Donghae woke up late that morning, he had stuff to do, but still he purposely switched off the alarm, he didn't need some weird sound to push him off his bed, he hadn't been in a good mood already. His schedule wasn't that thrilling anyways, he had to eat breakfast and go to the studio to start cleaning it up. He moved from Mokpo to Seoul to open his tattoo studio, and he had been in the new city for only few days, renting an ugly one room apartment, all his stuff being piled up in such a hole, letting him barely reach the bathroom and the door to get out of there.

Well truth was he couldn't surely afford to rent a bigger room or a real apartment. He had put all his money in buying the four rooms apartment he intended to use as a home and studio at once. Somebody would have said he was crazy, but hell he had worked his off, all day every day for years to get to that point, he had put away enough money and he had decided he didn't want to be trapped by rent, he wanted a fresh start in the big city, but he wanted also to own a piece of it. He wasn't yet famous in there, but he intended to let city people know about his art, he was good, and some his pieces already walked around the streets of Seoul. He had worked hard but never left his dream on a side, even when he went to shovel mud at 4 am, he still brought his pen and a piece of paper, making sure to sketch something during his short breaks, a sweet bun in one hand the pen in the other.

Everyone that had looked at him always had found him weird, but somehow even with his ink and all, people from his town and villages around found him cute and hardworking, accepting his kindness and not judging him too much. It was of course getting better, now tattoos weren't considered to be only something to hide and to be ashamed of like in the past, and he had been able to work even with some of his fellow citizens.

There he was, walking in the cold breeze, few blocks away from the place his new apartment was, or better was going to be, for now it was just a mess of old things and dust and spider nets. It looked like and since the owner didn't want anything to have with it, something about her daughter running away with a man she didn’t' approve, he got it for an extra cheap price, considering the area it was in, and the general condition of the whole condo. Truth was the old lady was extremely unpleasant and had been unable to sell that place, because she refused to clean it herself, as it was a sinner's place, and yet in that condition and with such an owner no one had been much interested in buying it. Therefore she had stopped trusting estate agents, dropping the price a lot and only talking directing to clients. Luckily Donghae was the sweetest guy, and a very patient fellow too, so dealing with her hadn't been a problem, she had been so surprised by his smiles and kindness that she had also told him that he could have kept everything that was inside the apartment, as long as he cleaned it by himself. His imagination and artistic mind helped him a lot in imagining how the place could have looked like after fixing things and cleaning it up, so after negotiating a price with the owner, and asking her if he could have paid one third of it after few months, he finally got the contract signed.

The moment he opened the door and the knob almost remained in his hand he still sighed in frustration, it was an affair I couldn’t' refuse, he kept chanting in his head, but damn, having to pay an extra rent and in an horrible stinky room made him so frustrated. What a fresh start, his start smelled like pee and mold, and when he entered the apartment it also smelled like dust and stuffiness. Whatever, he was strong he could have done that. He hung his backpack and coat on a hook next to the door and rolled up his sleeves, good thing the apartment wasn't completely cold, because half of the heating system worked still. Half...another bit of money to waste on that . As he put up a chair, one of the few in there, he sighed, it would have been way easier with some friends helping him, but he had yet no one in there, and he was strong enough to do that, even alone. He was just having a bad week, but it was going to get better.

The room was a bit dark but still something caught his eye, he furrowed and looked towards the dusty window. Something extremely pretty was banging on the glass, trying to get out of that place. He got closer, hoping not to scare the small animal because it was dangerously closer to a spider net that run on the wooden frame of the window, moved lightly by a draught. "hey, easy, let me help you else you'll crash on that surface" he said softly creating a small cup with his hands and trying to catch the shiny thingy without touching its wings. It was easier than he thought as he was able to let the insect crawl on his thumb. He looked down at it and couldn't help but smile. It was the prettiest butterfly he had a chance to see up close like that. It was mostly black, with a gorgeous shiny green section on its lower wings that ended with long rounded tails. In the lower part of the wings there were round golden and black circles, looking like eyes, and when the butterfly closed its wings completely he was able to see the inner part that was even more gorgeous than the rest.

He sighed in contentment, well that made him feel definitely better. "I'll free you little friend" he said and he was about to open the window when he stopped with his hand midair. He quickly took out his phone from his front pocket and took a picture, than two, smiling happily when the insect spread slightly its wings, giving him a chance to take a better picture of it. He couldn't help it, when he saw such gorgeous examples of nature perfection he simple had to capture it, with his eyes, printing it in his memory forever. He finally opened the window and let it fly outside, deciding that letting the window opened was definitely better, as some fresh air entered the room, making him feel less stuffy than before.

He looked around and after whispering a it, walked long steps toward the only horizontal surface in that room, an old table covered in dust. He grabbed a piece of cloth and quickly cleaned a section of it, then he rushed towards his backpack and happily grabbed his sketchbook and pencil case. Whatever, he was going to clean after that.

He sat there and copying from the photo and his memory he drew that beautiful butterfly, unable to take it off his mind and eyes. The more he drew the more he felt better, it was just what he needed, as he hadn't had time to draw those past days, and for him the sound of graphite on paper was like the sound of his own heart and breathe, not hearing it made him feel sick and lifeless. He drew for long minutes, trying to get even the smallest detail on those incredible wings, loving how each line made it look almost alive on his sheet.

As he drew he felt more and more drowsy, and before he knew it he fell asleep on the table, on his bent arm, right next to his drawing.

~

He was woken up when something cold touched his nose, he frowned but didn't open his eyes at first, still as he breathed heavily he smelled the dust and realized where he was, getting aware of his body and how numb it felt because he had fell asleep in such a place. Once again something poked his face, this time his cheek and he couldn’t help but finally open his eyes. What the fu... even his thoughts were cut short when he focused on who or what was in front of him. He screamed and moving like an idiot, trying to push away what was in front of him while getting as far as possible he fell backwards with one last screech, crashing his back on the floor. The chair had been too small to hold him. From down there he looked horrifies at the other presence in the room, there was a man standing right next to the desk, but that wasn't the worse part, the guy had..wings.

"Who are you? What are you doing? What are you?" he asked stuttering, he couldn't believe it, he was completely frozen in fear, his limbs were like paralyzed and he couldn't even blink properly. That was the worse and most wicked nightmare he had ever had. He couldn't even breathe properly, and now that he thought of it, he hadn't probably being able to even speak those questions from before because he was unable to produce any sound.

The guy looked down at him with a confused expression, then seeing he didn't move he crouched right next to him with a worried expression "did you got hurt? Is everything ok?" oh , he talks, this creature talks. He shook his head, but that only made the other more confused as he saw him tilting his head and furrowing.

"I'm fine" he finally whispered. Yeah if having the same symptoms of having eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms was being fine. He got a grip on himself and decided to speak again "how did you got in?" the door wasn't much but it was still locked from inside, and there was no other way inside because they were at the sixth floor.

The creature looked on his side and pointed at the window "from there, you left it opened" he finally said before looking back at him and smiling. Ok, the guy had butterfly wings, so similar to the ones of the insect form before, but hell no he hadn't opened the window for such a thing, it was a cute and delicate insect, not a with wings. Still he decided it was just a dream, those things didn't happen in real life, so he didn't need to panic, it was useless, he only needed to sit up and breath properly, it was going to end soon. Breathe Donghae, it's only in your head, you've been stressed lately. He moved away from the guy a bit, because he was still somehow scared and sat up, cleaning his hands from the dust.

"So, who are you?" he asked looking at the other with a frown.

"I'm Butterfly!" the guy replied with one of the brightest smiles he had ever seen. Wow, that was...useful. "what's your name?" he then asked seeming very interested in the reply.

"I'm Donghae" he whispered, well not answering wasn't polite right? After all it wasn't like he had to hide that "why are you here...butterfly?" he asked again.

He saw the winged man shrugging ad he looked outside of the window and sighed "the weather it's so cold outside, something must have gone wrong, I wasn't supposed to wake up this early...I should have slept for at least three more weeks. In this condition I don't even think I'll last much" he then added smiling again at the end. It was weird to watch, yet if possible it was even weirder to hear his talk.

"Why? What are you supposed to do when you wake up?" he asked, well how many times he could have had a chance to ask such a thing to a butterfly?

"Go out there and feed and mate...but I rather stay inside" the guy replied sitting comfortably on the floor. Donghae couldn't help but follow him with his eyes, and damn every part of what was happening made absolute no sense.

"Still why are you talking to me? And more than that why can I see you?" he ended up asking, well he was literally bombing the other with questions, but he couldn't simply let it go. He was a freaking butterfly.

"I don't know, I only know I flew out, but then felt cold and when I came back here I found myself like this...maybe because you found me, maybe you have some sort for magic in you and a good imagination" he said and reached out to touch his head, but Donghae dodged that and furrowed, looking at the other from head to toes, or better to knees as he was sitting on his feet. "why are you looking at me like this?" the other said looking bothered and placing one hand on his chest, checking of something was wrong.

"Because you're weird, and you are also " Donghae said hugging his knees and looking away, he was trying to create a wall around himself but the other didn't seem much bothered by it, instead he saw him getting up on his knees, crawling a bit closer and then sitting once again close enough to him. God seeing that thing moving up and down, and his chest and thighs was such a bother. He had shivers.

"? What do you mean ?" the butterfly then asked blinking twice, his round and big eyes staring right into his. He looked and sounded so innocent, he almost felt guilty at finding him weird.

"I mean you aren't wearing clothes" he said pulling his shirt's collar as to signal he was talking about...well clothes. The other though didn’t seem to catch it at all and tilted his head on the other side, still staring at him. He then decided to pull up the shirt and show the clueless fellow his belly "see? I'm pink too underneath this, my skin isn't black or blue" he tried to say pointing at his jeans too. The butterfly seemed so mesmerized that he couldn't stop smiling brightly and bringing his hands together.

"You're pink too" he said all happy as if he had just discovered the best thing ever, well having something similar to him was probably comforting, and Donghae found himself smiling back at him and nodding, he was cute, he couldn't deny it. "Oh" the other said further reaching out to touch his shirt collar and getting closer while trying to strip him form it Donghae was so taken aback that he almost fell laying on his back, stopping only when his elbows touched the floor "you have black too" the guy then added staring at his neck.

Right then Donghae realized what was happening and after sighing in relief he pulled himself up and smiled "that's a tattoo..." clueless face ever "it's a drawing" even worse. The butterfly guy was staring at him with his usual big curious eyes, he looked happy but damn he looked retarded, he didn't know anything. "drawing" he tried to explains mimicking it with his finger and his hand, but still it didn't seem to make sense "it's something you do when you create images...ah it, let me show you" he then stood up and went to the desk where his paper was. The other followed him immediately and the moment he showed him the drawing from before his eyes lighten up. He tried to touch it but realized soon it was flat and furrowed "it's not real...I made this" he quickly said smiling.

"You made such a beautiful thing" the butterfly said looking amazed once more, and since he somehow liked that expression on him, he grabbed the pencil and traced few lines on another paper, showing him what drawing was. The other seemed more and more amazed every second, and followed him like he was some sort of god.

"See like this, but with a different tool, you can draw on skin too" he said smiling proudly, well it was his area of expertise that one, and even when he had to explain things to such an extent he still loved talking about drawing and arts.

"So you made this yourself?" the black haired guy asked him pointing at his shoulder. He shook his head and rolled up his left sleeve, revealing his arm.

"This I made myself" and this time the eyes of the other seemed to have sparkles in them as he made a weird sound and bent down to stare at his arm.

"This is so pretty I want it too" he then said, he looked so genuinely happy once again, and he couldn't help but appreciate how small things seemed to get into that strange creature, even tho... or especially because his life seemed to be so short. He decided that maybe he could have tried drawing something for him after all. He grabbed one of his markers and went to sit on the floor again, knowing the other was going to follow him immediately. He then put out his palm flat waiting for the guy to give him his arm, the moment the other did it he tried to place a dot on him, not sure if that was going to hurt or not.

"Tell me if I'm hurting you" he said looking up, now that he was touching the butterfly's arm it felt strange inside, it was almost cold but extremely smooth and his skin looked like the one of a newborn, so perfect and untouched, the moment the marker tip touched it, he could see how the ink quickly crawled between the thin lines. He looked up at the other after the first dot and he saw him shaking his head, apparently the non-toxic marker was safe for butterflies too. He smiled and decided to draw something simple like a cloud, comic style.

"Wow what's that?" the butterfly asked all excited.

"This is a cloud, the ones in the sky, the white fluffy things... this instead is a cat" he started with the pointy ears and then added the whiskers. "The cat is a fast animal that jumps on the earth, he likes to run after mice" he then added as he drew a small mouse on the arm, going forward with his drawings "the mouse can be even very small, and it likes to eat cheese" for every word he used eh tried to put a drawing and the more he did the more the other guy giggled all happy while staring at the magic happening on his arm. When he added the part of story with the dog protecting the mouse and scaring the cat, he even squealed in happiness, clapping his hands and giggling.

"This is so nice I love it, it tells  a story and it's on my arm, you are magic" he said and it seemed like someone had given him the best gift ever. It was nice to look at him being so happy, it made Donghae feel warm inside and completely at ease with him. The more he looked at his gummy smile and his shiny dark brown eyes, the more he felt comfortable sitting in there with him, it wasn't strange anymore, he was so nice and calm, and everything was so new and gorgeous for him. It really made him reevaluate his problems, but even more how lucky he was to be able to do what looked magical and beautiful to others.

"Hey, how come you were trapped here? The windows were all closed" he asked casually and the guy looked at him becoming serious. He shrugged.

"There were two humans living here, they even had plants, I came in here in one, I don't know what happened it was always warm so I kept eating the whole time and crawling around, not knowing when was the time to create my shell. But one day they suddenly disappeared and brought the plants with them...so I could only turn into a pupa and wait. But few days ago I started waking up, probably sun hit me and I felt warm, and I think yesterday I woke up and here I was where you found me trying to get out. I don't think I'll survive today" he then ended smiling and shrugging. It was normal for him, yet hearing such a thing made Donghae feel somehow sad,  the other seemed so calm, he knew his life was going to end like that, yet he smiled.

Being unable to say something, anything intelligent after such a statement, he decided to change topic "are you sure you don't want to at least go out and eat" he was feeling sorry for the poor guy, all alone in the world, there was him, but he was a human, it wasn't the right kind of company.

The guy shook his head happily "I'm not very interested in mating, I prefer to stay here with you and learn new things...this is more exciting" he replied, he did look excited, but it was cold there and he had no food, and it was silly to suffer like that, but after all he couldn't really push the other away.

It was already around lunch time and his stomach was starting to rumble, he wondered how hungry the other could have been not eating form the day before "listen, wait for me here, I'll be back in a bit...ok?" he asked and the other simply nodded. After that he rushed to put his coat and booths on, and left the room. He run, run towards his room, once there he picked up a blanket and two packed kimbap he had in his fridge, then before going out he spotted a small pot with flowers that his friend had given him to keep him company in the big city. He smiled softly and grabbed that too before running back to the apartment, he didn't even know why he was running, nor if he was going to find him still there.

Him...

~

But he did find him sitting there, looking out of the window from his spot on the floor, the same as before. The moment he opened the door and walked in, kicking away his shoes, he saw the guy turning around to smile brightly at him while his pretty wings fluttered lightly. Damn those were still weird to look at, but they looked as gorgeous. "I thought you may have wanted to eat something" he said handing the guy the small pot. It looked once more like he had given him gold, his eyes shone and he smiled at him, closing his eyes in two tiny fissures.

"This will be perfect" he then stood up and gave him his back as he probably fed, placing the pot on the windowsill when he had finished, caressing gently the leaves and the petals, his touches looking exactly like the ones of a butterfly, delicate, imperceptible. He had meanwhile set the blanket on the floor while starting to eat his food. He patted the spot next to him and the butterfly sat there immediately and didn't move an inch when he placed the blanket over his body, only to the front, avoiding to ruin and even touch his wings.

"There you go, this way we'll feel less cold" he said smiling at the other, liking how his smiles affected him, making him look even happier.

"Thank you, this feel so nice, and it is soft" the other said hugging the blanket and smiling while nuzzling his nose into it. He then looked at him "ah you're eating, what's that?" he asked. Wow that was going to be hard to explain if he didn't reply simply food.

"It's human food, it's rice with seaweed and stuff inside, like vegetable and fish... and this doesn't make any sense to you" he smiled and shook his head seeing how the other's expression became more and more confused as he spoke. He decided then to show him using his phone. Having to spend few words in explaining what that box of magic was and how drawings were inside there. He showed the butterfly pictures of other kind of foods and every time he tried to explain how things tasted he loved how speechless and breathless the other was, even opening his eyes wide and then giggling and curling up in contentment as he imagined to eat those things too.

They even started talking about weather at some point "you know this sky you saw now is not the same sky we have always...what did you see from here?" he asked and the other shrugged once more.

"I saw it blue with the clouds you said before" he said, probably he was around from the end of summer or something, maybe it had been already autumn, but from that apartment he couldn't have seen much.

"You know sometimes these clouds become dark grey and water pours down from them..." he started.

"Ah yes, I saw that, it's called rain, I think the humans said it once, it looks so pretty but dangerous, those drops are very big" the butterfly said looking out of the window at the sky that didn't look too bad that day.

"Some other times they become very white and instead of rain...snow falls from the..look, these small white drops, are super cold, but very soft and it covers everything around in white" he was looking for nice pictures on google to share with the other, and the more he showed him the more he seemed happy. He was so glad he was learning so many things, and Donghae felt that even with such small gestures he was really helping the other give a meaning to that last day. It was presumptuous on his side, but he couldn't help it, not when the other looked so glad to be with him, to know about new things. Among all he wanted to teach him, surely he wanted to show him spring, the spring he was going to miss because of some ill fate that made him wake up too soon. He showed him bright blue skies and colorful fields with many different flowers. The other kept asking for more, and as the colors reflected in his bright big eyes, he saw them starting to become more and more sad as time passed.

Still he didn't saw him stopping his smiles not even once, he instead kept telling him how nice he was to show him those beautiful drawings, and how funny it was to talk with him. It was actually very nice for Donghae too, because the other was a pleasure to be with, the tone of his voice was cute and relaxing, his cheerful expression really made his heart feel contented and light, and somehow his attitude made his day way better than he had imagined it to be. He never felt lonely while being next to that weird guest.

~

They had been chatting and learning for few hours, and as time went by they got closer, so close they were now sitting one right next to the other, with the butterfly leaning on him and elbowing him now and then, even grabbing his arm and half hugging it in some rare moments. He had even told him about his city and about his family, he told him about his brother and how similar they looked like even if he himself was more handsome. The other had no idea of what a family was and he felt bittersweet while telling him about his own.

All of a sudden Donghae felt the guy next to him shivering, he didn't know what to do, peeking at the sky outside he realized it was getting late, and somehow it to think that in few hours probably the other was going to be gone. He moved slightly his arm backwards, giving the guy more space to curl up on his side. The butterfly did something unexpected tho, he moved to the front and wrapped the blanket on his back before resting his head on Donghae's shoulder "I'm getting a bit cold" he then whispered, shivering again. He simply hummed in response, what could have said that could have made any sense in such a situation? He could only sit there next to him, somehow keeping him company. "You know..." the other whispered all of a sudden making him shiver too, feeling his breathe on his neck was something unexpectedly intimate.

"What?" he asked calmly, deciding that whispering was better, it seemed like sitting that close they didn't need to speak out loud, it was more cozy like that.

"This morning I was ok with dying today... I mean what else could have changed? I would have had two weeks at most...but as I spent time with you I got more and more scared. It has been a nice last day for me, but I would have spent more time with you if possible" his voice travelled directly to Donghae's body, making him feel kinda broken inside. That sad tone caressed his skin giving him chills. The only thing he could have done was to squeeze gently the guy's hand and look down at him, pouting slightly as he tried to smile. Looking at his clear and clean face, his big round eyes and his pouty lips it seemed incredible to think he was going to disappear soon. How can he die, he is so young, and so innocent, it's not fair. We just met...

The next thing that happened caught him completely off guard when the butterfly moved closer to him and leaned in for a short kiss on his lips. He froze and moved away almost immediately, looking at him with wide opened eyes, and not being even able to breathe properly. "Wha...what was that for?" he asked stuttering.

He saw the pretty boy shrugging "the humans did it all the time...I thought it was a nice thing to do. They also used to do many things in the other room. Isn't this normal?" he asked blinking few times, still being quite close to his face. He was only able to shake his head awkwardly "oh, I'm sorry" the shy butterfly said looking down and covering his mouth.

"No...it's ok, you didn't know" Donghae finally said getting a grip over himself, it had been only a peck, so it was ok.

"It felt nice, what is that called?" the butterfly asked as he finally smiled again, curiosity in his bright eyes just like before.

"It's called a kiss, you give it to someone you like or you are comfortable with, it's somehow part of the mating for humans" he started explaining, yet when he said that last part he saw the butterfly looking extremely bothered as he furrowed and bit his lip, looking sorry and embarrassed "but it's ok, it doesn't always mean that much between friends, so you can kiss me and nothing happens" he added quickly, noticing how relieved the other looked immediately after. He looked relieved yet very sad, it seemed like he had tears in his eyes when he tried to smile at him again, his bright smile getting darker as the sky outside turned into sunset colors. He could almost see him getting weaker and less lively. The day was slipping away just like the life of that delicate and fragile creature and he couldn't help but feel wrecked about it.

Donghae moved slightly closer to the other, reaching out to cup his face and caress his cheek before bending down to kiss his lips gently one more time, there was absolutely nothing ual in it, he just felt like it. The kiss got slightly longer when he heard the other sighing and squeezing his harm a bit, curling up more on his side. He felt so sorry he wasn't able to help him, or to make him smile more. He was only able to let him rest on his shoulder as he half hugged him, patting gently his arm and trying to comfort him a bit.

They didn't spoke a single word more, they only sat there, staring out of the window, looking at the sky getting darker, hearing how the guy's breathing got rougher, making him sound very tired. He was still staring blankly at the window when he felt the weight on his side disappearing all of a sudden, he sighed as a tear lined his cheek. Damn.

He looked down next to him and in between the folds of the blanked he saw him, or it, the butterfly was laying there, one last flutter of its wing before it rested completely immobile there. He quickly grabbed it, trying hard not to cry but even more not to ruin it. He stared at that gorgeous creature for a long minute.

He didn't even know if it had been real or not, if that had been just a dream, he was staring at his palm and those dark wings, wondering what he should have done with it. You look so beautiful even after dying, isn't this unfair? He chuckled softly, but still he sighed. So stupid, hadn't been just a dream anyway? It wasn’t much of a deal!

But still he didn't want to throw the little corpse away, nor he wanted to keep it, it sounded too weird, especially after what happened that day, or at least what he thought happened to him. He made up his mind and walked to his coat, putting it on, then putting on his gloves and scarf, finally walking out of there. The moment he stepped out of the building he looked up, he snorted and smiled sadly, snowing, it was snowing and he didn't even got a chance to see that, he would have probably loved to. He shrugged and lowered his head to keep warm as he walked.

He walked till he found a small park and then right there he dug a small hole under the tallest tree, a small hole to bury his pretty friend. This way he was going to see how pretty flowers grew in spring, and could have also enjoyed some snow before that. He smiled when he covered that spot back, he smiled but he still had tears in his eyes. He tried to wipe them away with his gloves, but they kept coming out, just as much his heart kept hurting.

What a stupid he was, it had been just a dream, a wicked one, nothing of that had been real. God it was freezing cold, he needed to rush back home. He had wasted a day, but he had made up his mind, he was going to move all his things in the apartment, it wasn't as bad as he had remembered it, he could have cleaned small parts and settled down little by little, not wasting more money. He walked back, without being able to stop sobbing not even once, being so glad no one was around to see him, snow covering everything in a pretty blanket.

~

Twenty days had passed, he had often thought about the butterfly, but he never was sure of what had happened that day. The drawing was now hung on the wall of his studio among his many other tattoo sketches, and every time he passed in front of it or looked at it he thought about getting that on his arm, always ending up deciding it was a stupid idea. He still found himself smiling remembering of those bright smiles and that dorky expression on that mysterious guy.

Donghae wasn't the only one liking that drawing though, in fact one morning, while he was tattooing one of his clients, the guy suddenly reached out to point at the wall with the sketches "that butterfly looks incredible, I can't stop staring at it" he said making the artist stop what he was doing to look up. It couldn’t have been any other butterfly of course, the guy was pointing right at that one. He smiled and then chuckled. Oh he had looked even more incredible than that.

"Thank you, that's the first sketch I made when I came here in this apartment, before even cleaning it up" he said getting back to work on the tattoo. As he did that his mind got filled up with memories from that day, how he met the butterfly, how he explained to him arts and how he drew on his arm. The guy seemed so happy back then, and it broke his heart to think how he simply faded away in few hours. He smiled but still felt like inside. He wasn’t expecting to remember about that whole thing all of a sudden.

The moment he finished his work he took a picture of the tattoo for his client and asked him for a new one later one when it healed, so that he could have put it in his private portfolio, he liked to have every single one of his works reproduced for him to see, to remember and to take inspiration. More than that he liked to look at his past drawings and learn from them, and usually his clients never complained about it, instead they felt all proud of having a single and personal piece on them. After receiving the money he walked the man to the door and, right when he was about to open it, the doorbell rang. He chuckled, what a coincidence. His smile died on his lips when he opened the door and saw who was in front of him.

He choked on air and bowed awkwardly at the client that left the shop while he stared right in the face of the man in front of him. He knew that face, he knew those eyes, he saw him already yet he had no idea who he was. He was so dumbfounded he even forgot to move to a side and let the guest enter, making the situating even more awkward.

"Hello, are you Lee Donghae? The tattoo artist?" the guy tried to say smiling awkwardly at him and waving his hand. He nodded in response. Oh perfect you just made yourself look like a total retard in front of a client. .

"Yes, I mean...who's looking for me?" he tried to act normal, he really did but his voice betrayed him cracking at the end, his breath being caught in his throat.

"I'm Hyukjae, nice to meet you, I'm here for a tattoo" the guy said reaching out one of his hands while keeping the other one on his side. Donghae reached out to grab that hand and they both bowed when greeting each other. He couldn't help but peek at the guy's face while doing it and he was looking almost exactly the same. "Can I come in?" the guy asked further, and it had never happened to him to act like that, he would have punched himself in the face.

"Uh...right, sure, come inside, sorry" he then finally said as he walked further in his living room where the sofa and the tattoo bed were, both with the rest of his equipment. "Have a seat" he finally politely said and the other smirked probably feeling welcomed for the first time since he had greeted him.

He sat right across the tea table in front of the client and smiled as he mutely asked him to go on with his request "oh, ok, well I want to cover a nasty scar with a tattoo" the guy named Hyukjae said, yet when he grimaced and his white teeth appeared Donghae couldn't help but think about the pretty smile the butterfly had showed him.

"A scar? Well it's not an easy task, I need to see it to understand if I can draw on it...can I?" he asked and the other nodded before standing up and opening his black leather jacket, walking few steps to get closer to him before raising his sweater till his whole abdomen and part of his pectorals were showing. Donghae was merely few inches from that skin and he couldn't react quickly enough to stop his mouth from falling opened, that was quite a bad injury right there. Undeniably paired with a delicious upper body.

"Nasty right?" the other said raising an eyebrow, still letting him inspect his skin. He couldn't lie, he nodded. It looked so painful, it was a long and quite thick line that went from the side of his ribcage to his abdomen right under his bellybutton, merely sparing his pretty hip as it curved. He was shocked, how such a thing could have happened? He didn't dare to ask, instead he reached out ready to touch it, looking up at the other to see if he was comfortable with it. The moment Hyukjae nodded he brushed the tips of his fingers on it, especially around the abs area, it was thicker there and he needed to understand how the skin felt. They both shivered visibly with  that touch, he saw goose bumps forming on the skin of the other and he felt all the hair on his body raising up, it was so weird to touch him. He had covered other scars before "they told me you were good at this" the guy said bringing him back to reality.

"You can cover it now...and well I did it before. It seems ok to be inked, still I'm not sure I would do it now or wait a bit more. It looks well healed" he said looking up at the guy that decided to walk few steps backwards, laying on the bed with his arms crossed and looking at him with a smirk.

"After seven months being completely immobile on a bed, it better have healed like that" he said chuckling. He was taken aback by such words and the only thing he could do was to look at the other with a pair of confused eyes. What was he supposed to say? "I had a bad accident while being on my motorcycle, I fell and crashed my poor baby, too bad a piece of the metallic shell pierced me and cut me open, quite a job right? Doctors had to quickly put it all together again, sewing me, well they couldn't have done a better job I guess" he stopped and chuckled as he shook his head, bringing his fingers to his lips, they trembled slightly, it was probably a subconscious gesture, it looked like he was taking a pull off a invisible cigarette.

"I'm sorry, it must have hurt a lot" he said, oh the tact, Donghae was so absolutely lacking of it.

"Nah, I was in a coma for the whole time, I woke up only twenty days ago" Hyukjae said shrugging "listen does it bother your if I smoke?" he looked a bit anxious and Donghae couldn't tell him he hated the smell of tobacco, and even more of smoke.

"Yes sure, let me get you the ashtray" he said and placed it on the windowsill "sorry, it's just I don't smoke" he said opening a bit the window, but the other didn't seem bothered by it, he simply nodded while putting a smoke between his lips. Twenty days. He couldn't help but think about it, especially because this Hyukjae looked exactly like the butterfly guy of his dreams. Exactly like him, only more messy and definitely less genuine or innocent. He had a nice and y hair cut, half of his head was shaved and on top of it he had a long side bangs, something like a mohawk but not styled upwards. He had a gorgeous lip piercing and the centre of his lower plump lip, his neck was half covered in a majestically done tattoo with nice gears of various shapes, thin lines and shades that made his neck look like part of a machine. His outfit surely didn't say innocent neither as he was wearing a short leather jacket and underneath it, probably to survive the cold weather, a thick off white sweater; a super soft one to be precise that made him look even ier in contrast whit his super skinny black jeans, ripped right above his knee, showing a bit of his y firm thighs.  As a final touch he was wearing bad boy booths and he looked so aggressive and potentially possessive.

A shiver run down his spine as he thought about such a stupid thing. He needed to stop checking the guy out, especially because when he looked back at his face he found him pleasantly surprised before giving him a cocky smirk. Perfect now he knows I was checking him out, it's just that I keep remembering his body...well not his, but he looks exactly the same. His abs were so similar to the ones he remembered, only the scar ruining the perfect smooth and clear surface, and well some ink corrupting the pureness of it, as he had a chance to see up at that chest. Damn it, he is still smirking and now he is even shaking his head. "What were you thinking about?" Hyukjae said walking back to him, he looked somehow satisfied with himself even if nothing had happened.

"Oh, the tattoo, I was looking at you and trying to understand what kind of drawing you would have asked for" he lied, oh so unashamedly that even the other couldn't help but open his eyes wide and rise both his eyebrows. "So what did you had in mind for it?" he asked, hoping the other wasn't going to seriously ask him if he was checking him out, because hell he was.

"An almond branch, with flowers on it, not sure if I want it to start from the bottom or the upper part...you know I read it is a symbol of rebirth, I didn't want the usual phoenix...as much as I like birds...." he smirked and raised an eyebrow while looking at him from head to toes. Donghae couldn't help but shift in his seat, was that a ual allusion? Like that? Was he hitting on him? Well with that smile he could have hit on him all the way to his bedroom far what he cared.

"I...I thought...think it is a good idea" he said standing up all of a sudden to get as far as possible from the other before having his silly body reacting to such a look "I can surely sketch something for you..." he said as he walked towards his desk, followed by the other, even if it didn't felt like it did with the butterfly, Hyukjae didn't rush next to him, he simply walked around the room, looking at some magazines as he set his tools and sketchbook and started looking through his pc to find a good picture.

Using his favorite graphite he sketched for long minutes, while the other guy looked at him from a side, his arms crossed.

"You really are so good at this, so fast yet so precise" Hyukjae said hovering over his side, making him feel slightly impatient when he felt him getting closer to his face. He feared he was going to blush, but luckily it didn't happen. The hand of the other guy though was placed on the desk right next to him and he couldn't help but being distracted by the veins on it, looking so manly, and so kissable, even under the ink that was covering it, that skin looked so smooth. He couldn't help but smile and shake his head lightly when he remembered how pure the butterfly had looked, no veins where showing on that perfectly flawless skin. What a stupid thought, he quickly needed to get a grip on himself because it was ridiculous to still think about that weird dream, it had been only that...a dream.

"All done" he said showing the final drawing to the other that looked completely enthusiastic.

"Try it on me, I wanna see how it looks on my skin" Hyukjae said pulling up his sweater in one smooth move and sounding like he was asking for something completely different from what he actually meant. Donghae gulped but still he nodded.

"Please sit on the bed tho, it's easier for me, it has the right height" he said trying hard to sound as professional as possible, but having to concentrate a lot while he changed the bed position to pull up the upper part and let the other sit comfortably, as he nearly got his fingers trapped in it. He had almost risked losing one of his phalanges, but he still turned around and smiled awkwardly "here, please sit" he said pointing at the now reclined seat. Hyukjae nodded and sat there, pulling up his white sweater till his pectorals were completely uncovered, well he surely wanted to give him more space to draw, but that was definitely unnecessary, because now he had a good view of his s and more than that of the nice tiger tattooed around one of them, covering almost all his pectoral and fading away towards the edges. "Since you did this already, you know it will tickle a bit, freshly healed skin is more sensitive, so please try not to move too much. I was thinking of letting the branch start from the upper part, in this point, then it will go down and get thinner then thicker again towards the lower abdomen" he explained tracing the path he was going to follow with his drawing using his finger. The other seemed cool with it, so he simply started copying the sketch on the skin, line after line building a nice realistic and very nubby branch, each bulge making it look like a twig coming from a tree with an history.

The moment he was done with it he took a mirror and showed the final product to the client. Hyukjae's cool mask dropped right when he got a glimpse of it, his cocky smirk from before turning into the brightest of the smiles "I adore it, it's gonna look amazing once it's done" he said sounding pretty enthusiastic, and right then Donghae recognized his friend, that pure butterfly, happy about pretty but small, simple things. He smiled feeling a little bitter inside and nodded.

"Don't you wanna know the price?" Donghae asked, it was a big piece and it wasn't going to be cheap, so maybe the guy wanted to know how much it was going to cost him...maybe.

"Don't care, I'll pay what it takes to get this. I have money from the insurance I intend to use for it" the other said not even looking at him, still staring at his abdomen and looking very satisfied with it.

"Are you sure it won't hurt you too much?" he then asked mimicking the other to lay back on the chair while he poured some sanitizer on a piece of cotton, he had to get rid of the marker because it could have transferred on his clothes with sweat.

"I asked the doctor and he said it healed faster than another wound because I never moved, so it's like almost an year had passed on it..." the guy explained as he looked closely at his hand that went up and down, cleaning his skin. It was weird, he had done that before with many clients, and he had seen every body part possible, really, but with that man he felt somehow uncomfortable touching him, it felt intimate."When will you have time for me?" he then asked. Anytime babe.

"I'll be free next saturday, I think a couple of hours will be enough for this, but if it gets too red or I see too much blood we'll stop any time and reschedule" he said taking out his gloves and grabbing his agenda, shifting between pages to find the pen inside it "should I write you down here?"

"Yeah put me down...there" Hyukjae said smirking and giving him the dirtiest look possible as he pulled down his sweater and stood up properly, fixing his jacket too. Oh god, the way he flirted was so disarming, because it was so much out there that is seemed incredible he had really said such things and meant them. Donghae gaped and tried to reply with something intelligent, but he was only able to stutter something and write his name down in the agenda, awkwardly asking him for his number and blushing lightly when the man took the pen off his hand and wrote it himself right under his name. He swore he winked at him when he gave him back his pen, but he was too distracted by the way his piercing moved when he smirked again, few inches away from his face. I really should lower the heating system temperature, this room feels too hot today.

While he placed the agenda back on his desk he saw that the other had started moving towards the entrance, when suddenly he had stopped, frozen while staring right at the frames on the wall. He soon realized the guy was staring at the butterfly sketch, he then reached out and caressed gently the glass "this...looks so nice, almost as if it was alive" Hyukjae almost whispered, looking completely absorbed by the drawing, he then added something more but his voice had been so low that the other couldn't quite understand what he said.

Donghae had been staring at him from afar, but then he walked few steps towards him" what did you say?" he asked.

The man turned at him, he looked confused and lost "I've seen this before, it really still looks amazing" he then said, and it was like an punch right in the guts, what did that meant?

"No you didn't..." Donghae quickly said, they had never met before, they didn't know each other, and that drawing was from twenty days before, the guy was even in a coma at that moment.

"Come again?" Hyukjae asked coming back to what looked like a trance and looking at him with confusion.

"You said you've seen that before, you didn't, you couldn't you weren't even awake when I drew that" he said and for a long moment they stared right in each other eyes, almost as if they wanted to read what was behind their words, the unspoken ones. Something was off, they both knew it but none dared to say a word, they only kept looking deep in each other's eyes, confusion and fear on their faces.

Suddenly the doorbell rang making both of them shiver as they got startled. Donghae quickly looked at his watch "I...I have a client now" he said awkwardly, he had completely forgotten about it and  the guy was already out there. Hyukjae gaped, but then nodded, still looking confused and disoriented as he turned around to walk towards the door, followed by Donghae. Few steps from it though he turned around, stopping right in front of him, almost crashing on him as they had been only few steps apart.

"Maybe I could wait..." Hyukjae said looking at him with a frown "you know I have to ask you more thinhs about the tattoo and.."

"Yes sure, I mean if the client doesn't mind you can sit on the couch...I'll be over with it quickly" he didn't know why he agreed to it, but there was something they needed to talk about, he felt it in his bones, something was going on there and he wasn't going to be able to be at peace if they didn't talk about it.

"Hi, welcome" he said as he greeted the client, it was a tall man with a chest as wide as a wardrobe, but he was kind and it had been a pleasure working with him.

"Hi Donghae, how have you been man?" the other replied reaching out to shake his hand vigorously.

"Good, good, go on and sit comfortably on the bed" he said smiling politely, it was weird but after spending many hours together the tattoo artist became like a confessor, he was like a bartender or an hairdresser , he knew his client's secrets and the mutual feeling was comfortable like the one between old friends. His job gave him a chance to meet many interesting people and every time it was better. With the ones that had a bigger tattoo he of course had a stronger connection, since they had spent more hours together, and the guy that just entered the studio had been his first client in Seoul; when he first came the house had been still a mess, and he had only cleaned perfectly the living room for the studio to start.

"Oh you have a guest" the guy said while he started ing his shirt.

"Yes, he is my friend, does it bother you if he is here?" Donghae asked casually while preparing his table with the various colors and tools, his black gloves already on.

"No, it's ok, I don't mind" he said before taking off his shirt and sitting comfortably on the chair. Donghae then smiled at him while he adjusted the height of it to have the man almost laying flat on his back, almost because he preferred to have a bit of an angle to work on his chest. The tattoo was halfway done, he needed only two more sessions to finish it, not much time, but being the chest of the other a wide area he preferred to continue working after seeing how it healed, and more than that he didn't want the guy to pass out, because he was really too heavy for him to help.

He started working right away, but still he shook his head "you've been putting the cream every day as I told you?" he asked and saw the other grinning widely and closing one eye, looking completely guilty "Yun Suk I told you to be extra careful, the lines are thin and you can't risk them being ruined by infections or inflammations...plus that would make our work longer" he said never taking his eyes off the drawing. It was a large asian style dragon with a very long tail, all curled up and with many scales all over. The outline took him few long hours, but the real pain in the was putting on all the scales and putting colors and lights on them.

"I had a girl over I couldn't show her my chest wrapped in plastic" the man said chuckling, making both him and Hyukjae chuckle back.

"Just be careful next time" Donghae said trying to sound strict and all, failing of course as he didn't look very dangerous.

"Hey, can I see the tattoo up close?" Hyukje asked after a while and since the guy had no problem with it he soon got closer and started complimenting his choice as well as his body, telling him he envied his muscles, and even hinting at the fact he had skipped gym for way too long. Soon Yun Suk asked him why he was there that day and if he had been a friend of Donghae for a long time and somehow Hyukjae managed to tell him half the truth by revealing he was there for a tattoo to cover up his scar. Surprisingly enough he felt comfortable to show the stranger and also to tell him about his story, and while he listened to them talking Donghae realized that probably he had missed talking to people a lot, and that he needed to talk about what happened to him to make it feel less scary. It was his weird way to battle his ghosts, to open up and try to forget how he had almost died for real. The client even dared to ask him if he was still using his motorcycle after what had happened, and after laughing awkwardly and scratching his nose Hyukjae had replied that yes he was because he felt free and alive only when he was riding something. Right when he said that he quickly peeked at Donghae that could only look away, blushing and having to clear his throat.

After that he showed the stranger his other tattoos explaining them to him, and gifting Donghae with so many details about him that he surely didn't dare to hope to know. It came out he wanted to become a robot when he was a kid and since that thing influenced him so much he had decided to get a tattoo with gears on his neck. The one on his chest was because his mother always had told him he was starting to have more stripes than a tiger on his skin, therefore he got that one to piss her off a bit. The one on his hand, the water lily had been for his parents too, because they had been the reason he had born and there for the reason of his beginning. He had few other small things that had no particular meaning on his arm and apparently back, but he didn't show them. He was a nice and talkative guy, and the more he spoke the more interesting he sounded.

"Donghae, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" he suddenly asked and he at first simply nodded, too focused on what he was drawing. Yet suddenly he realized the other probably didn't know where the bathroom was, but when he looked up he saw him already disappearing behind the hallway door. How did he know? He decided not to think too much about it and to continue working, but when he heard the door being opened again he couldn't help but look up, and when he did he met the extremely serious look of the other. They stared at each other until Hyukjae sat back down on the couch, and only then Donghae couldn't held it anymore, going back at looking his client's chest.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the hour, and when finally Donghae was done he cleaned the chest of the client one last time before putting the cream on him and adjusting the plastic wrap, asking him to be very careful with it. The guy paid and greeted both of them before going out of the room and leaving them alone.

Hyukjae was standing few steps from him and once again he was next to the butterfly drawing "I saw it before" he said all serious, he looked worried somehow. Donghae acted completely clueless, well he was for real uncertain of what was happening anyway. "It's incredible... it was you" Hyukjae then added looking at him, his frown getting deeper and the worry in his eyes stronger, he even looked scared. "When I entered here I didn't know why it felt weird, but then...your voice, I remember this" he said. He sounded completely out of his mind, and from the way he ruffled his hair he probably was.

"I have no idea what you are talking about" he ended up saying, he didn't want to hurt him, but what was that about? He didn't want to think too much and Hyukjae wasn't helping.

"Please...please don't tell me I'm crazy" the other said looking at him, his eyes were so sad if seemed like he was about to cry "you saw it too, earlier... I saw how you looked at me when I went to the bathroom. Donghae am I imagining things?" he asked sounding pretty desperate. He wasn't. But unfortunately for him Donghae wasn't yet ready to admit that something very weird was happening right there. "This...this may be my brain tricking me? Or maybe I'm still in a coma and I haven't yet woken up... what...what day is it today?" he asked, his eyes lucid.

"February...15th 2015. Hyukjae, do you need to sit down?" he asked, but he realized soon he was being extremely mean with the other, only because while the guy struggled he still refused to admit that a part of him was slowly realizing it hadn't been only a dream.

"I don't need to sit down, I need for you to tell me why do I know your voice? Why have I seen this before? I..." he was breathing heavily and he look like his legs weren't going to hold him properly, he held on his forehead closing his eyes shut and resting slightly on the wall, he looked in pain.

"Maybe you should drink a bit of water" he tried to say, while in his head he kept repeating that it hadn't been a dream, or at least not a normal one because the other had saw him too. They knew each other.

"I don't need a ing glass of water. So what? Should I go grab it myself? Let's see" that said he started to walk quickly like a mad man, rushing towards a door and without failure finding immediately the kitchen. Donghae skipped an heart beat as he followed him there and found him resting on the counter, tears in his eyes "what the hell..." he only muttered.

He didn't know what to do, he was petrified, he looked at him and now even Hyukjae seemed unreal "I don't know..." he could only say avoiding the other's face.

"You know, I like how you redecorated the place, very colorful" Hyukjae said surprising him and making him look up, what was he blabbering about now? He then saw him getting closer to him, he watched him as he reached up and ed his shirt collar then two more buttons before uncovering his skin, the side with his tattooed shoulder "how do you explain this?" he asked then staring right in his eyes. Donghae gulped, breath caught in his throat and before he knew it his eyes filled up with tears, he couldn't say a word, it was really him. The butterfly guy. He was him, he wasn't dead. A tear fell down his cheek and before he knew it Hyukjae had grabbed his chin and pulled him closer for a short kiss, taking his breath away completely.

He took a step back, and looked away, a stranger had just kissed him and he hadn't been able to do nothing. "I'm not crazy right? You remember it too" the other whispered getting closer, but he escaped him before he could have been touched.

"Don't..." he didn't want to believe it, maybe he was the one that was in a coma, maybe all that had been in his fantasy.

"Come on, who the hell reacts like this after a kiss from a stranger? Donghae what do you want me to say more? I remember how you drew the cat and the mouse and the dog on my arm. I remember how you explained the snow to me...now I remember every moment I was here with you...there near the win.."

"STOP IT" he said breathing heavily right after "it's not real, this can't be...you were..." he looked right at him this time, his eyes filled with tears and the only thing he could think of was to get closer to him and hug him close to his heart. I thought I was never going to see you again. His chin was trembling and he couldn't stop tears from falling from his eyes. He looked down again and saw a big drop leaving his eyes and falling right on the ground, ground where he noticed the feet of the other.

"I'm here now" Hyukjae said, his voice sounding broken too " and please, I need to talk with somebody about what happened and I fear you are the only one, so if you won't let me I'll be really lost" he said, but he didn't move much, he saw only his hand being moved forward, towards him, stopping midway, he was waiting for him to reach out too. Donghae was trembling but he still grabbed shyly that hand, sobbing soundly when he touched the other's skin. He really was there, he could feel him, he could hear his breathing, he could smell his cologne. He looked up to meet the other's eyes and Hyukjae got closer to peck his lips again. This time he smiled and looked away while blushing lightly "it felt pretty much the same" the guys said.

"It actually didn't" Donghae replied surprising his new friend. He smiled at him and wiped away his tears, then he reached out to brush his thumb on his lips "you didn't have a piercing the last time" he said finally accepting it all for the first time, letting out something that let the other understand they were in that together.

Hyukjae sighed and hugged him all of a sudden, sighing even more when he got to rest his face on his shoulder "thank god" he whispered "I thought you didn't exist and yet I couldn't get you off my mind" he then said making his heart flutter. Well he did ok? What could had he done to control such a thing? Hyukjae had been in his mind too, not as a human being, but still that guy, those smiles, that voice and the gentle self, he had thought about him, and also dreamed about him more.

"You're shivering, should we sit a bit" Donghae said and then when he felt the other nodding on his shoulder he pulled him to the couch where they sat, still the guy refused to let him go "hey how can we talk if you keep on hugging me" he said jokingly, but he secretly liked that a lot. Hyukjae snorted then he moved away, just enough to push him on the couch seats to then lay right next to him.

"Better?" he asked.

"Uh...no, you're hugging me still but now we are horizontal too" he said then he giggled "I guess it's ok tho" he said. They stayed like that for a bit, not saying a word, breathing slowly and feeling each other's presence, probably trying hard to find a way to explain what had happened.

Hyukjae was the first one who dared to speak again "you know while I was in a coma I had these very vivid dreams about random people, I never talked to anyone, it was like I was invisible. I remember I had a series of dreams where I was in this house, a couple living here, I went around and I remember the house, but I never thought it was real. Then all of a sudden I found myself alone in darkness, and I had another series of dreams, forgetting about this place. Unexpectedly one day I'm here again and here you are...Donghae I thought it was just another strange dream, but before meeting you I never wanted to wake up that badly. When you are in such a state, your brain is protecting you from your pain...you don't really want to come back, it's very cozy in there, no pain, you can be anywhere you want, no ties." The guys was speaking calmly, taking his time to speak and he simply laid there listening carefully to what he had to say "only after I spent my day with you I really wanted to wake up, to meet you again, to be able to hear your voice that made me feel so calm and ready to get back to reality" as he spoke his voice got more and more husky. Wow that was quite a lot to hear.

He couldn't help but feel the same exact pain he felt when the butterfly had died next to him, his heart aching so much he had to reach out and fist his shirt strongly "I can't believe you were laying somewhere...and you could have not came back. The night you vanished from next to me, I cried... I cried the entire time, even if I forced myself into thinking it had been just a dream, even if it couldn't have been true, I cried my heart out and sat right there at the centre of the room, looking around and feeling completely lost and lonely once again" he admitted. "How did this happen?" he asked shaking his head.

"I don't know, I can't explain this in any way, maybe we simply were fated to meet even in another life... but that life was too fragile to stay next to you so I had to come back with this piece of junk of body" Hyukjae said before laughing huskily.

"Is not that bad..." he said jokingly.

"Well if you ignore the put back together organs and the overly used liver, not to mention my lungs" the guys said, his voice finally sounding a lot more calmer than before, they were slowly accepting that something extraordinary had happened to them, and the only thing they could have done was to embrace it and feel lucky.

"I'm sure you have other overly used parts..." he said to make the other laugh a bit, he wanted to joke and to let him know that he didn't look bad at all, but well every time he tried to be funny he ended up making things awkwardly ual.

"Well I wouldn't mind using them on you if you ask me" Hyukjae said finally looking up at him, moving from his spot on the tattoo artist's chest and staring at him with a raised up eyebrow while hovering on him. Thinking of it he wouldn't have mind that neither.

"It seems strange to think it was you. I mean apart the whole magic and butterfly thing, that guy I met was so clueless and innocent, you instead..." he said and looked at his face then his neck then his chest, he smirked and shook his head. He was completely different.

The other chuckled and got closer to his face, so close Donghae had to look at him with surprise, finding him one breath away from his lips "me instead...? am I not innocent?" he whispered, his eyes saying so many dirty things it was impossible not to blush to those thoughts. He wasn't able to reply and since his lips weren't moving much anyway the other took that chance to lean even closer to kiss him, but not on his lips, right on the corner of his mouth, on his cheek, staying completely immobile for a couple of seconds, making his heart flutter again. "Your voice makes my body shiver, but what your eyes do to me is way beyond words" the other then added whispering on his cheek, still not moving from being that close to him. He didn't mind, he actually liked that. Bust still... something told him he needed to justify himself in some way.

"Did you remember my voice only?" he asked, he didn't want the other to stop being that close to him, nor he wanted for him to move away, but Hyukjae still did it.

"I remembered only your voice at first, then I started having some flashbacks, funny thing is your voice is the only thing I thought about the whole time, our silly conversation, the calm tone you had the whole time, I remember finding it very comforting. Donghae you are the only dream I remember. I don't know how it happened but I wasn't in my body the whole time, I was here, and on that last day I was with you. When I had to part with you I felt so completely broken...they told me I was crying when I woke up" Hyukjae said, he looked sad once again, his eyes were lucid and his voice cracked a bit. All those months he laid there alone, then they met and it had been for only few hours.

Donghae shrugged, unable to say anything, he simply reached out to caress the guy's cheek, loving how he closed his eyes and sunk into it, a small tear caressing his long dark lashes. "I'm glad I can see your face now" he could only say.

"I'm more glad, living with your voice in my head and thinking you were never real was really killing me. It gave me strenght when I realized I had been in a coma for seven months, and also when I had to spend one week unable to walk for more than few hours a day. Your words were the ones making me smile foolishly when I closed my eyes. My mother told me she often talked to me, you know they say coma patients can hear what happens around...I never once heard her, I lied I told her I did, but in reality the only voice I remember is yours. I'm so glad you are real" this time the eyes of the other filled up with real tears and he had to look down to avoid being seen by Donghae. His hand was still on that smooth cheek, he squeezed it a bit.

"I'm glad you're real too" he said smiling softly, he really was happy to have him right there, it was incredible, but somehow it was like a dream coming true. Literally. "I convinced myself many times you weren't real, but this didn't stop me from dreaming about you again, and thinking about you often. I was alone and lonely in this house when I met you, and your optimism, even while dying like that...made me find the strenght to clean up this place and you know what? After five days I had already set this area, to be able to start having clients, even if the rest behind the doors was way worse than a mess..." he stopped and chuckled.

"That's cool, you really did a great job in here and you're also very good at what you do, I saw you earlier, you work with passion and you are super focused when inking. I found it very...y" he then said raising an eyebrow and giving him a mischievous smirk.

"Well that's because I am y" he said surprising the other, smirking back at him. Well they were laying on a sofa, one on top of the other, their faces were so close they could smell each other's cologne, and Hyukjae was so handsome, he couldn't simply let it go like that. Apparently the other couldn't do it neither as he leaned closer once more and kissed him, this time it was different, he captured first his lower lip, it a bit before it gently, going then to kiss his upper lip, doing the same before finally letting their tongues met. It was the first time they were kissing for real, and he felt shivers down his spines and ants crawling everywhere on his body as he had been just electrocuted.

That piercing...damn that piercing was making him go crazy, he didn't even know if he liked it more when it touched his tongue, or when he felt it rubbing on his lips. In the midst of the kiss he ended up pushing the other on a side and on the seats of the couch, reversing their position, stopping immediately after when he realized he was on top of him. "Ah sorry" he said trying to move away but not having much space left on the couch.

Hyukjae looked confused at first, and somehow disappointed, but when Donghae looked down at him he understood "hey...it's ok, it doesn't hurt, I've already had ...with this..." he then added wrinkling his nose in a naughty way and winking at him, almost whispering the last part, like it had been a secret between them. Donghae gulped then blushed and looked away, it was too awkward to look at him in the eyes. "Stop acting like that, you make me go even crazier" then he added grabbing his chin and pulling him for another kiss. Surely not less hot than the one before, his tongue in such an expert way he felt his legs becoming weak, luckily they were laying on the couch.

When they stopped Donghae rested his cheek on the other's shoulder, he was on his side, still avoiding laying completely on him, but their arms were close, so close he couldn't help but gently brush his fingers on the other's hand, shyly taking it in his "what are we going to do?" he whispered.

"You mean now or in general?" the other replied, and seeing that he wasn't answering he decided to reply to that big question himself "now I guess we're about to have hot , while in general I hope I'll be able to have you in my life... somehow. But if you feel uncomfortable about that, I could get out of that door and never show up again. You need just a word" he spoke calmly, as if he was stating something obvious. Donghae squeezed his hand and chuckled, pulling his arm a bit. What a dork.

"I don't want you to get out of that door" he said shaking his head.

"Uh so...the rest of the program fits your taste?" Hyukjae said moving to kiss his forehead and then his nose and his lips. Well...it did sound nice actually, and the more they kissed the more he felt that especially the first part of it was going to happen, with such an hand caressing his abs and going towards his jeans.

"Don't you think this is a bit awkward" he said when Hyukjae freed his lips to kiss his neck. Wasn't it? The other looked up at him furrowing, then he tilted his head.

"Wait, what? This? Between us? The part?" he had understood perfectly, Donghae nodded and the other chuckled before biting his lower lip and nodding "it's not completely normal I have to admit it, because you and I, well we had a special meeting, but really...let's face the truth weren't you checking me out the whole time anyway?" he asked smirking.

"Well, because you reminded me of a guy in a weird dream" liar, you would have checked him out even if you had seen him in the streets.

"Well, I was checking you out and flirting with you the whole time, and I'm sure you have realized it now, plus it's not like I never had with a stranger before... are you boyfriend material only?" he asked jokingly.

"What if I was?" Donghae replied teasing him even more, while caressing his chest and abs through that very soft sweater he was...sadly, wearing. Hyukjae had moved up, resting on his bent arm already, so he was once again hovering on him, he saw him smiling softly to a side.

"Then I would wait" he said before bending down to kiss him, in such a delicate way it seemed strange coming from such a guy. What got into him tho, wasn't the way he kissed him, but the thing he had just said, he would have waited, what a perfect thing to say to convince someone to get and ready. Donghae couldn't help but laugh before throwing his arms around that tattooed neck and pulling the guy closer for a better and deeper kiss.

He wasn't boyfriend material only, he had his shares of fun too, when a guy he met was hot he happened to have fun, sadly he haven't had much time those past days, the moving and settling of his studio, so he was also a bit out of practice and definitely frustrated. The more they kissed the more they started sighing softly and through their noses, even more when the other laid completely on hms, making him bent his knees and wrap his legs around his lower body. It was y and it was hot, but he had to sadly come back to reality. "Wait" he said blushing and looking extremely guilty when the guy looked surprised.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked flushed. Well his swollen lips looked so y, his nose was red too and his eyes looked lucid. God no I don't! he grabbed him by his nape and kissed him once more, an hot but very short kiss that left the guy even more confused but surely it made him giggle in a silly way.

"I kinda work here, and I prefer not having on this couch, clients sit on it...I don't know if you understand it, I just prefer to keep this area clean. Any other room would be fine" he then said smirking.

"Ah you bastard, the other rooms are only a kitchen and a bathroom, if you keep the obvious bedroom out...it's ok, I perfectly get and respect it. Let's keep the couch clean" he then said standing up and reaching out to help him stand up too, or maybe he wanted to hold his hand, because the moment he did he didn't let go even when they started walking towards the bedroom. It was warm and comfortable, and it felt warm even when they started kissing and stripping each other, caressing gently and then roughly, to get gentle again.

When they fell on the bed and Hyukjae started kissing his neck and chest he felt like his heart was going to explode... that body was exactly like he had remembered it and yet it was so different. He had to admit he had never once had a dirty thought about the butterfly guy, not until that morning and that moment at least, but now that it was happening it all seemed normal. They didn't even had to mention who had to be on top, it all went on naturally as if they had done that before, and he simply loved the absolute lack of awkwardness between them.

~

They were laying flat on the bed, they hadn't been talking for a bit but Hyukjae had sneakily grabbed his hand and had been holding it for few minutes already, then he moved a bit and his side to be closer to him, placing one hand on his chest and kissing his neck "I had no idea this was going to be that good" he joked.

"Well, with artists is always good, you should have figured..." Donghae replied, his voice a bit husky, his heart was still beating fast, but he wasn't sure it was still because of the , or if it was because he had the other close like that. They both laughed.

"What the happened to us Donghae?" Hyukjae said "I mean was this some fate thing? I've never met someone like you before, it feels just so natural..." he then said moving their holding hands upwards and looking at their tangled fingers "this looks so normal" he added. And it did for real, he couldn't explain why but it did.

"What scares me is that you know me, somehow, you saw the real me, that day and today, but I'm not sure of who you are. Your face and voice and eyes...it all looks and sounds the same, but was that you?" he said and looked at the other in the eye, he was a bit worried, because what if his heart was thinking of someone else?

Hyukjae sighed soundly and reached out to move some strands out of his forehead before smiling softly at him "that was me, the real me, I know it sounds weird, but I kinda banged my head you know... patients usually experience a great loss of memory after such a trauma, I was lucky enough I experienced that during my coma instead of when I woke up, human brain is still a mystery for the most part of it. You met the forgetful Hyukjae that didn't even know his name. But that one clueless fellow was me, the reactions the replies, it was all me. I sometimes laugh at myself when remembering how I didn't even know what a drawing was, and the blanket, I remember thinking this thing is so soft, I love it...silly right?" he said and then laughed, well he was making it sound funny, but truth was it must have felt disorienting and scary the whole time. He reached up and caressed his face, he was smiling but his eyes looked sad and scared "I almost died..." he then whispered closing his eyes and sighing through his nose.

"But you're here now, and this makes me feel like the luckiest guy in the world...so silly right?" he said trying to copy the other's words form before. "I like this non forgetful Hyukjae more, it pains my heart to know I could have never met you, but... we are here now and you even look ier than I had remembered" he then said pulling the other's face up when he seemed like he was about to cry, looking at him with wide open eyes. He saw his frown turning into an happy face, his pout into a gummy grin.

"I do look hot right? Even with this haircut" he said.

"The haircut is super hot...why, you don't like it?" he asked.

"Is not that I don't like it, but when I woke up my hair were a mess, this part was kept very short because I had some cut at first and they had to make sure I hadn't any part of the helmet inside my head...turned out I hadn't, just a tiny scratch see?" he said pointing at a thin white line between his short hair " still I had some attached to my head every day to control my brain activity, so they kept them short. Luckily my mom didn't let them shave me completely, so some of my hair kept growing...and here I am" he said, explaining his haircut made him look less badass then before, yet at the same time he looked as strong as steel. That guy had hung up to his life for months, after almost bleeding to death, and banging his head, after being completely out of his body, merely breathing and having his head beat, after all that he came back and he was looking fine.

"You look smoky hot to me" he said "and I also think your  real life appearance fits your real character more than the one I saw the first time" he said poking his side but doing it extra carefully, he probably wasn't going to feel comfortable with his scar, not until he had covered it properly with a tattoo, finally ratifying it as healed.

"You look way hotter than I had imagined, and trust me your voice already gave me nice shivers" he said making the last part sound way dirtier than it needed.

"Hey, say...do you believe in love at first sight?" Donghae asked after few minutes of silence. Hyukjae didn't reply immediately.

"No" he said after a bit.

"Good! Me neither" he quickly replied back, it was silly to think about such things, what love, they merely met, and talked. Yes the first time they were completely absorbed by each other, talking for hours and laughing, and all...but they weren't kids.

"I do believe in the one at second sight tho..." Hyukjae said all of a sudden stopping his trail of thoughts. He blushed to the tips of his ears and turned around to look at his face, the other was smiling at him, then he poked his forehead "don't think too much Hae, let's just enjoy the chance life gave us. I feel so lucky to be here now, I don't care if it's love or going to be. I only know I want you in my life, as a friend, a brother, a lover, anything the future holds for us will be fine. I'm already feeling blessed I have a future..." he said and his eyes looked so calm, so tranquil he was able to pass that feeling to Donghae that relaxed completely.

"Yes, you are right, I'm happy you're here next to me too. And when opening my eyes, I'll find you still here holding my hand, I'll really feel blessed, every day more" he simply replied before curling up on his new friend's side, kissing his shoulder and nuzzling his nose under his chin while wrapping them in the blanket. They hadn't once stopped holding hands, probably too afraid it was going to vanish if they didn't hold strong onto it, or probably they just couldn't have enough of it.

 Life looked meaningless sometimes, it looked long, and boring, but it was actually fragile like the wings of a butterfly, and just like them in a single flutter it could have ended.

Not that day, not for them.

Well, ok now tell me this wasn't completely weird , and for once there is no in one of my stories...well I really thought we didn't need it here, right? it was out of contest.

Speaking of wich...Even tho we have no real badass boy, like one of those cool guys people would think of...I thought that surviving an accident and getting back on his own feet was pretty badass, and also having the guts to start a tattoo studio, working for a long waited dream. So yeah I hope you'll like this

thank you as always for the trust :P

Love you ♥