Archive of Our Own

He collapsed to the ground in a heap of mess, the bloodied unconscious body of Kim Meong-gil laying a couple of feet in front of him. Gun-woo let out a shaky breath. 

It was over. They had finally won. They’ve lost a lot of people on the way but Gun-woo and Woojin made it to the end, albeit with their sanity barely intact. 

Gun-woo peered down at the knuckles of his tactical gloves, glistening with blood. The words he had said to Meong-gil before knocking him out replayed in his head like a broken vinyl. “ If you ever show up again, I’ll kill you .” and all he could think about was how he desperately wanted Woojin as far away from the Bloodhounds lifestyle as humanly possible. And yet here he was. Chasing after money that was owed, risking his life to take back some gold bars that belonged to a deadman. 

It wasn’t all about the money , a voice in his head tried to rationalise. He couldn’t sit around and let Myeong-gil get away with killing Mr. Choi, Yang-jung, Duyoung and his family and almost killing Woojin. With Hyeon-ju gone, he felt like he owed it to her to avenge Mr. Choi’s death on her behalf. 

But why did it feel so wrong? His heart still felt heavy with grief where relief should’ve taken over. His eyes began to well up and his breathing got shallower. Maybe he wasn’t made to feel peace in his life. Maybe he deserved this.

Behind him he heard heavy dragging footsteps. Subconsciously he prayed it was Woojin and not In-Beom, as his body felt like it weighed too much to get up and fight. 

The footsteps came to a halt beside him. “Gun-woo-ya…” he trailed, he sounded as exhausted as Gun-woo felt. Gun-woo turned to look up at him, his bottom lip quivering in a failed attempt to keep himself from sobbing. Woojin looked awful with his face and muscle-tee covered in blood. A part of Gun-woo wanted to run into his arms like he had done the day Woojin woke up from his week long coma after the surgery. Feel his body against his and never let go. He only felt peace in his arms, and right then he was desperate for the smallest share of it.

“You okay?”

He wanted to shake his head and cry out “ No, no, no. I feel like I’m suffocating and even after everything we’ve done, I still feel this weight on my chest, crushing me more and more with each breath I take .” but he couldn’t. There was this unmovable lump in the back of his throat that stopped him from speaking. 

When he gave no answer, Woojin sat down. “What is it?” his voice wasn’t exasperated, it wasn’t harsh or impatient. It was soft, like he genuinely wanted to know everything that bothered Gun-woo. Like he was prepared to fix it all for him. That made the stinging tears roll from his eyelids and drop straight down onto his boot. 

He swallowed hard. “Hyung…” he said in a voice that was so tiny that it even surprised him. “I think I’ve become a Bloodhound.” he choked out then hung his head in shame. It was bound to happen , he told himself. You put yourself in a state of poverty and you either get hunted or you hunt to make money. It’s your fault, it’s all your fault . 

The silence was so long and tense that Gun-woo had thought Woojin agreed with him. 

“Gun-woo-ya.” Woojin started firmly. The younger man lifted his head and gazed at him. “Have you already forgotten the heart of a boxer? We just have to find our way back, hmm? Let’s go back together.” 

And when Gun-woo turned to look at Woojin, he had forgotten that they’ve only known each other for a little under a year. It felt like they’ve spent every waking day, since they were kids, together. Their eyes connected and although they were thousands of miles from home he felt like he’s never been closer to it. 

Together . He might not have said it explicitly but Gun-woo understood by that, that Woojin felt the same as him. Lost. and he was ready to go back with him. 

The heaviness began to crumble from his chest and he felt like he was finally able to breathe, and so he smiled a small smile. “Hm, let’s go back together.” 

Woojin returned it with his own faint smile and nodded. He scooted over, grimacing in pain, and sat shoulder to shoulder with him. Gun-woo gently laid his head down on his shoulder and looked out onto the sky. The night was close to its end, a small shimmer of light peeking through the horizon. 

“When we get home, I’m going to go and get my mum and maybe we can all have dinner, hmm?” 

“Okay, I’m craving Rib eye steak, what do you think?” 

A hearty chuckle left Gun-woo’s chest before he could stop it. “Yah, you’re joking in this situation?”

“Really, I really want a ribeye. You’ve been talking about it for so long, it’s all I've been thinking about for the past couple of months.” 

“Fine,” Gun-woo pulled his head up and looked at him. “I’ll treat you and Ummah to the finest steak Seoul has to offer. I think we deserve it, don’t you?” He smiled big when Woojin enthusiastically nodded like a puppy. “Yes, yes, yes.” he whispered as he took Gun-woo’s face into his hands, minding the cuts on his cheek, and pulled him closer. Before the smile could even fall from his face in surprise, their lips connected. 

It took a painstakingly long couple of seconds for Gun-woo to process what was happening. His heart was humming and his brain could barely keep up. Woojin was kissing him. And fuck , he wasn’t kissing back. 

He leaned into the kiss, his eyes closing and his chest slanting towards Woojin’s body. He mostly felt like he wasn’t really there, like it was some sort of out-of-body experience. For a first kiss, it wasn’t perfect. The blood on their lips mixed poorly into the kiss, and the cut on his bottom lip hurt a little. 

But he could overlook it all because he’d been wanting to kiss him for too long. All the nights they’ve spent at Mr. Oh’s safe house, sleeping next to each other, sometimes cuddling when it got too cold at night. Sometimes Gun-woo would want to kiss him just to make sure he’s alive, that he hasn’t lost him again. But he was always so scared, just in case Woojin would hate him for it. In case Woojin’s heart didn’t burn for him like his did for Woojin. In case Woojin didn’t love him.

Eventually, Woojin pulled away. Gun-woo stared at his face, searching for any signs of regret or anything that would pull Gun-woo back into reality. All he could find was a soft smile. Woojin just caressed his cheek – his scar, and smiled. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been waiting for the right time to do that. It was pretty hard knowing no time was the right time.”

Gun-woo shook his head, a pout on his lip and a small crease between his eyebrows. “Don’t apologise. By all means, kiss me again, and–” Woojin wasted no time to press another firm kiss to his lips, making the younger man chuckle. “And again.” this time Gun-woo wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pulled him into a longer kiss. 

And until they reached the piers of South Korea again, they spent the whole time in each other’s space. Kissing and cuddling. 

The first thing Gun-woo did when they got back was have Hong Min-beom’s driver drop them off at the orphanage that his mother was staying at. 

“Hyung,” he grabbed Woojin’s arm to pull him back at the entrance of the yard. “I know this is probably weird or sudden but do you wanna move in with me? Well, us for now. Just until my mum gets back on her feet and then we can find a place of our own?” he stepped closer and rested his hands on Woojin’s abdomen. “I don’t wanna spend any more time away from you.”

Woojin ducked his head. Rouge began to tint his cheeks and he tried to hide them with failure. “Yah, Gun-woo-ah! You can’t just say stuff like that out of the blue. What are you trying to do, make me fall in love with you? Agh, this kid…” he tried his best to compose himself but the grin stretched across his face. 

Gun-woo could help the butterflies that were attacking the wall of his abdomen, anxious as he awaited Woojin's proper answer. Woojin cupped his cheeks like he likes to do now and replied in a low tone, “I don’t wanna spend any time away from you either. Let’s do this.” and he pressed a deep kiss to his lips which caught Gun-woo by surprise since they were in public. He kissed back briefly before cutting it short. “Come on, let’s go find my mum.” 

It wasn’t hard to find his mother in an ocean of little kids. There she was playing with a group of them on the grass. She was glowing, he noticed. She looked happy, the stress that she used to feel trying to pay off the rent of their cafe and home no longer weighing on her. He would do everything in his power to keep it off. 

He took out his phone, gave her a call and watched as she got up to answer, a smile immediately finding its way onto her face at the name on the screen. He couldn’t help but mirror her smile. “Oh, Gun-woo-ah!” 

“Ummah,... I’m here .” 

“You’re where?” she asked in confusion as she looked around. Her eyes finally spotted them and he watched the grin on her face get bigger as they waved at her. “Ah, Gun-woo!” They began to run over to each other and he engulfed her in a hug. Gun-woo has always been a mommy’s boy, he hugged her and kissed her all the time, but none of those hugs amounted to what he felt when he wrapped his arms around her small frame then. He felt like a little boy again, seeing his mother after the first day of preschool. The same feeling of euphoria settled into his chest as he squeezed her tight. 

“My baby, oh my baby. I’ve missed you so much.” 

“I’ve missed you too. More than life itself, Ummah.” he sighed into her shoulder, trying his best to not let his eyes sting up.

“Oh Woojin-ah,” she pulled away and stepped closer to the other boy. Woojin bowed with a grin, accepting her into his space as she doted on him. “What happened to your face? Oh my dear, you’ve been through so much.” She pulled him into a hug.

Gun-woo watched on with a serene smile on his face. “It’s all over, momma. Let’s go home.” 

“Yes, let’s go.” she replied tearfully as she rubbed both their arms. “I’m so proud of you boys.” 

He glanced at his partner, his boyfriend? And nudged him into taking his hand. Woojin’s smile reached his eyes and he never looked prettier, Gun-woo could kiss him right then and there but he composed himself. “Ummah,.. Woojin will be staying with us from now on, is that okay?” 

“Oh? Of course, he’s always welcomed.” 

Woojin pouted then pulled them both into a tight embrace, exclaiming in excitement. Gun-woo chuckled and caressed his back. As subtle as he could, he lightly kissed behind Woojin’s ear before hooking his chin onto his shoulder. 

His heart was finally at home with the two most important people in his life.