On the other side of the city, at the Park mansion, Leeteuk sat playing with his dog Shimkoong. He'd had an exhausting couple of days attending meetings with his dad, being forced to talk to people he didn't care about, and had to listen to his father rant about the Kim's. Thankfully it was the weekend and his mother had forced his father to go out with her for the day (mainly so he'd calm down), and Jaejoong was with his boyfriend Yunho which meant Leeteuk had the house to himself. He was thankful for the rare silence. Now he could do what he wanted without anyone around. 

He sat watching Shimkoong play with her toys. Leeteuk smiled. He'd gotten her as a birthday gift from his mother who thought he could use a companion, despite his father's protests. "Everyone loves dogs. Jungsu should have one, too." she said the day she brought Shimkoong home from the shelter. "I've read that people with pets are happier than people without pets. Plus, they help relieve stress." Leeteuk smiled as he held Shimkoong for the first time. He took the best care of her: taking her for walks, making sure she was fed, and playing with her. Shimkoong stopped playing and looked at Leeteuk. "Koogie-ah. Come to me." Leeteuk said. Shimkoong's tail started wagging as she walked over to Leeteuk. He bent down and picked the little white dog and set her on his lap. "Koongie. You're lucky you don't have parents." Leeteuk said. Shimkoong looked at Leeteuk, not understanding her daddy's words.

"I would love nothing more than to just go as far away as possible. Where Father wouldn't be able to find me." Leeteuk said. He frowned. He knew it would be impossible to escape his father. He'd find him no matter where he went. "I guess I just have to accept this is my life. Nothing I can do." He sighed. Shimkoong, sensing her father's worries, nuzzled him. Leeteuk gave a small smile.

"At least this is one of the few things Father can't control." Leeteuk said as he pet Shimkoong. The ringing of his phone pulled him out of his thoughts. He walked over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone. The name 'Nickhun' flashed on screen. "Nickhun?" Leeteuk thought. "What does he want?"  

He hit 'Accept Call'. "Nickhun-ah." he replied. "Leeteuk-ah!" Nickhun's enthusiastic voice answered. Leeteuk pulled back slightly. Nickhun had come to Korea from Thailand several years ago and had met Leeteuk in school, becoming one of the few friends he had. "What's up? You seem excited."  "What are you doing tonight?" Nickhun asked. Leeteuk thought about it. He didn't really have anything exciting to do. He wasn't one for going to loud places, and going to the Rainbow Lounge,  one of the gay bars in Itaewon wasn't really on his agenda either.

"I don't know. Just spend the night at home, maybe." Leeteuk replied. "Well cancel that. We're going to a party." Nickhun said excitedly. Leeteuk sighed. He hated going to parties. "Nickhun you know how I feel about parties." Leeteuk said. "I know, but this one will be fun!" Nickhun exclaimed. "That's what you said about the last party you dragged me to." Leeteuk said. He recalled the chaotic mess of a party thrown by one of Nickhun's friends. "Well how was I supposed to know it was going to get that crazy? Although, Jo Kwon did have a lot of fun. Especially with those male strippers." Nickhun said. "Can't you just take one of your other friends?" Leeteuk asked.

"They're busy. Except for Jo Kwon."
"Well take him instead." Leeteuk replied. 
"But I have three invitations." Nickhun said.

"Hyung, please say you'll go. It'll do you good to get yourself back out there." Leeteuk knew what Nickhun was talking about. "I don't know." he said hesitantly.
"Please. Please. Please." Nickhun pleaded repeatedly. Leeteuk heard Nickhun plead over the phone and knew he wasn't going to stop until he said yes. Sighing, Leeteuk finally gave in. "Ok, ok. I'll go" "Yay!" Nickhun cheered. "The party's at 8. Find yourself a costume. And a mask. It's a masquerade. I'll call you later with more details." Then Nickhun hung up. Leeteuk sighed. He looked at Shimkoong who was playing with her favorite pink ball. "Well Koongie, looks like our night in is canceled." Koongie looked at Leeteuk and barked. Leeteuk looked at his phone. "Well, I guess I better go find a costume." Leeteuk said to himself. He grabbed his phone and wallet and headed down to get his keys. He was off to meet his friend Sora, who could give him the perfect costume.

Meanwhile, Heechul sat in his room at the Kim mansion on the phone with his friend Momo. "What am I going to do, Momo?" he asked. "My parents' party is tonight and they expect me to be there. Got any suggestions?" "On what costume to wear?" Momo asked. "No! On how to get out of it!" Heechul exclaimed. There was a slight pause before Momo spoke again. "You could pretend you're sick." she replied. "I already tried that. I used up all my sick excuses." "Then I guess I can't help." Momo said. Heechul sighed. "I really wish you weren't visiting your family right now. I could just hide out at your house." Momo chuckled. "Sorry, Chul-ah." she said. Just then Heechul heard voices from far away call for Momo in Japanese. Momo replied in Japanese briefly. "Listen, Heechul. I gotta go." she said. "I'll call you back." then she hung up. Heechul sighed loudly and flopped onto his bed. "Guess I have no choice now." he said. A ping from his computer made Heechul jump up and run over to see. "Please, please, please." he whispered. He checked and saw '1 New Notification.' He clicked and then frowned. It was a notification from Kyunghoon. He growled and turned off the computer. 

"It's not like I'm asking for much here. One simple sign. Even a 'hi' would be ok." he said to himself. Heechul had waited every day since Hankyung left for at least some sign that he remembered him. He tried going on to his social media accounts, but for whatever reason, Hankyung had set them for only certain people to look at. He tried calling him, but the operator said the number was out of service.

Heechul frowned. They didn't have a bad relationship. But it wasn't all happy. Hankyung was the first guy Heechul had ever felt happy with. He made Heechul smile, he was a great cook, and he would always comfort Heechul when he was mad about his dad. He was there when Heecul had his tempers and was one of the few people to see him cry. But as time went on, Hankyung had grown unhappy. Not with Heechul, but with Korea. Try as he might, he couldn't fit in amongst his boyfriend's people. 

It was that time when he decided to leave Korea. Heechul remembered Hankyung sitting him down. "Heechul-ssi. We need to talk." Heechul saw the look on his face and could tell right away this talk wasn't going to end well.

"Heechul. I'm going back to China." Hankyung finally said. "Why? Another family problem? Is it your grandfather?" Heechul asked. He knew Hankyung sometimes went to China because of family problems. Like when his grandmother had died. "No. It's not a family problem this time. I'm going back home. For good." Heechul's eyes widened at that. A few seconds passed before he spoke again. "Is it because of me?" he asked. "What did I do?" Heechul knew he could sometimes be a little headstrong, but not always. "It's not you, Chullie. It's me." Hankyung said sadly. "I just can't fit in here." Hankyung continued. "I've been unhappy here for a long time. I think it's best I go back." Heechul couldn't belive this was happening: Hankyung. His first boyfriend. The one person he felt understood him better than anyone, was just deciding to leave. "Well, I could always come visit." he said. "I've always wanted to meet your parents and-" Hankyung shook his head. "I don't think that would be a good idea." "Why not? Would they not like me?" 

"It's not that. I know they'd like you." Hankyung said. "They wouldn't accept you." Heechul thought for a second. "Wait. Do they not know we were dating?" he asked. "Kind of." Hankyung said. Heechul then realized something. "Do your parents not know you're gay?" he asked. Hankyung shook his head. "I've been too afraid to tell them. People back home aren't as accepting of gay people as they are here." 

"Hannie." Heechul said, his voice starting to break. Hankyung took Heechul's hands in his and looked at him with a sad smile. "Chullie. I'll always treasure what we had. But we both know this is for the best." Heechul could feel the tears in his eyes starting to form. "Is there really no way to make this work?" he asked. Hankyung shook his head. "I'm sorry, Chullie."  he said. Hankyung got up to leave but not before Heechul gave him one last kiss. "I'll miss you." Heechul whispered. "I'll miss you, too." Hankyung whispered. 

The next morning, Heechul watched as Hankyung's plane took off for China and took Hankyung out of his life.

Heechul felt tears sting his eyes. "Don't cry. You're Kim Heechul. You don't cry like that." he said to himself. Just then, his phone's ringing pulled him out of his thoughts. "Hello?" he answered."Heechul-Oppa." a female voice answered. "Oh, hey Hani." 

"Have you been crying?" Hani asked. "No. What did you want?" Heechul asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that your costume's all done." she said. Heechul sighed in relief. He'd commisoned his friend Hani to make him a costume so he wouldn't have to go out and buy one. "I'll be right over." he replied. When he hung up he sighed again. "Might as well get this over with." he thought. With that, he pocketed his phone and grabbed his keys left for Hani's house, thoughts of Hankyung leaving his head.