A/N: Hi readers, I realise this chapter is a little short but its something. Been going through some personal stuff, i will try to update again soon. For now, read and enjoy with my love.

“Sooyoung?”

Ryeowook blinked twice as if his eyes were somehow deceiving him but no, the young woman who turned around happened to be the very same girl that he met earlier this week. Sooyoung lips curled into a smile at seeing Ryeowook, she instantly felt relieved she wasn’t marrying some middle aged stranger, she walked up to him and hugged him, making the slightly shorter male blush at the contact.

“So I guess we are going to be husband and wife, it’s like fate had meant for us to meet that day.” Sooyoung beamed happily

Her parents and Ryeowook’s were satisfied that both their children seemed to like each other, which made the arrangement a whole lot easier for both parties. Ryeowook could only nod and hide his dismay with a fake smile.

How could this happen?

Just when Siwon and I were finally getting somewhere, he thought as he looked around the room. His future in-laws and parents were ecstatic while Sooyoung looked to be in complete bliss. He felt guilty that this marriage will be a big lie on his part, Ryeowook didn’t want to hurt Sooyoung, she was such a gentle and king young woman who had a bright future ahead of her and to enter this marriage with false hopes would only break her and he did not want that.

“Mother, Father? Can we talk in private?” Ryeowook squared his shoulders and stared directly at his step-father.

Thankfully Sooyoung and her parents decided to leave, they made their excuses and left the room with Yesung showing them out. The butler came back to the office and stood beside Leeteuk and Kangin.

The silence was nerve-wrecking for Ryeowook, he clenched his fists to calm his nerves at what he was about to say. His step-father raised a brow.

“So what is so important that you kicked out your future wife and in-laws?” He asked with a frown, Ryeowook swallowed and looked up at his step-father.

“I can’t marry Sooyoung, she is a nice girl but I won’t do it.”

“You can’t or won’t? What prompted this change of heart?” His step-father walked around his desk towards him, stopping within arm’s reach.

Ryeowook felt like he was going to pass out, he never imagined he was going to come out to his parents this way.

“I’m in love with someone else and I want to be with him.”

Silence enveloped the room again, Ryeowook glanced at his mother sitting quietly in the corner, and the shock of what he said was etched into her features. Leeteuk was gazing at him with pity, sympathy and pride in his eyes while Kangin gave him a reassuring smile, Yesung had given him a thumbs up and a wink.

Ryeowook hadn’t noticed his step-father close the gap between them until he felt a hand grab him roughly by the collar of his shirt, almost choking him. His shocked and fear filled eyes met with his step-fathers’, they were just like Leeteuk’s except instead of being kind and gentle, they were cold and angry, disappointment was evident in them.

“Listen well boy! If you want to remain in this family, you will marry her!” His step-father threatened, his jaw clenched tightly.

“No.” Ryeowook managed to breathe out, the grip on his collar got tighter and his step-father shook him violently. He heard Leeteuk yelling for his father to stop in the background, his vision was spinning from being shaken.

“Maybe I should beat the gay out of you!” His step-father yelled, letting go of his collar and raising his fist.

Leeteuk was at his father’s side in an instant and held his father back away from Ryeowook, Yesung held onto Ryeowook as he was a bit unsteady on his feet while Kangin stood in front of them to shield Ryeowook.

“Father, let him be! If he doesn’t want to get married then so be it, you can’t force him to do something he doesn’t want to do.” Leeteuk told his father in a firm yet respectful tone.

His father pushed him away and headed out of the office, giving Ryeowook a glare on the way out. Ryeowook watched his mother get up and went to her, he reached out to take her hand only to have one of them slap his cheek. Hard.

“Mother?” He choked out, eyed widened in disbelief, his mother had never laid a hand on him before. She moved away from him and looked at him, what he saw in them made the blood drain from his face.

“Why couldn’t you have been normal?!” She spat and left the room without giving him a second glance.

Ryeowook stood frozen, tears slowly ran down his cheeks making the sting from the slap burn. He couldn’t believe the way his mother had looked at him, disappointment, anger, contempt had been in her eyes, there had been no love or compassion. His heart ached at the knowledge that his mother hated him, his legs were shaking uncontrollably. 

Arms came around his waist to hold him up as they gave out, Ryeowook held onto the person in front of him like a lifeline, recognising the cologne of his brother and let out everything as he cried into his chest.

“I’m sorry, Ryeowook.” Leeteuk whispered, holding his brother closer, Kangin gave Ryeowook a hug from the back.

“It’s gonna be alright, Wookie.” He said as Ryeowook sobbed harder.

Yesung watched on, still shocked that Leeteuk’s father had gotten aggressive with Ryeowook, it irked him that he had been understanding when Teuk had come out but had been ready to beat Wookie moments ago. He knew without a doubt that Ryeowook’s mother will never forgive her son for being gay and defying the obligations of the family.

Seeing Ryeowook so broken right in front of him made his chest ache, Yesung pulled out his phone as he came a to decision, it would be best for Ryeowook to never come back. Going back to the rooftop apartment wasn’t an option either since the step-father was the one who actually owned it but Ryeowook didn’t know that. Yesung went down the list of his contacts until he found the one he wanted and left the room to make the call to the one person he knew could help Ryeowook.

~~~~

Zhoumi was preparing the guest bedroom for Ryeowook when he heard a knock at the door, expecting it to be his friend, he opened the door with a smile but it faded when he saw Junsu standing there instead.

“Aren’t you gonna invite me in, Zhoumi?” He smirked as Zhoumi sighed, moving to let him in.

Junsu sauntered over to the sofa and sat down, folding one leg over the other, his arms spread out over the back of the sofa. Zhoumi closed the door and turned around, seeing that Junsu had already made himself at home. He didn’t want to sit near him and opted for leaning against the wall instead.

“Why are you here, Junsu?” He asked getting straight to the point, he didn’t want Junsu in his house any longer than he had to be and he didn’t like the look on Junsu’s face, it was the face of someone who had all their ducks lined up.

“I heard your phone call with Yesung,” He began, his eyes were twinkling with triumph.

“You tapped my phone?!” Zhoumi screeched, glaring at Junsu, no wonder he looked so damn happy.

“And a good thing too but that’s not the point. The plan has changed, well your part.”

“What do you mean?” Zhoumi gulped

“I mean that since Ryeowook will be staying with you, it’s the golden opportunity I’ve been waiting for. You will gather as much information from him as you can and while you are at, dose him with this.” Junsu explained pulling out a small vial from his pocket and putting it on the coffee table.

Zhoumi hesitantly picked up the vial of clear liquid, examining it.

“What is it?” He asked naively thinking that it might be a sedative of some sort.

“It’s Liquid Arsenic.” Junsu said casually

“You want me to poison my best friend?! That was not part of the deal!” Zhoumi put the vial back on the coffee table, stepping away from it.

“You will do as I say or your family in China will pay for you insolence.” Junsu smirked as Zhoumi remained quiet and got up from the sofa, he stood in front of Zhoumi and caressed his cheek. Zhoumi flinched and took a step back, Junsu laughed maniacally and headed to the door.

“Don’t feel bad, Zhoumi. You won’t kill your best friend, just make him very sick. Add two drops to his meals, it’s odourless and tasteless, he won’t notice a thing. Bye bye partner.” Junsu said mockingly before opening the door and leaving.

Zhoumi sank down to the floor, fresh tears spilled down his cheeks. How had he managed to get caught up in Junsu’s plan for revenge? Was there really no way out of it? The thought of poisoning Ryeowook made him sick and cry harder, he didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to be a part of Junsu’s sick games but his family in China were counting on him, he was their only support.

It broke his heart to put his family first before Ryeowook, maybe when it was over he prayed that Ryeowook would forgive him and try to understand why he did it.

Ryeowook POV

Trying not to cry as I sat the car while Teuk and the others grabbed my things from the apartment proved to be harder than I thought, this whole situation was so border line cliché, obedient son comes out of the closet and gets kicked out for it.

The whole time in here, I only want one thing right now. I wish Siwon was here next to me but I can’t call him and tell my problems, we just got together. Wait, are we together? Did I make a fuss on the hope that Siwon and me will be together? He never actually asked me to be his, we shared one kiss that was the most memorable and amazing thing in my entire life.

Should I tell him? No

I’ll get settled at Zhoumi’s place, maybe I’ll tell him but for now, Siwon can be blissfully ignorant of my personal life. Strangely enough, the tears have stopped since I’m thinking about Siwon and not my family drama.

“You finally stopped crying?”

I look up at the face poking through the window, Yesung gives me a smile but it doesn’t crinkle his eyes so I know he’s only smiling to cheer me up.

“Yeah, finally. Is Teuk and Kangin finished?” I asked him

“They’ll be down in a sec but I have to go, I’m wanted back at the house but I’ll call you in a couple of days so just focus on work and don’t worry, Ryeowook. We’ll fix this, trust me.” Yesung said confidently and gave me a hug before he left.

I watched him drive away in the sad excuse of a car my parents gave him to use in his own time. I don’t know how or why Yesung puts up with our family or our drama, he could have quit ages ago but he stays and I’m grateful for that.

Five minutes later, Teuk and Kangin come down from the apartment with the last of my things and we head to Zhoumi’s place.  

~~~~

Siwon laid on his bed while Hyukjae was reading on a chair next to it, he knew something had happened between Ryeowook and Siwon since he couldn’t keep that goofy smile off his face.

He seriously considered asking Donghae to get the full story from the newbie on Monday, it was weird and oddly different to see his brother look so happy. After thinking about it some more, Hyukjae put the down the file he was reading, grabbed a feather stuffed pillow and without warning threw it at Siwon’s face. Siwon let out a surprised yelp as it connected with his face.

“Yah! What was that for?!” Siwon demanded, sitting up with a frown. His face had a tinge of red from the pillow, Hyukjae hit him again.

“You were smiling man, it was creepy.” He shrugged and then showed a gummy smile.

The frown turned into a small smirk as Siwon also grabbed a pillow from behind him.

“Oh please, you have the same creepy smile every damn day, monkey boy.” He accused before tackling Hyukjae and smacking him with the pillow.

Both men were laughing hysterically as the pillows busted and filled the room with little white feathers, they also didn’t notice Donghae standing in the doorway with a guest looking very amused since he watched the whole thing unfold.

Siwon was the first to notice Donghae and quickly got off the bed, pushing Hyukjae to the floor in the process. Both of their gazes went to the girl standing beside Donghae, both smiled in recognition.

“Sooyoung?” They exclaimed at their cousin and hurried to the door, enveloping her in a hug.

“When did you get back from the states?” Hyukjae asked her, releasing her and pulling Donghae to his side. Sooyoung smiled at the action.

“A couple of days ago, I had to sort out some stuff for university before I could come visit you guys.” She told them, her eyes twinkling.

Siwon suddenly remembered being in high school and trying to keep all the boys away from Sooyoung, she was beautiful and popular. That had caused a lot of heartache for Siwon in those days. Seeing her now, so mature, made him proud.

“Tell them the news Sooyoung.” Donghae insisted, clapping his hands together excitedly, Hyukjae looked at him like he’d gone mad.

“Oh and I’m getting married. It’s an arranged marriage and I met the groom today.”

Sooyoung stared at Hyuk and Siwon, who were gob-smacked.

Their 21yr old cousin was getting married to a stranger? What was going on in their uncle’s mind when he decided this? An arranged marriage to a total stranger had a lot of risks, beside lack of interest and attraction, it could be damaging to both parties.

“So who is the poor bastard that Uncle has chosen for you?” Siwon asked.

Sooyoung put a finger to her lips and shook her head.

“It’s a secret, you will see him on Tuesday night for dinner.” She revealed only making her cousins more curious as to who her future husband was. Siwon shrugged his shoulder and sighed in defeat.

“Okay, I guess I can be patient for two more days.”