Bang Yongguk always had an adamant animosity with the dark clouds that were a harbinger of the rain. Mainly because whatever followed the event would end up in a tragedy.

His grandmother had died when it had rained. And his parents had announced their divorce on a rainy day as well. The day his brother had left his home to pursue a future his parents didn't support, as well, had started with the sky crying. Sure every rainy day wasn't one that brought about tearful events, but every misfortune that had occurred in Bang Yongguk's life, was on a rainy day.

Maybe that was why he should’ve hated the boy. Because it had rained that day.

*****

Yongguk is shivering against the cold, hands shoved into his pockets, cursing mother nature under the shingles of an old grocery store when he catches glimpse of a dark haired boy waltzing in the rain. His hair, a wet mop over his porcelain skin. His lips etched into a ethereal smile, and his hand out in front of him as if holding another body. Yongguk should look away, he should avoid the boy.

Because it is raining and rain means tragedy.

But as if gravity pulling him in, his legs find themselves crossing the empty street over to the open canopy bus stop he has been trying to avoid due to rain.

As he reaches the boy, he is transfixed. Soft features that complement the fair skin and eyes that shine despite their size. The boy, yet unaware of his audience, keeps swaying his body with quiet giggles. The rain pelting against his forehead with gentle annoyance. Yongguk can hear the tenor in his voice through the giggles his lips elicit and somewhere in the distance, he can hear music ring.

And Yongguk stands staring. Just staring; a simple smile on his lips.

The boy turns around with a flourish and stops his movements when Yongguk comes into view. They stand still like that. Under the rain, their eyes blinking repeatedly.

It is wrong. It is raining and it is wrong, but Yongguk doesn't look away.

He smiles instead, pushing out his hand in greeting.

"Bang Yongguk" he states.

The other boy stares at the hand before slowly putting out his own.

The moment their hands touch Yongguk knows it is all going to turn into a tragedy. He can feel it just like he did when his girlfriend left him or when he was rejected for the audition. But he still smiles when the boy bows down in greeting.

"I'm Kim Himchan" he says and Yongguk can make out the slight higher and lower tones the boy speaks differently.

"Busan person?" He asks to which the boy replies with a nod.

And the Daegu boy feels his insides churn at the smile the Busan boy sends his way.

They smile at each other and Yongguk curses fate. Because it is raining. Because they just had to meet when it was raining.

*

"Yongguk!" Himchan yells as he runs down the beach and towards Yongguk. The Busan boy is waving around a piece of paper overhead as he gleefully jolts to a stop beside the Daegu boy.

Yongguk smiles a gummy smile when he looks up to see Himchan standing by his side, heaving and holding onto something excitedly in his right hand. He pats the ground beside him and picks out his headphones as he presses the pause button on his cassette player. "Someone looks a little too happy don't they?" Yongguk muses as he ruffles the younger boy's hair.

The Busan boy doesn't reply back immediately. He simply stares at the Daegu boy as the cool sea breeze messes his locks. The elder boy can feel something unsaid hanging in the air but waits for the younger to speak.

Himchan smiles a sunshine smile and shoves the paper into Yongguk's hand with eagerness.

The Daegu boy's eyes furrow at the contents of the paper. The message on it making sense after an entire minute. He looks up with wild eyes to stare at Himchan with an open mouth.

Himchan senses the speechless moment and answers with all the confidence he can muster in the elder, "you've got to keep trying, Guk. Not everyone recognizes genius when they see it. " He looks back at the sea and continues, "But you have to keep trying until you find someone who does."

It rains that day, but Yongguk still signs up for the audition. It rains that day, but Yongguk is accepted into the company.

*

They are lying under the mandarin tree taking in the cool breeze that smells like the ripened fruit despite the lack of it on the tree itself. Himchan hears Yongguk sigh for the seventh time that day and grins at the elder's cute antics.

The Busan boy watches the Daegu boy nibbling the paper in his hands in frustration and can't help but imprint the adorable image forever in his mind.

Frustration gets the better of him, and Yongguk scrambles and crumbles up all the papers he had been working on, tearing and throwing them out around him. Himchan calmly gets to his feet to pick up every piece before settling down next to the elder. The sight manages to calm Yongguk down enough to huff a sigh and take back the papers from Himchan's extended hands with a grumble.

"These lyrics are garbage. No good at all" Yongguk huffs out annoyed as he shoves them back into his bag.

Himchan smiles as he lies back down and asks mischievously, "is that why you never throw them out?" Yongguk doesn't reply back and Himchan isn't expecting him to either. He continues after a moment of silence, knowing Yongguk is waiting for him to speak, "I actually wish you'd show them to me." He looks up at the elder who is looking back at him intently. Himchan smiles as he continues, "I'm sure they tell a story worth being written in gold."

"Why" Yongguk whispers the question. His voice defying his curiosity.

Himchan sits up and looking at the elder boy and with sincerity speaks, "because your songs tell your story. I am sure they do. I haven't ever read any, but I am sure that every lyric that you write, speaks about you." A breeze passes and this time Yongguk can smell the mandarin and Himchan. Himchan smiles serenely and looks away as he continues, "and if it speaks about you, I know it'll be art."

It rains that day, later in the evening, as Yongguk walks Himchan back home. And it is raining when Yongguk sits down on his desk, busy taping back the torn lyrics and shredded songs he deemed garbage.

*

Yongguk stares at the boy in front of him as Himchan sings some song that Yongguk has heard too much in the little coffee houses that line the corners of Daegu or in the bus radios. And usually Yongguk would frown and shove his headphones closer to his ear, increasing the volume on his cassette player as high as it can go, and doze off until the next bus stop arrived so he could jump off the vehicle regardless if his destination came or not.

But, today Yongguk only stares. Fondly. At the boy who sways to the beat of the music as if it runs in his blood. And Yongguk catches a glimpse, finally, of Himchan's story as he sings his life in front of the Daegu boy. And Yongguk can see it shines golden. Himchan's story, that he writes in golden tears.

The Daegu boy watches the younger boy perform and braces himself for the imminent break down of the Busan boy but it never comes. And the elder is once again reminded of how brave the younger boy is.

It rains that day, by the time Himchan comes to a stop, heaving with tears marking his visage. And Yongguk let's Himchan read his lyrics, finally, letting his story be read.

*

They are sitting along the shores of the beach, in a secluded cove where the waves crash against their feet every time a high tide arrives. Yongguk looks over Himchan fondly as the later fawns over the two baby terrapins in his hands with awe. Yongguk shoots the boy with a gummy smile and ruffles his hair affectionately.

When Himchan looks up he gestures towards the tiny creatures in Himchan's hands and asks, "do you like them that much?"

Himchan nods his head expressively and with a cheeky smiles replies, "I love them! They are so cuteorable!"

"Que... toh... rable?" Yongguk asks with a raised eyebrow and bewilderment masking his face.

"Cute and Adorable, Guk!" Himchan replies with a shove in his knees.

Yongguk leans down and rubs the slightly bigger animal's head as he responds back with a smile, "I guess turtles can be cuteorable."

The Busan boy gasps and hits the Daegu boy in the arm as he corrects him almost as if he were a professional expert. "They are not turtles, Guk! They are terrapins! Turtles live 'in the water', terrapins, like these, live 'near water'!" He makes sure to use finger quotes to emphasize.

The Daegu boy rolls his eyes and shoves the Busan boy in fake anger and says while pouting, "I hate you."

Himchan smiles in reply and leans over Yongguk's knees putting out his hand under the elders face and squeals, "let's name them! I'll name the smaller one and you can name the bigger one." And seeing Himchan's kiddy smile, all of Yongguk's anger seems to disperse around him as he nods back willingly. "Cool! So... I'll name mine..." Himchan rubs his imaginary beard and continues, "Youngjae!"

"I'll name mine Daehyun."

Himchan smiles in awe at the terrapins in his hands and squeals to them like a three year old, "Hi Jae! DaeDae!"

It rains that day, on their way back. Himchan tells Yongguk how he wants to name his children by those names someday. Yongguk tells Himchan he likes him.

*

They are at a playground and the delighted shrieks of the toddlers in the church's playground fill the air as Himchan swings slowly on the tube swing. "Your father is quiet an excited man when it comes to sermons huh, Macho?"

Himchan rolls his eyes as he shoves Yongguk playfully in the ribs and responds with a shrug, "firstly, my father is always like that. I think he likes to make others listen to him without replying back. Maybe that's why he became a priest." He then stabs a finger into Yongguk's side, earning a hiss and continues, " and are you seriously going to keep calling me that?"

"What?" Yongguk smirks. "You said you were a real, manly man that ought to be treated like a manly man. So yes."

Himchan sticks out his tongue annoyed at him and diverts his attention back to the kids, a serene smile lighting up his face. They stay like that for a while. Letting the children's laughter ring through the air like Beethoven's Symphony.

The Daegu boy looks to his right with a gummy smile. The Busan boy is wearing a gentle smile on his face as he gazes at the scene ahead.

The elder boy smiles as he mutters to the younger one with a soft shove of his shoulder, "hey, Macho?" It's a whisper but the sound echoes in the ears of the younger boy. He turns to the elder, their faces mere inches apart. If he leans in they might kiss.

"Yes, Guk?" asks the Busan boy. Eyes shimmering with curiosity.

Words, stand still on the elder's lips and he is left searching for reason. With a shake of his head, he smiles as he replies back, "Nothing."

It rains that day, as Yongguk realizes that nothing is more beautiful than the moment when he calls to Himchan, and the younger turns towards him with a smile.

*

"I am a real man! A Busan man, Yongguk!" Himchan whines when Yongguk points out that real men aren't scared of ghosts. "I just don't want to get caught trespassing."

Yongguk grins and with a roll of his eyes replies back in challenge, "and who exactly is going to report you Kim Himchan?" He points at a tomb to his right and asks with raised eyebrows, "the dead?"

Himchan instinctively moves closer to Yongguk's side, stuttering as he speaks, "I- I'm s- sure there's a wa- watchman that guards this places." He eyes his surrounding apprehensively and his words sound more like a wish than a statement.

Yongguk grins and evilly responds back, "oh. Don't worry." He sends Himchan an almost satanic, innocent smile and says, "I made sure that to find the only graveyard that didn't have a watchman. I mean," he turns back, upping his tread making Himchan speed up beside him too, "I've got a Busan Real Man with me. Who needs watchmen right?"

The hollow laugh that Himchan responds back with is sure have Yongguk bawling his eyes out for the next few weeks. They continued to walk further into the cemetery, Himchan's whimpers becoming increasing hard not to laugh at. After another five more minutes of silent cursing Himchan asks his, his voice barely a whisper, "I just don't get why we have to be here in the first place."

Yongguk subtly pulls him closer to his side, sensing his fear. Himchan, sighs in relief.

They stop in front of a grave and Himchan immediately knows who it is. His tears alerting Yongguk of his discovery. The Daegu boy holds the Busan boy's hand and speaks, "Mum. This is him." He looks at the younger boy and smiles as he stares into his eyes, "my Macho man."

Himchan replies with their first ever kiss.

It rains that day, but Yongguk is smiling.

*

Yongguk pinches Himchan in the face in an attempt to break free from his grasp around the elder. He is seething and everything has turned red around him. Himchan's pleas to "Stop it,Yongguk. Please calm now. Don't do it!" fall on deaf ears and Yongguk tries to make Himchan let go of him as makes his way towards the door of his dorm room.

"Yongguk" says his roommate and Yongguk loses all the strength in his body and his body goes limp at the voice. "Relax."

Himchan lets go of the elder boy and shakily looks between the two elders. "I can't, Junhong. I can't relax!" He pulls a scared Himchan by his arm and points at the boy's battered face and yells at his friend, "Do you see his face, Junhong!? Do you see what that bastard has done!?"

Junhong spares a glance towards Himchan's swollen lips, his blackened eye and his bleeding forehead, and he knows that's not all of the boy's injuries. He heaves a sigh and lets go of Yongguk, pulling Himchan in through the door frame, knowing well enough that Yongguk won't leave the younger boy alone for a while now.

After Junhong has applied ointment to Himchan's lips and cleaned Himchan's other wounds that adorn his face he has to convince Himchan to take off his shirt so that he can treat the wounds that no one can see. But Himchan refuses and Junhong understands. "Can you do it yourself then?" he gently asks the boy and Himchan nods his head in reply.

But Yongguk will have none of it as he pushes into Junhong's room while the other is busy make porridge for the injured boy. The moment his eyes land on Himchan's body a tear slides down his face.

That night it doesn't rain. That night Yongguk spends tending to Himchan's wounds that no one has ever seen and the wounds that Himchan would never show. Himchan stays over that night. In Yongguk's bedroom, on Yongguk's bed, sharing Yongguk's body heat.

Morning arrives and the Daegu boy wakes up to the sight of the Busan boy snuggled into his side. And despite how much it pains to see the dried tear tracks on the younger's face, the elder smiles.

It rains that day, and Yongguk stays home, snuggling next to Himchan as the younger boy reads him a story. And Yongguk can't help but smile, despite the rain.

*

"My father said he'd kill me if I become gay" Himchan mutters into Yongguk's neck on the eleventh day of his stay at Yongguk's dorm. Junhong had stepped out to give the two some privacy when Himchan had woken up that morning saying he was ready to tell Yongguk what had happened the day he had started staying over. Yongguk silently thanked Junhong.

Yongguk pulls the slightly younger boy closer into an embrace and placing his chin over Himchan's head he answers back softly, "you don't just become gay, Chan. It doesn't work that way."

He feels Himchan's breathing stutter when the boy inhales before he speaks, "I told him that. And he g- got s-so angry. I tried to ru-run away but he- He said it was wr- wrong and that it's sinful. And I don't want to believe him. But… I don't...." His words are left unsaid and Yongguk can sense hesitation in the boy's voice.

He pulls away just enough to look into the tear-filled eyes of younger. He scrunches his eyebrows together in concern and asks, "do you..." He pulls away and holds Himchan at an arm's distance and asks firmly, "you don't believe him, do you?"

The Busan boy sees insecurity reflected back in the eyes of the Daegu boy. He sees uncertainty and self-consciousness in the elder's eyes and suddenly there are no doubts. Suddenly he isn't confused and he isn't worried about making the wrong decision. He leans in and kisses the elder boy and the Daegu boy responds back responds back eagerly.

It rains that day, and the two share more than kisses, a bed and a night together. Yongguk cherishes their first time together as Himchan gives the elder his ity.

*

It is raining.

And Yongguk is running barefoot, his feet sploshing on the wet, muddy ground as he tries to reach Himchan. The old man pulling at the young boy's locks with angry jerks. "Let him go! Let him go you !" Yongguk screams. It does nothing but attract attention of the townsfolk that step out of their homes to watch the scene unfold.

Yongguk falls to his knees as they reach the town center. Junhong comes to his side, pleading him to come back, to stop this madness, to come to his senses and just let it go. But Yongguk angrily shoves him off, offended. "Yongguk please" the younger boy pleads.

"Don't touch me" Yongguk bites out quietly, his eyes burning fire as Himchan screams in the background. He gets to his feet and walks away towards Himchan, muttering as he goes, "I thought at least you would stand for us."

Junhong doesn't follow, and the soon the rain stops too.

That day, the sun shines. It shines so bright that the blood that paints the town center, the murky puddles and Himchan's father's church robes dries up in the heat. Junhong cries for his friends and mutters a sorry as he walks away from the scene.

That day the sun shone too bright.

**********

The sun shone brightly but Daehyun looked away. Nothing good ever happened that early in the morning. He cursed the rays of the sun as he got up for his first class of the semester.

Something huge was going to happen, Daehyun just knew it. The sun was shining far too much for it to be an average day. Last time the sun had shone that bright Daehyun had received a brand new lottery ticket which later got stolen from him. His sister declared her marriage, to his ex-boyfriend. His parents announced a good news, that had Daehyun scrunching his nose, disgusted at the prospect of having a baby sibling at his age.

So Daehyun really wanted to avoid that. He really wanted to avoid another life-changing event.

*****

Youngjae ran down the corridor in an attempt to reach the lecture hall before the doors closed. He hated his alarm clock that just had to break when he threw on the ground to switch it off. He upped his speed, glancing at his watch, that showed that the time to be seven seventeen. Three more minutes before he was locked out of today's lesson.

Just as he turned the corner he could see the doors beginning to close. He rushed towards the entrance, seeing his chances fall but racing nonetheless, when a hand shot out the slight opening edging him to hurry up.

He grabbed hold of the hand and got pulled into the lecture hall, heaving a "thank you." He straightened up and adjusting his backpack on his shoulder exclaimed in pure Busan dialect, "I am almost lost my liver when I thought I' be locked out on my first day!"

The other boy stared at him comically before responding in his heavy Daegu accent, "good thing I was here then."

"Thankyou." Youngjae responded back sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. The other boy looks at him with shining eyes.

"Busan person?" He asked to which the boy replied with a nod.

And the Daegu boy felt his insides churn at the smile the Busan boy sent his way.

"I- I'm Yoo Youngjae. Please treat me well." Youngjae said with a bow.

"I'm Jung Daehyun."

They shared a bench, a textbook and phone numbers that day. And Daehyun could swear he found home in the new town.

The sun shone that day, as Daehyun fell for the boy's sunshine smile.

*

"So this is the famous Haeundae beach huh?" Daehyun exclaimed running into the shoreline, letting his feet dip into the salty waves. It was their tenth destination on the 'Getting to know Busan' tour that Youngjae had planned for Daehyun three months ago.

"Yep! The most famous beach in Busan, right there!" Youngjae replied back with equal enthusiasm while waving his arms around himself, spinning around in the sand.

They made sandcastles and played volleyball with the city kids. They ate spiral potatoes and fed seagulls before settling down near the shoreline, close enough to feel the cool water lap their feet.

"It's beautiful right?" Daehyun asked Youngjae. The sun was setting in the background creating a halo around the elder's head.

The Busan boy didn't reply back immediately. He simply stared at the Daegu boy as the cool sea breeze messed his locks. The elder boy could feel something unsaid hanging in the air but waited for the younger to speak.

"I..." Youngjae hesitated but shook his head to speak again. "I like you, Daehyun."

The sun shone that day, as the two shared their first kiss.

*

"It's supposed to be somewhere here though." Daehyun said with a frown etching on his face. He turned the map this way and that in hopes of making sense of the thing but nothing seemed to come together.

"Are you we are even at the right place though, Dae?" Youngjae asked with amusement lacing his tone as he watched the elder slowly getting more and more frustrated.

Daehyun groaned and replied back, "I'm sure, Jae!"

The Busan boy watched the Daegu boy nibbling the paper in his hands in frustration and couldn't help but imprint the adorable image forever in his mind.

Youngjae grabbed hold of Daehyun's shoulder to stop him from panicking and pointed to a mandarin tree in the distance. "Let's rest for a while before we search again okay? I'm sure your granddad won't mind us being a little late."

The sun shone that day, and Daehyun soon found his way around the town to his grandfather's brother's home. The entire way Youngjae teasing him for not known his way around his own town.

*

They were back in Seoul after their second year anniversary get-away and Youngjae was currently pacing around nervously backstage. Daehyun was their rubbing his back, and reminding him that he'd do great.

When Youngjae stepped on stage, Daehyun was right there, holding a banner that read his name cheering for the boy and Youngjae could feel confidence surge into his vessels.

He fell mid turn however, and Daehyun could see the blood form a small puddle where his ankle had hit the boom lights on the stage. But, Youngjae never stopped.

The Daegu boy watched the younger boy perform like nothing happened, and braced himself for the imminent break down of the Busan boy but it never came. And the elder was once again reminded of how brave the younger boy is.

Youngjae didn't win but the way Daehyun cooed over his performance, patting him on the back for how he kept going despite the pain, Youngjae felt that no award could top the proud look in his hyung's eyes.

The sun shone that day, and Daehyun fussed over him for the entire next week.

*

It was their third anniversary together and they had come down to visit Daehyun's favorite granddad. Youngjae had been staring at the terrapins in the elder's garden with apt attention, smiling unknowingly.

"They're called Daehyun and Youngjae" came a voice from behind him. Youngjae turned with a start to find Daehyun's grandfather peering down at him.

"I'm sure Dae must've named them that" Youngjae mused with a roll of his eyes.

The elder behind him chuckled under his breath as he shook his head. "Daehyun wasn't even born when I had them." When Youngjae looked at him with a frown, he explained, "they aren't even mine. They are my best friends'. They had wanted to name them Daehyun and Youngjae."

"I see." Youngjae sensed resentment, regret and something else in the elders voice and chose to ignore it as he replied back with a simple, “what a coincidence.”

"I see you found them turtles huh?" Daehyun announced as he walked out into the garden sleepily.

The Busan boy gasped and hit the Daegu boy in the arm as he corrected him almost as if he were a professional expert. "They are not turtles, Daehyun! They are terrapins! Turtles live 'in the water', terrapins, like these, live 'near water'!" He makes sure to use finger quotes to emphasize.

The Daegu boy rolled his eyes and shoved the Busan boy in fake anger and said while pouting, "I hate you."

The sun shone that day, and Daehyun's grandfather caught a glimpse of the gummy smile and sunshine eyes he had once walked away from.

*

They were babysitting the kids in the orphanage and Youngjae spied two of the kids, a boy and girl, holding hands even while swinging on the swings.

"They are cuteorable!" squealed the younger boy and Daehyun rolled his eyes at Youngjae's vocabulary. "Daehyun, look at them!" he said while never looking away.

The Daegu boy looked to his right with a gummy smile. The Busan boy was wearing a gentle smile on his face as he gazed at the scene ahead.

The elder boy smiled as he muttered to the younger one with a soft shove of his shoulder, "hey, Macho?" It was a whisper but the sound echoed in the ears of the younger boy. He turned to the elder, their faces mere inches apart. If he leaned in they might have kissed.

"Yes, Dae?" asked the Busan boy. Eyes shimmering with curiosity.

Words, stood still on the elder's lips and he was left searching for reason. With a shake of his head, he smiled as he replied back, "Nothing."

The sun shone that day, as Daehyun realized that nothing could be more beautiful than the moment when he calls to Youngjae, and the younger turns towards him with a smile.

*

Youngjae was more frightened than he was when they had done it the first time. More scared than the time his microwave was making that weird noise. He actually didn't know when he'd been this terrified in his life.

Daehyun sensed his anxiety and held the younger boy's hand tightly as he walked into the room. Youngjae was greeted warmly by the woman and that only made him more anxious. Daehyun knew of course. He could clearly see the beads of perspiration on the younger's forehead.

The Daegu boy held the Busan boy's hand and spoke, "Mum. This is him." He looked at the younger boy and smiled as he stared into his eyes, "my Macho man."

The squeal his mother elicited had Youngjae flinching away only to be pulled into a bear hug by the woman who couldn't seem to get over "how cute he is!"

The sun shone that day and Youngjae was finally part of a family.

*

Youngjae cried that night. The entire night the younger boy cried, being cradled into the elder's arms.

"Sh- she likes me, Daehyun! She likes me!" he wailed into Daehyun's now wet sweater.

Because finally someone accepted him. Years after being kicked out of his home he had a family. After years of being homeless he now had a home. And he couldn't thank Daehyun enough for it.

"Don't thank me, idiot." Daehyun spoke to him, amused. He pulled the boy closer under the covers and reminded him, "she's your mother too now, so call her Mum okay?"

Youngjae stayed over that night. Snuggled into the elder's embrace. Smiling in his sleep but crying still. Thanking God for Daehyun's family.

Morning arrived and the Daegu boy woke up to the sight of the Busan boy snuggled into his side. And despite how much it pained to see the dried tear tracks on the younger's face the elder smiled.

The sun shone that day, when Youngjae and Daehyun spent the entire day introducing Youngjae to Daehyun's huge family. Daehyun's mother, excitedly tagging along, much to Daehyun's dismay and Youngjae's utter delight.

*

Daehyun looked up at Youngjae from his crouching position on the ground with a sheer lack of confidence. His right knee was hurting but he wouldn't get up. He had to do this the right way.

Youngjae was staring at the simple couple ring that sat in the box that Daehyun was holding. Words betrayed him at the proposal. The flowers, the banner, the cake, the suits and Daehyun getting down on one knee.

Youngjae hesitated, though. Because this was so out of the blue. Daehyun had never hinted anything of the sort and Youngjae was confused. Was it happening too fast? Was it right? Were they ready? Would anything change? Would nothing change? Questions that sounded demonic kept ringing in Youngjae's ears and he was scared.

After what felt like a lifetime Youngjae removed his eyes from the ring and looked at Daehyun.

The Busan boy saw insecurity reflected back in the eyes of the Daegu boy. He saw uncertainty and self-consciousness in the elder's eyes and suddenly there were no doubts. Suddenly he wasn't confused and he wasn't worried about making the wrong decision. He leaned in and kissed the elder boy and the Daegu boy responded back eagerly.

The sun shone that day and Youngjae said "yes."

*

The sun was shining brightly that day.

Youngjae smiled at the pair of boys he could call his own as he leaned into his husband of three years. His sons making too much noise. Daehyun grinned as he pulled Youngjae up from the bench they were sat on and called to his sons with waving hands.

"Yongguk! Yongnam! Hurry up!" He yelled at them. "We need to pick up Uncle Uppie from the airport!"

The kids ran towards them and came to a halt when they reached their parents. Yongguk, who was seven, scrunched his eyes and stated with a pout, "Uncle Uppie is weird. I don't like him."

Daehyun looked at him and sternly explained, "you're not supposed to speak that way about my brother, brat!" Yongguk had started bad mouthing people two months ago and nothing Daehyun did would make him stop.

Youngjae placed a placating hand over his husband's shoulder and bent down to Yongguk's height as he explained more gently, "Uncle Uppie didn't mean to eat all your hamburgers the last time he visited. You shouldn't hate him. He likes you so much right?" When he saw Yongguk's pout turn around as he nodded, he continued, "and he always brings you gifts and let's you sit on his shoulders and makes you laugh with his crazy dancing right? You and Yongnam are his favourite, Yongguk.”

Yongguk nodded but bit back annoyed "but he has a son now. I'm not his favourite anymore."

Half of the car ride was spent trying to convince Yongguk that Daehyun's brother still loved Yongguk despite having a child of his own now. The rest was spent trying to get Yongguk to share his crayons with Yongnam. It hadn't worked before and it didn't work then. Yongguk was only placated slightly by the time they reached because, "at least Uncle Bunhongie is coming too, Yongguk."

They reached a little early and had to wait another hour before Jongup’s flight arrived. During which, Yongnam cried eight times because "Yongguk is a meanie! He won't share his milkshake!" and "Yongguk is bad! He keeps stealing my cookies!" and "Yongguk says I'm ugly!" And other such instances.

When Jongup and his husband Junhong arrived Youngjae greeted them graciously before whispering slyly to his husband, "I can never get over how much Junhong resembles your grandfather." Daehyun just rolled his eyes.

They introduced the six year old boy they had adopted exclaiming with pride that he was from Busan and sounded adorable when he spoke in satoori.

Yongnam, still speaking in his Jeolla-do dialect, became fast friends with Himchan while Yongguk stayed back only sending the kid careful glances while chatting with Junhong about this new Pokemon that breathed fire but could live under water too.

When Junhong pulled Himchan aside to introduce him Yongguk, he almost squealed, like Yongnam did every time he saw a cockroach, declaring how cute it was. Youngjae produced a camera from his backpack and recorded the entire 'first meeting' as a keepsake of how innocent Yongguk used to be before he turned into the imminent gangster Daehyun was sure he would become.

"Bang Yongguk" he states.

The boy stares at the hand before slowly putting out his own.

"I'm Kim Himchan" he says and Yongguk can make out the slight higher and lower tones the boy speaks differently.

"Busan person?" He asks to which the boy replies with a nod.

And the Daegu boy feels his insides churn at the smile the Busan boy sends his way.

It rained that day and everyone stood shocked when Yongguk let Himchan under his umbrella, promising him to let him have his cookie when they get into the car and exclaiming excitedly that he would share his favourite magenta crayon with Himchan.

That night Youngjae lay awake shifting uncomfortably until Daehyun gave up and asked him what was wrong.

"Do you think Yongguk likes Himchan?" Youngjae asked back. He immediately shook his head at the thought and rebutted his own assumption stating, "just because he was nice to him! As if! I'm sure it's because he was happy that he was still Uppie favourite and because of Jin."

Daehyun shook his head and replied with a knowing smile. "He does like him, Jae"

Youngjae furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "you can't say that for sure. He was probably just being nice."

Daehyun shook his head a no and replied, "he likes Himchan. I know he does. I'm sure of it."

"Why? How come?" Youngjae asked curiosity etched onto his face.

The Daegu pulled the Busan boy into a warm embrace and said evenly, "because boys from Daegu are meant to fall in love with boys from Busan."

That day, it rains beautifully.

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