“Hakyeon,” Jaehwan pouted, “please, you have to meet him.”

“You know he’s not gonna stop until you agree,” Hongbin spoke up, not even glancing away from his camera, “just say yes already.”

“Fine,” Hakyeon sighed, “but I don’t get why I have to meet this human you’re so crazy about.”

“It’s because I love him,” Jaehwan sighed, none too thrilled to be explaining this for the tenth time, “I love him and I’m gonna marry him.”

“He’s human,” Hakyeon frowned, “you aren’t. How’s that gonna work? What are you gonna do when he dies?”

“I’ve got plans for that,” Jaehwan grinned proudly, “no matter what he wants, I’m prepared.”

“You mean you’d die when he does?” Hakyeon frowned, “you’d just……die.”

“You must really love him,” Hongbin said, frowning slightly as he finally looked at his friends, “giving up all of this…….that’s pretty big, Jae. You sure?”

“I’m sure,” Jaehwan nodded, “trust me, I’ve thought a lot about this.”

Hakyeon just looked at his old friend, unable to understand what was going through his mind. Jaehwan loved life so much, why would he tie his life to a human. Their lives were so short, over and done in the blink of an eye. This Taekwoon person…….he had to be someone special. Someone extraordinary. Hakyeon was suddenly very interested in meeting him.

 

--

 

“Sorry I’m late,” a young man with blond hair smiled as he reached their table, smiling brightly, “my teacher refused to let us go on time.”

“It’s alright, Hyukkie,” Taekwoon smiled at the young man, “you’re not that late.”

“We only just ordered,” Jaehwan nodded, grinning brightly at the human and accepting his offered hug.

Hakyeon glanced at Hongbin who was just as confused as he was. He didn’t realize that anyone else was coming to dinner. Jaehwan and Taekwoon hadn’t said anything about anyone else. They’d been getting dinner together once a week for a couple of months now and it had always been just the four of them.

“Oh!” Taekwoon frowned slightly after noticing the looks on Hakyeon and Hongbin’s faces, “this is my little brother Sanghyuk.”

“Hyukkie’s the reason we met,” Jaehwan added, “he’s super sensitive to magic, way more than Woonie. He saw me one day and came over to talk. Next thing I know we’re friends and he’s setting me up with the love of my life.”

“Jaehwan,” Taekwoon huffed, looking away to hide his red cheeks.

“It’s nice to meet Jae’s friends,” Sanghyuk grinned, “he’s talked about you a lot.”

“He’s mentioned you before,” Hongbin smiled, taking Sanghyuk’s offered hand, “Hakyeon probably forgot about it.” He and Jaehwan laughed at that, “He doesn’t pay attention to a lot of stuff.”

“Hush,” Hakyeon scowled at then, trying to ignore the heat in his cheeks that happened as a result of Sanghyuk’s smile and laughter.

The young human took a seat beside Taekwoon, ordering dinner for himself before falling into conversation with everyone. Sanghyuk and Hongbin got on like a house on fire, exchanging contact information and setting up a next meeting before dinner was half-way done. He got along with Jaehwan rather well too, clearly having no problem with the fae dating his brother. Hakyeon had known people who had a problem with stuff like that; they thought that humans and fae should stick to their own kind. It was nice to know Sanghyuk wasn’t like that.

Hakyeon didn’t say much during that dinner, just watching everyone laugh and smile. He didn’t know why, but his eyes kept landing on Sanghyuk. There was something about him that just……..it was so captivating to the fallen angel. It was honestly a little scary. He hadn’t felt this drawn to a human since……..well, he’d rather not talk about it.

Hakyeon decided to avoid Sanghyuk; no good ever came from getting close to humans like that.

 

--

 

Hakyeon’s decision ended up being meaningless.

It was like fate had decided to go against him at every turn. Everywhere he went, Sanghyuk was there. He went to get coffee, there was Sanghyuk getting something for himself. He took the bus, Sanghyuk got on a few stops later. He went to the library, Sanghyuk was sitting with a bunch of his college friends getting homework done. Sanghyuk was always there. Maybe he always had been, Hakyeon just hadn’t noticed because he had no reason to before.

After a couple months of this, Hakyeon gave up. He stopped trying to avoid Sanghyuk, instead approaching the other when he saw him and trying to engage him in conversation. It wasn’t easy, Hakyeon’s communication skills were a little rusty, but he managed to start conversations. Sanghyuk was clearly willing to talk to him too since he made sure to keep those conversation going. It wasn’t long before Sanghyuk started to refer to him as a friend and Hakyeon started to regard him as a friend as well.

Hakyeon found that Sanghyuk made him smile and laugh like he hadn’t in ages. Sure, Jaehwan and Hongbin made him laugh too, but……not like this. With Sanghyuk, he didn’t find himself thinking of the past. For once, the things that had happened to him didn’t seem to matter. Just being around Sanghyuk made all of his problems fade away to the back of his mind. And the effect Sanghyuk had on him didn’t vanish as soon as the human was gone, it lingered long afterwards leaving Hakyeon feeling warm.

It was perfect.

Well, almost.

 

--

 

“Hakyeon!” Sanghyuk grinned when he noticed the fallen angel enter the coffee shop, “hi!”

“Hello,” he smiled back at the human, “what brings you here today? I thought you were going to sleep all day.”

“I was,” Sanghyuk laughed, “but then I started missing Wonsik and I just had to come see him at work.”

“I wish you’d stayed home,” the barista, Wonsik apparently, frowned, “you haven’t slept much this week. You’ll get sick if you don’t rest soon.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sanghyuk assured the other human, “and I can always spend tomorrow in bed.”

“You better,” Wonsik scowled before turning his attention to Hakyeon, “you must be the famous Hakyeon that Hyukkie’s been telling me about. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Wonsik, Sanghyuk’s boyfriend.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Hakyeon smiled, ignoring the flash of pain he felt upon hearing the other’s introduction, “I must admit, Sanghyuk didn’t mention a boyfriend when we last spoke.”

“We’re kind of a new thing,” Sanghyuk shrugged, “we’ve gone on a few dates, but….”

“Sanghyuk only asked me to be official a couple days ago,” Wonsik flashed Sanghyuk a playful smirk, “took him long enough to get the courage to do it.”

“Hey,” Sanghyuk pouted, “you could have asked too, hyung. Don’t act like I was the only one scared of rejection.”

“True,” Wonsik nodded, “I’ll admit I was scared you’d turn me down. But in my defense, it’s been ages since you last dated someone seriously. How could I have known you’d say yes to me?”

Hakyeon watched the exchange, his best fake smile squarely in place and a cold feeling building in his gut. He just…..he couldn’t……what was happening? Sanghyuk……Sanghyuk had a boyfriend? The cold feeling spread from his gut to his heart, grabbing the poor organ in a vice-like grip. The fallen angel watched the pair for a little longer before getting something to drink and leaving.

Once in his apartment, Hakyeon tossed the drink in the trash and curled up in his bed. He hoped that his blankets would be enough to chase the cold, but deep down he knew that this was foolish. He just…..he didn’t understand it! How could Sanghyuk’s relationship upset him so much? Shouldn’t it be a good thing that the young human was happy and in love? Why would his joy upset Hakyeon? He should be happy for his friend!

Hakyeon knew the answer, he just didn’t want to admit that he had fallen in love with the human.

 

--

 

“Sanghyuk’s not here?” Hongbin asked at the group sat down to enjoy dinner together.

“He’s on a date,” Jaehwan grinned, almost vibrating with excitement, “so he’s gonna skip out on us this week.”

“He mentioned something about dating someone,” Hongbin hummed, “sounded pretty taken with the guy. Hope I get to meet him soon, kind of wanna see what the fuss is about.”

“Wonsik’s a good guy,” Taekwoon nodded and Hakyeon let out a small noise of agreement.

“You’ve met him?” Hongbin scowled at the older supernatural being, “how?”

“He works at the coffee shop near my place,” Hakyeon shrugged, hoping that he was covering his real feelings with the correct fake ones, “we’ve talked a few times and he’s very sweet.”

Hakyeon wished that wasn’t the case. He wished that Wonsik was a horrible person, someone who didn’t deserve Sanghyuk’s love. The bitter, jealous part of him wanted so badly for Wonsik to be some kind of monster. If he was, then Hakyeon could swoop in and save Sanghyuk from him and then Sanghyuk might love him. But that wasn’t how things were. Not even close.

Wonsik was wonderful. He was bright and talented, a gifted song writer and rapper based on what Hakyeon had heard during an open mic night the coffee shop had held a few nights prior that Sanghyuk had insisted on dragging him too. He cared about Sanghyuk greatly, too. From what Sanghyuk had told him, Wonsik treated like he hung the moon or something. Having seen the two interacting, Hakyeon had to agree. Wonsik……he brought out the best in Sanghyuk, made him smile and laugh like no one else could.

“I’m really looking forewords to meeting him now,” Hongbin laughed, “you think it’s serious enough that he’d bring him to dinner? Does he know about all…….this?” Hongbin gestured to himself, Jaehwan, and Hakyeon, clearly indicating the magical stuff.

“Sanghyuk’s planning to bring him,” Taekwoon replied, “and tell him, so I think it’s pretty serious.”

“Maybe they’ll be getting married soon,” Jaehwan laughed, “thoughts, Woonie?”

“I’d be ok with that,” Taekwoon said after a moment of thought, “honestly, Wonsik’s the first boyfriend that I actually like. I mean, I haven’t hated the others, but……..I don’t know. There’s something about him that just…….I trust him with Sanghyuk. With his heart, his dreams, and life.”

Hakyeon kept his mouth shut, forcing down the pain that surged through his body and threatened to expose his true feelings. Instead he forced a smile, hoping that it looked real enough to fool everyone. Apparently it did because no one said anything. The group changed the topic after that and Hakyeon did his best to take part in the conversation, but his pain kept him quiet for most of the night. No one said anything, but he noticed Jaehwan sending him a few worried glances. He mouthed ‘tired’ to the other and the fae must have bought it because he never said anything later.

At home, Hakyeon found himself sitting on the roof of his building looking out at the night sky with longing eyes. It had been a long time since he’d last felt the need to fly, to sore away into the night sky and leave all his problems behind. He just……he felt so foolish. He shouldn’t have had these feelings in the first place. He should have stayed away from Sanghyuk. But he’d ignored his head and followed his heart and just look at the mess he’d gotten himself into.

“I only knew him for a year and a half,” Hakyeon whispered, “that’s a blink of an eye to someone like me. It shouldn’t be so hard to let go of these feelings.”

And yet…..it was.

Hakyeon tried his best to push away the feelings he held for Sanghyuk, but they refused to leave. He tried to put some distance between himself and the human, yet when push came to shove and Sanghyuk was calling him asking if he was alright…….Hakyeon just ran right back to his human’s side. He knew how much it hurt to see Sanghyuk with another, but he just…..he couldn’t stay away. And the more he tried, the more it hurt. Yes, seeing Sanghyuk happy with another killed his heart, but…….but Sanghyuk was happy and that soothed the ache in his chest.

So, Hakyeon decided that he would watch over Sanghyuk, would be his guardian angel.

And he’d do it with a smile so that no one would ever know how he really felt.

 

--

 

“Hakyeon!” Sanghyuk grinned as the angel entered the waiting room, “you’re here.”

“How’s everything going?” Hakyeon asked, returning the hug that Sanghyuk offered.

“It’s going well,” Wonsik laughed happily, “can you believe that we’re minutes away from meeting our son?”

“Could be a daughter,” Sanghyuk pointed out to his husband, “we don’t know.”

“Yeah, but I have a gut feeling,” Wonsik shrugged.

“Taekwoon isn’t going to like that he missed this,” Hakyeon said, smiling softly at how excited the couple looked.

“It’s his own fault for moving to the Faerie Kingdom,” Sanghyuk shrugged, “if he wanted to be the first to hold his niece or nephew, then he should have stayed here.”

“He can hold the next one,” Wonsik shrugged as well, “but for now, you’ll be the first to hold him.”

“After us,” Sanghyuk pointed out, “naturally.”

“Goes without saying.”

A nurse entered the room, looking for Sanghyuk and Wonsik. The pair rushed after her, over the moon to see their child. Hakyeon took a seat, waiting for when they would call him in to see the newest addition to their family. He honestly hoped that they took their time because he needed a few moments to collect himself. Thus far, this didn’t hurt his heart as much as when Sanghyuk told him that they were looking for a surrogate, nor when Sanghyuk had asked him to be a part of the wedding party.

Hakyeon was sure that actually seeing Sanghyuk and Wonsik’s child would kill his poor heart.

“Hakyeon?” Sanghyuk smiled later, handing the fallen angel his son, “meet Kim Woojin.”

Turned out, it didn’t.

Hakyeon changed his promise to be Sanghyuk’s guardian angel to include Woojin. Wonsik as well. These three humans……he would do everything in his power to see that they lived long, happy lives. Sanghyuk deserved it, as did his son and the man he’d decided to spend that long life with. A couple of years later, when Sanghyuk told him that he and Wonsik were going to have another child, he changed the promise to include the newest addition to the Kim family.

 

--

 

“Sanghyuk!” Hakyeon gasped, rushing into the hospital.

He paused for a moment, struck by the memory of when he’d last been here. It had only been a couple months prior to welcome little Seungmin to the family. Everyone had been there – Taekwoon and Jaehwan, Hongbin, Wonsik and Sanghyuk’s parents, himself and little Woojin who didn’t really understand what was going on, and of course the proud parents.

Now…….now things weren’t nearly as pleasant.

“H-Hakyeon,” Sanghyuk sobbed, falling into the fallen angel’s arms, “he…..he…….Wonsik--.”

Hakyeon held his love close, fighting back his own tears. Wonsik was a good friend of his by this point. They’d often find themselves talking for hours about music and dance. Wonsik had been the one to volunteer Hakyeon for babysitting duty for Woojin, something Hakyeon enjoyed a great deal. When Wonsik was struggling to come up with name ideas for the new baby, he’d gone to Hakyeon for help. There was something so touching about that, about knowing Wonsik trusted him enough to name his child.

And now…….Wonsik……..

…..

A car crash.

The doctor insisted that he’d died instantly, or at least within moments. He hadn’t felt any pain. He’d said it like it was supposed to make Sanghyuk feel better, like that should be enough to make him stop crying. The way he talked, the way he acted……it reminded Hakyeon of a few angels of death that he used to know. He could still recall how one had informed a single mother that she was dead. The woman’s children were certainly going to die without her to provide and protect them, but the blasted death angel didn’t care about anything but getting his damned job over with. Hakyeon had to step in to calm the woman’s soul as best he could.

This doctor…….damn him! Damn him for acting like none of this mattered, like Sanghyuk should just be okay after a few moments. Like Sanghyuk’s sobbing was some kind of inconvenience to him.

“How?” Sanghyuk sobbed later as Hakyeon held him tightly, “how can I go on without him? He’s my sun, Hakyeon. My moon, my earth, and my stars. How can I do this without him? How can I raise Woojin and Seungmin without him? Oh god, Seungmin! He was just born, Hakyeon. He…..he’s never going to remember Wonsik! He--…..he…..”

Hakyeon could do nothing but hold the other until he finally fell asleep.

“I promise you,” Hakyeon whispered once he was sure Sanghyuk was no longer awake, “I will help you. You won’t do this alone.”

Hakyeon held himself to this promise, going out of his way to be there whenever Sanghyuk might need him. Taekwoon, Jaehwan, and Hongbin tried as well, but living in the Faerie Kingdom worked against them. Time flowed differently between the two worlds, a week in the human world was only minutes to the Kingdom, so travel between the worlds was tricky at best. If Taekwoon wanted to be there for his brother, then he’d have to either move back to the human world or leave the Kingdom every two minutes.

To make it even harder, Taekwoon was starting to undergo a transformation. Humans that stayed in the Faerie Kingdom didn’t stay human; the magic of that world got into their blood and bones and turned them into something else. While his change was only in the beginning stages, no one was sure if frequent visits to the human world would disturb the change or not. And if the change was disturbed, no one knew what would happen then. Would it stop the change for now? Or speed it up? Would it stop completely, leaving Taekwoon the lone human in a world of magical beings? Or would there be an even worse outcome?

Thus, Taekwoon couldn’t really be there, nor could Hongbin and Jaehwan who were helping him with his change.

Hakyeon understood, really he did. That just……it didn’t stop him from wishing that they could be there to help him.

As it turned out, just being there offering a helping hand wasn’t really good enough. Sanghyuk……he’d gotten it into his head that he shouldn’t need help. That he had to manage just fine on his own. As a result, he was refusing Hakyeon’s offers to assist him and the fallen angel had no idea what to do. He saw that Sanghyuk was working himself too hard, that he was going to break, he just…..he couldn’t stop that break from happening.

It took a couple of months, but eventually Sanghyuk broke.

 

--

 

“Sanghyuk?” Hakyeon knocked on the door, gentle knocks quickly turning to pounding when he heard the sounds of children crying and fire alarms and smelt smoke.

When Sanghyuk didn’t answer the door, Hakyeon busted it open. He found the three humans in the kitchen. Seungmin was in his high chair, baby food all over himself and the chair, wailing so much that his face was red. Woojin sat in his own chair, sobbing like his brother but nowhere near as messy. The smoke was coming from the frypan that was sitting in the sink, whatever had been cooking in it was burnt beyond recognition. And Sanghyuk? He was sitting on the floor, tears streaming down his face and a lost look on his face.

“Oh, Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon sighed sadly, wishing that things hadn’t gotten to this point.

The fallen angel set about fixing everything. First he got the fire alarms to stop which helped calm the children down. Next came cleaning the boys up and getting them down for a nap. Hakyeon wasn’t sure if he was messing up their sleep schedule by putting them down for naps right then, but he didn’t really care either. After that, he set to work cleaning up the kitchen and sitting Sanghyuk down on the couch with a glass of water. When that was done, he joined his favorite human in the living room.

“I thought I could do it,” Sanghyuk whispered after a long silence, “I really thought I could.”

“You didn’t have to try,” Hakyeon replied, pulling the other into a hug, “I’m here, just tell me to do something and I’ll do it. I’m happy to help you, Sanghyuk.”

“You won’t always be here though,” Sanghyuk replied, “there’s going to be times when I have to do this alone, so….”

“I will always be here,” Hakyeon insisted, “Sanghyuk, I don’t know if you realize this, but I don’t exactly have a lot going on in my life. Whenever you need me, I can be here.”

“I feel like I’m imposing on you,” Sanghyuk frowned, trying to wipe away his tears, “you shouldn’t have to do that.”

“I want to do this,” Hakyeon said, frowning deeply at the very idea of Sanghyuk imposing on him. His human could never be an imposition.

“Ok,” Sanghyuk said after a moment, “ok.”

Hakyeon became a permanent fixture in the Kim house after that.

When Sanghyuk needed to go out, he was right there to watch the kids. When Sanghyuk was having trouble giving the kids baths, Hakyeon was right there to lend a hand. When Sanghyuk was trying to keep an eye on the kids and cook at the same time, Hakyeon was there to take over one of the tasks. When Sanghyuk was tried after a long day at work and Woojin wanted a bedtime story, Hakyeon was there to read to him so the other could sleep.

Whenever he was needed, he was right there.

Sanghyuk couldn’t be more grateful.

 

--

 

“I’m home,” Sanghyuk said, voice almost a whisper.

It was late, the moon and stars out and the sun long gone, and he was dead tired. Normally, Sanghyuk liked his job as a dance instructor for an entertainment company. He got to do something he loved for a living, what wasn’t to love about that? But normally, he didn’t have to stay super late working with idols and trainees. Normally, he could get home at a decent hour so he could see his kids before they went to bed. Unfortunately, he’d been assigned to work with the company’s top group and that required a lot of late nights at work. Normally that wouldn’t be so bad, it was a huge honor to be given such a job, but he just……he missed his kids.

He’d noticed this feeling before, shortly after Woojin was born. He’d returned to work and just found it really hard to focus on work. He missed his son so much and all he wanted to do was go home and spend every second with him. Wonsik had suggested he do just that, insisted that he could work while Sanghyuk stayed home. At the time, Sanghyuk hadn’t wanted to put all that responsibility on Wonsik’s shoulders so he’d kept his job and learned to ignore the feeling. But then Seungmin was born and the feeling got so much worse that he couldn’t pretend not to feel it anymore.

Wonsik had been insisted that he quit this time, that he listen to that feeling.

But then…….

Someone needed to bring in a paycheck.

Sanghyuk went to the kitchen, finding a note Hakyeon had left about dinner in the fridge and he felt his heart warm. It also left him feeling a bit sad because Wonsik used to do the same thing when Sanghyuk worked late. After warming up the food and eating it, Sanghyuk went looking for the fallen angel. He knew Hakyeon was around, but it took him a few minutes to find him.

When he did, his heart melted.

Hakyeon was sleeping in his bed, Woojin cuddled against his side and a book lying on his lap. Seungmin was sleeping peacefully in his crib on the other side of the bed. Sanghyuk was tempted to take a picture, but he was sure that the sound would wake someone up. After a moment or two more of watching, Sanghyuk took the picture anyway and, sure enough, Hakyeon woke up. The other man blinked for a moment or two, trying to get his bearings, before looking at Sanghyuk and smiling softly.

“Hi,” Hakyeon whispered, carefully getting up so as not to wake the boys, “when did you get home?”

“Just now,” Sanghyuk replied, “did they go to bed easy?”

“Yeah,” Hakyeon laughed lightly, “Seungmin was out like a light as soon as I put him down. Woojin fell asleep…….about halfway through the story.”

“Thanks,” Sanghyuk smiled, leading them out into the hall and down to the living room so they wouldn’t risk waking up the boys, “I’m sorry I was so late.”

“It’s alright, Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon insisted, “it’s perfectly alright. How was work?”

“Draining,” Sanghyuk admitted, “and not just because of the long hours. I miss the boys when I’m gone.”

“That’s understandable,” Hakyeon pulled Sanghyuk into a one armed hug, “Wonsik……he mentioned wanting you to stay home. Is this…..part of that?”

“I didn’t really want to go back to work after Woojin was born,” Sanghyuk sighed, “Wonsik told me to quit and stay home with him then, but I didn’t want to put the pressure of being the only paycheck on his shoulders so I didn’t listen. But with Seungmin……”

“You can stay home if you want,” Hakyeon said, “I’ve got money, I can help. Jaehwan and Taekwoon wouldn’t mind helping you financially. Your parents and Wonsik’s, too. Hongbin as well!”

“I can’t do that,” Sanghyuk frowned, “that….that really is imposing. What if I never go back to work? What if I’m a stay-at-home-dad until the boys move out? How would I pay everyone back? I have to pay them back.”

Hakyeon looked at him for a long moment, trying to figure out what to say. No one would expect Sanghyuk to pay them back, they just wanted to help. If Sanghyuk spent the rest of his life living off of Hakyeon’s money, he wouldn’t mind at all. The darn stuff wasn’t doing him any good anyway. Jaehwan and Taekwoon would say the same thing; their human money was no good in the Kingdom after all. But he had to remember that this was Sanghyuk. For as long as he’d known him, the human insisted on either paying for himself or paying people back as quickly as possible. The only one who’d ever gotten past this was Wonsik.

“Fine,” Hakyeon finally sighed, “but if you ever change your mind, I’d be happy to pay for anything. Human money doesn’t really do me much good.”

“I know,” Sanghyuk relaxed slightly, “and…..thank you for the offer.”

The pair fell into silence after that. Eventually Sanghyuk fell asleep and Hakyeon took him up to his room. After making sure that everyone was comfortable, he went to the guest bedroom. Honestly, he might as well call it his bedroom now. He slept there almost every night and rarely went to his own apartment. To be totally honest, he should probably sell his place and just move in. But……..

Hakyeon stopped that train of thought, too tired to get into his worries about the future, and went to sleep.

 

--

 

“Dad,” Woojin frowned, looking at all the decorations around the living room, “why are you doing all this?”

“It’s Seungmin’s birthday,” Sanghyuk frowned at the five year old, “why wouldn’t I be doing all this.”

“But he won’t remember,” Woojin argued, “that’s what the kids at school said.”

“He might not remember,” Hakyeon spoke up, entering the room with some presents, “but that’s why we’ll take pictures. We’ve got pictures of your second birthday and you don’t remember that. Would you rather we didn’t do anything? Or does knowing we did make you feel happy?”

“It makes me happy,” Woojin said after a moment, smiling softly, “that’s when you got me Teddy.”

“Yeah,” Hakyeon nodded, smiling brightly. Teddy was the stuffed bear that Woojin always slept with and Hakyeon felt more than a little honored to be the one who’d given it to him.

“Did you get everything?” Sanghyuk asked Hakyeon.

“Yeah,” the fallen angel nodded as he set everything down so he could help Sanghyuk, “foods ready, too.”

“Thanks,” Sanghyuk smiled at the other, “guess all we’re waiting for is the guests.”

“Are uncles Taekwoon and Jaehwan coming this year?” Woojin asked.

“They said they were,” Sanghyuk nodded, “but they could be running a little late.”

“I hope not,” Woojin frowned, “I miss them.”

“I know, Jinnie,” Sanghyuk sighed, kneeling down so he could hug his oldest child, “I miss them, too”

Hakyeon watched the pair, hiding a smile. He hadn’t told anyone, but he’d talked Taekwoon and Jaehwan into sticking around for a couple of days. He knew that Sanghyuk missed his brother but would never ask for him to visit more often or for longer. He knew that Taekwoon already felt like for not being there very often after Wonsik died, knowing that Sanghyuk missed him might make that worse. It wasn’t Taekwoon’s fault that he needed to be in the Kingdom because of his change, but Taekwoon sure saw it that way.

Honestly, the brothers were just too much alike sometimes.

Anyway, since Sanghyuk wouldn’t ask, Hakyeon did.

He couldn’t wait to see Sanghyuk’s face when Taekwoon told him the news.

 

--

 

“Hey,” Sanghyuk said, slipping into Hakyeon’s room after everyone else was asleep.

“Hey,” Hakyeon smiled, moving so that Sanghyuk had room to sit on the bed if he wanted.

“I know what you did,” Sanghyuk told him after taking a seat beside the other, “and……thank you.”

“I knew you’d never say anything,” Hakyeon shrugged, “but I though you needed some brother time, so…..”

“I do,” Sanghyuk sighed, resting his head on Hakyeon’s shoulder, “I didn’t realize how much.”

“Jaehwan and I can look after the kids tomorrow,” Hakyeon said, “if you two wanna do something.”

“That would be nice,” Sanghyuk nodded, “you two can take the kids out somewhere and Woonie and I can stay in and just……..talk. Hang out like we used to when we were kids.”

“Whatever you need,” Hakyeon replied.

The pair fell silent after that, perfectly relaxed and happy.

A thought struck Sanghyuk as he sat there, one that he’d actually been having a lot as of late. He…..he loved Hakyeon. He didn’t know how exactly to feel about that. On the one hand, this was love and it filled you with joy. On the other hand, there was a little voice whispering in his mind that falling in love with someone after only two years of Wonsik being dead was a betrayal of his husband. On yet another hand, he wasn’t sure how Hakyeon felt and he was terrified that telling the other how he felt would ruin everything.

He couldn’t lose Hakyeon, especially because it wouldn’t be as simple as just losing a friend. His boys adored Hakyeon and they would be devastated if he left. Not that he thought Hakyeon would just up and leave them! Hakyeon adored Woojin and Seungmin, he would never just leave them, but if the friendship between him and Sanghyuk was destroyed he might start being around less and less often. Sanghyuk couldn’t do that to his kids!

Sanghyuk sighed, his thoughts draining him of whatever energy he’d saved from the events of the day, before excusing himself from the room and going to bed.

 

--

 

“Tell him,” Taekwoon advised Sanghyuk as the pair sat in the living room, blankets wrapped around them and hot chocolates in their hands while a movie played in the background, “trust me, everything will be fine.”

“How do you know?” Sanghyuk asked, “Woonie, I normally trust your judgement completely, but this……..I need to be sure.”

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon smiled softly at the other, “Hyukkie, Hakyeon’s been I love with you for years. Since before you even met Wonsik. He never said anything because he was too stupid to realize it until after you and Wonsik became a thing.”

“Really?” Sanghyuk gasped, “he’s……he’s been in love with me all this time?”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon nodded.

The pair fell silent after that, allowing Sanghyuk to digest this new information. To be honest, he’d wondered about Hakyeon’s feelings before. You don’t go above and beyond like that for just a friend after all. But he’d always dismissed those thoughts. After all Hakyeon was an angel, a fallen one but still, and Sanghyuk was just a human. He’d never believed that someone like that could fall for a human like him. Or any human to be honest since Hakyeon had told him once about his reluctance to get close to humans and other beings with short life spans.

“Wonsik would want you to be happy,” Taekwoon said after a while, “he’d want you to be loved again and I’m sure he’d agree that there’s no other living person who could love you better than Hakyeon.”

“I know he’d want me to find love again,” Sanghyuk said, “but I just……I can’t shut up that little voice whispering that it’s too soon. That falling in love with Hakyeon after two years is……is a sign I didn’t love Wonsik as much as I thought I did. And I know! I know how stupid that sounds, how much bull is in ever letter of that idea, but I just…….I can’t stop thinking it!”

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon frowned, “maybe……maybe you should talk to someone about it? I…..I really don’t know how to help you on that one.” He paused, “did you talk to anyone after Wonsik died?”

“No,” Sanghyuk frowned, “Hakyeon had suggested grief counselling, but I just………”

“You were too busy trying to be alright,” Taekwoon nodded in understanding, “maybe you should look into it, it could help. Counselling in general could help.”

“I’ll look into it,” Sanghyuk promised and Taekwoon knew that he could hold him to that.

 

--

 

Hakyeon noticed things starting to change after Taekwoon and Jaehwan went back home. For starters, Sanghyuk got a counselor. He had no idea what Taekwoon had said, but he was grateful. It took a little bit before Sanghyuk found someone he clicked with, but once he did…….things started getting even better. It was a slow process, no overnight changes, but Hakyeon knew Sanghyuk well enough to notice the little changes.

“I wish I’d pushed him harder,” Hakyeon told Hongbin during one of the fae’s visits to the human world, “he’s so much……happier. It’s like watching a weight be slowly lifted off his shoulders with every visit.”

“He does seem different,” Hongbin nodded, “I offered to pay for lunch and he…..he let me! Like there wasn’t a fight about it and he didn’t try to slip money into my pocket to pay me back. I mean, he still frowned a little and for a second I thought he was gonna say something, but…….but he didn’t.”

“Taekwoon’s the same way about paying,” Hakyeon scowled, “I’ve always wondered where they got it.”

“I think it was their parents,” Hongbin shrugged, “I mean, I only met them briefly during the weddings, so I can’t say for sure, but that’s the most likely thing, right?”

“I think Jaehwan mentioned something about this once,” Hakyeon hummed, trying to think back, “him and Taekwoon went out to dinner with Taekwoon’s parents and his dad insisted on paying for everything. Taekwoon insisted on paying as well and they were, like, seconds away from fighting about it when his mother stepped in and talked them into sharing the bill.”

“So they get it from their dad,” Hongbin summarized, “I guess. Like I said, I only met him at the weddings.”

“I’ve met them several times,” Hakyeon said, “but never in a setting where an argument over who pays could happen. Mostly it’s just stuff like they come to see the kids for a day or two, maybe bring some gifts of them, and we cook dinner at home.” Hakyeon paused, “maybe we always eat in because Sanghyuk’s trying to avoid the argument?”

“Could be,” Hongbin nodded, “maybe that will change though? Next time they visit, maybe you should eat out and see what happens?”

“Well,” Hakyeon laughed, “maybe not next time. I’ll wait until Sanghyuk’s a little less likely to revert to old habits.”

“True,” the fae nodded, “don’t wanna trigger those old habits and ruin his progress.”

 

--

 

“Dad’s different,” Woojin frowned, not looking up from his drawing.

“What are you talking about?” Hakyeon questioned, putting the plate of apple slices down beside the oldest Kim child.

“I don’t know,” Woojin shrugged, putting aside his picture in favor of food, “but he seems different. Is he ok?”

“He’s fine, Jinnie,” Hakyeon smiled assuredly. He didn’t know how to explain counselling to five year old, so he didn’t try. Maybe one day, when Woojin was older and could understand it better, he would.

“Then why is he different?” Woojin pressed.

“He’s just in a good mood,” Hakyeon said, “good things are happening, so he’s feeling good too.” It wasn’t a lie, it just wasn’t the full story.

“Alright,” Woojin said after a long moment, deciding to believe Hakyeon. The fallen angel had never lied to him before after all.

“What are you drawing?” Hakyeon asked, trying to change the subject.

“Our family,” Woojin grinned proudly, showing off the picture, “there’s me, you, dad, and Minnie.”

“It looks great, sweetie,” Hakyeon said, trying to make his smile believable, “but….aren’t you missing someone?”

“Missing someone?” Woojin blinked in reply, confused, “who am I missing?”

“Your daddy,” Hakyeon said, “you don’t have him.”

“Oh,” Woojin blinked again, looking down at the paper.

Woojin didn’t remember Wonsik. Sanghyuk and Hakyeon told him about him and showed him some pictures, but he just……..he could never really make the connection. In his memory, it had always been him, Sanghyuk, Seungmin, and Hakyeon. In his mind, Sanghyuk was his dad, Seungmin was his baby brother, and Hakyeon was his papa. Wonsik……he was just someone people told him he should care about, should love and miss just like his dad did. Woojin wanted to care about this strange person, but he just…….he didn’t know him!

He didn’t say that though. He’d seen how his fathers reacted to him calling Hakyeon daddy once. He’d seen the sadness in Hakyeon’s eyes and the hurt look on his dad’s face that he quickly hid behind a mask of nothing. He’d started calling Hakyeon papa after that, thinking it was the name that upset everyone. The looks he got weren’t as bad, but it still made him feel like he’d done something wrong. He’d taken to calling Hakyeon papa in his mind and Hakyeon out loud after that.

Woojin added a fifth person to the picture, unsure of how it made him feel.

 

--

 

“Hey,” Sanghyuk said, slipping into Hakyeon’s room, “can we talk?”

“Sure,” Hakyeon nodded, “what’s up?”

“I….don’t really know how to say this,” Sanghyuk admitted, sitting down beside Hakyeon on the bed, “it……my counselor thinks I need to do this eventually and I just……..while I have the nerve to do it…….” Sanghyuk sighed, “I just don’t know if I have the nerve now that I’m about to say it though.”

“It’s ok if you don’t want to say it right now,” Hakyeon assured him, “don’t force yourself. Your counselor said eventually, right?”

“I just,” Sanghyuk sighed, clearly struggling for words, “I feel like I’m not getting anywhere. Like I’m still the same me I was months ago when I started going to counselling. But if I say what I want to say, then…….then that will get a result I can see. It will change something. I’ll know that I’m…….I’m getting something out of this.”

“Hyukkie,” Hakyeon was quick to assure him, “you are changing. We can all see the results of your work. Do you know what Woojin said a couple of days ago? He said you were different. He didn’t know what was happening, so I just told him that you were happy because good things were happening, but he noticed that something had changed.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Hakyeon promised, “you are getting somewhere. I know it isn’t going as fast as you hoped, but…..but things like this take time. You need to be patient.”

“Never was very good at that,” Sanghyuk laughed slightly.

“Well,” Hakyeon smiled, “whenever you start feeling antsy about your progress, come to me. I’ll be patient enough for both of us.”

“I love you,” Sanghyuk suddenly said, startling the both of them.

“Wh……what?” Hakyeon asked when his brain started functioning again, “You…….you love me?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk breathed, nerves getting to him.

Sure, Taekwoon had said that Hakyeon loved him, but…….but Taekwoon hadn’t seen Hakyeon much in the last couple years. He could be wrong. Sanghyuk might have just ruined everything. His counselor had insisted that this was something he had to do eventually in order to help himself move forewords, that he should ignore the possible negative outcomes. If she was wrong, if he’d just lost himself Hakyeon’s friendship, then so help him he--!

Sanghyuk’s thoughts cut off when Hakyeon kissed him.

“I love you, too,” Hakyeon said when he pulled back.

Sanghyuk smiled before going for another kiss.

When they told the kids the next morning that they were going to date, Woojin had looked at them in confusion. He’d asked them why, because weren’t they already together?

 

--

 

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing it,” Hongbin said as he helped Sanghyuk pack up the last of his things.

“Neither can I,” Sanghyuk laughed, “but……I’ve wanted this for ages.”

“Think you’ll miss this?” Jaehwan asked, waving at the office walls around them, “you loved this job.”

“But I love being with the boys more,” Sanghyuk shrugged in reply, “and if I decide I wanna work again, I can always find something else dance related. Opening my own little studio sounds kind of nice.”

“Whatever you want to do,” Hongbin grinned, “so long as you’re happy.”

“Hakyeon must be excited,” Jaehwan laughed, “he gets to spend that fortune he’s been sitting on.”

“He did seem pretty happy to have a reason to use it,” Sanghyuk hummed, “is it that same for you guys?”

“Maybe?” Jaehwan frowned slightly, “I mean, I’ve gathered up a ton of money over the years and it all just………sits there. That’s why I donate a bunch of it every time I come to the human world. It makes me happy to know that the money is doing someone somewhere some good. Better than having it sit there doing nothing for anyone.”

“Hakyeon donates some of his money, too,” Hongbin said, “but there’s so much……he could make a couple ten million dollar donations every year and it still wouldn’t make much of a dent.”

“He has been around since the early days of man,” Sanghyuk shrugged as he closed the last box.

“Want to take one last look around the building?” Hongbin asked.

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, “I’ll meet you at the car and then we’ll head home.”

 

--

 

Woojin scowled slightly as he dug through the attic. At school, his class had been assigned a project about when they were babies. The whole second grade class thought it was dumb, but no one dared say that to their teacher. When he told Hakyeon about it, the fallen angel had pointed him to the attic and told him that he’d find what he needed there. He’d been a little disappointed that the other wasn’t going to help him, but how hard could it be? He just needed to find a couple pictures and he was done.

He was wrong, but not because finding the pictures was difficult.

The very first picture Woojin found was of himself and Wonsik. His dad and Hakyeon had shown him a couple pictures of the man before, but……none like this. Woojin started digging through the other photos in the box, coming up with more and more images of Wonsik holding him or reading to him or feeding him or sleeping with Woojin in his arms. Towards the bottom of the box, Seungmin started appearing in the photos, too.

At the very bottom of the box were two photos that caused Woojin to start sobbing. The first was Wonsik holding him and the second was him holding Seungmin. What set these photos different from the others was where they were taken; the hospital. Wonsik was crying in both, smiling down at the baby in his arms. Woojin just knew that these photos had been taken shortly after he and Seungmin were born.

Something about that, about all the photos and their clear depiction of how much Wonsik loved him and Seungmin, broke something in him. He could finally make that connection that had always escaped him. Suddenly, he missed Wonsik. He missed him a lot. He wanted, needed, to know this person who looked so happy to have Woojin as his son.

Sanghyuk found him still sitting there when he came home from grocery shopping.

“Jinnie?” Sanghyuk asked, sitting down beside his oldest son, “are you alright?”

“Why didn’t you ever show me these?” Woojin asked.

“Because it’s painful,” Sanghyuk replied, taking the hospital picture from Woojin’s hand, “to remember what used to be. It can also feel really good, but……sometimes that pain is overpowering and……..and it was just easier to keep everything up here.”

Woojin watched his father carefully as the man lovingly ran his fingers over the face in the photo. He knew how much he dad had loved Wonsik, but somehow this…….this just……he suddenly realized how much Sanghyuk loved Wonsik.

“What was he like?” Woojin asked, “can you…..can you tell me about him?”

“Wonsik loved music,” Sanghyuk smiled softly, a mix of happiness and sadness in his eyes and voice as he talked, “it was one of the most important things in his life. He wrote and produced songs, lots of them, and he was so good at it. Some of his songs even got picked up by big companies and sung by some top groups. He was so excited whenever one of his songs came on the radio, but…….…but I think the one he was most proud of was the one he wrote after you were born.”

“He wrote a song about me?” Woojin gasped, “Why haven’t you played it for me before?”

“Hang on,” Sanghyuk pulled out his phone and soon music filled the room.

Woojin listened to the deep voice singing and rapping about, well, him. It was a beautiful piece and Woojin felt himself starting to cry again. Glancing over at Sanghyuk he saw his dad was sobbing, trying his best to keep quiet but failing to keep in every sorrow filled sound. Focusing back on the song, Woojin was suddenly struck by how……..familiar it seemed. He wondered……did Wonsik play this for him when he was a baby? He must have, right. He had the vaguest memory of someone singing this to him.

“He didn’t finish the one he was working on for Seungmin,” Sanghyuk whispered after the song was over, “and I never played this for you because……it hurt. It hurt so much to hear his voice, to hear him rapping and singing with so much passion, when……when that’s all it was. His voice. It was……it is……this reminder that he’s gone.” He sighed, “But…..that was the wrong thing to do. You should have seen and heard all of this before.”

“It’s ok, dad,” Woojin smiled slightly, “you did what you thought was best.” If putting all of this stuff in the attic, if not playing that song, had helped his dad get over the loss of his daddy, then…….then he understood.

“Your daddy was a good man,” Sanghyuk smiled, brushing back Woojin’s bangs, “he was so wonderful. You are so much like him, I see more and more of him in you every day.” Woojin smiled, liking the idea of being like his daddy.

“Dad,” Woojin said after a moment, “can…..can we bring these down and show Minnie?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded after a moment, “we….we should bring them out for good. What do you think?”

When the pair left the attic, it was with several boxes in toe.

 

--

 

“Dad!” Seungmin yelled, “People are moving in next door!”

He pressed his face against the window, trying to get a look at the new family moving in. He really hoped that there would be someone his own age, someone he could play with without having to get one of his dads or brother to walk him there. All of his friends – Hyunjin, Jisung and Jeongin – didn’t live in on his street and his parents thought that eight was too young to travel four or more blocks by yourself. Woojin was so lucky that Minho lived just two houses down and Changbin lived right across the street.

That was when Seungmin caught sight of two boys. One looked about Woojin’s age, but the other was defiantly his age. The eight year old was practically vibrating with excitement as he watched the two boys help their parents with some boxes.

“They look nice,” Hakyeon’s voice made him jump slightly.

“Yeah,” Seungmin grinned, “they have a kid my age, Papa!”

“Looks like they do,” Hakyeon laughed, “we’ll have to go introduce ourselves later when they’ve finish unloading the moving truck.”

“Can’t we go now?” Seungmin asked, “And help them?”

“You and I can,” Hakyeon nodded after a moment, “but your dad’s in the middle of something, so he’ll stay here for now.”

Seungmin nodded excitedly, already moving to get his shoes.

He learned a few minutes later that the older boy, Chan, was indeed Woojin’s age and that the younger boy, Felix, was Chan’s eight year old cousin.

 

--

 

“Lix?” Seungmin asked, pausing the game and putting down his controller,” I have a question.”

“Alright,” Felix replied, looking over at the other boy, “what’s up?”

“I just…..,” Seungmin frowned, trying to find the right words, “why don’t you live with your parents?”

“My parents,” Felix repeated, suddenly looking very sad and very un-Felix.

“You don’t have to answer!” Seungmin was quick to say, “It’s alright if you don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Really?” Felix asked. Most people who asked about his parents didn’t seem to care about how it made Felix feel, they just wanted answers. He really hated those people, as did Chan. His cousin had once yelled at someone for doing that, made the kid run off crying.

“Really,” Seungmin insisted, “you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t wanna tell me.” Seungmin relaxed as he watched Felix calm down, “I….I’m the same way when it comes to my dad.”

“Sanghyuk?”

“Other dad.”

“Hakyeon?”

“No, my real dad,” Seungmin explained, “he……he died when I was still a baby, so I don’t remember him. All I know is what people tell me. And pictures, too. When people ask about him……it makes me sad because it reminds me that I never knew him, that I never will. Woojin has a few memories, but me……I don’t have anything.”

Felix took Seungmin’s hand, squeezing it in hopes of making his friend feel better. Seungmin smiled and squeezed back. Just outside the room, Woojin and Chan shared a look before silently heading back to Woojin’s room.

 

--

 

“Dad?” Woojin asked, knocking on his parent’s bedroom door before stepping inside, “can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure,” Sanghyuk replied, trying to fix his tie, “just…..let me finish fixing this.”

“Is Papa taking you out somewhere fancy for dinner?” Woojin asked, looking his dad over carefully, “you look great.”

“I’d hope so,” Sanghyuk laughed, “I worked hard to look this good.” He finished with his tie and turned to his son, “what do you want to talk about?”

“I……I think I have a crush,” Woojin replied, “on…..on Felix.”

“Oh?” Sanghyuk blinked, “is that……alright with you?”

“I don’t know,” Woojin replied, sitting on the bed, “he’s eleven, dad. He’s a kid! Seungmin’s age! And I’m fourteen. It……isn’t that weird?”

“I don’t think so,” Sanghyuk replied, “it’s only three years. Wonsik was a couple year older than me. Hakyeon……well, he’s defiantly not my age.”

“True,” Woojin said after a moment.

“Jinnie,” Sanghyuk smiled softly, kneeling so that he could look the other in the eye, “love……it’s an amazing feeling. The best feeling. So don’t feel bad about it, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Now,” Sanghyuk stood up, “I left money for pizza on the kitchen counter. Make sure the doors are locked and try not to burn the house down. No parties, but if you want to invite a couple friends over I’m fine with it so long as you’re in bed by ten.”

“You’ll be back by eleven, right?” Woojin asked, trailing behind his dad as they made their way downstairs.

“About eleven,” Sanghyuk nodded, “could be a little later or a little early. Depends on where we go for dinner and how traffic is on the way home.”

“Have fun,” Seungmin called from the living room.

“I hope your date night goes well, Mr. Kim,” Felix’s voice called out moments later.

“Looks like your brother beat you to having your friends over,” Sanghyuk smirked slightly before calling out good night to the boys, “why don’t you go join them?”

“Yeah,” Woojin nodded, “have fun, dad.”

Sanghyuk left then, greeting Hakyeon with a kiss when he reached the car.

“What took you so long?” Hakyeon asked as Sanghyuk fastened his seatbelt.

“Woojin wanted to talk,” Sanghyuk smiled, “he’s got a crush on Felix.”

“Oh?” Hakyeon blinked in surprised before smiling, “they’d be cute together.”

“Our little boy is growing up,” Sanghyuk laughed happily.

 

--

 

“So,” Chan said, looking between his best friend and his little cousin who was playing on the other side of the park with his friends, “Felix, huh?”

“Chan,” Woojin whined, “Please don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Chan frowned slightly, “I think it’s cute. And, I mean, I know you’d treat Lix right. Heck, you already treat him like a prince. He needs more of that in his life.”

The pair fell silent for a moment, both very aware of how much Felix needed good things in his life. His life before living with his cousin, aunt and uncle……it hadn’t been the best life. While Felix had gotten pretty good at hiding the broken, sharp edges of his heart behind a blinding smile, those who knew him well enough weren’t fooled.

“Hey,” Minho called, running to join the pair, “why didn’t you guys wait for me?”

“Seungmin and Felix didn’t wanna wait,” Woojin shrugged.

“And you can’t say no to either one,” Minho laughed, Chan joining in.

On the other side of the park, Seungmin, Felix and their friends continued to play, ignorant to whatever the older boys were talking about.

 

--

 

Hakyeon woke up the morning of Seungmin’s thirteenth birthday happy. He woke up to find the love of his existence sleeping peacefully beside him, his heart melting at the sweet sight. He woke up to Seungmin charging into the room, excited to be turning thirteen and officially become a teenager. He woke up to Woojin following close behind, smiling as he watched his little brother waking up their parents.

In that moment, Hakyeon realized how much time had passed.

His heart sunk.

He looked at his little family and his heart sunk down to his feet as he realized how much they had grown and changed. Seungmin was turning thirteen, he was officially becoming a teenager. Woojin was sixteen and experiencing his first real love. Sanghyuk…….he was forty three now. He was starting to get gray in his hair even if Sanghyuk insisted that it was all in Hakyeon’s head. And Hakyeon? He still looked the same as the day he met Sanghyuk. And he would still look the same when his family was dead and gone.

“Hey,” Sanghyuk said after ushering the boys out, “are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Hakyeon tried to smile, but Sanghyuk had known him long enough to know when his smiles were fake.

“Yeonnie,” Sanghyuk frowned, sitting down beside the other, “please, tell me what’s wrong.”

“You’re all getting older,” Hakyeon replied, “and I’m……not. Not like you are.”

“Oh, Yeonnie,” Sanghyuk quickly pulled the fallen angel into his arms.

“You’re all growing old,” Hakyeon whimpered, doing his best not to cry, “You’re going to grow old and die. And I’ll still be here. I……I don’t have much time with you left, Hyukkie.”

The pair fell silent for a long moment after that. Sanghyuk didn’t know what to say to make the other feel better. Hakyeon couldn’t say anything else or he’d cry and he couldn’t cry. Seungmin and Woojin would notice and they’d ask and it would ruin the whole day. Eventually they decided to talk about this topic later and headed down to spend the morning with their children.

 

--

 

“So,” Minho grinned at Woojin, “something has been bothering me, Jin.”

“What?” Woojin frowned, clearly suspicious of his friend.

“Felix is thirteen now,” Minho said, “he’s a teenager just like us. Has been for a little while now. And yet…..”

“And yet?” Woojin’s frown deepened.

“You haven’t asked him out,” Changbin spoke up, “you’ve liked him for, like, two years now, man. Do something about it!”

“They’re right,” Chan nodded, “I think we all know that this isn’t a simple crush anymore, Jin. You’ve gotta do something before someone else does.”

“He doesn’t even like me like that,” Woojin insisted, “I mean, if he likes anyone, I’d say it’s Changbin.”

“Huh?” the other blinked, confused.

“How have you not noticed how he acts around you?” Woojin scoffed, “it’s obvious he likes you, Binnie.”

“We’re just friends,” Changbin insisted, “believe me, that’s all we are.”

“I asked him about it,” Chan added, “he insisted that he doesn’t like Changbin like that.”

“Oh,” Minho suddenly grinned, “but, um, can we return to that thought about someone else making a move before our sweet teddy bear does? I think that’s a really interesting thought.” He nodded towards the group of younger teens on the other side of the yard.

Woojin froze when he saw Hyunjin throwing his arms around Felix, face pressed tightly against the other’s neck. Sure, Hyunjin would cuddle with everyone but……he was just too damn close to Felix for Woojin’s like.

“Oh!” Minho giggled, “look at that face.”

“I’m not making a face!” Woojin sulked, sinking down into his chair while the others laughed at him. None of them noticed Felix looking over at them and smiling softly at what he saw.

 

--

 

“Feeling any better?” Sanghyuk asked as he crawled into bed with Hakyeon later that night.

“Maybe a little,” Hakyeon replied, pulling his human into a hug, “you……you know how much you mean to me, right? Before you, I wasn’t living. I just existed. I was too scared, too hurt, to open myself up but you…….you made me face those fears. You made me want to live again.”

“You know,” Sanghyuk frowned slightly, “you’ve never told me why you shut yourself off like that.”

“I haven’t, have I?” Hakyeon frowned as well, “It…..it’s not a happy story. And to be honest……I feel a little foolish letting what happened affect me for so long.”

“Hakyeon,” Sanghyuk snapped, “don’t you dare say that! What did you tell me when I got angry at myself for not getting help sooner?”

“We all deal with pain differently,” Hakyeon smiled softly, “some take longer than others to deal with it and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Exactly,” Sanghyuk grinned, “so if it took you a couple hundred years to work through your pain……so what? You’ve worked through it now. So…..tell me what happened?”

“I fell in love,” Hakyeon sighed, “he was wonderful and I was so very in love with him. But he was human and I was not. I was told that I couldn’t be with him, that I’d have to leave him. I went to end things with him, but…..but I just couldn’t do it. So I cut off my wings and fell, thinking that we could be happy.”

“But you weren’t,” Sanghyuk said, hands slipping under Hakyeon’s shirt and fingers running over the scars from where his wings used to be.

“He turned me away,” Hakyeon sighed, “said horrible things to me. I guess he only wanted an angel, wanted the status symbol that was having an angel lover. If I was a fallen angel……I guess it didn’t have the same effect on people. Wings are prettier to look at than scars.” He sighed, “that isn’t the worst part.”

“What else happened?” Sanghyuk pressed.

“I didn’t flee his village right away,” Hakyeon explained, “I stayed for a while, foolishly hoping that he would change his mind and love me again. The people of his village…..they were all just as horrible as him. They liked me when I was a blessed being, but since I was fallen……they wanted me gone. To them, I was nothing but a devil. I thought of those people as friends, but they me so easily. I meant nothing to them.”

“Oh, Yeonnie,” Sanghyuk said, pressing soft kisses to his lover’s shoulders and neck, “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m alright now,” Hakyeon assured him, “I’ve moved on, dealt with that pain and grown stronger. Now I have real friends who genuinely like me, someone who really does love me for me, and the boys.”

“Hearing that,” Sanghyuk smiled, “I think you give me too much credit in your recovery. Sounds to me like Jaehwan, Hongbin, and Taekwoon deserve some of your gratitude, too. Jinnie and Minnie, too.”

“Yes,” Hakyeon nodded, “they do.”

Not too long after, the couple fell asleep in each other arms.

Neither seemed to realize that they hadn’t actually talked about Hakyeon’s problem.

 

--

 

“Woojin,” Seungmin said, taking a seat beside his older brother, “can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Woojin smiled, putting down his phone, “what’s up, Minnie?”

“Do you like Felix?” Seungmin asked and Woojin’s blush and sputtering answered him.

“W-what?” Woojin finally managed to reply, “No, what are you even talking about?”

“Really?” Seungmin raised a judgmental eyebrow.

“Who told you?” Woojin groaned, slumping in his seat, “was it Minho? Chan? Changbin?”

“No one,” Seungmin replied, “you’re just really obvious about it.” he sighed, “now, if you could be less obvious and more perceptive, you’d know that Felix has been crushing on you for……probably just as long to be honest.”

“Lies,” Woojin hissed, “he doesn’t like me like that.”

“Oh my god,” Seungmin huffed, “Are you kidding me right now? He’s so into you! Like, anyone can see that Felix is head over heels for you and that you’re just as into him. So just……ask him out already so you two can be happy.”

“Don’t you think I’m too old for him?” Woojin frowned, “I’m seventeen, Minnie. And he’s only fourteen.”

“it’s just three years,” Seungmin replied, rolling his eyes, “stop making it sound like it’s a decade.”

“Might as well be,” Woojin frowned, “I mean, when I’m eighteen and legally an adult, Felix will be fifteen and still a kid.”

“And people will talk?” Seungmin asked, “And does that bug you?”

“No,” Woojin replied, “well, maybe a little?” He sighed, “I just don’t want Felix to have to deal with people whispering about him behind his back.”

“News flash, Jinnie,” Seungmin huffed, “people already talk about Lix behind his back. Why do you think he tried to cover up his freckles for a while?”

“Wait,” Woojin scowled, “that’s why he did it?”

“Yeah,” Seungmin nodded, “some of the kids at school were talking smack about them. At first it was fine, Jisung, Hyunjin, Jeongin, and I were there to reassure him that he was perfect as he is. But then we heard some teachers talking and…….”

“Those s!” Woojin snapped, looking very much like an angry grizzly bear, “how dare they do that to someone! They’re adults! They should know better! And to do that to a kid, too!”

“I know,” Seungmin scowled, recalling the day Felix showed up to school with makeup coverings every freckle on his face.

“Poor Felix,” Woojin sighed sadly, heartbroken that his love had been forced to deal with crap like that.

“You know,” Seungmin said, “Felix stopped covering them after he talked to you.”

“What?”

“He talked to you,” Seungmin explained, “and you said something nice about his freckles, so he stopped trying to cover them. I don’t know exactly what you told him because Lix wouldn’t spill, but whatever you told him made him really happy.”

“Really?” Woojin asked, eyes wide in shock.

“Really,” Seungmin nodded, “you really don’t know the effect you have on him, do you?”

“Do you really think that I should ask him out?” Woojin frowned slightly. He wanted to believe his brother and Chan, he knew that they wouldn’t lie to him, but if Felix rejected him……..he didn’t want to lose Felix. Having the younger teen in his life…….

“Ask him, Jinnie.”

 

--

 

“Woojin?” Felix yawned, looking around for a clock, “what are you doing here so early? It’s not even six am yet.”

“I wanted to ask you something,” Woojin replied, “before I lose the courage.”

“Ok,” Felix frowned slightly, trying to figure out what the other felt was so important that it couldn’t wait another hour or so. It was Saturday for crying out loud, what kind of teenager was up this early on a Saturday?

“Felix,” Woojin took a deep breath, “I like you.”

“I like you, too,” Felix replied, mind too tired to make the connection between Woojin’s words and what they meant.

“I mean,” Woojin said, voice starting to waver under the weight of his nerves, “that I…….I love you, Felix. I want to be your boyfriend. I want to date you. I--.”

“I love you, too,” Felix said before realizing what he’d just said. Felix let out a small squeak of embarrassment, covering his red face with his small hands.

“You do?” Woojin asked, eyes wide in disbelief that his love wasn’t one-sided like he’d feared for ages.

“Y-yeah,” Felix managed to reply, trying to stop his embarrassment, “I….god, why is this so nerve wracking?”

“Yeah,” Woojin laughed, realizing that his own nerves hadn’t calmed down much either, “you’d think knowing that your feelings are returned would make things……”

“Easier?” Felix smiled slightly.

“Exactly,” Woojin grinned, shyly taking Felix’s hands and pulling them away from his face, “I……Felix, will you go out with me?”

“Yes,” Felix replied, throwing his arms around Woojin so he could hug his boyfriend.

 

--

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to move in with me?” Woojin asked as he helped Felix packing up his things, “my apartment isn’t far from campus, you know that.”

“I know,” Felix assured his boyfriend, “but I wanna try living in the dorms for a while. Experience everything that has to offer. You had fun living in the dorms, right?”

“At least until my second year,” Woojin scowled, recalling how his roommate that year had been a massive jerk. Especially after finding out Woojin’s partner was a boy. What made it worse was that the guy had chosen to stay in the room just so he could harass Woojin. Thankfully the college had stepped in, removing him from the room and later the school as a whole when his harassment of students and staff continued. Woojin had gotten a small apartment just off campus after that, not wanting to deal with roommate crap ever again.

“That one negative aside,” Felix pressed on, “everything else was good and that’s what I want to experience.”

“Alright,” Woojin said, pulling Felix into a tight hug and pressing a kiss to his forehead, “but if you find out that you don’t like it, you can come live with me.”

“I know,” Felix replied, pressing a quick kiss to his lover’s lips before changing the subject, “how’s the song coming by the way?”

As a graduation present to Seungmin, Woojin had decided that he would finish their dad’s song for him. Honestly, it had been Chan and Felix’s idea after Woojin realized he needed help. The pair had listened to all of his ideas and eventually they’d come up with the song. As Seungmin’s best friend and Woojin’s boyfriend, Felix knew all about the songs Wonsik had made for the boys. Well, the song and a half that Wonsik had made.

Seungmin had once admitted to Felix that it really hurt him to know that Wonsik hadn’t been able to finish the second song. He felt like Woojin had something tangible of their father to hold on to, but he had nothing. Seungmin didn’t blame anyone for it, but it still hurt to know that he would never have that personal connection that Woojin had.

So, Felix suggested Woojin finish the song. With help from Chan since he had a little more experience writing songs. Felix knew it wouldn’t be the same, but it was something. The three had gone to Sanghyuk and Hakyeon, asking for whatever work Wonsik had done for Seungmin’s song and the adults had been happy to give them what they needed.

Now, they were a week out from graduation and the song needed to be finished soon.

“We’re almost done,” Woojin replied, “I’d say we have…….two percent left to do.”

“Good,” Felix grinned, “I know he’s going to love it.”

“I hope so,” Woojin replied, “and I hope you like your graduation gift as well.”

“It’s from you,” Felix giggled, “I know I’m going to love it.”

“I love you,” Woojin found himself saying as he looked at Felix’s bright, happy smile, “so much.”

“I love you, too,” Felix replied.

“Hey!” Chan called, interrupting the moment, “how’s the packing coming?”

“Almost done,” Felix replied, reluctantly pulling away from Woojin so he could finish packing.

Felix had gotten into a dance program at Woojin’s college, a program that started within two days of his graduation. The program and college were Felix’s dreams, allowing him to do what he loved and be close to the one he loved, but he had to admit that the early start made him sad. He’d hoped that he would be able to spend the summer with his friends and family since it would be a while before he saw them again.

Chan was at a college closer to home, along with Changbin and Jisung. Minho was at the same school as Felix and Woojin for dance, but Hyunjin was going to a different school for the same subject the next town over. Jeongin had one more year of high school and Seungmin was going to study in another country for at least a year. This summer……..it was supposed to be special. It was supposed to be for them.

Felix was going to miss out on all of that.

On the bright side, Woojin wasn’t going to miss out on everything too. He’d originally wanted to go with Felix, but he’d managed to talk his boyfriend out of it. Well, he and Hakyeon had worked together to convince him. It had taken a lot of convincing, Woojin had really wanted to be close incase Felix needed him, but they’d done it.

“Well,” Chan grinned, pulling Felix from his thoughts, “then let’s go out! Have a little fun before you have to leave. The guys are downstairs waiting.”

“Alright,” Felix grinned, taking Woojin’s hand and dragging him out of the room, “let’s go!”

Woojin followed his boyfriend without complaint. He found himself looking at the younger man’s hand, smiling softly at the idea of what would soon be decorating the appendage.

 

--

 

“You alright?” Sanghyuk asked, taking a seat beside Hakyeon at the kitchen table.

“I should be asking you that, shouldn’t I?” Hakyeon tried to smile, “this……this is upsetting you just as much as it is me.”

“Seungmin’s graduated,” Sanghyuk sighed, slumping in his seat, “and Woojin……did he tell you he was gonna propose to Felix?”

“No,” Hakyeon replied, “and I gotta admit, I’m a little bit hurt he didn’t come to either of us for advice or help looking for a ring.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk laughed, “what a ty kid.”

The pair laughed for a while before calming down.

“They’re all grown up now,” Hakyeon frowned, “Woojin’s in college and engaged. Seungmin’s going to another country for school. And here we are with our empty nest.”

“We’ve done well,” Sanghyuk grinned, a hint of sadness in his smile, “we’ve done really, really well.”

“I love you,” Hakyeon said, pulling Sanghyuk into his arms, “so much.”

“I love you, too,” Sanghyuk replied.

Hakyeon didn’t know where things went from here. Sanghyuk could go back to work, maybe open up that dance studio he’d once mentioned. They could travel the world, Hakyeon showing Sanghyuk things the human had never seen before. Eventually they’d see Woojin and Felix get married, see them have children of their own. Hakyeon defiantly looked forewords to the day when he’d be called grandpa.

Eventually Seungmin would get married and start a family of his own as well. Maybe it would be with someone they’d meet first the first time when Seungmin brought them home. Maybe it would be Jeongin, the pair finally in a place where their feelings could be explored. Regardless, Hakyeon was looking forewords to when Seungmin called them to tell them that he was getting married.

And one day, many years from now, Sanghyuk would die and Hakyeon would follow.

Hakyeon would never regret falling in love with his human. Sanghyuk had given his life meaning, given him a reason to live. Before Sanghyuk, he’d just wandered around from place to place, simply existing and never really living. He’d done that for so long that he’d honestly forgotten what living was. But when Sanghyuk came into his life……it became a life. And Sanghyuk wasn’t the only one who’d given his life meaning either.

Woojin and Seungmin were his boys, his wonderful sons. He’d never known the joy being a father could bring until they came into his life. He wouldn’t trade all the sleepovers, report cards, and after school activities for anything. He cherished the memories of giving Woojin his first guitar, reading Seungmin to sleep every night, and all the Father’s Day breakfasts the boys had tried to make him over the years.

When it was Sanghyuk’s time, Hakyeon would go with him without any regrets.

A/N: the ending is kind of sad, but also really sweet. Hot damn, this was fun to write, even if I did get stuck a couple of times haha.