“Oh my god, thank you so much,” Raina hurriedly pecked Yijeong on the cheek before bustling out the door, “Dokyun was busy and Kyungil is tied up at work until tonight and I’m running late for my flight. I’ll be back in a few days. You can leave as soon as Kyungil get’s home. I promise.”

               “Sure thing,” Yijeong paused and let the front door close in front of him. The newlyweds got a nice three-bedroom apartment so they could live on their own.

               “It’ll work, don’t worry,” Raina shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other, “go ahead.”

               Yijeong sighed and placed his two fingers on the pad in front of the door, the light flashed green and the door unlocked.

               “See, no different than mom and dads,” she grinned, giving him another peck on the cheek, “don’t do anything I wouldn’t consider doing.”

               Yijeong sighed again and closed the door before walking down the hallway in search of Eunjung. The young girl was laying on her stomach in bed writing on a piece of paper.

               “Homework already?” Yijeong sat down beside her, “you’re too young for that.”

               “It’s only one worksheet a week.”

               “You’re such a big girl, aren’t you,” Yijeong ruffled her hair.

               “No, it’s just easy stuff that mommy and Dokyun have already taught me.”

               “Eunjung, it’s just us,” he laid down on the bed, “you can call him like normal.”

               “Your hair’s gotten longer, Yiji,” she stood up and put the worksheet in her bag, “are you listening to grandma and grandpa?”

               “You know I’m not.”

               Eunjung narrowed her eyes, “what are we having for dinner?”

               They were just finishing dinner, macaroni and cheese, the extent of Yijeong’s cooking ability, when the front door opened and Kyungil walked in. It had been a few weeks since the wedding and the last time he’d seen Kyungil.

               “Hello, Uncle,” Eunjung said between spoonful’s of pasta.

               “Hey, I’m your Uncle. He’s your step-father.”

               Eunjung eyed Yijeong, “no, he’s not.”

               “That’s rude.”

               “It’s really not,” Eunjung carried her bowl to the counter, standing on her tiptoes to place it in the sink. She walked back to her bedroom leaving Kyungil and Yijeong alone.

               “How have you been?” Kyungil asked from the doorway, hanging up his coat.

               Yijeong scoffed, “nine months and a marriage to my sister and that’s what you ask me? How the do you think I am?”

               Kyungil’s face fell in genuine hurt but the doorbell rang before he could say anything. The dark-haired man reached behind him and pulled the door open.

               “Dokyun, what are you doing here?”

               “Raina said Eunjung wanted to stay over for the night, that alright?”

               Eunjung came back into the hallway sporting her bookbag and headed right for the front door.

               “What’s going on?” Yijeong shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the table.

               Eunjung grabbed onto Dokyun’s hand, “mommy said you two need to talk. She also said Kyungil is not my step-father.”

               “Are you ready?” Dokyun lifted the girl onto his back, “you’re getting too big for this.”

               “You just need to work out more, Daddy,” Eunjung wrapped her arms around his neck.

               “I’ll get right on that,” Dokyun waved goodbye to the two confused men and pulled the door shut. Kyungil sat down on the couch, making sure to give Yijeong his space.

               After a few minutes of awkward silence, Yijeong pushed his chair back, “well, if you don’t need me, I’ll be going.”

               “What if I do?” Kyungil said quietly, his words pitched with uneasiness and worry.

               “I didn’t actually mean it, it was out of civility. I’m leaving either way.”

               “Yijeong,” Kyungil’s voice was filled with guilt and Yijeong rejoiced that he was feeling horribly.

               “Don’t say my name.”

               Kyungil was still sitting on the couch with his back to him as he walked to the door. “When we got married everyone commented on how different our rings were. Have you seen your sister’s ring?”

               “Tell me why I should care.”

               Kyungil held up his hand showing off the thick silver band on his ring finger that nearly went from his knuckle to the first joint and the anger in Yijeong rose again. “Hers is gold, a thin little band with etching and a teal colored gem.”

               “I don’t ing care.”

               “Have you ever seen Dokyun’s necklace?” Kyungil cocked his head, from behind all Yijeong could see was his hair shifting.

               “No, but I’m guessing you’re going to tell me.”

               “I am. It’s a gold chain, also with etching and teal colored gems.”

               Yijeong shook his head, “yeah, so?”

               Kyungil turned around and rested his arms on the back of the couch, “will you do me a favor?”

               “Sure,” Yijeong felt he didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

               “My room, it’s across from Eunjung’s. There’s a little black box on my dresser. Can you grab it and bring it here?”

               Yijeong wanted to ask why Kyungil couldn’t do it himself but rolled his eyes and stomped down the hallway like a child. What was Raina thinking, she said Dokyun was busy. What did she even need him for.

               Yijeong grabbed the box and went back out into the living room, “I’ve got it. What do you want me to do with it?”

               “Open it, it’s for you.”

               Yijeong shook his head, “uh-uh, I refuse to take anything from you.”

               “I understand,” Kyungil looked absolutely devastated as he lifted himself off the couch, “that’s reasonable. You’re angry with me and Raina. I hurt you.”

               The tall man side stepped around the couch, “we hurt you, right? It was more of the fact that it was us, together.”

               “You both ed up on an astronomical scale, yes,” he threw the box at Kyungil.

               “It was the only way,” the brunette held onto the box.

               “The only way to what, Kyungil? with my feelings, totally mess me up? I was already a nervous wreck but now I can hardly function because I’m so pissed!”

               “Raina loves you, you know. She loves you so much she gave up her relationship.”

               “Obviously she didn’t,” Yijeong swung his hand out at Kyungil, “she got you!”

               “I don’t love your sister.”

               “That makes it even worse!”

               “We have a mutual understanding, Yijeong.”

               “Stop using my name,” he spat, “you don’t deserve it.”

               Kyungil brought his hands up to his forehead, he looked like he was about to cry, “I know. I just wanted you so badly.”

               “That my sister would do?”  

               “No, stop that. I just—any sliver of hope seemed worth it,” again, he found himself desperately grasping for the right words. The words that would calm Yijeong down or make him understand. It had been too long, seeing Yijeong in front of him was making him forget things.

               “Yijeong,” Kyungil fell onto his knees in front of the boy. He was at a loss, nothing was going to work anyway, Yijeong was too angry. Kyungil dropped his head and held out his hand with the box, slowly opening it, “it’s for you. I made it when I first thought I lost you.”

               “I don’t want it,” Yijeong answered not bothering to look down.

               “Yijeong, please,” this time Kyungil really was crying, tears fell fast, staining his handsome face. It took Yijeong by surprise. He’d seen Kyungil anxious before, even slightly happy but never the mess he currently was.

               “I don’t-Kyungil, I don’t,” Yijeong found himself unable to keep his eyes away from the object nestled in the velour fabric. It was a ring; thick and silver with a row of diamonds lining the center of the ring.

               “Stop trying to sway me,” he gripped the hem of his shirt, he didn’t want to believe Kyungil, he didn’t want to forgive him. Kyungil pulled the ring from the box and reached for Yijeong’s hand.

               “Yijeong.”

               “Stop…”

               “Yijeong,” Kyungil’s hand shook as he held the ring near Yijeong’s finger, “I love you. I love you so much. Please understand why we did what we did.”

               “I don’t, though.”

               “It was the only way. It was the only way we could be together, you and me.”

               Yijeong walked away and Kyungil retracted the ring into his palm, “Kyungil, just say it straight. This roundabout way of talking is just making me frustrated. What did you do? Why did you do it?”

               “At Eunjung’s birthday, Raina and I were talking. Well, her mostly. She loves you so much, she has these plans mapped out just for you, in case anything bad happens. She picked me because she thought I was worthy. The first day I met her, remember I whispered in her ear?”

               Yijeong grimaced.

               “I told her flat out I wouldn’t give up on you. No matter what. That was the only part of her plan that was missing. Someone to love you and make you happy. She gave up being with Dokyun so her and I could get married. Do you see why?”

               “No,” he shook his head.

               “The lock,” Kyungil rubbed his eye, tears still fresh on his cheeks, “I cant marry you but I could marry Raina. And you’re related so you can come into our house. There’s no cameras, no guards. Even if we cant be together out in the real world, in here, we can be together. We can be married.”

               “We’re not married, though.”

               “Only because we can’t. Don’t think for a second I wouldn’t have asked you.”

               “Ask me,” Yijeong frowned, “ask me or I won’t ever forgive you.”

               Kyungil almost fell back, “you still want me?”

               “Of course I still want you. You were everything to me, even when it became agonizing to be around you I still treasured every moment. I still remember ever little touch and how much I wished there was more. Kyungil, you made me fall hard and then it was over. I was alright with that because you said you’d never be with anyone else, you said I was the only one. Then you ripped my heart out, spit on it and crushed it when you married my sister. I want you to cry and be in as much pain as I have been for the past nine months!”

               “I understand, we shouldn’t have kept it a secret from you. I’ll never feel that pain because it wasn’t a secret for me. I want to take the hurt away, Yijeong. I want to make up for everything I’ve done.”

               “Then ask me!” Yijeong was shouting at this point, his own tears pricking at his eyes, “it’s a start.”

               “Are you going to say no just to hurt me?”

               “I might.”

               Kyungil took a deep breath and unclenched his hand, “this is the first time. It’s not like I asked your sister. It was already planned out.”

               “Kyungil,” Yijeong growled in a warning tone.

               “Yijeong,” he wet his lip nervously and picked up the ring from his palm, “would you- will you marry me?”

               Yijeong stared down at him memorizing his features, Kyungil’s stoic face contorted in unease and apprehension. He would probably never see this specific expression again. It was taking too long for him to answer and he knew Kyungil was dying inside. Even though he wanted the older man to know how torturous the last months had been he just couldn’t subject him to it. He loved Kyungil and even when he wanted to strangle him, he never wanted him to feel that emotional pain.

               The dark-haired boy stared into Kyungil’s eyes and smiled, the first genuine smile in ages, “of course,” he answered. Kyungil’s face lit up and he slid the ring onto Yijeong’s finger.

               “I love you, Kyungil, so don’t you ever hurt me or lie to me again.”

               Kyungil leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Yijeong’s waist, burying his head into the boy’s stomach, “I’ve missed you so much.”

               “Kyungil,” Yijeong ran his hands through the man’s hair, savoring the feeling, “I want you to kiss me, kiss my like you mean it, like the whole world is watching but it doesn’t matter. Show me you care and prove to me that within these walls, the law doesn’t matter. Are you mine, Kyungil?”

               “I am irrevocably yours, Yijeong. I love you, so much, more than anything,” Kyungil tightened his grip around Yijeong as if afraid he’d suddenly be taken away, “I want to give you every single thing you want.”

               “Before all that,” Kyungil continued, breathing in Yijeong’s scent through the fabric pressed against his face, “come here, love. I want to show you something.”

               He stood up and hesitantly reached for Yijeongs hand before pulling the boy down the hallway and into his room. He and Raina didn’t share a room, obviously, and his bedroom was sparse and empty.

               “I didn’t decorate,” Kyungil stood behind Yijeong at the doorway, “I didn’t want it to be my taste, I want it to be ours. I know it’s not a house, but it’s the best I can do.”

               “You’re so cheesy,” Yijeong snickered, “I like it. Are you asking me to move in with you?”

               “I would like that, yes,” Kyungil stared at his feet, “It wont be just us, unfortunately.”

               Yijeong spun around and threw his arms around Kyungil’s neck. The feeling was still foreign and he was surprised at how easily he was able to touch the older man. When Kyungil wrapped his arms around his body he never wanted it to end, it felt safe and calming. It was nice knowing Kyungil had wanted to touch him as much as he did, if anything the older man seemed more desperate than himself.

               “Yijeong,” Kyungil’s shuttered voice rang in his ear, “I am never going to leave you again. I would rather die and be cast into the pits of hell than be away from you for one second.”

               “You know that’s not reasonable,” Yijeong snuggled into Kyungil’s shoulder.

               “I love you, Yijeong. I don’t care what’s reasonable, nothing I’ve done lately has been. I just want to be with you. Every moment away from you was horrible, I know it was nothing like what you went through. I just kept telling myself every day that it would be worth it, everything would bring me one step closer to you. To being able to hold you in my arms like this.”

               Yijeong smiled, “I love you too, Kyungil and I want to be with you even if that means only a few people know the truth. I’m happy if I know you want me more than anything. If being with you means living with my sister, I’m more than willing to compromise, there could be worse things.”

               “Like being without you.”