It was dark and and cold inside the apartment when Minseok walked through the door. The smell of cigarettes and booze was everywhere and Minseok fumed because it would find its way into the upholstery and never leave. He set his briefcase down and stomped through the hallway to the bedroom where he found Luhan half dressed on the bed with a cigarette in his mouth and a spilled bottle of whiskey on the bedside table. When he noticed him come in, Luhan sat up and smirked. Minseok gritted his teeth and tried his hardest not to lose his temper.

    “At this rate we’re going to have to buy new upholstery for every piece of furniture in this house.” He said as calmly as he could.

    “I thought we agreed that you would smoke outside because it ruins the paint on the walls.” He continued. Luhan laughed bitterly and lolled his head to one side before taking another drag.

    “You’re such a stereotype…” He mumbled. Minseok walked to the side of the bed Luhan was farthest from and loosened his tie.

    “You used to like how much of a stereotype I am.”

    “You used to me” Luhan retaliated immediately. Minseok snapped his head around and glared at his husband.

    “We’ve talked about this. Luhan you know why I can’t have with you right now.”

    “Your ‘right now’ has lasted for 4 months.” Luhan sighed and lit another cigarette.

    “I kno-”

    “4 months you’ve been spending inside your assistant’s .” Minseok choked on his own spit. Luhan was staring right the back of his head waiting for him to turn around. Silence layered over the smoke that already filled the room and made it even harder to breathe. It was as if Minseok actually thought that if he stayed perfectly still, Luhan wouldn’t be able to see him. This was, of course, not the case.

    “W-what are you talking about?” Minseok asked meekly after a while. Luhan laughed and hopped off the bed to pour himself a glass of cognac that they kept in the corner of the room. Minseok watched him as he went through the movements he had nearly every night of these four months. After downing the glass as if it was a shot, Luhan turned to stare calmly into Minseok’s fearful eyes. The room was dark but he didn't need a light to see how scared Minseok was.

    “Don’t play dumb, sweetheart, and don’t assume that I’m an idiot.”

    “I neve-”

    “I know, Minseok. You can’t lie to me anymore, I know the truth.” Minseok looked down as he felt tears of regret lining up for departure along his waterline.

    “H-how? How did you… Find out…” He asked. There was shame and embarrassment in the voice, but Luhan was too done to hear the regret.

    “Jongdae has a girlfriend, well, had a girlfriend. Did you know that? I didn’t. Either way I still didn’t believe her when she told me that she had walked in on you two a month ago. Remember that? Or were the two of you too caught up in each other’s to notice her?” Despite the awful situation and the pain the coursed through every inch of Luhan’s body, for the sake of theatricality, he was totally calm. He spoke as if he was talking to his friend about a crazy encounter he had. Minseok opened and closed his mouth, looking for words, and exhaled sharply before standing up. He took a step towards Luhan and although the older didn’t move an inch, Minseok felt it was best to not approach him right now.

    “He told me that she was okay with it, and that she had been cheating on him too. He said it wasn’t a problem.” Minseok said quietly, trying to recall the events. Luhan scoffed.

    “He was lying. He broke up with her right after. You know why?” Minseok shook his head slowly. He couldn’t believe Jongdae would lie to him.

    “Because he’s in love with you, sweetie. He broke up with his girlfriend and lied to you so you wouldn’t think he was too complicated and break it off.” Luhan’s tone had turned from calm and somewhat friendly to standoffish and superior. Minseok avoided his eyes.

    “But you said you didn’t believe her though. How did you find out?”

Luhan chuckled.

    “You don’t lock your door.”

    “What?”

    “You should really lock the door to your office if you’re going to cheat on your husband in there. Let me tell you, that’s the last time I ever try to surprise you at work with dinner when you ‘have to work late’.” Two more glasses of cognac and an olive later, Luhan’s generally tame demeanor broke and showed his true emotions. His face hardened and his voice became rough and shaky.

    “That’s last time I do anything for you, you lying, selfish, ungrateful ing prick!” Luhan shouted and tossed his empty glass at Minseok. The latter dodged it and walked quickly over to grab Luhan’s wrist before he could get another glass to fill. Luhan struggled to get his wrist free but Minseok’s grip was stronger than he was.

    “I’m sorry, Luhan. Really I am, I swear. After this time I told him we have to stop. We’ll never do it again, I fired him.” Luhan laughed hysterically and snatched his arm away.

    “Yeah ing right. Even if you aren’t lying, it doesn’t matter. Move.” He ordered and pushed past Minseok’s shoulder before he even got the chance to oblige. Minseok turned around and felt his heart drop even farther into his stomach when he saw Luhan pick up a couple suitcases he hadn’t noticed until now. He poured another glass and walked slowly after Luhan.

    “Lu, please, just listen to me-”

    “There’s nothing to listen to, Minseok. Your voice makes me sick anyway.” He spat and and walked out of the bedroom. A muffled goddammit was muttered under Minseok’s breath before following him into the hallway. Once Luhan was at the door Minseok had caught up with him and grabbed him before he could reach the doorknob.

    “Get off of me!!” Luhan screamed and Minseok took a step back. Both men were silent, each waiting for the other to speak first.

    “I’m sorry, I truly am. After every meeting with Jongdae I thought of you. I felt guilty every single time. Doesn’t that mean anything?” Minseok was fully crying now, and under other circumstance, Luhan would be the first to dry his tears. He never could stand to see the sight of him crying, even now he couldn’t, so he just looked away.

    “No,” Luhan shook his head, “Ridges will remain on a crumpled piece of paper, Minseok, no matter how hard you try to smooth it out. You can pull a nail out of a piece of wood, but the hole remains. I can never trust you again.” The finality in Luhan’s voice was heartbreaking. Minseok knew he was wrong, he knew how badly he ed up, and it scared the living hell out of him that he couldn’t charm his way out of the consequences this time.

    “Luhan…” Minseok breathed as he helplessly watched the love of his life open the door, pick up the suitcase he set down and step outside. Two steps into the snow and Luhan stopped walking. He looked back at Minseok’s devastated face and sighed.

    “The next time you see Jongdae,” He began, “Tell him he’s a fool for falling in love with you.”