CHAPTER 47

FEAR

It was a quiet day for Winwin. The boy was on his way to his second period to attend the class he loves the most. The semester was about to end. Everyone was excited to enter their chosen university. He got accepted to three schools, but he was still undecided or more like waiting for his husband to decide for him.

Yes, he now let Yuta decide for him, not because he gave him the authority, but because he was just too tired to argue with him or at least that what was he believed.

They were still waiting for their teacher to arrive when Winwin’s cellphone rang. His bored expression morphed into a terrified one. He paled and immediately took his bag and ran out of the classroom, leaving his classmate bewildered.

He almost tripped and face planted when he entered the hospital. A new level of fear washed his whole system the moment he heard the news. His feet were aching from running, and his heart was about to pop out from his chest, but he didn’t care. He just needed to be at the hospital and see that his husband was okay.

He entered the room and found Yuta still unconscious with a band on his forehead and a broken ankle. Bruises were all over his body, a sign that he had a bad hit. Also inside the room was a  familiar man. His presence made Winwin raised a brow. He first saw the man at the party where Yuta became tensed when he saw him there. What was he doing with his husband? Was he the one who hit him?

“Hi, I’m Ji Hansol and no, I’m not the one who hit him,” the said mad chuckled, amused by the new comer’s reaction. He must have thought that he was the culprit based on his reaction. 

Winwin was anything but amused. The latter held out his hand, offering a handshake.

“May I know who you are?”

Winwin’s brow raised once again. His irritation replaced his worry, and his inner instantly came out. He outright declined the offered handshake.

“I’m Nakamoto Sicheng.” Winwin gave his full legal name. 
It rolled out of his tongue flawlessly like it was meant to be said that way.

“Nakamoto?” The guy frowned. “I don’t remember Yuta having a high school brother,” he said as he scanned the guy from head to foot. Winwin was still in his school uniform.

“I’m his husband.”

 The guy’s jaw dropped.

“H-husband?”

“I believe you heard what I said.” Winwin’s stare was challenging. He was way younger than the guy in front of him, but he wasn’t the one to back out easily. He knew that something was off with the guy. He could feel it. He shouldn’t be trusted.

“Oh,” the guy chuckled once again, gaining his composure back.  Winwin hated the sound. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that Yuta got married already. We were closed before, and he didn’t say anything.”

“Now you know, I believe it’s time for you to go. My husband needs to rest.”

Ji Hansol looked at the unconscious man first before nodding. What he wanted to say to Yuta can wait. He left the room in silence, though still flabbergasted with the news he just heard.

How many times did Winwin call Yuta his husband? He lost count because that was the first time he used that word over and again. 

He didn’t care no matter who Yuta talked to or deal with, but Ji Hansol had a different impact on him. Winwin felt the need to establish his role and to make the guy know that he’s an important part of Yuta’s life. Funny because he didn’t care before, and that's not the case anymore.

Thirty minutes passed when visitors entered the room without knocking. The action annoyed the hell out of Winwin. The visitors who came were the bosses of NCT Corp.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” he hissed at no one in particular.

The three guys went silenced, not because they needed to be because Yuta was still resting, but because Winwin was ready to kill them with his stares.

Johnny faked a coughed and apologized in an instant.

“How is he?” Taeil took the liberty to asked. He knew that Winwin might not answer if his brother, Jaehyun, was the one who will ask. He still hated the man.

“He broke his ankle. There a concussion, but nothing serious.”

“That’s good to know then.” Taeil silently thanked the heavens because Winwin spared him of his annoyance.

“How about the car that hit him?” Johnny also braved the storm. Who would have thought that the big bosses of NCT Corp. would be this afraid of Winwin?

“The police took him. I have yet to talk to them.”

Johnny just nodded, thankful that he, too, was spared.

“Let me handle him. Just stay here,” It was Jaehyun.

Johnny and Taeil looked at their big boss with concern. Winwin hated the man with all his heart, and they were sure that Jaehyun will be the last person he would rescue if a zombie apocalypse will happen, or maybe he won’t save him at all or won’t even try.

Imagine their shock when Winwin thanked his brother-in-all. He talked to them without even looking. His full attention was on Yuta.

Jaehyun refused to try his luck again. He still had questions, but he chose to keep them in. 

Winwin then asked, and none of them was ready to answer.

“Who is Ji Hansol?”

Johnny cleared his throat and looked away, pretended he didn’t hear the question. Taeil bit his lips and looked down, so Jaehyun was the only one left to answer. He silently cursed Johnny and Taeil for throwing him to the lion.

“I think Yuta will be the one to answer that question.”

“He can’t answer me in this state.”

“He might get mad at us if we tell you.”

For the first time, Winwin looked at them and Jaehyun was stunned though it didn’t show. Winwin was equally fierce as his husband.

“Is he that important to my husband that you don’t want me to know about him?”

Johnny almost whistled when he heard him call Yuta his husband. That was the first time for him. He silently congratulated Yuta for finding a way for Winwin to call him husband, albeit painful.

“No, that I can guarantee.”

“Then who is he? I have the right to know since he’s the one with him when I got here.” Winwin was getting more and more frustrated. It showed on his face.

The three knew about it. They saw the CCTV footage in front of their building, and they saw that Ji Hansol was really with their friend. Yuta was avoiding him before he was hit. There was no point in lying. Jaehyun would rather face Yuta’s anger than to stay on Winwin’s list of people to kill.

He sighed in defeat.

“He’s a potential investor and…” Jaehyun looked at the other two. The two ignored him. He made a mental note to get back at them at the office.

“And…?”

“…and he’s Yuta’s ex-boyfriend.”

***

Winwin was on his way to the hospital. With him was a bag full of food that he cooked for Yuta. He finally woke up, but they haven't got the chance to talk because he still needed to rest. The doctor said he can go home the next day.

He arrived at the subway station, and while waiting for the train to arrive, he took his phone and search for the name he's starting to hate.

Ji Hansol

He’s the son of the owner of one of the biggest distributors of online games all over the world. Korean but based in Japan. He took over their company just barely five years ago. Just like the four bosses of NCT Corp., he’s one of the forces to be reckoned with when it comes to business. He was named as the rising star of the gaming industry after Jung Jaehyun. Rich and famous.

Winwin stopped reading and turned off his cellphone as the train approached. He stepped inside and found a seat since it wasn’t that busy that day.

After learning about Yuta’s past relationship with that guy, the thought never left his mind. He had a hard time falling asleep. Why he's back, and what was he doing with Yuta? Was he planning to get Yuta back?

Winwin frowned. He didn’t like the idea. Whether he admits it or not, fear was slowing taking over his body.

***

“You didn’t tell me you got married to a high school guy.”

“Are you acting up at me for not telling you that I got married or I married a high school guy? And for your information, my husband has a name. Sicheng,” Yuta answered, a bit annoyed that an unwanted visitor came to see him. He just woke up with his whole body aching. To make everything worse, Winwin was nowhere to be seen. The nurse said he went home to get something, but that didn’t stop Yuta from sulking.

“Both,” Hansol answered truthfully. “Don’t you think I deserve the right to know?”

That was the moment when Winwin arrived, he was about to enter when he heard the two guys talking so he stopped at the door and eavesdropped.

“You didn’t spare a minute to tell me why you left before. Why would I give you the pleasure to know what’s happening in my life now?”

Jaehyun was right, Winwin thought. That Hansol guy was indeed his husbands’ ex-boyfriend.

“Yuta, you know I had to do it, or else my family will disown me, and I will lose everything.”

“That’s why you chose to let go of me instead.”

“Yuta.”

“I understand, Sol.”

Sol. The nickname sent a sharp pain to Winwin’s heart.

“I understand that now. I understand that your family comes first. I put Winwin first to everything, too.”

“Yuta, I-“

“Why are you still here?” Yuta didn’t let him finished. He’s worried that Winwin may come any minute and misunderstood everything. His husband didn’t even know the man. “I need to rest, and please don’t show your face again. What we have now is purely business, and it will stay that way.”

“I know you know why I came back.”

Both Yuta and Winwin paled.

“My father can’t stop me know. I let him before but not again. I’m here to get you back. I want you back."

Winwin’s hands were trembling in anger. He was unaware that his fear was slowing happening in front of him. Ji Hansol was trying to get his man back. Winwin will not just stand there and let him get what’s his. No, over his dead body.

With a cloudy and confused mind, he made a decision. He stepped away from that room. He needed to go somewhere. Somewhere that can give him the advantage. Somewhere that can give him the best weapon against Ji Hansol.

His mind was so cloudy that he didn’t wait for what Yuta was about to say next.

Yuta just shook his head and chuckled humorlessly.

“It’s different now, Hansol. What we had back then is now part of the past that I don’t want to look back to.”

“Yuta, I promised to return. I just needed to save our company.” There was slight desperation in Hansol’s voice. He must have sensed that the man in front of him was different from the Yuta that he knew and loved back then.

“Your family doesn’t approve of us. They never did, and they never will.” Yuta said, ignoring the sad look of the man in front of him. “I’m married and happy. You should do the same. Go find someone who can return your love.”

“Yes, you’re married to a high school student.” Wrong word because that triggered the anger that Yuta had been holding in. The mention of his husband’s name made him saw red.

“That high school student saved me from destroying myself!” He yelled, ignoring the pain of his wounds. Hansol was taken aback. “You just left me, and he picked me up from the misery I was in. He made me realized that I deserve to be happy. He may be young, but he’s not weak, and he’s a hundred times more than you could ever be. So, please. I don’t want him to see you here. Go.”

Yuta dreaded the day that Hansol would return ever since he got married to Winwin because the younger might leave him if he learned about his past with Hansol.

But what he feared the most about seeing Hansol again was that he might make the Japanese remember the love they had, and confuse him. 

But then seeing Hansol again after so many years proved things. He realized that he was not mad at him anymore, and he forgave him already. He also realized how much he loves Winwin that seeing Hansol didn’t make his heart beats fast like before. He felt nothing. He felt no love. 

All that was left was the fear that Winwin might see him, and misunderstood. 

Seeing Hansol again was the closure he never knew he needed. Seeing him again made Yuta love Winwin more.

***

Meanwhile, at a reproductive hospital in the city, Winwin showed the CMA that both of him and Yuta signed in front of a young doctor. The doctor scanned the paper and nodded after.

Everything happened so fast that the next thing Winwin knew, he was in the middle of the subway station, wreathing in pain.

aejae22

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Hi.

This is just the first part of Winwin's long-awaited character development. ^.^

I hope everyone is in good health. Please stay safe and healthy. We'll get through this together.

Please send me your comments. I miss them a lot.