N saw Leo barged out from his studio and from the boutique. He tried calling for the other man a few times but Leo didn’t show any sign that he heard him. N decided to check out what made Leo ran and his heart stop when he saw the man inside the room.

“Jaehwan?” N couldn’t believe his own eyes at the man in front of him.

“No, I’m not Jaehwan. I‘m Ken from ‘The Star’ magazine. N right?”

N could only nod his head in disbelief and he tried to speak but no sounds came out from his mouth.

In the end, N brought Jaehwan to the café and both of them sat down in an awkward silence for awhile.

“I’m really sorry though. I didn’t know what I did wrong but Leo suddenly went out. I know I’m a newbie but I didn’t know I could mess thing up this bad,” Ken said sadly, he was looking very dejected and N felt pity for him.

“No, it wasn’t your fault. I mean it wasn’t something you did.”

“It was still because of me.”

Ken was sulking and he looked like a child that was refused from having candy. And in that moment N realized that although Ken looked sand sound the same as Jaehwan but he has a completely different personality than Jaehwan. But still N felt awkward talking to him because of how he looked. Just then, Hongbin came in time with their drinks.

“Hyung, here’s your order.”

“Thank you binnie.”

“Err, Ken why are you here?” Hongbin looked shocked when he saw Ken. Ken too wore the same shocked expression.

“You guys knew each other?” N asked incredulously.

“Ken was my cousin, hyung. But I thought Leo hyung was supposed to have an interview right now right? So why are you here hyung?”

“You’re his cousin?” N hadn’t realized he raised his voice until he noticed several looks being sent his way.

“I’m the interviewer that was supposed to interview him. But now my chances are ruined Binnie. What should I do??” Ken whined at Hongbin.

“You’re what?” Hongbin couldn’t believe all the coincidence. He decided to take a seat first.

“So,” N began, “How are you both cousins again?”

“We’re distant cousins. Hongbin’s mother married to my father’s uncle’s son.”

“Your father’s what again? Sorry, I didn’t catch on the last part” N asked in confusion.

“Anyways we’re still related hyung. But Ken lived with his family in Japan though and we rarely saw each other, only when there’s family gathering.”

“Yeah, but then I studied in here and had a job in here as you can see. Now I’m working as a new intern at ‘The Star’ magazine.”

“So you’re really not him then…” N whispered and part of him was relieved.

“Hyung, you haven’t told me what happened to Leo hyung though. Where is he? Is he alright?” Hongbin asked, sounding worried.

“Leo suddenly ran off after I introduced myself Bin. I didn’t know what was wrong though, he just suddenly disappeared,” Ken said desperately.

Hongbin looked from Ken then to N searching for an answer. Finally N decided to tell them the truth. Well, he just hoped Leo wasn’t angry with him but things had progressed into this. There’s no way he could solve them without telling the truth.

“Well, actually there’s a reason Leo ran off. You see, 5 years ago back when we’re still in Korea; Leo had a boyfriend named Jaehwan. They’ve been together since high school and they love each other very much. But then one day they got into an accident.” N had paused while taking a breath. Jaehwan was his best friend too and his death affected him for some length too although not as much as Leo. And he didn’t like to remember or talk about that day at all.

They were silent for a while then Hongbin who finally grasped the story whispered in disbelief, “Jaehwan died…”

N could only nod weakly at that statement. N couldn’t manage to finish his story anymore so he took out his phone and opened an old picture that was saved in there. He hadn’t realized the picture was there for a month until Jaehwan’s death. Apparently it was a selfie picture of him, Taekwoon and Jaehwan on his and Taekwoon’s high school graduation days. He couldn’t bear to delete that picture though so he decided to save it in his phone. Ken and Hongbin looked at the picture and both looked equally shocked at what they saw.

“No way,” Ken uttered in disbelief.

“He looked just like Ken,” Hongbin also said in disbelief.

“Yeah, so that’s why Leo ran. It must have shocked him to see someone so alike Jaehwan in front of him suddenly.”

“I’m really sorry though. I didn’t know. If I had known about it I wouldn’t have asked to come here. It’s because I’m a fan of L so I really wanted to interview him personally but looked at what I’ve done,” Ken said, his voice sounded hoarse and his eyes were watery.

“No, Ken, it wasn’t your fault. You wouldn’t have known about it anyway. We tried hard to bury everything about Jaehwan. After all, London wasn’t that big too. You guys were bounded to meet anyway; it’s just a matter of time,” N tried to console the other man.

“But I still felt bad. You guys worked very hard to forget about him and now you have to see him in me.”

“You don’t have to feel bad Ken. You only looked the same with Jaehwan but apart from that you both had very different personalities. Leo wouldn’t be that stupid too, we both knew Jaehwan was dead.”

“So, that’s why Leo hyung was always so reserved.”

“That accident changed him. He wasn’t the same as he used to be.”

“But why did he agree on the interview then?”

“Because I nagged him to,” N tried for a grin to live up the atmosphere and it worked. Ken and Hongbin chuckled at his answer.

“I’m sorry though it happens to you Ken,” N smiled apologetically but the other man only shook his head.

“It’s alright. I’m actually a fan though actually, I even wore one of the shirts Leo designed for the interview today.”

Ken looked proud as he showed them his shirt and talked on and on about how much he liked Leo’s design. Hongbin listened to him and even added some things or just agreeing with Ken.

“I bought one for each of my family too last Christmas. My mother loved the coat so much and has you saw the new scarves? I was planning to gift them to my friends and they were so going to love it.”

Ken was chatting excitedly by now and Hongbin looked amused enough not to cut him. Well, he sure loved to talk a lot. N could feel himself and Ken would be good friends. Yeah, he was so not Jaehwan. N took out his phone and checked it with worry. No messages and no calls, just as he has expected. Leo would want to be alone and N had known him long enough to give him the private time he needed. He just hoped that Leo wouldn’t be so depressed.

To : Taekwoonnie

Leo-ah, are you alright??? I’m really sorry about Ken though, I swear I really don’t know anything about it… I’ll explain everything to you when you come home, okay?? I might have dinner with the kids; I’ll text you the place later in case you want to come.

Well, that was all he could do for now. Ken’s voice startled him a bit and he quickly put his phone back inside.

“How about you N? It must be good to be friend with Leo.”

Leo was sitting in a bench at a park. He wasn’t sure which one though but he figured it must be close to his boutique. He had never come here and it was Ravi who led him here. Right, he met the other man again just now on the street. He felt embarrassed now because Ravi had seen him crying.

“We should stop meeting like this Leo.”

Leo was surprised when he looked up to see Ravi gazing intently at him. Well, his voice should have given him away but Leo was too busy with his own tears to notice it. Leo could feel Ravi took his wrist and started leading him somewhere but he was too tired to protest. He just lowered his head and followed the other man. After walking for some time, Ravi led him to a bench and made him sat at there. Ravi didn’t sit beside him though; instead he knelt in front of Leo so that his gaze was at the same level with Leo’s. Leo avoided his eyes though and tried to look everywhere else except the man in front of him.

“You could cry now.”

Ravi’s voice sounded a bit stern but aside from that surprisingly he didn’t judge Leo. Well, he tried to reason with himself though. This man was a stranger to him and they just met this morning so it was impossible for him to cry in front of him. But suddenly the images of Ken came into his mind then all he could see was Jaehwan and then without realizing his tears came out and he could only sobbed silently. Ravi didn’t mind him though. When his tears started to flow out he could felt Ravi moved to somewhere else. After some time, Leo lost the tracked of time as he cried and when it seemed like his tears had stopped so Leo tried to wipe his the tears from his face with the sleeves of his shirt. He was startled when a hand grabbed his and suddenly Ravi knelt in front of him again but his other hand held a handkerchief. Ravi gently wiped his tears and Leo blinked rapidly in shocked. When he had regained some of his consciousness, he quickly snatched the handkerchief with his free hand from the other man and managed to wipe his face himself. Ravi raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. He let go of Leo’s hand the stood up and left.

Leo clutched the handkerchief in both his hand and mentally cursed himself again. Why did he always embarrass himself in front of Ravi? Too lost in his thought, Leo didn’t notice when something cold touched his cheek and he yelped startlingly and glared at Ravi. Ravi only chuckled at his reaction and sat beside him.

“Here, drink this. I couldn’t find anything warm though.”

Ravi handed him a canned coffee and Leo stared at it for a while. He looked beside him and saw Ravi opening a can of soda.

“I guessed you prefer coffee right?”

Leo nodded appreciatively and opened his own can before taking a sip at his drink. He shivered a little when the cold drink entered his throat.

“You didn’t even bother to take a coat with you, don’t you?” Ravi asked, sounding amused while Leo bowed his head in shame. Well, he definitely forgotten about that, his goal was to get out from his studio as fast as possible. Although it was the beginning of autumn, but it was already afternoon and the wind was sure very chilly. Leo widened his eyes in shocked when he saw Ravi taking off his own coat. He tried to refuse but before he could open his mouth, Ravi had put the coat around his shoulder.

“I’m fine though,” Leo whispered softly while biting his lower lip.

Ravi stared at him for a while before looking away, “don’t worry, I don’t mind the cold.”

Leo opened his mouth again to refuse but Ravi gave him that looks again that said he didn’t want to argue anymore so Leo closed his mouth immediately. Well, it was useless trying to argue with that man. Leo huffed in annoyance and look around. The park was nice and there weren’t a lot of people here.

“Are you alright?”

Leo could hear the slight worry in there but didn’t think much of it.

“Yeah,” he whispered, not looking at Ravi.

Leo tried to peek when Ravi made no more sound and he found the man closing his eyes while humming softly. He realized that Ravi was still wearing the shirt from his boutique. The atmosphere was nice and oddly he felt comfortable at peace just sitting there. Then a thought from this morning came to him.

“You’re Korean?”

“Thought you forget about it,” Ravi opened his eyes and smiled a little but both of them didn’t press on the matter.

“Thanks,” Leo managed to say out, trying to fight his embarrassment.

“No problem but you cried like a baby.”

Well, forget about his embarrassment, Leo felt annoyed at Ravi’s statement. He turned his head beside to see Ravi smirking at him.

“Yah, how old are you?”

“Ehmm, 25.”

“I’m older than you, kid. Show some respect to your elder,” Leo said feeling proud.

“No way, you look younger though,” Ravi said with laugh.

“Hyung,” Leo said sternly.

“What?” Ravi stated, looking confused.

“It’s hyung for you.”

Ravi laughed very hard when he understood what Leo was trying to say. Leo, on the other hand though, didn’t feel anything was funny.

“No, Leo. I won’t call you hyung,” Ravi said after his laughter died down and he looked amused.

Leo was shocked and he didn’t know what to feel, but he wasn’t angry though. Ravi was such a mystery and he always surprised Leo with his action or words. It’s like he couldn’t predict what the younger man’s next action would be.

“How old are you then?”

“28.”

“I see.”

Leo could feel his phone vibrated inside his pant’s pocket. He took them out and realized that he had 2 new messages and both of them were from N. He completely forgot about N and everything and he felt slightly guilty. The first one was sent earlier and asked about how was he. The newer one contained the name of the restaurant that N and the other went. Actually he knew he had to deal with Ken sooner or later but he didn’t feel like doing that now. He knew it was weird but he preferred to stay with Ravi than going there.

“It was getting colder. How about we go inside somewhere to eat?”

Ravi’s suggestion took his attention away from his phone and Leo was shocked to say, it was like the younger man could read his mind. Ravi didn’t bother about his silence though and didn’t wait for him to answer as he stood up from his seat.

“Let’s go. You’ll have to treat me though.”

Leo blinked rapidly, trying to understand the situation but eventually he stood up too and followed Ravi.

To : Hakyeon

Ravi led him to a small restaurant near the park and on his way there Leo kept glancing around nervously because now that his head could worked clearly, he didn’t really recognize this part of town and he followed the man he had known for just a day. It was mainly his fault too because he didn’t like to walk around. He spent most of his time either burying himself in work at studio or in his apartment. Dealing with people was never his best skill and after Jaehwan’s death he didn’t feel the need to it anymore. N had always kindly step in for him when things involved other people so he could avoid them unless it was really urgent. The only other place he frequently visited was the café and people he could really talked to was either N, Hongbin or the staffs at his boutique.

“You should really stop walking while thinking so hard.”

Ravi’s words startled Leo from his thoughts and he fought the urged to glare at the younger man, instead of that he only stared blankly at the other. Ravi was looking at Leo with a raised brows and small smile. Only then did he realize that they’ve arrived in front of the restaurant’s door and Ravi was opening the door and waiting for him. They walked inside and quickly took a table for two. The restaurant was nice although it was a bit small and there weren’t many people in it so it eased Leo a little.

“I hope you don’t mind eating here?”

Leo shook his head as a response and the waiter came bringing their menu and waited for them for their order. After they ordered the food, both of them sat again in silence.

“You don’t like to talk, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Leo looked at Ravi and both of them stared at each other for a while before Ravi shook his head and let out a chuckle.

“Well, this was getting awkward. So, you’re the infamous L then? I still couldn’t believe myself.”

Leo could only nod his head and tried to hide his blush. He wasn’t very comfortable with compliment either too.

“But it fit you then I guess.”

Leo looked at Ravi, confused at what the younger man said while Ravi only gave him another smile.

“I’ve heard that L always worked with his initials and never showed up once. Nobody ever saw what he looked like or even if he was a she or not. And now you fit that image perfectly with how much you’re shy to talk.”

“I’m not shy; I just don’t really like to talk.”

“That’s what you told yourself.”

Leo was shocked at what Ravi said and the said man even had the courage to smirk at him. God only knew how that man could comfort him and annoy him at the same time. But at the same time it felt like he tried to break Leo’s cold image and he was unfortunately always succeeded in doing that. Deciding to ignore the other younger man’s last statement, Leo huffed in annoyance and looked around the restaurant.

“You’re cute when you’re annoyed.”

Leo blinked rapidly in surprised and was at loss of words. Ravi on the other hand laughed out aloud at Leo’s reaction. After the initial shocked though, Leo could felt his cheeks heated up a bit. He tried to glare at the other man though to hide the embarrassment.

“I’ll walk out of here right now if you don’t stop.”

Ravi’s laughter immediately died down but he didn’t looked threaten at Leo’s threat though. Instead he looked calm and only smile.

“Right, I’m sorry.”

Just then the waiter came with their food and the conversation was stop before Leo could answer. It was great though because he didn’t know what to say anyway. When the waiter had gone and they were already started eating Ravi decided to fill the silence.

“You don’t like to talk so I’ll just tell you something about myself.”

Leo nodded in agreement and continued to devour his food, to which Ravi only chuckled at.

“Like you already knew I’m a Korean but I moved here with my family since high school and I’ve never really went back again. I’m a composer though I’m not sure I’m good enough yet,” Ravi looked at Leo for a response but Leo was already excited when he heard about Ravi’s job.

“You’re a composer? So that meant you made the music and wrote the lyrics too?”

“Yeah, it was something like that.”

“That was very cool.”

“You think so? You like music too, am I right?”

Leo nodded and took a gulp of his drink before deciding to speak more.

“I love it and I always appreciated people who made their own music.”

Leo could felt himself blushed a little when Ravi looked at him with an intense look. It made him uncomfortable and he wondered if he said something wrong.

“Thank you, that was so nice of you.”

Ravi said after a while and Leo felt relieved when he heard them. Ravi returned a relax pose and drank his own drink.

“Would you like to listen to them sometimes later?”

“You would let me?” Leo was surprised when the younger man had said out the invitation and he couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Sure, but I’m not sure it was your taste though. What kind of music did you hear usually?”

“Mostly classic and ballad but I don’t mind hearing other genre too,” and Leo shrugged his shoulder to emphasize his statement.

Ravi smiled in gratitude and Leo found himself spending the rest of the dinner at ease. They talked more about music and Leo didn’t mind talking to Ravi at all. Strangely though, he felt loosen up enough to be comfortable around Ravi. And although he felt a little guilty, he hadn’t thought so much about Jaehwan at that time.

After dinner, Ravi decided to walk Leo back to his boutique. Both of them walked in a comfortable silence. Now that the silence is back though, Leo could felt thoughts about Jaehwan had started to come again. He hadn’t realized that Ravi wasn’t walking along side him anymore and when he realized, there was already some distance between him and Ravi. Leo looked back, confused to see Ravi staring at him intently again. The street was empty though so they could speak normally within the distance.

“You’re spacing out again,” Ravi sounded concern and it only confused Leo more than he was already.

“You did that too often and I thought whatever bothered you must have been the reason for this afternoon.”

Leo widened his eyes when he realized what Ravi was trying to say. Ravi was talking about his crying incident this afternoon. Leo bit his lip and looked at the ground. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Ravi all about it or not. Ravi had helped him though and it was only reasonable if he wanted to know why. But Leo wasn’t sure how much he could tell without another break down.

“I won’t press you if you didn’t want to talk about it,” Ravi said after a long silence and started to walk toward Leo. Leo made up his mind in those seconds immediately.

“No, stay there,” Leo whispered but it was loud enough because Ravi had stopped walking. Leo fidgeted with his fingers nervously and refused to look at anywhere beside the ground.

“There was Jaehwan and he…and he was…then…suddenly there were Ken and I…”

Leo knew he didn’t make any sense but he found it impossible to form any longer sentence. He could already felt tears in his eyes too. When he decided to take a deep breath and opened his mouth again, there was a hand patted his head which startled him. Leo looked up to see Ravi standing in front of him and Ravi withdrew his hand the moment Leo lifted his head.

“It’s okay; you don’t have to continue them.”

Leo could feel himself released a sigh and Ravi only smiled at that.

“Here we are.”

Ravi said the moment they neared his boutique. The light was still on though but the sign on the door already turned to ‘close’. It seemed like everyone was tidying up to go home.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home?” Ravi said, sounding worried and it made Leo wanted to roll his eyes.

“It was late and my apartment was near.”

Leo then took of Ravi’s coat and gave it back to its owner. They have argued again on the way back to his boutique because Ravi refused to take back his coat and Leo already felt guilty at the drop of temperature. In the end, Ravi still won though and Leo concluded the man could be stubborn as hell when he was determined. And that was something since Leo was actually a stubborn person too.

“Uhm, thank you for everything,” Leo felt embarrassed at himself. The dinner ended up being paid by Ravi too since he forgot to take his wallet out with him. He felt like the biggest idiot on earth because who is stupid enough to come out without a coat and wallet. He insisted to pay the younger man back though the next time they see each other, and he had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before that.

“You should go inside now, it was cold.”

Leo nodded and when he started to walk, he heard Ravi’s voice calling for him.

“Wait; give me your phone for a while.”

Leo although feeling confused, ended up taking out his phone and he could feel Ravi texting something with it. Shortly after that, his phone was being handed back and Ravi took out his phone to check something.

“It’s my number and I’ve already text myself with that so I had your number too.”

“Okay.”

Leo was speechless at Ravi’s forwardness but didn’t say anything else. He did need Ravi’s contact when he returned the other man’s shirt and Ravi promised to let him listen to his song later, so it was good enough.

“Go inside now.”