far from you | oneus

epilogue.

"Hey watch out here, there's a little step there-"

Dongju turned around just in time to see Dongmyeong stumble over the hidden step at the entrance to the house, and laughed.

"It's been too long since I've stepped foot in this house," Dongmyeong said ruefully, dragging his luggage behind him.

Dongju reached out a hand to help his brother with his bags. Despite the five years they'd spent apart, the brotherly dynamic between the two fell back into place easily. There was, after all, something about sharing a womb with someone that even distance couldn't alter.

There had been some tension between the two at the start, as expected. Dongmyeong was careful with his words, afraid of any resentment from his twin brother because he'd been the one to escape Jihwan's grasp the earliest, but he needn't have been careful. Dongju was only ever happy that his brother didn't have to go through the same hell he did, and there were nothing but smiles all around as the twins got around to catching up after their time apart.

─

"So you said you were learning keyboard, right?"

"Mhm! I've been taking lessons for a while now, I think I might be interested in getting into the music scene, you know, as a performer," Dongmyeong answered cheerily, lying back on his brother's bed.

Dongju almost moved to tell Dongmyeong to roll himself away and not bring the airport germs all over his bed, but he stopped himself and smiled.

I'll take airport germs any day if it means Dongmyeong is home.

Dongju abandoned his own bags and lay down beside his brother.

"This house has been too empty without you, you know?"

"I know. My heart has been too empty without you, you know?"

"Now you made me sound cheesy."

"You are cheesy, get over it."

They'd talked to their mom earlier and agreed on clearing out Jihwan's study for Dongmyeong's new room. The brothers used to share theirs, but over the years the room had gotten too small for two teenage boys to concurrently occupy, and their mother supposed they both needed their own privacy too. Either way one of the spare rooms would be turned into a study for the two of them, so they had a place to be together anyway.

But as for the first night, the new bed hadn't been properly set up yet, so the two of them shared Dongju's. And for the first time, there were no complaints of who took more of the blankets, or laments about who got the "good side" or the "bad side".

The king bed was spacey enough to comfortably accommodate both, but more important than that was that the family's newfound peace, as hard-won as it was, would be preserved with utmost effort.

"Dongmyeong-ah, are you asleep?"

"Yeah, you're talking to the ghost of Jihwan now. Bad boy Dongju."

"What the hell, I hate you."

Dongmyeong laughed as a pillow was launched his way and he caught it neatly. "Do you ever wish he died?"

Dongju's room at night was illuminated only by the moon, and his eyes shone in the darkness. "No, I don't. Death is too peaceful a punishment for a monster like him."

"I hope he rots in hell."

"If you fart while under my blanket one more time I'll put you right there with him."

"You ruined the moment!"

"I'm abandoning you, go wallow in your fart fumes!" Dongju slipped out of bed and shook his hair into place. "Come on, let's go downstairs."

The two crept downstairs quietly, hesitant to wake up their mother in the dead of night. She had work the next morning, after all.

Dongju opened and fridge and brought out a box of ice cream.

"Melona! You still remember my favorite?"

"It's my favorite remember? You copied me," Dongju laughed playfully, passing a packet to the other boy.

"Hey, I was born before you. You literally copied me being born."

"You make no sense. Can you eat your Melona and shut up?"

The two sat at the counter, laughing and talking over two sticks of ice cream, just like they once did back when their father was still alive, back when they'd had a smaller house and a less extravagant lifestyle but much happier days.

But maybe those happier days could come once again. And maybe, just maybe this time, they wouldn't have to end.

"I'm glad you're home, Dongmyeong."

"I'm glad I'm home."

─