A burst of laughter from Kihoon drew his attention towards him. The manager was slumped in his seat half-drunk, reeking of sweat. It was a relief that Sungjong had been commissioned a car with a separate driver to drive him to and from his schedules; Kihoon was too drunk for his liking and it happened way too often. There was no doubt he was a clever manager and he owed quite a bit of his success to him, but he didn’t exactly care about him.

“What’s so funny?” he asked irately, knowing the manager wouldn’t let up until he had gotten a chance to explain himself.

“The word around the town is people are wondering why you’re with Royals and not Star,” he slurred.

From his experience, he knew that ‘town’ meant people associated with the fashion industry. It seemed Kihoon had a keen ear for gossip and scandals related to the fashion industry which was both vexing and profitable.

“They think you two might have broken up.” He laughed again, slouching.

Sungjong didn’t reply. What did him working for Royals had anything to do with his and Myungsoo’s relationship?

Some people are too stupid.

“People are speculating when you two will announce your divorce,” his manager added before dozing off. His snores filled the car while Sungjong tried to fight sleep. He didn’t feel comfortable falling asleep with his manager passed out. Only two days ago, his car had been in an accident which his company thought had been premeditated to put him in danger.

“The popular you get, the number of your enemies will rise,” Kibum had warned him. “Don’t trust anyone, not even your husband.”

Sungjong had protested that Myungsoo would never do anything to hurt him, he wouldn’t even dream about it.

“Don’t be so sure,” Kibum had replied. “We overtook Star finally, this is a critical time. We’re leading in our sales and stock prices – Star will get desperate.”

Just like the speculations Sungjong had heard, Royals had climbed up to the number 1 spot of fashion magazines in Korea. When he had heard the news, he had secretly congratulated himself on not taking Myungsoo’s offer to join Star. At home, he hadn’t brought it up with his husband, no doubt it was a sore point. They had spoken as if everything was normal, but then again, he didn’t even know what was normal between them anymore.

He tried to tell himself that everything was alright between them but he would probably be lying. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was so wrong with their relationship – he just didn’t know and he cared not to know. In that way, his life was a lot less complicated. And he already had a lot of things to worry about, without having to worry about the most constant thing in his life.

“We’re not getting a divorce,” he stated firmly, glaring at his manager, who had woken up again, drooling. He only sniggered.

“Look, he has a son and everything, what can you possibly give him? If he wants to claim that he’s married to a model, he can just marry Jiyeon.”

Sungjong wanted to slap the smugness off his manger’s face but he knew he couldn’t. Besides, what the man was saying wasn’t that far away from the truth. A month ago, Myungsoo had held a party for the baby. Even though he had invited close friends and family only, the word had found its way to the media and tabloids were in a frenzy to publish the story first. The next day, when Sungjong had searched for his name on the internet, the first article that had popped up had a picture of Myungsoo – ‘Is Lee Sungjong going to raise Kim Myungsoo’s illegitimate son?’

The article had gone on to describe how the baby had to be Myungsoo and Jiyeon’s and how this would affect Myungsoo and Sungjong’s relationship. In the comment section, netizens were fighting if Sungjong should leave him or if Myungsoo should marry Jiyeon. Sometimes, other people seemed more invested in his life than him.

He would like to blame baby Mi for putting a rift between them. Anyone could see that ever since the baby had entered their life – or at least, Myungsoo’s life because he had never considered Mi as a part of his life – the couple had to struggle. One of their first serious fights had been about the baby and the baby was the reason Sungjong had been scared that Myungsoo might leave him.

Everything is his fault, he thought viciously. When will Myungsoo see what the baby is doing to us?

Sungjong’s mother had been surprised when she had heard about the baby. She had asked if Myungsoo was the real father and he had reluctantly replied with a no. At least that was what Myungsoo had told him, and he wanted to believe him. But no tabloids were willing to believe that.

Jiyeon had remained silent on the issue. She had returned from Australia to take up her place at Royals but when she had learned that Sungjong had joined the company, she had left. In a way, he had been relieved that he wouldn’t have the opportunity to see her again. There had been no news about her for some time, except for speculations, until paparazzi found her in Hong Kong. Rumours were that she had joined Star HK, which had made a successful launching, quickly making a name for them in Hong Kong.

Sunggyu was right, he said he’d be able to make the company a success.

It wasn’t that he regretted not joining Star HK – he could never work with Sunggyu after what had passed between them. He didn’t trust him at all. While he was working under Myungsoo, he had known his limits, but now, there was no one to check his actions.

“We’re here!” Kihoon suddenly exclaimed as the car came to a halt. Sungjong looked through the window – an unfamiliar building met his eyes.

“Where is this? I thought you were dropping me off at my home?” he asked the manager sternly.

“Myungsoo’s home you mean,” he reminded. “Anyway, there’s going to be a party here tonight and Lee Taeil will be here.”

“Lee Taeil? The fashion designer?”

“The one and the same,” Kihoon replied smugly, his eyes glittering. “If you can impress him tonight…”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence, Sungjong knew the consequences. Lee Taeil owned a fashion brand that had branches in 6 different countries. It would be a huge boost to his career if he could model for Clare, Taeil’s brand. There was a rumor that Taeil was a hard man to please and even though Sungjong had auditioned for his company several times with some of the top Royals models, they had all been unsuccessful. It was Kihoon’s plan to catch the fashion designer unawares when he had his guard down, in other words, when he was drinking and enjoying himself instead of judging critically.

“Right.” Sungjong pushed the hair out of his eyes and reached for his bag. He was exhausted and his make-up had last been freshened 5 hours ago. Groping in his bag for his make-up stuff, he stifled a yawn.

I’m doing this for my own good, he thought as he touched up his make-up, almost lazily. Myungsoo would probably be waiting for him. He had found his husband dozing off on the couch many a day, having waited for him to return home.

“Okay,” he muttered, as the chauffeur opened the door and he stepped out, straightening his clothes. “Show time.”

The pictures that headed every gossip tabloid and internet sites the next day were hazy and out-of-focus, but there was no mistaking Sungjong. As a model, his figure had been under enough scrutiny for people to recognize him by his body. So even though his face was thrown in shadows in the pictures, there was no doubt that it was him.

As for Lee Taeil, his face had come out clearer than he had thought was possible, considering the packed, smoky, dimly-lit club. His face was familiar to people since he had made appearances in fashion shows.

Truthfully, he didn’t remember the moments captured in the photos. After he had entered the club, he had approached the fashion designer. It hadn’t been easy – he seemed to have been surrounded by people, all of whom had wanted to gain something from him. In the end, he had managed to capture the middle-aged man’s attention. It hadn’t taken long to enrapture the fashion designer. He had kept on buying him drinks and Sungjong had just gotten drunker by the minute.

After that, his memory went blurry. He faintly remembered promising to dine with Taeil next Friday and Kihoon had then carried him off and brought him home.

Kihoon had called him in the morning to congratulate him on his ‘fantastic performance’ last night. He barely remembered what he had done but from Kihoon’s words, he realized that he had won Taeil’s favor. The photos however gave him a clue and it wasn’t something he was extremely proud of. It would have been one thing if he had been a bachelor but being married and all…

What’s done is done.

The pictures had lead to a string of gossip erupting everywhere. Some of the news websites reporting mainly media stories had picked up the gossip and surprisingly, had garnered much interest. Sungjong had thought that the fans of these sites were only into Kpop and dramas but turned out that in a matter of minutes, his scandal had topped all the other articles. Comments were flowing in rapidly; everyone had their own opinion to express on the matter. Curious, he had scanned a few comments but they had made his stomach turn, so he had stopped.

Considerable interest had been directed towards Myungsoo as well and websites were writing articles from Myungsoo’s angle, topping these with his best pictures. As a result, many netizens had started to fangirl over his looks and begun commenting on how unfortunate it was that such a handsome person was being cheated on.

I’m not cheating on him, he wanted to shout at them, but of course, they were out of his reach. His only real worry was how this ‘scandal’ would affect his career. He was on the rise and he didn’t want anything to hinder his path.

Right now, he was waiting to hear from his manager. Apart from being an efficient gossiper, Kihoon was also a good analyst and could correctly predict to what a certain or incident would affect his career. If the scandal did seem troubling for his career, he would have to do some damage control. There were different protocols he could follow; Kihoon would advise him on that. And if it turned out that the damage done to his career was lethal, Royals would simply wash their hands off of him and he would be nothing again.

No, he thought desperately as fear threatened to choke him. I cannot imagine not being a star. This is my everything.

When his phone finally rang, he answered with apprehension. Kihoon sounded a bit nervous - he had probably realized that this was his fault as well, since he was the one who had insisted that he meet with Lee Taeil at the club.

“But I didn’t tell you to grind on him like a e,” he reminded him before saying that Kibum had asked to see him and he couldn’t say anything more until then.

That was worrisome – if the chief editor was involved, it meant that the situation was quite serious. Would he be fired? No, he stopped himself from having dark thoughts and instead started to dress carefully. He applied make-up with purpose; if things came down to it, he would have to see Tao and appeal to him. There were no personal feelings involved in this. His survival was of utmost importance and he would have to do everything to achieve it.

Kim Kibum was calmly sitting at his desk. He never had a blank face on, it was easy to guess his mood from his facial expressions. When Sungjong entered the room, Kibum wore a frustrated expression, as if he had changed his mind last minute and was still not completely certain about his decision.

Sungjong bowed low and kept his head hanging until Kibum tol him to take a seat.

“I’m going to go straight to the point,” Kibum told him sternly. “We trained you to be a model, not a . Personally, I don’t mind what you do because it’s not my business. But if the news gets out and the scandal costs us money, it is my problem. The company invested quite a lot in you, so it won’t serve anyone any purpose if you become a washed up model.” He paused, placing his hands on the table. It was obvious that he was angry but the way only one of his nostrils flared told him that he was trying to control his expression. It could only mean that he wasn’t going to let Sungjong go just yet, that there might be a way to save his career.

“This is disgusting,” Kibum spat. “Do I have to remind you what I will do if you prove to be a liability to this company?”

“No, sir,” Sungjong whispered apologetically.

“I would have kicked you out.” Kibum suddenly banged his fist on the table. There was a crazed glare in his eyes and Sungjong couldn’t help but think how ridiculous he looked with his pink hair and purple bow tie. The moment passed however and the man visibly calmed down.  Slumping against the back of the chair, Kibum spoke in a calculated voice, “Lee Taeil-ssi called a few hours ago.”

Sungjong held his breath. The scandal affected the famous fashion designer as well so he was likely to take some action to control the damage to his image. However, whether that would harm Sungjong or save him, he couldn’t tell.

Please, just this once…

“He’s offered to work with you.”

“What?”

He thought he might have heard the chief editor wrong. At most, he had hoped Taeil to pay a certain sum of money to help Royals calm everything down. Or maybe he would offer to pay a fraction of the money that Royals claimed to have invested in Sungjong so that they didn’t fire him. Even though he recalled that he was supposed to meet the fashion designer on Friday, he hadn’t thought he had impressed the man so much that he would offer to work with him.

Kibum glared at the informal expression Sungjong had used in his shock to talk to him.

“Lee Taeil has asked to sign you on as a brand ambassador for his brand,” Kibum confirmed.

Once the news had sunk in, Sungjong let out the breath he had been holding. It was a difficult to feat to achieve what he had; it didn’t really matter how he had done it. It wasn’t like he was underqualified for the job – true, there were other models with longer experiences, but he had talent. He would never disappoint Lee Taeil.

“And…what about-what about the whole-”

“The whole fiasco that you started?” Kibum snapped. “It’ll be taken care of. Lee Taeil will probably tell the press that you two are dating.”

“Wait-what? I’m married!”

The chief editor’s features were set in stone.

“You should have remembered that before seducing a man at the club.”

“Look, sir, I’m sorry but-”

Kibum waved his hand impatiently.

“Tell people you and Myungsoo broke up. Divorce is not a big deal in this community,” he continued, now frowning. “Pretend to go out with Lee Taeil, even better, actually go out with him. That way you’ll earn more fees.”

 Speechless, he stared at his boss. He couldn’t just dump Myungsoo like he was nothing and run to whoever was willing to give him a better job and higher pay. He wasn’t that sort of a person.

“I can’t,” he said flatly, even though his heart ached at the possibility of losing one of the greatest opportunities of his life. “I love him.”

The chief editor only sneered.

“Funny how a man in love with someone else could flirt with a stranger so efficiently.”

“Please, sir-”

“Fine, then just pretend to date him. Let your husband know it’s an act. You have to do it unless you want to get kicked out.”

He froze. Could he just lie to everyone like this, pretending he and Myungsoo were over and he was ‘dating’ Lee Taeil? Everyone would know why he was ‘dating’ the fashion designer immediately. More articles would be written and more discussions would follow. He would be chewed out on every online platform.

“Can we not announce it officially? I will be going to lunch with Taeil-ssi on Friday, the paparazzi will pick it up for sure,” he suggested timidly. The other man seemed to mull it over.

Finally, he said, “Fine. We’re not going to make any statements yet. You better give a good show next week so that people forget all about this and just remember you on stage.”

Sighing with relief, he bowed low. He was well aware that this was the last chance he was going to get and he was not going to let his company down.

---

“Sungjong, I'm a bit worried.”

“About your job?” the younger asked nonchalantly.

“About your job, actually.”

Sungjong stopped midway while turning a page of the magazine he was scanning. Slowly, he turned his head around to examine him with a hard look.

“What do you mean?” he asked coldly, his posture reserved.

Myungsoo could sense the defensiveness in him. It could only mean that he had seen this coming and had braced himself for it. But there was no way he could ignore this anymore. He liked to think that he was understanding and considerate and while he usually didn’t pay heed to internet or tabloid articles, things had gone a bit too far.

Sighing, he ploughed on. “Look, I know what it means to have a busy job but I still make time for things. I have never missed an occasion no matter how busy I was – you, you missed the birthday party I threw for you. You even missed our wedding anniversary!” he exclaimed, hoping Sungjong could see why he was so desperate. “I don't know how long we haven't talked to each other properly.”  As he spoke his voice filled with bitterness.

Sungjong was like smoke these days, melting away at touch. And even if they had some time to themselves, the younger would ignore him, like right now. They were drifting apart, even though he was trying his best to hold them together, and it filled his heart with fear. Sungjong didn't seem like he cared at all though; in fact, he didn’t seem terribly worried about their relationship.

He can't be blind. He can see what’s happening to us...

“Are you telling me it’s my fault?” the younger flared, flinging the magazine at the wall.  “You're the one who goes on trips and works late nights.”

“I used to be the one,” Myungsoo corrected exasperatedly. “You came home last night at 3 am, drunk.”

Sungjong’s brown eyes glowed menacingly.

“I was at a party, it’s not polite to refuse the company who made me their brand ambassador... it was an official thing.”

Myungsoo’s heart crunched sickeningly as he stared at the love of his love. Right now, he couldn't even bear to look at him, but it was as if he was hypnotised and just couldn't look away. He felt that he was not being able to get to the younger. It wasn’t like he was trying to curb the younger’s career or social life, he was worried about him.

“Your manager dropped you off and he was no less drunk. Can you imagine what could have happened with him driving?”

His heart had stopped at the sight of the drunken man who had dared to carry Sungjong into his living room, bridal style, before dumping him unceremoniously on the sofa. If he hadn't already been so wasted, Myungsoo would have knocked him out.

“It was just one day,” Sungjong muttered, looking away. “I have another driver who’s never drunk-”

“You don't think about me, do you? I worry about you, I miss you.” His throat was constricted with tears as he spoke, trying to appeal to the person he loved. The rift between them could be dangerous. He dared not think what he would do if he lost Sungjong.

No, that will never happen, he assured himself. We will work things out. However, Sungjong didn’t seem to share similar sentiments. And if Sungjong was not willing to do this…It always takes two, like his grandfather had said, two to mend, two to break it off.

Rounding on him, Sungjong said angrily, “Well, you have that bastard son of yours to keep you company!”

Myungsoo gaped. The words he had just heart shook him from his core. For a moment, he thought he had misheard the younger. Even as he looked at him, his eyes seemed red-rimmed and cold, as if cut from two hard diamonds. His mouth was not delicately pretty like usual but was stretched into an aggressive sneer.

This couldn't be his Sungjong. This was not the person he had married or fell in love with for the second time.

He sighed in disbelief, feeling the onset of a bad headache tingling along his temple. His mouth moved but no sound came out – in fact, he didn’t know how to reply to that. Baby Mi had been his only comfort while Sungjong had been away from home, not bothering to call to check up on him or even answering his phone. He had tried to tell himself that it would get better; Sungjong would realize his mistake and he would change his way. But how would he change if he didn’t admit that there was a problem in the first place?

“I wanted Mi to be our son, I wanted us to be a family. You’re the one who pushed him away,” he spoke quietly. His throat was dry and as he stared at his husband, he couldn’t see any change in his cold, vacant eyes.

Shaking his head, Sungjong sprang to his feet.

“I hate that son of yours! I hate you! I hate that-” Before he could finish his sentence, his widened that made him look like he was in shock. The next moment, he let out a cry of anguish before collapsing on the floor.

Myungsoo didn’t reach him in time. His head hit the corner of the small coffee table as he fell, causing a thin trail of blood to creep down the side of his forehead. Myungsoo’s cry was stuck in his throat as he rushed forward.

“Sungjong, no, Sungjong!” he cried, crouching down beside him and shaking the younger by the shoulder.

His eyes were shut and there was no sign of motion. His gut dropped and he suddenly felt as if he was breathing in lead.  Sungjong’s face was pale and lifeless like a statue’s. He didn’t dare check his pulse. It had to be there.

“Mrs. Han,” he bellowed, “call the ambulance, hurry!”

His heart thrumming loudly, he picked up Sungjong in his arms, his mind dimly registering how light he was.

No, please, God no, he prayed frantically as his mind tried to push away the worst thoughts.