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Their last night together was in a motel, shabby and untidy, just a few hours by car outside of the city. The window of the room was facing a forest, San remembers it clearly, when Soobin went in front of it to open it and smoke a cigarette, still naked and sweaty after hours of endless love making.
“I think we should break up,” Soobin said to him.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, I feel like it isn’t working anymore.”
San had always liked Soobin’s lips. The way they moved against his mouth, the way they wrapped around the cigarettes he used to smoke in the first hours of the morning, the way he liked to have them all over his body. They were simply perfect, beautiful lips.
“I still love you, though” he said, he didn’t even know why. He just thought it was fair to let him know.
“I know,” Soobin smiled at him, tenderly, almost sadly, “but I don’t. Not anymore, I’m sorry. That’s why it wouldn’t be right for you.”
Five years, they had been together for five years, and everything ended just like that, with a cigarette smoked in front of a forest in the middle of nowhere and a lame apology. What was Soobin even apologizing for? It’s not like he had cheated on him, treated him badly, ignored him or broke his promises. No, he simply didn’t love him anymore and San hated the fact that he couldn’t even hate him because of it.

It was an inevitable fact. Love ends sometimes, it doesn’t have a reason to. And San just had to accept it. 

So in the end there was no tragedy, no cheating, no violent fighting. Just an “I’m sorry” and a broken heart.

He went home that day, he called Hongjoong, his best friend since elementary school, and cried on the phone for hours. He had never cried before for a boyfriend, but Soobin wasn’t like everyone else. He was a major part of San’s life. Five years, and now it was all over. No more coming back home from work and being greeted by a warm hug, no more outings in the middle of the night just to eat fried chicken, no more love, no more laughs, no more Soobin. It sucked so bad.

What sucked even more was that barely a week later, San was fired from his job. That was a pity, he really enjoyed his work at the radio station.

“We have been cutting supplies lately,” Stephanie, his boss, told him. “I’m sorry San, but you’re the new guy here, so you’re kind of disposable.”

Disposable. So maybe Soobin thought he was disposable too, that’s why he left him. Maybe that was the reason why he was being dumped by everyone. He didn’t do anything wrong, it was just that… it was just that he was useless.

That night he went home again, called Hongjoong and cried until he fell asleep.

“You need a vacation.”

San knows his friends are well-intentioned, but he wishes they wouldn’t try as hard. Sure, maybe he’s been spending the last few weeks locked in his apartment, eating nothing but junk food and getting barely any sleep, but he’s not doing that bad. But Wooyoung, as always, tends to be a little too dramatic about any situation.

“What vacation? I don’t have a job anymore, remember?” he replies, slumping on his couch. “I can’t take a vacation if I’m not doing anything.”

Wooyoung glances at Hongjoong, that’s standing next to him, asking for some support.

“See, Hongjoong,” he whispers exasperated, “he won’t listen to me!”

Hongjoong, on the contrary, always tends to be more gentle with his words, and definitely acts as the voice of reason between them three.

“Sanie, we are just trying to help you,” Hongjoong sighs, sitting next to San. “I agree with Wooyoung, I think a nice trip will be good for you. You don’t look too lively lately.”

“I’m doing fine,” San shrugs. He looks at Hongjoong, who doesn’t seem too convinced. “Really.”

“The food in your refrigerator doesn’t think so.” Wooyoung says, as soon as he looks inside it. “Eggs expired two months ago, also all of the fruits are rotten.”

San can’t help but groan, though he doesn’t have the strength to stand up.

“Ugh, why do you always have to look into my stuff?”

“Because I’m your friend and I care about you!” 

Wooyoung finally closes the fridge and joins them on the couch, sitting on the other side of San. He looks at them both. If Soobin was here right now then their friends group would be complete. Yet, after he broke up with San he decided to fully disappear from their life, and hasn’t contacted Wooyoung or Hongjoong ever since. They were angry too at first, but got over it pretty quickly. San, however, is far from being over it.

“Listen guys, what happened between me and Soobin-”

“Soobin broke up with you seven months ago,” Hongjoong says calmly, interrupting him right away. “I know it’s hard for you, you were together for a long time, and I know it will take a while before you completely get over him. But we’re not dumb, Sannie, we know you’re not doing fine.”

Wooyoung agrees with him. “You and Soobin were my prime source of inspiration, but I have to admit he was an asshole to you. The faster you get over him, the better.”

San fights the urge to groan again.

Wooyoung is a manhwa artist, drawing loads of BL series one after the other - despite he himself being as straight as a stick - that become bestsellers as soon as they get published, and has been getting quite a lot of following. He entered their very tiny, very exclusive circle of friends after Hongjoong became his assistant three years ago and has been hanging out with them ever since. He was still rather unknown when they met him, and he was already slightly obnoxious, but now that he’s famous he’s become almost completely unbearable. “Almost” because San admits that the guy is incredibly fun to have around – and his BLs are… surprisingly really good – but he won’t probably ever admit it to his face.

San looks at Hongjoong for a second, who is staring at him expectantly. It doesn’t take long for him to give up. They may be annoying - Wooyoung especially - but San knows very well that his friends are only trying to help him. There isn’t much he can do in these cases.

“What do you have in mind?” he sighs. As soon as he says that, Hongjoong cheers in joy.

“What about a road trip? We can go whenever we want and maybe stop a few days at the beach!”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes!” Wooyoung shouts over him. “Come on, it’s getting so hot, and I haven’t been to the sea in ages.”

“It’s a yes then! San, we’re leaving in two days, prepare your bags.”

San is about to protest, something on the line of “I didn’t say yes,” but a tiny voice inside him tells him to stay silent. He doesn’t know why, maybe it’s the fact that he’s dying too in the warm weather and he feels the need to go to the sea. So in the end he agrees. 

He doesn’t know if this was the worst decision of his life (it probably is) but now it’s done. He’s going on a road trip with Hongjoong and Wooyoung.

Wooyoung stands up from the couch, giving a long look to Hongjoong.

“Well, Hongjoong looks like you’ll have to inform your boss first!” 

“You are my boss.”

“Right? Fine, I’ll give you a couple of days of holiday.”

San groans for the umpteenth time. “Why are we even friends?”

Just a couple of days later San is under the excruciating hot sun of December, putting his bag inside the car’s trunk. Hongjoong and Wooyoung are overly excited, while San is still not 100% convinced this was the right choice. He takes a deep breath, says goodbye to his apartment, even if it’s just for a few days.

The road trip’s start is agonizing, especially because Wooyoung’s taste in music is irrecoverably awful, consisting solely in girl groups from the first 2000s or musicians who died tragically in the 50s, nothing in between. But San and Hongjoong have been prohibited to say anything about it, because this is Wooyoung’s car and he’s the designated driver, therefore he should be the one in charge of the music.  

It’s only after an hour of a Buddy Holly greatest hits compilation, that Hongjoong gives up. Sitting on the passenger seat beside Wooyoung, he takes a quick pause from his smartphone and lowers the radio volume till it’s barely a background noise.

“What kind of lame music is this?” he snorts, while Wooyoung glares at him.

“Hey, don’t insult Buddy Holly!” Wooyoung protests, raising the volume back. “This is music from my childhood!”

“This song came out in 1957!” Hongjoong shouts. He probably looked it up on his phone at that exact moment. “And you were born in what? 1999?”

“It doesn’t matter, this song holds too many memories!” Wooyoung continues, having to shout because the music is too loud. “I used to listen to Peggy Sue a lot when I studied abroad in California. Guys, did I ever tell you about my American girlfriend Sue?”

San and Hongjoong groan at the same time. Maybe they just do it out of habit now.

“Yes you did. Way too many times…” San says, even though he knows it’s useless.

“Ah, we used to have sex in secret in her bedroom and had to put the music on because her parents were always home. They were those kind of ultra-catholic annoying parents that want their daughter to stay a virgin until marriage, you know? They thought I was her tutor, even though my grades were worse than hers.”

The trip goes out smoothly after the first thirty minutes, Wooyoung eventually gets tired of talking and when Hongjoong falls asleep they agree to stop the music. 

After a few minutes Wooyoung announces that he has an urgent bathroom need, so they decide to stop for a few minutes at a service station. While Wooyoung is in the bathroom and Hongjoong is busy buying some snacks, San wanders around bored, waiting for his friend to finish. He sees there are a few newspapers in front of the cash register. So, while Hongjoong is paying, he takes one and flips through it.

The funniest thing about newspapers is that nobody reads them anymore, and yet, there are still people that make public announcements with hilarious titles and descriptions. He finds one that says “I am looking for a wife that doesn’t want me for my money” and he snickers a little. 

He’s read a couple, when a certain one at the end of the page catches his attention.

LOOKING FOR: CHOI SAN 

Important! I am looking for a tall man between the ages of 23-30 with large shoulders and nice eyebrows. MUST be named Choi San. Find me at this address: xxxx, xxx, Surfer’s Paradise, Gold Coast, QLD.

No time wasters.

-Puppy Prince

San looks at it for a second. He reads it again and again, just to make sure that he’s not imagining it.

Yep, that’s his name. And that’s his exact description. He’s being summoned through a public announcement. What the hell is going on here?

“Joong…”

“Mh?”

While Hongjoong is putting away his wallet, Wooyoung reemerges from the bathroom with a way too loud: “I’m back! Did you fuckers miss me?”.

“I think… I think someone is looking for me.”

San is still dumbfounded. Maybe he’s crazy and he’s seeing things. Maybe Wooyoung’s atrocious taste in music has officially made him go insane. 

Wooyoung comes closer and takes the newspaper from his hand and holds it for him and Hongjoong to see.

“Oh my god, this is super weird!” he instantly shouts. “San, you might have a stalker!”

“Stop being dramatic. Who would want to stalk me? I literally have zero human interaction beside you two.”

“Plus, why would a stalker put a public announcement in a newspaper?” Hongjoong comments, still looking at the page. “That’s not very smart stalkerish behavior.”

San thanks the gods that at least Hongjoong has a little bit of brain left. It’s also Hongjoong that takes out his beloved smartphone and takes a picture of it.

“Hey!” the cashier scolds them when he catches him doing it. “If you want to read it you have to buy it!”. 

“Sorry!”

Wooyoung is quick to put the newspaper back into its place. He grabs all of the snacks on the counter and runs outside like he’s some kind of thief. Hongjoong takes San’s hand, since he’s still too shocked to walk, and guides him outside.

After they reached the car they immediately rushed inside, all three of them sweaty and out of breath after the run.

“Okay, there’s no way we’re going there, right?” Hongjoong asks, after they closed the doors and turned on the AC. 

He looks at them nervously, but Wooyoung and San remain silent.

“Right?!”

“I mean, that announcement was weird, yeah.” Wooyoung is the first one to speak. “But we already planned a trip so I doubt that Sanie wants to go there…”

“Let’s go there.”

San says it without thinking. He doesn’t know why, but there’s actually very few people that know his name, or who he is, one of which is definitely Soobin. After all, no one knows him better than him, not even Hongjoong.

Now, he’s aware that it is probably a foolish, pathetic dream to hope that his ex-boyfriend is the sole mastermind behind all of this, but really who else could it be? Hongjoong and Wooyoung probably understand what it’s going on inside his head right now, because even after all of these months, Soobin is constantly on San’s mind.

“San, no!” Hongjoong warns him. “We’re not going to Gold Coast. This is probably some random person playing a dumb joke on you.”

San mindlessly nods. This would also be an explanation, yes. But still, who would ever do this to him? What kind of joke would that be?

Right now, there is nothing that will stop San from thinking that is the only possible option, even though it is still highly unlikely: Soobin regretted everything and he’s trying to get him back. Sure, putting a public announcement to get someone back is still super fucking weird, but what other options does he have right now? Does he simply have to believe one random person wants to meet him?

“Listen… I know it sounds like I’ve lost my mind but… I really want to go there, to see if… if... I-“ he’s not sure of what he really wants at this point. Because even if this is not Soobin’s doing, he still feels like he needs to follow what that announcement says. It’s like he was destined to find that, it was written for him and he can’t possibly give up now. His two best friends are here in the car with him, looking at him expectantly. 

“I mean we wanted to go to the sea anyway, didn’t we?”

“Sanie…” Hongjoong sighs. What he feared the most has happened. “I don’t know about this…”

“Let’s just go there to check,” San says immediately. “We’re already halfway through, we’ll probably get there in an hour or so. If we find it’s just a stupid joke someone played on me then we’re leaving right away, I promise.”

“You promise?”

San shows his pinky to Hongjoong.

“Pinky promise.”

So in the end they pinky promise and Hongjoong, even though still reluctant, agrees to go to Gold Coast on the condition that they’ll immediately leave if something strange happens. 

San is content with the decision, but Wooyoung is even more excited than he is, after he realizes that he has just gotten the idea of the century for a new series of manhwa. 

“You know, this would be a nice idea for a new BL. Guy who finds an announcement in a newspaper directed towards him and decides to follow it. A really, really nice idea…”

They resume the trip in total silence this time, and San needs to take a deep breath to calm himself down. He doesn’t know what he will find once in Gold Coast. It was only months ago that Soobin told him “I don’t love you anymore” inside that motel, and it broke his heart to the point where he thought he would never fall in love again with anyone else. But even back then, San didn’t believe him. So maybe Soobin really regretted everything, maybe this is his way to surprise him. Or maybe Hongjoong is right, and he’s just being delusional.

There is a chaotic storm inside his head, but overthinking too much will certainly not help him. So he decides to simply take a break from his thoughts and take a nap for better good.

San naps for a few minutes but after he wakes up the car trip is not exactly… relaxed. After Wooyoung gets tired of driving they decide to change seats, with Hongjoong in the driver’s seat, even though Hongjoong keeps expressing his worries about the whole situation, while San has to reassure him that nothing bad is going to happen. Wooyoung, now reclused to the backseat, suggests to put the music back on, but thank god they are quick to stop him. It’s about an hour of awkward silence later that Wooyoung decides to entertain them with his newest idea for his BL series.

“Basically it’s a love story between two dudes, obviously. One is called Jiwon, the other… Well, I still haven’t decided, but he will be a handsome tormented guy with dark hair, my readers love that.”

It’s a sunny, incredibly warm day when they arrive in Gold Coast and San already feels the need to run to the beach and take a bath in the sea – but not now, first, he needs to find out who the hell put that announcement. And if it isn’t Soobin, well, at least now they’re closer to the sea. He watches out of his window and constantly checks the GPS on his phone to guide Hongjoong to the address that was written in the newspaper. 

“They actually met years before the beginning of the story, in an emergency situation but Jiwon doesn’t remember the other one at all, so… hear me out, he puts a public announcement on a newspaper in hope that Jiwon sees it and then-“

“Wait, Hongjoong! Stop the car!”

While they’re in a tiny street just a few meters away from the sea, San notices they’re at the correct address. Hongjoong abruptly stops and Wooyoung cuts his rant about Jiwon and the other dude, as all three of them stare curiously outside of the window.

“I think that’s it…” he says, looking outside the window. 

“Oh wow.”

It’s a convenience store. A tiny, almost unnoticeable tiny store, with white walls, squeezed between a hairdresser and a tattoo shop. 

There is a big, lanky neon sign outside, with a horrible drawing of a stylized cute dog next to it.

Puppy Prince Beach Store.

They stare at it dumbfounded, not sure of what to do next. San has to say he’s a little disappointed. He’s not sure about the Soobin theory anymore. Whatever this place is, there is only one way to find out.

“Okay, I’m going in…” he says, opening the car door. Hongjoong and Wooyoung ask him to come with him but he refuses. The announcement asked for him specifically, after all.

“Wait!” Hongjoong stops him, when he’s already outside. He hands San his smartphone, which has the picture of the announcement. “Call us if you get murdered.”

San doesn’t even know how he’s supposed to call someone if he’s fucking dead, but he still takes the phone because, after all, he’s a little bit scared too. He doesn’t really know what to expect.

He puts the phone into the pocket of his hoodie and paces towards the shop. 

Even though it’s the end of July, very few people are around. The street is empty, and so are the hairdresser and the tattoo shop next to the convenience store. It should be a little creepy, but strangely San is completely calm.

The door of the store opens with the ting of the bell attached to it. As he expected, the store is also completely, utterly empty. San walks inside slowly, a little blinded by the light and the immaculate white walls. There is only the sound of his footsteps against the marble floor and the faint cheerful music that comes from one of the speakers. 

There’s a nice looking man in a blue polo standing behind the counter. Because the store is completely empty, he’s reading a magazine undisturbed.

San walks in slowly, not sure of what he’s supposed to do now.

“Hello…” he tries to say. The man raises his eyes from the magazine and finally notices him.

“Good morning. How can I help you?”

San comes closer to the counter slowly. Now that he knows what he’s going to say, he realizes how terrible of an idea this was. Maybe he should have listened to Wooyoung for once in his life.

The man behind the counter has a silver nametag on his polo, it says “Yeosang”. San comes a little closer, until he can put his hands on the counter.

“I, uhm… I am looking for Puppy Prince…?” San stammers, blushing for the embarrassment.

Yeosang stares at him. He raises his eyebrows.

“Who?”

“Uhm, I just-“ San quickly takes out his smartphone. It has the picture that Hongjoong took of the announcement in the newspaper. He shows the picture to Yeosang, to prove that the convenience store’s address is indeed printed on it. “I found this announcement in a newspaper and I thought… that I’m qualified enough?”

Yeosang looks at the announcement, stares at it dumbfounded for a few seconds.

“Oh god, this is probably Yunho’s doing,” Yeosang sighs dramatically, carefully folding the piece of paper and giving it back to San. 

“You’ll find him in the sauces aisle” he says, indicating to the left, before going back to his magazine. “I’m not really allowed to say it because he’s my boss but… I’ll warn you though, he’s a weird one.”

“Oh… okay, thank you…”

San sighs in defeat. So, no Soobin. He did expect it after all. But now that he came all the way here, he can’t just run away from it. He needs to find the truth. He walks away from the counter and he ventures through the aisles of the store. 

It’s not hard to find the man that Yeosang called “Yunho”. There is literally nobody inside this store beside San and the two employees. Though, from one of the aisles a deafening sound of metal hitting the ground quickly catches his attention.

When he peeks inside the sauces aisle, he sees a tall man with raven hair, with the exact same blue polo Yeosang is wearing, balancing a dozen tomato sauce cans in his arms. He looks ridiculous, as he clumsily tries to put the cans on the shelfs, but the other ones in his arms keep falling on the ground.

He doesn’t seem to notice San, so he walks towards him slowly, trying to test the waters.

Overall, this San doesn’t seem dangerous, definitely not a psychopathic killer. Or maybe he’s just good at pretending. 

“Hey, are you Puppy Prince?” he tries. 

The man jumps upon hearing his voice, and all of the cans in his arms fall to the ground with a loud metallic noise. San cringes, but Yunho doesn’t seem bothered at all.

“Who are you?” Yunho asks him, with wide, round eyes.

“I’m… Choi San, I guess.”

Yunho peers at him in total shock, like he’s just seen a ghost. San puts his hands inside his hoodie’s pockets and shifts on his feet, feeling a little uncomfortable now. Yunho doesn’t speak for a whole ten seconds.

“Is your name really Choi San?” 

“Yes,” San says, stoically. “Now, pardon me, but how the hell did you know who I am?”

“I didn’t.”

San blinks at him.

“Oh, so it’s just a coincidence that you were looking for a person with my name and my exact description?” he asks sarcastically.

“Yeah. I mean, I guess there are a lot of people in Australia named Choi San,” Yunho shrugs. “Also, that was a very generic description. But you do have very nice eyebrows indeed.”

San is agape. Now, he expected something weird to come out of this story, but just… not something this weird.

“But… why were you looking for a person specifically with my name?” he insists.

“No reason, I just liked the name.”

Yunho is still playing oblivious, and it frustrates San. A lot. He passes a hand through his hair and sighs. This explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy him.

“Okay, what the hell is going on? Why am I even here?” he tries to ask Yunho one last time. “Why did you even put that announcement in the newspaper?”

“Follow me.”

That’s the only thing that Yunho says, before walking away. San is still confused, but eventually does as he said. After all, it’s not like he’s busy today.

Yunho, Puppy Prince, or whatever this dude’s name is, doesn’t look suspicious, nor dangerous. Sure, nobody who had such big puppy eyes (he supposes the nickname is fitting) would ever look intimidating, but San is still convinced that the guy is hiding something. He still doesn’t believe the story he provided about the announcement, but he still follows him at the back of the convenience store. Yunho guides him into a tiny storehouse and then exits from the back entrance. San follows every step, also exits from the tiny door, ending up in a tiny alley at the back of the store. There is a van there, with cartoon boxes piled in front of its open trunk.  

And then there’s another guy. A tall, skinny guy with pink hair, wearing the same polo shirt as the other two employees.

“Hey there!” the guy tells him, with the biggest smile San has ever seen. “Are you the new guy?”

“Uh?” San says, confused. He doesn’t know what the hell is going on.

“San, this is Mingi.” Yunho introduces the two of them and San doesn’t know what else to do if not shake Mingi’s hand, who shakes it back enthusiastically and looks at him like he’s the eighth wonder of the world. “He’s in charge of deliveries here. Now help me put the boxes in the van.”

San stares at him, stunned, while Yunho and Mingi are already grabbing the boxes and putting them in the truck. He looks at them, while they seem to mind their own business. 

Mingi just called him “the new guy”, Yunho is trying to make him work. So, is this… is this a job interview? 

“Okay, seriously what is going on?” San asks one last time, once and for all. “Is this some kind of prank? Are you two actors? Are we in a tv show? Can I speak to the manager, please?”

Yunho stops to look at him.

“You’re speaking to him right now,” he replies with a smirk.

San’s jaw drops to the floor.

“Wait… you’re the manager?!”

“Yes. I am Puppy Prince, this store is my property,” Yunho says proudly, “Don’t you think I look like a puppy?”

“No.”

San realizes that this Yunho is for sure the weirdest person he has ever met, Wooyoung cannot even compare. Yeosang even warned him back there, so it’s not like he’s the only one to think that. But Yunho is apparently the one that put the announcement with his name on a newspaper, so now he’s directly involved with him, whether he likes it or not. 

“Okay, so basically you just wanted to hire me,” San tries to understand. “You wanted to hire specifically a person with my name… to do deliveries.”

Yunho nods happily. “Yep, sounds about right!” 

San stares at him, he looks at Mingi - the delivery guy, just a few meters away, acting like nothing weird is happening right now. San has had enough of this place.

“You’re crazy. You’re all crazy,” he whispers, already stepping back from them. “I’m… I have to go!”

He wants to rush inside, but Yunho’s voice stops him. He doesn’t sound angry about the fact that San just called him crazy, his tone is actually kind and collected.

“Hey! If you show up tomorrow morning at eight, I’ve already prepared a contract for you,” he informs him, and San doesn’t know why he stops to listen. “It will be a summer job, three months, nothing more. Think about it, San.”

“Yeah, okay thanks.”

Finally, San is free to run back inside the store. He dashes towards the door, passes in front of the counter but doesn’t even say goodbye to Yeosang, who is probably wondering what the hell happened back there. 

Wooyoung and Hongjoong are thankfully still in the car waiting for him. As soon as they see him exiting the store looking as pale as a ghost, they are quick to exit the car to ask him questions.

“Oh my god, you’re alive!” Hongjoong shouts, giving him a quick hug. “I was about to call the police!”

“I’m fine,” San says, but he is not totally convinced about it. “I still… don’t understand what’s going on.”

“What happened inside there?” Wooyoung asks.

“It’s just…” San struggles to find the right words, because hell, he knows he won’t sound rational when he’ll say it. “It was an announcement for a summer job?”

Hongjoong and Wooyoung frown almost at the same time, rightfully confused. 

“Well, that was some weird announcement for a job, let me say,” Hongjoong mutters after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“I know, that’s what I said too!” San insists. “But that guy-!”

“Oooh, I get it now,” Wooyoung stops him, a smirk now displaying on his face. “It’s for a guy!”

“Stop taking inspiration from me for your new BL series, goddammit!”

San looks at the store for one second. He thinks about Soobin, about how dumb he’s been to think that this was his doing somehow. He sighs, already knowing the reaction that will come after he announces what he has in mind. 

“Okay guys, here’s the thing. I want to work there.”

Wooyoung snaps his head towards him. 

“What? Are you insane? What’s up with you lately and making impulsive decisions?” Wooyoung shouts. “You wanted to come here and we did, what now, you want to stay here for the whole summer? But why?”

“Because!” San tries to explain himself. “This is the first job offer I’ve had in four months! I know it might not sound like a lot to you, but I’m just tired of not doing anything!”

Wooyoung sighs. “We prepared this vacation because we wanted to spend time with you, not because-“

“You forced me to go on this vacation,” San retorts. “Don’t lie to me with all your talks about friendship and stuff! You wanted to help me, well, this is your chance to support me. It’s not like you have to stay here too, you and Wooyoung can go back to Seoul, and I’ll gladly stay here by myself!”

Hongjoong sighs loudly. “You know what, I’m tired of discussing with you. Wooyoung, you deal with him from now on.”

Wooyoung instantly turns to look at him. His face is serious. Oh no, he’s putting the Serious Wooyoung Face. San internally groans at that. 

“Okay listen,” Wooyoung starts, “we don’t have to fight over this. San, this job is just for a couple of months right? Cool, then we can find a nice apartment near the sea and spend the summer here, I think it would be nice. And Hongjoong, we can work from here, that’s the beauty of being an artist! I’ll call my editor and I’ll ask my brother to send me all of the equipment. So, San gets his job and we also spend the whole summer together. Who’s with me? Mh, best friends forever?”

San is a bit shocked that it worked so beautifully and so easily. He looks at Hongjoong, hoping he’ll say yes too. Makes puppy eyes at him. Wooyoung does too. Hongjoong groans. 

“I mean, fine,” Hongjoong says in the end. “I guess it would work. But!”

San looks at him, pleading with his eyes.

“If you get murdered don’t expect to call me for help, okay?”

“Fine.”

They end their deal like this. With a good hand shake, to formalise everything.

Wooyoung starts the car, probably excited about his new idea, and San is amazed by him for once. He looks at him, and with the most sincerity in the world tells him:

“Wow, so you’re actually really smart when you want to.”

“I am always smart. You two are just too distracted to notice it.”

The next day San shows up at eight at the beach store. Yunho really has a contract prepared for him. San reads everything carefully, to make sure this is not some scam or some weird bdsm scheme he has absolutely no interest in joining. It all ends up looking normal, nothing suspicious. The pay is good, the shifts don’t look like anything crazy. 

“Are you really sure you want to hire me?” San asks as he takes the pen to sign the contract. 

“For sure!” Yunho says cheerfully. “You can start tomorrow.”

A job is something he really needs, after all. 

San sighs and with vigor he signs the contract. 

The first weeks in Gold Coast are pretty hectic, but San is able to manage with his new job and his new life in the new city nonetheless. After a few days spent in a hostel, he rents a house close to the ocean with Hongjoong and Wooyoung, while his days get filled with work at the Puppy Prince Beach Store. For the first week, he isn’t able to see much of Yunho, but he talks a lot with Yeosang and Mingi, mainly about how work is like at the store. They both confirm it’s fun and it pays well, Yunho is a kind boss, although a bit strange.

Yunho is still a complete mystery to him. San doesn’t have the courage to ask him why he put that announcement in the newspaper, but it’s not like he thinks Yunho would give him some substantial answer to that. San’s sure at some point on another he’s going to discover he’s been roped into an illegal gambling scheme or something like that. Knowing his luck, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched. 

But the first week goes by, doing deliveries to people’s houses, driving around Gold Coast with Mingi driving the store’s van. 

San is looking out of the window of the van, with the air messing up his air, when he realises he’s alone with Mingi, and could ask him some questions about what’s really going on. 

“Hey, Mingi,” San asks the other guy, who’s silently driving the truck, heading towards Mrs. Brown’s house, a lovely old lady who regularly orders groceries from their shop. “Do you know why Yunho wanted to hire me specifically?”

“Mh,” Mingi hums. “I’m not sure, but I’ve known him for a few years, ever since I finished school and he’s always had strange ideas. It might just be another one of those. Maybe he chose the name randomly.”

San frowns. “Wait, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty.”

Now, at twenty-seven, San feels incredibly old. 

“What? Seriously?” San gapes at him. “Gosh, how are you this tall?”

Mingi snickers under his breath. “Yunho tells me the same thing every time.”

San looks out of the window for a moment, before turning to Mingi again and asking:

“Are you close with him?”

“Let’s say we’ve travelled a lot together,” Mingi answers. 

“Can I ask you something about him?”

“Sure!”

“What… What kind of guy is he?”

He doesn’t know why he’s asking all of a sudden. Perhaps Yunho kinda fascinates him, kinda makes him want to unravel all his secrets and get to really know him. 

Mingi pauses before answering. Thinks about it for a while. 

“A really nice one. Kinda odd, kinda weird, from time to time. Sometimes he acts like he’s five, sometimes he acts like he’s eighty. Sometimes he’s funny, sometimes he’s annoying. But overall, he’s a really great guy.”

San goes back to looking out the window, not sure if this is the answer he was expecting. 

One thing San learns about Gold Coast is that the beaches are really beautiful, some of the best he’s seen in his life. On Saturdays usually, while Hongjoong and Wooyoung are working on their webtoon, he takes some time to take a walk on the shore, while the sun gently sets on the horizon, painting the sky a beautiful red, between the sound of the seagulls and the waves. 

Today San sees a man nearby, playing with a dog. He walks closer and upon further inspection, he realises the man is none other than Yunho, Puppy Prince. He watches him play with the dog happily, laughing, and for a moment San doesn’t want Yunho to notice him walking nearby. He’s too scared he’d ruin this perfect image in front of him. 

Slowly, he walks up to Yunho, and the other man raises his eyes and catches sight of him, while still playing with the dog. Yunho’s lips instantly open with a smile. 

“San, hi!”

“Hello,” San says, unable to stop smiling, too. “Is that your dog?”

“Huh, no… he kinda came to me and…” Yunho pets the dog. The dog jumps to him and licks his face sloppily. It’s a long haired dog, probably a bobtail, who’s running around Yunho happily and barking at him. Just for a moment, San thinks the dog and Yunho kind of look alike. He loves how Yunho laughs as the dog licks his face, and San cannot stop thinking about how his laugh is so contagious. He ends up laughing as well. 

They hear a whistle in the distance, and the dog quickly leaves Yunho alone and goes back to its owner. 

“So!” Yunho says, as he recollects himself. “What are you doing out here?”

San shrugs. “Just taking a bit of fresh air.” 

“That’s something we all need,” Yunho says. “I meant to ask you, are you enjoying your job at the store?”

“It’s fun, yeah. Really, it is. And I’m getting along with everyone.”

San didn’t realise it before, but he’s been getting back on his feet ever since he came to Gold Coast. And it’s all thanks to Yunho. If he hadn’t found that announcement he wouldn’t have had this opportunity to start anew. After everything went to shit, with Soobin, with his job, now, he realises, he’s finally starting to feel better again. 

“You know, I didn’t tell you, but I went through a terrible period of my life before coming here.” San looks at the horizon, while the breeze gently messes his hair. “But it’s getting better. Slowly. I’m really thankful for this opportunity you gave me..”

“I’m glad to hear,” Yunho says sweetly. 

They start strolling on the beach side by side, enjoying the sunset together. 

“If you don’t mind me asking… What happened before coming here?” Yunho asks San as they walk together. 

San isn’t sure he is going to tell him the whole story. It’s not like he doesn't want to, it’s just that saying it out loud would make it feel like reliving it all again. But he trusts Yunho, despite not knowing much about him. 

“Nothing much,” San shrugs. “I just… lost someone I really cared about. And I was fired in the same week. You know, it felt like hitting rock bottom.”

“I get it, yeah,” Yunho says, and San is surprised to hear him say he relates to that. “You know, I left behind so much, and so many people when I decided to come here. It was really hard to start anew, in a new place, in a new city… But in the end, everything worked out.”

Yunho looks up and smiles, almost as if he wants to catch all the light of the sunset with his eyes.

“Where I come from there’s rarely any sun,” he says.

“Why?” San asks, curious. “Where do you come from?” 

For a moment Yunho doesn’t answer. San is sure he’s about to add another one to the infinite list of Yunho’s Mysteries, when Yunho looks to him and finally says:

“Gwangju. I come from Gwangju.”

Well, that was anticlimactic. San almost laughs. Sure, he’s never been in Gwangju, but he’s sure there must be some sunny days once in a while. 

“And what made you come to Gold Coast of all places?” San asks, now curious again. 

“The beaches,” Yunho says with a smile. “The best beaches I’ve ever seen in my life. Ah, there’s nothing like this back home, you know?” San can definitely agree to that. 

“Did you leave your family behind?”

“Yes,” Yunho answers lowly. “Parents and my brother. I haven’t seen them in a while, actually. But they’re fine. We don’t have much contact, though.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Sometimes.” Yunho gives him a tight smile. “But it’s fine. I have Mingi here. And Yeosang. And you now, I guess. That’s all the company I need.”

San smiles at the thought of being included in the group now. Finally, he feels like he belongs somewhere. 

San stops, forcing Yunho to do the same. 

“You’re never going to tell me why you really wrote that announcement, right?”

Yunho gives him a soft smile. “Maybe try asking me in a few months. I might tell you.”

“I’m telling you, that dude is completely nuts! You should run away from this place!”

It’s Wooyoung who decided to show up at his job, with some “urgent news he needed to share”. San is embarrassed, as he puts the cans on the shelves of the store. No deliveries today, just a full day at the convenience store. Thankfully, the store is completely empty at this hour, and Yeosang at the cashier desk couldn’t care less about silly gossip. 

“I like this job,” San insists, “I don’t want to run away.”

“Look, you’re purposefully being blind,” Wooyoung insists. “You know where you can find everyone on? Exactly, the internet. And I’ve looked up this Jeong Yunho. And you know what I found? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a social media profile, not a mention, absolutely nada.”

“Maybe he’s just old school,” San says. “Not everyone has a social media profile.”

“It’s 2026, San!” Wooyoung whispers-shouts. “Who the hell doesn’t have a social media profile? Not even one?”

“People who don’t care, Woo! And maybe Yunho doesn’t care, it’s definitely nothing weird!”

“Look, I don’t know what kind of spell that dude did on you, but you’ll get in trouble if you don’t open your eyes soon. First that fucked up public announcement, now this. I’m telling you, something seriously stinks here.”

“Listen, I’m having a great time here,” San tries to say. “It’s the first time… ever since Soobin happened, I’ve only felt like a total loser. I don’t wanna feel like that anymore, Woo. So please, just let me keep my job, and I promise you, nothing bad will happen to me.”

Wooyoung is about to say something, when he’s interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. Indeed, it’s none other than Yunho who shows up from behind the aisle, and stops as soon as he notices someone else is with San. 

“Oh!” Yunho smiles, surprised. “I didn’t know you had company!”

Seriously, San thinks, how could anyone think this dude is dangerous?

“I was leaving, no worries. See you, San.”

Wooyoung quickly leaves, passing by Yunho and giving him a long look. 

San remains with Yunho alone, offering him a smile. Yunho starts helping him with the cans, putting them carefully on the shelves. 

“Was that a friend of yours?” Yunho asks at some point. 

“Yeah, my roommate,” San answers. “Kind of a friend’s friend. But he’s alright. Despite being… a lot.”

They continue stacking the cans in places, when a few seconds later, San turns to Yunho and asks:

“You’re not… on any social media right?”

“Mh, nope,” Yunho answers nonchalantly. Like he doesn’t think that it’s a big of a deal. “I don’t even have a smartphone, I’m an old soul.”

San almost sighs in relief. This is exactly what he was expecting, after all. 

They go silent for a few seconds. Then, Yunho turns to him and with a cheeky smile asks him:

“Why? Did you wanna follow me?”

San is unable to contain his surprise. His eyes widen unexpectedly and he feels his cheeks reddening. 

“Oh, no! Just- I was just curious!”

Yunho ends up giggling at his reaction and San blushes even harder. God, how did they end up here?

“Ah, this is kind of embarrassing,” Yunho says after a pause, “but do you maybe want to help me?”

San raises his eyes. “Doing what?”

“Set up an instagram account. I mean I don’t have a smartphone, but we could do it with the store’s laptop.”

San is surprised. He definitely didn’t expect this kind of request. 

“Oh, yeah sure!” he says. “Only, I finish my shift in two hours…”

Yunho laughs. “It’s okay. I’m your boss, I give you permission to leave your spot and help me set up an instagram account.” 

They end up taking the store’s laptop and logging into instagram. It’s been so long since San has created a new account he almost forgets how easy it is. 

“Okay, first you have to come up with a username.”

“Mh,” Yunho goes, pensive. “I can’t just use ‘Jeong Yunho’ right?” 

“I think that’s already taken.” 

They try it anyway. It is indeed already taken. 

“Huh, I don’t have any other ideas…” Yunho says with an embarrassed giggle. 

San thinks about it for a second. He thinks about Yunho with the dog, and how much he thought the nickname Puppy Prince fit him. He tries puppyprince too, but it’s already taken as well. 

“How about this?” San says as he types on the computer. Yunho leans in to see what he wrote.

yunou._.u

“What’s that?” Yunho asks, pointing at the two Us. 

“It’s like puppy ears…” San suggests, “since you’re Puppy Prince and all…”

“Mh,” Yunho hums. “Well, since you chose it for me I think that’s perfect!”

“We could try another one if you want.”

“No, no, that’s perfect! Thanks Sanie, I really like it!”

Yunho is so adorable, staring at his new instagram account like a kid who just saw the most amazing thing on earth. 

They set up the account. Yunho doesn’t have any pictures of him, he says, so they take one with San’s phone, one that ends up looking incredibly good, despite having it taken inside the convenience store. They quickly put it up, and Yunho ends up making his first post: the picture of him with the caption “hi!! i’m new to instagram!🥰”

San takes his phone and quickly opens instagram. 

“What are you doing?” Yunho asks. 

“I’m following you, of course.”

San ends up being Yunho’s first follower. 

“Wow!” Yunho gasps, looking at the computer incredulously. “I have one follower! San, you’re my first follower!”

He’s so excited San’s heart almost melts. 

“Well, I’m sure Mingi will follow you once he finds out you made your account. And Yeosang too, maybe.”

“What should I post next?”

“Well, first,” San says. “You might want to get a smartphone.”

“Oh, right,” Yunho smiles. “Do you want to… accompany me to get one?”

San laughs at that. “I’d love to.”

They go out after San’s shift ends. Yunho ends up buying the cheapest smartphone he can find, and then drags San out to help him take some new pics by the sea. 

San knows he’s in Gold Coast for only one summer, but he thinks he wouldn’t mind living like that for the rest of his life. 

A few weeks later San is sick, he probably catches a cold after working for so many hours with the convenience store AC turned on.

Wooyoung and Hongjoong can’t really look after him, they’re busy drawing all day and the editor will kill them if they miss another deadline, so San just spends his days in bed, whining and complaining because he can’t sleep with an headache and a blocked nose and there is no one to talk to.

Mingi comes to visit him at his house, mainly because San didn’t call in sick today and Yunho was wondering why he didn’t come to work.

Hongjoong is the one to open the door right after he hears the doorbell, just to find a tall lanky guy with the biggest smile he has ever seen behind it.

“Uhm… hello?”

“Hi, I’m Mingi!” the guy says, way too enthusiastically and cheerfully. “Does Choi San live here?”

“Uh, yes. Oh, are you from the store? San is sick today.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.”

San, after regaining some consciousness, walks up to the door and notices Mingi being there. 

“Mingi?”

“Hey there!” Mingi waves to him cheerfully. “I was wondering if you were okay! Yunho wanted to know if you were coming to work today!”

“I’m sick. I’m sorry I didn’t call, I kinda passed out all morning…”

“Oh, it’s alright! I’ll tell Yunho then. But be sure to call next time, okay? Maybe I can drop by after I finish my shift, to bring you some medicine, please take care!”

Hongjoong closes the door after Mingi leaves. 

“Who was that?” he asks San. 

“Someone from work.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time there, I see…”

“It’s my job, Hongjoong!” San exclaims. “Of course I spend a lot of time there! Gosh, sometimes you say things that are dumber than Wooyoung’s!”

“I heard you!” Wooyoung shouts from his room, where he’s working on his new BL. 

“Hey, I’m not saying it to make you feel bad,” Hongjoong raises his hands in defense. “Do you perhaps like someone from work?”

“No,” San insists, even though he knows that’s half a lie. “No, I don’t.”

San passes out all day, lost in his fever dreams, and wakes up only when it’s dinner time, to the sound of someone walking into his room. He thinks that might be Wooyoung or Hongjoong, but after his eyes get adjusted to the darkness more, he realises that’s actually Yunho. 

“What are you doing here?” he whispers, while due to the fever he’s still not fully understanding what’s going on around him. 

“Hey, I heard from Mingi you weren’t feeling well, so I passed here to see how you were doing,” Yunho says. “Your roommates were kind enough to let me in. I cooked you some soup!”

San manages to sit up on the bed, and Yunho takes a chair to sit at his side. 

“You didn’t have to…” San says. “You’re not here because you’re mad I didn’t call, right?”

“Oh, it’s fine. This soup is really magical. It’s my grandma’s recipe.”

San doesn’t want to fight any further and he’s hungry, after all. So he lets Yunho open up his container that has the soup inside and even though San’s perfectly capable of eating on his own, he ends up letting Yunho spoonfeed him. 

After the first spoon of soup San realises how delicious it is and he wants more. Yunho is more than happy to give it to him. 

“How are you feeling now?” Yunho asks him after a few seconds. “Better?”

“Yeah. Better.”

“I’m glad.”

“No, seriously,” San insists. “I’m actually… really doing well. Ever since I started the job at the convenience store. I still don’t get it, Yunho.”

“What don’t you get?”

“Why did you really make that announcement?”

Yunho looks into his eyes. “Why did you decide to follow it?”

San scoffs. “Ah, I see what you’re doing here…” Yunho gives him another spoonful of soup. San accepts it. “I- I actually can’t tell you why I did it. It’s a secret.”

San is half joking, half not. Deep down, he still doesn’t know why he decided to follow that announcement. But he knows that if he hadn’t he would still be depressed in his room with rotten fruits in the fridge, hoping for the world to end. So even if he doesn’t know, he feels like he would be in a much worse place right now if he hadn’t. 

“Alright, you can keep it.” Yunho smiles. “I won’t insist.”

Yunho gives him another spoonful of soup. For a second they look into each other’s eyes, and San can almost see Yunho blushing. 

“And you, Yunho, Puppy Prince…” San says. “Do you have any secrets?”

“Mmh,” Yunho goes. “I can’t tell you my secret, of course.”

“Why not?”

Yunho giggles. “Well, I have to trust you first, otherwise it wouldn’t be a secret.”

San feels like he’s being treated like a child and he doesn’t know if he should be offended by it, considering that he is literally being spoon fed right now. 

“I barely know anything about you,” San says, as Yunho gives him another spoonful of soup. “Why are you so secretive all the time?”

“Trust me. You wouldn’t like getting to know the real me,” Yunho says. “It’s much better this way.”

San does something insane next. He takes Yunho’s hand, holds it tightly, and sees that Yunho ever so slightly lets out a shaky breath from his lips.

“I want to know you,” San tells him. “I do.”

Yunho retreats his hand. “Sorry. I- I think it’s time for me to go. I don’t want to overcome my stay.”

San is unable to hide his disappointment. Gosh, what did he really expect? That his weird boss who he might have a crush on would suddenly be into him? And he thought to what? Do his move while he’s sick and sweaty and being spoon fed? Sometimes he really doesn’t think through. 

Before he leaves his room, Yunho turns to him.

“I really hope you feel better soon,” he says. “I’ll see you at work, okay?”

“Yeah. See you at work.”

As soon as Yunho exits his room, San takes the pillow, puts it against his face and screams into it. 

It’s been two months since San started his job at the Puppy Prince Beach Store. One month before his contract ends. San doesn’t want to think too much about it. 

It’s one day at the end of February that Yunho asks him if he would like to go to Brisbane with him for a few days. Apparently he’s trying to branch out his business in the new city and wants to go there to find some good deals. Mingi doesn’t want to go, neither does Yeosang. So he ends up asking San, and San has no reason to say no. After all, he’s never been to Brisbane and he would love to visit it. 

He tells Hongjoong and Wooyoung that he will be away for a few days. Hongjoong finds no problems with it, while Wooyoung is already against it. 

“I’m telling you, three days alone with him? He wants to murder you.”

“He doesn’t want to murder me,” San groans. He’s tired of having this conversation over and over again. “If he wanted to murder me he would have done so a long time ago.”

“You’re too smitten,” Wooyoung scoffs. “Don’t tell me you like him.”

Wooyoung gasps loudly when San doesn’t answer to that. 

“Oh my god! Hongjoong, San’s in love with the stalker!” he screams. 

“He’s not a stalker! He’s just… peculiar!”

Wooyoung looks at Hongjoong desperately, hoping he’d say something. 

“San, please don’t get murdered,” is all Hongjoong can offer. 

Despite Wooyoung’s protests, San promises he’s not getting murdered on this trip, and that’s where the discussion ends. 

Brisbane reminds San of a dream city he would have made up when he was a child, only less colourful and with too many people. It’s not as dreamy as Gold Coast though, there are no beautiful beaches around and San thinks it loses charm a bit because of it. 

Yunho walks around mindlessly in the streets, looking at everything in awe, almost as if he has never been in a city before. 

San thinks he looks adorable, so he takes a sneaky picture of him with his phone. Yunho catches him instantly. 

“What was that?” Yunho chuckles. 

“It’s for your instagram!”

“You know what? That’s a wonderful idea.”

“What do you wanna do now?” San asks, thinking that the answer would be something business related. Instead, Yunho comes up with:

“Is there a cat cafe around?”

San doesn’t understand. “Why?”

“I’m trying to create a new business,” Yunho explains. “A cat convenience store. Like a convenience store, but there are cats roaming around. What do you think?”

San cannot help but laugh. He can see Yunho try an offended face, but he can tell he’s about to burst out laughing as well.

“You don’t like my idea?”

Heck, it’s a terrible idea, but San doesn’t have the guts to tell him to his face. He lets it go, and quickly looks up the nearest cat café around. 

Half an hour later they are sitting on the floor of the cafe, playing with little kittens. San observes Yunho playing with the cat and realises that the crush is getting much worse day by day. Falling in love with your boss isn’t certainly how San would have loved to spend the summer. He is fucked. 

“Do you really want to open a cat convenience store?” he asks Yunho at some point. 

“No,” Yunho finally admits. “It was just an excuse to pet the cats.”

Wow, he is so fucked. 

Meanwhile, 70 kilometers south, in Gold Coast, the night is particularly cold tonight. Wooyoung goes out to have a smoke, and Hongjoong follows him outside of the house minutes later. They’ve been drawing and editing non stop all night, and it’s around 1 am right now, they should probably go to sleep soon. 

“So,” Hongjoong starts the conversation, holding his coat to avoid freezing. The wind is particularly strong tonight. “Just a few chapters left before we finish this story. Do you have any more ideas?”

Wooyoung smiles at him. “You know I always have ideas for BLs.”

Hongjoong observes Wooyoung smoking the cigarette and can’t help but chuckle under his breath. 

“What?” Wooyoung asks, confused. 

“I mean. You’re so… strange. I can’t believe you really are this creative.” 

“Why not?”

“I mean… me and San should be the ones that- Nevermind.”

“I don’t think I’m following you…”

“Me and San are the ones into guys. And you’re the token straight friend.”

Wooyoung immediately scoffs. “I’m not straight.”

Hongjoong stares at him for a good four seconds in silence. 

“Y-You’re not?”

“Did I ever say I was? I literally draw dicks for a living. Hello?”

Hongjoong looks down for a moment, and thinks about it for a while. But he’s so shocked he can’t form a rational thought. 

“I mean, I didn’t know you were into guys either,” Wooyoung says, shrugging. “I mean I suspected it but… I guess it makes sense now.”

Hongjoong narrows his eyes. “What?”

“I thought for the longest time that you had a crush on me,” Wooyoung laughs cheekily. 

Hongjoong makes a disgusted face. “Excuse you, if I had to choose to have a crush on someone it would definitely not be you.”

Wooyoung laughs out loud. He notices the way Hongjoong blushes. Maybe it’s just the cold. Or maybe, after years of drawing men falling in love, he’s become a pro at this game. 

“Oh, come on!” he nudges Hongjoong with his shoulder. “I know you think I’m hot!”

“Well, actually, I do.”

It’s funny to see how easily Wooyoung’s usually sassy and flirty persona gets annihilated as soon as he hears the compliment, and starts to uncontrollably blush after that reply. So he’s being beaten at his own game. How dare he. 

“Oh!” Wooyoung exclaims, still slightly surprised. “You… you do?”

“Mh-mh” Hongjoong nods nonchalantly. He’s really enjoying this, for some reason. “Very hot.”

It’s silent for a moment. For an excruciating quiet second they both look in front of them. 

It’s weird, the way they instantly come forward at the same time, almost as if a magnet is pulling them against each other. 

Hongjoong grabs Wooyoung’s coat, at the same time Wooyoung takes the hem of his shirt. They kiss under the moonlight, arms wrapping around each other as soon as they meet. 

Who knows why they’re doing this. Perhaps drawing gay love stories for years has officially made Wooyoung realise he wanted something like that in his life as well. Perhaps Hongjoong has finally realised the person he spends the most time with, the person that understands him the best, was right in front of him all along. Perhaps they’re so sleep deprived they’ve both gone insane. 

Wooyoung is the one that breaks the kiss to breathe.  

They look at each other for a moment, panting, and trembling.

“You’re disgusting,” Hongjoong says in one breath.

“You’re more disgusting.”

They kiss again.

70 kilometres norther, in Brisbane, San and Yunho are sitting down in a club together, with two drinks in front of them, after having spent a day trying all the cat cafes they could find in the city. 

“You know,” San tells him, although he has to shout above the music. “I think the cat convenience store idea is actually wonderful.”

Yunho grins at him. “You don’t really think that.”

“No, no, I do! Think about how many new customers you could get. And, the cats would keep us company.”

“Oh?” Yunho smiles. “So you’re thinking of staying with us?”

San stalls. He hadn’t really thought about the fact that his time at the convenience store is limited to only one summer. Now he wishes he could stop time or make everything go slower. 

“I mean,” San says. “If you will have me, I’ll stay.”

San would have expected Yunho to look happier with the decision. Instead he almost looks… conflicted. He sips his drink without saying anything, and avoids eye contact with San. San decides to change the subject as soon as possible. 

“So, uhm… are you enjoying this place?”

He almost face slaps himself. Could there be a lamer question? 

“I do,” Yunho answers. “We don’t really have clubs where I come from.”

San turns to him. “Wait, you’ve never been to a club before?”

“Well not… not this kind, no.”

“Never? Not even once with your friends?”

Yunho laughs. “It might look weird to you, but I don’t have any friends outside of Mingi.”

Wow, this guy is a really strange one, San thinks. Not that he hadn't had enough confirmations of that already. 

He almost feels bad for Yunho. Having only one friend, never having been to a club before. Sure, San only has two friends, so it’s not like he’s any better at this. But he wishes he could do something for Yunho, something that will make this night in a new city the more memorable. 

“Have you ever danced with someone before?” San suggests, suddenly having an idea. 

“Mh?” Yunho raises his eyes from the drink. “No, not really.”

San gets up and offers him his hand. 

“Let’s go.”

Yunho laughs, but accepts the invitation immediately. 

They start moving to the music, not caring about making movements that make sense, too focused on having fun, only having fun. 

San giggles at the way Yunho moves, even though he admits, the man could do anything and still look hot. The lights are red and green and yellow, and they paint a beautiful canvas on Yunho’s hair and in his eyes. 

I wouldn’t mind living like this, the thinks. With you. Forever.

Yunho takes his hand and makes him twirl, and San bursts out laughing. 

For a moment San is too mesmerised by the sight to carefully process what’s happening around him. 

“San?”

San turns around. He almost chokes, almost runs away to cry, as soon as he realises who’s in front of him. 

Soobin is there, right there, looking at him with surprise in his eyes. 

“Omg, I can’t believe it!” Soobin says cheerfully, not noticing the lump in San’s throat and tears that threaten to come out of his eyes. “What are you doing in Brisbane?”

“Uhm, I’m here with my… with my…”

Everything comes back all at once. The breakup in the motel, the tears, the nights spent crying over him, the constant unanswered messages. Feeling unloved, feeling unworthy. San’s about to run away when he feels a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey,” Yunho says. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah,” San tries to clear his throat. “Yunho, this is Soobin, we… we used to date.” 

Soobin smiles, as if he didn’t completely shatter San’s heart just a few months prior. 

“And Soobin, this is Yunho. He’s my-”

“His boyfriend,” Yunho announces unexpectedly, giving Soobin’s hand a decisive hand shake.

San turns around shocked, but Soobin is quicker to speak than him.

“Oh, I’m glad you found someone, San! I’m happy for you. I’m actually here with my date as well, uhm” Soobin says, pointing at a guy near the bar. “Well, it was good to see you again, then. See you guys!”

Soobin quickly disappears into the crowd and it’s like he was never there in the first place. 

San turns to Yunho once the coast is clear.

“Why did you do that?”

“That guy wanted nothing but to flex his new date in front of you. Trust me, I could feel it,” Yunho explains. “Like this, we actually made him feel like shit. I mean, he only has a date and you have a whole new boyfriend! You’re the one that wins the battle here.” 

“Thank you,” San says. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

San is about to say something, when Yunho takes his wrist and drags him away. 

“Come.” Yunho pulls him and stops in the middle of the dance floor. Positions San’s eyes on his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” San asks, while his heart beats like crazy.

“Commiting to the bit.” 

They start moving to the song, at first stiff and exaggerated. But the rhythm is infectious, and Yunho is laughing, and San finds himself laughing too. The tension in his chest loosened, replaced by a strange thrill.

Yunho leans in, his mouth close to San’s ear. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” San says, and realizes he means it. “Actually… yeah.”

From the edge of the dance floor, Soobin watches for a moment longer. San doesn’t see him leave with his date when he does. He is too busy noticing the way Yunho’s thumb traces small, absent circles on his waist. 

“Well, that was weird.”

Hongjoong is staring at the ceiling while lying on the bed, when Wooyoung, completely naked lying right next to him, pronounces those words. 

“Was it, though?” he says. “I kinda liked it, if I’m being honest.”

“I mean… yeah, it was nice,” Wooyoung finally admits. “You know, I’ve drawn gay sex for all of my life, but this was actually my first time with a man.”

Hongjoong sits up, staring at him in surprise. 

“Seriously? Dude, you were great.”

“Thanks, everyone says that to me after sex.”

“I regret saying that. You were terrible. Worst sex I’ve ever had.”

They stare at each other for a moment. 

“So… what now?” Wooyoung asks.

“I don’t know,” Hongjoong says, and he seriously means it. “Do you… maybe want to go for a second round?”

Wooyoung grins. 

“You know, that’s actually a fantastic idea.”

San and Yunho go back to the hotel drunk, laughing and happy. They stumble in the hall, giggling about Soobin’s face when he saw them dance together. 

“He felt like… betrayed you know!” San wheezes, as they enter the elevator. Yunho cannot stop laughing. “God, I can’t believe I was in love with him for five years!”

“Five years?” Yunho laughs, incredulous.

“Come on, I was young and… everyone makes mistakes, right?”

Yunho laughs out loud and races San in the hallways. 

They arrive in front of Yunho’s room. He takes out his room’s card, while they’re still laughing together. 

“Well, I really had a lot of fun tonight,” Yunho says. “Thanks for bringing me to my first club tonight.”

“Yeah,” San sighs. “Thank you for pretending to be my boyfriend so we could make my ex jealous.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

Then San does something stupid. 

He tries to kiss Yunho. 

He leans forward, but their lips don’t touch, because Yunho instantly moves out of the way. 

“Sorry, I-” Yunho stutters, with eyes low. “I’m sorry, it’s just-”

San stays still for a moment. It’s all incredibly awkward, and he can’t do anything but look down. 

“Tell me I didn’t misunderstand…”

“No, no! It’s just- I just-” Yunho takes San’s shoulders, but San is too distressed right now, so he shoves him away. “Oh, it’s so awfully complicated to explain! San, I don’t think we should do this. Trust me, you don’t want this. Not with me.”

San scowls. “What the fuck do you know about what I want?”

Yunho stares at him. San starts walking away, towards his room. Exhausted, and heartbroken once again. 

“San, look-”

“I’m taking the first train for Gold Coast tomorrow,” San scoffs while walking away. “Please don’t come with me.”

The worst part about going back to Gold Coast is that San still has to show up for work anyways. He goes there hoping that no one will speak to him, but already on Monday, while San is putting prices on noodles, Yunho shows up next to him, wanting to talk. At first San wants to ignore him, but it’s really hard with the guy literally hovering over him. 

“Hey,” San tries. 

“I know you’re still angry with me,” Yunho says. “I just wanted to say… I’m really sorry about what happened in Brisbane.”

“No, it’s okay,” San sighs, even though deep down, he’s still hurting. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable or anything.”

“No, no you didn’t. It’s just… San, it’s just that I can’t really stay here for long…”

“Oh.” Now that makes everything more clear. San puts on another tag with the price machine, while trying to process what’s being told to him. “You mean in Gold Coast?”

“Yeah,” Yunho sighs. “I have to go back to Gwangju soon.” San watches him pass a hand through his hair. “So I can’t really get attached to anyone. I’m sorry, San.”

San should be fine, should come to terms with everything, but he’s instead sadder than before. He really believed Gold Coast would be his forever. There’s nothing like forever in the lives of guys like him, who are constantly doomed to being alone, and alone, for as long as they live.

San is about to leave it there, maybe change the topic, when he remembers a promise that Yunho made to him, months ago.

“You want to finally tell me why you really put that announcement, then?”

Yunho sighs. “There’s something I haven’t told you, yes.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me? Don’t you trust me?”

“I do!” Yunho insists. “But… I want to hear your secret too, first.”

San scoffs. “I don’t have any secret…”

“Then I want you to answer a question, too,” Yunho says, determination in his voice. “Why did you decide to follow that announcement? Why did you decide to come here, San?”

San could call it all off and walk away, leave Gold Coast and let Yunho disappear from his memories once and for all. But he doesn’t. Because deep down he starts wondering too, why the hell he did that, and maybe starts finding an answer to it. 

“You’re so mean,” San whispers.

“Look, it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, just-“

“My boyfriend broke up with me, I was fired from a job I really liked, and I was really sad, okay?” San suddenly snaps. “And I hated that feeling, that feeling of being a loser, of not even being able to get back on my feet! So I thought… ugh, I don’t know! I thought that maybe all I needed was to run away, that I just needed an adventure to make my life gain sense again, that if I followed that announcement I would have felt more alive, or something…”

Yunho stares into his eyes. “…Is this the adventure you were expecting?”

“Well, not quite, actually.” San snorts, putting the priced noodles back on the shelf. “I’m not even sure if I was really ready for an adventure. I don’t know what I was thinking, to be honest…”

Yunho’s eyes are on him now. San looks up, meeting his eyes. 

“Well, I told you my secret, now what’s yours?”

Yunho sighs. “Do you… really want to know?”

San nods insistently.

“Promise not to tell anyone?”

San rolls his eyes. “Yeah, whatever…”

But Yunho looks at him, determined to reveal something at last. San listens carefully. Yunho comes closer to him. 

“I’m… I’m from the future,” Yunho whispers. “I time travelled here from the year 2144.”

It takes a moment for San to register what Yunho has just said. He’s disappointed, that's for sure. People have made fun of him for too long, and he can’t hold the words that come out of his mouth later:

“Oh, fuck off!”

San stomps away angrily, away from Yunho. 

San is so angry with Yunho after that stupid joke about coming from the future, that he needs some time away. He goes back to the house he shares with Wooyoung and Hongjoong and slams the front door behind him. He doesn’t even say hi to his two friends, he just straight up walks in.

Wooyoung is sitting on the couch of the living room, wearing only a bathrobe, sipping from a mug.

“Oh good morning, Sannie! What brings you here of all places?”

San stares at him. “I literally live here.”

“Oh right. Sorry about that,” Wooyoung giggles. “I just haven’t seen you around for a while. I thought you had moved in with that new boyfriend of yours from the convenience store.”

San stomps away from him, heading towards the bathroom. 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” he mutters under his breath. 

He walks towards the bathroom, save instantly regretting it when he finds out that Hongjoong is already there. 

And he’s completely naked.

“Dude, what the hell!” San screeches, instantly covers his eyes. “Why are you naked?”

“Oh sorry,” Hongjoong giggles, like it’s not that big of a deal. “I’ve kinda gotten used to it.”

“Uhm… what?” San isn’t in his right state of mind to process what’s being told to him. “What the hell happened here while I was away?”

“I mean, many things. Let’s say that things between me and Wooyoung have kinda… escalated.”

“What?! Oh my god. Are you…” he makes sure to lower his voice till it’s nothing but a whisper. “Are you fucking Wooyoung?”

“I mean, technically it’s the other way around.”

“Oh, no, ew! Never mind! I don’t want to know about this!” San turns away and makes his way to the door as fast as he can. “You know what, it’s cool, you guys have my blessing or whatever. I need to go outside now!”

He exits the bathroom at the speed of light. While he heads towards the main door, intending to walk out of the house again, he stops for a second in front of Wooyoung.

“Hongjoong is a nice guy,” he says to Wooyoung, and points at him. “If you ever hurt him I will hunt you down.”

Wooyoung raises his mug at him. “Don’t intend to, but noted.”

San ends up coming back to the convenience store. He finds Yunho still there, sitting on a chair by the cash register, his hands covering his face. 

“Hey…”

As soon as he hears San’s voice, Yunho’s eyes raise. 

“San!” he sighs in relief, standing up from the chair. “You didn’t tell anyone what I told you, right?”

San could say yes, reassure him that he didn’t reveal his big secret to anyone. Instead, he stays silent, takes a chair, puts it in front of Yunho, to have a serious eye to eye conversation with him. 

“I actually wanted to ask you a few questions,” San says. “And you’re only allowed to answer honestly.”

Yunho is hesitant at first, but after a few seconds he accepts San’s proposal and sits in front of him. His hands rest on his knees, and San can’t take his eyes off them for a moment.

“Okay. What do you want to know?”

“Do you really know how to time travel?”

“Yes,” Yunho answers, without a single beat. “I lied to you, I don’t really come from Gwangju. I mean, I do, but not the Gwangju you know. I meant to say… I come from 2144. And I don’t have anything to prove it, but… Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but please trust me, I am telling you the truth this time.”

“I believe you,” San says, and he’s being honest this time. “Can you tell me more about you?”

“Oh well,” Yunho seems taken aback by the question. He scratches his neck awkwardly. “What can I tell you? This is kind of awkward… Uhm, we time travelers have always existed, we’re just extremely rare, so nobody knows we are out there. But I still managed to find a few travel companions over the years. Like Mingi, for example.”

San’s jaw drops to the floor.

“Mingi is a time traveler too?!”

“Uh no, he doesn’t own a Time Machine like me, but he’s from my times too.” Yunho quickly specifies. “We went to the same school together.” 

Yunho abruptly gets up, searches for something in his backpack. He takes out a small photograph, which he shows to San.

“Class 2134, see?” Yunho points at the photo, where a much younger version of him stands in the middle of other students. The photograph is in high resolution, and shows a class picture. In front of the students, there’s a plaque that definitely states ‘Class of 2134’. 

“Mingi’s the one that always accompanies me during my travels,” Yunho explains, as San continues inspecting the photo, trying to understand if there’s some sign of digital alteration on it. “He’s- he’s kinda my assistant, I guess?”

San looks up, more confused than ever. The mystery of Jeong Yunho is truly neverending.

“Why would you come here from the year 2144 just to work in a convenience store?” he rightfully asks.

“Oh, well, it wasn’t my plan to stay here for so long, actually.” Yunho laughs nervously, knowing his decision might sound foolish. “You see, the thing is… there aren’t many beaches left in 2144, and if there are, they have been eaten whole by garbage and waste. Yeah, the future kinda sucks, I’m sorry. So my plan was simply to go back in time and have a vacation for a month or two here by the ocean, in the year 2026.”

Yunho doesn’t continue his story. San can tell there’s something he wants to say, but doesn’t have the courage to.

“But something happened while you were here, right?” San suggests.

And by Yunho’s pained look in his eyes, he knows he hit the mark this time. 

“Be honest with me, Yunho,” San pleads, with a sigh. “Why did you decide to stay here?”

“Because you were going to kill yourself.”

San takes a step back. He isn’t sure he’s hearing this correctly, or if it’s just his imagination playing tricks on him. Then, the words become clear in his mind, but he still can’t process them, can’t even begin to understand what they truly mean.

“What?” is the only thing that comes out of his mouth, voice nothing but a faint whisper. “I-I never-“

“It happened… Well, actually it will happen in a week. 28th of February,” Yunho sighs. It’s clear it pains him to tell this to San. “What will happen is that I’m walking on the beach in the first hour of the morning and I find you in the sea, floating in the water. I immediately take you out, then call an ambulance. They tell me that you took a bunch of pills and then you blacked out on the beach.”

San has to grab something close by to hold on to, or he fears he might collapse to the floor. What Yunho is saying can’t be true. That never happened. Of course it never happened, what the hell is he saying? It shocks him to the core, but the worst part of it all is he knows Yunho is telling the truth. Because he did think about it, once upon a time.

“I didn’t know… I didn’t know who you were, but somehow I knew I just had to use this chance to help you…” Yunho goes on. “So I went back in time again, just a couple of months, and I started looking for you.”

“So that’s why you already knew my name,” San says, now finally starting to understand everything. He raises his eyes at Yunho. “And you were trying to what? Save me? Cheer me up so I won’t try to kill myself in the near future?”

San doesn’t want to be rude to Yunho, he really doesn’t. But he’s so shocked about everything that’s being revealed to him right now that he can’t process any emotion correctly at the moment.

“No… I- I was trying to befriend you, maybe trying to distract you, I don’t know!” Yunho tries to make sense of what he’s saying. “I even went back further in time and bought the store from the previous owner, so it would be easier for me to find you with a job announcement but… But San, believe me, everything that has happened since then was all real. Everything I told you, and… the way I feel about you…”

“What?” San says, confused and shocked. “How you feel about me?”

“I like you.” 

San stands there, without moving an inch. He thinks right now it would be the best time to run away and forget about these months entirely. 

Maybe Yunho is just a crazy man, and he made an extremely elaborate plan just to get with him. That would be the most logical explanation, but San is probably too in love by this point to make any rational decision.

“San.” Yunho takes a step closer to him, San only looks at him with wide eyes. “I don’t think I will stay here for much longer but… I just thought I had to let you know. You’re the most incredible guy I’ve ever met. If only we met in different circumstances I would have told you in another way. But… Thank you for being my friend.”

Yunho comes closer and San can’t look at him. He looks away, on the wall, outside of the window, anywhere but his eyes. When Yunho leans closer, he leaves a quick peck on San’s cheek. 

“You’re amazing. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”

Yunho leaves the store after that, abandoning San inside. It’s started to rain and Yunho doesn’t even have an umbrella.

Maybe Yunho is just a crazy man.

San’s probably crazier.

“Hey!”

After San’s call, Yunho turns around, surprised.

San starts walking down the street at a fast pace, under the rain, following Yunho. 

“You know, you can’t just come here and decide to change someone else’s future!” San screams angrily. “I’m the one that should make that decision!”

Yunho looks at him for a second, with wide eyes. He looks like he’s about to say something, he’s probably going to apologize, but San doesn’t let him. He takes Yunho’s face between both of his hands and comes impossibly closer.

“And I’ve just made mine.”

He comes forward, and kisses Yunho under the heavy rain. Their lips clash and for a moment it’s all wet, so terribly wet. San ignores it, because when Yunho wraps his hands around his waist, and pulls him closer, he forgets about everything around him immediately. 

He kisses Yunho like it’s the last day on earth, and who knows, maybe it actually is in some sense. Who knows, maybe if two people from different time periods kiss they might create a supernova and destroy the entire universe, who the hell knows the rules to that. Whatever, San thinks. Let the universe end, he’d kiss Yunho another millionth time even if it caused the end of the world.

But the universe doesn’t end. 

Instead, Yunho breaks the kiss and with little to no breath, asks:

“Do you… do you want to go inside?”

The thing about kissing inside a convenience store is that it isn’t comfortable at all. But kissing a man from the future inside a convenience store might be exactly the adventure San was so hopelessly looking for.

They are wet from the rain, but not cold at all. 

Yunho pushes San’s back against a rack, and a rain of chips bags falls down on the floor. Yunho doesn’t stop kissing San even for a moment. 

San breathes into the kiss, and quickly starts taking Yunho’s t-shirt off. He doesn’t take it off in time, because Yunho grabs one of San’s legs and lifts it up. That knocks the breath out of San’s lungs. Their groins start rubbing against each other, and San can only moan while Yunho leaves kisses all over his neck. 

“Wait!” 

San pushes him away. Yunho stares at him, lips all swollen and pink. God, he looks so good like this.

“Before we go any further. You’re not… going away, are you?”

Yunho gives him a long look, and it’s enough for San to know that he means yes with that. 

San sighs and turns away from him, passes a hand through his messy hair trying to take everything in. 

“San, look-” Yunho takes a step closer to him, tries to take his hand but San shows his back to him. “I can’t… I can’t stay in 2026 forever. You know, us time travelers have a very strict protocol. I’ve been here for a few months already. I just can’t stay here.”

“When are you leaving?” San asks, tears already forming in his eyes. 

“March 1st,” Yunho sighs. Fuck, that’s just a few days away “San, I’m really sorry about this- I wish I could have told you another way, at a different time…”

“I’m sorry, I just-“ San doesn’t understand what’s going on. He feels dizzy. “I might need some time alone. Please don’t come by my house.” 

San takes his coat and leaves the store, leaving Yunho behind once again. 

Old habits are hard to get rid of. For the next few days, San closes himself in his shell. It’s just like after Soobin, he lets himself rot in his bed and doesn’t want to do anything. 

Wooyoung and Hongjoong are worried for him. And the worst part is San cannot even explain what’s going on, not in detail at least. How could he explain that the man he’s in love with is from the future and he can’t do anything to stop him from going away forever? How could he, without Hongjoong and Wooyoung thinking he’s gone completely crazy. 

So all San does is say that Yunho has to leave far away very soon, and he can’t do anything about it. 

He receives a postcard one day, on  the 28th of February, the day they supposedly “met” in the future, the day Yunho was going to find San dead. Instead, San decides to stay alive. The postcard shows a location on the beach in Surfer’s Paradise. Behind it it’s written:

I’m leaving at 5 a.m. in case you want to say goodbye. You’ll find me here.

-Y

At first San doesn’t want to show it to Hongjoong and Wooyoung, but they find it anyway. It causes the anger of Wooyoung, in particular.

“So that’s it! The love of your life is leaving and you don’t even want to show up to say goodbye! Unbelievable!”

“He’s not the love of my life,” San mutters. “Why? Why do you care so much?”

Wooyoung crosses his arms in front of his chest. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you always so invested in my love life? You were the one who didn’t even like him! I just don’t understand you sometimes! Just… fucking leave me alone, Wooyoung!” 

“Hey!” Hongjoong snaps, defending Wooyoung. “He does it because he loves you! Because he cares and wants to see you happy. Stop being an asshole.”

San stops as he said. He starts realising how much of an asshole he’s being right now, and probably only because he’s heartbroken. He starts fighting the tears, when he thinks about Yunho leaving in only a few hours.

Wooyoung sighs. “Listen San, I’ve learned a lot of things about love in my years of writing,” he starts, unusually serious. “And one thing I’m sure of, if you let this chance go, you’ll never get it again. After Soobin I never believed I could see you this happy again. But you did it, San! You got over him! And now you have the choice to show up and say goodbye to the person who made it all possible! I know you’re hurting, and I know, I know I’m being a hypocrite right now. But what I’m sure of is that one day, years from now, you’re going to look back at this moment, and you’ll either remember it as the day you hid from the pain or the day you were brave enough to face it. So get up now! Go see him! Because some people only come into our lives once, and moments like this never come back!”

Hongjoong stays silent. San looks up, feeling the tears coming through. 

“I’m sorry, Wooyoung,” San whispers. “I was an asshole to you.”

Wooyoung smiles at him.

“Come here, idiot,” he says, opening his arms wide. San comes closer and hugs him, crying in his arms. 

“We’re going to find him, don’t worry,” Wooyoung reassures him, as he pats his back. “Hongjoong, prepare the car.”

But Hongjoong takes a moment to join the hug, as the three friends stay together in a soft embrace. 

As they’re driving towards Surfer’s Paradise close to 5 am, San is in the backseat trying to find the exact spot where Yunho is supposed to leave from. 

“He should be at a harbour, something with boats?” Hongjoong comments, confused about what San told him. That Yunho is supposed to leave from a random spot on the beach. “How can he leave from the middle of nowhere?”

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” San says. “Yeah, well, uhm, how should I put it? Yunho’s from the future.”

Wooyoung and Hongjoong turn around at the same time. 

“He’s what?” They say in unison. 

“Yeah, well!” San raises his arms. “Nobody’s perfect!”

“Let me tell you, Choi San,” Hongjoong says, glaring at him. “You have the worst taste in men I’ve ever seen.”

“Wait, Woo! Stop the car!” San screams.

Wooyoung hits the breaks abruptly. The car stops and San comes out of it. He’s spotted two people on the deserted beach. As he runs towards them, he realises that it’s Yunho and Mingi. 

Yunho has something in his hand: a tiny metallic orb that San assumes is the Time Machine. The metallic orb has a voice, and it says something about departure being in a few seconds. 

San sprints towards the two, who still haven’t noticed him. Wooyoung and Hongjoong run after him.

“Yunho!” San screams. “Wait!”

Yunho finally catches sight of him. He stops the globe in his hand. 

“San!”

San comes close and hugs him, throwing his arms around his neck. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” San says, holding him close. “I know I’m being selfish, but I need to ask something from you. I want to come with you to the future.”

“What?” Yunho immediately shouts, breaking the hug. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Yes. I know, I know it sounds crazy. But I’ve made my choice. And I’m sure of it this time.”

“But what about everything you’ll leave behind?” Yunho asks worriedly. “San, i-it means you’ll never see them again.”

San turns back to Hongjoong and Wooyoung closeby who are watching everything unfolding, probably confused as hell. 

But San is sure they understand the part where he’s probably going to leave forever. 

“I have no idea what’s going on,” Wooyoung says. “But I know you’re making the right choice. Go with him!”

San almost cries. He comes forward, hugs Hongjoong and Wooyoung, and bursts into tears.

“Guys! Thank you for being the best friends I could ask for,” he exclaims. “Thank you for always being there with me, and always sticking around. I love you both so, so much and I’ll never forget you!”

“That’s gay.”

San ignores Wooyoung’s comment, but also laughs at it, because it’s just… so typically Wooyoung. He notices though, that even though they’re both smiling, their eyes are glittering with tears. He stamps two long pecks on both Hongjoong and Wooyoung’s cheeks and hugs them one last time.

“Be good for me, you two! And… Please use protection!”

“Yunho, it’s almost 5,” Mingi informs him. “We need to go NOW.”

“Yes, we’re going.”

Yunho turns to San and holds his hand, smiling warmly at him. San smiles back.

“Are you sure?”

San nods. “I’m sure.”

“It’s gonna be a bit bumpy,” Yunho informs him. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” San beams at him. “I am ready for the adventure now.”

“Okay. Let’s go home, then.”

They get ready. Mingi, Yunho and San stand close, with Yunho holding the metallic globe, as Hongjoong and Wooyoung stay at a safe distance, watching them.

Ready for departure, the tiny globe says, with its metallic voice. Year of destination: 2144.

Three…

Two…

One…

A blast of light forces Wooyoung and Hongjoong to cover their eyes. Sand comes in their face like hit with a strong wind, and for just a second, they hear a zap. 

When they open their eyes again, San, Yunho and Mingi have completely disappeared. Everything is calm, the sound of the waves the only thing left around them. It’s like they’ve never been there in the first place. 

“Well, that’s it, then!” Wooyoung is the first one to speak. “Goodbye Sanie, you’ll be missed.”

Hongjoong laughs. “I guess. I don’t think he’ll miss us very much now that he has a new boyfriend and a new futuristic home.”

“Damn, I wish I could have a futuristic home as well. Do you think I could ask them to come back, what do you think?”

They start walking side by side on the shore, savouring the soft sunlight in the first hour of the morning.

“Oh, I forgot to ask you something!” Wooyoung says. “Do you want to be my boyfriend?”

“I am honored, Jung Wooyoung is actually asking for something,” Hongjoong giggles. “Yes, you idiot, of course I want to be your boyfriend.”

They keep walking, and as they do, Wooyoung takes Hongjoong’s hand and smiles at him. 

“Great. Now I have a lot of ideas for my new BL.”