Wooyoung doesn't know how long they've been like this but he does know he doesn't want to let go of Nichkhun just yet. They stayed like that for a little while longer; shoulders pressed against the counter, Wooyoung’s face in the crook of Nichkhun's neck and Nichkhun's arms around Wooyoung with his hand the back of Wooyoung’s head, shushing him from his fading cries. It's admittedly not the most comfortable position, but in Nichkhun's arms is where it's the safest and warmest to Wooyoung so it doesn't matter.

"How?" Wooyoung asks quietly. "How did you get here? This is not a dream, is it?"

"Nope," Nichkhun confirms. "It feels like a dream to me too, but it's not. Fei noona turned out of nowhere one day and told Nichan she was going to take me with her back to Korea."

"Noona?" Wooyoung raises his eyebrows, surprised. He tilts his head a little to see where she is -at the threshold- and sees her arguing quietly with Minjun. When her gaze meets Wooyoung’s though, she smiles at him. Wooyoung smiles back at her. "And Nichan actually allowed her to?"

"Even if he didn't, she'd kidnap me and still bring me back with her anyway."

Wooyoung sniffles and then chuckles. "It wouldn't be a kidnap if you're willing to go along." Wooyoung pulls away a little so he can look at Nichkhun, who immediately wipes the tear stains on Wooyoung’s cheeks. "How long are you staying?"

"Let's not think about that too soon. I'm here now, that's what matters the most."

Wooyoung tries to smile and nods his head. "You're right. Where are you staying tonight?"

"I'll just head back home to rest."

"You can stay here," Wooyoung suggests, a hopeful look on his face. "I mean, we have an extra room. I'll talk to mom and dad. Please?" Nichkhun looks torn between wanting to accept the offer or decline it. When Wooyoung notices where Nichkhun's looking, he understands his worries. "I'll talk to Minjun hyung too."

"I...don't know," he answers unsurely and helps Wooyoung to get back on his feet. "Maybe I'll just come back tomorrow morning."

"But-"

"No, stay," Minjun interrupts their moment. Both Wooyoung and Nichkhun look up at him. "It's- okay. Stay here for the night. You must be exhausted," he says to Nichkhun and adds in "I'll talk to mom and dad," to Wooyoung.

Wooyoung beams and hugs Minjun. "Really? Thank you! I know you're my most favorite hyung for a reason."

Minjun chuckles. "I am your one and only hyung," he corrects. Wooyoung agrees to his statement by tightening his hug around his brother.

+

As expected, it didn't take much persuasion to convince their mom to let Nichkhun stay at their home for the night. Seeing Nichkhun again after so long and especially in that kind of condition brought up her overly maternal instinct that makes her want to take care of Nichkhun until he looks fresh and healthy again. Not even their dad has a problem about it either (he approves of everything his wife likes and wants) so just like that, Nichkhun's still here and will spend the night at the Choi's residence.

After dinner with the family and taking turns to take shower, both Wooyoung and Nichkhun are finally alone again . They have small talks together, catching up on other stuff they never get to mention before in their phone calls because of the time strain. The conversation naturally quiets down after a while and they both watch the television in a comfortable silence.

Nichkhun's leaning against the armrest while Wooyoung’s leaning on Nichkhun's side. Nichkhun smells like vanilla and peaches, the scent soothing Wooyoung’s senses and bringing comfort to his mind and heart. "Can't believe you're really here."

Time passes but there's still no response from Nichkhun."Khun?" Wooyoung lifts his head quizzically and turns to look at the said guy, only to have a smile formed on his lips seeing Nichkhun's already fallen asleep. Softly, carefully, Wooyoung brushes his thumb on Nichkhun's cheek."Thanks for coming back," he whispers, pressing a quick kiss on Nichkhun's forehead, trailing it down to his nose and finally to his lips. Just when Wooyoung’s about to pull away, a hand find its way to his nape and presses him down to connect his lips with Nichkhun's again. Wooyoung’s sightly surprised, but kisses Nichkhun back.

"Thanks for not letting go," he hears Nichkhun say through his hazy mind. Wooyoung lets Nichkhun part his mouth with his tongue and welcomes it in to meet with his own.

+

When the morning comes, Wooyoung wakes up on his own bed. The house is eerily quiet and there's no sign of Nichkhun anywhere in the room. Still unable to think clearly, Wooyoung wonders if it all had been just a dream. He quickly pushes the blanket away and rushes out, downstairs. He holds in his breath and makes a turn to the kitchen. Two heads turn back at him in return.

"Good morning sweetie!" His mom greets cheerfully as she washes the dishes. "Come eat breakfast," she calls. Wooyoung averts his gaze to Nichkhun and clears his throat, hand self-consciously touching his messy hair. Nichkhun smiles at him in amusement.

"Good morning," Wooyoung greets back quietly. He approaches the chair and sits down across of Nichkhun, where the breakfast set is already there waiting for him. "Why didn't you wake me up to eat breakfast together with everyone?"

"Aww but it's been a while since you last had a good sleep. We can always eat breakfast together any other day." She dries all the dishes and puts them back into their respective places. Wooyoung takes his spoon and starts eating. "Nichkhun will accompany you now though, right, Nichkhun?"

"Gladly. Thanks for breakfast, Mrs.Choi."

"Sure. There's still some leftover in the pot if you want to eat more. Eat slowly sweetie!"

Wooyoung chokes on his chicken porridge and quickly downs all his water."Mommmmm," he whines. She only laughs and kisses the top of his head, rubbing his back briefly and walks away. Wooyoung pouts but continues eating anyway.

"Good morning," Nichkhun breaks the silence again. Wooyoung hums back shyly, sightly embarrassed by his silliness. He really thought it was just a dream, or that Nichkhun had left again. But seeing him still here, Wooyoung feels glad more than anything. "Don't worry, I wasn't going anywhere," he says, as if he knew what's playing in Wooyoung’s head. "I wasn't going to leave you while you're still asleep anyway."

"The last time, I went to sleep and opened my eyes and you weren't there anymore," Wooyoung mumbles but he knows Nichkhun heard him the same.

"Sorry," Nichkhun apologizes, remorse in his tone. Wooyoung stops feeding himself when he feels Nichkhun's foot sliding up his leg. He tilts his chin up a little to stare at Nichkhun."I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

"No," Wooyoung deadpans. Nichkhun falters and drops his foot back down. Wooyoung quickly, blindly traps Nichkhun's foot in between his."But maybe I already have."

"Really?"

"Or haven't. But will if you feed me breakfast," Wooyoung says and slides the bowl to Nichkhun. Nichkhun chuckles.

"So spoiled." He spoons the porridge and feeds Wooyoung anyway. "And a very messy eater," he comments later on as he presses his thumb on the side of Wooyoung’s mouth and cleans the porridge stain there.

"You love this messy eater."

"As a matter of fact, I do."

Wooyoung grins in satisfaction. "Me too." He eats half of an egg roll and offers the remaining to Nichkhun, who eats it without hesitation.

"You love this messy eater too?" Nichkhun teases. Wooyoung shakes his head.

"I love the person who loves this messy eater."

"Mmm sounds like a lot of people."

Wooyoung laughs. "No. It's just you."

"You are being cheesy right now," Nichkhun points out. "Just so you know, I'll still make you eat all your medicines."

"What?" Wooyoung pulls his best whiny face on. "Not you too?"

"Yes, me too. I am here to make sure you take in your meds. I will...nurse you back to health or something." Wooyoung can't help but smile at the thought. "Your mom told me. Why haven't you been taking your meds, Wooyoung?"

Wooyoung sighs heavily. "They make me tired and turn me into something really evil."

"That's understandable. But you still have to take them. If you don't, how are you going to get better?" Nichkhun reprimands him softly. Wooyoung glues his gaze at the table, fingertip tracing circles on the surface.

"Maybe I'm not meant to get better."

"Hey," Nichkhun puts the spoon down and cups Wooyoung’s cheeks with both hands to make Wooyoung look at him. "You can't have this kind of attitude now. You will get better. We all know that."

Wooyoung smiles sadly, his hand grabbing one of Nichkhun's and squeezing it lightly. "We all want that, but that doesn't mean it'll happen."

"Wooyoung-"

"Nichkhun," Wooyoung presses. "Can we not do this right now?"

Nichkhun stares at him for a very long time, swallows thickly and nods his head in defeat. He lets go of Wooyoung’s cheeks so he can continue feeding Wooyoung his breakfast. Wooyoung grabs Nichkhun's other hand and entwines their fingers together.

"Thank you."

Nichkhun gives a small smile and squeezes Wooyoung’s hand. Just a simple gesture, but Wooyoung gets a lot of strength and assurance from it.

It's after lunch time that Wooyoung finds himself in the bakery with Nichkhun, sitting on the floor in front of the display mirror and watching the rain pouring outside. It's quiet, save for the sound of the rain hitting the roof and ground. This brings back the memory of when Wooyoung met Nichkhun for the very first time.

"It was raining too when I first met you," he voices it aloud. He remembers drenched hair and brown trenchcoat, sketches on his journal and loud music at the background. Nichkhun hums in agreement.

"You recommended ice cream cake on such a cold day."

"No, I didn't! You were asking which was my favorite." Nichkhun laughs. "Did you really not have a favorite?"

Now, Nichkhun's laugh quietens down into a secretive smile. "You think?"

Wooyoung raises an eyebrow up at Nichkhun. "You did have a favorite, didn't you?"

"Hmm." The smile lingers on Nichkhun's face even when he turns away to look at the rain again, but doesn't indicate he's going to tell Wooyoung more about it. Wooyoung doesn't prod more on it either. He opts to stare at the side of Nichkhun's face instead, the perfection never changes and the beauty remains even when he's lost so much weight. If anything, Nichkhun looks so much younger than he was before. He fights hard not to touch Nichkhun's face again.

"You said you had a bad day that time, didn't you?" Wooyoung asks again. Nichkhun answers with another hum, but this time it sounds more thoughtful. He waits for Nichkhun to elaborate more on it, but Nichkhun doesn't say anything more on that either.

"When I stumbled on this place and found you, it wasn't all that bad after all," Nichkhun smiles. "Everything really happens for a reason. I'm really glad I made the choice to walk in."

"You didn't have a choice but to walk in," Wooyoung teases. "It was pouring hard!"

"Yeah, but I could also choose to get shelter outside and wait for the rain to subside," Nichkhun makes a point. "But I walked in instead. Call it fate~"

Wooyoung chuckles. "So, we were fated to meet?"

"Not just that," Nichkhun says in a quiet voice. "Maybe we're...fated to be together."

Wooyoung didn't mean for the frown to show on his face, but it does anyway. A part of him feels happy that Nichkhun holds such belief but at the same time, he can't ignore the underlying fear as well. Wooyoung can't quite point out what is it that he feared. Commitments? Disappointments? Heartbreaks? Maybe all of the above.

"How do you know?" Wooyoung just had to ask.

"I don't, but I want to believe it like that. Don't you?"

Wooyoung thinks it over and yes, he knows he wants this. He knows he wants Nichkhun just as much as Nichkhun wants him, wants to be together with him, wants this relationship and builds a life together. He's just not sure if he's allowed to have it- if he's supposed to have it.

"Maybe there's something better for you out there, Nichkhun." His mind goes back to what Nichan has said before. Although Wooyoung is happy with Nichkhun, although he will always know that Nichkhun is the best thing that ever happened to him, it might be different for Nichkhun himself. He has a lot of chances to find much more greater things, greater people and greater happiness. Maybe it's the fear of knowing he won't make it, the fear of not being able to make Nichkhun happy and causing irreparable heartbreak that gets to him.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I know it's the truth. Nichkhun, when I'm gone, promise me you'll move on and be happy. Find someone that loves you just as much as you love me then I'll be really sure you'll be the happiest person alive."

"Don't say that. You'll be fine," Nichkhun frowns. "No one else will make me happy as much as you do."

Wooyoung shakes his head in disagreement. "You don't know that. How can you be happy with a sick person like me? You deserve better. You can do better."

"Maybe I don't want to do better. Maybe I'm already perfectly content with this, with being with you. Call it being selfish, but I don't want to let go and leave you."

Wooyoung can't help but chuckle at that. How can Nichkhun say he's being selfish when he's not doing it for himself, but for Wooyoung’s sake instead? Wooyoung knows for sure now that heartbreak is inevitable in this. He doesn't mind if it's his-it's already broken right from the start anyway- but to think that he's bound to break Nichkhun's heart as well is a bit frightening. Who will fix it back to original if Wooyoung’s not there to do it himself? Will it ever be the same? Will Nichkhun ever be the same again?

"Don't be too cheesy," Wooyoung says instead, trying to lighten up the mood again. He really needs to stop ruining good moments with his stupid, negative thoughts.

Nichkhun sniffles and chuckles too. "The situation calls for it." He drapes an arm around Wooyoung’s shoulders and pulls Wooyoung to lean against his side.

"You know I mean everything I said, though," he whispers, kissing the crown of Wooyoung’s head. Wooyoung closes his eyes and focuses on the warm hand rubbing the side of his arm.

"I know," Wooyoung answers. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Must have saved an important person in your past life."

"Mmm. I don't doubt it."

"Then I must have saved a nation before to deserve you now."

Wooyoung laughs. "Yah, stop it."

"No," Nichkhun refuses. "I never want to stop making you laugh."

"Ahh, Nichkhun," Wooyoung sighs in contentment. Maybe it's okay to be selfish and to want this, to keep Nichkhun by his side for as long as he's allowed to. He knows he has to let Nichkhun go someday, but that day doesn't have to be today. They can stay being each other's happiness for now. "What is it that attracted you to me anyway?"

"I just naturally do. Maybe it's your eyes."

Wooyoung flutters his eyes open again. "My eyes?" Nichkhun hums. "What's with my eyes?" Wooyoung asks curiously. Nichkhun breaks into laughter after a few moment of thinking quietly. "What?" Wooyoung lifts his head up and throws Nichkhun a questioning look.

"Okay, I lied. It was Miss A's song you played that attracted me to walk to you." Wooyoung clicks his tongue and leans his head back down on Nichkhun's shoulder. The rain outside has started to subside a little, a hint of ray of the sun trying to break through the gray clouds. "But for the record, I really love your eyes."

"Hmm?" Wooyoung blinks his eyes, unsure if he's heard it right. Nichkhun cups Wooyoung’s chin and tilts his head up so their gazes can meet.

"I said I love your eyes," Nichkhun repeats. "They...tell stories."

"I don't know how that's possible," Wooyoung says, a nervous laugh escapes his mouth. Nichkhun laugh along, though. Maybe he's nervous too?

"Me neither. But they're beautiful. Makes mw want to get lost in them forever."

"Khun, you are making me shy," Wooyoung admits, feeling the heat on his face. Nichkhun chuckles heartily.

"I love your cute nose, too," Nichkhun taps his finger on the tip of Wooyoung’s nose. "And your lips and ears and fluffy hair," he adds. "Your crooked thumbs and slender fingers and non-existent -"

"Stop looking at my !"

Nichkhun laughs a little at Wooyoung’s word but doesn't stop his sentence "-and pale skin and smooth legs and blinding smile-"

Wooyoung bursts into laughter. "Okay, okay I get it!" he covers Nichkhun's mouth with his hand and Nichkhun's gasp is muffled against his skin. "You love everything about me, is that it?"

Nichkhun grabs Wooyoung’s hand on his mouth with his own hand and pulls it down. "I am in love with you."

The smile on Wooyoung’s face slowly turns into a grin. He's sure both of them notice the two guys under the umbrella gawking at them from outside the bakery through their peripheral view, but Wooyoung doesn't care and neither does Nichkhun so neither of them break the eye contact.

"I'm really glad you're finally back," Wooyoung tells Nichkhun as they both lean forward closer to each other.

"Me too," Nichkhun smiles and just before their lips could touch, someone pulls Nichkhun to stand up and another peals of laughter fills the bakery again.

Wooyoung sighs and looks outside, the rain completely gone and the sun's succeeded to show itself from being hidden by the dark clouds. The rain droplets caught by the plants sparkle from the sun's rays, and Wooyoung suddenly finds hope beaming into his heart again. All the previous months being without Nichkhun, the disappointment and anger of being left alone disappear just like that. Wooyoung finds his true happiness again.

Ignoring Chansung's long lecture and Junho bickering with Nichkhun at the background, Wooyoung smiles. He wants to stay happy like this for as long as he can, thanking God for letting Nichkhun come back and giving him another chance to be happy before it all ends