Nam Woohyun was 15 years and 11 months when he first met Sunggyu.

 

Chestnut brown hair, brown eyes that gave a warm dark glow, glowing right through him. A smile so warm and laughter so kind. However those smiles and laughter seemed so forced and faked.

He sat behind him during classes and was glad that he had been assigned to this seat. Sunggyu was reserved, he hardly talk to anyone. He was short for his age, even though he looks healthy and muscular, it made him the target for bullies. But he never fought back. Woohyun knew, he was perfect on the inside, however no one is able to see through that.

When the bullies were demanding for his pocket money again, Woohyun went forward and stopped them, giving them some of his own money and swore at them to get the hell away from him. Just before they left, they shoved Sunggyu to the floor and his pencil fell out of his front pocket. When they disappeared, Sunggyu stared at him with the pair of brown eyes he has adored. Woohyun picked up the pencil with fox drawings and held out his hand to pull Sunggyu up. And that was the first time he smiled at him. A real weak and bright smile. At him. 

 

"Thank you." he said shyly. "W-Why not... let's be friends?" He asked, ears reddened as he pluck the pencil from him.

Then holding out his right hand, giving him the brightest smile that he had ever seen.

Smiling, Woohyun nodded and shook his hand.

 

That day, he went home with his heart hardly in his chest, threatening to burst out.

He was the first friend that Sunggyu ever made in this school.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 16 years and 5 months when he became best friends with Sunggyu.

 

Sitting together with Sunggyu in his own bedroom, he looked on at Sunggyu plucking his guitar strings as he drew notes down on a notebook. He was using the pencil that has shorten considerably since it was given back by him when it fell out of the pocket 6 months ago.

 

"You should really keep this pencil." he said seriously as Sunggyu was writing down the next line of notes, "this pencil kinda brought us together."

 

Sunggyu smiled at him and opened his palm as he pulled up his wrist. He left the orange pencil in his hand and closed it. 

"Well you can keep this pencil, I don't trust myself to keep things properly. You can give me back a year later on today's date." He went back to plucking his strings, ears reddened considerably.

"Alright?" He ended shyly, grabbing a mechanical pencil from his desk and focused back to the dark brown guitar. 

"Why today's date though? I can give you back on the date where we first became friends. I still remember the date, it was exactly 6 months..." Woohyun trailed off. His face reddened, no one exactly will remember things like this, probably only him-

 

Giggling softly, Sunggyu looked up from his guitar and said "Because it is today we are going to be the bestest of friends, and I don't want to forget it."

 

Defeated, Woohyun smiled stupidly and nodded. "I will keep this pencil safe. I will keep it in a safe if I have to. You know how easily I lose things. I can even drill a hole through the top so that I can put a string and hung it around my neck."

"Okay okay. I get the idea you will keep the pencil safe. Just don't do anything weird to it. Science genius." Sunggyu laughed.

 

Just then Myungsoo, his younger brother, came in. "Hyungs, it's time for dinner. We are having pizza! Gyu-hyung, mom wants to talk to you."

"Shall we go then? It's not like we cannot celebrate this occasion without pizza." Woohyun asked.

"What occasion?" Myungsoo enquired.

"Nothing important Myung-ie. Let's party." Sunggyu answered.

 

That day was the day they became best friends, and the day that Sunggyu completed writing his first song dedicated to Woohyun.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

It was the school term break. Sunggyu was writing lyrics for the song he had written for Woohyun, leaning against the head of the bed while Woohyun was lying on top of his lap, investing himself in an immunology research paper. Woohyun was a biological sciences genius for his age and had already received a scholarship from the top university. But to him, reserving a spot in a top university was nothing compared to having a best friend like Sunggyu.

 

"Namu, do you want to help me write the lyrics for this song? You can include your geeky science stuff inside, it's a song dedicated to you anyway." Sunggyu threw his head back as he stretched his arms above his head.

"Really. You want me to include geeky science stuff in your song?" he replied, sending Sunggyu a glare.

"Well, it's better than not having any lyrics in it at all. I can't seem to fill in this part with suitable lyrics." he sulked.

"Okay Your Highness, let's see what we can do"

 

That afternoon, they finished finalising the song and sung it together, keeping the completed song in a small USB.

That song became their song of promise.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Sunggyu rested his head on his arms as he sighed heavily on his desk. Biology lesson just ended and there was a 30 minute break before Gym lesson starts. Everyone already left to take a quick bite and change while they stayed behind.

"Biology . Why can't the school invest in having a proper music room? Why mess around with sciences when you can just invest yourself in the wonderful world of music?"

 

Woohyun shrugged and sighed."You did not just say that in front of me." He jokingly added on angrily as he stood up and dragged his chair to Sunggyu's desk in front of his.

"How do you even understand everything? There is a reason why I don't do sciences. I prefer music." Sunggyu pouted. 

Sunggyu stood up and spun around dramatically, "Music is an easier platform to convey emotions. It can be love, friendship, grief, anger. Anything." Woohyun flushed when he heard the word love. 

"I am a genius after all, I can help you explain everything to you and make it easier for you to understand." Woohyun replied.

Sunggyu sat back down on his seat heavily and stared at Woohyun with a 'Please teach me' look on his face. Laughing silently, Woohyun summarised the 2 hour Biology lesson and taught Sunggyu to the best of his abilities. Sunggyu listened on attentively, nodding his head once in a while as Woohyun continued on and eventually diving into his favourite world of Biology. 

It was only when Sunggyu breathed out a quiet 'wow' Woohyun snapped back to the real world and stopped. He looked up at Sunggyu who was seating across the desk staring into his eyes. Flushing, he shifted in the seat as Sunggyu moved his seat forward. "Wow. Namu you. Can you be my personal tutor?"

Woohyun turned a shade redder as he spun the pen in his hand unconsciously. "W-W-Well... I... Sure. You don't have to ask..."

"Now I don't have to worry about not passing this grade after all because of Biology." Sunggyu stood up happily and gave his warm smile to Woohyun.

Woohyun looked down at the Biology textbook, eyes darting to and fro from Sunggyu. "In return... C-Can we continue writing songs and sing together?"

Sunggyu sat back down and laughed. "W-W-What are you laughing at?" Woohyun grumbled, pouting as he stared at Sunggyu.

"You don't have to ask Namu. Of course you can." 

Woohyun smiled brightly and nodded. "Well... shall we continue on with this one-to-one tuition then?"

"Yes teacher."

 

They both showed up late for Gym class and was punished by running 2 rounds around the soccer field. But neither of them actually cared.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 17 years old when he fell in love with Sunggyu.

 

That was not entirely true. He fell in love the moment the moment he laid eyes on Sunggyu about more than a year ago, but more of an innocent type... then. He didn't think much of a romantically point of view- not like he thought of being his boyfriend or kissing him. He just looked at him as if he was an angel. Someone that must be treasured and protected. 

So no... he didn't actually "fell in love" with him at 17 years old. He only became more aware and understood it. Woohyun was leaned back against the street light, sorting out his feelings while waiting for Sunggyu to appear. They found out months ago they only lived a street away from each other. 

Sunggyu doesn't exactly have the strongest immune system out there, and currently it was the last few days of winter, so it was still painstakingly cold on the streets. He catches cold like no other day, and that idiot accidentally left his coat at home, when they met up to go to school together. 

 

"Morning Namu." Sunggyu smiled, clouds of vapour appearing coming out from his mouth due to the cold weather. Despite smiling, he can see how he was shivering a little due to the cold. The lips that were once so red and moist was cracking due to the cold weather.

 

And because of that, Woohyun had the urge to kiss him. The first thought of it makes it feel so right to do so. Maybe not with the invasion and all, just a small peck to make his lips red and moist again.

 

"Do you want my lip balm?" Woohyun asked, trying to scratch that idea, not wanting to scare Sunggyu away from him. 

"I have one myself, I was thinking of applying it when I reached school." Sunggyu shook his head and smiled.

 

"Gyu." "Hmm?"

"Take my coat. You are shivering." Woohyun asked, as he started shrugging off his coat.

Sunggyu stopped walking and turn around with his mouth opened, shocked at what he just heard before he shook his head. "N-No I'm fine Namu. I have my scarf. You'll be col-"

"Gyu," Woohyun sighed and threw his coat at him, which Sunggyu avoided it as if it was a snowball, "just take the stupid coat already!"

"NO!" he snickered as he slipped away from Woohyun's grips and ran ahead. He was surprisingly agile for someone quite muscular as him.

Woohyun sighed and laughed before giving chase to Sunggyu who was hiding behind multiple street lights.

"Race you to school!!" Sunggyu shouted back when he ran forward, not even bothered to look back.

"Ya imma! COME BACK HERE!!" 

 

Eventually they had to stop, because of Sunggyu, Woohyun faceplanted himself into one of the street lights, but it was fun while it lasted. Sunggyu spent the rest of the journey covering himself with the coat Woohyun gave while apologising profusely. He looked as if he just made the worst mistake of his life. Not that Woohyun actually blamed him or anything, he had fun.

They laughed together as they had to race to school again. They spent too much time playing and was running late.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 17 years and 5 months old when he pulled Sunggyu out from his first fight at their final year of high school.

 

"Gyu, what on Earth were you thinking?" Woohyun glared at him as he pulled Sunggyu to the classroom corridor by his wrist, "You know who they were and you still fought them? You could have gotten seriously-"

"I am not as weak as you think I am Namu.", Sunggyu glanced at him as Woohyun took out his handkerchief and wetting it with his bottled water, "I am not going to let them off after what they had done."

"So tell me tough nut", Woohyun grumbled as wiped the blood on his lip, "what did they actually do to incur your wrath?"

"T-T-They were gossiping about you." He muttered as he turned away from Woohyun.

Woohyun froze there for a few seconds before snapping back into reality.

"Really? That's it?" Woohyun raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean that's it? No body gets away from me if they want to say those stuff about you in front of yours truly." Sunggyu snapped back.

Sunggyu despite having a muscular and fit body was much shorter than Woohyun. And Woohyun loved him so much.

 

"You stupid idiot buffoon that only cares about others." Woohyun went forward and hugged him, realising that Sunggyu tensed up before relaxing and pat his back.

"An idiot that was only interested in music and is friends with a science intellect." Sunggyu supplied.

Woohyun fumbled around his front pocket before taking out an orange pencil that has faded after one year.

"It's exactly one year ago since we became best friends." Woohyun opened Sunggyu's palms like he did a year ago and close the pencil within his palm, "Happy one year best friendiversary" Sunggyu was shocked, before snapping out of his trance and smiled.

"I will return it to you next year. We will do so every year. To and Fro" After saying that, he unexpectedly flicked Woohyun's forehead before skipping off.

 

Rubbing his forehead, he looked on as Sunggyu skipped towards the cafeteria, before laughing. He placed his hands in his pockets and followed him.

He knew, that his feeling towards Sunggyu cannot be doubted anymore.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 17 years and 8 months old when Sunggyu and him first kissed.

 

"Your brother is seriously amazing." Woohyun blurted out as he chewed on the chocolate chip cookie Sunggyu's brother, Myungsoo made. They were back at Sunggyu's apartment again, only this time in his living room. Sunggyu nodded while he chewed on his own cookie.

"He's amazing right?" Sunggyu agreed before taking another cookie from the plate in front of them.

"I may be a genius, being able to memorise and understand the components of human blood, all the different types of immune cells in the body," Woohyun took a gulp of milk, "but I can never understand how does one make a batch of chocolate chip cookies or nearly make it as good as Myung-ie does. Your brother is the real genius here."

"I wish. He said he wanted to pursue music just like me." Sunggyu laughed. 

"Talking about genius," Sunggyu suddenly brought out his serious tone, stopping Woohyun from stuffing his face, "why didn't you go to University last year? They gave you their scholarship didn't they?" 

"I couldn't just leave you alone in that stupid high school can I?" Woohyun retorted.

"Yes you can. It's not worth it for you to throw away that opportunity just fo-" Just before Sunggyu can finish his sentence, Woohyun closed his mouth with his palm.

"I want to do music together with you. I finally understood why you loved it so dearly."

"Oh no you are not refusing that scholarship!" Sunggyu berated as he pulled of Woohyun's hand by his wrist, earning a yelp from him, "You pabo tree! You can do music whenever you want with me! You don't just give up your own scholarship in what you love!"

"That would mean being in different universities Gyu!"

"Not when I received their scholarship for music!"

"You what?" Woohyun was shocked.

"Are you tone deaf?" Sunggyu pouted before crossing his arms in front of his chest, "I received your university's scholarship for music. They even let me debut as a solo artist when we graduate from high school next month."

"When exactly did that happen?" Woohyun was saddened that Sunggyu kept him from this.

"Last week Thursday." Sunggyu muttered as he looked at the cookie held in his hand, "I wanted to surprise you at the graduation, but looks like someone had to spoil the plan."

"You idiot." Woohyun hugged Sunggyu's head to his chest, making him drop the last chocolate chip cookie on the wooden living room floor. "You could have told me earlier, I was thinking so much last night whether I should accept it until I couldn't fall asleep."

Woohyun flicked his head "I am blaming you for that."

 

"My cookie..." Sunggyu glanced at Woohyun and Woohyun avoided eye contact.

 

Woohyun cleared his throat, his eyes darting to Myungsoo's room "Myung-ie ah! Do you have any leftover ingredients to make another batch of cookies?" 

"Yeah we do! It's in the cabinet above the sink!" Myungsoo shouted from his room.

 

"Well, shall we go and make our own brand of cookies?" Woohyun held out his right hand as he stood up from the sofa.

Sunggyu grabbed his hand. "You do know that 'raw dough' can actually be eaten right? I am betting 10 dollars that we will finish that dough before we even put it in the oven. And..." he giggled as he pulled Woohyun down to the sofa. Both of their lips contacted with one another before Sunggyu pulled off from Woohyun, smirking at Woohyun's blank and reddened face. "is for causing me to worry so much."

Sunggyu left the astonished Woohyun on the sofa before heading towards the kitchen. He swore he heard Sunggyu saying "I love you" before turning away from him.

 

That day, Woohyun indeed lost 10 dollars but gained the certainty that their romantic relationship just started.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 17 years and 9 months old when Sunggyu and him graduated from high school and entered university together.

 

Sunggyu debutted as an solo artist one week after graduation. His unique voice and songs became a hot topic in the society and he became well-known overnight.

Woohyun graduated as the top student of the cohort, and was given the position as one of the leading research scientist in the university.

Both of them continue pursuing their own course of studies and lived together in the same dormitory room in university. Every night, Woohyun analyses his research papers and collate his research findings while Sunggyu sung and composed new songs. Once in a while, they will sit down together, writing song lyrics for Sunggyu's songs. The moment Woohyun was free, Sunggyu will drag Woohyun to one of the school's recording studios and record his parts.

Because of featuring in Sunggyu's albums, Woohyun was also recognised by the university and the society as multi-talented person that not only was gifted in biological sciences, but also like Sunggyu, also had an angelic voice. 

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 17 years, 9 months and 20 days old when Sunggyu and him went out on their first date and confessed their feelings officially for one another.

 

They were strolling together in the park near to the university's dormitory, hands linked with one another, taking in each other's hand warmth together in the cold winter late afternoon. Despite Sunggyu's calloused hands due to him constistently playing the guitar, Woohyun loved to hold his hands tightly. He will never let go of his hands. Sunggyu hide his mouth behind the scarf that Woohyun bought for him the previous day and wore his red beanie. He has to hide his face as technically he was a young and famous celebrity now.

Woohyun constantly whined why they have to stroll in the park, because it was cold and he was tired after being trapped in the lab since 3 am last night.

"Namu..." Sunggyu's tone made Woohyun close his mouth, looking down at Sunggyu timidly. "If you don't stop whining, I am going to hide your research papers or push you into the pond over there."

 

Woohyun pouted and Sunggyu just laughed, messing up Woohyun's brown locks of hair. Woohyun held his offended face for a few seconds before getting infected by Sunggyu's contagious laughter, catching his hand that was on his hair and laced their fingers together. Woohyun pulled Sunggyu to the nearby bench as they admired the sunset together.

 

"I love you" Woohyun mumbled as Sunggyu felt his fingers being given a reassuring squeeze.

 

He wasn't embarrassed or shy. It was indeed a fact since 2 years ago. Sunggyu turned to him and beamed.

 

Sunggyu put his hand behind his head and together they shared their long-awaited kiss. He tasted the faint strawberry yogurt that both of them were sharing a few minutes ago,

"I thought you will never say it out loud to me in front of my face." he whispered as they broke off their kiss.

"As if you had said anything, CD eater-"

"Don't call me that..." Sunggyu pouted before pecking his lips again. "I was the one who wanted to be friends with you. And I was the one that declared for us to be best friends. And I was the one that actually initiated our first kiss. You have to do something. Don't just leave all the progress to me..."

"That's one weak reasoning and there is no solid evid-" Woohyun grumbled.

"I love you." Sunggyu whispered into his ears, successfully shutting him up, "I love you, you stupid genius. Now shut up and enjoy this beautiful sunset. Don't ruin it."

"That stupid genius you said is so contradicting."

"Shut up already."

"Make m-" Sunggyu sealed their lips again.

 

Their lives were perfect. And Woohyun was glad that he did not reject that scholarship.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 18 years and 10 months old when he had to bring Sunggyu to the hospital.

 

It was all his fault. He should have been more observant.

 

They were just fooling around in the park. Despite being young adults, one being a genius and all, they were in the park playing tag like little children. It was the weekends and one of the rare ones where Sunggyu doesn't have any schedule and Woohyun does not have any ongoing research projects. It was a perfect date. Woohyun keeps catching up with Sunggyu despite his lack of exercise.

Sunggyu on another hand, had the perfect weapon, he kissed him, stunning him, and then shove him back down onto the floor roughly, then stepping back. "You're it!" and ran away.

 

"Hey that's not fair! You can't just seduce me with your kiss and then tag me!"

Sunggyu stopped, turning around, placing his fingers on lips and grinned "We didn't agree on any rules did we? So the only rule here is: survive."

"That's dark. Well, it is how the society is now." Woohyun said before running forward giving chase.

 

It had been fine. It was one of the rare weekends.

A very rare one in fact as Sunggyu suddenly stopped running.

 

He suddenly turned around and eyes turned wide, a hint of fear behind the brown eyes. "I... Namu...?" he mumbled, "There's something wrong. I don't fee-"

 

And then he just.... collapsed. Like a puppet having its strings cut.

Woohyun wasn't fast enough to catch him and he cursed himself for not exercising regularly.

"Gyu!" He shivered as he heard Sunggyu's head cracked against the cold pavement with a sickening thud.

 

He slid next to Sunggyu's head and moved his head on his lap before turning Sunggyu into a recovery position. He grapsed the sides of Sunggyu's pale face and shoved his fingers under Sunggyu's jaw. "Gyu? Baby wake up. Gyu!"

Thank God.

It was there. An irregular and fast pulse. Way faster than usual. It was only then he spotted the unusual red spots on his arms.

He hastely pulled out the mobile terminal from his jeans' pocket.

He couldn’t feel anything from his fingers, as if they were frozen. His stiff fingertips desperately operated the touch panel, as he reported the current location and situation to the operator at the emergency center, panting, and out of breath.

Woohyun grabbed his coat and covered Sunggyu, trying to keep him as warm as possible in the cold winter afternoon. 

"Gyu hang in there for me. Hold on baby okay?" Woohyun grabbed his limp right hand, kissing it and rubbing it assuringly - not sure whether it is to assure himself or Sunggyu whose long eyelashes rested against his pale face.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

"Don't worry Namu-hyung. Gyu-hyung will be fine." Myungsoo said softly next to him as he squeezed his right shoulder as a form of comfort. Mrs Kim and Myungsoo looked tired and drained. Woohyun has never moved from the hard plastic chair next to Sunggyu's bed, or eaten anything since 10 hours ago.

It has been 10 hours since Sunggyu revealled his brown eyes, and he still hasn't woke up.

"Hyung is a tough nut to crack. He loves music too much to just give up."

"W-Whatever it is, we will get through this together with him." Mrs Kim whispered and squeezed his left shoulder.

This was something new and Woohyun is not going to give up here. He nodded and held his hand. 

He told the doctors that were in-charge to test for possible leukemia using bone marrow biopsy. He noticed in recent months, Sunggyu had been having fevers and nosebleed often. He only realised that there were tiny red spots all around his arms 10 hours ago. And only now he realised he has lost a significant amount of weight.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 18 years, 10 months and 1 day old when Sunggyu was diagnosed with leukemia.

 

The scientist in him was rejoicing that he managed to find out the root cause of Sunggyu's collapse through the symptoms and gut feeling.

However, he was not pleased and was deeply shocked by the results.

 

Stage 3 leukemia.

 

It was then he found his resolve to fully focus on his research he had been doing since a month ago. Cancer research for the collective good.

Despite being from a rich family, he can't just throw his money at cancer. It doesn't accept bribes. All he had was his brain, and he was called a biological sciences genius since 14 years old. He is not going to give up that easily. He will rather devote himself to research while continuing his university curriculum. So at his bedside while he waited, he read through all current research papers on his tablet while waiting for him to open his eyes again.

 

After sleeping for more than 20 hours, the two pairs of brown eyes finally met each other again. Sunggyu smiled weakly as he woke up to a familar face he has been longing to see. Woohyun smiled at Sunggyu with tears in his eyes as he leaned down and kissed him as a welcome back gift.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

"Namu what are you doing?" Sunggyu enquired as Woohyun lifted up the strong disinfectant scented hospital blanket cover. Sunggyu shifted on his bed, before Woohyun invited himself onto the bed as it creaked a little under the weight of two people.

Woohyun stopped shifting. "Right now? I'm joining you on the bed. You deserved to be cuddled." he said as he continued to move into a more comfortable position, putting his arm behind Sunggyu's head.

"You know exactly what I mean." Sunggyu said sternly, despite his voice being hoarse from the lack of usage. Woohyun noted and poured a glass of water for Sunggyu.

 

Woohyun placed the glass back to the bedside counter and hugged Sunggyu's head, it. Sunggyu was going to undergo chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy starting next day. He was going to lose his beautiful locks of brown hair. Woohyun informed the university about Sunggyu's condition right after he was diagnosed with leukemia. The university department that was in-charge of Sunggyu's schedule had cancelled all his schedules until further notice and had urged Sunggyu to take care of his health. His condition was also revealed to the public and messages of encouragement had been flooding in ever since.

 

"I am going to find a cure for you, not just using some stupid chemo and radiotherapy." Woohyun continued hugging his head, taking in the the scent of his strawberry-scented hair. "I promise you Gyu, I am not going to see you suffer through those therapies."

 

Sunggyu just sighed, defeated as he brought up Woohyun's free right hand and kissed the back of it. "I know Namu. But that's not your job. You are still a university student. Just continue studying and let chemotherapy and radiotherapy have a chance to work. Besides-"

 

"Don't you dare. Finish that." Woohyun snapped back harshly, his own throat was sore from all the crying as well. "I am a university student. But I have been called a genius since 14 years old. How can I be one when I see my own loved one suffering from an illness under the department that I am good at?"

Sunggyu was about to continue on rebutting but Woohyun stopped him with a gentle peck to his lips.

"I will do anything for you. Anything. Just let me try baby okay?" Woohyun begged as he drew Sunggyu closer for a hug. "Let me try."

Sunggyu nodded and leaned his head against Woohyun's shoulder. "I can't do anything to convince you idiot."

Woohyun chuckled "I'm your idiot after all." he responded.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 19 years and 5 months old when he graduated from university with Bachelor of Science and set the record as the youngest person to graduate in two years.

 

Sunggyu was there at the ceremony, the therapies had been working and his leukemia was showing positive signs of recession. Even though the therapy was reduced during the course year, he has lost almost all of his hair and is currently donning a orange beanie that Woohyun had given him a few months ago. He has stopped singing for a year as he doesn't not have the capacity of singing high notes that he was once so proud of. Right now, he spends time writing songs for other singers. He has lost most of the positive energy that he had when Woohyun first met him almost 3 years ago. He moved out of the university dorms after he was discharged and went back to his appartment back where his younger brother and mother can baby him.

 

At the rate that he's condition have been improving, Woohyun was positive that he can go back to singing again.

 

Sunggyu clapped the loudest at the ceremony and was giving him a smile that he has missed dearly. It was as if they travelled back in time to when they first met and became friends a few years ago.

 

After the graduation ceremony, Woohyun jumped down from the stage and bolted straight to Sunggyu. Sunggyu hugged him tightly, gripping the black graduation robe as he buried his face into his shoulder. Because Woohyun was trying to complete a 5-year course of studies in the span of 2 years, not to mention all the research he was doing together with his lab partners, Dongwoo and Hoya, to find the cure for targetted therapy for leukemia, he had been completely swarmed and didn't had much time to visit Sunggyu. 

Seeing him again after a few months to Woohyun was like learning how to breathe again.

 

"How are you doing baby? Have you been eating?" Woohyun smiled as he pulled Sunggyu in for a kiss and broke off after a few seconds, then proceed giving him a full body scan.

"I'm as fine as I can be Namu. You gotten thinner. I should be asking you that question..." Sunggyu mumbled poking Woohyun's certificate, "But today the main star isn't me. It's you! You did it Namu! You graduated in a blink of an eye."

"You do know it is not easy right? But you are in love with a genius after all. If I put my heart to it, nothing can stop me." Woohyun beamed and pointed to his brain.

"I'm so proud of you Namu." Sunggyu peck him in the lips, "Myungsoo has been doing well with his trio band as well. I have been helping them to write songs and training them too."

"I missed you." "Me too" They hugged again. Damn, Woohyun had missed this a lot. 

"Yesterday I found a breakthrough in one of the animal models and I was wondering whether I should go back and check the hybrido-" Woohyun was babbling all the scientific stuff that Sunggyu did not understand again.

"Namu." Sunggyu said harshly, stopping Woohyun's babbling with his finger to his lips.

"Yes?"

"Stop. Don't think about that today. Let's just find a place, sit down and catch up with one another okay? Your parents, my mom and my brother's band are here today."

"Your mom and your brother are here too?"

"As if they were going to miss today's ceremony." Sunggyu laughed as he brushed Woohyun's random strand of brown hair behind his ears. "Let's invite Dongwoo-hyung and Hoya-hyung as well okay?"

"Okay baby."

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Sunggyu placed the orange pencil into Woohyun's palm. The foxes have long been faded. Woohyun gave it back to Sunggyu last year, and this year was Sunggyu's turn to give it back. "Happy best friendiversary." Sunggyu whispered next to his ear and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I thought we already passed the friend hurdle." Woohyun pouted and snuggled into Sunggyu's shoulder.

"Shut up." Sunggyu snapped as he flicked Woohyun's forehead. "Sorry sorry I was only joking, it's our best friend promise anyway." Woohyun apologised hastely.

"I knew you well enough and going to say that so... from my own salary..." Sunggyu took out a box containing two identical rose gold rings, each with WH <3 SG carved at the inner part, "I decided to add something new to our promise."

"Wow Gyu I...." Woohyun stuttered as Sunggyu slipped Woohyun's ring into his right ring finger, "I love you so much."

"I know that." Sunggyu laughed as he held out his own right hand to Woohyun.

"No I love you so much that it made these few hard months all worthed it." Woohyun whispered as he slipped Sunggyu's ring into his right finger.

Sunggyu laughed. "Since when you became this corny?"

"Since you met me."

"Geez.." Sunggyu nudged his arm as they spent time cuddling on the sofa with a single long blanket that day, dozing off as the movie continued streaming deep into the night.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Sunggyu told Woohyun that he was all cleared to go back to his schedules, even if it meant more relaxed schedules and wearing a special blonde wig on live shows. Woohyun knew he should stop Sunggyu from pushing himself. He knew Sunggyu well enough to know that he will push himself to his limits even if his body protests.

But he also knew it was Sunggyu's dream to be a composer as well as singer. He cannot stop Sunggyu from pursuing what he dreamt of doing, since Sunggyu supported his dream. He has to believe and trust him to give him his full support.

 

He tuned in to Sunggyu's first live show since he was medically cleared for his career.

It's still the Sunggyu that debutted a year ago, the one that had his angellic voice, the one that touched million of hearts overnight. He cried when he saw Sunggyu finally back to who he was again.

 

But he knew he shouldn't take any chances and continued working on targetted therapy research he with his lab partners had been working on since a year ago. Hoya and Dongwoo were his course seniors in their second year. They were also interested in biological sciences, and in the university, were one of the few leading experts in cancer research. They saw Woohyun's intellect and motivation, and decided to fully help Woohyun in his research.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 20 years old when he was told that Sunggyu had one year left to live.

 

That fateful phone call came in at 4 am in the morning. By then, the trio had already pulled two all-nighters and was surviving on quick snacks and black coffee. They were looking at the results of the first trial for their number 9th prototype with sastifactory results.They were discussing possible changes to the prototype to make the therapeutic more safe for human consumption as it was certain it will not pass the second trial. 

 

"Myung-ie?" Woohyun raised his palm out to stop Dongwoo's possible theory as he answered the ringtone dedicated to Sunggyu's baby brother Myungsoo.

 

"Namu-hyung..?" his voice at the other end wavered. Woohyun's breathing hitched and he felt as if his heart had stopped beating. He must have gone pale as Dongwoo and Hoya were looking at him attentively. They have gotten close with Sunggyu in the eventful year, and treated both Woohyun and Sunggyu as their baby brothers.

Woohyun knew what was the call about before Myungsoo had the chance to spit out the dreaded words.

 

"Gyu-hyung's condition.. taken a turn." Myungsoo's breath hitched, "H-He's admitted back in the hospital hyung."

 

Woohyun unconsciously made a sound, which he was vaguely aware of. 

"I'm a few hours away from the hospital. H-How's... he? How.... bad is it?"

"He's stable. They said" Myungsoo sighed, "But...but. They did scans again hyung. It lit up like a christmas tree. It's....it's bad hyung. I-I don't understand what they are saying. T-There's something seriously wrong. Mum is next to him right now, he collapsed 2 hours ago when he woke up to drink water."

 

Myungsoo choked and then continued "C-Can you come over hyung? I am sure.... Gyu-hyung will love to see you when he wakes up."

"I'll be with you Myungsoo" Woohyun replied as calm as possible, dropping his nickname. The last thing he wanted is to panic and make the situation worse than it already is. "I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Take care on your way here hyung."

 

He must have drifted off after the call ended. He only snapped back into the reality when Dongwoo called out his name. "Woohyun...? Is it Sunggyu? Is he okay?" 

"I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible. I-I can grab a cab....but I can't leave the discussion and analysis undone." Woohyun cursed at himself for not learning how to drive. He thought it was redundent and could grab a cab if there is a need to.

"I can drop you off, it's much more faster that way. Sunggyu is more important, Hoya keep us updated if anything happens." Dongwoo said squeezing his shoulder while Hoya gave him a firm nod.

"O-Okay. It's in Jeonju, the area closest to Seoul." Hoya gave Dongwoo a worried look as Dongwoo nodded and dragged Woohyun out of the lab by his arm.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

When they were told that Sunggyu's leukeumia was in partial recession, they were rejoicing. They knew that Sunggyu's treatment options were working and it had positive results with not much side effects. However, in the past few months where Sunggyu was allowed back into his career as a singer, the stress built-up caused him to have a relapse.

 

It had advanced to Stage 4.

 

And the recent chemotherapy and radiotherapy results did not show significant improvement to his condition.

 

He was told that Sunggyu had about 1 year to live.

 

He was there when Sunggyu woke up in tears. He knew what was coming. Woohyun rubbed on the back of Sunggyu's emaciated hand as he cried, holding back his own tears while Sunggyu balled up at his chest, crying.

He fell asleep soon after, obviously exhausted from all the crying. He patted Sunggyu's back before lowering him gently back onto the bed. After Sunggyu had fell asleep, he leaned back against the sofa in the room, crying as Dongwoo comforted him. Exhaustion from the two all-nighters crept up upon them, and both of them fell asleep at the break of dawn.

 

Dongwoo returned to the university next day, urging Woohyun to stay back for a few days and accompany Sunggyu while Hoya and him continue to work on the cure. There was a whole new determination behind those eyes, something that Woohyun was grateful for. 

He knew he wasn't alone.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

"You are going to be fine Gyu." Woohyun whispered as he peeled an apple next to Sunggyu's bed. "I promise you. I now have a tighter deadline, and a whole new motivation to do much better. I'll work it out. You just focus on recovering alright baby?"

"Woohyun." Sunggyu's voice cracked from too much crying, Woohyun looked up. It had been a long time Sunggyu had called him by his name. "Woohyun baby, stop, please don't do this to yourself."

"I'll do whatever I want, Sunggyu. Whatever I want. I graduated a year ago as the youngest person to do so. I have two partners that are leading experts in immunology and biological sciences on the planet. I'm not giving up that easily. I'm going to work it out. Don't tell me that I can't." Woohyun snapped at Sunggyu as he stopped peeling the apple.

 

He didn't meant to snap at Sunggyu. This could have happened to anyone. But why Sunggyu? Why Kim Sunggyu? It could have been those s back in high school. It could have been some murderer that murdered for his or her own selfish needs. Why is it him, a person that brought so much hope and encouragement through his songs to the world, had to be the one suffering like this? A ray of sunshine, that lost it's brightness because of this stupid illness. The one that always stood up for others, care about other more than himself. Why him?

 

"Namu-" Sunggyu tried to wipe the tears that unknowingly rolled down Woohyun's cheeks with his long hospital sleeve. But Woohyun mercilessly turned away. He needs to calm down before he said anything more to harm Sunggyu.

 

He sprung out of the hard plastic chair and close the door behind him.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Woohyun returned five minutes later, tears flowing freely down his face as he buried his face into Sunggyu's shoulder as Sunggyu comforted him, patting the brown locks of hair that had grown significantly longer since it has been weeks after the last hair trim.

He was not even the one sick, but he's the one that is being comforted by the one that actually should be comforted.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Sunggyu was released from the hospital a week later and Sunggyu's mom dropped them off back at Sunggyu's apartment. Woohyun pushed Sunggyu into the apartment on his wheelchair. Since his collapse, he was unable to walk far distances without tiring himself out. Hence, he was back on indefinite hiatus again, they knew this time... It was permanent.

 

"Namu-hyung! Gyu-hyung! Welcome back!" Myungsoo and his band mates - Sungyeol and Sungjong greeted them.

"I baked cookies. Don't worry, I didn't add much sugar." Myungsoo grinned, placing a freshly baked batch of chocolate chip cookies on the dining table. 

"There are much more raw ingredients left for you two to have fun. You can bake your own while the three of us eat these babies." Sungyeol smirked. "Don't play too crazily though, Mrs Kim will scream at us if you two go all crazy like last time." Sungjong sternly said.

It was pretty funny that the two older brothers there were the ones being scolded and taken care by their baby brothers. Not like that they cared.

 

Despite Sungjong's warning, the two of them had an all-out flour war and the kitchen was left in a mess. Sunggyu was covered in flour while Woohyun had splotches of flour all over.

 

It was as if time had been rewinded back to when they first became best friends. 

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Sunggyu's long list of medications had made his brain go all haywired. Both of them were cuddling up on the sofa watching a movie and Sunggyu started dozing when the movie just barely started.

"You know.... all my life, I feel that I spent most of my luck having to met you Namu." Sunggyu whispered as his eyelids threatened to close.

 

Woohyun was surprised. After all those that went down, Sunggyu still remained positive. He still held onto that... that positivity in his heart. He knew Sunggyu was a fighter, and he was wrong to doubt him in the first place. Sunggyu was still the angel he met 4 years ago.

 

"Me too. My angel." Woohyun pushed Sunggyu's head to his shoulder, "Just go to sleep okay? I am sure everything will work out. We are not giving up on each other until we both get to the other side together."

It doesn't matter what the doctors say. It doesn't matter what the results came out to show. Sunggyu was more than just those. He was the strongest person out there. And it will make sure he pulls through.

 

He had to.

 

"But the-" Woohyun peck him on the cheek, silencing Sunggyu's attempt to argue back. "Sleeppp."

Sunggyu was out like a light, snoring silently after that. They stayed cuddled until the first rays from the morning sun appears.

 

Woohyun left the next day, leaving a note that he should get back to research and will be back more often.

After all, he had 9 months left to work on a cure and make sure it will work.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 20 years old and 7 months old when the latest prototype showed the most promising results after almost 2 years of research.

 

"Woohyun, it will take a few hours for the next result to come out, you should get some sleep."

"No hyung, I want to take a look at the genetic sequencing again. There is this variable region that is causing all the inflammation responses, maybe by altering and configuring that part may stop all those self-destroying symptoms from happening."

"Woohyun, listen to Dongwoo. It's been 48 hours since you last slept. Sunggyu certainly doesn't want you to burn yourself to the ground."

 

It was so tedious, so frustrating, he had always loved Biology since young. Drowning himself in high-level research papers at a tender age of 10 years old. Now 10 years later, he was still drowning himself in research. But with a different motivation.

It was the first time he found that Biology is a . 

He's so close. So close. But yet so far. But he can't stop. Not now. He know what he can do it and would do it. He needs to do it for Sunggyu. Anyway- Sunggyu was doing well, the change of drug in chemotherapy and the stopping of radiotherapy stopped the progress for a reasonable amount of time. It was helping him, making him more lively, allowing him to go back to composing new songs for his brother's band and other artists. He was gaining back some of his muscle mass as well. It was wonderful to see. And that also meant he had more time to ensure that the new therapeutic drug was safe for human usage.

 

"Okay Dongwoo hyung, Hoya hyung. Why not both of you go grab some lunch for us, I will stay back and take care of the scanning. Just be sure to call me when you are back." Woohyun sighed and giggled, it only occured to him it has been months since he last laughed in the lab. "We last time ignore the no eating in the lab rule and got reprimanded for hours by our professor."

 

Sunggyu called the moment the pair left the lab.

"Namu?" Sunggyu mumbled asked "Are you going to visit soon?"

 

Woohyun took a look at the test tube he had in his hand before setting it down back to the rack, then smiled as he heard Sunggyu's voice. "I am- yeah, soon baby. I mean- we are at the final testing stages of the latest prototype right now, and we just had a breakthrough which we need to look deeper into. I will come as soon as we work through it. Just-"

"But I haven't seen you in weeks..." Sunggyu mumbled softly, Woohyun stopped, barely able to hear his voice.

"I know baby, come on just another week. This is really importan-"

"Haven't you thought that my time in fact is limited and I want to spend time with you before-"

"Don't." Woohyun cut short the sentence. "Don't you dare. complete the sentence. Don't stay stuff like that Sunggyu-" Woohyun breath hitched, he doesn't want to accept that fact. The new chemotherapy drug was working and can buy him some time to complete his research.

"Like what? That I am dying? Woohyun. " Sunggyu replied harshly, "You can't keep living in denial Woohyun!"

"Stop."

"Please it has been months, and... and you are still not preparing yourself for the inevitable."

"Stop it."

"What if... what if I leave? I can't bare to see you suffer like this Woohyun! I CAN'T!"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE. I CAN'T JUST SIT BACK AND WATCH YOU SUFFER." Woohyun furiously snapped.

 

That was the first time in years that Woohyun had shouted at Sunggyu since his one and only fight in high school.

 

"We promised that we will be together forever. We promised.... we promised that we will suffer together if there is a need to." Woohyun cried out. "I can't stand it myself, to see you suffer when all I have is my brain to think out of ways to find a cure."

"I-I..." 

"Sorry." Woohyun ended the call.

 

Woohyun clentched his fist inside the lab coat pockets as he slid slowly down the laboratory cabinet onto the cold floor.

 

Sunggyu wasn't going to...

 

He wasn't.

 

He was Sunggyu. The person that refused to give up. He was Sunggyu. The one that always remain positive despite how ty the situation was. They were a pair. The brain and the soul. Woohyun was the smart one, Sunggyu was the one conveying all their feelings. Sunggyu was the one that wrote songs that gave people hope. The person that gave others hope despite running out of hope himself.

 

This wasn't fair. Why? Why Sunggyu? He had been questioning himself that question since Sunggyu was first diagnosed 2 years ago, and he still doesn't have answers to that question. Is it a penance by the Heavens for Woohyun's genius intellect? Then it should have been him that should be going through this. If the latest prototype does somewhat succeed with side effects, is it just a weak form of apology?

 

The Heavens picked Sunggyu to die. The one that gave Woohyun the motivation to push himself to his limits and fully embrace his intellect, only to crush it menacingly. Woohyun would put some other person to take Sunggyu's place if he had the choice to do so. It sounds psychotic and ruthless- but he would do anything for Sunggyu.

 

Sunggyu was dying.

 

And Woohyun was soul was dying as well.

 

Dongwoo and Hoya came back to a find a sobbing mess of Woohyun as he pulled his knees to his chest and broke down crying. Finally releasing all the built up stress and frustrations throughout these two years. The strong front he had built, came crumbling down within a matter of minutes.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

"Namu-hyung? Why are you..." Myungsoo asked when he opened the apartment door. Woohyun gave him a sad glance. "Gyu-hyung locked himself in the room since he called you. He did not skip his medicine though, he took it and locked himself in the room again."

 

It's good to know that Sunggyu haven't given up yet. If Sunggyu hasn't given up, then why should he?

 

Woohyun cleared his throat before calling out "Gyu baby? It's me. Can you open up?" he knocked on the bedroom door. "I'm sor-"

The door open with a creak and Sunggyu ran forward and embraced Woohyun.

"I'm sorry Namu. I'm sorry that I said all those things to you. I just don't want to take those medicines and feel pain anymore. But.... but.."

"I know baby... I know." Woohyun hugged Sunggyu's head to his shoulder "I'm sorry too."

 

Sunggyu knees gave out and Woohyun gently lowered both of them down onto the floor as Sunggyu finally released all his frustrations, balling up Woohyun's favourite sunflower shirt.

 

"Why me...? WHY?...Why am I the one having to suffer this? I AM ONLY 20 YEARS OLD" Sunggyu screamed.

"I... I had a future. I just wanted to be a singer... touching everyone with my songs, conveying my feelings. Telling them to get back on their feet even if life hits you in everyway possible. Telling them to remain still even if everyone tells them that they are wrong and should move. What's.... What's so wrong with that?"

Woohyun remained silent as Sunggyu cried into his shirt, slumping into his embrace.

"I don't want to die.... I don't want to die Namu. I don't. I still have many things to do with my life. I want to get married with you. Have kids together with you. Watching them grow up. So... so many...."

"You are not going to die Sunggyu. I haven't given up, you can't give up too."

"I want to grow old with you. That's part of my future plan. I want to set up my own label, singing until I can't anymore. Go on dates with you to the observatory to observe the stars. I always loved the stars..."

Sunggyu trailed off and Woohyun whispered as he hugged his head. "I love you.... we are going to get through this. I am going to find a cure. Stay strong. I will."

 

That night Sunggyu cried himself until he fell asleep in Woohyun's embrace despite being on the cold wooden floor.

 

Dongwoo and Hoya called an hour later, saying that the latest prototype will not be able to pass the second preliminary trial.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 21 years old when he brought Sunggyu to the observatory.

 

"Come out with me" Woohyun bridal carried Sunggyu and place him on his wheelchair, grabbing his piano sheets away and pulling him away from the keyboard. "We didn't have a date in ages."

 

The latest prototype, the 12th prototype after more than 2 years of research, showed promising results and Dongwoo and Hoya prompted Woohyun to spend time together with Sunggyu as they continue to perfect the therapeutic back at the laboratory. 

 

"Namu, you do know I can't walk around that well anymore and I can't eat-" Sunggyu flushed as he mumbled

"We are not eating and why do you think I am carrying you to your wheelchair genius?" Woohyun jokingly snapped.

"If we are not eating, what are we-"

"A surprise" Woohyun flicked his nose gently "It wouldn't be a surprise anymore if I tell you now."

Woohyun gave a few layer of clothes and a scarf he recently bought for him. "It's going to be chilly so wear more layers when I go bring the car around." Woohyun turned and left the room "I'll be back! Get ready!" can be heard from the other side of the door.

Sunggyu froze there for a few seconds before putting on the few layers of clothing.

 

Woohyun realised that asking Dongwoo and Hoya to fetch him to and fro from Sunggyu's apartment was not exactly good manners, so when the 11th prototype was undergoing the first trial, he went to get a driving license. Luckily, he had a knack for driving.

 

 

"Is this the observatory?" Sunggyu questioned, with a hint of excitement and surprise as he saw the slowly enlarging dome as they approached their destination.

"Mmhmm. We are here Your Royal Highness." Woohyun stopped the car at the entrance, turning the engine off before grabbing the wheelchair from the trunk of the car. When he carried Sunggyu to his wheelchair, Sunggyu noticed something.

The place was empty. Except for a few technical staff around.

"Why is it so empty?" Sunggyu questioned as Woohyun laid a layer of blanket on his lap.

"I pulled a few strings with the observatory with the help of the university and a couple of friends in astronomy."

"You have friends?" Sunggyu joked.

"Shut up," Woohyun grumbled and then jokingly nudged Sunggyu. "Anyway, I learned a couple of skills to work the equipment and all, so we can look at the stars for as long as you like. Before 6 am that is. Just for the two of us. Tonight."

Sunggyu gave him the smile that was was last since months ago, the smile when they confessed their feelings. Sunggyu nodded. "Lead the way then." he said softly.

 

Woohyun did.

 

Sunggyu looked much more livelier as compared to a few weeks before. The night was perfect. This was the part where Sunggyu can go all astronomy only to leave Woohyun question everything he says. Sunggyu keep questioning Woohyun what constellation that was only to be shrugged off and avoided with a laugh. But what's a date without a kiss right? Honestly.

 

"Are you glad?" Woohyun asked when the clock struck 12 am.

 

Sunggyu stopped blabbling about stars and stopped. Chuckling, as this time Sunggyu was the one being stopped, his face softened and squeezed their linked hands. "Yes." Sunggyu replied, with tears in his eyes.

"I have always wanted to spent time looking at the stars." He glanced back up towards to the sky and back to Woohyun "With the one I love the most."

 

That sudden pang of sadness shot through Woohyun. He just brought him to the observatory and nothing else. And he returned Sunggyu with his own smile.

 

They brushed their nose against each other before melting into another kiss.

 

 

The following week however, Sunggyu's condition deteriorated again and had to be in prolonged stay at the hospital.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 21 years, 2 months and 19 days old when the final prototype passed it's final trial. 

 

Woohyun was staring at the spreadsheet and the graph on the computer screen before glancing at Dongwoo and Hoya who were analysing the research findings on the bench behind him.

 

There's no mistake. He double checked the results, triple checked it even. It was their fourth re-experimentation.

 

"Dongwoo-hyung, Hoya-hyung.... I think we found it" He said numbly, as he scrolled through the entire spreadsheet once more.

"Found what?" They asked simultaneously.

Woohyun grabbed both of their lab chairs and dragged it to his bench. Dongwoo and Hoya just stared at the experimental findings. and stared...

"Pabo hyungs! Here!" Woohyun pointed to the final results and cheered. "Leukemia was in full recession with no adverse effects!"

"Holy ... Thank God. This is not a joke right? You didn't tweak the results did you?"

"Why would I do that? It is constant, there are no signs of side effects throughout four experimental attempts. It only need a few doses, and the it will help the boost the body's own immune system and fight against the affected cells itself. Instead of just introducing another entity, it can be recognised by the immune system and not cause any inflammatory responses."

Dongwoo shook Woohyun by his shoulders. "Woohyun. You have to take the sample to the MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety). You can't just-"

"There's no time hyung.... Sunggyu..."

"It's illegal to give him a drug that is not approved by the government."

"But..."

"Woohyun...your phone is ringing." The phone was ringing a pleasant tune of Sunggyu's debut song. He left his phone on silent unless it was by...

Hoya glanced at the caller ID on the screen before handing the phone to Woohyun. "It's Myungsoo"

 

Oh God.

 

"Myung-ie? Hello?" He put the phone on speaker so that Dongwoo and Hoya can hear him too.

There was silence at the other end of the line, only a faint breathing sound can be heard.

"Is he... Is Gyu okay?" Woohyun managed to croak out. Because if Myungsoo is calling but not Sunggyu himself. Something must have gone terribly wr-

"No hyung. H-He's not." It was not Myungsoo at the other end of the line but Sungjong.

"Sungjong? What... what happened?"

"He collapsed again just now and just stopped breathing... hyung you have to come back. You have to. They managed to..."

Woohyun felt his throat closing as he darted his eyes to and fro Dongwoo and Hoya.

"I'm coming back with Dongwoo and Hoya."

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

The three of them came rushing to the ICU at the north wing of the hospital. Myungsoo, Sungyeol and Sungjong were there. Out of all of them, Myungsoo looked the worst as if he was on a brink of collapse.

"My mum is inside with Gyu-hyung. Please go in." Myungsoo choked out.

 

The sliding door opened painfully slow as he rushed into the room. Mrs Kim was there, holding and rubbing onto the back of Sunggyu's hand. She looked unkempt, as if she just bolted out of the office without even properly tidying herself up.

"Woohyun... honey.."

 

Sunggyu was just lying there, with a cannula upon his nose, all sorts of machines displaying vital signs and all those biological nonsense that Woohyun currently doesn't care about. He only care about the blood pressure and pulse rate written on the monitor.

Weakened and slow pulse. Signs of....

 

Mrs Kim came forward as she left the chair, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaving the room silently.

Woohyun slumped in the still warm plastic chair next to Sunggyu's bed as he squeezed Sunggyu's cold and once again emaciated hand. He didn't take his eyes off Sunggyu.

 

He was so close.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Sunggyu woke up an hour later after the arrival of Woohyun, Dongwoo and Hoya. Woohyun then due to the previous all-nighter he pulled fell asleep next his Sunggyu's arm. Woohyun shot upright after he felt someone caressing his hair, only to found out Sunggyu had woken up and was staring blankly at him.

 

"Gyu baby... you're awake...."

"I must have... gave you a scare." Sunggyu breathed out.

"Damn right you are ." Woohyun scolded softly. "I will go get the others. Do you want to sit up and drink water?"

Nodding gently, Woohyun remotely inclined the bed and directed the straw with a cup filled with water to his lips. After seeing Sunggyu taking a few sips he pecked his pale cheeks before leaving the room.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

All of them - Mrs Kim, Woohyun, Myungsoo, Dongwoo, Hoya, Sungyeol and Sungjong went into the room to pay their final respects. Pallative care. It has gone down to that.

Sunggyu, when he first woke up, convinced Woohyun not to use the completed cure on him. He did not want to let Woohyun spend so much of his efforts only to face the law of the country. Woohyun cried into his shoulder as he nodded, promising that he will see to it that the cure gets approved by the government and help other people suffering like him.

"I'm tired..." and Sunggyu went to sleep even longer than the first time after that in Woohyun's arms.

 

It was 11.55pm and Sunggyu finally opened his eyes for the last time. Smiling weakly at the pair of brown eyes he longed for every morning, he pulled Woohyun's shirt, wanting to lean against his shoulder. The rest of the family stood around the bed, trying not to cry as the scene unfolded in front of them. The family has already requested to remove all the equipment around Sunggyu, not wanting to give Sunggyu anymore noise and pain. All that was left was the cannula between his nose, providing him with the oxygen he needs.

 

"Namu...."

"Yes..?"

"Can you sing for me? Our... first song. Our song of promise..." His voice was scratchy, and there was no hint of the angellic voice he had a few years ago. But that voice, was still all Sunggyu.

"But I have never sung in ages."

"Please..? It doesn't... matter."

"Okay."

Woohyun started singing as Sunggyu rested against his shoulder.

 

Before he ended the song, he heard Sunggyu whispered "I love you. Thank you for everything." before his eyes slipped closed.

 

The clocked rolled over to 12 am on the 28th of April. 

Sunggyu turned 21 years old surrounded by his loved ones, had left this world.

 

And Woohyun sung for him through until the last 60 seconds. 

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 21 years, 2 months and 20 days old when he last saw Sunggyu's brown eyes.

 

The entertainment company that was managing his schedules and publicity broke the sad news of Sunggyu's passing. Fans from around the world mourned for the lost of a young and talented composer and singer. Sunggyu's songs of hope, encouragement will be recorded down in the music history.

 

The funeral was held, privately attended by Sunggyu's relatives and close friends. Woohyun was there too. Watching everything happening, no speech or anything was done. Since one hour of crying and grieving he had not spoken ever since. Not even a shed of tear. 

 

There was no need to.

 

When Sunggyu left, Woohyun had nothing left.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 21 years, 2 months and 27 days old when he received Sunggyu's email and a USB and the orange pencil from Myungsoo.

 

"I received hyung's email about where he left the items." Myungsoo said softly, eyes red and swollen, "and...wanted me to pass you these."

He should be comforting Myungsoo, he is Sunggyu's baby brother that he doted on since he was born.

 

But Woohyun just took the items and closed the door.

 

Not even a word of encouragement, a nod of thanks.

 

If you received this email, that means I have truly left the world.

I programmed it to be sent if I didn't open my mail for more than a week. 

I have another email sent to Myungsoo to give you my USB and pencil I left in my drawer. 

 

Happy best friendaversary...

 

Always yours.

Kim Sunggyu.

 

He didn't want to open the contents of the USB drive. It was the same exact drive they used to save their first composed song that was written together. 

"That idiot... Like I said before... Didn't we pass the friend barrier already?" Woohyun mumbled to himself.

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 21 years and 5 months old when the cure he developed with Dongwoo and Hoya passed the final trail and is approved to be distributed to the masses.

 

Nobel Medicine Award, an award that is one of the most honoured awards to receive in the world. Woohyun together with Dongwoo and Hoya received the award. Despite shutting them outside of the other side of the door, Dongwoo and Hoya managed to drag him to accept the award. 

They kept talking about other medals, their massive contributions to the scientific community. Their cure brought new theories and breakthrough that served as the basic of the revolution of modern medcine. It brought awareness to how frightening cancer is, but also brought a new faint ray of hope that it can be viewed differently for a better cure.

They wanted to know their story. His story. How did he find the motivation to carry on. 

He refused. He pushed everything to the other two. There was no point for him to fill in his part of the story.

His motivation of this research was to end the suffering of his beloved.

Which he did not manage to do so in time. 

 

 

He didn't talk since that day. He shuttled everyone out, from his parents, Mrs Kim, Myungsoo and pretty much everyone Sunggyu loved and care about. 

He wake up every morning hoping to see Sunggyu busting through his room door and demanding him to get off his and stop sulking. 

 

But that was just a fantasy, Sunggyu had already left. 

 

 

It was only that night after he received the Nobel prize, he finally opened the USB drive.

Inside attached were numerous amount of songs written by Sunggyu.

For him. 

 

Below all of it attached a PDF document named Pabo Namu. 

 

He smiled, it was Sunggyu after all. The music-loving idiot that loves the way he is and always have a positive outlook of his life.

"I just wanted to be a singer..."

He closed his eyes, tears threatening to fall out. He needs to do this. Sunggyu wanted him to have this.

It's only been a few months without him. Everyone that was constantly being supplied by his radiance still had not completely accept the painful truth.

 

It was the most painful months of his life.

More painful than squeezing 5 years of knowledge into 2 years. 

More painful than seeing Sunggyu suffering from the illness that he finally cured.

 

 

Hey Pabo. 

 

I hope you like my music. I am sorry that I sound like a frog croaking at the last few songs, I wasn't the way that I used to be a few years ago. I long lost the voice that captivated and touched millions of hearts overnight. Because cancer is a right? I think I did pretty well considering- Well. Let's not talk about that.

This is going to sound like every cliche romantic movie ever... But I need to say what I need to say. If you received this drive from Myungsoo, it means that I have left this world. Knowing you, you will not be doing great. Hell, you will not open this drive for ages too. It doesn't matter, you can take however long you need. Please hopefully not more than 10 years... 

Geez, I don't know what to write. It's hard to write what you have to say in one letter when you are going to die and NOT feel moody about it. So, I have to get the most important message across. There's no point avoiding the inevitable. Right?

 

I am glad to have met you Woohyun.

The first friend I met, a person that I can dedicate my life and songs to. You even graduated university as the youngest person to ever do so. For me. I seriously could never be more prouder and grateful for that. 

 

Heck, you are a genius and you may even make it in time and find the cure for me. I seriously hope there is no need to open this letter.

You're amazing but you are not a God Namu. No matter how much you try or how much I fight, life will still have to run its course. It's definitely not your fault. Please. Please one last thing you can do for me is to not blame yourself. I really don't want to see you suffer anymore.

 

I wished that I don't have to write this letter at all. I want to spend my life together with you, continue singing and look at how our society grows every passing day. More importantly, I want to see you fully embrace Biology and look at it the way that you did years ago back in high school.

Geez, I should stop here, you said you are coming around in a few minutes and boy, you will not be happy if you caught me writing something like this. I am going to repeat things over and over again if I had a lot of time to write. I am going to leave a list of things that you should do before I end of with this letter okay? 

 

1. Please for freak sake, eat healthier.  Seriously. Since the day you told me your favorite food was instant ramen, I had a very hard time of unhearing it. 

2. Stop relying on coffee and sleep

3. Take care of mom and Myungsoo for me.

4. Look at Biology and love Biology the way you did in the past

5. Go meet new people. Honestly, everyone will like you. It's time that you start to meet more people

6. Sing with Myungsoo and the rest once in a while. Everyone missed your voice, including me

7.Take care of yourself. Don't use me as an excuse to destruct yourself. Don't make me reanimate from the dead to demand you to get off your .

8. Keep researching. Find more cures. Help other people not to suffer the same fate as us

 

, your car has arrived. I need to cut this short. Man, I wish I can make this at least 10 pages long or something. I should say something more useful. I wish I can be there for you. But I can't. I won't. You have to make do with this.

 

I love you so much Namu. So much. And I have trust that you'll be okay. It's going to take time, it's going to be hard, I won't lie or ignore that. But you are the genius that always refuse to give up.

Don't forget me okay? Listen to my voice through my songs. 

I wouldn't be forgetten by the music industry. But I still want to remembered by you.

 

Show the world who you really are. You pabo genius.

Love you always,

Sunggyu

 

∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞

 

Nam Woohyun was 22 years, 2 months and 20 days old when he finally visited Sunggyu for the first time.

 

It was Sunggyu's 22nd birthday. It was a nice morning. It wasn't too hot, but warm under the warm rays of the spring sun. Woohyun was glad, because Sunggyu will always complain when the weather gets too hot. Woohyun had thought of wearing a suit to visit, but Sunggyu will probably laugh at him if he did wear one. Besides, it's just a visit not a wake.

 

"I did it you know." He croaked out. He felt as if this was automatic, like someone was controlling him. "I developed multiple drugs using the same theory for more specific type of cancer similar to yours."

 

Damn, he can see why he put the visit until a year later. Sunggyu hates moody atmosphere, and he exactly is making the atmosphere seemed like one.

 

"Are you really that eager to go back to where you come from?" He asked with a smile "You could have waited for a few months more. You managed to live another two months longer than a year that you were given you know?" 

He glanced at the stone structure in front of him, with tears in his eyes "I wasn't fast enough... I didn't work hard enough. I'm sorry. I am not blaming myself. I know it's not my fault, but I wished I had spend more time with you instead of just trapping myself in the lab denying what was coming."

 

He paused.

 

"I learnt to make meals for myself everyday now, not just instant ramen. I gotten more sleep, I even dragged Dongwoo and Hoya to bed. You should give them letters too, they are the one relying on coffee now. Come back for a day and smack their asses into bed. Dongwoo will run away though." He laughed, thinking back a month ago where Dongwoo and Hoya were testing out a new theory and pull 3 all-nighters in a row.

 

"Don't worry about Myung-ie and your mom. They are doing a lot better than me. Myung-ie had the other two idiots nagging at him all day afterall. Your mom hangs out very often with my mom, I have been giving them money for their shopping. And boy, the amount they spend on shopping..."

 

"I went on to study Master's in the same university. I met more people. More friends. I am the youngest there, haha. But no body really minded about my age. Guess you were right on that part. It kinda that Dongwoo and Hoya are still studying for their Bachelor's. The university should let them graduate by now. I met Minseok, he's a very nice person."

Minseok offered to accompany him along, but he requested to visit Sunggyu alone so he is down there waiting in the car.

 

Woohyun fumbled to take out the orange pencil in his pocket. "I know it's early but" he placed the pencil on the stone structure. "Happy best friendaversary."

"You idiot, I said so many times that we already passed the barrier of a friend. Why on Earth are we still saying that?" He grumbled. He fumbled the ring that was on his finger given by Sunggyu and then Sunggyu's pair hung around his neck. 

 

It was only until now that he saw the dates carved into the stone structure. His chest tightened, and his sight blurred. He felt the weight of grief and sorrow weighing down on his shoulders as he slouched.

 

"I miss you so much Gyu. It's not the same without you..." He whispered.

"It's so hard. Not seeing you there, greeting me in the morning, not throwing flour at me. It's just- It's not the same." He sobbed.

 

Both of them sat in the comfortable silence. A long pause. Woohyun felt Sunggyu was right next to him all along, but he was the one doing all the talking. 

 

"You know, I dedicated the earnings of the cure to help the poor." He smiled "I named the foundation the WooGyu foundation. Woohyun and Sunggyu foundation. All the reports, interviews they given I answered that it was your effort and your motivation that kept me going, bringing me to where I am today. You are remembered not only in the music world, but also the rest of the world. It got your name plastered all over it, no is ever going to miss that right?"

 

"I went back to singing in my free time. Your entertainment label allowed me to debut as a solo artist as well. No one expected it to happen, not even myself." He laughed. 

 

A breeze blew by, lifting the fallen flower petals from the floor, making them dance in the wind for a few seconds before settling down on the floor again. The stone was still there, and it was silent.

Sunggyu was never going to come back. He was gone.

 

"I love you so much." He told Sunggyu. "I'm glad to have met you."

"Hey- Did I ever tell you that when I first saw you, I thought you were an angel that came down from Heavens?" He stood up and rested his fingers on the stone. "There is no evidence suggesting that. No theory at all. So I can rebutt all I want with science, but it just seemed like it." 

He brushed his fingers against the rough stone structure, caressing it, replacing it with the locks of strawberry-scented hair he missed. 

"You're back home now Gyu." He whispered, "Back with the angels."

 

He sat back down again. He knew he should probably be going as Minseok will be bored waiting for time to pass. But he knew he wouldn't mind.

 

"I wrote a song about you. I'll sing it for you."

 

After singing, Woohyun wiped his tears, before turning away.

 

"I'll be back soon baby." Pressing his fingers on his lips before placing it on Sunggyu's picture.

 

---

Author's note:

Here's the story I promised! Wow it's over 13,000 words long. I didn't expect it to happen.

I am not going to write these kinds of one-shot again. I can't bring myself to write such angst story with no happy endings. I was hesitating whether I should let Sunggyu live or not but. You know what happened.

 

Please upvote, subscribe or comment below. It gives me motivations and ways to improve my writing :) 

 

I was thinking whether I should add a small sequel after this. But it's hard to continue on so  -.- 

 

Happy 2019 everyone!