“Hyung!” An overly-cheerful voice greeted Yoseob. He turned his head to the side and spotted Daniel standing up from his seat at the familiar rundown restaurant, waving his hand in Yoseob’s direction with a million-dollar grin on his face. “Hyung, over here!”

Yoseob walked towards him and bowed slightly, a gesture that conveyed formality and detachment. He did not like the idea of meeting Daniel, facing his past, but the younger had been contacting him constantly and telling Doojoon that he wanted to bond with Yoseob. 




“Yoseobah,” Yoseob was cuddling with Doojoon on the fluffy and comfortable sofa when the elder touched on the topic about his dongsaeng, “Daniel said he wanted to meet you. You know, talk, get closer, that kind of stuff,” Yoseob tensed as Doojoon continued to thread his fingers on Yoseob’s hair. 


Yoseob buried his face deeper into the crook of Doojoon’s neck, “Why would he want that? Are we officially official now?” Doojoon could feel the smile on his neck.


Doojoon chuckled, “He wanted to, what is the word,” Doojoon tightened his arm on Yoseob’s waist and pulled him closer, “bond. Yeah, he wanted to bond with you.”


Yoseob went still, he did not like this conversation and in his effort to change the topic, he pulled his face away from Doojoon’s neck and mischievously stared into the elder’s eyes. 


“Doojoonah,” he ravished the elder’s lips, crushing them with his, “let’s bond.” 


Their kisses were passionate and lusty that night. Yet Doojoon could very much sense the desperation in Yoseob’s actions, the way he Doojoon’s neck, tugged on Doojoon’s boxers, clutched Doojoon’s hair, grabbed Doojoon’s muscular upper arms, and Doojoon did not like any of this.


Doojoon pulled Yoseob away by the shoulders, the younger’s lips wet and swollen, eyes distracted, his breathing ragged, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” 


Yoseob nodded and leaned forward to continue his kisses but Doojoon tightened his hold on Yoseob’s shoulders, stopping him from moving forward. He eyed the younger, searching for any indication of what could happen, but he found nothing. 


“Seobie, let’s just sleep.” Doojoon hugged him and put Yoseob’s head on his broad shoulder. He scooped the smaller boy in his arms and made his way to the bedroom. Yoseob’s legs instinctively wrapped around Doojoon’s waist as he was carried off, resting his cheek on Doojoon’s shoulder, biting his thumbnail. 


Even after Doojoon had long visited dream land, Yoseob lay silently in Doojoon’s arms, eyes wide open, staring into the darkness of the bedroom.




And this was how Yoseob was with Daniel now. “Hyung! I am really excited that you can make it!” Daniel approached him and gave him a suffocating hug. Yoseob patted the younger’s back awkwardly and struggled to free himself. Daniel took Yoseob’s hand in his, led him to the table, pulled out a chair for him and pushed it in as the elder sat down, before going back to his seat across Yoseob.


The grin remained, as well as the eye smiles. Daniel linked his fingers on the table and continued staring and smiling at Yoseob for what seemed like eternity. It made Yoseob awfully uncomfortable.


“What?” Yoseob’s hand went up to touch his face, “Do I have something on my face?”


Daniel shook his head, “No, I just – this feeling – too happy that I can meet you again.” His grin softened into a heartfelt smile, “I missed you, hyung. I really, really do.” 


Yoseob let out a long sigh, “Daniel, listen. People change, we changed. It was all in the past, I moved on, and you – “


“Hyung, do you remember this place?” Daniel completely ignored Yoseob’s words, looking around the dilapidated place, “We used to eat so much of the chicken feet here when we ran away together, because that was all that we could afford.” Yoseob winced at the memory of his foolish actions but said nothing. Daniel continued, “I met the fat ahjumma before she left. She remembered me and was asking about you, ‘the cute blond one’ she said, and I told her that you were fi –“


“Listen. I told you to listen. Daniel, listen to me. What we did in the past was wrong, defying your parents, running away together, living practically on the street while scouring for money and food –“


“No, hyung. They were the happiest moments of my life, my most precious memories,” his soft smile faded when Yoseob’s gaze turned serious, the elder’s hand holding both of Daniel’s. “Do not forget me, hyung, never forget us.”


Yoseob placed a hand on Daniel’s cheek, “This is the happiest moment of our lives. Exactly right now. You, being successful and independent, and me being with Doojoon. You abandoned me, Daniel. Before you met me at the party, you have never tried to find me.”


Daniel’s expression turned stiff, Yoseob could feel the younger’s jaw hardened under his palm, “After your parents found us and took you away, you never tried to search for me. I heard nothing of you ever since and I have moved on, so should you.”


“Hyung, see,” Daniel showed off his ring, “I still have our ring, hyung. I’m always wearing our ring, I never forget, I can never move on without you. I told you to wait –“


“I DID WAIT!” Daniel was surprised by the loud voice coming from Yoseob, his eyes widened from the sudden outburst, Yoseb removed his hand from Daniel’s face, “I did wait. I waited for years,” Yoseob’s voice was a mere whisper now, “but you didn’t come for me. Junhyung was the one who did. Since we were in the orphanage, he always took care of me and after you left, he took me in.” 


Yoseob flashed Daniel a soft smile, his first smile since he met the younger, “You are always special for me, you know that. Please go with that impression in my heart. Stop all this, we are hurting people around us.” Yoseob took Daniel’s right hand, slipped the ring off of his finger, and placed it on the younger’s open palm. “I am not worthy of your affection. Move on, Daniel. We can always be best friends.” Yoseob beamed at Daniel, a sincere smile on his lips while the afternoon sun shone through the depth of his eyes.




Yoseob was alone in his bedroom, evaluating the contents of the black box. He held a shiny object in one hand while a picture was gripped in his other hand. He contemplated throwing some of the things inside the box and letting go of his past. Maybe he could start anew, with Doojoon. 


“Yoseobah, did you buy the chicken feet on the kitchen counter?” Doojoon’s sudden appearance in the doorway made Yoseob jumped up in surprise, hastily putting the objects back in the black box, “Ah – yea – yeah, yeah.” Doojoon raised his eyebrows, curious, but did not pursue further, “Oh, okay. Anyway, Junhyung packed us chicken feet from the restaurant. I’ll take them out for you.”


Yoseob smiled and nodded to Doojoon. While the elder turned around and made his way to the kitchen, Yoseob quickly kept the black box back, but little did he notice that the drawer was slightly ajar, exposing the black box to the world. To Doojoon.