It was a Monday morning. The day that had seemed to be everyone’s enemy, however Myungsoo woke up with a smile on his face as he turned to the left to see a slender figure sleeping beside him.

It was the third time he had slept beside Sungyeol after the incident- not that he was counting, but the thought that the other held no grudges, and hadn’t even faltered his trust towards him made Myungsoo ecstatic, however also brought more guilt upon him. His actions were something that shouldn’t have been forgiven that easily, yet it was forgotten the moment he fled the scene.

Slowly, he got up reluctantly, getting ready for another day at work. He stared at the male who seemed to be in blissful peace as his soft, heavy breathing filled the silence. He really had to supress his feelings. Myungsoo knew it was wrong to fall in love with a someone like Sungyeol. Everything he had imagined a year ago, had become completely the opposite. He wasn’t meant to become emotionally attached to the male, but before he knew it, all that he could think about was the other.

He knew that somewhere along the whole journey, he had developed feelings he never knew he had, and unconsciously persuaded himself that these foreign feelings were only part of the job.

It was all wrong.

Nothing was going to plan.

His feelings were dangerous.

But he could no longer lie to himself that he wasn’t in love with the other.

Because he was.

He loved Sungyeol.

He loved the man that he had bought.

But he knew that it was unrequited.

Besides, who would ever fall in love with someone who bought them, and almost them? Isn’t that like, Stockholm Syndrome? He thought with a frown, stomping on his heart even more.

He sighed, slipping on his coat, as he walked out the bathroom, jumping slightly when he saw the once sleeping figure sitting upright with dishevelled hair. He couldn’t help but coo at the sight.

“Are you leaving?” He asked in a timid voice.

Myungsoo nodded, “I have to go to work, I’m sorry.” He apologised.

Sungyeol pursed his lips before nodding, “Okay.”

~

He could feel his master staring at him, so he pretended to be asleep.

Why was he staring at him with such intensity? He was curious. He heard his master’s footsteps subside to the bathroom a moment later, and that was when he had opened his eyes. It was actually quite strange now, referring his master as ‘master’, but it had also felt comfortable. When he referred to him by his name out loud, he would always go back to calling him by his title in his head.

He had realised how his nightmares had reduced so much ever since his master had come back. Instead, they were replaced with sweet dreams, which became even sweeter when his master slept beside him.

He saw his master jump slightly- maybe in shock?- as he saw him sit up. They stared at each other for minute that felt like ten. He was trying to deter the emotions that were apparent in his master’s eyes, but he couldn’t seem to lay his finger on it. It seemed so familiar, yet, it was so foreign.

“Are you leaving?” He asked, unconsciously praying that the other would say no.

His heart dropped slightly involuntarily when he saw him nod.

It was okay. He thought to himself. If his master was gone for the day, he could spend the time reading and asking more questions to Hoya about this strange emotion people called love.

After all, he was curious and amazed, and wanted an expert to tell him all about this emotion. And, he had for some reason deemed Hoya as the master of that emotion.

~

Myungsoo halted, seeing a familiar face staring fondly at a rather uninteresting window. He slowly walked up to the friend, who didn’t seem to notice him, and followed his gaze to see another male laughing with the waitress inside.

“Woohyun.”

He jumped and turned his head to him, before smiling sadly, “Hey.”

“I’m sorry.” It was all he could say.

He shook his head, “It’s not your fault.” He replied, turning his head back to the happy male inside, “I’m sorry I said those words the other day. It wasn’t your fault at all. I guess we just weren’t compatible.” He laughed dryly.

“What happened?”

“We just had a disagreement and he walked out.”

“Why don’t you talk to him?”

He shook his head, “He needs his space. Besides, haven’t I told you that I never apologise first?” He laughed.

Myungsoo saw the tears threatening to seep out. He knew it was a lie. If Woohyun could, he would be crawling on the floor begging for forgiveness. He knew it was a façade to make him look strong.

“C-Come on.” Woohyun said after the short silence, “Let’s go eat. I don’t really like this place.” He concluded, smiling sadly at the male on the other side of the window one last time before turning around.

Myungsoo stared at the retreating back, sighing before turning back, seeing Sunggyu’s laugh falter into a sad smile as he too, stared at the retreating back.

It was obvious that the two were still so infatuated by each other, yet their pride had blinded them too much.

~

“How’s Woohyun?”

“I’m good thank you.” Myungsoo replied, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t care about you.”

“Now isn’t that a bit harsh?” He pouted.

“Myungsoo…” Sunggyu sighed.

He laughed, “He’s okay. He misses you.”

Sunggyu smiled, “I miss him too.”

“Then why don’t you talk to him?”

“I think his mad.”

“I’m sure you saw him this morning.”

Sunggyu’s eyes widened slightly, “You saw?”

“Of course, I was standing right beside him, you idiot.”

“Oh.”

“But you should talk to him. He’s giving you space. I’m sure he’s waiting for you to talk to him.”

Sunggyu shook his head, “We fought really bad that day. I don’t think he could forgive me.”

“What…” He trailed off, before taking a deep breath, “What was it about?”

Sunggyu snorted, “Our jobs. Our future. I don’t know. everything just seemed to clash.”

“But how?”

“I don’t know. Just everything we wanted were just opposites.” He sighed. “Well, it’s too late now.”

“Is it?”

He nodded.

“But you still like him right?”

“Of course I do.” He whispered, “Those two weeks dating him was the best thing ever.” He laughed, “I never knew I could relate to someone so much… yet be so different to them.”

Myungsoo smiled, nodding his head. His mind involuntarily drifted back to the tall male that was at home.

“How’s Sungyeol?” Sunggyu asked, as though reading his mind.

He let out a short exhale, before shaking his head, “I honestly don’t know.”

“You like him right?”

“I’m stupid, aren’t I?” He muttered.

“Why?”

“For liking someone like him.”

“That doesn’t make you stupid.  Love comes unexpectedly. If we can all predict who we would fall in love with, that wouldn’t be fun, right? Unexpected love is exciting.”

Myungsoo smiled, “But at the same time, it’s so cruel, because there’s a thing called mutual love, and another called unrequited love.”

“And what makes you think that yours is unrequited?”

“Because, technically he’s my slave.”

“But you treat him like a friend.”

Myungsoo shook his head, “I’ve still got to ignore my feelings.” He said.

Sunggyu looked up in confusion, “Why?”

“Because, I need to focus on this case. It’s in 3 weeks.” He replied, “My feelings aren’t the major matter now. I guess I’ll just have to ignore my heart.”

“Do you think it can wait that long though?”

Myungsoo nodded, “I’ll make sure it does. Right now, Sungyeol, and the other victim’s lives are my main priority.”

~

Myungsoo walked home, slightly stressed by the limited time left. He knew he had been putting it off the whole time because he didn’t want the other to feel scared. But there was now less than a month left until the hearing, and without Sungyeol speaking out, they would lose a large piece of evidence.

He took a deep breath, slowly unlocking the door to see a lanky male standing in front with a bright smile.

“Welcome home.” He greeted, his voice dripping with happiness.

He smiled in return, “Were you okay at home?”

He nodded, “I was good.” He replied.

There was silence between the two. He noticed Sungyeol staring at him intently as his gaze was fixated on the floor.

“Is there something wrong?” He asked in concern.

Myungsoo looked up briefly, taking a deep breath, “Um, well. Do you remember how it was a year ago?”

Sungyeol’s eyes doubled in size as the words left the other’s lips. ”Huh?”

~

He remembered it all too well. Every little detail. The bad things that were done to him.

He wanted to nod, to tell his master that he remembers it all as though it were only yesterday. But he was scared.

He was scared and confused.

Confused as to why he would ask him that. Confused as to what his response would be after he nodded.

But also scared that maybe he was going to be sent back.

To be returned to hell.

He nodded once. A small nod that could almost be missed if one had not paid attention to him.

But his master was very good at paying attention.

“If I were to ask you to tell me what had happened, do you think you would be able to tell me?”

He had never spoken about his past before. He had never thought that he would.

“W-Why?”

His master let out a small sigh, “Do you know where I work at?”

He thought about the question for a while, realising that the other had never spoken about his occupation. He had frequently heard quiet discussions over the phone, however he was never curious enough to ask about it.

He shook his head.

“I’m a lawyer.”

He had heard of the term, but wasn’t entirely sure of the meaning.

“It’s where I make things right.” He said, “I fight, and argue over what I believe is right, and if the judge agrees with me, then I win, and things would go my way.” He said.

He nodded again.

“And I’m doing this new project in 3 weeks’ time, about people like you.”

“People like me?” He asked.

His master nodded, “I don’t want you all to be suffering. I want to stop what they are doing.”

“Okay.”

“And I need evidence and proof that these things happen.”

He felt that he knew where this was going.

“And I need your help.”

“How?” He asked, even though already drawing the conclusion of what he had to do.

“I just need you to talk about your experiences there. If you are not comfortable, we can record the whole story, but you will still have to go to the room and testify.”

“Where’s the room?”

The other paused momentarily. “It’s, uh, outside this house.”

His eyes widened, taking a step back.

“It would just be a few hours though. We can leave this house, get into a car, and then we would stay in the room, before going back.”

He shook his head, “What if I get lost?” He asked, already beginning to quiver in fear.

“I promise you won’t.”

“Can we at least go outside together before that fight happens?”

He saw his master begin to chew on his lower lip, “Well, I think it would be too late by the time I get home... working on this case.”

He pouted and nodded. “I-Is it to help other people?”

“Yes,” The latter nodded.

“They’ll become happy like me?”

Another nod.

He took a sharp inhale, “I-I’ll try my best.”

~

An ear piercing scream could be heard, echoing through the house.

Myungsoo sat up quickly from his couch, looking around in panic as the loud screams continued to rip through the silence of the midnight.

He quickly stood up and ran to the bedroom, opening it widely to see Sungyeol shaking and struggling, as though trying to pull himself away from something. He ran to his side, his hands holding onto the other’s arms to shake him awake, but halting as he figured that it may lead to something worse.

With shaky hands, he let go and began to draw little circles on his back, humming a sweet melody, and stopping in between to assure the sleeping male that it was alright.

It seemed to have managed to work, as the once screaming boy was now only slightly shaking and whimpering.

Myungsoo continued to hum, slowly draping the blanker that was kicked onto the floor over Sungyeol. The eerie silence was now restored, and all that was left were the tear stains on Sungyeol’s face. Slowly he reached over to wipe away the remaining tears.

Myungsoo sighed, his heart beating faster than before, but for a completely different reason. He stared at the other affectionately, observing how he clung to the blanket, drawing it closer to his chest.

He chewed on his lower lip in nervousness, having an internal conflict with himself as he stared at the other’s flawless face.

He would never know right?

It could be just his little secret. No one would know. He thought.

With that small reassurance, he took a deep breath, kneeling down so that he was around the same height as the sleeping man. His slender fingers crept to the edge of the bed, as though supporting himself, before leaning forward a placing a soft, gentle kiss on his forehead. His lips lingered for only a few seconds, before he leaned back slightly, whispering a small ‘sweet dreams.’

He sighed. The other could never know of his feelings. With that last thought, he stood up and headed for the door.

Tightly holding onto the door knob, he took one last glance at the other, before slowly closing it, his heart stopping, as he vaguely heard a quiet, raspy mutter, “Goodnight, Myungsoo.”

Dun Dun Duuuuun! Okay so I admit, it was kinda boring at the start, but hey, there are a bit of woogyu here and there, and then I added slight myungyeol at the end and ta dahhh I tried sobs. T~T I will do better in the next chapters... I'll try!

Anyways, please do let me know how you thought of this chapter! I swear, all your comments seriously make my day. Like I'm seriously dying over here with a major headache, I'm throwing up all over the place and blood is like coming out of my eyes and nose and oh my gosh I sure hope you guys aren't eating because that's kinda gross. Anyways, I'm rambling, and I shouldn't be. What I'm trying to say is that your comments make me smile so much and I love love love you all so much :) And also.. my friend even sent me links to some twitter post where you guys were sharing my story to other people?? I was seriously so happy omg, and I wanted to thank you guys, but I was kinda shy AHAHA >///< Sighs I'm sorry for rambling, but this topic really means a lot to me, and to share it with you all and have you guys like it really touches my heart. Thank you all so much, I mean it, from the bottom of my heart. :D

OKAY enough of my word vomit. I hope you will all stay safe and well!

Till next time :)