He’s awoken by the shifting of bed sheets; he’s sitting upright in seconds, his instincts prickling at high alert, before he takes into account the figure sleeping on his bed and the pale sunlight that filters through his windows.

He wonders how long it has been since he’s slept soundly past dawn without being awakened by the nameless demons that haunt his dreams. Gazing at the man who is still fast asleep, he’s suddenly hit by a torrent of emotion that he never asked for; and the increasing ache of his heart that pulses with every tick-tock of the clock.

Today…

“Jungsoo?” He calls the name softly, reaching out to shake the shoulders of the man; he’s unresponsive to both the calling of his name and to Heechul’s touch, and the latter gives off a sigh, deciding to let him sleep a little more.

The daily routine is followed - the making of coffee, the wiping of the kitchen table, the re-arranging of spotless mugs that he doubts he’s ever drunk from before, straightening dusty books he’s never read on the bookshelf he’s never really touched; it almost makes him want to laugh at himself, aware that only the coffee part is inside his daily routine.

Yet, he continues to carry out these menial tasks, busying himself with arranging things that don’t need to be arranged, cleaning things that already shine with polished sheen, sweeping floors which have been rarely tread on.

He enjoys doing things like this. It always takes his mind off things.

His ears are well-trained enough to pick out the sounds of shuffling and a pair of feet hitting the floor; he’s quick to grab a glass of water and a red apple. He begins to walk towards the bedroom the same time Jungsoo emerges, and they meet partway between the kitchen and the bedroom. “Have some water,” he offers, shoving both the glass and the apple into Jungsoo’s grasp.

The latter’s eyes glint with amusement as he surveys the food and drink in his hands. “You don’t have much in your house, do you?”

“Not at all,” he admits. “You can get groceries later.”

Jungsoo chews the apple with a languid rhythm, his gaze trained on Heechul with some form of fond sorrow. “I nearly forgot until you said that. I’m leaving today, right?”

Heechul can only manage a pained smile.

Jungsoo immediately picks up on it and begins to speak; Heechul wonders how he is able to read his facial expression after spending less than a year with him. No one else was ever able to, not even after years passed. “Don’t feel too down - we live near each other, we’ll definitely see each other around.”

“I don’t think we’ll ever see each other again.” The sentence is barely louder than a half-whisper.

“What do you mean?”

Heechul’s lips curve upwards more.

Jungsoo can tell that it’s a forced smile.

“Anyways, after this, I’ll let you go back to the life you led before you met me.” Heechul’s eyes are trained on the floor, or on the furniture, everywhere but Jungsoo. “Also, I have to meet a client at two-thirty, so I have to send you off before that.”

“Hey, Heechul?”

He manages to get Heechul to look up at him briefly.

“I’ll miss you, you know.”

Heechul’s response comes softly. “I will miss you, too.”

The interaction ends there; Jungsoo sips at his glass of water, and Heechul walks away, busying himself with preparing for his meeting with the client; long pants and a simple black shirt is thrown onto the bed, coupled with his signature twin daggers. Holding the lethal methal in his hands, he’s acutely reminded of the fact that he is an assassin, a trained killer, a silent murderer.

He’s harshly reminded of his life before he landed in this mess; he’s brought back to the memories of everything and everyone that once were faces before him and now are no longer treading the same universe as him. He’s reminded of every unremembered face dissolved into pools of thick red, every strike of his dagger colouring those moments of his life bright carmine red, of the way he doesn’t allow witnessing eyes to continue seeing and the way he doesn’t allow throats to release screams and the way he doesn’t allow emotions to matter to him.

Have you never allowed love to get in the way of your job, Heechul?

No.

I have never.

His grip is tight on the dagger, so tight that his knuckles are beginning to turn white.

Everything will be alright after he leaves.

As long as he still has the memory of Park Jungsoo in his mind, he knows that he will not allow his heart to open its shadowed chambers to anyone else.

He knows that he will not allow love to get in the way of his job.

After today, life will be normal again.

He sets down the dagger slowly, feeling tension leave his shoulders - the thought of returning to his old routines bring him some sort of comfort. Perhaps it’s because he won’t remember the faces or the names of anyone; no one will be able to haunt him if he distances himself from them.

“Heechul?” Jungsoo is calling him. “Should I go out and buy lunch today? You don’t exactly have much food in your house right now.”

He forces himself to c