Ryeowook couldn’t handle it any longer.

It was like a warzone back home. His mother and father were still arguing, shouting at each other, blaming and pointing fingers at each other. Ryeowook was helpless and the more time he spent listening in to their argument, the more he felt depressed, angry, hurt and afraid. He should have gone to school in the morning to avoid this. But then again, the chances of Ryeowook breaking down in the middle of lesson or the school hallways was pretty damn high.

It was silly but when Ryeowook attempted to sneak out of the house, he hoped that his parents would catch him in the act and stopped fighting and actually paid attention to him, lecturing or nagging at him for wanting to sneak out or something for sneaking out. At least that for once, would step them from shouting at each other, but when Ryeowook openly tried to sneak out of the house, his parents were so busy glaring daggers at each other that they had just looked past their son sneaking out. And so, here he was, out on the empty street of his neighbourhood. Shoving his hand in his pocket, Ryeowook pulled out the letter that started it all.

H did this.

H destroyed his family. His mother and father would never go back to how they used to be. This was not just another argument or disagreement any longer, this was the beginning of the end. Ryeowook remembered the look on his mother’s face, the look said it all. She was crushed. Not only had her husband cheated on her but her son had been keeping secrets from her too.

Ryeowook gripped the piece of paper, frustrated. Why? Why would someone do this to him? What had he done to deserve this? Who was H? He wanted answers, he wanted answers desperately right now. That was all he needed. H destroyed his family and Ryeowook wanted, no, he needed to find H and…

Do what, exactly?

Make him pay? Destroy H’s family? No, Ryeowook sighed, he would never do that. Revenge was not the answer, Ryeowook knew that. As tempting as it was, he knew it was wrong. Ryeowook believed in karma and it was enough. But still, he wanted to know who H was and why, why was he doing this to Ryeowook?

 “At that cutesy small ugly green coffee café thingy!”

Ryeowook’s eyes flickered with realization as he thought about everything Eunhyuk had told them the previous night. The latter had lost his wallet in a café, an ‘ugly green café’. Could it be… The Busy Bean? If Eunhyuk had been with Donghae, then it had to be there. Donghae loved the coffee there. It was one of their usual hang-out spots back with Heechul. If it really was The Busy Bean, then Ryeowook was in luck because he damn well knew who owned that café. Or rather… Whose sister did. Quickly pulling out his phone, Ryeowook and hoped to hell that the contact’s number was still the same after so many years. He pressed called and prayed for an answer from the right person. When he heard the familiar voice saying hello, Ryeowook took in a deep breath nervously.

“Hi… Kyuhyun…  Can we… Can we meet today?”

***

“Kim Ryeowook, is that you?”

Ryeowook smiled warmly at the lady behind the counter. Kyuhyun’s sister, Ahra, beamed at Ryeowook and rushed over to give him a tight hug. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook used to be neighbours when they were kids and Ahra had been like the sister Ryeowook never had. Kyuhyun’s family later moved away to another neighbourhood and even though Ryeowook and Kyuhyun drifted apart because of their social circles in school, Ahra still treated him kindly refusing to let any awkwardness stop her from caring for Ryeowook.

“You’ve lost so much weight!” Ahra gushed, pinching Ryeowook’s cheeks, “I miss those chubby cheeks!”

Ryeowook laughed, “How have you been, Ahra?”

“I’m good, what about you? I didn’t even know that you’re back from New York!” Ahra then looked between Ryeowook and Kyuhyun and broke into a bigger smile, “And the both of you are even talking now! Kyuhyun keeps complaining how much he misses you whenever he sees me.”

Kyuhyun, who was standing on Ryeowook’s side, frowned and said, “You didn’t have to tell him that, Ahra.”

Ahra giggled and continued bombarding Ryeowook with questions about his life in New York. Ryeowook, however, was not in the mood to do some catching up. At least not right now. He just wanted answers. Thankfully, Kyuhyun took the initiative to interrupt the conversation.

“Ahra,” Kyuhyun called, “Ryeowook is actually here to ask you for some help.”

“Ah really? What is it?” Ahra questioned, eyes looking down at Ryeowook worriedly. “Is everything alright?”

“Umm… Yeah. It’s just… A friend of mine… I think he lost his wallet somewhere around here. Have you seen it around?”

“A lost wallet? No, I don’t think so.” Ahra tapped her chin as he thought about it, “Are you sure he left it here? Why didn’t he just come back and find it?”

“He did but it was already gone so I was wondering if you or any of your staff kept it or something.”

“I don’t think we did, honey. If there was a missing wallet, I’d know about it by now.” Ahra shook her head apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

Ryeowook then chewed his bottom lips nervously, “Actually… I was wondering if I could… If I could… Just look at the CCTV footages from your security camera? I mean… My friend was really upset about losing his wallet.”

Ahra spun around to look at the camera that was set up on the ceiling behind the counter and then turned around to Ryeowook and nodded, “Of course! God, why didn’t I think of that? I just forget that thing exists sometimes!”

“Do you know when your friend lost his wallet?”

Ryeowook’s shoulder slumped. “I… Um… No.”

“Do I know who it is? Maybe I might remember what day it was if I was working on that day.”

“Umm, he just moved into town actually. He’s a friend of Donghae’s. Donghae was with him when he lost his wallet.” Ahra knew all of them and she especially liked Ryeowook, Donghae and Sungmin. And even Heechul.

“Oh!” Ahra nodded, “You’re in luck then! I was working full shift when Donghae dropped by with the new kid. They looked pretty close, you would have thought the guy was an old friend of his or something.”

“This month security footages are all in the back room’s security computer. Come on Wookie, I’ll show it to you. Kyu, can you cover for me just for a second?”

Ahra then walked into the back room of the café and Ryeowook was about to follow after her when he felt hands grabbing him by his wrist. Ryeowook glanced at Kyuhyun, confused.

Kyuhyun raised his brows, “The new kid, it’s Eunhyuk isn’t it? Eunhyuk lost his wallet?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re finding it for him?”

“Yeah,” Ryeowook blinked. “What’s wrong with that?”

Kyuhyun quickly released Ryeowook, looking away wearily, “I just… I didn’t realize that you were friends with him.”

Ryeowook tilted his head, confused by Kyuhyun’s sudden behaviour. Deciding that it was just nothing, Ryeowook shrugged and walked over to the backroom where Ahra was. She gestured Ryeowook over and Ryeowook took a seat next to her.

Ahra told Ryeowook, “Honestly, I was working all week during that time and I totally forget what day it was that Donghae and the new kid dropped by.”

“But it’s during that week’s footages?”

“Yeah, the footages are in this files for that week. Will you be okay if I get you to search for them on your own? I just remembered that I’ve to make some calls to some of my workers to get them to update their work schedules.”

“Of course, Ahra. I’m sure you must be busy.” Ryeowook nodded warmly. “You’re already helping me with so much.”

“It’s no problem, honey. I’ll get Kyuhyun to come in alright?”

Ryeowook nodded and Ahra patted his cheeks affectionately, “You’re such a nice kid, helping that new boy.”

Ahra got up and walked over to the door, calling for Kyuhyun. Before she stepped out, she looked back to Ryeowook and said, “I’m glad you’re back in Kyuhyun’s life, Ryeowook.”

“I… Umm…” Ryeowook stuttered, unsure of what to say and not wanting to disappoint Ahra by saying something wrong at the same time. Truth was, Ryeowook didn’t know if he was he really back in Kyuhyun’s life… The whole ride here was awkward. In fact, Ryeowook had only told Kyuhyun that he needed a favour from Ahra and… that was all that was said between them before this.

***

Donghae held in a sharp breath.

Oh dear god. Donghae clutched his chest, feeling his heart beating rapidly. Was that… Was that who he thought it was? How could she be back in town? When did she get back? Why was she back? Quickly tiptoeing around the corner of the bakery, Donghae pointed at a d