The ache that fell then was one heavy enough to break down every single individual wall that Minseok had carefully built for himself, crumbling them helplessly and piling into a mound of now pointlessly used energy and snapped efforts. 

Denial prodded at his thoughts at an almost constant rate, worry seeped deep into his veins, his heart throbbed even more painfully than the night before, and yearning for the one he'd allowed himself to love and loose just as easily had taken over his life.
 

"I'm going to terminate my contract with SM." Luhan had spoke softly that night before bed, almost hesitant with words still choked back in his throat. 

Hair was still damp from showering, blankets were ruffled, limbs were tangled, and the air was cool and comfortable that specific night. Minseok still remembered the faint smell of his own shampoo in his lovers hair, and the way the bare skin of their legs felt warm against one another's within the quiet darkness. But the words hanging between them in that moment had caused tears to slip from the elder's eyes before he'd even fully grasped what was happening. 

"I'm not happy here anymore." The sentence was filled to the brim with agony and truthful regret, and it hurt. It genuinely hurt his entire being knowing that the one person he'd given into, the very one he'd given his heart and trusted with every waking fiber in his body - the one he'd considered his brighter, other half for so long now - was not happy. 

Minseok wanted to be his happiness, his light at the end of the dark tunnel. But even he knew that it was hard living everyday like they currently were, and it wasn't good enough. It wasn't safe or healthy enough. 
 

They'd gone days without sleep before, days without a nice meal, and years without seeing their families. Groups were overworked and faced many difficulties in the business, but weren't permitted that much time to rest.

It was all about the money, and SM doesn't realize that in order to keep up their income, they also need to keep up the mental and physical conditions of the people making the money for them. Flying back and forth so often between concerts and filming had given Luhan specifically more health issues than SM cared for, and Minseok knew he couldn't handle much more. None of them could, really. But there was only so much they were allowed to do.

Minseok