It's over. Get your tissues and pillows and follow me through the last chapter! (who am I kidding - it's not really the end, but I will talk about the sequel below :p)

Thanks to the new subs! Don't be sad that you've joined me so close to the end ;A; if you want to our journey will continue elsewhere!

Have fun reading :) below is a big A/N with thanks and pictures and all that beautiful spam from me <3

(and wtf the end surprised even myself - I think it was the inner Greaseball in me)

And just a small note for everyone: Keep in mind that Sunggyu's voice is not fully back yet. He hasn't used it in a while. Try not talking for seven years haha =^= Just for your imagination!

Please read the A/N below. Definitely read it. You HAVE to read it. Or a monster is going to haunt you.
 

[SUNGGYU]

He couldn’t believe that it had finally worked. He had spoken despite all the doubts in his heart and Woohyun had heard him. The laughing had strained his throat more than he’d like to admit. It hurt to use his voice, but at the same time it felt good and he was scared of stopping. What if it was only a one-time thing? Maybe his voice would stop working now as sudden as it had stopped seven years ago. He was afraid of not making a noise again. Sunggyu had so many things to tell Woohyun, but he didn’t know how to form them into words. His mouth was dry and his tongue heavy. His throat burned under the immense pressure. The noises he made sounded strangled and broken, but they were noises nevertheless.

He started coughing at some time between whispered names and syllables. “Sunggyu, don’t push yourself too hard, but I guess I was the one who pushed you the most. Let me get you something to drink.”

Woohyun separated them and stood up to walk over to the kitchen. Sunggyu wiped the corner of his eyes and glanced at TV screen, which was black again. He looked back to the photographs on the table and smiled to himself. He would have to thank Yonghwa for his help somehow. Maybe he had done his old friend injustice. Sunggyu wondered if they could be friends again, but he was just beginning to take steps into the “outer” world thanks to Woohyun. He should probably not go too fast. He could barely speak a few awkward syllables in Woohyun’s presence. His voice was still something he wouldn’t want to show off to anyone else but his family and close friends.

The younger man returned with a glass of water for him and Sunggyu stuttered a quiet ‘thanks’. Woohyun smiled widely at him and Sunggyu turned around to avoid his gaze. Stop looking at me like that! The liquid eased the pain in his throat a bit, but it didn’t help the slightly tense atmosphere in the room. Woohyun was obviously waiting for him to say something else, but the brown-haired man was just getting more nervous due to the other’s intense staring - and nervousness was only making him hesitant to speak again.

Silence engulfed them, which made them realize the sudden noise of a phone that they hadn’t heard before. Woohyun raised an eyebrow and stood up to look for his phone. “Do you want to answer it?”

Sunggyu squinted. ‘Very funny.’

“Don’t stop speaking, Gyu! Let me hear your voice again.” Woohyun shouted while he was still searching for his seemingly lost phone.

But it hurts, you idiot. Sunggyu stood up as well to look for it. He was faster than Woohyun and found the device in the bathroom. He checked the caller ID, but the number was not in Woohyun’s directory. The brown-haired man frowned, but he buried his curiosity and left the bathroom again to look for Woohyun. He cleared his throat and glanced into the bedroom.

“W-Woo…?” His voice was merely a whisper, but the other turned around immediately with a smile.

“You found it!” He came closer and gave the elder a peck on the lips.

Sunggyu frowned and was tempted to throw the ringing phone into Woohyun’s smiling face. He held out the device to him instead and tried to ignore his cheesy line. The younger man took the phone from him and seemed as confused as he about the caller ID.

Woohyun answered the call. “Hello?”

Sunggyu moved closer to him and tried to listen on the conversation, but Woohyun’s expression didn’t look too good. He only caught a few words like “hospital” and “emergency”. He anxiously watched the other and waited for him to finish the call.

“I-I see.” The black-haired man glanced at Sunggyu, who raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Of course, we will come.”

Woohyun hung up and sighed. His happy expression seemed to be gone and Sunggyu wondered what kind of bad news he had gotten just now. ‘What’s wrong?’

The younger man took his hands in his and caressed them slightly. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

Sunggyu his lips nervously. Woohyun was taking his time telling him whatever was on his mind and it made him really anxious. Sunggyu was scared to hear what the other had to tell him. Would he leave him for someone else? He wanted to rush Woohyun to speak, but the other held his hands in place, so he couldn’t sign anything and his throat felt too dry to speak.

“There’s a reason why I didn’t have to work on Friday or yesterday and even today. The owner… He’s in the hospital since Friday.” Sunggyu felt his insides freeze at the news.

He jerked his hands away. ‘What do you mean he’s in the hospital?’

Woohyun came closer, but Sunggyu simply took a step back and silently begged him for an answer. The younger rubbed the back of his neck. “It has something to do with his heart. He’s sick. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret. I mean, I only found out yesterday. He asked me not to tell you about it, because nothing bad is going to happen. Believe me, I wanted to tell you about it today. Just not before we’ve opened the package because you would definitely be sad about it. I’m sad too, devastated even. I didn’t know how to start, but now-“

Sunggyu bit his lower lip. He turned around to give the wall an angry kick. The brown-haired man clenched his fist. He couldn’t believe that the owner hadn’t told him something important as that. They were something like family after all those years. Sunggyu had never seen him sick and the old man had never shown any signs of an illness. He couldn’t believe that Jinho was in a hospital right now. He wanted to be mad at Woohyun for not telling him but Sunggyu believed his words. The younger looked as sad as Sunggyu felt deep inside.

The older man turned around again. ‘Wait, why are you telling me about it now? What was the call about?’

“Gyu-hyung, please talk again.” Woohyun begged him with teary eyes.

Sunggyu shook his head. ‘Don’t avoid the question.’

“He was supposed to undergo an operation tomorrow, but there were some complications so they had to move up the date of the operation.” Woohyun explained slowly with a worried expression.

He looked at the other in shock as he tried to imagine what was happening to the owner right now. Sunggyu fought against the tears and Woohyun pulled him into a hug. His fingers clenched the back of Woohyun’s long-sleeved shirt.

“He will be alright, hyung. He promised me.” The black-haired man said and placed a kiss on Sunggyu’s forehead.

Sunggyu smiled slightly. “G-Go...”

It was nothing but a tender whisper, but Woohyun caught it nevertheless. Sunggyu still found it weird to speak since he hadn’t done it for so long. The movements were a little smoother thanks to the times they had practiced together, but his vocal chords were still not used to being active again. He felt like a machine that was trying to learn the human language. At least, he didn’t really have to learn the whole language again, but something like singing seemed to be light-years away.

“You’re not mad, are you?”

The brown-haired man shook his head. He was just scared and sad. Sunggyu wanted to get to the hospital as fast as possible. The thought of losing the old man seemed unbearable. It would be the same as losing a member of his family. He was only mad at the owner for hiding it from him for god knew how long.

“Okay, let’s go, hyung.” Woohyun gave him another kiss before they left the bedroom in a hurry.

The younger man shoved a water bottle into his arms on their way outside. “Support for your beautiful voice.”

Sunggyu fought against the heat that was crawling into his cheeks. ‘It sounds terrible.’

Woohyun groaned and leaned closer to him again - close enough for their noses to touch. “No, it doesn’t! You just need more practice, so please don’t hide it again. You’re doing well, okay? The hoarse part even sounds kind of y.”

The older man replied to his compliment with a kiss on the lips and Woohyun smiled happily. “Th…an…nks.”

Woohyun opened his mouth to speak, but the brown-haired man quickly put a hand over his mouth. ‘Don’t you dare ruin the moment with another cheesy remark.’

The younger pouted. “I only wanted to say that we need to get going, Gyu.”

Sunggyu nodded and they continued their run towards the car. It was definitely a good thing that they could use the car from Sungyeol’s mother at the moment. Otherwise the drive to the hospital would take them quite a lot of time. He slipped into the passenger’s seat and fastened his seatbelt quickly. Woohyun got into the car as well, but he didn’t bother with the seatbelt. He was about to start driving, when Sunggyu leaned over to grab his seatbelt. He saw Woohyun freeze and smiled to himself.

“Y-Yah, what are you doing, hyung?”

The older man fell back into his seat when he was done with securing Woohyun’s seatbelt. ‘You forgot your seatbelt. What if something happens?’

“Were you worried about me, Gyu-hyung~?” Woohyun asked with a teasing tone and Sunggyu chose to ignore his antics. Of course, you idiot. What would I do without you?

It was already hard for him to imagine the owner of the sushi restaurant lying in the hospital, possibly fighting for his life. He couldn’t bear the thought of Woohyun being there instead. Just the thought made his heart ache and made it hard for him to breathe. Sunggyu leaned his head against the window while the world outside ran past them. He tried to calm his trembling fingers as fear took control of his mind again. He opened the bottle to drink some water, but the gesture didn’t help his anxiousness at all.

They stopped at a red traffic light and Sunggyu felt a hand on his lap. Woohyun grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it lightly. The older turned his head and Woohyun smiled at him. “Don’t worry. He’s strong. He will make it through.”

Sunggyu felt like Woohyun was saying the words not only to calm him, but also to ease his own worries. The usual warmth of his hand seemed weaker than before and Sunggyu could see the hidden sadness behind the two dark orbs that stared at him. The brown-haired man kept his own tears back and gave Woohyun’s hand a squeeze back instead.

“H-He…will.” He whispered softly to encourage the other. If he had learned one thing from Woohyun, it was to believe in even the smallest possibilities. Sunggyu still had his problems with optimism, but he was trying his best.

The traffic light turned back to green and Woohyun had to retract his hand with a sad smile. “Thank you, Gyu. You know, when this is over, we should go on a short vacation together. Just the two