The roof was still dusty.
But it held memories — Hyunjin's laughter echoing between the concrete walls, the warmth of a summer night when he first kissed YoungBok under the stars, the place where he promised Sherri: "No matter what happens, this is our home."
Now, it would be the place he returned to.
Chris stood with a clipboard, squinting at the rooftop in the afternoon sun. "Alright. So we'll string lights here, speakers over there, and the food table against that wall."
YoungBok nodded, a sparkle in his tired eyes. "And the center — that's where he'll walk in."
Sherri stepped forward with a folded sketch. "He should see this first."
She opened it — a carefully drawn plan of golden drapes, floating lanterns, soft flower petals, and a photo wall filled with moments from their time apart: beach memories, bedtime photos with the kids, screenshots of video calls, even copies of the letter he had sent.
Seungmin stared. "This is like a wedding."
YoungBok smiled softly. "It kind of is. Our second one."
That evening, back at the dorm, the group gathered around the piano.
YoungBok sat at the keys, fingers hovering just above them, breath catching.
"Ready?" Jeongin asked.
YoungBok didn't answer — he simply pressed down.
A soft melody echoed through the room — low, aching, familiar.
He had been writing it since the letter arrived.
Each note was Hyunjin's laughter.
Each chord, Sherri's quiet strength.
Each rise and fall was how it felt to wait.
To ache.
To hope.
The lyrics came days later.
Sherri found them on YoungBok's desk, scribbled in the margins of a notepad:
> When the lights go low, you shine the way
Even oceans can't take you away
I breathe you in like the sky at night
Home is your name when I close my eyes.
YoungBok showed it to her with shy eyes. "I wanted to call it 'Breathe You In.'"
Sherri ran her fingers over the page, heart swelling. "He'll cry."
"I hope so," YoungBok said, laughing lightly. "He always cries when it's about us."
With the group's help, they built the rooftop world piece by piece.
Changbin helped wire the lights.
Minho cooked the trial dinner.
Jisung painted a canvas of the family — YoungBok, Hyunjin, Sherri, HyunBok, and Youngjin — all under a single golden moon.
Chris made a playlist of their favorite songs, with YoungBok's new track hidden as the last.
Even the kids helped — HyunBok insisted the lanterns be "cloud high," while Youngjin clapped and babbled every time someone said "Appa!"
But even as the rooftop turned to magic, the outside world still watched.
Some media began softening.
"She stood beside them."
"YoungBok's devotion is proof."
A few fans — once the loudest critics — now left comments like, "I was wrong. I see them now."
Sherri didn't need the approval.
But she did feel the shift.
And it gave her the final courage she needed.
One quiet night, while YoungBok rocked Youngjin to sleep, Sherri pulled out her phone.
She recorded a simple video.
Just her voice.
No makeup. No editing.
> "Hyunjin...
They say people can't love more than one person.
But I do.
I love you.
I love YoungBok.
I love our boys.
And no matter how loud the world gets…
This is still your home.
I can't wait to see you.
I'll be wearing gold.
And I'll be smiling first.
— Your wife,
Sherri."
She never posted it.
It was just for him.
Waiting in a draft.
Like her heart.