Sungyeol felt dead tired. He took most of the previous night to convince Sunggyu that it would not be ok to convince Woohyun to sing and that he should let his friend have some time to properly process what was happening. Then he had to help Sunggyu find a song to sing alone and that also took some time as well and that resulted in him postponing other stuff, going to bed late and consequently getting late the next day. He rushed to feed and take Sunggyu to school then he rushed for college while he briefly spoke with Sonmi through the phone.

After that, he attended a long meeting where some topics were sorted and lectures scheduled. Damn, he would be the first person to give the lecture first thing on Monday morning, the timing couldn’t be worse, he wasn’t thinking about his lecture at all. 

He ate in a rush and then he was stuck inside the office where he waited all day but Myungsoo didn’t appear and that made alarm bells ring on his head. Sungyeol tried to call Sonmi to ask about her son (and of course her grandson) but she didn’t answer his call. He was about to send a message when he received one from her.

Sonmi: I can’t talk right now over the phone, I’m keeping an eye on Woohyun and Myungsoo.

Sungyeol: Moonsoo told me they met yesterday, are they fighting again or they got close? 

Sonmi: Worse than fighting each other, they’re meeting Woohyun biological dad right now.

Sungyeol gasped loudly, he wasn't expecting that to happen so soon or at all.

Sungyeol: I'll assume I shouldn't drop by with Hoya hyung later then.

Sonmi: I don't know, it will depend on what Woohyun will need, but I talked to Myungsoo and he seemed to like the idea. 

If Sungyeol recalled the story Myungsoo told him in detail the guy was nasty so he could not help but be worried about the father-son pair. He wanted to offer his support to both of them but he and Myungsoo, aside from their status as teacher-student, were in a weird phase, Woohyun might not want to see anyone, and he still had some things to do. Like picking Sunggyu up, feeding him and talking to him again to see if the boy was already over the fact that Woohyun didn't want to sing anymore.

Sungyeol: I will wait to know if it's ok if I were to drop by later.

Sonmi: Ok. Talk to you later.

After that, Sungyeol entered his car and drove to Sunggyu school to pick the boy up. He got caught in some traffic because some parent car broke near the school and was hindering everyone, so he arrived a bit late to pick up Sunggyu.

"Gyu, come on, time to go home." Sungyeol called his brother as soon he appeared into the boy's classroom only to see Sunggyu and Dongwoo playing some kind of game together.

"Finally, Why did you take so long? I'm hungry." Sunggyu complained as he pushed a paper to Dongwoo to go grab his backpack.

"A car broke near here and people were crowding at the entrance to pick up the kids. It was hard to find somewhere I could park." Sungyeol briefly explained then moved his eyes to the teacher. "Hi Dongwoo hyung, sorry for being late."

"It's ok, it's part of my job to stay here till the last kid goes home, besides we were playing a game." Dongwoo offered with a smile then made a serious expression."Sunggyu is really good in tic tac toe, did you know that?" He asked as he moved to grab his bag.

"Yeah, I taught him." Sungyeol replied without much surprised.

"It's easy." Sunggyu said as he approached the adults with his bag. "I'm ready."

"Come on then." Sungyeol patted one of Sunggyu's shoulders to get him to move but before that, they were stopped by the teacher.

"Wait, before you go…" Sungyeol turned and waited for Dongwoo to get close. "Do you have plans with Hoya today?"

"No. I heard Woohyun met his biological dad today so he might not want to see anyone." Sungyeol explained with a sigh as the three moved outside the class.

"Oh man, things are not getting better right?" Dongwoo asked tiredly and Sungyeol shook his head.

"I don't understand, why would Woohyunnie want to meet this guy?" Sunggyu asked as he frowned. "Doesn't he has Myungsoo hyung? I mean, Myungsoo hyung made you cry but he is good to Woohyunnie."

"I don't know Sunggyu." Sungyeol replied honestly. "You'd have to ask him that once you see him, but today it's probably just you and me." Sunggyu sighed tiredly." Come on, it will not be that bad, I'll play so you can rehearse."

"Fine." Sunggyu agreed, although still a bit worried and before they crossed the school gate, Dongwoo asked something.

"Since you don't have any plans with Hoya today, can you drop me off at his place? He has been trying to work on things alone because he thinks Myungsoo needs a break, so if I want to spend time together I have to go to his apartment."

"Sure hyung, just tell him what we had in mind had to be postponed." As Dongwoo nodded, Sunggyu made a confused face, but the hyungs didn't elaborate and honestly, Sunggyu wasn't much in the mood to ask anything, he was still a bit upset, the festival was about to happen and Woohyun left him hanging. Sungyeol was being too nice to comfort him and offer help so he didn't have the heart to refuse but the idea of singing to send a message to his elder brother was pretty much forgotten by now.

They changed the subject during the ride. Sungyeol explained that his topics were drawn and he had to prepare to give another lecture aside of the one he usually has on Mondays and Dongwoo and Sunggyu asked a few questions. Yes, Sungyeol knew about the topic enough. No, he wasn't nervous. No, he didn't have anything planned yet. No, he wasn't in the mood to rehearse anything. Yes, he was sidetracked, yes, because of worry about Myungsoo and Woohyun.

The teacher was about to remind Sungyeol about the ethics politics of his college and remind him to not approach Myungsoo in a public place (by then he had already guessed that Sungyeol would find a way to show his support somehow) when they arrived at Hoya's place. He left the scolding for another time, briefly said his goodbyes and thanked for the ride before he was out of the car and inside Hoya's building. 

Sungyeol returned home with Sunggyu but when he was about to enter his door, he received a message from Sonmi.

Sonmi: The meeting was disastrous. She informed and that was already enough for Sungyeol to start biting his nails and stop Sunggyu from further entering the apartment.

"Hyung?" Sunggyu asked confused as he felt a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Wait a bit, I'm getting updates, maybe Woohyun will need us."

Sungyeol: How are they? He typed and bit his nails as he waited for an answer and while Sunggyu threw him another question.

"Is he ok?" Sunggyu instantly asked, completely forgetting he was a little bit upset Woohyun wouldn't sing with him anymore. 

"I don't know yet, just a second." He replied as he kept looking anxiously to his phone.

Sonmi: Woohyun is inconsolable and has not stopped crying since we arrived home. He asked me to call you.

"Sunggyu, go pack some clothes, Woohyun will need us to be there with him tonight." He urged and Sunggyu dropped his bag on the living room and ran to his room to do as he was told.

Sungyeol: Yeah, of course, I just arrived home so it will take me about fifteen minutes to get there.

"Will we eat?" Sunggyu asked/yelled from his room.

"I'll order food." Sunggyu yelled back as another message arrived.

Sonmi: I don't have enough words to thank you for all the help you've been giving us with Woohyun in this difficult time.

Sonmi is typing… Sungyeol quickly figured out Sonmi would probably write longer praise or more thankful words and he felt a little flustered, he didn’t think he deserved and it would be weird to read some praising words from her when he was aware that he broke Myungsoo’s heart. Talking about that, why she didn’t write anything about him?

Sungyeol: You don't need to thank me. How about Myungsoo? Is he ok? He quickly typed before she could send her lengthy message and it took.

Sonmi: Unreachable, I don’t know where he is.

"!" Sungyeol groaned and immediately walked out of his apartment to knock on Myungsoo door. "Myungsoo, are you there?" He tried to hear with attention but Myungsoo's living room light wasn't on and he couldn't hear anything. Maybe he was in his room so Sungyeol tried again. "Myungsoo!" He knocked a second time but when he was about to glue his ear on the door Sunggyu arrived.

"I'm ready!" The boy said confidently as he held a duffel bag with probably more clothes than he needed, he was also holding his Nemo plush toy because Woohyun liked to hug it when he was upset. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he noticed what Sungyeol was doing and frowned.

Sungyeol looked at his brother - that made him remember the other kid that was probably waiting for him - then looked at Myungsoo door. He clenched and unclenched his hands then moved to close his door. Once he was done with Sunggyu directed himself to the elevator, hoping Sungyeol would follow him but the elder stayed behind for a second.

"Please Myungsoo, don't do anything stupid!" He tried to say loud enough for Myungsoo to hear if he was inside but not loud enough to disturb the neighbors and finally moved to follow Sunggyu. He only hoped he didn't need to tend to both father and son at the same time because he didn't think he could choose one.

Ten minutes after Sungyeol left his building, Myungsoo arrived home wobbling a bit. He wasn't drunk, he liked to drink wine sometimes but he never had tested his limits before and he wouldn't start now. He was a little wobbly due to tiredness, physical (after walking aimlessly for some time) and emotional, as it sunk on him what he had done. It wasn't like he regretted the punch - no, he still thought the guy deserved - but he wasn't sure how Woohyun would think about him after that. The boy also seemed so heartbroken and disappointed by the way his biological father talked that Myungsoo could feel the boy's pain.

He rode the elevator and walked with slumped shoulders and head hung low to his apartment direction, but instead of turning right to open his door, he turned to Sungyeol's. He lingered a bit in front of it as he asked himself what he was doing. This seemed wrong, Sungyeol not only broke his heart but the elder was currently his teacher, and he hadn’t given deep thought if a relationship between them in the future would be a good thing but he still felt like the elder would be the right person to go.

After weighing the pros and cons, and choosing to completely ignore the cons, he raised a fist and knocked lightly on Sungyeol door. He gulped hard out of nervousness, what he would say? What would Sungyeol say? Would the elder welcome him? He waited a few seconds but nothing happened. He looked at the time on his phone and knew that at this point Sungyeol was usually at home already, maybe he didn’t listen. He tried ringing the doorbell and knocking with more force now so there was no way Sungyeol wouldn’t listen, but nothing happened the same way.

Myungsoo took a step back when something in him told him there was no way Sungyeol would open his door and console him. The second after that rational thoughts invaded his mind. Maybe Sungyeol was eating out with Sunggyu, maybe they could be visiting Hoya, or maybe Sungyeol was trying to comfort Woohyun somehow. As he thought about that and thought it was plausible - because Sungyeol was being helpful to at least control his son better during this difficult moment his family was going through - his heart felt a little better. If Sungyeol was helping to console Woohyun, he would gladly give up any consoling he might need now.

He stretched the corner of his lip sadly but resigned, gave another step back and turned around with his head hung low, then finally opened his own door.

_____________________________________

“I didn’t order any food.” Sonmi blinked confused to the guy in front of her then bowed and refused the package politely.

The guy looked at her and then at his phone where there was an app open with all the information for his delivery. “It says here this is the correct address.” He said as he tried to give her the package again. 

“Yeah but maybe it was the person next door that ordered and placed the wrong number.” Sonmi politely pushed the package back once again. At that exact moment, the elevator door started open and two people came out of it.

“It says here that it was Lee Sungyeol that ordered, he doesn’t live here?” The guy insisted.

“Sungyeol?” She perked up and the guy seemed relieved that the lady seemed to know the name, if the guy didn’t live in this place he would probably have a tip in which apartment of this building he would be found.

“That’s me.” Sungyeol offered as he made himself known. He apologized to both of them then entered the apartment with Sunggyu in his toll as he explained. “Sunggyu and I had just arrived home when you texted us, we didn’t have dinner yet so I ordered some food.” He checked the package again, cool, it was still hot enough.

“Where is Woohyunnie?” Sunggyu asked. It was not like he was interested in the food but his friend needed him more and he knew Sungyeol would probably fill a bowl and ask for him to eat in a bit.

“He’s in his room with Bumsoo, he has been waiting for you. You can go there if you want to.” She instructed while she moved to the small kitchen and Sunggyu didn’t lose time to run to his friend's door.

“Woohyunnie, I’m here!” He announced and Sungyeol could only hear a wail/cry from Woohyun before Sunggyu closed the door behind himself.

Sonmi sighed deeply as she grabbed bowls and chopsticks for Sungyeol and Sunggyu. She was worried, the meeting today was a disaster and she tried to pull Woohyun away from the bakery as soon as she could but she didn’t know if she was fast enough or if Woohyun actually saw the fight her husband told her about. Also, it wasn’t like Woohyun opened his mouth to complain about that yet, he only kept crying quietly this time, but she worried that if woohyun saw anything that could worsen things between him and Myungsoo. Talking about her son, she also didn’t know how and where he was and that worried her a lot as well.

She stopped and held at one chair to support and then pressed her lips together to try to contain some tears. “I’m sorry.” She quickly wiped the tear that fell first. but couldn’t contain herself anymore. “I just… this is a difficult time for our family.”

Sungyeol, carefully and awkwardly, approached her and patted her shoulder. “It’s ok Sonmi shi, I know this is a difficult situation.” She nodded and took a moment to control her feelings to try to put the strong front she always pulled off, although who she wanted to trick? It was evident in her face how she was feeling after the big secret was revealed. “Are you ok?” Sungyeol asked carefully a minute later and she nodded.

“Yeah, let's just fill your bowl so you guys can eat.” She said trying to busy herself with the food.

“Has Woohyun already eaten?” Sungyeol asked as he gently took things from her hands and started serving the two bowls for himself and Sunggyu.

“He ate half of a lemon tart before everything happened.” She said.

“Then give me another bowl, I’ll make him eat a bit more.” He pleaded and she turned to do what she was asked, but once she placed the third bowl in front of him and he was about to grab it, she held his hand which made him a bit startled. 

“Thank you, Sungyeol.” Sonmi said as she squeezed his hand and slightly bowed.

“I meant when I said you don’t need to thank me, please don’t do this.” Sungyeol said as he got flustered. 

“No, I really need to thank you. You’ve connected with Woohyun beyond anyone’s expectations and who would have thought that, even with your problems with Myungsoo, you would continue to help us and support Woohyun enough in this difficult time? Your mother would be proud of this kind of development in you and our family - even if Myungsoo doesn’t admit right away - is very thankful to you.” 

Sungyeol froze when she mentioned his current ex-boyfriend. “Please, don’t say that.”

She made a confused face. “But we are, for all the patience, help and support you’re offering even though you and Myungsoo aren’t together anymore.”

“Please don’t say that.” He begged and this time he pulled his hand away and gave some nervous steps from one side to the other. “It’s not like I’m not happy to be able to help somehow but you’re talking as if I’m doing something huge…”

“You are.” She insisted.

Sungyeol shook his head as he disagreed. “I’m not, I’m not helping in everything as I wish I could. Sure, I’m helping Woohyun because he is dear to me now but what about Myungsoo?”

“You’re helping him to graduate, aren’t you?” She asked.

“No.” Sungyeol shook his head and Sonmi was even more confused. “I didn’t mention that before because I didn’t want to add into your plate and because I know his encounters with Woohyun haven't been good, but Myungsoo skipped two meetings this week only and that means he isn’t progressing.”

“Sorry, I don’t think Myungsoo is in the mood for writing his project down right now.” Sonmi tried to apologize on her son’s behalf.

“Yeah, I know I shouldn’t expect him to progress when everything is this messy but the clock is ticking.” Sungyeol said as he roamed his fingers in his hair. “I want to be there for him through this problem with Woohyun, but this graduation situation leaves me with hands tied and at the end, I can’t help him one way or another.”

“You’re helping Woohyun enough and that is helping Myungsoo indirectly.”

“It’s not the same thing. Every time something happens to him he looks even more destroyed and I can’t do anything to even console him.” Sungyeol said with frustration. “Last time in my apartment he seemed like he was about to break and I know he has been trying his best to tell Woohyun the truth but Myungsoo has been jabbed with problem after problem. He barely has time to breathe that he receives another jab.” Sungyeol said helplessly. 

“Yeah you’re right, he was destroyed once Woohyun called him a liar and reject him.” She agreed with a concerned tone. “As far as I know he doesn’t seem to be sleeping or eating well, he is not picking up his phone when we call him either. And the meeting was so bad today that Myungsoo punched the guy in front of Woohyun and that can complicate things...” She grew alarmed as she listed what was happening to her son.

“I don’t think Myungsoo should be alone, there is so much a person can take and I’m really worried about him, even more now that you told me how the meeting was.” Sungyeol looked gravely at the ground. 

Sonmi froze and her heart ached. “What are you implying? Do you think he can harm himself?”

“I’m not implying anything.” Sungyeol shook his head. “I don’t think Myungsoo would resort to anything like that especially when he wants to be there for Woohyun so badly.” He said despite making clear he was dead worried.

Sonmi was a bit relieved. “Then?” She asked in confusion and Sungyeol hesitated as he looked at her but then decided to tell her what was unsettling him.

“When we broke up there was a moment where Myungsoo was so out of himself that he burned a pan with a handle.” He said and Sonmi froze. “And given that anything about Woohyun weights a lot more on him, I’m concerned he is not in his right mind and something might happen accidentally.”

Sonmi blinked twice as she reflected on what Sungyeol said then immediately left in search for her phone. Once she grabbed the device, she promptly called her son but Myungsoo didn’t pick up his phone the same way he was doing through the last couple of hours and during the week. “Damn it, he doesn't pick up. Do you know if he is home?”

“No, when I left he wasn’t.” Sungyeol said with a sigh as he watched Sonmi walk towards Woohyun room.

“Sorry to interrupt you guys, I’m really sorry Woohyun, but oppa, have you received any message from Myungsoo?” She asked from the door and while Sungyeol waited for that conversation to be over his eyes roamed through the kitchen and the small living room.

“I don’t have any news yet, why?” Bumsoo said as he checked his phone and after Sungyeol heard that, his eyes found a bright keychain laying on a side table near the couch. By the shape and color of it, he was sure that was a Telemonster character, which meant those were Woohyun keys laying innocently around.

“I’m worried, he wasn’t in his right mind, why did you let him go in that state?” She asked/ scolded and returned to the kitchen talking to Sungyeol but concentrated on her phone. “Do you know if Myungsoo has any close friends he might have tried to get help from?”

“Well, he always talks about Minho and Jungshin, but as far as I know they don’t visit each other often.” Sungyeol said as he tried to inconspicuously to the living room. “Have you tried to contact Moonsoo?” 

“Right, Moonsoo, maybe Myungsoo is at his dorm.” She placed the phone on her ears and waited for the call to connect as she paced back and forth the little kitchen.

“Hello, Moonsoo?”She asked and Sungyeol took the opportunity that she was distracted to seize Woohyun keys. Meanwhile, Bumsoo left the room the boys were in and looked to Sonmi in questioning. “Moonsoo, is your brother with you?” She asked right after she lifted a finger for Bumsoo to wait and the elder man moved his eyes in questioning to Sungyeol.

“I’ll look for Myungsoo, I’ll be right back.” Sungyeol mouthed to not interrupt Sonmi’s phone call and raised the keys to Bumsoo view, which made the older guy nod. “Feed the kids.” He added before he moved to the door.

“... ok, ok, but if he calls you or appears in your dorm you call me immediately ok?” Sonmi said in the phone and hang up then turned to speak to Sungyeol. “Moonsoo doesn’t…” She looked around and didn’t find Sungyeol so she turned to Bumsoo that was currently checking the food in the bowls. “Where is Sungyeol?”

“He just left.” He said calmly as she placed the food on the microwave.

“Wha-why? I need him to stay with the kids so we can look for Myungsoo and...” She started to panic and then glared at her husband again. “If you hadn’t let Myungsoo go in that state I wouldn’t be this worried, now what do we do?”

“We feed the kids.” He said as he turned around and Sonmi glared at him again and he could practically hear her saying ‘seriously?’ with a sarcastic tone even. “I know you’re worried, but Myungsoo just sent me a message a couple of seconds ago saying he arrived home safely.”

Sonmi blinked a couple of times as the information sunk in. “Then I was worrying over nothing and he was home this entire time?”

He approached her and gently held her by her shoulders. “No, you were right in worrying, even I was worried too, but as I said, Myungsoo is home now and Sungyeol just left with Woohyun keys, you know what this means right?” He looked at her with certain hope in his eyes and that infected her.

“Do you think they can connect again?” She asked and Bumsoo shrugged as the microwave beeped, the food was ready.

__________________________________________________________

Sungyeol drove at the speed limit. He didn’t know where the Kims were when they met Woohyun biological dad, but he soon figured that looking for Myungsoo there would be useless. Before entering the car he checked his messages with Sonmi and the time they were sent, a few hours have passed since then so Sungyeol figured Myungsoo might have calmed himself enough and be on his way back home so he was headed there. Also, if Myungsoo wasn’t home, he had all the intention to wait for him there, he knew he could screw the little chances he had with Myungsoo but hell, the younger needed someone right now, even if it was just someone to yell at.

While he drove he tried to think of how he could find Myungsoo’s friends and ask about him without raising suspicions but his nerves didn’t let him think straight and at the end, he arrived at his apartment complex without any idea about that. He was sure he never parked so messily since he took his license but he was in a hurry to ride the elevator and get to their floor.

Sungyeol hadn’t told Sonmi about what he was thinking. Yes, he thought Myungsoo shouldn’t be left alone but certainly a burnt pan wasn’t what he had been thinking and would not be the reason enough to cause the amount of worry he had. The truth was that Sungyeol thought something heavier might happen. When Sungyeol was young, he just wanted to sleep long enough so he could rest and make the pain go away for a moment but his desperation led him to do something he regretted and after so many hits Myungsoo had been taking lately... Sungyeol just needed to talk to him before the desperation he was sure Myungsoo was feeling grew too much.

“Myungsoo? Are you back?” Sungyeol tried knocking and calling once he arrived at Myungsoo door but he didn’t receive an answer and that made him grow even more worried.

He didn’t think twice and pulled Woohyun’s key from his pocket to open Myungsoo door. The whole apartment had its lights off but once Sungyeol gave some steps in the directions of the rooms, he was able to see a little bit of light coming out from the crack in the main room door. There was no noise so Sungyeol nervously rushed there and opened the door hoping he wouldn’t see the same thing Hoya once saw.

To his surprise, Myungsoo was sitting at his study table and wearing big headphones that Sungyeol guessed prevented the younger from noticing his entrance. Sure, he looked broken and like a bus ran over him but he was sitting quietly while resting his elbow on the table and his chin on his hand, and tapping lightly over the touchpad. He was physically fine, just bored and incredibly down, and while at the same time that made Sungyeol relax, he felt a wave of uncontrollable anger appear.

“KIM MYUNGSOO!" Sungyeol yelled to make himself known and Myungsoo turned with a confused expression at him while taking off his headphones.

“What are you doing here?” He asked in surprise because he was the one looking for Sungyeol early and now the taller was in front of him, angry nonetheless. He hadn't a clue on why and how Sungyeol invaded his apartment and much less on why he was angry, but before he could open his mouth to ask those questions, Sungyeol threw something with force and then he heard the noise of keys hitting his headboard and falling on his pillows. 

He knew Sungyeol wasn’t aiming to hurt him because the keys flew so far away from him that he didn’t need to dodge, but that action made him startled. He looked at Sungyeol with big surprised eyes but couldn’t move or even talk because he didn’t know what was going on.

Sungyeol looked at the younger eyes for about two seconds and then tried to hide his face. He felt like tears were about to come as he discovered he wasn't exactly angry with Myungsoo but with himself. He loved Myungsoo so much and was so frustrated because he didn't think he was helping enough, that he let his brain conjure something that probably would never happen so he could be able to think he would make himself useful. 

“I’m going crazy.” He mumbled to himself as his shoulders started to shake and he let his frustration out with his tears.

Myungsoo watched Sungyeol mood change with suspicions in his eyes. Surely he could fight the elder the same way he was about to fight Woohyun biological dad earlier today (though in this case, he hoped it wasn't necessary), but when he noticed Sungyeol anger disappear and his shoulders start to shake, he allowed himself to tone his alarm down. He was sure there was something wrong happening but it wasn't because of or directed at him, it was probably something personal.

Sungyeol didn't move and just let his emotions out but Myungsoo heart ached to see him like that and although he hesitated, he ended up getting up and approaching him.

"Why are you here?" This time Myungsoo used a gentle but concerned tone and a hand on Sungyeol shoulder. Sungyeol shook his head because he didn't want to say but Myungsoo grabbed him by the arms and brought him to sit on his bed. "Hyung, what is wrong?" He coaxed.

"E-everything is wrong." Sungyeol mumbled and this time Myungsoo heard it perfectly. 

"Tell me." The younger insisted.

"I don't want to add into your plate…" The taller said as he shook his head.

“Hyung...” Myungsoo coaxed and Sungyeol finally took his hands off his face and tried to clean it a little as he explained.

“I heard that you took Woohyun to meet his biological dad and that the meeting wasn’t good, so I thought that after receiving blow after blow you wouldn’t be in your right mind and something might happen…” Myungsoo froze when he heard that, Sungyeol didn’t need to say all the words for him to understand what the taller was referring to. “...but you’re here and you’re fine…”

“Even if things have changed between us I thought we were over this part of you assuming things about me.” Myungsoo spoke with an even tone so Sungyeol didn’t exactly know what he was feeling about it, his face also didn’t let him show anything. Was he sad? Disappointed?

“And while that happened out of prejudice before, today it happened out of love and the fear of losing you....” Sungyeol defended himself just in case but looked at Myungsoo kind of ashamed while the younger took a moment to 

“Hyung, no.” Myungsoo said firmly but softly, and at least that told Sungyeol he hadn’t created a new problem for them. The younger looked at Sungyeol hands and grabbed one. "Just no." He said as he squeezed Sungyeol and avoided adding more words, he didn’t want to make comparisons and offend the elder somehow. 

Besides, Sungyeol presence here was a good thing, it showed Sungyeol feelings were consistent despite everything. Also, Sungyeol worried state and the way his own heart ached when he saw Sungyeol breakdown in front of him made it clear that his deepest feelings of love remained unchanged.

Sungyeol nodded to acknowledge the younger. He bit lips and kept nodding away as to try to convince himself that Myungsoo was right until he shook his head. “I can’t take this anymore.” He confessed.

The young dad pulled his hands away and rested his elbows on his knees as he looked at the ground. “Welcome to the club.” He said without sarcasm, just tiredness evident in his tone.

“I mean it.” Sungyeol rubbed his face as he tried to better clean his face. “More than helping you, I want to support you.” He said and that made Myungsoo turn his head to look at him. “I agreed to wait for you to decide your feelings but I can’t even be your friend right now and this…. Urgh… I’m so frustrated.”

Myungsoo sighed and lay on his bed so he could look at the ceiling. “Now that Woohyun problem became this big I don’t really know when I will be able to put the things between us in perspective, but… to tell you the truth... I also miss you.” He confessed as he hid his face in his hands. “And everything has been so hard, so hard.” 

“I didn’t come here to tell you the clock is ticking and to scold you for skipping two meetings this week only, and I can understand that you don’t have the mood to write down your project but can’t you just finish your graduation please?” Sungyeol turned his torso to better look at him. “For Woohyun? For us?” He pleaded.

The younger bit his lips a bit.  “It’s hard.”

“I know it is hard but you once told me that we should control the kid’s lives, not the other way around. But if you let this problem take a complete toll on you, you’re letting Woohyun to control aspects of your life that he shouldn’t.” The taller reasoned. “You have to work on your project even if it is slowly and get over it.”

“I agree on that a bit but...” Myungsoo was about to add more when Sungyeol shifted his weight on the bed and interrupted.

“Look, once I told you to tell your story with Woohyun so make your project easier but now… maybe your project should make things easier for you with Woohyun instead.” 

Myungsoo squinted his eyes as he heard that but he wasn’t sure he was understanding correctly. He promptly sat back on the bed and looked at Sungyeol in the eyes. “What do you mean?”

Sungyeol scratched his head as he thought about how he should assemble his words. “Your project is related to your son, right?” Myungsoo nodded. “Then why not to use it so you can show him your feelings?” He suggested.

“I don’t know.” Myungsoo briefly shook his head before he looked away. “Today we met his biological father, and although it was bad, I’m not sure how he is feeling. If he wants to see me, I’ll have to go over there and work on my relationship with him but if he doesn’t want to see me, I don’t know if this project will convince him later.” He sighed. “And to tell you the truth, I was thinking about something else.”

“Like what?” Sungyeol asked interested and with furrowed brows. 

To be honest, Myungsoo didn’t think the conversation would progress this way. He thought that, just like it happened when they broke up, Sungyeol would push him until a ‘yes’ came out of his mouth so he was a bit taken aback when Sungyeol asked his opinion and seem genuinely interested in what he had to say. 

“I don’t know…” Myungsoo said a bit flustered. “I was thinking about going to Hoya hyung’s place tomorrow and ask him to talk to Woohyun because even if he can’t convince my son to give me a chance right now, he can make Woohyun relate or maybe he can understand Woohyun feelings and explain to me better later.” 

Sungyeol blinked quickly in surprise. Yes, the idea was his, he had arranged it with Hoya previously and told Moonsoo and Sonmi about it, but he didn’t think that Myungsoo would agree, consider to take some initiative to talk to Hoya about that himself or come up with an agenda of his own. He always thought Hoya would probably talk to Woohyun behind Myungsoo’s back, but now that he heard his ex-lover talking, he could only support him.

“What do you think?” Myungsoo asked a bit nervously, which broke Sungyeol train of thought and proudness.

“Even though Hoya hyung story is a bit different, I think that’s a wonderful idea because there was a time when he felt lost too.” Sungyeol opened an encouraging smile that made Myungsoo feel a bit happy to be supported although he didn’t exactly relaxed.

“But do you think Hoya hyung will accept to talk to Woohyun?” He insisted.

Sungyeol furrowed his brows. “Why do you think he won’t?”

“Because I’m not being a good friend or employee, I didn’t even contact him this week yet.” Myungsoo sighed kind of ashamed and Sungyeol made an expression of confusion.

“Yet I never heard Hoya hyung talk about you without praises for your work and as far as I know he is not complaining about anything and is just concentrating on writing the plot for his webtoon. Besides, I fail to understand why he would consider you a bad friend.”

Myungsoo shrugged. “Because I accused of him of taking sides? Because I told him if he talked about you I would quit?”

Sungyeol thought a bit and Myungsoo concern seemed legit, but then again, they were talking about Hoya. The elder bonded randomly with people of his choosing and he could respect others decisions but he didn’t exactly give up, at least Hoya never gave up on him.

“Relax, if I was in your shoes I would probably have said the same things because sometimes he is such a fussy mother.” Well, Myungsoo didn’t seem to think that he felt better so Sungyeol continued. “But I know Hoya hyung better, I don’t think he is hurt but even if he is, you just need to be really sincere with him and he will melt like ice cream on a hot day.”

“You’re saying that because he is your cousin, I’m a different case, I’m a stranger.”

“What stranger? He is your friend, tell him that he isn’t and he will be really hurt.” Sungyeol said as he softly pushed Myungsoo arm playfully then pleaded. “Don’t be insecure over this, I bet Hoya hyung would do his best so other children wouldn’t feel like he felt when he was adapting. You just need to show sincere appreciation and he will feel accepted.”

“Ok, but what if Woohyun doesn’t want to talk to him?” Myungsoo asked back and Sungyeol took some time to rethink all the scenarios on his head, he hadn’t considered that Myungsoo would take the initiative so he didn’t think about this before.

“I don’t think he will accept to talk to Hoya hyung if you were to ask him directly because Woohyun might just want to say no to piss you off.” Sungyeol agreed and he supported his chin with his fingers as he thought. “Maybe I can soft him and hint Hoya hyung story a bit... Then if Hoya hyung drops by, maybe he can even surprise us and take the initiative to talk.” 

“Would you do that?”

Sungyeol opened a smile but replied right off the bat. “I would do that for you or Woohyun at any time of the day.” He said and decided not to talk about how he was continuously helping Woohyun to eat and behave, he didn’t know if Myungsoo was aware of that, but if he wasn’t he didn’t want to anger the younger. Myungsoo blinked at Sungyeol for a bit and the elder felt awkward and afraid he had said something wrong. “Did I said anything wrong?”

“No.” Myungsoo shook his head then opened a sad half-smile as he realized a bunch of things about Sungyeol in his head. “I just want to thank you for everything.” He said and Sungyeol got flustered.

“It’s nothing if I can’t stay beside you.” He said with a sad smile.

“What do you think you’re doing here then?” Myungsoo asked and Sungyeol blinked quickly in confusion. He came because he was scared Myungsoo would do something like he did in the past but he didn’t think he was doing anything much. “You calmed my heart a bit by coming here and by always having Woohyun back.” Myungsoo said as he grabbed Sungyeol hand again and after a couple of seconds squeezed it. “To tell the truth, I miss you.” 

When Sungyeol heard that, he felt his body practically melt and his love for Myungsoo replace worry in his heart for the first time since they broke up. It only took a quick glance to their hands one over the other and back to Myungsoo to watch him trying to blink tears away. Before he could say anything, The younger leaned his body so Sungyeol had no other choice (and he wouldn’t want to do anything else) but to envelop him in a hug. 

“Don’t cry please.” Sungyeol held him tightly as he tried to contain his own tears. “Please, even if we don’t get back together, I can’t stand to see you this way. I want the Myungsoo I met a few months ago back, your son needs him and I need him too.” He said slowly as he patted Myungsoo back.

Myungsoo stayed in Sungyeol embrace for a couple of minutes, allowing himself to feel loved, wanted and, above all, comforted. When he pulled away to reply to the elder, he was surprised to see Sungyeol trying to hold tears of his own and contorting his face as he fought the urge to kiss Myungsoo. Sungyeol expression didn’t seem very aesthetically attractive because he seemed really conflicted, but at the same time Myungsoo never thought he could read Sungyeol feelings of love so clearly and that moved and his heart a bit.

The younger dad gently grabbed the elder face and tried to clean it once more. “Why you never showed your feelings like this?”

“How? Messily?” Sungyeol tried to laugh it off but Myungsoo eyes just waited patiently for the truth so after a couple of seconds he explained. “Because in the beginning it was overbearing and it could scare you away.” Sungyeol snuffled shyly as he thought back but replied with sincerity. “And when things between us became more solid there was Woohyun. If he had seen me like this he would have discovered on the spot.”

“Now it gets easier to know why you said our break up was a sacrifice, you were already trying hard enough.” Myungsoo made a sad expression although he looked fondly at his ex-lover. 

“If you understand that now, you know that I wasn’t supposed to be here.’’ Sungyeol stretched his lips sadly then grabbed Myungsoo hands to gently take them out of his face. 

“Yeah.” Myungsoo looked away as Sungyeol let his hands go.

“And now that I’m seeing you without the label of adviser-student, you know it will probably get harder for me when we meet again as such, right?” Sungyeol asked as he tried to find his composure and the serious tone he lost midway his conversation.

“I’m sorry, I should have boarded the boat sooner, but instead all I could think of was my broken heart.” He let his hands drop by his sides and looked disheartened to the ground.

Sungyeol shook his head as he didn’t accept that excuse. “Don't say that when you got hurt for real. It was also a lot for you to take that day, but you were just desperately trying to hang on something to ground you, it’s understandable." Myungsoo slightly nodded and Sungyeol continued. "But we don’t need a label right now for me to root for you, I’m still team Woosoo no matter what.”

“Woosoo.” Myungsoo released some air through his nose, he wasn’t happy but that indicated he felt a little amused.

“Well, I knew you two were a package deal since day one.” Sungyeol smiled and got up to leave. “Since you’re mostly and physically fine, I have to go.”

“Yeah maybe you should go back to Woohyun, he probably needs you right now more than I do.” The younger said as he also got up and walked back to his desk while Sungyeol seemed kind of surprised to hear that.

“You know I have been visiting him?” He asked and Myungsoo this time couldn’t control a small smile.

“I’m his father, he might not be near me at the moment but I still know everything about him.” Myungsoo said as he tapped some keys on his laptop so it would come back to life.

“Ahn, your mother.” Sungyeol snapped his fingers together. “Of course she would tell you.”

“Not only her. I mean, his relationship with my family is also shaken so when I’m not hearing complaints about his behavior I know you met him.” Myungsoo said as he tapped his password.

“Are you upset about that?” Sungyeol hesitantly asked and Myungsoo furrowed his brows, finding strange to be asked that.

“When it comes to Woohyun right now... not really.” He said as he tried to look at Sungyeol in the eyes and the elder seemed surprised so Myungsoo straightened himself up to be clear. "I'm not bothered because only I can solve this particular problem when Woohyun is ready, what you’re doing now is damage control.”

“So you won’t mind if I were to spend time with him in the middle of this problem?” Sungyeol still asked a bit suspicious. “Your mother told me he wanted to talk to me but when I heard about you I kinda left him hanging and…”

“I won’t.” The younger said sincerely. “And as embarrassed as I am that I need your help, I think the priority for this situation is to keep him on track while he processes this whole thing. He also needs someone that he can trust completely and he has chosen to trust you, so if you don’t mind, it’s ok for you to spend time with him.” Sungyeol seemed to relax a bit and Myungsoo thought that he made the wrong idea. “But don’t be mistaken, I still don’t want to depend on you.”

“Surely.” Sungyeol quickly nodded then regained his serious expression from before. “But I just can’t leave without knowing if you’re going to do something to change your situation.”

Myungsoo looked down for a second then back at Sungyeol. “With Woohyun I’m ready to fix things but I know I will have to wait a bit for him. As for my project…” He placed a hand on his laptop and turned it’s screen so Sungyeol could see. “I said it’s hard, but I haven’t exactly been doing nothing.”

Sungyeol looked at the screen of Myungsoo laptop, he could see the screen was divided into three. On the left (and in the bigger space) there was a picture of him with his son opened in Photoshop and on the right side, there was a bunch of thumbnails of other pictures that Myungsoo would probably use on his project. Lastly, the low part of the screen was occupied with the text editor Myungsoo was using nad Sungyeol could spot some yellow markings on it. Well, if that wasn’t a good surprise, the taller smiled genuinely relieved.

“I wrote a bit before Woohyun discovered things and now I’m already searching for good pictures.” Myungsoo tried to contain a shy smile. “It’s hard, it’s too many.” Well, no one saw that coming right? But here he was, surviving like he did any other day where he juggled his studies with parenting. 

Sungyeol came dead worried and changed his mind through the conversation he had with Myungsoo but to hear this just made him open a thousand watts proud smile. That was the Myungsoo he knew and loved, the hardworking father that got up after a fight and fought back the way he could, this was the Myungsoo Woohyun would long for when he understood things and this was the Myungsoo Sungyeol needed to win this ing chess match.

Not knowing how to react to Sungyeol smile the young dad tried to occupy himself by taking some books that were lying beside his laptop. “Here, I also read your books last week so… since you’re already here...” Myungsoo said a bit flustered as he offered the books to Sungyeol.

The taller took about two seconds to grab his books. It was clear from Myungoo’s eyes that the pain was still there and he was suffering but Sungyeol got the impression that subdued a little after their conversation Also, when it came to actions, Myungsoo was doing things slowly but probably steadier than anyone gave him credit for and that made him proud and relaxed.

He was about to say how he was feeling and praise the younger but both their phone rang at the same time, which aside from being weird, made them sure something was happening. Both picked up their phones and while Myungsoo promptly dismissed the call, Sungyeol picked up his while he pressed the books against his chest. 

“Bumsoo shi… Yeah, he is fine... Hm? Ok, I’ll go over there right away... did they eat? ...OK, I’ll take care of that.” Sungyeol ended the call and placed his phone on his pockets again before he addressed Myungsoo. “Pick up your phone, you are scaring your parents and in turn, they scare me so I had to come over here.” Sungyeol scolded.

Myungsoo rolled his eyes a bit and gave a look at Sungyeol that practically screamed ‘really?’. “I don’t want to spend hours on the phone explaining my feelings when it’s obvious. I already shared everything I had to share, asked every help I could ask.” Ok, Sungyeol understood that easily, maybe due to the last happenings Myungsoo was being suffocated by his own parents.

“But what if it is about Woohyun?” Sungyeol raised a brow.

“If it was about Woohyun my phone wouldn’t be full of ‘where are you? How are you feeling?’ texts.” He reasoned. “Woohyun is physically fine and if he doesn’t want to see me, forcing him to see me now would only make him throw a heavy tantrum.” He said tiredly, he thought like that but at the same time, Sungyeol could see that it bothered him.

“Well, he is about to throw one because I haven’t arrived yet, so I got to go for real now.” Myungsoo stretched his lips with a hint of jealousy but nodded. Sungyeol nodded back and changed the subject briefly. “Ok, send me your second chapter so I can check if it’s really ready. Also, send me everything I told you to put aside for the intro so I’ll try to see if I can come with some recommendations.” He advised while he stepped back to go.

“Aren’t you going to Woohyun right now?” Myungsoo made a confused expression. “What about your job selection?”

“Yeah, but sooner or later he will sleep.” Sungyeol waved him off. “Don’t worry about anything, your parents and I can hold the fort for as long as you need, you just need to keep going.” Sungyeol assured.

“If you say so…” Myungsoo agreed awkwardly, he was sure he was burdening everyone but since everyone was pulling efforts he just had to continue with his.

“Today, Myungsoo, no excuse.” Sungyeol insisted as he stepped back to go.

“I already agreed, go already.” Myungsoo said as he sat back in front of his laptop and pressed the keys to turning the screen on again. 

The younger dad was about to grab his headphones again when he felt his chair turn and a hand on his chin. He saw Sungyeol face in just a short distance from him and made a confused expression because he thought the elder was leaving but the next second he felt Sungyeol lips press softly on his. He immediately closed his eyes to indulge at the moment but it didn’t take long for Sungyeol to pull back.

“I’m proud of you.” Sungyeol whispered as he looked at Myungsoo fondly for the last time then pulled back completely. “I know it is hard but you’re gonna get through this.” He cheered as he moved out of the younger room. “Woosoo team fighting!” Sungyeol yelled from the living room and the next thing the young dad heard was the sound of the door closing.

Myungsoo blinked to let the moment sink. He wanted Sungyeol to console him and the conversation they had made him feel better, but even so, he didn’t think a kiss would be a possibility today. He pressed his lips together in a thin line - he could still feel Sungyeol lips on his faintly - and as if he was recharged he turned to his laptop to try to progress with other aspects of his life today.

______________________________________________________________

AN: I guess emotional conversations are still needed but things will only happen in order to fix teverything from now on.
@shuensha take a deep breath, you can do it!
@NKTAnkta, we had similar thoughts but a huge thank you for inspiring me this week. 
@Inspirit4myungyeol take care of yourself!
@special_girl, I don't know if I told you here but I feel like I should: welcome back!