"What time do you call this?"

"I'm sorry-"

"You smell bad," Taekwoon's manager, Joonhae, grumbled under his breath. "Have you been drinking again?"

"Look, I said I'm sorry-"

"Do you know how bad this would be if it got out?!" Joonhae yelled at Taekwoon. "I'm booking you into counselling-"

"But-"

"No buts. You're going," Joonhae ordered firmly, checking the time on his watch. "You're lucky you don't have any schedueles today. Get your together, you have a busy day tomorrow," he waited for Taekwoon to show some sign he was listening. Taekwoon nodded weakly, and so Joonhae pushed past him, leaving the apartment and Taekwoon alone for now. Taekwoon sighed as he sank into the couch, holding his head in pain. He had quite the hangover.

"Taekwoon, is that you?" Mina called out from the bathroom.

He took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm home. Sorry I wasn't home last night, I-"

"Were you cheating on me?!" she stormed into the living room, holding mascara in her hand. Taekwoon couldn't help but roll his eyes at her - she was constantly accusing him of cheating, despite him never doing anythiing wrong. It made him doubt her, but he didn't care enough to question it. He sighed.

"No."

"Liar!" she screamed, throwing her mascara bottle at Taekwoon. "You better not be lying to me," she mumbled, walking over to him and grabbing his shirt tightly. She spat on his face before changing her demeanor completely, releasing his shirt and smiling. "Anyways. I'm off to work. See you tonight~" she smiled cheerfully, heading to the bedroom to collect her bag before leaving. 

After wiping the spit off his face, Taekwoon sighed heavily. He didn't have the energy to be mad or upset. After getting himself a glass of water, he head to the bathroom to run himself a bath. 

Meanwhile, Wonshik was in an internet cafe searching Taekwoon's name. He had no idea how famous he was becoming, and he couldn't be prouder. He scoured the internet for article after article about him, and smiled to himself. After reading about him, he turned to videos, watching live performances of his and getting chills. He sounds even more beautiful than before, he grinned to himself. 

Once he was finished watching every available performance, he left the cafe with a coffee, sipping at it as he walked. Against his better judgement, he wound up calling Taekwoon, who answered the phone eagerly with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Woon-"

"Wonshik," Taekwoon grinned. "It's nice to hear from you."

"Well, I had no idea I was friends with a celebrity," Wonshik laughed, taking a drag from a cigarette. "I was just watching you."

"Ah, really?" Taekwoon sounded embarrassed. 

"You're amazing, Woonie," Wonshik smiled. "I'm really proud of you. . I missed you so much-"

"I missed you too-"

"Sorry. I know we're meant to be just friends," Wonshik apologised, hanging his head. He wished they could be more. 

"Friends can miss each other too, silly~"

"Ah, I guess you're right," Wonshik smirked. "You were always the smart one."

"Hey, are you busy?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Wanna come over for a bit?" Taekwoon asked. Wonshik smiled.

"I'd love to. Text me your address, okay?"

Taekwoon couldn't be more excited to see Wonshik again. 

About half an hour after Taekwoon had finished his bath and gotten dressed, there was a knock at the door. He jumped up from the couch excitedly, rushing over to answer it.

"Hey. Sorry, I got lost," Wonshik itched the back of his head nervously, a little bit embarrassed by how long he had made Taekwoon wait. He didn't care though - he was just happy to see him again. Taekwoon wrapped his arms around Wonshik, pulling him into a tight hug. Wonshik instinctively wrapped his arms around Taekwoon's waist, holding him close as they always used to. Their embrace lasted a little too long to just be a friend hug. After picking up on this, Wonshik awkwardly cut it short, but in lingered.

"Uhm, come in," Taekwoon smiled awkwardly, finally stepping aside to let Wonshik into the apartment. He closed the door behind him, following Wonshik over to the couch.

"Wow. Fancy place," Wonshik looked around. Taekwoon shrugged, sitting down next to him.

"I like your place more."

"It's a dump," Wonshik laughed.

"It was... more... I dunno," Taekwoon mumbled, trailing off a little. He was too embarrassed to say what was on his mind. It felt like home, he thought to himself. "Anyways. How are you? What've you been up to today?"

"I'm good. Nothing much, just cyberstalking you," he laughed. His deep laugh made Taekwoon's heart skip a beat. "What about you?"

"I just had a bath. Got screamed at by both my manager, and my wife," he sighed, rolling his eyes as he thought about it. "So, the usual," he smirked.

"Remember how we first met?" Wonshik asked suddenly. 

"Y-yeah," Taekwoon nodded. "You were the new kid," he smiled. "We-"

Their reminiscing was cut short as Mina came home from work earlier than expected. "I'm home~" she called out, smiling until she noticed Wonshik sat on the couch. "...Who's this?"

"Oh, he's an old friend," Taekwoon smiled. "His names Wonshik-"

"No one wants you here," she glared at Wonshik, walking past them to put her bag back in the bedroom. Taekwoon followed her, closing the bedroom door behind himself so that Wonshik couldn't hear them arguing. Unfortunately, they were rather loud, and Wonshik heard every word of it. He also heard a slap, which made his heart sink. Soon after, Taekwoon emerged from the bedroom with a defeated look on his face. 

"Sorry, Shik. You should probably go..." he mumbled, staring at the floor. "Talk to you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Taekwoon, does she always act like this?" Wonshik whispered, not wanting to be heard. "That's not okay, it's abusive-"

"It's fine. It's normal," he shrugged, gesturing towards the door. Wonshik frowned, but followed Taekwoon regardless. "I'll text you, okay?"

"A-Alright." 

On his way home, Wonshik couldn't help but replay the slapping sound he heard over and over again in his head. His heart broke imagining Taekwoon getting hurt like that, for years and years. No wonder he couldn't stand his wife. 

Once Mina had fallen asleep, Taekwoon wondered out to the balcony and sat there for a while, watching the city hopelessly. He felt a semblance of happiness when Wonshik was with him, only to have it torn away from him by his wife. He didn't know how much longer he could survive living like this, but having Wonshik in his life did give him a hint of hope that maybe things would be more bearable from now on. 

The slap wasn't the only thing she had done to hurt him. Once Wonshik had left, she had continued to scream at him, hitting him and accusing him of cheating once again. She had left him with a black eye that he knew he needed to cover up. Checking the time on his phone, he realised he would need to be up soon anyways for his scheduele, and so he made his way to the bathroom to try and cover up the forming bruise with make up.