forever | sungtaro

↳ ten

"my body hurts..."

"that's what you get for being so determined to get out of bed," sungchan said, ignoring the whines of the other.

"but i didn't think i'd be in pain afterwards..." shotaro whined again. a part of him was hoping for sungchan to baby him.

"aren't you a medical student? you should know this," sungchan said, moving over to cuddle with the older. "it seems someone needs to keep studying,"

"shush," shotaro smiled, "how can i study when you are around me 24/7. you're too distracting, jung sungchan,"

"i'm not distracting you!" the younger defended.

"you are when you're cuddling me or looking for my attention," shotaro replied, pinching sungchan's cheeks.

"yeah but you like it. i know you do," sungchan said, cuddling shotaro tighter. the older soon heard the soft breathing of the younger and he too soon fell asleep.

•••

bang

that's what the two woke up to. an explosion. shotaro shot up to only wince in pain and so sungchan held him tight.

"what's going on?" sungchan asked the older. shotaro could only stare in awe as he saw smoke arise from outside his window. he ran closer to see the smoke was a few houses down from his and there were people on the ground below him. one person stood out most to him - his lover's father.

"sungchan,"

"what?"

"we need to leave..."

shotaro quickly grabbed whatever he could that was important to him: pictures of his family, money, a stopwatch with a chipped pink crystal hanging from it, anything he could fit in his own two hands.

"shotaro, we need to find your parents hurry!" sungchan said, grabbing shotaro by the arm and dragging him out of the room. they hurriedly ran down the stairs to meet shotaro's mother. she was so pale, almost like she had seen a ghost.

"mother, come on we need to go!"

"you're father, taro." was all she said, watching the window. the footsteps of the mob grew louder.

"what about him! mother please! let's go!"

"sungchan," she said. she wasn't scared, or at least she didn't want to show it, "take shotaro away from here, far away-"

"mom!" shotaro had tears falling down his face.

"don't let anyone hurt him for as long as you live. even if you break up do not let anyone hurt him, promise me."

"i promise, i'll protect him for as long as i can, forever if i have to,"

"sungchan-" shotaro could only look around and cry. he didn't want to leave. he didn't want to leave his mother behind.

"taro, baby," his mother said, cupping his cheeks and wiping his tears, "you need to go, please. i have to stay here and look for your dad okay? go as far as you can away from here, seoul. go to busan, jeju, wherever. I'll come find you. me and your dad will, okay? you don't need to be afraid."

"mom..." shotaro said quietly, "promise me you'll find me,"

"i can't promise anything, taro,"

"promise me!" shotaro shouted. the shouts of the men got louder with every second.

"go," his mother said, smiling at her son. she nodded at sungchan and he took shotaro's arm and ran. they ran though the kitchen and into the back exit, jumped the garden fence, and ran as far as the bad to. they didn't know where they were going, how long it would take to leave, but all they could think of was getting to safety, wherever it may be.

bang

"don't look behind you," sungchan said. but shotaro went against his words. he looked behind him, immediately regretting it.

his house was in flames.

•••

"shotaro, wake up," sungchan said softly. the older only stirred in his sleep.

the two had made it to ansan after getting a hitch-like from an elderly couple. though, shotaro's name most likely have away the fact he was japanese and so the two made up his korean name: seokmin.

"taro, wake up, please," he asked again, placing a kiss onto the older's forehead. shotaro whined but still sat up.

"what do we do now?" shotaro said, rubbing his eyes.

"we can find a home? there should be some nicer apartments by the ocean..." sungchan said.

"while that's wonderful, i don't think i can access my parent's money."

"well..." sungchan said, pulling out a credit card. "your mother left your family's credit card on the table with a note of the pin code. she nodded at me and looked over to it so i presumed she wanted me to take it,"

"she was so good at thinking in the moment," shotaro sighed, burying his head in hands.

"taro, she is good," sungchan said, rubbing his back gently, "she could be still alive," shotaro scoffed.

"we literally watched the house burn down. she didn't leave that one spot in the living room," shotaro tried to laugh but he could only cry. sungchan said nothing more and embraced the older in a much needed hug.

once the older's cries calmed down, they spoke again.

"we need to go find somewhere to stay, come on," sungchan said softly, "we should also check how much money there is on the card,"

"yeah, but can i hug you for longer," shotaro said, tightening his grip around sungchan, "just a little more,"

"of course, we have all the time in the world," sungchan said, pulling shotaro closer as if the two could be any closer.

•••

[i'm sorry that was so sudden, i want to keep this book going a little longer]