running up that hill
the sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the island. sunoo walked down the familiar path, the soft crunch of gravel beneath his feet blending with the distant sound of the waves crashing against the shore. it was quieter here, away from the noise of the wedding preparations and the lingering tension in the air. he needed this, just a moment to breathe.
the island, for all its beauty, felt strange now. everything was a little too bright, too full of memories he didn’t know how to handle. he found himself at the base of an old tree, one that had been there as long as he could remember. its bark was rough under his hand as he leaned against it, staring out at the ocean.
this had always been his and wonwoo's spot.
his father used to bring him here when he was younger. it was where they would sit and talk about everything, life, love, and sometimes, nothing at all. as a child, sunoo never fully understood why his dad always seemed a little distant, a little lost in his own thoughts whenever they came here. but now as an adult, it made sense.
this tree had witnessed it all. the happy days, the ones where wonwoo’s laughter filled the air and the sad ones, when sunoo would catch his father staring at the horizon, like he was waiting for something or someone to come back.
sunoo slid down the trunk, sitting with his legs crossed. the air was heavy, but it was also familiar; it made him feel a little closer to those days when he was small enough to sit on his dad's lap, when everything felt safe and whole.
a memory hit him, unbidden:
"why do you always look so sad, papa?"
it was from when he was about six, his face full of innocence, and his heart full of questions. he’d been sitting on wonwoo’s lap, staring up at him with those big eyes, trying to understand the silence that always seemed to follow whenever sunoo asks about his other dad.
“i’m not sad, gumball. i’m just remembering” wonwoo’s face had softened then and he hugged sunoo close
but sunoo hadn’t understood, not really, he’d thought it was just one of those things adults said when they didn’t want to talk about something.
now, sitting beneath the tree, sunoo finally got it. wonwoo hadn’t been sad just because of his other dad's absence. he’d been heartbroken, he had lost his first love, the person who had once made him feel complete and sunoo—sunoo had been the only thing keeping him from breaking entirely.
the weight of it all crashed down on him. wonwoo had been carrying so much for so long and sunoo had never realized the depth of it. his dad wasn’t just raising him; he was protecting him from the pain of the past. all the while, he’d been pretending that it didn’t hurt, that everything was fine so that he wouldn't share the pain to his son.
tears pricked at the corners of sunoo’s eyes. he let them fall, but this time, he didn’t try to stop them, he needed to grieve for his father’s pain, too. for all the things he never said, for all the times he had tried to shield sunoo from a love story that was too complicated to explain
as he wiped his face, he realized something else, something he hadn’t fully understood until now
mingyu wasn’t just a stranger coming into his life, he was his father’s past, the one thing wonwoo had never fully let go of and sunoo, he wasn’t just caught in the middle of a reunion. he was caught in the ripple effects of a love that had never been fully given up
but he could be more than that.
sunoo stood up, brushing the dirt from his jeans. there was still so much he didn’t understand about mingyu and wonwoo. but he knew one thing for sure: he didn’t want to see his father fall apart again, he couldn’t let this wedding, this moment that should’ve been about joy, be the thing that tore his family apart.
with a deep breath, he made his way down the path. he needed to talk to jeonghan-hyung. he needed someone who understood what was at stake, someone who had seen it all before and could help him navigate the mess that was about to unfold. the one who held his dad's hand when every man he had loved left him.
sunoo found jeonghan sitting at the beach, the waves touching his feet, as his gaze is fixed on the horizon, as the last rays of sunlight painted the sky in shades of pink and orange. there was a quiet intensity in the older man’s posture, his shoulders tense with the weight of the evening ahead.
sunoo approached cautiously, unsure of what he was about to say, but knowing he needed to. jeonghan turned as he heard the footsteps, his eyes softening when he saw sunoo.
“you okay?” jeonghan asked, his voice gentle but full of concern.
“i’m fine, i just... needed to think uncle” sunoo nodded, though the heaviness still clung to his chest.
jeonghan’s eyes flickered with understanding, he moved aside to let sunoo sit next to him, gazing out at the ocean together. there was a long pause before jeonghan finally spoke again, his voice quiet but direct
“where did you go, sunoo? your dad's been looking for you.”
the mention of his father’s made sunoo’s heart twist, he glanced down at his feet before looking back at jeonghan.
“i needed some time alone, uncle. it’s been… a lot to take in” he said with a sigh
jeonghan’s expression softened, but there was a quiet urgency in his tone when he spoke next.
"you know when your dad first arrived on this island, i saw him under an old tree at the top of a hill right there" jeonghan pointed out the spot where sunoo was earlier
"i was about to get my favorite fruit, trees away from where your father is standing, and i knew he wasn't a local" jeonghan smiled softly
"he was standing there, face blank, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. i asked him if he was alone, but he said he was with someone waiting for him down the hill"
"he added that he just wanted to be alone at that moment, to think about things from his home, that's also the reason why he came here to this very island, you're just like your father, sunoo" jeonghan mutters
"do you know who that person is, uncle? the one who waited for papa?"
"i know who you're thinking, yes, it was mingyu, sunoo. he let wonwoo have his silence up there, he let wonwoo feel the emotions he wants to feel, and when wonwoo calmed down, he welcomed him with a warm hug when he came down running down the hill." jeonghan now holding sunoo's hand, caressing it
“you know, i haven’t told wonwoo that mingyu and junhui are here yet. i think... i think you should be the one to tell him. it was your choice, so he needs to hear it from you. he’s been carrying so much for so long, and now, with all of this it’s too much for him to handle alone.”
sunoo swallowed hard, his throat tightening. he knew what jeonghan was asking of him. he wasn’t ready for it, not yet but there was no avoiding it. if anyone could break the news to wonwoo, it had to be him.
“i will, but... i don’t know if I can handle it either” sunoo said, his voice steady despite the storm swirling inside him.
“i know it’s not easy, but you’re not alone in this. i’m here, and we’ll get through it together” jeonghan looked at him, a deep empathy in his eyes. there was a long pause before jeonghan lowered his gaze, his expression suddenly solemn.
“and sunoo... about what happened at the dock earlier. i’m sorry, i never meant for things to get that heated. i was just... trying to protect your dad.”
sunoo felt a pang of guilt rise in his chest, but he understood. jeonghan had been looking out for wonwoo for twenty years now, just like he had been. they were both trying to protect the people they loved, and in that moment, they had both gotten lost in their own emotions.
“i know, uncle” sunoo said quietly, his voice thick with emotion.
“but it doesn’t change the fact that... all of this is a mess. i don’t know how to fix it, uncle. i just don’t want my dad to fall apart again”
jeonghan placed a hand on sunoo’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze.
“we’ll find a way, we always do, and you know that your papa loves you, no matter what” but as sunoo sat there, feeling the weight of the moment pressing down on him, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the storm was far from over.