Squeezing through the endless crowds of partygoers was definitely not Taeyeon’s kind of night adventure. She did rather snuggle under her blankets watching some sappy romance movies on television or laze on her bed till sleep arrived. It was worse when she had to struggle through towering blocks of people who smelt a mixture of perfume, sweat and alcohol.

She finally weaved out of the crowd and was about to sigh in relief when the loud booming of music caught her attention. One look at the long line outside the door was enough to have her in despair. It was just the start of her nightmare.

Bracing herself, Taeyeon flashed her ID as she passed by the bouncer, citing that she had to look for her friend. The bouncer stared at her weirdly as the petite lady bowed her head in embarrassment. She was definitely not dressed for the venue, considering how she had just got her workplace, but her outfit was not her priority. Quickly making her way towards the dance floor, she stood on tiptoes, hoping to catch any possible sightings of the brunette, but to no avail.

Muttering apologies and enduring the stares of the men and ladies around, Taeyeon tried to scout for a possible hideout of the brunette when her eyes caught sight of a booth at the far end of the room. Going along with her instinct, she threaded carefully towards it, hoping not to see anything that would taint her eyes.

Luckily for her, the brunette hair and familiar casual outfit the man had donned on came into view. Sliding into the booth, she gently tapped on the man’s shoulder, but the latter simply grunted and moved away. Looking around, Taeyeon wondered if it was possible to even heave the man towards the exit by herself.

She attempted to wake him up once more, only to be shooed away, citing that he was married and was not interested in one-night stands. While Taeyeon was glad that Hyoyeon was still the upright man who refused to take advantage of women when he was drunk, she still froze hearing first-hand from the brunette’s mouth that he was married. There was a sudden urge to leave him alone, but just one look at the number of bottles on the table, she knew he would be unable to get home in that state. The pub would be closing in a few hours and it was notorious to be known throwing drunks outside their building after closing time.

A quick search through his pocket and Taeyeon fished out a phone with a dangling keychain, an item that brought back memories from the past. It was a gift from her during their first anniversary together and she had made the present herself. Unfortunately, she had failed to consider the popularity of her then-boyfriend and made it a little too feminine for a boy to carry. However, Hyoyeon had reassured her and hung it proudly on his phone, ignoring the students’ whispers and his friends’ teases about it. Taeyeon smiled bitterly. She had never imagined Hyoyeon to be the kind to keep her gifts from nearly ten years ago in such good condition and much more to treasure it. If only, she did not break his heart.

Switching her attention to his phone, Taeyeon tried to search for a name that would scream his girlfriend or wife, as so he claimed to have. However, a quick scan through his contacts, she frowned at the numerous unfamiliar names. The crowd in the pub was starting to get wild and excited, and Taeyeon really wanted to get out before chaos reigned.

Randomly looking through his messages for a frequent name, she pressed the call button on one of the names but it had successfully flown into the voicemail. Left with no choice, she attempted to pull the man out of the booth when a waiter arrived at the table.

“You must be the person I called?” The waiter had asked to which Taeyeon gave a nod and a grateful smile. “He has been drinking non-stop since three hours ago near the bar counter. When he started to become tipsy, girls flew over to him like birds but he managed to shoo them away by showing his ring finger.” The waiter chuckled. “When I tried to bring him to the booth here, he kept mumbling about how he has someone he loved and would not betray her. He even tried to slap me, screaming that he was not gay either. It took a few other guys to bring him back here but even then he was shouting how he was not going to betray his love.”

“Thank you.” Taeyeon muttered as she smiled gratefully and turned around to look at the sleeping man. “Would you mind helping me to bring him to the car?”

—

The sun shined through the translucent curtains right on the sleeping figure. Snuggling into the pillow, he had wanted to ignore the glare, but it was disturbing his peaceful sleep. Reluctantly, his eyes fluttered open only to take note of a different ceiling that he was used to. His body jerked as he sat upright and was immediately struck by the ache in his head. Groaning, his eyes flew shut and his face scrunched up in pain. Landing back on the pillow, he tried to soothe the ache, hitting his head a few times. It took a while, but the headache slowly eased and his eyes opened once more. Gazing around the unfamiliar room, he noticed how the room looked rather cozy and warm with a touch of feminine. His eyes grew wide at the thought and immediately he checked his body, relieved that his clothes were still on him, albeit messy and crumbled. At least it was an unlikely possibility that he had not done anything ‘wrong’.

Slipping out of bed, he made his way towards the kitchen, taking time to admire how cozy the house was despite it being small. For some reason, the way the house was decorated reminded him of a particular someone, but he dared not pin his hopes on it.

Stepping into the kitchen, he was met with the sight of a petite lady near the stove, humming softly. He smiled at the sight, reminding him of a particular woman who used to do the same every time she cooked or rather, experimented with recipes.

“Hi.”

The lady turned around, a bright smile donned on her face as she greeted him enthusiastically.

“You are awake. Have a seat. Unnie is out running some errand so she will be back later.”

“Unnie?” Hyoyeon asked in confusion, to which the lady looked at him with a similar confused face.

“Yeah. She was the one who brought you back. Do you not remember who I am?”

Hyoyeon frowned, squinting his eyes as he searched his memories for a familiar name. Now that he had seen the lady closer up, the latter looked vaguely familiar, yet he was unable to place a name to her face.

“I-“

“Hayeon! Can you help me with the bags?” A new voice interrupted them. Hyoyeon turned around and came face to face with a person he was not sure he wanted to meet in the early morn - his ex-wife. While he was contemplating on his reactions, the latter had froze upon seeing him in her kitchen, clearly not expecting to see him that early morn. Upon seeing that awkward, frozen state the two were in, Hayeon skipped out of the room, shouting that she had an appointment and that breakfast had been cooked.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You brought me back?” The lady nodded stiffly. “Thanks.” A hand went up to his nape. “I didn’t say or do anything stupid, did I?”

Taeyeon smiled faintly at his question and shook her head, but memories of the previous night played in her head.

 

“Unnie?” Hayeon had woken up from her sleep, hearing the noises from the room beside hers. “Is that Hyoyeon oppa? Why is he here? Are you both together again?”

Taeyeon panted as she looked up to the wide eyes of her younger sister and shook her head. Hyoyeon might have gotten fitter, but he was definitely heavier than before.

“Then why is he here?” Taeyeon shook her head as she herself had been thinking about the question during the drive back home. She could jolly well leave the drunk man at the pub or simply call Max or any other friends of his to bring him home, yet here she was, bringing an attached man into her home, and into her heart.

“Get me a wet towel and some of oppa’s clothes.”

“But unnie-“

“Hayeon, please.”

Hearing the desperate pleas in her sister’s voice, Hayeon walked out of the room, leaving Taeyeon to deal with the drunken man. Deciding that it was easier for her to quickly undress the man so that Hayeon would be back just in time for her to wipe and change his clothes, Taeyeon started moving towards the top button on his shirt. Just as she was about to the first button, a hand came up and slapped her sharply on her wrist, causing Taeyeon to jump in shock.

“Hyo. Hyoyeon?” She tried shaking his shoulders, but he seemed to be dead asleep without any movements. That was when she decided to try once more. But just as her hand reached the button, her wrist was slapped again and Hyoyeon flipped his body onto his stomach, mumbling incoherently.

Taeyeon sighed at the difficulties of the task. It was simply to dress him down so that he could be more comfortable, why did the man have to make her task more tedious? Pulling out his shirt from his pants, Taeyeon set off to her task once more, wondering why she was being so patient with him. Pushing him over, she attempted to flip him to his front and succeeded but this time, she was pushed away when she tried to undo the button.

“Stop it!” Taeyeon jumped from the sudden shout. “How many times have I said I am married and I am not interested.” Taeyeon smiled bitterly at the statement. He was married. She replayed the sentence in her head. If he was married, she was supposed to call his wife instead of undressing the man at her house. By doing that, he made her feel as though she was the third party, which she technically was considering their divorce. “I love her so much. So stop touching me. I am not interested.”

She sighed. At least Hyoyeon was still the faithful man he had always been, while she- She stopped at the thought. Seeing Hyoyeon had always triggered her guilt, no matter how hard she tried to push it to the back to her mind and start over again. Clean slate. That was what he said, but she knew it was impossible. The fear, the guilt, the regrets would always return to haunt her. She had done wrong. She screwed up first.

Thinking about all those happenings made her feel unworthy of his love. What was she hoping for, thinking that he might be able to return to her side, but the truth hurt. He was married. He had moved on. So should she.

 

“Taeyeon.” A hand waved in front of her face. “Tae.” Taeyeon jolted out of her daze, blinking confusedly at Hyoyeon who seemed worried. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Came the cold response as the lady walked into the kitchen, her back facing the man.

“You were crying.”

“It was breezy outside. Some sand probably got into my eyes.” She hurriedly wiped her tears away, scolding herself for being so vulnerable in front of the man.

“No, you are not.” She could sense the presence of the man walking closer to her. She gasped when the man reached out to her shoulders forcefully and turned her around. “You are crying.”

“I told you it was the wind.” Came the retort.

“No it’s not. The trees outside are not even moving. How is there wind?” Taeyeon jumped at the loud voice as she casted her gaze downwards. Realising his mistake, Hyoyeon calmed down and softened his tone. “Is there anything wrong? Do you want me to call Hayeon or anybody?”

Hearing the concerned tone only made Taeyeon feel even worse. How could she even betrayed such a nice man like Hyoyeon.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She burst into tears to the startled man. Immediately, she was brought into an embrace as Hyoyeon rubbed her back and whispered soothing words in her ears. It took a while before Taeyeon finally dried her tears, realising that she was in Hyoyeon’s arms. Silently, she detached her body from his and wiped her tears away.

“I’m sorry.” She apologised. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s okay. Are you feeling better?”

She nodded her head, turning her back towards Hyoyeon, avoiding his eyes. He was married.

“I’m fine now. Don’t you have somewhere to go?”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“I-“

“I’m actually hungry. Hayeon said she made breakfast, so could we eat first?”

Taeyeon heard him moving back to the table as she frowned. Thousands of thoughts running in her mind. How could he be that relax in the home of another woman when he was married. He should be going home to his wife by now, and his wife most probably had made breakfast for him. Thinking about it made her frustrated as she turned around to face the man.

“Shouldn’t you be going home now?” Taeyeon asked angrily. Hyoyeon’s face contorted into an unreadable expression before he stood up silently, placing his chair back in its original position.

“I’m sorry. You probably had other things to do. And thank you for taking care of me last night.” Hyoyeon gave a bow and turned to his heels, making his way to the main door. Seeing the slumped back of the man, guilt rose within her. Before she could stop herself, she called out to him.

“You should have breakfast before you go.”

“It’s alright. I shouldn’t be interrupting you.” Taeyeon thought she could detect a faint smile on Hyoyeon’s face.

“No. I insist. I was just being cranky just now.”

It took a few seconds of observing the lady before Hyoyeon walked back into the kitchen silently.

Breakfast had never been so awkward with the duo sitting opposite each other, only to focus on their food with their head bowed low, but neither attempted to start a conversation. Both deep in their thoughts.

“Don’t you have to call home?” Taeyeon finally could not contain her curiosity. The man before her kept repeating that he was married, yet he was not acting like one and it was frustrating her to no end.

“Home? You mean my mum?”

“No?”

“My dad?” Hyoyeon looked genuinely confused. “I believe my mum and dad are not interested to know where I am. Neither would be sister be interested anyway.”

“Your wife.”

“My wife?” He looked shocked at the question as Taeyeon nodded. “I don’t have a wife.”

“You said you were married.” This time it was Taeyeon’s turn to be confused as the expression on the man brightened up into a cheeky smile.

“You mean this?” He held up his ring finger, to which Taeyeon nodded. “Is this what it was all about?” Taeyeon frowned. “You crying just now and pushing me away?” Hyoyeon burst out laughing. “I’m not married, neither am I attached.”

“But your ring-”

“Which you should have noticed is a couple ring I had with a girl almost ten years ago.” Taeyeon frowned, looking closer at the ring on his finger. Indeed, it was a ring that paired with the one she had kept safely in her wardrobe together with all the gifts he had gotten her. “I wore this to keep admirers away, so that I don’t have to deal with unrequited crushes.”

“You said you were married.”

“I was.” Hyoyeon smiled as he looked directly into Taeyeon’s eyes. “But I thought it would be easier to deceive myself that I am still married so that I don’t die of loneliness or from missing the person I love.” He stood up, walking towards Taeyeon as he grabbed her hands and squatted down, bringing Taeyeon’s attention to him. “I know I promised to make you the happiest woman, I promised never to make you cry, I promised to love you forever. Among the three, I’ve broken two. I’ve failed to make you happy. I’ve failed to not make you cry. You don’t know how hurt I was when I saw the pictures of you from the envelope. You don’t know how much it pained me to hear you sobbing from the room next door everyday. You don’t know how my heart broke to make the decision of divorcing you. But the one promise I’ve kept and will always keep, is that I love you.”

“Hyo… I’m sorry. It was my fault. It was all my fault.” Tears gushed out from Taeyeon’s eyes like waterworks as she poured out the guilt, the pain, the anger she kept all the years.

“No. It’s mine. If I had been more accommodating, if I had understand your situation, if I had not flare my anger at you, you wouldn’t have gone out and all these wouldn’t have happened. You don’t know how much I regretted divorcing you.”

“Then why did you do that?”

“Because I love you so much.” Hyoyeon reached out to wipe the tears on the lady. “Because I love you so much that it hurt so much to know that other men had touched you the way I did. Everytime I look at you, I couldn’t contain my anger. I wanted to hit myself for hurting you, punch the man who touched you, but I couldn’t. I did not want to take out my anger on you either. I’m sorry.”

Hearing the confession made Taeyeon wailed even harder. It was as though she could feel the pain Hyoyeon was going through because of her foolish mistake, drunken stupor. By then it was already difficult for Taeyeon to speak for all she could do was to cry her heart out. Feeling the anguish in her, Hyoyeon shifted and pulled the former into a tight hug while she buried her face into the warm body she had missed so much.

It took them nearly an hour before their cries calmed into sobs, and another fifteen minutes before it turned into sniffles. Even after they had stopped crying, the duo remained buried in each other’s arms, savouring the missed contact and longed feelings.

“Tae.” Taeyeon smiled at the soft voice that could only pronounce her name with such love and warmth. “Are you dating Max?”

Taeyeon looked up frowning. Her eyes were swollen and puffy and her nose was red with partially dried tears staining on her cheeks.

“I am not. I could not-“ She choked, tears welled up once more, threatening to roll down her cheeks.

“Hush…” Hyoyeon soothed her back and thumbed her tears away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“So you are not married?” Hyoyeon shook his head. “Not attached?” He shook again. “No girlfriend?”

“No. None of each, but I do have a crush.” Hyoyeon looked straight into Taeyeon’s eyes, hoping to portray the sincerity in him. “And my crush is you.” Taeyeon blushed shyly. It was as though they were in high school once more. “This time, let’s start over for real. Whatever that happened in the past shall be the past. I promise this time that I will try to understand you more, I will listen to your explanation, I will try hard not to make you cry and I will love you forever.”

“So clean slate?” Taeyeon broke into a small smile while Hyoyeon had a wide grin on his face.

“Clean slate.”

-END-

 

A/N: Now that I'm done with HyoTae. I kind of still miss their interactions, but HyoHyun has been interacting way too much! Should I? Hmm... Till next time!