Perhaps it wasn’t ideal to fall in love at a nursing home at the age of sixty-eight, but to Yunho, it didn’t matter because now, after thirty-three years of being alone, he found his happiness back. It was happiness in the form of a sixty-nine year old man whom he met at the nursing home two years ago. As cliché as it may sound, Yunho clearly remembered that fateful day like it was only yesterday.

He was on his way to the dining hall when he found a man curled up in a ball at the bottom of the stairs. Without hesitation whatsoever, as fast as his old age let him, he rushed downstairs to help. Though admittedly, he wasn’t able to do much but ask for help from one of the nurses. His name was Jaejoong and as it turned out, he had arthritis that happened to act up on his way to his room. Feeling overly concerned at the man, he declared himself as his new bodyguard. “You can’t even carry me.” Jaejoong had told him and he grinned, saying that he’d rather be his friend anyway.

The two were almost inseparable since then. Naturally, after months and months of hanging out, as teenagers would call it, they learned quite a lot of things about each other like how Jaejoong was never married and had no kids. It was a choice. It felt like it was not for him so he settled for dating instead. Jaejoong, apparently, had dated both men and women, mostly men. The way Jaejoong stared at him as he revealed it had told him that the latter was expecting him to be baffled, but he wasn’t. Yunho himself dated one man before he got married, and that was Jaejoong’s cue to be surprised.

When asked why he was at the home, Jaejoong answered that he had no one else. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to take care of himself when he gets much older, he took the liberty to enter the home for both safety and convenience. Jaejoong asked him the same question to which he replied with, “I was married.” and then launched into a story about his wife who passed away from cancer thirty-three years ago. She was thirty four and they simply had no money to get her treated.

The pair were often seen together that they were usually a sight during meal times. Even nurses and other residents thought they make such a good pair.

“What’s for breakfast today, Mr. Jung?” a bubbly male nurse asked as he sat right in front of Yunho.

“The usual,” he replied with a smile, unconsciously glancing at Jaejoong who was queuing for their food. “I think Jaejoong would get us some rice and a cake.”

“Alright. I’ll leave you be now. Enjoy your meal.” the nurse said, smiling ever so widely as he stood up and bowed at the older man.

“Thank you, Junsu.”

His smile widened when Junsu marched towards the approaching Jaejoong and took the tray of food from him then proceeded to carry it back to their table. “Thank you.” said Jaejoong, blushing when Yunho pulled out the chair beside his for him to sit on. “He is such a sweetheart. And please, Yunho, I’m too old to be blushing.”

“Yet you still anyway.” Yunho nodded. “No wonder we all like him.”

“Except that one American nurse.”

“British.” he corrected.

Jaejoong quirked a brow, poking him on the arm. “The difference is? They both speak English anyway. I don’t know why he dislikes him.”

“He doesn’t dislike him. It’s the opposite, actually.”

“And you know that because?”

He shrugged and then got up to get them some chopsticks. He was not one to meddle with other people’s affairs and based from his observations, he knew he was right.





“Is it approved?” Yunho looked up from his spot on Jaejoong’s bed as three nurses, one of whom is Junsu, entered the room. “Was it? Yoochun?”

Yoochun, the head nurse, put down a box of pastries on the bedside table and shook his head. “No luck. The higher ups are still reviewing it but you might just have a good chance so don’t be too sad Mr. Jung.”

Yunho wanted a room transfer. He did not mind abandoning his rather huge room shared with another resident if it meant being in a single room with Jaejoong. It did not matter that the room was a little small to accommodate them but it was what they both wanted and as long as they were together, everything was all good.

Beside him, Jaejoong heaved out a sigh. “We’ve submitted our request for more than a month now. Are they really looking into it?”

“They are.” Junsu replied, offering his comforting smile to the gloomy man. “I’m not sure why it’s taking so long but don’t you worry you two cuties, you shall be allowed to cohabitate soon.”

They all laughed.





“Do you… do you still miss your wife?”

Surprised by the sudden question, Yunho paused on his tracks and looked at the man he’s hand-in-hand with. “Why do you ask things that upset you?”

“It doesn’t upset me. It’s just that I – I was wondering if you still do because she was your wife. I mean it’s pretty no–”

“You’re right.” he interrupted, a little pissed off. Jaejoong possessed a dangerous habit of upsetting himself. He often asked about Yunho’s past, the things he did and the people he dated. It did not matter whether or not Yunho answered, either way, Jaejoong would still get upset so he had to learn how to keep his emotions in check when his lover got into one of his moods. “She was my wife.”

“Yunho I–”

“Naturally, I do, sometimes. We’ve been together for fourteen years so it’s impossible not to think about her at all. But everytime I do, I remind myself that I now have you and there is no reason for me to be sad that she’s gone because it led me to you.”

Predictably, Jaejoong’s mood brightened up in an instant. When he took a step to envelope Yunho in a hug, he swayed and would have fallen on the ground if it was not for Yunho catching him. “It hurts.” he managed to croak out, holding onto Yunho’s arm tight for support. “My knees hurt so bad.”

If he could, he would already have carried him back inside, but he wasn’t the strongest man in the bunch anymore. He did what he was only able to do, held onto his lover tightly and shouted for help. A wave panic surged through his body as he shouted more, hoping someone, anyone would hear him. His pleas of help didn’t go unnoticed because Changmin, a nurse, and Junsu came rushing towards them. Changmin immediately took Jaejoong from him, carrying him bridal style while Junsu guided him and tried to calm him down.

The incident was not anything new to him. Jaejoong had been experiencing these attacks for as long as he could remember and every time he does, he could not help but be in panic. It pains him to see the love of his life in pain.

“He’ll be okay.” Junsu told him, and he nodded in agreement because he knew Jaejoong would definitely be more than okay.





“Uhm, I’m really okay.” Jaejoong assured as he shifted rather uncomfortably on his seat. Throughout dinner, Yunho kept on fussing over him. The younger man even went as far as feeding him even when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. "Yunho stop," he tried, swatting Yunho's hands away that were trying to wipe the non-existent dirt off the corner of his lips. "Oh my goodness Yunho just-"

Suddenly overwhelmed by his feelings of love for the older man, Yunho cupped Jaejoong's cheeks and pressed his lips against his. It was their first kiss. They could have kissed the moment they got together, some would say, but both were uncharacteristically shy when it comes to intimacy. The most intimate gesture they have done was hugging. Yunho would hug Jaejoong to sleep during their afternoon naps, but that was about it. No one had initiated kissing although they both thought it was pathetic because they were not teenagers anymore so why was it so hard for them to just even give each other a peck on the lips. The couple only broke the kiss when everyone present in the dining hall applauded, and while some nurses hooted, Jaejoong could only blush as Yunho grinned at his victory.





 

oh. this turned out shorter than it's supposed to be. well uhm yeah. i was supposed to post this before christmas but never got around to finishing it bcs i just can't seem to write anymore /screams/ anyway i hope this was the least bit enjoyable. please don't mind the massive amount of errors thank you

at least now yj's going to be together for the rest of their lives hehe