Not a whole lot was said between the Sharehouse members that next day. Gain and Jia talked a little in the morning before parting their ways for work and dance practice. Victoria had meant to wake up early and apologize to Leeteuk, but her alarm hadn’t even bothered her.

Victoria made her way to Heechul’s room, knocking softly but no one answered, so she continued downstairs. Simon was in the kitchen, rummaging in the fridge for edible leftovers.

“Hey,” Victoria said as she sat down at the kitchen table.

“Oh, hey.” Simon smiled as he turned to look at her. He raised a brow at how she was sitting with her head down, tracing the grain of the wooden table. “What’s up?”

Victoria sighed heavily. “I did something really stupid last night.”

Simon wasn’t sure if he could be the same kind of listener that Heechul was so good at being, but the girl obviously needed to talk. He stopped taking containers out of the fridge and moved to sit in the chair beside her. Clasping his hands and resting them on the table he said, “So, wanna talk?” Part of him hoped she’d say no, even though he’d resigned to listen.

“Hyuna came over last night. We got along well at the party so she wanted to hang out. So, Gain, me, Jia and Hyuna were here.”

“I missed the y party?” Simon groaned.

Victoria scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You did, Leeteuk didn’t.”

“That engaged bastard got to sit in with all the girls? Lucky er.” Simon grinned and taking in the look from Victoria, decided to be silent from here on out.

Victoria continued to tell him what happened and Simon got increasingly jealous. He laughed when he heard about Heechul walking in on it and nodded when Victoria finished.

“So that’s why everyone was so quiet,” he said. “I tried texting Heechul and he barely replied. Now I know.”

“Heechul said he’d talk to me later,” Victoria grumbled.

“Naw,” Simon said. “Don’t worry about Heechul, he’s more the threatening type with girls. He talks big, but he won’t do anything about it. It’s the guys that have to worry. Man if I’d messed up as big as Teuk, I’d probably have a black eye.” He chuckled and reached over to ruffle Victoria’s hair. “He’ll get over it. Meantime, omelettes?”

Victoria nodded. “That sounds good.” She was still worried about how Heechul had acted when he’d found them. She really hoped she hadn’t destroyed her relationship with him.

As she watched Simon cooking, her mind wandered to Leeteuk. She hoped she hadn’t played a major role in his breakup with Taeyeon; she’d never forgive herself something like that.

…

Leeteuk woke up with a hangover. He was such a lightweight when it came to alcohol, even one beer left him feeling like he shouldn’t have had anything to drink.

After his morning routine of feeding the cat and himself, Leeteuk stopped by the staircase to the second floor and looked up. He debated with himself on going up to talk to Heechul, but decided he’d leave it and went to work.

Work hadn’t been any fun either. His job was located in the same office building as Taeyeon’s. It had been how they’d met, seeing each other in the lunch room and outside. Leeteuk had started his life in California looking for music production jobs but when those all fell through he’d been forced to take a standard office job.

He’d looked for Taeyeon all day, but she never showed her face in any of their usual places. Leeteuk thought of texting her, staring at his phone all through lunch. He’d even written half a text, hovering over the send button before deleting it and going back to work.

Leeteuk knew he had to tell Taeyeon what had happened, he just didn’t want to. The guilt was eating him alive all day. He really loved Taeyeon, his problem was that he’d stopped feeling happy in her company. It was a constant struggle with her and she’d never been supportive of him finding a career in music. If he was honest with himself, it was over. It would just be difficult to leave her, because they’d invested so much time being together.

…

Heechul had waited for the sounds of Leeteuk leaving before he’d come out of his room. Gain had left him once he’d calmed down completely. He probably could have talked to her all night, but she had an early appointment.

He didn’t really want to see anyone but Taeyeon today. In his preparations for meeting up with her, he’d been sure to wear dress pants and a red oxford shirt and tie. Heechul had to keep the mindset of strictly business, or he’d be too tempted to try and talk Taeyeon and Leeteuk back together.

Knowing that he’d have a whole day to himself, Heechul tried to stay relaxed throughout. He visited his restaurant, checking on the lunch service and having a chat with his general manager. He even went for a drive along the coast, keeping himself calm as he thought how best to word what he needed to tell Taeyeon.

…

Taeyeon had stayed home. Seeing Leeteuk the day before, after their fight on the weekend, had put her in a terrible mood and she’d taken a sick day to compose herself.

She was in pajamas and low pigtails, with no makeup. While watching a sappy movie on her couch and eating all the junk food, she heard a knock at her door. Thinking it was maybe Leeteuk with a decision to move in with her, or at least an apology, Taeyeon pulled herself out of her blankets and went to the door.

It was Heechul. Professional looking Heechul. “Hi,” she said softly, not opening the door any wider for him.

“Hi, Taeyeon. May I come in?” Heechul asked.

Taeyeon didn’t really want him in her house, especially with her in pajamas, but she figured since he’d asked nicely. Opening her door, she stepped out of his way and into the hall, watching him come in and close the door behind him.

“Can we sit down somewhere?” Heechul asked.

Taeyeon sighed and led the way to her mess of a front room, sitting on the couch. She didn’t make any apologies, nor even say anything as she looked expectantly at Heechul.

“I have some bad news.” Heechul said.

Brows furrowing, Taeyeon regarded Heechul. “He’s not dead is he?”

Heechul couldn’t help a laugh. “That, remains to be seen.” He sighed and looked at her, turning on the couch to face her properly. Heechul really wanted to reach out for her hands, but thought that would be too much. Taeyeon and he had never really been friendly. “I’m sure you’d probably rather have heard this from him, but I can’t be sure he’ll tell you and you really need to know.”

Taeyeon nodded, guessing at what Heechul was going to tell her next.

“One of our neighbors, Hyuna, happened to be over at my house last night. I wasn’t there. It was just the girls and Leeteuk.” Heechul paused, still having trouble wording what he wanted to say, even though he’d run this conversation through in his head more than once. “There was alcohol and Hyuna was teasing Leeteuk when I got there. I don’t think it went very far, but it made me uncomfortable to see, so I’m sure you won’t be pleased.”

Taeyeon let the information sink in, wishing Heechul hadn’t even come at all. Maybe it would be better if she hadn’t known. “What were they doing when you walked in on them?” Taeyeon asked in a voice void of emotion.

“When I got there it was just Leeteuk and Hyuna in the kitchen. Leeteuk was in a chair, his head on the table and Hyuna was sitting beside him. It looked like whispering in his ear, could have been kissing his neck. She had her hand on his thigh too.” Heechul hated ratting out his friends like this, but they had all gone too far.

Taking a deep breath, Taeyeon sighed heavily and tried to keep her tears back. “Thank you,” She said her voice obviously brave. “I’m glad someone told me.”

Heechul nodded, looking like he was ready to go, but he paused to look at Taeyeon. “I’m sorry. I wish we could have gotten along better. I know things have been rocky with you and Leeteuk lately. I just want to assure you that I would have done anything for you two. I will still do anything for you.”

Taeyeon started crying, despite her best efforts and nodded. “I understand the sentiment. But I don’t want anything to do with your house, or you people anymore. Thank you for telling me, but please leave now.”

Heechul luckily didn’t need to be told twice and left quietly, feeling horrible but relieved.

…

Leeteuk finally made his decision to tell Taeyeon what had happened. He also made his decision that he was done trying to please her. Their relationship would be over tonight.

He knocked on Taeyeon’s door after work, not knowing that Heechul had left only an hour before he got there. When she answered, he smiled and came inside. She was fully dressed, even her hair and makeup were done. Leeteuk wondered if she’d been at work and he just hadn’t seen her.

“Hi,” she said to him. “We really need to talk.”

“I know we do,” Leeteuk said, encouraging himself to tell her what he needed to as he followed her into the front room, sitting on the couch.

“You first?” Taeyeon asked.

Leeteuk nodded and took a deep breath. “Something happened last night. Hyuna was teasing me and it went a little too far. And I didn’t stop her.” He swallowed, looking to her eyes. Leeteuk was glad it had come out so quickly.

Taeyeon nodded and handed Leeteuk a small wrapped box. “I don’t need that anymore.” She told him.

Leeteuk figured what was inside it as he looked at the box. “Yeah. I’m sorry things are ending this way.”

Taeyeon shook her head. “Don’t be sorry about us. Just, look at the people around you and figure out who’s really important.”

Leeteuk nodded. “I hope you’ll find someone better than me. Someone who’ll treat you exactly how you want them to.”

With a little scoff, Taeyeon stood up, signaling to Leeteuk that their conversation was over.

As they walked to the front door, Leeteuk offered Taeyeon a final hug. She refused him, opening the door instead. “You know,” she said. “I don’t think I really understood the kind of compassion Heechul was capable of. You should do your best not to mess up with him. He seems like a really good friend.”

The door was closed in Leeteuk’s face before he could ask Taeyeon why she suddenly had a change of heart over Heechul. He sighed and crushed the box that held their engagement ring in his fist, stuffing it in his pocket.