11:30pm, Friday

To say Jaehyun was shocked would be an understatement.

‘Hyung, what are you doing here?’ Jaehyun spoke into the shadows. His voice came out strained and exhausted.

There was no reply. Jaehyun sighed, ‘Come in, it’s freezing.’

Taeyong walked inside the flat, leaving Jaehyun with just enough room to reach for the gate and fasten the latch.

Taeyong was staring holes into the ground and it was visible that he himself was confused and lost for words.

‘Hyung?’ Jaehyun stooped a little lower but Taeyong refused to look him in the eye. It was then that Jaehyun saw tracks of tears lining the older’s cheeks like narrow cracks on beautiful porcelain. He raised his hand and gently smoothed the creases as if brushing the pain and affliction aside and cringed when the older flinched from his touch. ‘What are you doing here?’ Jaehyun repeated tenderly.

‘I don’t know,’ Taeyong’s throat constricted and tears were threatening to pour again but he had to keep the confrontation civil.

‘What can I do for you?’ Jaehyun straightened his back and patiently nudged the older, caressing him with his soft words.

‘He’s an you know, Jaehyun?’ Taeyong whispered. They were met by a stifling pause.

‘Who?’ Jaehyun prodded.

‘Him, Yuta.’

Another pause.

‘Yuta’s an but at least…’ Taeyong took a deep breath, eyes still focused on the floor, ‘At least he wants me, craves my presence and attention. He’s a bastard alright, but he doesn’t pretend to care and then go off ing another woman. Not like you.’ It was a lie. Yuta had slept around. He had done exactly that and it had reduced Taeyong to the mess he was now. But none of that mattered. He just needed to spit it all out, to anger Jaehyun just as he had hurt him.

Taeyong couldn’t keep it in anymore, his voice wavered but he kept his eyes fixated onto the ground.

Jaehyun’s mind was racing. I never ed anyone, hyung, Jaehyun wanted to scream, I never had my eyes on anyone but you. It was all a mistake, a big ing mistake and it was all because I wanted you too much. I wanted you so much that it killed me thinking you didn’t want me in your life.

For a moment it seemed as though time had frozen and the world had stopped spinning. The silence between them was so overwhelmingly excruciating that it somehow hurt to even breathe.

Jaehyun looked into Taeyong’s eyes, sunken and ebony. There was so much hurt embedded in those eyes, carrying the weight of the world. It were as if there was something drowning inside of them, crying out for help mutedly, yet no one ever paid attention.

Jaehyun’s lips were still lightly parted, still trying to process everything the older boy had just said. Another glance at Taeyong and the fleeting vulnerability had dissipated. Instead, Jaehyun was met by a fierce glare that seethed with anger.

‘Maybe Yuta was right, maybe he is still better than you…’ Taeyong was dangerously calm, tears still trickling.

They stayed rooted to the spot for a few seconds, minutes, or even years, Jaehyun couldn’t even tell anymore, until a flame