He sat on the porch of his house, bathing in fresh sea salt air. From the distance, the sound of waves came dying against the rocks resonated in the silence. This place was his home, Jeju Island was his refuge, his haven when he needed a place to hide and his wounds close like an injured animal. His gaze lost in the blankness in front of him as he slowly sipped his warm tea. The beautiful summer sunset wasn’t even enough to catch his attention. His mind was unfocused and empty. Bitter words kept replaying itself as a mocking slap on his face.

“I’m sorry Jaejoong, to lead you on into believing that we can have a future together. I was in love with someone else and I still am; you’re just an accommodating replacement while she was away, an inconvenient infatuation because I was lonely.”

He brought one hand up, gently massaging his temple as if by doing so he could forget what happened merely a few hours ago. He was still numb after listening to his boyfriend of two years throwing this bomb upon him. The sound of boots against the wood made him look up, and he was greeted by the smiling face of his cousin who just came back from the stable after a long day of work.

“What a surprise, hyung! I thought you wanted to stay in Seoul a little longer this year.” Junsu said when he dropped his weight beside him on the swinging chair. With one smooth movement, he stole Jaejoong’s cup and drank it in one go to smooth his dry throat. He stuck his tongue out a little as he pushed the cup back into his cousin’s hand. “It’s hot! Who the hell drinks tea in the middle of the summer?”

“I put some food in the fridge, just heat it up. I’m going to bed, tired.” Jaejoong disappeared inside the house, leaving behind a surprised Junsu.

“He just ignores me…” He told himself unhappily that his cousin just turned his back on him.

The old wooden floor cracked under Jaejoong’s steps when he marched up the stairs, entering his room. He took the towel from the top of his bed on his way to the bathroom. He put it down beside the sink and reached out behind his neck to pull his shirt over his head, dropping it on the floor by his feet. He was about to remove his jeans when he noticed something different about his body. His normally flat stomach was slightly rounded, a small but pronounced bump.

He tried to calm down and not to make any ridiculous assumption. He couldn't even hear himself mumbling ‘it’s impossible’ under his breath while looking for his horm