Himchan walked out of the bathroom and back into the living room. Now that he was no longer in a panicked state, he was able to take a look around at the room.

 It was fairly large, with wooden floors and white walls. A big blue couch sat in the center, the cushions flat and worn out. A shabby brown recliner was shoved into a corner, and a little coffee table sat between it and a wooden chair that looked like it came from the dining room. The room looked lived in. None of the furniture had plastic on it. The couch and recliner were covered in questionable stains. The coffee table was littered with glass rings from people not using coasters, and it looked like it was sticky to the touch.

He moved his gaze from the furniture to the walls. There were pictures all over the place. Pictures of Junhong when he was a baby, pictures of his first day of elementary school, his first day of middle school, and his first day of high school. There were pictures of him in Yongguk's arms, and then pictures of him standing next to Yongguk, and there was even a newer one of the two standing side by side, Junhong exceeding his older brother in height. There were pictures of Junhong and Jongup, some of them of the two boys in middle school, some in high school. There were pictures of Yongguk and Junhong with two older people, a man and a woman, who Himchan assumed to be their parents. While he wondered why Junhong lived with Yongguk and not their parents, a picture caught his eye.

It was of Yongguk and a boy he didn't know. The boy was a little older than Junhong is now, and he was smiling brighter than Himchan knew possible. Naturally, Himchan was drawn to the picture, and his feet unconsciously led him towards it. He reached his hand out in its direction, but stopped himself before he could touch it.

"Whatcha doin'?" Yongguk asked, causing Himchan to jump back.

"I'm just looking at your pictures," he replied, blushing from being caught.

"I see. Hey, look at this one. Wasn't Junhong cute before he could talk?" Yongguk said, pointing at a picture of Junhong.

Himchan nodded, glad that Yongguk didn't notice the picture he was looking at.

"And this one. Look how innocent Junhong and Jongup used to be. Shame, really, that they ended up like that," Yongguk said, referencing to the day's earlier events.

Himchan nodded again.

"And these are our parents. Junhong chose to live with me here in Seoul so he could go to school with Jongup," Yongguk explained.

Himchan didn't know why Yongguk was telling him this, but he was curious, so he didn't mind.

"And this," Yongguk said, pointing to the picture that Himchan was the most interested in, "is of me and Daehyun, the boy I told you about. The reason I'm always on time."

"Daehyun," Himchan repeated the name carefully, as if it were made of porcelain.

"Right. He made me take this picture with him one day after his appointment. He had a thing for "making memories" and he liked to have proof of the memories in pictures. So one day after his appointment, he drug me outside and took the picture with his camera. He had it developed and gave me a copy at his next appointment. I, of course, put it away, but after he died, I decided to hang it up. It felt like the only thing I had left of him. A memory I wanted to keep forever," Yongguk explained, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Himchan didn't really know what to do. He had a feeling to reach out and touch Yongguk, to comfort him, but something was stopping him. He was hesitating, and hesitating wasn't going to get him anywhere, he knew. But he still couldn't bring himself to reach out and touch Yongguk.

"It's okay, you don't have to force yourself," Yongguk said, noticing Himchan's inner struggle.

Himchan felt like crying. Yongguk was the one who felt sad, and Himchan still couldn't comfort him. Himchan felt worthless.

Himchan wiped at the first tear that rolled down his cheek, but he couldn't stop the second and third.

"Hey, hey, there's no need to cry," Yongguk said, his arms reaching out to Himchan.

Himchan took a step back from Yongguk. Yongguk dropped his arms.

"I'm sorry," Himchan sobbed.

Yongguk shook his head.

"Don't be," he soothed.

Himchan kept crying.

"I just feel useless. I can't even comfort you when you're sad and now I'm the one crying," Himchan sobbed.

Yongguk smiled and shook his head.

"Tell you what. If you stop crying, I'll take you out on a date tomorrow," Yongguk said, a cheesy tone to his voice.

Himchan looked up at him as of he were stupid.

"You're making me sound like a kid. Like I'll stop crying if you reward me or something," he laughed in spite of himself.

"That's exactly what I'm doing," Yongguk said, grinning.

"You ," Himchan scoffed.

"9 o'clock," Yongguk said.

"What?" Himchan asked.

"9 o'clock tomorroww morning. I'll pick you up. So be ready," Yongguk promised.

Himchan smiled and wiped away his final tear.

"It's a date."

A/n:

It's a date!

Anyway, we're finally about to get somewhere. Finally. Thank you for being patient with me. You're all great.

Anyway, thank you for commenting and upvoting and subscribing. Much love!!!!