please scroll to the bottom for TWs in the a/n. do take note that they may contain spoilers!

Hyukjae wakes up to the smell of garlic and eggs. 

He takes a deep breath, the salty ocean breeze tickling his nostrils. The sun is still low on the horizon as he slides the balcony door open, shivering as the cool dawn air seeps into the thin material of his pajamas. He can hear the neighbour's Pomeranian barking over the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. The pup reminds him of his own. Hyukjae can no longer recall his name (or was it her?).

"Hyuk!"

A voice downstairs interrupts his train of thought. The man carefully walks over to grab his robe hanging by the closet and puts it on, making his way out the bedroom and to the staircase. He sits on the automated chairlift and clicks the seatbelt in place as it gently glides down the stairs. Donghae had argued with the kids when they insisted on getting the stairlift for Christmas years ago. Hyukjae knew he was offended by the implication that he was too old to climb stairs. He was too, but after the heart attack he nearly suffered witnessing his beloved almost fall down those very same stairs, he joined the kids in convincing the stubborn man, much to Donghae's annoyance.

The smell of garlic and eggs intensified as Hyukjae walked into the kitchen and one look at the other man holding two plates of fried rice connected the dots. 

"I made breakfast," Donghae says, smiling. The slightly damp grey hair and beige fitted sweater he wore indicates he had woken up earlier to shower and get dressed. 

Hyukjae quickly walks over and takes both plates from his hands. "Why are you up so early, Hae? You have to rest--"

"I've rested enough, sweetie," Donghae interrupts, pecking his cheek. "In fact, I feel better enough to go take a walk."

Hyukjae places the food on the table. "Do you want me to follow?" He asks in concern.

Donghae flashes him that toothy smile he adores. His husband takes his left hand and plants a tender kiss right on his wedding ring. "I'll be fine. We'll go down to the shore after you eat, okay?"

Hyukjae can only watch as Donghae grabs his coat draped on the kitchen counter and slowly moves over to the backdoor leading to the backyard. He pauses to unhook his favourite bucket hat hanging from a coat rack on the wall. 

"Be careful, honey."

Donghae looks over his shoulder and throws him a wink. "I always am. Happy anniversary, Hyukkie," he opens the door and steps out, waving at his husband before closing the backdoor with a soft click.

Hyukjae takes a seat at the dining table, staring off into empty space with a gentle smile on his mouth. He sips at his cup of coffee every time his lips got dry, coating every taste bud with its pleasant, nutty bitterness, grateful that he’s still retained his sense of taste, amongst other fleeting pleasures he had taken for granted in his age. Every now and then, he spoons small bites of fried rice, careful of the heat.

The backdoor creaks open and Hana, their caretaker, steps into the kitchen.

“Hana!” Hyukjae waves her over, the joints in his elbow popping. “Come, come. Join me in this wonderful breakfast Donghae’s cooked up for us!"

Hana smiles. “Sure, Hyukjae.”

She brings an empty cup down from the wooden cupboard and takes up the second of three seats at the table. Hyukjae pours her some coffee from a Moka pot, his trembling grip spilling only a couple of drops of it onto the tablecloth. Hana would usually at first insist on helping serve or pour anything for her patient, but in this case, it's Hyukjae who insists on letting him at least do something around here, damn it! She has been allowing him to do so ever since, though her instincts still imbue her with some slight reluctance.

“Thank you, Hyukjae.” She brings the cup to her lips and sips the top of it, still hot. Hyukjae drinks too and continues to sit there, pleased in the comfortable silence.

“How, uh... How have you been managing these days, Hyukjae?” Hana struggles to bring up a topic. “Any pains anywhere, or anything new you want to try that you may need help with?”

Hyukjae speaks around another mouthful of rice. “Everything’s been fine, Hana. Really. I think it’s been going very well, thanks.”

Hana nods. “Okay... And have you been taking your meds? You know how important they are for you, right?”

Hyukjae frowns, his cheeks sagged slightly at the sides of his face. “Aish, those pills don’t do anything for me. Don’t want them, don’t need them.”

“Please, Hyukjae. You heard what the doctor said abou-”

“You know, Hae never takes any of the pills. He hates them more than I do, and now, look at him! As healthy as he was twenty, thirty years ago.”

The woman sighs, knowing she wouldn't be winning this one, once again. “Okay, Hyukjae, I guess a few skipped tablets wouldn’t make a difference.”

Hyukjae raises his cup. “Thank you,” he says grumpily and takes a sip. In an attempt to lighten up the mood again, she asks: “So, Hyukjae, how did you first meet Donghae anyway?”

Hyukjae’s eyes widen in a flash of recognition. Hana swears she sees his pupils dilate a little.

“You still remember that, don’t you?” she adds curiously.

Hyukjae sets his cup down on the table and leans back. 

“Oh, you bet I do."

“Where you at, you little ?"

Hyukjae darted through every corridor of the tiled, industrial interior, one eye staring at his minimap. His pistol was poised and ready to fire at any enemy he saw. The enemy, Junsu, certain of his constant inability to aim and fire successfully at him for some god damned reason, cowered in a vague corner. “I’m not coming out, Hyuk!” he said.

“Oh, I’ll find you, don’t you worry,” and as he said this, he found him. Junsu's whole body faced the corner. Hyukjae guessed he must have thought that if he can’t see me, then I can’t see him. Well, he’s right there.

Hyukjae switched from holding his gun to holding his deadly hat. A hat which upon contact would immediately bring the victim out of the current plane of existence. He flung it at the coward, who then let out a final, agonizing scream. Junsu fell to the ground, blood filling his vision from top to bottom. The James Bond jingle played, and GAME OVER came onto the screen, with Hyukjae’s rank displayed as “1ST”.

Junsu turned to Hyukjae with rage in his eyes. “You saw my goddamn screen!” he yelled. “We’ve talked about this!” He threw his Nintendo 64 controller at Hyukjae, who batted it away with his hand. 

Hyukjae laughed. “I didn’t see anything, damn it! Besides, your wuss was looking at a corner, anyway.”

“Wuh?” was all the teenager managed to say. He then went and picked up his controller from the floor and sat back down. “Rematch. Now.”

Hyukjae gave him the most condescending look he could give. “You know we’re not exactly playing Hide-And-Seek here, right?”

“Shut up and start it already,” Junsu said, ignoring his side-eye. 

The 15-year-olds settled back into the sofa and were about to start the next match when the front door opened and Jungsoo walked into the dorm.

“Children,” Jungsoo said as he stepped aside and revealed a smaller teenager behind him, long straight black hair almost covering his eyes. He wore an oversized basketball jersey and sweatpants, and the big backpack on his back made him look even smaller.

"This is Lee Donghae. He's the new trainee and will be living here starting today."

Donghae smiled shyly. Jungsoo closed the door behind them as he bowed at the two teens on the couch. “Hi,” he said with a little wave. Junsu said hello back, then looked back at the screen to set up the next game.

“Hey, Donghae!” Hyukjae said, putting his controller down and standing up to meet him. "I'm Hyukjae, that guy over there is Junsu. We're both 15."

"O-oh, I am too!" Donghae replied, his heavy Jeolla accent surprising the other.

“Donghae's from Mokpo," Jungsoo informed him. The 19-year-old placed the plastic bags he was carrying on their dorm's tiny kitchen counters and started putting groceries away. "I'll show you your room after I'm done cleaning up, Donghae. Go ahead and sit down first."

“Come sit,” Hyukjae waved at an empty bean bag. “Get comfortable while you watch me kick Junsu's in Goldeneye.”

"O-okay, hyung," Donghae nodded and slowly sunk himself into the beanbag. He awkwardly pushed and moulded the beans under his to find the most comfortable setting. As Hyukjae picked up his controller, Junsu got off the couch. 

“You know what? I think I’ll go grab a snack, actually.” He stood up, brought the controller to Donghae and dropped it onto his lap. “Here you go, man.”

“Big puss, Junsu?” Hyukjae grinned at him.

Junsu put two hands up, palms facing outward. “I just wanna welcome the newbie.” He then flipped Hyukjae the bird with both hands, and he walked into the kitchen, out of sight.

Hyukjae turned to look at Donghae from the far end of his couch, Junsu's cratered empty spot between them. “You played this before, Donghae?”

Donghae shrugged. “I, uhm, like to think that I’m quite good at it… actually.” 

They met each other’s eyes. Hyukjae’s brows raised and he nodded. “Okay! Okay, okay, okay.” He turned back to the screen. “Let’s go, then.”

Donghae chose the character Oddjob before Hyukjae could, and beat him ten games in a row, much to the older's annoyance.

"Playing Oddjob was basically cheating! The character model was shorter than the others and made the aim assist miss every time!" 

Hana chuckles as Hyukjae riles himself up by recalling the past. She isn't surprised, as much as the two loved each other, they were also highly competitive, despite their age. Hana doesn't even remember how many petty fights she had to break in all her years working with the couple.

"You know, I proposed to him on this very beach."

Hana raises an eyebrow as she sips her coffee. "Oh, did you?"

The old man looks out the kitchen window, deep in thought. "We went on a trip here, just the two of us. Not long after the group disbanded," Hana vaguely remembers the boy group her patient was a member in decades ago. She doesn't keep up much