When they were back at Seungcheol's apartment, Jihoon finally broke down.

It came time for his therapy session, and when Seungcheol reminded Jihoon of it, Jihoon said he didn’t want to go, not when he was crying like this.

“Are you crazy? You need therapy now more than ever!” Seungcheol replied. “You’re going. That’s final.”

“But…”

Seungcheol had to nearly drag Jihoon out of his apartment and down the few blocks until they got to the therapist’s office. Jihoon eventually stopped fighting it and went to have the therapy session he paid for with that stupid necklace, a necklace that cost him his family.

The session helped his mindset a lot. Some the of the negative energy was gone and Jihoon no longer felt like he was about to break down and kill himself. After hearing his story, the therapist even told him that he didn’t have to pay the next installment to continue the session, which gave Jihoon a lot of relief.

It also gave Jihoon some relief when he saw Seungcheol waiting outside for him.

“Don’t you have your shift in like a few minutes?” Jihoon asked, trying not to appear glad to see him.

“I asked a friend to cover for me,” Seungcheol told him.

“Why?”

“Are you going to pretend like you don’t need me right now?” Seungcheol asked.

“I don’t need you. off, I’m fine,” Jihoon mumbled.

“Cranky Jihoon is back! I knew therapy was exactly what you needed!” Seungcheol smiled brightly. “Anyways, to celebrate cranky Jihoon being back, let’s go eat. You’re hungry, right?”

“You’re paying,” Jihoon replied snappily.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

As the two were eating ramen from the supermarket, Seungcheol got a phone call. When Seungcheol answered, and heard what the caller had to say, his eyes widened and he dropped his chopsticks. “I’ll be right there. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!” Seungcheol took Jihoon’s arm and pulled him without an explanation.

“What the ???”

“The woman!”

Jihoon understood immediately and the two of them sprinted to where the pawn shop was. Seungcheol was much faster than he was though, and he didn’t wait up for Jihoon who was struggling and out of the breath by the time they arrived at their destination. Seungcheol was standing at the doorway talking to a woman who Jihoon assumed was the woman who bought the necklace.

She was tall and pretty, and even Seungcheol seemed to think so. He was flashing her that sweet toothy smile and using his saccharine words and basically flirting with her as he explained to her that he wished to buy the necklace from her. She seemed unwilling, but then he explained that it was a family heirloom that was accidentally pawned. Although she seemed stubborn at first, she eventually caved.

“Thank you so much,” Seungcheol told her, taking her arm.

There he goes again with the flirting, Jihoon thought as he watched Seungcheol rub her arm and smile at her softly. She smiled back. She definitely seemed interested in him. She could tell by the way she leaned into his touch and giggled when he told her that he was so relieved that a kind and pretty girl was the one who bought the precious necklace.

“The necklace is at my place. Can I invite you over?” the girl asked with a sultry smile.

“Um, why are you inviting a strange man into your house when it’s nearly dark outside? Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to trust strangers,” Jihoon finally spoke up, frowning at her and crossing his arms. She turned to him for the first time, and gave him a ‘who-are-you’ look.

“Jihoon,” Seungcheol said through gritted teeth. “It’s okay; I’ll go with her, you wait for me in my apartment, okay?”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “I see what’s going on here. You’re interested in her, right? Fine. Go. Have your fun. You haven’t gotten laid since your ex-boyfriend right?”

“Jihoon!” Seungcheol flared with gritted teeth. He was clearly angry, which surprised Jihoon. Seungcheol was rarely ever angry. “Please leave us alone.”

“Fine, I’m leaving,” Jihoon replied and turned around and strode away from them.

After walking many steps away, he turned around and saw Seungcheol and the girl walking together.

-

All the good that therapy had done him that day was reversed, and Jihoon felt just a ty as before. Even though they found the necklace, something was still heavy in Jihoon’s heart when he realized that he had made Seungcheol angry.

He had also revealed Seungcheol’s ex-boyfriend to a total stranger. He knew he had broken Seungcheol’s trust now.

Plus, it just felt like Seokmin and Vernon all over again. Everyone who ever came close to him suddenly found someone else and abandoned him, leaving him to revel in bitter, bitter loneliness.

After being reminded of Vernon, Jihoon didn’t want to go back home, so he went back to Seungcheol’s apartment. He checked his phone every moment, hoping for someone, anyone, to text him, but no one did. It was already late at night but, no member of his family wanted to check if he was okay.

He turned to the window and opened the curtain. There it was again, the exact same note in green marker reading: “Please don’t do what I think you’re going to do,” along with Seungcheol’s phone number.

Jihoon debated with himself as to whether he should call Seungcheol or not. Seungcheol would be busy at the moment, he didn’t have time for him anymore. But Jihoon really needed to talk to someone.

He called Seokmin, but after four rings, Jihoon realized that Seokmin was busy with his girlfriend celebrating their anniversary or whatever.

There was literally no one for Jihoon to call.

Just as he was about to give in and hurl himself out the window, he remembered that he was wrong. There was someone he could call, someone he actually paid to help him with this problem.

He took out his phone and dialed his therapist.

-

Jihoon felt much better by the end of that two-hour therapy session over the phone. It was a lot of money on his phone bill, but it was worth it. That woman just had a way of making him feel like things were not as ty as he originally thought.

And just minutes after the session, Seungcheol walked in. He seemed indifferent about Jihoon being there. He didn’t smile or brightly greet him like usual. He just reached into his pocket and handed Jihoon the ugly heart-shaped necklace.

Jihoon was relieved to have it back, but Seungcheol still seemed angry, and Jihoon was too proud to apologize. He just reached for his wallet to give Seungcheol the money he had collected until now to repay back part of the debt.

Seungcheol looked at the money in Jihoon’s hand and then lifted his head and made eye contact with Jihoon. He seemed uninterested in the money.

“Take it,” Jihoon muttered.

“I don’t understand you, you know?” Seungcheol told him. “How could you just blurt that I had a boyfriend like that?”

“What? Did I ruin your chances of getting laid?” Jihoon scoffed.

“Jihoon, it was never about me getting laid. You almost ruined your chances of getting back that necklace. You know, the ruder you are to people you want something from, the less likely you are to get it from them.”

“Well, I got it back, so it doesn’t matter anymore. And you were gone for like hours. You obviously got laid.”

Seungcheol narrowed his eyes at Jihoon. “No, Jihoon, I didn’t get laid. I just paid for the necklace and went to her home to get it from her.”

“You expect me to believe that? I saw the way she was looking at you, and she invited you to her apartment. Now quit pretending to be angry with me when it was my necklace who scored you that chick in the first place. Just thank me and take the God damn money.”

“Just because she was interested in me does not mean I was interested in her. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. It’s none of your business.”

“Wait… you’re telling me that she wanted you, but you refused?”

“Yes.”

“Are you an idiot?”

“Why does that make me an idiot?”

“If you slept with her, she might have given you the necklace for free,” Jihoon groaned.

“I’m not going to sleep with someone just to get something from them,” Seungcheol replied disapprovingly.

“Well then clearly you never experienced financial difficulty then.”

“Would you sleep with someone you’re not interested in at all for money?” Seungcheol asked.

“For the price of that necklace, I’d do a lot more than just sleep with them,” Jihoon replied crossing his arms.

“It seems like the price of the necklace is more burdensome to you than I thought,” Seungcheol noted. “Don’t pay me back for it if that’s the case. Consider it a gift.”

“No way,” Jihoon forcing the money into Seungcheol’s hand. “I am not going to be indebted to you. No way in hell.”

“Wait…” Seungcheol said with a pensive expression on his face. “You can pay me back another way. It will be much easier for you than paying me with money… and it would be worth that much more to me.”

Jihoon narrowed his eyes and gave Seungcheol a curious look.

Seungcheol didn’t answer. He just pulled Jihoon closer and closed the distance between their lips. The necklace and the money that were between their hands fell to the floor as Seungcheol brought Jihoon closer to him. Jihoon felt everything around him halt for a moment.

When Seungcheol noticed Jihoon’s stiffness, he let Jihoon go and pulled away from him.

Jihoon stared at Seungcheol with surprise and lifted his fingers to his lips. “What the was that?” Jihoon managed as the shock wore off.

“It was a kiss,” Seungcheol replied.

“Why would you ing kiss me like that?”

“Because I have feelings for you,” Seungcheol answered him.

“W…what?” Jihoon stammered.

“Lee Jihoon, I have feelings for you,” Seungcheol confessed as he caught Jihoon’s startled eyes.