The boy hugging Taekwoon nodded, his grip becoming stronger and tears began to flow even harder from his eyes.

Taekwoon was shocked. His searching had been for nothing. Here was his little brother, in his arms. “I missed you,” Taekwoon whispered to the boy, rubbing his head and trying to calm him down a bit.

“I missed you too,” Hyuk sniffled. “I’ve been trying to find you. I managed to find your school but you haven’t been at school for the past two days,” he continued.

“That’s awkward,” Hakyeon mumbled on the side.

Hyuk looked up, finally remembering that there were other people in the room, “Why?”

“It’s a long story. I think we should give the two of them some time alone to catch up, can they use the backroom Wonshik?” Hakyeon asked.

“Yeah go for it. I’m confused with what’s going on but yeah it’s okay. I’ll show you the way,” He replied as he showed the two the way to the back.

The whole time they were moving, Hyuk didn’t let go of his older brother and Taekwoon protectively put his arm around his younger brother.

When they reached the back room the two sat down on the ground, both being unsure of where to start.

“Where were you for the past two days?” Hyuk asked curiously.

“Our parents messaged me that you had died. So I went to the hospital, but after finding out you were alive I tried to find out where you were. I never imagined you would look for me,” Taekwoon explained. It felt weird for him, talking after all of these years. Sure over the past few days he had practiced a few times, but never to this extent. It felt taxing after all the years of silence to have to talk a lot.

Hyuk looked horrified hearing what Taekwoon had to say, “Really? That’s horrible. They really didn’t want us to meet, huh? I really wanted to find you though and tell you I don’t blame you for the accident. I figured with your personality you might blame yourself and do something stupid.”

Taekwoon looked a bit sad hearing what his younger brother had to say, “I did. For 8 years. But I found friends who helped me realize I shouldn’t do that and they saved me.”

“Really? I’m so sorry. I should have woken up earlier. Though I’m so relieved. After I woke up I’ve been worried about you constantly, wondering how you were doing. I figured you would still be the same. It’s nice to know you finally made friends. It’s a bit sad, but me giving up 8 years of my life was worth it if you can finally find happiness,” Hyuk said.

Taekwoon lightly hit his brother before pulling him in for a hug. “Don’t say that. You missed so much. I want you to be happy now,” he whispered as he patted his brother on the head.

“I am. Don’t worry. I have Hongbin now and the two of us are happy. I was thinking of studying for a year and then trying to get into university. I will have a totally happy future. The only thing bothering me was not knowing about you. If you’re the older brother you shouldn’t make the younger one worry about you so much,” Hyuk said jokingly as he hugged his brother back.

“Sorry,” was all Taekwoon managed to whisper to the boy.

“It’s fine. Let’s go back. I’m sure they’re worried about us,” Hyuk said.

Taekwoon nodded and stood up. The two returned to the main room silently and looked over the 4 people standing there. They all had looks of worry glued on their faces, obviously unsure of how things went in the back room.

Jaehwan was the first to notice the two when they returned and immediately went over to Taekwoon. “Sit down, it must be hard on you. I’ll get you some water. I’m sure you talked a lot, is your throat okay?” he asked as he directed Taekwoon to an empty seat and brought him a glass of water

Hyuk looked confused, “Is something wrong with you?”

Jaehwan looked surprised, it seemed that Taekwoon hadn’t explained that part of the story. “Is it okay if I tell him?” Taekwoon just nodded in response as he began to drink the water.

“Taekwoon hasn’t spoken in 8 years. He started to speak again a couple days ago, but he still isn’t too used to it. I’m sure he pushed himself to talk to you since you didn’t know about this and he didn’t want to worry you,” Jaehwan explained.

“Why would he do something stupid like that?” Hyuk asked, confused about what his brother could have possibly been thinking.

“It was his own form of personal punishment for what happened to you. He figured him calling out to you that day caused everything so to prevent himself from harming someone else in the same way and to try and gain your forgiveness he sealed away his voice. Is that about right?” Jaehwan explained, seeking agreement from the older man near the end.

Taekwoon nodded. It was surprising how well Jaehwan understood him despite their short time dating. Well to be fair it had been a whirlwind of a few days, but now they were closer than ever. Despite the struggle he was glad that he had Jaehwan there to help him through it. Now he couldn’t imagine his life without Jaehwan in it.

“That’s so stupid. I never blamed you for anything. It was my own mistake. Don’t do stupid things to yourself anymore, okay?” Hyuk said as he playfully hit his brother on the head.

Taekwoon just nodded, showing he understood. “I think he’ll stop now. He knows that his one and only brother is safe and he now has people around him who generally care for him. There’s no reason for him to do stupid things anymore,” Jaehwan said as he hugged his boyfriend from behind.

Hyuk laughed and went over to Hongbin, hugging him as well, “We can be lovey dovey too you see.” Hongbin laughed at his lover.

“You know you never introduced me properly to your brother right?” he said to Hyuk.

“Oh right! This is my brother Jung Taekwoon,” Hyuk said as he pointed at his brother, then he turned and pointed at Hongbin, “This is my boyfriend Lee Hongbin. I’m currently living at his house since I don’t want to go to our parent’s house.”

Taekwoon nodded before he spoke once more, “That’s good but we should go at least greet our parents. I’m sure they’re worried about you.”

Hearing Taekwoon speak surprised the three people in the room who weren’t used to it. Despite having heard his voice a few times before hearing it say complete sentences was too much for Jaehwan and he hugged his boyfriend tighter, loving his boyfriend’s “angel voice”. Hakyeon on the other hand was smiling brightly after hearing his friend’s voice clearly for the first time in a few years and grabbed onto Wonshik, who was just shocked that the guy could actually really speak.

“I agree. You should go back and live with them too. Unless you can convince them to actually let you stay with me,” Hongbin said. He had felt bad about hiding the boy for the past while and figured now was a good time to return him.

“It’s a good idea, but if you’re going to see your parents Taekwoon, I want to go with you. I don't trust them after what they’ve done to you,” Jaehwan said.

“Me too. I don’t know what they’ve done, but I want to be there for Hyuk,” Hongbin agreed.

Hyuk sighed, “Okay. Let’s go back tomorrow, but I don’t want to live with them anymore. I will just go and let them know I’m okay and not coming back.”

Taekwoon nodded, happy with the turn of events.

Hakyeon silently clung to Wonshik, feeling left out of this turn of events, “It would be weird if I went along, right?”

Wonshik nodded and patted his sulking boyfriend’s head, “Yes it would be. You’re not part of their family. Just let them have their moment, okay?”

The next day the four of them met up in front of Taekwoon and Hyuk’s parents’ house. It was a place full of both happy and sad memories for Taekwoon and definitely not a place he would have imagined himself returning to after 8 years apart. He sighed and went to ring the doorbell, knowing full well the reaction he would get.

Immediately the door swung open and there stood Taekwoon’s father, “What are you doing here? We told you, didn’t we? Hyuk died! You’re a murderer. We don’t want anything else to do with you. After you graduate move out from that apartment. We will no longer support you!”

Taekwoon just stood there, having expected this abuse when he came here. “Why are you killing off perfectly healthy people?” Hyuk asked from the background, drawing his father’s attention to behind Taekwoon where the other three were standing.

“What are you doing with this guy? He caused your accident. You’re not allowed to associate with him. We’re doing what’s best for you Hyuk! If you’re near him you’ll just be in danger again,” their father tried to explain, obviously taken back by this turn of events.

“The only ones who blame Taekwoon for my accident are you and mom. I’ve never thought that way. Until you accept that I refuse to stay in this home. When you can accept that I’ll return,” Hyuk said, trying his best to sound strong.

“Then don’t return. If you want to stay with such a dangerous person it’s your own choice. From this day forth the Jung family has no children. Neither of you bother returning to this house,” their father said before slamming the door behind him.

“You okay?” Jaehwan asked Taekwoon.

“I’m fine,” he managed to say in response, but he grabbed Jaehwan’s hand for support. Despite expecting this behaviour it hadn’t become easier to deal with.

“What about you Hyuk?” Hongbin asked as he linked arms with his boyfriend.

“I’m okay too. Just in disbelief about how stupid our father is. He’d rather lose both his sons than admit he was wrong,” Hyuk said. As he was talking though tears began to flow out. He had expected his parents to accept Taekwoon back again and them to be able to live as a happy family once again. This hadn’t been in any situations he had imagined.

Noticing the tears Hongbin pulled Hyuk closer and hugged him, with Taekwoon and Jaehwan joining in the hug as well. Taekwoon patted the youngest on the head and simply said, “At least we have each other.”

Hyuk nodded and did his best to dry his tears. There was nothing he could do at this point. Their parents would have to realize their mistake on their own.

With the encounter over the four of them turned and headed back home. None of them were quite satisfied with the end result, but the only thing they could do from now on was just keep moving forward.

THE END

[A/N] This feels really rushed to me for some reason. I’m sorry. Also with this the main story is finally completed. I’m posting an epilogue as well so it isn’t quite complete yet. Anyway thank you for reading the story, I’m thankful for everyone that did.