Seungkwan glared across the counter at Jisoo as the boy made some coffee. “You’re doing it wrong.”

Jisoo flicked his eyes up to look at his friend. “How many times do I have to tell you—”

“Yes, I get it. This is how you’ve been making your coffee for years,” Seungkwan mocked, clearly not amused. “But, I’m a professional. Will you please just listen to me on this one thing?”

Jisoo chuckled and continued to make his coffee his way. “No.”

“Oh my god!” Seungkwan exclaimed, lunging over the counter. “Give me that!”

“No!” Jisoo screamed back, pulling the pot away. “This is how I like my coffee!”

“I cannot believe how stubborn you are!”

“I’m not stubborn!” Jisoo protested as he got out his favorite mug.

“Uhh, right,” Seungkwan sarcastically responded.

Jisoo scoffed and poured himself a cup. “I listen! Okay? It’s just the coffee that I’m a stickler about. I listen to you all the time.”

“Really?” Seungkwan questioned.

“Yes, really.”

“Will you listen to me now?”

“If it’s not about coffee,” Jisoo laughed as he took a sip.

Seungkwan sat up straight. “Go talk to Jeonghan.”

Jisoo choked and fell into a fit of coughing. Putting his drink down, he went to get a paper towel to clean up what he’d spit out. “Seungkwannie…”

“I know what you’ve been telling me,” Seungkwan argued. “You’ve been telling me for a week now. But come on, hyung! I mean, even Seungcheol and Jihoon made up yesterday! I know you haven’t seen them yet, but they’re so happy! Jeonghan’s just waiting for you to come back and you know it.” He slowly got up and helped his friend on the other side of the counter. “It’s time to make up.”

Jisoo sighed and thought it over. This past week had been hell. His group of friends had been split right down the middle because of what was going on. He hadn’t seen them all together in a while, and he definitely missed that. But he missed Jeonghan most of all. After talking with Jihoon that first day, he’d been thinking a lot about the whole situation. The problem for Jisoo and Jeonghan was that it wasn’t just one fight. It was months of lying from Jeonghan. And for days, Jisoo just couldn’t forgive him. He wanted Jeonghan to feel the same pain he did.

But Jihoon forgave Seungcheol yesterday. Jihoon had taken Jisoo’s advice. Was it time for him to take Jihoon’s? “I’m just so…”

“No,” Seungkwan interrupted. “No, don’t tell me what you’re feeling. Go find Jeonghan and tell him.”

Throwing away the paper towel, Jisoo leaned over the sink. Every time they had ever gotten into a fight, Jisoo had this instinctive feeling that would tell him when it was the right time to talk. Jisoo closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and let that feeling take over. Seungkwan was right. It was time.

“Fine,” Jisoo blurted out, heading for the front door of his apartment.

“Really?!” Seungkwan exclaimed, actually surprised that that finally worked.

“I’ll go talk to him,” he said. His chest was heavy and he wasn’t sure how to feel, but he knew it was time.

Seungkwan smiled and watched his friend put on his shoes. “Finally!” he laughed. “Send Jeonghan my regards!”

“Sure,” Jisoo replied.

“Do you know where he is?”

Jisoo smiled. “Of course I do.”

Seungkwan shared the same grin. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He rolled his eyes and pointed at Seungkwan just before he left. “Don’t mess with my coffee.”

“I’ll have a proper pot ready when you get home,” he teased as he dumped out Jisoo’s stuff.

“No need,” Jisoo thought to himself as he headed for where he knew Jeonghan would be.

At Akkinda Coffee Shop, Jeonghan waited at the table for their order. “This place is a lot faster when Seungkwan’s working.”

Seungcheol smiled. “He’s busy today.”

“Right.” Jeonghan nodded. “Shouldn’t you be busy, too?” he asked with a suggestive smile.

“Don’t worry. Jihoon was the one who made sure I came to see you today,” Seungcheol said, gushing over the thought of his boyfriend.

“Ahh,” Jeonghan said with a grin. “I hope you know I love that boy.”

Chuckling, Seungcheol blushed. “I’m glad.” He took a second to recollect his thoughts before looking back at Jeonghan. “But I came to check on you.”

“Seungcheol, I’m—”

“I owe you a huge apology,” Seungcheol interrupted.

As the waiter finally came by and dropped off their drinks, Jeonghan sighed. “No, no you don’t.”

“Jeonghan, I owe you this as your friend,” Seungcheol explained. He looked into Jeonghan’s eyes as he continued. “We don’t even need to talk about all the stuff that happened because of my feelings for you. You were right. We’re past that...but I need you to know that I’m sorry, because you’re my best friend.”

Jeonghan felt this huge weight come off of his shoulders as Seungcheol continued. “I should’ve never yelled at you or blamed you for anything. It was never your fault and I am so, so sorry. If anything, I should be thanking you because now I have Jihoon and it’s all because we moved in together.” Seungcheol sighed and leaned over the table. “I’m so sorry, Jeonghan. I was a crap friend and now...I pushed Jisoo away from you. This whole mess that you’re in, it’s all my fault.”

Jeonghan waited to see if that’s all his friend wanted to say. When Seungcheol didn’t keep going, Jeonghan smiled. “It’s not your fault.” Seungcheol glanced up as Jeonghan explained. “Really, it’s not your fault. Jisoo would’ve found out eventually and everything would’ve happened. We were gonna fight on this at some time or another, it just happened.”

“Still,” Seungcheol insisted. “I’m sorry for all of this.”

Jeonghan took a sip of his drink. “And I forgive you.”

“Jeonghan…”

“No, really, I do!” Jeonghan laughed, realizing how distant that may have sounded. “Seriously, I don’t blame you for any of this happening. I know you know I’ve been having a hard time, but seeing you and Jihoon work things out just makes me know that love does prevail.” Seungcheol chuckled as Jeonghan said, “Jisoo was furious at me and it really really , but I can take it. Because that’s what you do for love. You take the hard times and you move on. I’m just waiting for him to find me...so we can move on.”

Seungcheol smiled and drank his coffee. “You sound so confident.”

“I have to, otherwise I’d never stop crying.”

Seungcheol nodded. “I have a feeling he’ll come soon.”

“I hope you’re right.” For a moment, neither of them said anything. They just rested in the comfortable silence of their well-mended friendship.

Finally, Jeonghan asked, “So, where’s Jihoon now? I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

“He has a class,” Seungcheol answered. “He’ll be out in a few hours.”

Jeonghan chuckled. “It’s funny. When stuff like this happens, you forget things like school exist.”

“Have you been missing class?” Seungcheol laughed.

“No, but I forget about it right after.” Jeonghan smiled, “It’s like the rest of the world goes on pause when you have something way more important that you’re worrying about.”

“It’s nice that way though,” Seungcheol commented. “Sometimes you just need everything to stop.”

“Yeah.” All of a sudden, a pang of hurt struck Jeonghan in the chest. He quickly shook it off and asked Seungcheol, “Hey, so now that everything’s all worked out, are you gonna move back in?”

Seungcheol opened his mouth to say something, but his attention turned to the front door as the entrance bell went off. “We can talk about that later.”

Confused, Jeonghan noticed Seungcheol’s gaze and followed it. He turned around and nearly fell out of his chair as he jumped to his feet. “Jisoo!”

For a moment, Jisoo froze by the door. Seeing Jeonghan and Seungcheol together immediately reminded him of why he didn’t want to see either of them for a while. In that split second, he was tempted to bolt, leaving them again. But he knew better. Shaking himself, he looked right at Jeonghan as his heart picked up. “Hi.”

Jeonghan was paralyzed, just staring at his boyfriend that he missed so much. Even though he’d been waiting for this, he didn’t know what to say. As for Seungcheol, he sat and watched, hoping that his presence wouldn’t interfere.

Jisoo slowly made his way over. There was no smile on his face and no hug that he offered. Without looking away from Jeonghan, Jisoo extended his hand and gently asked, “Can I talk to you?”

Jeonghan immediately nodded and took the boy’s hand. The instance they touched, Jeonghan thought he was going to pass out. He wanted so badly to scream and just throw himself on Jisoo, but he knew better. It wasn’t the time for that yet.

Jisoo felt Jeonghan’s warmth flow through his body. Even the slightest touch from Jeonghan was enough to get him like that. Trying not to fall to his knees, Jisoo finally acknowledged Seungcheol. “I heard about you and Jihoon,” he said.

Caught off guard, Seungcheol sat up and quickly replied, “Yeah.”

“I’m really happy for you guys,” he said, finally cracking a tiny smile.

Seungcheol immediately grinned. Having known Jisoo for so long, hearing the gentle tone in his voice was all Seungcheol needed to know they were going to be alright. “Thanks.”

With that and a nod, Jisoo turned his attention back to Jeonghan. “Come on.”

Seungcheol watched as the two of them walked out of the coffee shop hand in hand. He didn’t even need to hear their talk to know the outcome. As he sat there alone, Seungcheol took out his phone to text someone. “Looks like Jeonghan and Jisoo will be alright,” he sent.

It only took a minute for a response. “Good! Now we just have to schedule a double date ;)” Jihoon replied.

Like a loser in love, Seungcheol smiled.

Jisoo lead Jeonghan out of Akkinda and down the sidewalk. As they walked, he slowed his pace to be right beside his boyfriend. But even though they were holding hands, neither of them said anything. For a while, it seemed like they were just mindlessly walking.

But Jeonghan’s mind was racing. He had no idea how Jisoo was remaining so calm while his insides were exploding. Just a few minutes ago, Jeonghan was expressing his confidence to Seungcheol, but now that Jisoo was with him, he was losing it. What if they really couldn’t work things out? What if Jisoo didn’t forgive him? What if this was the calm before the storm? “Oh god, he’s gonna break up with me,” Jeonghan couldn’t help but think. His tongue was getting dry and his chest was pounding at the thought of actually losing this boy.

As Jeonghan was going through all of the worst case scenarios, Jisoo was too busy trying to find where to start. What did he have to say to Jeonghan? Was he actually ready to make up? Did he need to apologize for all of this? They kept walking as Jisoo tried to go over all of this stuff that still didn’t seem to make any sense. But as he went through his head, Jisoo finally thought of Jeonghan right next to him. Jisoo had known his boyfriend long enough to realize what was running through the boy’s mind. It was funny how he knew his boyfriend’s thoughts more clearly than his own. “He’s probably freaking out,” Jisoo thought to himself.

And with that in mind, Jisoo finally said something. “I’m not breaking up with you.”

Jeonghan flinched and turned his head to look at Jisoo’s profile. “Jisoo-ah…”

“Don’t worry,” Jisoo chuckled. “I’m not breaking up with you.” He had no idea why that made him laugh, but it did.

Jeonghan was still tense. He needed to hear more.

Jisoo kept his stare forward, knowing that he would crack if he saw his boyfriend’s adorably paranoid face. He sighed and said, “I’m sorry, Jeonghan, for putting you through this. I mean...I’m sorry for yelling like that and...leaving like that.” He sighed again and looked at the ground as his chest started to ache. “I just...didn’t understand at the time. I was so mad at you and so upset…”

As Jisoo let that last thought hang, Jeonghan recalled everything that lead up to this point. All of a sudden, he became overwhelmed with emotions and he couldn’t control himself. As calm as he had seemed the past two days, it all went out the window with Jisoo right in front of him. “I’M SO SORRY, JISOO!” Jeonghan blurted out.

Jisoo was thrown off and stopped walking, forcing him to look at Jeonghan. He could see the distraught look on his face. “Jeonghan…”

“Jisoo, I’m so sorry I kept all of that from you! I shouldn’t have and I was being stupid!” Jeonghan yelled, words just falling out of his mouth as tears started to form. “I thought that if you didn’t know, things would be better for us! That all of us could just stay friends and no one would have to be weird with one another! No one would be awkward or no one would be left out or no one would be angry!” He was talking so fast, anyone other than Jisoo would’ve had a hard time understanding him. “I was just trying to keep everything the same! I wanted everything to be okay for you and all of us! I—I had no idea that something like this was gonna happen! I mean, SERIOUSLY, who could’ve guessed all of this would happen?!” Jeonghan released a hysterical chuckle as he continued to ramble. Weirdly enough, Jisoo was becoming amused with how crazy his boyfriend sounded. “Jisoo-ah, I’m so sorry I kept all of that Seungcheol stuff from you, but it…just wasn’t important! I mean, Seungcheol’s important, yes, to the both of us, but just as a friend! Now everyone can see even more clearly how NOT involved Seungcheol and I are! Jisoo, I’m so sorry for all of this! I just—I really—you just—” Jeonghan stopped to catch his breath as he just stared into Jisoo’s now smiling eyes. He sighed and hung his head as he weakly swung Jisoo’s hand. “I’m sorry, too.”

With a grin on his face, Jisoo bent down to meet Jeonghan’s gaze. “You done?” he chuckled.

Jeonghan wiped some of his crazy tears and looked back up. “Yeah.”

“Good. Because you didn’t have to say any of that.”

Feeling drained from his overwhelming emotions, Jeonghan furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

Jisoo stepped closer to Jeonghan. “I told you that I didn’t understand all that Seungcheol stuff,” Jisoo started, “but now, seeing you again, I get it. Is it okay if I keep apologizing?”

Hearing Jisoo even ask that made Jeonghan chuckle. “Even now, you’re still a gentleman.”

Jisoo took that as a yes. “I get it now, Jeonghan. You don’t need to defend yourself anymore. You were doing...what you thought was right. I know, you were looking out for me. You didn’t want anything to change between me and Seungcheol, and that’s honestly so sweet. You shouldn’t have to apologize for that.” He sighed and stepped even closer to him. “But I wasn’t doing the right thing. I was...impulsive and...awful. I just lost it and I’m so, so sorry, Jeonghan. You never, EVER deserve to be treated like that and I just...I shouldn’t have yelled. I was just so angry and I didn’t think. I don’t know, just the idea of someone else wanting you as badly as I do...it was scary. It felt so bad. And for a week now, I thought I needed to keep being angry. I thought I had to stand my ground or whatever and make you feel how hurt I felt.”

Jeonghan held his breath as he listened. “But that was the stupidest thing,” Jisoo said. “I was trying to punish you, but I was only hurting myself. Baby, it was HORRIBLE being away from you. Being so angry like that, it ! I’m so sorry for putting you through all of this when we could’ve worked it out. I’m so sorry.”

As Jisoo was speaking, there was only a small gap between him and Jeonghan. After he was done, Jeonghan smiled. He didn’t need to think anymore. It was over. There was no need for anymore yelling or anymore fighting. The hard part was finally over. They could move on.

Then all of a sudden, Jeonghan threw his hands around the back of Jisoo’s neck and closed the gap.

Pressing their lips together, Jeonghan felt his knees give out underneath him. But as he was falling, he felt Jisoo hugging his back and pulling him in tighter. Jeonghan felt every part of him collapse into Jisoo’s body as they kissed. Nothing more needed to be said between the two of them, and that made Jeonghan’s heart beat like crazy. Even though he doubted himself towards the end, Jeonghan was right. Jisoo always came back to him.

As for Jisoo, he just wanted to hold onto Jeonghan forever. This was how he knew he was madly in love with the boy: anything was eventually easy to forgive. No matter what happened to them, Jisoo always knew when it was time to come back. His body would never let him stay away for too long. They were so in love that Jisoo was physically incapable of not being with Jeonghan.

Finally, after their incredibly needed makeup kiss, Jeonghan and Jisoo unlocked from each other but continued to hold on. Their foreheads together, they didn’t need to say much else.

“You were just trying to protect me,” Jisoo whispered.

“You were just scared of losing me,” Jeonghan whispered back.

With both of them smiling at each other, Jisoo leaned in again, but this time planting one right on Jeonghan’s cheek. “I hope you know I’m never breaking up with you,” Jisoo teased.

Jeonghan chuckled and replied, “You could try, but I know…”

“...I’ll always come back.”