A soft knock on the suite door.



Hyunseung carefully followed Hara’s instruction on the message to not press the bell but instead to knock softly on the door. He chewed on his lower lip nervously, waiting for the slightest response from inside. When he lifted his right fist to execute another knock, the door opened slightly, slowly, softly, revealing a small face with wide bright smile and the long wavy brown hair that falls to the side of Hara’s face when she peeked through the crack.



“Hi, Hyunseungah.”



Hyunseung forced a small smile, “Hi, Hara-shi,” trying to hide his curiosity over Hara’s existence inside the room. His face was stiff, his expression was hard, but he smiled nonetheless. He stepped back a little when Hara slid out of the small crack of the door and stood in front of him in the hotel’s hallway. She gently closed the door behind her and looked up at Hyunseung, facing each other in the empty hallway. 



“Okay, first of all, do not misunderstand. Nothing happened,” Hara stared intensely at Hyunseung, trying to emphasize the importance of her words, “although it’d be nice if something does happen and I won’t mind at all.” She grinned at him and Hyunseung raised his eyebrows at her. Hara’s grin faded a little as she cleared , obviously her little joke did not help to appease the awkward situation. 



Hyunseung chortled a little when Hara fidgeted uncomfortably in front of him, “Yeah, no one ever minds, they’d actually pay to get ed by him, so yeah.” Hara looked back up at Hyunseung and saw a tiny smile, it was tiny, but it was sincere, she could see it in his eyes, and she smiled back at him.



“He keeps calling you,” Hara shifted her gaze to the carpeted floor and Hyunseung caught a slight sadness in her big bright eyes, “Hyunseung-ah… Hyunseung-ah...” 



“He keeps calling you even when he cried because of you. When he cried for you. It was your name that came out of his lips, it was your name that he remembered, it was you. It has always been you.” She finally looked up, eyes slightly watery, “You were the only thing he talked about in Paris, that Hyunseung liked chocolate but not the bitter one, that Hyunseung liked éclair but not the vanilla-filled one, that he would bring you to my shop café because Hyunseung loved trees and flowers, that you would like me because Hyunseung liked cute little things.” 



Hara smiled and took Hyunseung’s hands in hers, “Hyunseungah, talk to him. He really loves you,” she handed him the card key and placed it on his palm. “He is sleeping right now; he was a ing drunk mess. Let him sleep for a while and have a talk with him,” she prodded her head forward to get a confirmation.



“Yeah,” Hyunseung nodded slightly.



“Promise me.”



“Yeah,” Hyunseung stared while she smiled satisfactorily. She let go of Hyunseung’s hands and tiptoed to hug him tightly. “Good, and please get him to shower, he stinks.” Hyunseung let out a chuckle and hugged her tightly back before letting her go.



“Thank you, Hara-shi.” She was walking to the elevator when she turned back for a cute little “Fighting” to Hyunseung. 



When she was completely out of sight, Hyunseung stood in front of the door, card key in his right palm, wondering if he was ready for this. He took a few deep breathes to calm himself down, to gather his wits, to summon his courage, to make the trembling go away from his hands. He inserted the key and when the light turned green, he opened the door and tiptoed inside the suite, one step at a time, to reach the bedroom door.



He opened the bedroom door quietly and saw Junhyung curled up messily on the bed. His clothes were wrinkled, blanket was haphazardly tangled around his legs, pillows were thrown on the floor, suitcases unpacked and chucked to one corner of the bedroom. 



Hyunseung slowly approached the bed and he heard soft, almost-tranquil whimpers.



“Hyunseungah…”



“Hyunseungah…”



His forehead was scrunched up into a deep frown; his breathing was heavy and tired. Guilt washed over Hyunseung as he knelt down beside the bed so that he was eye level with Junhyung and he held out his trembling hand to caress the younger man’s cheek slowly, thumbing the younger man’s swollen eyes, the younger man’s hair. He smiled sadly and held Junhyung’s hand, resting his head at the edge of the bed, slowly drifting into dreamland.








Junhyung woke up to bright lights flooding the room, he closed his eyes tighter before slowly opening them up, slowly, ever so slowly, he tried to sit but his head screamed for him to stop when the pain drowned his brain and all he could do was groan, loud and angry, and closed his eyes back. ing hangover. 



“Shush, Junhyungah, don’t move, it’s okay,” Hyunseung’s gentle voice filled his ears as he felt a comforting palm on his chest, pushing him back to lie down on the bed, while another hand tightened its hold on Junhyung’s. 



Junhyung forced his eyes open, he wanted to see, he wanted to confirm with his own eyes, he wanted to know that this was not just a dream, an imagination that corroborated his insanity. He wanted to see Hyunseung, not just as a voice, wanted the warmth on his hand and his chest to be real, so he forced his eyes open. 



And he saw him, he saw Hyunseung’s face, saw his guilt-ridden face, saw his sad smile, saw his orange hair glowed from the bright light behind him, saw the dimmed sparkle in his eyes – it was enough for Junhyung to just see Hyunseung, it was more than enough.



“Hyunseung-ah…”



A hand traveled up from Junhyung’s chest to his hair, slowly , “Shhh, I am here. Yong Junhyung, Jang Hyunseung is here with you.” He smiled warmly and drew his face nearer to Junhyung’s, “I am sorry,” eyes searching for forgiveness, “Junnie, I really am sorry.” 



“What for?” Junhyung croaked, his voice hoarse and scratchy. ing hangover. 



Hyunseung did not find forgiveness in Junhyung’s eyes, “For everything. Everything. I am sorry.”



Hyunseung had not found forgiveness in Junhyung’s eyes, just because Junhyung did not think Hyunseung was guilty, did not think that whatever Hyunseung did was a mistake, it was never a mistake, and there was nothing to forgive. Instead Hyunseung found affection, he found longing, he found yearning, and Hyunseung bent down to cover Junhyung’s lips with his own.








“Yah, Jang Hyunseung, you are supposed to wash my hair not pulling my hair off,” Junhyung wiggled his head to get free from Hyunseung’s grip.



“What are you – yah, stay still – stay – “ Hyunseung tightened his grip on Junhyung’s hair, earning him an exaggerated pained scream, “ – stay still.” 



Junhyung chuckled and obeyed, staying still while Hyunseung massaged the shampoo on his scalp. He sat on the bathtub, warm water submerging his lower body, while Hyunseung sat at the elevated end of the bathtub, water submerging his calves, gently massaging Junhyung’s scalp, thoroughly washing his hair. 



“Hyunseungah, do you want me to woo you?” Junhyung kept his eyes closed, kept his voice steady. The hands on his head stopped moving. 



Hyunseung stopped, “Do you want me to be wooed…”



Junhyung’s eyes were still closed but his voice started to waver, “Do you want me to buy you flowers? You know, like get you out on dates and stuff,” he shifted a little, “I don’t know, see movies, weekend getaways, romantic dinners, you know those stuff. Tell me what you need Hyunseungah, tell me what you want.” 



The silence was heavy and deafening, it was enveloping them like a thick fog, choking them little by little.



And Hyunseung answered in a small voice, “I need you to love me,” his voice was small but it was certain, it was confident, “I want you to love me.”



“Yong Junhyung, say that you love me.”



Junhyung opened his eyes and turned around slowly, looking up to see Hyunseung’s slightly trembling lips, slightly wet eyes, slightly flushed cheeks. He took the older man’s hand and put it against his chest, where his heart was, “Can’t you feel that my heart beats only for you? That it goes faster only for you? That it hurts only because of you? That it is always yours?”



“Yong Junhyung, say that you love me.”



Junhyung cupped a cheek as he stared into the depth of Hyunseung’s black orbs, “Jang Hyunseung,” Hyunseung rested his cheek on Junhyung’s palm, “the love of my life, I love you, only you, always. Forever, for the rest of our lives.” 



Hyunseung stared, a small smile on his lips, and it grew wider into a grin, and it grew wider into a full toothy grin, and he started to chuckle, started to laugh, started to laugh heartily, started to double over while grabbing his stomach. And Junhyung frowned in confusion. 



“Yah, I just told you my deepest inner feeling and said I love you and this – “



“That was so cheesy. Oh my God, Junnie, that was so cheesy. I almost gagged,” Hyunseung could not contain his amusement as he continued laughing out loud, pointing at Junhyung occasionally to let the younger man know how ridiculous he really was.



“What the – fine, be that way. Fine, make fun of me. Why do you think I said that? It was because of your sorrowful face, sorrowful face my , you just wanted to make fun of me. It was the most – “



Hyunseung slid down to the bathtub and kissed Junhyung full on the lips, throwing both of his hands behind the younger’s neck and wrapped his legs around Junhyung’s waist, “I love you. Yong Junhyung, I love you.” 



The kiss was slow, it was gentle, it was heartfelt, it was loving, it was Yong Junhyung kissing Jang Hyunseung, it was Jang Hyunseung kissing Yong Junhyung. When Junhyung started kissing Hyunseung’s neck, on it, marking him, removing his clothes, Hyunseung closed his eyes and moaned Junhyung’s name. 



They did not , they did not have , they made love. It was gentle and slow, it was fiery and passionate, it was different but it was the same. 



Because it was with Yong Junhyung. 



Because it was with Jang Hyunseung. 



When Junhyung pushed into Hyunseung over and over again, the sensation was too intense, too perfect, too beautiful, too wonderful. Junhyung gripped Hyunseung’s hips, rocking into him, steadying his pace with the rhythm, and all the while whispering how much the younger loved him, cherished him, how he would protect him and spend the rest of his life with him. 



Hyunseung held tightly to Junhyung, clawing his back, biting his shoulder to muffle the moans, the whimpers, on his neck, grabbing his hair, and all the while listening to Junhyung’s affectionate whispers.
The hotel suite was empty, it was silent, except for the sounds of splashing water, moans and whimpers, sounds of I love you’s, and screams of satisfaction when both of them came. They were both panting, trying to catch their breath and ride out their s, clinging tightly onto one another, afraid to let go.



Junhyung was the one who spoke first, “So, what happens to Kwon Jiyong?”



Hyunseung pulled away and raised his eyebrow, “The same thing that happens to Goo Hara, I guess.”



Junhyung laughed, “Okay. Right. Yeah.”



Hyunseung grinned and crushed his lips one more time to Junhyung’s.



From this day onwards, Junhyung would finally be able to remember that they loved.