It was the last week of May, a month since Kyungsoo had last seen Chanyeol.  He, too, had readapted to his life, pre-accident, which was working and going home and running errands on his off days, and then repeat.

He had been taking extra shifts without complaining, sometimes even volunteering for them, that Tony, the operations manager, and Gloria, the head chef, grew worried about him.

“Why are you working so hard, Kyungsoo?” Gloria asked him out of the blue one time. “Is there… a loan you need to pay off…? What’s happening…?”

Kyungsoo only laughed, shaking his head to fend off any more suspicion or fretting. “No, of course not, Ms. Gloria. I am just fine!” He lowered his eyes, as many have commented how exhausted he looked these days, but he didn’t pay heed. “I am simply making up for the times I had been on extended leave last April. And besides, I miss the kitchen… I miss being in my element. I just…”

“All right, all right,” Gloria consoled, patting the sous chef on the back. “Jae-wook did tell me to keep an eye on you, and let him know if there was anything you needed. You will tell me, right? You know I’m here for you.”

Kyungsoo swallowed. The mere mention of Jae-wook sunbaenim made his insides shiver. How many times did he have to tell Seomse Seoul’s head chef that it was over between them?

Sunbaenim’s presence was everywhere, much as he tried to avoid it.

The other thing Kyungsoo was also avoiding… was thinking about Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo often wondered what had become of him, if the CEO was also readjusting to his life in Seoul. He wanted to ask Mr. Rodgers if he had heard anything, any update of some sort, but he was too shy and too cowardly to actually voice it out.

He would look at Mrs. Park’s number, registered on his ‘RECEIVED CALLS’ notification from two weeks ago. Should he call Park sajangnim? Should he… apologize for his inexcusable behavior?

But what would he say? Should he ask if Chanyeol had found out about the letter on the notebook already?

Kyungsoo shook his head, couldn’t bear to unearth what Chanyeol’s reaction would be. As expected, life had always thrown him the cruelest and the most ironic of plot twists. Imagine, a guy confessing to another guy…? It wouldn’t be normal for Park sajangnim… He didn’t want to burden him with this situation.

At least, when Kyungsoo was cooking, or immersed in his work, his mind was focused on cooking alone, and that relieved him from the all-consuming dread of the day he would have to confess to Chanyeol about how he felt. It didn’t matter now if the CEO reciprocated his feelings—because the only logical conclusion was that Chanyeol wouldn’t.

It was wrong.

Falling in love with Park Chanyeol—his employer, nonetheless—was a mistake.

He missed him, in the moments when his mind would unconsciously wander over to him, which was several times a day.  It wasn’t like he could help it.  Their picture from the airport was his phone’s wallpaper, the first thing he would see when he woke up as he used his phone as his alarm.

Could Chanyeol calling imply that he missed him… too?

Kyungsoo wanted to believe it, to comfort his heart that every memory that they had ever shared was just as precious to Chanyeol, even if it had begun tragically.

Hope, however, was a dangerous drug. He had succumbed to the pits of it before, wishing for his happily ever after, only to be left broken and empty… and all alone.

He sighed as he alighted at his train stop that night, his weariness going far beyond the physical, as he had once again worked an 11-hour shift. He decided to stop by the apartment complex’s mailbox and found that there were several letters that came in today for both his hyungs, and there was one for him.

The envelope, which was slightly smaller than an A4 size, was thoroughly sealed and the postal stamp had come from South Korea. He was still looking at his letter in curiosity, as he boarded the elevators to get to their unit’s floor.

Yixing opened the door for him, utterly worried, but Kyungsoo only greeted him with a small smile.

Junmyeon was in the kitchen, where Yixing rejoined him. Junmyeon hyung worked the regular 9-5 work hours in the Korean embassy while Yixing’s schedule varied each month. They were having supper at midnight, which was the only time his hyungs sometimes spent quality time together on weekdays.

“I made some garden salad and yaki udon with shrimp,” Junmyeon told him, beckoning Kyungsoo to sit down.

Kyungsoo was about to refuse, wanting to simply lie in bed and sleep, when Yixing got him a plate.

Sighing, he gave in, and partaking on the delicious meal his hyungs had prepared. He sampled the udon first—he had always been a