Departure is always a sad and unwanted event to some extent. Some are thrown a party like I was to help lessen the pain many, even I, were feeling. It didn't help though, because my Going Away To Mandatory Military Service Party before my actual day of departure was a total bust. 

Mostly because my loving wife started crying. 

I remember how I was cutting my own cake that read, "We'll miss you, Sunggyu!" written in blue icing. I hate blue icing. And when I removed the first piece and carefully put it on a paper plate, I couldn't proceed to get to the other pieces because my wife, Sungyeol, prevented me from doing so. 

When the cake was down, Sungyeol immediately wrapped his arms around my torso in a tight hug. At first I just politely told him to move so I could finish cutting the cake, but only when I realized he was crying did I stop. I instantly dropped the knife in my hand and wrapped my arms tightly around the one I love as he sobbed heavily into my jacket. 

He may have been the reason the party was cut short but I didn't care. I just wanted to spend my last few hours at home with my dear Sungyeol. It was a day full of tears and what not, but it ended in a blaze of passion as I showed Sungyeol just how much I loved him. His last words to me that night were: I love you, Gyu. The last words I would hear from him for two years, because I left early the next morning when he was still asleep. 

Nine months in and I'm already returning home. 

Well, not permanently, but still, I'm going home. I was sent home for recovery for an injury. Being as stupid as I am, I tore the plantar fasciitis in my left foot while training. As a result, I have to wear a huge, awkward, somewhat heavy boot for eight weeks, leaving me incapable of attending service. So, I was called to be sent home and recover. 

I was going home in secret as a surprise for my Yeollie. My good friends Woohyun and Dongwoo knew of the event and were helping with my ride to get to my home. 

"Hey, man!" I greeted as I hugged Woohyun tightly, "It's been a while." 

"Look at you, hyung!" Woohyun pointed out whole ignoring my greeting. His eyes were wide and disbelief was obviously evident in them, "Look at your muscles! And your hair!" 

I laughed hearing how impressed he was of such petty things. The lad was muscle ridden as well, but I guess I had become more so than him. Which is a first. And my hair? It was always longer and covered my forehead with my bangs. It was now buzzed and black, no trace of dye in my roots. 

"You look so different, hyung," Dongwoo commented next. While facing him, I too noticed the changes he went through. His hair was much longer than I remembered and it was lightly colored, the result of faded dying. He looked tanner too, as though he had been outside for a long period of time. I know I was tanner, but dang Dongwoo! 

"So do you," I replied back, not verbally addressing the differences, but physically pointing at the changed attributes of the younger, "We can all change within a few months. By the way, how's my Sungyeol?" I asked next, immediately being distracted by the thought of the younger. 

Dongwoo and Woohyun seemed to fall quiet and somewhat awkward as I mentioned my wife's name. Being confused as I was, I was going to ask what they were worried about but Woohyun beat me to it, "Why don't you see for yourself. We should get you home now so you can," he grabbed my bags and hauled them in the direction of his car. 

Brushing aside the suspicions I had, I followed the other as his boyfriend walked next to me. 

------

"You're engaged?!" I exclaimed, gaping at the identical pair of rings set on my friends' fingers. I greedily yanked back Woohyun's hand since Dongwoo was driving and observed the sparkling metal on his ring finger, "When did that happen?!" 

"Last month," Woohyun sheepishly answered while pulling his hand away from me once I let it go, "We didn't know how to tell you, so we waited." 

I wasn't too upset that they decided to wait and tell me and instead I was rather excited for the two. They had been dating since our high school years. It was about time the dinosaur finally asked the greasy tree to be his. 

"Wow," I whispered before asking, "What else has happened since I've been gone?" if something like to is managed to happen, then there was bound to be something else just as major. 

But ag