Chanyeol sighed as he watched his boyfriend on the couch, paying all attention to the news channel. He got bored of the news a few minutes ago so he decided to take a shower but when he came out, Baekhyun was still on the couch, unmoved, and attention never faltered from the TV. He started to find it weird that the shorter male was obsessed with the local news and just before they headed into Baekhyun’s apartment, the said shorter male bought two different newspapers with the yesterday’s headlines.

The newspaper was even more boring than the news reported on TV. They were the usual economic and presidential news and Chanyeol still couldn’t get what in those things Baekhyun was interested. 

When the commercial came, Baekhyun turned his head around in search for his companion, whom he found digging through his stuffs in the fridge. “Aw, hungry already, big puppy?”

Chanyeol backed up and turned to the shorter male with a nod. He wasn’t exactly that hungry but he needed something else than the boring news.

Baekhyun’s place was small, just enough for a single person to stay in. The kitchen, dining room and the living room were all in one cubed room. There were only three other rooms for the bedroom, bathroom and small laundry room. There wasn’t much to do around and no unnecessary furniture and there wasn’t even a bookshelf because Baekhyun was never fond of reading books.

“I’ll just finish the news. Can you wait for that?” Baekhyun asked and the taller male pouted, earning a chuckle. “Just ten more minutes.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol couldn’t do anything but sit next to his boyfriend. Baekhyun cuddled him close and went back to watch the news for a few more minutes. When it ended, his boyfriend started preparing dinner while Chanyeol just sat on one of the chairs around the dining table.

Bored, Chanyeol tried to recall everything he knew about his boyfriend just to test how much he knows the other male.

Baekhyun had been living alone since after high school and the reason why, Chanyeol doesn’t really know. The male’s hometown was also unknown, as well as his parents name. Baekhyun found a job at the club as a singer since then even if he was under aged because he was found by an old business man singing at a party with his newfound band a few months before.

The thought of presenting his boyfriend to his family with such a background made Chanyeol feel disappointed not because Baekhyun had never stepped a foot in college but because of his parents’ very high expectations from him. He could imagine his parents’ faces when they find out that the only heir of their company was dating a low-class man.

Baekhyun is a very nice guy. Talkative most of the time and has a great sense of humor. The man isn’t involved in some dirty job either.

“Mind to share your thoughts?” Baekhyun interrupted his thoughts with a plate of fried rice, eggrolls and kimchi.

Chanyeol flashed a small smile towards the other who sat across the table. “Just thinking about meeting the parents. It kind of worries me. What if our parents won’t like us, being together?”

The shorter male nodded, lips forming a thin, straight line. “I’m an orphan. I don’t have parents.”

Chanyeol’s lips remained parted at the information. Baekhyun being alone since after high school made sense along with not knowing the parents’ names and hometown. “Then… how did you manage to live alone?”

“I got a job without even trying, you know.”

“But you’ve been alone and lonely.”

“I wasn’t exactly alone before and I was never lonely,” Baekhyun smiled.

“Boyfriends?”

“No, silly. I didn’t get a lot of boyfriends but I have a friend or sometimes I introduce him as my brother because we’re too close to that but biologically speaking, we’re not related. We grew up together since forever but he got married first and he’s gone.” Baekhyun’s face was visible with sadness. “Not gone, as gone, but gone because he’s missing.” His gaze fell on the table and to the TV that aired some kind of TV drama. “That’s why I pay attention to news lately, hoping to see someone missing being reported.”

Chanyeol remained silent, remembering that one event on the news about a big fire that got lots of residents homeless and many went missing and some even died in the fire. Maybe Baekhyun’s friend was one of them.

“His name is Kyungsoo.”

Married Kyungsoo? Kyungsoo as in Jongin’s fake husband? Chanyeol almost choked himself. “P-Pale guy with big eyes?”

Baekhyun looked up in surprise, eyes wide and hopeful. “You know him?”

Chanyeol was caught between a best friend and a lover. If he tells Baekhyun he knows where the missing Kyungsoo is, Jongin would be in a very big trouble but if he doesn’t, his lover will be forever mourning at the loss of his friend and remain interested with the news for nothing.

But if he had to do the right thing, it is to tell Baekhyun the truth so that his lover would be happy, Jongin would fairly pay for his recklessness and guilt, and Kyungsoo will find himself away from lies. Sehun, Luhan and him, Jongin as well, will not have trouble lying again.

I’m sorry, man. This is for the best.

The fake married couple was still sleeping when the doorbell kept ringing. Jongin woke up to find himself surprisingly cuddling the shorter male. It had been unusually cold that night and the thermostat didn’t work properly. He noted to call someone to fix it later.

The ringing came annoyingly that Kyungsoo sleepily groaned at the noise. Before it gets worse, Jongin came down to open the door to have his sight welcomed by Chanyeol who was looking so guilty and a shorter male who stared at him like he had done something very wrong (well, he did).

“Is this him?” The stranger asked Chanyeol, but eyes never left the tanned male.

“Yes, that’s Jongin,” Chanyeol softly answered.

Jongin raised a brow in confusion. “And you are?”

The unknown male didn’t answer but instead, scanned the tanned male with his eyes f