The doorbell had no right to ruin that peaceful sleep Kyungsoo was in. After so much hard work he had done a night before, he deserved a calming nap in the place he called his paradise. He was just a few hours into his sleep, for he had stayed up till four, enjoying his life the best way he could, being the happiest creature on the planet and fulfilling all of the desires he never knew he had. The person behind the door sure must be evil. 

Reluctantly Kyungsoo opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw made him realise that waking up wasn't too bad. Getting to see an angel sleeping in his arms was the most he could ask for. Those blushing cheeks lit up by the soft and warm sunlight peeking through the window had Kyungsoo feeling some sort of way. A Jongin wrapped around his own body, his skin colour contrasting beautifully with his own elegant pale one, all about it was just way too good to be real, and so Kyungsoo wondered if he was living in a fantasy or something. But he had to come out of that beautiful world of new and exciting thoughts when he heard yet another ring. Trying his best to not wake Jongin up, he cautiously slid out from under him and got up from the bed. Quickly dressing himself up in those neglected clothes on the floor, Kyungsoo went on his way to face a face other than Jongin's after a long time, but only after planting a loving kiss on a still sleeping Jongin's forehead and covering his with the blanket. 

The person on the other side of the door took Kyungsoo by surprise. He was probably the last person Kyungsoo was expecting to see at a random Sunday morning. But out of nowhere a natural smile emerged on his face and he reflexively said a sweet "Hey" to the blonde standing in front of him. 

The blonde, Baekhyun, had a mixed reaction to Kyungsoo's sweet address. Kyungsoo could tell that he was battling to decide what to say and how to say. And it could be seen in the weak "H-Hi" that he finally settled for. 

The tension between them made it ten times more awkward than it could have been. Because Baekhyun was certainly expecting a cold and rude reaction from Kyungsoo, considering their broken relationship which had ended at very bad terms. But Kyungsoo himself didn't know why he was no more mad at Baekhyun, why he didn't care about his ex-best friend's betrayal. Probably because he had completely forgotten about it, the life-changing events that had occurred had totally cut him off from the rest of the world since months. Whatever it might be, the only thing he felt was left to tell Baekhyun was still needed to be spoken.

"Umm...come in." 

Kyungsoo gave Baekhyun way to enter the house which once used to be his second home. Kyungsoo closed the door after Baekhyun. But before he could even think of putting his words into the apology he owed to the blonde for having slapped him in front of their colleagues, Baekhyun suddenly exclaimed- 

"Where's Jongin? Is he okay?" 

Baekhyun had worry written all over his face, and Kyungsoo certainly wasn't able to look past it. Dying to know the reason for such concern, Kyungsoo absent-mindedly answered him. 

"He's in his room and doing well. Why? What happened?" 

"Exactly. What happened?", all of the worry and concern switched to anger in a split second. "Where is your ing phone?" 

Flashbacks to when Jongin had thrown Kyungsoo's phone away while he was about to call Sehun, and had ended up breaking the entire display. 

"Its broken." 

"For a whole week?" 

"Yeah." Because yes, it had been a week since his phone broke...and also since he lost his ity to his own stepbrother. "But why? Did you call?" 

Baekhyun made a stiff poker face and said in a cold and almost rebuking way, "Yes. About a million times." 

"Why? Is there something wrong?" 

"Of course there is. Jongdae couldn't connect to you so he called me. Why hasn't Jongin showed up in any of his therapy sessions this week?" 

Kyungsoo's face lost all its colours. He could feel his ears growing red, and was aware of the terror stricken expression he had, and to hide that along with the tiny droplets of sweat that had emerged on his forehead in that early winter morning, he turned to his back and made pathetic attempts to lie to Baekhyun. 

"B-Because he didn't want to." 

Followed by a scoff, Baekhyun retorted, "Oh really? Because the boy literally loves spending time with Minseok. Why would he suddenly mind going to see him after months of enjoying his company?" 

"I...I don't know." 

"Oh come on Kyungsoo...", Baekhyun said as he pulled Kyungsoo by his arm to turn him back around and ask him to his face, "...I know that you're lying. Now tell me the truth. Was it really Jongin, or you who didn't want him to go see his therapist?" 

In a fit of anger, Kyungsoo shrugged Baekhyun's hand away and yelled his answer out, "I didn't want him to go." But not long after, he realised what he had just confessed, and instantly repented it. Even before Baekhyun could think of speaking something, Kyungsoo walked past him to sit at the couch near the fireplace and bury his face in his palms. 

After a moment of silence, Baekhyun scoffed for the thousandth time that morning, and while slowly walking towards where Kyungsoo was sitting he recited the thoughts he was amused by this time, "You know what? I came here today not only to see if Jongin was okay, but also to see you, so that I could apologise to you."

Upon hearing that, Kyungsoo lifted his face up from his hands and look at the blonde standing a few steps away from him. He was surprised because he didn't know what Baekhyun was guilty for at the moment. But he didn't need to ask, as Baekhyun himself proceeded to tell- 

"When Jongdae called me yesterday, we talked for a while, and he eventually told me about that whole Sehun thing that I was totally oblivious to. I felt bad, for I didn't know that you decided to work from home because of that particular incident, and so I said those mean things to you. But now I guess I wasn't wrong. Guess you really are possessive and obsessive towards Jongin. You really want to keep him all to yourself, away from the rest of the world." 

"Shut it up, Baekhyun.", these words were not spoken out of anger, but hurt, pure hurt. Kyungsoo was torn apart by Baekhyun's blames because those were not true and just like the last time, he still had a real reason to be overprotective of Jongin. "That is not true." 

"Then do you have a better reason to do so? To keep Jongin away from his medication?" 

"I do." 

"What is it?" 

And there was pin-drop silence again, because the very reason was something he had to hide from Baekhyun. So speechless Kyungsoo just looked down at the marble flooring. This was when Baekhyun lost his patience, he stood next to Kyungsoo and tightly grabbing both his shoulders, he hissed-

"What is it?", he said by emphasising each of the three words. 

The impact was good, as Kyungsoo did really answer. Again, he shoved away Baekhyun's hands and let his thoughts burst out once he couldn't take the pressure any longer, "I didn't want them to know." 

"What?", Baekhyun questioned out of confusion, "What do you not want them to know?" 

"I...I can't tell you." 

"You have to tell me." 

"Why?", Kyungsoo raised his voice as he exclaimed, "Why do I have to tell you? Its a personal matter, and you don't need to know that." 

Being taken aback by Kyungsoo's firm denial, Baekhyun was free of all of the anger and frustration. But the urge to know the reason had not gone yet, so out of pure and genuine concern, he tried to persuade Kyungsoo into telling him with patience and perseverance. He sat down on his knees in front of Kyungsoo, held both his hands and said in a gentle tone,

"Kyungsoo, I know that things have been kind of messed up lately. But a friendship of so many years can't be thrown under the bus just like that. We're like a family. We've always been transparent with each other...I mean, at least until I hid about my relationship with Chanyeol, which I'm really really sorry about. But that doesn't mean that I no longer love you and Jongin. If you've raised Jongin like your child then I've always looked after him like an elder brother. That is why I deserve to know what's up with him. And that is why you need to tell me the truth." 

Kyungsoo was moved to tears by Baekhyun's emotional little speech. He took a few moments to gaze at the blonde's equally welled up eyes before finally speaking in a heavy cracking voice, "I know that you love and care for us. And yes you do deserve to know but..." 

"But?" 

"I'm just too scared that...that you will judge me and hate me after knowing it." 

Baekhyun gently pressed Kyungsoo's hands to make him look up into his eyes, so that he could see the honesty in them when he said, "That would never happen. I might get angry at you or scold you even, but that's out of concern, not spite." 

Gladly, Kyungsoo really was able to notice the sheer amount of purity in Baekhyun's words. He took his time to reconsider whether he should tell the truth to Baekhyun or not. It didn't take him too long to come to the conclusion that he really should go for it. Out of all the people around him, Kyungsoo still had the most faith in Baekhyun. And the things happening in his life couldn't be hidden from the world for too long, so Kyungsoo decided to make Baekhyun the first one to know; both because he was sure that the latter would understand, and also because he deserved to know about it. 

"Alright then." 

The little smile that appeared on Baekhyun's pretty face was so much filled with love that it strengthened Kyungsoo's will even more. Baekhyun blinked as a cue for Kyungsoo to go on, to which he started by stating the apology that was still pending-

"But before that, I just want to apologise for that day. No matter what, I shouldn't have slapped you in front of ev-" 

"Kyungsoo. Cut it off. It was my fault too, I spoke too much without knowing the whole situation. Besides, I've forgotten that incident now, so don't bring it up again." 

Kyungsoo replied with a sweet little smile and a grateful nod. Now was the time to reveal the secret. Kyungsoo began to brace himself up, he took a deep breath to gain the strength he needed, but no words came out. He didn't know how to put it forth, even after pondering over it for a few moments, Kyungsoo was unable to find the politest way of confessing that he had been ing his little autistic stepbrother. So eventually, he decided to drop hints and hoped for Baekhyun to decode the truth by himself. 

"Umm...so..you see. I'm...", one more deep breath, and Kyungsoo was finally able to let it out, "...I'm not a anymore." 

Baekhyun's eyes widened for a second, he was surprised in a good way. But then immediately frowned in confusion as he wondered,

"Woah well, that's...that's great. But I don't get it, what does it have to do with Jongin? Also...who is it? Suho?" 

"No", putting all things aside, Kyungsoo felt the urgency to make it clear that it wasn't Suho, "Its not Suho." 

"Really? Then who else?", before Kyungsoo could even reply, Baekhyun started making wild guesses with the first names that popped up in his mind, "Is it Jongdae? Or wait...is it Minseok? Although I always thought that they had a thing for each other, but I'd still be happy for you. They're nice people." 

"Okay stop stop. You gotta stop right there. Its none of them Baek." 

"I'm out of names then. Tell me now, who is it?" 

Kyungsoo had realised by now that Baekhyun would never be able to guess it right. So he gulped down his fears, held Baekhyun's hand as tightly as he could, looked him in the eyes and said the name of his boyfriend- 

"Jongin." 

As if the time had stopped, Baekhyun looked like a statue. Not even a single strand of his hair moved, he just kept staring at Kyungsoo with a mouth wide open, and Kyungsoo just kept searching for any kind of response to the reveal he had just made. 

"Wh-What happened Baekhyun?" 

Some kind of weird punchline Baekhyun must have found in that enquiry, which sent him into a fit of laughter. He stood up and took a step back while still laughing like a maniac as he said, "Well you...you got me this time. That was a good one." 

It was crystal clear with Baekhyun's hysterical laughter, that he wasn't finding it funny, he was just finding it way too hard to accept and was just wishing for what he heard to be a joke. And so Kyungsoo made no attempts to make himself clear. He just looked down all ashamed, ready to be judged. 

When Kyungsoo didn't respond, and Baekhyun regained his senses, he asked in a frightened tone, "Are you serious?" 

Kyungsoo weakly nodded, still with his head down.

"What the ?" 

Scared, Kyungsoo looked up and found the utterly horrified look on Baekhyun's face. 

"That's ridiculous. You and Jongin....that's...that's disgusting." 

"Please don't say that."

"THEN WHAT ELSE DO I SAY? You're making me sick to my stomach right now." 

Kyungsoo was so worried that he rushed towards Baekhyun to calm him down. "Baekhyun don't yell, please. Jongin is still asleep. Calm down."

"​​​​​​How the do I calm down? Do you even realise what you're doing? He's your brother. How can you...how can you your own brother?" 

Kyungsoo sure was scared and was on a verge to cry upon seeing Baekhyun's raging fury. But he still wanted to give his explanation. "He's my stepbrother. Moreover, we're not even blood-related. My Dad and his Mom were married for a while and that's that." 

Baekhyun vigorously shook his head in disagreement. "Still Kyungsoo still. Its Jongin, how can you Jongin?" 

Again with his head low, Kyungsoo said with little to no confidence left inside of him, "I don't...I don't him. We...we make love." 

Baekhyun scoffed as loud as he could and then snarled at him, "That's the ing same thing. You don't raise a less-abled kid with all that love and care just to stick your in his one day." 

"That's enough.", said Kyungsoo, gathering all the confidence and courage he had, to defend himself and his love towards Jongin, "After all these years, I don't feel the need to prove my love towards Jongin to anyone. What we do is totally consensual, and its something that we both equally like. So please don't interfere in our private life by telling me what's wrong and what's right." 

Kyungsoo's words rendered the blonde speechless. He looked away from Kyungsoo's big, dark and teary eyes and sighed. His ears were still red from all that anger, but he was trying his best to calm himself down. 

"Just...just give me some time to absorb all this ." 

Kyungsoo nodded even though Baekhyun was not looking at him. He quietly observed the latter slowly walk around and then finally sit on the couch and staring into space. He cleared his throat to get his attention to ask, 

"Would you like some coffee?" 

*************************

The three empty cups on the slab below the window was the proof of that whole hour that Baekhyun had spent thinking out loud. And Kyungsoo's still filled first cup was an evidence of the fact that he had been staring at Baekhyun all that while. They were sitting quietly in Kyungsoo's room, which had been almost abandoned ever since Kyungsoo started sleeping in the blue room. Disgruntled, Kyungsoo finally decided to break the ice. 

"Baekhyun, it has almost been an hour. Say something...or anything." 

Baekhyun didn't acknowledge him at first, but then nonchalantly said something which left Kyungsoo bewildered. 

"You must forgive Chanyeol now." 

Kyungsoo took his sweet time to process where Baekhyun was coming from, and what he had to answer because he still had to think of that whole situation. He managed to assemble his thoughts quickly and answer Baekhyun, "Of course, I'll forgive him. I totally understand now that Jongin must have consented the intimacy they had that day. Although..." 

The sudden change in tone grabbed Baekhyun's attention, and he finally looked up at Kyungsoo with a frown on his forehead. He definitely didn't feel the need for an 'although' right there. 

"I still don't believe that Jongin initiated it, and I'll stand by that no matter what." Kyungsoo's opinion was understandable, because now he himself had seen Jongin going unbelievably jittery and anxious when he desired for . And there was no chance that Chanyeol could have interpreted it correctly when even Kyungsoo failed at it. 

"Uh...about that...", Baekhyun rubbed the back of his head as he continued, "...it was hard for me to believe too. So I asked Chanyeol about it again. And then he confessed that he had lied to me, because he feared we wouldn't understand that it was mutual. And...and I was very angry at him for that. A-And that's another thing that I wanted to apologise for." following that, Baekhyun made his usual sorry puppy face which no one could ever resist. 

Kyungsoo couldn't help but smile at that as he said, "That's okay. And don't worry about anything, I've completely forgotten about that incident now." 

For the first time that day, Baekhyun finally showed his beautiful bright smile. Now that the tension was gone, Baekhyun continued with the other conversation he had contemplated in his head-

"So...for how long have you both been doing it?" 

Kyungsoo blushed way too hard at that sudden shift in conversation. 

"Not too long...about a week, I guess." 

"Will you keep on doing it?" 

"I-I don't know yet." 

"Is Jongin your boyfriend now?" 

"I...I don't know, Baek." 

Baekhyun sighed once his rapid fire was over. He was very discontented with Kyungsoo's replies, but it wasn't for any lame reason. Those questions had some purpose, which was to find out that whether this change in Jongin and Kyungsoo's relationship was valid enough to compromise with the younger's health. 

"Look. I see that you've not thought this through yet. But don't be scared of what people will think of you and start hiding Jongin from the world. At least let him attend his therapies. Jongdae and Minseok are doctors, they don't interfere in their patients' private affairs. Moreover, they're practical people, they won't judge you." 

Kyungsoo's mood went straight from all mushy and fluffy to serious and guilty. He nodded as he agreed with what Baekhyun said. 

"I understand. I won't try to hide him again." 

Soon, Baekhyun realised that he once again had made the environment tense. So to brighten it up again, he switched himself into his characteristic self. 

"Good. Now, come on. Tell me everything. How was it?" 

"What?" 

"Your 'love making'." ​​​​​​, Kyungsoo didn't know whether to shy away and blush again, or to get annoyed by the air quotes. He went for the blush, of course. 

"To be honest..." Kyungsoo scrunched his nose as he confessed, "...it wasn't that great for the first time...for both of us. But that's probably because I didn't do it right." 

"Why? What did you do?" 

"I didn't lube him properly...." 

"What?" 

"...yeah...I also kinda forgot to prepare him first." 

"WHAT?", Baekhyun literally stood up with the shock. "How stupid can you be? Oh my god...poor little Jongin. See? That's exactly why you need me in your life." 

Kyungsoo couldn't help but chuckle at how seriously Baekhyun took it. 

"Well...I need you for more than just that."

Kyungsoo's sweet remark turned Baekhyun so sentimental so suddenly. But before he could come up with an even cheesier one, they were interrupted with a knock on the door. It was obvious that the person behind was Jongin, since there was only three of them in the house at that time. So Kyungsoo called him in. 

"Come in, Jongin." 

The door opened, but very slightly. Jongin was standing still hiding behind the door, and was peeking inside the room from the side. Kyungsoo's face was lit up upon seeing Jongin, who looked even more adorable with his messy bed hairs. He knew that the younger was shying away from Baekhyun, so he walked towards the door to open it wider and call him in, "Come inside. Look who's here. You were missing your Baekhyun hyung, right?" 

Baekhyun, who was looking at Jongin's pretty face with love-filled eyes, couldn't help but hoot a, "Woohoo." once the door was completely open. Jongin was not wearing his shirt, and those trails of pinkish-red specks all over his neck, chest and belly were highly noticeable. 

In a miserable attempt to hide the love bites, Jongin hid behind Kyungsoo, who fortunately was tall enough to cover his chest. The adorable height difference between them made Jongin bend his neck so he could rest his forehead on the back of Kyungsoo's head. 

Baekhyun chuckled at the overloaded cuteness, but was quickly distracted by the notification sound in his phone. He then pulled his phone out to check it. 

"Uh...Kyungsoo, I have to go. He's waiting for me." 

By conversing through eyes, Kyungsoo made it out that Baekhyun was referring to Chanyeol, but just didn't want to mention his name in front of Jongin as of now. Baekhyun headed out, but only after promising Jongin that he would come back the next day to play video games with him. 

When Kyungsoo turned around after seeing Baekhyun off and then shutting the door after him, he found Jongin standing right behind him and looking at him with eyes full of mischief and his signature innocent seduction. That gaze was enough to turn Kyungsoo on. He pulled Jongin closer by his still bare waist. And after planting a few soft kisses on his gorgeous collarbone, he spoke in a gentle yet raspy voice, 

"Last night wasn't too much, was it?...does it hurt?" 

Jongin lightly shook his head and looked down at his feet as he shied away. 

"Well then....can you take more?" 

The approval came in the iest way possible. Jongin looked up with the same gaze, except that it had a little bit more lust in it, and then he straight up smacked his lips on Kyungsoo's. 

___________________________________________________

Hey everyone!!

I don't even know how to apologise for such a long break. I got busy in exams, and kind of lost the flow. But now I'm finally free and motivated, so I'll try my best to compensate the time lost without getting distracted. I still love this story and its characters the same, and I really hope that you do too.

This chapter may seem boring, but it has things that had to be said before something big happens. (*spoiler* which will happen a chapter later) So please, hang in there. 

I missed you and I hope that you all are having a wonderful new year. Thank you so much for staying..! ❤❤