"I'm at the Chinese restaurant, Prof. Park. I've just put in my application letter."

"The one near the campus?" 

"Yes."

"I'm on my way."

Jungsoo stepped on the gas as he pulled over to the bust road after knowing where Heechul was right now. Had his mother not suddenly called him in the middle of his work saying that she wanted to have lunch together with Heechul, he would not have bothered to know where that blonde-haired guy was. And he meant it. Living with Heechul was always both hell and heaven; it was right now. It was as if he had to tear his heart into two for he was always eaten up by his dilemma of wanting to hate and love Heechul at the same damn time. 

He breathed out, tired of dealing with the same angst again and again as he took the left turn and saw that the said place was already in sight. The velocity of his car reduced slowly until it stopped when he parked his car right in front of the restaurant. However, before he managed to get out of his vehicle, his eyes were drawn to two men sitting on a bench next to the restaurant lot; one of them was Heechul. 

His Heechul. 

His gaze hardened when he noticed that the other man was being exceptionally touchy, draping himself all over Heechul. And he did not like any of it even a bit. His heart was suddenly burning in rage moreover when he saw the man, several times, was trying to pat Heechul's head or hold his shoulders. Having had enough, he bolted from his car and marched towards them. Thankfully, Heechul seemed to immediately notice his presence as the latter got up and waved at him. 

"Prof. Park!" 

Jungsoo strode over to them and the man eventually stood up the moment he was right in front of them. He lazily eyed the man in front of him and it was apparent that the man read his gesture. Good thing—he did not want to play covertly. 

"What h-happened, Prof. Park?" 

Jungsoo immediately shifted his gaze to Heechul after lingering his stare for a couple of minutes on the man. He knew Heechul was nervous—might be from the sudden agenda or the latter sensed his aura. Yet, before he opened his mouth, Heechul suddenly introduced the man beside him. 

"Oh... This is Hangeng, the owner of this restaurant. Hangeng, this is Prof. Park, my—"

Heechul stopped midsentence and glanced at Jungsoo. He did not know what he was supposed to say. They had not divorced yet but to acknowledge Jungsoo as his husband seemed not to be right at the moment. Not, when his former professor was still holding grudges towards him. 

"Your...?" Hangeng tried to pick on Heechul's sentence, "Your professor?" 

Jungsoo smirked and bowed a little. 

"Park Jungsoo, his husband."

Husband—Heechul could not help but snap at Jungsoo when the word rolled out of his mouth so easily like that. Perhaps, he might have lost his mind because it was as if they rewinded everything they did in the past—pretending. He wanted to see the trace of pretense on his professor's face but all he could find was only hostility. 

"Wow, really? A husband," Hangeng reconfirmed. And it irked Jungsoo to death on the fact that Hangeng seemed not to back off even after knowing who he was to Heechul. He swiftly grabbed Heechul's waist and smiled. 

"My mother wants to have lunch with Heechul so if you may excuse us, we will get going now."

Jungsoo scoffed a little; this man was too obvious. The way that man stared at Heechul and then to him was too apparent not to notice. And he was certain to say that this Hangeng guy was pining Heechul.

"Nice to meet you, Hangeng-ssi," Jungsoo cast him a side smile before he and Heechul took their leave. They had no chance to see the way Hangeng smirked as he fixed his gaze on the couple leaving the restaurant lot.

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Husband."

«────── « ⋅♥⋅ » ──────»

His car stopped in the usual spot next to the park. Jungsoo unplugged his keys and left his car. He quickly scanned the park and his trained eyes landed on the blonde mop sitting on a bench with a bunch of stuff beside him. Pronto knowing their location, he jogged there. However, the closer he got, the slower his steps were. The main reason was the fact that Heechul looked exceptional today. The latter had his long hair styled and he also dressed up neatly today with a simple coat-like outer that Jungsoo never got to see. Beautiful—if he had to say it honestly.

"Oh, Prof. Park, you've come. I'll get the kids," Heechul said simply upon seeing him walking towards him before the latter went to the playground, oblivious to the lingering look Jungsoo gave him. He, on the other hand, wanted to act like it was nothing but he could not die down his curiosity as to why Heechul was suddenly glammed up like this. He knew Heechul did not have any shifts in the bar today. The only plausible answer was that Heechul did it because he wanted to meet someone special. And now that this thought crossed his mind, he could not get it off his mind. 

Who was Heechul going to meet? 

Was it the guy from the Chinese restaurant before? 

"Prof. Park?" 

Heechul frowned when Jungsoo kept staring at him but answered none of his questions. He sighed, carefully putting on Donghae's coat, and then turned to Jungsoo once again. 

"Prof. Park?" 

It was just then that Jungsoo was pulled back from his daydream. He blinked his eyes twice and eventually answered, pretending to help Hyukjae with his stuff while in fact, he was trying to cover his suspicious act. 

"You're saying?" 

Heechul sensed something was off with Jungsoo but he just shrugged it off. 

"I can't go home together today. I need to meet my—"

RING

Ignorant—that was all Jungsoo asked for. He wanted to ignore when Heechul's phone suddenly rang loudly and his former student seemed to be too excited