Part One || A Tide

- What if the tide forbears its pattern?

Kyuhyun never considered his boyfriend odd; he was more exclusive to his taste. Being bad at hiding tendencies, and yet being a good secret-keeper made Sungmin one among few 25-year olds able to draw such attention towards him. Although certain things simply did not make sense to Kyuhyun, who always observed his blonde-haired lover with a sensitive eye, he never doubted Sungmin. He kept honest at all times - Kyuhyun dared to wonder if the other could ever even tell a white lie.

But Sungmin’s personality did not only weigh on his ability to hide things; his actions always spoke louder than his words. Kyuhyun happened to often know when his sunshine felt confused or when he needed a break from things. He would lay flat on the bed and stare up the roof when he had experienced too much on the same time, and when he was irritated or angry, he would rhythmically tap his right knee, going rougher as time passed by. Normally, Sungmin was the quiet type – and he somehow knew how to convey his messages by his actions, while Kyuhyun had learned how to understand them.

They enjoyed quiet evenings and early mornings, cuddling with each other and talking little. Sungmin has always had a thing for the sunrise; in their first summer together, he had practically dragged Kyuhyun with him to sit on a lonely stone out on the peak of an isle, simply staring at the sun emerging from behind the flat and mesmerizing horizon. Although they barely understood why, it had somehow occurred to Kyuhyun that after spending more and more time with the other, his generally tired mornings filled with annoyance and shuffling had eventually turned peaceful. Sungmin could not have felt more content; and Kyuhyun could barely have felt more relieved seeing his love’s beautiful, soft face create wrinkles as he smiled. That was one of the things the brunette enjoyed most about his boyfriend – his precious smile that could light up the surroundings in an instant.

“You’re the reason I smile”, he had said once, making Kyuhyun’s heart flutter, and still never hesitated to do whenever his boyfriend was near.

Sungmin was lying on the couch, T-shirt clad belly against the seat and his arms hanging over the leftmost edge when Kyuhyun came stomping into Sungmin’s small apartment, almost tripping over the shoes that the other had forgotten to put away. The blonde was prepared that Kyuhyun would immediately begin talking as they met; it was not an unusual thing for him to do when he had been at work. As opposed to his boyfriend, Kyuhyun enjoyed talking and ranting about things most of the time. It gave their relationship a sense of balance; Kyuhyun would talk his lover out of whatever it was when he had been showing frustrations, and he would merely walk up to the younger, hug him and give him comforting kisses as Kyuhyun ranted on about his problems.

He knew what he wanted, and as a 24-year old, obstinate man in love, he felt secure about his future. He cared about nothing less than a stabile life together with his one, down in a foreign country where the breeze of the trees were a part of daily life, yet the routines were diverse and the two lovers would have the chance to explore other cultures. It was what Kyuhyun dreamed about; let alone aimed for. His boyfriend felt the same thing, although he had a complete different travelling goal in mind. They were both rather stubborn when it came to arguments about simple things, however, those particular arguments could be spared for when it really was time to worry.

Kyuhyun knew that it should have been time to fully move in soon – up until then he had only been living there without actually moving there – and it was only a matter of time before he would get all the paperwork done. But until then, he was determined to keep abusing his boyfriend’s apartment that had all the new things they were going to share with each other in the future.

He was still overly blissed only by the mere thought that Sungmin was entirely his.

“Sungmin!” a voice called from the hall, and rustling began appearing from the place where the blonde lay. As he was up on two feet and had corrected his black-striped shirt, he shuffled with his thick socks towards the source of the voice, knowing that it was his boyfriend.

A cold embrace surprised him as Kyuhyun appeared from nowhere, bringing his clothed arms around the elder’s body and nuzzling his face in the crook of Sungmin’s neck. He sighed quickly in contentedness and carefully giggled as the other’s breath tickled his skin.

“Hi.”

To him, Kyuhyun was the mere reason he kept a happy face through the days.  He had contributed much to Sungmin’s life, and he had brought him up from the deepest abyss. Actually, the other had entered Sungmin’s life just as it had seemed too dark for him to handle. All the mentally rainy days after losing his mother had made him ostracized from the regular world. Along with falling into the typical autumn depression, he remained trapped in his own well, alone, yet silent.

When the young, determined brunette had stopped by the road to throw him a few coins, Sungmin had realized that there was more to life than to make it seem bottomless. Despite his immediate outrage on the poor stranger, Sungmin had felt a casualty radiate from the man who had desperately apologized, beginning to explain how he had come to the conclusion that the black-haired man had been a beggar. It confused him, yet soothed him how a person could easily have that much pity in his heart for a simple misunderstanding. At first, it had frightened Sungmin, and he had interrupted the stranger by grabbing his arm, telling him with a gentle shake that there had been nothing to worry about.

That was when Kyuhyun had experienced a stingy feeling inside of him as he had noticed how the other spoke to him with such peculiarity. As he had begun walking off with his hand tightly attached to his head, the other had called after him, asking if he was okay. It had taken merely a glance to decide their fate; and so, they had begun bonding, and as time passed by it had just become stronger.

Kyuhyun pulled them closer, loving the contact, and the other brought his left hand up to the brown hair, playing with the tired locks that had been forcefully pushed down from the hat Kyuhyun used almost every day to protect himself from the messy autumn weather.

“How was your day?” Sungmin asked casually, and the other breathed out against his skin and carefully pecked the area where his own chin rested.

“Fine, nothing special happened”, he responded before his mind automatically brought back random memories from work. “Or, maybe it did. Jungsoo almost got the wrong hard drive for the spare server system and you cannot believe how angered Minwoo got; I mean, he is in charge of plugging in the correct cables and drives into the server systems and if he does it wrongly, practically the whole system will have a shut down and he would lose his job. I mean of course I don’t want him to lose his job but I couldn’t help but to feel a bit bad for Jungsoo. He had told me that he had a really bad night and that he wasn’t the right guy for keeping track of things fully that day but damn, they sent him anyway and even though I laughed I still felt bad, you know…”

The elder remained silent, tilting his head and resting it against the other’s, smiling as he listened to his boyfriend’s experiences at work. As it stopped, Sungmin leaned back and looked the other in the eyes, asking if he would like some food.

The brunette’s face shone up, the dim light digging the shadows deeper into his wrinkles and willingly followed his boyfriend’s lead into the tiny, brown-themed kitchen just nearby. Kyuhyun almost choked on the food because his hunger had almost given his stomach spasms. During dinner, Sungmin told the other briefly about his own day at work, which was actually not much to talk about. As Kyuhyun worked as a computer programmer, Sungmin had settled to calmly work in a flower shop. It required a social personality and skills in negotiating, in which Kyuhyun had no idea how Sungmin managed since he often was the quiet type. But the elder seemed to enjoy it; and for both of them, that was all that mattered.

“Kyuhyun”, the elder mumbled, eyelids barely opened and his cheek resting against his boyfriend’s chest. A hand reached to the hair out of his face and he smiled, tightening the embrace around the other’s waist. Times like those kept them together it seemed; physical closeness helped them mentally close, as well as their different ways of acting in speech kept them in balance. The newspaper lay on a glass table beside them, recently skimmed through by the couple, and they were both tired.

“Hmm?” A content Kyuhyun answered. He lay on his back, loving the feeling of his boyfriend’s breath against his body and pulled his fingers through the blonde hair caringly.

“When do you quit work tomorrow?”

He gave out a subdued chuckle, Sungmin’s head jumping in the process as his chest rose and fell,

“4 pm, why? Are you going to buy me a car?”

“No!” Sungmin laughed with a modified tone, and he began travelling with his fingers over Kyuhyun’s chest. “I was just wondering for how long I would have to wait for you…”

His voice gave Kyuhyun a mental meltdown for the simple reason that he found his actions plain adorable.

The brunette could hardly lay a finger on what made his boyfriend so much more extraordinary than everybody else in all the things he did. Sungmin could, by merely waving his hand, draw anyone’s attention, and his incredible silent language gave him ability to make almost whatever he wanted to say understandable. It was not that he never spoke; it was just that his special way of doing things had made Kyuhyun utterly fascinated. He had forgotten about his own ability to understand his boyfriend, too lost in the thoughts of how amazing Sungmin was; and how his misfortune had somehow made their paths cross.

Another night of tranquility passed by as they would always do. The two lovers slept with light hearts and they thought that the morning would bring them peace just as it usually did. But lurking in the dark while their breaths and snores echoed through the apartment, was an aura that was certainly not going to let them live on as carelessly. Some might call it fate - some might call it unlucky; Kyuhyun and Sungmin would let their choices decide which path they would take towards their unpredicted future, because let us not vanish among the bewilderment inside of a time paradox.

It was 8.03 am, and Sungmin dragged a sac behind him hastily, ignoring the contents scattering out on the floor from an unknown source. He was late for work for the second time of his life – however, that second time was enough for him to fall rather deeply into frustration. He had always had a worry for appearing late, being prepared for all the possible outcomes that could follow. His co-worker and boss Joohyun had called him around 7.30 am, reminding him of the early opening they were supposed to have that day. It certainly had not amused the otherwise content man – and soon even Kyuhyun’s voice had been repulsive enough to make him shudder.

“Time is overrated, time is overrated, time is overrated…”

The sentence echoed in the area as the worker hurried to refill a few vases of hydro grains – Joohyun had specifically told him to do that before he opened the shop for the day, and he barely noted the carelessness of his accomplishment before he ran out into the actual store to open it and reveal two confused customers. They seemed to have no relation whatsoever and as Sungmin tried to look casual and bow towards them, they merely gave him nods back. He hit his head with his palm as he had let them in, and lazily drifted over the cold and recently cleaned floor to remain at their service.

The clock ticked its way forward, but not as fast as Sungmin would have wanted to.

At the same time, in another part of town, Kyuhyun mercilessly struggled with a computer that showed a too unfamiliar code for his eyes. During his three years of working with IT, let alone his nine years of studying it, he could not find the code anywhere in his mind. He was too busy trying to comprehend the incoherent amount of letters and numbers rattling off on the black screen; not even the sound of the clear explanation of what he was supposed to do that echoed behind him seemed to move him, until he realized that it actually was something of need.

“Yah, Cho Kyuhyun. Did you hear me? Clean and divert! Always when that code comes up!”

Even though he almost snored at the attitude of the person yelling his name, he began hitting particular buttons on the keyboard that spelled for the temporary history to be cleaned. He came back to his senses, suddenly remembering how he had helped a fellow student with the exact same thing a few months ago. Hyukjae, a happy blonde in his 28^th year of living, patted Kyuhyun’s back from nowhere, and he flinched, glancing up at the co-worker.

“Congratulations”, the latter said, blinking.

“It’s basics, damn it, Kyuhyun!” another voice interrupted, and as they both turned, their strong-armed project leader appeared to walk beside them.

Kyuhyun frowned at the person who had recently instructed him, yet swallowed it, took the knowledge and once again banged it into his head, keeping on working as fast as he could. However, the day came with many unexpected surprises, such as accomplishment failure during transfer, making half of the room throw invisible paper balls at Kyuhyun for missing out on securing the transfer properly. He made sure to mentally curse them with irony enough to make himself even more insane.

Heck, I’m a programmer, not a security guard.

All he wanted for the whole day was to sleep anew; not even the knowledge of coming home to a hopefully happy lover amused him.

And so, they both left their happiness for a while.

Their equal misfortunes during the day had affected them both in a tremendous way. Maddening, but not completely out of expectations, it continued as they had gotten home.

Even though he usually believed in them being mature enough, it somehow surprised Sungmin that his lover had made his way to his apartment when clearly, they were both in a bad mood. They sat in the couch, limbs and hair entangled. Kyuhyun definitely blamed Sungmin for putting them in that position. After all, Kyuhyun was the one who sat there first. Why should it be a matter at which spot in the couch you sit?

Grumpy days - everyone had them. There could some times come a day where one of the two lovers merely was too frustrated to even talk, and therefore ostracized themselves; took small breaks and did something alone. Appreciating and taking note of each other's feelings is just one of the feathers of the wings that carry them through the world of love. Therefore, understanding each other was a priority; how would they otherwise manage to be in a relationship?

However, the case seemed to be one of few exceptions and their bubbling frustrations were about to boil over any second.

“Hey”, the young brunette called, throwing a glance down at the head resting against his own, noticing Sungmin with one of his nails stuck between his teeth, “Hey, stop that.”

The other removed his finger from his mouth as he tilted his head back carefully, looking up at Kyuhyun, who merely glared at him.  The younger had always had a sensitive spot for the other’s habit of biting his fingernails, though it was hard for him to quit, as any habit. As he did not respond to Kyuhyun’s slight lecture, but instead automatically continued to abuse his fingernails with his fingers, the brunette’s fury began to rise too fast.

“Do you mind?” he exclaimed, pulling away from the other. Kyuhyun had a bad day and he was positive that nothing would make him surrender to any will, as he had been an obstinate wolf during the whole day, and come home, barely saying anything to his boyfriend.

A recently peaceful apartment was turning into a mad house with tense and malicious air, and Sungmin suddenly shot a gaze at him that he had never seen before. A strange vibe made its way through Kyuhyun from toe to tip, who stood up from the couch and, frustrated, scratched his head. Sungmin eyed him carefully for a few seconds before continuing the arguments, not knowing why it happened but making it happen anyway, asking why the smallest things always disturbed the slightly younger lover. Kyuhyun could have been less picky sometimes to Sungmin’s taste.

“For the record; it’s disgusting!”

They could have stopped it right there, and they could have come to a solution. Space could have disallowed such rotten words to be spilled out of their mouths, but their universe stayed turbulent. The brunette noticed Sungmin’s careful tapping on his right knee. He averted his gaze and stared into the wall for a few seconds while the tapping slowly and securely increased. An electric tension drew itself between them and almost echoed in the silence, bringing Kyuhyun lower into a pit of insanity.

“Thanks”, Sungmin nodded still gazing at the wall, and Kyuhyun crossed his arms.

And so, a wall of irony appeared, striking down between them, bringing them all to far away from earth as they could get. Sungmin looked like he was going to burst, and Kyuhyun knew that he was going to continue to speak. As much as Sungmin enjoyed keeping quiet, one always noticed when he felt like talking more.

“…I’m getting sick of it, Kyuhyun-ah."

His gaze tensed - able to bring discomposure to a calm area of twittering birds - and finished his point. "I’m tired of you bossing me around.”

The brunette’s jaw dropped. Sungmin kept his head straight and gaze still attached to the wall, while an intense feeling struck Kyuhyun’s nerves. His ears struggled to fully comprehend whatever sorcery had exited the other’s mouth – he could barely believe what the other had just said. Or at least, that was what remained in his head. By reflex he could not help but countering, seemingly needing to attract more frustration to the situation.

“Do I ever boss you around? Am I really one of those obsessive ones who cannot keep their boyfriends out of sight, and push you around because I simply can? Do I-”

He stopped as he noticed Sungmin tapping all-too feverishly against his knee.

“Hey, calm down now, aren’t you overreacting?”

The peace had once and for all been struck by lightening.

“Stop telling me what to do!”

The blonde male snapped literally; his body twitched and his head turned to face Kyuhyun’s frustrated and astonished glance staring back at him.

A time when Sungmin would be mad was a time when they both knew that they had to avoid each other. Kyuhyun would usually want to keep away from that snapping rascal when he was on fire, and the latter would rather hide from the younger’s straight-on insults if he had been caught up on something.

Although, they both felt that something was going to spiral with that particular fight, knowing that it broke the norms of their everyday life.

“I’m not doing it!” the brunette yelled, “You’re the one overthinking!”

The younger watched with concentrated eyes as Sungmin kept on abusing his knee, staring at him intensively before beginning to take shambling steps towards him. He had barely taken the time to understand how Sungmin was when he was furious; they rarely had those fights, and Kyuhyun had always thought that almost two years together would somehow had made him know automatically what to do. However, it occurred to him that he really was unsure. Time had nothing to do with what he did not know; and had left him unprepared. And as the talkative person he was, it also left him with no reasonable arguments, although he was too fed up to care. It barely took a second before Kyuhyun went forward as well, almost making their bodies touch before any of them could say anything further. Sungmin’s eyes were torn, and so remained his gaze.

“I’m. Not. Overthinking!”

He slid away, feet moving towards the direction of the hall, “You just think that because you want to get your will through.”

“Oh please!” Kyuhyun whined. He followed his angered boyfriend out in the dark hall, watching him as he slipped into his shoes. The scuff of the shoes got imprinted in Kyuhyun’s mind soon enough for him to react, and he moved awkwardly to stand before his boyfriend, preventing him from exiting the front door.

“Hey. Where are you going?”

A sigh erupted from the elder’s M-shaped lips, his gaze moving from side to side and his posture loosening. There was no sense in fighting – and yet they did.

“Not now”, he mumbled as he sneaked under Kyuhyun’s arm and grabbed the handle of the door, pushing it down and revealing the echoing, grey stairway. The other could only watch as his enraged lover walked down the stairs, mentally spitting on Kyuhyun with every step.