The two males were breathing in perfect rhythm, both simply sitting by each other’s sides, admiring the view of the lake in golden silence. The chirping of the birds, the ripples of waves hitting the bank of the lake, the rustling leaves of the trees behind them… They were simply music that made the silence even more comforting. A blissful smile was drawn on Yoseob’s face, very much like a graceful calligraphy brush in Junhyung’s opinion. The taller male’s attention had very quickly shifted to the smaller male. In his defence, Yoseob’s beauty was far more striking and captivating as compared to the lake. He definitely wasn’t being a love-struck fool, definitely. Not.



Really, who was he kidding when his eyes were practically sparkling from what he believes was Yoseob's glow. His heart has been hooked, reeled in and trapped by the smaller male and his charm. Junhyng scoffed at himself, lamenting that Yoseob didn't even know all that, didn't even had to lift a finger and Junhyung was already so attached. And he thought he was the charming one and the one scoring in the looks' department. The smaller male noticed the CEO shaking his head at the corner of his eyes and turned to him, "Why? What went through your mind?"



"Nothing. Just some really silly thoughts." 



Yoseob smiled and left it at that, turning back to gaze at the lake. The ends of his lips seemed to be on an perpetual ascend as his mind was filled with the CEO. It was too late, too impossible, to tell himself to not do something as dumb as falling for Junhyung. It had all started with him believing that the taller male was his future brother-in-law and then, it developed into him wanting to prevent his sister from doing something so irresponsible and selish. But by now, everything Yoseob did for Junhyung, everything Yoseob did with Junhyung, the smaller male knew he genuinely wanted to do it. Those kisses, those hugs, those innocent brushing of skin...they no longer, or maybe never was, an act. 



A soft clearing of throat broke his train of thoughts as he looked back at Junhyung once again, tilting his head to the side in a muted enquiring manner. Junhyung gave his reply, his eyes shadowed and seemingly afraid to meet Yoseob's. 



"Yoseob ah, I have to talk to you about us."



"Us?"



"Yes, us. Not as an employer and an employee. But on personal terms, as a couple."



Yoseob's eyes enlarged and he felt his blood turn cold, "We are a couple?" It was exactly what the smaller male wanted but his logical side was setting off alarms in him as he knew that his parents would be so angry with him, that his sister might be so upset with him, that his nephew might be fatherless. Because... this wasn't the plan. Mr Yang had ever so pointedly told Yoseob to not fool around when working for their family's old friend's son. And being in a relationship with Junhyung... that surely must count as 'fooling around' to Mr Yang.



"If we aren't, then why are we doing all these...things? You know, the kisses, the touching, the--"



"Junhyung ah, I cannot. My dad--"



"Is it really him?" The CEO looked at Yoseob, almost pleadingly, hoping that the smaller male would come clean about Haeyeon's pregnancy, that the smaller male would tell him that he has fallen for him and that everything the smaller male has done wasn't to just prevent the engagement from happening without Junhyung's knowledge about the baby. Although, deep down, he was certain that Yoseob was delaying the engagement, not trying to cancel it. That he just wanted his nephew to be accepted by Junhyung as a son rather than Junhyung blindly believing that the child was really his son. That all these acts by Yoseob were just to stall for time. But he really, really hoped that it wasn't so. "Even if it was him, then why do you still do all these for me? Colleagues... friends... they don't kiss one another, they don't treat one another the way we do. Do you dare deny that there's nothing more?"



"There is, there is something more..."



"What is it?" Junhyung asked daringly, praying now that Yoseob would just spill the truth, so that the smaller male no longer need to pretend, so that the taller male no longer need to be confused if Yoseob really meant his kisses, really meant his hugs.



Yoseob bit on his lower lip, his mind running in a different course. He was telling himself that he shouldn't disappoint his family but then again, he knew his feelings for Junhyung. So he replied the CEO in what he was certain was clear, "It is a heavy responsibility that I have to prioritse above myself." It seemed crystal clear that Yoseob meant that his family matters more than his heart's desires. But he didn't know that Junhyung knew about the pregnancy and had guessed that the smaller male was just pretending to be in love with Junhyng. So, he also didn't know the CEO mistook the statement, thinking that he was the 'responsibility'...and that that was all he was to Yoseob. A responsibility.



Wondering if Junhyung would ask for Yoseob to fight for him, if Junhyung would tell him that he would be by his side and they would convince the family together... Yoseob waited. But when the taller male turned away and fixed his gaze back at the lake, Yoseob sighed. Maybe all those kisses he gave Junhyung, all the hugs, all the comfort... they were all just something he wanted and not things that Junhyung asked for. The CEO was probably just too polite and too kind to reject him. 



Turning back to the lake, he tried his very best to ignore that cruel tug in his heart, breathing deeply to calm himself and not allow any tears to form. There they were just as they were a few minutes ago, in complete silence. But this time, the blissful smile on Yoseob's face was wiped off and the light spirit of Junhyung's has darkened. The chirpping of the birds, the the ripples of waves hitting the bank of the lake, the rustling leaves of the trees behind them... they just made the silence more pronounced and painful to bear with.



Finally breaking the silence, Junhyung spoke slowly and ever so softly. "Take the day off tomorrow to let your leg recover. That's a reward for staying through last night."



"I'm fine, I can wor--"



"I'm meeting your sister tomorrow for brunch. I won't be in also, anyway. So just take the day off."



Yoseob hated how the CEO wasn't even looking at him, hated how the CEO could mention dating his sister so easily like it wouldn't hurt the smaller male. Turning his head away, he replied bitingly, "Fine."



Then the silence came back.



------ 


"Oppa, the spaghetti here is really delicious!"



Junhyung gave a wry smile as he continued twirling a strand of noodle around his fork, his eyes occasionally glancing at the entrance door, seemingly expecting someone. Convinced that he was not going to finish his meal no matter how hard he tried, he set his fork down and leaned to the back of his chair with his arms crossed. Haeyeon looked up at him, confused by the CEO's sudden, halted moving. "Is anything the matter?" The CEO sighed at the eyes that were looking at him. They were round, large and similarly shaped to a pair of very familiar eyes. However, they were just not the same. 



He sat upright on his seat and linked his fingers together, adopting a serious stance that got the female to straighten her back too. "Haeyeon, I have invited someone else to join us, and I hope you would not mind talking to him. I believe that as adults, we should talk about our problems and try to solve them rather than to constantly be on the run from them."



“What are you talking about?” Haeyeon stuttered, feeling a little weary now as Junhyung’s tone sounded so serious which was so unlike how he usually is.



“I know you are pregnant.”



Her chopsticks slipped through her fingers and landed on her plate with a loud clang. She stared at him in utter shock, eyes at their maximum size. “What? Yoseob t—“



“It wasn’t Yoseob. I suspected it myself and got someone to check it up. Yoseob doesn’t know that I know about the pregnancy.”



“Junhyung”, Haeyeon started as she took both of Junhyung’s hands into hers, “I know it’s wrong to lie to you but you must understand, I really do like you a lot and I know that if I told you, you would not even consider being with me. That was why I lied, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”



The CEO shook his head and gave a reassuring smile, “I am not hurt and it’s really okay, I understand fully why you did what you had done. However, I cannot watch you continue in your mistake. I’ve called the father of the child to come and join us so we can talk this out. Or rather, the both of you can talk this out.”



“No, no, no…” Haeyeon stuttered, stumbling with her words as she gripped the edges of the table tightly now, “I don’t want to see him, I want nothing to do with him. I want the child to have nothing to do with him!” The moment her words tumbled out of her lips, the door of the restaurant’s entrance opened and i