stay » hyunghyuk

fourteen

❀

hyungwon walks out of the funeral building.

in the letter minhyuk wrote, he had predicted that hyungwon would be too afraid to attend his funeral; but by sheer defiance, hyungwon proved otherwise by actually going—a decision that surprised even himself. when he saw the shrine with minhyuk's portrait placed in the middle, he had felt something tug at his heart, and he had the urge to turn on his heel and bolt from the scene, but at the same time, it also gave him a sense of calm, as if a part of him knew that there was no choice but to accept the fact that minhyuk was no longer there.

hyungwon lifts his head up to look at the sky, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding rays of the sun (which, somehow, faintly reminds him of a boy with an ever-beaming smile).

the weather is stunningly beautiful.

❀

the usb minhyuk had included inside of the envelope, contained nothing but a video—from the thumbnail, it seemed to be a video of himself, showing hyungwon that it was pre-recorded.

hyungwon connects the video to the televison in his apartment, and sits on the couch in front of it, gathering his feelings and pressing 'play' with a small but fond smile on his lips.

the video is only several minutes long, but by the time it's over, hyungwon's already crying; it's not due to sadness, but something else that he can't explain.

drying his tears, he turns on his computer, starting to look for a good building in daegu near his and minhyuk's house, that could hopefully be refurbished into glass.

❀

it takes some time to convince hoseok, but hyungwon still manages to buy a place that's absolutely perfect for storing and displaying flowers.

speaking of hoseok, upon reading the letter, hyungwon had admitted to him that he had endlessly doubted their relationship, and that he'd like it if they could start over. with watery eyes, hoseok nodded a tearful yes, and together, they worked towards a genuine and proper relationship, where they no longer had to bicker over one particular person not cutting clean ties with his past lover. and hyungwon, of course, despite having a new relationship, swore to never forget the boy who used to be fascinated by the language of flowers.

it's a lot of work, but with the eager help of hyunwoo, it doesn't take long for them to complete the task of planting enough colorful flowers to fill up the entire glass-walled greenhouse. the local residents also loved to walk around in it, appreciating the beauty of the flowers and educating themselves in its language. whenever hyungwon's filming schedule is slightly emptier, he would come to daegu and see how the flowers are doing, and visit his old home as well.

inside of the house, everything is the way it used to be; the only difference is that there's no longer a boy full of love waiting for hyungwon at the door when he walks in, and he doesn't get wrapped in a crushing hug. to be honest, he misses it. but life goes on. it has to—no matter how long he grieves, or dwells in the past, there would still be a day where he inevitably had to pick himself up, dust himself off, and keep on walking forward.

hyungwon walks into the bedroom, with the framed photo still on the desk next to it. his heart stops for half a second when he sees minhyuk's smile, and his lips stretch into one as well.

right when he's about to turn around to head back downstairs, the corner of his eye catches a glimpse of something that wasn't there before. he steps closer, and sees that it's a polaroid photo—the vintage-looking filter on it already makes hyungwon feels an immense wave of nostalgia.

then, picking it up carefully, he remembers when minhyuk had taken it; it was on the fifth day, while they were at the amusement park. after they had bought a pair of matching animal-ear headbands, minhyuk had insisted they go one more time on the spinning teacups, to 'capture a memory'.

in the polaroid, hyungwon and minhyuk are sitting together, the latter leaning his head on the former's shoulder. hyungwon can practically hear the laughter and music from that day echoing in his ears; both of their eyes are squeezed shut and corners of their lips pulled up into euphoric grins. the background is a blurred canvas like an oil painting, consisting of mostly black and brown multicolored streaks, plus bright-white speckles from the lights.

in the bottom section of the polaroid where it's white, there's words written in black marker, obviously the work of minhyuk. reading it, a warm feeling blooms in hyungwon's chest, and it's almost like minhyuk himself is hidden in between the ink of the letters, energetic and lively as he had always been, ever since hyungwon's first day of university.

'let's stay happy!'

the end.