A/N: I hope that you guys really don’t mind long chapters, because we’ve got another long-ish chapter now. xD

Enjoy reading! :)

The next few days after Yesung’s breakup with Siwon passed by in a blur.

Time then seemed to fly by fast because, to be honest, he wasn’t exactly paying attention to what he was doing or to what was happening around him. It felt then like he was only robotically going through the motions of life. Sometimes, at the end of the day, he would find himself back at his apartment, not really knowing what had happened while he was teaching at the academy or how he got back home. He was that out of it.

His mind was still having difficulty with processing the revelations from Siwon. It was difficult for him to absorb that his heart’s original owner had been Siwon’s previous boyfriend. And it was even more difficult to accept and comprehend that Siwon had just been thinking of him as Kim Ryeowook the whole time.

Going through a breakup was, of course, upsetting. But for Yesung now, it was more than just being upset and hurt about losing his boyfriend and the relationship. It wasn’t just about losing Siwon. Most of the hurt that he was feeling now was mostly due to Siwon not actually loving him to begin with. When he and Siwon had first started dating, Yesung had thought that he was finally going to experience true love. But now, he found out that Siwon didn’t actually love him. Siwon just started the relationship with him because he had Ryeowook’s heart. Yesung still hadn’t been able to experience true romantic love since Siwon had only been projecting his love for Ryeowook to Yesung instead.

Siwon’s hugs and kisses. Siwon’s sweet and grand gestures. Siwon’s affection. Their intimate moments. None of those had actually been for Yesung. They had all been for Ryeowook.

Realizing that Siwon only loved the previous owner of his heart and not actually Yesung himself had been like a slap to the face for him.

His distracted mind and hurt feelings of course affected his daily living. He went through his daily routine at work as though in automatic mode, and his students and his colleagues all clearly noticed that he was not himself lately. 

After a week of seeing their Yesung hyung seem so lifeless and heartbroken, Eunhyuk and Donghae had reached their limit—they cornered Yesung at his office one afternoon and demanded to know what was going on with him.

“Siwon and I broke up,” Yesung admitted quietly.

“Oh, hyung, I’m so sorry!” Donghae said immediately. He walked over to Yesung and gave his hyung a warm, comforting hug. Donghae hadn’t liked how they rarely got to spend time with Yesung since he started dating Siwon, with Yesung even missing Donghae’s birthday party, but Donghae still felt so bad now for his hyung. He didn’t like seeing his hyung upset.

“What happened?” Eunhyuk, on the other hand, asked with a frown on his face. Given how Siwon had always wanted to keep Yesung with him and how Yesung had always acquiesced to Siwon’s wishes, Eunhyuk was curious and concerned about why and how they ended the relationship.

Yesung hesitated for a bit, unsure if he should tell his friends everything. But then, he hadn’t been very honest with them while he was dating Siwon, and he also hadn’t spent much time with them. He supposed that the least that he could do now to somewhat make it up to them was to tell them the truth.

So, Yesung told them the whole truth. Him receiving the heart of Siwon’s deceased boyfriend. Siwon tracking the heart and starting a relationship with Yesung due to him having the heart. Siwon being deluded and thinking that Yesung was his previous boyfriend.

Eunhyuk and Donghae were as horrified as Yesung was when he had first found out about the truth.

“He was only projecting his love for his dead boyfriend to you? Because you have the heart?” Donghae repeated incredulously. “That’s just sick and wrong!”

Yesung nodded gloomily. “He kept calling me ‘Ryeowook’. Or ‘Wookie’. I couldn’t get it into his head that I’m not his previous boyfriend.”

Eunhyuk suddenly slammed his fist on Yesung’s desk, startling Yesung and Donghae. 

“I knew it! I ing knew it!” Eunhyuk hissed, glaring at nothing in particular. 

Yesung and Donghae were both bewildered.

“Knew what, Hyuk?” Yesung questioned. “That Siwon was just projecting his love for his previous boyfriend to me?”

“No, hyung, of course I couldn’t have known that... I just meant that I knew that Choi Siwon was bad news from the start. I had a bad feeling about him from the moment that you first introduced him to us... I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, though; I just felt that there was something… off about him.” Eunhyuk shook his head and added, “I never would have guessed that he was obsessed and thinking of you as his dead boyfriend, though.”

“Not to mention that he wouldn’t let you spend time with us,” Donghae intoned. “We rarely got to see you outside of work when you were dating him, hyung.”

“Yeah, he was too controlling and possessive,” Eunhyuk nodded.

Yesung sighed. Yes, Siwon had really been too controlling and possessive. And he hadn’t realized that until too late. Yesung was the one who had been dating Siwon, but Yesung had still been the very last person to realize how controlling and possessive Siwon was.

They lapsed into silence for a while, and then, Donghae suggested, “Well… do you want to go out with us later, then, hyung? Since you don’t have a controlling boyfriend anymore to keep you from us? Plus, it could distract you from the breakup.”

Yesung knew that he should be spending time with his friends now to make up for how he neglected them while he was with Siwon. But Yesung just didn’t feel like hanging out and having fun tonight. Not when the revelations from Siwon were still hanging over him like a thick and heavy veil.

“No, not tonight, Hae. Sorry. I’m really not in the mood for it,” Yesung rejected the offer with a small, apologetic smile.

Since breaking up with Siwon, commuting back home became the usual again for Yesung. He didn’t really mind, especially since he was still so distracted and out of it that he barely even noticed how he was going home after work.

But something was different this time.

After saying goodbye to Eunhyuk and Donghae, whom Yesung had encouraged to go out and have fun tonight even without him, Yesung left the academy, still lost in his thoughts, and started walking. But when he was a few streets away from the academy, he suddenly froze in his tracks.

He was distracted from his morose thoughts by that odd feeling again. That odd feeling of being followed.

He quickly turned around, expecting to see Kim Kibum “following” him to the bus stop again.

However, Yesung didn’t see anyone whom he recognized. Everyone seemed to be just strangers going about their own businesses.

He frowned. Then, he just shrugged and shook himself a bit to get rid of the odd feeling. Maybe he was just imagining things. He hadn’t been himself lately, after all.

He started his walk to the bus stop again.

Two weeks after the breakup, Yesung found himself entering Dr. Lee’s office for yet another appointment. Yesung was honestly more than a little weary of still attending these checkups, but Dr. Lee had said that his medical team insisted that the checkups continued.

Dr. Lee greeted her favorite patient with a bright smile. “Hi, Jongwoonie! How have you been?”

Then, she noticed that it was just Yesung. The boyfriend was not present. Her good mood increased. However, as much as she was happy that the boyfriend wasn’t there today, she couldn’t help but wonder. Since Yesung and Siwon had started dating, this was the first time that Siwon hadn’t been present for one of Yesung’s checkups.

“How come you’re alone today? Where’s Siwon? Busy with a business meeting?” she asked.

“Uhm, no, Dr. Lee,” Yesung muttered as he sat down on a chair in front of her desk, his eyes looking down and not meeting the cardiologist’s eyes. “Well, maybe he is… I’m not sure…”

Dr. Lee now looked very concerned. “Jongwoon, what happened?”

Maybe inquiring about Yesung’s relationship during a checkup wasn’t exactly professional, but she had come to care about Yesung as more than just another patient, and she was now wondering why he seemed to be upset.

“Siwon and I… broke up. About a couple of weeks ago.”

“Oh, Jongwoon… I’m sorry to hear that…” Well, not exactly. She was actually quite glad that the boyfriend was gone, as she never really liked him. But she was sorry that Yesung was now upset about it.

Then, she tilted her head and looked at him beadily. “What happened, though? Did he hurt you?” she questioned more urgently. If Siwon messed with Yesung, he messed with her as well, and he would regret it!

Yesung didn’t really feel like going into detail about his pathetic love life. Yes, Siwon had hurt him (physically and emotionally), but he didn’t want to burden his doctor by also telling her about Siwon’s insanity and how Siwon had used Yesung as a substitute for his dead boyfriend.

So, Yesung just said vaguely, “I was the one who ended things between us… He was becoming too controlling and possessive…”

Dr. Lee sighed. “Yes, he was.”

Yesung’s eyebrows shot up. “You noticed it, too?”

“Of course,” she nodded. “He wouldn’t really let you go anywhere with others… Whenever I tried to invite you out after our checkups, he always had something else scheduled for the two of you.” Siwon might be gone now from Yesung’s life, but she was still annoyed about how Siwon had kept her favorite patient away from her.

“So, everyone had noticed it all along… except for me,” Yesung groaned. How oblivious had he been? Had he really been that blinded by love and affection? Everyone, even Yesung’s cardiologist, had noticed Siwon’s controlling personality. Everyone except Yesung himself. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“It wasn’t really our place to interfere like that,” Dr. Lee replied. Also, she personally thought that Yesung was so into Siwon back then that he probably would have just dismissed any claims from others that Siwon was being too controlling… “Well, at least you’re free from him now, Jongwoon. That’s what’s important.”

Dr. Lee tried to look at the bright side of things. Yesung at least didn’t have to put up with the possessive jerk anymore… Though Choi Siwon still better not show his face to her any time soon! She will really dissect him with her scalpel for hurting and upsetting her favorite patient!

Then, sensing that Yesung really wasn’t in the mood to still continue discussing his ex-boyfriend, Dr. Lee proceeded with the actual checkup.

When Yesung and Dr. Lee went out of her office after the appointment, Kyuhyun was, of course, standing outside and waiting for them.

And Kyuhyun’s attention was immediately caught by the fact that, for once, Choi Siwon wasn’t wrapped around Yesung after an appointment. In fact, Siwon wasn’t even there. The other doctor was instantly curious.

Seeing her colleague, and knowing that Siwon was out of the picture now, the gears in Dr. Lee’s head started turning again. She was unable to suppress a smirk.

“Jongwoon, would you please excuse Dr. Cho and I for just one minute?” she said to her patient. “I just have some… confidential hospital stuff to discuss with him.”

Kyuhyun looked at her questioningly. 

Yesung nodded, though he was also wondering about the smirk on his cardiologist’s face.

Leaving Yesung standing outside her office, Dr. Lee pulled her colleague further down the corridor, some distance away from her patient.

“Why do I get the feeling that this doesn’t really have anything to do with ‘confidential hospital stuff’?” Kyuhyun said skeptically as soon as they were out of earshot. “Confidential hospital stuff” had sounded to totally lame to Kyuhyun’s ears. Sa-eun really needed to come up with better excuses.

Aware that Yesung was looking at them curiously, Dr. Lee dropped her voice to a whisper. “Jongwoon and Siwon broke up.”

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. What did Sa-eun just say? Yesung and Siwon broke up? Kyuhyun’s heart skipped a beat. Merlin’s beard, this was good news! Maybe Kyuhyun hadn’t failed this time, after all! While Kyuhyun still felt that he hadn’t really been able to do anything productive, at least Yesung was away from Siwon now! Thank heavens!

Dr. Lee watched the small smile tugging at Kyuhyun’s lips.

‘Ha! I knew it!’ she cheered in her mind. Kyuhyun was happy that Yesung and Siwon were over. To her, this only confirmed her suspicions that Kyuhyun liked Yesung. Kyuhyun must be happy now because with Siwon out of the picture, he would have a chance with Yesung again.

And Dr. Lee was determined to make sure that Kyuhyun didn’t waste this chance. Unlike how he wasted all those chances that she had given him before when she kept leaving them together in the café.

The cardiologist now quickly came up with a new plan.

“Jongwoonie says that he broke up with Siwon because Siwon was too controlling,” she explained hurriedly in an undertone. “But something tells me that there’s something more to it. Jongwoon seems off, and I just know that there’s something more about the breakup that he’s not telling me. It’s your job now to find out what that is.”

Kyuhyun frowned.

Yesung had finally realized that Siwon was possessive? Well, that’s great, of course, but Kyuhyun was concerned about what had happened that finally opened Yesung’s eyes. What did it take for Yesung to finally notice Siwon’s possessiveness? Also, Sa-eun’s words now just added to his concern. What “more” had happened?

Given his own suspicions about Siwon, Kyuhyun could only fear and worry about what this “something more about the breakup” was.

However, he didn’t understand why Sa-eun was now insisting that he be the one to investigate.

“Why me? You’re closer to Yesung,” Kyuhyun pointed out.

“Yes, but this is the perfect opportunity for you!” 

“Perfect opportunity for me to what?”

Dr. Lee rolled her eyes at her colleague’s denseness. Siwon might finally be out