He didn’t know how long he had been alone in the dark and humid room, but it felt like days, weeks or even months. His stomach had stopped rumbling a long time ago, as it realized that it wasn’t going to be filled with food but only water. His limbs were adapted to his never ending sitting posture, his knees pulled up against his chest and his head resting on top of them. His muscles itched from the longing of doing something physical, they wanted to move, they wanted to sweat, and most of all; they wanted to feel alive again. But even when his body itched to get up and run away, his mind was closed and shut down, not ready to face the dark world outside of the bathroom just yet. It was simply too soon for him to get up.

A light sound suddenly seemed to appear from the hallway, but he didn’t care, hence thinking that his ears were trying to find a way to trick him to get up and check out what was happening, trick him to let his body feel alive again, trick him to run away and get help. His thoughts were cut off again as yet another sound reached his ears. It seemed like the sound of shoes being tossed against the wall in a seemingly tired manner followed by a light mumble. That was where he started to think that he was finally turning crazy from being alone in the dark room for too long, and he simply continued to ignore the continuing sounds from outside the room, not at all interested in if he in fact was turning crazy or if someone from the outside world had found him.

“What the happened here?!”, an all too well known voice suddenly outburst from outside the door, resulting in chills running down his spine.

He couldn’t believe his ears. Could it really be? No. It couldn’t. Jiho was on a “business trip”, as he liked to call it, and there was no chance of him ever coming back. Not after what he had done. Not after the things he had put the younger male through before he, understandably, had left the older man behind. A small tear escaped his eyes, soon followed by another and yet another. He couldn’t seem to make it stop because of the flashbacks than stormed through his mind once again. Never in his life had the cravings of seeing the younger male been this strong, and a hand grabbed the shirt just above his heart, the pain being too intense for him to handle. He missed him. Missed the man he had been trying so hard to forget throughout the days spent on the cold floor of the bathroom. A flood of tears were now streaming down his dirty cheeks, the usually tough guy breaking down just by the imaginations of his boyfriends hoarse voice flying through the air.

“Guk, where are you?!”, the voice shouted once again, this time with a hint of worry or even panic.

But he didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His mouth was dry and his lips seemed to be glued together, his cracked lips sending a shot of pain to his brain every time he tried to move them.

“Guk?! Please say something to me babe, please!!”, the shouts had turned into something like screams, screams filled with concern, sorrow and fear, indicating that dark and sorrowful thoughts was formed in the head of the one calling out for him.

Doors were slamming and footsteps was running around the apartment, forcing Yong Guk to press his palms against his ears, in a desperate attempt of making it all stop. The sounds of the voice he would recognize anywhere, the running footsteps against the concrete floor, the pants from lips that he remembered against his own. It was all haunting him, and he grew more and more desperate to just make it all go away. A desperate and cry-alike whimper escaped his lips as his palms pressed harder and harder against the sides of his head; feeling like his skull could give in to the pressure anytime possible. But no matter how much he tried to make the sounds disappear, the sound of footsteps only seemed to come closer and closer until the door suddenly got pulled open, and a loud groan left his lips when the light from the other room shone in his eyes, making it feel like burning and he instinctively covered his eyes with his arm.

 “Oh my God… Guk what the hell happened to you?!’’, Jiho whispered, his voice low and hoarse as a tear escaped his eyes at the sight of his lover curled up in the corner of the bathroom.

Yong Guk couldn’t believe his own eyes. He simply couldn’t. Jiho had returned. His lover had returned, even after what they had been through. He really had returned. Yong Guk was so scared and yet so happy at the same time. He tried to move his body to greet the other, but every muscle in his body seemed to be frozen, either by the fact that they hadn’t been moving for days or the fact that the man he thought was going to be gone forever suddenly stood in front of him. A thousand thoughts ran through his head all at once, but one thought was bigger than the others: He wasn’t going crazy!

He saw the younger kneel down in front of him and he felt the strong arms of the other wrap tightly around his body. Small whimpers left his lips as he was forced to move his stiff limbs, but he was willing to do a lot more to finally sit in the embrace of the man he loved once more. The tears escaped his eyes faster and faster, running down his cheeks while small sobs escaped his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried, but he knew that it had been years. Yong Guk’s arms squeezed around his lover’s body, his head snuggling into Jiho’s neck to once again smell the wonderful smell of the other. He felt one of Jiho’s hands rub his lower back while the other one was resting in his soft hair, giving it gentle and pets.

Right now Yong Guk didn’t care about anything but the return of the man he loved. The world could go to war, he wouldn’t move. Jiho was back and he had given Yong Guk another chance to show that he wasn’t going to repeat his mistakes. And even more important; he was sure that Jiho was going to help Yong Guk out of the trouble that was waiting outside the safe walls of the bathroom.

Word Count: 1130