"The red-haired one—"

"Hyojin," Minkyun interjects, worry clouding the black of his eyes, grey storm clouds rolling over them, coloring his perception of his friend of six years.

"Hyojin," Jaeyoung corrects himself, "he was arguing with…"

"Seungjun," Minkyun supplies, trying to keep his voice even.

"He was arguing with Seungjun while I was inside the pod."

"Yeah… they, um, disagree about what happened to you."

"And what happened to me?" Jaeyoung asks, far more calmly than Jaeyoung, his Jaeyoung, the Jaeyoung that was one-hundred percent himself, would have asked.

"You were dying—you were going to die—and I did it to save you," Minkyun explains, justifying his actions as much to Jaeyoung as he does to himself.

"Did what?"

"Replaced the damaged parts of your body with biotech."

Jaeyoung sits immobile beside him, this information having no apparent bearing on his psyche.

"They seemed to have affected your personality, though, and your memories… I'm sorry, Jaeyoung. I'm so sorry…" Minkyun chokes back tears.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not…"

Silence falls between them, Minkyuns legs dangling off the side of the abandoned building from where they're situated on the roof.

The air is cold, winter creeping into the periphery of autumn, edging it out and replacing it with cold nothingness. The absence of wildlife is almost eerie as Minkyun peers through the almost-barren trees, not a bird or squirrel in sight. He shifts uncomfortably as he steals a glance at Jaeyoung standing over him, statue still and expressionless.

"What do you—what are you feeling now?" Minkyun asks, breaking the silence at last.

Jaeyoung looks down at him, considering him for a moment.

"I'm supposed to destroy you. I'm supposed to destroy you all." The frostiness of Jaeyoung's voice sends a series of shivers down Minkyun's spine, fills his heart with so much dread, he starts to feel queasy.

"No, Jaeyoung," he implores him. "We're your friends." Minkyun's voice cracks on the word friends.

"We were friends?"

Minkyuns heart clenches painfully, but he shoves a wince down, not letting Jaeyoung see the chinks in his armor.

"Still are," he smiles, patting Jaeyoung on the shoulder, grounding himself as much as he hopes to ground Jaeyoung. He doesn't care how many times he has to tell him, he'll remind him every day if he has to. Jaeyoung was and is and always will be his best friend.

Perhaps he's merely projecting, but he can swear he sees a glimmer of the old Jaeyoung staring back at him, and he clings to it, never taking it for granted or letting it go. Ever.

---

Eeee thank you so much for thr angsty prompt heheheh. And sorry it took me SO LONG omg. Hopefully this is something like you had in mind fudndjcjff

The sun is shining brilliantly overhead, its heat radiating off the pavement under Changyun's shoes. He checks his watch: 8:18. Minkyun was supposed to meet him at 8; three buses have already arrived and departed. Changyun shuffles his feet, stretches his neck, and watches passersby, dashing to work or school, oblivious to the boy in his uniform he laundered himself, a hand-me-down, but still in decent condition. Changyun takes good care of his possessions, even the ones he inherited from his older brother.

Down the street, jogging in a way that sends his backpack flying haphazardly behind him, Minkyun emerges. He's waving an arm excitedly over his head, and even at a distance, Changyun can see his dimples flashing, the sunlight scattering through the branches of the trees lining the street in a way that accentuates them beautifully. When he reaches Changyun, he doubles over, hands on his knees, panting slightly.

"Sorry," he exhales, smiling sheepishly. "There were so many cats this morning, more than usual. I had to buy some more food to feed them all."

Changyun can't help but smile. He loves this about Minkyun, loves his ever-expanding heart, his devotion to stray and abandoned animals, even over his own needs.

"We'll be yelled at for sure," Changyun sighs.

"Ehh, not much they can do to us beyond that, though!"

Changyun eyes Minkyun's disheveled appearance; untucked shirt, wrinkled pants, and loose necktie. Even so, Minkyun is carelessly handsome. Changyun hangs his head, thinking of all the product he doused into his hair, how much fragrance he spritz over himself, how much time he spent ironing his shirt and pants, and he silently wishes beauty could come as easily to him as it does to Minkyun.

As if aware of the turbulent thoughts rolling through Changyun’s mind, Minkyun takes his hand and squeezes it, smiling down at him with enough warmth to rival the sun.

The bus arrives, bright green against the pale grey of the building across the street. Only one seat is open by the time they board, and Minkyun deftly plucks Changyun’s backpack off his shoulders and pushes him gently into it.

"What do you have in here?" Minkyun asks exasperatedly, weighing the bag in his hand.

"Books," he shrugs, "homework, like you have any idea what that is," Changyun laughs.

"I do it…sometimes!"

Minkyun is popular, wildly so. Student body president, friends with every group and every clique, and yet it is at Changyun's side where he chooses to be. Changyun doesn't even remember how they became friends—it's like Minkyun has always been there, as much a part of his life as school or family.

The bus deposits them at the school gates, and a teacher is waiting for them, ruler poised menacingly in his grip.

"You're late!" he shouts at them as they race toward him, banging the fence with his ruler. "Tuck I'm your shirt!"

Minkyun laughs as they pass him, half-heartedly tucking the very end of his shirt tails, certain to fall out in a few seconds at most. Their homeroom teacher isn't there when they arrive, and Minkyun takes his usual seat in the back row, Changyun right in front of him.

Lining up his notebooks and pens evenly across his desk, Changyun turns around to face Minkyun. "Did you study for the test today?"

Minkyun flies forward from where he had been leaning back in his chair. "What test!?"

Changyun sighs, pulling out his flashcards and passing them to him. "English," he says, "Words and phrases to do with ordering in restaurants."

"Oh, I've got that down no problem," Minkyun smirks before launching into random English. "Caramel macchiato, burger please, one, French fry large size." He looks proud of himself, and Changyun raises his eyebrows, half amused and half exasperated.

"You should look over these," he says, pressing the cards more resolutely into Minkyun's hand.

Minkyun glances down at them and smiles. "What would I do without you?"

Changyun can feel himself growing red, and he starts to stutter. Minkyun just laughs and kisses his own hand before lightly slapping Changyun on the cheek with it.

"Arcade after school? Or do you want to come over and play guitar?"

Changyun stares at him a moment and peers over at the other students eyeing Minkyun hopefully. Warmth fills him from the inside out as he replies, "Anything you want."

Twin dimples flash in excitement before their teacher slides the door open, and class begins.

---

Also thank you so much! Hopefully you enjoy this~~ I don't often write this brand of fic so it's am exciting challenge for me ㅋㅋ

"Let's not..." Hyojin's voice is soft, wafting languidly over to Seungjun like one of the clouds hanging low in the sky, almost close enough to touch.

"It won't go away if we don't talk about it, you know."

Hyojin leans over, eyeing a particularly smooth rock at his toes. He considers it a moment in his hand before straightening up. Seungjun is in the lead so far with five skips, and Hyojin is determined to beat him. But even more so, Hyojin is determined to not think about the future, to ignore the fact that he and Seungjun will be attending different schools this spring. Hyojin is shy, self-conscious, and prone to loneliness, he knows this. But Seungjun has always seen him through all the awkwardness, through his prickly exterior. Seungjun has always been a reprieve for him when things at home boil into something he can't stomach. Like the North Star in the sky is a source of solace for travelers and sailors, so too is Seungjun his cornerstone, the light to which he looks in even his darkest hours.

Hyojin drops the rock he is holding and under the guise of looking for a better one, hiding the tears springing to life behind his eyes. The ground is littered in oblong stones of white and grey, and they clatter with each movement, each footfall. The music they create harmonizes with the soft splashing of the water against the shore, with the cawing of birds overhead. Moments like this mean the most to Hyojin, moments when it's just the two of them, when nature sprawls around them in all her glory. He may often feign indifference, pretend like Seungjun's smile has no effect on him, but in truth, he worships these moments like the sky worships the sun, beyond grateful to have Seungjun in his life.

"Are you going to go, or can I just take another turn?" Seungjun asks, a smirk pulling at the side of his mouth. He's tossing a stone of his own up in the air before catching it in his palm, again and again. A metronome keeping time for nature's strain.

"I'm going!" Hyojin grumbles, choosing a rock at random and hobbling over to Seungjun's side at the water's edge, doing his best not to disturb too many of the stones sleeping beneath his feet. Curling his arm in, he releases his choice rock across the surface, and it skips once, twice, three times, four times, and then plunges down, out of sight. Hyojin's stomach sinks with it.

"Ha!" Seungjun cheers with glee. "I win!" He's being petulant, and Hyojin glowers at him, resisting the urge to hurl a stone at him.

Seungjun sobers up at the look on Hyojin's face, and silence falls between them.

"We'll still see each other over breaks," Seungjun says quietly, reaching for Hyojin's hand. For once, he lets him take it, and he can tell Seungjun is taken aback slightly, feeling his fingers tighten around his infinitesimally.

Hyojin bites his tongue. His secret presses against the inside of his lips, desperate for release. He's held onto it for so long, for years, ever since he first met Seungjun. What started as a small seed has grown into floral vines and woven itself between his ribs, blossomed clean through his heart, becoming just as much a part of him as his organs or bones. He doesn't know who he is without this secret, and he's terrified of it ever one day breaking free, of choking the life out of not only himself but Seungjun too.

"You can still come over any time," Seungjun ventures, eyes boring holes into the side of Hyojin's face. But Hyojin refuses to return his gaze, knowing how much harder it will be if he does.

What starts as a sprinkling, easily tolerated, erupts into a deluge within moments, uprooting the two boys and displacing them, sending them scrambling for cover. They find safe haven under a tree a ways down the bank, and they fall into each other, laughter breaking the tension inside them and bubbling to the surface. Once they start, they can't stop, infectious in its pleasantness. Seungjun is giggling into Hyojin's neck, gasping for air, hand coming to rest at Hyojin's waist. Finally, Hyojin meets his gaze, and bites back a gasp at what he sees reflected in the depths of Seungjun's eyes. Surely he is only projecting, surely the excitement from the sudden storm stirred some unknown emotion within Seungjun, drunk off the moment.

But then Seungjun leans closer, and although the gale itself brings with it no lightning, electricity is sparking from the corners of Seungjun's eyes, from the tips of his fingers, from the curve of his lips…

Their eyes pore unblinkingly at each other, and Hyojin has forgotten how to breathe. His lungs suddenly feel deflated and weak, the fragments of a popped balloon left on the pavement for others to tread on. He closes his eyes instinctively when Seungjun leans even closer, closing the gap between them. His hands snake tentatively around Hyojin as their mouths meet. Fireworks erupt inside Hyojin's brain, elation expands in his chest, and Hyojin feels like he's home.

When they pull apart it's in millimeters.

"Every day," Hyojin gasps.

"What?" Seungjun asks, clearly bewildered, eyes fluttering open.

"I want to come over every day."

Seungjun looks at him blankly for a moment before the brightest smile Hyojin has ever seen adorns his face, the sun itself gracing his features.

"Every day," Seungjun agrees, smiling into their next kiss, and the next and the next….