Woohyun disconnects the call as soon as he understood what she said. His phone slips from his hand as he stared into nothingness. The words she said kept going on and on in his head like a broken record. Every syllable sounded horror to him.

 

 

Too shocked to move, he remains in his position until he feels something coming out of his eye. Tears. He just knew it. It's been just a few hours since Sunggyu was smiling, and here he is now, most probably waiting for someone to get rid of the pain, and also one that's causing him to fake his smile. Some hours ago, Sunggyu was smiling sincerely. And yet, now, Woohyun have found another thing he needed to lie about, or maybe not, but he found another thing that would slowly kill him. Another thing that would make Sunggyu cry. Another thing that would slowly kill them both.

 

 

A child. A child made with his own flesh and blood. Woohyun have dreamt about being a father, but he never dreamt of having a child since Sunggyu was obvioudly not capable. But now that he has one, it did feel different and somehow precious, except that it was from a woman he loved.

 

 

He didn't know what to do. With the rumors sprouting once again, he knew he had no choice but to protect Jisae. After all, Jisae had told him because she was wise enough to know that the media would come after her. He needed to protect her at all costs. Not because that he still loved her, not because she was a woman who was carrying his child, but because of the thought of saving from the public of what they know, for the sake of Sunggyu.

 

 

He loves Sunggyu so much. He admits it. He knows it. He's sure of it. No matter what caused this unplanned being, he didn't care anymore. All he cared about was for Sunggyu not to know, because he's had enough of pain. He might have already crushed his dreams and destroyed his gift, and he doesn't want to make it worse. All he wanted was Sunggyu to be safe, no matter what. Whatever cost it will take, he will not make the same mistake again.

 

 

Woohyun finally snapped out when he heard multiple knocks on the door. He stands up and walks towards it, unlocks it, and turns the door knob. There he saw Howon who was holding a tray, with a bowl of ramen and a glass of water. "Cheer up." Howon tells him, and Woohyun forces out a small smile. "Come in."

 

 

Howon walks towards Woohyun's table and placed down the tray. He sat down on the bed and watched him as he sat depressingly on his chair before grabbing his chopsticks. "I'm...sorry." Howon apologizes, and Woohyun was left confused. "Sorry, what?" Woohyun faces him as he munched noodles in his mouth, trying to brighten up the atmosphere. "I must have caused trouble. Dongwoo and I will fix it ourselves." Howon answers, and Woohyun halted from chewing his ramen. "What happened?" Woohyun asks, and Howon was flustered.

 

 

"Dongwoo...didn't say anything?" Howon cautiously asked, since their fight was near of being notorious. "Now that you have said it, tell me then. A best friend fight? I actually thought it rarely occurs between you and him." He chuckles a bit, trying to make the topic occupy his mind. He wanted to forget what he heard. He wanted to forget about it at least for a minute.

 

 

"Well...kind of. But like I said, we'll solve it ourselves. No need to worry." Howon reassures, and Woohyun finally put down his chopsticks. He took a sip from the glass and faced Howon. "Don't tell us to worry when no one even knows that there's something to worry about." He told Howon, and the younger kept his head down.

They both chuckle for a while and ended with an awkward silence. Howon clears his throat to signal him that he was going to say something in addition to what he said earlier. "The pictures. I've noticed that some of them were like coming inside the apartment. I mean like, the paparazzi's inside the apartment. Literally." Howon tells him, and Woohyun nods his head as he tries to remember the posted photographs. "Yeah. I think so too. But...if that's the case, then how much more do they have? What if we're not safe here? What if they take photographs daily and we're not aware at all?"

 

 

"You have a point there, but I think they only come because you were suspicious. I guess they knew for quite a while already and just waited for the perfect timing or evidence to pull off that scandalous rumor." Howon replies in a very professional tone, and somehow Woohyun was amazed by it. "I didn't know you had that side of you." Woohyun told him, and made Howon's cheeks get warm. "W-what? What side?"

 

 

"You sound so accurate like a detective. Like all your deductions are real and that you are truly confident about it because you know it's the truth. It makes you look so...manly." Woohyun's compliment made Howon's heart race, since it's been a while since they have talked and they weren't really the type to compliment each other. "Your body is all built up, your shoulders are broad and your face is also attractive. I wonder who wouldn't fall for you." Woohyun chuckles and pats his shoulder.

 

 

"You." Howon says in his head.

 

 

"A-anyways. My point is, it's quite impossible that a paparazzi could go that far. If you see the angle, it looks like it's a person who freely goes around the apartment." Howon continues and watches the change of emotion in Woohyun. "You mean...if it's not a paparazzi, then it's some sort of spy?" Woohyun looks at Howon with great interest that made him lose his focus. "I-It could be." Howon simply answers, and then looks away since he wasn't used to being so near to him. "Could be one of the members too. It's not that I want to start an issue here, but it really seems like it's that way. Someone must have been angry at you or accidentally posted the photos online." Howon explained and gathered his might to look at Woohyun again.

 

 

"That can't be. I don't remember anyone angry at me, and after all we've been through..Why would anyone in our apartment do that?" Woohyun answers in a somewhat disappointed tone, and Howon couldn't help but look down once again. "It's just what I think. Don't pay attention to it." Howon says, and a moment of silence came after. Curious of the sudden silence, Howon looks up to see Woohyun staring at him oddly. "You're quite scaring me, Howon." He said in a somehow whispered volume, but still loud enough for Howon to understand. "What do you mean?" Howon asked, afraid that he might create misunderstandings between them.

 

 

"I've trusted and loved our group so much. If that were to happen, then I don't know." He said and buries his face in his hands before releasing a heavy sigh. "I've had enough for today. Thanks for worrying about me, Howon. I appreciate it." Woohyun smiles and stands up, pats his shoulder and lands on his bed. "You should get some rest too." He continues, before gently pushing his back to insist him to go. "I came here to comfort you. I guess I made it worse." Howon remarks and stands up. "Goodnight, Woohyung."

 

 

Howon walks towards the door to leave the room when he felt something soft hit the back of his head. "I'm not feeling really well and I know I can't ask Sungjong, Myungsoo or Sungyeol. I can't risk them seeing me like this. Dongwoo hyung accompanied Sunggyu in the hospital, so..." Howon somehow got lost at that very moment when he heard his best friend's name, thinking of thousand of possibilities of different scenes that could happen which just randomly entered his head. He doesn't know why, but hearing that name already felt different.

 

 

"Could you...stay with me tonight? At least until I fall asleep." Woohyun finally asks, and Howon snaps back to reality. At first, he was hesitant, since he was a bit of the shy type, he didn't really know what to do. He was quite scared to think that maybe he would just sit there and say nothing when Woohyun wanted him to talk. "I'm not really a good company, but okay." Howon agrees, and Woohyun immediately pulled the computer chair beside his bed. "Sit here, then."

 

 

Time flew by and Woohyun found himself staring at the ceiling, slowly drifting off to sleep. His eyes felt heavy, and his brain was dreadfully tired from thinking and absorbing the multiple unexpected news all at once. Sooner, he doesn't notice that his eyes were already closed, and have already submitted himself to dreamland. 

 

 

Howon was staring at him all this time, and when he realizes that he was alread in a deep sleep, he places a blanket on him and made sure he tuck him to bed properly. Before leaving, he made sure the air condition was turned off since it was already cold inside, and checked if the windows were closed to assure his privacy. When everything seemed settled, he finally gave Woohyun one last look.

 

 

A bit hesitant, Howon made up his mind somehow. He bent down his body to lean his face closer to Woohyun's, stared at him for quite a while as he felt Woohyun's breathing brushing against his skin.

 

 

He leans forward and their lips touch gently. Howon opens his mouth to give him a soft kiss, before withdrawing back his posture. He finally head to the door and closes it behind him.

 

 

---

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!! It's been a while~

 

 

Sorry for the late update ;;

 

 

So what do you think? Kekeke

 

 

Lovelots,

Authornim