“Yoseob, where are you?” Daniel’s voice rang authoritatively in the smaller male’s ears. The taller male had heard his boyfriend calling out for another man, for Junhyung, and it pissed him off thoroughly. But the smaller male’s logical mind wasn’t in charge now when fear was eating him up. He was following his heart’s rule and right now, his heart didn’t want Daniel to be the one by his side. He didn’t want someone who always forcefully subject him to darkness to try to rid him off his fears. He didn’t want someone who think that his fear could be easily overcome just by “getting used to it” or “time will heal the pain.” He wanted someone else, someone who could understand him, listen to him and accompany him.

Yet, his voice was trapped like a ball tightly lodged to the back of his throat. He couldn’t call out to Junhyung for a second time as much as he wanted to and so, he remained seated alone on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. Then, he heard it again. “Try to listen to and remember only the good stuff.” Tears continued falling from his eyes as he found himself still incapable of speaking and all he could let out was a little whine, a whine that could barely be heard in the dark restaurant that was buzzing with confused and anxious murmurings. So soft was the little call for help, but the desperation and plea in it was crystal clear. Just two seconds later, a pair of warm arms enveloped him tightly from behind and he felt the smooth surface of someone’s lips grazing his right ear, “Your mother loves you so much, doesn’t she? What would the both of you do together?”



Yoseob frowned a little as he thought, but soon after, the corner of his lips twitched as he whispered back to the male whom he knew was Junhyung, “She used to tuck the blanket so snugly around me, thinking that I was asleep. But I’m usually awake, with my eyes closed, and am fully aware when she would join me in bed, wincing in pain if it was rough night for her, hugging me close to her.” Junhyung’s heart broke as he heard the slight faltering in Yoseob’s voice as he recounted his mother’s pain. However, he tightened his hold around him as he cooed in reply, “And you were safe. Even in the dark where you can’t see anything, your mother held you close and you were safe.”



The smaller male nodded, a new wave of warmth filling him up on the inside as he wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, “She would hum songs to me until she fell asleep. Her voice was melodious and soothing, it makes any bad day I suffered in school good again. Sometimes, I wished I could hear her humming for me again.”



“You can. It’s always in your heart. If you hum it to yourself while thinking of her, it would just be like her humming to you.” Yoseob kept quiet and Junhyung wondered if he had said something that is offending but before he could add on, the smaller male had already whispered, Junhyung noting the shyness in his tone, “Actually, I heard you sing once, at the very first apartment I hijacked from you. It was really beautiful…maybe, you could sing for me?”



The taller male chuckled deeply before clearing his throat and singing gently,

“I’ll be your sweet suite room, baby take a break. Softly close your eyes, come a little closer. I’ll be your sweet suite room baby take a break, baby don’t think about tomorrow, don’t think about anything.”



Just as he finished singing, he gave another chuckle before daringly burying his face into the smaller male’s soft hair and inhaling the invigorating, sweet scent. “So you were sneaking around and listening to me sing that day?” The lights was once again and Junhyung felt a warm bubbling in his stomach as he raised his head and saw the younger male facing down, leaning on the taller male’s chest comfortably with a tiny, cute smile on his face. Yoseob turned back to look at Junhyung and his smile grew into a cheeky grin, “Well, you weren’t exactly singing it very softly anyway.” 



Both males starting laughing amongst themselves, without any other colleagues paying any attention them as everybody was slightly disoriented from the blackout and both males were pretty much at a side of the room. However, a loud, purposeful cough interrupted them and when Yoseob saw the person of distraction, he quickly pulled away from Junhyung’s embrace, standing up rigidly like a surfboard as his eyes met Daniel’s blazing ones.



“You two looked…cozy”, Daniel snarled through gritted teeth as his eyes pierced through Junhyung’s one now, almost looking murderous. The taller male stood confidently and smiled politely, “I was doing a favour to a colleague and friend. Yoseob was very frightened by the darkness and I was just helping him in coping with it.”



“That’s my job”, Daniel barked as he stomped to Yoseob, disgruntled that the smaller male was still standing by Junhyung’s side and pulled him towards him. His arm s around Yoseob’s waist and the smaller male flinched as he felt that the grip was a little too strong for comfort. In fact, it hurt. Staring at Junhyung, he darted his eyes towards the exit in a wordless bid for Junhyung to leave them alone so that Yoseob could handle the situation. The taller male frowned, his inner self wanting nothing more than to pry the fingers of Daniel’s away from touching Yoseob but he knew that that was merely an invitation of more problems and troubles for the smaller male. Besides, he wasn’t the boyfriend. He was as he had proclaimed on his own, a colleague, a friend. 



Nothing more.



Forcing his undeterred back to bend, he gave a formal bow to his boss before hissing a goodbye and a see you tomorrow. Right before he turned his head away, towards the exit, his eyes were connected to Yoseob’s and he couldn’t help but allow a smile to stretch across his face. Even when he was worried, the smaller male still was a perfect illustration of adorability. Yoseob jumped a little at the smile, his lips curling themselves as he gazed at the handsome face turning away and the shrinking figure as Junhyung walked away and out of the restaurant. He was rudely awoken from his reverie when he felt a pair of lips urgently pushing against his. Placing his palms on Daniel’s shoulders, he stepped back and moved away from the taller male, staring at him in disbelief, “What was that for? We might be out of office but the people here are all my colleagues, can we maintain some professionalism?”



“What professionalism? Was that professionalism when you called out for another man? Was that professionalism when you had another man hugging you? Was that professionalism when both your faces were placed so closely to one another?!” Daniel was speaking in a low tone but the harshness was apparent. His fists were clenched so tightly that the veins on his arms looked like they were popping. The smaller male could see the twitching eyebrows of his boyfriend and he knew that it wasn’t a good time to challenge him. Thus, he stood aside silently, waiting and waiting for the hard breathing of Daniel’s to dissipate as it usually did. However, this time, things weren’t going as predicted as Daniel took slow but deliberate steps towards him. “Tell me. Who is he to you?”

 

Yoseob’s eyes darted away guiltily as he tried to weave a justifiable reason as to why he had called for Junhyung instead of Daniel, why he had wanted Junhyung’s presence more than Daniel’s. Even he himself was unsure why Junhyung had infiltrated his mind instead of Daniel when darkness fell on the room. Unable to conjure something sensible for himself, he decided to rationalize Junhyung’s actions instead. “He’s a close friend, and he has been there when I was trapped in a dark room before. He knew that I would freak out and that’s why he comforted me in that manner. He knew I needed it.”



“I’m not talking about that”, Daniel spat vehemently, “I’m talking about who is he that could make you smile so brightly after a blackout experience. You hated the dark and you have always trembled in fear for hours after the light comes back on. Yet, the moment the light was switched on, the moment I saw you, you were smiling and even laughing shortly after that. What can he give you that I can’t? Tell me! I’ll give it to you! Or is it novelty that you are looking for? Or were you too lonely when I was studying abroad and you are just using him as replacement? Tell me! I’ll fire him if I have to!”



“No!” Yoseob exclaimed in shock, “Don’t fire him. No, it’s not novelty. It’s not loneliness. He really is just a friend that I’ve recently know and got along so well with. Daniel, please don’t over think it.” The smaller male reached out and placed a cheek on Daniel’s shoulder whilst hugging him, hoping that he could calm his boyfriend down before Junhyung’s career is ended in such an unfair manner, “You are my boyfriend, Daniel. Nobody else.”



Daniel’s heart softened as he returned the hug, holding Yoseob tightly, “I cannot lose you, Yoseob ah. I’ll do anything to make sure you stay by my side so don’t test me, please.”



“I won’t, I promise. You are not losing me, I’m still yours.”



The taller male exhaled a long breath before pecking the smaller male on his cheek, “Good. Nobody can take you away from me.”



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“Are you really just going to accept all these without a fight?” H