remember me [kiho, kihyun x wonho]

-13-

In the present, Hoseok is still lost in his own musings, deep in not-quite thoughts but memories and their associated feelings, of the past, of everything that it took for him to get here to this very spot, when he's interrupted, pulled out of his trance by the sounds of the kittens once again stirring up a commotion, suddenly erupting into laughter and shouts of joy.

Hoseok turns around to see what all the fuss is about just in time to see Jooheon approaching. Jooheon, the canine hybrid who had befriended Kihyun when he had first arrived at the village following his escape from the compound, Jooheon who had been Kihyun's long-time assistant in the library that Kihyun had worked so hard to restore to its former glory. Jooheon was only a puppy back then, but now, he's an adult, and he's become an essential part of their lives, as much a part of their family as Minhyuk and Hyungwon are, as much as the entire village is.

And Jooheon has become quite the important figure throughout the entire community, too. Now, he's the one who runs the library in Kihyun's stead, picking up where Kihyun left off with his work to restore it, to make it better and better, to bring knowledge and history and culture to the village for all to share, to bring both literature and information in all of its forms back into the world after so much of it had been seemingly lost forever. Not lost, as it turns out, but buried, just waiting to be uncovered, to be rediscovered.

And more than anything else, it's uncovered a deep-seated need to know more, to search for new knowledge, new possibilities, something uniquely human that they all share, that quest for answers. The library has changed the way that they all think about it now, and it's so simple, but so powerful, and once again, at least in their little pocket of what's left of humanity, they've become curious creatures, no longer content to live without knowing more. Hoseok thinks it's beautiful, and more than that, it's what makes them alive, what gives their lives meaning. The quest for knowledge is what makes them human, Hoseok thinks.

Knowledge, and love.

And at that thought, of course, Hoseok thinks about Kihyun, drowns in thoughts of him even as he watches the rest of his family interacting together with fondness. Hoseok watches as Jooheon greets Hyungwon and Minhyuk warmly before crouching down to greet the kids, and he's soon overwhelmed by the flurry of limbs and tails and fur coming at him, the shrieks of laughter and bubbly smiles and bright eyes of eight rambunctious kitten hybrids all scrambling to hug him at the same time, all babbling over each other, and Jooheon laughs before looking up at Hoseok, giving him a warm, friendly smile.

Hoseok smiles back, waves to Jooheon in response, and he knows full well that Jooheon is not here by accident. Like Hyungwon and Minhyuk, he will be just as important to the kids, just as much of a temporary parent to them in the next year, just as much as he's always been since the very beginning, a guardian just as the whole village has been. The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child, and Hoseok can say that it's certainly true that the village has been a huge part of their growth, in raising all eight of their children.

And Jooheon in particular...he always sticks out in Hoseok's mind, because Hoseok remembers vividly how Jooheon was the first person that he met when he arrived in the village, when he burst through the front gates on that stormy night when Kihyun gave birth to the kittens, how Jooheon had taken one look at Hoseok and seemed to understand immediately who he was, how Jooheon had led Hoseok to Kihyun and ensured their immediate reunion following the hell that Hoseok had fought through to get there just in time. Hoseok remembers everything about that night in vivid detail, sees it all behind his eyes in perfect clarity even years later.

Of course he does; Hoseok is always thinking about it, about that night. He never stops remembering it all, every moment, about everything that he went through to be by Kihyun's side when he gave birth, when their children entered the world.