So this is it! This is the end, I’m sorry this series is so short, but I might just add some one-shots just like 20 years when I have the time to. I just feel like it’s unfair for me to keep the series open and update sporadically, it is a torture to everybody. I am so glad for everybody who has been on this ride and I hope I don’t disappoint. Thanks a lot, y’all.

I love ALL of you!!! <333333

Yoseob walked into one of the hospital rooms with his usual big grin on his face. The smell of antiseptics and medicine wafting throughout the building, it reminded Yoseob how he used to feel the hospital smelled too clean, too distant, too detached. But not anymore, because for some of his patients, the hospital room might as well be their second home since they have been staying here for a while.

“Hello, Minjun-ah. A good morning to you.” Yoseob greeted the little boy who was looking seriously at the picture book in his lap.

Minjun looked up from his picture book and grinned brightly at the pediatrician. “Hello, Hyung.” He closed his book quickly, “Another check?”

Yoseob wanted to bawl on the spot because how could a four-year-old still have a big smile on his face after everything he had to go through. Yoseob had been with Minjun the day he was admitted to the emergency room – one year ago – when he was all blue and unconscious. And during the past year, Minjun had been going in and out of the hospital because of his heart malfunctions. And Yoseob’s heart broke a little every time he had to visit Minjun in the hospital room, wearing cotton pajamas – hospital attire, reading his picture books.

“No, it’s not time for another check,” Yoseob shook his head and smiled. He approached Minjun and sat down at the edge of the young boy’s bed, “I just want to talk to you. Can I talk to you? Or are you too busy with your picture books?”

Minjun motioned his head from left to right, signaling that he was not too busy for Yoseob. Never too busy for his favorite doctor.

Yoseob laughed at the adorable gesture and patted Minjun on the head, “Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” Minjun said with a toothy grin, “Minjun is a big boy so I am okay.”

Yoseob grinned, “All right, understood. Minjun is a good boy, right?”

Minjun nodded his head vigorously to confirm that he was a good boy. “Hyung, where is Ahjussi?”

“Ahjussi?”

“Doojoon Ahjussi,” Minjun whined, “Minjun wants to play ball with Ahjussi.”

Yoseob suspected that Minjun would remember Doojoon since the older man dropped by a few times sporadically to the hospital to play soccer for twenty minutes or to just fetch and send Yoseob to work (since they now stayed together, Doojoon started sending and picking Yoseob up from the hospital), but he did not expect Minjun to get so attached to Doojoon that he started asking for Ahjussi.

“Oh, Ahjussi is busy working now, just like Minjun’s parents. But I will ask him to see Minjun soon, okay.” Yoseob smiled comfortingly to the young boy and his head, the soft hair catching in between Yoseob’s fingers. “Do you like Doojoon Ahjussi, Minjun-ah?”

“Yes!” Minjun beamed as he looked at Yoseob. “Like!”

 “Can Hyung know why you like him?” Yoseob asked softly, he always loved having conversations with his patients.

Minjun nodded vigorously again, “Ahjussi is nice.”

“Ahjussi is nice.” Yoseob repeated.

“Ahjussi is tall.”

“Ahjussi is tall.” Yoseob smiled as he repeated Minjun again because apparently repetition coaxed children to talk more.

“Ahjussi gives me candies.” Minjun giggled.

Yoseob feigned a frown, “Ahjussi cannot give Minjun candy anymore.”

Minjun continued giggling as he wiggled on the bed adorably, “And Ahjussi is Hyung’s boyfriend.”

Yoseob gaped at the giggling toddler. His jaw dropped, his mouth wide open as he tried to search a comeback in his brain – an appropriate comeback according to the age, not some ual jokes. A few seconds after Yoseob recovered from his shock, he had to disappointedly admit defeat because there was nothing he could say back to Minjun because Doojoon was in fact his boyfriend – lover – and he felt a sense of betrayal if he said something that denied Doojoon being his boyfriend.

But there was another part of him that siren of warnings that he should not corrupt innocent kids with his ways of life. There was so much more for Minjun out there, and what if he told his parents about Yoseob and his boyfriend, Doojoon Ahjussi? They would be sprinting to the hospital to take Minjun away from Yoseob immediately.

Yoseob sighed, he was going to it because –

“Who told you that, Minjun-ah?” Yoseob asked gently.

“I told my Eomma about Doojoon Ahjussi and she said that Ahjussi is Hyung’s boyfriend.” Minjun said, seemingly very satisfied with himself after saying that.

Yoseob was now honestly shocked because – what the – Minjun’s mother was the one who suggested that and Minjun was still here. He was still here with his giggles and his adorable grins and his beaming face and his picture books. “Your Eomma said that?”

Minjun nodded his signature nods – vigorous nods – and grinned, “She says love knows no boundaries and everybody is made different but that does not make us different from each other.”

It was supposed to be a brief visit, because Yoseob always did his rounds and he missed Minjun and he wanted to know how his little champ was doing. He did not expect it to be a – sort of – love counseling session because Minjun’s mother was tear-jerkingly wise and he did not know the world was such a loving and beautiful place now.

“Don’t you feel it’s weird that Ahjussi and I are both boys?”

Minjun raised his eyebrows in excitement and widened his eyes, “Oh, oh! I want to have a boyfriend like Hyung! Because Hyung is nice and Ahjussi is nice and I like everybody!” Minjun made a really big round gesture with both his hands and Yoseob laughed, the little boy continued, “Eomma says, it is never wrong to love.”

Yoseob smiled. He truly smiled, warm and sincere and he whispered to Minjun. “Thank you, Minjun-ah.”

Minjun smiled back and shifted to leave a wet kiss on Yoseob’s left cheek.

Something changed inside of Yang Yoseob.

=&=

There was a soft click from the entrance door of Doojoon’s apartment followed by not-too-soft stumbling in the hallway, continued by a series of bangs a few seconds later which were followed by a few swear words.

Yoseob laughed from where he was seated in the lush sofa in front of the television in the living room. Doojoon was home. Yoseob twisted his body on the sofa so that he could look at his on legs – his Yoon Doojoon – walking into the apartment.

“Hey, how’s work?” Yoseob smiled as Doojoon made his way to the sofa.

“Same old.” The older man smiled and took a seat beside Yoseob, leaving a kiss on the younger man’s lips.

Yoseob had just recently moved in with Doojoon into the spacious apartment. There was not much change to the apartment because Yoseob did not bring in many things, he had the basics with him and that was it. Of course, the partition was now positioned in one corner of the living room, still empty. Yoseob was surprised at how natural this was, living together with Doojoon like this, sharing a space. How easy it was to share a life with someone else for eternity, forever.

“Have you had dinner?” Yoseob asked, cupping a tired face in between his palms.

Doojoon smiled and nodded, he kissed Yoseob’s button nose as he loosened his tie. In his twenty nine years, he had never been happier than this. There was a constant undercurrent of blissfulness in his life now, something foreign yet amazing. It was fantastic to have someone he loved in his life. The first thing he would see when he woke up and the last thing he saw when he went to sleep. Someone to have meals with, to chat with, to cuddle with.

“Wait for a bit, I have something for you.” Doojoon said as he scrambled out of the sofa quickly.

Yoseob frowned a little, “You should stop all these gifts-giving. Seriously, I am not with you for this reason.”

Doojoon waved a dismissive hand, “I know, I know. But you will love this one. Trust me.”

Yoseob rolled his eyes, “That’s what you said the last time you wanted to give me my own car. It’s a good thing it was not a done deal yet.”

Doojoon did not reply as he disappeared to the hallway and came back with something in his hands.

Holy , not a something but a –

“Oh my ing – is that –“ Yoseob almost squealed, oh hell he almost peed in his pants because he was so excited and he could not even care less if he did. The satisfied grin on Doojoon’s face was too wide as he carried in gingerly a small ball of fur in his embrace.

He was asleep and breathing really quietly in Doojoon’s arms. He was too small, too fragile with his white fur and brown dots. Yoseob could not really see his face because he was sleeping really comfortably and Yoseob would not want to wake him up yet.   

Yoseob looked at Doojoon with his best puppy eyes and begged, “Can I hold him?”

Doojoon laughed, his chest rumbling as he gently passed the small puppy to Yoseob. It was a delicate moment for the both of them as the puppy was transferred to Yoseob’s embrace. The puppy twitched a little and Yoseob cooed at him, willing for him to go back to sleep.

“How did you get him?” Yoseob asked.

“I was walking pass a pet store and I suddenly saw him and I just thought that he would be part of our family.” Doojoon said as he the puppy’s little head with affection.

Yoseob beamed and looked up at Doojoon, “Thank you so much. Thank you so much for being everything I want you to be and more.”

Yoseob’s eyes were watery and Doojoon enveloped Yoseob in his warm embrace, careful of the puppy sleeping in between their bodies. He sighed, his voice pensive, his question almost rhetorical, “What happened to us in high school, Yoseobah? Why couldn’t we find each other sooner?”

Yoseob buried his face deeper into Doojoon’s chest, “I don’t know.”

“It was my fault,” Doojoon said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you when you needed protection the most. I’m sorry I was too afraid of my own feelings that I couldn’t be there for you. I will do my best for you from now. I’m sorry, it was my fault.”

Yoseob shook his head, “There was a time when I hated myself for liking a man instead of a woman. At that time, there was no one else in this world who hated me more than me because why would I like a man when what my Appa did was beating us to death.” He sniffled, “But it’s all over now. It’s all over and we are here, together, finding each other to be together.”

“Yes,” Doojoon breathed his relief, “Yes, we are together now and I will protect you forever.”

“I love you.”

Doojoon stiffened as he pushed Yoseob a little so that they could now look at each other. Doojoon frowned because it sounded like Yoseob just said that he loved Doojoon but maybe that was his inner thoughts saying things to himself but he needed to make sure, “Did you just…?”

Yoseob smiled, another tear of happiness slid down his cheek, “I love you, Yoon Doojoon.”

Doojoon moved back a little bit, his eyes wide, mouth open, hands on Yoseob’s shoulders, “Holy – no – no I mean – I’m not cursing at you but I’m just…  Holy .”  

Yoseob laughed as Doojoon scrambled for words to reply back. His affection for Doojoon had overflowed and Minjun had practically unlocked that door and gave him the final push to finally give himself to Doojoon, because it is never wrong to love.

“I’m not saying it because you gave me a puppy, but because I really love you. I really do and I am ready to give all of me to you.” Yoseob grinned as he sighed his relief, “I am really ready now.”

“Oh my God…” Now it was Doojoon who looked like he was going to cry all night as he embraced Yoseob back into his arms, “I love you and I promise to protect you all my life.”

Yoseob rested his cheek on Doojoon’s chest, listening to the quick heartbeats that matched his own.

“I know.”

=&=

Epilogue

It was a Thursday, 4.53pm, and both Doojoon and Yoseob were sitting down on the green-grassed yard at the back of the hospital, watching people and Minjun who was playing happily with Yanggaeng. It was against the rule to have pets in the hospital ground but Minjun was adamant and they sort of smuggled Yanggaeng in while the other nurses sort of pretended not to see nor notice that a cute little puppy was running around with Minjun on the yard.

They had just finished their weekly soccer session and the kids were already on their way to their own rooms, except for Minjun, who had seven more minutes to play with Yanggaeng before the curfew hit in and Yoonmi would come and get him.

Doojoon and Yoseob were holding hands, clammy and sweaty from playing soccer but none of them even cared. Yoonmi, the pretty blushing nurse, was forever blushing every time he saw Yoon Doojoon although she knew that it was never possible with him, and when Doojoon had his half-smirk-half-smile thingy going on, Yoonmi would blush harder and be red as a tomato.

“I knew you played soccer because you had a huge crush on me in high school.” Doojoon said, obviously smug about it.

Yoseob scoffed at the statement and rolled his eyes, “Well, it isn’t a secret anymore that you stalked me throughout high school by taking my pictures. Albums and albums of it, for your information.”

Doojoon laughed as he squeezed Yoseob’s hand tighter into his own. “Do you remember Minwoo?”

Yoseob looked at Doojoon who was still looking straight to the front, “Jo Minwoo, you mean? The one who was in photography club?”

Doojoon nodded and grinned naughtily, “I engaged his services and bought pictures of you from him.” He laughed, “Oh, he was so good.”

Yoseob looked horrified, “Didn’t he ask why?”

“Nope.” Doojoon shook his head, “He is a good kid and he was just so glad that I talked to him in high school.”

“Oh my God, you are the worse. Why am I living with you. You use people.” There was no real malign behind Yoseob’s words.

Doojoon stared at Yoseob, feigned an offended expression, “Hey, he should be grateful to me now. I provided him so many chances to take pictures and improve himself in high school, he is now an award-winning photographer for National Geographic.”

“Wow,” Yoseob was easily distracted and Doojoon would never get over his amusement at this fact, “Are you still in contact with him?”

Doojoon nodded, “Yeah, we talked a few times a year. He’s a good guy.”

Yoseob hummed in response as they resumed the comfortable silence and watched as a blushing Yoonmi came to get Minjun because it was now three minutes past five in the evening.

They both smiled as Minjun kissed them wetly on the cheek and Yanggaeng ran back to Yoseob’s lap for a rest after a tiring workout with the kids.

Yoseob smiled and rested his head on Doojoon’s shoulder, watching as the sky turned dusky pink and orange and yellow.

Everything turned out better than he had expected.

Everything would always be okay as long as Yang Yoseob was with Yoon Doojoon.