Chapter Text
for a second, zhang hao just stares straight at him, like he’s trying to figure out if hanbin is being serious or not. hanbin just smiles back sheepishly. he doesn’t say anything for what must be the longest minute of hanbin’s life, until finally, his expression breaks into a wide smile.
zhang hao is laughing, he’s laughing but touched by hanbin’s audacity when he finally says, “ok, when are you taking me out then?”
*
zero hao feels more stable than ever, holding hanbin’s hands, but he can’t help but peek at the rift in the multiverse that just won’t seem to close. he almost wants to stomp his foot and pout like a petulant child. haven’t they done enough, hasn’t he done enough? there’s no reason it shouldn’t have at least shrunk a little. zero hao thought it would be reciprocal, the bigger his heart swells when hanbin, his sweet hanbin, finally confesses what’s inside his head, the smaller the tear becomes. can’t the universe understand? he’s staying here, so just let him be.
around them, the party continues on. friends cheering each other on the dance floor, spinning and waving, paying no mind to the giant inter dimensional rift in the front door. zero hao’s heart pounds in his ears. what’s left? what’s still wrong here? in zero hao’s mind, everything is perfect.
oh.
well, not everything. there is one thing in this universe that doesn’t quite belong.
hanbin shakes him out of his thoughts by pressing a soft hand to his cheek. “hyung? what’s going on? are you ok?”
zero hao feels the tears start to sting at the corner of his eyes. he can’t move to wipe them away, or that will allow more to slip out. he blinks quickly, “i’m fine.”
“hyung, are you crying?” hanbin presses his face closer to hao’s, and the older has to fight the urge to push him away. he doesn’t want the younger to see him when he’s weak like this. he’s meant to be the strong one. when hanbin protects everyone else, zhang hao will protect him.
even though, this isn’t really zero hao’s hanbin. hao really thought. he’d really thought.
then again, it was never hanbin who’d had the problem in the first place.
zero hao turns to face the rift in the universe, looking away from hanbin’s dark, searching eyes. his vision is beginning to cloud over from the tears so he gives in and wipes them away. he must look like a wreck right now.
is this really what he deserves? he wants to scream it out. after everything he’s been through, this is how it has to go?
zero hao has always known he wasn’t a selfless person, but hasn’t he been good enough? aren’t all humans a little selfish when it comes to the ones they love?
or maybe this is the most selfish thing he’s ever done.
zero hao let’s go of hanbin, let’s go of his anchor to this universe, and let’s himself be drawn back to the place he’d never thought he’d return to.
there was something still wrong in hanbin’s universe to keep the rift open, him.
his broken version was keeping that tear open, keeping that hanbin and his zhang hao from their happy ending.
at least, he hopes they get their happy ending now. and maybe he will too. zero hanbin is waiting on the other side for him too.
*
zhang hao collapses into hanbin’s arms as the rift seals itself shut. none of the party guests seem to notice that the multiverse-ending threat has been averted. hanbin carries the limp hao over to the couch, crouching beside him worriedly. he’s still breathing, hanbin notes, so had he just expended too much energy doing whatever it was that closed the rift.
it only takes a minute for zhang hao to wake up, sleepily rubbing at his eyes. when he notices hanbin, his eyes go round in confusion, scrambling into a sitting position as hanbin tries to get him to keep resting. “hanbin-ssi, i’m sorry. what’s going on?”
hanbin searches the older’s eyes for any kind of recognition. zero hao just needs to come back out. maybe there’s a delay, and he’s still bouncing around verses somewhere, hanbin thinks.
zhang hao only looks more confused. “i don’t remember anything after jiwoong sunbaenim arrived, did everything go alright with your project?”
hanbin feels his throat go dry. he really doesn’t remember anything after that? he feels his mouth open to say something, but it’s like all the courage has drained out of him with the loss of zero hao. his mouth closes. then he tries to say something else but it’s like he’s choking on the grief of losing someone he didn’t think would ever leave his side.
instead of trying to say something to hao, hanbin walks over to matthew and jiwoong, dancing together and pretending to not be listening to hanbin and hao’s conversation.
“can you find him?” hanbin pleads, “just like how you tracked him here before.”
“what are you talking ab-” jiwoong starts to say, but matthew puts a hand up to stop him.
matthew pulls out a device similar to the one hao had on that first night.
“what happened to laying low,” jiwoong hissed quietly, trying to prevent hanbin from hearing, “what do you think the agency is going to say about this? we’re never supposed to reveal ourselves in front of others.”
“cats already out of the bag, hyung,” matthew says, “i’m sure hao hyung told him about the zeros already.”
matthew activates the tracker, “it’s not usually that accurate though,” he warns, then his face drops.
“i don’t understand, why would he…” he trails off.
“what? where is he?” hanbin presses desperately, “can we get to him?”
“he’s gone back to the zero universe.”
“what?” hanbin’s voice sounds shrill even in his own ears, “he said he’s not allowed to go back there.”
“he fixed it,” jiwoong realizes, then says slowly, “he had to take himself out of the multiverse since he was what was causing it to splinter in the first place.”
“so he’s gone,” hanbin tries to keep his voice from breaking when he looks over to the back of hao’s head on the couch.
“he’s not gone,” matthew reminds him, “he’s right there.”
“he doesn’t remember,” hanbin admits.
“so what, you’re just going to let him go again?” matthew crosses his arms, unimpressed.
“maybe tonight isn’t the right night,” hanbin tries to justify.
matthew narrows his eyes. he’s not scary, but hanbin is a bit worried about what is coming next. “jiwoong hyung, i think we’ll have to initiate the plan i previously discussed,” he says perfectly evenly. very suspiciously. jiwoong nods and sets off towards the couch. matthew latches onto hanbin’s wrist and drags him down the hallway. he opens the bathroom door, peeks to ensure no one is inside, then shoves hanbin inside. matthew is much stronger than he looks, hanbin realizes, or maybe zero(?) matthew is? then jiwoong arrives with a confused zhang hao, and sends him careening into the bathroom as well, straight into hanbin’s arms.
hanbin is still helping zhang hao up when the door slams shut, then the lock clicks into place.
“what are you doing!” hanbin tries to yell through the door.
“helping,” matthew insists.
“which version even are you?” hanbin follows up with.
“it doesn’t matter,” matthew grouses, “but it’s not like this is my first time helping you get your act together. so you really ought to be thanking me.”
hanbin will unpack what that means… later. there’s another, more pressing issue to deal with now.
zhang hao stands with his arms crossed, leaning back against the bathroom sink.
“figure what out,” he asks dubiously.
second times the charm, hanbin tells himself. then he just plunges right into it.
“hao hyung,” hanbin says, “i really like you.”
huh, maybe it really is easier the second time. but even without all the flourish of the first confession, it still feels just right.
this time, it’s hao who surges forward, questioning, “really?”
“since the first day of class,” hanbin admits, “i’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable up until now.”
zhang hao only smiles, “well, honestly… i really like you too. and, for the record, it never made me uncomfortable. it was really endearing how awkward you were.”
“you knew?” hanbin says, suprised, “you never said anything!”
“you never said anything either,” hao points out, “but i knew you’d figure it out eventually.”
they lapse into silence for a brief moment before hanbin summons his courage to ask, “what are you doing later?”
“after the party?” zhang hao questions, “it’s past two am.”
“i know,” hanbin confirms, “do you want to watch the sunrise with me?”
“are you asking me on a date?”
“just the first one.”
there’s a loud knocking on the door. then the lock turns, and the door swings open to reveal gunwook and yujin out of breath. “gyuvin somehow knocked taerae into matthew’s birthday cake, and now it’s all over the floor,” gunwook explains.
hanbin has to hold back his laugh, what perfect timing, “hosting duties call. think about it?”
zhang hao grabs onto his hand as hanbin moves to leave, following him out the door, “since i guess i have to find something to do for the next few hours until morning anyways.”
they enter the living room to find matthew’s beautiful cake really is smashed onto the floor. taerae has cake down the side of his shirt, and matthew seems to be consoling him. gyuvin looks embarrassed while yujin gives him an earful on the waste of cake. hanbin scrubs the floor with zhang hao helping beside him.
it’s chaos, but everyone is laughing, it might not be perfect, and it might be bittersweet, but they’ve never been happier.
*
several years into the future
hanbin leads zhang hao blindfolded down the pathway, carefully leading him around any rocks he might trip over. when he reaches the destination he says outl oud, “sorry it’s been a while, but i promise i’ll be around more often soon.” it’s nonsensical to zhang hao, who would really like to take the covering off his eyes now. he rubs uncomfortably at it, and hanbin is instantly at his side to help him remove it.
they’re in a small clearing, with only a single tree in it, about an hour out of the city. honestly, zhang hao had been quite tired that morning. the youth orchestra he conducts has a competition coming soon, and he must have toured ten homes both with and without hanbin in just the past few weeks. they had talked about moving to a larger place months ago, and now they were finally working to make that dream a reality. hanbin had been insistent that he wanted the place to be a surprise. well, zhang hao is certainly surprised.
“what is this place?” hao asks, looking around.
a small part of hanbin had hoped bringing zhang hao here would jog his memory, but he find even though it doesn’t, he’s not disappointed. he’s happy now, having come to terms with what he’s lost, and the beautiful future that zero hao’s sacrifice had given him.
hanbin pulls zhang hao to sit down next to him against the willow tree. its limbs blow softly in the wind and its trunk is sturdy. for a minute, the two just sit listen to the sounds around them, hao has never seen hanbin so at peace before.
“hao hyung,” hanbin says finally, “do you like it here?”
zhang hao looks around at the slightly marshy meadow, the tree that stands above them, the sounds of the birds far away, “yes, i do.”
“imagine this place was ours. what would you want to build here?”