You made your way in as I was leaving
You cut in line just as I was getting my stuff
And I couldn't decide
If you were the most annoying human being I'd ever met
Or just the best thing that ever happened

-

Chapter One

2010

 Cho Kyuhyun rang the doorbell and then sighed deeply as stepping back to stand in front of the closed wooden door properly. Clouds of breath formed out of his act and he watched in silence and mild interest how the foggy steam danced in the cold air before coming to fade into the darkness of the cold night. Noises coming from the inside of the huge house the man was currently facing were already faintly heard and soon enough the sound of footsteps approaching the doorway echoed through the porch. Kyuhyun squeezed the hand of the person beside him and smiled toothlessly at it as though in an assurance that everything was going to be alright, receiving a light nod and half grin from the smaller right after.

 When the front door was open, loud cheers and squeals coming from a middle-aged woman welcomed both of them moments before she throw herself on Kyuhyun’s arms while smiling widely. Kyuhyun laughed and let go of the other person’s hand to take both of his strong arms covered by his cashmere sweater to hug the woman back, the latter’s voice showering several “I missed you”s on his ears as they hugged.

“I missed you, too, mom. It’s good to be back.” Kyuhyun replied his mother’s back as she seemed to cry lowly from happiness. He had been away for so long that he had already forgotten how much he missed his mother during all the time he was studying abroad. It was really refreshing to be finally back.

 After almost three minutes of hugging each other under that gelid weather they parted away and exchanged warm smiles, the woman suddenly turning her attention to the person beside them who looked at the scene while smiling shyly. Maybe it was the way the middle-aged woman stared at the smaller person with extremely predatory eyes or the fact that Kyuhyun had known his mother well his whole life to precisely tell when the woman was about to strike someone down with her naughty remarks, either way he knew just right what was about to come and was fast enough to cough and take his hand to rest on the base of the smaller one’s back before his mother could have any reaction.

“Mom, this is the one I wanted you to meet,” he started, seeing how his mother’s eyes were lighting up at each word. “Her name is Halla.”

“Hello, Mrs. Cho, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The tiny girl spoke softly, bowing at the older woman as the words left her luscious lips. Mrs. Cho studied the person in front of her almost critically as though she was choosing the future Miss Universe or even the next person to succeed to the British throne.

 The girl named Halla was short and pretty, a sleek curtain of dark-chocolate hair cascading down her shoulders and tenuously molding her oval face. Her eyes were big like a doll’s and as dark as her long hair, shyly transmitting such an innocent and adorable look through them. There weren’t many curves on her body, Mrs. Cho noticed, but it didn’t make of her less enchanting or beautiful than she was. She could surely manage to give them healthy grandchildren despite of that slim body so there was no room for Mrs. Cho to complain, the girl had that important point on her favor already.

 Kyuhyun’s mother hummed in approval after a minute and smiled at the way the younger female discreetly exhaled the air she didn’t even know she was holding. “It’s relieving to finally meet you, Halla.” Mrs. Cho finally replied. “I was even starting to think that my son was actually lying about having a girlfriend or hiding her from us on purpose.”

 Halla frowned lightly at the comment even though a confused smile kept stretching her lips, her dark eyes switching from the older woman to his boyfriend as if seeking for an explanation. Kyuhyun simply rolled his dark-brown orbs to his mother who shushed his reaction with a brief wave of hand.

“You see, my Kyuhyun is our precious and only son so we want him to get married and give us a lot of grandchildren soon. He said he didn’t want to have any girlfriend back then because it would be much pressure on her since his father and I are very strict about what is good enough for our son. But I’m glad he finally came to introduce us someone bold enough to face it all now.”

“Mom.” Kyuhyun reprehended the older woman only to gain an amused smirk from her as Halla stared at the floor, suddenly feeling even more nervous than she was already doing.

 Kyuhyun knew it would be just like that when his mother and his girlfriend met because his mother was pure devilishly and loved to tease the others, things that had already become a trademark of her personality. He sighed and then hugged the smaller girl from her sides, swaying her body lovingly and smiling down at her in an attempt to shoo away the stiffened expression from her face. “It’s okay, she’s just teasing you. It won’t be too pressure on you. And I’ll make sure to intervene if they start pushing you to give them a grandchild within a year from now on.”

 Halla chuckled nervously while nodding and Mrs. Cho grinned in content with herself. Part of her duty which consisted on pestering her son’s girlfriends the most she could was done and judging the almost fearful look on the girl’s countenance, she had been successful on her task. A smooth sound of voices coming from the kitchen called their attention for the first time since the couple had arrived and Mrs. Cho clapped her hands once as though suddenly remembering something important to share with the other two. “Oh, right! I invited all of our relatives to come join us when you said you would bring your girlfriend to introduce her to us. They’re already here so let’s meet them!”

“Mom!” Kyuhyun grunted, annoyed. He was sure he made it clear to his mother through the phone that he wanted to introduce his girlfriend to her and his father only. No one else. He wasn’t really close to none of his relatives so there was no point on calling the whole family to introduce them and consequently getting the poor girl feeling even more anxious.

“What? It’s really rare for you to bring someone for us to meet, Kyu, especially someone you’re in a relationship with. So, when you said you were coming with your girlfriend I had to call everyone to celebrate!,” since Kyuhyun was still scrunching his whole face with annoyance, his mother waved her hand in the air and clicked her tongue in distaste. “This is a special occasion, boy, stop being so grumpy.”

 Mrs. Cho didn’t give him a chance to reply as she held the other female’s hand and started dragging her to where the kitchen was, the girl turning around to look pleadingly at Kyuhyun who could only smile apologetically back at her. Kyuhyun messed his brown hair slightly as soon as both of the women disappeared on a corner of the doorway. He should have expected his parents – mainly his mother, if he wanted to be more specific – to call all the hell out of his relatives to rejoice over such a trivial thing like that. It wasn’t even like he was going to get married, for god’s sake; he was just introducing his girlfriend to them since their relationship has been going through time enough for him to do so. All the ruckus his mother was doing about that was completely unnecessary and it upset Kyuhyun to the point of making him regret coming back from abroad only to get them to meet each other. Maybe it would have been better to just send a picture of them two or do some chatting through Skype.

 Shoving his hands inside the pockets of his pants after a couple of seconds summoning up all his courage to go face the bunch of relatives he had gathered on his parents’ kitchen, the brunet man walked the path the two woman had crossed a while ago while wearing the best polite smile he could manage at that moment.

 Almost an hour and a half later, everyone in the house had already met Kyuhyun’s girlfriend and they seemed to like her, what was definitely a good sign. Kyuhyun’s family wasn’t that big; that’s why there were only ten people in there to know the person he was in love with, all of them resumed in some blabbering aunts, old uncles and annoying cousins besides his own parents. But this way was better since he didn’t want a lot of people surrounding him and asking embarrassing things to his girlfriend, anyway.

 Between one question and another about his newly revealed relationship, Kyuhyun took his time to look around the place with nostalgic eyes. Everyone was now gathered in the living room and the said one looked the same as Kyuhyun’s mind remembered. The white oak furniture matching harmoniously with the pale beige walls and contrasting beautifully with the dark floor that was covered by small wine carpets in some strategic points of the room. The huge TV facing a pair of leather couches designed in a grayish lead color. The several picture frames – both hung on walls and placed above some furniture –, that carried distinguished family photos inside of its colorful corners. Everything looked the same as before Kyuhyun had gone traveling abroad to pursue his academic goals. Even the strong smell of wax polish that emanated from the floor was the same. The male smiled at his memories internally as one of his aunts kept blabbering about something he didn’t really care about. He felt in home again.

“Let’s eat, shall we?” Mrs. Cho’s powerful voice resonated through the living room as to announce the dinner was ready and she watched how everyone who had been busy chatting happily in small groups ended their respective conversations to give her full attention and light nods from their heads half a minute later. Kyuhyun sighed in relief once he now had a plausible excuse to get away from that aunt who now insisted on asking him about Halla and future babies.

 Everyone led themselves to the dining room and sat around the wide, rectangular table, the smell of roast and served wine filling the room as they let out approval exclamations and delighted sighs. Kyuhyun ended up seating near the end of the table, his mother and father seated perpendicularly on the respective chairs on the head of the furniture by his left side and Halla fixing herself in the seat by his right one. He smiled at Halla and interlaced their free hands under the table when he found them seated side by side, the girl quickly smiling back at him and then bringing her dark-chocolate eyes to wander around the delicious and aromatic food displaying in front of them as though choosing what she was going to have first.

 Even though Kyuhyun’s family was something akin to a rich one, they didn’t have those kinds of extravagancies like servants, cooks, maids or such. Therefore, the guests had to serve their respective food themselves after Mrs. Cho had prepared all the dishes with her own hands. Kyuhyun served two full spoons of puree to Halla since the latter was having problems to reach the other end of the table from her seat due to her short arms. The girl thanked him shyly and then hurried herself on picking a platter of something and serving whatever it was to Kyuhyun as though in an equivalent gesture of politeness, what made the man chuckle lowly before coming to full his own plate with meat and barbecue sauce. That didn’t look like a rich family behavior at all.

 If it were to be honest, everything in there was homespun and unpretentiously simple despite of the great house graced with a charming swimming pool on its background the Cho family lived in. Mrs. Cho dealt with most of the household chores and Mr. Cho took care of those business related tasks he was daily given as the head of their own small company, so they really looked like a humble family to foreign eyes, no luxuries having room under that shelter as to indicate to others how goodly stable they were financially. The Cho family was a homely one. It only happened to them to have lots and lots of money.

“Is that ok if we start eating without him? I mean, he arrives today too, doesn’t he? He might get offended if we don’t wait.” One of Kyuhyun’s aunts suddenly mumbled, more to herself than to someone in particular, as her eyes looked directly at the served meal in front of them with a certain amount of hesitation. There was a tense silence filling up the air then and Kyuhyun frowned at the sudden change of mood, his dark-brown orbs soon traveling in curious between the stern faces that were now solemnly staring at their own meals as if the food had become rotten out of blue. He was sure that it had to do with both what his aunt had just said and to whom she was referring while saying those words but Kyuhyun couldn’t really put a finger on that since he didn’t know about who the woman was talking. Who was he, anyway?

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” was the dull and scornful answer one of Kyuhyun’s uncles gave to the woman’s vague comment, answer which earned some faint murmurs and heavy sighs from all around the table. “That brat feels so superior towards everyone that we could even pretend that he wasn’t here that he wouldn’t still say a word about it, just as if we weren’t worth of his further care. It has always been this way.”

 The said aunt who spoke almost absentmindedly earlier lifted her eyes from the food to stare at the other and Kyuhyun could notice how a glint of restrained displease shone in her dark orbs before she managed to mask it with an impassive expression while shrugging her shoulders. “It has already been six years since he left. He can be different now.”

 The other emitted a sound which resembled a mocking laugh and then champed the piece of meat he had just stuck into his mouth, the fork he used now swaying in waves through the air. “No, no, he will never change. That kid has bad blood running along his veins, bad blood. I’m sure he will always be that same cynic bastard. Just like his mother.”

“Enough.” Mrs. Cho’s voice sounded warningly across the room and the comments instantly died, proving the authority and power of her words once again. Everyone turned their upset faces and attention back to their meals and started eating from their respective plates in silence, the cutlery hitting the ceramic material softly being the only remaining noise to fill the dining room.

 Halla squeezed Kyuhyun’s hand under the table in a quiet question about what was happening and the latter glanced at her, smiling uncertainly. He didn’t have a single clue about what was going on, but he wasn’t one to keep his curiosity to himself, so he turned to his mother and leaned closer to her, watching as everyone slowly started chatting about something else a few moments later.

 “Mom, who were you talking about?,” he asked calmly, making sure to busy himself with pouring more sauce over his piece of roast as to feign only mild curious towards that matter, his mother soon taking a short breath before turning to look at him.

“Your cousin. That one. He is arriving today to spend some days with me and your dad.” She simply replied before signaling him to eat his meal and then Kyuhyun knew about who they were talking.

 His mother had once told him about his troublemaker cousin. She had said that this cousin in particular was the result of an affair one of her married sisters had with an also married man three years before Kyuhyun was born and that, for being a bastard, he grew up being rejected and offended by everyone in their family, except for she and Kyuhyun’s father. He slowly grew to be a rebel and then reached a point where he had no respect for anyone else besides Kyuhyun’s parents and his own mother, who later decided to send him abroad to spare him from all the prejudice that family insisted on treating him with.

 It was going to complete six years since Mr. and Mrs. Cho last saw him when the latter suddenly called them some weeks ago announcing that he was coming back  and asking if he could spend some time at their house, and they sincerely couldn’t be more glad on having him there. Kyuhyun knew that his mother really liked that cousin of him by the way her eyes would get teary every time she started telling him about all the suffering the other had gone through for being the fruit of a mistake.

 Kyuhyun had never ever seen a photo of that said cousin, though, so he could only wonder how he both was and looked like by the way his mother had described him through the years. As far as he knew, the other guy was smaller and thinner than him even though the latter was older. He remembered the time when his mother had told him how they were different and even pointed out how Kyuhyun looked more mature and sure of himself than his cousin. According to Mrs. Cho, the other male was a rebel and had a bad, teasing temper; however, the middle-aged woman cared so much about him that, for her, it was like he was the brother Kyuhyun never had. It was a beautiful feeling. Yet, Kyuhyun couldn’t help but feel frustrated for not even knowing the person who his mother already considered as her own son. It was in times like those that he regretted travelling abroad to improve his knowledge and finish his studies; he had missed a lot of important stuff regarding his own family during the time he was away.

 At last, he nodded in acknowledge and came back to his still untouched food, mouthing a low ‘I’ll tell you later’ to the young lady by his side that kept pinching him discreetly to know what was that odd mood from before about. They soon started eating, Kyuhyun smiling gently when Halla complimented the taste of that served roast to his mother, who grinned widely while thanking the other.

 Nevertheless, it was after almost ten minutes of eating that a low snort coming from the dining room’s door echoed through the ambient, making everyone turn their attention to the smirking guy who was leaned against the door frame watching them with his arms crossed in front of his clothed chest. Some of the people gathered around the table gasped when they recognized that person and others simply spared hateful glares at him before mumbling judging words and turning their attentions back to their plates of food. The commotion that that new appearance caused was notable and quite undeniable since low distasted mumbles still traveled across the place in a not really discreet way.

 Kyuhyun first looked confusedly at everyone’s behavior and then turned his attention to the new person in the room, the male on the doorway doesn’t looking familiar to him at all. The unknown guy seemed to be around his age, maybe just a little older than himself, and it didn’t take long before Kyuhyun caught his own dark-brown eyes studying the huge coat and tight black jeans the incomer was wearing, noticing how they seemed quite fancy and trending.

“What? You didn’t even wait for me? How rude.” Pure sarcasm was spilling from each of the male’s words and the second snort that followed his sentence just made obvious how cynical he was being at that very moment. Hatred looks were thrown at him once again but he didn’t seem to care about them at all.

“Hyukkie!” Mrs. Cho exclaimed excitedly when she recognized the slim figure that was looking around the room as though he was greeting his enemies after entering a battlefield. Kyuhyun watched how a small smile made its way to the other’s plump lips when the latter spotted her and began to cross the room by walking on her direction.

 There was something in the way he walked. It was elegant but also careless and strangely tense. It was like he was creating a barrier around himself at each step he gave as if already waiting for a sudden attack. Kyuhyun couldn’t help but follow each of the other’s movements with extra attention without being really aware of it.

“Hey, auntie,” the incomer greeted Mrs. Cho as soon as he reached her on the edge of the wide furniture, leaning down to hug her shoulders from behind and place a soft kiss on her right cheek, causing the woman to giggle lightly. “You’re even more beautiful than what I remember, how is it even possible? Are you a witch or something? It’s forbidden not to grow old, woman, you know the rules.”

 Kyuhyun glanced at the way his mother giggled again, giving soft slaps over the other guy’s arms around her. Since his mother was seated near him, both of those two people were hugging actually quite close to him and making it impossible for him not to stare at the scene displaying in front of his eyes while everyone else kept mumbling something about disrespect or feeling suddenly annoyed. The brunet noticed how his mother seemed truly pleased by the very presence of that new guy in there and a glance at his father confirmed that the latter was also happy to see the youngster, what made Kyuhyun wonder why was that everyone besides them were finding that sudden appearance quite disgusting and upsetting. It was curious and since Kyuhyun was a naturally curious person he couldn’t bring himself to avert his dark-brown eyes from the stripped-down stylized male who kept acting as though he was the owner of the world or some kind of idol.

 However, it was when the man turned his head to the side and stared back at Kyuhyun from under his long eyelashes that the latter blinked and unconsciously gulped. The black ink which outlined his single lidded winged eyes proportioned an exquisite feline look to the man and it matched just right with the darkness of his thick eyebrows and chic hairstyle. Having those unreadable brown orbs studying him under such an intense gaze made Kyuhyun feel cornered and for a moment he felt like a deer in headlights, not really sure whether his countenance delated his state of mind or not. Well, apparently it did because a few fractions of seconds later a taunting smirk was already stretching those luscious lips of the stranger in a mischievous way. “Who is he?”

 The question was made in such a deep, alluring voice that for a second Kyuhyun thought that the other guy would start purring softly like a sly kitten at any moment. He was still hugging the middle-aged woman by her shoulders, his eyes never leaving Kyuhyun’s ones as though he tried to get into the brunet male’s mind through it. There was something on that pair of almond eyes that was making Kyuhyun feel uneasy yet he couldn’t stop himself from getting lost in them.

“Oh, this is my son, Kyuhyun.” His mother explained, signaling to Kyuhyun with the fork she was holding. “I guess you two never met before because you went abroad practically at the same time and we all lived apart when you were younger. Kyu, this is Hyukjae, that cousin I talked to you about.”

 Kyuhyun lifted both of his eyebrows in a mix of surprise and realization, finally understanding the motive of all that commotion when the male first appeared and remembering how one of his aunts had commented that the guy named Hyukjae was supposed to arrive that day as well. The way one of his uncles had openly expressed his dislike towards that cousin also made its way to Kyuhyun’s memory, enlightening his thoughts about the reason behind that odd mood which has been settled in the dining room for several minutes already. Now that defensive yet hostile behavior of his cousin from earlier made a bit more of a sense.

“Hello, Kyu.” Hyukjae greeted mockingly, purposely calling Kyuhyun’s nickname in a mere whisper and smirking widely when the other narrowed his eyes. Kyuhyun knew right then that the older man had earned that teasing side from his part of the family, especially from his mother. His brain hasn’t had the time to think further about that to actually form an opinion about whether he liked it or not, though.

 But, fortunately, Kyuhyun had earned that singular quality as well.

“Hello, Hyukkie.” He greeted back, gaining both an amused rising of eyebrow from the slim male and shocked gasps from all of his relatives seated around the table. Maybe because their relatives pretended to ignore Hyukjae’s presence, they also expected Kyuhyun to do the same. That’s why they were so surprised when the latter replied in the same teasing level as the other right now. Kyuhyun couldn’t say that he didn’t feel somewhat flustered by those outraged faces that were now his direction. The sleeve of his sweater was pulled softly and it was only then that he suddenly remembered that his girlfriend was there, right beside him. “And this is my girlfriend, Halla.”

“Hello to you, too.” Hyukjae greeted the woman as well in a surprisingly polite tone, receiving a friendly smile and nod from her as an answer. It didn’t last long before his sharp eyes traveled all the way back to meet Kyuhyun’s ones again, both of them analyzing each other for a few more moments until Hyukjae broke their eye contact a second time and turned to pay all his attention back to his aunt. “Auntie, I’m hungry.”

“Oh, of course you are, you have just arrived! Here, take a sit and join us, take a sit.” The middle-aged woman signaled him a lonely and empty chair that was lying on one side of the dining room and told him to bring it to where they were, Hyukjae obeying her right after. He greeted Mr. Cho properly when he passed by him and placed the chair between the latter and the older woman, gaining a kind smile from both as he sat down on the wooden furniture and took off his coat to start serving himself from the deliciously aromatic roast and likely tasteful wine.