A nice aroma of freshly toasted bread and scramble egg filled his sense when Heechul walked out of the bathroom to the living room. His eyes wandered to examine the room interior. Albeit the simple design—not much furniture or decorations hanging on the wall— it still suited his preference. A big frame of picture caught his attention, it was a photo of Jungsoo, Hyukjae, a woman and a man whom he assumed were their parents. Heechul stared at the picture for the longest time and his heart clenched. The photo reminded him of his parents and how much he missed them.

'I miss you, Ma, Pa.'

A lone tear was trickling on his right cheek and he quickly wiped away. Too much had been going on lately; he couldn't have a single minute of only peacefulness. He walked to the kitchen and found Jungsoo standing behind the stove, seemingly having the same chaotic minds as the latter only stared at nothing in particular.

"If you burn the egg, I won't eat it."

Jungsoo snapped out of his deep thought and turned off the stove in a second. He quickly transferred the egg into two plates nicely, the same went with the toasts.

"Where do you want to eat?"

Instead of answering, Heechul threw another question to him, "Where do you prefer to eat?"

'Anywhere with you.'

"My dining room, the big window supplies enough sunlight. It usually energizes me and enlightens my mood. Sounds good?"

After receiving the affirmation nod from Heechul, he brought the two plates to the dining room. The designer, however, only stood there. Inside his heart, Heechul felt the homey atmosphere and it somehow scared him. Observing Jungsoo served breakfast for him only reminded how long it was since his last heartfelt meal with other people.

"Chul? Sit."

Although Jungsoo's voice sounded a bit hesitant, the decisiveness was still there, commanding Heechul to do nothing but to comply. When he had sat down, he expected the CEO to do the same, yet he didn't. Jungsoo went back to the kitchen, bringing two cups of coffee and finally settled himself to sit and eat.

"Sorry, I could only serve you a simple breakfast like this."

"Better than nothing."

At the snide comment, Jungsoo only chuckled. He was glad that Heechul had already acted normally despite what happened and what could've happened a while ago. To have the designer hated him would slowly kill him.

"Where's my phone?" Heechul suddenly asked, but still keeping his eyes on his coffee.

"Your cousin. Apparently, you left your mobile on the club last night, it was fortunate he found it instead of irresponsible people."

Heechul felt like the words coming from Jungsoo sounded like a silent judgment and he felt so uncomfortable. His instinct told him to be muted yet his ego commanded to defend. And defend he did, "I was drunk. Which moron would have time to check his belongings?"

There was a moment of silence before Jungsoo timidly asked, "Why did you insist to drink alone last night?"

The question caught him off guard and Heechul choked on his coffee. Jungsoo swiftly took a napkin and helped the coughing man. He gently dabbed the napkin on his mouth while his hand eased Heechul's back.

"Be careful."

Heechul quickly snatched the napkin and did the work himself. His heart started beating erratically and he didn't want Jungsoo to notice. The CEO sat back and the worried look persistently stayed on his face. Strangely, deep inside his heart, Heechul silently enjoyed the attention poured to him; it made him feel important.

"Heechul, do you hate me?"

Again, the question came out of nowhere. Heechul went stiff in an instant because it seemed that everything Jungsoo said would definitely give him a heart attack. He put down the napkin and lowered his gaze. It should be easy for him to answer the question—he didn't hate Jungsoo—but somehow he felt like his mouth was taped.

"Do you want me to leave, again?"

The question sounded quieter, and Heechul timidly raised his head. Jungsoo looked at the window yet he could see clearly how distressed the CEO looked. To be honest, it hurt him.

"No."

Heechul kept staring at the older and he noticed Jungsoo's lips twitched a little.

"Thank you. You don't know how crazy I was when you told me to go away. I almost lost my sanity, Heechul. Sounds pathetic, ain't it? This is the first time I fall in love and..."

"Jungsoo."

Shutting his eyes tight and readying himself for the awaiting rejection, Jungsoo could only breathe heavily. He knew how shameless he got; he didn't know what else he should do to calm his uncontrollable feelings towards the designer rather than being honest to the said person.

"I'm sorry for being so stubborn but please... I really fall in love with you."

A catastrophe was going wildly inside Heechul's mind. He felt so overwhelmed by the second confession, let alone Jungsoo bravely said the word 'love', and his heart beat crazily. He wanted to hug the latter and said how much he loved him too, but too many things tied him. All the things that he couldn't simply erase from his life. Fear, anxiety, frustration grew rapidly in line with the longing and love for Jungsoo.

A warm breeze hit his skin lightly and it somehow calmed his racing heart. He looked up and saw that Jungsoo had gone out into a balcony, across the dining room. Heechul stared at him and he felt peacefulness radiating from the latter. To be very honest, at first, he did want to hate Jungsoo for witnessing him with Siwon, for suddenly being super caring towards him and for slipping into his secluded castle without notice. But all the means he had done in order to detest the later, he just failed miserably. Jungsoo never broke his walls, he, himself, did.

"The weather is very nice, though a little bit hot. You know what? It just makes me realize that we're not having our breakfast, but our lunch."

The CEO laughed and closed the door to the balcony. He walked towards the table and started to gather the dirty plates. When he was about to go to the kitchen, Heechul softly called him.

"Jungsoo."

Smiling painfully, Jungsoo stopped on his track and whispered, "If you just want to ask me the same thing again, please don't. I will try my best but please don't say it to my face, Chul. It..."

'Hurts.'

"I can't return your feeling, Jungsoo. I've changed, I... Don't swing that way anymore. Doesn't it hurt you more?"

"It does."

There was a pregnant pause and none of them uttered a single word. Heechul's heart clenched for once again lying to the person he loved but it pained him more severely because he lied to himself.