Leeteuk let out what it seemed like his hundredth sigh the past hour.

It was time for yet another SMTOWN concert and normally, he’d be happy about getting to perform in front of thousands of fans with the entire roster of artists under SM Entertainment. That was when things were normal. The situation now was anything but. It didn’t help matters any whenever he’d remembered the meeting he’d been required to attend yesterday morning, spending a rather very tense hour seated with three managers in between him and Sooyoung. They were basically told one important thing only – their break up should not reach the fans and the media.

Long story short, they had to pretend like they were still together.

He found it most ironic really, having to pretend that they’re together when they’re not, even when he was still madly in love with her.

It went without saying that they agreed with the management, a ghost of a frown playing on his lips when he noticed that Sooyoung had pointedly looked at anywhere and everywhere but him. His frown had deepened and became more pronounced when he risked taking a good look at her, noticing too how she looked a lot thinner than usual, as if she hadn’t been getting much sleep and nutrition the past few days. There was a faraway look in her eyes that worried him but he, though a rather big part of him was dying to speak to her, kept his mouth shut, leaving with his manager as soon the meeting was declared finished.

The sound of the doorknob being rustled snapped him out of his thoughts, the Super Junior realizing that he was alone in the dressing room and it was high time that the members returned since it would be there turn for rehearsal anytime now. The dark haired man browned slightly when the rustling continued, as if the person on the other side of the door was having trouble opening it, Leeteuk getting up on his feet just when the door finally swung open, his eyes widening at the sight of Kyuhyun standing there with Sun Jung in his arms.

The rather wide smile on Kyuhyun’s face dropped at the sight of the older man staring at them. It seemed like the room had gone much colder than they thought it could, the expression on Leeteuk’s face quickly becoming unreadable as he regarded the father and daughter pair. As if on cue, however, a bright smile blossomed on Sun Jung’s face once she caught sight of Leeteuk, the baby cooing and giggling as she held her hands out, the action causing both men’s attention to shift from each other to her.

“Do you want to hold her?”

Leeteuk’s head snapped up, his eyes widening once more as he looked at Kyuhyun. It was the first words spoken between the both of them since the truth was revealed and a part of him wondered if he was merely hearing things. But Kyuhyun had taken a step forward, holding his daughter out and it was like the sight of the smiling baby was enough to melt all the anger and sadness and fear away.

“Can I?”

Kyuhyun snorted despite the situation. “Of course you can.”

For a moment, he didn’t say anything and kept looking at them instead, Sun Jung starting to fuss more the longer it took for Leeteuk to get her. But just as Kyuhyun was about to worry that the older man was simply going to walk away again, a smile that he hadn’t seen for a while crossed Leeteuk’s face as he finally held his hands out, carefully accepting the precious bundle of joy from Kyuhyun.

“Thank you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

From their places behind where Sooyoung stood, Taeyeon and Tiffany exchanged worried glances. It really wasn’t just them who was worried, the two catching concerned looks here and there directed to their tallest member by the rest of the group. It had been SNSD’s turn to take the stage to rehearsal prior to the start of the SMTOWN concert and while it usually wasn’t common practice to go all out during rehearsals so as to save energy for the actual concert, the way Sooyoung was going bothered everyone to say the least. It wasn’t that they expected her to be jolly and hyper and to fool around during rehearsals. They knew more than anybody how much the break up and being a new mom have taken their toll on their friend.

Her shoulders were slumped, her eyes vacant and her expression blank. She was going through the motions of every dance but even as she stood and moved among them, it seemed like she wasn’t there at all, as if she was physically present but otherwise not there.

“That’s a wrap, girls. SHINee, you’re up next!”

“Hey.” Seohyun was by Sooyoung’s side the moment they were cleared, a worried look in her eyes as she wrapped an arm around the older woman’s. “Are you okay?”

She tried to force a smile but it seemed like it took too much effort to do. “I’m okay.”

“Unnie…”

“I promise.” Sooyoung managed a tiny smile this time around, gently freeing herself from Seohyun’s grasp to head off the stage, only to find herself face to face with Key.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” She forced yet another smile for his benefit. “I just need to go back to our dressing room and rest a little.”

Key didn’t look like she believed her at all but instead he nodded, walking with her until she reached the side of the stage. A more genuine, grateful smile crossed her face at his actions, although it disappeared as soon as he joined the rest of s. On her way back to the dressing room, she was accosted thrice, first by Donghae, then by Yunho, and then lastly by Sungmin, all three men pointing out that she didn’t look well and expressed their concern, the brunette firmly and rather impatiently telling them that she was alright and there was no cause for worry. Amber had managed to corner her as well, the young woman reminding her to take care of herself after asking where Sun Jung was.

The question nearly had her searching for her daughter, realization soon kicking in when she remembered that she left the baby with her father. Figuring that Kyuhyun would take Sun Jung back to the SNSD dressing room himself, she continued her way back to the room, only to freeze when one of the other doors swung open, a smiling Leeteuk stepping out with a blubbering Sun Jung in his arms. The baby’s sudden excitement at seeing her mother meant that it didn’t take long for Leeteuk to spot her and for the smile on his face to be replaced by a look of surprise. He stood there, watching the numerous that crossed her face before her eyes settled back to its vacant look, her face expressionless. Leeteuk could only wonder how he looked like standing there and staring at her openly and freely for what seemed like the first time in a very long time and he fought to school his features into a calm one, fighting even harder not to just rush to her and hug and kiss her for all that she was worth.

“Sooyoung, where are–” Taeyeon caught up with the younger woman, only to come to a screeching halt at the sight she was met with, “oh my god.”  

“I… You’re probably looking for Sun Jung.” He began uncertainly, holding out the baby for her to take. As if on instinct, she’d held her arms out too to take her daughter, only for both adults to freeze when Sun Jung stuck whimpered, turning her back on Sooyoung and burying her face against Leeteuk’s chest. The two exchanged a look and Leeteuk could only let out a sigh, trying to carefully pry Sun Jung from his person. “Sun Jung, momm