Daehyun had done what Youngjae had suggested. He went to the bathroom and held himself close to the mirror. His face was inches away from the reflective surface and as proposed by Youngjae he was staring right into his eyes. He ignored all other features and focused on the dark irises of his eyes.

He expected to see nothing but a deathful stare. He was expecting to see a lifeless pair of eyes to stare back at him but what he saw in the mirror amazed him.

He had seen his eyes every single day and there was nothing spectacular about them but thanks to Youngjae’s advice he seemed to have caught a glimpse of something that wasn’t there before. His eyes weren’t just simply dark brown, there was so much more to it. He wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or what but there was a glint of something there. The various shades of deep chocolate browns in the rings of his iris gave them dimension. It wasn’t just the extra colour that gave life to his eyes; there was something else, something that wasn’t there before.

Daehyun couldn’t quite point out what it was but he liked it. Perhaps this was the beauty Youngjae had been talking about. Maybe it was the fact that Daehyun’s life was a billion suns brighter with his new found friend but no matter what the reason was, he didn’t want to lose it. He wanted to keep this flare in his eyes until the very end; he made a promise to not only himself but also to Youngjae that he wouldn’t lose it.

It seemed to almost dampen his negative thoughts about his face. Although it didn't take away his negativity entirely but today he wasn’t there to look at anything else. He was there to focus on his eyes and for the first time in his life he was actually smiling and appreciating something about his body he was actually happy with.

That night Daehyun had logged on and much to his surprise, Youngjae wasn’t there. He knew that Youngjae had a life outside the internet as well but whenever he was online he was so used to seeing the Seoul boy online too.

He found himself with time on his hands, usually his nights were spent with talking to Youngjae but now he had some time to do whatever he wanted. Daehyun figured that he should actually record himself singing since his parents were both out of the house and wouldn’t be back after some time. Usually one of his parents would be at home with him but that day his father had been asked to stay back at work for a couple hours and his mother had to go tend to some errands.

Daehyun sat in front of his laptop as usual, only this time he his webcam and searched through his playlist of songs to find one decent enough to sing. As much as he loved Jepp, he knew his rapping skills weren’t up to scratch so he went for something a little slower. He went for a ballad.

It had been a while since the last time he sang with all his heart. Singing in the shower really wasn’t the same as what he was doing for Youngjae. Once he had finished he quickly saved the file with the paranoid feeling that his parents would somehow find out what he was doing. Daehyun didn’t even want to watch his video, he was just going to send it to Youngjae when he came online and that was that.

DH:
> Hey :D

YJ:
> sup Dae
> ah sorry im a little late today
> i went to school for the first time in weeks

DH:
> you dont normally go school?
> didnt you tell me you had a report to write up a couple days ago?

YJ:
> im homeschooled most of the time
> but i went to school today though
> my parents thinks this is better for me
> i dont really complain coz i get to be on the computer as long as i want

DH:
> ah jealous
> school drains so much out of you

YJ:
> I knowwwwwww
> ive never been so tired before
> half of the kids came up to me and were like ‘hey do you even go here’
> ‘why havent i seen you before’
> GAH annoying
> but it was nice to see my friends at school though
> its been a while and i kinda miss them

DH:
> why dont you just go to school more and stop being homeschooled?

YJ:
> ahhh well its probably coz im always at the hospital
> so even if i did go to school id be always away so it would be kinda pointless

DH:
> hospital?

YJ:
> yeah i got leukaemia
> nothing to worry about though
> im getting the treatment and stuff
> coz im young and stuff theres a high chance that ill get better this
> i got a body of steal man

DH:
> ironman

YJ:
> what?

DH:
> its not stealman
> its ironman

YJ:
> LMFAOOOOOO right
> but this is why im online so much
> im in the hospital most of the time so i got unlimited time on the internet
> also when im home im pretty much just bumming around the house
> my parents get ultra worried if i go play a sport or something coz they think i might get a cut and like die from blood loss or something
> that wont happen though
> im getting better
> they just need to get used to the fact that im actually not sick anymore

DH:
> how long have you had it for?

YJ:
> uhhhh like almost a year already
> got a couple more months till the end of my treatment and then BAM ill be running around and rolling around in dirt or something
> so excited for this
> YOU
> DONT
> HAVE
> ANY
> IDEA
> HOW
> EXCITED
> I
> AM

DH:
> LOL I can imagine

YJ:
> ohhh actually my parents told me after i finish my treatment i get to pick a place to go for our holiday
> they said i could pick anywhere in the world coz its like a celebration that im cured and stuff

DH:
> LUCKY!
> have you decided where?
> GO AMERICA
> ive always wanted to go there
> i heard the food there is amazing

YJ:
> LOL
> actually ive already decided where i wanna go

DH:
> OHHH where?

YJ:
> Busan

DH:
> you can pick ANYWHERE in the entire world to go visit but you wanna come here?
> go america or italy or japan
> go overseas, itll be a waste not to go

YJ:
> yeah but i dont wanna go there
> theyre all nice places and i wouldnt mind going there one day
> but i wanna go busan
> i want to see you

DH:
> you rather come see me instead of going overseas?
> are you crazy?

YJ:
> LOL just a bit
> but i really want to see you in person

DH:
> if youre still stupid enough to come here when youre all better and stuff
> the first thing im gonna do is strangle you for being so stupid
> who the hell is dumb enough to go busan instead of overseas?

YJ:
> LMAOOOOOOOOO
> i am
> clearly

DH:
> AISH sometimes i think youre dumber than me

YJ:
> we’re both dumb as each other

DH:
> pabo