The 30 seconds Sunggyu took to answer were agonizing for Woohyun. He felt that all his muscles were contracting, causing every part of his body to cry out in pain. But then Sunggyu opened his mouth and Woohyun watched every move of his lips hungrily.

“I need you too, Woohyun. I need only you.”

Every day for the rest of his life, Woohyun had tried to put words to the feelings he had felt when he had heard Sunggyu say that. Sometimes he wanted to say that his heart had been bursting with energy, sometimes he thought that it had felt as if a serpent had been let loose in his veins, sometimes he mentioned how his brain had gone perfectly still and empty; and at times he would recall feeling an intense, vibrating roll of lightning just under his skin.

Whatever it was, Woohyun had never felt it before. He was so happy that if he died right there and then, he wouldn’t regret anything in life. He could go crazy with happiness. He felt that all his wished for had been fulfilled.

He was a pilgrim, stepping onto holy land.

Now I’m complete.

If he couldn’t paint again, he wouldn’t mind because Sunggyu was his very own masterpiece. The tension in the air had been broken, as well as the barrier between him and Sunggyu. Without hesitation, he lowered his lips to Sunggyu’s.

Once again, the world was at his feet as he tasted Sunggyu, his lips, his tongue. Sunggyu was a second too late to respond; by then Woohyun had claimed dominance. His tongue s into Sunggyu’s mouth as his fingers knotted themselves into Sunggyu’s hair.

I can do this forever.

That one kiss lasted so long that by the time they parted, Woohyun felt that he could breathe in the whole world. His whole body was devoid of oxygen and he fell limply at Sunggyu’s side, who was panting heavily. For a few minutes, the sound of their hefty breathing was the only noise in the room.

Catching up on his breath, Sunggyu spoke.

“I love you Woohyun.”

“I love you too.”

The simple statement confirmed their trust and singlehandedly built their relation. It was so spontaneous, so natural, as if it was meant to be.

Woohyun couldn’t help thinking it again – he had been lucky. Too lucky.

I’ve been blessed.

“I’ve been to 5 cities in one week Sunggyu, what do you think you were doing?” His voice was half-angry, half-weary, but his heart was ecstatic.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, but I never thought you’d actually follow me all this way.” Sunggyu sounded apologetic as he brushed his fingers against Woohyun’s cheek. “You really don’t give up.”

“I don’t understand, why did you run away from Paris? Did you see me there?”

“Wait, you’ve been to Paris? How did you – did Kibum…?”

Sunggyu sounded genuinely shocked. Woohyun chuckled.

“Yes. I’ve been to the end of the world and back. But tell me, why did you leave Paris?”

“Do we have to talk about this?” Sunggyu kissed him softly on the lips, intertwining their fingers. Woohyun pressed against Sunggyu’s body.

“I want to know.”

He pouted, causing Sunggyu to smile. Then he sighed, turning his head to face the ceiling.

“Hyunseung called me. There was a meeting in London with a very well-known French company, with Korean origins. A very big business prospect. And since I hadn’t told Hyunseung anything about my running away, I had to go to not rouse suspicion. I only told him about it when we were supposed to meet you at his house and I had to run away. Business was the last thing on my mind though…I was so distracted.”

“You must have had a meeting with Hanbyul’s company.”

When Sunggyu asked who Hanbyul was, he told him about the encounters he had at Paris – Sungyeol and Hanbyul.

“Which reminds me, I owe Sungyeol an apology. I’ve been cold-shouldering him, thinking he was the best friend who had betrayed Myungsoo.”

Sunggyu stiffened at this. Noticing the change in him, Woohyun ran his hand down his arm, trying to loosen up his muscles and comfort him emotionally.

It’s alright.

“How did you know about this – this whole thing, by the way? Kibum told you?”

Woohyun shook his head. He brought out the letter Myungsoo had sent him and handed it to Sunggyu. When he was done reading it, he sighed, flicking the letter away from him.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m not sure how long it would take for me to forgive myself.”

“I know.” Woohyun leaned in closer, resting his head on Sunggyu’s shoulder. “How did you know Myungsoo? You never mentioned him.”

It took Sunggyu a minute to answer.

“Myungsoo – he – he’s my brother. Not just my brother, but also my best friend. My best friend. He was, that is. I failed him.”

Even though Woohyun was extremely shocked, he tried not to show it. Sunggyu’s emotional state was very fragile now and he didn’t want to upset him even more. He was already weary from feeling guilty. This was small compared to the other things that had happened.

Sunggyu’s step brother is Myungsoo. And Sungjong’s brother is Sunkyu, whom Hoya loves. It’s all strangely connected.

As he remembered Sungjong, he remembered how the disheveled boy had hurriedly apologized to him. Back then he had thought he was apologizing for saying that love was hopeless. But now he knew that there was a deeper meaning to his apology – he was saying sorry for what had happened with Sunggyu.

As he wondered about the strange turn of events, he realized that he had another question that might be haunting for Sunggyu.

“You met Sungjong at Shanghai?”

Sunggyu heaved a deep sigh.

“Yes, he checked me in. At first he wouldn’t even look at me, but when I saw how horribly he was doing, I offered to help him. He fell into bad company there – that pimp he calls a friend…”

Woohyun could hear the anger Sunggyu was holding back. He gnashed his teeth and Woohyun felt a surge of wrath too. He was right about Youngjae after all. Even though now he knew about Sungjong and Sunggyu, he still felt pity for the younger – his heart went out to him.

No one should suffer this much.

“But I asked him for a favor. Two actually. I told him to inform me if a Nam Woohyun checked into the hotel, not that I thought that would ever actually happen. And I told him to keep my destination secret from anyone who asked.”

Woohyun nodded. He didn’t break it to him that Sungjong had indeed revealed his destination. He knew he should have hard feelings towards the younger but as much as he tried, he couldn’t muster hatred towards him. He thought about his promise to him, that he would go back with Sunggyu. Whether Sunggyu accompanied him or not, he made up his mind to go back to Shanghai and save him.

I’ll bring him back to Myungsoo.

 “Did Hyunseung tell you about LA or Kibum?”

“Dongwoo forced Hyunseung to tell me. Kibum also did, but at first I got the information from Hyunseung.”

“I see. But why did Kibum suddenly change his mind about…?”

“Kibum didn’t mean to separate us Gyu, I mean he did, but he was only jealous. He really didn’t want to hurt me.”

Sunggyu sighed again.

“I know Woohyun, I didn’t want to hurt you either.”

After some time, Sunggyu asked, “So you met Myungsoo in Tokyo? And Sungjong in Shanghai? And Sungyeol in Paris? Strange don’t you think?”

Woohyun laughed.

“Yes, and they all tried to discourage me. And so did Dongwoo, who, you should know, is in love with you.”

Woohyun wasn’t sure why he said this to Sunggyu. He just had a feeling that it wouldn’t be fair to Dongwoo, who had helped him to reach this place, to keep what he knew from Sunggyu.

Sunggyu however didn’t believe him at first. When he told him the entire story though, he nodded slowly.

“It’s an odd world.”

“So your feelings haven’t changed now that you know? You regret nothing?” Woohyun asked half dubiously, half-jokingly.

“What will change? The fact that I am insanely and immortally in love with you? Nah, that’s not going to happen.”

Woohyun felt euphoric. Dongwoo’s thought had been bothering him at the back of his mind and now that it was cleared up, he wrapped his arms tightly around Sunggyu, pressing a kiss to his neck.

“So tell me everything that happened, don’t leave out anything.”

Woohyun gladly started his tale, telling him about his experiences. Sunggyu looked at him with a light shining in his eyes. At one point, they had been interrupted by Hoya, who had left as suddenly as he had entered the room, saying that if they were interested in dinner, they could find some in the kitchen. After that, Woohyun had started again, sitting up to get a better view of Sunggyu.

“So you met these people, and somehow you got all the help you needed. Coincidence don’t you think?”

“No Sunggyu, there is no coincidence.”

Woohyun leaned down to kiss him full on the lips. They stayed like that for some time, enjoying the touch. Woohyun breathed the next words right above Sunggyu’s lips.

“I found you, because I was meant to find you. I was meant to love you, and we were meant to be together. All the people, the cities, the incidents, they were just excuses to bring us together. It’s no coincidence, there are no coincidences, it’s destiny.”