The last time Joonmyun saw his fiancé was the day before they were supposed to get married. Though his fiancé had been quiet and had rarely spoken a word to anybody, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then again though, there was nothing ordinary about this marriage. Joonmyun hadn’t dated her before they became engaged, hadn’t properly gotten to know her, it was only a few weeks before that he had finally learnt her name.

Despite that though, the wedding still presented him with a string of opportunities. It presented a chance to have his future finally secured, the idea of starting his own family firmly cemented in his mind. Sure, he and his fiancé didn’t know each other well, let alone love each other, but they could work on it. That’s what Joonmyun hoped for anyway.

Since being jilted, Joonmyun hadn’t heard from her. He heard about her a lot, especially at work with colleagues talking about him behind his back. His mum would constantly ring up asking if he was okay when all he wanted to do was forget about the situation and try to move on, then there was her side of the family. Always ringing, always asking, and in all honesty Joonmyun didn’t care about her, or her family. He wanted them all- his ex-fiancé included- to feel just as embarrassed and ashamed as he did. The only person who wasn’t getting on his nerves was Jongdae, and thank God, he was around often otherwise Joonmyun feared he would lose his mind.

“You should really consider changing your number if they keep calling you like this” Jongdae points out, Joonmyun declining a call from the same number for the fifth time that day

“If only it was that simple” Joonmyun replies, “Everyone has my number though, my parents, my brother, you, even work! If I changed my number it would be very difficult to change the records quick enough for the amount of times I’m needed in one place or another. It’s much easier to just keep the same number and ignore them every time they try to call” he finishes, the landline phone beginning to ring straight after, “Ignore that, it’ll go to voicemail” he says with a sigh.

“Surely this is borderlines harassment or something?”

“You’ve been watching too many crime shows. They just keep calling to ask me about her and I keep telling them I don’t know where she is. I don’t care where she is. I just think that if I ignore them they’ll get the hint that I no longer want anything to do with her and they’ll leave me alone… well, that’s what I’m hoping for anyway”

Sometimes Jongdae thinks he worries more for Joonmyun than the man does for himself. Isn’t he the least bit frustrated that his ex-fiancés family keep calling him like this? Is he not extremely tired because of the amount of overtime he’s been putting into work lately? Jongdae can see the dark circles, he’s pretty sure Joonmyun notices them as well and just chooses to ignore them. If he didn’t come around to check on his cousin all the time, he was pretty sure he would make himself ill and end up in hospital one way or another.

“What you need is to forget about all of this, put I all behind you. She jilted you, so what? I’m sure plenty of other people have been jilted as well. It’s time that you move on and start building your life again” Jongdae concludes

“And how do you propose I do that?” Joonmyun asks

“It’s simple, get out on the dating market again” Jongdae replies, “Before this when was the last you’d been with someone anyway?”

The last time Joonmyun had been with someone was about a year after he had graduated. It wasn’t anything serious and only lasted a few months, she broke it off with him and quickly found someone else to attach herself to. In fact, if Joonmyun thought about it, none of his past relationships seemed to last that long.

 “You know, I’d rather not answer” he says “Besides, I don’t think women would want to date me anyway”

“Why not? People in the family are always commenting on how good looking you are!” Jongdae exclaims, Joonmyun sending him a pointed look.

“They’re family, of course they have to compliment me, and rumours get around. I’m pretty sure that if I did show some interest in a woman she would have heard something about me from somewhere and would avoid me altogether” he replies with a sigh.

“Which rumour are we talking about? Rumours of why you were jilted? Or that you’re gay?”

“I’m not gay!” Joonmyun shrieks, eyes wide

“I never said you were. I was merely asking” Jongdae replies calmly, waiting for Joonmyun to calm down before suggesting they went out for a while. Joonmyun needed the fresh air, and whilst they were at it, he could also do with some shopping as well. If Joonmyun saw one more takeaway box lying around, he was pretty sure he was going to kill him.

“Are we in some kind of parallel universe or something?” Kyungsoo asks, taking in Yixing’s appearance as the latter cleans the tables and both of them get ready for opening

“What makes you think that?” Yixing asks back

“You’re usually the one who wears the bright and colourful clothing whilst I’m the one who usually opts for black… and yet it’s complete opposite! Look at us!” Kyungsoo exclaims, pointing between himself and Yixing before narrowing his eyes, “In fact, you’ve been wearing black quite a lot recently mister”

“Your point being?”

“You hate the colour black. I remember all of those times you would nag me for wearing such a “dull and lifeless” colour, and now you’re wearing it! What gives?”

Yixing remains silent and continues to clean the tables. There was no way Kyungsoo was going to let him live the real down if he found out.

“Wait” Kyungsoo suddenly pipes up, “Are you only wearing black ‘cause Joonmyun said he liked it or something during his visit the other day?”

It’s his blush that gives him away, and Yixing cringes when Kyungsoo groans and lightly slaps his arm. “I thought you were getting over him!”

“I-I was… at least I thought I was. But then he visited and I just… I crumbled Kyungsoo… I’m in too deep with this guy!”

Kyungsoo glares at his friend a moment before shaking his head and dropping the matter. If Yixing was going to do this to himself, then he wanted as little part in it as possible so it didn’t backfire on him in the future.

“I think it’s very hypocritical that you’re criticising me about this when you’re just as bad!” Yixing protests

“Oh really?” Kyungsoo asks

“Really! That guy who keeps coming back only does because of you! And I’ve caught you staring at him, so don’t deny it!”

Kyungsoo opens his mouth to protest, but shuts it again. Damn, Yixing had really caught him out there.

“If you ever feel like talking to him, his name’s Kim Jongin”

“… How do you know his name?” Kyungsoo asks

“I asked him” Yixing replies with a shrug of his shoulder, as if it’s the most irrelevant fact on the planet. Kyungsoo thinks otherwise, he can remember when Yixing had first arrived in the country and was extremely blunt when first learning the language. Kyungsoo had every reason to worry.

“You just went and asked him?” he asks, head falling into his hands, “Yixing what have I told you about being so blunt like that? That’s now how we do it here!”

“I didn’t do that!” Yixing defends, “I didn’t go up to him and be like “Hey, who are you? What’s your name?” I actually had a chat with him one morning after serving him. He’s really nice, actually. Recently moved here and works at the vets not too far away from here”

Kyungsoo knows exactly why Yixing is doing this, but he’s not going to give him the satisfaction that he wants by reacting the way Yixing expects him to. Instead, he takes a deep breath and turns to glare at Yixing. “Look, how about you leave me to own business and I’ll leave you to yours” he proposes, Yixing eyeing him carefully.

“And if I do, you’ll leave me alone about my Joonmyun situation unless I come crying to you?” he asks

“With the promise of beating him up if he breaks your heart” Kyungsoo adds, sticking his hand out, Yixing eventually reaching out to shake it.

“Okay, deal.”

The schedule of releasing chapters will probably be 2-3 days after the next chapter has been updated. That way, the rewritten chapters can get out of the way, and the newer chapters can come up (which I am in the middle of writing and am enjoying them very much) 

Until the next chapter!