Siwon was sitting in front of Mr Robert Solomon, one of the best neurosurgeons in the world.

“Mr Siwon Choi,” he said. (He’s not Korean so he says the first name first.)

“Yes sir,” Siwon replied, shaking with excitement. He could jump out of his seat and hug the man in joy, but he restrained himself. He wished Changmin was here now.

“I want to offer you something: something people crave to have, something extremely prestigious, something that will pay you as much as you are worth, something that will change your life forever.”

Siwon gulped. Change his life forever? He felt something weird was coming, his stomach churned. “What is it sir?”

“I want you to work as a neurosurgeon here, in New York.”

Instead of dying of happiness and great luck, he widened his eyes. He was just given the offer of a profession in USA. That meant he had to stay here…and…that was what he feared the most. He promised to go back for Changmin. What will happen to him now? He can’t just say ‘no’. What Robert Solomon had said was right. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance: something 1 in a billion people got. And he was lucky to have it. But, he couldn’t take it. For the sake of the person he loved. If he agreed to this, what would happen to his Changmin? He knew Changmin would never leave Seoul for New York. Now, Siwon was stuck in the middle between profession and love.

“Oh…” was the only thing that could be heard.

The doctor seemed to have gone outrageous. “‘Oh’? Well, is that the only reaction from you? What’s your answer Mr Choi? Don’t forget, we will provide a home for you here.”

“I…I need a little time to think about this,” Siwon said lowering his head.

Solomon sighed, then leaned back, “Alright, I’ll give you time, but not more than 24 hours. I can’t believe you need time to think about agreeing to such an opportunity.” He said. He was bewildered to the furthest extent of bewilderment.

“Thank you sir.”

~At Siwon’s hotel room~

Siwon lay on his bed. His blessing turned out to be a curse. He closed his eyes. Changmin appeared.

He remembered all the times he spent with Changmin. That boy had occupied his mind every single day after he had met him. Especially when he left. His love was growing and growing all the time, but it seemed Changmin didn’t realise anything or tried his best not to realise. Was he ignoring him? Was he avoiding the facts? Why couldn’t Changmin just jump into Siwon’s arms where he would be protected and loved forever? Why couldn't Changmin tell him, "Don't go. Don't leave me. I love you."

“I love you Changmin. I love you so much…”

If Changmin had said that, he would immediately stop wondering what to do. There would be no space for consideration after that.

Then he remembered his profession. He couldn’t believe his capabilities. He would be able to live so comfortably here with so much prestige and fame. But was that what he wanted? Didn’t he want Changmin more?

He recalled his parents, HeeChul and his aunt and uncle always cheering him on to be what he wanted to be. But he also remembered his mother saying, “‘Your job is to bring Changmin.’”

Siwon clenched his shirt. His heart wanted Changmin over his profession. Yes. He made his decision.

He called his eomoni again, “Eomoni,” he said, “I’m coming back.”

=#=

“Thank you for the offer sir. But I want to practise in Seoul.”

“What?!” Solomon exclaimed. Then he calmed down, “I told you before. You will have fame, prestige, money, home, etc. You are one of the best in the world as we see it. I think you should accept it. People rarely ever get the chance, and you are dejecting it?”

“I’m sorry sir. I have personal problems,” he said.

“Your family doesn’t approve of this? They want you to stay with them?” he asked.

“No! My family is proud of me. They want me to settle wherever I wish to…and I wish to go back.”

Solomon sighed. “Alright, it’s your life, your wish. But remember this: our doors are always open for you. They always will be open for Siwon Choi to come back,” he reassured.

“Thank you Dr Solomon.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yunho banged on Changmin’s door. Changmin ran to open it.

“What is it hyung?”

Yunho lunged forward and hugged him. Jaejoong shouted out laughing, “You’re killing him Yunho!”

Yunho let go and said, “Siwon-hyung is coming back~” he said slyly and smirking.

Changmin blushed. “Really?”

“Yes my nam dongsaeng. He was offered to work there, but he said ‘no’ right in the doc’s face.”

Changmin’s eyes dilated again, “He was offered there?”

Jaejoong pulled the older man out, “Yes. NOW will you go and greet him at the airport? It almost seems like you don’t like the airport. You never seem to like to go there to say goodbye or something,” Jaejoong joked.

~Airport~

Siwon forgot his luggage and dashed towards Changmin. It almost looked like he was going to attack him, but instead, he threw his arms around him and embraced Changmin.

“I missed you so much Changmin-ah!” he said. Then he looked at Eomoni and Abeoji who looked like they were proud of him, which they were.

He smiled at them and bowed.

Changmin smiled, “You’re Choi Siwon, you’re supposed to be gifted.”

Siwon laughed. Yes, he was gifted. He was gifted with Changmin.

“But you should have stayed there.”

Everyone stopped laughing. Siwon spun around, not believing what he just heard. Did Changmin just say that?

Changmin looked down, “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you just threw away. Why did you hyung? You should have accepted it! Just imagine how bright your future would have been!”

Changmin tried hard to smile at a disappointed and almost fainting Siwon.

“I…came back…for you…” he said, almost whispering as he could not find his voice.

Changmin tried to hide that from everyone, “You should have stayed there.”

Everyone knew it, but Changmin, as a young man who constantly made mistakes, tried to hide it and act as if he felt nothing for Siwon.

Siwon’s heart cracked. Anger and grief washing over him like floods, he decided he would stop right there. Yes, he was still in love, but now, he decided to give up. After what Changmin said, he was definitely not doing anything for him again. If that’s how he felt, if he didn’t want to love him, then let him be.

Jaejoong furiously turned Changmin to himself. With big angry eyes, he whispered loudly, “What are you doing?! He came back for you! It means he loves you!”

Changmin looked down again, and then at Yunho who was frowning at him and gesturing at him with his eyes. Changmin looked at Jaejoong again, “I don’t know. All I know is that he should have stayed there.”

“Okay. I get it. You’re right Changmin. I should go back. Don’t worry, I won’t bother you again. Just wait for a week or so while I make my arrangements…”

With that, he gripped his suitcase and headed for the car. Changmin stood there, frozen. What did he just do?!...

~-~-~-~-~-~

Taeyeon sighed in frustration. “You are stupid Changmin. Just plain stupid.”

Junsu, Yoochun, Jaejoong and Yunho were at Micky’s, the environment extremely gloomy and dull. The last customers just left. “Well,” she continued, “I guess you are still a child. Still young. Still making a lot of mistakes. But this one,” she looked at him, “was the biggest mistake in your life.”

“And Siwon-hyung was one to fall for it,” Yunho said. He looked like he was ready to break a table, so Yoochun patted him to calm the burning fire down for his table’s sake.

Jaejoong came out in normal clothes as he was done for the day, “What has gotten into him?”

“I think he’s scared.”

Everyone looked at Junsu. “What?” Yoochun asked.

“I think he’s afraid to admit something so serious,” Junsu said, this time looking at them. “Firstly, he’s just 20. He’s not even Jaejoong’s age and one year can make a lot of difference. Plus, I think he’s scared because of our parents and stuff. You know, no matter how much support you give, there’s always that bit of fright dwelling somewhere inside. If you compare Jae with him, then you can see that Jae had nothing to be scared of. And also, Changmin never led a life that depended a lot on him unlike Jae. He was in that type of a situation for only five years and then he came to a rich family. Another point is that he still remembers his initial beginning. His past still haunts him probably. And the fifth and most important reason to me is that Siwon-hyung is way older than him, and although he loves him, he’s afraid to lead a life with him. They barely know each other and we all know that. Even though they became very close, the gap of 6 years of UK is still there. He’s not ready yet. He’s young too and he can’t make good enough decisions, so maybe he thinks their relationship won’t last forever. From Siwon’s point of view, he can take care of Changmin more than perfectly and he is ready to make a two-people family with him. But Changmin? Again, he’s just 20… I think, yet another point would be, that the fact that they are both of the same gender makes him think it’s wrong or something. He knows that now, it’s not much of a matter, but there are people who will hate him because he loves another man, himself being one. Changmin is still a child no matter what you say, and these things will kill him inside.”

Jaejoong sat beside Yunho. “I think that’s right. I think that’s what’s going on in Changmin’s mind right now.”

Yoochun eyed him, “Wow…you seem to know a lot… How do you know all this?”

Junsu didn’t answer. He just walked away. Yunho and Yoochun looked at Jaejoong.

Jaejoong closed his eyes, “He had a brother. He was a year younger than him. And he was in love with another man older than him. His parents didn't accept it... But the brother died… Last year.”

They both gasped. “What?”

“Accident. Junsu's whole family died. Don’t talk about it with him.”

The room was silent

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ Whoa… so now Siwon turns away from Changmin…what happens next?

Sorry for making Junsu have a dead bro :’( Last minute decision.

Thanks for reading and comment!