A collaboration of crossover short stories from one creator into another creator's universe. Make sure to check out everyone's stories in the links in the author's note.

Daehyun sat by the kitchen window, an empty cup of coffee in his hand, much to Taeyong’s dismay. The argument was cute, though. Taeyong waving his spatula in his apron while insisting tea was better. The sun flowed in, lighting up his teasing smile. If Daehyun wasn’t injured, he would’ve pushed him onto the counter and—

“You’re still here?” Taeyong asked, walking into the kitchen, adjusting his blazer.

Daehyun cleared his throat and sat up. He opened his mouth to answer, but his mind focused elsewhere. “You look good,” he said, openly taking his figure in.

Taeyong blushed, folding his hands behind his back. “Really? It’s just a normal suit, though?”

“No, it isn’t,” Daehyun said. The suit was made to exaggerate Taeyong’s long, slender limbs, and the deep plum had a playfulness that he remembered all too well.

Biting back a grin, Taeyong’s eyes flicked down before he shook out his shoulders, like a bird presenting itself. “I’ll be in my office if you need me,” he said and placed his hand on Daehyun’s shoulder. “Don’t get too lonely without me,” he teased with a whisper.

As he pulled away, his fingers brushed against Daehyun’s nape, sending shivers down his spine. And then, he was gone.

Daehyun breathed out a chuckle and shook his head before turning back to the window. It felt like ages since Daehyun touched another person, and the last person being Taeyong. Taeyong thought about him too, it was written all over his face, and his touches were not innocent, yet he didn’t go further than that.

He sighed and dropped his head back. He wasn’t that injured though, heavy touching and other things could be done to relieve them both. Daehyun groaned when heat pooled into his groin and closed his eyes. At this rate, his sexual frustration would kill him first.

“Urgh, get your mind out of the gutter.”

Daehyun snapped his eyes open and looked up. Seunghyeon walked into the kitchen, opening the tin on the counter and pulling out a biscuit. Daehyun furrowed his brows.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, sitting up. Does Taeyong know you’re here?” Taeyong left only moments ago; they must have crossed paths.

Seunghyeon shrugged, and Myungsuk walked in. “Hello, Hyung. How’re you feeling?”

Daehyun stared at both of them. “I’m good…” he said, slowly. “Shouldn’t you two be at school?”

“It’s Saturday,” Myungsuk hummed and grabbed himself a biscuit.

“I see.” Daehyun frowned, setting his mug on the table. “It’s already been a week.”

“Yup,” Seunghyeon said and sat on the counter. “So, what’re you gonna do now that Taeyong-hyung’s busy?”

Daehyun shrugged. “You ask that like you two aren’t going to drag me around the house again.”

“But it’s fun spending time with you,” Myungsuk beamed, and Daehyun’s face softened.

He groaned as he stood up, grabbing his cane as he followed them. “Fine, but I’m not going to the roof again.”

“The roof?” Seunghyeon chuckled. “Why would we go there?”

Daehyun furrowed his brows. “What—” He cut himself off when Myungsuk held his arm, leading him to the stairs. Shaking his head slightly, Daehyun followed them up.

Instead of going right where the guest room was, Seunghyeon turned left, humming as he looked around the hallway. Seunghyeon stopped in front of a door, grabbed the handle and shook. After realizing it was locked, he huffed and kept walking.

“Where are we going?” Daehyun asked.

Myungsuk shrugged. “Wherever. We’re just exploring.”

“I see.”

Daehyun sighed and watched Seunghyeon test every door as he looked around. The hall was identical to the other side, down to the vases. Daehyun gripped his cane. It felt like he was on a set or in a museum; the house merely a display, with no real sense of life, of warmth. He shook his head. Everyone had their tastes. He should be grateful that it was quiet at least, even if that too irked him.

Eventually, Myungsuk let go of his arm, and the two boys ran to the door at the end of the hall and carefully turned the handle.

The door clicked open.

“It’s open,” Myungsuk squeaked, and they rushed in. Daehyun furrowed his brow and peered inside.

Dust hung in the air, catching the grey light pouring from the single window, settling on closed boxes lining the room. Daehyun covered his mouth as he stepped in, pulling Myungsuk closer as he coughed. “Don’t breathe in.”

Myungsuk grabbed part of his shirt and covered his nose, nodding. Daehyun looked around, brushing his hand over one of the boxes on a table before flicking off the lid.

His eyebrows shot up. A gun.

A shotgun, with bullets scattered around it and haphazardly stored in the box. Why did Taeyong have a gun?

Daehyun lifted his head, several boxes on the shelved wall of different lengths. “Are these all guns?”

Seunghyeon shrugged and lifted a handgun from a box. “Looks like it.”

“Hey, put that down,” he scolded as he stepped over to the door, the glass blurred with drops of rain. Rain that wasn’t there a few minutes ago.

Turning the handle, Daehyun pushed the door open, taking in a lungful of fresh, damp air. The cool breeze brushed through his hair, and he opened his eyes.

From here, Daehyun could see the back garden. He whistled, the land lush from the rain and mature trees scattered around.

However, obstructing the natural greenery was a small wooden shed. The roof planks were damp, and the wood walls were spotted with rot— A blemish on an otherwise pristine yard. Yet, Daehyun couldn’t look away.

Chills ran down Daehyun’s body, his limbs locked in place as his ears rang. Like a boat tossed into the ocean. Once filled with water, it was impossible to keep afloat.

“What are you doing here?”

Daehyun whipped around and gaped, staring at the door frame where Taeyong stood, glaring at him, arms crossed. “I asked what you’re doing here.”

He took a deep breath, his chest aching from the lack of air. “We were—” The boys peeked behind the door they entered from, silently pleading with their hands together before running off. He was amazed by how they went undetected.

Sighing, Daehyun shook his head. “I was wandering around,” he confessed and looked back outside, the shed no longer twisting his stomach. How strange. Maybe he wasn’t all that healed after all.

“Well, you shouldn’t be in here,” Taeyong said, his lips pressed into a disapproving line as he slammed the lid back on the handgun. His hands were shaking as he pressed down on the box, his eyes fluttering closed as he tried to collect himself.

A pang in his chest made Daehyun step closer, reaching out to him. “You’re right. I’m sorry for wandering without permission.”

“You should rest,” Taeyong said suddenly, pulling back from the box. “You don’t look so well.”

“I don’t?”

Taeyong nodded and reached out, gently brushing his fingers through his hair. With his gentle touch and focus on him, he recognized a dull ache in the back of his head, growing the more he realized it.

“I told you,” Taeyong tsked and held his arm. “I’ll take you upstairs.”

Nodding, Daehyun followed him, too focused on his weary limbs to remember the shed.

The next night, after dinner, Taeyong and Daehyun sat in the cozy parlour, a bottle of bourbon between them while a fire rumbled in the fireplace. Taeyong sat in front of the fireplace, cradling his glass, his entire being brushed in the golden hue of the fire.

“My childhood was very lonely,” Taeyong confessed, continuing their conversation from moments earlier. “Spent most of my time studying and getting myself somewhere.”

Daehyun hummed, his body warm from his second glass of bourbon, tossing Taeyong’s words around. Even with two siblings, life could be lonely, he supposed.

“Mine was lonely too,” he said, taking another sip. “It was just me and my mothers in our New York apartment,” he added and sighed. “Though, they both tried their best.”

Taeyong nodded and shifted closer. “They sound nice.”

“Yes, they were excellent parents.” Daehyun stared into his glass, the dark brown liquid sloshing as he rocked the glass. A small moment where he dictated the water and not the other way around.

Tossing his head back, Daehyun swallowed the last of the alcohol, savouring the burn on its way down. “But then they died.”

Taeyong’s face dropped. “I’m so,” he gulped and placed his hand on Daehyun’s knee. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He hadn’t talked about it since their funeral. The emotions drowned out in the depth of his being. But Taeyong’s warm gaze, so open and innocent, pulled the words out of his mouth.

“My mother wasn’t well,” he said shrugging. “I was in college, so that’s all my mom told me,” he said, knitting his eyebrows together. “And one day, I get a call that my mother was admitted into the hospital and was refusing treatment.”

Taeyong squeezed his knee, and Daehyun took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She died a few days later. And my mom was never the same. A month later, her heart just stopped. They say she died from heartbreak.”

“They were soulmates?” Taeyong asked.

“Well, that’s what they told people.”

Taeyong hung his head silently, but the air felt heavy like he had a million words on the tip of his tongue, but none would suffice. “What about you?” Taeyong finally spoke out.

“What about me?”

“Do you think they were soulmates?”

Daehyun furrowed his brows for a moment. Taeyong’s expression was curious, as though hanging on his every word. Daehyun tore his gaze away.

Soulmates. A concept he hung onto as a child. The idea of one person being yours enticed him. As he grew up, the remnants of the belief were smothered by reality.

But here, Taeyong sparked it back to life, the flint that caught the kindling, the crackling of warm promise. His rosy lips hung slightly ajar in anticipation, gold reflected in his eyes.

“Maybe,” Daehyun whispered, settling for an answer and surprised by how Taeyong’s face lit up.

“Just maybe?” Taeyong asked, licking his bottom lip. He sat up, leaning closer. The warm buzz from the alcohol buzzed in his fingers as he reached out.

Daehyun brushed Taeyong’s hair back, tucking the strands behind his ear; his fingers lingered against his soft nape. Taeyong’s breath hitched, his breath ticking Daehyun’s face and the corner of his lip curled up before closing the space between them.

Soft lips pressed against his, tension leaving Daehyun’s body, and he leaned back as Taeyong crawled onto his lap, enough to reignite a fiery need, shooting throughout his body. Taeyong sighed as Daehyun slid his tongue in. The taste of bourbon was strong but never tasted so sweet. His hands found their way under Taeyong’s shirt and dragged up his porcelain skin.

Taeyong was the first to pull away, his face blotchy and panting. Daehyun stared into Taeyong’s half-lidded eyes, paired with a smirk on his lips.

With a cat-like movement, Taeyong crawled off his body, wrapping his lithe fingers around Daehyun’s hand and silently walking out of the room.

Like the moon itself, Taeyong glowed, the thin layer of sweat glistening on his forehead and bare shoulder. Like an angel, purring gently against Daehyun’s mortal body.

Huffing out a laugh, he shook his head. When did he become such a romantic?

Taeyong knitted his brows and mumbled something against him. “—shush” was the only thing Daehyun caught, and he held back and leaned closer to kiss his head.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “Though, I could say the same about you a moment ago.”

A satisfied grin crossed his face as Taeyong’s cheeks darkened, and with a childish huff, he turned around. “Bully,” he muttered.

Daehyun wanted to tease him more, rile him up until his eyes glazed over with tears just like how he looked on top of him. But not now.

Right now, Daehyun pulled the blanket higher and wrapped his arm around him. He pressed a kiss onto his shoulder and closed his eyes.