Chapter Text
1923
“i want your honest opinion.”
“i don’t think you do.”
mark rolled his eyes as he took in the comment of his companion who stood smiling from across the living room. still gazing at the decoration, “do your worst.”
he turned to face mark and laughed, the kind that meant understood. got it. you’re funny.
“i love it.” he said.
2019
“I don’t get why you’d buy that house in the middle of buttfuck nowhere,” the voice rolled his eyes through the speaker of yukhei’s phone.
but yukhei merely chuckled as he moved his clothes into the closet that he had newly installed; suits, mostly, “you don’t get it, hyuck. and it’s not in the middle of nowhere, it’s only an hour drive from LA.”
“no, i don’t get it. you know how many hours ‘an hour’ actually is in cali time.” then there were footsteps, hyuck was walking around his house up in the hills, “it’s an old-looking home built by some guys back in the twenties and — no, no listen, and — it’s in the middle of nowhere.”
“yes, i know. i did the research,” yukhei zipped up his suitcases and picking them up, heading over to the attic with his phone clutched between his shoulder and his right cheek. trying not to let the speaker of his phone get to his eardrums.
“well, then, you’d know that the owners died there.”
“oh shit. you did research research.”
hyuck sighed, “i know you read about that too. i know .”
the old stairs to the attic creaked and stretched as yukhei pulled it down, “yes. but so what? there is no land on earth right now that has not had someone died on it, hyuck. it’s not like he was murdered here.” he wheeled the suitcase across the glossy wooden finish and closer to the stairs, “hang on."
“why?”
“i’m taking my suitcase up to the attic.”
yukhei could hear hyuck groan from the other side of the speaker. followed by something that was along the lines of, “it’s so old it comes with an attic.” but he said okay anyway and waited patiently for yukhei to return. which he did, all puffed and out of breath, “these stairs are a lot steeper than i thought they’d be and the attic — so much more humid than imaginable.”
“i can’t believe you bought the house.”
“i’m young and stupid like that.” yukhei bent over to pick up his phone before making his way downstairs to unpack the boxes in his kitchen. there were so many. too many . and he had no idea where to begin. he didn’t even know he had so much stuff.
“you just don’t know what to do with your income.”
“hyuck, you live in the mountains.”
“it’s on a hill. Beverly Hills .” then he sighed, the only thing he’s been doing since yukhei decided to move, “look, i’ve reserved your home for the next month.”
“why?”
“it’s a shitty old home, built by some guy in the twenties, and — i can’t stress this enough — it’s in the middle of nowhere .”
“just the way i like it.” yukhei teased, getting real high off of hyuck’s melodramatic reaction to something that seemed so incredibly small to him. and the clanging of silverware that was currently happening probably didn’t help either.
“you’re impossible.”
“oh, i’m impossible?”
“just know that you have options.” hyuck almost muttered, “i worry.”
“don’t. it’s only an hour’s drive from where you live. where we lived. i can go visit every day if i wanted to. it’s not like i moved back home to hongkong.”
there was a pause, “i know. just feels weird not having you here, you know? like, immediately. next door immediately .”
“i know.” yukhei nodded heavily, even if he knew hyuck couldn’t see him do it, “it feels weird too. but i promise i’ll visit so often, it’ll be like i never left.”
“that’s not helping. what about all the gossip?”
“i was never on top of it even when i lived there.”
“i know, but now i have no one to relay the tea to in real-time.”
“maybe if you just let my house be sold…” he was making a point. at least, trying to. a point that he knew would fly right over hyuck’s head, “plus, it’s not like i went back in time to the twenties. we have phones.”
“they had phones in the twenties, you know?”
“well, would you look at that. you wouldn’t even have to worry even if i did travel back in time to the twenties.” yukhei had now moved onto the ceramic plates, which somehow made even more noise than the silverware, “you have nothing to worry about,”
“i still do.”
“i know.”
〄
it’s been a few hours since yukhei had ended the call with hyuck — “yes, i promise i’lll visit this weekend.” it also meant that it had been a few hours since the loneliness of the house and the barren land it sat on top of had settled in with yukhei. at first, he decided it was because nothing was properly unpacked yet. so he went to do that, in hopes of proving himself wrong.
but even with the first floor completely unpacked except for some miscellaneous objects here and there in the back yard, his feeling of blue melancholy still lingered. that was when yukhei decided that maybe hyuck was right. that maybe this had been a stupid idea after all. that maybe he shouldn’t have moved. that he maybe he should’ve stayed at his perfectly nice home up in the hill, only a few minutes’ worths of driving away from his best friend’s.
fuck.
1923
when mark woke up, he felt the chills of the wind blowing at his arms, tugging at him to look over at his beloved standing at their balcony. the one by their master bedroom with self carved wooden railings. god, those took them both so long to finish.
“sweetheart?” he cooed, catching the attention of the man.
“yes?”
the night had finally settled. it was maybe close to midnight.
“what’s wrong?” mark cocked his head to the side as he rose up and propped his upper body’s weight onto his sturdy forearm against the mattress.
the man smiled and shook his head, “i just came to see the sunrise.”
the sunrise?
“love, that won’t be for another few hours.” mark retired from his half up position and sat up against their headboard, “how long were you up for?”
“not too long.”
“okay...” he muttered softly, “come back to bed?” he reached both his arms out for his lover who complied, though hesitantly.
2019
bang, bang, bang .
there was a thundering knocking sound that echoed all throughout the aged walls of the home. it skipped about on the surface of the old wallpapers, up the loose staircase, and arrived at the master bedroom where yukhei had been making his bed. yukhei felt the sound of the visitor’s knock pulling at his sleeves, telling him to greet them at the door.
even though there shouldn’t be a visitor. not at this time, at least not for another countless kilometers in all directions.
he sighed, not really feeling like having visitors with all the heavy thoughts and possible regrets still meddling with his conscious, but stood up anyway and made his way down the wooden staircase that creaked, just slightly , underneath his footsteps.
the knocking came running down the hallway again, “coming!” yukhei called back.
“hello.” the person at the door was small. smaller . with a smaller suit and smaller features. just … smaller everything . except for maybe his eyes — they didn’t seem life-sized . they took up almost half of his face. way too big. “i brought cookies.” the stranger smiled.
“ i’m sorry ?”
“i brought cookies.” the man repeated, giving a quick and curt nod to the basket in the palms of his hands.
“no, i’m sorry. who exactly are you?” the man gave an abashed ‘oh’ at yukhei’s question, “no, i didn’t mean for it to be rude. you just came out of nowhere.”
“no, no. i should’ve probably started with an introduction.” he removed his hands from the bottom of the basket and moved the handle up to the insides of his elbow, reaching his left hand out to shake yukhei’s, “i’m minhyung , your neighbor — approximately forty kilometers down that way.” he pointed obscurely towards yukhei’s right, “henry’s told me all about you.”
yukhei graciously took minhyung’s hand, “wong yukhei, nice to meet you.” he stopped, hand still clutching his neighbor’s as he muttered a soft, ‘ you too ’, “I’m sorry,” yukhei began, “ henry ?”
“yes” the neighbor smiled, his cheeks completely devouring his eyes. yukhei didn’t think it was possible for him to do that. to make his eyes crease and disappear like that. just gone, “well, i brought some homemade sugar cookies.” he continued to smile and yukhei continued to marvel at the surface area of this man’s cheeks and how it enveloped his doe-y eyes like it was nothing, “may i come in?”
“uh…” yukhei almost hesitated before moving to allow the stranger — no, minhyung — into his home, “of course,”
〄
“i love what you’ve done to the house,” minhyung commented as he entered the house, marveling at the modern furniture that yukhei had carried with him all the way from his home back in Beverly Hills, “i love the modern twist—” he continued, feeling the wooden cabinet that had came with the house, “—on this antique home.”
yukhei settled down a tray with freshly brewed tea and cookies that the neighbor had so kindly brought, “thank you.”
“the last owners weren’t as tasteful.” minhyung turned back to face yukhei, “but they’re not here now.” he smiled, less so than before. yukhei was glad, he wasn’t sure how long he could bare marveling at the disappearance of his guest’s eyes, all curled up underneath his colored cheeks.
“did you know the previous owners?”
minhyung nodded.
“what were they like?” yukhei took a seat and offered minhyung a cup of tea, which he accepted with a great big smile that made ice run right up yukhei’s spine.
“more victorian, i’d say.” minhyung smiled, walking over to yukhei’s long couch and taking a seat close to what he assumed to be yukhei’s armchair, “they really gave this place a whole makeover. animal rugs, dark drapes, animal head mounts —” he gestured in a rather general direction, “—which i’m so happy you did not bring along with you. the other owners weren’t … pleasant, i’d say.”
“i’m sorry to hear.” yukhei asked in between sips of his green tea.
“that’s quite alright.” the guest began, taking a sip of his tea, “they were very secluded, but the ones before them were too rowdy. i guess you can never get the perfect medium.” minhyung said, his tone getting darker towards the end of the last syllable. he sets down his teacup and saucer, “would you mind if i asked you a question?”
“uh… i guess that’d be alright.”
“how come you bought this house?”
yukhei adjusted himself to sit more comfortably in his armchair, “well, i was interested in its history.”
that only made minhyung roll his eyes, “that can’t possibly be the only reason.”
“well, that and the fact that this was probably the only place in california that’s close enough to the city but not close enough if you know what i mean. i can still get to the city, but i’m secluded for the most part,” yukhei tried to explain as he tapped away at the ends of his armrest.
“no,” the man nodded along, “i guess that’s why most people come to this place for.”
“what about you?”
“me?”
“how come you live so close to here.”
“don’t be silly, mr. wong—”
“really,” yukhei started, stopping his neighbor midsentence, “call me yukhei.”
minhyung gave a slow nod and adjusted his dress pants ( seriously? dress pants on a hot summer night like this? it was impossible to not get distracted by the man’s attire),“right. well, yukhei , i guess you and i aren’t exactly all too different.” he smiled sheepishly, making yukhei raise his eyebrow. only slightly . not enough to dampen the atmosphere.
“is that how henry sold you your house, then?”
“ah, the real estate agent.”
“does he talk about his clients a lot to neighboring people?”
1923
“mark...” the man cooed at mark who had almost fallen asleep, “are you asleep?”
“no,” mark said so quickly, he didn’t have the time to wish he had just stayed silent, “why?”
“i can’t sleep.”
mark felt the mattress beneath him thunder as his companion turned to face him, “why not?” he asked as his lover’s soft, buttery fingers swept his bangs away from the front of his face.
“i don’t know…” the man moved his face even closer. inches away now, “i’ve been feeling restless lately.”
2019
“well, thank you for the tea.” minhyung smiled, hands still holding onto the railings of the staircase. hand-carved , “and the tour.” he hadn’t stopped smiling since he stepped foot into the house. all throughout the house tour, all throughout tea, and now all throughout yukhei seeing him out. god, how long has it been since minhyung first came in? must’ve been at least an hour; maybe almost two.
“of course, any time.” yukhei tried to match his guest’s enthusiasm as the fully depart from the stairs and head towards the front door.
“oh!” his guest exclaimed in a soft, whispering tone.
“ yes? ” they were standing at the doorway with minhyung a foot in and another foot out while yukhei held open the door. the heavy wooden door with the heavy wooden frame. it was now that yukhei realized what a long day it has been.
“i forgot to tell you this earlier, but i’m sure henry’s told you all about the history behind the house.”
“you mean the death of the two owners?”
“the two original owners. the ones who built the house.”
“right.” yukhei nodded.
“some people believe that the house is haunted, you know that?”
“i’ve heard of it.”
minhyung cocked his head very subtly to the side and peered at him, still smiling but in a different form now — confusion, curiosity, concern ? the neighbor continued, “i would hate to see you leave, but i feel like it isn’t fair for you if you didn’t know why the previous owners sold the house…”