"Hyukjae said he wanted to visit the orphanage next weekend," Heechul informed his husband after he put the kids to bed, walking to grab some water. Jungsoo stopped typing on his laptop as he shifted to look at his journal. He glanced at Heechul in the kitchen and said, "You're free? I'll check my agenda and if the time is good, I'll update you." 

Heechul hummed, agreeing on the idea. It had been so long since he visited the orphanage and this would be a great opportunity to see them again. Things had been a little out of control in his life that he barely had time to think about other things. He sighed, even from imagining visiting them, he could not stop smiling. He missed the kids' smiles, moreover every time he went home from the mean world back then. 

"Should we donate something, Chul?" 

On Jungsoo's question, Heechul snapped back to reality and beamed widely, "That sounds good. I'll contact Min to see what's needed there."

It was another comfortable silence with the sounds of Jungsoo's clatters from tapping the keyboard of his laptop or with the paper he was assessing while Heechul busied himself making some tea for them. Their nights had been a little peaceful lately because Nara would often go out at night and come home in the morning. What her businesses were no one gave a damn. 

"Do you want some sugar in your tea or—" 

Heechul's question was left unfinished when the main door was suddenly banged open, surprising not only him but Jungsoo as well. He was about to check who it was but when he found his mother-in-law looking furious marching towards Jungsoo, he almost lost his grip on the cup. His mind went blank. 

"Are you out of your goddamn mind, Jungsoo?!" 

Jungsoo was taken by surprise when his mother suddenly threw a bunch of printed photos at him, rage skimming through her reddened face. He could only gape, thoroughly flabbergasted as to why he suddenly had his mother, at this very time of the day, yell at him. At this rate, he knew he had to up so bad for his mother to be this angry. He grabbed one of the damn photos and his eyes grew in pure terror. This was a set of photos of him and the girl he helped the other day, hugging. Blood immediately rushed leaving his face as he felt his heart sink steadily. 

"Explain this, Jungsoo. I can't even face Heechul with my son being this embarrassing." 

Jungsoo might be unaware but Heechul's mind suddenly traveled back to the day Jungsoo's mother told him about her past with Jungsoo's father. It was not pretty, to say the least, and he knew so damn well why his composed mother-in-law turned drastically to be so emotional in the implication of her son's unfaithfulness. It would only be going downhill onward; he sighed and slowly approached the two. He needed to explain everything because Jungsoo might be in shock to experience all of this, only standing still like an apologetic little boy in front of his mother.

However, unnoticed by Jungsoo, Mrs. Park suddenly raised her hand high in the air, and Heechul's alarmed went off. 

"I've never raised you to be like this. How could you—" 

Heechul stumbled to his husband's embrace, eyes teary from the immense sting on his left cheek. It hurt much worse than he expected, partly from Mrs. Park's rings, but mainly from almost seeing his husband being blamed for something he did not do. Jungsoo was still in a state of utter shock when Heechul fell to his arms after shielding him from his mother's slap. He could not proceed with what was happening but when Mrs. Park suddenly pulled Heechul from him, he sobered. 

"Heechul! I'm very sorry. For God's sake, why did you do that? Come here. Does it hurt?" 

Jungsoo was still rooted in his position, unmoving. He just witnessed his husband protect him once again and all he could do was to mourn over his stupidity instead of taking the courage to do something like Heechul. 

"Why did you do that?" he eventually asked, breathless. 

"How dare you, Jungsoo? How—" 

"Mother, please stop. Jungsoo did nothing wrong. We can explain the situation."

Mrs. Park immediately sank back down on the couch when Heechul stopped her by holding her arm. Heechul drew a deep breath and reached for his husband's hand and guided him to sit with them. He was not sure why Jungsoo looked a little dazed but they needed to tell Mrs. Park everything. Thankfully, Jungsoo complied and sat stiffly beside him. 

"Do you want to explain it?" Heechul gently asked, squeezing his husband's hand. Jungsoo looked at him for the longest time, almost losing himself to cry yet again for the abundant assurance Heechul poured at him before he inhaled deeply and nodded. 

"I was waiting for Heechul in his workplace a few days ago and suddenly, this woman came to me asking for help. She said she was followed by a creep and asked me to save her from the stalker. I managed to make the stalker go but all of a sudden, she hugged me."

Mrs. Park was slowly calming down although suspicion was still filling her mind. She had to admit that it was hard at first to digest the photos sent to her office about her married son and some random girl she did not know. Her fury took over her senses and she immediately drove here. She just did not want Jungsoo to make the mistake her husband made and she would do anything to save her son's marriage, even if she had to scold Jungsoo in the process. 

"Why didn't you push her away?" she cautiously asked, still skeptical about the explanation. But this time, Heechul was the one who answered her.

"The stalker was still looking at them, Mother."

"You saw them?" her voice got a little louder on the thought that Jungsoo let his husband saw him being like that with another woman.

"I did. I saw them," Heechul's voice trembled a little though he immediately remembered the clip Ryeowook showed him and gained his composure back. 

"It was not what you're thinking, Mom. Jungsoo did not do anything that hurt me."

Mrs. Park started to feel apologetic towards her son and son-in-law, moreover when she noticed that the scars on Heechul's cheek looked deep scarlet, bleeding. She let out a heavy sigh and leaned on the couch, massaging her temples. 

"Sorry that you have to see it, Mom," Jungsoo finally found his courage. 

"But I'll never betray my husband. Heechul is my life."

Heechul almost teared up listening to how sincere Jungsoo said those words to his mother. He immediately turned to his husband and was about to reward Jungsoo with a kiss when his husband suddenly widened his eyes. 

"You're bleeding?!" 

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