“Lay?”

At the sound of his name, the Chinese man nodded and smiled, showing off his dimple in pleasant surprise. “Oh Suho, what a surprise to see you here,” his tone was polite, yet Suho could tell his curt words were used to quickly conceal his true emotions from just a second before they had interrupted.

"You too," and Suho was completely honest. Seeing that the two men had settled merely staring blankly at each other, Luhan took the opportunity to step forwards in their following awkward silence and held out a hesitant hand towards his old friend. Lay eyed it curiously for a second before he obliged and took the gesture, shaking Luhan's hand and wearing the same pleasant smile on his face he had just shown to Suho.

"It's nice to see you again Lay," Luhan greeted.

"You too," the other agreed.

"I hope that you’re doing well?"

"Aha—as well as I can be I suppose, you know, being a starving, stressed out college student and all," Lay chimed with a touch of teasing amusement, mostly directed at himself than at his company.

"Ah, well that's good to hear," Luhan replied, but proceeded to scratch the back of his head, "honestly, about the first time we met, I need to both thank you and apologize.”

Lay's eyes widened as he recalled their previous encounter and vehemently shook his head, "oh no, it's me who has to apologize! I'm really, terribly sorry about the way I shooed you two off so suddenly—and the way I kind of... lost my composure..." and this time, Lay was the one who rubbed the back of his reddening neck, face flushing with embarrassment at the memory of his sudden breakdown.

At the endearing sight of the squirming boy fiddling with his fingers in front of him, Luhan couldn't help but gently reach over and place his hand on top of Lay's shoulder, smiling widely as he shook his head. "No, it's fine. I understand. I just wanted to thank you for opening up to us and giving us your time. it really meant a lot."

Lay peeked up from under his brown bangs to meet Luhan's eyes and in that moment, though he knew that he would never be able to comprehend the true magnitude of it, Lay was able to capture a glimpse of the angel's immense gratitude towards him that was shining through his glistening eyes.

"It was no problem," Lay breathed back. And all of a sudden, he felt himself feeling a little less embarrassed about what he had done, and a lot more fulfilled.

This warm atmosphere created from the shared sense of companionship and understanding between the two dragged on for a few more moments before Suho politely cut in, breaking through their shared gaze and turning the center of attention back towards him, and towards the burning question that they all had temporarily neglected.

"So," he turned towards the college student, "what brings you here today exactly?"

At the question, Lay seemed to come to a realization once again of his purpose there at that moment, and his eyes immediately dimmed from their previous light. “Ah, right,” the boy thoughtfully folded his hands in front of him, “I came here to pay my respects.”

“Respects?” Luhan asked.

“Today is the four year anniversary of the accident,” Lay replied, eyes wandering towards the burnt remains of the lot and shaking his head ever so slightly as if to ward off any of his incoming memories. And by the way the corner of Lay’s lips turned down unconsciously, and his eyes glazed over in a bittersweet manner, Luhan knew that they couldn’t have been happy ones. And at the news of the important date, Luhan too felt himself fall into a melancholy sort of mood, pondering to himself if this could have been the reason the urge to visit his old home had been nagging at him so strongly that same morning. Even if his mind could no longer remember, something in his heart always did.

“All of this happened four years ago today, huh?” Luhan mused as he swept his eyes over the undisturbed, ashen remains. Although he didn’t mean for the others to hear his remark, Lay couldn’t help but notice and his head tilted to the side as he followed the line of Luhan’s gaze.

“I didn’t mean the house fire…” he spoke softly, catching Luhan’s attention, “I meant Luhan’s death—the accident.”

And that was all it took for both the guardian’s and the angel’s mind to run a mile a minute as they took in what Lay had just told them, focusing on one key word he said in particular.

Accident.

“Accident?” Luhan found himself mouthing out loud, eyes wide and blinking rapidly as he attempted to quickly rearrange all the clues and puzzle pieces he had collected together with Suho in order to come up with a conclusion, any conclusion where his death could be constituted as an accident. He wasn’t sure what to think or what to say. Could he have heard wrong? Luhan was lost at the fact that this new information was not sinking into his mind but he couldn’t help it—it was the opposite of the suicide he had come to terms with, the suicide he had finally come to accept. However, his efforts were futile as all he was left with were more unanswered questions and a head full of jumbled thoughts.

It was a good thing that Suho recovered substantially quicker than the lost deer because their cover was about to be blown with the way Lay was eyeing their strange reactions skeptically. Suho stepped forwards, subtly pulling Luhan behind him to recollect himself as he asked Lay again. “Accident?”

The student furrowed his eyebrows just a hair but nodded firmly and responded, “the car accident that took Luhan’s life.”

“No way,” Suho whispered under his breath, “but didn’t he—but we thought that…” As if knowing exactly where the other two minds had drifted off to, Lay shook his head before bringing his wrist up and checking the time.

“Say,” he interrupted, “how about we all catch lunch together down the street? I’m sure you all have a lot of questions—we’ll talk there.”

Both Suho and Luhan could do nothing but nod their heads as they followed along.

-

The café Lay had led them to was a rather cozy one, settled down just a couple of blocks down from where they had met. Due to the rather early time of the day, the place wasn’t particularly busy or crowded yet, which gave their spot, nestled deep in the corner, just the right amount of privacy they needed. The tall waiter flashed them a wide, toothy grin before he set down their ordered drinks and left them alone to talk. Lay took a small sip from his cappuccino before he placed his cup down and wrapped his hands around it. Suho and Luhan mimicked his actions similarly before settling down in their seats to wait.

Lay’s eyes flickered from his drink up to their expectant eyes and let out a heavy breath. His previous bright façade faded away, revealing what he had been carrying inside all along. His grief showed through as he began his story. “It was four years ago today… I never saw what was going to happen, I never knew what Luhan was going through. You knew that Luhan was using anti-depressants, right?”

The two nodded.

“Well, I knew that too but… what I didn’t know was that he had suddenly decided to quit using them. Luhan was a great guy, you know? Even though so much had happened to him in that one year, he never lost sight of who he was. He quit the pills because he wanted to start getting his life back on track—or at least that’s what I like to believe, knowing the kind of person he was. He never wanted to become dependent on someone or some thing for long.” A bittersweet smile wove its way onto Lay’s lips, “except the things is, I’ll never really know for sure; Luhan never told me what he was planning,” his grip on the cup tightened, “he never told me what he wanted to do. So then without even knowing why, I started notice Luhan changing.”

“What do you mean?” Luhan couldn’t help but ask. But like last time, Lay didn’t seem to notice or mind the mild interruption.

Lay merely looked up from under his lashes, “do you know what happens when you suddenly stop using a drug—any type of drug so suddenly?”

Luhan shook his head, confused.

“You go into withdrawal.”

Luhan’s eyes widened.

“When he stopped using the pills so suddenly, after his body had already built up a dependence, well, the effects weren’t good. Luhan started to get tired all the time and he would often get dizzy from just standing. I didn’t know what to do, what I could do to help—Luhan wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.” Frustrated tears started to pool behind Lay’s eyelids and Luhan gently slid over a napkin, which he took gratefully, bunching it up in his hands. “Then one day he went to work and on the way home—I don’t know, it was probably dark and hard to see but—“ Lay worked furiously to contain his emotions this time around, “Luhan fainted onto the road…” Lay trailed off, pressing the napkin to his damp cheeks, but all three of them knew it wasn’t necessary to go on. From then on, the table became silent and the air around them became heavy under their swirling emotions. Even the happy-go-lucky waiter never dared approach their table, perhaps afraid of being into the vortex of their depressing corner.

Luhan wasn’t sure what to say after Lay had finished his story. He now knew exactly what had happened, for certain this time. And not only that, but what he was like as a person when he was alive as well. But even with all this knowledge and finally having everything he had desperately searched for over the years, when he looked over at the weeping student—who was weeping for him no less—Luhan couldn’t help but reach over and gently place his hands on top of Lay’s for comfort, or as much as he could give him as a now stranger. It didn’t matter to him anymore, not as much as it used to, because right then, he realized something infinitely more important. Luhan realized that life wasn’t about all the spectacular events or the circumstances you were born into. Life was about the people you met and the beautiful things you created together with them. Luhan in that moment, felt astonishingly fulfilled when he took a look back and remembered all the people he had met on their journey who knew him, who cared about him, and with the tears Lay was shedding, he could confidently say, who loved him as well. To love and to be loved, Luhan knew that he was fulfilled enough to finally move on from the place he had been stuck for so long.

“It’s ok,” Luhan cooed earnestly, “I’m sure if Luhan were here with us today, he’d want you to know that it wasn’t your fault. He’d want to tell you that he was grateful for you being his best friend, honestly, and that he doesn’t want to see you cry over him anymore.”

Lay sniffled a few more times before looking up with his red glistening eyes and nodded. “Thank you. Hearing that from you… I don’t know why, but I feel a bit better all of a sudden.”

“I’m glad,” Luhan said, relieved at the lightening atmosphere, “that’s not the first time I heard that,” he attempted to chuckle. A slight pressure squeezing his free hand brought his attention out of his thoughts and up to the concerned look of the person beside him. Suho. At the worried expression penetrating through his eyes, Luhan squeezed back and smiled reassuringly. His heart nearly flew out of his chest and past the clouds when he realized that even though the mystery of his past life had been solved, his future, together with the person he now loved, was just about to begin.

-

Bidding Lay goodbye with blissful hearts on all three ends was a little bittersweet on Luhan’s end. Watching his old best friend walk away, Luhan almost didn’t want to see him leave, knowing that they could never risk themselves and meet again. But a light pat on his back brought his attention back to Suho who had been standing patiently beside him with a small sympathetic smile on his face. “So what are we going to do now?” Suho asked, looking up at him.

Luhan blinked, taking a moment for everything that had just happened to sink in. With the open sidewalk in front of them, Luhan quickly reached over and took Suho in his arms, nuzzling his nose into his dark hair and surprising the younger as he fumbled about with his trapped arms. “Luhan what—what are you—“ But he was cut off with a hard squeeze on his ribcage.

“I want to go home,” Luhan answered, pulling back for a second to gaze into the guardian’s eyes before he leaning over, tilting his head, fluttering shut his eyes and placing a gently kiss on Suho’s lips. They took that short moment in their lives to simply feel each other. They felt the mutual need and want that had driven them together ever since their first meeting. They felt the way their lips fit together in perfect harmony and the way their hot breath mixed together as they pulled their bodies impossibly closer. Without any other reasons or distractions in their way, the two could now simply be together because they wanted to, because they loved each other. Suho realized between his delirious sense of state that if things went on any longer, they could possibly be arrested for public indecency, and pulled away. Luhan let out a throaty groan at the sudden absence of heat but Suho just shook his head, breaking out into a beaming yet secretive smile before his joined Luhan’s hand in his and led them all the way home.

“Home sounds like a good start.”

-

The couple of weeks that followed were nothing but bliss.

The couple spent all of their time together from dawn until dusk, literally—waking up on Suho’s cramped bed together (which they now shared upon Luhan’s insistence that they were a couple, and Suho couldn’t say much while he was trying to hide his beet red face) and snuggling together on Suho’s favourite armchair until way past midnight, sharing a chapter or two from the novel he was reading.

Life was treating them both so well that they both had slowly forgotten that Luhan was an angel that fell from the heavens, and that Earth was never a place that he had belonged in the first place.

-

It all started one morning when a strong beam of sunlight filtered through the crack in Suho’s curtains and hit his face. The man scrunched his nose at the mild discomfort and tried to roll over, failing as he was met with an unknown restraint against his waist. Peeking open a heavy eye, Suho had to smile lightly when he realized it was Luhan’s arm that was slung securely around him. He nearly plopped his head back down onto the pillow when his eyes popped open and he scrambled upright at the sight he realized he was seeing. Suho honestly wasn’t sure if he was still stuck in his dream or if his eyes were suddenly failing him, but upon closer inspection, leaning down to gently take Luhan’s arm in his hand and feeling it’s familiar weight, Suho had to be sure that this was indeed reality.

Luhan felt his arm being lifted, which in turn pulled him out of his slumbering state as he gently rubbed his eye and looked up to see a horrified look on Suho’s face. Immediately alert, Luhan shot up, making the blankets fly everywhere but he didn’t care. Luhan rushed over to where Suho was slumped against the headboard and gently gripped him by the shoulders, willing the guardian to look in his eyes, “what’s wrong?” But the horrified expression never left his face as Suho shook his head, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. Luhan was becoming increasingly antsy as he quickly scanned over the room with his eyes but found nothing out of the ordinary. He whipped his head back towards Suho and gently shook him, “what’s wrong?!”

This time Suho dared lift his hand up and point towards him, “y-your arm…”

Luhan was confused at Suho’s words, “my arm? What do you mean—“ but his words were cut off as he lifted his limb and nearly fell off the side of the bed. Luhan wasn’t sure if he was truly seeing what he was seeing, but with the unforgettable look on Suho’s face, he knew that this was real.

From the fingertip of his right hand, all the way to his forearm, just past his elbow, Luhan’s arm was translucent. They could both see the colour of the bed sheets underneath his outstretched arm; they could both see Luhan’s fingers on the other side as he wrapped his good hand around his own wrist.

Luhan, it seemed, was slowly disappearing.

-

“No, no, this can’t be what it looks like,” Suho mulled over a hot cup of coffee at the kitchen table. After the two had promptly gotten out of bed, they had sat down and tried to come up with a way to explain the problem they now faced, but to no avail. Suho vehemently denied the notion that Luhan was slowly disappearing but the angel himself, was uncharacteristically silent during the whole discussion, making the younger increasingly anxious as the clock on the wall ticked on. “You can’t just disappear like this… right? Right, Luhan?” But Suho was only met with silence as the angel remained frozen, staring at the racing patterns on the wooden surface. “Luhan please, say something—anything.” And this time, Suho’s tone was exponentially more desperate.

Luhan looked up from his spot and sighed, bringing his right hand back up to examine on the hard surface. He glared at the way the lines of the wood could be seen through his skin. “I don’t know, Suho. I just really don’t know…”

It hurt Suho to see Luhan so defeated but he had to remain strong for the both of them. “Well, maybe we can wait—maybe it’ll go away.” Luhan shot him a skeptical look, which Suho responded to with exasperation, “clearly, none of us have any clue what’s going on so what else can we do?”

Luhan bit his lip as he realized he agreed with the other’s words. No one could explain just what was happening, and no one had a solution either. They could only bide their time and wait, wait for something else to happen and show them the way. With a shaky nod, Luhan agreed.

For now they would wait.

-

However, as the days went by, it was clear to both of them that things were not going to get better like they had hoped. In fact, it only got worse over time.

Over the past two days, Suho and Luhan could only watch in shredded fear as the angel’s condition only worsened—the problem only became bigger, spreading up, trailing the lines of his arms until they had already reached his shoulders and expanded over his chest. Nothing they did could stop it, and on the morning of the third day, Suho woke up to the sight of Luhan lying in bed beside him, his upper body nearly all translucent as he slept. Suho had to bite his lip as he trailed his eyes down and realized that it had already begun to spread to the angel’s pale legs, making Luhan’s upper thigh resemble how his arm looked the first day they discovered his condition. “Luhan, my Luhan…” Suho's breath hitched.

Stirring at his lover’s voice, Luhan slowly raised his head, meeting eyes with Suho who immediately regretted not looking away. The look in Luhan’s dark eyes was one of a tormented soul, defeated before he even started and void of any shining light. The sight made Suho’s heart constrict in his chest. Luhan parted his pink lips, “it’s true, Suho… it’s true.”

But Suho didn’t want to believe it. “No,” he shook his head, reaching over to take Luhan’s fading hand, “no.”

“Suho,” Luhan’s voice cracked, “I’m disappearing from this world.” And that was all it took for both of their hearts to break and burst into tears.

-

“I think I know why this is happening to me,” Luhan spoke as he sat on the arm of the couch with Suho beside him, gently running his fingers over Luhan’s arm. After crying together for much of the morning and even into the afternoon, the two decided to get out of bed. They tried to move on with their day, but nothing got accomplished with the looming rain cloud over their heads, so they decided to just drape themselves over the sofa in the living room until they felt better (which they all knew wasn’t going to be any time soon). Suho looked up from his spot and Luhan took it as a sign to continue. “You do realize that even though you’re a human, I’m still an angel, right? Well, angels belong in heaven, not Earth…"

Suho felt his eyes tear up again at the truth that he never wanted to admit. Luhan slid over, to which Suho moved over to create more space for his body to fit in the spot beside him. Luhan wrapped his arms around Suho’s shoulders and leaned over so his head rested there. “Honestly, we were lucky that I didn’t disappear sooner,” Luhan lamented, feeling the way Suho’s frame trembled as he took in a shaky breath.

“It’s a conspiracy,” Suho tried to laugh but it only ended up sounding horribly hollow, “because I know for a fact that the place where you belong is right here—right here with me.” Luhan made a soft murmur of agreement, lifting his head and looking Suho in the eyes.

“I’m scared,” the angel admitted.

“Me too.”

“I don’t want to go back to heaven. Heaven is supposed to be a paradise but if you’re not there, it’s nothing to me,” Luhan sighed.

“I don’t want to lose you, Luhan,” Suho urged, “I don’t care which planet or which dimension we have to be in, as long as we can be together, wherever we walk will be paradise.” And at that, Luhan couldn’t help but chuckle at the younger’s choice of words, although deep inside he thought the exact same thing.

They sat there for a while longer as Luhan noticed one particular book sitting on the coffee table. It was Suho’s worn out copy of Peter Pan, and after the moon had risen, and Suho had fallen to a sound sleep, Luhan couldn’t contain his urge to get out of bed and retrieve the novel.

-

Luhan’s entire body was now on the verge of disappearing and waking up that next morning was one of the hardest things they ever had to do. Facing reality always took courage, and it was that very same courage they found when they realized that today might be the last day they ever saw each other. Putting his best face forward, Suho climbed out of bed and when he looked over, he noticed Luhan had fallen asleep last night, clutching something particular in his hands. Curious, Suho leaned over and retrieved the object, noticing that it was his favourite copy of his favourite book. “Did you really stay up reading this the whole night?” The guardian chuckled under his breath and gently placed it on the corner of his desk where it would remain untouched for years. Stepping back towards the bed, Suho leaned over to whisper in Luhan’s ear, “wake up, Peter Pan.”

Luhan wrinkled his eyebrows before his eyes pinched open and he smiled, “why, isn’t it my Wendy?”

Suho rolled his eyes but smiled, “yeah, it is.”

“Are we going to fight pirates today?” The angel joked as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Not quite,” Suho chuckled before ruffling the older’s golden hair and heading to the door, peeking back out from behind it as he called out. “But I promise today’s breakfast is going to be magical.”

Luhan snorted and threw a pillow at the door, which Suho dodged, “do you know how lame that was?!”

“You laughed! I know you secretly love my jokes,” Suho teased, pointing a finger at Luhan who was still half covered by his fluffy blankets.

“I didn’t laugh because I love your jokes, I laughed because I love you.”

Not expecting such sweet words, Suho felt a blush coming to his cheek before he waved it off and stormed down the hallway, calling out from behind himself. “You’re a horrible Peter Pan but I love you too!”

-

Suho had known all along that their time was short—that every single second Luhan and him still had together was precious. But if he had known that that day was destined to be their last, he would have done something spectacular, he would have told Luhan that he loved him one more time, he would have told Luhan how grateful he was to have known him. Suho would have plucked the stars in the sky, made a crown and placed it in Luhan’s hair. He would have captured the clouds in the sky for Luhan to rest on and the sun and the moon to keep him company. He would have done everything for Luhan.

But for now, time had run out.

-

After falling asleep that night, with Luhan’s warm body beside him, Suho dreamed.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a small, overgrown meadow. He recognized immediately that it was a place full of familiarity, not far from his home. The long grass rippled around him in dark, silvery waves as the light breeze swirled around his arms and played with his soft hair. The sky was dark—nighttime most probably—with glittering stars dotting the black expanse, closer and brighter than they should be. It seemed as if he were to just reach out his arm, he could capture one in the palm of his hands.

Now, why was he here?

Turning his head slightly to the side, he came face to face with the sight of a rather large hill, one that impacted him with a huge sense of déjà vu. He wasn’t sure how, but in that moment he knew that he had been here before in this very same spot, at this very same time and it was then he realized that his feet were unconsciously leading him towards it. He climbed what felt like the never ending hill, the stars growing closer and closer, brighter and brighter, until finally it crested and something other than endless grass appeared.

It was a boy—a familiar one at that, though Suho couldn’t see his face, only his back as he was turned away, standing alone in the center. He wasn’t particularly tall, nor was he short by any means. His slim figure stood stoically, dressed in a pure white outfit, and his brown hair ruffled slightly in the cooling breeze.

“Um… Excuse me…?” Suho called out tentatively, reaching out his arm slightly to catch his attention. At the soft sound, the boy turned his head around quickly, and in that one moment of eye contact a few things seemed to happen simultaneously. The sky suddenly felt very heavy over Suho’s shoulders; it was almost as if the blended colours of the milky way began to melt away and drip under their own weight, pooling in a thick layer over the horizon. The stars fell from the heavens, showering all around him in blinding flurries of light and Suho had to shield his eyes from the blinding whiteness.

When he dared open his eyes again, Suho found himself face to face with the same boy from before but this time he was dazzling, literally—a shining aura seemed to surround his entire being as his large, angelic eyes stared on innocently.  Suho couldn’t help his heart from beating faster and his entire frame from freezing on the spot as he took in the celestial sight of the being in front of him. The boy’s eyes pinched together as he smiled and outstretched his hand.

This time, Suho reached out to take his hand, smiling as wide as he possibly could as he took in the entire sight of the boy’s presence in front of him.

“Suho,” the boy called out, his voice sounding lovelier and more musical than ever.

“Luhan,” Suho smiled.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you find your own Neverland,” Luhan apologized earnestly. And even then, Suho saw that his eyes were sparkling, emitting the light that he had always seen in them.

“It’s ok,” he replied honestly, “I’m sure that you already have.”

The response made Luhan’s aura shine even brighter as he smiled down at the younger. “I’m glad.”

The moments that passed were passed in understanding silence as the stars continued to fall around them, and Suho could feel himself starting to slip away. It was then, that Suho knew it was time. “So, this is goodbye?” Even he himself noticed the sad tone of his voice. But Luhan just shook his head, smile slipping off his face as his expression became one much more earnest and bittersweet.

“Never say goodbye, because saying goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” Suho immediately recognized the quote by Peter Pan and smiled, squeezing Luhan’s hand in his. “Don’t say goodbye because I’m not going to go away, not really,” Luhan spoke. But before Suho could ask about his words, he felt himself waking up and he knew he had to make his next words—his last words, count.

“And I’ll never forget you.”

The boy’s eyes pinching together as he smiled and waved his hand was the last thing Suho saw before a star fell between the two, breaking the connection with an overpowering wash of white light.

--

Three years later.

--

Before Suho headed off to work that morning, he unconsciously glanced over at his desk and spotted something that made his heart twinge, flooding his mind back with old, fond memories. He found himself walking towards it and picked it up, gently blowing off the thick layer of dusk before the cover of his favourite book was revealed after years of unintentional neglect. Suho ran his fingers over the fading gold lettering of the title before quickly dropping it into his bag and heading out the door.

Reaching his workplace didn’t take as long as usual as he had opted to skip his daily stop at the corner café, wanting instead to spend some quality time reading his long forgotten novel before he opened up for the day. Suho took a deep breath as he stood in front of the old building, and trailed his eyes up all the way to the large sign hanging at the top.

Neverland Bookstore

Suho smirked, unlocked the door and stepped inside. He did a fairly good job at naming the place if he did say so himself.

It had taken a year of working endlessly and saving up, and then another year of fixing up the place, but Suho had eventually purchased, remodeled and reopened the old place as his own personal shop. It was hard work, but it was completely worth it in the end to have his own little haven always available to him and any others who decided to stop by.

Before it’s opening day, Suho did a complete overhaul of the interior, getting rid of the old shelves and cobwebs—all except for one particular armchair that a certain someone had sat in the first time they had not so legally broken in. Suho found a fond smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he trailed his fingers over the rough fabric before sitting down, nestling under the skylight he had installed right above the very same spot the chair sat.

Letting out a yawn and almost regretting not getting his daily coffee, Suho rummaged through his bag before taking out his book and turning to page one.

-

The shrill chime of the bell attached to the door woke Suho up with a start and he snapped his eyes open and fumbled about in his seat. He hadn’t even realized that he had dozed off in the middle of the story, which was now lying face down on the floor, having fallen from when he woke up.

“Wow, this place cleaned up really nice, didn’t it?” A voice suddenly called out, making Suho jump up, still a little disorientated as his mind was still thick with the sleep from his impromptu nap. He headed over to where he presumed the voice came from and stumbled across a man in the middle of an aisle. He had a slim figure and would probably stand taller than Suho if he wasn’t bent over with his back facing towards him, examining a low shelf.

“Excuse me?” Suho called out politely, hoping to gain the attention of the customer.

At his voice, the man stood up straight, but gave no further indication of Suho’s presence as he continued to ramble on to himself. “The shelves are new, the chairs are new and wow, even the floorboards were changed…”

Suho couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he called out again, this time a litter louder, “excuse me?”

“And there’s actually books this time—“

“Excuse me?!”

The man visibly froze before he reached over to scratch the back of his head, ruffling up his brown hair a bit as he chuckled. “Is that any way to treat your customer, Suho?”

At the sound of his name leaving the other’s lips, Suho found himself freezing and his eyes opened impossibly wide. Even though it wasn’t possible, and even though the memory had been pushed long ago to the back of his mind, Suho knew in that moment that he recognized that voice. He wasn’t sure where, but he did—the man’s voice seemed to resonate in his mind, hitting every nerve in his body in utter alertness. Before he could contain himself, Suho stepped forwards and grasped the man’s shoulder, turning him on his heel so that he could see his face.

And when he did, Suho had to stumble back as he nearly got the breath knocked out of him. A million thoughts started to pile into his mind, mixed with an overwhelming amount of memories he had unconsciously locked away long ago. It couldn’t be, could it? No, it wasn’t possible—it simply wasn’t possible. But as Suho underwent his mental meltdown, the man laughed and stepped forwards, placing his hand gently on top of Suho’s shoulder. “Suho, it’s really me, Luhan.”

Suho’s eyes flickered up in astonishment as he finally remembered, not that he had forgotten his angel, but the memories they created together all seemed to surface. He remembered that sweet voice calling his name a million times over, he remembered those eyes that sparkled more brightly than the stars, and that smile that made the sun come out from behind the clouds. With everything happening at once, Suho found himself unable to speak any coherent words. “But—what? How? I mean—I don’t—“

Luhan silenced his stuttering by gently placing a finger against Suho’s lips. “All that matters right now is that I’m really here. Right now. With you.”

And that was all it took for Suho to launch himself straight into Luhan’s open arms, wrapping his arms around his waist and clutching him with his dear life. Luhan wrapped his arms around the other’s shoulders as well and like two pieces of a puzzle, everything seemed to fit together again—everything was right again in the world.

The two stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms for a long moment, relishing in the presence of the other that they had never stopped loving and wanting all this time, and not wanting this moment—this perfect moment to ever end. However, after some time, both of them reluctantly pulled back, making sure to look into each other’s eyes and smiling widely at the shared sense of happiness that had enveloped the room. A million and one questions ran through Suho’s mind in that moment but only one made it past his lips. “How?”

Luhan chuckled, and Suho could have drowned in the sparkle that appeared in his eye. “It’s a long story,” he replied, causing the younger to frown.

“Then where did you come from? And your hair?” Suho wondered, eyeing the other’s flopping brown bangs.

“Oh this?” Luhan asked looking up and pointing towards his head, “well, this was how my hair looked when I was human, don’t you remember?”

Truthfully, Suho did remember, but that answer did nothing to quench his every growing curiosity. And then a thought popped into his mind, it was rather radical but, “does that mean you’re a human again, or?”

And when Luhan nodded, Suho knew he had to sit down. Quickly ushering Luhan over towards the seat under the skylight, Suho sank down as he tried to process all this new information. Giving Luhan a stern look, he pointed his finger, “explain. Now.”

Luhan knelt down beside Suho and took his hand, feeling the same heart fluttering feeling he did three years ago from the mere touch. “It’s rather simple actually. You know how Heaven is supposed to be a paradise? Heaven is supposed to have anything and everything that you’ve ever wanted, but of course for me… after I returned, it didn’t feel like home anymore. I wasn’t happy, but suffering—suffering because I knew that I had left you behind. Nowhere I was could be a paradise without you with me.” Suho listened carefully. “So then after a long time of feeling sorry for myself, and an even longer time begging, I was finally granted permission to stay with you. Forever. Because this,” Luhan gently ran his thumb over the knuckles of Suho’s hand, “this is where my Heaven is.”

A small silence followed as Luhan held his head down, letting Suho take his time to process everything that had just been thrown at him. When the new human dared peek up again, he was met with the sight of a crying guardian and immediately became flustered. “Ah, what did I do?! What did I say?!” But Suho just shook his head and pulled him close. He quickly pressed their eager lips together, sending a magical feeling coursing through both their veins from finally being connected once again.

 “I’m just happy that you’re finally here,” he admitted as he pulled away, and Luhan couldn’t help but soften.

“Of course I am. I told you I wasn’t really going away, didn’t I?”

“Yeah I remember that but it’s not like I knew what you meant by it!” Suho cried, exasperated, “and how did you even get here?! Don’t tell me you fell again, did you?”

“Nope,” Luhan said with amusement, “I rode the soft wind.”

“Be serious would you?” Suho punched him on the arm, earning a small pout from the elder.

“How about I found the second star to the right and followed it straight on till morning? Hey—ow! It’s a secret, ok?”

“Do you know how long I waited for you? I thought you left forever—I thought I would never see you again,” Suho said, sniffing as he tried to contain his overflowing emotions. But Luhan only found his futile actions to be endearingly cute and shook his head in mock disappointment.

“I was always with you, Suho—always. Didn’t you see the line I underlined in your book?”

But at the confused and surprised look on Suho’s face, Luhan could tell that his joke had taken a wrong turn. “Wait… you haven’t?” Luhan stared at the other as he let out a guilty smile. Luhan couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the younger before he reached over to pick up the discarded novel on the floor and flipped through the pages. When he had finally found what he was looking for, he handed it over to Suho’s awaiting hands. Luhan watched as Suho scanned the line over and over again with his eyes as if committing it to memory—relaying it against the memories of all the time he had spent alone, but now realizing he never truly was. Suho looked up at Luhan who returned the gaze. They stared at each other with eyes that were full of all the love and expectation they had for each other that had never once dwindled in their time apart. Suho let the book fall from his hands and fell forward from his seat to embrace Luhan once again in the middle of their Neverland, and in the middle of their own Heaven.

“I told you I would never leave you.”

“And I would never forget you.”

-

“You know that place between sleep and awake; that place where you can still remember dreaming? That’s where I will always love you. That’s where I will be waiting.”

- Peter Pan