Daehyun trembled against the latter's tight embrace. He doesn't know, but Youngjae always seems to know what to do to lessen pain for him. It was unbelievable, really... who would've thought that he was lucky enough to find someone like Youngjae... Someone who actually cares..

Luhan and Hoseok had left a little while later, reasoning their privacy... and although Hoseok deliberately refused the idea, stating he had to be there for his only child, Luhan had payed no heed to him before dragging him out, quietly muttering something about Youngjae handling things perfectly without any of their help... But of course, Luhan didn't just coldly leave his 'patient' in pain... He still had the courtesy to bow a 90 degrees and scream 'I'm sorry' very loudly... He was without a doubt forgiven... What choice does he have anyway? It's not like he wanted to hurt Daehyun..

"It's okay, Daehyun... No one's going to hurt you anymore..."

Daehyun only stared at him. Not believing his sentence at all. Yes, no one'll hurt him for the rest of the day. But what about tomorrow, or the next day after that.. the next week after that, and  the many years that will come. Year after year, their methods will gradually change, it would probably be more painful every time... what if one day... he'll just give up? He didn't want to believe Youngjae's sentence because it will give him false hope... but even if so, he chose not to say a word against his distressed lover... for all he knew, Youngjae could be in more pain than him...

Their bodies rocked back and forth, as Youngjae swayed them in sync with the rythym of the soft tune he was currently humming, trying to overlap Daehyun's soft sobs.

"Hey... I know what'll cheer you up..."

Youngjae debated for a second, expecting a response or so, but seeing as he would not get one anytime soon, he proceeded and got along with his thoughts. Letting go of Daehyun, he got up his feet and exited the cage..

"W-Where are you going?" Daehyun cried, not liking what Youngjae was doing at the very moment. He didn't like drowning in the abscence of the younger's presence... he felt desperately needy somehow, at this time... was that normal?

"I'll be right back..." The latter assured, a bit taken aback at Daehyun voice tone... like an abandoned kid...

Running as fast as he could into the cube, he swiftly looked for his camera before roughly taking it from the bedside table and skipping his steps just so Daehyun wouldn't go another second waiting...

He jumped on the bed as soon as he got there, careful not to hit Daehyun at his vulnerable state.. but of course, he avoided nudging his arm too... it wouldn't be good if it started hurting again..

"What are you doing with the camera?... You aren't going to film me while I'm weak and tired now, are you?..." Daehyun definitely didn't like the thought of that idea... it's one thing he's not feeling too active... what more, keep this state a memory and review it any other time... that would be horrible...

"Of course not... I just want us to review some films together..."

Daehyun tilted his head to the side..

"And how will that cheer me up?..." Actually Youngjae didn't have to do anything to cheer him up. Just being by his side was more than enough... but he was just letting his curiosity take over, wanting to know where the latter was going with all this...

"You'll see..."

Once Youngjae made sure Daehyun's eyes were all on the camera's screen, he immediately scanned the files for a certain video...

After finding it, he carefully held the camera between them so they both could get a better view at it..

"Yoo Youngjae.. You have made me so happy.. more happy than I can describe.. and for the past few days, no, I mean, throughout our whole journey together, my thoughts have been always preoccupied by you and only you... so would you take the pleasure of accepting my hand in marriage?"

A familiar voice resounded through out the room...

Daehyun gasped as soon as he realized what it was..

"Our wedding day?.."

He asked, astonished.. Youngjae only smiled at Daehyun's cute reaction and gave a solid nod... This was enough to keep his mind out of pain, right?..

"Youngjae, you're crying.." Daehyun pointed at the screen with concern

"Those were tears of joy, silly... I was crying because I was happy.."

'What?..' Daehyun mentally thought.. was that even possible?..

He chose not to question it any further and focused his attention back to the screen..

It was a bit shaky... Himchan must've been nervous while filming them as Youngjae walked forward with Yongguk escorting him...

"Himchan's hands are shaky...that's why it keeps being... shaky?.."

Youngjae told him.. well it was obvious was it?..

"Aigoo!" Daehyun exclaimed as he watch their lips mold together...

"I have mix feelings about watching us kiss" He laughed.. he didn't know whether to cringe from the awkwardness or coo from the sweetness.. all his debate got washed off after hearing Youngjae's laugh mix along with his..

Maybe cringing from the sweetness were the right words after all?

He stole a quick peck, cutting both there laughters down and replacing them with flustered pleasant silence.

"That was oddly satisfying" This earned Daehyun a light slap on his back

"Way to ruin the moment"

The younger playfully rolled his eyes... Though he was happy, that at least now, Daehyun stopped focusing on making whimpering noises..

Their little acts were stopped by the sound of the door opening. Youngjae quickly turned the camera off and hid it behind his back.. He didn't want an intruder to see their precious times together in a camera screen.

"Looks like you really wanted to be together huh? Hello fluffy"

No one would fail to recognize the smug tone in that voice...

Kim Jongin

"Hello, Kai, Kyungsoo... Nice to see you're okay" Daehyun commented with a rather forced smile... he was not all that happy to see the man that deliberately hurt his fiance... but he was a tad bit glad that both Kai and Kyungsoo were alive... Death was always bad, right? Okay, except for the tokkies; They deserved death to Daehyun's accord.

"Hiya, fluffball... sorry for try'na kill you back then... we just wanted to complete our mission successfully for once.. you know, to make our old man proud of his own goddamn sons for a change... hope there are no hard feelings.."

Kai swiftly said and looked Youngjae straight in the eyes... his hands both flat on the glass surface as he watched Youngjae and Daehyun shift uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Yeah... sure..." Youngjae uneasily replied back. He wasn't sure whether to trust this man's words all willy nilly like that.. but one thing he knew for sure was, they only did the things they did to acquire their father's love... which kinda touched Youngjae's heart.
So you could say, he was trying to understand and forgive them for all the things they've done against him and his fiance... after all... he wasn't going to get anything if he bestowed grudges now, was he?

"Alright! Since that's all settled in, I think we all need a proper introduction!" Kai took the courtesy to scream before grabbing Kyungsoo by the hand and dragging him into the cage.

They stood in front of the uneasy couple. This gave Daehyun a strong intimidating feeling, which is weird because he doesn't oftenly get intimidated by people standing infront of him and his fiance.

Kai made the first move and grabbed Youngjae's hand on a very tight grip, thus surprising the raven haired boy and making him flinch on contact.

"My name is Kim Jongin! I'm pretty sure you know by now, but the heck with it. I am nineteen years old! I was the guy who almost tried to kill you in the fore-"

"But wasn't that him?" Youngjae interrupted and pointed a finger to Kyungsoo accusingly.

"Nah, I was the one who commanded him.. He wouldn't hurt a soul if not told to, especially one as cute as you.."
Jongin let go of Youngjae's hand and played with Youngjae's cheeks, pinching the chubby baby fat so hard, Youngjae swore they'd fall off.
This earned Kai a smack from both Daehyun and Kyungsoo.

"Hey! That hurt!"
He blurted out and glared at the two.

"Ahem. Kai. You have your own boyfriend. Stop trying to flirt with another guy's boyfriend."
Kyungsoo said grumpily and turned the other way.

"Yeah! What he said!! Don't touch my Youngjae like that! His cheeks are precious! Don't just go around pinching them! Nobody gets to do that!....
Except me."

The three pair of eyes stared amused on a very irritated  looking Daehyun.

"But what if I kiss Youngjae?" 
Kai teasingly said. One thing he knew for sure.. Daehyun was so fun to tease.

"Nooooooooo!!!!" Daehyun fired back. Horror painting his face upon Kai's kissey face came closer to HIS beloved Youngjae's precious lips.

Kyungsoo stayed indifferent regarding the situation. He knew where Kai was going with this. There's no way he'd ruin the party.

Youngjae on the other hand, stayed still. Still trying to process things out.

The moment Kai was only a head apart from kissing the stunned teen, Daehyun  panickly jumped between the two, him kissing Youngjae instead.

Kai was however, not happy by the fact that he was kissing the back of Daehyun's head and not a cute fluffball.

But still, he laughed so hard, he swore his would fall off.

"That was hilarious!"

By the time the couple had looked at the laughing Kai, their faces were already beet-red.

"Man I wish that was filmed! His expression was so hard to miss! He's so gullible! it's too much!"

Kai wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and forcefully tried to stop laughing but ended up laughing even more.

"Man, Daehyun! If I knew you were this fun to tease, I would have played with you everyday when we were younger! Such a  joy that would have been"

Daehyun huffed, annoyed.

"As if! You wouldn't even go near my cage because you thought I was a monster! You too, Soo! 
I had to stay up late at night, crying and wondering if I really was a monster, because you kept saying it over and over! You kept shouting it when the grown ups were gone but you never once, got near to my cage.. only from across the room.. I didn't know how to deal with you cause I couldn't do anything .."

The pair felt guilty of that, even so, that wasn't enough to pull Kai's teasing grin.

"What were we suppose to think? We were kids back then. We believed that you were a monster since you were being held captive in a cage. Why else would you be in a cage if you weren't a monster?... that's how what we thought... but I think we can all make it clear that things have changed and we understand better now. You're no monster."

Kai smiled back, but this time, it wasn't teasing anymore. He knew he and Kyungsoo said and did  very foolish things when they were younger, or even now... One of those 'things' was accusing Daehyun of being a monster since his father never let him out of the cage... but now that they're older, they have come to a realization of how wrong it was to have said such insensitive words to a broken child. Sure, they regret it... but it doesn't mean it'll change anything... there's no point in apologizing too, since it wouldn't matter anymore.. The right thing to do was to assure Daehyun that they were only kids, so young and naiive then.

"Wow... you have really messed up childhoods.." Youngjae blurted out. It was kinda sad how Daehyun was treated like that, even though he was already so misfortunate...and how, Youngjae, himself  was in the other side of the city, playing with the other kids, and taking his freedom for granted... it was very unfair.

"You don't even know half of it.." Daehyun grumbled back.

"Oh! This reminds me of something!" Youngjae half screamed as a thought resurfaced.

"What is it?"

"Jin and Jimin! How were they as kids?"

Hearing this, Daehyun looked down with a sad smile on his face.

"They were nice to me... they don't actually come near me too, until they were older but.. yeah.. they were nice...to be around with..
I'd watch them from afar and they'd smile and wave at me.. It would feel, for that small second alone, I was a normal kid...just like them.."

Youngjae mirrored Daehyun's sad smile and reached out to pat his back comfortingly.

"To be honest... I kind of envied them, or even Kai and Kyungsoo... I used to envy you guys a lot.."

Kai nudged Daehyun to explain why.

"Jin and Jimin always looked so happy to be together... and they could play all they want while I was stuck in my cage, watching them as they laugh at each other's jokes... same goes for you, Kai... When I found out you got a new brother, a new playmate, I used to gawk at you with jealousy because you wouldn't be alone anymore... And I would secretly wish to have a little brother too, or anyone who was willing to play  and spend time with me, just like Jin would to Jimin, and Kyungsoo would to you.."

Kai listened through the explanation with an understanding look on his face as he nodded frequently.

"You really were lonely.. and none of us bothered to approach you because we were afraid of something you wouldn't ever do to us.. " Daehyun nodded at Kai's summary. That was it.. He was just lonely..

"But now... I think that problem's fixed.." Daehyun looked at Youngjae with bright eyes and so much hope, that Youngjae couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"Alright... moving on to the next topic, enough with us, fluffy... It's your turn to introduce yourself!"

Youngjae shifted shyly... He was always awkward with introducing himself... It wasn't because he was orphaned, but he was just not used to the whole information sharing thing. He rarely even had a person to share information about himself...

"My name's Yoo Youngjae. I was orphaned at age 15 and I love taking pictures and videos of beautiful things, Daehyun is a prime example" Hearing this, Daehyun couldn't help but blush
"I love technology, I tend to have weird es, I am nineteen years ol-"

Daehyun had sat up straight all of the sudden and Youngjae had to pause to raise a brow at his boyfriend's ministrations.

"I thought you were eighteen!!"
He yelled, shocked. Had he been wrong all this time? Through out the whole duration of their travel together, he had always thought Youngjae was a year younger than him... well that's what he heard.. so why would Youngjae lie about his age? Of course it wouldn't be considered lying if he was indeed telling the truth, but from what he's been thinking so far... he seriously believed they were a year apart.

"Oh... yeah... I forgot to tell you... My birthday already passed.." 
Daehyun's ears perked up at this.. so his birthday already passed... Well that's that.. he's gained a year older, so now they're technically the same age... That just makes it even more awesome! But wait... if his birthday already passed.. shouldn't he have done something for it on the exact date? Daehyun doesn't really get birthdays all that much... but he's just really happy that on every 28th of the month of June, he gets to have no blood taken from him! That was pretty much a day he looks forward to every year! But for Youngjae's case... it was totally different, wasn't it? It's not like Youngjae went through the same thing as he did and would be satisfied with no blood taking for a day as a birthday present... Wait, why was he even thinking about this? Shouldn't it be right to ask when the exact is first? He feels awful though... what kind of husband doesn't know when his husband's birthday is?

"W-when was it?"

He heard a snort from Kai

"Are you telling me you don't know your own fiance's birthday?!!" He laughed out loud

"Are you serious??" And he continued to do so. Daehyun only blinked at him.

"What's so wrong about it? Age isn't really that important.." he countered back, protecting his pride.

"Yeah, but birthdays are! They're suppose to be really special since it's the day the certain person is brought to the world! Shouldn't that be specialized and not go unappreciated?"

He did have a point... great now he feels even worse.

"He's right... I'm so so sorry Youngjae... I didn't know.."
Daehyun looked like a kicked puppy in dim light with his glossy eyes and broken look.

"No No No! No need!" Youngjae laughed and rubbed circles all over his back; trying to deliver the message that he truly was fine with it..

"It's okay! You unknowingly gave me a present that day anyway... and I think it may have been the best birthday ever!"

The poor boy's eyes suddenly lit up upon the thought that he had given Youngjae a present without him knowing, that specific date.

"Really?! What did I give you? When was it??"

The younger only gave him a smile so meek.

" It was the day you first kissed me.."
A touch of crimson red painted the younger's cheeks as he remembered the way Daehyun had treated him then; like fine porcelain.

A toothy grin was plastered on Daehyun's face. Talk about great timing! But.. wait..

"Wasn't that the day we left the kids for the fields? Isn't that kinda.. sad?"

"Actually, it was past midnight when you kissed me, so that wasn't part of my birthday!"

"Oh then... what about when we woke up later that day, and we drowned?? Isn't that... kinda bad for a birthday?"

"NO! of course not! That was the start of our relationship! Us drowning proved us stronger and it was more than what I could possible have asked for!" 
Seeing the happiness and reassurance on Youngjae's face made Daehyun really think that he had given the latter a nice birthday without the knowledge of it.. maybe it was alright to not know when his birthday exactly was. Maybe. 

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{A/N: Guys, I'm sorry I haven't updated this fic for a long time...it's just that I have a lot of things on hand at the moment and I have to find a schedule for writing this somehow, which is very hard since it's already jam packed, however, don't think I won't finish this! because I will! like seriously, it's really almost the end! e just have a bit more to go! so please just wait a little bit more for Desperate, okay? I'm begging you huhuhuhu and sorry for the errors, because I srsly can't see that well because my eyes are droopy and my bed is calling out to me hehehe