Dim lights from a powerful sun dug themselves into the creases of a pair of curtains, growing stronger for every minute and stubbornly enough sneaked past the fabric to bother a sleeping blonde by shining right at his face. He twisted in his bed, frowning at the sudden disturbance hitting his eyelids and moaned in discomfort at the glim piercing his pupils as he shot his eyes open reluctantly.

Hyukjae both hated mornings and despised rising up from bed. He would always get dizzy when he stood up and therefore; the first thing he always had to do in the mornings was to eat. However, eating in the mornings often caused him to feel bad in his stomach and although his morning cigarette could light up his mood a bit, forenoons in general still .

He stretched out his limbs to get himself moving while cursing at the too illuminated room, trying to distract himself with the thought that he would be back in bed in 14 hours. He had even lost the excitement of living on his own, too busy hating the routines that craved to exist. Already after one year, Hyukjae had begun snorting on life like an old man, and he did not give a crap about it. Perhaps it could have been because nothing in general contributed much to his happiness, or maybe, he merely was a pessimist.

As he had finally lifted his tired, half- body to sit up on the edge, of course after shuddering a bit from the coldness of the floor, a vibration appeared. It moved below his and was accompanied by an annoying tune, intensifying by each third second. Hyukjae rolled his eyes under closed lids, the dry silver piercing on the top of his lower lip and stood up abruptly to pick up the shouting phone, pressing “Dismiss” to make it quiet. Throwing it back on the blue, messy sheets, Hyukjae sighed and scratched his head, feeling how the dizziness approached him.

“ing mornings”, he grumbled to himself as he went over the cold floor, mentally complaining over everything he past; although the place was rather empty, it was too untidy for Hyukjae’s taste and he knew that he would have to clean when he would come home from work, which annoyed him. It was hard being a pedant and a slacker at the same time.

That morning’s food consisted of a poorly made sandwich that did not even make him full, yet still content. Happy about that his dizziness had disappeared; he exited the very small kitchen to move around in what was left of the apartment; the big room, the mini-hall and the bathroom. He was pretty content with his flat, it was neither too big or too small, meaning that he did not have to stumble around like a lost puppy if he came home drunk, or be unable to move freely when he wanted to work out or dance.  He sometimes enjoyed working out on the gym, although his favorite hobby was dancing, but the dream of having a six-pack and a good layer of muscles urged him to go to the gym.

Feeling deprived of cigarettes; Hyukjae scooted over the floor, letting his glance flicker desperately after his package. He could have sworn that he had put it on the window frame; however, it would not have surprised him if he had thrown it into a wall, as mad as he had been the day before. Work had been a pain, and his co-workers had bothered him to the core, even resulting in getting into a fight between him and one of them. It was not always a dance on roses editing articles for a newspaper.

Hyukjae discovered his package of death, and gently pulled one cigarette out, slightly covering his teeth with his lips and putting the little roll between the dry parts of his lips. A little blue lighter fell visible on the floor, and he bent down to pick it up. The fight at work had revolved around a false statement that had gotten published in the last issue, and people were arguing over whether it had been the article writer’s entire fault for giving the wrong information or Hyukjae’s fault for letting it be published. Hyukjae, as the precisionist he was, had been mostly upset with himself, but as the hassle had flamed to be such a big thing, he had only been wrought up, having experienced how his co-workers had been all over him the whole day. Those packs of crickets could have kept to themselves and focused on publishing an excuse to the fault in the next issue instead of bothering Hyukjae about something that had already happened.

He knew that a mistake could set the future of the paper on stake, but for it being his first miss in his two years working – and off the record, it being quite small – he found it shocking that it had flamed up to be such a big subject during the day.

Before he lit the cigarette between his lips, he opened the white door to his small balcony and let some fresh air sneak into the apartment. He took a few careful steps outside, feeling how neutral the air seemed. With cold feet, he met with an even colder ground than inside, making him slightly shudder but not minding it for long since the weather seemed to be of the good kind. He moved his thumb over the lighter to fire the tip of the cigarette. He succeeded soon enough and in the cigarette’s toxics, breathing it in and exhaling for the first time of the day. It was a relieving feeling; he would rather have smoked the first thing in the mornings, but since his head seemed to be spinning every time he woke up, that would never be an option.

How he had gotten the job to be an article editor and proofreader from the beginning remained a mystery to him. A young, scarily blonde man with a piercing right through his lower lip certainly should not have brought any interest from people of that “degree”. Perhaps it was his writing skills and attitude that had brought him there. People had always praised him for writing with peculiarity and being able to baffle them with his words; it somehow amazed him that he had not gotten the honor to be an article writer or a journalist yet. He could have been too self-righteous for his employer to push him up the ladder.

Trying to not mind his suddenly swirling thoughts, Hyukjae finished his cigarette by inhaling the last share of venom he could reach, then throwing the rest of the roll into a mug of water and full of old cigs. He got into the apartment and closed the balcony door behind him, thereafter went to take a fast shower. Not many things could replace the feeling of showering. He felt like a magician in there, being so much more than an article editor.

After finishing in the shower, he pulled on some formal clothes from his wardrobe and generally adjusted his appearance while lightly brushing his teeth. He wore a shirt and light blue jeans, finishing the outfit with a faintly black blazer and a tie. While he was adjusting the collar in front of the mirror, the morning told him that the day was going to be just as any else although a bit more tiresome because of the fuss the other day. But a hollow shriek from nearby proved him otherwise.

***

“I know that I need to respect you but what the hell was that shriek for? I’m not on the mood for helping those who scare my pants brown in the mornings.”

Hyukjae pulled out a card and held it against a blue sticker, hearing it beep and two blocks heaving out of the way for him to pass the entrance. A brown-haired male followed before the blocks closed and chuckled behind him.

“Well sorry. I didn’t know you had a bad day, petulant monkey.”

Hyukjae's gaze remained attached to everything but the one he was talking very quietly to. Being in the center of attention did definitely not amuse him enough to make him want to try to attract it willingly.

“I thought you guys could be anywhere?” he asked, sticking back the card in his pocket.

The other’s eyes narrowed as he had caught up with the blonde’s speed, and crossed his arms,

“Do you think I’d want to follow you everywhere?”

Hyukjae raised his hand to chest-level and directed his palm towards the other male; “Well, right now it seems like I’m the only one who can help you with your problems, so whether you choose to follow me or not is none of my concern.” He took a step on to the escalator after a blonde female and crossed his arms, looking down at his shoes, frowning as he spoke silently. “Just be careful before you take me too much for granted, Kyuhyun.”

Man mentioned propped himself up on the railing and dangled with his legs to the extent that was possible.

“I am careful”, he claimed, eyeing the blonde with his dark-brown eyes.

Hyukjae cursed the number of people lining up behind him and lowered his head even more, sending an irritated glance towards the man on the railing,

“Then stop with the attitude and tell me what you need already, I’m helping you and staking my life with this .”

Before the brunette could open his mouth to probably contradict yet again, Hyukjae mouthed a “Wait”. They got off the escalator, the blonde at the hole on his lower lip, missing the feeling of the little silver bead between his lips. He had been told to not use his piercing at work, since it would make him look less “professional”. Although Hyukjae wanted to disagree and just shove a finger in front of their faces, he listened to their advice and took it off before every workday.

He looked at the digital signs to see when his train would be coming, before taking a step into the mass of people already standing at the dark platform, everything simply radiating depression. The crowd seemed to increase for every second and the blonde scratched his head and settled himself as close to the grey wall as possible, pulling his collar up to cover his mouth. Kyuhyun, the other male, leant against the wall beside him.

“Why won’t you just let me go to her?” Hyukjae asked, throwing a quick glance at the other before letting his gaze wander over the people in front of him. It was cold at the subway station even though the pre-summer weather had proved to be an over-heated one, and he could see people thinking the same as he did. They jumped around on the spot with their shorts and T-shirts as if they had gone out like that on a winter day. Hyukjae did not really mind coldness – he seemed to be quite warm-blooded – and so, he merely smirked at the youths constantly complaining over the too chilled station.

Kyuhyun pulled a hand through his brown hair, his glance travelling from direction to direction, “I’m- Not really ready myself…”

“Oh come on”, Hyukjae protested, “She’s suffering like a ing bug under a shoe and you can’t let me help her because you’re too selfish to let her go?”

“Don’t ing say that.”

The blonde could almost feel the fury beginning to rise inside of the other man, as if wanting to strangle him in the most horrific way possible. Kyuhyun could blow up very easily when it came to certain things, as well as Hyukjae. Together they could barely keep a normal conversation without bickering. Nevertheless, Hyukjae knew that he had the right to silence the other with a few simple words.

“You know you can’t do anything to me.” He stated emotionlessly, and dropped the collar of his shirt to breathe normally as the train came rolling into the station and people started bumping into each other in the need of getting on that particular vehicle. He paid no attention to the brunette during the whole trip, but merely stared at different people or objects and tried to convince himself that the day would be okay, despite how many contradictions there were at that moment. He sighed as people were too selfish for their own good inside of the train and almost pushed elders and kids to get into the train or to find a seat. He scoffed as some obviously did not know what headphones were and he sighed yet again as people seemed to think that merely since he was a blonde and had two holes for mouth piercings (which was actually made for one piercing, mind you), he was a disobedient kid who shouldn’t even be allowed to go on the subway.

 Kyuhyun remained quiet as well, until he began talking on their way into the enterprise of the newspaper company.

“Good luck at work”, he said, and Hyukjae rolled his eyes, smirking.

“You might want to see this, though.”

“Why?”

He nodded with smug smile as he could literally feel the presence of a certain someone approaching him.

“Just see”, he mumbled and met with the gaze of another brown-haired, tall male with big eyes. Upon noticing Hyukjae, the other quickened his pace and almost dropped his papers in the progress off hurrying past the blonde without sparing him a glance.

“Heechul-ssi, there is seriously no reason for us to fight”, Hyukjae stated, and the other fumbled with the papers in his embrace, looking generally pissed. “Seriously.”

“Yesterday it was just Heechul, hum, Hyukjae-ya?” The blonde raised an eyebrow as the other eyed him from tip to toe, seemingly wanting to take advantage of the elder-younger role. To Hyukjae, he was just doing it in a disgusting way. Before the blonde could counter, Heechul stepped away angrily and left him clouded.

“Be a snapping rascal then”, Hyukjae snorted silently as the other’s guise had disappeared behind a corner.

“Wow”, Kyuhyun huffed, hands on his sides, “That was fun.”

“Honestly, the surprise doesn’t even lie in the mistake anymore.”

“I wonder how everyone else will be”, the brunette laughed and followed the other male into the elevator, bringing them to the seventh floor. Fortunately for Hyukjae, the elevator stayed empty; somehow people tended to be extra disturbing while in the elevator. Not that they did anything, but since obviously everyone was forcing themselves to be quiet and yet spent their time in the moving box to mentally comment on the awkwardness, it disturbed Hyukjae to the core. If people could be in a restaurant chatting, why did they automatically have to be quiet as soon as they stepped into an elevator?

As the two men reached the hall full of paper stacks and computers, where Hyukjae worked, the latter got greeted by the managing editor, and followed him to the table of journalists and editors waiting to follow orders. As he arrived, a few of them gave him angered looks, which frustrated him because he knew exactly how much fault he had not done.

“These are the stories we are going to look into today”, the manager said, pressing on his glasses, and Hyukjae nodded, skimming through the list of topics written. “You guys can leave for your mission today, here Hyukjae, Jungsoo is right there. I had no stand-in for Hyunwoo today so please work harder today.”

Trying his best to not lie down on the floor and scream, Hyukjae nodded and gave out a faint, “Yes, manager, I’ll work hard.”

“Fighting!” Jungsoo smiled, a redhead in his 30’s who despite being just the opposite of Hyukjae, seemed to get along with him well.

“Here you have someone who drank his coffee”, Kyuhyun stated, making the blonde chuckle silently before he directed his attention towards Jungsoo. He was clicking on a pen when Hyukjae started walking past him and he followed.

“I don’t get why they are so tense around you.”

The blonde blew out some air harshly, cocking his head to the side to make his hair follow as he walked with Jungsoo towards his desk a bit further away inside the big hall, each step being a pain in the because he past some of the angered co-workers.

“Me neither”, Hyukjae agreed; crossing his arms as he leant his weigh on one hip. “Those crickets have nothing to do with anything.”

“I’m sorry that you have to see this side of them.”

“Gets me experienced.”

Jungsoo stood up, ready with his black jacket flung over his shoulder and his bag hanging along his body. At first, he merely gazed at the other. Hyukjae felt intruded; he usually did not like it when people stared at him without any particular reason. Or more accurately, he did not find it amusing at all. He would rather have put himself in a box filled with cockroaches.

Even though the stare lasted for three seconds, Hyukjae felt determined to stop it before the redhead turned into a magic cockroach himself.

But Jungsoo’s voice made it before him,

“It’s true.” He said blankly, looking at a random spot behind the blonde, before glancing back at him and smiling faintly, “I’m off then.”

Feeling relieved that he finally had been released from that stare; Hyukjae pushed himself back to normal-mode,

“Just don’t forget to bring all your draft to me okay?”

The ginger nodded, his bangs falling to the middle of his forehead and he adjusted them, waving of the blonde before walking out of the area to fulfill his mission.

“Joohyun used to stare like that too.” Kyuhyun muttered as the blonde made his way back to his own desk.

“Well we all have characteristics”, he mumbled as a response, not feeling on the mood to talk about serious things at all. But of course, he had chosen, or more likely fallen into the wrong phase to be unwilling to do serious talk.

Kyuhyun sobbed cautiously behind Hyukjae as the latter tried to focus on his computer full of text, but it caught him off guard too frequently to let him remain concentrated.

“Kyuhyun.” He turned his head and met with the saddened brunette, sitting on another chair with his chin attached to the back of his hands over the edge of the stool’s back. He was gazing at the floor and did not mind to change the direction of it as his name was heard. “You know you will never be fully happy until she gets to leave.”

He did not answer, and Hyukjae flicked a pencil between his fingers, trying to distract his frustration.

“Do you even know why you’re sad?”

Kyuhyun shook his head, “I don’t know what’s more painful.”

“Well think about it”, Hyukjae grunted lowly, “Either you let me help her towards the better and let her leave entirely before moving on yourself, or you stay here, seeing her every day - or whenever you stalk her - crying over her loved one that is obviously not you.”

The brunette slid his head over his hands, pressing his cheek against them instead, and the other continued his rant,

“Choosing the latter would not benefit you in any way, Kyuhyun. You would just suffer for an eternity. You both need to cross over. Now. Why else did you stay here? To be depressed?”

“…No”, he replied, sighing, “I stayed… Because I needed to see her happy before I could move on myself.”

Hyukjae silently clapped his hands together as he directed his attention towards the screen, “See, you need to admit things sometimes. Good work.”

Noticing that Kyuhyun had turned quiet, Hyukjae assumed that he had gone somewhere else.

“Am I a psychologist or what?” He found it amusing how he was entirely putting himself into a bin of irony, but did not have time enough to think about his own weird ways, because a voice suddenly disturbed his thoughts.

“Whom are you talking to?”

A familiar voice echoed within his head and he span his chair, meeting with the skeptic gaze of an elder brunette, and Hyukjae could almost feel the intensity in those eyes, as if he was questioning the other’s sanity.

“No one?” he said and shot glances toward the left, the right, and back at the manager editor.

A second of strange silence fell upon them, until he merely chuckled.

“Good then, because I don’t want my co-workers insane. Anyway…”

***

The day consisted of assisting pissed of journalists correcting their articles and pointless meetings bringing up the current day’s news. Kyuhyun happily watched as Hyukjae bickered with his co-workers, having the perfect overtake in all of the arguments but nevertheless, giving up to their grumpiness and so, he remained frustrated. When the afternoon came and it was time for Hyukjae to do much of his work, he was almost ready to faint because of the extreme pressure that had seemed to be on him. He had tried to keep in his own frustrations to not pin the whole crew to the ground and throw rocks at them. Work was the only place Hyukjae usually tried to maintain his senses, because he honestly cared about keeping his job even though he wanted to rip the shell of routines entirely. But the tension that had occurred made him weak inside, him knowing all too well that at least something would have to pay later.

As his workday had ended and he by ten pm stumbled out of the building, feet sweaty and with Kyuhyun right up his heels, he let out his frustrations.

“Now, I’m going home to get out of these disgusting clothes; you go take your silent goodbye to that girl and inform me where you are so I can get drunk in loneliness, okay?”

The brunette’s eyes widened – not that he was surprised with Hyukjae’s attitude but more with that the latter wanted to get it over with so soon when he clearly had one of the worst days at work of the year. After sticking to the blonde for a month, Kyuhyun felt unusually down; their daily bickering had after all had an impact on him, and Hyukjae’s funny retorts to other people’s actions had brightened his days strongly. But he knew that he had to move on, and happiness would approach him as soon as he felt done with what had kept him where he was.

Just before he turned to make his way home, Hyukjae carefully pointed towards the brunette.

“You can do it, okay?”

Kyuhyun nodded, and soon they headed towards different directions in the late evening weather, damp air embracing people’s clothes and moistening their skin.

Hyukjae went home in a haze, desperately smoking every chance he got before he got to his port, pressed the code with weak fingers and entered the stairway. He tiredly made his way upward, towards the door shining carefully in the dark of the area with his own name written lazily on a white plastic badge. He pulled his keys out, harshly twisted the lock and opened the door to reveal his tiny apartment and escape from snapping rascals as his own co-workers. It had gone 14 hours, finally, yet Hyukjae knew that he was not going to sleep much that night. He had some one to help and a mind to clear – not forgetting the apartment to clean – before he could sleep soundly.

The blonde male threw his shoes off, not minding them flying towards unknown directions and took meter long steps into the space of the big room, reaching for his wardrobe and some more casual clothes. He got rid of his formal work-clothing, angrily tossing them into a black bin, acknowledged that he had to do laundry soon, and pulled out a pair of new jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt with buttons around the collar area. He noticed his grumbling stomach and with his fresh clothes dragged on, he drifted over to the kitchen while sticking back his mouth piercing to find something to eat. The refrigerator was close to empty; three racks contained one almost empty package of milk, some fruit, a piece of ham, butter and a water bottle. He could barely remember the last time he had gone to the store, yet it did not seem to bother him. He grabbed a green apple and put it to his mouth, letting his lips feel off the slightly bumpy peel before taking the first bite and making his way back into the big room to hydrate himself with the glass of water on the window sill.

Waiting for Kyuhyun to show up, the blonde male lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Tiredness was probably the best word to describe him with at that point, although his mind would not surrender to Sandman until Hyukjae had finished all the things he had in mind. Sitting up in frustration, he ran to a locker and grabbed his dusting towel do begin cleaning the area. He picked up and replaced things around in the room and dusted off the only shelves he had, feeling content as he found the layers pretty shiny to his taste.

Kyuhyun appeared inside of his apartment just as he had finished grieving over his last package of cigarettes, and he had a sullen expression on his face, slightly bringing Hyukjae back into the pit of frustrations. He tried to convince himself that it would all be over soon. In a few more hours, he would be back in bed and hopefully dream about a theme park of cigarettes or just about a different world where he could feel peace.

“You should be happy by now, Kyuhyun. She’ll finally be free. No more cries over him, and no more cries over her. You get me? Let’s go.”

He remained on his rather frustrated mood, but as they arrived at their destination, everything seemed to slowly turn different. They were in a park, close to a river that had a really tiny, less sandy beach to it before the waves took it over. On that particular piece of sand sat a man with curly black hair, staring out at the ocean. Next to him was a girl with just as black hair – Hyukjae immediately understood that it was her; Joohyun, the girl that Kyuhyun had spoken about ever since he had appeared into Hyukjae’s life. Although Kyuhyun had stuck to his blonde haired friend, the actual mission he had come to him to ask for had never been solved with actions, merely because he had been afraid – afraid and reluctant to let the love of his life go. Although Kyuhyun knew that she loved someone else and could not find peace until she had told that person everything about how she felt, Kyuhyun could neither feel peace until she was happy.

That was when Hyukjae had come into the picture. The brunette had been lucky to meet with the guy, and hopefully, they could all move on after what was about to happen.

The two men went forward with the same pace, Hyukjae forcefully pressing down the grass below him yet feeling weak at the thought of what he was about to involve himself in. He could get stuck into the most strange situations, and he had some times even found his life hanging, simply because those he were trying to lead tried to lead him instead.

An evening wind blew past them as they approached the two sitting guises, and the brunette uttered the name of the girl, with his voice being soft, almost as if he was humming on a lullaby.

She reacted to the word “Joohyun”, and turned her head, petrified to see someone who was not as close to her heart as he would have wished to.

She remained silent, and so did the man beside her. Before she could turn back or even disappear, Kyuhyun stopped her.

“This is Hyukjae”, he said with head hanging low. She frowned, her gaze turning skeptic, and kept quiet for another few seconds. The blonde had lost his ability to speak, too fascinated over the unusual tension raging between them, driving him to the conclusion that Kyuhyun really loved that girl. He cautiously nibbled on the bead on his lower lip, observing her.

“What’s that going to do for me?”

Her voice sounded almost naïve; she seemed like a little dressed up girl, playing princess on the schoolyard. Hyukjae forced himself to come back to his senses, and his body strained a bit as Kyuhyun opened his mouth,

“He’s here to help you…”

“Help me?”

A flash appeared around her; it temporarily blinding Hyukjae and making him rub his hands against his eyes, wondering where it had come from. As he opened his eyes, she seemed to glow a bit, and the tears forming in her eyes screamed complicity.

“Help me?” She repeated, still sitting turned towards the water but with her head wrung towards the two standing men.

“To cross over.” Hyukjae filled in, bringing his hands together and intertwining his fingers with each other. That was when the black-haired man reacted, and flinched as he noticed Hyukjae standing just meters away from him. He reacted as well, as he had almost forgotten that he could have scared the life out of the poor soul by talking.

Joohyun looked over at the man, her eyes dealing with an indescribable amount of feelings.

“Who are you, and whom the hell are you talking to?” the black-haired male snapped, eyeing Hyukjae as if he was some alcoholic teenager missing a place to pee. Kyuhyun was quiet, probably dealing with his emotions since he knew that if Joohyun agreed, it would be the end.

The woman shook her head,

“I’m sorry”, she mumbled, “I’m not sure if I’m ever being able to move on.”

“I’m sorry”, the blonde bowed towards the man instead of answering the girl, “I’m Hyukjae. May we talk for a while?”

“Are you following me?”

“No. In fact, someone showed me here. But before you say anything”; he held up his hand, “Can you promise to try to stay calm if I tell you something?”

The male, seemingly older, gave out a bothered sigh, “And What exactly would that be?”

“I’m seeing Joohyun right now. She’s sitting beside you and looking at you.”

“What- What the ? Are you insane?”

Hyukjae had not expected anything else but those words. People tended to have the same reaction since they could never know if Hyukjae was speaking the truth.

The woman put her hand over and looked up at the blonde expectantly,

“Can you really help me?” Her eyes gave Hyukjae hope enough to continue his persuasion.

“I’m not." He said to the man below him, "I’m seeing her. She’s asking me for help.”

“ing help with what?” He stood up to face the other male, Hyukjae realizing just how tall the other was, “Are you stalking me? Who are you, hm?”

“Please, listen to me.” Hyukjae did not want to become angered; especially when there was quite much to sort out before any of them could go home in peace. He shoved his hands into his pockets, taking a few steps back to avoid the taller man’s spit as he yelled.

“Give me a chance to explain.”

“Then ing do it already!”

Hyukjae pondered for a short while, eyeing the surroundings of the park; the low cut grass, the thin trees on each sides of the small sandy area and the sough of the leaves moving, swung by the wind – and tried to calm himself.

“Just listen, okay?”

The man seemed to become less tense, his shoulders falling more downwards and his gaze turning less intensive, and Hyukjae proceeded in explaining why he was there.

“Don’t be afraid, but I know your story. You were together for three years, and today is your anniversary. She got into an accident just after you had fought…”

He could clearly hear Joohyun’s voice echo in the area,

“Kyuhyun! Have you been stalking me?”

“I’m sorry, Joohyun-ah-“

“Don’t call me that!”

She turned away, and Hyukjae mentally cheered for the brunette to be honest and solve things between the two.

“Listen… I didn’t…" Kyuhyun sighed over again, "I just want you to- I brought him here to help you… Because I know you won’t be able to rest in peace until things are solved with him, and I can’t rest either until I know that you’re happy. I love you, still, and I just want you to be happy, okay?”

By hearing Kyuhyun’s confession, Hyukjae felt tears pressure the back of his eyeballs, and he brought his hand to his face, wiping off nothing although it felt like there should have been a river of tears already. He nearly forgot that he had someone standing before him as well, lost in the thoughts of the two people further away.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the tall, black-haired man asked and turned his round head towards the direction Hyukjae was looking, only to find an entirely empty area. “Is she really there? Who are you?”

The blonde apologized again, bowing lightly, trying to find a way to explain but failing miserably as he felt that bringing Kyuhyun into the subject would hurt the man. He looked at the other with such a questioning expression; Hyukjae dared to feel interrogated just by having that look pierce his head. He brushed invisible dust off his light blue, sanded jeans and sighed.

“She’s here. And she’s looking at you from over there.”

Joohyun stood indeed watching her baffled boyfriend; after hearing Kyuhyun’s confession she did not seem as strong anymore, and at that point, all four of them felt ready to burst at any second.

Before walking over to Hyukjae and the other male, she grabbed Kyuhyun’s hands. She looked him deep into his eyes, and he seemed mesmerized by her closeness alone. Observing them in that position both made Hyukjae glad, and hurt him in a way. The one who badly wanted to feel loved back, would have to watch her confess to another in order to finally get peace to his mind.

It is hard, but it will be worth it.

“Thank you.”

The girl’s eyes turned watery by the blink of an eye and she gave the hands she was holding a light squeeze before firmly releasing them, waiting for Kyuhyun to force his hands to let the other’s go and her to take silent steps towards the others. Hyukjae watched, as Kyuhyun was being left alone and his eyes turning blank; expression priceless in the kind of way that you would not even want to see it for free. His eyes just radiated as much pain and discomfort that Hyukjae actually had to stomp a few times on the ground.

Joohyun drew closer until she had approached the one she loved, who was staring out into empty air, wondering where she was and waiting for Hyukjae to explain himself further.

He put a hand to slightly cover his eyes, barely being able to see the pain expressed by Joohyun’s soul as she drifted around the man, eyeing his perfections and imperfections, taking in every single glimpse of his being and not regretting a single moment of watching him.

“C-can you talk to her?” the male asked, his gaze flickering uncomfortably. Hyukjae nodded, still covering his eyes but being obvious with his feelings by pressing his lips together, biting them on the inside.

The black-haired man continued, voice hitching with each few word, “Tell her… Tell her that I love her… I love you, Joohyunie… C-can she hear me?”

Hyukjae nodded once again.

The girl pulled a hand through her hair,

“Jongwoonie… That day; everything was my fault…”

Hyukjae sent him a glance and put his finger in front of his mouth, urging him to be quiet. Seemingly, he understood that the girl was talking.

“Talk to me, sweetheart”, he said faintly.

“I shouldn’t have walked away on you like that… I regret every single word I said and I’ve missed you so much for these past months, it’s insane. I never thought that I would get the chance to get to you ever again, but only wander around here on earth, seeing you find someone else and forget about me… But you haven’t. You- I couldn’t rest knowing that we were unsettled… But that will probably change now. I love you.”

Hyukjae let his tears fall; salty tears following invisible paths down his skin and falling off his chin like the rain emerges out of the clouds. He usually did not cry, but at times like those, he experienced a lot. At that time, he felt blessed with the gift he had; that it could bring people together had him flying over a meadow of the uttermost beauty one could ever imagine, although he in reality barely cared about anyone.

As the man noticed how the blonde’s cries intensified, he was determined to find out what the reason was.

“What did she say?”

Hyukjae sobbed silently a few times, before opening his mouth to stand against it,

“She says that she regrets everything she said to you when you fought, and that she thinks that she can finally rest in peace knowing that you two will be okay.”

“Don’t forget that I love him.”

“She loves you. A lot. She called you Jongwoonie.”

At that time, it was his turn to burst out in a few desperate sobs, his hands clutching after nothing, “I love you Joohyun, where are you?”

“She’s right in front of you.”

Hyukjae went beside the girl and pointed directly at her eyes, making sure that the male followed his fingers and landed with his gaze at the spot.

“Is this her?” he asked, reaching up with his hand to caress the air. She smiled in response.

“Yes”, Hyukjae answered. A light occurred from Joohyun and she turned to the blonde, smiling with her cheeks puffed up like a squirrel’s.

“I think it’s my time”, she said, and he nodded.

“She’ll enter the light now.”

The tall man named Jongwoon gave him an astonished look, almost as if he was frightened.

“Does this mean that- she will be gone?”

“She will. But she will be happy. And she wants you to feel the same. Be happy and live your life like you want it to be.”

The glow only became stronger, and Hyukjae became once again blinded by the light, him putting his arm on his forehead to be able to watch Joohyun walk into the shining mass.

“Thank you for everything. Thank Kyuhyun, and thank my lovely husband for being there. I can rest now.”

“What’s happening?” Jongwoon asked, him not seeing anything but Hyukjae trying to avoid something that did not even exist in the dark summer air.

“She’s saying thank you for being there.”

A short silence appeared, and the light before Hyukjae’s eyes dimmed, before disappearing entirely. Left were complete darkness, a baffled male and an unreadable Kyuhyun standing in the background.

“She’s gone now.”

***

Although to some, he had finally felt like a true human being for a while, Hyukjae soon realized his own life’s issues and went back to his usual mood. Not that he had anything to accomplish, anyway. Kyuhyun had been utterly thankful that he had solved things between him and Joohyun, and he finally had swallowed the knowledge that there would never exist a “we” for them. He had entered the light with contentedness.

Honestly, Hyukjae would miss the guy. He had been around for much longer than the spirits usually did, and had left an imprint in his heart as he had found out that they had both many things in common – such as their bad moods and easily flaming tempers.

But in the end, they all had to leave; the trick was to never get attached to them. You were a facility to them, and as you had helped them out, you would all feel content until you met with the next one who needed your aid.

Hyukjae breathed loudly as he around midnight found himself in a calm bar, his on a rather uncomfortable stool and a beer in his right hand, glancing out at the smaller crowd of talkative people. He needed to think before shoving the door to his apartment opened and sob over the non-planned day off he had ahead.

The day as it had been, had taken too much of his brain cells and he should have felt even more deprived of them as he gulped down his beer than if he just took a cigarette or walked home; but the bitter liquid sounded like a better idea for his disturbed nerves. He took another deep breath, taking note of his chest’s rise and fall and smiled, content, hoping that he would get something out of being alone for a few minutes.

But reality said “Nuh-uh”, and soon he noted the presence of someone that he knew was going to start a conversation with him. He could feel it in the way the person was approaching; it was different when someone was walking to the area where you were to reach or call for someone else, but there was a completely different radiation when that person was going to call out particularly for you.

And so, Hyukjae switched to his cocky mood without even looking at the person placing himself one meter to the side.

“I know your secret.” A male voice echoed into Hyukjae’s ears, and he chuckled, clapping his hands together in his lap as if the words came as no surprise to him.

“Good for you”, he said, never removing his stare from the dirty floor. “Now it’s unfortunately not a secret anymore.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you have no idea if I just made this up or not.” Hyukjae retorted, a muffled sigh erupting from between his lips.

“Neither do you know if I did.”

The other’s voice was almost persuasive; it had appeared as if the unknown man wanted to prove something, using naïve ways to get to Hyukjae’s mind.

He turned his head to the side, a brow rising until it disappeared behind the layer of blonde bangs, and noticed a brunette with lake-blue eyes, locking their gazes in just a peculiar enough way to slightly unhinge him.

The unrecognized male sat on another stool, leant slightly backwards and supporting his weight on his arm, holding a glass in his lap. Hyukjae could not help but to find the man utterly attractive, yet there was something about his way of looking at him that made the latter confused.

“Aren’t you a bit young to drink beer?” the blonde asked as he forced himself to change direction of his gaze and it landed on his own glass of mentioned liquid. Whoever the man was, he could have acted less intruding to Hyukjae’s taste. At least he could have started with a hello – not that the blonde would automatically accept him, though.

He could hear a faint chuckle from the other male, sneaking its way past the smaller crowd’s chattering, that until then had been the only thing occupying Hyukjae’s ears.

“How do you know if I’m drinking beer?”

“I don’t know, you just look kind of young to be in a bar and approach a stranger.”

He could almost feel the brunette’s gaze disturbingly pierce his head, and a feeling of discomfort struck his nerves. The man was either drunk, or he was one of those disturbing people in general, like those who locked their sight at someone and never left the person alone. Hyukjae had enough of such people already, and so, a new one did not exactly seem to be a pleasure to his mind.

“I’d rather see you at home, drinking lemonade in front of the TV.” He snorted as he lifted his own glass and put the cold edge between his lips.

“How do you know that I have a home?”

As Hyukjae turned his head, not even getting the time to sip on his beer, the other male had turned to him entirely, and was eyeing him with a smug smile on his face.

“God, why do you ask so many questions?”

“Because you seem to have a secret.” The brunette’s expression turned somehow innocent, as Hyukjae could distinguish an utterly tiny pout on the male’s lips, which made him even more engrossed by the other’s sudden approach. “And the best way to lure it out is to ask too many questions.”

“Wha- What the ? Could you just leave me alone already?” He put his glass down, frowning intensively. “I expected some questions but not a ing interrogation.”

With that, he turned towards the bar table and leant over it, staring at the wall on the other side, shutting the unfamiliar male out of his attention-system.

He never liked it when people asked many questions. Especially when they did not really have to. If that man wanted to know a secret, he could have just asked, “What the hell is your secret?” and then Hyukjae could merely have said, “It’s none of your business.”

“ing drunk-turd…”

If he would ever get a while of peace in his life, Hyukjae was unsure of. First, he had been bothered for three days straight at work; enough to make him want to strangle anyone and take notice of everything he disliked even more. Then, he had gone to help a friend, and afterwards had decided to go to a bar and think when he could merely have gone home to sleep. As if that was not enough, a random guy had walked up to him, trying to ask his brains out for an unintelligible reason.

Hyukjae wanted to fall onto a flat surface, close his lids and not wake up until the world had turned into a better place. Why didn’t he?

His lids fluttered shut. It wasn’t until he swore that he saw a unicorn, a thought hit him and his head flew up from its place.

“Hey”, he said, noticing how the brunette still sat at the same spot even though Hyukjae’s body and verbal language had been clear enough to show that he should have vanished entirely.

The other’s glance landed upon the blonde, and the latter almost felt giddy at how playful he seemed.

“You told me you already knew my secret.” Hyukjae stated, his body tensing up at his own words as he leant into his left hand.

“I do.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then if I didn’t, how come you can talk to me?”

Tensing even more, Hyukjae’s eyes widened and he stared at the male, who giggled childishly, his dark orbs with green and blue colors framing it glancing at him with a sense of distinctiveness. In fact, his whole being seemed to radiate individuality, and that Hyukjae had no idea if the man merely was teasing him or if he had just had an open chat with an invisible creature interested him.

The situation he had been trying to comprehend might just have turned a bit more complex than he would have believed, as he found himself absorbed into it, all starting out from that pike.