Myung Hee was the one who got him out? Yixing stared at the older woman warily, the hand holding onto his backpack frozen. If she was the one who helped him then she must expect something from him. Kris’s sponsor was not the type of person who would do things without conditions.

“What did Kris promise you?” he asked slowly, afraid to hear the answer. 

A short laugh escaped her, causing Yixing to wince at the sound. He badly wanted to wipe that smirk off her face but manners stopped him from launching himself at her.

“That he’d break up with you, of course,” she drawled. “I’m already paying off the remaining months of his contract so he can quickly come to me.”

“You’re delusional,” Yixing spat, but even as he said it, worry filled him. After the past couple of months, he had learned not to believe anyone’s words of Kris because they just wanted to poison his view of him. But even though he trusted Kris’s feelings for him and believed he wouldn’t do something that stupid, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Myung Hee might really have paid off the contract. Because if that was true, then it would mean Kris was bound to her whether they liked it or not.

“Am I?” she asked softly and chuckled just as a red Jaguar screeched to a halt behind her. The window rolled down and a voice that sounded vaguely familiar to Yixing called out to the woman.

The smirk on Myung Hee's lips grew wider. “Why don't you come out, dear, and greet our ignorant friend here?” she asked sweetly.

Time seemed to stand still when the driver of the luxurious car took his own sweet time opening the car door. If it wasn't for the dull ache in his chest, Yixing would have thought he was dreaming because who should the driver be but Luhan dressed in a smart grey two piece suit that looked nothing like the rest of his clothes in his wardrobe.

“What the ?” he blurted out in disbelief. “Xiaolu, is this a joke?”

Luhan rolled his eyes and sauntered over to Myung Hee, who wrapped her hand around his arm triumphantly. “If it makes you feel better, you can think it's a joke,” he suggested, the sarcasm in his voice foreign to Yixing. “I’m working for Ms Kim now. She proposed something I couldn't turn down. Why shouldn't I join her when she appreciates me better than any employer ever did?”

Yixing wasn't even aware he was clenching his fists until he tore his gaze away from his best friend and saw the little half-moon shapes on his palms. “You've got to be kidding me,” he choked. “But what about—” What about me?

Luhan seemed to know what the unspoken words were. He smiled, resentfully. “What about you?” he mused, his voice so devoid of emotions Yixing's chest tightened. “You think I didn't see how you cheated on me in the hospital?”

The kiss. With Kris. He opened his mouth to explain but Yixing didn't know what to say. Was that why Luhan broke up with him...?

“Yixing!” Too stunned by this turn of events that he didn't know how to reply Luhan, Yixing was relieved to see Junmyeon hurrying towards them. Much to his surprise, the Exo Artists representative enveloped him in a stifling but very much welcome hug.

Junmyeon seemed to know exactly who Myung Hee was. When he released Yixing from the hug, he pulled him away from the pair.

“Don't worry, Yixing. I've talked to Lawyer Jung. You're safe,” he said tersely, eyeballing Myung Hee and Luhan. If he remembered who Luhan was, he was at least polite enough not to say anything. “Come on, let’s go.”

“If you know what's good for you then stay away from Kris,” Myung Hee called. The last thing Yixing remembered before Junmyeon ushered him away was Luhan’s unwavering stare on him. And that, for some reason, was enough to convince him that Luhan had something up his sleeves.

***

“I didn’t know you and Kris were close,” Junmyeon commented as the car slowed to a stop in front of Kris’s residence. “That kind of explains why he would recommend me going to that pub you were singing in.”

Over the past half an hour in the car ride to Apgujeong, Yixing tried his best to explain as much as he could with regards to his relationship with Kris, purposely leaving out the period where he had been serving time in prison. He was relieved the agency rep didn’t judge him; instead the other man gave off an air of curiosity and amusement when he threw questions at Yixing. He had a feeling Junmyeon actually found his story entertaining, as though it belonged to a plotline of a KBS drama.

“Thanks for driving me here,” Yixing said gratefully but when he stepped out of the car, he was puzzled to see Junmyeon doing the same.

“We have things to discuss,” the agency rep said, and led Yixing into Kris’s house when the gates open.

Yixing wasn’t sure how he felt seeing Chanyeol sitting in the middle of the living room when the actor opened the door and practically suffocated him in a bone-crushing hug. The warmth of Kris’s hand in his was reassuring, but he didn’t miss the way Chanyeol tensed at the sight of it.

“Chanyeol’s helping me with the contract issues,” Kris clarified, as if reading Yixing’s thoughts.

Seeming to sense the slight discomfort in the room, Junmyeon took the seat next to Chanyeol and drew their attention to the folder he placed on the table. “I had the lawyer take a look at Kris’s current contract,” he said to the three of them. “He’s been released from his agency… but then records say that he’s being represented by Legacy Entertainment. I’ve never heard of—”

“That’s the name Jinho hyung wanted his agency to be called,” interrupted Kris, his jaw set. He directed Yixing to the couch adjacent to Junmyeon and Chanyeol’s and picked up the folder to flip through the documents. “Is there no way around it?”

“Hang on – who’s Jinho?”

“Kris’s ex-manager,” Yixing supplied to the confused Junmyeon. “He works together with Kim Myung Hee – that’s the woman from earlier—”

“—Kris’s sponsor.” Both Kris and Yixing looked at Junmyeon in surprise, not at all expecting the agency rep to know, considering how secretive Kris normally was whenever the older woman was brought up.

“I told Junmyeon hyung,” Chanyeol said, the first words he uttered since Yixing and Junmyeon entered the house. He shot the couple a look, as if daring them to protest. “Hyung needs to know what he’s getting himself into if he signs you on, Kris.”

The tallest of the four nodded grimly and in that little movement, Yixing could see that Kris felt guilty for causing Junmyeon trouble before he was even part of Exo Artists. Biasness might be playing a part, but he believed strongly that Kris was a celebrity that was worth the lawsuit. Rubbing his thumb over the back of Kris’s hand comfortingly, Yixing repeated Kris’s question: “Is there any way around it?”

The weary sigh that came out of Junmyeon made him appear older than he was. Junmyeon then smiled, as if he felt bad for showing that side of him. “I’ll see what I can do,” he told them. “Maybe I can dig out some information about this Legacy agency.” Junmyeon glanced at his watch and stood up, resting his hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “It’s late. Get some rest. Yeollie, come, I’ll send you home.”

When Kris closed the door behind them, Yixing circled his arms around Kris’s waist from behind and leaned into his broad back, closing his eyes for a moment to relish the fact that he was with Kris and no longer contained in a cell. Kris seemed to understand it and turned around, his arms wrapping over Yixing’s shoulders.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Kris murmured into Yixing’s hair. “I’d lose it if you end up in—” He winced, not wanting to think about it. “Do you remember anything about the person who knocked into you that day?”

Yixing thought back to the day, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. That day he was preoccupied with returning Kris’s text messages to really notice anything. The other man had on sunglasses and was wearing a hood – how was he to recognise him even if he saw him again?

“Come to think of it…” he said slowly. “His voice… sounds a lot like Jinho hyung’s.”

At his words, Kris let out a short bark of laughter, instinctively tightening his grip on Yixing’s shoulders. “Why am I not surprised?” he asked, bitterness in his voice.

Yixing was about to say they shouldn’t accuse him before they know the truth but something else nagged at Yixing. “Kris,” he started. “Do you know Luhan is working for Myung Hee?”

“… Yes.”

To say Yixing was astonished by the straight answer was putting it mildly. His mind worked quickly. “What are you two up to?”

The way Kris pinched his nose bridge was enough to tell Yixing that he was reluctant to share it with him but Yixing knew he wouldn’t keep something from him, not after all that had gone down between them.

“Let’s just say he’s undercover,” Kris said finally and quickly added, defensiveness apparent in his words. “He insisted on doing it.”

Was this Luhan’s way of compensating the two years Yixing spent in jail?  Yixing could recall, vividly, how brittle the other man’s voice was when he brought up his relationship with Kris, and a pang of self-reproach hit him.  

He clutched tightly onto Kris’s arm and stared at him beseechingly. “Go over to your sponsor’s place and check on Luhan tomorrow. Please.”

Yixing hoped he wouldn’t regret sending the two men he ever loved to that crazy woman.

A/N: OK, next chapter is the LAST chapter. May or may not have an epilogue. I'm worried I might have missed out some plot points, so if you have something you're still confused about, let me know and I'll work it in the next chapter (or XiuHan's pending spin-off). Secondly, I have a one-shot I would really love feedback on because I don't usually write angst and I want to know if it worked or didn't work. |:

Lastly, PLS BE MY FRAN? ;___;