Ryeowook thought he had a very good impulse control. He resisted that extra dessert on the plane, he said no to the discounted coat he saw while strolling through Hongdae, and he shook his head on Donghae’s offer to drink until dawn the other day. When it came to Kyuhyun, though, well, he pretty much threw his impulse control through the window.

He kept chanting the mantra to himself, he wrote it down on the post-it notes on the fridge, made a reminder of it in his phone, said it to Jesus, went to the shrine and all the things other people usually did to make it come true. The mantra being—STOP SLEEPING WITH EX-HUSBAND.

It was rather inappropriate and downright embarrassing to think about it now, what with the said ex-husband currently kissing him senseless up the wall in his living room. They haven’t made it to the bedroom yet, and Ryeowook was going to lose his mind.

“Kyuhyun,” he whispered, heaving as Kyuhyun’s kisses trailed down his neck. “I have a flight to catch in twelve hours.”

“Well, we better do it fast then.” Kyuhyun picked him up and started walking towards his bedroom.

Ryeowook met Kyuhyun on his early 20s. He was fresh out of art school, working multiple freelance jobs to make ends meet. He first saw Kyuhyun in the grocery store, picking through instant seasoning with raised eyebrows. Kyuhyun had chicken in his basket and pretty much nothing else, except a few beers.

He asked Kyuhyun what he wanted to cook. He looked relieved and started babbling about the spicy fried chicken and how important it was for him to learn how to cook it because he was now living on his own. Ryeowook listened in amusement before going through his usual spicy fried chicken recipe. They went from aisle to aisle, from the seasoning shelf to the vegetable section of the grocery store, in search of all the ingredients Kyuhyun needed.

When they were done, Kyuhyun asked him for his number.

They got caught in a whirlwind romance after that. He learned that Kyuhyun had already graduated college with a degree in accounting and a minor in business, despite being a year younger than him. The younger was exactly 10 centimeters taller than him, could play the piano, and was a wine addict. He was set to inherit his father’s publishing company but it was a thought that Kyuhyun himself had casted away as a long future.

They moved in together barely two months after their first date and got married two years later. Everyone thought they had lost their minds, being married so young. That was never a question for Ryeowook though, they had been so in love.

The first three years were great. He worked in an advertising firm as a graphic designer while Kyuhyun worked as an accountant in a firm, denying his father’s request to work for the publishing company. They had a date every weekend, be it a home-cooked dinner, reading the Great Gatsby (Kyuhyun read it out loud to him, and he half-listened half-distracted because of how pretty Kyuhyun’s lips were), or a two-day camping trip. They cooked, cleaned the apartment, bought groceries like young married couples usually did. They were blissfully happy.

And then on the same day, Kyuhyun’s father died of and Ryeowook was fired from his job.

Things fell apart pretty quickly. Kyuhyun was forced to quit his job and took care of the publishing company. Ryeowook thought that Kyuhyun never had the time to fully grieve, and in result he became increasingly distant. He threw himself to work and slept on the office more than he slept at home. Meanwhile Ryeowook’s anxiety came full force and he spent days too tired to do anything, let alone search for new jobs.

They struggled for another 2 months before getting into a fight so explosive the only way out is to call it quits. Ryeowook received an offer to work for a famous advertising firm in Tokyo and immediately moved out, got on an airplane, and mailed Kyuhyun the divorce papers a week later. It was settled in less than a month and Kyuhyun gave him a massive sum of alimony he had not touched at all, even now.

That should have been it. It was a civil divorce. No screaming in courtroom, no kids to fight over. But then Ryeowook had a conference in Seoul three months after the divorce and showed up on Kyuhyun’s apartment, drunk and pleading. He remembered Kyuhyun hugging him while he cried his eyes out. The next morning, Kyuhyun kissed him, and thus it all started this whole thing. And by thing he meant them hooking up everytime his work required him to go to Seoul—once every three weeks or so.

Well, Ryeowook was now determined to end it now. He would make sure that this was the last time. He and Kyuhyun would have to go their separate ways. Again.

Ryeowook ran his fingers on Kyuhyun’s upper arms, drawing imaginary little doodles.  He heard Kyuhyun’s chuckles and promptly raised his head. “What?”

“You really never change,” Kyuhyun said, eyes fluttering asleep. “You always like to do that.”

Ryeowook smiled. This was his favorite moment with Kyuhyun, when they were too tired to do anything else, limbs tangled, breathings slow. The was always great between them, but nothing beat hearing Kyuhyun humming his favorite songs with a smile plastered on his face.

“Do you remember what others used to say, about us?” Ryeowook whispered, Kyuhyun’s cheeks. “We are the encyclopedic, citable, peer-reviewed—”

“—authorities on every detail of each other’s lives,” Kyuhyun whispered back. “Yeah, I remember.”

It was true. Although in total they were together only for five years, he knew Kyuhyun like he knew the recipe of his mother’s spicy fried chicken and Kyuhyun knew him like he knew the passage of the Great Gatsby. They knew what each other’s different sighs meant, what each other’s smiles meant. He knew Kyuhyun’s first piano teacher’s name and Kyuhyun knew the story of a peculiar scar on his right hip. Every nook and cranny of each other’s existence.

Ryeowook rolled over on top of Kyuhyun, studying his ex-husband’s face. His hair was longer than the last time he came over. He also looked a bit thinner, a fact Ryeowook chalked up as Kyuhyun being so caught up in his work he forgot his lunch. Ryeowook smiled again, “I am going to set up your tinder profile.”

Kyuhyun’s mouth twitched into an exasperated smile. “Here we go again.”

“I am serious, I don’t like that you are alone in this big apartment—”

“Changmin and Minho came over sometimes.”

“All visiting friends! You need someone, Kyuhyun.”

“I am fine,” Kyuhyun let out a long sigh—half tired, half giving up.

“No, you don’t.” Ryeowook squeezed Kyuhyun’s cheeks. “You get lonely.”

“You do, too.”

Ryeowook let the reply hung in the air. He brushed off Kyuhyun’s hair strands away from his forehead. Kyuhyun always looked better with his hair pushed back, but he wasn’t going to say it out loud. He had said it before—before the divorce. He couldn’t stand all the Mean Girls reference Kyuhyun blurted out for a week after he said it.

“I am going to find you someone,” Ryeowook declared, ending the silence.

“Please don’t,” Kyuhyun replied with his eyes closed.

Ryeowook woke up because of the thunder. When he opened his eyes, Kyuhyun was nowhere to be seen. He raised his eyebrows and went out of the bedroom. Kyuhyun was on the kitchen, waiting for the toaster to finish its job. His eyes were glued to the TV, his eyebrows drawned together, concerned.

“Hey,” Ryeowook said, mind still hazy because of the short nap. “What’s wrong?”

Kyuhyun nodded towards the TV. Ryeowook squinted.

A big storm is hitting Seoul Metropolitan Area—heavy flooding is expected. The headline was written on top of a big blue ribbon on the bottom of the screen while the reporters were advising citizens on how to stay safe from the storm.

Ryeowook ran into the bedroom and fished out his phone out of the back of his jacket. . The information on his phone confirmed what he had suspected—his flight was cancelled. Indefinitely.

He went to the kitchen again and sat on one of the stools at the kitchen island. Kyuhyun passed him a toast. “You can stay here, you know. I don’t have work today.”

Ryeowook looked up. Kyuhyun’s hair was disheveled. He sported a frown and a slight pout, looking very endearing. His eyes were big and deep, and he was now getting their undivided attention. Kyuhyun really did not help Ryeowook’s mission of wanting to not sleep with him again—rather, it sparked all the I’m in love with you feelings in his brain.

“Okay,” Ryeowook whispered.

K