Hongki turned in his bed, stretching his arm out to the other side. Jonghun still wasn't home. Hongki wasn't sure whether to be glad or not, his confrontation with Yonghwa still playing on his mind, and Hongki wasn't sure that he would be able to face Jonghun. He stilled as he heard the familiar beeping of the keypad before the lock released and the door of the apartment was pushed open. Stealing a glance at the clock, Hongki saw that it was past midnight, far later than Hongki was expecting Jonghun to be home. Hongki closed his eyes tightly, feigning sleep, he wasn't sure what he would even tell Jonghun on the matter anyway.

"Baby, are you awake?" Jonghun said quietly, stepping into their shared bedroom, switching the light in the living area off and flicking on a lamp in the bedroom. He surveyed the room, seeing Hongki lying still in bed, seemingly asleep. Jonghun felt a smile rise to his face as he padded over to the bed, smoothing Hongki's hair away from his forehead before pressing a kiss to the smooth skin. "I love you." He whispered.

~###~

"You're up early." Hongki commented as he entered the kitchen, spotting Jonghun facing the stove.

"I wanted to make you a nice breakfast, to make up for last night." Jonghun explained, placing a bowl of fried rice with vegetables topped with a fried egg in front of Hongki.

"You don't need to do anything." Hongki said, smiling at Jonghun, "I've had to work over lots."

"I didn't get home until late, or get to see you." Jonghun said with a pout, before pressing a kiss to Hongki's lips. "I missed you."

"Work is work." Hongki shrugged, taking a bite of the food Jonghun prepared for him. "Come and eat with me."

Jonghun nodded, preparing himself a bowl of food before sitting opposite Hongki. "I need to talk to you about something." He said quietly.

Hongki looked up, chopsticks still in his mouth as he spoke, "about what?"

"My work wants me to change my shift." Jonghun explained, "they want me to work the evening shift, seven until eleven, instead of the afternoon shift. It's less hours, but the tips are better." Jonghun grabbed the envelope of tips from the previous shift. "There is nearly a quarter of a million Won here, from four hours work."

"Do all the rich guys come at night?" Hongki jokingly asked, surveying the amount of money in Jonghun's hand.

"The tips are shared, between myself, the bar staff and the entertainers." Jonghun said, choosing his words carefully. "We have singers on the evening shift."

Hongki nodded, "what do you want to do? Do you want to take the shift?"

Jonghun paused, he hadn't expected Hongki to be so accepting of the change of shift. "I'll be able to pay towards the house, and the bills. I don't like having to rely on you." Jonghun said quietly.

"Then take the shift." Hongki said with a shrug, before shovelling more food into his mouth. "This is really good."

Jonghun smiled, reaching a hand over the table and linking his fingers with Hongki's. "Thank you, baby."

~###~

It had been three days since Yonghwa gave Hongki the ultimatum, and honestly, Hongki wasn't sure that he was doing the right thing. He had thought over the dilemma non-stop, his work had been suffering, and Jonghun had noticed that he was more distant.

Hongki groaned as he wiped his sweaty forehead. The last time he felt this nervous was when he was due to film his last movie, not realising that his partner would be Jonghun. He was stood outside of the boardroom, the same place that his employment started with Warner Music. He almost laughed at the irony, as this was the place that he contract would surely be revoked.

Hongki pushed on the door, entering the room and at once seeing the familiar faces of Park Jungsu, Cho Kyuhyun and Choi Siwon, all with expectant looks on their faces, after all, it wasn't everyday that a junior composer requested a meeting like this.

"Hongki." Jungsu greeted with a smile, "how is everything going with C.N. Blue?"

Hongki returned a weak smile, before taking the seat opposite the men. "That's what I need to talk to you about." Hongki said quietly, eyes trained on the table top.

"I thought the album was going well." Kyuhyun commented, recalling their conversation just days earlier.

"It is." Hongki explained. "Almost half of the songs are complete, the others don't need much work before they will be finished too. It's about Yonghwa." He ended the sentence quietly.

"Are you having trouble working with him?" Jungsu asked.

Hongki shook his head, "everything was fine," Hongki said, "but he found out some sensitive information about me, and now he's using it against me. I thought it was better to tell you myself rather than have him reveal it."

"What information has he found out?" Jungsu said, his face neutral, giving no indication to Hongki of his thoughts on the matter.

"It's about my previous employment." Hongki explained. "I used to work in the AV industry."

"AV?" Kyuhyun questioned.

"Adult Video." Hongki answered, a blush rising to his face. "I used to be an actor in ography."

"Is that all?" Choi Siwon said suddenly, surprising Hongki.

"Yes?" Hongki asked, half questioning.

"Why do you think that you are only employed as a composer and not as an idol with your talent and looks?" Siwon asked, continuing his speech before Hongki could answer, "we thoroughly check the background of all our employees, including previous employment, whether disclosed to us or not."

"We already know about your past work, and are in negotiations with FNC to remove all films involving you." Jungsu continued. "If that is something that Jung Yonghwa is holding over you, then that is something that we will need to have a meeting with him and his manager over. It is not something that will affect your work as a composer and writer, and it is not grounds for termination of contract."

Hongki sighed with relief, feeling lighter than he had in days. "You don't mind?" He asked quietly.

"Of course I mind." Choi Siwon answered, "you were born to be an idol, not stuck behind a desk composing. Once this is all resolved, I want to meet with you about changing your contract and arranging a debut date." The president stood, the others following out of respect.

Hongki bowed deeply as the three men passed him, leaving him alone in the boardroom. He sighed again, before laughing out loud. Yonghwa's plan had backfired, he was safe in his employment, and Warner were working with FNC to remove all evidence of Hongki's past employment.

Everything was finally going his way.