Return of the Moon Man

Understanding

"keep your eyes shut!" Seungwoo warned from the kitchen as he lit a 25 cake topper candle. Seungwoo carefully stepped into the dining area where his boyfriend squirmed impatiently in his seat.

"Okay open! Happy birthday" he announced, pulling out his cellphone in order to capture the moment.

"I told you that you didn't have to go through all this trouble" Seungyoun pouted but couldn't help but smile at the galaxy themed cake. He shut his eyes and began to decide on what his wish was going to be this year.

'Hangyul return home safely' he repeated in his head for the third year in a row.

Seungyoun blew out the candles and stood up to properly thank Seungwoo for spoiling him once again. He snaked his arms around Seungwoo's neck and pulled him in for a sweet kiss. Seungwoo responded by wrapping his arm around Seungyoun's waist and whispered into his ear.

"I have a surprise for you"

Seungwoo grabbed Seungyoun's hand and led him upstairs, until they were standing beneath the attic entrance.

"You're showing me our attic ?" Seungyoun raised his brow as Seungwoo pulled down the wooden ladder and gestured for Seungyoun to enter first.

"Just get up there" Seungwoo groaned.

Seungyoun rolled his eyes playfully and headed upstairs, greeted by a completely new and decorated room. The room had Seungwoo's chalkboard and various projects lying around. Along with a brand new telescope, Seungyoun noticed a desk in the corner with a familiar cloth draped over it.

"Is that.."

"I had Yohan help me bring it over" Seungwoo explained as he draped his arm around Seungyoun, "I figured you'd want to start checking the messages again since it has been almost three years now."

"Seungwoo this is great but there's no news this seems pointless and I dont want to hurt you by-"

"Hey" Seungwoo cupped Seungyoun's face in his hands, "I did this for you. Its not going to hurt me I promise."

Seungyoun gave in and nodded as he took a few steps closer to the computer.

"Ill give you a moment, i'm going to go shower" Seungwoo smiled and made his way back downstairs.

Seungyoun gulped as he tore off the cloth and looked at the familiar equipment. The pain from three years ago now revisited him. He knew the space station had not been in contact with their space craft for a while now, and all they ever heard was that the shuttle was online, just not in radar yet.

The first thought that came into Seungyoun's mind when he heard those words were how much food could they have left ? When will be the day they eventually run out of oxygen ? These thoughts ate him up almost everyday that it began messing with his sleep patterns once again.

Seungyoun switched on the computer and exhaled deeply as it began booting up and searched for a connection.

Nothing.

His eyes followed the tracker as it beeped, only able to pick up random satellites instead of any sign of a space craft. The message bar still showed the last few messages that they sent the night Hangyul had lost contact.

"You promised you'd come back you moron" Seungyoun muttered and reached into his pocket, pulling out the NASA pin Hangyul had gifted him.

Seungyoun sighed and threw the cloth back onto the computer and walked over to the brand new telescope that pointed straight out of the circular attic window. They were lucky enough to buy a house that sat on high terrain, and were able to get a good view of the sun rising and resting on the horizon.

Seungyoun adjusted the settings on the telescope and peered through the looking glass, astounded by the clarity it provided as well as an accurate navigation system unlike the one he used back at the observatory.

"At least this will come in handy soon enough, I just need to get a bigger lens" He pursed his lips and jotted down a few notes in his memo pad.

He switched off the attic lights and made his way back downstairs, heading for the bedroom. Seungyoun was greeted by Seungwoo who was already tucked into bed with his reading glasses and one of his recent book purchases.

"Found anything?" Seungwoo asked sweetly as Seungyoun threw himself onto the bed and snuggled closer to him.

"Not really, the telescope is amazing though thank you" Seungyoun cooed, placing a soft peck on Seungwoo's chest.

"Glad you like it I just want you to still do what you love" Seungwoo replied, stroking Seungyoun's hair.

"hmm?" Seungyoun mumbled.

"Astrophysics, its your hobby remember ? that's how you met me"

"right" Seungyoun chuckled nervously and rolled off the bed in order to change into his sleepwear.

Seungwoo cocked his head as he brought himself up to a seated position and watched as his boyfriend avoided the conversation.

"It was your hobby right Seungyoun ?" He questioned.

"Yeah of course thats why I called you" Seungyoun shrugged and disappeared into the bathroom to wash his face.

Seungwoo knew when Seungyoun purposely avoided a subject and usually the reasoning would be it was related to Hangyul. He pressed his lips together and thought back to when Yohan first texted him and the dates following with Seungyoun. He never really questioned why Seungyoun was interested in astrophysics even after he found out about Hangyul. He assumed Hangyul was an engineer of course because that would be the reason he would even be an astronaut in the first place, but in some special cases they did hire people with different expertise.

"Seungyoun, did Hangyul major in astrophysics ?" Seungwoo asked in a small voice when Seungyoun finally emerged from the bathroom.

"Yeah he did" Seungyoun simply replied.

"That was all for ...him ?" Seungwoo felt hurt. He thought it may not be a big deal since they did get along despite the tutoring, but it still hurt that he was doing everything for someone else.

"I got into it on my own, but maybe it was for him, shit Seungwoo its been years can we let it go ? I dont even know why you would bring that stupid computer anyway" Seungyoun snapped.

Seungwoo nodded. He knew the computer set up could of triggered him because of the last memory linked with it, but he also knew that Seungyoun needed it. Every night he would hear him sob, whisper Hangyul's name and Seungwoo would have to pretend as if everything was okay.

"Im sorry" Seungwoo apologized. He did not have the energy for this nor did he want this to turn sour very quickly. Instead he turned off his reading light and slid back into the covers hoping to just fall asleep.

Seungyoun too knew it was better to just walk away than create a problem neither of them wanted.

"Im gonna go for a drive, I'll see you at breakfast" He murmured, grabbing his coat and headed out into the winter night to try and clear his mind.