“’Great, soldier, now you’re depressed and in the hospital and a drug addict. And everyone knows.’”

A prominent frown decorated pursed lips as the sound of rustling pages signified a book being shut. Dark eyes shifted to the still figure lying on the hospital bed. A sigh resounded in the otherwise silent room as the visitor leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “I swear you read the most depressing stories…”

With a grunt, a pale hand reached over to place the discarded book on the stack already resting on the bedside table. He’d found them in the other’s bedroom when he had gone to pick up some things, as well as straighten up a bit. He knew better than anyone that messiness was one of the patient’s biggest pet peeves. The visitor had taken to reading a chapter from each book day by day, but they all turned out to have the same melancholic pattern. He made a mental note to pay a visit to the library to find a livelier story.

Stretching his arms above his head, a glance at the clock indicated that it was well past midnight. Sighing, he stood up from his seat, a spot he had barely moved from since he had arrived that afternoon. Approaching the bed, slender fingers reached out to brush over smooth, porcelain skin. They trailed up the patient’s arm before dancing over his collarbones, his neck, his jawline before finally lingering on his lips. Leaning forward, soft lips replaced the spot his fingers had previously been, gently brushing over plush lips before he pulled back.

The visitor hesitated, debating whether or not to just spend the night again. Then again, he’d already missed too many days of school, and he knew that the other would be unhappy if he wasn’t able to graduate because of his absences. Daehyun heaved a sigh before he perked up at the thought of the upcoming weekend. He gently intertwined his fingers with unresponsive ones before reluctantly letting go.

“Night Jae. See you tomorrow.”

-

“Remember how you said you loved my voice?” a soft chuckle escaped parted lips. The grin on his face faltered slightly when he was reminded of yet another thing he had taken for granted. “You must be tired of hearing it by now… That’s too bad, because for once I’m not going to shut up-”

His words were cut off when the door opened, his head lifting up in surprise. The sharp gaze landed first on a bright bouquet, shifted to the bunny plush before finally raising to fix on the newcomer’s face. Both pairs of eyes narrowed when their eyes met, but it was Daehyun who broke the silence.

“Can I help you? Jaehyun was it?”

“Jaebeom,” the new visitor immediately corrected in a curt tone. “And not at all. I came to visit a good friend. Don’t know why you’re here though.”

Daehyun’s lips twitched in annoyance as he watched Jaebeom move towards the bed, placing the bouquet in a vase and tucking the stuffed toy under the patient’s arm.  “Well, Mr. Good friend,” sarcasm practically dripped from his dialect, “It’s funny you should show up now when Youngjae’s already been here for more than three months.”

Caught off guard, Jaebeom’s head turned towards him as he counted on his fingers. “It hasn’t been—” his paused. “I came the day after the accident but I didn’t know it’s already been…” his voice trailed off sheepishly as he averted his gaze.

“Right. So don’t show up here with your mightier-than-thou attitude when I’m the one who’s been by his side every waking minute. Thanks,” Daehyun finished in a flat, but still smug, tone. Raising his hands in surrender, the other male indirectly apologized before turning back to the boy on the bed. Deciding to be the bigger man, the eldest of the trio sighed and retreated from the room to grab a coffee, as well as to let Jaebeom catch up with his friend.

It definitely wasn’t something Daehyun would have imagined himself doing. And as he stood by the vending machine in the hall, the thought just occurred to him that, even in his unconscious state, Youngjae still had a huge effect on him. Just another thing he wished he had realized earlier.

-

Smoke poured from parted lips, collecting humid particles before dissipating in the fresh, post-rain air. Legs hung off of the rickety fire escape, arms dangling from the rails while unfocused eyes swept over the street view lying before him. Nothing interesting caught his eye. The male scooted back, laying on his back and staring up at the black expanse of the stairs leading up to the next apartment. He checked his phone, giving himself a few more minutes before he took a shower and headed to the hospital. He also had to pack; it was a weekend so by default he was spending the next two nights by the patient’s side.

He removed the cigarette from his lips, letting his eyes close before releasing another puff of smoke into the crisp breeze.

“Smoking is bad for your health.”

Daehyun’s eyes snapped open, but the rest of him didn’t move. Staring blankly up above, he sat himself upright, staring out at the street below him while he gave a little shake of his head. In the past five months, he had found that his imagination was quite playful. As in it liked to play tricks on him. He’d learned not to get his hopes up too much.

“I had to listen to you nag about random crap for the past five months, and now you’re just gonna ignore me? I see how it is.”

Freeze. His whole body went rigid before he slowly turned, his eyes widening dramatically at the sight of the male sitting nonchalantly on his windowsill. His jaw dropped, cigarette falling out of his mouth and landing on the floor where it lay discarded and forgotten. He was lucky his fire escape had a railing or he would have fallen down onto the pavement below for sure.

He was lucky his pupils instinctually dilated, because it made it all the easier to drink in the soft hair ruffling in the breeze, the amber-colored eyes crinkling at the corners, and the familiar smile that he’d only been able to see in his dreams for nearly half a year.

There was only a beat more of silence before Daehyun had launched himself at the other male, his tackle causing them both to topple through the window and land on the, luckily, carpeted floor of his bedroom. They rolled quite a bit before that simple momentum turned into a play wrestling session, until everything came to a halt when Daehyun finally pinned the younger to the ground by his wrists.

The brunette hovered over the younger, staring down at him with a stern expression before he finally cracked a smile, “Hey.”

A snort sounded out from the younger male underneath him. Rolling his eyes, Youngjae responded disbelievingly, “Really? That’s all you’re going to say?”

Daehyun’s head tilted to the side, and he contemplated this question before he finally replied. “Well I said everything I wanted while you were unconscious. So pretty much, yeah.”

Before Youngjae could even open his mouth to protest, the elder had already swooped down to press their lips together. He didn’t even give the other a chance to breathe, proudly stealing his breath away and claiming it as his own as he released the previously trapped wrists in favor of running his fingers through silky strands of hair, relishing in the feeling.

When he finally ran out of oxygen he pulled back just slightly, leaving them both gasping for air, heaving chests pressed against each other as gravity rolled them to the side with their arms wrapped tightly around each other and their legs tangled as if it were the most natural thing in the universe.

Satisfied, for now, with what he deemed an accomplishment, Daehyun nuzzled his nose against the younger male’s cheek as he inhaled the familiar scent, imprinting it to memory. They lay in comfortable silence, right there in the middle of the room before Daehyun finally spoke first, his tone hushed.

“I missed you.”

He felt Youngjae’s body stiffen in his arms before it relaxed again, and the honey brown eyes lifted to meet his own. Daehyun’s breath caught in his throat, every fiber of his being trying to stop him from voicing his regret. “I-I’m… I’m sor-”

Youngjae cut his words off with a quick peck of his lips, and a simple look shared between the two settled everything else. No words were needed; the implied words hung in the air as if they were just as necessary as oxygen.

With his signature smile, Youngjae disentangled himself from his lover’s embrace and offered a hand to pull him to his feet.

“I hope you’ve been paying attention in class because you’re my only hope of catching up so we can graduate together.”

“…I think it’d be easier if we just both flunk and graduate next year-”

Daehyun was interrupted with a light punch to the arm, pulling a happy laugh from his grinning lips. And then he set out to distract the younger from worrying about schoolwork, dragging him to the living room couch where they found themselves curled up together, watching one of Youngjae’s favorite cartoon movies.

Halfway through the animated film, Daehyun realized what he had forgotten. He nudged the younger gently, his soft voice interrupting the chatter from the television.

“Hey, Jae?”

“Hm?”

“Welcome back.”

---------

this is really late. I experienced the biggest writer's block while writing this but it's finally done (hope it's not too disappointing sobs). This really could have come out a whole lot better sighs. but thanks sincerely to all the subscribers and thank you so much for your patience. <3