Here you go with chapter 31, which evolves around WooYa, but that shouldn't be much a surprise. You all know what's coming next, aren't you ? Love you !

At the crossroad of their relationship, waiting was the most excruciating part. Howon didn’t know what to do. Worse, he was scared to do something that would break everything once and for all. No matter how much he wanted to reach Woohyun, he just couldn’t. He was afraid to push him further the breaking point.

He came to think a lot about what Sunggyu had said, about how hard it was to be someone of posh background, from a notorious family. He wondered how much his love weighed on Woohyun’s shoulders, though even strong, couldn’t carry well the crushing weight of being who he was and his love for Howon. He came to understand that Woohyun thought he had to let something go to be able to live himself. And he chose to let him go, quietly, to avoid any commotion that could’ve caused a scandal. He chose to let go of the man he loved so that they could both try to have a shot of finding the happiness they couldn’t have together. 

No matter how much Howon wanted to fight for Woohyun, it was to no avail as long as the man refused to be fought for. As long as Woohyun thought of their love as a lost cause, Howon would never be able to change his mind. His resolve was even stronger after what happened to Dongwoo. Despite being around, Woohyun never felt so far way. He mostly stayed with Sunggyu and Sungjong, not even sparing him a glance, a word, a touch. Howon felt like he was stabbed in the guts and each time he noticed Woohyun’s indifference, yet nothing seemed to blow the tiny, vacillating flame of hope in his heart.

Woohyun didn’t liked hospitals. It reminded him too much of a period of his life he tried to forget, a teenager doing stupid things to get the attention of his absent parents. But now was not about him, but Sunggyu. His best friend had always been there for him, even in his darkest days, the only one Woohyun could hold on to, no matter how bad things got. It was normal for him to be there for Sunggyu in return. He was also concerned about Dongwoo. After knowing him for six years, Woohyun thought of him as a dear friend. Moreover, he knew the man was good for Sunggyu, and what could a best friend ask for despite that ?

After Dongwoo’s accident, Woohyun and Sunggyu’s noona Sunghee, had to take charge of the Millennium Hotel branch. Helped by a very efficient Soojung, the three of them were trying their best to make up for Sunggyu’s absence. They didn’t talk to him about it, not wanting to burden him even more or make him feel guilty. Woohyun did not even think Sunggyu would be able to think about Millennium at all, in the midst of Dongwoo’s accident and current comatose state. The only coherent thing they managed to get from him was his resolve to stay in the hospital until Dongwoo woke up. Whatever happened outside wasn’t of his concern : Sunggyu’s world seemed to have narrowed to the ward were Dongwoo was hospitalized.

Woohyun couldn’t blame him. He’d go crazy if something happened to Howon. Sunggyu knew him too well to be able to hide anything. Woohyun loved Howon, he loved him as much as his best friend loved Dongwoo, only in a different way. If Sunggyu was willing to fight against anything and anyone, Woohyun thought it better to let go, avoid a chaotic mess and have a chance at happiness elsewhere. He didn’t know if that was possible yet, but imagining Howon hurt like Dongwoo because they loved each other confirmed that his way was the better one. His family wasn’t very different from the Kims after all. He only managed to be left alone for two reasons : one was because he had an older brother fulfilling all the requirements his parents asked for, and the second and most important, he grew up without them.

When Woohyun was little, his parents were too busy abroad running their conglomerate to be at home and take care of their youngest child. His brother was sent to a boarding school abroad when he was old enough to attend middle school, leaving little Woohyun alone in the huge, cold house. Of course, he had a nanny looking after him and maids to provide for his needs as well as all the material things a child could ask for, but that wasn’t enough. From his early years, and consequently to the absence of parents’ warm care, Woohyun developed a deep sensitivity to others, which he hid like a weakness but made him the caring, gentle and generous person he was.

Woohyun grew up lonely and introvert, with a low self-esteem since the only people he interacted with were people his parents paid for, not people wishing to be with him. When little, Woohyun often thought his parents weren’t with him because he wasn’t loveable. So he drew drawings and send them cute letters, thinking that if he tried hard enough, they will get to love him and come to take care of him. At the time, he thought that someone’s love, even parents, was earned and not given unconditionally.

Thankfully, when he was around six or seven, a family moved in the neighborhood, and Nam Woohyun met Kim Sunggyu. Sunggyu was the new neighbors’ only son, he had a big sister he worshipped and was only older by a couple of years. Sunggyu didn’t have friends as well, his name and family making people act differently around him. But not Woohyun, and that’s why they quickly bounded and became best friends. He was the only one Woohyun felt safe with, the only one he faced without the constant shield he kept up to not get hurt by others. The two of them were best friends for years, sometimes partners in crime, sometimes Sunggyu acting as his Gemini Cricket.

Being Sunggyu’s friend, the two shared their worlds, made of dreams and hopes, away from expectations. Despite the ups and downs Woohyun went through, Sunggyu always stuck by his side, and that made Woohyun grow a little confident and get through his head that it wasn’t his fault his parents weren’t around. They chose to, and it wasn’t because he wasn’t loveable or worthy of attention and affection. It was only because they thought business was more important. Sunggyu knew about it as well, since his own parents were like the wind as he said himself, in-and-out and never sticking around much.

After Woohyun graduated from high school, his father made him enroll in law school so he could be useful to the business later on. Woohyun hated it, but since he had no idea of what he wanted to do, he coped with it. He barely managed to get through his first year and was about to carry another meaningless second year when two things happened and changed him forever, shaping his true self.

First, he got into French cuisine in a weird way, thanks to Sunghee which he felt closer to than his own brother. She had two invitations to assist to a French cuisine class from a Korean Chef who had studied and lived in Paris for fifteen years and just opened a cuisine academy. The man only gave public lessons twice a year, the remaining of his time devoted between his own restaurant and his academy. Woohyun and Sunghee went there because Sunggyu wasn’t one prone to try out cooking and Woohyun was like a second brother and an agreeable company.

The lesson lasted two hours where they prepared a pot-au-feu. Woohyun will always remember that day. The chef overlooked everyone’s work but he seemed to linger more around their table. Sunghee said so, because Woohyun