here is the epilogue/alt ending! its much, much shorter than the earlier chapters tho, just a fair warning

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++ seven months later

"Mingi, why are we here again?" Wooyoung asks, arms crossed over his chest as his friend examines the paintings framed on the walls with the pace of a snail.

"To admire art with me, duh," the taller man tells him, stroking his chin as he observes the latest painting. It's coated in red, a flurry of black shapes stark against the surface. Apparently, this is considered abstract art, but Wooyoung honestly isn't interested. "I told you we were going to do this like, two days ago."

Wooyoung looks around them, watching the others study the many paintings as if they fell from the sky or something. He just doesn't get it. He huffs, annoyance flaring within him. "Guess I forgot, but you can't blame me. I'm so busy these days."

"Yeah," Mingi snickers, turning to face him with a smile. "Busy booking photoshoots left and right. Ah, the wonders of being pretty and having a unique set of eyes."

Wooyoung glares at the man when he affectionately ruffles some of his dyed grey hair. "Mingi, this is assault."

Mingi gasps, appalled by the younger's choice of words. He soon laughs it off though, beckoning Wooyoung over into a separate section to view even more paintings. Swell.

"I'm particularly excited to see one of these again. Even cleared my schedule for the opening which took place a week ago," Mingi says as he heads down the quiet hall, and Wooyoung leisurely tags along, surveying the architecture of the place.

There's so much space, but the walls are lined with so many art pieces that they make up for it.

"Wooyoung!" Mingi suddenly whisper-yells, earning the shorter's attention. When Wooyoung turns, the man waves him over, the biggest smile on his face.

"Oh, what is it now -- " Wooyoung halts his groaning just as he notices the painting Mingi's been talking so passionately about.

In front of him lies something that resembles a fruitful pasture under the moonlight. Then sitting beside it is a boy that's more than half the size of the entire area, only a mere silhouette in the night. But, there are blue butterflies in his hair, the left side of his chest a blazing gold that shines down on a few of the trees below. It's where the flowers grow.

"Pretty, right?" Mingi voices out at that moment.

Wooyoung can't help but nod, a little breathless at the intricacy of the painting. It's like each design, down from the shadowed boy to the blooming flowers, and even to the curved moon gleaming on the coloured canvas means something, and Wooyoung wants to find the answer to every single one.

"Apparently this is the painter's first ever artwork displayed here," Mingi comments, a small smile flitting over his features. "No one knows who they are, but their painting's gained quite a bit of attention."

Wooyoung tears his gaze away from the painting. "Really?"

"Mhm."

"Well, I can see where those people are coming from. It's really..." Wooyoung watches it again, taking in all its details. "It attracts you."

Mingi hums, looking pleased. He takes a step closer to the framed picture, sucking his lip between his teeth. "There are numbers on it."

"What?" Wooyoung scoots in, focusing on where Mingi's pointing at. "I don't see anything though."

"Look harder."

Wooyoung's about to scoff and roll his eyes at Mingi's highly unhelpful statement, but halts when his eyes pick up on a pattern woven into the pinks and oranges of the vibrant flowers. They're given dimension to look more realistic, but it also draws attention to their shape. Wooyoung can't believe it'd taken him this long to notice. "...Binary."

Mingi snaps his fingers. "Bingo."

Wooyoung zooms in on the signature sprawled at the bottom, a tiny splotch of white that doesn't harm the quality of the work in any way. Even the callipgraphy's amazing, despite the size, but it's the content of it that leaves him fumbling for words to say.

MtSn.

He hears a click next to him, and then Mingi's shoving his phone in his face, nearly blinding him.

"What the hell?" Wooyoung nearly shouts, risking everyone's eyes on him. "Mingi, are phones even allowed?"

"I didn't take a picture," Mingi tells him. "But I did put in the numbers on the painting from where they begin. You should really see this."

Wooyoung hides the phone from view, looking at the screen afterwards. And his jaw fucking drops.

'Sunset's Dusk. Before the last leaf drops, I want to see you in person.'

Mingi's grin is far too knowing when their gazes meet.

"Did you know about this?"

"What? I'm just smiling for no reason."

* * *

Sunset's Dusk hasn't changed much, save for the CLOSED sign stuck to its front doors, the falling, flaxen leaves and the chaotic breeze that sends chills up Wooyoung's spine. Hyeopjae beach isn't as occupied either, and when Wooyoung peers around him for the umpteenth time without spotting San around, he decides to just stay put and bask in his picturesque surroundings instead, failing to keep his smile off his face.

A kid rides a bike in front of him, and he cringes at the wide grin he shoots the boy when he wishes him a good morning. What is happening to me?

Wooyoung can't quench his excitement though, no matter how hard he tries. He's waited so long for this, and after heeding to San's advice of caring for himself, he feels he's more than ready to see him again.

- mingiii
is he there yet??

- wooyoung
nope

- yeosung
awe that sucks

- mingiii
i messaged him though and he said hes on his way.

- mingiii
he just texted me rn
said he's planning to stop by a bookstore.
maybe he wants to get you something

- yeosung
thats cute, ngl

- wooyoung
why does he keep texting you and not me

- yeosung
maybe he's as nervous as you are

- mingiii
i'll send you the address of the store
you can surprise him there
imagine his reaction oh my godd

- wooyoung
sounds like an ok plan

- mingiii
sweet!

Wooyoung soon figures out why he shouldn't have put his entire trust in Mingi in the first place, because a few minutes into his walk, hefty clouds litter the darkened sky. Then it starts to rain heavily all over, drenching the fabric of Wooyoung's cardigan in seconds.

Panicked, his eyes dart around the area, searching for a shade of some sort only to find none. The raindrops beat against his skin along with the deafening wind, and fuck, Wooyoung just wants the ground to open up and swallow him now. At least then he won't have to face San looking like a drowned rat --

Something grabs him at that second, swinging him around like he's in some overproduced, cheesy scene in a kdrama, and then he collides into a chest, feeling his world slow down.

The rain isn't lashing down on him anymore, but it takes a hot minute for Wooyoung to even register the low pit-a-pat of the rainfall dripping down the transparent material of the umbrella that's now shielding him. All he can see is a pair of eyes staring at him through red-black bangs and a grey designer hood, so familiar yet so novel at the same time.

"Hey," San greets, his voice easily canceling out everything else in the background.

Wooyoung's heart races to unspeakable lengths, and he blinks, wondering if this is just a dream. He hopes it isn't. "Hi..."

"Sorry for not showing up on time," San apologizes. His eyes never leave Wooyoung's face, tracing over his every feature. "The weather's been iffy all morning."

"Mingi..." Wooyoung has to rack his brain to remember what he wants to say. "Mingi said you went to a bookstore and told me it'd be a good idea to surprise you there."

San's nose scrunches in confusion. "There aren't any bookstores around here, as far as I can tell."

Anger Wooyoung should have felt towards Mingi for playing this silly little prank on them subsides as soon as he locks eyes with San once again. "I -- I can't believe you're really here."

"Me too... I thought you'd get mad at me for contacting you after so much time has passed," San pauses, smiling at the younger man. "You're still so beautiful."

Heat rushes to Wooyoung's cheeks, which he attempts ignoring. "Trying to flirt with me, I see."

"I'm just stating the truth." And San means every word. "I really like your grey hair, and you aren't wearing those contacts anymore."

Wooyoung nods, fighting the urge to pull San close. "Yeah... I finally got tired of hiding. Realized it wasn't worth it."

San cups his cheek, and Wooyoung melts right into his touch, wanting the man to do much more. But right now, after months and months of San's absence, he's okay with this. He loves it, even.

"What a creative way to get us to meet up," Wooyoung says after a while of soaking in San's adoring stare. "Binary inside a painting? Who would've ever thought of that?"

"What can I say?" San laughs, the sound warming Wooyoung's heart. "I'm quite special."

"You really are."

San pushes up his right sleeve, and right there is the butterfly bracelet the man gifted to him, except the wings are a darker blue this time. A nervous smile tugs at his lips. "You still have yours with you?"

"In my pocket," Wooyoung answers, unable to contain his happiness.

"That's good." San's gaze is so fond, so loving it's kind of surreal at this point. "Let me see."

Wooyoung looks for it while San continues to hold on to the umbrella, and when he eventually pulls it out, he watches on, stunned as the older man attaches it around his wrist, fingers soft against his skin.

"Not only are you creative, but you're totally skilled with one hand as well," Wooyoung smirks.

San snorts at the dirty joke, before staring into the wet street for a moment. "...Would you be okay with me giving you a kiss right now?"

Wooyoung's heart jumps. Calm the fuck down. "Uh, sure."

San leans in, and presses a chaste kiss on his forehead. Wooyoung's toes curl at the sensation, his pulse picking up.

He's blushing again. "I can't stop smiling," he beams.

"Me neither."

Wooyoung kisses San a second later, on the lips this time. San gasps, mouth agape as his cheeks swell up with pink.

"Hey, don't go having a heart attack on me, old man," Wooyoung teases, grinning when San punches his arm.

"I'm only twenty-six. Not that old."

"Sure." Wooyoung makes a move to say something else, but San interrupts by kissing him, again and again.

"I missed you..." San whispers into Wooyoung's neck, his free arm wrapped snugly around his middle. "Even though I tried to act like I didn't and went to Japan, I thought about you every single day."

"I thought about you too," Wooyoung confesses, a lump growing in his throat. "All the time."

"I...I know it may be too much to ask right now, but if I said I wanted to try out this dating thing with you again -- without any of the contracts and the CEO thing involved -- would you say yes?"

Wooyoung looks at the man in front of him, at the man who's made him feel like none other. He stares at the man he loved in the past, still loves, and will most likely spend his future days loving. And he's willing to do all that it takes to keep him around this time, because he truly can't imagine himself falling for anyone else.

So he grins, a sight much brilliant than the sun now breaking through the thinning clouds.

"Of course. A million times over. Yes."

* * *

WHO WE ARE
started: 20/11/20
finished: 20/02/21

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final author's note: aaaand thats it! thoughts?

okay, guys, you finally made it to the end!! thank you so so much for reading, voting, and commenting, and for those who were there from the start, thank you for sticking with this fic throughout.

now i know this is just some woosan fic you happened to stumble upon to alleviate your boredom for the time being, but it kinda means a lot to me. i wrote a bunch of things in that fic that were quite personal, so what you've just read are pieces of me through my writing that i wanted to share.

wooyoung's and san's characters here are pretty dear to me. especially wooyoung, since he's like seventy five percent of the person i am, the part of me that's consistently struggled with commitment, my self-image and mental health, while san's the side of me that's impulsive with fluctuating emotions that are hard to control. so i guess i just self-projected at times, but it made this whole experience a lot more fun and eye-opening.

i hope this fic touched you as much as it touched me, and thank you for your continuous support.

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