ALTERNATE ENDING.

"Changbin Hyung, are you sure about this?"

"Jisung, you know this is the least we could do," Changbin responded with a sigh as he rubbed his palm over his face. He threw a glance at the latter sitting on the other side of the couch, who is currently mirroring the same stressed-out expression Changbin was currently sporting. "This belongs to him so we have to."

Changbin clutched the disk in his right hand while watching Jisung bit his lips in contemplation, legs bouncing anxiously. The latter knew that the former was right, though. But will Chan be happy about it? The two had found the object while rummaging through Chan's stuff, looking for the certain memory stick that contained the songs he made for the artists he was working with. At first, they thought it was a blank tape but upon closer inspection, they saw a messily scribbled name: Yang Jeongin.

"Alright, let's give it to Jeongin then."

The two was about to step out when suddenly, Jisung's phone blared inside the dark and quiet studio.

Surprise?

ㅡ

The clock ticked 10:11 PM and Jeongin can't bring himself to sleep. This has been going on for days now, but does he know? No. Of course, he wasn't aware of that. His mind has been keeping him awake for some reason he couldn't put his finger on, and it was bothering him to no end. As his last resort, he made his way towards the small kitchen in the right corner of his apartment, to grab a cup of water. But before he could successfully execute the single task in his mind, frantic knocks echoed inside the room, followed by voices that seemed way too familiar but not quite.

"Jeongin, open up. It's Changbin," the voice called out from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of a fist ever so gently hitting the wooden surface. "We need to talk to you, please?"

"Changbin?" Jeongin mumbled as he racked his brain for any particular memory of the male. The name rang a bell, he knew he saw it somewhere but he couldn't figure out. "What are they doing here this late though?"

As if the heavens are helping him, his eyes landed on the blue sticky notes pasted on his fridge. 'Seo Changbin, Felix's boyfriend. Tiny with piercing gaze. Producer.' Next to it was another note with 'Han Jisung. Changbin's friend. Tiny too and full cheeks. Squirrel. Loud. Producer.'

Without wasting any second, Jeongin made his way to the door, revealing two dishevelled and panting male as if they ran all the way to Jeongin's flat. "What can I do for you? Is it about Felix? Whatㅡ"

"First off," Changbin cut the younger's words in between the soft pants leaving his lips before holding out a disk. "We need to give you this. Second, Felix needs you right now. Don't ask any question but please get changed." Changbin finished rather calmly before throwing a knowing glance to Jisung who's biting back the smile threatening to break on his face

The two watched the youngest clad in his matching Spongebob sleepwear scrambled around his apartment, completely ignoring the disk Changbin tried to hand him. Jeongin, not bothering to change his clothes, frantically grabbed the black hoodie sitting on the top rail of his study chair and slipped into it. Within minutes, the two was ushered out of Jeongin's apartment; the younger's phone, wallet and keys scrappily shoved inside the pocket of the hoodie.

"Spongebob looks cute, Jeonginnie," Jisung jested in hopes to lighten up the younger's tensed mood, earning him a seething glare from the mentioned.

"Shut up. Let's get going, Felix needs me," Jeongin pleaded with much conviction that something bad happened to his friend. And the two male can't help but feel guilty for a second, but then that was the least of their worries now.

Soon after, the three found themselves standing in front of another door in a place Jeongin never thought he'd find himself, and Jeongin nearly cried at the realization that something bad indeed happened to Felix. His mind raced with so many possibilities, thereby heightening the anxiety that was bubbling inside his chest. He nervously opened the sliding door; the tears that were welling up in his eyes completely blurring his sight. Still, he could make out the body hooked on different machines lying down on the bed and found himself walking closer without any hesitation.

Huh? Since when did Felix colour his hair back to black? It was blonde when we left the café a while ago though.

Jeongin hastily wiped his tears as he paused at the foot of what was supposed to be Felix's bed, with Changbin and Jisung in tow. But the youngest found no Felix. Instead, he saw someone he barely recognized; with the person's dark orbs staring back at him in sheer astonishment. Weirdly enough, he found himself sobbing for reasons he couldn't figure out. What he supposed though was the relief suddenly washing over him. And before he knows it, he was walking closer and closer until he's right beside the male.

"Sorry, bud," Changbin mumbled as he lightly pats Jeongin's head. "Hyung just woke up an hour ago and we wanted to bring you here with us the moment he does. Felix is completely fine, though."

"W-what? You guys fooled me! Oh god." Jeongin looked around confusedly before turning his gaze to the male in the hospital bed. "Who? Who is he? Why do I need to be here?"

"You should probably ask him. We'll grab some coffee downstairs. See ya in a bit!" Jisung responded with a quiet giggle before pulling Changbin out of the room, doing so without much protest from the older.

Chan emitted a humorous chuckle the moment his two friends disappeared from the door before he wrapped his hand around the younger's tiny wrist and gave it a gentle tug, in an attempt to get the stunned male's attention. "Sit down."

Jeongin, ostensibly in dazed, followed the elder's words as he settled himself on the chair next to the bed. They let the comfortable silence envelop them, with Chan watching the way Jeongin fiddle with the hem of the hoodie Chan recognized all too well, the elder's eyes filled with much adoration. It was one of the hoodies Jeongin stole from him. Jeongin, albeit feeling nervous from the elder's gaze, couldn't find it in him to stop the mentioned. In fact, his face started heating up from the inspecting eyes, but nothing sort of uncomfortable. He loved it.

Chan was beyond relieved when it dawned upon him that he is irrefutably alive. It was the first time in years he found himself sincerely thanking the heavens for hearing out his appeals. It was as if the planets finally aligned and the universe was finally working in his favour when he was splashed with the consciousness he thought he would forever lose. Along with those thoughts flooding his brain was the memories of a certain male that he thought he would never see, never get to spend the time with, never get to remind how much he loves him.

"Can you get the notebook inside the second drawer next to you?" Chan mumbled softly, to which Jeongin answered with a nod before he proceeded to fish out the only content of the drawer. "I believe it belonged to you, Yang Jeongin."

Jeongin, still sporting the same bewildered look, scratched his head. "I don'tㅡ"

"Just read it first, even just a few pages," Chan cut off as another round of chuckle managed to escape his lips. "You haven't changed at all, love."

"L-love?" Jeongin mumbled as he wasted no time flipping the light blue notebook open. There, he was greeted with his own handwriting and a photo of him with the male. He was beyond perplexed. The notebook was his, true. His sign at the lower right of the page told him so. The elder lost a lot of weight, Jeongin reckoned, as he stole another glance from the male, double-taking if he is indeed the same person. Even then, Jeongin found the man undeniably gorgeous, the man whom he learned was named Bang Chan, a producer, Changbin and Jisung's friends.

His lover.

Before Jeongin realized what's happening, he was full-on sobbing. The notebook that was previously in hand was now abandoned on the floor as he carefully rushed towards the elder's embrace. Despite the lack of concrete memories, Jeongin found himself melting into the arms where he supposed he truly belonged to. He was acting based on his urges, but he doesn't care, not at all. When he was welcomed in the warm and loving embosom, and Jeongin made it his mission to remain in the same pair of strong forelimbs for as long as he is breathing. After all, his mind might completely forget, but his heart ㅡ his heart only beats for one person, and Jeongin knows when it does.

Chan found refuge in the younger's arms. He finally found the safe haven he has always hopelessly yearned for. With his face pressed into the crook of Jeongin's neck, he couldn't help but let out the sob he has been trying to hold the moment his eyes landed on the male's confused face. It felt surreal, and Chan thought that it was too good to be true. He is alive and he is back in the arms of the person he was madly in love with.

Both knew that they have things to sort out; Jeongin has a lot of questions to ask and Chan has tons of unsaid words to speak, but they have plenty of tomorrows to figure things out. Those were the least of their worries now that, in the present, they are finally back into the embrace they thought they have lost forever.

Today, as the clock ticked 11:31 PM, both hearts beating as one knew better than to let go of the love that is keeping them alive. Right here, right now.

One beat.

Stop regretting about your yesterdays, you won't be able to change them.

Two beats.

Spend your today as if it's the last.

Live without any regrets.

Three beats.

Stop worrying about the future.

Surrender the things you can't control.

To more tomorrows filled with love, with you.

"I'm finally back home."

FIN.

ㅡ

PLEASE READ!

Hey guys! This book finally came to an end. And I want to thank every single one of you for supporting this story.

Truthfully, I had a lot of doubts while writing this, but seeing the votes and the comments motivated me to keep going. Even if I don't reply to all the comments you guys left (since I'm an awkward potato), know that they really made me happy and encouraged me, so I'm very grateful!

Originally, the previous chapter was supposed to be the ending but I do not want to leave you guys sad that's why I made an alternate-ish one. I hope I was able to satisfy your JeongChan shipper's heart.

There are a lot of plot holes (or things weren't mentioned but only implied) and in my opinion, the story came out as quite anticlimactic. It progressed without much build-up and it was fast-paced. I have a lot of things that I wasn't able to showcase. This was my first chaptered work as I'm more inclined into writing one-shots and I'm still kind of testing the waters. For that, I'm really sorry, hehe. Hopefully, I'll be motivated enough to (re)write and share my works.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope that you guys enjoyed reading this just as much. Even though the book was a total mess.

If you have any questions about the story and stuff, you can drop it here!

+ I am cross-posting this on my ao3 account where I'm planning to post my one-shots. My ID is heycb97 is you guys want to check it out!

Thank you again and see you soon!

Much love,

ㅡC.