Throughout the days, Hyunsaeng still absolutely refused to be held, or even touched, by Nicole. She often got frustrated each time and eventually gave up even trying, ignoring the toddler.

Hyunjoong could not understand why Hyunsaeng was acting like this and usually had to coax his fiancé to be patient until Hyunsaeng got used to her again. Soon, Hyunsaeng also was reluctant to talk to his father, only letting Hyungjun hold him and feed him. He even preferred to sleep with Hyungjun than his parents.

"Because he and I are the same."

Hyungjun's words from days before echoed in his head. He was puzzled, what in the world did that mean? It wasn't like Hyungjun to be mysterious but no matter how much Hyunjoong asked the boy to explain, he simply shook his head and took Hyunsaeng into his room. For some reason, even with Nicole beside him, he felt like his heart wasn't beating fast like when he had first met her, his heart felt empty.

"Nicole," called Hyunjoong as he entered his room, coming back from a meeting. He wore a long, trench coat as temperatures were plunging, summer turning into fall. Winter was already drawing near and the heaters had to be . The girl stood up with a smile when she saw him and ran over, helping him take off his jacket and took his bag, placing down on the table like an ideal wife.

Hyunjoong smiled softly as he watched Nicole hang up his coat. For once, Hyunsaeng was on their bed, sleeping soundly. He wondered why Hyunsaeng was becoming so distant from him and Nicole. He remembered that when Nicole had first picked up the boy from outside, he would only let Nicole hold onto him and even cried when he picked him up.

Now, Hyunsaeng refused to be held by anyone except Hyungjun, which he found strange. Hyunsaeng would even prefer walking if the alternate choice was to be held by someone other than Hyungjun, and Hyunsaeng usually hated walking on his own. The more he tried to reason about it, the more he felt empty.

"How are you?" asked Hyunjoong, bringing Nicole into a hug. The girl took a deep breath, indulging herself in Hyunjoong's scent. "I missed you."

"How's Hyunsaeng?"

At that question, Nicole pulled away and glared at him. "Why do you have to bring him up whenever you come home? I told you that I don't want to talk about it."

"But he's our child, we have to take care of him," Hyunjoong tried to persuade.

"He likes Hyungjun more than us. Why not just let Hyungjun become his father instead? He doesn't even seem to want to be with you anymore," Nicole growled and turned away, picking up her book from the desk.

Without warning, they heard metal clink on the wooden table and Hyunjoong saw something twinkle in the dim light. Nicole quickly picked it up and stuffed it into her pocket. Hyunjoong furrowed his eyebrows and stepped forward, grabbing her arm. "What was that?"

Nicole looked up at him innocently. "What was what?"

"It looked like a ring," Hyunjoong narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Let me see."

Sighing, Nicole dug into her pocket again and pulled out the gold ring, letting Hyunjoong see. "I saw Hyungjun put this on your table. I would be the one suspicious of you. Why would he put this here?"

Hyunjoong took it from Nicole and inspected it, turning it around and around. Somehow, this ring seemed strangely familiar and he didn't know why. He noticed a carving instead and squinted his eyes, looking closer. To his surprise, he saw "영생" (youngsaeng) carved in tiny letters inside the ring. Eternal life...? What's this...?

"So? Would you care to explain this?" questioned Nicole, putting her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer.

Hyunjoong sighed and shook his head. "I don't know... Let me inspect this ring. I recognize it but... I don't know from where."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "You can have it. It's not mine anyway."

With that, the girl left the ring. Hyunjoong sat down at his desk, opening the lamp light to inspect the ring more closely. He caught sight of his own ring on his marriage finger and compared the two, they looked exactly the same. He slipped his own ring off his finger. Ever since he had traded rings with Nicole, he had never taken the ring off. Carefully, he brought it into the light and looked inside. Just as expected, his name was carved inside.

In a second, he had stood up and rushed out of the room. "Nicole! Nicole!"

The girl was walking down the hall and turned with a confused expression. "What is it?"

"Let me see your ring," he hurriedly said as he grabbed her hand and slipped the ring off, looking at it. The outside was the same color but the inside was different. It was silver inside, not gold, not to mention, her name was not carved on it.

Without wasting another second, he gave the ring back to his fiancé and hurried back to his desk, inspecting the two identical rings with the name carved inside. These two are definitely couple rings but why would Hyungjun have one? Why didn't I give it to Nicole? And why does it the word 'youngsaeng' in it?

His mind was full of questions and suddenly, he turned when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he said and in stepped Hyungjun.

"How is Hyunsaeng? Still asleep?" the boy asked, looking at where the toddler was dreaming.

"Hyungjun..." Hyunjoong started. Hyungjun walked over to him. The older boy showed him the rings. "Why would you have one of these?"

Hyungjun took one and looked at them. "It's just a keepsake I wanted you to have."

"Tell me why this seems to precious. How come when I see this word inside, I feel nostalgic yet this isn't even Nicole's name," Hyunjoong continued to interrogate, feeling suspicious of Hyungjun.

The younger boy sighed. "Don't ask me about your heart. Just realize that Nicole is your fiancé. If you want, you can keep it. If you don't want it, then throw it away. It's your choice."

With that, Hyungjun left, not giving Hyunjoong any valuable answers. Hyunjoong looked down at the ring and tightened his hand around it.