This is my heartbeat song and I'm gonna play it

Been so long I forgot how to turn it up up up up all night

Oh up up all night long

Hakyeon and Taekwoon are lying on the worn leather couch in one of the dance rooms. Hongbin is out filming his dramas. Wonshik is in his own studio composing and recording. Sanghyuk is goodness knows where, that hyperactive maknae and Jaehwan went out to some One Piece anime con that supposedly lasted only 1 day. (They suspect that he just didn't want to on any steamy action or fluffy couple they would do and they agree to treat him one day.) Taekwoon's head is in Hakyeon's lap, his long legs laid out over the black leather, barefoot, and Hakyeon sitting. Hakyeon absentmindedly his black hair as he asks Taekwoon if he still remembers how they met. Taekwoon hums in agreement as he allows himself to drift into his memories.

You, where the hell did you come from?

You're a different different kind of fun

And I'm so used to feeling numb

5 January 1997. The date they met. They met in elementary school. Taekwoon remembers how bubbly and incredibly... Taekwoon tries to put that cheerful bubbly energy and finds himself struggling to find the word for it. He supposes the closest word he would have to make do with is efferverscent. Hmm. Efferverscent. Taekwoon rolls the word around his head, like you'd do with a real word. He decides that he likes that word. It reminds him of Hakyeon. The slightly smaller boy had basically bounced up to him that first day of school, even though he was almost sticking to the wall with how close he was to the wall. You can't exactly blame Taekwoon, his mommy had just left him with a flurry of kisses and hugs and he didn't know anybody in this big, white room and the room was so big and there were so many people and there were so many strange people. Taekwoon was scared, to say the least. Anyway, Hakyeon had bounced up to him, all bubbly and energetic and, in the cutest voice ever, said, "Hi! I'm Hakyeon and I'm 7 this year. Do you want to be friends?" Taekwoon was sure he had stared at Hakyeon for an eternity before he was dragged by Hakyeon to play with his friends. By the end of the day, Taekwoon had deemed Hakyeon familiar enough to hang out with for the rest of the week. That, which would lead to the rest of the month, which led to the rest of the year, and lasted until they reached high school.

Now, I've got pins and needles on my tongue

Anticipating what's to come

Like a finger on a loaded gun

During high school, Taekwoon had joined soccer, having dabbled in it in middle school, and Hakyeon had joined dance, just for the experience, leading to them eventually growing apart slightly. However, they met two boys, Wonshik, who was in dance, and Jaehwan, who was in soccer only because his mom wanted him to join something that would help him lose weight but was "surprisingly good", according to Taekwoon. The two boys were best friends themselves, despite their slight . They also learnt during lunchtime that Jaehwan had a younger brother, named Hongbin, who was Wonshik's age but in another school. Hakyeon assured him that they would meet Hongbin some time into the future, making Jaehwan smile and say thanks to Hakyeon. In their third year of high school, Hakyeon was invited to a party held by one of his dance friends and told that he could invite anyone he wanted. He invited Taekwoon, who was initially against it but eventually gave in due to Hakyeon pestering him practically every day, and Wonshik invited Jaehwan, who was pretty ecstatic about his first party. At the party, the four of them were introduced to two things; alcohol and same- relationships. They met two boys at the party, Zelo and Yongguk, who were in dance and soccer respectively, and learnt that both were in a relationship. Taekwoon remembers the shock of hearing them say that they were together and, later on, seeing them kiss. He also remembers his soccer captain, Doojoon, offer him a red cup of pungent yellow... Something but he took the cup and drank anyway so as to look good in front of his captain. Yes, he knew he was underage. Yes, he knew he shouldn't be doing this. But, he also knew things like this would spread quickly around soccer teams and, to be honest, he did not want to look cowardly in front of his team, especially his captain as he had heard Doojoon talking about him and next year's choice of captain (which made him very excited but he'd honestly never admit that). He remembers feeling slightly warm and like he'd been electrified but very lightly. He felt buzzed, to put it simply. And then, they played Truth or Dare. 

He doesn't remember what exactly happened but he remembers Hakyeon. Flushed, sweaty, hair mussed. He swears he'd never seen anyone so beautiful. At that time. He was 17, okay. Hands pushing them into a dark, uncomfortably cramped cupboard. Hakyeon's hands, slender and golden on him. Soft lips. Hakyeon's lips. Mmm, his first kiss. He's happy he avoided all those first kiss horror stories he'd heard from his friends and, secretly, he liked it. What he did not like, however, were the nervous butterflies in his stomach every time he saw Hakyeon and intruding thoughts of golden, bronzed skin against his own cool, white porcelain and how amazingly good those lips were. Needless to say, he avoided Hakyeon like the plague, hiding behind his soccer friends and busying himself with training and pushing himself to be the very best. Of course he saw Hakyeon in the halls, looks of pain and hurt slowly fading to indifferent nonchalance. He pushed the guilt to the back of his mind until Jaehwan came up to him during practice and told him how sad Hakyeon was on the inside. Guilt had consumed him until he decided to apologise after thinking about Hakyeon  all night at 3 a.m. That day, he saw Hakyeon talking to a new guy on the dance team, Jaehwan had told him, and grabbed Hakyeon suddenly before he could chicken out. He then proceeded to spill his guts to a very stunned and slightly pissed Hakyeon until Hakyeon had shut him up with a kiss, arms snaking around Taekwoon's neck. Taekwoon remembers the short circuiting of his brain, his hands not knowing what to do until Hakyeon had grabbed them and placed them around his slim waist and god he wanted this for so damn long. In a week's time, they'd been happier than they ever remembered in their (rather) short lives. 

I can feel it rising 

Temperature inside me

Haven't felt it for a lifetime

Taekwoon remembers their first time. Nervous hands, shaking lips, still full of passion but with a dash of hesitation added. Taekwoon still remembers their first time he sheathed himself inside Hakyeon, kissing away the tears that rolled down those beautifully flushed cheeks, the look of pain on his beloved's face. He'd never felt such a hot tightness before and he'd never felt this much pleasure before, not even while playing soccer. He remembers the cuddles. The two of them lying on Hakyeon's bed because they didn't want to let Taekwoon's parents and sisters know. Hakyeon's brother, Hyo Shin, had left to stay with his girlfriend and Hakyeon's parents having gone to a wedding dinner that night. Kisses. So many kisses. Tender, loving kisses that turned to hungry, lustful kisses that night. That sensation he'd never experienced before. Hakyeon's face as he came right in Taekwoon's big hand. Taekwoon smiles to himself; Hakyeon still looks like that and he's still as beautiful, maybe just a bit more beautiful now, Taekwoon muses.

I, I wasn't even gonna go out

But I never would have had a doubt

If I'd had known where I'd be now

Taekwoon remembers when his dad died. Hakyeon had been there for him, just like all those countless times Hakyeon'd been there for him while he endured harsh screaming by his coach, scoldings seemingly doubled due to his new position as vice-captain in the college soccer team. He had cried. So, so much; he'd almost turned Hakyeon's white shirt transparent as he collapsed against Hakyeon's slender form and cried his throat sore. He'd locked himself in his room all week, sustained only by the food his sisters and Hakyeon bought him and Hakyeon's presence. At the end of the week, Hakyeon came to his house, arms filled with books and papers and knocked on his door. He remembers Hakyeon standing there with a container of kimchi jjigae, clothed in a button-up shirt that looked suspiciously like one Taekwoon swore he misplaced somewhere, a pair of black skinnies and a pair of almost comically oversized fake glasses. "Hello! You can call me Hakyeon-ssaem, Taekwoon-sshi! I have come to teach you what you've been missing out on in school last week!" They'd both stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, the contrast between a disheveled vice-captain and a bright, cheery "tutor" highlighted by their clothes; Taekwoon in his old hooded sweatshirt and loose, stretched-out sweatpants threatening to fall off his slender hips and Hakyeon in what he called his "presentation clothes", the kind of clothes he wore when he wanted to look a bit more put together but still casual and his glasses. Hakyeon had snapped his fingers in Taekwoon's face, placing his hand on his hip and staring at Taekwoon. "It's rude to leave a guest waiting outside, you know?" Taekwoon had swept the older man right off his feet, papers flying, as he carried Hakyeon into the house. Hakyeon turned out to be a great teacher by the way, especially about the human reproductive system.

Your hands on my hips

And my kiss on your lips

Oh I could do this for a lifetime

They had moved into a small apartment with their friends, Jaehwan and Wonshik from high school and Hongbin and Hyuk, whom they had been introduced to by Jaehwan and Wonshik respectively sometime during college. Wonshik and Hongbin had hit it off almost immediately and Jaehwan and Hyuk shared an interest in gaming, which left Hakyeon and Taekwoon alone most of the time. He supposes it also helped that they had roomed together as they didn't need to go to other rooms to see each other and do, um, other things. Many, many kisses were shared and the six of them soon formed a routine of eating breakfast cooked by Hakyeon and Taekwoon. (Hakyeon did the suggesting and the nagging about the importance of eating a healthy breakfast and Taekwoon did most of the cooking. Most.) They had spent half their college lives and a bit of their working lives together while they saved up some money to do what they would do for the rest of their lives. For Hakyeon, that meant working hard to hopefully save up enough to buy that little place in Hongdae that he had really liked and renovate it into a dance studio. For Taekwoon, that would be saving up to buy a nice house, maybe with a yard, for him and Hakyeon to live in and, he only told Wonshik about this since he had gotten together with Hongbin, buy a ring and propose to Hakyeon. Wonshik had been really supportive about it, encouraging Taekwoon to go for it and even helping him pick out a ring. Taekwoon supposes he should invite Wonshik out for dinner and treat him as thanks one of these days.

This is my heartbeat song and I'm gonna play it

Been so long I forgot how to turn it up up up up all night

Oh up up all night long

This is my heartbeat song and I'm gonna play it

Turned it on

But I know you can take it up up up up all night long

Oh up up all night long

Now, Hakyeon has a humble but thriving dance studio, named ChaCha Dance Studio, right in the heart of Hongdae. It was fairly near to Taekwoon's own workplace, Lion Heart Studios. Taekwoon, who loved playing piano and discovered his talent for singing in his last year of college, co-owned the place, having opened it with Jaehwan, who wanted to become a vocal trainer, and his younger sister, Jiyeon, who supervised the dance studios. Hongbin had gone on to become an award-winning actor and part-time model, having acted in several famous dramas and local films. Wonshik would travel between the two studios, having become a composer and rapper. While he came up with his songs at Lion Heart, he would work as a choreographer and dance teacher at ChaCha. Hyuk had become a video game designer, often busy dreaming up new ideas and supervising work under him. Sometimes, they would meet up for coffee and snacks and catch up with one another. In the end, Taekwoon had bought a quaint little apartment in Seoul for him and Hakyeon and proposed two years after the opening of Lion Heart and three years after ChaCha. The wedding had been small but still filled with family, close friends and love. (It was also fun to see Sojin and Jiyeon, Taekwoon's sisters fight over Hakyeon's bouquet.) Taekwoon muses to himself and he smiles, he doesn't think he'd have it any other way, despite Hakyeon's worrying about last-minute preparations and the empty chairs.

Until tonight I only dreamed about you

I can't believe I ever breathed without you

Baby you make me feel alive and brand new

Bring it one more time

Still, to this day, Cha Hakyeon is a big old worrywart, even at the age of 32. As Taekwoon comes back up from the flashbacks, coming back to Hakyeon running his fingers through his black hair, coming back to Hakyeon's beautiful fond smiling lips, asking him what he's thinking about. Taekwoon sweetly smiles back at Hakyeon, hand coming up to the golden skin of his angel. "Nothing, baby. Just you and me. Just you and me."

This is my heartbeat song and I'm gonna play it

Been so long I forgot how to turn it up up up up all night

Oh up up all night long

This is my heartbeat song and I'm gonna play it

Turned it on

But I know you can take it up up up up all night long

Oh up up all night long

A/N: Merry Christmas! Now I can go and sleep, I'm like half-slumped over this thing and I'm literally so close to collapsing over this. Hahahahaha. Good night.