Hm. It took Minki a while to open the door. 

“Who are you?” An old lady, who was suddenly standing next to Jonghyun, asked. “Are you here for Minki?”

Jonghyun stared at her, and then tried to figure out where she came from. And this wasn’t too hard. She appeared to be the neighbor, the door next to Minki’s was still open.

“Well?” She began to grow impatient already. 

“Yes, I’m here for Minki.” Obviously. 

“Oh, dear boy...” He old lady’s face turned sad, and she sighed. “Minki tragically passed away yesterday. Such a shame. Such a sweet boy. So young.” 

“Wh-What?” Jonghyun choked on air. This couldn’t be happening. “N-No.” He shook his head. How did-

“Just kidding!” The old lady snickered. “He ain’t dead, he’s probably at some gay bar if he’s not at home.” She waved her hand dismissively. 

“That’s not a very funny joke.” Jonghyun hissed. “I ought to strangle you.”

“Oh, lighten the up.” The savaged old lady rolled her eyes, closed her front door and walked away. 

Jonghyun rang the bell again. When he’d been waiting for at least three minutes, Jonghyun decided that it was best to leave. Minki was either not at home, or not in the mood to talk to the who verbally abused him not too long ago.. Jonghyun hoped the first option was the correct one. Though, when he turned to walk away, the door did open.

"Jonghyun?" Minki’s yay, he was still alive  eyes, that were red and swollen slightly from crying, widened. "I- I.. I wasn’t expecting you." He managed to stammer, quickly wiping at his cheeks with his sleeves to get rid of any roaming tears.

Jonghyun just stared, feeling so bad about doing this to Minki. His angelic face wasn’t meant to reflect pain and sadness.

"Do you want to come in?" Minki asked, very hesitantly. Jonghyun could sense he was afraid. It made him feel terrible.

"Um-" Oops. Jonghyun had spaced out again already. “Minki, I'm so sorry."

"What for?"

"I treated you horribly. I'm so sorry."

"Well.. You had a reason for it." Minki averted his gaze to stare down at his feet, rubbing his upper arm. 

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Ever." 

"Apology accepted." Minki nodded, looking him in the eyes again. "Please come inside now, my neighbors are nosy."

Jonghyun nodded, while silently wondering if he was talking about that old lady. 

-----

"I came here.. Because I would like to hear your explanation.” Jonghyun told him when both of them had sat down on the couch beside each other. 

"You do?" Minki seemed confused, and Jonghyun could imagine why. Minki was probably afraid of more insults. 

“Yes.” Jonghyun nodded. “You said you wanted to explain, so…”

“Uh, yes.” Minki nodded. “I do… Let me think of where to start.” He took a deep breath, then exhaled. “Ok. First of all, my name is Minki, I didn’t lie about that. I work for this very expensive service. But I’m different from the others. I’m the boss’s favorite. He doesn’t let anyone touch me. I’m only available to those willing to spend a lot of money, and I don’t have with my customers. I’m supposed to keep them company. I’m not a..” He sighed. “I’m not a .”

“But-“

“I know, I know. What happened between you and me wasn’t supposed to happen. But I couldn’t help myself. Because, like I said, I developed genuine feelings for you.” Minki paused. “And I hated you before I even met you. I thought that you were gonna be a mean ert like all the others but you were not. You were… you. The plan was that I’d cheer you up and remind you of the fact there’s still life outside of work. Then I’d disappear and you’d forget me and find someone better. We had it all figured out.” Minki looked away, holding back more tears. “I’m sorry for doing this to you. I know I don’t deserve you.” 

At first, Jonghyun didn’t know what to say. And while his mind was still processing the story, Minki continued.

"You’re the kindest, most beautiful man I’ve met. I hope and pray you’ll find someone kind who treats you the way you deserve to be treated. I love you so much." 

“Listen to me.” Jonghyun shook his head. “Look at me.” He cupped Minki’s face into his hand, so that he had no choice but to look at him. “I love you,too. I know this because I think about you all day and I’m not the same without you. I don’t want anyone else. I want you. You are not a bad person. I want to be with you only.” 

“Really?”

“Yes. But I want you to quit your job. Right now.” 

“B-but.. I can’t… H-he’ll kill me.” 

“What? Why?”

“He..” Minki sighed. “It’s such a long story.”

“Tell me. Tell me everything.” Jonghyun insisted. 

“Everything?” Minki moved away from Jonghyun, sitting back. 

"Everything." 

Once again, Minki had to take a moment to think of where to start. “My first job was as a go-go dancer at a really nice club. I had the time of my life there, honestly. My boss was nice and always respected me when I needed a night off when I was sick or whatever. And he used to always drive me home at night to make sure I’d get there safe.” He sighed. “But the the club got closed because he couldn’t afford to pay the bills anymore. I was really sad. But then this guy, someone who visited the club frequently, came to me and told me that he had a similar job for me. And so, I was interested.” Minki paused, biting his lips. “You’re gonna hate hearing this; I was interested in him, too.”

“Hm.” Jonghyun rolled his eyes, making Minki grin. 

“He was like a guy from a movie, you know. So charming and sweet." Minki's eyes widened. "B-But not as charming and sweet as you, of course." He quickly added with a sheepish grin.

Jonghyun appreciated the effort.

"I agreed to move to Seoul with him. But, when we got there, the job he had for me turned out to be different after all. I was a private dancer now and I liked being a go-go dancer more because you get more attention that way and I like attention, I won’t deny it.” Minki shrugged. “That’s all I do. Dance. Put on a little show. I assure you that he is the only other person beside you I have ever done it with, because I met him when I was very young. He keeps me to himself. Umm..." Minki looked around the living room, as if searching for elements that would help him tell his story. "Over the years, he became very possessive. He doesn't hurt me or anything but he's just annoying. I really loved him in the beginning, but we've grown apart, or at least, I have."

"But.. why won't he let you leave him?"

Minki shrugged. "For the money, I guess. He makes a lot off me. Or maybe he does still love me. I don't know. He doesn't make a lot of effort to show it." He sighed. "I was really unhappy, you know? I'd forgotten that nice men still existed until you came along." Minki flashed him a smile. "He'll murder me for sure if I-"

“No. He won’t. I’ll talk to him, I’ll make sure everything’s ok. No one will ever hurt you as long as I’m alive. You don’t have to do this anymore." 

Minki stared at him in disbelief.  

"I’ll fix everything." Jonghyun pulled Minki into an embrace, glad to have him back where he belonged. "I’ll go take care of it right now." Jonghyun whispered. "I’ll be back as soon as possible... Could you give me an address?" 

"You’re really gonna talk to him right now?" Minki asked while pulling away. “Yes, I am." Jonghyun nodded, but he was lying. He wasn’t going there right away. He had to go home first... to pick up a loaded gun he'd kept behind just in case.