Hi guys <3
I kinda wanna just put this up and run but since it's been SOOOOOOO long I think you're entitled to an explanation. I'm really, really, reaaaallllyyy sorry that I've left you hanging for so long. There are two reasons: college (cries) and writers block. I have so much to study right now for my upcoming exams and it's insane. The only reason I'm updating now is because it's the easter holidays and I have two weeks off.
To be honest I've really struggled over the past few updates of this fic, unsure what to write now that I'm basically just wrapping things up, but now I've sat down and planned the rest of the fic, so I'm feeling less lost and it's definitely helped me to write this chapter so fingers crossed the upcoming ones wont be too difficult.
Anyway, please comment, upvote, subscribe, the usual. Just say hi if you like :D It'd be great to talk to you all again....

HERE YOU GOOOOO <3 it's only 2,902 words but something's better than nothing right? >_<

Btw you might wanna reread the previous chapter or something... XD it's been a while...

Lay POV

A few moments pass, spent staring in bleary eyed confusion at Joonmyun who’s somehow snuggled up in my arms, before everything I learned yesterday hits me again. I clench my jaw and scrunch my eyes shut, fighting to force back the fresh wave of tears and anger that arrives.

Opening my eyes, the sight of Joonmyun sleeping peacefully relaxes me, and I allow myself a moment to just calm down before thinking through what I’ve got to do today. As I struggle to order my thoughts, I reach up and brush Joonmyun’s fringe off his face, briefly wondering how to get up without waking him.

Eventually I decide to just do it really slowly and hope for the best. There’s a moment of minor panic when his breath hitches as I shift away from him but his breathing evens out again and I manage to get to my feet successfully.

I dress quietly, borrowing one of his shirts because I know he won’t mind, and sneak out to the bathroom to quickly wash up. I grab a glass of water in the kitchen before writing a short message to him on his fridge whiteboard and then quietly letting myself out.

I slowly make my way towards the train station, running through my plan and trying to order my thoughts. I avoid thinking of my father, anger and hurt becoming too overwhelming when I do so.

The journey to Kris’s apartment seems to go by too slowly, yet too fast and I feel unprepared when I’m outside their front door. It takes several minutes before I’m able to work up the courage to press the buzzer.

Tao’s POV

I wake up early the next day, unable to sleep due to worrying about Lay. We’d headed home after receiving Joonmyun’s text the day before, and had eventually just gone to bed early in order to avoid thinking too much. Today we have to meet with Kris’s father again. We’ve been told that Yuan is now in custody in China and that the court case will take place in a court in Beijing because Yuan is Chinese and also the majority of his crimes were committed towards and involving Chinese people, including us.

For now though, I decide to focus on getting through the day. I slip out of bed, tucking the duvet around Kris’s sleeping form, pausing for a moment to watch as he sleeps peacefully, and then changing my clothes and choosing a towel. I stop off in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and my Ipod, then head to the elevator.

As I step into the gym, I realise it’s been a long time since I’ve been here, too long. I feel a familiar eagerness building up in me as I put my stuff down and plug my Ipod into the speakers.

I slip into my old morning work out and cringe as I feel how my condition has deteriorated, muscles stiffer than I remember. Still, it could be worse and an hour later I’m sweating and happy, with a good ache in my muscles and a finally clear mind. I’m aware that I need to get back in shape and be good enough to do my job.

That reminds me, I need to ask Kris when he’s planning on visiting Joon and Taeyang. The two body guards had moved in together so that Joon could care for Youngbae more easily. A small smile spreads on my lips as I think of them. So far they’re doing well and I’m convinced their relationship is far from platonic but they’re not letting anything on so I’ll simply wait.

Back on our main floor, I step out of the elevator and am greeted by Kris who’s now awake. He comes towards me with faint relief in his eyes, “there you are,” he says, before snagging my exposed wrist gently and pulling me in for a soft kiss.

I kiss him back before pulling away and smiling, “I’m all sweaty, let me go shower.”

He nods with a chuckle and backs out of my way, placing a gentle kiss on my scarred wrist before letting me go.

I smile to myself as I head towards the bedroom. Little acts of affection like that are really important to me, reminding me that Kris loves me and thinks I’m beautiful regardless of my scars.

I’m just finishing up in the shower when Kris pops his head around the door and softly calls out, “Tao, Lay’s here. He’s in the elevator on his way up.”

I turn to him in surprise, “ok, I’ll be right out, give me a few minutes.”

He nods with a small, slightly strained smile and disappears from my view. I rinse off quickly and towel myself dry, heading into the bedroom to dress, specifically picking out a long sleeved black top in an attempt to hide my scars. I don’t think Lay needs to see them right now.

I head out, towelling my still wet hair, wondering how Lay is taking this. I walk in just in time to see him taking a seat opposite Kris in the lounge. He looks exhausted, dark rings under his eyes and face too pale. He stands up again when he sees me, immediately bending down into a deep bow and stuttering off a stream of pained apologies.

I rush over, tossing the towel to the side and gently placing my hand on his shoulder, tugging him into an upright position. I can see he’s struggling to meet my eyes and settle for simply pulling him in for a hug. True, we’ve never been close, quite the opposite in fact, but I’m not good with words and I can’t think of any other way to convince him that I don’t hate him.

“You have nothing to be sorry for Lay, nothing.”

He grips me tightly before pulling back, saying softly, “Joonmyun kept saying that too, but it’s hard to believe it myself. I just can’t stomach the idea that my father did all that to you. I feel like I should have done something to stop him.”

He sighs, sitting down and pulling me down next to him.

“What could you have done Lay?” Kris says, “You had no idea this was happening. Don’t put blame on yourself; you weren’t involved in this at all.”

Lay nods, as though trying to convince himself that this is true. After a moment he lets out another sigh and shifts in his seat, trying to get more comfortable. “What happens now?” he asks. “I take it my…my father is going to be arrested now? How soon? You said things were going to start happening today.”

I glance at Kris, then back to Lay, “we’ve been told that Yuan is now in custody.”

Lay closes his eyes, taking a deep breath before asking, “in China?”

I nod, “yes China. It’s been decided that the court procedure will take place in China. I’m afraid it’s not just this business with us that he’s on trial for.”

Lay nods in understanding and rakes a hand through his hair. “I should phone my mother at some point. Do you think she knows anything about this?” He asks, clear alarm in his voice at the thought of his mother being involved.

I shake my head, “there’s been no indication that your mother is involved, I don’t think she knows anything. Your father may have done some bad things, but he runs a legitimate business behind which all those things occurred. I think he would have been able to hide it from her.”

“Just like with me” Lay murmurs.

I just nod, unsure what to say, glancing over to Kris. Kris’s phone starts ringing at that moment and he shoots us an apologetic look as he stands up to take the call. I turn my attention to Lay, offering him a drink. He shakes his head with a weak smile, replying, “I think I’ll head back home soon, I need to ring my mother and I want to see Joonmyun again.”

I nod, smirking to myself at the mention of Joonmyun’s name. Lay spots my expression and swats at my knee with an indignant laugh, “I want to thank him for looking after me yesterday, don’t get any ideas.”

I just hum and nod indulgently, laughing when he rolls his eyes. It’s nice to see positive emotions on his face, even if they fade rapidly.

Kris returns soon after that, saying that his father had called with the news that he’s going to China today so we don’t need to meet him, but we need to fly to China within the week. “They’re going to handle our case first, take our statements in court and all the evidence, then we can come home again whilst they process everything. It’s going to be a long process.”

I nod to Kris, pushing away the fear of having to stand in court and talk about what happened to me. We’ve run through everything together plenty of times now, but it won’t be the same.

Kris seems to sense my nerves and sits down next to me, reaching out to take my hand silently. I give his a grateful squeeze.

“I’ve just had a thought. We should visit Joon and Youngbae today; we’ve got no other plans now so it would be a good time to go.”

Kris nods approvingly, “I’ll give them a call. Lay, would you like a lift? I didn’t see your car outside.”

Lay considers this for a moment, before nodding gratefully, saying “could you drop me off at Joonmyun’s place?”

I manage to keep a smirk off my face this time though Lay probably caught the look in my eyes as he rolls his eyes.

Kris seems slightly confused, oblivious to the reason behind our odd behaviour, though ultimately decides not to ask, getting up to call Joon.

When he returns, giving me a thumbs up, I stand, heading into our room to grab my bag and everything else we need, before returning. Kris is talking with Lay when I return so I head to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water, giving them a moment, then going to call the elevator.

They join me when the doors open and we all head in. Kris fills the silence by telling me how pleased Joon sounded on the phone. “It’ll be nice to see them again,” he says, “they’re getting better but I think they plan on taking some time out and training in a wider variety of areas.”

“That’s good,” I reply, “I agree, it’ll be good to see them and they should take some time off to work things out.”

When we reach the ground floor, we take the stairs down to the underground car park and head to Kris’s car. Lay gets in the back and I sit beside Kris. The drive to Joonmyun’s apartment is calm and quiet, the silence broken only on occasion by a soft word from one of us, as we head to another section of the city.

Lay sends a text to Joonmyun, letting him know he’s coming back over, and he’s received a reply by the time we pull up outside the front of the building.

Lay opens the door, thanking us. He hesitates to close it and I twist round in my seat, saying “don’t think about it too much Lay, and remember you’ve got lots of friends that love you and you can go to them if you’re not feeling great.”

He smiles gratefully, nodding, before bidding us goodbye and shutting the door. We wait until he’s pressed the button for Joonmyun’s apartment and been buzzed in before we pull away and head towards Youngbae and Joon’s apartment.

We use the sat nav as we’ve never been there before and surprisingly we arrive without getting lost. We’re surprised to see that they’ve bought what appears to be a small house rather than an apartment, even though we really should have noticed from the address, and exchange interested glances as we get out and head up to the door.

Youngbae opens the door moments after we knock and greets us with a grin, inviting us in and leading us to the kitchen where Joon is currently cooking lunch.

He twists round as he continues to work, saying “I hope you haven’t eaten yet, I’m making enough for four.”

Kris grins, “No we haven’t, and I didn’t know you could cook.”

Joon laughs, “well someone had to.”

Youngbae speaks up from where he’s sitting at the table, “he’s actually very good now. At the beginning, when we first moved in, his experiments were… traumatic.”

Joon glares at him, affronted, “excuse you, they weren’t that bad.”

Youngbae laughs, “no, ok they weren’t that bad and to be fair every time I helped I made things worse, but you guys are lucky, you’re getting the refined version of this particular meal.”

The comfortable banter between the two of them brings smiles to our faces as we join Youngbae at the table, enjoying the calm chatter and the nice homely atmosphere they’ve created.

It’s late in the evening when we finally leave, promising to come and visit again when we’re back from China.

Lay’s POV

When I enter Joonmyun’s apartment, he pulls me in for a quick hug, able to tell from my expression that things went ok, before dragging me into the kitchen and ing a plate of food into my hands, then meandering off towards the television.

I smile to myself as I watch him go, clearly having decided not to press me for details. I sit down at the table; eating slowly and wondering how go about questioning my mother.

A few more minutes pass as I stare at my empty plate before I sigh and just pick up my phone. She answers after a few rings, as usual, and I can tell instantly from the tone of her voice that she knows what’s happened to father. I’m tense for a minute or so before it becomes clear that she’s confused and stressed.

It’s difficult explaining everything to her, what father did to Kris and Tao and that he’s done so much more, but I it up because she has a right to be told by someone she can trust.

She sounds shaky when I’m finished but she seems to be taking it better than I did. Eventually she switches to the topic of the business, focusing on what she will have to do now that father is likely to go to prison, and I know she’s trying to find something that she can do to stop her falling apart. She may not really love my father but they’re married and I can’t imagine what’s going through her head right now.

I look up as I hear a sound in the doorway and see Joonmyun stopped there, unsure if he can come in or if he should leave and give me some privacy. I shake my head and beckon him in, letting him know it’s ok.

He comes over quietly and takes my plate and cutlery, heading over to the sink to wash them before drying and putting them away. I watch him as he busies himself with making drinks for us, gazing with interest as he stares into the cupboard for a moment before deciding on hot chocolate.

My lips twitch into a small smile of contentment as I observe the careful way he makes them; everything he does is done carefully, it’s in his nature.

I say goodbye to my mother and hang up just as he’s placing the cup in front of me.

He sits down opposite me, taking a cautious sip of the hot drink before asking, “are you ok?”

I gaze at him silently for a moment, wrapping my fingers around the mug and carefully considering this question. Right now I’m feeling a little lost, aware of how many responsibilities will fall on my shoulders now that my father is likely to be out of the picture for a long, long time.

I feel frustrated, angry that he’d even do something like this, especially considering how he must have known what impact this would have on my life too. It’s not like I kept my friendship with Kris a secret, he would have known.

It’s then that I realise, considering everything that I’ve learned about my father, that maybe I really don’t know him at all. It’s difficult to accept that the few things I’ve held onto over the years; that my father, although having always kept a certain distance, was a respectable man with an honest business, and that he loved my mother and me in his own way, are all untrue.

It’s a difficult thing to accept, and I know it will take me a while, but as I stare at Joonmyun, see the concern in his eyes and think of all my other friends who care for me, I realise that maybe I don’t need him after all.

A small smile spreads on my face when I reach this conclusion and I reach out tentatively, grasping his hand in mine and giving it a soft squeeze when I see him smile back. “Yeah, I think I am.”

There we go.... hope you enjoyed that and it wasn't too much of a disappointment after the looong wait.

Please comment and let me know what you thought, or just say hi :D

Also, in other news, I've just put up a Hunhan oneshot that I wrote in a random moment of inspiration. I hope you guys can check it out and let me know what you think <3 (insecure lol)     It's called Fight for me

I love you all and thank you so much for being patient with me.