“Hongki?” Jonghun called through the darkness. “Are you asleep?”

The two had been laying in bed in the silence for nearly an hour, and no matter how much Hongki tried to sleep, he'd been laying there awake, staring at Jonghun's silhouette through the darkness. He could see the shine of the man's eyes in the darkness when he opened them, as if he could see Hongki.

“Aniya.” Hongki whispered. “You can't sleep either?”

The eyes moved side to side with Jonghun, shaking his head. “I don't know what's wrong with me. I just don't feel sleepy.” He rolled over onto his stomach, dropping the blanket down to his waist and exposing his toned back and chest.

The light of the moon through the window outlined the crevices of Jonghun's muscles for Hongki to see, making the man have to shut his eyes to keep from staring. Sometimes, he wished that he was the blind one.

“Can I ask you something?” Jonghun asked, his face turning so that his eyes shone towards Hongki when he opened his eyes back up.

“Sure, you can ask me anything.” Hongki replied.

“I was wondering...what happened to Haerim's mother?” Jonghun asked hesitantly, biting his lip.

Hongki sighed, sitting up in the bed. “It's a bit of a long story, actually.” Hongki muttered.

“You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to.” Jonghun replied hastily, sitting up and moving against the headboard, the same way that he'd heard Hongki move. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his cheek on them.

“I really don't mind it.” Hongki said, smiling a little bit though the action was filled his sadness. “Haerim's mother and I got divorced a few years ago.”

“What happened?” Jonghun replied quickly.

“Ah...well..” Hongki stuttered a bit. “To understand the situation, you have to know a little bit about how we came to be married.”

“I've got all the time in the world to listen.” Jonghun responded.

Hongki chuckled a bit. “Well, you know how I said that my parents sort of sold me to the Kim family? Well, that's Haerim's mother's father. I worked in an office in one of his buildings for a while when I finished school, living in a little apartment he provided for me. I saw Ha Yul for the first time when I was taking some forms up to Mr. Kim's office. I don't really know why, but she took a real fast liking to me.”

“Kim Ha Yul?” Jonghun responded. “I've heard of her.”

Hongki nodded. “A lot of people have. She's beautiful and kind, not at all the kind of person that you'd expect someone who grew up in such a wealthy family to act. She wasn't spoiled at all, and she loved to do things for herself. She's charming too, so it didn't really take long for me to fall for her. We dated for a while, and then found out that she was pregnant. We got married really quickly after that, and it was a happy marriage. Or so I thought. We were raising our daughter and I was getting promotions at work.”

“What changed everything?” Jonghun asked, reaching out and placing a hand on Hongki's arm. He slipped his arms around Hongki's and held onto him like that.

“I don't even know, myself.” Hongki replied, resting his head on top of Jonghun's. “One day I came home from work to find my things packed, sitting on the front step with Haerim's. She was sitting on top of my suitcase with this big smile on her face and a note pinned to her shirt.”

“Really?” Jonghun nearly gasped. “That's how she left you?”

Hongki nodded. “Mhmm.. the note said that Haerim and I were kicked out, we were going to be getting a divorce and Ha Yul would sign the papers as soon as she got back from a trip to America with her new boyfriend.”

“That's...horrible.” Jonghun whispered.

“At least she was kind enough to pay for the first few months of my apartment rent.” Hongki responded. “Especially after I went to work the next day and her father told me that I was ruining his business’s reputation and fired me.”

“What did you do?” Jonghun asked yet another question, completely absorbed into the story.

“I did the first thing I could think to do.” Hongki responded. “I cut back on spending and immediately started looking for a new job, but once people found out that Mr. Kim had fired me, no one wanted to hire me. For a while, I took every odd job I could find. Waiter, dish washer, dog walker...whatever I could do to make some money. I got my old job at an old man's factory and made just barely enough to get by until the landlord raised the rent. That's how I ended up here.”

Jonghun nodded with a soft sigh. “I'm sorry that all that's happened to you.”

“It's alright.” Hongki gave a smile, leaning into Jonghun. “As long as I've got my daughter and she's happy and fed, then I don't really care about all the other things that I don't have.”

“That's very noble.” Jonghun answered.

“Aniya. It's what any father would do for his baby girl.”

Jonghun nodded. “I've always wanted children. I love having you and Haerim around the house.”

“Thank you so much for letting us stay, as well. I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't found somewhere to go.”

Jonghun pulled his head up off Hongki's shoulder and turned towards him, as if he were looking at Hongki. He brought his hands up and began to trace the patterns of Hongki's nose and mouth, his fingers ghosting over Hongki's cheeks.

“You can stay here for absolutely as long as you want.” Jonghun responded. “I don't care if you never move out.”

“I don't think Minhwan would like that very much, though.” Hongki responded, keeping his face still as Jonghun touched it.

“Jonghun sighed, his face twisting into a tired expression. “Minhwan...I don't know what to do with him, really. It doesn't matter how many times I tell him that I only see him as a brother, he won't give up. I love him to death, but not the way that he wants me to...”

Hongki nodded, though Jonghun couldn't see it, he could feel it with his hands on Hongki's face.

“Have I ever told you that you're pretty?” Jonghun asked, sliding his hands from Hongki's face to his shoudlers.

“O..once..” Hongki stuttered slightly.

He wasn't sure exactly how it had happened, who had started it, who'd closed the small distance between them. Had he moved? Or had it been Jonghun? Both of them? He didn't really care once he felt the softness of Jonghun's lips pressed against his own.