Sunggyu’s POV

I wasn’t going to wait anymore- I’d had enough of WooHyun and Myungsoo’s games.

I followed Dambi outside as she was throwing away the trash.

When she turned around, she gasped.

“I didn’t see you there, Sung-Sunggyu…”

“You’re not really dating WooHyun, are you?” , I asked, straight off the bat.

Her eyes turned ice cold as she replied, “And why would that be any of your business?”

“I take that as a yes”, I confirmed, seeing the defensive edge in her eyes. I turned away from her, recognizing the truth.

“I didn’t say anything!”, Dambi protested, grabbing my arm.

“You don’t have to! I can tell!”, I replied automatically without thinking as she pushed me around to face her.

“How can you tell?”, she challenged me, getting in my face.

My eyes met hers and I said words I never meant to say, “Don’t you remember? I’m your ex-boyfriend, Dambi.”  

There was a screaming silence for ten seconds.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

SMACK!

She slapped me right across the face- hard. I felt my cheek stinging when I looked back up at her. She was breathing heavily.

Through gritted teeth and trying to control my temper, I asked her roughly, “And what, may I ask, did I do to deserve that?”

Her eyes, ice just a moment ago, now blazed fire at me. 

“You know exactly what you did, Kim Sunggyu.”

 She stomped back into the café, and I was left with a stinging cheek but also a sense of relief- she hadn’t dated WooHyun.  

Of course, it had only been four months since we had broken up, I knew she wasn’t over me yet.

WooHyun’s POV

The store had closed now with its biggest profit ever. I stood in front of Myungsoo and So Eun with a stern face.

“You’re both two hours later; Care to explain why?”

I folded my arms across my chest.  I suppose I looked tough to other people. Personally, I just felt like I was trying to hold myself together.

Something had changed between the two people in front of me. I wasn’t sure how, but it made me nervous.  

“We… were distracted”, So Eun lied weakly. She cast a glance at Myungsoo, who returned it. I saw the edges of her lips perk up and my heart sank. I’d lost this battle.

I kept my words simple and short. “Do this again and you’re both fired”, and left everyone awkwardly standing there. 

I walked to the kitchen and shut the door.

I could see my reflection on the black counter- my eye was bruising where Sunggyu had punched me. Wonderful.

Just wonderful.

I sighed and leaned against the door.

There was peaceful silence for about a minute and then a soft rap, rap came from the other side of the door.

I grimaced at the intrusion but pulled myself together before opening the door.

It was Hae Young.

“What do you want?”, I asked her curtly. I was not in the mood to argue with her.

“I- I just… your eye”, Hae Young stammered.

I looked down at her hands and realized she was holding a first aid kit.

“Thanks”, I muttered, taking them from her.

“No problem”, she answered softly.

I hesitated, but then shut the door on her.

I’d already had enough of her and her brother to last me a lifetime.

So Eun’s POV

I didn’t move into Myungsoo’s apartment again.

Instead, I used my miniscule salary and the money my father sent for my rent monthly to rent a small room directly next to Myungsoo’s.

And Myungsoo no longer dressed like a nerd- but dressed like who he was: a rocked-out, stylish boy.

Just the way I liked him.

I didn’t have much to move back to my room and I was astonished when Myungsoo began dragging all of my belongings he’d kept safe for me.

I’d lived in such luxury before… How had I not recognized it?

I ran my hand over my silk bed sheets and stared in awe at my collection of candles, perfumes, and jewelry.

And I could appreciate it.

“Here’s the last of your things”, Myungsoo told me, placing down a box of photographs.

“Thanks”, I said, smiling.

Myungsoo nodded and sprawled out on my new bed.

“So comfortable”, he commented, stretching out.

I grinned, but in that moment, I just felt this overwhelming appreciation for everything in front of me now.

“Eun ah?”

I looked up, at Myungsoo.

His arms were wide open and he smirked and said, “Come over here.”

I willingly jumped into his strong, loving arms.

“Thank you”, I told him, laying my head on his shoulder, “Thank you for not giving up on me and for not breaking up with me.”

Myungsoo kissed my cheek and suddenly laughed.

“What?”, I asked, looking up at him.

“You taste like coffee.”

Hae Young’s POV

I felt guilty about WooHyun’s bad mood somehow…

Maybe it was because it was my brother who punched him in the face…

He had made it perfectly clear that he was not in the mood to be with me right now…

But he couldn’t be left alone like that…

If everyone abandoned him now, those feelings of annoyance and sorrow were going to pile up inside of him… become hate and anger…

And the WooHyun I knew was always annoyed, never angry. I couldn’t see him anger… I didn’t want him to be angry. For him, annoyance was how he showed off his pleasure, but anger… anger was how he displayed his pain.

I sighed and shyly walked over to Sungjong, who was sitting in a booth talking with Hoya and Sungyeol.

“Sungjong-sshi?”

He turned to me with a skeptical look, as though he didn’t really care about what I had to say.

“What?”, he asked me, impatiently.

“Will you do me a favor?”

“Well, obviously”, he replied, running his hand through his hair, “it depends on what you’re asking me for. I mean, you can’t expect me to just agree.” He eyed me with hesitation.

I nodded and said, “Okay, well, this is what I want you to do…”

Sungjong’s POV

I sighed deeply before knocking on the kitchen door.

“Who is it?”, WooHyun’s voice sounded through the door.

“It’s me, Sungjong. Open up, I need to get my jacket.”

I thought I heard a sigh, and I rolled my eyes.

I asked him to open a door, and he was complaining about it?

Sounds like somebody got used to being a rich boy.

The door opened and I stepped in.

“Actually”, I said, getting straight into it, “I wanted to talk to you.”

WooHyun nodded wearily and asked, “How much?”
“What?”, I said, taken aback. What is he talking about?
“You want a raise, don’t you? How much?”

Stunned, I asked him, “Why would you think I came here asking for a raise?”

“I haven’t talked about anything but money, girls, and business for a while… I didn’t think you would bring up anything different”, WooHyun answered, straightforward.

This was not the arrogant WooHyun I’d expected to deal with.

“Um…”, I said, sitting down, “Here, let’s have a cup of coffee.

I went over and poured two cups of mochas and brought them over to the table where we sat.

“Why are you doing this?”, WooHyun asked me, not taking the coffee.

“That’s a pretty terrible bruise you got”, I replied, ignoring his question.

“Even worse is thinking about why I got it”, he responded bitterly, sipping his mocha.

 “Well, don’t you think you deserve it?”, I asked, also drinking my coffee.

Warm. Chocolatey. Sensational. Delicious.

It warmed me as I listened to WooHyun’s words.

“Regardless of that… I mean, it’s Sunggyu who punched me. Maybe I did deserve it… but it’s getting hit by your brother, for goodness sake. I didn’t think it would ever come to this.”

He took another gulp and continued, “And you, Hoya, and Sungyeol don’t ever talk to me anymore… You’re my brothers, but I don’t feel the same sense of trust anymore…”

“You still… you still think of us as your brothers?” I thought you left us.  

“Yeah, of course we’re all brothers. I may have changed a lot, but that aspect of me will never change. Why would it? It’s the only thing that keeps me sane.”  

I stayed silent, letting the coffee cup warm my hands.

Then, WooHyun asked me slowly, “What… did you think I was thinking this whole time?”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, but then I answered him as truthfully as possible, “Well… it started with you being the kingka, then you choosing So Eun over all of us, then you inheriting the business…. And then Dambi and… And you never talked about any of it…So I assumed… you didn’t care about us anymore.”

WooHyun nodded and said, “You never trusted me…But I understand.”

 “Hyung”, I said to WooHyun.

“Hm?”, WooHyun asked me.

“I thought I knew everything about everyone in our group, but… there’s so much we don’t know, huh?”

“Yeah”, WooHyun agreed, “It’s like… coffee. You don’t know what it really is until you taste it.”

“But hey”, WooHyun said, “Who sent you here? I know you didn’t come here on your own… You have too much pride for that.”
I smirked and said, “Of course. Hae Young sent me here. She promised to free me of cleaning duties for a whole week if I did.”  

a/n: Long time no see! <3 Sorry for the hiatus! I know this chapter is short, but it needed to be. :3 Thank you for everyone who reads my story.

hellopanda23: I MISS YOU. T_T