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1.
The first time it happens, Minho thinks he’s hallucinating.
And who could blame him? Any sane person would assume the same. Then again, any sane person wouldn’t believe the situation in the first place.
It goes like this:
Minho lets his friends convince him to go clubbing with them, despite the fact that he’s already made plans with a book that he’s been meaning to read for like twenty years. But his friends are rather convincing, with Seungmin’s puppy dog eyes, Jisung’s whining, and Changbin’s charming ass smile. So, he goes.
He goes and sits at the bar and gets a drink while his friends all go out to the dance floor.
And that’s all fine, in fact, he thinks he might join them once he finishes his drink. The music is shaking the floor and rattling his ribcage and it’s fun – in theory. He’s been in his fair share of clubs in his life, more than his friends for sure, and he knows how these things go. And he’s long since learned to go with the flow.
And then it happens.
Jisung comes back to sit with him at the bar, grinning ear to ear, ready to pull him out onto the dance floor with him. Minho’s laughing, nodding his head along with whatever Jisung is saying, turning to stand and be led out to dance. And he would have except –
Except he sees a face in the crowd that he would recognize anywhere despite the years separating him from the last time he saw it.
Sharp eyes crinkled at the corners from a laugh, plump lips pulled into a pretty smile. Strong brow exposed from his blond – not black, not anymore – hair pulled back by a headband. He would recognize Hwang Hyunjin from anywhere.
Minho only sees him for a split second.
Minho only sees him for a split second but it’s long enough to have him freezing in his spot. His blood running cold and a sudden cold sweat breaking out across his forehead and the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He’s not laughing anymore.
“Hyung?” Jisung calls over the blaring music, suddenly concerned. “Hyung, are you okay?”
No.
“What?” Minho forces out, he’s breathless. Or, more so, he can’t breathe.
“Are you alright?” Jisung says, his hand resting gently on his shoulder, “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
And Jisung doesn’t even know how accurate that statement is.
“I think I’m going to throw up.” Is what Minho lands on saying. “I need some air.”
“Okay, let’s go get some air,” Jisung nods.
“No, I’m okay on my own.” Minho forces himself to smile, “You go have fun, I’ll be fine.”
Jisung pauses, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m just gonna get an uber.” Minho nods. “Have a good time don’t worry about me I think I just ate something bad at dinner.”
He doesn’t know how to explain himself right now. It would be better if he had a moment to himself. So, he lies. It’s fine.
Jisung’s eyebrows pitch in worry but Minho urges him to go find Seungmin and Changbin in the crowd. And eventually, Jisung does go, and he’s sure to explain to their friends that Minho’s going home.
He can’t stay there. He needs to get out of there.
--
Here’s the thing; seeing an ex isn’t an uncommon experience. He’s sure most people experience it at least once or twice in their lives.
But Minho isn’t most people, and Hyunjin wasn’t just some ex.
Surely Minho’s brain was just playing tricks on him. He just saw someone with similar features and in a moment of absolute sadistic insanity, his mind conjured up an image he used to know like the back of his hand. Because there’s no way it was actually Hyunjin. it’s literally impossible for it to have been Hyunjin.
Hyunjin’s been gone for over a hundred years.
As Minho begins digging through the depths of his closet, looking for that little old box he’s carried around with him for the past several lives he’s lived he convinces himself that it was a hallucination at best.
Because here’s where no sane person would believe the situation:
The fact of the matter is, Minho’s been alive a lot longer than anyone would reasonably believe. Like… a lot longer. He’s lost track of how many times he’s had to leave his home and start a new life because he hasn’t aged alongside his peers.
The only word he can come up with to describe himself is immortal. Not that he goes around giving that information out in the first place. There’s no one out there that knows. There’s no one else like him either – as far as he’s aware.
So, Minho’s not like most people.
And Hyunjin being in that club tonight? Impossible.
Finally, with shaky hands, Minho finds the box and pulls it out. Slowly he eases it open – how long has it been since he looked at its contents? He doesn’t look at it every time he restarts, though he thinks about it. It’s been maybe ten years or so. It used to not hurt so much to look through the box, time healing the ache in his chest that comes along with opening the box just a little bit.
But tonight is different.
Tonight, his brain made him think Hyunjin was there and alive and in his proximity. Tonight, he’s close to tears for the first time in almost fifty years as he gently, ever so gently, slips one of the few photographs out of the box. They’re in pretty good condition considering that they’re over a hundred years old. He could probably get them restored, but he’s scared to have them out of his possession.
The thing is, he doesn’t have a lot of Hyunjin left. Just whatever he keeps in the box. Three pictures, grainy and old as cameras are, a few letters Hyunjin wrote him in his slightly messy handwriting – and a ring.
Hyunjin was the most beautiful person Minho has ever seen – still is after all these years. Despite the quality of the old photo, Minho can still see in perfect detail his sharp eyes, his plump lips his soft cheeks, and his strong brow. Even the little mole under his eye is visible.
Minho hadn’t even realized he’s been holding his breath until he exchanges the photo with the ring and slowly, carefully, slipped it back over his ring finger. A shaky exhale as it sits perfectly snug around his digit. Right where it belongs.
How long has it been since he’s worn it? Why had he taken it off in the first place? He doesn’t know the answer to either question.
He remembers the day he got it, he and Hyunjin had decided they wanted something together – despite the views on two men together back then. So, Minho had gone out on his own and bought the matching rings, and Hyunjin had smiled so wide and kissed him so fiercely that Minho can almost still feel it after all these years.
Minho doesn’t know how long he stays sitting on the floor in his dimly lit closet just staring at the ring hugging his finger. He doesn’t know how long he replays the moment he saw his face in the crowd. He doesn’t know if he cries or if the pressure headache he gets is from exhaustion. He doesn’t know what the fuck happened tonight.
Hyunjin has never been just some ex – he was the only person Minho ever loved. He is the only person Minho will probably ever love again.
The fact that he saw someone that couldn’t have been there makes him sick. He must have been a hallucination. He must have been.
2.
The second time is a little more innocuous though still incredibly jarring.
Minho got plenty of questions after he disappeared from the club. He did his best to circle around them without outright lying to his worried friends. He did suddenly get nauseous, and he did need to get out of there before he threw up all over the bar. There wasn’t anything for them to worry about. He didn’t tell him he was fine because he was definitely still rattled but that was beside the point. It’s easy enough to ease their worries over lunch the next day – treating the three of them to lunch to make up for ditching them the night before.
They all seemed to drop it as they deemed him to be okay enough. The only question left was:
“Hey, Hyung,” Changbin asks, eyeing his hand with a little tilt of his head, “What’s with the ring?”
Minho finds himself blinking owlishly. He hadn’t expected to be questioned on it – after all most of them wear their fair share of accessories. “This?” he twists the band around his finger. It’s so simple and plain he’s shocked anyone even noticed it. “I’ve had it forever, I just thought I should start wearing it again, is all.”
He likes the weight on his finger. It makes him feel more grounded than he’s been in years.
Seungmin joins then, leaning over the table to get a better look, “It looks ancient.”
Well, it is over a hundred years old and it’s not like he’s exactly worn it recently. Minho has to hold back a snort. “Yeah, like I said, I’ve had it forever.”
“It’s kind of tarnished…” Jisung frowns, “I bet you could take it to a jeweler and get it cleaned up,”
“What’s with the sudden interrogation of my fucking ring?” Minho chuckles, a little uncomfortably, holding his hands up in surrender, “It’s old, I found it in an old box in my closet. I can probably clean it myself.”
Minho silently thanks whatever God there is that it’s then that their lunch comes out of the kitchen just then and their waitress is setting their food down in front of them. It effectively changes the subject for the moment.
Of course, Minho can’t escape for long. Soon enough Jisung had brought up the fact that he had a date coming up with some guy, asking for advice and ideas for dates. And Changbin and Minho start teasing him, while Seungmin offers actual ideas and suggestions – even citing what he and Changbin did when they first started dating – which effectively turned the teasing towards Changbin. Minho laughs easily.
It’s easy until Jisung sort of purses his lips at him, a curious little tilt to his head – similar to Changbin’s expression when he asked about the ring earlier. Great. Here they go again.
“Now that I think of it,” Jisung starts, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Minho hyung go on a date.”
“Me either,” Changbin hums, “What’s up with that, Hyung?”
Minho shrugs, “Just not over my ex is all.” and that is the truth. He tried dating, around twenty years ago, but it was still too painful. So, he just gave up on it. plain and simple.
“Your ex?” Seungmin blinks, shocked, “We’ve known you for years! What ex?”
“We were together a whole lifetime ago.” Minho snorts, “Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, if it was that long ago maybe you should try getting back out there!” Changbin suggests. “They say that rebounds really do help you get over someone.”
“Tried that already.” Minho waves his hand dismissively. “Didn’t work.”
“Damn, what kind of hold did this guy have on you if you’re still not over him?” Jisung teases, trying to lighten the mood.
“Some loves only come once in a lifetime.” Minho just sighs, and looks out the window they’re sat by, “Mine came and went and that’s all.”
“Well, fuck, dude.” Jisung breathes out. “I don’t really have a good response to that.”
And Minho feels a little bad for the way he puts it, but they brought it up first! It’s not totally on him! He honestly feels worse about what happens next.
He knows that Seungmin is saying something right then. He knows it, he heard his friend start saying “That’s-” but after that, he has no clue what he said. A sudden ringing in Minho’s ears cutting Seungmin’s sentence off when, again, Minho sees Hyunjin’s face in the crowd. Walking directly outside the window of the restaurant. He feels bad because his body reacts on its own – Minho’s on his feet before he can even properly process what’s happening.
And then he’s running out the door in a poor attempt at catching him – at least he thinks that’s what the plan was. He doesn’t know.
Just as soon as he appeared, Hyunjin was lost to the crowd again.
What is happening? Why does it keep happening?
A hand claps down on his shoulder and Minho jumps, knocking himself out of the daze he was in. Changbin’s confused face is what greets him when he turns to look at the source of the hand.
“Hyung?” Changbin frowns, “What was that about?”
“I don’t know.” Minho blinks. “I just – I don’t know. I think I’m losing my mind.”
Maybe he’s been alive for so long that everything is finally breaking, and the mind is the first to go. What other explanation is there?
3.
It’s been a few weeks since the last incident. Minho hasn’t seen anyone that even vaguely resembled Hyunjin, let alone seen the man out and about. And Minho’s willing to call it an isolated incident of hallucination. His friends didn’t pry when they noticed how shaken he was about it, thank God. He doesn’t think he even gave an explanation, just sat down and listened to his friends try to pick a normal conversation back up.
But it’s been weeks since then, and Minho still hasn’t figured out why his brain was suddenly conjuring Hyunjin like that. He wonders if he should even be thinking about it still. Maybe it’s better to just forget about it.
Just as he’s ready to let it all go, it happens again.
He’s alone this time, luckily, doing this week’s worth of grocery shopping. It should be simple, easy, calming even.
The store was mostly empty, with just a few other patrons around but Minho is able to go around without worrying about running into anyone.
Which might be why what happens next is so perplexing.
This time Minho hears him first. Two aisles over, he overhears a conversation between two other customers.
“Do you think we should pick up sugar too?” the first guy asks, “I know it’s not on Lix hyung’s list but…”
“Have you seen his kitchen? He’s fine on sugar, trust me.” a laugh from the second voice – and Minho stops in the middle of grabbing a new box of cereal. His hand frozen in mid-air just shy of the shelf.
It’s been a hundred years, but just like Minho can recognize his face, he can still remember the pretty ring of Hyunjin’s voice. He still knows the sound of his laugh better than his own.
Again, Minho’s brain is telling him that Hyunjin is there. Again, Minho feels like he’s going insane. He can’t let it get the better of him again. He just can’t.
Slowly, Minho grabs the cereal he was going for and slowly, deliberately makes his way to the registers. He has to pass the aisle the voices are coming from as he does, and he forces himself not to look. He keeps his eyes straight ahead. And sure, he sees movement from the corner of his eye, the taller of the two figures sort of jerking in his peripherals, but he doesn’t look. He just keeps walking.
He pretends he doesn’t hear the conversation that follows after him being:
“Hyung?” the first voice calls, “Hyunjin hyung? Are you okay?”
“What?” Hyunjin’s voice comes out breathless, like how Minho felt at the club, “What?”
“You look like you just saw a ghost, Hyunjin hyung.”
Huh, déjà vu.
It’s a coincidence. This is all a coincidence. He has to tell himself that to stop his hands from trembling.
--
The next time Minho sees his friends is two days later. The plan was to have dinner and a movie night at Changbin and Seungmin’s apartment, and all three of them are lounging on the couch by the time he walks through the door.
“I have a hypothetical question.” He announces in lieu of greeting them, planting himself in the old recliner.
“Hello to you too.” Jisung snorts, sitting up properly, “What’s up?”
“Okay, so, say you’re like…” Minho hesitates, this would be the first time he’s even hinted at who he really is – to anyone. Honestly, he doesn’t know if this is the best course of action, but Hyunjin is haunting him. So, fuck it. “Say you’re immortal and –”
“Oh, this is actually hypothetical.” Seungmin chuckles, “I thought this was gonna be one of those fake hypotheticals where it’s a real situation.”
“Shut up,” Minho frowns, “I need serious answers.”
Seungmin lifts his hands in surrender, and Changbin laughs patting his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Go on Hyung,” Changbin says. “Say we’re immortal, then what?”
“Okay, so say you’re immortal. Like, been around for a thousand years, gonna be around for a thousand more kind of immortal. And you had this boyfriend like a hundred years ago.” Minho starts absent-mindedly twisting the ring around his finger. He hasn’t taken it off since he put it back on. “The real love of your life. Once in a lifetime kind of love.”
“Okay,” Jisung nods.
“But you broke up, a hundred years ago. He was just a normal guy, and you’ve definitely outlived him several times over by now. Like you know he’s gone.” He doesn’t know if his voice sounds as frantic as he feels.
“What’s the question here?” Seungmin asks.
“But you keep seeing him.” Minho continues unperturbed, “You’ve seen his face in the crowd, heard his voice in the grocery store.” His friends are giving him a weird look, but he can’t stop now. “What do you think that means? Would you think you were going crazy?”
“Well,” Changbin sighs, breaking the stretch of silence after the question was asked. “I think I’d just assume that somehow my ex was also immortal.”
“What?” Minho’s brow furrows, “No, but you’ve only just started seeing him around. Like in the past few months, not years.”
“Yeah, I agree with Bin hyung,” Seungmin shrugs, “He was probably just living somewhere else and recently moved to the area.”
“No, but – but…” Minho feels bile rising in his throat. That makes sense. It does. But Minho’s never met another immortal. And if Hyunjin is also immortal then why did they break up so long ago? Why did Minho mourn the loss of someone so important to him? He’s spent all this time thinking Hyunjin was dead. “I’m gonna be sick.”
He doesn’t wait for his friends to respond before he practically launches himself out of his seat and makes a beeline for the restroom. He feels powerless as he empties his stomach, his sides hurt from heaving until it’s nothing but dry sobs escaping him. Somewhere along the way, Jisung followed him to pat his back, he’s pretty sure Changbin is standing in the doorway as well, and if he listens, he’s sure he can hear Seungmin in the kitchen searching through their cupboards. But none of that matters because he’s pretty sure he’s having a genuine panic attack right now.
Eventually, Jisung helps him up from the floor, and Changbin hands him a small cup of mouthwash. And Minho follows the gentle instructions from his friends on what to do despite his shaking hands. They lead him back to the living room, help him sit back down, and Seungmin hands him a sports drink. His head is spinning, his hands are shaking. What is happening?
“Hyung, are you okay?” Jisung asks softly, still rubbing his back soothingly.
Minho just shakes his head. No, he’s not okay.
“What’s going on, Hyung?” Seungmin asks, “What’s actually on your mind?”
Minho takes a couple of slow sips of the sports drink before he answers. A slow, trembling breath, and then “What are you supposed to do when your ex is haunting you?”
“He’s haunting you?” Jisung frowns, “What does that mean?”
“I keep seeing him.” Minho feels like he’s going to start crying, “In the crowds, at the store. He’s everywhere but – it’s impossible for him to be here.”
There’s this long pause. It’s uncomfortable, and Minho keeps his head down.
“Hyung,” Changbin says, “What did your hypothetical mean?”
Minho doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t know what he’s even supposed to say. Jisung’s hand on his back stops rubbing the slow circles.
“Was it really hypothetical?” Seungmin asks carefully.
Minho slowly lifts his head and makes weary eye contact with his friend. It sounds insane. He knows it does. Who in their right mind would believe he’s immortal? Who in their right mind would stay friends with him after he told them something so outlandish? There’s another long pause, his three friends all looking at each other, having a silent conversation amongst themselves and Minho just sips at the energy drink in his hand. And then, Seungmin nods and sits down, Jisung’s gently soothing circles on his back start back up, and Changbin-
“Tell us about your once in a lifetime love, Hyung,” Changbin sighs. “Or at least what you remember about him from – a hundred years ago, was it?”
“I remember everything about him.” Minho huffs a little laugh. “Hyunjinnie was the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen.”
He’s grateful that he has friends that are willing to listen. He spends the whole night telling them about Hyunjin and the years they spent together. About how Minho was willing to stay around and watch Hyunjin grow older because he couldn’t bring himself to leave him. He tells the about the day Hyunjin left him, the reason being a sickly family member that he had to take care of. He tells them about how he stayed longer than he should have in the town, just in case Hyunjin ever came back.
It feels a lot lighter to get it off his chest.
4.
The fourth time it happens, he’s just a little more prepared for it. He’s come to accept the possibility that maybe Hyunjin really is still out there. That maybe there are other immortals too. He can’t say he’s handling the news all that well, but he’s come to accept it at least.
That being said, it doesn’t make the situation any easier. In fact, it might make it worse. He almost wishes that he was hallucinating, that would make it less complicated.
It’s been a month since he told his friends everything, and it’s been weirdly normal. His friends aren’t acting strange around him – in fact, everything is mostly normal, besides the fact that they’ve all started calling him an old man. And it’s weird but largely welcome. Life has been going on as it usually does.
And then Jisung wants them all to meet his new boyfriend, and that’s also fine, exciting even. That’s not the problem.
It happens on the subway - he and Seungmin are meeting Jisung and his boyfriend for lunch and Seungmin for some god-awful reason thought the subway would be the best way to get to the restaurant. Minho’s never been one for it but it’s easier not to argue over something so trivial. And it starts fine, it’s only a couple stops away and Minho and Seungmin spend the whole ride bickering over something stupid because that’s just how they enjoy their time together. The issue only presents itself when they actually get off the train car.
There’s always a crowd, and briefly, he and Seungmin get separated while getting off. And then he bumps into someone boarding.
On instinct, Minho apologizes, just a simple “Oh! Sorry.” Turning to look at who he ran into.
“No, it was my fault!” the other says, and – it’s Hyunjin. Of course, it’s Hyunjin. He keeps talking before he even fully turns to look at him “I’m sorry-” he cuts himself off the moment they make eye contact and they both freeze in place. Minho watches Hyunjin’s eyes widen, jaw dropping “Minho?” his voice trembles. Like he’s shocked to see him. Maybe he is. Maybe he feels exactly how Minho felt the last few times he saw him in the crowd.
“Hyunjin.” Minho breathes out. He feels lightheaded.
And then the train doors shut, and the subway starts rolling, taking Hyunjin away again and leaving Minho on the platform. They don’t break eye contact until the train takes Hyunjin out of sight.
Minho knows he doesn’t stand there for more than a moment before Seungmin finds him again, a tap on his shoulder bringing him back to the present.
“Hey hyung,” Seungmin raises a brow at him, “Did someone just say your name?”
“Yeah,” Minho swallows down his emotions threatening to break free, “Hyunjin did.”
Seungmin blinks at him. and Minho can only sigh, “Let’s get going.”
--
Jisung’s new boyfriend is nice – all smiles and dimples. Jeongin laughs at Jisung’s jokes, even the really bad ones and he seems to pick up on Seungmin’s sarcasm pretty fast. In the short amount of time that Minho’s known Jeongin, he decides he likes him well enough. Good first impression. But there’s something so familiar about the younger boy’s voice, he can’t quite place it.
He feels a little bad that he isn’t more active in the conversation but seeing Hyunjin on the train paired with the inkling of knowing Jeongin’s voice is just overwhelming his brain to properly communicate.
It’s not until Jisung and Seungmin go off to get the four of them fresh drinks that he and Jeongin actually talk.
It’s a little awkward and stilted, just because they obviously don’t know each other, and Minho isn’t exactly the most talkative today.
But Jeongin tries, a hesitant little “I um, I like your ring, Minho-ssi.”
“Oh, thanks,” Minho chuckles, automatically going to twist it around his finger, “I’ve had it for like a hundred years.”
“That’s funny,” Jeongin grins at him, “My friend has a really similar one and he said the exact same thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I keep asking him where he got it but,” Jeongin shrugs, “He said someone important gave it to him a long time ago, but I feel like he would still know where its from even if it was a gift. Especially since he never takes it off.”
“I don’t know about that,” Minho says, “I don’t even remember the name of the place I got mine. I think it closed?”
Jeongin hums, “I just think Hyunjin hyung is gatekeeping it from me.” he jokes. Very obviously aiming to get a laugh from Minho. And it does, only because Minho forces one out. It sounds natural enough.
Internally though Minho’s stomach starts twisting and knotting. It all clicks into place right then.
Jeongin’s voice sounds so familiar because it was the voice from the grocery store before. And then it processes that Hyunjin still wears his ring. What does that mean? What is he supposed to do with that information?
He’s lucky that Seungmin and Jisung come back right then. He doesn’t have to keep up the conversation when the other two are around. It gives him time to mull over the new realization that Jisung is dating someone who is friends with his ex.
5.
He has about two weeks to process his emotions and organize his thoughts before the next incident.
Maybe two weeks wasn’t really enough time for him to reach a conclusion though. He’s been working through some fucked up version of the stages of grief and right now he’s in the anger stage.
No, anger doesn’t quite cover it. Right now, he’s pissed.
All this time Hyunjin’s been alive. Not only that but he’s still wearing his ring. After he left Minho.
That’s the thing that gets him. Hyunjin left Minho and ran away. And sure, Minho gets it, immortals had to leave after a certain amount of time so no one would catch on. But wouldn’t it be different if they loved someone? Wouldn’t they stay as long as possible? Would they tell their loved one? Minho was willing to do that. But Hyunjin hadn’t.
No, Hyunjin had faked a letter from a fake family member and left him and never came back.
It’s been a hundred years and Minho is still upset about the breakup, apparently. Any closure he had before has been torn from him, so he has to relive it all over again in a new light.
So. He’s pissed. Sue him.
His friends… sort of understand. They don’t fully get it but they’re doing their best to cheer him up. It’s a weird situation – there’s no protocol for what to do when your immortal friend suddenly discovers not only are there other immortals out there but one of them is his ex-boyfriend. So, Minho doesn’t hold it against them that they’re reasonably flustered by comforting him.
That’s all well and good – but Minho really doesn’t want to go to the bar and meet Jisung’s boyfriend’s other friends, nor does he want to go out to another club with them. He also doesn’t want to go to said friend’s party, but Changbin said they’d only go for like an hour, and there would be so many people there that no one would even notice Minho moping around.
So, he lets them drag him out of his apartment again and really, he thinks he needs to stop agreeing to this shit.
They’re there for about a half hour before it all comes to a head.
He does get introduced to Chan and Felix, the hosts of the party, and Jeongin’s other two best friends. Luckily for Minho, they’ve apparently lost Hyunjin to the crowd but “they can get introduced another time” according to Felix. Minho just gives him a tight-lipped smile at the prospect. He wonders how long he can avoid Hyunjin at this point.
The answer is twenty-two minutes.
He’s in the kitchen talking to Changbin when he glances up to look out at the rest of the party raging in the living room and there he is. Hyunjin laughing with Jeongin and Jisung and Seungmin just a room away from him.
In the same moment, Minho spots him, Hyunjin also happens to look his way. He watches Hyunjin do a double take, his smile dropping off his face as he stares at him wide-eyed.
It’s weird – the way they hold eye contact for so long. It’s like everything else around them just stopped, it’s just the two of them alone right now. Neither of them wants to be the one to break eye contact and have the moment stop. Minho doesn’t even know if he’s still breathing anymore. The whole world has melted around them – until a group of people passes between them and they lose sight of each other.
The moment is over and Minho immediately drops to the floor to hide behind the counter separating the two rooms.
“Hyung?” Changbin blinks down at him, “What’s up?”
“I need your car keys.” Minho holds his hand out to him, “I need to get out of here right now. I’m gonna go hide in your back seat.”
Changbin furrows his brow “Why?”
“I just – I can't stay here,” Minho says, he’s almost positive Hyunjin’s going to come in here any second now. “Your keys.”
“Hyung I-”
“Seo Changbin!” Minho begs, his voice finally betraying him and giving off how frantic he feels, “Please.”
Changbin’s mouth clicks shut at that, and he digs his keys out of his pocket and drops them into Minho’s waiting hand.
“Thank you.” He breathes, already moving to rush out of the room, “I’ll explain later.”
He just barely makes it out of the room before he hears Changbin’s name.
“Oh Changbin-ssi, hi” he can hear Hyunjin’s little awkward laugh. “Were you just talking to someone?”
“Hm?” Changbin answers, “Oh yeah, just Minho hyung, he just left though.”
“Minho hyung…” Hyunjin responds, Minho can’t quite tell what emotion it is he picks up in his voice. “I see.”
Minho doesn’t wait around to hear the rest of the conversation. He can’t face Hyunjin right now. So he makes a beeline for the door and doesn’t look back until he’s in the elevator down to the floor level of the apartment complex.
Is it a cowardly move to run away like this? Maybe. Does Minho care? Decidedly not.
He’ll deal with all of this later.
Later though. Not now. Not while he’s still pissed off.
His shoes echo in the empty apartment lobby as he hurries out to get to Changbin’s car outside when he hears the elevator chime as it starts going back up. It might be an overreaction, but in that moment, he can’t fight the urge to start running – so he does. He knows exactly where they parked earlier, and he knows exactly how far away he needs to be before he can unlock it.
He practically dives into the back seat when he finally makes it to the car, slamming the door behind him. He peaks out from his hiding spot in the backseat to see if he was right to have panicked like that.
It takes about ten seconds before Hyunjin is barreling out the doors behind him completely out of breath. His hands on his knees as he kneels over to catch his breath, his head whipping in both directions as she frantically looks down both sides of the street. He shouldn’t be out of breath if he just came from the elevator so – so did he run down the stairs? Minho can’t think of any other reason for it.
There’s a pang of guilt in his chest as he watches Hyunjin sit on the steps of the apartment building and press his forehead into his knees. His arms wrapped around his legs in an attempt to make himself smaller and comfort himself. Minho knows how he feels, he really does. Which makes it hard to not get out of the car to go talk.
But Minho knows himself, and he knows he’d say something he doesn’t mean if he went right now. He needs to get past the anger part of all of this because if he doesn’t, he’ll only make the situation worse.
It doesn’t take very long, only about two minutes, before Felix is following Hyunjin outside with a concerned little tilt of his head. Minho watches them talk for a moment and then he watches as Hyunjin hesitantly lets Felix pull him to his feet and back into the building. Hyunjin looks down the street a couple more times as he’s being dragged back inside.
All at once the anger dissipates and he’s just left sad.
Aren’t there steps to the stages of grief? Shouldn’t there be one between anger and depression? He’s pretty sure there should be but, at that moment, he’s skipped it.
+1.
So, Changbin knows. He couldn’t avoid explaining his freak out to him. He can feel the judgment from his friend as he recounts exactly what he was going through at that moment.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Minho whines.
He knows, okay? He knows exactly how ridiculous it is.
“How are you like a million years old but you don’t know how to behave like a normal functioning human?” Changbin levels him with a flat look, “Just, I don’t know, talk to the guy?”
Minho groans. He doesn’t even know what to say to Hyunjin. He doesn’t know where to start, what to lead with, or what any of this means. He doesn’t want to initiate a conversation.
There’s a long pause and then Changbin sighs.
“I was gonna hold off on telling you because I thought it’d be funny to see your reactions but,” Changbin pats him sympathetically on the shoulder, “I don’t think I should jump you when you’re like this.”
Minho eyes him wearily, “Tell me what?”
“Jisungie really wants us all to be friends with Jeongin and his friends.” Changbin says carefully, “They’re getting so serious and, well, the few times Seungmin and I have hung out with them we’ve all gotten along. We think you’d fit in with them too.”
“Okay…?”
“And apparently your Hyunjin and Jeongin’s Hyunjin are the same person – which Seungmin and Jisung still don’t know by the way.” Changbin continues. Minho just raises a brow at him, urging him to continue with the train of thought. “So, by extension, Hyunjin would be a part of us all being friends.” Another pause, “What I’m getting at is that if we all start hanging out – you’re gonna have to be around him.”
“Not if I skip all group hangouts from now on!”
“Minho hyung.”
Minho frowns. It’s kind of bullshit that Changbin sounds so strict right now – like he’s being scolded by a parent. He bites his tongue from lashing out though. He knows that no one understands what he’s going through, and it’s not fair for him to expect anyone to.
“Seungmin invited everyone to our place for pizza and a game night on Friday.” Changbin eventually sighs. “Please come.”
Minho swallows down the immediate lump on nerves in his throat. “I’ll think about it.”
--
Minho goes because as previously established, his friends are all very convincing. And he’d rather die than admit it, but he does have a soft spot for them.
So, he goes.
Jisung is so excited about the fact that they’re all hanging out and Seungmin is busy cleaning the whole apartment before the other group shows up – so neither of them notices that something is off about Minho’s energy tonight. And it’s not really their fault. Minho hasn’t disclosed any information about the situation to them still. He’s not sure he even wants to.
His plan is to play it cool and act natural and maybe act like he doesn’t know Hyunjin at all. Is that gaslighting? Would that be wrong of him? It has to be better than outing the fact that he and Hyunjin used to be together, right?
Changbin notices the nervous bounce of his leg, the way he’s twisting his ring around his finger a little incessantly.
“Okay?” Changbin asks, a supportive little smile on his face.
Minho shakes his head, “Absolutely not.”
“You can do this, Hyung.” Changbin chuckles, “Even if you end up throwing up again.”
“Oh, fuck off.” Minho snorts.
It only comforts him for a minute – the knock at the door signaling the other group’s arrival comes a lot sooner than he’d like. Minho takes a deep breath and mentally prepares himself for the night ahead.
Just out of his line-of-sight Minho hears Seungmin answer the door with Jisung trailing behind him. He listens to the pleasantries being exchanged in the doorway and Changbin gives him one last supportive squeeze to his knee as the voices start coming their way.
Jisung drags Jeongin into the living room easily, Felix and Chan following behind closely. Those three are easy for him to greet – an easy smile on his face as he does it. It’s the least he can do.
And then Jisung perks up as Seungmin and Hyunjin finally round the corner and says “Minho hyung! You haven’t met Hyunjinnie yet have you?”
Time slows for just a second as he and Hyunjin look at each other. Hyunjin sort of freezes in his spot when he sees him. Vaguely Minho registers that Seungmin’s expression changes too like something just clicked into place for him. Great, now he knows too – the kid’s really too smart for his own good.
Minho decides that he should say something before the silence drags on until a suspicious point, so, he goes with the safest route, “Hey.”
Hyunjin blinks for a second breathing out a “Hello,” with a tiny little nod.
And then Changbin immediately jumps in to save them, “We were waiting for you guys to show up before we ordered dinner.”
Minho forces himself to tear his eyes away from Hyunjin, doing his best to join the conversation. Hyunjin doesn’t do the same, not at first at least. He can feel Hyunjin’s eyes still searing into the side of his head from where he’s still rooted in place. It takes Jeongin asking for Hyunjin’s opinion on something for him to start moving again.
Seungmin sits on Minho’s other side instead of next to his own boyfriend and Minho sort of wonders if this is the younger’s way of offering support. He makes a mental note to tease him later.
There’s enough conversation between the other six people in the room that the fact that both Minho and Hyunjin aren’t participating too much. Minho does his best to act natural, despite the fact that he has to fight the urge to look at Hyunjin every two seconds. Hyunjin doesn’t fight that same urge, Minho sees him glancing at him from the corner of his eye. He can’t blame Hyunjin for it, he was thrown into this with no warning.
In fact, they make it halfway through dinner until they have to directly talk to each other.
“Oh! Hyunjin hyung.” Jeongin announces, like he just realized something, “Remember how I was telling you one of Jisung’s friends had the same ring as you? Minho hyung is wearing it right now.”
Minho freezes, pizza half raised to his mouth, ring very much visible in the hand holding his slice.
And Hyunjin startles a little, his eyes going a little wide as they land on Minho’s left hand. And automatically Minho also checks Hyunjin’s hand for his ring and – sure enough Hyunjin’s ring sits, shiny and a little worn down, right on his ring finger. Right where it was the last time Minho had seen it, right where he had put it in the first place all those years ago.
They sort of look at each other for a second, neither really sure what to say.
“That’s an interesting coincidence.” Seungmin helpfully supplies – and if Minho didn’t know Seungmin so well he wouldn’t be able to pick up the fact that he’s holding a laugh back. But he does know him and Seungmin, the little shit, is enjoying this way too much.
“Yeah,” Minho forces a little laugh, cringing at how fake it sounds to his own ears, “A fun coincidence.”
Hyunjin’s lip kind of twitches in amusement, “I’ve had mine for so long-”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jeongin waves his hand dismissively, “For a hundred years. That’s what Minho hyung said too.”
Minho snorts, “Yeah, a hundred years. It was actually a set, but I haven’t seen it’s pair in just as long.” He looks at Hyunjin with maybe a little more intensity than needed, “I thought it was gone forever.”
“Oh?” Felix perks up, “Did you find it?”
“Yeah,” Minho hums, finally taking a bite from his pizza, “Just recently it showed up.”
Hyunjin draws his lips into a thin line, obviously biting back whatever he wants to say.
Minho really doesn’t know what came over him to say that, and he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with the way Hyunjin seems to double down on staring at him.
The rest of dinner goes smoothly enough, Chan somehow ropes Hyunjin into a conversation, which luckily distracts him from the intense staring contest he was having with the side of Minho’s head. And Minho happily eats in silence.
And it’s fine, conversation is easy enough with everyone there. Obviously, neither of them is going to bring anything else up, at least not in front of their friends. So, it’s fine. Board games come out and it makes it easier to open up as they start moving their pieces around the board and Changbin starts playing music as background noise.
It’s all fine. Until Minho’s cup runs dry, and he gets up to fill it with whatever soda Seungmin keeps in his kitchen, and Hyunjin follows him because his cup is also empty.
Minho knows no one can hear them from the living room over the music and the sound of Jisung and Changbin yelling over the rules of the game, and Hyunjin knows too apparently.
“How are you here?” is the first thing out of Hyunjin’s mouth once they’re alone. “How is this happening?”
Minho finds himself snorting, a little bitterly, “Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?”
“You’re alive.” Hyunjin breathes, like it’s a relief. “I can’t believe it. How is this real?”
“I am alive.” Minho agrees a little curtly. “And somehow, so are you. Isn’t that interesting?”
Hyunjin is having a very different reaction than he did.
“I didn’t know you were also…” Hyunjin starts but cuts himself off. “I didn’t know.”
Minho doesn’t say anything, just pours his cup full of soda and takes Hyunjin's cup to do the same.
“Minho I-”
“Not here. Not now.” Minho interrupts. “I can’t have this conversation in front of other people.”
“Then where? When?” Hyunjin swallows, “I really think we should talk. It’s been so long.”
“It’s been a hundred years,” Minho says. “And yet I’m still pissed off at you.”
He didn’t think he was still mad but seeing Hyunjin be relieved he was alive, no sense of dread or even a hint of wanting to throw up at the sight of him. It kind of got on his nerves.
Hyunjin looks at him like some sort of kicked puppy and Minho’s fight dies in his throat. He just sighs, and shakes his head. “We can talk later,” he decides. “I just. I can’t do this right now.”
“Okay.” Hyunjin says, waiting for Minho to start walking back to the living room before he tacks on, “I really missed you, Minho.” And it sort of breaks Minho’s heart.
--
Hyunjin backs off for the rest of the night which Minho appreciates.
It’s sometime around midnight when everyone decides it’s time to wrap up for the night.
Minho stands from the couch and fishes his keys out from his pocket, holding them up to the room, “Okay, who am I driving home?” and he really only asks because Jisung mentioned he might go home with Jeongin tonight and they had carpooled there in the first place.
Jisung raises his hand “Me and Innie, please. Back to my place.”
“Actually, I was thinking,” Jeongin starts, “Hyunjinnie lives right between you and Jisung, hyung, maybe you could give him a ride too? Since it’s in the opposite direction that Channie hyung and Felix hyung live but it’s kind of on your way home. If that’s okay?”
Hyunjin whips his head around to blink at his friend, just as surprised at the proposition as Minho is.
But Minho just shrugs, and takes a deep breath, “Yeah makes sense to me.”
Seungmin snickers at him and Changbin elbows his boyfriend, all the while obviously holding his own laugh back. He can already imagine them howling with laughter as soon as he’s out of earshot. Assholes.
“Let’s go then.” Minho continues. “All three of you.”
He waits in the driver’s seat for everyone to say their goodbyes. He mentally prepares himself for the drive once he drops Jisung and Jeongin off.
When the couple climbs into his back seat he turns and raises a brow at them, ignoring the way Hyunjin hesitates to get in the front seat.
“Alright ground rules for my back seat; I only have one.” Minho tells them as the passenger door opens, “Do not start making out, hands to yourselves.”
“That’s oddly specific.” Jeongin laughs.
“Seungmin and Changbin tried to defile my backseat when they first started dating.” Minho scowls, “I will not let my poor backseat go through that again. The only person allowed to defile it is me, damn it!”
“Have you? Defiled it, I mean,” Jisung teases, “because as long as I’ve known you, you haven’t done anything with anyone.”
There’s a pause and then, “Jeongin please shut your boyfriend up before I climb back there and beat him up.” Minho jokes before he turns around in his seat ready to start driving.
The drive to Jisung’s place is spent with Jisung and Jeongin filling the silence, talking amongst themselves while Hyunjin spends most of it staring out the window. It’s a little awkward but Minho expected that.
It only gets more awkward when he drops the younger boys off and suddenly the silence is only filled with the empty drone of the car radio.
“Take a right at the next light and then it’s two blocks until you reach my apartment,” Hyunjin announces suddenly.
Minho takes a deep breath, “I can do that and take you home, or you can come back to my place, and we can talk.”
“What happened to ‘not now’?” Hyunjin frowns.
“I meant not around our friends.” Minho says, “I refuse to get emotional in front of Kim Seungmin, that guy’s the devil.”
“He seems sweet to me.”
“That’s because he’s trying to lure you into a false sense of security.” Minho grins, “The puppy exterior is just a front.”
Hyunjin chuckles, and then “You think you’re gonna get emotional talking to me?”
“I threw up when I discovered you were still alive, so, yes.” Minho answers truthfully.
“You threw up?” Hyunjin sounds scandalized. “Should I be offended?”
“I’m personally offended you didn’t have a bigger reaction to me.” Minho laughs. “So, my place?”
“Sure.” Hyunjin nods, “I really do think we need to have a conversation because, like, what the fuck is going on?”
--
Hyunjin follows him into his apartment, politely toeing off his shoes and following Minho’s instructions to go sit on his couch while he makes them tea. And really the pot of tea is just an excuse to not start the conversation – he doesn’t know where to start.
“Are you really mad at me?” Is how Hyunjin starts it the moment his teacup is placed in front of him.
Minho bristles. That’s not what he was expecting. “I am.”
“Because…” Hyunjin tails off trying to figure out what he wants to say, “Because I’m here?”
“Because you left me.” Minho supplies. “You left me Hyunjin. I loved you and you broke my heart.”
“I had to. You know that.” Hyunjin’s face contorts into some sort of pained grimace. “One of us was going to have to leave first. That’s just how it goes and if I waited any longer then it would have been too hard for me to. And then you would have been the one that was going to leave me. Whether it be you aged, and I didn’t or – or you leave because of the same reason I did.”
“I wasn’t going to leave.” Minho clenches his jaw. “I was going to tell you. I was willing to stay with you until you either got freaked out and ran me out or you died. I was never going to leave on my own free will though.”
“You – no.” Hyunjin shook his head, “No. That’s not – Minho I didn’t know you were like me. if I had known I-” he seems genuinely upset now. “One of us was always going to leave. That’s just how it goes.” Hyunjin says it like it’s the only thing reassuring him. “I had to leave.”
Minho feels the lump in his own throat forming. “Yeah, well you did leave.”
“But you’re – you’re still here.” Hyunjin continues. “How are you here? Why did I leave if you’re still here?”
Minho realizes that it’s not that Hyunjin didn’t have an intense reaction to finding out he’s still alive. It just didn’t process for him until just now. He feels his own eyes soften as Hyunjin tears up.
“Hyunjin-ah.”
“All this time that was wasted!” Hyunjin’s voice was a little frantic “You’re still alive and I left you. Oh my god. I think I might vomit.”
Minho laughs at that, there it is. He gets it now.
“Minho.” Hyunjin looks at him, wet eyes unblinking, “Do you still love me?”
“What?” Minho’s laugh stops abruptly.
“Do you still love me? After all this time?”
“Hyunjin, it’s been a hundred years.” Minho deflects, “We haven’t seen each other in a century.”
“That’s not what I’m asking,” Hyunjin seems desperate, for any sort of answer. “You’re wearing our ring still. I haven’t taken mine off this whole time. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
Minho feels his face crumple “I’m still pissed at you for breaking up with me. And I’m wearing our ring. Doesn’t that answer your question already?” he shoots back.
And for some reason, that’s what breaks the dam for Hyunjin. The boy curling over in quiet sobs, tears spilling over in that instant.
“I’m sorry.” Hyunjin blubbers, “I’m sorry.”
Minho just sighs, moving to tug him into his arms. And Hyunjin immediately wraps his arms around his middle, burying his face in Minho’s neck.
“Still such a cry baby.” Minho teases.
“I’m sorry, Minho.” Hyunjin murmurs into his shirt, “I didn’t know. I missed you.”
“I know, baby.” Minho shushes gently, “I know.”
“I went back, you know?” Hyunjin sobs, “I went back like fifty years ago, hoping you’d be an old man and I could like I don’t know spend time with you or something. I was hoping you’d still be there.”
Minho chuckles, “I stayed there way longer than I should have, hoping you’d come back. I only left when people started getting suspicious.”
He lets Hyunjin cry it out for a minute, running his hands gently down his back in an attempt to soothe him. when Hyunjin does pull back it’s with some sort of determination.
“Minho, I love you.” He announces, sounding so sure of himself that Minho jerks back in surprise, “I’ll spend the next hundred years making it up to you if you take me back.”
“That’s not good enough,” Minho hums, watching Hyunjin’s face falter before he continues, “I think I deserve at least a thousand years.”
“Anything,” Hyunjin nods, “the rest of my life.”
“Well, that’s gonna be a very long time, now isn’t it?”
Hyunjin smiles at him, wide and pretty. Just like Minho remembers it.
He doesn’t hold back his own grin, “God you’re just as gorgeous as I remember.”
“You are too.” Hyunjin laughs, “Fuck, you’re beautiful. I can’t believe you’re here. I love you.” Gently Hyunjin reaches up to hold his face, caressing his cheekbone with his thumb. “Can I kiss you? Please? It’s been too long.”
“Yeah,” Minho breathes, “You can.”
Hyunjin leans in with a soft press of lips like if he did it any harder it would wake him up from a dream. Or maybe that’s just Minho projecting. Either way, Hyunjin’s lips on his lips feel so right. It feels like the hole in his chest is being filled and everything wrong inside him is being fixed.
This is where he belongs, with Hyunjin.
“I love you too, by the way.” Minho smiles when they pull away for a breath. “You’re the only person I’ve ever loved.”
Hyunjin reconnects their lips at that, harder, more desperate, and Minho meets him with just as much fervor.
(Hyunjin ends up staying the night, and when Changbin texts him the next day asking how driving Hyunjin home went, he just sends a picture of Hyunjin asleep on his chest in response. Minho doesn’t even care that he’ll be subject to incessant teasing later. He’s happy to have his love back.)