Chapter Thirteen: Epilogue

Hyukjae said goodbye to the customer he’d been assisting with their travel research and sat back down at his desk with relief. He had only officially been back to work for a week now, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been helping out from behind the scenes ever since he’d come home from the hospital.

His tests had returned clean, finally. No lingering infection, his system clear of the immunosuppressants that had kept him stuck at home, bored to tears. And the levels of his anti-rejection medication were perfectly stable for three weeks running.

The doctors had pronounced him ready for society, though there were a multitude of restrictions for what he was allowed to do. No heavy lifting. Like, nothing heavier than a jug of milk. No working out or sports. No . Not that the latter was an issue at all. It had been recommended that he work half-days until his body got used to the activity, even if he was sitting at a desk for most of it. He should still wear a mask around large groups of people or anyone who might be sick.

It was a lot to keep up with, and honestly, he was secretly glad that no one had expected him to do anything those first few weeks out of the hospital because he’d been exhausted. In a good way, of course. It was different from sitting around and waiting for your body to give out on you.

And he’d had company in the beginning, since Yesung, who had donated a kidney to the wife of Hyukjae’s donor, was recuperating with him. Giving up a kidney, however, seemed to be a much easier thing to recover from than having a totally foreign one stuck into your body. It still felt weird sometimes, knowing he had a stranger’s organ inside him. Going to the bathroom was a lot easier though, even when he found himself running there far more often.

He thought the entire family had grown closer. And his relationship with his brother-in-law felt solid. They were true brothers now, bonded by the operation and the sacrifice Yesung had made on his behalf. Hyukjae couldn’t count how many times he had thanked the man, and he knew his sister was thanking him in much more private ways.

Everything had happened so fast once they were approved for the operation that he hadn’t processed some of the things that had occurred prior. Specifically, Donghae. He hadn’t had the luxury of time to brood about what passed between them. Moving from one hospital to another, being prepped for surgery, the minor infection that had laid him out for an extra week afterward.

Not until he was finally home and could exist in the privacy of his own bedroom, free from doctors and nurses, free of the dialysis that had been keeping him alive, was he able to sit and ponder the events that had happened and what it meant.

He was sad, of course, that they never had a chance to say goodbye. And he was worried as well, that Donghae might be stuck with the terrible man who had taken him away. It must have been incredibly bewildering to think you knew who you were, then find out it was all a fantasy, created by a stranger. He wondered, often, if it had meant anything to Donghae in the grand scheme of things. Had Hyukjae’s pretty lies helped Donghae? Or had they made everything worse? Had the sweet, charming man remembered who he was? Was he still the same?

Hyukjae had checked Donghae’s Instagram every so often, waiting for a new post, hoping there would be some evidence that the man was moving on with his life. A new picture, a story, even if it contained that bully of a boyfriend. Who, hopefully, Donghae had broken up with. Surely his brother had stayed close to him, and Heechul sounded like he would do whatever it took to free his brother from the boyfriend’s grasp.

But it wasn’t really Hyukjae’s place to worry about any of it. He had gotten what he asked for. A beautiful romance. One last chance at love before he died. And now he was still alive, ready to begin again, and didn’t know how he was supposed to proceed.

Shaking his head, he opened up another email, reading through the request and starting a search for the information the customer was looking for.

The Donghae he had created was perfect, but that’s all he was. A creation of Hyukjae’s dying wishes. He needed to stop fixating on the idea of finding that romance again.

The chime of the bell over the door caught his attention, and without looking up from the email he was writing, he called out, “Welcome to Dalnim Travel, I’ll be right with you.”

Seeing someone approaching his desk, Hyukjae attached the final brochure and clicked ‘send’ on the email, before pushing his glasses back up his nose and getting to his feet.

“Welcome, how can I…” The remaining words dried up in his throat as he stared at the man standing in front of him.

The beautiful, smiling man, whose eyes were wide with hope and happiness and were staring right back at him.

“Hi, Hyukjae,” the familiar velvety voice came out breathlessly.

Hyukjae didn’t know what to do. Why was he here? Donghae! He was right here! In Hyukjae’s family shop! And he looked amazing! !

Dressed in a dark plaid winter coat over a fuzzy sweater, scarf around his neck and his shaggy hair falling around his face in waves, Donghae was so handsome it took his breath away. But what made it even more incredible was that he was smiling. As if he were happy to be here. Happy to see Hyukjae!

“Donghae…” he finally managed to utter. And that only made the smile get even bigger. “Why…? What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for someone,” the smile suddenly got shy as Donghae’s bottom lip slid between his teeth.

“Who?” Hyukjae asked, completely confused, and trying his best not to overthink things.

“My perfect boyfriend.”

Hyukjae felt his heart beating faster, his breathing getting tight as the utterly impossible seemed to be unfolding right in front of him. Was this a dream? But he remembered waking up this morning. And dreams never went quite this idyllically, did they?

“Me?” he asked, unable to stop staring.

“I mean,” Donghae’s face grew pensive, a glimmer of uncertainty clouding his eyes. “If you still want to be.”

With a huff of air, Hyukjae nodded eagerly. “I’d love to.”

And that brought the smile back, so bright it could rival the sun itself. “Really?”

“Really,” Hyukjae assured him.

“That’s good. I was a little worried that you might have forgotten about me.”

“How could I ever forget you?” Hyukjae asked, taking a step around the desk so that he could get closer to the adorable man in front of him.

“Apparently it’s kind of easy to forget things,” Donghae pursed his lips together cutely. “It’s taken me a while to figure myself out again. But the one thing I never stopped thinking about was you.”

“How did you even find me?” Hyukjae asked, taking another step as Donghae did the same.

“Mmm…” Donghae winked, scrunching up his entire face, and whispered, “Instagram can tell you a whole lot about a person.”

Hyukjae’s eyes went wide. So, he had figured it out? Well, it was a creepy thing to do, but he had the best intentions. “Donghae, I…”

“Imagine how surprised I was when I started scrolling through my pictures and saw all the memories of the time we spent together.”

Hyuk frowned. What was he saying?

“There was one thing missing though.”

“What?”

“You, of course. All those pictures, and not a single one of us together. I decided I better come and find you right away so I could take new ones.”

“I’d really like that.”

“Me too. Because I honestly love taking pictures of beautiful things, and not having any of you makes me sad.”

“We can’t have that. I like seeing your smile too much.”

“Hyukjae?”

“Donghae?”

“I really like you.”

“I really like you, too.”

Donghae’s eyebrows went up expectantly, and Hyukjae tilted his head, wondering what he was missing.

Leaning closer, Donghae lifted his hand and pretended to whisper a secret, “This is when you’re supposed to kiss me, remember?”

And with that, Hyukjae had to laugh. It was exactly how he had described their confession back when he was narrating their first date.

“With pleasure,” he said, closing the final distance between them and stepping into the solid arms that were already open and waiting for him.

It felt like a homecoming; familiar, warm, comforting. As if they had done it a thousand times before, even if it had only been two or three. And it wasn’t long before their gentle press of lips became more intense, Hyukjae feeling the tip of Donghae’s tongue teasing, and opening his mouth so that they could tangle together.

Donghae let out a sigh of pleasure and tugged Hyukjae closer, sliding his arms down to connect their lower bodies. It was exactly the same as their embrace in the hospital. Aside from one thing.

“Ah!” Hyuk winced and pulled away as Donghae put too much pressure on the incision site.

“Oh my God!” he shouted; eyes wide with concern. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“It’s fine,” Hyukjae chuckled. “Just a little sore, still.”

“Pabo Donghae,” the man muttered, bopping himself in the head with the heel of his hand. “I knew this would happen. That’s why I waited so long to look for you.”

“Why?”

“Well… I went back to the hospital for tests and I saw Nurse Kim. She told me all about your surgery. So, I looked it up online, just so I would know how to treat you. Just in case… you know… you wanted me around.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I had planned on telling you eventually, but…”

“It’s all right. I was happy to know you were going to be okay. I only hoped you would still want me around once you had a new chance at life.”

“Again, why wouldn’t I? I think you’re great.”

“For real? But you really don’t know me. I could have some dark, horrible secrets.”

“Do you?” Hyuk smiled, knowing it was unlikely.

“Not really,” Donghae laughed.

“I used to wonder, was it possible you could be so sweet? Like, if you could have remembered your life back then, would you still be the same?”

“I’m sure I would have been miserable. I was dealing with a lot; it just took a while to remember it all.”

“Are things better now? Your eyes? Memories?”

“Mostly. I still have some gaps. But stuff comes back when I’m not expecting it.”

“That’s good.”

“Hyukjae?” Donghae asked, hopping onto the desk.

“Yeah?”

“Can you come closer? I promise I’ll be careful with my hands.” The cute smile would have been more than enough to draw Hyukjae into the trap.

He stepped in between Donghae’s legs expecting another kiss. Instead, Donghae gently pulled him close so that they could hug one another.

“I really missed you.”

“I missed you, too. I thought about you all the time. Wondering where you were, how you were feeling.”

“Mmm… that, too. But I meant this. Holding you. You made me feel so safe and happy when I was hurt. After I left, whenever things made me sad or scared, I tried to remember how you would calm me down. I thought for a while that I had dreamed you or made it all up. But Hyung kept telling me it was real, and eventually I believed it. Thank you, Hyukjae, for being my perfect pretend boyfriend.”

“I should be thanking you. I’m just glad you aren’t upset about it.”

“We both needed a bit of wish fulfilment,” Donghae said sagely. “But Hyuk?”

As Donghae leaned back, Hyukjae did the same, meeting the big brown eyes, thrilled that they could now focus on him, see him. “Yes?”

“Will you be my boyfriend for real this time?”

“If you still want me.”

“I promised I would fall in love with you, remember?”

“And you’re okay with what you see?” Hyukjae hesitated to ask, but the truth was Donghae had fallen in love with an idea. And now that he had the vision representation in front of him, he might have second thoughts.

“I already told you. I think you’re the most handsome man in the world.”

“You said you would think your boyfriend was the most handsome man,” Hyukjae pointed out.

“Well, you’re my boyfriend, right?”

“I’m pretty sure you asked me out first, at least in the original story.”

“I’m pretty sure you asked me out,” Donghae argued.

“Maybe I never really said,” Hyukjae pondered thoughtfully.

“Will you ask me?” Donghae questioned, nearly bouncing up and down with anticipation.

“Donghae? Would you like to be my—”

“I’d love to! Okay, it’s official! Let’s seal it with a kiss.”

And that was how they ended up making out in the middle of the travel agency, arms wrapped around each other as Hyukjae was cradled between Donghae’s strong thighs.

Dimly, he heard a bell ringing, but by that point there could have been angels dancing around him singing, and he wouldn’t have paid attention to anything but Donghae.

“Hyukjae! What the actual ?”

Breaking away, he straightened and stared at his sister, who was standing with her hand on her hip and frowning as her eyes darted from her brother to the unknown man on his desk, back facing her.

But he had no chance to explain because Donghae’s face lit up with recognition and he spun around with a massive smile to practically shout out, “Hi Sora!”

The change in his sister’s expression was comical. “Donghae?”

The mop of brown hair bounced as he nodded, his toothy grin getting even wider.

“What are you doing here? I mean, aside from making out with my brother in the middle of the office?”

“I came to get my boyfriend back,” he announced proudly, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh, really?” Sora was trying to hold back her laughter.

“I missed him a lot,” Donghae added, leaning closer so that he could tilt his head against Hyuk’s chest, closing his eyes with a dreamy expression.

“What can I say, noona?” Hyukjae shrugged, trying not to grin. “Your plan worked.”

“My plan?” she asked in confusion.

“You said we should convince Donghae to fall in love with me so that he wouldn’t want anyone else.”

“I never—”

“It worked perfectly, noona,” Donghae rubbed his cheek against Hyukjae’s chin. “Hyukjae is exactly what I always dreamed about.”

“Really?” she scoffed, eyebrow jutting up so high Hyuk wondered if she would strain a muscle.

“Yup,” Donghae confirmed, lifting his mouth for another kiss, which Hyukjae gave him at once.

“Well, holy crap! Wait until Sungie and mom and dad hear about this!”

“Oh yeah, and Sora?” Hyukjae asked, feeling all warm and contented by the way Donghae was snuggling against him. “I think I’m going to cut out early today. Feeling a bit tired. You don’t mind, do you?”

“You are such a brat,” she laughed. “But go ahead, do what you want. Donghae, sweetie, I’m not sure how you put up with him, but it’s really great to see you again.”

“Thanks, noona. I hope to be spending a lot more time with you all from now on.”

“I look forward to it.”

Donghae asked a million questions once they stepped out into the street, tugging their coats tighter against the chill. Was Hyukjae truly all right? Was he tired? Did he want to go somewhere and rest or should they walk around? Coffee? Food? He was willing to do absolutely anything as long as they could be together.

“My place isn’t far from here,” he offered after a few minutes, when Donghae’s excited chatter had run down. “We could go back there for a while if you want. No one’s home right now, and there’s a nice coffee shop at the end of the street.”

They eventually ended up in Hyukjae’s room, which was a bit embarrassing, since he was over thirty years old and still lived with his parents, in his childhood bedroom, complete with his old manga collection and some random action figures. It was a bit cluttered, but tidy. He wasn’t a kid to have dirty underwear lying around anymore.

Lying down on his bed, they faced each other, Donghae being extremely careful when he touched Hyukjae. But they did kiss a bit, and it was nice to cuddle closer, feeling the warmth of each other’s bodies, knowing his face was turning pink from the intensely adoring gaze that Donghae never stopped giving him.

After a rather passionate round of making out, Hyukjae felt compelled to be honest about his physical condition. It wouldn’t always be this way, a few more weeks, maybe a month, and the doctor would clear him for more strenuous activity. But in the meantime, “Donghae, you should know that… well, I’m kind of limited right now. For the things I can do. Kissing and hugging is fine, but more than that…”

“I know,” Donghae nodded. “I told you I read all about it online.”

“It’s just that… may have to wait a while.”

“I don’t mind waiting,” he promised. “I’ll wait as long as I have to. I just want to be with you.”

“Okay,” Hyukjae breathed out, still marveling at his luck.

“I want everything we do together to be good for both of us. That’s how it’s supposed to be. I never really knew how amazing it felt to be in a loving relationship. You gave me that, back in the hospital. And it felt so nice, Hyuk. It made me realize that I had been doing everything wrong before. So, with you I promise I’ll try and do it all right.”

“About that…” Hyuk hated to bring it up, but he wanted to be absolutely sure that Donghae was committed to them being together. “That man who took you from the hospital…?”

“Oh,” Donghae frowned, pouting deeply. “We broke up.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s a long story. And I’ll tell you everything eventually. But he was no good for me. For lots of reasons. He’s gone now, though, and he won’t be back. And I’m all yours, for as long as you want me.”

“Is forever too long?”

“I’m not sure it’s long enough,” Donghae smiled, giving him another kiss.

They chatted about their lives, both before and after the hospital stay, but nothing too deep. Mostly they spent time just gazing happily at one another and basking in their newfound love.

When Hyukjae’s family came home, he invited Donghae to have dinner with everyone. The younger man was a bit nervous, not sure of their reaction. But he didn’t need to worry. Hyukjae could have told him his family would practically fight over who got to talk to him first. His mother acted as if the time since the hospital never happened, warmly embracing her son’s boyfriend like a long-lost child. Sora and Yesung teased Hyukjae and cooed over Donghae, the same as they had when he didn’t yet known their faces. And Hyukjae’s father, who had never been able to visit his son while Donghae was around, had still heard all the stories and knew how broken-hearted Hyuk had been when he thought Donghae was gone from his life for good. He acted exactly the way any protective father would meeting their child’s new lover for the first time. But it only took a few minutes before he was hugging Donghae and putting food on his plate.

When the evening began to wind down, Donghae excused himself, obviously feeling awkward about spending more time with Hyukjae, even though parting was the last thing either of them wanted. As they stood in the entryway, shielded from spying eyes, Donghae gently pulled him close again.

They kissed, languid and deep, and Hyukjae felt desire building inside him, knowing Donghae felt the same when a strangled moan slipped out of his mouth.

“I should probably go,” Donghae pulled back, biting his lip, eyes dark with desire.

“Or you could stay,” Hyukjae shrugged his shoulders.

“As much as I’d like that… you’re just too much of a temptation, Hyuk.”

“So are you,” he reached up to Donghae’s cheek. “I’m really looking forward to my next checkup.”

Donghae laughed, his smile turning his eyes into squinting crescents. “You know, I have a house. I own it. It’s nothing fancy or anything, but… I’d love to have you over sometime. I’m an okay cook and all, even if my brother thinks my food is weird and bland.”

“Bland is good,” Hyuk told him. “I can’t eat spicy things anyway.”

“Really? Well then, maybe you can come for dinner? I… well, I have to do a little more work. I’ve been trying to clean everything up really well. I know you need a sanitary environment, so I’ve been working hard make it better. But it’s still kind of messy, and I do my work there sometimes, too.”

“Oh yeah, I never did ask that. What do you do?”

“I make toys,” Donghae answered brightly. “I own my own company. East Sea Toy Company.”

“No joke?” Hyukjae asked, surprised by the unusual occupation. When Donghae gave him a wide-eyed affirmation, he told him, “I can see that, actually. It suits you.”

“I’d love to show you around. We make all kinds of things. Mostly for people with different skill levels. Children with disabilities or learning challenges. You can check it out online, too. We even have an Instagram account,” Donghae winked.

“I do like looking at Instagram,” Hyuk agreed.

“So, will you come over sometime?”

“I’d love to. I bet your house is just like you, cozy, warm, comfortable. I bet it feels like home.”

He was surprised when Donghae’s eyes took on a misty expression, biting his lip as he smiled hopefully. “It’s nothing special, but I really love it. I hope you’ll love it, too. But I do have to clean up more. It needs fresh paint and with me working from home sometimes it’s always a bit messy.”

“You’re messy,” Hyukjae told him, reaching out to ruffle his fluffy hair. “It sounds lovely. I can’t wait to see it.”

Donghae swayed closer, his hands lifting and then dropping back to his sides. “I really should go.”

“Or you could stay. Why don’t you stay with me? We never did get to share your bed in the hospital.”

He could tell how tempting the idea was. “I’m not entirely sure I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself.”

“I’m not asking you to,” Hyukjae smiled, grabbing Donghae’s lapels and tugging him closer. “We can be careful. But I’d really like to hold you tonight.”

“Tonight, and every night?” Donghae smiled, gaze darting back and forth between Hyukjae’s eyes and his mouth.

“That’s the plan.”

“I love it.”

“I love you.”

He hadn’t thought Donghae could be any more adorable, but the look on his face when he heard those three words was absolutely precious.

“I love you, too, Hyukjae.”

“Perfect,” he replied. “Just like you.”

“You’re perfect.”

“Mmm…” Hyukjae purred, pressing their lips together. “We’re perfect for each other.”

Donghae didn’t answer with words, but his lips said enough.

Smiling, hand in hand, they headed back upstairs. Time was something Hyukjae hadn’t taken for granted for many years. But right now, it felt like there was no longer any rush. Donghae was here. He loved him.

Hyukjae had asked for one last romance, a grand passion like a movie or a fairy tale. And while the plot had turned out rather eccentric, he had no doubt that with Donghae as his sweet, adorable prince charming, they would both have the happily ever after they had always dreamed of.

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