“Just admit it Youngwoon, you’re scared!” Heechul mocked.

“I’m not scared of anything!”

Youngwoon grabbed the light torch from Yesung’s small hands then marched away. He didn’t look back at the smirking Heechul, the worried Hankyung, and the indifferent Yesung. There was one thing in Youngwoon’s mind, he just said it out loud and is determined to prove it to his friends: I’m not scared of anything.

It was nearly midnight and they were by the gates of an old graveyard. The four teenagers had a previous deal about treating lunch but Youngwoon wasn’t able to bring enough money, so he was challenged to enter the graveyard and take pictures of ten tombstones instead.

Heechul, Hankyung and Yesung stayed outside while waiting for Youngwoon. They were all aware of his strength and courage but they still wished he would run out screaming.

That wasn’t the case inside the graveyard, where Youngwoon casually strode around like it was a boring walk in the park. He could just take pictures of the tombstones he already passed by, but Youngwoon thought it would be more impressive if he took pictures of the creepy-looking ones. And he also wanted the others to worry about him and make them wait there for at least an hour. With that in mind and a smirk on his raccoon face, he strode deeper inside the graveyard.

When Youngwoon found some mold-covered tombstones and thought they would be creepy enough, he started taking pictures. The flashes of the camera and the faint light from the small light torch were the only sources of light in the area, but he didn’t care. While looking down and clicking away on the camera, Youngwoon got a bit startled when he suddenly saw a pair of feet hanging from one of the tombstones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Baby…” came a soft voice “wake up…”

“Hmmm…” Youngwoon half-opened his eyes and hazily saw their white room.

“Good morning,” came the soft voice again which made Youngwoon smile “what were you dreaming about?”

“What?” Youngwoon stretched as his sight focused on the smiling angel beside him.

“You were mumbling something,” he chuckled as he pinched Youngwoon’s cheek.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, I was already awake…” he sat up “and you should get your lazy out of bed or you’ll be late for work again,”

“Hey, don’t go baby…” Youngwoon wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, preventing the latter to get out of bed “come on let’s lay down for a while more…”

“Oh no that won’t work on me today, Youngwoon,” he tried to break free but Youngwoon’s grip was tight.

“Jungsoouuu…” he whined like a kid as he pulled Jungsoo back in the bed.

Jungsoo’s light frame didn’t stand a chance against Youngwoon’s broad built no matter how hard he tried. Instead of pulling the lazy raccoon out of bed, Jungsoo was the one pulled back. He sat on top of Youngwoon shaking his head but smiling at the same time.

“What do I have to do to get you out today?” Jungsoo asked as he leaned towards Youngwoon’s smirking face.

Youngwoon made a cute pouty face, which he only did around Jungsoo.

With a chuckle, Jungsoo leaned in closer and placed a quick peck on his lazy boyfriend’s pouted lips.

Before he could sit up again, Youngwoon pulled Jungsoo and kissed him deeper.

All of Jungsoo’s prepared nags dissolved as he felt weak in Youngwoon’s arms. The busy hands of Youngwoon s under Jungsoo’s huge white shirt, caressing his warm and smooth body.

“Youngwoon-ah,” Jungsoo breathed against his lover’s mouth “you… can’t be… late today…” he said in between their sloppy kisses.

Ignoring Jungsoo’s worries about work, Youngwoon started to roll around, putting his angel lying down on the bed again and him on top. He then worked on tugging Jungsoo’s shirt off as he placed gentle kisses on his lover’s slender neck.

“Baby…” came the whimpering moan of Jungsoo when Youngwoon started to bite.

“Stop complaining…” Youngwoon said through gritted teeth “you’re enjoying as much as I am…”

An hour later, Youngwoon finally decided to get up and prepare for work. Jungsoo cooked breakfast and gave Youngwoon another round of passionate kisses before sending him off.

When he arrived at the office, Youngwoon realized why Jungsoo was more persistent that day. It was the day of their presentation of the annual reports to the board of directors.

“Youngwoon!” came the worried yet relieved approach of Hankyung when he saw the burly guy enter the lobby “Youngwoon, wait up!”

“What’s wrong hyung?” he asked when he noticed his friend’s expression.

“It’s about the presentation of our branch,” Hankyung said “we kinda need your help…”

“What kind of help?”

“Well you see, there’s been a delay with our clients—“

“So you haven’t done your presentation yet?” Youngwoon shook his head.

“Partly,” Hankyung said, embarrassed.

“And you guys need me to talk to the board and explain your reasons?”

“More or less…” Hankyung scratched the back of his head “we can do it, you know. It’s just that you’re better at things like that… you’re not scared of anything—“

Youngwoon laughed as they went up the elevator. It was hilarious for him knowing that his friends still remembered the phrase he always said back then. There was no need to say it anymore because it was already established in everyone.

The presentation went well and even the small favor from Hankyung was done. Youngwoon casually sat in his cubicle after lunch break. He smiled to himself while staring at the picture of Jungsoo on his desk. After a few minutes, his phone rang.

“Hello, Youngwoon??” came Yesung’s panicky voice.

“Yeah?”

“You better come to the hospital quick—“

“Why? What happened?”

“It’s Jungsoo—“

It didn’t take half an hour when Youngwoon reached the hospital. He ran straight up to the room Yesung said, his heart beating fast and a worried frown on his face. When he reached the room, he saw Jungsoo through the small circular window of the door, sleeping like a baby on the hospital bed with dextrose on his arm.

“Mr. Kim Youngwoon?” the nurse, which he didn’t notice before, said when he barged in the room and walked straight to the bed.

Youngwoon took a glimpse of the nurse, nodded, and then fixed his gaze back to Jungsoo “w-what happened to him? He looks so pale…”

“We are still waiting for results, Mr. Kim,” the nurse casually said “when your neighbor brought Mr. Park here, we immediately ran tests and gave him primary treatment…”

“But what the hell happened to him!?” Youngwoon raised a tone in frustration. He needed some straight answers.

“As of the moment, we don’t know yet,” the nurse replied cautiously, understanding the normal reaction of people caring for the patients “but we shall inform you right away when the tests are complete.”

The nurse let herself out of the room afterwards. Youngwoon pulled a chair beside the hospital bed and held his lover’s hand. Jungsoo looked normal, peaceful like when he’s sleeping, like when he falls asleep in Youngwoon’s arms when they’re watching late-night movies. But he was pale, which made Youngwoon worry more.

“Baby…” Youngwoon said as he caressed Jungsoo’s soft hand “please be okay.”

Jungsoo woke up the next day, finding Youngwoon’s leaning head on the edge of the bed, holding his hand. There was a surge of headache as Jungsoo tried to pull himself up in a sitting position.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Youngwoon groggily said when he felt Jungsoo move.

“Ugh,” Jungsoo whined as he pressed a hand against his temple.

“What is it baby?” Youngwoon stood up and panicked “what’s wrong? Wait, I’ll call someone!”

A doctor came after a few minutes. He injected something in Jungsoo’s arm and then ran a few more examinations. Youngwoon pressed him for answers but the doctor just said that the results would be ready after a few hours.

And so, after roughly three hours, the doctor came back with a clipboard. Youngwoon wasn’t able to absorb all of the medical jargons, but he caught something about Jungsoo’s neurological condition.

“Can you please explain that the easy way, doctor?”

“Our neurologists found some complications with Mr. Park, causing him to have movement disorders and involuntary reactions.”

“So…?”

“Neurological conditions have a variety of causes, so while we’re still trying to figure out what caused the complications to Mr. Park, he will have to stay here,”

“That’s it?” Youngwoon narrowed his crescent eyes, trying to keep calm.

“We are doing our best, Mr. Kim,” the doctor prepared his equipment and walked towards the door “we will be giving him sedatives and treatments regularly.”

A week passes and the doctors were still running tests and diagnosis on Jungsoo’s condition. Youngwoon never left his angel’s side, just leaving for bathroom breaks and when Jungsoo requests some food that’s not in the hospital canteen.

“Youngwoonie,” came the slightly raspy voice of Jungsoo one morning.

“Yes? Are you feeling something? Do you need—“

“Shh, relax,” Jungsoo gave a weak chuckle “I’m okay, baby…”

“Oh,” Youngwoon sat on the bed and caressed his angel’s cheek “it’s too early in the morning, Jungsoo. You should rest some more.”

“I can’t go back to sleep,” he replied, taking Youngwoon’s hand in his.

“Is something bothering you, my love?” Youngwoon leaned closer.

“Why aren’t you going to work?”

“Aish,” Youngwoon shook his head “do you think I’ll leave your side and choose that boring office instead?”

“You might lose your job…” Jungsoo seemed to have some difficulty in breathing “I’m alright. And besides, Yesung or Heechul could take care of me while you’re gone. I just don’t want to be the reason—“

“Shut up, that’s my job now, okay?”

“What if you get fired?”

“As if I’m scared of losing a job.”

The next day, instead of going inside the room to attend to Jungsoo, the doctor called Youngwoon out. Knowing that Youngwoon wanted straight answers, the doctor went straight to the point.

“We have diagnosed Mr. Park with a rare case of Huntington’s Disease,”

Youngwoon simply stood there and waited for the doctor’s explanations.

“Mr. Park didn’t show the other symptoms of the disease, which made it hard for us to figure out his condition at first.”

“So you now know what to give him, right?”

“You see, Mr. Kim, this disease is... incurable.”

Youngwoon simply raised an eyebrow, as if saying “Wrong answer, doctor. Give me something better than that, or hell breaks loose here.”

“The only thing we could do is give him treatments to suppress the symptoms. But since he doesn’t manifest the symptoms—“

“How the hell could you drop the pen on Jungsoo having this Huntington whatever disease if you couldn’t even see the symptoms on him!?” Youngwoon’s voice echoed across the empty corridor “and then you just go around telling people there’s no cure?”

“We have consulted expert neurologist from abroad, Mr. Kim.”

Youngwoon cursed and demanded for a credible answer. He wanted to just grapple the doctor on the floor, clearly not scared of what might happen next.

“Mr. Kim, I’m sorry,” the doctor said “there’s nothing else we could do. Huntington’s disease is a hereditary disease. He didn’t show the symptoms, but his genes told us otherwise. I am sure Mr. Park is aware of this because it runs in his family. I must be on my way, Mr. Kim.”

At that moment, when Youngwoon came back to Jungsoo’s room, he felt something inside him that he didn’t normally feel. He stood frozen there by the doorframe, and stared at the sleeping Jungsoo on the bed.

For the next days, Youngwoon ignored his strange feeling. He went on like the past normal days when he didn’t know yet that there was a countdown.

“Come on my angel, just a few pieces left,”

“But I’m feeling full already,” Jungsoo whined like a kid.

“If you don’t finish this, you won’t get well,”

“Hmm,” Jungsoo smiled, which made Youngwoon’s heart beat fast upon seeing his favorite dimple “I’ll finish that if you give me a kiss per bite!”

“Aish, you’re acting like a kid, Jungsoo,” Youngwoon shook his head but he couldn’t hide that smile on his face.

“Aaaaah,” Jungsoo childishly said as he opened his mouth for a bite.

Youngwoon readied a dumpling and fed Jungsoo. He then leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. There was a huge dimpled-smile on Jungsoo’s face. Another dumpling, another kiss, this time on the left cheek. The next bite earned Jungsoo a kiss on the right cheek. Before he knew it, Jungsoo was up to his last bite. Youngwoon placed the empty plate on the desk beside the bed, and leaned in closer to Jungsoo, placing a passionate kiss on his lips.

“Sweet as ever, anywhere they go” came a diva-ish voice from the door.

Youngwoon quickly pulled back and glared at the unexpected visitor.

“Oh, did I just ruin the moment?” Heechul said with a smirk on his face.

“Heenim!” Jungsoo happily greeted when he saw the diva strutting towards the bed “it’s good to see you! Did you come here alone?”

“Always good to see you too hyung,” Heechul said as he sat at the corner of the bed “oh heavens no, did you expect me to drive all the way here by myself?”

As if on cue, Yesung and Hankyung entered the room, holding a fruit basket and a plastic bag filled with chocolates and chips.

“Seriously guys?” Youngwoon said when he saw the junk food.

“Yay! I missed eating chips!” Jungsoo happily said when he saw it too.

“Sorry hyung, that’s not for you,” Heechul took the plastic bag from Hankyung “these are our snacks. We have a fruit basket for you, very healthy.”

“We’re staying the night here!” Hankyung said while washing the fruits.

“Youngwoon doesn’t look happy,” Yesung whispered to Heechul, quite loudly because everyone in the room heard him.

“You two should thank me,” Heechul said pointing at the couple “if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be all lovey-dovey right now!”

Youngwoon threw a pillow at Heechul as he shook his head.

Deep inside, Youngwoon knew Heechul was telling the truth. He instantly remembered that memory that visited him in his dreams the day Jungsoo got confined. That moment years ago when they had that crazy dare in the graveyard. It was all Heechul’s idea, of course. Youngwoon bravely entered the dark graveyard that night and got a bit startled when he saw feet floating in front of a tombstone. When he looked up, he saw that those feet were owned by a sad boy sitting on top of it. Youngwoon found it quite weird for a boy who was roughly a few years older than him to be all alone in the middle of a graveyard.

“Hi, I’m Youngwoon!” he approached the boy and stretched out a hand.

“I’m Jungsoo,” the boy took his hand and shook it awkwardly.

“What are you doing here? It’s late…”

“I come here often,” Jungsoo said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Visiting a loved one?”

“Loved ones,” Jungsoo sadly replied “my whole family’s here now…”

Upon hearing that, Youngwoon felt a surge of sadness and pity for Jungsoo. He hugged the boy and patted his back. Starting from that moment, the two became close friends, and eventually turned into inseparable lovers.

The next night, Youngwoon sat on his usual spot beside Jungsoo’s bed. He held the latter’s hand and gently caressed it as he hummed. Jungsoo was fast asleep, breathing heavily under the sheets. As Youngwoon stared at his angel, he held back tears that wanted to flow down for days. He held his lover’s hand tighter.

“Youngwoon…” Jungsoo flickered his eyes open.

“My angel,” Youngwoon smiled at Jungsoo as he the latter’s blonde hair “I’m sorry I woke you up…”

Jungsoo shook his head and smiled at his raccoon “I uh… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about… about my condition…”

“Sshh, don’t—“

“I shouldn’t have made myself believe that I didn’t have it,” there were tears in Jungsoo’s eyes “I thought I was special…”

“But you are special,” Youngwoon planted a gentle kiss on Jungsoo’s hand.

“I always wanted to be like you… you were never scared of anything—“

“Jungsoo, I’m scared…”

Youngwoon finally admitted to himself that strange feeling as he let his tears flow. At that moment, Jungsoo’s breathing became heavier… and Youngwoon very well knew what was coming next.

“I’ve always been scared of one thing… losing you…”

Youngwoon stood up and hugged Jungsoo tight.

“I know I can’t get through living this life without you…”

Jungsoo, with all his remaining strength and effort, hugged Youngwoon back.

“What if… what if you won’t be around anymore...”

Youngwoon felt Jungsoo’s grip slowly loosening.

“I’m so scared, my angel . . . I’m scared to death…”

To my dearest readers and fellow KangTeuk shippers, please forgive me for this pointless one-shot o___O I didn't even proof-read it before posting here... and I'm feeling really sleepy right now. Joesonghamnida @__@

- fairytaleXuntold-