“I distinctly remember Lay telling us that the restaurant I used to work at was down this street, just past the college,” Luhan reaffirmed to the rather disgruntled guardian walking beside him.

Suho shook his head, exasperated. “Yes, I know Luhan but just WHICH restaurant is it?” And at that Suho made a grand gesture to the open square in front of them, which was bustling with off duty students and lined with countless shops and venues, which made it impossible for them to identify where exactly they should start.

“Err, well about that—“ Luhan was cut off by Suho’s unamused stare, “how about we just check every one?” He suggested meekly, earning a shrug of defeated agreement from the other.

“Might as well, and maybe we can catch lunch here later or something.”

No one could disagree with that.

But fortunately, it seemed that lady luck was on their side that warm summer day, as the moment they began their search, agreeing to begin at the far corner of the square and moving forwards from there, a deep, gruff voice caught them in their spot. It was one that sounded behind them, and was laced full of surprise and hesitance. “Luhan?”

The two boys turned around only to be met with a very tall and stoic looking man, one hand slightly outstretched as the other was occupied with clutching the back of a patio chair. He was dressed in a simple white dress shirt, black apron tied tightly around his waist and the hard-set lines of his face were quirked up ever so slightly. But as soon as Suho and Luhan had seen it, and as soon as the other man had caught a glimpse of their faces, his expression fell in disappointment. The intruder bowed his head in apology. “Sorry, I was just mistaken,” he mumbled as he shuffled back to work.

Intrigued, Luhan turned his body completely around, motioning Suho to do the same and walked towards him, catching the taller man’s attention by surprise that they had stuck around. “It’s quite alright, but you said Luhan? You know him?” He asked. The tall man straightened up and looked down at them suspiciously.

“Why? Did you two know him too?”

Luhan nodded, putting on his carefully constructed façade. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I’m kind of a… distant cousin of his.” The reassuring smile Luhan tacked on the end was key. However, it didn’t look like the worker was buying it and Luhan had to take out his last resort. Flashing the deer keychain in the center of his palm, the other man’s face became unreadable for a few moments before he cleared his throat and led them inside.

“I’m Kris by the way,” the man introduced himself, brushing a few stray blonde locks away from his forehead before settling down and folding his hands on the table they were currently sitting at. “I own the place.”

Suho extended his thanks towards Kris, “I appreciate you letting us in so suddenly.”

Kris waved it off, “no problem. But what’s this about Luhan? That’s why you two are here right?”

Luhan raised his eyebrow slightly at Kris’ down to business nature but quickly shrugged it off and nodded. “Luhan. We already know that he passed away but… we were wondering if you could maybe give us some more insight on well, exactly what happened?” There was a long pause that followed and it felt like an eternity to Luhan as he carefully observed to gauge Kris’ reaction, but then a resonant sigh was heard.

“Should I start from the beginning then?”

“Well we already know what happened to his family and we heard he was in a down state of mind but after that…”

Kris nodded his head in understanding and sat back in his seat, giving the impression he was deep in thought. “Although it was a few years ago, I think I can still remember. Luhan came here one day looking for a job. We weren’t particularly looking for more help at that time but I decided to give the guy a chance—he looked like a nice and promising guy, and I was right,” Kris broke into a gummy smile, “he was always on time, willing to work, and we helped each other quite a bit to the point where we became pretty close. Honestly, at that time I didn’t know about his family situation, and I never would have guessed it either with the smile he always had on his face—I found out eventually though, through the grapevine. But in any case, one day he came up to me as we were closing up and handed me a bottle of pills.”

“Pills?” Suho sounded quite alarmed.

Kris shifted his weight and nodded, “pills. Anti-depressants. I guess he used to use those to cope with his stress. When I asked him why he gave them to me, he just replied with something along the lines of ‘I don’t need them anymore’ or ‘I don’t want to use them anymore’. I was confused but I went along with it—I tried my best to look out for him, you know? But then after that… I started noticing things…”

“What kind of things?” Luhan asked. Kris’ eyes flickered up to his face and he gave him a wry smile, which was surely used to cover up a deeper emotion he didn’t want to emit.

“He started to show up to work… different. He seemed tired all the time… kind of lethargic? He stopped smiling so often but I could see the effort he still put into trying. I got worried about him—really worried and I asked him about it. But every time, he would just shrug it off and tell me that he was going to be fine, that ‘it’d be all over soon enough’,” Kris shook his head, “then one night, after we had closed up the shop, he waved goodbye and walked home and,” his hands curled into fists, “he never showed up the next day.”

Suho and Luhan didn’t know what to say even though they had guessed as much. They had just gained a lot of brand new information, but Luhan didn’t want to stop there. “What happened after that?”

But Kris shook his head, bringing up a hand to rub his temple, “I—I don’t really like to talk about it. Some times I blame myself for what happened. I wish I could go back and have looked after him better, I wish I could have—“

And although Luhan was mildly disappointed, he also understood the anguish and reached over to pat Kris sympathetically on the hand. “It’s ok, you don’t have to revisit the past if you don’t want to, but I’m sure that it wasn’t your fault, no matter what happened. I’m sure that Luhan wouldn’t want to see someone like you blame themselves for so long.” Luhan gave him a small, but reassuring smile and Kris lightly scoffed but returned it.

“Thanks… hearing that from you… does make me feel a little better, as weird as that sounds.”

“I’m glad.”

-

Upon leaving the restaurant, Kris was kind enough to offer them both a free cup of bubble tea for their journey home. Suho, being the responsible adult there, vehemently denied the offer but Luhan like always, had to put a dent in his plans as he not only accepted, but also pitched in his preferred flavor enthusiastically.

Suho felt the urge to smack him upside the head. “Luhan,” he growled. The angel turned his head around to face the former with his large, innocent eyes.

“Yes?”

“When will you ever learn?”

“What do you mean?” Luhan blinked, making sure to exude large amounts of rainbows at he stared at his friend, “he was kind enough to offer so I merely accepted.”

“But you can’t just accept things from people you don’t know.”

“Kris isn’t a stranger, but thanks for looking out for me, Dad.”

Suho was about to retort again but he stopped his remark short as he gazed into Luhan’s eyes and noticed that behind the shallow amusement he was putting on, deep down, there was a different emotion stirring within him—something much more bitter and defeated. Suho stepped back and sighed, smiling as he shook his head at Luhan, deciding to just let him be for now. He turned his attention to Kris and called out to him. “Make that two strawberries please.”

-

Walking together, sipping through the thick straws of their bubble teas, Suho wanted to speak up. With the silence that enveloped them, it was clear that Luhan was deep in thought, but just about what, Suho wanted to know. It couldn’t be anything good or positive, that much was clear from the angel’s downcast eyes, but Suho didn’t want him to suffer alone. Clearing his throat, he thought to himself, to hell with it. “Hey,” he called out.

“Mmmm…” Was all the acknowledgement he got.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm?” And this time Luhan looked up from his pink coloured drink to see a concerned looking Suho. “Nothing, it’s nothing.”

Suho wasn’t convinced. He quirked his lip, “alright… but you can talk to me any time, ok?”

Luhan made a noise at the back of his throat and the two went back to walking. However, about five minutes later, Luhan decided to take up Suho’s offer. “So that’s the way it ends, huh?”

Suho was confused at his words, “excuse me?”

“I said, that’s the way it ends. I guess this is… the end of our adventures, huh?”

Suho wasn’t catching his drift and he furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t follow…”

Luhan sighed, exasperated, “my death? The main purpose we’ve been running around town all this time in order to collect clues and solve the mystery? Well there’s no need for any of that anymore, is there? We've just solved the puzzle.”

But the more Suho allowed Luhan to talk, the more far from his point Suho managed to stray. What exactly was Luhan trying to say? “Solving the case? What are you talking about Luhan? Sure we’ve learned a lot up till now, but there are still so many key points we have yet to discover, namely, what exactly happened to you?” Suho pointed out but was only met with a disappointed shake of the angel’s head.

“There’s no need for that, Suho. it’s obvious what happened, I—I took my own life.”

And it was in that moment that Suho finally discovered, like a crashing tidal wave of realization, precisely what had been secretly plaguing Luhan’s mind all this time. The incessant feeling of disappointment regarding the nature of his past life, the belittling feeling he must be carrying deep inside in the comparison of his fantastical dream versus reality—they were making his heart heavy and Suho reached over, wrapping his arms around Luhan’s slim shoulders to help him hold it back up. “Hey, hey, it’ll be alright, Luhan,” Suho breathed, pulling him closer to his own frame.

Luhan just shook his against Suho’s neck, “it’s just that… now that I’m on Earth again, after so many years of wandering the clouds by myself with no purpose, nothing… I’ve finally realized just how precious a life is. I finally know just how wonderful it is to live,” and Suho swore that Luhan’s eyes had started to shine, but as quickly as he had seen it, his irises dulled once more, “but to think that I once consciously threw it all away, it’s just so… frustrating.” Luhan heaved a great trembling sigh. “Maybe someone as weak hearted as me doesn’t deserve to be found by someone as passionate as you.” At these words, Suho held Luhan tighter as he found his helpless gaze gravitate towards the night sky, possibly looking for an answer that would be great enough to prove all of them wrong. A great sense of déjà vu suddenly hit him as he gazed upon the great dark expanse above them and he gently loosened his grip on the angel, taking a step back and clutching Luhan’s hands in his.

“Come on, I need to bring you somewhere,” Suho said gently, smiling at the other as he fell into confusion.

“Now?”

“Yes, now.” And with that, Suho led Luhan away, thanking the stars above him for giving him enough courage to finally confront what he knew he was supposed to long ago.

-

Arriving at the park didn’t take very long; the two boys were already nearly home, so they simply had to take a small detour to reach their new destination.

Reaching the foot of the hill, Luhan was hit with a sense of déjà vu. Not quite sure where the feeling could have stemmed from, he got lost in his own recollection in a place in between memories and dreams, and it was only when Suho had to lightly tap his shoulder, did he snap out of his trance and brush off the feeling. “What are you thinking about?” He asked.

“Nothing,” Luhan mused.

“Well come on then, I’m not going to run up this hill all by myself,” Suho laughed lightly before leading the way.

They ascended, and right when they reached the very top, Suho promptly plopped down on his back, resting the back of his head on top of his hand and patting the cool spot beside him. Luhan joined Suho in the grass, not sure of his intentions, but went along with it anyhow. “Are we stargazing?” He asked.

“Maybe,” Suho hummed, “I actually have a lot to tell you, so I hope that you’ll listen.”

Luhan nodded but then felt silly when he realized that the man beside him couldn’t have seen it. “Of course,” and from then on, he made sure to be silent as Suho talked.

“You know, before I met you, I didn’t really have much either. It was only my books and I for the longest time—sometimes I even felt that it would have been easier to live inside of a fairytale, or an adventure or a mystery… there was always something missing in my own reality but I was never sure what exactly it was. Unconsciously, I would always look towards the sky—whenever I was deep in thought or simply bored out my mind, the sun and clouds would always be there, taking my thoughts away. As dumb as it may sound, I always waited—waited for something to simply drop out of the sky and into my life.” And at this, Suho turned his head to stare at Luhan’s profile, “but I guess it wasn’t so dumb after all.” The tone that Suho used made Luhan turn his own head and he found himself face to face with his founder. “The night that I found you, I saw something—a bright spot of light, and I ran. I ran for my life because I wanted to think that it was a sign, that it was finally my time… I didn’t know for sure if it could be true you know. I could have been a dreamer…”

“And I could have been a shooting star…” Luhan breathed.

“But I was wrong,” Suho continued, “and so were you. You were an angel, the one that I had been waiting for all this time to come and complete my life. You don’t see how splendid you are, do you? You’re strong, Luhan, stronger than I could ever be, honestly. You go out there without a second thought and do whatever it takes to pursue what you need. I’ve grown to admire you so much and even more than that I… I—“ and suddenly a sheepish smile broke out onto Suho’s face as he suddenly became flustered and covered his face with his hands. Luhan, breaking out of his trance and far too interested in what Suho was about to say next, took a fistful of grass and showered it over the other.

“Say it! Say it!”

“No—augh I ruined everything,” Suho pouted, “and I wanted to say it all cool-like too…”

Luhan chuckled and threw another handful of grass, “it’s too late for that so just get on with it, please.”

Suho took a deep breath, “Luhan,” he exhaled, “I had a crush on you at first sight.” There, he said it. He finally said it. A large part of Suho felt immense relief from admitting it out loud. He had contemplated this very thought maybe a thousand times since the first time they met, knowing from the start that what he felt for the angel was something much more than platonic but never surmising enough courage to finally admit it, to both Luhan and himself. But relief soon transformed into anxiety as he realized several heartbeats after he confessed, the other hadn’t uttered a single word for quite some time. He saw Luhan swallow before his eyes flickered up.

“I love you.”

And that was all it took for Suho to shoot straight up and stare wide-eyed at Luhan who remained lying peacefully in the tall grass, a wide yet shy smile painted on his lips. “Ok well,” he broke their shared gaze, lowering it to stare at his fiddling fingers, ”I’m not sure if it’s love but all I know is that I really, really… really like you too.” 

A few fleeting moments followed, passing in stretching silence as both confessions began to sink into their racing minds. It was hard formulating coherent thoughts for the both of them as they replayed their preview conversation endlessly in their minds, echoing off their sanity and sinking into their bones. It was a mind boggling, uplifting and simply out of this world sensation, knowing that the one that you adored so much, felt the exact same way. And when Suho and Luhan inadvertently caught each others eyes once again, they saw in each other a light that was different before. They saw each other in a way that was more than a friendship, more than a partnership, more than they could have ever imagined the other would ever become to them.

And before he could contain himself, Suho pulled Luhan up, cradling his face gently in his hands before leaning over to capture his soft lips in a kiss. Luhan made a noise of surprise in the back of his mouth but quickly fell into Suho's steady rhythm and reciprocated, moulding his own lips to fit perfectly over the other's in return and clutching at the rough fabric of his jacket in the process, pulling the two flush together. Luhan let out a soft groan as he felt Suho nip at his bottom lip, swiping his wet tongue over it in apology afterwards. However, Luhan shook his head and trailed his hands up Suho's back, smirking ever so slightly at the feel of his muscles tensing beneath his nimble fingertips and before long, he found them buried into Suho's dark hair, clutching and pulling—relishing in the sound the guardian made when he keened in pleasure and the way his body arched whenever Luhan would tug a bit harder at the roots accidentally (or at least in the beginning it was accidental). Soon, Suho began trailing his hands downwards, loving the feel of Luhan's warmth radiating through his thin shirt and settled with digging his fingers into and gripping at Luhan's hips, keeping him in place. Suho broke off their passionate kiss and sat back to look at Luhan in all his disheveled and flushing glory, knowing that he himself must not look much better. But Suho didn't stray long, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat as he focused this time on pressing loving kisses down the side of the angel's face and across the line of his sharp jawline. The more Suho moved down, the more sloppy his job became as he reached the pale expanse of Luhan's neck, and biting at the supple skin, taking every groan Luhan elicited as a sign to continue. Reaching the base of his neck where it met the junction of his shoulder and collarbone, Suho pressed another kiss there, earning a particularly loud noise from Luhan. Smirking into his skin, Suho his swollen lips before leaning down to sink his teeth into the sensitive spot and earning a pleasurable gasp from the angel who regrettably leaned back, causing both of them to lose their balance and tumble down the slide of the hill in a flurry of limbs and laughs.

When they had finally settled down at the foot of the hill, Suho found himself landed on top of the angel. Both boys were panting heavily and their hair was full of leaves and dirt, but neither of them could bring themselves to care now that they had found the person that completed them, right in their arms. With the full moonlight illuminating the scenery around them in a silvery glow, and the sound of nothing but their own shallow breaths, Suho had to think to himself that this was the perfect moment, the one which defined any fairytale that he had ever come across, the one that dreams strived to be.

"So does that mean that you'll accept me as your Peter Pan?" Luhan asked, smiling cheekily despite the hoarseness of his voice.

Suho groaned and nearly rolled over from his position, "why must you ruin everything? And wait, I'm still Wendy?"

"Well of course!" Luhan replied, sounding a little bit indignant even in his disadvantaged situation, "I'll always be your Peter Pan." Hearing the sincerity in his angel's voice, Suho's entire body couldn't help but flush a deep red. Damn that sweet talker. Luhan reached to his side to pull up Suho's hand and intertwined their fingers. While looking into Suho's eyes and bringing their connected hand up to his lips, Luhan planted a soft kiss against Suho's knuckles, "and I promise that I will help you find your own Neverland." 

In that moment, Suho swore that he saw the star dust transcend from the sky and settled upon Luhan's flushed cheeks, the entirety of the milky way shone through his large eyes, the galaxies tangled in his hair, and maybe it was just the light playing a trick on Suho's eyes, but in that moment, Luhan seemed to glow again, just like the first time they had met.

"I believe you will."

"I'm glad."

With that, Suho leaned down to recapture Luhan's lips to continue where they had left off.

-

The next morning, though Suho felt like he hadn't slept in a million years, and that was partly true since he ended up staying up all night giggling like a school girl (not that he would ever have admitted it out loud), he was awoken to find out Luhan had already made plans of his own for the day. "First of all," the angelic boy leaned down towards the arm of the sofa where Suho's head was resting, "I love you."

Suho smiled, even if his deliriously tired state, knowing for a fact that last night couldn't have been a dream after all. "I love you, too."

Luhan smiled kindly for one more second before his expression became somewhat wicked and he reached over to capture and throw a nearby throw pillow at the half awake lump that was his guardian. "But it's time to get up, my dear Wendy!"

Suho groaned before burying his head back under his blanket, earning another pillow to what would have been his face. "This is a conspiracy! You say you love me, but where's the love?!"

Luhan laughed and patted the grumpy lump before skipping over to the kitchen and leaning around the corner. "Come on, please? I have something very important I need to take care of today." Noticing the slight desperation in Luhan's voice, Suho had no choice but to comply, crawling slowly out of his soft cocoon and greeting the new day.

-

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Suho asked for the final time as he held Luhan's arm, standing beside him in the middle of the deserted sidewalk. The sun was high above them in the sky, and then with a hard-set face, the angel nodded his head once more, affirming the same answer he had given to the question countless times before.

Right now, the two were standing on a street corner—the very same street corner in the old neighbourhood that hid the location of Luhan's old home. Luhan had insisted that they visit this particular site one more time—one last time, as Luhan figured after all they had been through, after all the knowledge they've gained, and after the final conclusion they had come to, Luhan wanted to use this last journey as a step towards acceptance and to finally move on from the past that he had pined over for so long. Seeing the building one more time, he hoped to be able to let go and move towards the future with a lighter heart.

Knowing that he had to be strong in the support of the other, Suho patted Luhan on the back once before the angel took a deep breath and stepped out from the shadows, making the frame of the house come into view. The two men were about to cross the street towards it but stopped in their tracks when they saw the backside of another person, standing in front of the site and gazing upwards and around the wreckage.

Giving each other a look of confusion, Suho and Luhan paced forwards and approached the other man slowly.

At the sound of their approaching footsteps, the third man turned his head, revealing his face, which caused all three of them to gasp in surprise. Suho stepped forwards in curiosity at the other's unpredicted appearance and tilted his head.

"Lay?"