Sungmin and Junsu were having a conversation in Junsu’s office in Cassiopeia.

“You’ve been working in Cassiopeia for quite some time. You’re familiar with the business. I was wondering if you would want to take over Cassiopeia,” Junsu asked earnestly.

“Me? But why?” Sungmin spluttered in surprise. “You want to leave Cassiopeia?”

Junsu nodded.

“Why do you want to give up on this place?” Sungmin rattled off. “Why do you want to shut down a place that is like a haven to people like us? Why would you do that?”

“Well, Yoochun is going to the US to work. He asked me to tag along with him. I don’t want to be apart from him too much even that means that I have to come back to Korea from time to time. So I wanted someone whom I know will take care of Cassiopeia well in my absence to take charge. I thought that you would do a good job and might be interested.”

“But…I…I don’t know if I’ll do a good job or ruin the efforts of your labour,” Sungmin stuttered.

“I wasn’t exactly a genius in running the place when I first started out,” Junsu chuckled. “Just remember to treat your customers well but of course, you shouldn’t let them take advantage of you. Anyway if you need help, I’m just a phone call away. Just remember the time difference. And you have such a smart boyfriend. I’m sure he’ll be of some help,” Junsu encouraged.

“Would be it be costly?” Sungmin asked cautiously as he did some mental sums in his mind.

“I’ll sign the business over to you for a small fee and you have to take care of all fees from the paper work. Say one million Won.”

Sungmin’s face brightened up when he heard that. “Really?”

Junsu nodded. “But you might have to cough up some additional cash for the operational expenses. Generally, the club has a healthy cash flow. I’ll show you the books before we finalise the deal or anything.”

“Gamsa-hamnida, hyung,” Sungmin said. ‘I don’t think money would be a problem but I need to discuss with Kyuhyun first.

“Alright, but don’t take too long okay.”

……

Sungmin and Kyuhyun were having breakfast. Kyuhyun was chewing on a slice of toast and browsing through the newspaper.

“Kyuhyun-ah…”

“Umm…” Kyuhyun acknowledged with his attention still on the newspaper.

“Remember my dream is open a café…?” Sungmin asked.

“Uh huh.”

“Well, I have the opportunity now.”

“That’s great. But wait how are you going to do so? Are you going to start one from scratch or buy an existing one? But that requires a lot of money. Where are we going to get the money from?” Kyuhyun fired all the questions in one breath without putting down the newspaper.

“Well, Junsu-hyung is offering to sell Cassiopeia to me cheaply at one million Won. But I might need some additional cash for operational expenses.”

“What?” Kyuhyun exclaimed in surprise, nearly choking on his bread. He then put down the newspaper. “Why would he do that? It’s so foolish.”

“He’s going to the US with Yoochun-hyung.”

“But why is he selling it to you cheaply? Sounds fishy to me.”

“He hopes someone will keep the place as a haven for people like us,” Sungmin explained. “He’s willing to open the accounts for us to see.”

Kyuhyun nodded. “Let’s check the accounts first. But Minnie, do you really want to do this?”

“I guess.”

“You have to be certain. It requires a big level of commitment. It’s hard work. Are you ready? You don’t have to do it. I could support the both of us. Or you could always find something else to do – something simple – and we could still have a comfortable life.”

Sungmin pouted, “That’s not the point Kyuhyun-ah. I’m not with you to seek an easy life. I’m with you because I love you. And I’m certain that I want to do this. It’s not for me. But for the people like us to need a place to go where they can feel safe and be themselves.”

“But there are other clubs around,” Kyuhyun countered.

“I know. But it means a lot to me to be able to help other members in our gay community just as how I’ve received help. Because I think this is my purpose in life,” Sungmin said.

“But…”

“Kyuhyun-ah, didn’t you encourage me to find my purpose in life? Now that I’ve found my purpose, why are you discouraging me? Don’t you understand me?” Sungmin asked.

“It’s not that…it’s just that…”

“Good. Then you’ll help me along the way, right?” Sungmin interrupted.

Kyuhyun sighed in resignation. “I will in whatever way I can.”

Eventually, Sungmin took over Cassiopeia. His life became much busier as a result of having to own and run a business. Decisions had to be made. He had to deal with difficult customers. He had to learn to keep the books. Kyuhyun would do his best to help him in administrative matters though he did not help out at the bar. He would come over to the club to spend time with Sungmin and they would end up sleeping in the office sometimes before dragging themselves home in the morning. But Sungmin was happy. And Kyuhyun was happy too. Kyuhyun had found his purpose in life – being a lawyer and being with Sungmin. And he was glad that Sungmin had found his purpose too – in business and in being together with him (Kyuhyun).

One evening, Kyuhyun burst anxiously into the club. It was a weekday night so there was not much of a crowd. Sungmin was manning the bar when Kyuhyun grabbed Sungmin by his arm and took him to the office.

“Minnie,” Kyuhyun panted, “Do you want a child?”

Sungmin just stared all wide-eyed and blankly at Kyuhyun.

“Do you want a child?” Kyuhyun repeated his question anxiously.

“But we’re both guys. How can we have a child?”

“Adopt!” Kyuhyun exclaimed before he finally settled down, “I mean we could adopt.”

“Kyuhyun-ah, I really don’t know. I don’t know if we’re ready or not. We’ve just started our careers. We haven’t even once discussed the idea of adoption. And how do we go about doing it?”

“Well, one of us could adopt,” Kyuhyun replied.

“But why are you bringing this up now and so suddenly?” Sungmin questioned.

“My sunbae Mr Byun and his family perished in an accident. He leaves behind one young son who is about eight years old. The kid has no relatives. He’s now in an orphanage. Mr Byun has been a good mentor to me. I really want to do something for his kid,” Kyuhyun gushed.

“So you want to adopt his son?”

“It’s the least I could do in payment for his kindness.”

“Aren’t you worried that the kid would take up our couple time together?” Sungmin asked.

“A child could bring us closer together as a couple,” Kyuhyun said with an air of hope in his voice.

“Alright. Shall we go visit the kid tomorrow?” Sungmin asked.

Kyuhyun nodded.

Little Baekhyun was crouching in one corner when Sungmin and Kyuhyun entered the room together with a social worker who was working at the orphanage.

“Baekhyun-ah,” Kyuhyun called out.

Baekhyun lifted his head slowly. “Kyuhyun-ajusshi!”

Baekhyun ran towards Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun squat down as the angelic boy embraced Kyuhyun tightly.

Baekhyun burst into tears. “Ajusshi, my appa, umma and noona are dead. I don’t have any more family. I’m all alone. I’m afraid.”

Kyuhyun patted Baekhyun on his back. “I know how you feel. Don’t be afraid. Do you want Kyuhyun-ajusshi to take care of you?”

“Will you?” the small boy stopped crying and blinked his puppy-liked eyes in hope.

“I could adopt you. You can come and live together with me and my friend Sungmin,” Kyuhyun said as he pointed towards Sungmin.

Sungmin squat down and smiled. He took out a small toy car from the bag and gave it to Baekhyun.  Baekhyun was a little hesitant to accept the toy from Sungmin.

“Baekhyunnie, right? Sungmin asked again with a smile on his face.

Sungmin noticed Baekhyun was a little shy and hesitant. “It’s okay, you can have this.”

Baekhyun turned to Kyuhyun and asked cautiously, “Kyuhyun-ajusshi, is this ajusshi a bad guy? Is it okay if I take the toy?”

“He’s my friend. You can have the toy. It’s a present for you,” Kyuhyun replied and Baekhyun accepted the toy car from Sungmin gratefully.

Sungmin also took out a small bar of chocolate and gave it to Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun-ah,” Kyuhyun asked, “Do you want to come live with me? I’ll treat you like my own son, alright? Sungmin ajusshi will love you.”

“If I go with you, does it mean I don’t have to be here?”

Kyuhyun nodded.

“My appa, umma and noona aren’t going to come back, are they?”

There was a little hope within him that somehow his family would come back to him.

Kyuhyun just cuddled Baekhyun and said, “Ajusshi here lost his family too when he was 15 years old. I had a nice hyung who took care of me. He was a great guy and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here with you today.”

“But if I go with you, what will happen to appa and umma?”

“They’ll still be your appa and umma. No one can change that fact. I don’t think I will be able to replace your appa or umma anyway, but I’ll do my best to be a good father to you. So what do you say?”

“You won’t abandon me right ajusshi? I don’t want to be alone again,” Baekhyun asked Kyuhyun worriedly.

“I won’t. Pinkie promise,” Kyuhyun said as he held out his small finger and locked it with Baekhyun’s small finger.

“So do I still call you ajusshi or appa?”

“I prefer that you call me hyung. Ajusshi or appa makes me sound so old,” Kyuhyun laughed.

Sungmin laughed too. He was happy for Kyuhyun too as he knew deep inside that Kyuhyun always wanted a family.

……

“Boss,” one of the employees called for Sungmin. “There’s a teenager who wants to speak to you.”

“A teenager?” Sungmin thought to himself. He came out from the office where he was busy with the accounts and headed to the bar counter.

“Are you the boss?’ a pretty boy with almond shaped eyes asked.

Sungmin nodded.

“Can you please hire me? I can do anything. I really need a job,” the teenager bowed and pleaded.

Sungmin’s heart softened but he did not want to been as to give in too easily. “Why do you need a job? Why do you even want to work here?”

“I…don’t…know…,” the teenager spluttered.

“Then I can’t hire you,” Sungmin replied flatly.

“Please,” the boy burst out into tears. “I ran away from home. I have nowhere to go. I don’t know what to do.”

“So you’re a runaway. You should go home then. Your parents would be worried about you.”

“They won’t. They hate me because I’m gay! They want me to change and I tried to date girls. But I just can’t take it anymore. I can’t be someone who I’m not.”

“How old are you by the way?”

“Nineteen.”

“Finished high school?”

The teenager nodded.

“What’s your name?”

“Hyun-seung. Jang Hyun-seung.”

“Why do you want to work here? The pay isn’t very high.”

“I understand. I can take another job. But I need the money to rent a place of my own.”

“So where are you putting up now?”

“At an ex classmate’s place. But I can’t stay there for too long either.”

“Are you prepared to work until late? We close about one in the morning except on Fridays and Saturdays when we close at three. We’re closed on Mondays.”

Hyun-seung nodded.

“Okay, I can always do with some extra staff. You’re hired.”

“Really? Thank you so much. I promise I’ll work hard,” Hyun-seung bowed.

“I have a small room that you can stay for the time being. When you have enough money, you can then get a place of your own.”

Hyun-seung was elated to hear this as he bowed and thanked Sungmin profusely.

……

“You hired a new staff just because he told you some sob story that his parents found out that he is gay and ran away from home!” Kyuhyun exclaimed.

Sungmin nodded.

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “Hyunnie, I have to talk to your umma here. Can you go to your room for a while?”

Kyuhyun was helping Baekhyun with his homework. Baekhyun obediently picked up his books and headed for his bedroom.

“Can you even afford additional staff? Just because the business is doing well doesn’t mean we have to spend unnecessary money and increase our expenses,” Kyuhyun rebuked.

“I know,” Sungmin replied.

“We’re not running a charity,” Kyuhyun remarked coolly.

Sungmin just smiled and massaged Kyuhyun’s shoulders. “Don’t be so mean, Kyuhyun-ah.”

“I’m not,” the younger protested. “I’m just being pragmatic.”

“What happened to that sweet, kind, generous and helpful Kyuhyun? Tell me, monster, where did you abduct him to?”

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “I’ve always been evil.”

“You’ve turned evil after becoming a lawyer.”

“Did not.”

“You did,” Sungmin stuck out his tongue at Kyuhyun.

“Minnie,” Kyuhyun sighed. “I know you feel sympathetic because of your own experience but if everyone comes to you with a sob story, what would you do?”

“I’ll try my best to take them all in.”

“What?” Kyuhyun exclaimed.

“Kyuhyun-ah, you too are an orphan. And you were lucky to have the help of Yesung-hyung. So I understand why you want to adopt Hyunnie. And when I was down, you gave me help, when you were down, I gave you help.”

“I know. I’m grateful for that.”

“I’m not bringing this up to blackmail you or something. I just want to help others in the same way I’ve been helped. I believe you feel the same way.”

Kyuhyun sighed.

“Kyuhyun-ah, I’ve been thinking. I want to set up a place for gay boys or orphaned boys who have no family to turn to. We can provide a home for them, help them with their education. If they are teenagers they can work in the pub. We can live upstairs of the pub. I’ll call the place Heaven.”

“Hold it! Hold it! Do we even have that much money to provide for their education? I’ve only just started on my career. And we have Hyunnie to take care of. Well, he still has the money his parents left him for his education, but still…”

“Well we don’t have to do it straight away. But can you at least give it some thought?”

“Fine, I will.”

……

“Kyuhyun-ah, remember that plan I mentioned to you sometime ago?”

“Which one?”

“Heaven.”

“I can’t remember.”

“The one where we have a pub downstairs and a home for orphaned boys or more gay boys who have no family to turn to.”

“I really can’t remember,” Kyuhyun insisted.

“You’re feigning ignorance,” Sungmin pointed out.

“Alright, you win. What about it?” Kyuhyun sighed.

“You know that the authorities are going to acquire the land where Cassiopeia sits on for development, right?”

“The rumour has been going on for some time.”

“It’s been confirmed,” Sungmin said.

“So what’s going to happen?”

“They’re offering us another venue near Cassiopeia, one or two streets away. It’s a three storey shop house. We could operate the bar on the first and second floor and have rooms on the third.”

“Sounds plausible.”

“I’ve taken a look at the place this afternoon,” Sungmin said.

“You went without me?”

“Well, you were busy at work…”

“So what about this place?”

“Well, we just have to do some renovations here and there, and we’ll all good to go.”

“Do we have enough money?”

“We do. The club business is doing quite well.”

“Would it deplete the cash flow?”

“I don’t think so. Besides all the affect businesses have been offered some form of compensation too.”

Kyuhyun nodded. By now he was used to Sungmin being generous. This part of Sungmin never failed to amaze Kyuhyun and although Kyuhyun being practical sometimes found it difficult to reconcile with Sungmin’s charitable ways and would grumble and rant about it, he still adored Sungmin for that.

“But I want to buy the land.”

“What?” Kyuhyun exclaimed as his jaw dropped. “Minnie, are you out of your mind? I know you have many ideas. But this is way too much. We don’t print money you know.”

“Maybe not for now, but eventually.”

“Minnie, I’m glad that you’re so enthusiastic about this. But I want to buy us a small apartment for the three of us to live. My current job should be able to finance the monthly payments. I don’t think I have the money to buy us the piece of land at the moment.”

“Well we could always do that in the future. I have some savings. Maybe we could do a bit of investment here and there. I’ve noticed that you’ve been reading up on investments recently.”

“I have. With a spendthrift like you, I have to make lots of money,” Kyuhyun teased.

“So you regret being together with me?” Sungmin grabbed Kyuhyun from behind and began to tickle Kyuhyun causing Kyuhyun to struggle and giggle at the same time.

“Well, I wouldn’t have to work so hard and worry so much about money,” he said as broke free from Sungmin.

“I’m sorry Kyuhyun-ah.”

“Why are you apologising?”

“For dragging you into all these crazy plans and ideas I have.”

“At least you know that they’re crazy. Well, I love you Sungmin,” Kyuhyun said as he planted a kiss on Sungmin’s lips.

Sungmin looked hopefully at Kyuhyun, “Do you really love me or are you together with me out of gratitude?”

Kyuhyun took Sungmin into a tight embrace and caressed his hair. “Don’t be silly. I love you. But let’s be a bit practical, shall we?”

Sungmin kissed Kyuhyun on his lips. “You’re the most wonderful husband I could have.”

“I know,” Kyuhyun beamed proudly. “Though we’re not legally married.”

Sungmin shook his head, “Always the legal eagle.”

“By the way, I’m thinking of getting Eunhyuk to invest in the club. What do you think?” Sungmin continued.

Kyuhyun hesitated. “Minnie, I really don’t know. He’s changed a lot after that incident.”

Sungmin sighed. “I know. I’m worried for him. I just want to give him something to do. He hasn’t returned to the dance studio for three months. If that carries on, the studio would end up closing down.”

“He’s really depressed. I hope Yesung-hyung can help him snap out of his grief and look forward.”

“It’s not easy. We were there when it happened,” Sungmin sniffed.

Kyuhyun shuddered a little as he recollected the day when Eunhyuk’s world suddenly came cruelly crushing down on him. He gently wiped the tears off Sungmin’s face.

“Let’s give him a small stake in a new business. At least he’ll have a stable income and we can always get him something to do in the club. Deejay or something,” Sungmin suggested.

“Well, we’ve to speak to him to find out what he wants. We can’t do things against his wishes.”

Sungmin nodded in agreement.

……

And so the plans for Heaven were finalised. Both Kyuhyun and Sungmin with the help of Yesung spent a lot of effort into convincing Eunhyuk to be part of the business and to come deejay for them.  

Eventually it was decided that the first floor would be the bar and dance floor. The second floor would be the office and storeroom. There was space for a lounge area and several private rooms. A bedroom was also added in the area marked private quarters.
 

The third floor had three bedrooms and a study room. Altogether Heaven could sleep about eight to ten people.  

On Heaven’s opening day, Sungmin clutched Kyuhyun’s hand and said, “I hope this will become a safe place for people like us to hang out. A place where we do not face discrimination. A place where we can be free and be ourselves. A place where there is love, no hatred, and where unfortunate incidents don’t happen again. A place where outcast gay teenagers can turn to so that they too can learn to lead useful and purposeful lives, where they can find meaning and hope, and dream of a better future.”

Kyuhyun smiled at Sungmin. “Just like we’ve found hope and meaning in one another.”

Kyuhyun beamed proudly at Sungmin. “You know I can never say this enough. You’re a wonderful guy with a big heart.”

“And you too Kyuhyun-ah.”

The Heaven family began to grow. Hyun-seung moved into Heaven. Sungmin later accepted some other gay teenagers like Kikwang, Sunggyu, Woohyun, Sungyeol and Myungsoo. They all lived together as a family and became Baekhyun’s older brothers. Kyuhyun sponsored their studies if the boarders expressed their wish in continuing their studies. The lawyer had also made a nice fortune with his investments and was able to purchase a nice apartment which he leased out for rent. Sungmin and Kyuhyun continued to stay in Heaven with their charges and their adopted child Baekhyun.

And everybody lived happily as the business continued to thrive and gain popularity. 

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And so the KyuMin couple's arc is finally completed. I hope that these chapters gave you all an insight into how Heaven came about - and the reason to why it even exists. I know it's a big long but thank you for staying this long with me. 

And yes there are other characters that have stayed there, but I won't write their stories as they aren't the main characters. Maybe spin-offs are possible. 

And now we all know how Baekhyun came to live in Heaven. 

The next chapter will return to present day. 

What do you think happened to Eunhyuk? How did his world crash? What's the incident that the KyuMin couple mentioned but didn't speak about? Does anyone want to wager a guess? 

I would be introducing one more EXO member into this series as a minor character. Anyone want to guess who will that be? 

Meanwhile I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. And please be so kind as to encourage me with your comments. And if you like this story, please subscribe to it if you haven't done so. 

Fun fact:v Have you noticed that the boy groups featured in the different generations go according to their time of debut? DBSK>SuJu>B3ST>Infinite>EXO? 

Do check out  and comment on my other fan fics if you have not already done so.

My other fan fics

KyuMin: Almost a love story

KyuMin: 60 Days 

It's You (너라고) Neorago (a YeWook fan-fic)