Hongbin wiped the sweat from his forehead as he finished turning the large metal bolt.  He crawled out from under his giant metal contraption and smiled.  He’d been working on this thing for the past two years, and now it was finally complete; the world’s first time machine… now it was time to see if it actually worked.

He took his golden pocket watch from his desk and smiled at the picture inside.

“I miss you Sanghyuk, I really wish you were here to see our baby,” Hongbin whispered, kissing the photo.  Years ago, he and his boyfriend drew up the blueprints for a time machine.  At first, it was just a dream, a joke even… but at some point their lives begun to revolve around this seemingly impossible invention.

Six months earlier

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this hyung!  It’s so exciting!  A few more months of work and we should finally be done!”  Sanghyuk said with a cheeky smile as he and Hongbin moved the huge sheet of metal into place.

“I know!  If we can pull this off, we’ll change the world,”

There was a strange hum coming from the inside of the cone shaped machine.

“I think that came from the power core.  Let me take a look,” Sanghyuk skipped off into the machine and Hongbin followed close behind.  He watched as Sanghyuk carefully removed the protective plate and revealed the fusion reactor core.

“Hyuk, be careful.  That’s really…”  Hongbin’s sentence was cut off as a burst of energy shot from the core, knocking Sanghyuk to the ground.  Blood dripped from his nose as his eyes fluttered closed.

“Hyuk! Sanghyuk answer me!? Baby please, don’t leave me like this!” Hongbin screamed.  He quickly dialed 911 and it wasn’t long before he was sitting in the waiting area of the emergency room.  The doctor, his high school friend Taekwoon, approached him with a grim look.

“Hongbin… I have some bad news,”

“Please, don’t say what I think you’re going to say,” Hongbin fought back his tears.

“He is alive, but I’m afraid the radiation did some serious damage.  He’s basically a vegetable now… I’m sorry Hongbin,”

“Taekwoon… you have to be lying to me… It can’t be… PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE LYING!” Hongbin screamed, startling everyone else in the room.

“I would never lie to you Hongbin.  I am really sorry, I know how much you loved him,”

“Will you stop talking like he’s gone!? He’s still here okay?”

“I apologize.  You can see him if you’d like,” Taekwoon said, leading Hongbin to the room where Sanghyuk was.  His heart sank when he saw Sanghyuk lying there, hooked up to various machines with a tube in his throat.

“Look at you Hyukkie; even like this, you’re still beautiful,” Hongbin spoke through tears and trembling lips.

In the months that followed, Hongbin visited Sanghyuk every single day, while also working on the time machine.  He would fill him in on the progress of their shared invention and also tell him all about the other things happening in his life.  But one day, things took a morbid turn.

“Hi Hongbin, can I talk to you for a moment?” Taekwoon asked, pulling Hongbin aside before he could enter the room.

“What’s up?”

“It’s about Sanghyuk… you see… the hospital has had to dedicate all funding to preparations for a potential viral outbreak.  We had to contact Sanghyuk’s mother and ask her for permission… we had no choice but to pull the plug Hongbin, we simply couldn’t afford to keep him alive with no signs of recovery… I am so sorry,” Hongbin could tell that it took all of Taekwoon’s might not to cry, but that didn’t stop him from breaking down.

He backed into the wall and slid down into a crouched position, sobbing into his knees.  Sanghyuk was gone… the love of his life was no longer with him… it was the end.

After that he threw himself into his work, focusing entirely on finishing the time machine…

Present Day

As Hongbin stood by the red lever, he sighed heavily.  This was possibly the most bittersweet moment of his life.  He pulled the lever and smiled as the machine fired up.  He set the timer back six months; he was finally ready to undo the past and see Sanghyuk again.

He stepped inside and felt the immense surge of energy and then… nothing… the world around him went completely black, before turning completely white.

“Did it work?” he asked himself as he looked around the white wasteland.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” asked a familiar voice.  He turned around and his jaw practically hit the floor when he saw Sanghyuk standing there, looking more flawless than ever.

“Oh my god Hyukkie! I’ve missed you so much!” Hongbin hugged him so tight that it felt like he was about to pop.

“I’ve missed you too hyung!  It gets so lonely here,”

“Where is ‘here’ exactly?”

“Honestly, I have no idea.  I think we’re outside of time itself, I’ve been here since the moment the radiation blasted me… I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s so much to show you!”

“This is a lot to take in… so we’re basically dead?” Hongbin wondered

“To everyone else we are… but to each other, we’re together for eternity,” Sanghyuk replied with a smile; the smile that Hongbin had been dying to see for what felt like forever.

“Honestly, this is all I could have asked for.  Life without you simply wasn’t worth living.  I love you Sanghyuk,”

“I love you too Hongbin.  Now let’s go, there’s an entire universe that you have to see,”

“What do you mean?”

Sanghyuk didn’t say anything, he just took Hongbin by the hand and pulled him upward.  They took off into what seemed like the sky until they came to a pulsing, purple light.  Hongbin covered his eyes, and when he opened them, he was completely and totally awestruck.

He was floating in space, holding Sanghyuk’s hand, staring at beautiful galaxies and nebulas.  There were so many colors that most people couldn’t even imagine. 

“How is this even possible?” he asked.  Sanghyuk shrugged.

“I have no idea.  Let’s not question it.  We’ve been gifted with a unique opportunity that no one will ever have,”

“You’re right, let’s see everything that’s out there,” Hongbin said, pulling Sanghyuk in for a passionate kiss.  The two of them drifted off into the vast expansiveness of the universe, hand in hand.

Finally they were together, inseparable in a place where they could remain in each other’s company, for all eternity…