“Hey, you okay?”

Ryeowook’s soft voice startles him and Kyuhyun turns around to his husband standing by the door with a worried look on his face. Kyuhyun wills himself to give his husband a small smile but Ryeowook knows him too well and so, Ryeowook doesn’t buy it. He slowly walks into his husband’s small office and then settles himself on Kyuhyun’s lap, hands circling his neck.

“You’ve been looking distracted ever since you got home, Kyu.” Ryeowook points out, caressing his husband’s cheeks, “Is everything alright?”

Instead of answering, Kyuhyun clears his throat and questions, “Is Henry asleep?”

Ryeowook nods, “He had a long day.”

“And apparently, so did you.” Ryeowook raises his brows, poking his husband’s cheeks, “Come on, Kyu. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Kyuhyun tiredly exhales, knowing that there’s no point hiding the truth from Ryeowook. Kyuhyun takes a deep breath and then spills out the truth, telling Ryeowook of how his father had barged into his office while he was at work earlier, how the press had found out about Henry and how his father had insisted, or better yet, threatened Kyuhyun to switch Henry with Jeno.

A short gasp leaves Ryeowook’s lips as he asks, “What did he threatened you with?”

Kyuhyun grits his teeth as he admits, “Everything.”

Ryeowook’s forehead are creased and his lips are trembling as he hastily wipes the unshed tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Kyuhyun doesn’t move to comfort his husband because he knows that in the next few seconds, he’s going to hurt Ryeowook even more. But he has no choice.

“Wookie,” Kyuhyun softly calls, “I… I think… We should… Try.”

Ryeowook raises his brows, not understanding what Kyuhyun is trying to say. Before he’s able to ask however, Kyuhyun cuts him off and says, “We should… try to get the children comfortable… With their real parents.”

Ryeowook’s eyes widened in shock. What had Kyuhyun just suggested? He pushes himself off his husband and looks at Kyuhyun with hurt in his eyes. Kyuhyun hates that he’s brought that look in Ryeowook’s eyes but he has no other choice.

“What are you talking about?” Ryeowook sharply asks, “Are you actually considering it? You want to switch Henry?”

Kyuhyun runs a hand down his face, sighing as he tries to think of a way to calm Ryeowook down. But Ryeowook’s heaving, his chest rising and falling rapidly and he’s looking at Kyuhyun with so much anger and hurt in his eyes that Kyuhyun feels like flinching. But Kyuhyun doesn’t back down because he knows what’s he doing. Or at least… He thinks he does.

“Yes,” Kyuhyun firmly says although inside, he’s shaking with doubt and guilt, “Yes, I’m considering switching Henry back to his real parents.”

Kyuhyun gets up from his chair and steps closer to Ryeowook who only steps back while holding a hand out, “Don’t you dare come near me, Cho Kyuhyun. I don’t want you touching me after what you’ve just said.”

“Ryeowook, look,” Kyuhyun takes a deep breath, “Henry’s…. Henry’s not our son.”

Ryeowook flinches from those words, the reality slapping him hard in his face, “We raised him for five years, Kyuhyun. You and I have both love him as if he’s our own.”

“I know but… What happens when he’s old enough to be able to read? What happens when he’s old enough to surf through the net and finds out the truth about his birth?” Kyuhyun questions, running a frustrated hand through his hair, “What happens then? He’ll hate us for not telling him the truth, he’ll still end up going back to Donghae and Hyukjae, his real parents!”

“We didn’t raise Henry up to be like that! How could you have such little faith in our son?!” Ryeowook argues back, voice getting harder and colder.

“Because he’s not our son! He won’t grow up to be like us no matter how long we’ve raised him!” Kyuhyun snaps back and then realizes that he’s too loud when he notices Ryeowook startled by his sudden raised voice. He sighs, quietly apologizes and looks at Ryeowook intensely. His features soften as he realizes that Ryeowook’s a sobbing mess right now and his heart is filled with nothing but guilt and sorrow. Slowly making his way towards his husband, Kyuhyun reaches out and pulls Ryeowook by his wrist. Thankfully, Ryeowook doesn’t fight against him and lets himself be pulled into Kyuhyun’s embrace.

“I’m sorry,” Kyuhyun whispers as he holds Ryeowook close, “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

Ryeowook continues sobbing, salty tears drenching Kyuhyun’s shirt. He grips Kyuhyun’s shirt and weakly punches onto his chest as he voices through his sobs, “I… I don’t want to do it.”

“I know you don’t, honey.” Kyuhyun runs his fingers through silky brown hair as he continues, “I don’t want it to too but… Think of the children.”

“The media knows the truth now,” Kyuhyun explains, “Everyone knows the truth and soon, Henry and Jeno will too. How do you think they would feel if they found out that the people who raised them up aren’t their real parents?”

“It hurts me to think about letting Henry go but… Ryeowook, this is the best. For all of us.” Kyuhyun sighs tiredly.

Thankfully, Ryeowook has stopped crying. But he’s still leaning against Kyuhyun’s chest, still too tired and weak to argue or think of anything else to say. He hates this because he knows that it’s the truth. It’s the best for the kids future.

“I’m not saying that we should immediately switch them.” Kyuhyun says, “I’m just suggesting that we… Try to get the children used to staying with each other before we… Officially make a decision.”

Ryeowook doesn’t agree or disagree but Kyuhyun knows that Ryeowook’s thinking about it too. He knows that it’s too much to take in and he doesn’t think that Ryeowook will ever come to a conclusion. But he knows how Ryeowook is feeling right now – Confused, frustrated, overwhelmed, heartbroken- and so, he doesn’t let Ryeowook think about it any longer. He leans his head down and presses his lips against Ryeowook’s, kissing him intensely, pouring out his whole energy and emotion through his kiss. Soon, their kiss turn messy and overly passionate as clothes are scattered and limbs are tangled on the small couch in his office. As gasps and moans fill the air in the room, Kyuhyun’s thankful that at least for the time being, they’ll have each other as distraction from their messy lives.

***

It’s five in the morning and Donghae’s jolted awake by a shake on his shoulder. His eyes slit open and he finds Jeno’s face in his vision. His son is looking down at him with furrowed eyebrows, still in his pyjamas and his hair messy from just having woken up. He sits up on the bed, curious of why his son is already awake.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Donghae asks.

Jeno then tells Donghae that he thinks his sister is sick because she’s been whimpering in her sleep. Donghae then gets up and follows Jeno into the kids shared bedroom where he sees his daughter lying on the mattress on the floor, her face wet with sweat as her fingers clutching onto the fabric mattress. He kneels next to the mattress and presses the back of his hand onto his daughter’s forehead, surprised that it’s very warm.

“Is she okay, appa?” Jeno quietly asks.

“I think your sister’s having a fever.” Donghae quietly tells Jeno, “I’ll get some wet cloth and medicine for her.”

Donghae proceeds back to his room to get a cloth to wet it but stops in his tracks when he realizes a familiar looking bottle being set on the bed’s side table. He feels his lungs constricting as he drops himself carefully on the bed, grabbing the bottle of pills. The images of last night are all a blur to him and now he understands why. It’s because he had relapsed and Hyukjae didn’t have any choice but to give him those pills.

Hands gripping onto the bottle, he squeezes his eyes shut. Donghae hates this, he hates feeling weak. He hates it when he’s not able to control his emotions and he hates taking these pills that make his memory hazy. He slits his eyes open and glances at his husband’s face, noticing the dark rings under his eyes and Donghae cannot help but feel that he’s the reason behind those dark circles.

A minute later, Jeno shuffles into the room calling out for Donghae, “Appa, did you find it?”

Donghae nods and then stealthily keeps away the bottle of pills while his other hand gently cup Jeno’s face, “Why aren’t you asleep, baby?”

Jeno shrugs and Donghae smiles kindly, “Tell you what, why don’t you keep Appa warm and sleep here next to him while I take care of Amber?”

Jeno bites his lips, looking conflicted, “Do you… Do you need help?”

“No, honey, I got this.” Donghae kisses his cheek and then guides him to the empty spot on the bed next to Hyukjae, “Now sleep. You must be tired.”