howon has a loud neighbour. a loud neighbour that lives above him and howon isn’t sure if he’s lucky or not. he’s lucky because it’s not moans or whatever that he could hear. he hears a beautiful voice. a beautiful voice that at first he could barely hear from when he was cooking up instant ramen. moments later he was standing on a chair in a useless attempt to try and get to hear the voice any better.

he slipped off and broke his nose.

sunggyu is the one who has to help him to the emergency room and howon refuses to tell him down he exactly landed face first and ended up with a broken nose. you don’t really tell people you were trying to listen to someone singing above you. if they were living in a country that required a large payment for hospital visits then he would probably try to sue the songbird he has for a neighbour. but he can’t now, besides, court is a strain.

when he’s back (too many hours later) with a properly cared for nose, he finds himself in bed and he wonders who the songbird is. his previous neighbour never sang or is it the same neighbour who has discovered he has a singing talent? but then again, his previous neighbour was a woman, with two kids. the songbird was a man (he thinks).

he sounded weird with a broken nose, sunggyu likes to point out. howon frowns and pushes past the guy. he has work to get to. work as in paperwork. being an editor isn’t necessarily the funniest job, in all honesty, it’s just paperwork – there’s nothing else to it (occasionally going home to an author and bothering them about a deadline).

once, it was a thursday, howon found himself standing outside texting outside his door. he just wanted to finish off the text until a certain scent passes by him and he lifts his gaze from the lit screen to watch the person walking by him. howon meets the guy’s eyes as he makes his way up the stairs. later that night, howon hears the same singing from a week ago. howon doesn’t really want to think of the guy who had that particular scent to him, because it most certainly can’t be the same guy.

***

”you still have to tell me how you broke your nose, because honestly, i’m curious.” sunggyu says after taking another swig of the soju. howon grumbles in response, it’s still too embarrassing to say he was trying to hear someone sing. who slips off a perfectly stable chair? howon does. sunggyu doesn’t expect that being the scenario and he sure is not going to let him have it.

”look, it was just something that happened. don’t… don’t ask about it. save yourself.” howon insists as he slides over the bowl with snacks. he doesn’t really think keeping it to himself will save sunggyu, but more like to save himself.

”i do want to know though.” sunggyu lets out a small huff as he reaches to take a snack from the bowl.

howon rubs the side of his neck as he leans back against the couch before he takes a swig of his own bottle of soju. ”trust me, will you?” howon insists with a small huff.

”no.” sunggyu says with an ugly grin on his face. howon wants to slap it off but he can’t really. it’s stupid to lean over the coffee table to do so.

”either way. what’s up with that… girlfriend… boyfriend of yours?” howon asks. sunggyu had earlier, mentioned something about seeing someone.

”girlfriend.”

”ah. so?”

”we’re not together though.” sunggyu says, his brows furrowing together.

”you’re saying that so you can still flirt with other people?” howon asks, raising an eyebrow.

”most likely.” howon knew that sunggyu was in a sense, one of those people who insisted that commitment was for those over thirty years or older but howon likes to insist that sunggyu is already so close to thirty he might as well start getting into relationships and whatnot.

”hm.”

”have you noticed the new guy who moved in?” sunggyu suddenly asks and howon tilts his head.

”who?” howon asks because he most certainly has not seen anyone new moving – it does cross his mind that the songbird above him was not there a few weeks ago.

”he works at a law firm, quite fancy. he has this rich feel to himself.” sunggyu says with a shrug, grabbing another cracker from the snack bowl howon had shoved towards to him in hope of shutting him up about his broken nose.

not the songbird then.

”he’s… maybe twenty-seven, or something.” sunggyu shrugs once again. howon isn’t really sure why sunggyu decided to share all this information to him.

”hyung, did you have with him?” howon decides to ask out of the blue. sunggyu’s expression does show he is certainly caught off guard. why did he even ask?

”why would you ask that?” sunggyu says with a frown on his lips.

”so you did?”

”no, actually not.” sunggyu says with a light chuckle. ”i just got to know him when i was helping him setting up a few things in his apartment.”

”you never helped me.” howon purses his lips.

”i didn’t actually know you back when you moved in.” sunggyu sets his bottle down on the coffee table between them before he gets up.

”are you saying you know this guy?"

"no." the fact that it's an answer as casual as that does annoy howon a little.

"then why did you help him and not me?" he scoffs.

"because i never came across you and your boxes and his door was open! you kept yourself locked up so stop whining." sunggyu retorts with a groan in annoyance.

***

the next time howon hears the songbird sing, he decides to not get on a chair and try to listen better. he stays in his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling and he listens carefully. their song is better this time (though he might think so because he has bad association with the last time he heard him sing). his nose has somewhat healed, it’s just a dull pain nowadays. he looks decent however, which is nice.

it’s a sad song, he notices that when the songbird’s voice goes louder – as if someone raised the volume, which is a bit weird to think. howon wants to continue to listen but he’s slowly, slowly dozing off. he does in a sense feel bad because what if he meets the guy? would he say that he fell asleep to his singing? that can be considered as he found the singing boring, which he does not. the songbird is great at singing but the songbird is still faceless, and nameless. he doesn’t even know who it is, just that they live above him.

knocking was not an option.

he will not go and knock on 312 and say he lives in 212 and that he listens to his singing every time he gets the chance to – it’s a bit inappropriate.

moving to lie on his side, howon stares at his alarm clock instead. suddenly he hears the sound of a baby crying and howon widens his eyes. it’s not 213 because they’re just a young couple living together. 211 is an old man. howon sits up almost immediately and he listens carefully. it’s a definitely from 312. the ballad from before is replaced with a lullaby. a part of him wonders if the building’s walls (or in this case, ceiling) are too thin but a part of him also wonders why he hasn’t heard the baby before.

minutes later with the baby (child? toddler?) crying and then slowly stops. howon furrows his brows a bit and he lies back on the mattress.

the songbird doesn’t continue singing after that. howon assumes he’s gone to bed.

***

howon sits on the bench outside the apartment complex. he’s thought about going inside for a few minutes but in all honesty, he’s waiting for sunggyu and sunggyu’s taking his sweet, sweet time. howon doesn’t really hate it when sunggyu is late but he is close to hating it.

however, he’s thankful to sunggyu just this one time because he sees the same guy who passed by him a few days earlier and he’s not alone. the man is carrying a young child, howon guesses two years old child, in his arms; the young child’s arms around the man’s neck.

is that the songbird? howon eyes them carefully, barely making any eye-contact with the other man before they enter the apartment. sunggyu comes around seconds later and they’re off to the new restaurant they agreed on trying out together. his mind occasionally lingers back to the man who walked past him with the child.

***

”does that law firm guy have a child?” howon asks sunggyu as he sets down his glass. they’re in that new restaurant.

”uh, yeah. he mentioned something about wanting to keep things safe for his child. corners and stuff. baby-proof.” sunggyu says with a shrug before he takes another bite of his food, his eyes directed at howon.

”did he say anything about singing?” howon decides to ask, he might be able to figure out if the songbird above him is the guy.

”well… he said he sings with a few friends he has.” sunggyu leans back in his seat, hand setting on his stomach and howon figures he’s full. too bad he lost his appetite to eat watching sunggyu eat.

”okay, is he nice?” howon asks, he figures that’s the most important factor and it will in a sense determine whether or not he will be nice for them singing late nights or not.

”he’s cool, i didn’t have any problems with him.”

***

biting down on his lower lip, howon taps on his phone when he gets the idea that he should probably try and go introduce himself. he can however, already hear sunggyu’s voice in his head telling him to not and just go back to his work.

the pile of papers on his desk are practically calling for him to finish doing the work and howon doesn’t want to. he really, really doesn’t want to. it’s nearing 6 pm, what’s the point anymore? sure, it’s not late, but it’s enough for him to retire for the day.

going back to typing on his phone, he sends off a text to sunggyu asking if he should go approach the new neighbour living above him. sunggyu’s reply comes five minutes later and it says ”bring a cupcake, he likes those.”

howon stares at the text in disbelief.

”are you sure you didn’t have with him?” is howon’s text back.

”completely sure. we did exchange phone numbers though.”

howon finds himself staring at the text once again.

”cool” howon replies, tossing his phone onto his desk after sending the text.

***

howon never did go to the songbird’s house with a cupcake. instead, the first time he meets him is when said songbird bumps into him, makes him almost drop his booklets. songbird (he thinks it’s the songbird at least) is quick to apologise. a hand is soon on his shoulder and another one grabbing the booklets that almost fell out of his hold.

awkwardly almost, howon adjusts the hold he has on his booklets and he shows the other man a polite smile.

”i’m sorry–” they begin and howon already wants to shut them up. he’s not interested in any sorry’s, he does however want to know if they are the one singing.

”it’s fine, don’t worry.” howon says, his voice a mumble and he presses his lips into a thin line.

”ah okay.” they begin and before howon gets the chance to say anything, they continue. ”i’m woohyun, by the way. i live in 312 on the floor above.”

”oh– you’re new to the building?” howon asks, mostly out of confirmation because sure, while he doesn’t interact with the people in the building (only sunggyu), he is still (somewhat) aware of when someone new moves in.

”since three weeks.” of course. howon should have known immediately.

”do, do… do you want to come in?” howon suddenly asks, gesturing to his door and woohyun, as he finds out the name of the songbird is, shows him a smile.

”i would love to get to know you but i’ve already made plans with some people from work.” and while howon is not surprised, he is still a bit disappointed by the fact that woohyun has other things to do (if sunggyu was there to hear it, he would be saying ”how pitiful”).

woohyun looks at him with an apologetic smile, hand rubbing his neck and howon can’t help but to notice he does seem sincerely apologetic about the ordeal.

”hey, you–”

”howon.”

”howon, do you want to have dinner together tomorrow instead?” woohyun suggests and howon did not see that coming at all. he’s flattered and surprised. woohyun, the songbird, wants to have dinner with him.

”how about lunch instead?” the words slip out and howon curses inwardly. did he just come off as impatient? his immediate thought was that lunch was a bit more casual than a dinner.

”perfect.” woohyun says, a light laughter slipping past his lips and howon can’t help but to wonder if he always laughs that easily. (”you’ve known him for at least three minutes so how would you know?”, sunggyu’s voice echoes in his head.)

”come to 312 around 1pm then, i’ll be cooking!” woohyun pats howon’s shoulder lightly before he already is on his way to the stairs. howon doesn’t get a chance to say anything in protest. he thought they would be going out to eat but apparently woohyun wants to make use of his kitchen.

once howon gets inside his own apartment, he tries to wrap his head around the whole situation of the fact that he will be having lunch at the songbird’s place. will the baby be there? what if it isn’t? is there a woman in the picture – the mother? maybe he’s just thinking too much about it.

oh well.

***

on the way to his work, howon’s has his phone pressed to his hear and he listens to sunggyu’s endless talking. at one point, howon contemplates just hanging up on his face but he figures he shouldn’t, it’s too early to be rude to people (sunggyu specifically).

”wait– what do you mean she escaped the village?” howon asks, feigning interest in the series sunggyu’s talking about and that simply turned out to be a bad idea. sunggyu continues talking and talking, howon swears he heard sunggyu sob at one point.

”okay, okay– sunggyu i need to hang up.” sunggyu huff into his ear and tell him that he’s a liar. true. he really doesn’t need to hang up yet but he wants to hang up. he doesn’t care about the village show that sunggyu for some reason is following religiously.

”alright, i won’t hang up but you have to share something relevant for me to keep up this conversation, you know? talk about your… girlfriend or something.” howon says with a sigh but his expression is painted with one of annoyance once sunggyu turns the conversation around to one about woohyun.

”you know he asked me about you.” sunggyu says into his ear and howon becomes suddenly interested in their conversation.

”what do you mean he asked about me?” he tries to hide the curiosity in his voice.

”yeah, it’s kind of how i found out he’s actually attracted to men too.” sunggyu spews out and howon thinks such information is absolutely unnecessary at 8:30 in the morning. howon heaves a sigh before pressing his phone to his ear with the help of his shoulder as he opens the door to the office building he works inside of.

”what do you want to say with that?”

”no wait– he also asked you to come over for lunch. what does that mean?.” sunggyu has that tone this time, the tone that implies he is onto something. howon just thinks he is being silly. sunggyu has this horrible tendency of trying to set people up instead of focusing on his own romantic life, which howon thinks should be more relevant than his life.

”how did you figure out he’s into men as well?” howon asks while in the elevator with the phone back in his hand. woohyun’s orientation is what he wants to know; he doesn’t want to feed sunggyu’s imagination about their planned lunch.

”because he said you were attractive, so i asked him if he’s into men too and then he just looked at me like he’s been exposed to the world.” howon can hear the amusement in sunggyu’s voice.

”if you said anything mockingly about his potential biuality, i’m ending our friendship.” howon threatens with annoyance in his tone.

”listen, i did nothing to him.”

”sure you didn’t but you know if you did, i will find out, right?” howon reminds him.

”okay, i might have laughed at his expression.” sunggyu admits defeat with a sigh over the call.

”you’re an but either way, i going to hang up.” howon frowns before ending the call without further warning.

***

a few hours later and howon is outside of 312 just a few minutes before 1pm. he’s not necessarily nervous, but the fact that sunggyu told him woohyun is more or less biual has caused some waves to not settle inside of him.

he wonders why woohyun, if he is working at a law firm, has the time and flexibility to be at home during the most common lunch hour. maybe he has a day off? do law employees have that luxury? he has a day off – then it strikes him, it’s a saturday.

at 12:59 he knocks on the door and steps aside slightly, prepared for it to open. and so it does. it opens and howon’s met with a smiling woohyun; howon realises how attractive woohyun actually is and he curses inwardly because it’s probably since sunggyu said woohyun finds him attractive.

”hey, come inside!” woohyun’s voice is cheerful and howon can’t help but to smile. once let inside, he closes the door and slips his shoes off.

”you can just put your shoes to the side, i’m checking over the last things on the food.” woohyun gestures to the shoe rack as he steps back to keep a check on the kitchen.

”oh you can go back to the kitchen–” and before howon even gets the chance to finish the sentence, woohyun’s already rushed back. pursing his lips, howon sets his shoes aside and hangs his jacket on a hook.

with careful steps, he enters further into the apartment and he notices a handful of things. first, he notices a few photos on the wall, a family photo and howon narrows his eyes at it. it’s woohyun, a woman and assumingly their child together. he wonders if the woman is still around, what happened to her and he purses his lips in thought before he looks to the kitchen. woohyun is seemingly putting the last together.

howon's gaze rests on woohyun's shoulder momentarily until woohyun's eyes are suddenly on him. howon then decides to ask upon meeting woohyun's eyes.

"the photo..." he begins.

"which one?", woohyun sounds hesitant.

"the..." he considers asking about the one with the baby but he changes his mind. "the one with the guitar. do you play?"

woohyun's face lightens up with a smile, so howon must have asked about the appropriate photo. considering woohyun’s smile, howon wonders if it would be there if he had asked about the baby photo.

"i play a lot actually, i would say i was the best at my high school. played at school concerts and stuff," woohyun shares with a cheeky grin on his face. howon wonders if woohyun’s bragging or if he’s just eager to share his interests. he’ll assume it’s the eagerness.

”did you play any instruments or anything?” woohyun asks.

”i tried a lot of instruments, really. but i couldn’t settle for any so i just stopped playing in general.” howon says with a dismissive shrug. he never tried an instrument for more than a week, he really couldn’t make a decision.

”i almost had the same problem, then i realised guitar was the one for me.” woohyun laughs lightly. howon’s gaze linger on the basket of children’s toys. everything says that woohyun does indeed have a child living here. it’s too early to ask, he figures. woohyun seemed to have told sunggyu, how won’t be as nosy as sunggyu. he tells himself that at least.

the lunch carries on similarly.

***

the next time howon sees woohyun, there’s a change in his expression. howon hasn’t known woohyun for that long. they have had one lunch, they have spoken a few times, texted more times, chatted some nights. shallow things, really. sunggyu asked if there was anything going on. howon hesitated when he shook his head.

luckily for him, sunggyu didn’t probe further.

but when he sees woohyun, the smile he gets is brief, uncharacteristic. woohyun passes by him like a wind, doesn’t say anything and howon can’t help but feel a slight worry. he brushes it off. maybe woohyun’s just stressed with work.

he leaves it for now. woohyun will probably contact him later.

***

except woohyun doesn’t.

howon finds his phone awfully silent the same evening woohyun walked past him in the corridor. he thinks maybe woohyun doesn’t want to talk but then it crosses his mind that maybe woohyun does, just not to him. it’s not necessary that woohyun even has to talk about it.

it still bothers howon.

why?

because he didn’t think he could imagine woohyun’s face without a smile.

***

”i think literature has gotten to your head, howon-ah. you’re getting… unlike yourself.” sunggyu says before he takes another piece of chicken to disgustingly chew on.

”unlike myself? since when do you know me?” howon asks, brows furrowed as he reaches to pick up his can of beer again.

”since that one time you broke your nose. which, as a matter of fact, i have figured out just how you managed to.” sunggyu says, pointing a half-eaten chicken thigh in his direction. howon remains somewhat disgusted. it eases a little when sunggyu doesn’t point at him with food anymore.

”alright, enlighten me. just how did i end up breaking my nose?” howon gives up, in a sense. if sunggyu has put his mind on something, it’s either completely messed up or it’s in a weird true.

”you were listening to woohyun, or– you heard him and then you decided to try and listen better. you were standing on a chair and fell off.” sunggyu says wearing that smile that means he knows he is right and if you tell him he is wrong, he will be very bewildered. howon hates it because sunggyu is actually right. ”don’t think i didn’t see the tipped over chair, howon.”

howon bites on the inside of his cheek and he takes a moment to retort. sunggyu already knows he is right and the fact that he is being quiet about it means that he’s already confirmed the theory.

”it doesn’t matter anymore, my nose is healed.” howon says with a huff and finishes the last of his soda. he puts the can down a bit too loudly and he’s angry about the fact that he didn’t get a second can. he would need it now the sunggyu is talking again.

“besides, i could have been reaching for something on a shelf.” howon adds bitterly.

“sure, howon. sure.”

***

the next time howon hears woohyun sing, there’s more than singing. he’s simply waiting for his tea to cool a little when he hears crying from above. crying isn’t something he thought he would hear through the ceiling but he does. he realises woohyun sounds angry too. he doesn’t recognise the song however.

he contemplates on whether the ceiling between them is thin, not sound proof or woohyun just being loud. he can’t decide on any.

by now, howon thinks he’s closer to woohyun. he’s close enough go and ask woohyun what’s the matter but he stays where he is. his gaze fixated to his cup of tea while he waits for woohyun to either turn silent or turn louder.

minutes later, woohyun’s quiet. it’s quiet upstairs and howon feels bad.

he hasn’t done anything to try and console woohyun. should he text him?

minutes later, he does. he types a thought out message on his phone before he deletes it all. he instead writes: are you okay?

woohyun replies with a yeah at least forty minutes later.

howon’s concerned. it’s not easy to fall asleep that night.

***

the next day howon takes the initiative to knock on woohyun’s door and he really hopes woohyun is home. he sort of has a day off, it’s hard to explain in his opinion. he has to go buy the agency later today but technically it’s his day off since he has go there in the evening.

there’s no one there to open the door. or maybe there is and maybe woohyun just doesn’t want to open the door.

howon knows he could have texted woohyun earlier today but he fell for the assumption that if he went there it would be a nice surprise. a friend checking on a friend sort of thing and that it would show that he does care about woohyun.

except right now, it seems that woohyun is either in need to be alone or–

the door opens and howon’s eyes widen in slight surprise. he did really think that woohyun wasn’t home.

”what’s up?” woohyun asks and howon’s brows furrow in slight confusion. he assumed woohyun would know exactly why he is in front of their there but maybe it doesn’t hurt to clarify exactly why.

”i kind of wanted to check on you.” howon admits truthfully and woohyun gives him a look that reads as surprise. maybe howon didn’t seem like the type to check on people but he cares. he does care about woohyun, a bit more than he expected himself to and frankly, it’s a bit scary. that feeling hits him the second that woohyun reacted to his honesty.

”i see…” woohyun starts as he opens the door further and he steps aside, something howon takes as an indication that he’s allowed inside and carefully steps inside.

”let’s not talk about anything… emotional though, you know. you’re checking on me.” woohyun tells howon the second his shoes are off. howon’s not surprised, he assumes it’s better that way. you can check on someone without actually inquiring about their current state of mind.

”were you doing something before i knocked on your door?” howon instead decides to ask. it’s a good conversation starter. it draws attention to something else. instead of of a how are you doing, it’s a what were you doing? it’s about shallow actions.

”i was just reading a book”, woohyun tells him as he picks up the open book that had been put down on a corridor bureau. howon squints at the front page before he snorts. he knows the author – he’s edited the author’s work. he does not like the author.

”that’s author’s an .” howon states bluntly.

woohyun’s expression turns into something that shows surprise and then a contortion of features at howon reads as exasperation. he can’t help but to grin. it’s almost as woohyun forgot he’s an editor.

”how could you say that?”

”i’ve met her, multiple times. she’s rude, never meets her deadlines and she is ungrateful.” howon huffs as the memories of every encounter he has had with the author comes to mind. the one time she scowled at him for not bringing coffee, the one time she decided to ignore his efforts to reach her and the one time she didn’t even want to look at him. they had a work only relationship but apparently she had something against howon.

”great.” woohyun scoffs as he takes the bookmark out of the book and tosses it down onto the surface of the bureau again. ”now i can’t read it.”

howon raises an eyebrow and watches woohyun’s expression of distaste directed towards the book lying innocently there.

”you already bought it, you might as well finish it.” howon says, amusement in his tone.

”no, i would feel guilty.” woohyun says, childlike almost.

howon can’t help the smile that reaches his lips.

***

that day they end up talking about whatever it is upsetting woohyun anyways. howon didn’t have any pre-existing ideas of what it could possibly have been – it could have been anything. a dead pet, a broken down car, anything.

but what woohyun eventually comes to tell him, is not what he expected.

”she wants full custody.” woohyun told him and howon stayed quiet in hope that woohyun would explain further. he knew there was a child in woohyun’s immediate surrounding (societal surrounding, maybe?) because he noticed the toys. he never asked woohyun but the toys and sunggyu’s words lead him to believe there is a child that belongs to woohyun in one way or another.

”i don’t want to give her full custody.” woohyun explains and howon can hear that his voice is strained. it’s meek in the dark that has come to surround them as the sun slowly started to set a while ago. they didn’t turn the lights on, instead they left the lit candle between them on the kitchen table.

as woohyun spoke,

and as howon listened.

”dohyun’s two years old, i’ve been a part of of his life since he was born and i want to stay a part of his life. that’s all i want but she doesn’t want me to.” woohyun’s gaze is not directed at him. howon watches him stare at the candle.

dohyun is then the boy that woohyun has. he knew of the boy – he speculated it belong to woohyun but it could have easily been a nephew. he didn’t want to put things set in stone.

dohyun is the boy that cried days ago.

howon doesn’t dare to ask any questions, he stays silent to to let woohyun speak at his own pace.

”i didn’t want the split between me and dohyun’s mother. i loved her but she insisted it didn’t work out between us and she never explained why.” woohyun eventually says as moments of silence pass through them.

and howon keeps listening.

when woohyun quiets down, howon sees a chance for him to say something. woohyun is far more familiar with law system than what he is so he assumes he has a plan in mind but he can’t help to say what he wants to say.

”i hope it turns out in your favour.”

woohyun lifts his gaze from the candle and he doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t do anything; it’s as if he has to register the fact that howon is on his side and now the strange woman that doesn’t want the father of her child in her child’s surrounding.

”i hope so too.” he says, eventually.

***

”you know i would have offered you to stay over if you didn’t just live on the floor above.”

howon looks at woohyun just as he says this and he waits for clarification. the red on his cheeks doesn’t escape his attention and howon wonders even more what a suggestion like that could possibly mean.

”if that had been more convenient, i wouldn’t have turned you down.” howon says and when woohyun’s eyes widen – he doesn’t want to correct himself. he lets woohyun interpret it freely because he himself, isn’t sure how to define what he just say. he just knows that he wouldn’t turn woohyun down.

***

”hey, do you know how his case is going?” sunggyu asks out of the blue in the form of a text. howon sets down his red pen to pick up his phone.

”what case?” woohyun works at a law firm, it could be any case.

”oh the custody one, for his child.” sunggyu texts him once more in reply.

”you know the case you told me about.” howon grins to himself as he reads it. of course, sunggyu could sound annoyed over text. he doesn’t need any emojis to emphasise it – it’s almost as howon could hear his voice in the back of his head.

”he told me it should turn out well.” he replies right away.

***

howon hasn’t woohyun for days. for days he has been gone, unapproachable, unreachable. it’s as if woohyun shut himself out from the social networking system in order to work towards his case.

ever since their last talk, woohyun only told him over a text that it was going well – or that it should go well. he hoped it would, for woohyun – and for dohyun. dohyun whom he hasn’t yet formally met – maybe he will soon.

that is – until he hears his name being called while he is on his way through the corridor in the apartment complex. he halts in his route and turns to see woohyun, wearing what he might consider, the most cheerful smile he has ever seen the other one have. next to him, a child – a toddler.

dohyun?

”howon–” woohyun hurries up to him, dohyun trying to keep up next to his father. howon can’t help but smile out of amusement of the scene. the toddler whining as his dad walks a bit too fast.

”i won the case. i won shared custody.” woohyun’s smile has taken over his features. it shows up to his eyes and howon feels his own joy starting to tug a smile onto his lips. he bites down on his lower lip, telling himself to not look like an idiot.

”i’m happy for you, i’m really happy for you.” he tells woohyun with a slight nod as if to confirm his words., his genuine statement.

”i’m so– so excited for the future.” the enthusiasm in woohyun’s voice is contagious. howon looks down to the toddler hugging his father’s leg and the smile he tries to hold back is on fully display.

”you helped encourage me, howon– i’m really thankful.” woohyun’s voice suddenly drops off excitement and the sudden seriousness has howon caught off guard. he swallows thickly and flicks his gaze up to meet woohyun’s. it doesn’t help when woohyun suddenly inches closer and howon wonders for a moment if he forgot dohyun is right there, next to them.

that’s apparently the case because woohyun’s hands come to cup his cheek and he’s pulled into a kiss he didn’t expect. it’s soft, it’s harmless – except it isn’t. it wakes up something in howon that he has tried to keep dormant. woohyun’s lips linger over his and it’s almost like it takes a moment for him to register what he just did because he pulls away quickly.

”i’m sorry– adrenaline got to me– i–” woohyun explains way too quickly but howon gets the message. he gets it. except he doesn’t think it’s adrenaline. he remembers when woohyun blushed and howon, quite frankly, hopes it wasn’t adrenaline. he doesn’t want it to be.

”i don’t… mind.” howon interrupts woohyun before he gets to say anything else.

woohyun’s eyes widen and howon throws a glance down at the kid that simply stares back at him. is this pressure?

”– that’s– that’s good.” woohyun says, blinking a couple of times before a smile comes to his lip. almost as wide as the one he had when he announced the news to howon.

”!” both woohyun and howon turn their gaze down to look at dohyun who stares up at them with excitement in his eyes and his small hands balled up into adorable fists – ecstatic over having learnt a new word.

woohyun’s smile is immediately gone and he shows a look of slight frustration as he sighs. ”now he’s going to say that forever.” howon can’t help but to laugh.

as dohyun starts his journey towards the stairs, he repeats the new word to himself in excitement while woohyun and howon look at each other, hopelessly wondering what they are going to do about a toddler that has just learnt a new, but bad word.

”you know what, we’ll figure dohyun out – over dinner.” woohyun suggests as he grabs howon’s arm to follow dohyun to the stairs instead of further down the corridor.

the smile that shows on howon’s lip tells woohyun he’s happy with that arrangement.

the smile that shows on woohyun’s lips tell howon he just as happy.