Junmyeon dropped to his sofa with a huge sigh. Just a few hours ago, he had been operating on twins who had conjoined limbs and it was a success but it was exhausting. Seeing the relieved and grateful faces of their parents had been so worth it. He was going to be on duty again in 3hrs to come. Almost subconsciously he found his hand in his pocket and thumbed a certain ring; it was almost second nature to do that by now.

Before he could drown in sleep and angsty thoughts he heard very loud knocks on the door and he instantly knew who that was. He chuckled lowly as he got closer to the door and heard Minseok and Kyungsoo scolding Jongdae and Baekhyun who were responsible for knocking like mad men. Sehun’s laughter could be heard as well.

He barely had any time to greet them as they all but shoved past him to get to his couch.

Kyungsoo and Sehun were holding a bubble tea tray and Junmyeon’s favourite cake. They placed the food on the table and finally acknowledged the host’s presence.

“Hello Suho hyung, we know you are really tired so we promise to leave soon.” Sehun said as he accepted the knife and plates that Jongdae and Minseok had retrieved from the kitchen and started cutting the cake.

“So, hyung, how have you been holding up?” Kyungsoo enquired with concern as he noted the dark circles under the paediatrician’s eyes.

Junmyeon sighed again, “Same old same old…….” He continued giving them updates about his day at the hospital and they all listened with interest.

“Aww poor babies, I’m glad they are fine now.” Baekhyun said sympathetically whilst passing around the cake slices and the tea.

“But Suho what we really meant is how have you been really holding up?” Minseok asked gently. Junmyeon could sense the unspoken question.

“Hyung you don’t have to hide any longer, you can tell us everything, for once let us take of you not the other way round,” Jongdae said as he patted the other’s knee. They had all chosen to sit around their sad friend, meaning that some were sitting on the sofa beside him and some were sitting on the carpet.

Junmyeon sighed again. There was no point in lying anymore. He looked up as he prevented tears from falling. “Honestly, I feel like . Work and you guys are the only ones distracting me from my thoughts.”

Sehun took his hyung’s hand in his own for comfort as he and the others nodded in understanding, giving him the go ahead to continue.

“Believe me I try and try every day to forget about Yif – him but at the end of the day he pops up in my head and draws me back. I always end up thinking, was I not good enough for him? Were we too different? Did I do something wrong for him to leave me? Did he cheat on me? Was he too afraid to tell me he had found someone and he no longer loved me? Did we date because I was always there and he felt obliged to? That’s why he left? You know, up till now I don’t believe the reason he told me he left, it seemed rushed as if he was hiding something, we were not working he said. Doctor Kwon asked me out today and I almost accepted but the thought of him drew me back, why can’t I also do the same to his thoughts, draw him back from loving others. I just -” with that he finally broke down into tears and Baekhyun quickly drew him in his arms, whispering gentle words. The others could feel themselves tearing up as well as they now knew the extent of their friend’s stress. “Let it all out hyung, let it all out,” Baekhyun kept whispering soothingly. The others had some sort of physical contact with him, Sehun rubbing circles on the doctor’s hand, Jongdae doing the same thing on his knee, Kyungsoo the other knee, Minseok had stood up to his hair – the positions looked uncomfortable but that wasn’t even registering in their heads.

“We- we h-a-d picked a honeymoon country you know. My – my favourite place, Greece. We had picked a date for- for the we-dding, we had planned to get married in Canada and he threw that all away- why.” Junmyeon spoke in between sobs.

They continued soothing the crying man until his sobs had calmed down. “Do you want to know what I think Junmyeon hyung? I think you should march up to the idiot and confront him. Ask him to be clear with you. At least you deserve some closure. At least after you know the real reason he left you can now have the free choice on whether you should move on or not. It’s better than always wondering for the rest of your life why he left.” Kyungsoo said softly.

“I agree with Soo. If Kris is too cowardly to talk you should do it yourself, you deserve to know. Who knows you may end up talking about everything and you might even date again.” Minseok offered.

Junmyeon had to laugh bitterly at that. “Closure yes, Xiumin but getting together again, I doubt. He loves her, he moved on from me remember, now come to think of it, he may not have loved me in the first place.”

“Don’t say that hyung, that guy loved and probably still loves you. You should see the way he always looks out for you and looks at you when are too distracted.” Sehun insisted.

The others all nodded in agreement at that.

“We are all angry at that tall tree, but do what you should have done a long time ago – give him a piece of your mind.” Jongdae stated.

 “For once be selfish, think about yourself too and not what he’s gonna think. Stop pretending that everything is okay, that nothing happened between you too.” Baekhyun said firmly as he finally released Junmyeon from his embrace.

The doctor nodded as he processed all the advice he got from his friends. “First thing tomorrow when I’m free, I’m gonna corner him. I’ll be free at 8pm.” He said bravely to the guys. They all smiled at him.

They then stood up to go because they knew the man needed his rest and they didn’t want to disadvantage him. “Will you be okay?” Kyungsoo asked as Junmyeon walked them to the front door.

The latter nodded. “Don’t worry I’ll be fine. Drive safe guys; call me when you get home.”

“We will, fighting Junmyeon!!!!”

Junmyeon closed the door and slid down. So the wedding had been rescheduled to an earlier date. Guess he didn’t have enough time to prepare his heart. He reached for the ring in his pocket again.

                                          *******

 “Did it work?” Jongdae asked as he removed his shoes and walked in Yixing’s living room where the older sat with a thoughtful look on his face. He leaned down for a short kiss and sat beside him.

The dancer just grunted angrily. “It didn’t, I’ve never met anyone so hard headed believe me. He frustrates me so much. How is Junmyeon holding up though?”

“Well,” Jongdae gently laid his boyfriend’s head in his lap and started giving him a scalp massage, “He finally let it all out and believe me he is sadder than we thought and worse of all, he still worries about us, told us to call him when we reached home – and yes I did, in the car.”

Yixing gave a sigh a he was enjoying the massage but still listening to the story about his friend. “That’s Junmyeon for you, puts others before him, hope no one takes advantage of that.”

The singer hummed. “But on a good note, he agreed to confront Kris hyung you know for some closure. I truly support him on that. Maybe something good can come out it.”

“I hope so.” The older murmured. They looked at each other, drawing each other in and Yixing lifted his head, drawing closer for a kiss when his phone started ringing. They looked at each other and the younger motioned for him to pick it up, though reluctantly.

The other just picked it up and answered without looking at the caller ID. “Hello? Yumi!!” he turned to look with his boyfriend with wild eyes. Jongdae was sporting the same look. Yixing put the phone on loudspeaker, he wanted to prove to Jongdae that nothing was going on with his ex. Jongdae didn’t say it aloud but he was a bit touched with that action.

“Hi Yixing, how is life”

“It’s treating me fine, you?”

“I’ve been good I guess. Listen I wanted to ask you about something.”

Yixing nodded even though she couldn’t see. Jongdae had his heart in his throat as he dreaded the next words.

“Uh it’s about that trip you planned for us. I know we broke up before we went but since you booked already can we go…just as friends. I think we need it as some type of closure so that we close off as good friends with no unclear air between us, something like a goodbye gift. Plus it will be putting the tickets to good use right, no wasting since I will be now going.”

The line was silent. The two boyfriends exchanged gazes again. Jongdae looked sad but don’t all couples need closure. He had to understand right? But he was so looking forward to the trip. They had promised to discuss everything and have a deep understanding on love and how to avoid bad situations, how to forgive, let go, to learn more about each other etc.

Yixing noticed the sad look on his boyfriend’s face and decided that he never wanted to see that expression again.

“Um Yumi, as tempting as that may sound, I can’t. I’m already going with someone else. I feel as if me and this special someone really need to go there. I’m sorry.”

The girl cleared .

“It’s okay oppa I get it. Maybe we will talk another time?” Yixing didn’t have time to answer as Jongdae grabbed the phone and hung up. The dancer looked at him, about to say something b