Only You (YeonGyu)

Chapter 32: His Return

“Even if he’s gone?” Yeonjun asked, barely above a whisper.

Soobin looked at him for a long time, then nodded.

“Especially then.”

The bell above the café door then chimed.

Soobin looked up absently from his coffee, expecting another regular. Yeonjun didn’t glance up at all — until he felt something shift in the air. A weight. A presence. Something long-missing, unmistakable.

The door clicked shut behind the new arrival.

Soobin froze, eyes fixed on the figure just inside the entrance.

Yeonjun turned slowly.

And there he was.

Beomgyu.

Six years older, taller, his features sharper, more mature. He wore a dark coat, a messenger bag slung across his shoulder, and in his hand — a small wrapped box. His eyes scanned the café briefly, almost like he was unsure he should be here at all.

Then they landed on Yeonjun.

Time stopped.

Yeonjun’s breath caught in his throat. For a moment, he didn’t trust what he was seeing. His heart thundered — not with joy, but panic. With disbelief. With everything he never got to say rising all at once and jamming in his throat.

Beomgyu didn’t smile.

He just looked at him, unreadable.

And then, finally, he walked forward.

The sound of his footsteps was somehow louder than anything Yeonjun had ever heard. Soobin stood quietly to the side, watching it unfold, eyes flicking between them.

Beomgyu stopped in front of the table.

The box in his hand thudded lightly on the wood as he set it down.

“It’s for Kai,” he said simply, his voice deeper now but still carrying that familiar gentleness. “A little something from abroad. Is he around?”

Yeonjun blinked. “You’re… you’re really here.”

Beomgyu met his eyes for the first time.

“I just landed this morning.”

Silence stretched between them like glass.

Then Beomgyu added, “I figured I’d stop by before heading home.”

Yeonjun stood slowly. He looked like he wanted to say a hundred things — to apologize, to explain, to beg. But all that came out was:

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

Beomgyu's gaze faltered. “Neither did I.”

Soobin cleared his throat quietly, then gave Beomgyu a soft pat on the arm. “Kai’s in the back. He’ll be happy to see you.”

Beomgyu nodded without looking away from Yeonjun. “Thanks.”

He hesitated, then took a step past Yeonjun — but paused beside him.

“You look different,” Yeonjun said, voice raw.

Beomgyu didn’t smile, but there was a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

“So do you.”

And just like that, he continued toward the back room, leaving Yeonjun standing there — shaken, breathless, and suddenly, terribly aware that the moment he had begged the universe for…