Yongguk relaxed on the couch with his feet up on the table and a cold beer in his hand. Midnight had just passed by and he kept himself awake, waiting for Himchan to make it home. His younger friend had told him not to wait up, that he was going to be out late that night, but Yongguk just couldn't seem to sleep while his friend was out somewhere. He wanted to stay up incase Himchan called drunk, needing a ride.

He had long since forgotten whatever lame rerun was playing on the television. He took a sip from the cold beer in his hand, his eyes watching the clock, half closed. He yawned, watching as the seconds ticked by. He was bored. He was tired. He forced himself to stay awake and kept his mind occupied with the only thing lately that seemed to be worthy of occupying his time.

Zelo hadn't been feeling so well the past few days. He'd been complaining more often about headaches and being dizzy. Yongguk hadn't even been able to go visit him at the hospital that day because he'd had to go to his real job. The one he actually got paid to do. He hadn't had any phone calls from Dr. Kwon about Zelo's condition, and he had been off about it the entire day.

And now, on top of that, Himchan was out – only god knows where – all by himself. Yongguk figured that he needed to start caring a little less, otherwise all of his friends were going to drive him crazy. He picked up his phone, checking the time, and just as he flipped open his text message screen to check for texts, the door opened on the other side of the room.

Yongguk got up and turned around, about to scold Himchan for being out so late without telling him anything when he saw the state that his friend was in. His face was a mess, dripping with tears, and he had mud stains on both his knees and his jacket sleeves. He was nursing a black eye.

Yongguk was across the room in seconds, taking hold of the shivering boy. Himchan looked up at him with wide eyes and whimpered, falling into the stronger man's arms. Neither one spoke for a long time. Yongguk took Himchan into the bedroom and helped change him into some clean clothes. Then silently, he sat the boy down on the couch and went to get the first aid kit from the bathroom.

“He broke up with me.” Himchan's voice held barely above a whisper when he finally spoke, flinching when Yongguk touched some medicine to his bruise.

Yongguk blinked and looked back at his friend. “You...were dating someone?” Of course, it was just like Yongguk to not know when his best friend was seeing someone.

Himchan shrugged, an embarrassed smile finding its way onto his face. “I was planning on telling you when it got serious...It's only been for the last couple of weeks, but it's over now..” The sadness returned to his expression.

“What happened?” Yongguk asked, putting away the medicine into the first aid kit. He left it sitting on the table and moved beside his best friend onto the couch. Himchan rested his head on Yongguk's shoulder, taking the half finished beer he was offered.

The younger man took a long swig of the drink before he spoke. “We had a fight. I'm still not really sure why. We were at the park-”

“You broke into the park?” Yongguk interrupted, raising an eyebrow at his friend. “You're on probation and you broke into the park?”

Himchan shrugged. “He wanted to go to the park. Anyway...He got upset over something and he just started yelling...I tried to calm him down, but he punched me...” His fingers ghosted over the bruise on his face. “It was an accident...my fault..”

Yongguk's heart clenched up, listening to his friend talk. He took the empty can from Himchan's hand and laced their fingers together. Himchan whimpered, sniffled, and moved just a fraction closer to the older man. It had been a very long time since the two had been affectionate like that with each other. Snuggling wasn't really a high priority on Yongguk's list of things to do.

“It'll be alright, Channie.” Yongguk told his friend, letting the younger boy nuzzle up next to him. Not knowing what to do, he put his arm around the boy and they stayed like that for a while.

Himchan had nearly fallen asleep on Yongguk's shoulder when they were both jolted awake by a frantic knocking on the door. Yongguk glanced at the clock, reading one thirty in the morning.

“The would be at the door at this time?” He muttered, pulling himself up off the couch.

Himchan watched over the back of the couch as Yongguk stumbled to the door and swung it open. On the other side, a distraught Zelo pounced on Yongguk. The elder wrapped his arms around the boy almost instantly.

“Zelo? What are you doing here? It's one in the morning...is everything alright?” He bombarded the boy with questions.

Zelo sniffled, pulling away from Yongguk's arms. His eyes were red and swollen as if he'd been crying. He glanced over at Himchan, then back up at Yongguk with tears beginning to well up in his eyes again.

Himchan stood up from the couch. “I'm going to bed...” He muttered, clearing his throat before walking out of the room, grabbing an extra can of beer on his way out.

Yongguk grunted out a goodnight to his friend and wrapped an arm around Zelo, leading him to the couch and sitting him down in the spot Himchan had occupied just moments before. Zelo sat down, wrapping his arms around himself. Yongguk didn't realize until then that the boy was wearing only a hoodie over his hospital clothes and some socks on his feet. Zelo had run out of the hospital without even putting shoes on.

“What's going on, Zelo?” Yongguk asked the boy, looking at him with a serious expression.

Zelo whimpered. “I can't do it, Hyung..” he jumped into Yongguk's arms and began to sob.

Yongguk panicked, not knowing what to do. He'd never seen Zelo cry before. Even when the boy was sad, he still had a smile on his face. Now, here he was, tears soaking through Yongguk's shirt. He wrapped his arms around Zelo and ran his fingers through the boy's hair until he stopped sobbing so hard.

“How did you get out of the hospital?” He asked, starting at the beginning.

Zelo sniffled. “Snuck out...”

Yongguk groaned inwardly. “You're going to get in so much trouble, Zelo...why did you do that?”

Zelo chewed his lip, looking down at his hands in his lap. “To see you...”

Warmth filled Yongguk's chest, but he pushed Zelo away so that he could look the boy in the eyes. “Next time you want to see me, call me Zelo. I'll come find you, no matter what, okay? You don't need to be sneaking out in the middle of the night with no shoes on...”

“Sorry...” Zelo muttered, looking back down at his hands once more. “I just...I'm scared..”

Yongguk's head tilted to the side as he watched the boy. “Scared?”

Zelo nodded, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. He pulled his feet up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself. “I don't want to die, Hyung...” His soft voice whispered out after a while. “I'm not ready to die...”

A lump formed in Yongguk's throat as he watched the boy. He really didn't know what to say to that. He wanted to pull Zelo into his arms and hold him until he was no longer upset. He wanted to tell the boy that everything was going to be alright. He didn't know what to do, so he just took Zelo's hand into his own and played with the boy's fingers as he continued to talk.

“The doctors said the new treatment isn't working...They don't think I'm going to make it much longer....” Zelo whimpered. “My birthday is next month, Hyung...what if I die before my birthday? What if I die on my birthday!” He squeaked, his eyes going wide as he looked at Yongguk in panic. “Daehyun hyung and Youngjae hyung...Umma would be so upset!”

Yongguk chewed his lower lip. “You're not going to die on your birthday, Junhong.” Zelo looked up when Yongguk used his real name. He rarely did that and it was always a sign that the words to follow were going to be very important.

“I know you're scared, Junhong.” Yongguk brought Zelo's hand he held up to his face and pressed his lips against the boy's knuckles in a calming manner. “But everything is going to be alright. I know it doesn't seem like it, but it will.”

“But how?” Zelo whimpered, pulling his hand from Yongguk's and wrapping them around himself once more. “I'm going to die...”

“We all die some time..” Yongguk shoved his hands into his lap. His skin was too cold when Zelo pulled away from him.

Zelo shot him a little glare before his expression turned sad once again. “You're probably going to be eighty before you die...” Zelo muttered. “I might not even be eighteen..”

Zelo looked up at Yongguk and wiped his nose with the sleeve of his hoodie. “I'm sorry, Hyung..” He whimpered. “I'm sorry we met cause now I've got to leave you behind...”

“Junhong..” A soft smile painted Yongguk's features. “I'll be here for you. Every moment, every second, every hour of every day. I'm going to be here for you whenever you need me. If you're scared, sad, happy, mad...I'll be right beside you through everything...” Yongguk's features fell, softening and saddening just a little bit. “And when the day comes that I can't be by your side anymore then yes, I will be sad. But more than anything I'll be glad. Glad that I got to have the time that I did with you. I'll miss you for the rest of eternity...” Yongguk stopped speaking to reach over and wipe another stray tear from the boy's cheek.

“I don't want to leave you, Hyung..” Zelo whimpered. “You're the best thing that ever happened to my life...” Zelo chewed his lip like he wanted to say more. Yongguk stayed silent until the words finally came out of Zelo's mouth. “I thought I wanted to die...” He spoke softly, not meeting Yongguk's eyes. “I thought that I was okay with it. Youngjae and Daehyun would have each other after I died. Umma wouldn't have to work four jobs to pay my hospital bills...I wouldn't have to hurt the way that I do...I thought I was ready..I'd accepted it...then...then you..Hyung..”

“Me?” Yongguk's head once again tilted to the side like a visible quiestion mark. He his lips. Zelo nodded.

“I didn't know how much I really wanted to live until I met you...” He told the older boy, still not meeting his eyes. “I've lived more in the two months I've known you than I have in the other seventeen years of my life...Things that I never thought I'd get to do before I died...you've helped me do them..You showed me part of the world that I never thought I'd have the chance to see...and I want to see more, Hyung..I don't want to die yet...there's things I haven't gotten to do yet...”

Yongguk chuckled, then, ruffling Zelo's hair. “Can I make you a promise, Zelo?” Yongguk spoke with a smile on his face, using the boy's nickname once more. Zelo nodded and Yongguk smiled again.

“For as long as we've got time left together, I'm going to help you do everything that you've always wanted to do, okay? I promise..”

“Hyung?” Zelo wiped the last of his tears and looked up at the man. “Can I...can I ask you something?”

Yongguk nodded.

“How did you know?” He asked, his voice tiny. “How did you know that I wanted to do all those things you've done for me? Teaching me to drive...to skate...the Ferris Wheel...how did you know?”

Yongguk sighed, leaning back from Zelo and running a hand through his hair. He really needed a haircut soon, he thought. “First, let me say that I'm sorry. Because I really didn't mean to look at your private things...” The words immediately sent the boy into a panic, his eyes widening in fright. Yongguk cleared his throat. “That day we watched movies together...I accidentally knocked over your notebook and saw it...your list...”

Zelo nodded, chewing his lip. “So you..you've been...”

Yongguk nodded. “I've been trying to help you...do the things on your list.” He muttered. “I know I probably can't do all of them...but..I want to make sure that while you're still here that you enjoy your time. I don't want you to have any regrets.”

Zelo nodded, a small smile on his face. “Hyung...” He spoke after a while. “Could you...take me back to the hospital?”

Yongguk nodded and ruffled Zelo's hair again. He grabbed his jacket and put his shoes on. He walked to Himchan's door and knocked. Hearing no response, he cracked the door open a little. In the darkness, he spotted a huge lump in the middle of the bed. He figured the other man was sleeping and whispered.

“I'm taking Zelo back to the hospital now.”

When he walked back out, Zelo was shifting on his feet in front of the door with a small smile on his face. He chewed his lip and held his hand out for Yongguk. Holding hands was almost as foreign to Yongguk as cuddling was, but he happily laced their fingers together and lead Zelo out to the parkinglot.

“Hyung...your car..” Zelo pouted when they walked right past the vehicle.

Yongguk chuckled. “We aren't taking my car tonight, Zelo.” He pulled the boy to a motorcyle and grabbed a helmet. He shoved the helmet onto Zelo's head and snapped shut the buckle. “Tonight, we're going to fly.”

He couldn't see the smile on Zelo's lips, but he saw it reflected clearly in his eyes. Yongguk didn't have a helmet, Zelo using the only one. He got on the bike and Zelo climbed on right behind him. The bike roared to life and Zelo squealed.

Racing out of the parking lot, Yongguk went a little faster than he knew he should have been going. Zelo squealed from behind him, hands holding tightly onto Yongguk's coat. Yongguk slowed down after a while, the wind blowing through their faces and hair.

It was a nice night out. There were hardly any cars on the road, being almost 3 in the morning. Yongguk could hear Zelo's happy laughs and squeals behind him as he weaved the bike through the roads towards the hospital.

He felt when Zelo's arms left his coat and spread out beside him.

“WOOOOOOHHH!!!” Zelo yelled out into the night and leaned back into the feeling.

Yongguk smiled, knowing how much Zelo was enjoying riding on the motorcycle. After a few moments, Zelo wrapped his arms tightly around Yongguk's middle again and rested his head against the driver's back. Yongguk heard him say something, but the words were lost in the wind.

Zelo peeled himself off Yongguk when the motorcycle stopped in the parking lot of the hospital. Zelo climbed off and took off the helmet. He smiled at Yongguk.

“Thank you so much for tonight, Hyung.” Zelo smiled softly and Yongguk reached out to ruffle his hair, fluffing out the curls after the helmet had squished them down.

“Remember, though.” Yongguk told him. “Next time, call me and I'll come to you. Don't go sneaking out again.”

“Deh, Hyung.” Zelo nodded, his curls flying everywhere. “I really felt like I was flying.” He grinned, jumping into Yongguk's arms and hugging him.

When he pulled away, he laughed out a good bye and started back towards the door, his arms outstretched like he was a plane, soaring through the sky. Yongguk watched with a little chuckle, sitting in the parking lot until Zelo has disappeared into the front doors. He waited another ten minutes until the light came on in Zelo's window and he smiled, finally starting the engine and driving home.