Wooyoung's well-thought-out plan to sleep until noon got cancelled when Yongguk wrote him a message at the crack of dawn. Or rather, after Yongguk had written him two messages whose pings Wooyoung had slept through and called Wooyoung when he didn't react. Wooyoung hadn't been aware Yongguk's phone could even call anyone and that it hadn't long since forgotten that dusty feature.

After a brief glance at the caller ID from half-closed eyes, Wooyoung picked the phone groggily. His confusion that it was Yongguk who called was greater than being woken.

"Yes? Good morning?"

The clock on Wooyoung's nightstand read 7:29. It was even before Wooyoung's usual wake up time.

"Wooyoung, I would like you to come to the institute as soon as possible." The man's voice over the phone was so deep that Wooyoung's sleep-addled mind barely understood him.

"Huh?" Wooyoung asked with little intelligence. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, not understanding what was going on. Through the distraction of his eyes, he didn't hear what Yongguk said next, but he picked up on the word 'San' within it.

Within a second, he sat straight up.

"What did you say? San?" He repeated, unsure if he had just noticed that syllable because he wanted to hear it.

"Yeah, I found him. Come quick."

Yongguk ended the call as a wave of excitement rushed through Wooyoung's chest. So the man had found them, after all. He was early. But it didn't matter when he came, as long as Wooyoung's worries over the past few days got soothed.

As Wooyoung got dressed, he saw a million things that he had wanted to fix before San arrived. Vacuuming the floor, dusting the shelves, changing his sheets...

He didn't have time for any of those as he threw a piece of gum into his mouth to rid himself of his morning breath and slipped into his shoes. A coat and a scarf later, Wooyoung already stormed out of the house and down the street. He didn't know if Seungyoun got alerted, too, but they could still call him later. For now, Wooyoung would have a lot to do by introducing San to Yongguk first.

Would San's opinion on what to do with his immortality have changed? Would he want them to use him as scientific proof? Perhaps they would spend the next few weeks trying to identify his immortal aspects and hand them to the medical researchers to get it sorted out.

Wooyoung had so many things he wanted to ask his lover. As he sped down the street with no time to spare waiting for the bus, he tried to sort them in his mind. First, Wooyoung should ask if he was fine and whether he wanted to meet Seungyoun. Then, perhaps, a date and getting comfortable at Wooyoung's place. After that, they could figure out their time gradually. No matter how curious Yongguk would be, San's satisfaction came first.

Wooyoung blushed at the idea of the two of them doing certain things in Wooyoung's ever so boring bedroom. It was the first time that room would see him with someone else, and he couldn't wait for that to happen.

When Wooyoung arrived at the institute in record time and sprung up the stairs, he was surprised that Yongguk and San hadn't waited outside for him. Then again, Wooyoung felt like a cool steampunk dragon with how white his breath was, so he cut them some slack.

Wooyoung threw open the door to Yongguk's office and startled the poor man inside. He burnt himself on his coffee and glared at Wooyoung without heat as he looked around wildly.

"Where is he?"

Yongguk carefully put his coffee down on the table before he tapped on the paper in the middle of his desk. It was already turned in Wooyoung's direction as he neared it.

"Oh. You found one of his identities?" Wooyoung tried not to let his disappointment bleed into his voice, but Yongguk grimaced when he heard it.

"Sorry to confuse you. Look at it."

Still curious even if his disappointment weighed his heart down, Wooyoung sat down and pulled the sheet closer. Now that he had run through Prague, his body was pleasantly warm even if his fingers on the paper exuded coldness.

San's face on the paper was the first thing meeting Wooyoung's eye. The man looked at the camera with a serious face, but the hint of his dimples shone through. Wooyoung smiled back without noticing it as he read through the next at the side. It was a profile of some sort that collected San's personal data. The text was in French.

Name: Louis Anctil
Date of Birth: 10th July, 1922
Place of Origin: Nice, France
Family: ?
Occupation: Nurse

Wooyoung skimmed the information twice. The false identity matched with his black and white picture on the side.

"Is this him?" Yongguk asked, ever so calm and collected. His voice was void of emotion, not reflecting Wooyoung's delight with the usual exhausted smile.

"It is! Did you find him so I could search for him? I suppose he was on the French people's side, then." Wooyoung had no opinions on the rights and wrongs of the war. If San had decided the French were worth working with, he would have his reasons.

Yongguk's voice was muffled when he spoke again.

"Read the top of the page, Wooyoung," he uttered. He sipped his coffee without parting his eyes from Wooyoung's face as the man skimmed the other profiles on the same page as San's. They all seemed to have worked for the same department.

Wooyoung read it out loud, his brain only catching up when he had ended.

"Medical Corps War Casualties."

For a moment, Wooyoung just blinked as his mind caught up.

Then his heart dropped to his stomach like a punch in the gut.

Wooyoung lost his balance and had to lean against Yongguk's desk. The world stood upside down and everything was wrong and distorted for a terrifyingly long second. Wooyoung's sight blurred even as his head remained empty, as if cleaned out with a broom. Loud like a streaming river, his blood rushed in his ears.

He didn't understand.

"That- He might have staged it. He staged his death before and it's easy to disappear in a war," Wooyoung croaked. The horrible, horrible page still stared at him like a vicious snake. When he lowered it, his hands trembled. San's faint smile didn't warm him anymore.

Wooyoung was cold. So, so cold.

"I also have this," Yongguk said with a reverent voice. He pushed a book over that featured similar records, only that these stood in tightly squeezed lines and displayed so many names and dates that Wooyoung's eyes crossed.

To help him out, Yongguk pointed at a name among the many ones written in the old book. His finger slightly dented the yellowed page.

Louis Anctil, 1921-1944.

In front of Wooyoung's eyes, Yongguk flicked to a later page. Unstoppable, his fingers moved on even if Wooyoung wanted him to pause, to wait a moment because time had stopped and Yongguk forcing it onward had Wooyoung's world cracking.

The next record was even worse.

Anctil, Louis
Born: 10.6.21 in Nice, France
Military Unit: Medical Corps
Military Rank: Nurse
Dog Tag: Not Provided
Day of Death: 16.1.1944
Place of Death: Falaise
Buried: 29.1.1944, Bayeux
Place and Number of the Grave: Bayeux, medical field, 54-7
Reported by: Doctor Jean Carrier

Numb, Wooyoung started at the information in front of him until he couldn't see it anymore.

It had to be fake. San had staged multiple deaths. Escaping the aftermath of the war to meet Wooyoung was a perfect reason to do it again.

But if they could identify him... If they had a body to bury...

"It has to be someone else. Someone who looks similar to him," Wooyoung said, his voice hollow. In the dense silence of the room, even the click of Yongguk's clock on the wall appeared deafening.

"Didn't you already think that once? And weren't you wrong?"

"I must be right this time," Wooyoung squeaked. His voice bordered on hysteria. The paper fell out of his hands without him even noticing it and sailed to the ground. Wooyoung's trembling hands were frozen in the air. His heart wasn't beating, just stuttering in his chest weakly. His mind tried to make sense of all this, to piece it together in a rational way, but he found none.

When the door behind them opened and connected with the wall, producing a resounding bang, Wooyoung lost balance on his knees. He fell over, heaving for air as his stomach coiled around nothing since he hadn't eaten breakfast.

It couldn't be.

It couldn't be.

Strong arms collected Wooyoung off the floor to pull him against a manly chest, but it wasn't the chest Wooyoung wanted to lean against.

Limp, he leaned in Seungyoun's arms, too weak to even paw at him to get him off.

Seungyoun's hands patted his hair and shoulders, worriedly making sure Wooyoung didn't suffocate himself in his shirt.

Dead to his attention, Wooyoung just stood there. Stood and tried to wrap his head around the information Yongguk had given him.

"Is it true?" Seungyoun hissed over Wooyoung's head as if he couldn't hear him then. His fluttering hands were ever so concerned, but Wooyoung couldn't bring himself to appreciate them. Everything in his head was just San. San, San, San.

Yongguk didn't give a verbal reply, but his silence was pregnant with tension. Wooyoung nearly choked on it.

He didn't cry, too shocked to do so. He couldn't understand, not since he had seen San only a few days ago, not since these books had sat on Yongguk's shelf all the time, ready to unveil the horrible truth.

The reason San had never crossed their paths neither in rumours nor on their doorstep after he got to know Wooyoung.

He had died along the way.

When Wooyoung started to quiver, Seungyoun engulfed him tighter, as if trying to pour some warmth into Wooyoung with his body alone. All attempts were in vain. Frozen, Wooyoung broke apart in his grip.

Seungyoun wordlessly skimmed the lines that were still so cruelly exposed to the air. A truth Wooyoung didn't want to look into its hideous face.

Seungyoun had to sit down, too. He walked Wooyoung over to the chair with the care of a worried grandson tending to his grandmother. Wooyoung would have found it hilarious if it was any other situation. With his mouth sealed shut, he curled up on Seungyoun's lap as the man sat down with him. He rocked Wooyoung's shivering body back and forth and held him together as his heart threatened to burst in his chest. His sanity hung on delicate threads as he cowered on the man's lap.

All three of them were shrouded in chilly silence. It wasn't pleasant. Wooyoung could hear all of their thoughts and they blared in his own mind so loud that he wanted to shut his head off from them.

He didn't want to hear it, didn't want to believe it. It was a lie; an artfully crafted ploy of San's genius. He was fine. He hadn't shown up because he was busy. He would check the post office and he would come. He would come. Soon.

Wooyoung couldn't move an inch. His muscles remained tense and locked in place as he was ready to pounce. One wrong word and Wooyoung would flee this stifling place to descend into madness.

After what felt like hours of silence, Yongguk cleared his throat.

"If you... If you wish to go back and confirm, I won't stop you. This is a private deal between you and the institute; we owe you that much. Although I would rather send Seungyoun since I fear about your mental state." Quiet and careful, his voice travelled over the desk. It didn't hold its usual smooth darkness that consoled and eased the listener. It was insecure, hesitant.

All kinds of wrong.

Wooyoung peered at Yongguk over Seungyoun's shoulder. With a gulp, his boss met Wooyoung's wide-open and crazed eyes.

"I will check," Wooyoung whispered. "I will check myself."

Yongguk looked at him for a moment longer, then he had to break eye contact. With a nod, he closed those dreadful books.

Wooyoung wanted to burn them and to dance around the fire.

"Maybe you two should go home. Please take care of him, Seungyoun. You may take my car." Yongguk slid the keys over and Seungyoun snatched them up. Without a word, he stood up and kept Wooyoung close by his side.

They left without goodbyes. Together, they stumbled into the parking lot where Seungyoun put Wooyoung into the car like a child and fastened his seat belt. They didn't look at each other, didn't talk. Wooyoung's eyes peered into a far distance.

Seungyoun brought him home and made sure Wooyoung was taken care of. He ordered food, put a glass of water on the couch table where Wooyoung sat stiff as a board and unseeing. He asked about Wooyoung's needs multiple times and never received an answer.

When it was late and Seungyoun couldn't supervise him any longer, he gave Wooyoung another long hug.

"Please call me if you need me, no matter what time it is. Take care," he whispered against Wooyoung's head.

He left the light on as he escaped the suffocating silence of Wooyoung's flat. Wooyoung heard him starting the car downstairs to bring Yongguk's car back to its owner. The humming of the engine disappeared around the corner.

Only when he didn't hear it anymore, Wooyoung's heart shattered into a million pieces and he cried.