"You are not to see him again!" his mother yelled when she found out that Hyunjoong had met Youngsaeng once again at the hospital and wished to be together with him. 

"Mom, you don't understand," Hyunjoong said calmly. He had trained his patience for the six years due to his mother's constant scolding. "I think Dad would've been happy that I found a true love, no matter which gender."

"I told you not to bring up your father. He has nothing to do with this."

"He had everything to do with this!" Hyunjoong interrupted, raising his voice slightly. 

"How? Tell me how the dead has anything to do with the situation of the living!" his mother shrieked. "He is dead already."

"Is he also dead in your heart?"

"He--" Ms. Kim's voice dropped as her angry gaze suddenly turned into one filled with grief. The woman shook her head. "No matter, he has nothing to do with this."

"Yes, he does! He is my father!" exclaimed Hyunjoong. "I have the right to bring him up. He used to tell me that whoever I was, I must accept. I'm sure he told you, too."

"Told me what?" 

Hyunjoong sighed. "Have you forgotten? I still remember clearly. When I was six years old... Remember how rebellious I was?"

Ms. Kim sat back down onto her chair, nodding. "Yes... Getting into fight after fight at school, being suspended and grounded... Of course I remember."

The man chuckled quietly. "I'm actually surprised you do. You never really paid attention to me. That's when my father brought you into the living room in the middle of the night to talk."

The woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she recalled that specific time when she and her husband talked about Hyunjoong's future. "How do you know this?"

"A few nights ago... I visited his grave and finally, after years of reluctance, I revealed my story," Hyunjoong said. "I have already accepted myself. I love Youngsaeng and I know this from the bottom of my heart. I heard his voice that night and he talked to me in my sleep."

"And he told you to say what to me?"

"He told you," Hyunjoong continued. His mother opened her eyes again. "Whoever Hyunjoong grows up to be, you must accept it, no matter what it is. For this is his life; not mine, not yours. His."

At that moment, Ms. Kim thought she could see her husband standing beside Hyunjoong, smiling and nodding as Hyunjoong spoke the words. And there, she realized that the whole time, she had been trying to constrain and control her son, restricting him of doing certain things he enjoyed, denying him when he asked politely. 

A tear dropped from her eye as she shut them again and heard her beloved's whisper in her ear. "Open your eyes and look at Hyunjoong. Look at him."

She did so and from her blurry tear-filled vision, she could see Hyunjoong with determined eyes, reminding her of when her husband had first proposed to her in university. It was the same. All Hyunjoong wanted was his own life.

She hid her smile and wiped away the single droplet stain that had trickled down her cheek. She stood up."If you meet him again, I will disown you."

Hyunjoong huffed. "That is fine. I have my own life now. I'm Kim Hyunjoong, a music professor at SNU. I'm not the heir of the company you meant me to be anymore. Please accept me, Mom..."

Tears welled up in Ms. Kim's eyes when she heard Hyunjoong call her 'Mom' again. It had been so long; the last time being when he was merely five years old. She sighed and turned to avoid being caught crying, looking out the giant glass window and staring at the bustling city under her. "You should know, Hyunjoong, begging is useless."

"I know," responded Hyunjoong. "But is there nothing I can do to make you accept who I really am. The me who loves Youngsaeng is the real me. That had been decided long ago, before I even met Youngsaeng. The fact that--"

"You don't have to explain," Ms. Kim interrupted, crossing her hands under her chest. "You are an adult and independant now. I don't care what you do from now on. Go live however you want, but, don't you dare ever come crawling back to me for money. Understand? It's shameful."

Hyunjoong blinked before smiling and sighing in relief. "Thank you... Mom... Thank you so much." With that, he turned and rushed out the door.

Ms. Kim smiled softly as she continued to gaze out into the open. She whispered. "Honey... Do you believe he's happy now? I finally had the heart to set him free... I thought he'd always be the type of child who needed nurturing, but I guess he changed when I wasn't looking."

Reaching out, she lightly placed her fingers on the glass. "Every time he left for school, I felt a surge of that well-known sadness... the feeling that I'm losing him forever... and now, I guess I really am without even understanding his world..."

***

When Hyunjoong arrived at the hospital, he quickly dashed in to search for his beloved. He caught sight of Youngsaeng heading down the corridor on the far side of the room, scrutinizing a file on his clipboard and writing notes on it.

"Youngsaeng! Youngsaeng!" he exclaimed in excitement, running towards the doctor.

Youngsaeng looked up and gasped before being pounced on by Hyunjoong like a dog. "Hyunjoong," he hissed. "Don't be so loud. This is a hospital."

"My mother! She accepted!" Hyunjoong revealed, his heart pounding. "She accepted us, Youngsaeng. We can be together again!"

Youngsaeng opened his mouth to say something when he noticed that there were people staring at the two of them strangely. With a huff, he grabbed Hyunjoong's arm and pulled him down the hall. He entered his office, Room 501, and locked the door behind him.

"She accepted?" echoed Youngsaeng, continuing the broken-off conversation.

Hyunjoong nodded enthusiastically. "Can you believe it? It's a miracle! We can live together again. I'm never leaving you ever again. I promise, I'm going to take care of you for the rest of my life."

The younger man blinked before hugging Hyunjoong. "Thank goodness... Did you have to put up a fight?"

The latter shrugged. "Not really... It was more talk."

Youngsaeng smiled as he reached up and kissed the latter on the lips. "I--" He was cut off by the PDA. "Heo Youngsaeng, please precede to the Emergency Operation room."

"Shoot." The doctor frantically turned to his lover. "Joongie, I have to return to work. Maybe you should head home first."

"Can I stay and watch you?" Hyunjoong requested innocently.

Youngsaeng nodded without thinking before quickly throwing the white coat on and grabbing his clipboard. "Yes, but stay here. I'll be back soon." He turned and took a step to the door before the older man grabbed his arm and turned him back around. "What--"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence before Hyunjoong connected their lips. Youngsaeng's eyes fluttered closed as he felt the softness of the latter's mouth, the sweetness he had longed for when he was studying in America.

That night, Hyunjoong stayed over at Youngsaeng's apartment for the younger man didn't want to trouble Hachi. They did everything they used to do, except much more intimately. The older man couldn't resist himself from pecking the latter on the lips whenever he got the chance, too.

He savored Youngsaeng's cooking. "Did you get better at cooking? When did you get back? How was it there? Were the courses hard? Why'd you cut your hair? " He piled the latter with questions.

The younger man chuckled. "Yes. Two months ago. Nice. Yes. It was too long."

Hyunjoong stared at the latter for a few seconds before nodding at the answers. Youngsaeng picked up his chopsticks. "I took a few cooking lessons here and there. I also took my master degree over in America and luckily, my aunt didn't get fired by Uee's father."

The older man pouted. "Don't remind me about that... You have no idea how hard it was for me."

Youngsaeng smiled. "I cried everyday. What's harder than that?"

"I wanted to commit suicide."

The younger man paled and his hand froze as he stared at Hyunjoong. Hyunjoong noticed that latter's reaction and quickly grinned. "I was joking, Otter. How could I kill myself if I promised I would see you again?"

"Joongie! Don't joke about that stuff! I thought you meant it!" exclaimed Youngsaeng in annoyance.

The latter hugged his lover and kissed him on the cheek. "Sorry, sorry. I won't do it again."

When it was time to sleep, the two clung to each other like there was no tomorrow, but the two knew that this time, there was going to be a tomorrow for the both of them together.

Hyunjoong smiled as he Youngsaeng's smooth hair as the latter slept, curled up in his arms. He finally got to caress the soft, round cheeks and see the sweet dimpled smile again. Tomorrow, he would wake up with his lover in his arms and say what he always wanted to say for six years. "I love you."