Work Text:
Khun was in love with Bam. Even eight years after the boy’s death, his feelings hadn’t faded.
It was the kind of love that made Khun forget himself. The kind of love that made him forget about the walls he had built to guard his heart. The kind of love that would’ve convinced him to lay down his life just to see Bam smile again.
The kind of love he hadn’t noticed until a gaping, Bam-shaped hole was ripped into his chest.
Eight years. Khun yearned for eight years, but it was to no avail. The wide-eyed boy was gone. Bam was dead.
Khun had tried many things to fix what had broken within him. He took lovers, all different types of people, but none of them could mend the wound. Eventually, he gave up, instead he used the hurt to fuel his mission: avenge the boy. The most beautiful boy Khun had ever known.
Unknown to Khun, the boy remained. Bam was damaged but alive, his naïve self was replaced by a cold soldier. A god. Despite the suffering inflicted on him, his kindness remained, his hope remained. Everything Khun had loved about him, remained unchanged. And everything that had changed, Khun would grow to love.
Khun had all but given up. In these years, he had lost everything: his friends, his new team, even the girl he was meant to track. But then he got the news, Bam was alive. Khun felt something inside himself break. He hadn’t cried in years. Not since his family disowned him and Maria abandoned him, but the flood gates were open and all he could do was cry.
From this point, all Khun could do was plot to get Bam back. Bam was not a god. He was not a soldier. He was someone who believed in the good of people, who wanted to make everyone happy, who wanted to feel needed and loved, and Khun could give him that. Khun had known that Bam wouldn’t give up whatever mission he was on, he had to believe that Bam was doing this for a reason. So Khun plotted, he would join the Workshop Battle and he would get Bam back.
He knew the final decision was ultimately up to Bam, and he would respect whatever decision made, but he needed closure. He needed to know if Bam had left on his own accord or if someone had forced him to. If it was the first, Khun would leave then and there. No matter how much it hurt, he would stay out of Bam’s way.
When the workshop battle finally came around, somehow, everything worked out. Khun was reunited with Bam, and with the rest of his friends. Rak hadn’t stopped crying since he’d embraced the boy. Khun tried to act nonchalant, but a couple of tears slipped out when he thought no one was looking. Endorsi tried hitting on Bam multiple times but he still didn’t get the hint. Khun laughed. It wasn’t loud, or all that noticeable, but it was real. Bam met his eyes and smiled. Khun felt as though he was staring into the sun, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. He returned the grin.
The crew drank and talked, trying to forget the stress of the tower for one night.
Khun woke up to a dark room, he was still slightly buzzed but his head was clear enough. He looked around and saw everyone passed out on the couches, but they were one lump short. Anxiety ripped through his system as his mind began to race.
Bam is gone again. Khun’s mind raced with possibilities, many of them ended up with Bam kidnapped or killed, but the thought that hurt the most was this one: Bam left and he didn’t even say goodbye.
Khun sat back down, feeling a sense of defeat. Glancing around again, he noticed one lump move slightly. It was Laure, he was still asleep but moved his had to point to his wrist.
'A watch?'
'His pocket.'
Opening the pocket, he saw a message.
“Meet me one the roof.”
Khun quietly tip-toed around the sleeping bodies and walked up the stairs. Sure enough, Bam was standing on the edge of the roof, looking out over the artificial city below. Relief
flooded his system as he admired Bam framed in colored light from the bright signs, his long hair flowing in a gentle breeze.
'He’s beautiful.'
Bam turned when he saw Khun approach and smiled his perfect smile. Khun, who always knew what to say, felt his mind turn to mush. All he could do was pray Bam couldn’t see his blush.
Khun walked over to him slowly, but he didn’t stop at a reasonable foot and a half apart, instead, he walked directly into Bam. Khun placed his head in the crook of Bam’s neck and just leaned on him, letting his arms hang limply at his sides. He felt Bam stiffen, immediately, Khun thought he’d made a bad choice. He was about to pull away when Bam wrapped his arms around Khun’s back, holding him in place. Khun breathed in his scent, a hint of honey, sweat, and home. He could feel a prickling behind his eyes, Bam was alive. A tear dripped out of Khun’s eyes and hit Bam’s warm skin. Khun fully returned the embrace.
Bam POV:
Bam could feel Khun shaking softly. He tightened his grip on the boy and brought a hand up to Khun’s soft, blue hair to try and comfort him. Bam missed him. He missed him with every fiber of his being. For once in the last eight years, Bam forgot his mission, forgot his godhood, and allowed himself to feel safe in his friend’s arms.
Bam didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but eventually, Khun pulled back and schooled his features into a practiced smile.
“Nice to see you again.” Khun looked put together as ever, his eyes weren’t even swollen from the tears.
'He’s gorgeous.'
Khun POV:
Khun felt light: Bam was back, he hadn’t left, and he asked him there. One of his hands was still in Khun’s windswept hair and the other had just been around his back. He knew Bam would never return his feelings, but he would enjoy the attention while it lasted. Before he had to go back to pretending that Bam was just his best friend, but Bam was always
going to be so much more than that.
Khun stepped back and brought his hand up to ruffle the boy's bangs and he quietly admired the length, wanting nothing more than to run his hands through it.
“Do you hate it?” Bam looked at the ground as if unsure he wants to hear Khun’s answer.
“I fucking love it,” Khun blurted. Once he realized what he’d said blood rushed to his ears and cheeks.
Bam’s eyes widened and met Khun’s. A quiet giggle bubbled up from his lips and moments later it was a full cackle. Khun watched in horror as Bam laughed at him, but he thought he imagined a faint blush on his friend’s tanned cheeks.
“Stop laughing, dimwit,” Khun said with an angry pout on his lips. He only feigned annoyance for a few seconds because there was something he’d rather do. “Bam can I braid your hair—” Bam was a little startled by the question but Khun continued to ramble. “I promise I know what I’m doing, I used to braid my little sisters’ hair back when I was still with my family—”
“Yes please,” Bam said. He pulled out his hair tie, letting the brown waves roll down his back and fall in front of his shoulders. Khun stopped talking as Bam sat in front of him, his knees dangling over the edge of the roof.
Khun allowed his hands to slip into Bam’s long hair, combing through it gently. His practiced hands glided through the brown hair as he artfully crossed and twisted the hair. They stayed like that for hours, Khun braided and unbraided while they talked about everything and nothing.
Bam smiled as he told Khun about Wangnan and Ehwa. Khun held Bam’s hand as he discussed the aftermath of Rachel’s betrayal and his introduction to FUG, the threats. He listened to each of Bam’s stories committing them all to memory, wanting to know everything that happened to him the last 8 years.
Bam listened to Khun, listened to him about Rachel’s second betrayal, about Ran and Novick, listened when he started to cry softly for the friend, he thought he had lost, listened to Khun’s loneliness and heartache and defeat. Even after all that, to Khun’s amazement, there was no disgust, no shame, in Bam’s warm eyes. Khun was shocked, he’d never felt like he had someone to share the weight with. He’d always felt like he needed to be strong for Bam, strong for his team. He felt like he had to be cold because cold was all he had ever known. But now Bam was here. A little fire warming him from the inside.
It confirmed everything Khun already knew, that he would go to the ends of the earth for this boy. He would carry Bam’s burdens and his own too, and when the weight became too much, Bam would be there to support him.
Khun was in love with him, but they were friends and equals first, and nothing would change that.
The dark blue of the night faded to purple and pink, before mixing into red and orange and yellow. The neon lights were now drowned out by the gold of early morning. They fell into a comfortable silence, no words needed as they enjoyed each other company.
Bam POV:
A little late, Bam reached up and grabbed the hand fussing in his hair, he yanked Khun down to sit with him. Khun just looked at him, searching for something unknown in Bam’s features.
Ever since he’d gotten back to his friends, Bam has felt right. Rak makes him laugh. Endorsi makes him feel cared for. The rest of them make him feel loved. But Khun does it all. He makes him feel whole.
Bam looks back into Khun’s blue eyes. The normally icy glare is melting Bam from the inside. Still holding Khun’s hand, he turned to fully face the boy. His other hand touches Khun’s cheek, and he swears the blue hair boy leaned into the touch. Then Bam leaned down and pressed his lips into Khun’s.
Khun POV:
Khun.exe has stopped working.
Khun was shocked as he felt Bam's lips, soft and feather-light against his own. I was magical. He couldn’t move. BAM WAS KISSING HIM.
Bam pulled back almost immediately, frantically he pulled away and his cheeks flushed a deep burgundy. BAM KISSED HIM.
'Fuck, he’s so cute. Why am I so fucking stupid? I’M THE DUMBEST PERSON ALIVE.' Khun was still frozen in place but his mind moved a mile a minute. His eyes widened in surprise.
Bam shifted, trying to put some space between them, but finally, Khun regained control of his limbs. He grabbed the front of Bam’s cloak and pulled. Closing the gap between them.
Bam POV:
Their lips met again. Khun moved to sit on his knees tilting Bam’s chin up to meet him and sliding his finger back into the soft hair. Bam’s movements were clumsy as he tried to follow Khun’s lead. Eventually, Bam gave up and followed his own instincts. Khun smelled like pine and soap and jasmine, and the kiss was messy, but they fit together perfectly. Bam brought his hands to Khun’s waist, giving him a small squeeze before fervently trying to pull him closer.
To Bam’s dismay, Khun broke the kiss, but he was gifted with Khun’s windchime laughter. His new favorite sound.
“Bam,” Khun’s eyes were clear and hard as he held Bam’s gaze. “I thought you left us on purpose.” Bam could hear the apology in his words, as he continued. “Deep down, I knew you wouldn’t do that, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe that you would’ve stayed. People don’t usually stick around. Bam,” He said again. “I love you.”
Khun was still leaning over him, his hair tickling Bam’s cheeks. It wasn’t just a statement, Bam knew it. It was a promise. A promise that Khun would do whatever Bam decided was best.
“Khun, I see you; I know you. I love you.” Bam enveloped Khun in another hug. It pained him to see the man he thought so highly of speak so poorly of himself. Bam had never been good with words, so he peppered kisses along Khun’s face. Hoping his meaning would get through. One on the cheek, then the forehead, then the eyelid, and this bridge of his nose. The corner of his mouth. And finally, his lips.
'I love everything about you Aguero.'