Thanks for reading! :D This chapter is all in Seungcheol's POV

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Seungcheol never thought he would be returning to Busan in less than a year. The traffic had been heavier than he thought so when he arrived to his grandmother’s house he looked even more exhausted than in the morning.

“Cheollie, welcome home.” She said sweetly, just like the last time he visited her months ago.

Her surprised expression had turned into a smile so fast as if she was expecting him to come, and this time Seungcheol returned her smile with a bigger one.

Things had changed so much for him since the last time he was in Busan and even when there was still a bittersweet feeling, this time he knew he had to appreciate more all the nice things his grandmother did for him instead of feeling sad just by being at her house. He had talked about it with Jihoon and the other had been a really good listener and gave him advices that helped him see things in another perspective.

He had eaten dinner with his grandmother, knowing it was too late at night to look for Jihoon. She reminded him of the last time he had visited and how her neighbors had been asking about him. Seungcheol did remember all those senior citizens and how they enjoyed playing games and listening to music in the community center. He was feeling relaxed in his seat after eating her delicious food and listening to her soothing voice, when he was suddenly startled by the mention of a name.

“And tomorrow we will be celebrating Mr. Kim’s birthday, since his sons are in Canada we will have a small reunion at the community center. Jihoon, Mrs. Lee’s son, will surely sing and play the piano for us.”

“Lee Jihoon!?” Seungcheol almost jumped out of his seat in excitement.

His grandmother chuckled a bit. “Is he a friend of yours?”

Seungcheol didn’t know what kind of expression he had on his face, but his grandmother suddenly stopped smiling.

“I thought you were engaged to Yoon Jeonghan.” She said softly.

His grandmother had only met Jeonghan a couple of times in Seoul, but she thought he was a good person and she only asked Seungcheol if he made him happy. That had been years ago, as now she preferred to stay in Busan and the phone calls were scarce between him and her.

“Seungcheol?” She asked touching his hand softly.

“Actually, we broke up…” He said still remembering his father’s shocked face when he told him the same words.

His grandmother gave him a small smile that he returned.

“You were together for a long time…I wonder if he is doing okay.”

Those words left him speechless. He had been worried about Jeonghan whereabouts, as everyone that knew him did, but nobody had tried reaching the other focusing on his feelings after the breakup. So before going to sleep, he decided to send a message to the other without inquiring about where he was.

He wasn’t sure if the question conveyed everything he wanted to ask, but he hoped the other answered this time. His ‘Are you ok?’ was answered within 20 minutes after sending it, surprising him and giving him a sense of relief. But the following phone call surprised him even more. After Jeonghan disappeared, he assumed the other would hate him and ignore him for a long time, but Jeonghan just seemed lost and after meeting a married Jisoo, he just needed someone to tell him he was strong and that he would be okay.

And the talk about their broken relationship was something that they hadn’t been able to do when the pain was still too much, but being able to really express their feelings and Jeonghan’s soft ‘I miss you’ was something Seungcheol needed to hear, something that reminded him that not everything had been wrong in their relationship. Reminded him that even if things had gotten weary, they didn’t regret their time together.

He had told the other he was going to sleep before cutting the call, but he actually couldn’t do it. Even when now he was more relaxed knowing about Jeonghan’s condition, there was other person that was occupying his mind. Because without words his grandmother had noticed he had special feeling towards Jihoon and she seemed more worried than happy for him. She had asked Seungcheol about how he met Jihoon and he had told her many things, but never mentioned that all those things happened while he was still with Jeonghan, he knew she would look down on that. And she had stayed quiet listening to him before saying something that put him on edge, something along the lines of Mrs. Lee being so happy that her son decided to move back to Korea, but now he was thinking of moving back to Japan. With that new information he knew he had to be at the community center the next day and talk with Jihoon.

And that was what he did; he woke up early and took his grandmother to the community center. In there, he was introduced again as her grandson and they were all ready to happily greet him. He smiled to everyone and helped in what he could, but he kept looking at the main door hoping Jihoon would appear at any moment. He had asked some of the people in there if they knew Jihoon and they told him he had visited a couple of times during the last week and that he was really good at singing and playing piano. Seungcheol’s smile grew after listening to those words, because Jihoon was great indeed.

Lunch time had almost arrived when Mr. Kim appeared at the door and everyone went to greet him, but Seungcheol’s eyes could only focus on the people behind him. At the entrance quietly stood Mrs. Lee and Jihoon.

The other hadn’t noticed him back as he was instructed to play something in the piano while the food was being put on the table. And Seungcheol’s feelings just kept growing and growing in his chest. Seeing Jihoon after a couple of weeks was making his heart beat really fast and listening to his voice, to his music, was like an injection of energy, of love.

He didn’t notice the time passing until his grandmother started pulling him towards the table and he realized his seat was really far away from Jihoon’s. He hadn’t noticed that while he was entranced by the other, the place started fulling with new people and now there was no way of sitting close to the other. But as he kept looking, his eyes suddenly matched Jihoon’s gaze and the other let go of his spoon with a surprised expression. Seungcheol looked at him worried, but the other looked down to pick up his spoon and clean the rice that had fallen on the table, before deciding to ignore him completely.

Seungcheol knew he was pouting by the end of the birthday lunch as Jihoon decided to play the piano again and the neighbors forbid him to interrupt him. And then he was appointed in cleaning duty and he felt like an eternity passed before he had the chance to approach the other. But when he returned to the main hall, Jihoon was no longer there.

He sighed feeling dejected, when he felt a hand patting his shoulder.

“Seungcheol-ssi…” Mrs. Lee said with a small smile. “Jihoonie went to the beach, he usually seats near the bridge. He likes it when it lights up at night.” She finished still with a warm smile as if she knew more than what her words indicated.

He thanked her before going to his car to drive to the beach. The sun was still up in the sky, but in a couple of hours it would probably be setting and Seungcheol hoped things with Jihoon would be okay by then.

And as she said, he found Jihoon sitting in the sand near the bridge. And while some people were still swimming and enjoying the last rays of sun, Jihoon looked lost in his thoughts. Seungcheol hesitated before approaching the other, because as much as he had wanted to talk to him, having the other in front made him lose his words.

“Jihoon?” He asked gently approaching the other.

“I know Soonyoung told you I’m here.” Jihoon mumbled with a bitter tone.

Seungcheol nodded as he sat beside the other, but then they stayed in silence again and Seungcheol realized that Kwon Soonyoung hadn’t told Jihoon about his breakup with Jeonghan.

 “I…I broke up with Jeonghan.” He said nervously.

And with those words he finally made the other turn around to look at him.

“What!?” Jihoon looked surprised and confused, but with a closer inspection of his face, he looked exhausted.

“Well, we broke up and our families already know about it…I just wanted you to know that.”

Jihoon looked down at his hands before sighing.

“You already know I broke up with Mingyu…”

Seungcheol couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his face, but it vanished as soon as he heard Jihoon’s deep sigh.

“I hurt him, I’m angry at myself for that.” Jihoon said bringing his legs in and hugging them.

Seungcheol didn’t know what to say after that. Kwon Soonyoung had made it clear that Kim Mingyu was still important to Jihoon.

Minutes passed with them in silence, with Seungcheol longing to touch the other, because he didn’t know in what other way he could express everything he was feeling at the moment.

“Mingyu said that other models were saying things about us…” Jihoon said now looking at the sea. “Yoon Jeonghan probably hates me for meddling in your engagement…and your family too…”

Seungcheol just looked back at the other. He didn’t want to say all the things that had gotten wrong after the engagement was broken, all the shouts, the rumors, the cancelled projects and negotiations. None of that was Jihoon’s fault, and Seungcheol would be dammed before he made the other feel like that.

“Jihoon…I understand that Kim Mingyu is still important to you and I know things are not easy at the moment with people spreading rumors, but I’m assuring you Jeonghan will never hurt you or seek for revenge. I-.”

“What were we doing Seungcheol?” Jihoon asked turning to him. “Were we just hanging out as friends? Were we something more? Were we sneaking around like forbidden lovers or something?”

Seungcheol didn’t know how to answer those questions. He hadn’t been able to label what he had with Jihoon, he just knew that with every moment shared, his feelings for the other kept increasing to the point he was ready to face it all for him. Just being there next to the other sitting in the sand was healing the hell of a week he had.

“The truth is we ignored all the signs that told us that we were hurting people that loved us, that cared about us. I had a boyfriend and you had a fiancé and yet we insisted on going out and even kissed many times. And I’m not going to deny that it felt good spending time with you, that you made me feel so many things, but there is a reason why this worked so far…it’s because we were creating a different reality. I only met your brother because of that unexpected encounter and you would eventually meet Soonyoung because of work, but apart from that we never mixed our realities. And now everything is crashing on us.”

Seungcheol gulped assimilating everything Jihoon was saying.

“What are you trying to say Jihoon?” He asked scared of the answer. He had started trembling and not only because of the sea breeze that was getting stronger, but because Jihoon had turned away from him.

“That you know you have a different reality than mine. Even when we have been trying to overlook the fact that you are an heir, I know our ways will only become more distant with time.”

That speech sounded oddly familiar. Like Jisoo being scared of not being enough for Jeonghan.

“Is that why you are trying to push me away?” Seungcheol asked.

Was that what Jihoon was thinking when he wrote the song he listened before driving to Busan? Was he scared that Seungcheol would choose his job over him and would prefer to date another heir?

“It’s what I wish for Mingyu to have and what I wish for you to have; someone that would be up to par to your life.”

Seungcheol felt aggravated, why was Jihoon thinking he was not good enough for him? He didn’t want to lose Jihoon just because of the idea that other people had about him, about them. Jihoon was great at his craft and Seungcheol was his number one fan and would introduce him proudly to anyone who would ask.

“I know you have tried to do the best for me like accepting to eat with me at night sometimes and waiting in my studio for long hours while I write my songs, but is that the everyday reality that you want?” Jihoon said hugging his legs tighter and putting his head on top of them looking down.

Seungcheol took a deep breath and moved to kneel in front of Jihoon. He had been ready to answer that question for longer than he realized and now he was prepared to answer it with all certainty in the world.