Chapter 6

Two nights after their wedding they laid in bed, listening to the ocean outside their window. They were on their honeymoon, on a little isolated beach Jongin didn't even know about until Kyungsoo came up with the idea to honeymoon there in planning everything. It turned out to be perfect. There was nobody else there, they stayed in a small house on the beach that had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a connected living room and kitchen. It wasn't much, but it was just enough. 

Kyungsoo stared at the ring on his finger and thought in awe of what recently happened, a habit he had gotten into since Jongin put first put the ring there. There weren't many people at their wedding, just the two of them, Baekhyun, his friend Jongdae (who owned the store and took care of the food and catering), and both of Jongin's parents. They had a small ceremony in Jongin's parent's back yard. The reception was held there as well and simply consisted of a soundtrack that Jongin, Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun came up with, along with the musical stylings of Jongdae and Baekhyun, and the married couple dancing together. Poor Kyungsoo has two left feet, so most of their wedding dance consisted of Jongin holding him up when he tripped, and the two barely moving as they swayed in each other's arms, looking into each other's eyes. And, to both of them, it was absolutely perfect.

Kyungsoo looked up from his daydreams and noticed Jongin deep in thought. 
"Baby, what are you thinking about?" He asked.

"Just everything that happened..." He replied, almost in a daze.

Kyungsoo didn't know whether to be worried or happy at this. "You're not regretting anything are you?"

Jongin looked down at him then, and smiled at his husband. "Why on earth would I regret this?"

"I don't know, Jongin. Well, it's just that, I know we're young, and you're even younger than me... I don't want you to feel like you rushed into something without thinking it through. And..."

"And what?" Jongin asked.

"Jongin. I don't know what you preconceived about your life before me. Like, your family... I know you, very well, know that I... I can't give you children, Jongin. I know we could adopt, but you won't be able to have a child that looks like you, that you made. I just don't want you to regret that."

Jongin then looked at him with a look of shock, almost anger. It's not like Kyungsoo was afraid, they had been together over a year so fighting was inevitable. But Jongin didn't seem to want to fight. He simply, sternly, said, "I know we can't physically have children, but that doesn't matter to me. Do you think I would've married you if I hadn't thought that through? I don't need to have made a child for it to be mine, Kyungsoo."

With that, Kyungsoo simply, happily nodded. He asked, "When and how many do you want?"

Jongin then looked up from Kyungsoo's hand that he was holding, he paused for a second and thought. He then said, "I don't know, we're both so young, maybe we should wait a while, and as for how many...I don't know. I say, if a child needs a home, and they would put up with me as their dad, I would give them one, if you wanted that too."

"I think I would. You would be an amazing Dad Jongin."

"And you would be an amazing Mom."

"Hey!" Kyungsoo exclaimed before he playfully smacked Jongin on the arm, "I am a man, I would not be addressed as Mom!"

"Okay, okay," Jongin backed down. By this point, Kyungsoo was on top of him, and they were holding each other's hands. Jongin smiled up at Kyungsoo and looked deep into his eyes. "I'll never get used to this," Jongin said.

Kyungsoo leaned down and kissed his husband on the lips. "I love you so much Jongin."

With a smile Kyungsoo sank into Jongin's arms and burrowed himself into his neck, giving it soft kisses. Jongin stared at the ceiling in awe of his beautiful life he had begun to create with a love struck smile on his face. Both of the lovers fell asleep like that.

A week later they got back from their honeymoon and begun to return to their normal lives. Jongin went back to work while Kyungsoo stayed at the house and wrote. Kyungsoo cooked while Jongin cleaned, Kyungsoo greeted Jongin with a smile and a kiss when he returned home everyday, and on the weekends, the best times, they still enjoyed their mornings. Jongin had a new chair where he read the newspaper and drank his coffee, while Kyungsoo lounged on his couch and wrote, as both enjoyed each other's company in Kyungsoo's world of a library.

They loved the silence as much as the conversation, they loved the nights and days of being by each other's side, they loved each other's company, and most of all, they simply loved each other. 

Two months had passed of this wonderful routine before Jongin woke to something a little off. Kyungsoo wasn't next to him in the bed like he always was. Jongin swung his legs over and quickly began searching for Kyungsoo. 

"Kyungsoo? Kyungsoo? Where are you baby?" He continued looking through their home, the first place he looked was Kyungsoo's library, but surprisingly, he wasn't in there. He continued searching the house, the living room, even the bathroom, and his calls for Kyungsoo became more desperate. "Kyungsoo! Kyungsoo! Where are you?!" 

As he entered the kitchen he pulled out his phone, about to call Jongdae to see if Kyungsoo went to his store, or if he'd heard anything from him. Just as he began dialing he stopped when he saw a note on the kitchen table. 

Jongin grabbed the letter and read it.
Jongin,
I left to go do some work. I don't know when I will be back, but don't worry. I assure you I'm ok and will return when I finish my novel. There's food in the fridge that I already prepared for you to heat up. I want to make sure you eat, take care of yourself, and don't worry too much about me. You didn't know it, but this morning before I got out of bed I gave you a hundred kisses to make sure you had a kiss every day, for a hundred days, yes I could be gone that long. Don't worry if I'm not back after that, I just have a lot to do. Take care my love.
Love, Kyungsoo

Jongin put the paper down in disbelief. He knew he should've expected Kyungsoo to go off and start "acting" again, but he at least expected him to tell him first, and he didn't think he would ever be gone that long. He wasn't mad at his husband, he accepted this type of spontaneity a long time ago, he just was sad that he wouldn't get to see him for so long, and probably wouldn't be able to contact him either. Jongin sighed and went to the fridge to get the breakfast Kyungsoo pre-made him. He ate alone in silence, something he wasn't used to, not this type of silence at least. His Kyungsoo wasn't sitting across the table from him, he wasn't planning the next moments when he would snake his arms around the beautiful love of his life, and he would have to go to work, and return from work, without one of Kyungsoo's kisses fresh on his cheek, whether Kyungsoo kissed him a hundred times or not.

After a few weeks, it's not exactly safe to say Jongin got used to the new routine, but he learned to get by. He decided to catch up with his friend Baekhyun, because after his wedding they hadn't really talked much. 

Jongin knocked on the door to Baekhyun's new house, he had never actually seen the place and Baekhyun had been asking him to come over ever since him and his new boyfriend bought the place. 'Well, now is better than later,' Jongin thought. 

Baekhyun opened the door and was surprised to see Jongin on the other side. 
"HOLY CRAP ITS JONGIN! PUT SOME PANTS ON AND GET IN HERE BABE!" Baekhyun immediately exclaimed to both Jongin and someone inside the house, before clinging onto Jongin's arm and pulling him inside. 

"Jongin! I'm so happy to see you! Well, this is our place." He gestured with his arms around the spacious living room. It looked cozy. It had yellow walls and a red sofa, a large tv with an Xbox and games scattered on the floor around it, and white, soft carpet. It contrasted greatly with Kyungsoo and Jongin's home, with its dark, wooden, antique furniture, forest-green bookshelves that touched the ceiling, and creaky hardwood floors. The house was very warm and inviting, and seemed to, surprisingly, fit Baekhyun very well. Jongin fell in love with Baekhyun's new home. 

"It's wonderful Baek, I'm very happy for you."

"Thank you, but this isn't just my house," he looked back toward the hallway and shouted, "Chanyeol, come out!"

Suddenly, a very tall man with auburn, wavy hair came through the door. "Alright, alright I'm out. You sound like my friends from Junior High after they found out about my secret crush on a guy. Chanyeol, come out! That's what they'd tell me." He said this with a warm smile.

Baekhyun shook his head in disapproval and hid it in his hand. Jongin couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of him. Baekhyun finally recovered himself and smiled. "Jongin, this is my loud mouth, silly boyfriend, Chanyeol.

"Hi Chanyeol, I'm Jongin."

Before Jongin could even think of what was happening, the giant had Jongin in his embrace, and gave him a tight squeeze, almost suffocating him. He let go and said, "I'm so happy to meet you! Baekhyun has told me so much about you and your husband! I've seen your wedding pictures and I have to say they are remarkable! Oh, and I just want you to know, that I love you already! Any friend of Baek's is a friend of mine!"

Jongin immediately had a smile on his face. He was so happy his best friend found such a warm, nice guy. He didn't know much about Chanyeol, but he did know that he already liked him. 

Before Jongin could speak Baekhyun already started to explain, scared that his boyfriend scared his best friend off a little. "Jongin, he's just a little affectionate, that's all. I've told him a lot about your wedding and he loves the pictures, well because you're my friend, and also because he's a photographer."

"Oh, you are? That's cool, and, no, I wasn't scared off or anything by the way. Chanyeol, you seem really sweet."

"Oh, thank you! I know I can be a little overwhelming sometimes, but that's why I'm thankful to have my Baekhyun here to keep me from being too dramatic." Chanyeol said this as he wrapped his arm around Baekhyun's shoulders.

"Baekhyun keeps you from being too dramatic?" Jongin asked with shock, "But Baekhyun's such a drama queen."

Baekhyun suddenly took offense. "I AM NOT A DRAMA QUEEN KIM JONGIN! I AM COOL AND LEVEL HEADED AND ALSO KEEP MY STUFF TOGETHER!"

Chanyeol and Jongin seemed to both have the same expression on their face as they smiled and nodded at each other in understanding. Jongin found another reason to like Chanyeol, he not only was a good guy, but he was a good guy who was willing to deal with the one and only, crazy and over the top, Byun Baekhyun.

When Baekhyun calmed down a bit they had dinner and talked some more. 

"So, where's your better half?" Baekhyun asked.

"Oh, Kyungsoo's away working. I don't actually know when he'll be back. It'll be a long time though, he basically said a few months."

"Wait, he's a writer right? Where is going to work for a few months?" Chanyeol asked.

"Well, you see, Kyungsoo has a different system for his writing. He likes to experience certain things of his characters, and he says he had to go wherever he went until he finishes his novel. I wish I knew where he was. I'm starting to miss him."

Baekhyun could see the hint of sadness in his eyes and put his hand over Jongin's. "We know you do, but I bet he'll be back before you know it. In the mean time, you should spend more time with us."

"Yeah, we'd really like that!" Chanyeol chimed in.

"Thanks guys. I'll probably take you up on that."

"So, what has Kyungsoo written?"

"That's another oddity of my husband. He's anonymous as an author, even I don't know his pen name."

"Really? Have you ever tried to find out?" Chanyeol asked.

"No, I don't want to evade his privacy like that. Besides, I've read a little of his writing on his laptop, even helped him edit a little."

"That's cool, I bet he appreciates it with you, also being a writer, especially a journalist at the newspaper. Ironically, I used to work there as an intern photographer."

"Really? Do you still take photographs for the news?"

"Occasionally, but for the most part I'm a freelancer, family photographer, and I also do some wedding shoots."

"Yeah, I tried to get him to photograph your wedding, but he was already booked." Baekhyun added.

"That's ok, I mean, it would have been lovely if he took our wedding photos, but I'm sure we'll have another event he can photograph soon enough."

They finished their dinner and Jongin started home. He loved spending time with them, and wished Kyungsoo could've been there, and he couldn't wait until when Kyungsoo would finally meet Chanyeol. 

Jongin continued coming back to their place and getting by without his husband. They helped the time seem to go by faster and it wasn't until Jongin finished an article he had been working on that he realized the date.

"How long has it been since Kyungsoo left?" He asked himself.

He thought about it as he went through his nightly routine, and it wasn't until his head touched his pillow that he realized, indeed, that Kyungsoo had been gone four months, well over a hundred days. He took  out Kyungsoo's note from his bedside table and read it again. He knew Kyungsoo told him not to worry, but he couldn't help but do so, it had been a whole four months, inching closer and closer to half a year, and Jongin had never been apart from the love of his life for this long ever since their first meeting. 

Jongin knew it was time to do something, it was time for him to begin his search. 

He couldn't sleep. That night, he brainstormed where his husband could be. He didn't want to go to the police, yet, because the note Kyungsoo left would indicate to them that he wasn't really missing, just away for a while, even though Jongin knew it was time for Kyungsoo to come home, or at least time for them to be back in contact with each other. Jongin tried texting for the first time, but Kyungsoo, as expected, shut his phone off. As the night grew later Jongin's mind began to race as to where Kyungsoo could be, and scary scenarios began filling his mind of Kyungsoo being in danger.

By the end of the night, Jongin had a giant map pinned to the wall, but he didn't know where to start on Kyungsoo's location. He hated himself for not being able to figure it out, being married to the missing man and a journalist who investigates everyday. In frustration, he called the first two people he could think of for help. 

That afternoon, Baekhyun and Chanyeol found themselves in Jongin and Kyungsoo's living room, wondering why Jongin so frantically called them over at six o'clock that morning.

"What's wrong, Jongin? Is this about Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun asked.

"Yeah," Jongin replied. 

"What is it? Is he hurt?" Chanyeol asked.

"No, I mean, I hope not, I don't know. It's just that it's been four months since he left, I haven't had a word of contact with him..."

"And it's time to bring him home?" Chanyeol asked.

"Yeah. I just have no idea where he is. Can you..."

"We'll help you find him." Chanyeol told him, and Baekhyun was already studying the map Jongin put on the wall.

"Thank you!" Jongin said.

They began brainstorming. 

Baekhyun was the main questioner of the two, while Chanyeol had a notebook writing down answers, facts, and studied it all, trying to put it together.

"Does he mention a particular place a lot?"

"No, not in particular."

"What did he say he was going to do when he got there?"

"He said he was finishing his novel, which means he's acting out events from it."

"Does he usually do certain things?"

"No, it seems pretty random usually."

"Wait," Chanyeol finally broke his silence, "He acts out his novels, if we can figure out what he's written maybe we can get closer to finding him. We can figure out what the setting of this new novel is most likely to be."

"That might just work," Baekhyun said, "but you don't know what he's written do you Jongin?"

"No, I don't."

"But, you've said you've read his writing before, on his laptop wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Tell us about what you've read, and then maybe we can put the pieces together of what books he's written."

"Ok..."

Jongin told them about the pieces Kyungsoo let him see. In an hour, Jongin's living room was covered in books and each man had a book they were scanning to find similar plot lines, wordings, or settings. 
Jongin was doing best of all as his journalist skills began setting in. He highlighted lines that seemed familiar. He contacted publishers, prying for information. He contacted authors who might've crossed paths with Kyungsoo and his work. He was at this, along with the other two helping him, for six hours.

Six hours later Jongin put the pieces together.
 S.M. was Kyungsoo's pen name, it had to be. Every book by S.M. either had a plot Jongin knew, even the streaker scene where Jongin first met Kyungsoo. The wording sounded like Kyungsoo, the humor was worthy of Kyungsoo's smirks, the love scenes felt like deja vu, and if Jongin closed his eyes, he could picture Kyungsoo sprawled out on the sofa writing the very words he was reading. Jongin skipped to the last chapter and read to find the setting, and to guess where the next book in the series would be.

"I found him." 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol immediately looked up from what they were reading. 

"Kyungsoo wrote this. I know where he is now." 

With a sudden burst of energy Jongin grabbed a bag and stuffed a few clothes and toiletries in it, followed by the series Kyungsoo wrote. With that and a "thank you" to Baekhyun and Chanyeol, he left his apartment before them, rushing out the front door. 

Jongin was frantic as he drove to the airport as fast as he could. All fatigue was gone and there was nothing but love and adrenaline keeping his heart pumping and mind alert as he set out to get to his husband. He left his keys in the car and texted Baekhyun and Chanyeol to drive it back to his house for him. He ran to the desk, got his ticket, and made sure he was on the first flight to his destination. 

He finally boarded his plane and the exhaustion hit him, he hadn't slept in two days. He fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of Kyungsoo's face, and the books Kyungsoo wrote. The words his husband wrote were tattooed to his brain and they ran through his dream like a perfect narration as events of their love and life together became the only imagery in his brain, and soon he even felt things.
"And that's how a streaker turns into an interviewer and then to a high schooler on their first date, all in one week."
"...As he stares over his glasses and thinks I'm not looking."
"Life stopped as I stepped in the library that day, and started again when he kissed me."
"...As his strong arms wrapped around me, incasing me in a way only his could."
"Our kitchen wasn't a kitchen, our home wasn't our home, he was him and I was me, and his touch was heaven."
"His voice is like the ocean and his skin is like the desert sand, I want to, therefore, be the sky above all of him."
"I'd give him the moon and I know he'd give me the sun, along with SPF fifty or higher to keep the skin he loves touching from burning."
"And he said he never wanted it to end, and I thought that forever sounded like a good place to start."

Jongin woke up from his blissful sleep a few minutes before the plane would land. Immediately after the plane touched the ground, so did he, and he set off to Kyungsoo. He didn't even think about getting a car, his adrenaline got him to where he needed to be. The midday sun was burning hot against his skin as he ran faster and faster. 

The sun was setting, his sweat was dripping, and his white button down clung to him as he turned the doorknob and swung the door open. There they saw each other. Kyungsoo was a mess on the floor and Jongin was a mess against the doorframe. 

"Kyungsoo."

"Jongin."

AND THIS IS HOW DO KYUNGSOO FOUND HIMSELF DISCOVERED BY KIM JONGIN AT FIVE IN THE AFTERNOON ON A FRIDAY.

 

 

Hey everybody! Sorry this has taken so long to finally update, but as I've already said I've been very busy with school lately. I'm still a bit busy, but I have this story planned out and really wanted to post this chapter. I don't know how long it will be until the next chapter (hopefully not too long) but until then I hope you enjoy my story!