The Kim trio are enjoying a perfectly ordinary Tuesday dinner with curious questions about Hyuna’s day in school interspersed by loud munching noises not from the preschooler at the table but the six-foot doctor. “Jongin, would you eat more quietly?” The tone in Kyungsoo’s voice is stern, but one look at his husband mid-chew with strings of noodles still hanging off his chopsticks, eyes large and pout in place from having been disturbed, has him instead cooing and mumbling “Never mind” under his breath.

Noticing the couple’s exchange, their daughter lets out a tiny laugh, concealing her amusement behind her napkin in an eerily mature way before speaking. “Appa can never stay mad at daddy. Appa thinks he’s cute.”

At this astute observation, Kyungsoo furiously blushes and would have choked on his food had he had any in his mouth. Jongin comes to his rescue by replying, “And daddy can never stay mad at appa too.” A sudden wave of guilt passes over Kyungsoo, but looking up he sees so much adoration in his husband’s eyes and he knows in that instant that Jongin truly meant what he’d said.

And for the millionth time (he thinks; he stopped counting), he thanks his lucky stars, because he really could not have married a more wonderful man.

---

Hyuna is tucked in bed and down for the day and Jongin is in the shower when Kyungsoo decides to step out onto their front porch and just take in the serenity of a quiet, starless night. He again feels so grateful to Jongin for standing by him through his moment of confusion, believing and trusting that their love is authentic and that in his innermost core, Kyungsoo really does only have devotion to Jongin. He briefly wonders if Chanyeol had similarly confided in his spouse, and hopes that Baekhyun had taken it as well as Jongin. Although as soon as the idea transpires, he realizes that knowing the guy, he probably wouldn’t have been so forgiving.

Kyungsoo closes his eyes, breathes in the chilly air, and then lingers for a while more before turning on his heels and making his way back inside. But as he does, he hears footsteps brush the asphalt of the street behind him. Turning around, he makes out the silhouette of a man – short, thin, and trembling, and as he comes into view, Kyungsoo lets out a small sound of disbelief.

Because in front of his house at this godly hour, tear tracks on his face glistening under the yellowing light of the nearby streetlamp, is no other than Park Baekhyun.

---

Minutes pass without neither man uttering a single word, not for anything else but the fact that they are seemingly incapacitated, in their shock, to know what to say. In all their recent encounters, they would beat each other to the first sarcastic remark, but the look of vulnerability, of desolation, marking Baekhyun’s face and entire being in that moment tugs at Kyungsoo’s heart and that pang of guilt that he’d felt just earlier resurfaces, evolves. He doesn’t dare ask Baekhyun what he was doing here; there simply is no need, so he pauses at the bottom step and sits down: a silent invitation for Baekhyun to join him, and one he feebly accepts.

Baekhyun situates himself a comfortable distance from Kyungsoo, both looking forward and remaining silent still, and then barely audibly, as if just a sigh, words escape into the frigid air. “I sent him away.” Kyungsoo fiddles with his fingers, as he is prone to doing in tense situations when he has absolutely no idea what to say. Baekhyun notices, a slight smile, the most one can smile at such a time, making its way on his face because he remembers the gesture. He continues. “I told him to sort things out on his own first, but now I miss him already. And I’m scared – scared that I don’t know where he is or how he’s faring, and I guess… I’m scared he won’t come back.”

Kyungsoo takes his hand (Baekhyun’s always had lovely hands), squeezes it, and for the first time in ages, looks at the other, really looks into his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. And actually, that’s not what I came here to talk about. What happened to us, Soo?”

“A lot. We’ve always been together, you know? Always together every step of the way; two little boys who found someone they could relate to and who knew exactly what the other was going through. When we were in high school, I remember actually feeling that we were so alike, and I guess that’s why I wanted to set myself apart, because I didn’t know myself anymore – who Kyungsoo was without our overlapping traits. I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

“On my part, I guess I got greedy. You know when we fought, how you’d asked me why I didn’t even let you get one solo. That was a really good question, Soo. I reveled in the glory so much that I didn’t stop to consider how you would feel. And you congratulated me every time so I made myself believe that you were okay with it, but I'm your friend and I should have known better than anyone else that you weren’t okay – that it wasn’t okay for a friend to hog the spotlight that the two of you had wanted equally to cast a light on you. And I swear I didn’t mean to fall for Chanyeol, but every time you talked about him with that glint in your eyes, I guess you sold him to me. And I’d forgotten after Junmyeon how amazing it was to be in love, and I envied that thrill.”

“A couple of years later, who would have known we’d meet again? And I didn’t do it to spite you because I also didn’t think I’d see you again after college, but Chanyeol was just so thoughtful and caring that it was impossible for me not to be swept into the romance. God, why does life have to be so hard?”

Kyungsoo nods at that before replying, “Life has always been hard for us. But you know what? It’s because we had rough childhoods that brought us together.”

Baekhyun glances at his and the other’s intertwined hands and then upward to see Kyungsoo smiling faintly at him. “And maybe it’s this rough patch in our marriages that’s going to bring us back.”

And there, on the Kims’ front porch, on an ordinary Tuesday night, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun had gone back to square one.

---

A/N: I'm back! Finally, that hell of a semester is over, so I can update more frequently now. Is this fic coming to a close? I'm not yet sure, but you can expect at least three more chapters.

PS The next chapter will be chanyeol/chanbaek-centric. :D