“Donghae, you can’t be here. It’s not your time yet.”

“I don’t want to go,” Donghae whines. “It’s so lonely out there.”

“Donghae, I’m telling you to listen to me for once this time. You don’t belong here.” Hyukjae reaches for Donghae’s face, and he steps closer. “You can’t stay.”

“Hyuk,” Donghae cries. “I’ll do whatever it takes, okay? I will come back.”

Hyukjae shakes his head, and he kisses Donghae, pleading with him to turn away. The sun is rising on the horizon, the sky mixing into a purple hue. They were inside their car, the familiar scent of pine wafting in the air. In the background, a song about rain comes on. Donghae recognizes that it was a song that they played on the night they got married.

Donghae gasps awake, his senses taking in everything all at once. He’s never felt so alive.

“I saw him,” he whispers to himself. “I saw him.”

He feels hands on him, trying to push him down.

Donghae frowns, the surroundings unfamiliar. He feels so empty and cold.

~

Donghae is waiting for the next fix. If he can induce his heart into a much slower pace, he can black out and go to Hyukjae. He pockets every painkiller that he can find, collecting them so when the time comes, he will go under, and have more time with Hyukjae.

He is restless. His fingers are drumming on surfaces, clasping and unclasping, never settling them down to rest.

When no one is looking, he digests everything. He adjusts his morphine. Then he lies back on his bed, his chest heaving slowly. Donghae feels lightheaded and tingly. He hears the blood pump tediously in his ears, knowing that it is working. He closes his eyes and sees a dim street lamp. He walks toward it, finding the surroundings familiar.

There were flyers and trash everywhere, some of them rolling along with the soft, summer breeze. A person bikes past him, and his eyes find a bakery.

“Donghae!” Hyukjae yells. Donghae whirls around, and sees his husband’s dandy frame striding towards him. The dark trees overhead rustle ominously.

The moonlight creates a ghastly shadow on Hyukjae’s defined features, and it makes Donghae want to curl inwardly. Something is wrong. Hyukjae looked...no, Donghae will not say it.

“What are you doing here?” Hyukjae interrogates. A frown appears on his forehead.

Donghae shakes his head. “Please, Hyukjae. I want to be with you.”

Hyukjae steps closer and holds Donghae in his arms. “Okay. Okay. You can, but you have to go soon.”

“Hyuk, just come back with me so I don’t have to do this.”

“Charge to 200!”

Hyukjae looks up. The world around them vibrates.

“Let me save you, so I don’t have to die every time to get to you,” Donghae reasons.

“That’s not how it works.” Hyukjae pulls away and places his hands on Donghae’s neck. He his jaw with his thumbs and pecks Donghae on the lips.

“I can’t live without you.”

“I can’t either, but you know that we will meet again. However, today is not that day.” Hyukjae wipes away Donghae’s tears.

“Charge to 300!”

“Clear!”

“Donghae, I love you so much. I love you, and I’m sorry I can’t be with you, but you have to go live on. You love capturing memories, right?” Hyukjae looks into Donghae’s eyes, trying to talk some sense into him. “Capture a lot, and then come back to me then. Capture more of those until there is nothing left.”

“Clear!”

“Call the time.”

“Donghae,” Hyukjae urges. “Go. Go on. I am okay.”

Donghae looks at him, bewildered. “But I just got you back.”

“Donghae, go!”

Donghae opens his eyes wide, and he sees several faces above him.