For the first time in a long while, Seunghyun wakes up to kisses, to something soft caressing his jaw line. He sobers up from sleep into a dream; at least he thinks he’s dreaming.

“Good morning,” Seunghyun hears a songlike whisper.

Jiyong. His heart reacts.

He turns his head. A soft smile, sleepy eyes and the tip of a nose greet him. Seunghyun just woke up but he can feel his molecules expanding, like his body is bursting at the seam. At this hour, at this second, Seunghyun is content. He can stay like this forever. He never knew that another person is capable of making him feel like this, like nothing else matters. And only Jiyong matters.

Jiyong’s fingers lazily tugging on the collar of Seunghyun’s tshirt. Scraping his blunt nails on the hollow underneath Seunghyun's neck. Making pointless shapes with the tip of his finger while his head snuggles on the crook of Seunghyun's neck. Seunghyun wants to acknowledge this moment; he’s not about denying himself anymore. He wastes no time conveying his feelings. The moment his lips touches Jiyong’s, his brain shuts down and his heart take over.

He brushes his own lips gently against the expectant one in front of him. For a few seconds. Teasingly. Until the other man smiles. And then slowly, he nips on Jiyong’s bottom lip. It is warm. He can hear Jiyong in a sharp breath. Now, it’s his turn to smile. He is taking his time. They are both taking their time.

Seunghyun pulls away only to close the gap again, repeating the same biting motion. Only this time Jiyong along the seam of the lazy lips enveloping his. Seunghyun shivers at the contact. Instinctively, his fingers ghost along Jiyong’s side, slithering them underneath Jiyong’s shirt.

“I have to work soon,” Seunghyun mumbles, no intention of pulling away.

Judging by the response, Jiyong is ignoring Seunghyun’s statement just now. The smaller man snuggles closer, he slips his thigh between Seunghyun’s legs- applying pressure where Seunghyun wants it the most.

A groan escapes Seunghyun’s throat, he deepens the kiss as a response. His tongue finds Jiyong’s- searching, . His hand is roaming further up on the supple skin of the flat stomach. He pushes Jiyong gently back on the bed without breaking the kiss, without slowing down the stimulation. Seunghyun bites on the other man’s chin and then slowly along the jaw.

“Work,” Jiyong gasps as he arches his neck, allowing Seunghyun to brand him with more kisses. Seunghyun loves the way Jiyong responds to his every touch- the sounds and the hisses. He is starting to understand where Jiyong likes to be touched and where Jiyong wants to be touched.

Jiyong moans when Seunghyun lift his tshirt. The smaller man surrenders when Seunghyun touches his stomach with the moist lips. The slick tongue and leaves a trace of hot and cold on Jiyong.

“Seunghyun, work,” Jiyong tries once again, pointlessly.

“I can be late for once,” Seunghyun replies as he continues planting kisses.

“I can’t,” Jiyong reluctantly groans.

Seunghyun sighs in frustration as he’s stopping. Resting his chin on Jiyong’s stomach.

“What time is it?” The irritation is apparent in Seunghyun’s voice.

Jiyong reaches out to the nightstand on his left, looking for his phone. Seunghyun notices a scar on Jiyong’s stomach- near his navel. His swipes his thumb over it.

“You had a surgery here?” Seunghyun knows that kind of scar.

“Oh. Kidney. It’s 7AM,” Jiyong glimpses at Seunghyun and goes back to his phone again.

“Kidney?”

“I gave one to Jaeyong,” The indifference in Jiyong’s voice makes it sounds like this is just another thing he does for his twin.

“Why did he need another one?”

“He needed a healthy one. His old ones stopped working,” Jiyong replies with a tender smile. Still, there's nonchalance in his voice.

Seunghyun nods. Still can’t get his head around the twin thing.

“Remember he got into a coma? Well, basically during that time, Jae’s body was falling apart. His kidneys were failing and everything else was affected. So, the doctor suggested, since I’m his twin, that I might be a good match. And I was. So I did it.”

Seunghyun is listening and the question he has wanted to ask start to bubble again in his head.

“So, you and Jae. Do you two share everything? I mean, everything?”

“What’s everything?” Jiyong pulls Seunghyun up until they are eye to eye. Seunghyun’s arms resting on either side of Jiyong’s face, “You mean, sharing clothes or sharing something more personal?”

“Maybe, more than personal?” Seunghyun hopes his lips that are currently brushing on Jiyong’s cheek can make the question less intrusive.

“Like, toothbrush?” Jiyong grins then bites his lower lip.

Seunghyun impulsively claims that lips once again. He recognizes this as a new addiction, or more like, a newly developed habit. Kissing Jiyong and never getting enough of it. And the way the other man responds is not helping either. Whenever their lips touched, everything spins- everything else is unnecessary. The hands touching the flushed skin. The light swipes that tingle their senses. Every sensory heightens, everything else become inferior.

When Seunghyun finally pulls away, catching his breath, he observes the other man’s cheeks flushed. He continues to tread on the topic lightly.

“Like, I don't know, intimate details of…” Seunghyun doesn’t know which label he should give himself.

“ual escapades with the boyfriend?” Jiyong grins, still trying to catch his breath.

“Escapades, huh?” Seunghyun raises an eyebrow, teasingly. Boyfriend, Seunghyun repeats in his head.

“Seunghyun…” Jiyong runs his finger through Seunghyun’s thick black hair. “Jae might be my twin but I have my boundaries too.”

"Yeah?" Seunghyun snuggles his nose on Jiyong’s neck. Something tells Seunghyun that the boundaries resemble more like blurred lines with these two, but he realized he’s not ready to know the answer to that question. Not yet.

***

No, today hasn’t been a good day for Seunghyun. He came to work this morning elated- he woke up to Jiyong’s scent overwhelming him (and it wasn’t a dream, finally) and he’s been promised dinner when he gets home tonight. Which means Jiyong is going to spend the night again.

But the minute he arrived at the hospital, one of the nurses rushed over and told him that he’s needed to assist on an emergency surgery right away. A little girl fell from the stairs; broke her rib and it splintered right through her lung. Seunghyun spent the first six hours of his shift standing on his legs, trying to save the life of a little girl. After the surgery, he’s been assigned to monitor her progress, which was not exactly a walk in the park. The frail body ceased to breathe on her own a couple of times but Seunghyun managed to keep her stabilized. She has to be stabile for at least 24 hours before they can start doing the recovery therapy.

Seunghyun was briefing Seungri who is going to be on-call tonight before he left when the little girl’s pulse weakened again. But no signs of bleeding or swollen limbs. So, the only thing they can do for now is wait. Seunghyun wanted to stay overnight and makes sure she makes it through the night but that wouldn’t be wise. His next shift is going to start in 10 hours and he hasn’t had anything to eat other than one packet of instant noodles the whole day. His body is tired, his brain is shutting down. He needs to rest. He wants to see Jiyong and for some strange reason, his aching body relaxes at the mention of the name.

The moment he steps out from his building’s elevator, he’s greeted with the waft of something delicious. Jiyong is cooking dinner.

Automatically, the mental image of him circling his arms around Jiyong in the kitchen. Letting Jiyong do his magic with whatever it is that he’s cooking while he snuggles from behind, leaving small kisses on his nape. Just the thought of it makes him smile. He’s not that tired anymore.

“Hey,” Jiyong smiles when Seunghyun walks in. He’s sitting down on the stool in the kitchen, nursing a cup of something warm. Probably tea.

Seunghyun closes his apartment door behind him. He doesn’t say anything; he just walks towards Jiyong and tenderly kisses him.

“Coffee?” Seunghyun pulls away. He thought Jiyong only drinks tea.

“I’ve been hanging around you too much,” Jiyong seems reluctant to pull away.

Seunghyun shifts closer, he closes the gap once again- nipping at the lower lip, the roof of Jiyong’s mouth, “With sugar?”

“Black,” Jiyong keeps his vision on Seunghyun’s lips as he lazily mutters his answer.

“But you taste so sweet,” Seunghyun smirks.

“Tease,” Jiyong pecks the side of Seunghyun’s lips.

Seunghyun unwillingly steps away. Now that’s he’s seen Jiyong- held him, kissed him- he really needs a shower. He cannot wait to wash his hectic day away.

“So what’s for dinner?” Seunghyun sets his bag on the sofa.

“I am making lasagna. Hope you don’t mind,” Jiyong chirps back from the kitchen. He is starting the oven timer, getting ready to bake the lasagna.

“As long as it’s not instant noodles,” Seunghyun can’t help himself. He wanders back into the kitchen once again.

And just like how he saw it in his head before, he hugged Jiyong from behind. Jiyong is assembling the layers of lasagna, sprinkling some coarsely-ground black pepper when Seunghyun snakes his arms around the small waist and starts kissing the slender neck in front of him.

“And I hope you don’t mind that I asked Jae to come over,” Jiyong speaks softly, his hands still layering the sheets of pasta onto the dish in front of them.

“Why would I mind?” But, honestly, Seunghyun is kind of nervous now. He hasn’t really talked to Jaeyong before. So, it going to be his first time having an actual conversation with the other twin.

Jiyong turns his head, looking over his shoulder- claiming Seunghyun’s lips. Jiyong is intending to leave a chaste kiss but the slightly taller man can’t help himself. Seunghyun finds it hard to resist Jiyong, his thumb swipes over Jiyong’s Adam’s apple. Jiyong swallows hard, a moan slips out involuntarily. Seunghyun tightens his grasp. Jiyong is completely ignoring the half-assembled lasagna in front of him, his leans back fully against Seunghyun- draping himself on the taller man.

The kiss escalates quickly. Now, it’s just two pair of lips hungrily ravishing each other. Seunghyun flips the smaller man, presses his back against the kitchen counter while insinuating himself between Jiyong’s legs. Jiyong’s warm hands snaking underneath Seunghyun’s shirt- soothing his back muscles after a long day at work.

“Yes,” Seunghyun breathes. His own hand tugging on Jiyong’s collar, trying to expose the collarbones. He grazes his teeth gently along the soft skin, he hears Jiyong gasps.

“Babe, I can’t-” Seunghyun’s lips cuts Jiyong’s sentence off- his tongue wanders curiously against Jiyong's, tasting the sweetness once again.

“I can’t make you dinner like this.” Jiyong manages to mumble his reasoning as to why they should stop. Although neither of them are showing signs of slowing down.

“Let’s just skip dinner,” Seunghyun entertains the thought, his hands are already busy tugging on the button on Jiyong’s pants. Jiyong appears to be agreeing to the sentiment.

But a soft knock on the door interrupts them.

“That’s Jae,” Jiyong slumps his shoulder.

Seunghyun buries his head on Jiyong’s shoulder, nudging his nose on the neck, “I’m just gonna be in the shower.”

“Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes. Take your time,” Jiyong pecks the tip of Seunghyun’s nose.

“It won’t be as fun without you,” Seunghyun smirks as he walks away.

***

“Jeez, Yong! How much pepper did you put in this?!”

“I just happen to love pepper okay!”

Seunghyun steps out from the bathroom and he can hear Jiyong’s answer from the kitchen. If he didn’t know better, he’d think that Jiyong is talking to himself.

“Since when? I know exactly how you like your lasagna and I know pepper was never the main ingredient!”

Seunghyun sighs. Jiyong knows that Seunghyun loves black pepper, he practically eats everything with black pepper. Great, Jaeyong dislikes him before he makes a proper first impression.

“I am tweaking the recipe okay? Just go with it. Plus, Seunghyun likes black pepper.”

“Oh right. The dimpled boy. Sorry.”

The dimpled boy. Seunghyun smirks, he didn’t know Jiyong refers to him as that. He’s still smirking as he puts on his sweater, running his hand through his damp hair- trying to at least look decent to make a good first (or technically, third) impression.

“You must be Seunghyun,” Jaeyong gives him a wide grin when Seunghyun appears from the bedroom. The red-haired man is sitting down on the sofa, which is situated right across from Seunghyun’s bedroom.

“Jaeyong,” Seunghyun waves, awkwardly.

“You guys don’t have to be so formal. He saved your life, Yong, remember?” Jiyong magically is already standing so close to Seunghyun, with a glass of red wine in hand.

So they call each other Yong. Noted. Seunghyun proceeds to grab the wine from Jiyong’s hand. Knowing perfectly well that it won’t favor him later to drink on an empty stomach. But it’s going to be a long night; he needs something to loosen up.

“Ah yes. I haven’t really thanked you for that, Doctor Choi.”

“Please. Seunghyun. Call me Seunghyun,” He takes another sip of the burgundy liquid.

“Actually, I know another Seunghyun so can I refer to you as Dimpled Seunghyun?” Jaeyong grins, winking at his twin. Jiyong just shakes his head.

“Yong, don’t,” Jiyong retrieves back to the kitchen, “Dinner is ready, by the way.”

“You can call me whatever as long as it’s not Doctor Seunghyun. That’s what the kids called me, feels weird if a grown up calls me that,” Seunghyun walks to the kitchen, takes a seat on one of the stools. Jiyong is taking a couple of plates from the shelf.

“Who says I’m a grown up?” The way Jaeyong smirks and bites his lips as the response are too familiar. He resembles Jiyong so much, it makes Seunghyun feels bad for staring at the red-haired man a tad too long.

“Jaeyong, can you please not?” Jiyong scoops up a slice to give to Seunghyun.

“What?! I’m just saying the truth,” Jaeyong walks over to the kitchen. He sits himself next to Seunghyun.

“So, how are you liking Seoul so far?” Jaeyong continues.

“Loving it. I hope Jiyong can show me more once I get my day off,” Seunghyun looks up to Jiyong who’s standing in front of him.

“Well, whatever it is you want him to show you, I hope he can do it before next week,” Jaeyong grabs the glass of wine, he takes a sip.

“What’s happening next week?” Seunghyun turns his head facing Jaeyong.

“Oh, you haven’t told him?” Jaeyong shoots Jiyong a confused look.

“I was hoping I can tell him after dinner but thanks for ruining it for me, Yong.”

Seunghyun turns facing Jiyong now, mouth still chewing.

“We are going to Japan next week,” Jiyong plays with the edge of the warm baking dish. His eyes set on the kitchenware in front of him.

“For a holiday or…?” Seunghyun shifts his vision to Jaeyong now.

“For a few months at least! See, Jiyong found this rehabilitation place where I can get treatment for my condition and-“ Jaeyong glances to Jiyong.

Jiyong gives his twin a tight smile.

“I…. think that’s my cue to leave,” Jaeyong hops down from his stool.

“Oh, you’re not having dinner?” Seunghyun is distracted. For now.

“Umm, I’m good. I don’t really eat pasta. You know, no carbs after 7PM,” Jaeyong is trying to make his excuse believable.

The atmosphere is slowly tensing up and Jaeyong is wise enough to leave before things get awkward.

Both Jiyong and Seunghyun stay quiet until Jaeyong leaves. The hungry man slowly devours his dinner. Usually, he’d compliment the chef for something as delicious as the lasagna he is eating at the moment but with the brand new information he just received, he’s not sure what to say to Jiyong. He clears his throat once he finished. His throat suddenly dry so he drinks the wine until there are only a few drops left in the glass.

“Are you going to say something?” Jiyong puts the lasagna aside. He takes a seat next to Seunghyun.

“You’re going to Japan?” Seunghyun plays with the remnants of his dinner on the plate.

“Yep.”

“For how long?” Seunghyun keeps the question short. Realizing that he might not have the right to object whatsoever in this particular decision-making.

“A couple of months,” Jiyong starts playing with Seunghyun’s sleeve, “At least.”

Seunghyun nods. Still staring at his now empty plates.

“We’ve been wanting to go to this rehab place since last year but we both keep putting it off and when he collapsed the other day, I just-“

“Hey, I understand. It’s okay. I mean, I’m a doctor and I know how important these things are,” Seunghyun finally looks at Jiyong.

“The thing is Jae proposed that we permanently move there,” Jiyong emphasizes slightly on that particular word.

“Oh?”

“Before you moved in. He thinks it’s going to be a good change and all,” Jiyong adds.

“Oh,” Seunghyun is still unsure.

“So yesterday I told him that I couldn’t do it- I can’t just move like that. And he said he won’t go if I’m not going so I-“

“You have to stop living for him, Ji. You have to start living for yourself,” Seunghyun lets the sentence slip out. Softly he speaks, almost like a whisper.

The room goes quiet. Suddenly Jiyong focuses his full attention on Seunghyun’s sleeve- his fingers picking on the lint of the worn-out sweater. Seunghyun understands perfectly well that those words are easier said than done. But he doesn’t care anymore if Jiyong is going to yell at him or storms out from the apartment. He has to say it, now or never.

“I know,” Jiyong replies, unexpectedly calm. As if Seunghyun has told him this many times before.

Seunghyun takes Jiyong’s hands into his own, “Hey, you okay?”

“I just- I don’t want to go but I promised Yong that I…that we will get that treatment and now you’re here…” Jiyong sighs, unable to finish his thoughts.

“Ji,” Seunghyun stands up and he moves closer, “I didn’t say that you shouldn’t go. I think you should. But, just remember that you have your own path to walk on.”

Jiyong stays quiet; he reaches out to pull Seunghyun closer. And he circles his arms around Seunghyun’s waist.

Seunghyun pecks the top of Jiyong’s head, his fingers brushing through the blonde hair. While the other man tightens his hold.

“As long as you come back when you’re done,” Seunghyun feels that he’s entitled to be selfish. Just this once.

Seunghyun can feel that Jiyong pulls away, he sees the smaller man is giving him a faint lopsided smirk. He lowers his head to claim those lips, no hesitation this time. He wants Jiyong.

Seunghyun closes his eyes as his lips gently press against Jiyong’s. Their lips mold onto each other and this feels natural now. Seunghyun the other’s lower lip twice before his own lips gap to breathe in. Jiyong seizes the moment to slip his own tongue into the accepting cavern, caressing Seunghyun’s tongue with his own- he knows how to make Seunghyun softly whimper just like this.

“When are you leaving?” Seunghyun asks in between nipping on the other’s lips.

“In 5 days,” Jiyong mumbles, back the sweet lips enveloping his.

“Day after tomorrow is my day off,” Seunghyun tugs Jiyong off from the stool. Dragging him slowly to the bedroom.

“Today was my last day,” Jiyong lazily pulls on Seunghyun’s pajama pants.

“So you can sleep over tonight?” Seunghyun manages to ask before he starts kissing Jiyong’s neck.

“Sleep?” Jiyong giggles- partially because of the tickles on his neck, partially because Seunghyun can be so naïve sometimes.

“What?” Seunghyun stops their trek to the bedroom, he squints his eyes at Jiyong.

“You’re adorable, you know that?” Jiyong leans in to kiss him again.

“I like you, Ji. Very much,” Seunghyun slips the words spontaneously between Jiyong’s teeth and swiftly, he the roof of Jiyong’s mouth.

Jiyong crushes his body against Seunghyun as a response; their hips crash- Jiyong naturally rolls his hips against Seunghyun’s, into the other’s mouth as he does. Seunghyun wastes no time and lifts the smaller man up. Jiyong gasps, his thighs nesting on Seunghyun’s waist.

“So, where do you want to go?” Jiyong pulls away, panting. He needs to catch his breath.

“The bedroom,” Seunghyun walks slowly to the bedroom, Jiyong is snuggly nestled around his waist.

“No, you said you wanted to see more of Seoul,” Jiyong starts to leave chaste kisses on Seunghyun’s cheeks, eyes and forehead.

“Screw that. I only have 5 days left with you. I’m not leaving this bedroom.”

“But you have work tomorrow,” Jiyong chuckles as Seunghyun softly lays him on the bed.

“Okay, after tomorrow, we are not leaving this place,” Seunghyun can only wish that this will come true, that Jiyong doesn’t have to go to Japan, that he doesn’t have to leave anywhere. But he knows Jiyong has to. This is not what he had in mind when he decided to step into this- whatever this is- with Jiyong. All he knows is that he made a choice to fall, he’s falling fast and he can only hope that Jiyong is falling with him too.

.....