love me?” Wooyoung musters up the courage to ask. Nichkhun rubs his thumb on Wooyoung’s lower lip and nods his head. “Then why do you never say it to me?”

Nichkhun stops and presses his thumb at the edge of Wooyoung’s lips. “I wanted to make sure that when I say it to you, you’d be ready to say it back to me.”

Wooyoung’s gaze softens at this. “Why don’t you say it now?” Nichkhun’s eyes widened slightly, and then he smiles, cupping Wooyoung’s face with his hands.

“I love you,” Nichkhun finally says, only loud enough for the both of them to hear. “Wooyoung, I love you and if you’ll let me, I can show and prove to you of how much I really do.”

“Nichkhun,” Wooyoung says shakily, feeling an overwhelming surge of feelings washing over him. How is it possible for someone like him to meet someone like Nichkhun, to be loved by him? Wooyoung feels all weak and mushy by that one confession, feels his heart fluttering in his chest and butterflies invading his stomach. Wooyoung feels his heart beating loud and fast so he presses himself closer to Nichkhun, unwilling to share this private moment with the rest of the world. Nichkhun caresses his cheek softly and Wooyoung can’t help but to lean on his touch. A mutual smile played on their lips and as Nichkhun tilts Wooyoung head slowly to the side, Wooyoung leans forward to meet Nichkhun’s lips with his own.

The press of Nichkhun’s lips was soft and careful— like Wooyoung’s some delicate glass he’s afraid to break. Nichkhun breaks off the kiss to move a little so their noses don’t bump, hence parting his lips at the same time to deepen the kiss. Wooyoung feels his cheeks burned as he doesn’t really know how to do this but he lets his instinct takes over and willingly follows Nichkhun’s lead. Nichkhun slips his hands down to Wooyoung’s hips to pull him even closer as Wooyoung’s flexes his fingers against Nichkhun’s shoulders. He pulls away from the kiss, but not from Nichkhun and this gives the latter one an easy access to steal a peck from Wooyoung.

“Khun,” Wooyoung whispers against Nichkhun’s lips, his arms now loosely around Nichkhun’s neck.

“Hmm?” Nichkhun responds back. When Wooyoung opens his mouth slightly, instead of letting him continue, Nichkhun leans in for another kiss. Wooyoung lets out a surprised gasp, but he wasn’t going to deny Nichkhun anyway.

“Nichkhun I—” Wooyoung manages to say in between their kisses. Feeling slightly breathless, he pulls away from the reluctant Nichkhun and has to cup Nichkhun’s face with his hands to stop and make him look at Wooyoung. He looks into Nichkhun’s eyes and hopes he sees and feel his sincerity when he says “I love you too.” The sparkle in Nichkhun's eyes tells him that he does.

If there was ever a time Wooyoung prayed for a miracle, this was it. Nichkhun is his miracle.

 

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crysane08
#1
Chapter 26: hi! im done re reading this again for the nth time and gosh still makes me cry like a fool. I initially came for Khunyoung but the way you wrote about his family and their relationship with each other got me really hooked. anyways, just here to remind ypu again that we are still here waiting..we did not forget. i hope ypu and your family are doing well during this time. take care everyone!
QueenOfRoses #2
Chapter 26: Plsssssss update T_T I need to know how this ends
GOT7ISAMAZING
#3
Chapter 26: Awwwwww this story is too good...Update?
deCasindazoNe #4
Please give us some update please
crysane08
#5
Chapter 24: Waaahh..TT_TT
I've already red this so many times but I still tear up at almost all the chapters. T_T
I omly read it at night before I sleep so no one will see me cry like an idiot. only 2 more chaptersand then I'll have to wait for your update again..I hope you'll have time soon..just so know..we're still here waiting?
crysane08
#6
I'm gonna read. This again..from the top..i lost count of how many times i've re-read this story.4 or 5.still makes me tear up.
hottestIam
#7
Chapter 26: I always visit this site in hopes that you updated! And here it is!!! I wll wait till the end no matter how many years it takes to finish this story
DaesWithYoo
#8
I love the way you write!!! I'm so glad you're back, this story is honestly one of my favourites. Thank you for this beauty!!!!
kshmoo #9
Chapter 26: Wow!!! So glad you’re back!!! And working on this story!!!!
Fieldofdreams
#10
Chapter 26: WELCOME BACK!!! It's nice to be reading about this family again, cos they're sooo lovely. The bond between the brothers warms my heart and makes me HAPPY! Glad that Woo gets to spend the weekends at home. Being in a warm, loving place will help him, at least mentally and emotionally.
Thank you for the lovely update! I was really, really happy to see the notification <3