A/N: Here’s the next chapter! Sorry if it got a bit too long again xD

The following day, Kyuhyun arrived at Yesung’s apartment at promptly four o’clock in the afternoon. The two men sat next to each other on Yesung’s couch.

“How are you, Yesung?” Kyuhyun asked.

Yesung shrugged as Kyuhyun began giving him a brief checkup.

Kyuhyun was there to explain the whole truth to Yesung, but he had to make sure first that Yesung was alright and recovering from the attack yesterday. The doctor’s professionally trained eyes roamed over the bruises and cuts on Yesung’s skin, and Kyuhyun was satisfied that none of them seemed to be worsening or infected. He also checked and felt Yesung’s head, making sure that he didn’t suffer any serious problems from hitting his head on the floor yesterday.

“The bump at the back of your head is a bit bigger than last night,” Kyuhyun frowned as his fingers gently traced around the bump.

“It’s just expected to be a bit swollen after hitting floor, right? It’s fine. I’m fine.”

His body was still aching like hell, but the physical injuries would heal eventually. It’s the mental and emotional trauma from the attack that was harder to overcome. Though he had insisted to Kyuhyun last night that he would fine being on his own in this apartment, he hadn’t been able to get a wink of sleep last night, scared and traumatized by the assault yesterday… He sighed and inhaled deeply, trying to focus on the matter at hand. He needed to find out the truth. It was long overdue. His physical health can wait; it was his mind and emotions that he needed to settle first.

“Yes, but if this bump gets more swollen, I really will insist that you go to the hospital,” the doctor said firmly, making Yesung sigh.

After Kyuhyun was satisfied that Yesung’s minor injuries were healing well enough, Yesung then remembered his manners as host. “Uhm, can I get you anything to eat or drink?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “No, let’s just get this over with,” he sighed resignedly. Then, his somber eyes looked straight into Yesung’s eyes. “You need to hear mine and my best friends’ story… But I’m telling you now, Yesung, it’s not a happy story. It doesn’t have a happy ending.”

Yesung bit his lip at that, but he nodded, determined to hear the whole story. He really needed to know the truth. The truth about Kyuhyun, Sungmin … and Ryeowook. And anyway, Yesung already knew that their story didn’t have a happy ending. How could it, when Ryeowook had died? When Ryeowook had been murdered?

Kyuhyun then pulled out a photograph from the inside pocket of his jacket. He handed it to Yesung, who took it and looked at it curiously.

Three men were in the picture, grinning happily and sitting side-by-side, their arms around each other’s shoulders.

Yesung instantly recognized a younger Kyuhyun sitting in the middle. To his right was Dr. Lee’s husband, Sungmin. And the person to Kyuhyun’s left had to be—

“That’s Ryeowook,” Kyuhyun said unnecessarily, pointing at the picture, the tip of his finger touching the photograph right at Ryeowook’s chest.

Yesung stared. So, this was the previous owner of his heart. This was Kim Ryeowook.

Ryeowook was quite petite and small. His hair was short and a bit spiky. And the picture had done well in capturing the twinkle in his eyes as he smiled brightly at the camera.

“This was one of the last pictures that we had taken of the three of us together,” Kyuhyun sighed sadly.

Yesung could see the memories—the ghosts—of the past swirling in Kyuhyun’s eyes. Still holding the photograph with one hand, he instinctively put his other hand on top of Kyuhyun’s arm in comfort. He knew that talking about this wasn’t easy for Kyuhyun, and he appreciated that Kyuhyun was facing the ghosts of his past to help Yesung understand that what had been happening.

Kyuhyun gave him a weak smile. Then, he continued, “I suppose our story really started a long time ago. I first met my two hyungs in elementary school. Sungmin hyung is two years older than me, and Ryeowook hyung was a year older than me. There was only a slight age difference between the two of them, and somehow, because of the timing of the start of school, the two of them were in the same grade. As for me, well, I’m a genius—”

Yesung had to roll his eyes at Kyuhyun’s show of ego.

“—so, I skipped a couple of grades and ended up being in the same grade as them. I was much younger than my peers and, of course, smarter, too. So, some of them bullied me. Sungmin hyung and Ryeowook hyung stood up for me. Wookie hyung would always comfort me when I was upset because of the bullies. Sungmin hyung took a more direct approach; he’s been good at martial arts ever since he was a kid, and he fought back against the bullies when they would pick on me.”

“Don’t cry anymore, KyuKyu.”

“T-They’re b-b-being m-mean to me, W-Wookie hyung… I d-didn’t even d-do bad anything t-t-to them…”

“If they bother you again, you tell me. I’ll teach them a lesson that they won’t forget. Okay, Kyu?”

“O-Okay… Thanks, Sungminnie hyung…”

“In turn, I helped my two hyungs with academics. As well as stopped them from making idiotic decisions from time to time…”

Yesung butted in with a scoff. “I don’t know how they put up with your ego for so many years.”

Kyuhyun smirked a bit. “It’s part of my charm… Anyway, we were close with each other throughout our elementary and high school years... Even when we started college, that closeness didn’t change. All three of us wanted more than what our small town had to offer. Heechul hyung, Ryeowook hyung’s older brother, had moved to study in a university here in Seoul, and when he would go home during breaks, he would tell his brothers about his college experiences. Wookie hyung, in turn, told me and Sungmin hyung about it… We became entranced with the idea of living in a big city, so the three of us decided to attend college here in Seoul…”

“Now, you three be good there in Seoul, alright? Take care of yourselves. And Sungmin-ah, Kyuhyun-ah, please watch over my Wookie, okay?”

“Of course, Mrs. Kim.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Kim. Wookie hyung will be safe with us.”

“Umma, you know that I can take of myself!”

“I know, I know. But I’m still going to worry about you, my precious middle child. It’s bad enough that your older brother had moved away; now, you’re also leaving…”

Kyuhyun paused for a while, becoming lost in his memories again. If they had stayed in their hometown, would Ryeowook still be alive now?

Kyuhyun heaved out another sigh and shook his head. He had been trying to tell himself for a long time now that it was useless to dwell on the “what ifs.” He just continued.

“We pursed different undergraduate majors, but we all studied in the same university, determined to stay close to each other. We even lived in the same apartment just a couple of blocks away from the university… And even after our undergraduate years, nothing changed in our friendship. Sungmin hyung started his martial arts school; Ryeowook hyung started working for a recording company; I went on to medical school. We were all still very close with each other… But then—” Kyuhyun swallowed a lump in his throat. “But then, everything suddenly changed.”

“What happened?” Yesung asked quietly.

“Sungmin hyung and I… had a falling out. Yeah, you could call it a sort of fallout. We didn’t exactly fight; it was… a fallout.”

Kyuhyun remained vague about his past conflict with Sungmin, but Yesung considerately didn’t press him for details about it. Yesung could easily tell that even though it had happened a long time ago and even though Kyuhyun and Sungmin were on good terms with each other again now, the memory of the conflict between them was still somewhat painful and bitter to Kyuhyun.

“How can you do this to me?”

“I’m so sorry, Kyuhyun. But it just… sort of happened.”

“Of course, the three of us had many disagreements and arguments over our years together. But those never lasted long, and we would eventually sort things out. But my fallout with Sungmin hyung this time was… serious. So serious that not even our long friendship survived.”

Kyuhyun looked down again at the picture that Yesung was holding.

“This picture was taken just about a couple of weeks before my fallout with Sungmin hyung. It’s one of our last happy moments as a group of three.”

Often, Kyuhyun felt like he would give anything to go back to those times. Those times when they were still complete, happy, and unmarred by the great trials of life.

Yesung moved his hand from Kyuhyun’s arm to Kyuhyun’s hand. He held the younger’s hand; before yesterday, Yesung wouldn’t have felt so comfortable initiating such physical contact with Kyuhyun as they hadn’t been such close friends. But Kyuhyun did save him yesterday, and the incident inevitably pulled Kyuhyun and Yesung together and made them closer. Kyuhyun squeezed back Yesung’s hand, seemingly drawing comfort from the gesture.

“Of course, the issue was really between me and Sungmin hyung. We two were the ones really involved in the fallout. But it wasn’t any easier for Ryeowook hyung… Wookie hyung still remained close with both of us. The friendship between Sungmin hyung and I was lost, but Wookie hyung was determined to remain friends with both of us… But Sungmin hyung and I weren’t even on speaking terms anymore, and that made it difficult for Ryeowook hyung.”

Kyuhyun paused. Guilt was bubbling again in his stomach. Sungmin and he had really put Ryeowook through a tough time back then… He drew in a deep breath and continued.

“Even if Wookie hyung was still friends with both of us, our group of friends had been really destroyed. It was never ‘the three of us’ again. It was either just ‘Wookie hyung and me’ or just ‘Wookie hyung and Sungmin hyung’…”

“Let’s check out that new arcade center, Kyu!”

“Yeah, okay. Whatever.”

“Great! I’ll invite Sungmin hyung, too, and the three of us can—”

“No.”

“Sungmin hyung, do you want to watch that new movie? Kyu and I are going to—”

“No.”

“But, hyung, I wasn’t even finished! Besides, you two really need to—”

“No means no, Ryeowook.”

“Then, we drifted even farther apart. Drifted away from even Wookie hyung… Sungmin hyung became busy with his new relationship and, eventually, marriage with Sa-eun; he didn’t have much time anymore for chatting and hanging out with Ryeowook hyung during the early days of his marriage since he was still trying to get used to the married life… On the other hand, I went to Japan to continue my studies in medicine. I was busy with my classes as well as internship duties at the hospital. And there were literally thousands of miles between me and Wookie hyung… Ryeowook hyung tried to remain friends with both of us, but I guess that he still kind of lost us both in some way…”

Then, Kyuhyun’s lips thinned, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. “And that’s where Choi Siwon comes into the story.”

Yesung had to repress a shiver, still somewhat traumatized from his most recent encounter with Siwon.

“Ryeowook hyung was lonely since he didn’t have me and Sungmin hyung with him anymore