As a couple who went through an arranged marriage, they were no stranger to when other family members had done it as well. And this particular cousin of Sunggyu’s probably had one of the most successful of their generation.

Kim Jaejoong, renowned songwriter for DBSK Entertainment, was so sickeningly in love with his husband that they just had to celebrate their anniversary every year in the presence of their family and friends. And his husband, Jung Yunho, CEO of Jung Corporation, was all too happy to indulge (he, too, was sickeningly in love).

This year, it was to take place in the Jung family mansion in Gwangju. It was going to be an outdoor party and they were free to stay overnight if they needed to.

It was Woohyun’s first Kim family gathering since their wedding.

(They had spent their first Christmas and New Year’s alone together, to the insistence of both their families, so they had gone on a week-long trip to Jeju.)

“Are you nervous?” Sunggyu asked, as he drove them there.

From the passenger seat, Woohyun gave him a confused look. “Should I be? I met Jaejoong-hyung and Yunho-hyung at the wedding.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t met the rest of the family. Some of them were overseas or just aren’t close enough in family relations to be invited. Jaejoong loves to throw parties so this is gonna be a big one. You’ll have the Jung clan there too.”

“Oh.” Woohyun bit his lip in worry. “Are your parents…?”

“They get invited every year and every year, they decline. Noona can't make it this year though. It’s mostly the young people who get together now.”

A sudden flash of annoyance appeared on Woohyun’s face. “So, Sungjong…”

Sunggyu grinned at him, secretly pleased at his husband’s jealousy. “He might be there. But don’t worry.” He reached over to take Woohyun’s hand and squeeze it, reassuringly. “I’ll only pay attention to you.”

Woohyun blushed but nonetheless, squeezed his hand back.

It astounded Sunggyu the significant changes and progress in their marriage. Although Woohyun still blushed and was still shy about Sunggyu’s affections, he had stopped rejecting them. He accepted hugs and kisses and flirtatious words and would sometimes respond on his own, stubborn way (meaning adorable pecks on his cheeks and extra servings in his bento lunch).

After their almost some months ago, Sunggyu could only feel the longing and hunger for his husband grow, but he respected Woohyun too much to make him do something he wasn’t comfortable with. Besides, the younger had made no move to finally consummate their marriage. They may be married, but their relationship was still on that tentative stage.

But, Sunggyu would be patient and wait. He just hoped that it would be soon. He was eager to love his husband the way he deserved.

For early spring, the weather was not too cold, albeit a bit windy, but the sun was bright and the sky was clear.

Plastic chairs and tables were arranged neatly all over the giant green lawn. A heaping table filled with food and drinks was in a corner. And a large empty spot of grass was reserved for outdoor games they have provided like Frisbee, badminton, and soccer.

“Thank you all for coming,” Jaejoong announced to the gathered Kims and Jungs, bright smile on his face. “Today marks our 5^th year of marriage, and we’re honored to have you all come and celebrate this special day of all days for Yunho and myself.”

He turned his head to his husband, who smiled adoringly back at him.

“With that, enjoy the food and games, everyone!”

The crowd clapped and hooted in response.

From their table, Sunggyu heard Woohyun sigh, softly. He turned to look at him questioningly and was curious about the wistful look on the younger’s face as he watched the other couple up front.

Finally, Woohyun noticed his look. “What?” he asked.

“What are you thinking?”

The younger shrugged. “They were arranged too, weren’t they?”

He looked pointedly at Jaejoong and Yunho, who were both talking to a few family members. The couple had an arm each firmly wrapped around each other’s waist. If they didn’t know any better, they would have thought they were conjoined twins.

Sunggyu nodded. “They were.”

Woohyun hummed. “They really act like they’re in love.”

“That’s because they are,” Sunggyu replied.

A faint blush made its way to Woohyun’s cheeks. He coughed. “Ahh, that’s… good. Good for them. Um… You want some food?”

Without waiting for Sunggyu’s reply, Woohyun stood up and headed for the buffet table.

Sunggyu spent the first twenty minutes of that party introducing Woohyun to everyone as well as meeting new faces he had never met. Woohyun was nervous, if his death grip on Sunggyu’s arm was any indication, but it pleased the older that his younger husband was relying on him.

Gradually, Woohyun began to relax and soon enough, he was off playing soccer with the other college-aged relatives he had met.

Sunggyu felt a wave of relief and joy seeing him so carefree like this. Woohyun was swamped with assignments, projects, and tests and an overnight getaway was exactly what he needed.

They both needed it.

“Gyu!”

Sunggyu looked up from his food to see a sweat-soaked Woohyun running up to him, a wide smile on his face.

“Yunho-hyung’s cousin is switching to badminton so we need one more player for our team!” he announced.

Before Sunggyu could respond, Woohyun grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the soccer game.

It didn’t matter that Sunggyu was more of a basketball guy than soccer. Woohyun was clearly the star player in their team and the older was all too happy to watch him run around, scoring goals, and jumping into Sunggyu’s back in joy when they won.

Overall, it had been a fun afternoon, one that Sunggyu treasured, greatly.

Night had fallen and the party was beginning to mellow down a little. Some of the crowd, including Woohyun, had gone inside to take part in a little drinking and karaoke. Meanwhile, a few had stayed outdoors, including Sunggyu, to watch and supervise some of the teens who were doing a night scavenger hunt.

Reclining on a chair with a bottle of beer, the corporate manager allowed himself to relax.

It was peaceful out in the country and he could enjoy watching the stars a bit. He rarely had a chance back in Seoul, with its bright lights and loud atmosphere.

Soon after, he was joined by Jaejoong. His older cousin looked weary from running around, playing host. Nonetheless, Jaejoong looked happy and content.

They made small talk for a few minutes as they watched the teenagers flit about. Sungjong even waved at them a few times but didn’t deter from his task.

“So, how’s married life, cousin?” the older man suddenly asked, his does eyes twinkling in mischief.

Sunggyu blushed, lightly but managed to smile. “It’s… good. Great, actually.”

They were silent for a few moments. It must be a Kim family trait – being men of very few words, simply accepting their situation as is.

Sunggyu knew that Jaejoong didn’t have a choice in his marriage either. And yet, he was happy. Was that possible for him and Woohyun too?

“I know you have questions,” the older man said before taking a swig from his beer. “So, ask away, dongsaeng.”

And apparently, the Kim family were also all easy to read.

So Sunggyu took his cousin up on his offer.

“You and Yunho-hyung…” he started, slowly. “How did you do it? Fall in love and became happy with each other?”

Jaejoong looked contemplative for a moment. Sunggyu wondered if he had overstepped his boundaries and was about to backtrack and apologize when his cousin finally answered.

“To be honest, I was in love with Yunho from the get-go,” the older began.

Eyes wide open, Sunggyu listened with ears wide open as his cousin told his story.

“It was one of those pining-from-afar crushes,” Jaejoong explained, a fond smile playing on his lips. “I knew who he was from all those functions and galas our families would attend together and, well, you could say that I fell for him at first sight. So when my parents told me that they had arranged for our marriage, I didn’t complain. Yunho, on the other hand… he had a girlfriend.”

Sunggyu blinked. “Oh.” He didn’t know that.

“He was forced to break up with her. I think he was more upset at the fact that he was engaged to me than he was about the breakup. He didn’t know who I was and was completely against the whole thing. Took me months to get him to trust me and convince him that I had no ulterior motives. It was hard work… but definitely worth it in the end.”

Jaejoong eyed his husband from across the lawn, conversing with a few cousins. The other man felt the gaze upon him and turned his head towards them. He grinned before waving at them.

Jaejoong and Sunggyu waved back.

The songwriter chuckled. “As you can see, he’s head over heels in love with me.” He tilted his head to the side as he turned his gaze to Sunggyu. “Is that what happened? Did you fall for your husband?”

Sunggyu blushed again but nonetheless nodded his answer. “He’s stubborn, but sweet and kind. And when he smiles, he lights up the whole room. And when he laughs, it feels like nothing can ever make me sad again. It’s… it’s so easy to fall in love with him.”

“Ah… and what about him?”

Sunggu felt a twinge of ache in his chest. “I… don’t know.”

Jaejoong hummed. “Do you remember what Kim-halmeoni used to tell us? Love is like a tree. If you plant it right, water it, and nurture it-.”

“It grows,” Sunggyu continued, nodding his head. “I remember.”

“The planting part is easy,” Jaejoong said with a pointed look. “Falling in love is easy. But the watering and nurturing? That’s hard work.”

“To be honest… my marriage… it wasn’t at all what I expected,” Sunggyu admitted.

Jaejoong nodded. “It never is.”

“I… I didn’t expect it to be this hard.”

And it really was. For months, Sunggyu had tried everything he could to get Woohyun to see his feelings… to feel the love that had managed to grow in his heart. But, his younger husband was blind to it all.

He sighed. “To be honest… it’s tiring sometimes.” He bit on his lower lip. "Sometimes... I wonder if it's better for Woohyun if we just... end it."

There was a moment of silence as the reality of his feelings finally dawned on Sunggyu.

He was frustrated, he couldn’t deny it anymore. On top of all the pressure from their investors and partners at work, there was pressure from his family to keep up and maintain the image of a happy marriage. It was getting more and more difficult to pretend that he wasn’t affected by Woohyun’s coldness and indifference to his feelings.

 “So, are you going to give up just like that?” Jaejoong asked. “Are you going to let the plant die before it could even become a tree?”

Sunggyu didn’t know the answer. There were so many different directions and he didn’t know which way to turn.

His heart was desperately knocking on his husband’s… but he refused to open the door.

And Sunggyu… he couldn’t help but feel like he should give up and accept this loveless marriage, as it had always been from the start.

Maybe he should let Woohyun go so he could find his true happiness…

Somehow, Sunggyu’s gaze wandered to his wedding ring.

The glistening white gold made him think of his vows to love, honor, and cherish his husband. It made him remember his promise to Woohyun to always stay by his side as he reached for his dreams. It jolted memories of carefully prepared bento lunches, nights spent watching DVDs and eating takeout, and cuddles under the sheets on cold nights.

Could he really let all of that go?

“No,” he answered, out loud.

The firmness in his tone even surprised him, but there was no hint of uncertainty. He wasn’t giving up.

“No,” he said again, turning to his cousin now. “I’m not giving up. I’m going to make sure this tree grows and continues to grow until the end of our days.”

Jaejoong smiled, obviously pleased at his answer. He raised his bottle of beer. “Then get to working.”

When Sunggyu finally decided to turn in for the night, he headed to where their other relatives were doing karaoke, knowing his husband was among them. To his surprise, Woohyun wasn’t there. He was informed by a distant cousin of Yunho’s that the younger had headed out earlier and never came back.

Sunggyu assumed that he must have headed to bed already, so he excused himself and retired to the guest room where they were staying.

Sure enough, Woohyun was there, looking out the window. He must have been so deep in thought that he didn’t even hear Sunggyu come in.

The older grinned and proceeded to approach his husband quietly. When he reached him, he wrapped his arms around his waist.

Woohyun stiffened in his arms.

Sunggyu frowned. The reaction reminded him of their early days of marriage. When Woohyun was so uncomfortable in his presence and wouldn’t accept his affections.

“They told me downstairs that you left,” he said, maintaining his calm tone. “Are you tired?”

“Apparently I’m not the only one,” Woohyun mumbled as he stepped out his arms and headed for the bed.

Sunggyu couldn’t comprehend what he meant, only flashed his husband confused and questioning looks. What was wrong with Woohyun?

“Is… something wrong?” he asked, following him. He grabbed his arm, gently and placed a hand on his forehead. “Are you sick?”

He felt normal to Sunggyu, but Woohyun batted his hand away and took his arm back.

That look in his eyes… it was fierce, but none of the warm affection Sunggyu had gotten used to in the last few months. They were hard… and lifeless.

“Can you do me a favor, Sunggyu?” he finally asked.

The older immediately nodded in agreement. “Anything.”

“Can you…?” The younger took a deep breath before connecting his cold eyes with Sunggyu’s confused ones. “Can you stop pretending to care for me?”

And just like that, it was like someone had splashed cold water all over Sunggyu. His heart grew numb and his head spun in circles, making him dizzy.

“W-What?” he managed. “What do you mean pretend? Woohyun, I’m not pretending!”

Sunggyu wanted to tell him to look into his eyes, see the honesty and sincerity there, but Woohyun had already looked away, his gaze on something far away.

He was moving so, so far away from Sunggyu.

“This marriage was a business deal, remember? I get it. So, you don’t have to pretend like you care so much about me. We’re not Jaejoong-hyung and Yunho-hyung. We’re not in love. So you can stop it.”

Before he knew what he was doing, Sunggyu had marched forward to grasp his husband’s arms. His hold was rough and it showed in the twinge of pain in Woohyun’s eyes.

“What brought this on?!” he demanded, his suppressed frustration now surfacing to the top. “Did someone say something to you? Tell me! We were doing so well, Woohyun!”

Woohyun chuckled, humorlessly. “Well? We were playing house, Sunggyu. We still are.”

Those words stabbed into his already fragile heart.

“W-What are you saying?” he managed. “That all those times… none of it meant to you? None of it had a deeper meaning to you?”

“I did those because they were my duties as your husband, Sunggyu.”

“Cut the crap! You don’t do anything out of duty!” He began to shake Woohyun, willing him to just come out with the truth and mend his breaking heart. “Tell me what’s really wrong!”

“Sunggyu-.”

“Tell me, damnit!”

“Sunggyu, let go! You’re hurting me!”

And he let go.

Woohyun swayed as he took steps backwards… away from Sunggyu.

Meanwhile, the older could only feel a myriad of hurt feelings and confusion take over his brain and rage reared its ugly head. He could only see red.

For once, he wanted to punch something. For once, he wanted to hurt something. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry.

A sharp intake of breath from Woohyun brought him back to his senses and finally… his vision cleared as he took in the image of his shaken husband.

He had tears flowing down his cheeks and an emotion, something akin to betrayal flickered in his eyes.

And when Sunggyu looked further down, he saw the damage caused by his own hands to his husband’s arms – dark, purple marks were beginning to show on the delicate skin.

Another douse of cold water washed over him.

He did that. He caused the tears to fall from Woohyun’s beautiful eyes. He caused the brutal marks to mar Woohyun’s soft skin.

He was the cause of his husband’s unhappiness. It had always been him.

Woohyun didn’t want him. He had forced himself into the younger’s life, forced his affections on him… when Woohyun wanted nothing to do with it all.

“I… I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Without another word, he turned and walked out the door… and away from Woohyun.

Sometimes, when you plant a seed and do everything you needed to do to water and nurture it, nothing happens.

Some seeds just didn’t grow.

A/N: Waaah, that was a bit emotional for me! This has been an emotional couple of days, actually.

I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I had plans on getting it done by the weekend but... Well... Hoya happened... And, I guess I needed time to grieve.

But! No matter! I'm back now, sorta. Now, just putting this out there now that the emotions and frustrations on this chapter was not caused by Hoya's leaving, it was already planned beforehand.

I wanted to show that just because it was so easy for Sunggyu to fall in love with Woohyun, it doesn't mean the hard work is over. Being simply in love is not enough to create a successful and long-lasting relationship. There has to be some work. And so far, only Sunggyu was working and Woohyun... his doubts kept him from doing his part and that has taken a toll on his husband. And if Woohyun wants this marriage to succeed, he has to start working.

So, what happens next? Stay tuned!

And, Inspirits, let's all stay strong, okay? For our remaining 6 Romeos and the one who left to pursue bigger dreams.