Daehyun walked the quiet street, the shops around him lacking any real patronage due to the heavy snowfall that was already past his ankles in his heeled snow boots. Shivering, he pulled his over-sized coat closer and looked up at the the sky, an action that was meant to look beautiful and pensive but really only resulted in a particularly large snowflake falling directly into his open eye. Nearly shrieking as the small flake of ice melted on his retina, the man quickly scrubbed away the resulting water with the end of his large, fluffy scarf before it could further mist his vision. If he hadn’t been avoiding his apartment, he wouldn’t even be out in the storm, braving the elements in ill fitting and, frankly, thin clothing, freezing to death for the sake of fashion and, more so, the need to be away from a place that no longer felt like home. Not that this frigid street did, but it was a nice change of scenery, a decent place to let his thoughts decompress.

It had been nearly a week since he caught his boyfriend in his bed with their friend. Though, logic would tell Daehyun that Junhong was, in fact, not his friend at all. A real friend would have at least a moment of hesitation before pinning his boyfriend to his bed while Daehyun ran down the street to buy them all food. The image still haunted him, threatened to make him sick as he imagined Youngjae, barely taller than he was, trapped under that gangly son of a . He couldn’t even sleep in his room anymore, choosing instead to crash on his couch, stumbling into the apartment every night long after Youngjae had fallen asleep.

He didn’t really blame Junhong, at least not completely. Youngjae was the one that had said yes, had certainly not been trying to fight the younger man off when Daehyun had come back early for his wallet. Daehyun had screamed, had broken the bedroom door in anger and demanded Junhong leave. And then... Then he was left with nothing but Youngjae, still half and out of breath, begging him for forgiveness, to give him another chance. For a week now, whenever he was home, that was all he had, the pitiful man he had once loved, pretending like what they had still meant something to him. It just made him... Well it made him angry, insulted that, after all this time, Youngjae thought so little of him. Yes, he loved Youngjae, but the moment he was face to face with the affair, his heart had grown cold, and he couldn’t bring himself to feel more than a dull rage aching at the pit of his stomach ever since.

“Daehyun!” The voice that called out to him made him stop the walking he hadn’t even realized he had resumed after the snowflake incident. He supposed he should be grateful he had subconsciously decided to keep going on his journey, sure anyone would find it incredibly strange for someone to be standing in the storm, staring at the nearest building like it had killed his dog, banged his wife, and ran over his cousin’s first girlfriend all at once.

“Go away, Youngjae.” Voice an aggressive mixture of exasperation and desperation, he spun around to face the other man, fists clenched tightly as he leveled a glare at him. “I don’t want to talk about any of it, okay? Especially not out here, like this.” Gesturing around him with his arms out wide, he rolled his eyes and turned to begin walking again. “Go home.”

“Dae... Please...” A hand caught his wrist as Youngjae tried to stop him, tried to force him into another heartfelt conversation he didn’t want to have. “You left your phone at home...”

“I left it there so I wouldn’t have to talk to you.” Pulling away, he refused to turn around and face his betrayer. “When will you understand that what you broke can not be fixed with cheesecake and desperate apologies?”

“Daehyun, I love you.” Youngjae’s fingertips brushed against his hand but he managed to step out of the way before he could grab hold again.

“No, you don’t. If you had, we wouldn’t be in this situation, Youngjae.” Daehyun’s own voice was calm, almost hallow as he started walking faster. “Now go home. I’m already late for my date.” Though it was a lie, he had hoped it would be enough to send Youngjae away. No such luck, not that he was particularly shocked. Daehyun was fairly certain at this point that he repelled good luck like it was allergic to him.

“I’m not leaving your side until you talk this through with me.” Keeping pace with him, Youngjae refused to leave and Daehyun was sure that if he didn’t get away from the other man soon he was likely to break his nose. Groaning, he took off in a sprint for the nearest cafe, knowing that Youngjae had no coordination on the icy sidewalk and would likely take a minute longer to reach the warm safety inside. Eyes darting around the room, he approached the first attractive man he saw.

“H-hey I know this might sound weird and I completely understand if you tell me to go to hell, I would, but...” Biting his lower lip nervously, he glanced back toward the door. “Look. This guy wont stop harassing me and just... When he comes in could you... If you don’t mind, would you kiss me so he gets the hint that I’m not interested?”

“I...” Before the stranger could reply, Youngjae was through the door and Daehyun acted without permission.

“I am so sorry...” Gripping the other man’s shirt, he pulled him into a deep kiss, surprised when arms wrapped themselves around his waist. The sound of Youngjae’s footstep faltered before stopping completely.

“Daehyun!” Sounding scandalized, his ex moved to pull the two out of their embrace. “What the hell are you thinking?! You’re coming home.” His grip on Daehyun’s wrist actually hurt a little and, despite his efforts, Daehyun couldn’t seem to break free this time.

“Ow... Stop...” Tugging harder, he only resulted in Youngjae holding on tighter, ensuring his wrist would bruise from the rough pressure. “I don’t want to come home with you!”

“Hey!” The stranger shouted, catching Youngjae off guard with a solid punch square to the jaw. Releasing him, Youngjae staggered sideways slightly, clutching the red mark on his face.

“What the hell?!” Shooting the stranger a look seething with hatred, Youngjae made another move toward Daehyun only to be blocked, Daehyun finding himself pushed behind the other man in a show of protection.

“He said he didn’t want to go with you.” The warning came as a low growl, the stranger’s fist tensed and ready for further confrontation. “Now get out of my shop...”

“We’ll finish this tonight, Daehyun...” Youngjae assured him before he turned to stomp out of the cafe. As the other customers stared and murmured to each other over their coffees and muffins, Daehyun could do nothing more than sink into the nearest chair and inspect his aching wrist. Going home was not going to be a pleasant situation, even less so than it already was...

“Look...” The man sitting in front of him finally looked up at him, tears just barely visible in his eyes. “I’m sorry for forcing myself on you... I just... Well...” Nodding toward the door, he looked back down at his wrist, taking off his glove to inspect the reddened flesh underneath. Jongup pulled out a chair for himself and sat beside the other man, reaching over to gently take his hand and inspect the damage for himself.

“Though I don’t really support random acts of molestation, I get why you did it and I was actually going to tell you okay before you kissed me.” Poking the irritated skin gently, he noticed the pretty boy beside him wince in pain. “I could tell when you came in that something was wrong and I wanted to help you. Stay here. I’m going to get some ice for your wrist.”

“You don’t have to.” The man watched their hands, chewing on his bottom lip, a habit that, Jongup had figured out, meant he was nervous. “I’ve been enough trouble to you. Thank you, for everything. Especially for hitting him.”

“There really isn’t a reason to thank me for doing a good thing.” Standing, he reached down to ruffle the man’s hair. “The kiss was nice anyway. So just relax. I’ll be back in a moment.” Retreating to the back of the cafe, Jongup put on some water to heat up for drinks before leaning against the freezer door, one hand pressed against his chest to calm the rapid beating of his heart. After a few, calming breaths, he managed to will himself into action. Filling a bag with ice, he wrapped it in a towel to protect the other man from frostbite before he moved to prepare a cup of cocoa, wanting to bring his guest something warm to sooth his heart.

“Here we are. Are you hungry?” Sitting the cup in front of the man, he bent down beside him, reaching out to wipe some tears off his beautiful cheeks with his sleeve before gently placing the ice pack on his wrist.

“No? Yes?” Sighing, the man looked up at him again. “I don’t know. I guess so. But I forgot my wallet at home so...” Shrugging, he turned his attention back to his injury. “I’m Daehyun, by the way. If you care to know.”

“I know.” He hadn’t meant to, but he chuckled at the confused look the other man gave him. “We went to high school together. I’m Moon Jongup. I’m not really shocked you don’t remember me. We weren’t exactly in the same group of friends back then.”

“Jongup? Someone told me you died.” Cocking his head to the side, Daehyun looked him over, recognition finally evident in his eyes. “Looking pretty great for a corpse.”

“What? Who the...?” Laughing, Jongup shook his head. He had expected rumors when he moved without warning their final year of high school, but ‘dead’ hadn’t been one he had anticipated. “You really thought I’ve been dead for the past ten years?”

“That’s what I was told!” Blushing, Daehyun hung his head, embarrassed by his confession. “I feel like such an idiot. I am so sorry.”

“No, no. I didn’t really tell anyone I was leaving.” Chuckling, Jongup shook his head and reached out to mess up Daehyun’s hair affectionately. “You had no way of knowing I wasn’t dead.” To be honest, the only person he had actually contemplated telling about his departure, about how he had to leave the country because his mom was sick and they needed to get her to the best hospital possible, was the man beside him, but since they hadn’t really spoken more than a handful of times their whole school life, it would have been weird for him to do so. Even back then, though, Daehyun had captivated Jongup. Sure, the guy was loud, weird, cockier than normal, and had an unhealthy attachment to cheesecake, but Jongup thought he was stunning, sweet and kind and funny and gorgeous. It was easy to see nothing had changed with the man in those long year. You know, except for the clear unhappiness the man he had punched brought to him.

“Still, being convinced you’re dead seems like a really drastic leap now that I think about it.” Grinning, Daehyun let out one of his musical laughs that always made Jongup’s heart flutter. “I can’t believe I’m that dumb. Where have you even been?”

“America.” Shrugging, Jongup turned away. “I just got back a few years ago. Opened up this place last year. I’ll be right back.” Shooting Daehyun a soft smile from over his shoulder, he jogged to the cooler by the front counter, searching for a moment before he found what he was looking for. The cheesecake was glorious, triple chocolate and so decadent you could almost taste it just from the sight, Daehyun’s favorite and the first thing he had ever learned to cook. Returning to the table, he placed it in front of his high school crush and presented him with a fork.

“Oh my god, Jongup. Did I die? Is this heaven?” The way Daehyun’s eye lit up when he looked at the dessert filled Jongup with joy and even with pride. “I froze to death in the snow, didn’t I?”

“Well, I guess if I’m dead, then the afterlife makes sense.” Chuckling, he finally returned to his seat beside Daehyun. “But that means Mr. was also dead and really, I don’t want him joining our corpse club.”

“You and me both.” Groaning, Daehyun’s face scrunched up in anger and a sadness he wasn’t sure the other man even realized he had. “Youngjae can just... Just stay very far away from me... But yet... I have to go back to our apartment tonight and deal with him...”

“Nah.” Getting some cheesecake on his fork, Jongup held it up to Daehyun’s lips, smiling peacefully. “I have a spare room if you need a place to crash for a few days.” Sure, he wanted to help Daehyun, to keep him safe from the man that hurt him... But the depth of his offer was purely selfish. He wanted to have Daehyun near, to be close to him, at least for a little while...

“Really? Jongup, you’re literally saving my life right now.” Daehyun threw his arms around Jongup’s neck, causing the man to blush as he felt lips press against his cheeks, leaving a slight smudge of cheesecake on his skin in their wake.

“Of course. My home is your home, Daehyun.” Hugging him back for a moment, Jongup finally stood with a sigh. “Just enjoy your cheesecake and cocoa and I’ll make sure you have everything you could possible want to consume until it’s time to close.” Grinning, he kissed Daehyun’s forehead gently. “Everything will be alright, okay? Forget that . Anyone who could hurt you is a fool.” With another smile, he returned to his post at the counter to greet the cold customers that had began to stream in. Truly, anyone who could do anything to make Daehyun cry was only missing out. He had always thought that. And, even if he hadn’t had the chance back in high school, this time he was going to do anything he could to mend the parts of Daehyun that had been broken.