Kihyun isn’t too sure where he is when he opens his eyes. He looks around in all directions in utter confusion. It’s just… empty. He isn’t in his room, as there’s no Hyunwoo or bed or knickknacks or clothes. He isn’t home, as there’s no video games or arguing in the background or Hyunwoo or begging for him to cook.

There’s just… nothing. Purely nothing.

Silence fills his ears, and it’s almost deafening. He takes a step, then another, but doesn’t dare venture too far away. He doesn’t want to lose his way, as he’s sure is all too easy to do in a place like this.

“Kihyun-ah.”

Kihyun whirls around, and is face-to-face with a man. He seems a bit older, but not by much. He’s staring at Kihyun with a look of utter love and admiration, and Kihyun is struck in the gut by a heady sense of familiarity. This couldn’t be…

“I’m so proud of you, son.”

“Appa?”

The man chuckles at the disbelief on Kihyun’s face. He steps forward, and takes the boy into his arms in a bone-crushing hug. Kihyun’s throat clogs up, and his arms circle the man’s waist as he buries his face in the older’s shirt to hide his tears. All this is so overwhelming, and so soon after saying his goodbyes to the others… He has no hope of holding back the waterworks now.

“You’ve handled this all so well, Kihyunnie,” his father compliments warmly. He breaks away, holding the young man by the shoulders. “I couldn’t be prouder of how mature you’ve been throughout the process.”

“Is it… Is it over?” Kihyun can’t help but ask, the hope in his voice clear. He’ll admit, his body doesn’t feel nearly as heavy, and his voice comes out much stronger than before. He reaches up to run a hand through his hair absentmindedly, and finds surprisedly all his hair has grown back. He glances down at his own form, and sees he’s returned to more than just skin and bones.

“It’s over,” his father affirms, and Kihyun can’t help but laugh relievedly. He jumps up once, just testing the strength of his own limbs, and is happy to find he can finally hold up his own weight once again, much less move without tiring himself out.

“Kihyunnie!”

There’s a sudden pull in his chest, causing him to double over in pain and shock. He gasps, the pull burning him inside with an intense desire to find its source and never leave it.

Hyunwoo, Kihyun realizes as he hears the voice again. He turns to glance behind himself, pressing his lips together in uncertainty.

“You’re a special case, you know,” the man says, drawing Kihyun’s attention back to him. Kihyun turns to face him, his brow scrunched up questioningly. “You’re not just a phoenix, Kihyunnie, but also a human. This reincarnation thing effects only your phoenix half. Your human half, although close to death, could easily be healed with the right care…”

“What do you mean?” Kihyun asks, his mind going a million miles a second at what his father could possibly be telling him this for. “That doesn’t make a difference, because—”

“Because you’re still dead?” his appa interjects, an amused smile contorting his lips. “Your human half can be healed, and, if you’ll remember, you started crying just before you fell asleep. Do you remember why your eomma always warned you about crying in front of others?”

“Because my tears…” Kihyun drifts off midsentence, recalling all the times in his childhood his mother had told him to keep it in unless he was around someone he absolutely trusted, not because she wanted him to keep it bottled up, but because…

Kihyun’s gaze flicks up to meet his father’s, a silent question in his eyes. His father only nods, a small smile on his face now. He reaches out, grasping Kihyun by the shoulder.

“You have a choice to make, my son,” he tells the boy. “Make sure you make the right one.”

Kihyun gulps hard, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously. He feels the tug in his heart once more, and he releases a small laugh, glancing back again as his decision is already made.

“Kihyunnie!” Hyunwoo calls frantically, shaking his love’s limp form.

No. Things can’t end like this. He refuses to let the younger die like this.

“Kihyunnie… Kihyunnie, please,” Hyunwoo pleads, his voice breaking as the tears he’d held back before demand to fall. He kneads his bottom lip between his teeth, unable to tear his eyes away from how Kihyun doesn’t respond to his call.

The bedroom door behind him swings open, and soon Kihyun’s mother is kneeling beside him. Her eyes are sorrowful, but unsurprised. She sets a gentle hand on Hyunwoo’s arm, and he finally looks away from Kihyun only to give the woman a pain-stricken gaze. He glances between the two, completely at a loss as to why he’s the only one reacting to all this.

“Hyunwoo,” she mutters softly, sympathetically, “it’s done. He’s finally no longer in pain. We need to be grateful for that.”

Hyunwoo can only shake his head in reply. His disbelieving stare returns to Kihyun. His eyes zero in on a single tear on his pale cheek he hadn’t noticed before.

He must’ve cried in his sleep, Hyunwoo thinks numbly. He reaches up to wipe away the tear from the man’s perfect face, but, just as his thumb is about to touch it, it shimmers ever so slightly and seems to sink into Kihyun’s skin.

He pulls his hand back, blinking and staring hard at the skin once again. Surely he hadn’t seen right. Surely—

The man in his arms suddenly stirs, the softest of groans emitting from his throat, and Hyunwoo and the woman both lean back in shock. Hyunwoo dares to hope, leaning forward again as if to mentally will Kihyun to open his eyes.

As if on cue, the vocalist’s eyelids slowly crack apart, revealing his beautiful brown eyes.

“… Hyunwoo~” Kihyun breathes out, his tone sweet and loving. Hyunwoo releases a shaky cry, and pulls Kihyun into a tight embrace. Kihyun raises his arms and hugs back with a surprising amount of strength. He glances past Hyunwoo’s shoulder to see his mother and the other members circling him, each with an equal look of astonishment on their faces. He only chuckles breathily, making a mental note to explain things to his mother after the excitement dies down.

For now, he’s just glad to be in Hyunwoo’s arms again.