Kyung thinks that maybe if Jiho’s name hadn’t been imprinted on his inner arm, or his across Jiho’s chest, he wouldn’t have held on for so long. Toxic relationships are only romantic in fiction, and even then hopelessly so. If he hadn’t grown so used to the sharp pains and twists in his chest whenever he thinks of the guy, maybe Kyung would have left earlier. Or maybe if he hadn’t been deluded into thinking that because he feels pain, there must be something he feels for Jiho that might be akin to love, because why else would he be in emotional pain and turmoil for Jiho if he didn’t love him? Or maybe, if he hadn’t been so insistent on making the words imprinted on their bodies mean something, Kyung would have left a long time ago.

His thoughts are a jumble of words that simultaneously mean a lot but also make no sense at all, and Kyung thinks that maybe thinking too much like this was what had gotten him into this mess to begin with.

When Kyung gets to Jaehyo’s apartment, he knocks on the door, hoping his friend is awake at the late hour. The decision to just walk out of the place he has (had) shared with Jiho hadn’t been a well-thought out one, so Kyung only has the clothes he had been wearing, and a small overnight bag with whatever he had thought he’d need to stay at someone’s (anyone’s) place. When the door opens, instead of Jaehyo, Kyung sees an unfamiliar face, and he automatically double checks the address he has on his phone with the unit number in front of him, although he’s quite sure that this is Jaehyo’s unit.

“Who are you?”

The two of them ask the question at the same time, and Kyung would probably find it funny in any other situation, but right now he can’t find the mood to laugh. He just tiredly drags a hair through his hair (or attempts to, because he forgot he had put on a snapback), and says, “I’m looking for Jaehyo hyung.”

“Oh,” the guy at the door says, and turns behind to yell, “Jae, someone’s at the door for you.”

There’s shuffling steps and Jaehyo appears, tugging his t-shirt into place, and Kyung vaguely wonders if he might be intruding on something. Then again, the guy who had opened the door is wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, neither of which look like they had been hastily thrown on just to answer the door, so maybe Jaehyo just hadn’t been wearing a top in his house.

“Kyung? What are you doing here?”

“I decided to leave Jiho,” is the only thing he manages to say, before his breath hitches, and he’s trying his best not to cry in front of Jaehyo and a complete stranger.

The stranger’s name is Minhyuk and he’s Jaehyo’s flat mate, Kyung learns, once they had him sit down in the living room, and Minhyuk brought him a cup of warm tea. Jaehyo’s sitting in front of him, face clearly drawn with concern but not pressing Kyung to say anything for now. Kyung sips at the weak tea, sniffing a bit, and finds some tissues being waved in front of him.

“Thanks,” he manages to say, as he takes the tissues from Minhyuk’s outstretched hand. Jaehyo’s hand is on his shoulder, patting gently, and Kyung suddenly feels like crying all over again. But he takes a deep breath, and says instead, “C-can I stay over tonight?”

Jaehyo gives him a questioning look, but answers, “Yeah, if you don’t mind the couch. But in exchange for the favour, you have to tell me what happened, okay?”

Kyung nods, and he’s glad Jaehyo isn’t insisting that he spill the beans now, even though he looks like he wants to know what had happened. Jaehyo had always expressed his concern about what he had called Kyung’s “unhealthy relationship” with Jiho, but Kyung hadn’t taken any of his advice back then. He thought Jaehyo was wrong, maybe jealous even, of the bond he had with Jiho, both of them with each other’s names on their body, whereas Jaehyo doesn’t have any names imprinted anywhere on his body.

Kyung rubs his eyes, putting the tea down, so he can lie down on the couch that is his bed for tonight. Maybe Jaehyo had been right, and Kyung had just been too blinded by the possibility that the mutual imprint of names was an indication of him and Jiho being soulmates that he hadn’t considered anything else. Despite the events of the day, Kyung falls into sleep easily once Jaehyo switches off the living room lights, his mind and body both exhausted. While drifting into sleep, Kyung feels something warm cover his body, and he inwardly thanks whoever had brought him the blanket.

The next day, Kyung wakes up to the sounds of someone cooking, and he sits up to find Minhyuk in the kitchen, moving around as he cooks. “Where’s Jaehyo hyung?” Kyung asks, mouth dry from sleep, wondering if he had packed a toothbrush in his bag yesterday.

“He’s out but he’ll be back soon,” Minhyuk answers without looking up from his pot which is making the house smell wonderfully like kimchi and meat right now.

Kyung’s stomach growls just then, and he remembers that he hadn’t finished his dinner after he started arguing with Jiho last night. He could use some food right now, but he doesn’t know if Minhyuk’s just cooking for himself (or maybe Jaehyo too). He’s quite sure that he’s not included though, so Kyung just shuffles to the toilet and washes his face after he fails to find a toothbrush in his bag. Looking at his dark eye circles in the mirror, Kyung wonders what a sight he’d make when he goes to the convenience store later to buy some ramyeon.

He’s just grabbing his wallet to head out when Minhyuk turns to him and asks, “Where are you going?”

“Convenience store.”

“Why?”

“Ramyeon,” Kyung considers that maybe he should be more polite to Minhyuk, whom Jaehyo had called hyung yesterday, but technically one-word replies aren’t overstepping the boundaries of polite speech.

“Why do you need to do that? I cooked enough for you too.” Minhyuk’s scooping rice from the cooker now, puzzled, and Kyung’s momentarily stunned before his senses return, and he walks away from the door to put his wallet back into his bag.

Jaehyo returns roughly when Minhyuk’s done dishing out the stew he had cooked into three separate bowls, and Kyung thinks he might look… angry, but Jaehyo hardly ever gets properly angry even if he gets frustrated and annoyed in all the years Kyung’s known him since high school. The look on Jaehyo’s face passes too quickly, and Kyung doesn’t mention it in case he had just been imaging things. Jaehyo quickly seats himself at the dining table, smiling as he thanks Minhyuk for cooking, and Kyung mumbles thanks as well.

“Don’t worry about it,” is all Minhyuk says, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

They eat most of their lunch in silence, Jaehyo passing glances in Kyung’s direction, and Minhyuk just eating like nothing’s wrong. Minhyuk finishes his food quickly, getting up to go back to his room, and it is only then that Jaehyo finally ask, “Kyung, what happened? Why did you suddenly leave Jiho and come here yesterday night?”

Kyung puts down his rice bowl, thinking about where to start, and he’s glad he’s numb enough right now to not cry when he says, “I broke up with Jiho yesterday.”

The nod that Jaehyo gives suggests that he doesn’t think it’s a bad thing, and Kyung finds himself saying, “Maybe I should have listened to you and broke up with him earlier, but…”

“But?”

“But…” Kyung