Woohyun has pushed him out of his comfort zone at every chance; and it’s no secret he has a weakness when it comes to the younger. Why else would he be sat at a loud and sweltering night club on a Saturday night, sipping a cheap drink that tastes like nothing and everything at the same time?

His eyes are trained on Woohyun, who’s wearing one of his tight leather trousers in black and a silk black shirt that clings to his skin unnecessarily. It may be a size too small as the few buttons that he has actually done up are struggling to keep the fabric across his chest. He pays way too much attention to how the younger dresses at times like this.

Woohyun likes wearing smoky eyeliner and gelling up his hair on nights-out – he looks good without the effort, of course, but for some reason, he can’t talk him out of it. He’s not sure who the show is for – himself, Sunggyu, or everyone else (it’s probably for the benefit of all three – Woohyun needs an audience but his biggest audience and fan is he himself).

Woohyun’s friend Seungkwan has left his side on the greasy couch about 20 minutes ago and has been replaced by a (sleazy) guy he doesn’t know. One of the customers on prowl, he thinks. Initially when he had sat down beside the boy, Sunggyu hadn’t done much, just turned around on his high stool, an unconcerned look on his face, so that he could have a better view of the two. When the (unwelcome) guest started becoming cozier, almost scooping the boy up into his lap, he had taken deep breaths like he practices at home. By the time the man had a finger wrapped in Woohyun’s hair, leaning way close too close to him as if he would kiss him at any moment, and the boy is batting his eyelashes flirtatiously, he gulps his drink down and stands up.

His time has come.

Woohyun is not naïve, he knows what he is doing and he is doing it on purpose. And because he likes him, no, loves him, he will humour him.

Marching up to the pair, he taps the unknown man on the shoulder and says matter-of-factly, “Excuse me, sir, you’re done here.”

The man doesn’t even look initially and he has to shout in his ear. With the utmost irritancy, the man turns around to glare at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you’re a bit too close for my comfort, so get out,” he drawls without breaking a sweat. His heart is racing though.

Woohyun is biting his lower lip, smirking, watching the interaction with immense pleasure, like he is a paying audience.

Scoffing, the man says, “And who are you?” As if to provoke him, he puts an arm around Woohyun, who just bats his eyes like a passive lamb.

Gritting his teeth, he replies, “None of your business but you have something of mine on your lap and I do not appreciate it.”

The smirk on the boy’s face widens and he lets out a low whistle. At this moment, he just wants to kiss that smirk and bite down on his plump bottom lips but he is mid-confrontation here and he needs to concentrate.

The man has the exact same reaction as every other person he has confronted has, a disbelieving “You and him?” He’s a bit tired of this.

“Right,” he grabs the man by his shoulders, “you need to move now.”

“Yah, watch my suit,” the man barks. “Ahjussi, just leave us alone, okay? You’re barking mad if you think you can have him.”

It doesn’t have the same effect as when Woohyun calls him ‘ahjussi’. Right now, he just feels the urge to punch his face flat.

He puts pressure into his grip. “Your parents have obviously not taught you manners but have they also not taught you not to touch things that don’t belong to you?”

Something must have changed on Sunggyu’s face because the man looks intimidated for the first time. “I-I-Woohyun-ah-tell him-”

“Don’t call him that,” he growls, pulling him by the collar of his fancy shirt. He is obviously younger than him and therefore (theoretically) stronger but something comes over him – it’s probably the adrenaline sloshing around in his veins. “You should’ve listened when I was being nice.”

The man looks bewildered, turning his head to appeal to Woohyun, who is unbothered.

He snaps his finger at the man, who takes one last remorseful look at the boy and then walks away into the crowd.

Exhausted from the interaction, Sunggyu flops down into the couch in his place.

“If you’re going to make me do this every time, I need to start taking boxing lessons or something,” he says, hiding his face in his hands.

“Do what?” the boy asks innocently.

“As if you don’t know…” He is ashamed to admit that although he does this partly to humour the younger (Woohyun is enthralled by the fact that his man would fight for him; he has some type of fairytale princess complex for sure), the other part is driven by his own jealousy. Jealousy has always been one of the more irrational emotions to him, weak and ugly, so he’s not exactly proud now that he is a prey to the same thing.

“Ahjussi,” Woohyun’s voice is too close, his breath ticking his ear. His body stiffens immediately, and his heartbeats, which were starting to settle, pick up again. “I love it.”

Maybe it’s the way the boy talks, maybe it’s something in his voice, or the smell of his perfume, but he feels his ribs constrict around his heart, his heartbeat loud in his ear, and a tingling sensation along his spine.

“L-love what?” he asks in a hoarse voice, not daring to look at the boy’s face. They are about an hour’s drive away from home and he doesn’t have much confidence in himself right now.

He senses the boy shifting in the couch and the next moment, he is on his lap, facing him, straddling his waist, his arms loosely hanging around his shoulders. The look he gives him is scorching, that dries every single drop of water in all his cells.

Leaning forward, his lips a centimeter away from his, he says, “I love when you claim me, in front of everyone. It’s hot. Ahjussi, you’re so hot!”

He is deeply ashamed of how words, mere words, have such a reaction on his body. His throat closes up and all the blood is diverted from his brain. His heart runs dry and beats like crazy and all of a sudden, he feels like he is in a sauna with the temperature turned all the way up.

“Yah-what are you doing-in front of people…” he makes a brave attempt at decency even though his starved brain is telling him to pull the boy in for a kiss and his hands have already start to form a firm grip on the boy’s hips.

“I’m just…talking to you…” The glint in his eyes is brighter than the strobe lights on the ceiling and he has that overwhelming sensation again where it’s all Woohyun, his existence is filled with Woohyun, the world, every inch of space in this world is filled with Woohyun.

A few semi-interested heads start to turn towards them and he feels burning coals under his feet.

“Woohyun, don’t,” he tries pathetically, knowing full well he has reached the point where he won’t be able to resist anything the boy does.

Moving his lips closer but not letting them touch, the boy grins. His hands have already found their way under his shirt, making short work of all his sensitive spots. He swears the boy has studied them, and knows all his weakness.

They are both very different people. When he is , Sunggyu loses all semblance of sanity and the whole experience is like a lucid dream – but afterwards he remembers nothing. Whereas Woohyun becomes hyperaware and he pays detailed attention to everything, every move, every reaction (how he does not lose his head completely in the moment is something only he knows). So while he revels in the feeling of losing himself, in the frenzy, Woohyun enjoys the details.

As a result, the boy definitely knows more about him. But it doesn’t matter he is unable to pay attention to what Woohyun wants or likes, because he tells him exactly what he wants, with words, or actions. Like right now, he knows he wants him. Right here, right now. But not impulsively, slowly, he realizes by the way his hands sweep across his skin leisurely.

“Am I being bad, ahjussi?” he drawls.

Gasping, he replies, “Very-bad…”

Woohyun starts drawing circles on his skin in that hypnotic way – is there a way to just from touch?

“No, seriously, no-I-I’m gonna die,” he mewls.

Chuckling, the boy leans closer, but instead of going for his lips, he dips down and kisses his neck. Even as a suppressed moan escapes his lips, he fumbles to shove the boy away but his fingers are like butter.

“Not here,” he pleads as he leaves a wet trail of kisses along his neck.

Perhaps the boy takes pity on him, perhaps he is worried about his reaction tomorrow when he is thinking straight (as straight as possible while living with Nam Woohyun) again, but he gets off his lap. (His head is so far gone that he wants to pull him back right away).

Wordlessly, Woohyun grabs his hand and drags him through the crowd, passing a few curious eyes and knowing smiles. Once inside the bathroom, he pushes him, not so gently, against the sink counter. Two men who are using the urinals exchange a half glance, pack up, and leave without washing their hands, clearly reading the mood in the room.

“Ahjussi, you need to stop being so y,” Woohyun dares to say, in his tight shirt and trousers, his eyes smoldering. “Look at me!” he orders, grabbing him by the chin to turn his face towards him.

“Woohyun-stop-have you…thought about the practicalities of this?”

“No, but I’m thinking about your . I bet it’s throbbing.”

His mouth falls open, and the younger just takes the opportunity to shove his tongue inside. Before he can calculate how unabashed the boy is, he is overcome by the passionate kiss. Gripping the edge of the counter, he lets the younger kiss him like there’s no tomorrow, and touch him in all his favourite places.

His air-hungry brain screams at him – this is not rational. And yet, he wants more. It’s like his brain is split in two and he is trying to make some sense here but his body has already lost it.

“Woo-hyun-ah…” his voice is broken, so is his body; he is putty in the younger’s hand.

“Ahjussi, you’re so hot, I want to you so bad right now!”

“Woo-hyun-” is all he can say as he touches him through his trousers, his hands urgent. “You can’t-”

“Oh yes, I can, watch me!” He pulls him roughly, shoving him towards one of the stalls; he doesn’t even protest. In anyway, he can’t fight this anymore and any chance of trying to run away is futile (he can barely walk at this moment, running is a bother, and he did drive the two of them here). So he gives up, and gives in, when he feels the younger’s hands on his belt.

A respectable accountant, reduced to this. Woohyun really is some thing else.

---

Living with Woohyun is never boring. Like one hot summer day, Sunggyu finds the younger completely in the kitchen, eating ice cream out of a tub (he makes a mental note to throw the tub away after he’s done with it).

“Woohyun, will you put on some clothes?” he urges.

The younger looks completely unfazed. “Why, there’s no one here.”

“I’m here!”

He looks genuinely confused. “But you’ve seen it all before. Several times.”  

“Yes, but…” How does he explain general decency to the boy? Taking a few deep breaths, he averts his gaze.

“I don’t have a problem if you walk around ,” the boy offers. “In fact, I’d prefer it.”

Frowning, he says, “It’s because you’re a ert.”

The boy smiles knowingly. “Ahjussi, are you bothered because it makes you want to do things to me?”

Grabbing a towel, he wraps it around the younger, making sure to cover the important bits.

“All I’m saying is-” he stops, losing his track of thoughts.

“It’s okay, you’re allowed to like me. You’re allowed to find me irresistible! Don’t beat yourself up for it.”

“And you?” he asks – he almost didn’t because every time he asks a question like this, he is worried about the answer. He knows, he is aware, that with Woohyun, he is ‘punching above his weight’ as the kids say these days. So he is chronically worried about the younger’s answers.

“You know the day we first met, when I asked to see your ID when you were buying alcohol even though it was obvious you were like 30?”

“Yah, I wasn’t 30!”

“Anyway,” the younger waves his hand, “I didn’t need to see your ID. I just wanted to see your name. I don’t know exactly why, but I think I had already subconsciously decided that it’s a name that I want to call forever, a name I want to be mine.”

Looking away as a blush starts to creep up on his cheeks, he mumbles, “You couldn’t have known at first glance…”

“I knew, trust me. I just didn’t realise until later. What it means. Why I waited impatiently every day to see you, why seeing you was the highlight of my day. I liked you, I just didn’t realise why you were more. More than just a guy I have a crush on or a guy I’d like to lose my ity to.”

His heart flutters, skips, does one of those things that have no name but feels a different kind of good. At times he worries about how young Woohyun is and whether every word that comes out of his mouth is light, not permanent. But sometimes, he knows that the boy means everything he says, like now.

---

There are times when he wakes up in the middle of the night thinking it’s all a dream.

That Woohyun is a dream, he doesn’t exist. Because it’s too good to be true, and his life has changed way too much. When he wakes up, drenched in cold sweats, Woohyun lying by his side, fast asleep, his heart stops for a moment, before thudding across his ribs.

Some nights though, he wakes up and Woohyun is not there beside him. That’s when the nightmare grips him tighter, choking him. He storms out of bed, running to the guest room where he finds the younger wrapped up in his duvet, sleeping peacefully, a smidge of paint on his cheek and a paintbrush in his hand.

He either lies down beside him and watches him breathe, or falls asleep next to him, wrapping his arm around him, body only half covered by the duvet he tries to share. Some nights, he scoops him up, duvet and all, and brings him back to bed.

One night, when he goes into the room, Woohyun is awake, painting away on his easel.

When he hears his footsteps, the younger asks, “What are you doing up at this time of the night?”

“You’re up too.”

“Yes, but I’m an artist, time is an illusion for me. And I get inspiration at all times.”

“Right.” He wraps his arm around his waist from behind, snuggling into his neck, taking in the scent of his fragrant shampoo.

“Someone’s being needy,” he giggles, adding a to his canvas.

“Don’t leave me,” he mumbles, as quiet as possible, hoping the boy wouldn’t know what he said.

Woohyun ruthlessly cackles.

“What’s so funny?”

Trying to curb his laughter, the younger replies, “The fact that you think I could ever leave you.”

It makes him smile secretly but he chooses to not show it. Instead, he burrows his nose into his neck.

“Have you had one of those weird dreams again where I leave you?”

He withdraws from him, looking at him, surprised. “How did you know?”

He’s never told him about the nightmares, ever; it’s something he’s almost ashamed of. He doesn’t talk in his sleep either.

Woohyun chuckles. “You sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, looking for me desperately like a man who’s lost his wallet in a restaurant. And when you find me, you sleep next to me or put me into bed with you. It’s simple to deduce.”

He relaxes; it’s strange, sharing so much of his life with someone so that he becomes an open book to them. It’s a different experience.

“Someone’s being smart.”

“You’re the one who said I should try to use my brain.”

He frowns. “More, I said you should try to use your brain more. And I was joking.”

“Fine, fine. Now go back to bed. You need to be up early.”

“What about you?”

“I’m working,” he says gravely, in a perfect imitation of Sunggyu. “But,” he turns sideways, planting a kiss on his cheek, “I don’t get it, ahjussi, you pretend you hate everything, like you have no love to give, but you love me so much…”

Something catches in his throat. Who he is with Woohyun and who he is with the rest of the world is vastly different. It’s not something he controls. Things that are out of his control make him uneasy. Usually.

“Maybe I was just saving it all for you.”

--

“Sir, someone is here to see you.”

Sunggyu frowns. He checks his calendar again, even though he’s checked it thoroughly this morning and a week in advance, as is his routine, and knows by heart that he has no appointments scheduled for today.

“I don’t have any appointments today.”

“Yes, sir, it’s a walk-in,” the secretary tells him. “He says he’s your friend. He gave this card.” She places the card on his desk

“A friend?” That’s something he’s not heard in a while; his secretary doesn’t look very convinced either.

Curiously, he picks up the card. It reads ‘Kim Myungssooo, executive editor, Wild Life Japan’.

A blast from the past, he thinks; his hand trembles slightly as he puts the card down.

“Sir, should I send him in?”

Biting his lips, he nods.

Myungsoo - Myungsoo is here. The kid he knew in university, the one who…After all this time? His postcards had obviously stopped since the change in his address but he has not thought him tenacious to come and find him in person.

Myungsoo.

The boy - now a man - looks pretty much the same, just with more lines around his face, a bit of weight in his jowls, perhaps a bit heavier on the muscles. He is pulling a carrier behind him, a shoulder bag, and another leather camera bag.

“Hi Sunggyu,” he says easily, taking a seat uninvited, with the ease of someone who walks into this office every day. There is no awkwardness in his body, the fact that 6 or 7 years have passed forgotten. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah, really long time.”

“You never replied to my postcards. Never sent one back.” His voice is not accusing but there is displeasure there.

“Sorry, I was just so busy…”

“So busy that you couldn’t send one postcard? Couldn’t even get your secretary to post it?”

“You move around so much-”

“I always made a point to put my address down on the postcards I sent you.”

He doesn’t have an excuse, he really doesn’t. But for old times’ sake, he doesn’t want to tell him that.

If Woohyun was here, he’d tell him to show some decency.

“I-I-”

“It’s fine, a sorry would do,” Myungsoo offers him a small, sad smile. “I guess you didn’t miss me. Three years, it meant nothing to you.”

He’s uncomfortable. It’s strange that Myungsoo is here, after all this time, semi-accusatory, semi-disappointed, talking about the past and meanings. This is not his forte.

“Myungsoo, I have a meeting in 5-let’s, let’s talk later.”

The last thing he wants to do is talk to Myungsoo more than he already had, especially since the man seems to be alluding to a time he had not thought about very much at all.

“Fine, I’ll wait outside. You’ll finish after that right? We can go to your place.”

“My-my place?” he stutters.

“Yeah, I’m staying in Seoul for a week.” He points at his luggage. It’s almost as if this is planned, like they had decided this.

“Oh-umm I can find you a hotel. There’s a 5-star hotel just by-”

“No, I want to go home, your home.”

His heart sinks. “Myungsoo, that’s not a good idea-”

The man seems to not hear it. “I’ll wait.” With that he’ll that he leaves the room with his luggage.

Sunggyu focuses on the meeting, but dreads leaving once it’s over. Not like he can coop himself up in his office forever.

But what does he even say to Myungsoo, what does he say to Woohyun?

Something that should be so simple seems so very complicated. He doesn’t owe Myungsoo anything, does he? It’s been so long; it’s not like he broke his heart.

“Ready?” Myungsoo seems ready once he’s out of his office.

Nodding, he lets the man follow him silently, all the way to the parking lot and get into his car:

He wishes he was wearing his couple ring – he actually had a fight with Woohyun about this. The younger was adamant he should wear it all the time, but having a ring like that on his finger attracts attention, draws questions from people, and he just can’t deal with that. That’s why he chooses not to wear it and it’s not like he’s insecure about his commitment.

The car ride is silent – he’s trying to figure out what to say to Woohyun; Myungsoo is in his own world, like he used to be. He hasn’t changed much.

Myugnsoo seems surprised by Sunggyu’s spacious house, taking in the large drawing room with interest.

“Myungsoo, listen, I need to-”

“Do you know why I left? For Japan?”

“Well, you-”

“I thought putting space between us will make you realise…that you want me, that you need me. I thought you’d chase me all the way to Japan, take a plane and fly all the way to me to tell me you miss me.” Sighing, the man takes a seat on the sofa. “I…made myself believe that you need me. but you never came.”

This is all a revelation for him. He could never guess that this is what was going through his mind when he left, or even when they were…together. They never made it official, they were never dating, there were no strings attached.

“That didn’t work, to say the least.” The man smiles. “But I came back to give you one last chance-”

“Myungsoo-I-you need to-that’s not what-Myungsoo I have a-”

Right at that moment, Woohyun walks in, his bag thrown over his shoulder, his eyes tired from the day’s work.

“Ahjussi, help I’m going to die, I just hate presentations-oh-” He stops mid-rant, his eyes falling on the stranger sat on his sofa. Myungsoo looks equally puzzled.

“Oh, umm, Woohyunnie, this is Myungsoo and Myungsoo, this is Woohyun.”

“Hello, nice to meet you,” Woohyun says, pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t know he has friends…so, I never thought he’d bring anyone home.”

“I’m an old friend,” Myungsoo manages, staring at Sunggyu deeply, as if demanding an explanation. “And you are…?”

“We’re together,” Woohyun says, unabashed. This is why he needs him. This is such a simple statement but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

“Together?” Myungsoo’s eyes widen, he leans forward, watching the two of them like he has been presented with the greatest mystery in the world.

“Darling,” Woohyun says, stressing the word. He sometimes does call him darling, but right now, it’s almost as if he’s trying to prove a point. “Why don’t you make me and your friend some tea?”

“I will,” he replies gratefully. He knows the younger did it on purpose, removed him from a situation he was uncomfortable in. Woohyun understands these things, and takes care of them in his own subtle (sometimes not-so-subtle) ways; it’s something he is very grateful for to the younger.

It’s not like he doesn’t feel bad for Myungsoo, he does, he just can’t sympathise. By the time he’s returned from the kitchen, Myungsoo looks half disbelieving, half in awe, and in all ways devastated. Setting down the tray, he takes a seat beside Woohyun, who has a gentle smile on his face. The younger grabs his hand, interlacing their fingers, an act that Myungsoo follows closely.

“I was just telling your friend how we met and how knowing you for all this time, I could have never guessed that you had a friend all through university, a boyfriend even.”

When he turns his head to look at the boy, his neck cricks. Had Myungsoo told him that they were boyfriends in university? But the other man just looked equally shocked.

“Oh come on,” Woohyun laughs, throwing his head back. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Actually,” he begins, about to explain how they were never really in a relationship even though they slept with each other, but watching Myungsoo’s face, he holds himself back.

“Well anyway,” the younger continues. “I’ve invited him to stay with us.”

Before he can shoot him a look of warning, Myungsoo gets up from his seat. “I think I’ll catch a flight back to Tokyo today,” he says in a determined voice. “I don’t think there’s anything left for me here in Seoul.”

Later that evening, he tells Woohyun about Myungsoo, about how he’d let him become a part of his life without realizing it.

“Gosh, ahjussi, you’re a bad man.”

“I-I….never promised him anything or…we barely talked,” he tries to defend himself.

“Only ed?”

“Look it wasn’t even-not like-”

“I’m just teasing. He didn’t make you feel like a cool breeze on a warm summer day, did he?”

He smiles at him, his eyes clear, a stray eyelash on his cheek. All of a sudden, he is overwhelmed with everything he feels for him – there are so many, many emotions, so much that he can never put into words, so much he can’t explain. Grabbing his face between his hands, his palms against his soft cheeks, and pulls him in for a kiss.

“No, no, you’re the only one to make me feel that way.

---

When Sunggyu returns from work on Friday, the first thing he hears as he pushes his door open are the sound of loud cries. His heart stops immediately; it takes him a second to realise it’s not Woohyun. But it’s familiar. Taking a deep breath, he tiptoes to the drawing room, even though he already knows who’s here.

His sister, Sungeun, is sat on the one-seater sofa, bawling her eyes out. At her foot is a travelling cot with a baby sleeping snugly. She’s recently given birth to a little baby boy. He’s made excuses that didn’t sit right with him to not go and see his nephew (if he took Woohyun with him, he would enter a whole thing with his family that he doesn’t have the energy for; and he doesn’t want to leave Woohyun out of it, hide him, like he is his secret shame). Opposite Sungeun, sat on a sofa with his hands under his thighs and, lips trembling and downcast eyes, Woohyun.

He lifts his head up at the sound of Sunggyu entering, sending him a silent plea for help with his eyes.

Sighing, he takes a seat beside Woohyun, resting his hand reassuringly on his thigh, caressing it softly.

“It’s fine,” he whispers.

“I’m sorry,” Woohyun mouths, tearful. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he squeezes his thigh.

Sungeun finally looks up, tears still streaming down her face. Her bangs are wet from sweat and tears, her eyes red, her eye make-up running. She looks awful and for a moment, his heart goes out to her. Out of all his family, his sister has been his closest friend. As he grew up, they grew apart, but he still loves her. But he knows she wouldn’t be able to accept him, or more importantly, Woohyun.

“How could you do this to us?” she screams all of a sudden.

Woohyu shrinks in his seat away from him, pushing his hand away. He’s never seen him like this - Woohyun, who is so confident in his possessiveness of Sunggyu, looks battered, lost, guilty. And this is the reason he never wanted him near his family, knowing they would extinguish the light from his eyes.

He places an arm around him drawing him closer, even though he looks uncomfortable and shoots him a warning look. Sungeun looks livid at the gesture, forming a disgusted shape, her eyes burning through her tears.

“Noona, stop crying,” he says calmly.

“How can you tell me to be calm when this…is this why you’ve cooped yourself up in Seoul and you won’t visit us? Because he-” she points viciously at Woohyun, who looks down again, “has you under his spell! He wants you to be separated from your family and deny you all the blessings-”

“Noona!” The reason he had been so surprised by Woohyun’s family is because he had accurately predicted the reaction of his family members. No wonder the boy is so shocked by this because he probably never thought this would be possible. “Give us a minute, Woohyun-ah.”

His sister starts wailing again while Woohyun goes inside. He feels sorry for the newborn child in the cot – Sungeun will probably make a good mother but…

After speaking to her for a very long time (the time was long but he didn’t speak very much, he listened, stopped Sungeun several times when she was being rude or disrespectful, and finally said his piece), she calmed down to some extent.

“What will I tell my son? He deserves an uncle.”

“He deserves a loving mother who known how to accept people for who they are.”

She looks like she has been slapped in the face.

“I knew you were…different, from the other kids, from the other adults. I knew you don’t…think the same way, your brain is not wired the same way but…you’re so talented, so smart-”

“You’re right, I did have everything in life, noona, even before Woohyun. I had a good job, money in the bank to live comfortably, a family, but do you know what I didn’t have?” He pauses, watching her eyes widen. “I didn’t have the ability to feel happy, to smile without a reason, to dream. But I do now, and I’m not the Sunggyu you knew once, if you want to be in my life, you have to deal with it.”

She grows quiet, picking at her fingernails thoughtfully, like she is trying to process it. It’s obviously difficult for her, but he’s not here to make her life easy. Well, he has tried, he had kept himself away so that his life doesn’t cast shadow on theirs. Not quite hiding from his family, but perhaps sheltering them.

“Why does it have to be a boy?” she finally whispers, staring at her sleeping son (to his credit, the baby slept through it all). “Why couldn’t you find a nice girl…”

“You don’t get it,” he shakes his head morosely. “It’s not about that, it’s not about anything else. Woohyun completes me, he just does. Nothing else matters.”

“Does he really mean that much to you? Do we mean nothing at all? Who is he?”

“Well…”

As Sungeun ponders harder, the baby wakes up, demanding to be fed. He gives her some privacy, walking into the dining room, where Woohyun is stood biting his lips, his fists clenched, terrified.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know she’d be so upset,” he babbles. “I only told her I love you, I didn’t say anything else. I pretended that I was visiting your house, I didn’t tell her I live here…and I honestly tried to make it out like I was courting you-”

It’s obvious that Woohyun has not faced this reaction before from a loved one. He has a supportive family, understanding friends. Yes, they do get dirty looks sometimes when they are outside, but those are from people who don’t matter. The younger almost relishes rebelling against them, right in front of their disapproving eyes. Like he would grab Sunggyu by the hand, or pull him closer, or even give him an innocent peck on the cheek. But he has never experienced hatred so closely, so intimately. So he’s understandably shaken.

“It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry I just - I didn’t know she would be so angry, so disgusted. What did you tell her?”

Smiling softly, he replies, “I told her you’re my boyfriend, my lover, my partner, my husband. My soulmate. I told her you’re my everything and nothing will change that.”

Woohyun looks aghast, as if he has just confessed to running over a puppy. Despite that, the corners of his lips lift ever-so-slightly and the cloud disappears behind his eyes.

“But…how did…why did she stop crying?”

Tucking a stray lock of Woohyun’s hair behind his ear, he cups his cheek. “I told her you’re my happiness. It took 27 years to find my happiness, I’m not about to give that up, for anything.”

---

"Have you noticed something?" One hand around his waist, Woohyun's head is resting on his stomach. They're both snuggled up on the sofa, watching a French movie with subtitles. It's been a lazy weekend and Woohyun has been more clingy than usual.

"What?"

"The most things come in pairs? In nature, in our body. We have two eyes, two lungs-"

"But only one heart."

"No we have two," the boy replies matter-of-factly, grabbing his hand and interlacing their fingers. "Look, even the spaces between our fingers are designed to fit in another hand."

Watching their clasped hands, he concedes, "You're right. But I don't think I can go against science and say we have two hearts."

The boy snuggles closer, smiling at him. "You don't believe you have two hearts?"

"If I did, I'd be a medical miracle."

"I didn't say they're both in your body." Leaning forward, he presses a small kiss to his temple. "You've got one heart here," he points to Sunggyu's chest, "and one here." He points to his own.

"So you're trying to say-"

"God gave us two hearts, put one in your body, and the other in your soulmate."

Woohyun has these idealistic, romanticised theories. And to Sunggyu, a man of science, a man of practicalities, they sound ridiculous. They sound like a fairytale, to imbue love and hope in children. But at times, like when they're sharing half-awake good-morning kisses, or holding hands for no reason, or squeezing into one sofa when there are plenty other seats available, he believes them. He believes in soulmates and happily ever afters.