Sungmin walked from his accommodation to Hiroshima Castle, though it was quite a distance, but he enjoyed the morning walk. Hiroshima Castle was the home of the daimyō of the Hiroshima han. The castle was constructed in the 1590s, but was destroyed by the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945. 13 years later, its main keep was rebuilt in ferro-concrete with an attractive, partially wooden exterior. 

The interesting part of this castle which make it different from other castles was, within the castle's precinct itself, there was a shrine, with some ruins and a few reconstructed buildings of the Ninomaru (second circle of defense), and the shrine has a tall white Torii Gate. Looking at the gate, Sungmin remembered seeing it in the pictures of ruins after the Atomic Bomb, in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which he visited yesterday. This white torii Gate was one of the structure that was left standing at ground zero too.

He proceeded to walk to the main park surrounding Hiroshima Castle. Fresh air and beautiful flowers. Too bad the sakura flowers has dropped to the grounds, else they would made a beautiful sights around the castle. 

He took a tram to Hiroshima Station to have lunch with Kyuhyun. He was just about to enter the station main entrance when he heard his name being called from that rich baritone voice. 

"Sungmin!!" Kyuhyun was calling him while waving his hand. "Kon'nichiwa!! How was your tour of Hiroshima Castle?" he asked when Sungmin was nearer and smiling at him. Sungmin was really handsome in his own way. No, the correct term should be 'beautiful'. "Ahh, what am I thinking?!" Kyuhyun scolded himself. 

"Hi! Hmm, I enjoyed the castle. It's beautiful and the wooden exterior made it unique. I even visited the shrine. Really, lovely and peaceful place". 

"Good!! Ok we'll have lunch at Bakudan-ya Honten. I love their Tsukemen and I hope you will like it too. This way" and Kyuhyun once again use his hand gestured to show the way. Sungmin loved how polite Kyuhyun was which depict Japanese way of life. All in all, Sungmin felt that Hiroshima people are truly humble and respectful, and love their city. Maybe because their elders had went through the difficult time during the bombing. 

Their lunch was excellent, and Kyuhyun brought him to shop around Asse. They went to Shukkei-en garden next and Sungmin was so full of wows and "so pretty" because Shukkei - en was exactly that. 

Valleys, mountains, and forests are represented in miniature in the garden's landscapes. Through careful cultivation of the land and vegetation, the garden mimics a variety of natural formations and scenic views. Around the garden's main pond there are a number of tea houses which offer visitors ideal views of the surrounding scenery.

"Kyuhyun, if I may ask, why do you decided to stay and work here in Hiroshima?" Sungmin asked while they took a rest in the tea house. 

Kyuhyun looked at Sungmin and was contemplating to tell the truth or politically correct answer. 

"Errr, it's ok if you preferred not to say, I'm sorry if I step on something personal" Sungmin apologise when he felt that Kyuhyun was quiet. 

Kyuhyun took a deep breath. "Yes it's personal" and he held his hand to stop Sungmin from talking "but I am okay to share it with you" Kyuhyun said after deciding that Sungmin is a trusted friend and somebody that he would love spending his time with. 

"Kyuhyun, really, you don't have to tell me. I'm so sorry for asking" 

Kyuhyun smile "It's ok" and he looked down before started his story. His father had arranged for a lunch with his relative family to discuss marriage between Kyuhyun and their daughter Seohyun, which he was against it. When he didn't turn up, his father angrily called him while driving. 

The reason why he didn't turn up was because his friend, Siwon, had declared his love to him and wanted Kyuhyun to give him a chance for them to be boyfriends. 

Sungmin looked surprised which prompted Kyuhyun to ask "Yes I like guys, do you have a problem with that? You can just say it you know, I don't mind" 

"No, Kyuhyun, I have no problem with that. I like guys too" 

It was Kyuhyun's turn to be surprise because he thought Sungmin was straight. 

"Anyway, my best friend Changmin told me to ask myself, whether I can accept Siwon, and if I can, then go ahead to give him a chance, which I did, and we were supposed to meet on that particular day. But my father delayed me and kept scolding me over the phone while driving. I kept telling him we can talk at home but he refused. Suddenly I heard a loud crash and the line went dead" Kyuhyun looked down again and took a deep breath. 

Apparently, Mr Cho was trying to detour from a runaway van and causing him to knock against a side divider and knocked down a pedestrian. Both the pedestrian and Mrs Cho died, and the pedestrian was none other than Siwon. Kyuhyun heard the crashed from where he was waiting for Siwon and ran to the site, and was devastated when he saw that it was his father's car and both of them were seriously injured and to his horror, Siwon was the one that got knocked down by his father. He died on the spot. 

Kyuhyun's mother died on the way to hospital and only his father survived. He blamed his father for the deaths and eventhough his father was acquitted from any charges because he detoured due to the runaway van, Kyuhyun still couldn't forgive him and left Seoul to join Changmin in Hiroshima. He got a job and decided not to return to Seoul. 

Sungmin held Kyuhyun's hands "I'm sorry Kyuhyun for asking you to tell me on your painful story". 

"It's okay, and actually it lifted the heavy burden in my heart. Though I have no more feelings for Siwon, I still felt heavy to go back to see my father. Maybe one day I will" Kyuhyun looked at Sungmin and smile. He was actually thankful to Sungmin for getting it off his chest and he felt better. 

"Sungmin, you were saying you like men too?" 

"Ahh yes, I am also like you, so that's why I have no problem with that". 

"Thank you, Sungmin for asking so that I could talk about it to get it off my chest. I felt better now" Kyuhyun smile at him. "It's getting dark, shall we go?" 

"Yup, let's go. I saw there is an a Indian cafe advertisement at Hiroshima Asse just now. Have you tried that? Is the food good?" 

"Oh Namaste? Yes, it's very tasty and delicious. I love their Naan. Want to eat there for dinner?" 

"Yes I want to try, provided you let me pay" Sungmin smile. He really owe Kyuhyun a favour for accompanying him and bringing him around. 

Kyuhyun smile, and when Sungmin insisted, he nodded his head, and led the way. Namaste is on 6th floor in the Hiroshima Station ASSE building, it offered great Indian and Nepali flavors. Kyuhyun recommended Sungmin to choose the Star set, which was ¥1580, and it came with salad, chicken tikka, hariyali kabab, nan, vegetable curry and butter chicken. It was simply delicious and he enjoyed it a lot! 

They parted ways when Kyuhyun has to alight at the station near Hondori, and Kyuhyun told Sungmin that he would wait for Sungmin at Honkawa Station tomorrow morning at 10am. 

Sungmin truly enjoyed Kyuhyun's company, especially during dinner where they had fun laughing on silly jokes and teasing each other on how well they could eat Nan with their hands. Somehow knowing that Kyuhyun likes men gave him a little hope. He likes Kyuhyun and happy that Kyuhyun considered him as a friend and wished that he could stay longer in Hiroshima. He slept peacefully smiling at Kyuhyun's handsome face. 

They met at Honkawa station near to Sungmin's accommodation the next morning, and boarded Tram Line 2 to Miyajima Station and pier. Itsukushima, also known as Miyajima, is a small island in Hiroshima Bay, western Japan. It is known for its forests and ancient temples. Just offshore, the giant, orange Great Torii Gate is partially submerged at high tide. It marks the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine, which was first built in the 12th century. They boarded a ferry and Kyuhyun pointed to Sungmin the torii Gate from the ferry when they were nearer to the island. He chuckled because Sungmin was so excited and busy clicking away with his camera. 

There were so many deers roaming around but Kyuhyun kept reminding Sungmin not to feed them. They walked around the quaint villages, bought ice-cream, ate fresh oyster, and went nearer to the gigantic torii Gate for Sungmin to take photos. 

Kyuhyun suggested that they went up Mount Misen, by the ropeway.  The ropeway leads up the mountain from town, and at 500 meters above sea level, Mount Misen is the highest peak on Miyajima. On clear days, it affords spectacular views of the Seto Inland Sea and one could view as far as Hiroshima City. 

There were only two of them in the ropeway cabin, and Sungmin placed his camera bag on the opposite site while he stood next to Kyuhyun to take the ariel view photo while the Ropeway ascend upwards. Suddenly due to strong winds, their cable car cabin shook, and automatically Sungmin reached out to hold Kyuhyun's hand because he was scared. 

Kyuhyun held Sungmin's hand tightly, and before he could stopped himself, he bend over and kissed Sungmin's lips. Stunt, Sungmin was immobile for a while before he relaxed in Kyuhyun's kiss. Realising what he did, Kyuhyun quickly apologised but still held Sungmin's hand. 

"It's okay, Kyuhyun, don't worry about it. At least you drove my scary feelings away!" Sungmin smile to live up the ambarrasing situation. 

"My body just go by instinct I guess, to calm you. I'm so sorry" 

"It's really ok. I enjoyed it" Sungmin smile, referring to the kiss, which made Kyuhyun chuckled and pinched Sungmin's nose. They both laughed but deep down in their hearts, they knew that the kiss had broken down a lot of barriers to open up the door to their heart. 

Sungmin resumed taking photos and they even took a selfie in the Ropeway cabin. 

From the ropeway's upper station at Shishi-iwa Observatory, it is still about a 30 minutes walk up to the summit along a rather steep hiking trail. The Misen Hondo and Reikado buildings are located along the trail, about five minutes before the summit. Kyuhyun helped Sungmin on difficult paths, and decided to just held Sungmin's hands until they reached the summit.  They climbed more than 2000 stone steps and passed by the Takinomiya Shrine and beautiful Shiraito Falls as they walk. They rest at the fall and continued to the summit, which proof to be stunning. 

Towards the end of the day and on the tram riding back to Honkawa, Sungmin started to feel sad because he was going back to Seoul the next day and would definitely missed Kyuhyun and Hiroshima. 

"Sungmin, how about we pack dinner and eat inside your accommodation, if you don't mind?  At least we don't have to look for seats" Kyuhyun suggested. He wanted to spent more time with Sungmin and this way it would just be the two of them in the apartment and they could talk and relax, and he could help Sungmin to pack too. Though his heart was heavy to let Sungmin go, it couldn't be help. Sungmin has to go back.

Sungmin readily agreed because he too wanted to spend more time with Kyuhyun. They packed dinner from an eatery near Sungmin's apartment and bought drinks from a family mart. 

"Wow, nice apartment!" Kyuhyun praised honestly. It's smaller than his apartment but very cosy and neat. The AirBnB owner must be a lady because of lovely small flower pots in corners and in laundry areas. 

"Thanks, it's the best I could get near to the Peace Memorial Park which was still available. A little on the high price though, but still cheaper than hotels. Let me clean the table so that we can eat!" Sungmin said, removing his bags of shopping items and wipe the table with serviettes. They started eating and talk about Miyajima island. 

"I'll help you pack later so that you can sleep early. What time is your flight?" Kyuhyun asked after they had finish eating and sat at the sofa. 

"3.05pm from Fukuoka, and it's Korean Air. So I have to take Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Hakata, then take an airport shuttle to Fukuoka Airport" Sungmin read from his note that he has saved in his phone. 

"Hmm, from here to Hiroshima Station takes about half an hour.  The Shinkansen journey should take an hour, then from Hakata Station to the airport should be about 15 mins. So just nice, you need to checkout at 10am, correct? I will come over before 10am". 

"You don't have to send me off. I've already so thankful for what you have done for me so far, Kyuhyun" Sungmin sat next to Kyuhyun on the sofa. 

"I'm free tomorrow and I want to send you. I've reserved something from Starbucks at Hiroshima Station, so tomorrow I can collect and pass to you" Kyuhyun smile. 

"What did you reserved?" 

"A flask with the word Hiroshima" 

"Really? Wow, thank you, Kyuhyun" Sungmin smile happily at Kyuhyun. 

Unable to resist Sungmin's cuteness, Kyuhyun bend over and kiss Sungmin. "I'm sorry for my bold movement. I don't know why with you, I feel different. I can talk and laugh easily with you, I want to so spend time with you and my heart feel heavy to part with you. But I know that you have to go back, so I just hope that we can continue to keep in contact". 

"Kyuhyun, me too, eventhough we just met and spend so short time together, but I feel like I've known you for a long time. I feel at ease with you and I truly enjoy your company. My heart feel heavy too, to leave. So yes, we should keep in contact and maybe, meet again somewhere. I will definitely miss you and miss Hiroshima". 

Kyuhyun pulled Sungmin into a hug and they stayed like that for a while. After a while, Kyuhyun said that Sungmin should start packing so that he could sleep early. And they did just that. When everything has been packed, Kyuhyun took his leave. At the door, he kissed Sungmin briefly and said "Sleep early okay, I'll be here tomorrow with breakfast before you checkout". 

"Okay, goodnight Kyuhyun". 

The flask that Kyuhyun reserved was really nice. It has the background of Hiroshima city and has the word Hiroshima on it. And the best part was, it was in the shade of pink! Sungmin's favourite colour! It came with a circular box carrier, with a circular cover and a string attached from the lower box to the circular cover. Sungmin loved it! 

Kyuhyun had came as promised on Sunday morning, with some delicious buns and they had a quick breakfast before leaving the apartment at 10am. Now they were having coffee at Starbucks at Level 2, Hiroshima Asse, at Hiroshima Station. 

Then, it was time for Sungmin to board his Shinkansen. 

"Goodbye Kyuhyun. I will message you when my flight going to take off and when I reached Seoul" and he hugged Kyuhyun. 

Kyuhyun hugged him tightly. "Goodbye. Have a safe journey, Sungmin. We'll meet again some day" and he squeezed Sungmin's hand before letting go.  He waved as Sungmin went through the gantry and took the escalator up to the Shinkansen platform. 

Sungmin went back to his office the next day. Both his close colleagues, Donghae and Ryeowook fussed over him to see photos and asking him how was Hiroshima. 

"Hiroshima is great and very beautiful. But Hae and Wook, I really don't know how I'm going to live from now on. I left my heart in Hiroshima" Sungmin said sadly.