She was amused that they could tease each other. It made the morning after awkwardness that much easier, and she had to admit that his smile was a very nice thing to wake up to. But they couldn’t stay in her bed forever, even if she would have no problems with that idea.

“We should get up. I’m sure you have things to do.” She told him, rolling onto her side to look at him properly. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry as he blinked back.

“I don’t have to be anywhere.” He replied quietly. She wondered if it was an invitation to stay in the bed with him. But that wouldn’t work. She would have no way of explaining who the hell he was and why he was here to Sungjae when he came back home. She didn’t want to drag him into her romantic (or not) affairs.

“We still should get out of this bed…and into clothes.” She said, gesturing to the sheet that covered them. He smiled cheekily.

“I don’t mind if you stay .” She turned her head away to laugh, before swatting him.

“Uh huh. Sure you wouldn’t, honey.” His arm moved from her waist, up to her shoulders. He brought her closer. She didn’t know what to feel about it. He was warm, and the skin-on-skin contact brought out a sort of longing in her that was half ual and half something else.

“I thought you enjoyed last night.” He muttered, as his head came to rest on her shoulder, nose skimming her neck as he kissed her collarbone. She shivered.

“I never said I didn’t.” His other arm was sliding around her waist. She should be feeling trapped, asking him to stop, but she couldn’t get the words out.

His head still lay on her shoulder. “So what’s the problem with staying in this bed all day?” It was a childish plea from a man she should be able to resist. Should; she knew she was going to have a hard time saying no.

“Because I’m hungry.” Because I don’t know you well enough, she thought.

“We can eat in bed.” She prodded him for that.

“Why are you so insistent about this?” She laughed, but she was honestly curious.

He looked up, head off her shoulder to smirk at her. “I always had a thing for you, you know…before.” He shrugged, one hand lazily moving down to her . “I’m making the most of it.”

She couldn’t stop the smile. “You’re cute.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. She sighed. “I’m getting up. If I don’t kick you out of my house, will you at least get out of the bed?”

“Yes.” The dimples appeared again. She tried to ignore them, moving out of his grasp to stand up. She could feel his appreciative glance, and for once, she didn’t feel the need to cover up.

“Enjoying yourself?” She asked, pulling her dressing gown off the hanger on her bedroom door, and turning back to raise an eyebrow at him.

He nodded, sitting up in the bed to grin suggestively. He opened his mouth, but shut it when a knock on the door interrupted him.

“I’ll be right back.” She said, surprised. Who would come knocking at this time? She didn’t think Junghee would bother, not when she was sure Zhou Mi would have texted the fact that she was face with Siwon within about three seconds of it happening.

The dressing gown was a cheap, flimsy thing, made of some silken material that didn’t really cover her up well. But right now she didn’t care, because whoever at the door had come too early and could stand to see her in whatever she chose to wear.

She kind of wished that she’d worn something more conservative when Sungmin was at the door, though.  It was quite possibly the most awkward moment of her life, topped only by having to tell her parents about Sungjae. She didn’t want Sungmin in her house, not while Siwon was still here. No way. Please god, no.

“H-hello.” She said, startled.

“Just letting you know I dropped Sungjae off at his school.” He seemed casual, relaxed. He held Sungjae’s overnight bag in one hand. “I bought him a lunch to take, as well.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think. “Thank you.” She held her hand out for the bag, hoping against hope that he would just hand it to her and be on his way. But if she knew Sungmin, then that wouldn’t happen. Not when she actually wanted him to go.

“Can I come in?” She mentally groaned, as he pushed his way in. Well, obviously she didn’t need to answer that question. As he placed the bag on her hall table, she prayed Siwon would stay put and Sungmin wouldn’t see him. She didn’t know what would happen.

“Was there something you wanted to talk about?” He walked into her kitchen. She followed, crossing her arms.

Sungmin shrugged. “I’m not allowed to come talk to you?”

“You don’t usually.” She pointed out dully. She would never understand Sungmin’s motives for anything, she knew.

“Well, you don’t usually bring men home. Especially not men like Siwon.” He came close, standing right in her personal space.

She said nothing. How had he found out? And why, why did he want to talk about it? “What?” Sungmin stood over her, and she cursed him for making her feel so small. He was so…she could never describe what it was about him. But he had something, that…irritating confidence that seemed to be so inherent in him. She had fought it throughout their entire relationship, and she was pretty sure that was why he had liked her.

“What are you talking about?” Maybe it was best to go for the avoidance technique. Maybe he’d leave it and they wouldn’t have to have this conversation if she did. She doubted it though. Sungmin was notoriously hard to shake off if he wanted to know something.

Siwon might have been taller, but Sungmin had always been more physically imposing. He was so close that she could smell his aftershave, some expensive blend he probably wore to prove his dominance. She breathed it in. She had to admit it was a y scent.

“So, Chae-ah.” He smiled, the corners of his mouth going up into a smirk that was almost ual. Like she was his prey. “Just what on earth is Choi Siwon, Kiho’s son, doing in your apartment, of all places?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want to know?” She crossed her arms, affecting more confidence than she actually had. “What the hell does it have to do with you?” She challenged. His smirk only grew wider, and she knew he was enjoying it. He enjoyed watching her squirm. Secretly, she liked it too.

“Well, it would be nice to get a heads up on my son’s new stepfather.” Chaeyeon couldn’t help the snort of laughter that caused.

“You are such a bad liar. I see him all of one night and we’re already married? You just want to know if I slept with him.” She her lips, unable to deny her excitement as his eyes flashed.

“So you did?” He asked, hands sliding down to lock her against the sideboard of her kitchen. He was bearing down on her now, possessive yet still amused.

“So what if I did?” She wouldn’t cave. He didn’t have the right to be angry about it. “It’s not as if you haven’t had since we broke up.” Looking away, she forced herself to roll her eyes.

Sungmin swallowed; she admired the line of his throat as his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Was he better than me?”

The truthful answer would get her in trouble. But either way, Sungmin seemed in a playful and teasing mood, so she was screwed anyway. “I never said we had .” She refused to look up, attempting to push his hands away and leave his…presence. He let her go easily. Overbearing he could be, but he let go when he was being too much.

“Oh, but Chae, I know you did.” She rolled her eyes again.

“What, you can smell the dirty, dirty unmarried ?” Sarcasm was always the safest retreat with Sungmin.

“No.” He gave her an appraising look. “You wouldn’t be so cagey if you hadn’t.” She sighed. He was right. Of course he was right. If she hadn’t slept with Siwon, she wouldn’t have had the confidence to play with Sungmin like this. She would have just brushed him off.

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. She glared, angry at his presumption. “What were you thinking?” he said simply.

“How dare you.” She hissed, swallowing down the lump in . “How dare you act like you’re the one in the right.” When she looked up at his face, though, she knew that wasn’t why he had asked. He wasn’t asking why she had chosen to do something as ill-advised as sleep with the man, no. It was more like he was acting as if he still had a part of her, and wanted to know why she had gone against that. She sort of understood. He had been like this when she had had flings before, but this was different. Siwon was different.

“Chaeyeon.” Her head snapped up, mentally cursing when she realised the new voice was Siwon. He looked bashful, a towel slung over his hips and an apologetic expression.

“Oh, god, I’m sorry.” She stepped away from Sungmin, breaking the spell. “Is the shower refusing to turn on? It does that sometimes.” He nodded, glancing at Sungmin. She could tell he wanted to ask what he was doing here, but she didn’t want to explain. There was no point dragging him into it. “I’ll fix it.” Her hand closed on his upper arm, tugging him away from Sungmin and the accusing looks she was sure he was throwing at Siwon.

“Er…is that Sungmin?” Siwon asked hesitantly, obviously curious. He had forgone asking why she needed to take him with her. She was being nice enough not mentioning that he had gone into the bathroom without telling her. She'd wanted to go first.

“Yes. He was just telling me he’d dropped off Sungjae.” She told him, walking into the bathroom and pushing the button twice to stop the leak. She pointedly ignored the small pile of the clothes he had worn last night, a little flush of embarrassment her only discernible reaction.

Siwon knew she wouldn’t say anything more and just nodded again, moving behind her as the shower stopped and she sighed. “Thanks.” He said. “I’ll just be, uh…”

“Yeah.” She said awkwardly. “Um, so I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” It was almost a whisper, as she escaped, hoping she could throw Sungmin out before Siwon was fully dressed and ready to go. That was impossible, but she was beyond embarrassed now.

Sungmin was still leaning against the sideboard. “I didn’t know that good little Christian boys were your type.” He drawled, making no attempt to leave.

She wanted to hit him. “Piss off,” she growled, reaching into the cupboard nearest to her for some cereal. When he didn’t reply, she turned to slam the box onto the table. “Why are you here? You could have just texted me to let me know Sungjae was at his school. Just what is your problem, Sungmin?”

Sungmin didn’t move. “I don’t have a problem. You’re the one turning it into a problem. You always overreact to everything.”

“It’s my job, Sungmin.” She snarled. “You try being a mother, not that you even appear to do your job as his dad.”

“Oh god, not this again!” Sungmin yelled. “Would you stop acting as if I never care about Sungjae? I do my ing best, but no, that’s never good enough for you!”

She whipped around. “Your best?” She almost choked on the mirthless laugh that bubbled up out of . “Oh, that’s low, Sungmin. If you did your best, then Junghee wouldn’t have to threaten you into taking him for one night, one night. You’d do it all by yourself.”

“It’s hard, alright? I have to be at work all the time, showing how worthy I am. My parents have never forgiven me for all this!” He waved his hand dismissively. She wanted to slap him.

“And you think mine have!?” She burst out. “It’s so ing easy for you, Sungmin. No one has to ing well know about our baby for you because you don’t even do the day to day care.” She came closer, close enough to jab him in the chest with her finger.  “I can’t even have one night-one night-of fun! Without you complaining it’s some sort of big ing deal to look after your own son when I do it every single bloody night. Seriously, just answer me. I know you don’t care about me, but do you care about Sungjae? I need to know.” Her chest was heaving slightly; this rant had been a long time coming and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She desperately wanted him to say yes. If he didn’t care about her beloved little boy then she knew her heart would break.

He pressed his fingers to his forehead, the look he gave her seething. “Such a stupid question.”

“Is it really?” She sighed, stepping backwards, her arms folded. “I don’t think that it is.” Her shrug was non-committal, but a line had been drawn. If he didn’t say something, then things would change. And not for the best, she thought. “Do you love him?” She could take care of Sungjae on her own, she knew that. But she could not bear the idea of his father not caring.

“I-I do.” He didn’t stutter, but it was as if his confidence had been shaken. “Of course I do, he’s my kid. I…love him.” It was hard to get the words out for him, she could tell. But she wasn’t in the mood to cut him some slack.

“Then you can ing well act like it.” She told him bluntly.

She could have sworn that the corners of Sungmin’s mouth were drawing up into a very small smile. “Chae…”

“Don’t call me that.” She muttered brusquely. “Now get out of my house. I have a guest to attend to.”

“A…guest, right.” He laughed, as if this exchange had never happened. She wanted to kick him, yet she was glad at the same time. It was sort of a relief, in a way. “I’ll go. I’ll even pick up Sungjae for you.”

This was new. “You will?” He nodded, and she blinked.

“I’ll call you.” He winked, and walked further away from her. She didn’t have a chance to badger him about when and where he’d be bringing Sungjae because he was out of the house before she could say anything more.

She really didn’t know if she loved or hated the damn man.