Present Day ~


Sunggyu was puzzled. “So, that’s the last time you saw them?”

Woohyun shook his head, as he released Sunggyu’s hand. His palms had gotten sweaty and he didn’t want the older to feel uncomfortable. “I had actually started forgetting about them, I wasn’t even sure what our relationship was, so I thought that maybe it was all for the best. But 3 years ago our paths crossed again. I was visiting a friend in the hospital and on my way out, someone called out my name – it was Taeyeon. I recognized her right away, she had grown up but she still looked exactly as I remembered her. We sat outside in the garden and she told me she was extremely happy to see me again, it was the same for me. She said that they wanted to tell me before they moved away, but they didn’t have my number. She was sorry, saying that she was the reason why the whole family had moved to Seoul. They came here to look for better doctors, but her condition never really improved. I was in a hurry that day, but I promised her I would come back and I did. On the next day, when I visited her, Taehyun was there too. I was quite surprised, he looked so different. He was no longer wearing baggy pants and shirts, his messy hair flying in all directions. He looked like a proper young man, he had really matured and I was glad he had gotten rid of all the swear words he used all the time.” Woohyun let out a chuckle, as he remembered how Taehyun used to behave back when they were still students. “So just like years ago, I started visiting at least once a week and before I knew it I was there almost every day. I even met their parents and we had meals together sometimes, but Taeyeon was always stuck in the hospital. As the months passed, her cheerful and bright self was replaced by someone who barely smiled, only because she didn’t have the strength to do it. The doctors said that all the meds had damaged her organs over the years and it would be a better choice to stop taking them. That was the irony – the pills that were keeping her alive, were also killing her. If she kept taking them, they would have killed her and if she stopped – it was going to lead to the same end. Taeyeon accepted her faith, saying that she lived longer that she probably was supposed to, so she decided to stop taking the pills. She knew what that meant, but she said that they just made her feel weak and sleepy and she wanted to enjoy the remaining time she had. Taehyun didn’t accept things so calmly though, he was furious, he wanted to keep his sister alive no matter what. He was ready to work his off and to send her abroad, to find better doctors, to find treatment, but Taeyeon told him to stop. She wanted to spend her last moments with her family and she loved Taehyun the most, she didn’t want him to be away from her, chasing after something impossible. All this time, I was there as well and it was really hard on me too, to accept all of this. Taeyeon was so young, she was supposed to have a bright future ahead of her, she was such a good person but the end came sooner than we expected. One day she was asking me to take care of her brother and on the next – she was already gone. Today is the 1 year anniversary of her death, so that’s why I went to the graveyard. I was supposed to be done by noon, but Taehyun invited me for a lunch and I needed his company as well, so we had meal. We had brought an album filled with Taeyeon’s pictures from when she was a baby, until her very last months. She was smiling on every photo, no matter how tired or sick she might have felt, she wanted her family and friends to remember her as the girl who always smiled and felt happy even in her worst moments. I think that finally put my heart at ease, because now I’m certain that she’s in a better place, where she’s no longer in pain, I know that she has found peace and that makes me-” Woohyun stopped talking when he saw that Sunggyu was spreading his arms. “W-what?”

Sunggyu did not expect such a detailed answer to his question, but now he definitely did not regret asking. Minutes ago, he barely knew anything about Woohyun and now he was aware of the hardships the other had went through. “Come here, I will give you a hug.” Sunggyu answered, fighting the blush that threatened to appear on his face.

Woohyun did not hesitate and dived into the hug, wrapping his arms around Sunggyu’s waist. He buried his face in the older’s chest and really enjoyed the other’s warm embrace. “Thank you.”

Sunggyu smiled slightly, as his hand slowly started caressing Woohyun’s back. “You must miss her a lot.”

“Yes, she was really like a sister to me. I miss talking to her or simply spending time in her room. I was never too fond of hospitals, but I got used to it over the years. I liked taking her out on short walks, though we just walked for a few minutes and then we had to sit on a bench, but I didn’t mind that. I’m sure that even this was hard for her, especially in the last months, but she never refused my request and always agreed to get some fresh air with me. There are many things that I wish we could have done together – take her to the zoo or to an amusement park, she was quite the coward so it would have been a funny sight to see her on the rides. But even when she was in her ‘best’ condition, those things were impossible. She said that everything was okay though, that the only thing she needed was her family and friends by her side, the place was never important. I had never even lost a friend before, so her death was shocking. But I’m sure Taehyun and his parents have it much harder than me, so…” Woohyun took in a few short breaths, because he had talked too much and needed some air. “Is there something else you want to know?” He asked Sunggyu, as he snuggled closer to him.

Yes, a lot. “It can wait, maybe tomorrow-”

“No, it’s fine. You can ask anything.”

Maybe Sunggyu had already learnt more than enough for one day, but he was getting more and more curious about Woohyun. He hesitated for a bit more, but it was obvious that the younger was waiting for his next question. “What about your family?”

Ah, right. I haven’t told you anything about that either. “I have an older brother, who moved to Japan 6 years ago and my parents still live in my hometown. They own a small restaurant and we don’t see each other a lot, but I try to visit them during the holidays. But having meals with them is a real torture sometimes.”

Sunggyu cocked an eyebrow and his hand just rested on Woohyun’s back. “And why is that?”

“My mom likes sitting really close to me, she practically breaths my air! And I need some space, gosh but that’s not the worst part! She likes feeding me, yes I’m 26 already but she still does it and she always stuffs my mouth with too much food! I swear, I’m going to choke to death some day!” Woohyun whined, but Sunggyu started laughing loudly at his words and that made the younger lift his head up, tilting it in confusion. “What?”

Sunggyu needed some more time to stop laughing and it was even harder, because of Woohyun’s intense and curious stare. “Ughm, sorry about that.” He cleared his throat, a huge smile still hanging on his lips. “Don’t you realize you’re exactly the same as your mom though?” Sunggyu asked, trying to suppress his laugher.

Disbelief was written on Woohyun’s face, as he broke the hug. “W-what?? I’m not! What do you mean by that??”

“You do realize that you always sit a way too close to me, right?”

Woohyun pressed his lips into a thin line, thinking about it. “I do?” I usually sit at a normal distance away from him.

“Yes, you do. And that one time when you fed me, you kept giving me more and more food, a way too much! I had to chew it for a whole minute before gulping it down.”

“But that’s not the same. It just looked like you can store a lot in your cheeks, so I wanted to test how much.” Woohyun admitted, giving Sunggyu the most innocent look he could manage.

“S-store?? What am I, a hamster or something??” Sunggyu questioned with a scowl on his face, but Woohyun did not answer and just kept staring at him. “Forget that I even asked.”  

Woohyun did not answer simply, because he didn’t even hear Sunggyu’s question. That was our first real hug. I’ve carried him many times, but it’s not the same. This felt a lot more intimate, ah I’m so stupid! I shouldn’t have pulled away so quickly. But still… he hugged me. Woohyun almost started giggling, when he realized that.

The huge grin plastered on Woohyun’s face, almost managed to creep Sunggyu out. What is he thinking about??

“You know that I used to take care of kids before you, right?” Woohyun suddenly asked.

“Hm? Yeah, mom mentioned it once. She thought you would have a hard time handling me, but-”

“But I proved to be pretty good at it, right?”

Easy there, no need to be so cocky. But yeah, he’s right. “You did that because of Taeyeon?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t stop thinking about all those kids I had met in the hospital. The children’s yard was full of many different cases, but all kids smiled so brightly when they saw me. They always begged me to come again and play with them, tugging at my pants and jumping around. People always ask me if it’s not hard, taking care of sick people, but it really makes me happy. I-I mean not because they are sick! I just… feel really good when I help them, it makes me feel complete. After meeting Taeyeon and Taehyun again, I started reconsidering many things, about what should come first in life and I could never stop thinking about one of the last conversations I had with Taeyeon. She told me something that made me stop and look around, to find the important things in life.”

‘Are you pleased with your current life, Oppa? Are you truly happy? Because to me, it certainly doesn’t seem that way. You smile a lot and you pretend that everything is okay, but I know you, maybe even better than you know yourself and believe me when I say this – you are not happy. Please, think about it. You have only one life. Don’t waste it doing something which your heart doesn’t truly desire, don’t waste it with people who are not worth it. Live your life to the fullest, not for me or for someone else – do it for yourself.’

“Her words hit me hard, I had never thought about those things before but I realized she was right. After her death, I left my job and took courses, so I could be a caretaker and those 10 months I spent with the kids in the center, they truly made me happy. So I don’t regret my choice, I never will.” Woohyun finished off with a smile, he was really glad he had listened to the girl’s words. She had indeed changed his life, for good.

“That’s great, it’s wonderful that you were able to find your path.” Sunggyu returned the smile, but his mind pointed out something as he replayed Woohyun’s words in his mind. “But wait, you left your job? Then what did you work as before?”

“Ah, I know I’m really reeeally good at taking care of people.” Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “But as I said, I just took some courses, I attended night classes and such, to improve my skills. But I used to be a journalist before.”

Sunggyu eyed the boy before him with eyes full of questions. “Y-you? A journalist? But why? It’s totally different from what you’re doing now and I can’t imagine you sitting behind a desk or interviewing someone, it’s just-”

“Alright, alright. I got it. You really didn’t expect it, but it’s the truth. When I was younger I didn’t really know what I wanted to become when I grow up, people constantly ask you that question, be it at home or in school. So you somehow come up with an answer. When you’re 6 you want to be a pilot, when you’re 12 you want to be a doctor, but when you turn 16-17, you start to really wonder about it and for me helping people was something I wanted to do. So I applied for journalism with the hope that I would be able to change lives, that I would be able to discover and share truths with the world that no one else did, but things didn’t exactly work out that way. My boss always assigned me tasks, which were insignificant, shallow cases that anybody could do a report about. I had just graduated when I met Taeyeon and Taehyun again and after working almost 2 years for that company I quit and followed my dream, which always has been to help people. I don’t know what I was thinking back then, believing that I would change the world with a few reports, I must have been so stupid-”

Sunggyu placed his hand over Woohyun’s and shook his head. “No, you were not stupid. You believed you were doing the right thing, . I was actually the same years ago. Did you know that I used to study law just like dad?”

Woohyun gasped at the news, he had asked Sunggyu so many questions, but he had missed that one. “No, I didn’t. So you wanted to be a judge like him?”

“No, I have always admired him for what he did but I wanted to be a lawyer. Just like you, I wanted to help people, to accept cases no one else did, the defend those who were innocent, but couldn’t afford the help they needed. So no, I don’t think you were foolish. You were a dreamer, you believed that you could change the world, to make it a better place and you are currently doing that. Thanks to you, I found that there are still good people around, people that can be trusted, you made me laugh and you made me feel alive again, so thank you. Thank you for being who you are, thank you for coming here, thank you for choosing-”

Sunggyu couldn’t continue his sentence, because Woohyun was pressing their lips together. Sunggyu was beyond surprised and his whole body just froze so he couldn’t even widen his eyes or push the other away, before he could process what was really happening, Woohyun was already back to his original position.

Weird. Woohyun thought, as he pulled away. I expected some outrageous reaction, but he’s just staring at me like he can see right through me. Okay, maybe I should just give it another try?

Woohyun got closer again and cupped Sunggyu’s cheeks, suppressing a laugh because of how funny the older’s face looked at the moment. Woohyun pecked the cherry-colored lips that were luring him in, before he fully connected their mouths together. Sunggyu grabbed his shirt and Woohyun smirked into the kiss. The younger’s intention was to break the kiss much sooner, but he really liked the feeling of Sunggyu’s soft lips against his, so he decided to enjoy this as long as he could. When he pulled back, he observed Sunggyu’s reaction which was far better than he had expected. The man in his arms was blushing madly, still holding onto his shirt and his eyes gave away that he was in a daze.

Woohyun chuckled at the sight. It’s your fault for always saying things like that. Is it just me or your words sound like an indirect love confession? What am I supposed to do with you, Sunggyu?

“W-what was that just now??” Sunggyu blurted out after a whole minute of silence. 

Woohyun tiled his head a bit, faking innocence. “A kiss, what else?” Well, 3 kisses in a row, but anyway.

Just because I froze like a stupid ice popsicle, it doesn’t mean I don’t know what a kiss is! Y-you just… you can’t do that all of a sudden without warning me beforehand! I almost got a heart attack! “I mean… why? Why did you do it?” Sunggyu questioned, while trying to hide his face, he was certain he had a rather idiotic expression