It was a hot Saturday afternoon and Hyukjae, for once, had absolutely nothing to do. His homework was done and his friends were all out of town or at a family event somewhere. He was currently stuck at home doing absolutely nothing, which is the reason why he was lazily laying on his side on the couch, head resting sloppily over his right arm while his left hand rested over the coffee table in front of him. His fingers pressing on the remote like a mechanical robot. There was nothing that interested him at the moment so even though he's gone through every single channel they had, he continued to surf through it, hoping for a chance that maybe something might pop up. Hyukjae's mind was so disconnected from his body that he didn't even hear the front door open or his mother's annoyed mutterings. 

She walked in the house with two big bags of groceries and, despite her struggling to see over the huge load she was carrying, she still managed to catch a glimpse of Hyukjae being an absolute sloth on her couch. Rolling her eyes at her son, she walked straight to the kitchen to drop off the two grocery bags she was carrying on the table before marching right back out to the living room and taking one of the throw pillows behind Hyukjae and hitting him on the head with it. 

"Ow! What the- Umma!?"

She dropped the pillow back on the couch and placed a hand on her hips while staring Hyukjae down who was still rubbing the sore spot she had hit. 

"Now, tell me, Lee Hyukjae. What do you expect to have in your life when you're over here on my couch doing absolutely nothing!"

Hyukjae rubbed his head and scrunched his face at his mother's scolding. "It's saturday, Umma. What do you want me to do?" 

"Couldn't you have gotten up from the couch and helped me carry with the groceries?"

"Aish, I didn't even hear you come in!" Hyukjae argued but his mother was too tired and annoyed to deal with it. "Besides, it's not like you asked me to help you."

"What?! Yah! Lee Hyukjae - a good son doesn't need to be asked. You've been living at this house for 18 years already, do I still need to tell you to help me carry the groceries when I come in through the door?!" 

Hyukjae pouted and felt guilty knowing that his mother had a point. "I really didn't hear you come in."

Her creased brows didn't let up as she moved to cross her arms across her chest. "Have you done all of your homework?"

"Yes, Umma."

"You've finished all your chores?"

"I already cleaned my room and bathroom. I even organized the shoe rack by the front door because I got so bored."

Hyukjae's mother blinked and immediately looked over Hyukjae and saw the stacked rows of their shoes in front. Her initial annoyance slowly dissipitating as she looked at her son, who was now full on pouting in front of her, disappointed at the fact that his little extra effort went unnoticed. 

"Where are your friends, Hyukjae-ah? Why don't you go meet with them so you're not here lazing around the house."

Hyukjae sighed heavily and grabbed the remote from the coffee table as he plopped himself back down on the couch to look at the TV.

"Sungmin went back to his hometown with his family for someone's birthday. His grandmother, I think, and Siwon's gone for two weeks. His family sent him abroad to scout for colleges so I'm not gonna hear from him for a while. Leeteuk hyung and Shindong hyung said they're in the middle of their midterms so I can't really bother them right now either." 

Hyukjae's mother frowned at Hyukjae's lack of interest to do anything and gently placed both hands on his shoulders. 

"It's not good for a child like you to be cooped up in the house like this. You need to move around and be active."

Hyukjae smiled feeling his mother's gentle massage and tilted his head up to look at her. "I like doing nothing, Umma."

She smiled and made a face at him. "Doing nothing is doing something." 

"Then you must be proud of me." 

Hyukjae's joke was received by a light tap on the head from his mother, which made him flinch and whine at the unexpected hit. She pulled her hands away from him and walked towards the kitchen but not before giving him a task to do. 

"Why don't you go help your father out a little and clean up the attic."

Hyukjae got on his knees and kneeled on the couch to look at his mom with a glabbergasted expression. "What?! But that's Appa's chore, not mine!" 

"Your father's out on his business trip so it'll take a while before he gets to it. Just organize it a little instead of wasting your time on the couch doing nothing."

"But I'm watching a show!" Hyukjae argued, and in that moment, they both took a second to look at the television to "watch" Hyukjae's show only to find that it's currently stuck on the nature channel as it zoomed around a white blossoming flower with the narrator explaining the purpose of its growth and the defense mechanism it creates to protect itself from being trampled on the ground. Hyukjae sweatdropped in place while his mother just tilted her head to the side and gave him an all knowing look. 

Hyukjae's lower lip quivered a little trying to find out a way out of doing the assigned chore. 

"Go clean up the attic a little while I cook us some bulgogi for lunch."

At the mention of his favorite food, Hyukjae's ears perked up. "Really?!"

She smiled fondly at Hyukjae and was very pleased at how easy it was to please her son. "Yes, really, but only if you do what I ask you." She pointed a finger at him then up towards the direction of his awaiting task. "Try to sort things out if you can so we can throw out the things we don't need anymore."

"Okay!" Hyukjae agreed blindly and practically jumped out of the couch on his way to their attic. His mind not at all comprehending the bribery his mother just did as he was overwhelmed with absolute giddy just imagining the taste of her cooking. 

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Hyukjae climbed the small ladder they attached to the attic very slowly as he opened the door leading to it. He coughed very lightly as he inhaled some of the dustmites in the air and waved it off his face. The stark ray of sunlight showed him just how dusty the entire attic was and there was very little room for him to move around in. 

The attic was filled with dozens of boxes and trashbags mixed in with their hidden holiday decorations and extremely old looking furniture. Hyukjae has no idea why his mother would choose to hold on to these items and briefly thought of the possibility that his parents might be closet hoarders. 

Once Hyukjae was completely inside the attic, he tapped around the floor of it a couple of times before moving around to make sure that it was to walk in. The small but loud creaks he kept hearin with each step made his heart race a little as he thought of the possibility of just falling down through the floor and possibly breaking his leg or neck in the process. He shivered at the thought and very briskly rubbed his forearm up and down trying to chase the goosebumps away. He looked around the room several times, eyes scanning every item in sight and frowned when he couldn't figure out how or where to start. 

"Why do we have so much stuff?" Hyukjae mumbled to himself before crouching down on the boxes and reading the labels that were written on it. He swiped the layer of dust that he saw on it and made a disapproving 'blech' sound when he saw the accumulated gray matter on his finger tips. Hyukjae quickly wiped the dust off on his clothing before pulling on the box that he was staring at and opening it. It was filled with a bunch of old family photo albums from his mother and father's side from when they were children. 

Hyukjae subconsciously sat down on the floor and grabbed one of the albums from the box to give it a quick scan through. His eyes looked fondly at his parent's days of youth and couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself seeing the strong striking resemblence he had with his mother. He shook his head at his own thoughts and grabbed another, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be cleaning and organizing instead of pulling things out and making more of a mess. 

Nearly an hour passed by before Hyukjae moved on to the box behind his family's old photo albums. He pulled it close to himself and coughed out the dust mites that went up his nose. Hyukjae uncomfortably cleared his throat as he opened the box to see what kind of contents it had inside, and was surprised to find a small wooden box inside. Without thinking about it, he took it out from the box and opened it, only to find an old looking handheld device in it. 

"Is this a phone?" He asked himself out loud as he inspected the little device closely. Hyukjae pressed on the buttons several times just to feel it against his skin before flipping it up, down, then side to side trying to figure out how to make it work. "Is this still working? How do you even turn it on?"

Hyukjae continued to hum curiously to himself while musing his thoughts out loud as he continued to try and figure out how to make the prehistoric looking device work. After some time passed, he pursed his lips together and looked back inside the wooden box where he found the phone to see if there was anything else in there that could help him learn more about the device but found nothing else inside, except for a small scribbling that was hidden underneath the lid. 

It was faint and the markings were barely readable that Hyukjae had to squint his eyes and look closer to try and figure out what it said. 

"A love worth dying for is a love worth trying for."

Hyukjae pulled back, a slight puzzled frown on his lips as he craned his head to the side trying to figure out its meaning. 

"What the heck does that mean?"

A/N: Hi, Hi! ^^ It's me again with another fic. I know, I know >.> Why start another one when you have like five that aren't done? ^^; I'm sorry for the lag of updates but I hope you will like this new fantasy fic of mine :) I find it easier to do fantasy!AU stuff since it's easier. If you haven't had the chance, please read Stay with Me so you know how to prepare yourself for this story :p (The angst on SwM started early so for this one I'm gonna slowly integrate it towards the end.) Tissues will be left for the really heavy chapters so don't worry, I got you! ;) 

Stay safe and healthy! ^_^