It had taken Jieun only a week to pull together the resources she needed to undergo another undercover operation. With B.A.P’s break out still being kept under the radar, along with Hyunseung’s death, EXO had let their presence among the streets be known quite vocally, and it hadn’t been hard to track their movements.

Of course, they thought they were still under Hyunseung’s protection, and that Youngjae was still working with the force and keeping them from being known in exchange for his friends keeping safe and that was just how Jieun wanted to keep it.

The day of the bust, Jieun requested that the members of B.A.P keep out of the way, hoping that they would just stay home and not get involved. When she realized that that was highly unlikely, she reluctantly, however, allowed them to sit at the police station as a group of her men went out in full SWAT gear, prepared for anything EXO could throw at them.

The tension was high in the office as the group sat together in office chairs pulled up around P.O and what was once Youngjae’s desks. Minhyuk had gone along with the team, leaving Ukwon to pace nervously up and down the office.

“I swear, he’s running a rut into the floor…” P.O said, watching Ukwon.

“You’ve got that right…”

P.O looked up, a smile on his face, “Hey, Kikwang… I thought you were out with the group?”

“And miss Ukwonnie here having a meltdown, never.” Kikwang smiled, “Besides, I wanted to stay here; I haven’t seen Jae here in forever!”

Youngjae looked up, “What? Oh… Hey Kikwang…”

“Oh c’mon, that’s all I get? We were best buddies and all I get is a ‘hey’?”

“Technically you got a ‘Hey Kikwang’, but I digress…” Youngjae smiled softly, “Besides, I know where this conversation is going, and I am not going to get your coffee for you.”

Kikwang pouted, “Party pooper.” He turned his head to the side, shouting across the office space, “Yah, Dongwoon, would you go get me a coffee?”

“Again! Damnit, this is the last time!”

“You’re the best!”

Kikwang reached over to his desk, grabbing his chair and rolling it over to plop down into it with the group, “You know, you seriously had us all fooled… I was beginning to wonder why we weren’t chasing down ‘B.A.P.’ for the longest time and focusing on this EXO group, and, like… wow… You guys are great actors…”

P.O took over, noticing the slight awkward tension that was beginning to form. “Aren’t they though? You know, Jieun hadn’t even told me, and Youngjae fooled me too!”

Kikwang laughed, “Maybe we should all take 20 minute acting lessons from Kwanghee then.”

Youngjae smiled, shaking his head as the faint memory of Kwanghee’s “acting lesson” came to him mind, “Don’t… I’m pretty sure Sunhwa laughed hard enough to have an aneurism because of us.”

It was surprising really, how easy it had all been for Jieun to bring EXO in and clear the arrest warrants from B.A.P’s name and leave them under EXO’s. Before they knew it, the group was leaving the task force, a heavy weight lifted from their shoulders as the sun light was brighter and the air was cleaner and everything just felt right.

Youngjae walked with Daehyun, holding onto his hand as he silently watched everyone else from the way Himchan kept slinging his arm over Jongup’s shoulders, ruffling the younger’s hair as laughed about something or another to Yongguk and the way that he was waving his hands about in excitement as he tried to explain something to Zelo, who grinned and nodded at the appropriate times before making silly faces to Jongup.

He looked over, smiling on instinct as Daehyun grinned back, blushing lightly at having been caught watching him. “Hey…”

Daehyun squeezed his hand lightly, “Hey…”

“You think they would mind if we snuck off…”

“They’d probably freak out if we just walked off, yeah…”

Youngjae pursed his lips, digging into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone. He ignored Daehyun’s question of who he was texting as he typed out the message with one hand, hoping not to make too many typos. He pushed the device back into his pocket, “Kay, P.O’s got us covered… c’mon!” He took a step back, tugging Daehyun along with him as the turned, running back through the crowd to find some sort of hiding before Himchan’s umma sense could catch on to the fact that they were sneaking off.

The two laughed together, clutching at one another’s hands as they made their escape.

So long as they had each other, they could deal with Himchan’s wrath and Yongguk’s disappointed gaze later.

Two years.

It had been two years since Youngjae had last found himself locked in a bathroom, counting down the seconds that he’d have alone.

Youngjae took a deep breath, his hands gripping at the edges of the sink until his knuckles were white and it was a battle for him to even gaze up at his reflection in the mirror before him.

Things were different now.

His hair was no longer messy from where he was constantly trying to run his fingers through the strands in hopes of tugging the dark thoughts from his mind.

He no longer saw the bags beneath his eyes, the sleepless nights of torment and nightmares of a past that loomed over him in a dark cloud.

The burn of his scars no longer seared with hatred and the wish to die.

No. Things were definitely different now.

Youngjae smiled freely, and laughter came easily. His hair was neatly brushed into place, and only messed up by hands that wanted to hold him close and not push him away. His sleepless nights were no longer the result of endless nightmares, but filled with desire and lust. His scars were soothed by constant kisses and gentle words, the reassurance that life was to precious, that love was to strong.

Youngjae found himself looking away from the mirror once more, his eyes drawn back down, but not because he was scared to look at himself, but rather, because he was too busy looking at the empty spot upon his finger that had, up until recently, always been circled with gold.

“Youngjae, are you okay in there?”

Youngjae stood up straight, taking a deep breath before opening the door, “Yeah, sorry, P.O… just… it’s a lot… you know?” He said.

P.O grinned, “Hey, I understand… not every day you’re getting married...” He reached up, almost ruffling Youngjae’s hair but thought better of it the second his best friend cut him a death glare. “Right.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Youngjae, P.O, c’mon already! You’re going to be late!” Himchan flounced into the room, a flurry of movement as he checked over Youngjae’s appearance. Tears were in his eyes as he cupped Youngjae’s cheeks, “Aww, my little baby is so grown up! Oh my god…”

“Hyuuung, stop~ You’re embarrassing me.” Youngjae whined, pouting at Himchan.

“Aish, I’m sorry, I’m sorry~” Himchan said, hugging onto Youngjae close, “You are just so grown up, look at you!! And to imagine, just a few years ago you were so young and fluffy and so shy and aiiish~ look at me, I’m crying again, no, don’t look at me!” Himchan pulled Youngjae to his chest so he couldn’t bear witness to his tears.

Finally, Himchan released Youngjae and the younger quickly straightened out his suit. “Didn’t you say we were going to be late?” Youngjae asked, looking at Himchan.

“Oh, ! Yeah, c’mon!!” Himchan grabbed Youngjae and P.O’s arms, dragging through the building and into their places. He shooed P.O off into the ceremony hall and left Youngjae with Yongguk before disappearing off to go find Daehyun.

“You okay, Youngjae?”

Youngjae took deep breaths, “Ah… no… not really… I feel like I’m going to throw up…” He admitted, staring at the closed doors before them before looking at Yongguk, “Do you seriously have to walk me down the aisle?”

Yongguk grinned, showing off his gums, “Yeah, it was Himchan’s idea… besides… You get to go first… You know what that means.” He grinned a bit wider as Youngjae laughed.

“Yeah, that makes Daehyun the bride.” Youngjae looked up as Yongguk turned to him, “What’s wrong, hyung?”

Yongguk shook his head, “Nothing, Youngjae… just…” He sighed, reaching up and fixing Youngjae’s hair carefully before brushing off the shoulders of his suit, “Aish, I’m about as bad as Himchan, you know that…” He pulled Youngjae in for a hug, holding him tightly. He let out a small sigh, “I’m really happy that you are here today… and… that you’re part of the family…”

The hug was returned just as tight, “Shh, hyung, you’re going to make me cry and Himchan hyung will be upset because he did my makeup already.” Youngjae said, his voice catching slightly as he tried not to let the few tears fall.

The road had been long, and far from boring, and there were things that Youngjae wished to not remember but every experience he had went through landed him here in this moment, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The two finally pulled apart as someone knocked softly on the door they stood before, and Youngjae took a deep breath, dabbing at his eyes with his finger tips before giving Yongguk a wide smile. “Okay, okay, I’m good… you?”

“Never better…” Yongguk said.

The walk down the aisle was long, and Youngjae found each step to feel like a thousand, but soon, Yongguk was leaving him with a small whisper ‘Just be cool, okay?’ and Youngjae was alone, wringing his hands nervously as he waited for the music to start up again.

It took forever, but at the same time, came much too soon and Youngjae turned slowly, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to smile as he bit his lip. His heart fluttered in his chest and everything fell away until it was just him and Daehyun and in that moment, Youngjae was sure that his heart could have stopped and he wouldn’t have cared.

As soon as Daehyun was close enough, Youngjae reached out for his hand leaning in to give him a quick kiss.

He was, however, stopped by Himchan’s hand coming up between them, “Yah, no, no kissing yet!” Himchan said, a grin on his face as a small peel of laughter rippled through the ceremony hall.

Youngjae let out his own laugh as Daehyun squeezed his hand, “We’ve got time for kissing later, Jae… let’s get married first, okay?”

Himchan grinned at the two before going and taking his seat in between Jongup and Yongguk. He looked over at Jongup instantly shoved a pack of tissues into his hands, “What’s this for, Uppie?” He asked.

“Trust me, hyung… You’ll need them…” Jongup said, grinning.

And right Jongup was, as by the end of the ceremony, Himchan was a crying mess. Even Yongguk had tears in his eyes (though he denied that he ever did as Zelo poked fun at him).

Daehyun held onto Youngjae’s hands tightly, staring into his eyes as the final words from the Officiant became static noise behind him. “Jae… I love you…” He whispered softly.

“I love you too, Dae…”

“Always and forever?” Daehyun smirked just a little as he slipped the ring onto Youngjae’s finger.

“And no matter what, babo.” Youngjae whispered back, holding onto Daehyun’s hand as he put the matching ring onto his.

“I now pronounce you… husband… and well… husband…” The Officiant said, a smile on his face, “Go on and kiss now!”

Daehyun grinned, “Well, you heard him,”

“Oh, just shut up already, babo!” Youngjae said, reaching up and pressing his palms to Daehyun’s cheeks as he kissed him hard, ignoring the cheers and claps of their family and friends.

Youngjae intertwined his fingers with Daehyun’s as they sat in the back seat of the van with one another, once more practically in each other’s laps. It had been a month now since their wedding, and nearly three weeks since they had last seen the rest of their family. Daehyun had kept by his promise and their honeymoon had been nothing short of amazing as they traveled to several different places, enjoying each other’s company more then they enjoyed the scenery.

 Jongup was practically bouncing in his seat in front of them, and Zelo kept shushing him with a wide grin. Himchan was driving as usual and Yongguk was as silent as ever in the passenger seat.

“Jonguppie, how much caffeine have you had today~” Youngjae asked, smiling a bit as he leaned forward to watched the seemingly excited boy.

“What? No, no coffee, I just really can’t wait for you guys to—“

“Jongup~”

“Shhh! Don’t tell them!”

“It’s a secret, Uppie!!”

Jongup grinned sheepishly, “Sorry!”

Daehyun shared a look with Youngjae before looking forward again, “What’s a secret, what are you guys keeping from us?”

“C’mon! We aren’t supposed to keep secrets from each other anymore; I thought we all agreed on this.” Youngjae said, pouting a bit.

“Well, that, we’ll do what we want… Jongup, Zelo… we’re about to turn into the drive way…” Himchan said, glancing into the rear view mirror.

The two maknaes nodded quickly, turning around to face the couple in the back seat.

“Yah! What are you two doing—“

“Stop that—“

“Hyungs, stop~” Zelo said, laughing a bit, “We just have a really big surprise for you okay, trust us.”

With a sigh, Youngjae and Daehyun stopped shoving at the maknaes, allowing for Jongup and Zelo to tie the blindfolds over their eyes. Youngjae pouted as he felt around the seat next to him, finding Daehyun’s hand again. “it better be good…” he mumbled.

“Oh, c’mon, if Uppie is this excited about it, then you know it’s going to be.” Daehyun said, laughing a little as Youngjae let out a huff. He could practically see the younger’s pout in his mind and he brought their clasped hands to his face, kissing the back of his hand lightly.

“Alright, we’re here!” The doors were opened, and Daehyun climbed out of the van first, his hands outstretched as he blindly tried to navigate. He nearly ran into someone, and carefully he reached up, feeling up their shoulders to their cheeks before grinning, “Yongguk hyung?”

“Yup,” Yongguk said, taking Daehyun’s hands off of his face and moving to stand behind the younger, letting his hands rest on Daehyun’s shoulders as he guided him carefully.

“Why aren’t we going inside?” Youngjae asked, his hands still outstretching to search for anything that he might run into as Himchan steered him much like Yongguk was leading on Daehyun.

“Shh, stop asking so many questions, hyung, you two will see in just a minute!!” Zelo said, his voice practically bouncing around them as he skipped in excitement.

Youngjae let out a heavy sigh, “Okay fine…”

It only took the group a few minutes to walk Youngjae and Daehyun around to the back of the large house and with excitement, Himchan and Yongguk positioned them so they could once more hold hands.

“Okay, so, this really wasn’t my idea,” Himchan started, “But, I guess after giving it much consideration, I really do think it might be for the best… to protect Uppie and Jello’s innocence after all.”

“Zelo did all the design work…” Yongguk said, “He said that you guys would enjoy these colors the most…”

“Oh! And Uppie was the one that had all the connections and got it done so fast!” Zelo said.

“Ulgh, can you just let us see already?” Daehyun whined.

“Alright, alright, fine~” Yongguk grinned as he counted down from there, “3…2…1… Surprise!!”

Youngjae and Daehyun both blinked into the mid morning sunlight as the blindfolds were pushed from their eyes. It didn’t take long for their vision to adjust in the light, but the second it did, Youngjae gripped at Daehyun’s hand, a gasp on his lips.

The large mansion towered behind them, but set off into the small nook of trees that surrounded Jongup’s property stood a new building entirely. A small and cozy looking cottage of sorts, its outer walls painted the prettiest of light blues and a dark wood deck surrounded the front of the small building.

Yongguk smiled, “We know you two wanted to live on your own eventually, and… at some point in time you would have to move out… but… we aren’t ready to let you two leave the family… Now you’ve got your own place… but Himchan here can still cook you dinner…”

“And we don’t have to hear you having anymore…” Himchan added.

Zelo wrinkled his nose a bit, “Yeah, that’s definitely going to be the best part.” He said in agreement.

Daehyun let out a small laugh, turning and hugging onto Yongguk tightly, “Thanks, hyung…” He whispered.

Yongguk shook his head, patting Daehyun’s back, “Yah, now, don’t you two go crying on us yet, you haven’t even gone inside!” He pulled the keys out of his pockets, handing them to Daehyun. “We’ll let that be an adventure for just you two though… C’mon boys, let’s go make lunch.”

“Yah, you mean, ‘Himchan, go make lunch while I sit around and complain about being hungry’.”

“Don’t worry Channie hyung, I’ll help~”

“Aww, thank you Uppie~!”

Daehyun laughed again as the four made their way to the main house, leaving him and Youngjae in front of the cottage. “Well… c’mon then…” He said, taking Youngjae’s hand and pulling him up the steps and onto the deck. “We can get cheesy rocking chairs to put out here, Jae… yours can be white and mine will be black and we’ll sit out here and watch the sun rise together.”

Youngjae laughed lightly, “Yeah, and I’ll have to wake you up every time because you’ll have fallen asleep on me…” He joked, waiting as Daehyun unlocked the door. Before he could even peak into the house, Daehyun knocked his legs out from under him and picked him up. “Yah! Put me down Dae!”

“Nah-uh, I want to carry my blushing bride across the threshold.”

“Stop being so greasy, Daehyun!” Youngjae whined, burring his face into Daehyun’s shoulder as the elder took the first step into the house. Daehyun lowered him to his feet and together they pushed the door shut before turning to look at their new house together.

The living room was clean and organized, the design rather modern with black and whites and splashes of blue for color pop. The kitchen could be seen through a small arch way and off to the left, the door to the bed room stood open.

Daehyun took Youngjae’s hand, pulling him forward, “C’mon~”

Youngjae laughed, following Daehyun back into the room. “Daehyun~~ Himchan hyung is making us lunch, we don’t have time~” He said, falling into Daehyun’s chest as the elder pulled him close. Daehyun instantly wrapped his arms around Youngjae waist.

“I know we don’t… Can’t blame me for trying~” He said, slowly rocking them back and forth in a mock slow dance. “Give me a minute… okay?”

Youngjae nodded, resting his cheek on Daehyun’s chest as he hugged him close. “Watch are you thinking about?”

Daehyun sighed into his hair, “That this is our room… I get to go to sleep here with you every night, holding you close and you holding me closer… and in the morning, the sun will come up through the windows and I’ll complain to you to close the blinds, and you’ll complain to me about being fat and lazy and doing it myself…”

Youngjae laughed a little, “We’ll both agree to get up, and neither will move… we’ll just stay in bed for hours until the morning light has become after noon, right?”

“Mhmm,” Daehyun hummed in response, “And we’ll finally drag ourselves out of bed, and I’ll kiss you despite your terrible morning breath and you’ll tell me if we had gotten up earlier you would have already brushed your teeth…” He nuzzled his nose into Youngjae’s hair, “And we’ll have all day together, to do everything, and anything… and nothing at all…”

“That is, until Himchan hyung comes and yells at us…”

“Or Zelo wants to hang out…”

“Or Jongup wants to play a video game…”

The two laughed, “Yeah, okay, we’ll never have privacy, you know that, right?” Daehyun asked.

Youngjae looked at him, his eyes crinkling up a bit as he grinned, “Then we’ll just have to have really loud to scare them off.”

“Aish, what am I going to do with you, my little husband?”

“Yah, you were the one thinking about first… besides, don’t deny that you wouldn’t like it.”

Daehyun hummed softly, kissing Youngjae’s forehead softly as he continued to stand with him, holding him close. They stayed in each other’s embrace for a few more minutes, the silence enveloping them in its gentle hold.

“Yoo Youngjae… I will love you, always and forever…”

“And no matter what, I’ll still love you, Jung Daehyun.”

My last A/N will be uploaded shortly.