Jessica stared at an old photo of her and Donghae while mindlessly swirling her wine glass in the air. It was a photo from when they celebrated their first anniversary together. They both looked so young then that she could barely recognize herself. The girl in the photo looked so happy that she had to wonder at what point did she start losing that smile in her life. Her eyes diverted to Donghae and she couldn't help but graze her thumb over the screen trying to imagine what it used to feel like to touch Donghae. When she couldn't remember anything at all, not the way it felt or what they even did that day, a visible frown showed on her face that prompted her to drink the rest of her wine in one go.

She tilted her head back forcing every ounce of her drink down . Her sister walked in the kitchen just in time to see her wiping the wine stain off her face. 

"Is there any left for me or are you trying to empty the pantry?" 

Jessica turned her phone off and proceeded to refill her wine glass. 

"What are you doing home?" 

Krystal shut the refrigerator door after pulling out a bottle of water then leaned her shoulders against it. She gave Jessica a look before uncapping the bottle in her hands.

"Last time I checked, this was still my apartment. You're the visitor here." 

"I should warn you that this half empty bottle was full when I started so I'd choose my words very carefully if I were you." 

Unfazed by her sister's drunken threat, Krystal proceeded to ask the question she's been meaning to ask the other ever since she declined her offer to shop tomorrow. "Are you really going to Heechul's retreat tomorrow?"

"I'm trying to be more involved," Jessica said already trying to avoid the conversation Krystal's trying to start. "I'm a partner and I have every right to be there just like everyone else." 

"You're going to make a fool of yourself."

"Well, we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?" 

Krystal sighed heavily and took a swig from her water bottle. Jessica mimicked her action with her half filled glass of wine. She paced her gulps carefully until she had drank every drop in her glass. After drinking the glass down in one shot, she started to feel the side effects of the alcohol in her head that she couldn't muster enough energy in her body to care enough and react when she saw Krystal looking at her worriedly. 

"Unnie," Krystal called out to her while pulling the bottle of wine away from Jessica's reach. "I really think Donghae oppa has moved on. Maybe you should too."

Jessica dropped her head for a second then used her right hand to help keep her chin up. "Wh-Whoo said I...I have-haven..." she slurred her words slightly then propped her head on the table behind her arms. Krystal pursed her lips together but didn't say anything else while Jessica mumbled words out incoherently. 

"I-I'm...suc-successss-f-fulll...I don't need him." Jessica's voice gradually getting louder with each word, then as to further prove her point, she suddenly sat up straight on her chair and glared at Krystal. "I don't need him! I'm a ing CEO! He should-should've waited! I just needed time-...why-why wouldn't he give me time?...."

Krystal reached her hand forward after Jessica dropped her head down on the table again to hide her emotions away and gently petted her sister's hair. At the moment, she didn't have the heart to scold her sister and rub salt into her wounds by telling her it was her fault, but then again she didn't expect her to return to Korea at all. Jessica's soft uncomfortable groan slowly changed into soft hushed snoring as her breathing evened out. 

Watching her sister pass out on the table only confirmed Krystal's suspicion. That she has no idea why she came back to Korea at all. 

Heaving out a heavy sigh, Krystal made sure that she was at least comfortably leaning on the table before walking off the kitchen towards her room. She pulled out her phone and texted Heechul to confirm her attandance at the retreat tomorrow. She may not be able to stop her sister from going but at least she can stop her from doing something stupid.

Again.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

The following day, Hyukjae was too busy fussing over his hair, trying hard to figure out whether he should part his hair to the left or the right in front of the mirror that he could barely register Kyuhyun's annoyed and frustrated grumblings in his head. It wasn't until the latter showed his annoyed face in the mirror did Hyukjae finally tear his eyes away from himself to finally acknowledge his roommates continued ranting from the night before. 

"You owe me big. BIG!" Kyuhyun reiterated and emphasized just to make sure Hyukjae knows that he does in fact owe Kyuhyun big time. "I can't believe I'm wasting my Saturday going to your stupid company retreat. I could die today and instead of getting wasted and getting laid, I'm gonna be spending it watching you and your co-workers pretend to have fun building a pyramid or whatever lame- activities they make you do nowadays." 

Hyukjae just rolled his eyes at Kyuhyun's repeated rambling from last night and walked over to his bed to grab his sweater. 

"Quit whining. It's your fault for blindsiding me with Donghae yesterday," he said while fixing his jacket to make sure there were no visible creases. "And it's not even gonna be that bad. Since you're coming with me, I have an excuse to leave early."

"Ha." Kyuhyun laughed dryly. "I may be going with you but we both know you're not leaving that company retreat with me."

Hyukjae looked at Kyuhyun and didn't like the smirk he saw on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know...it's just that your Prince Charming is actually a lot smarter than you give him credit for." 

Hyukjae's frown didn't fade away at Kyuhyun's ambigous answer. "What the hell are you talking about?" 

Kyuhyun's smile grew making him look more evil in Hyukjae's eyes. When the other narrowed his eyes at him, Kyuhyun decided to keep his lips shut and let his best friend figure the rest out for himself. As much as he cared for the other, he should really learn to loosen up and accept his emotions as they come instead of always overthinking things and preparing for the worst. 

Besides, after his conversation with Donghae last night, he trusts his roommate will be in good hands. 

*Flashback - Last Night's Dinner*

"Dinner's ready! Who's hungry?"

Hyukjae grumbled a little under his breath at Kyuhyun's act of nonchalance and mumbled a quick excuse to go the bathroom in order to have some alone time and get his head together. Kyuhyun quietly chuckled to himself as he watched Hyukjae stalk off the kitchen before landing his eyes on Donghae and smiling more when he saw his eyes trail after Hyukjae's retreating form. 

"Don't worry," he said loudly trying to gain Donghae's attention. "He'll come back. I'm pretty sure."

Donghae managed to take his eyes off Hyukjae after hearing Kyuhyun's teasing and saw the grin Kyuhyun was sending his way. Already aware that he'd been caught checking Hyukjae out red-handed, Donghae sheepishly rubbed his nape and decided to compliment Kyuhyun's cooking as a diversion. 

"The food looks great. Thank you for inviting me."

Kyuhyun smirked and crossed his arms across his chest while casually leaning against his chair. 

"Let's not do the small talk and get real for a second. As grateful as I am to you for letting us stay in this mansion, my best friend's worth more to me than just a few days stay at a five-star hotel." Kyuhyun began his interrogation and readjusted his position so that Donghae could see that he really was having a serious conversation with him. "I know you've stated your intentions clear with him before but Hyukjae isn't the type to fall in love willy nilly. I hope you do plan on taking full responsibility for breaking d