When Chanyeol left, Kyungsoo breathed a sigh of relief at last. It felt as if a heavy baggage on his shoulders was lifted. They needed that talk after all. As they were talking, Kyungsoo came to the realization that Chanyeol didn't miss him as a person. Chanyeol only missed the feeling of being in love and happy. But Kyungsoo couldn't do that with him anymore.

Their relationship ended even before Chanyeol had officially broken up with Kyungsoo. And it was Kyungsoo who pulled away first. He just realized it too late. They apologized for the things they said and done to each other. For a while, they just stayed seated on Kyungsoo's couch, silently holding each other's hands. The both of them were finally accepting the fact that it was truly over.

Before Chanyeol left, he also apologized for the way he behaved towards Jongin. He even wished that things would work out between Kyungsoo and Jongin. And Chanyeol was gone before Kyungsoo could respond and explain that there was no such thing.

With everything cleaned up, Kyungsoo was now lying down on his bed. Diana was sleeping peacefully beside him. A couple more weeks to go and she would be giving birth. Kyungsoo already prepared a nesting box for her. He prayed for a safe delivery and that the kittens to be healthy. Jongin already gave him a list of potential adopters during dinner. Kyungsoo would examine the list tomorrow. Right now, he had something else in his mind.

He stared at the ceiling and replayed what Jongin did earlier. Why did Jongin even do that? Did that kiss mean anything? Kyungsoo shook his head quickly. No, it didn't mean anything. Don't think about it too much. And besides, Jongin's already seeing someone. You're just a neighbor, Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep. Thinking was exhausting.

Before Kyungsoo could go off to dreamland, though, his phone rang. Kyungsoo slowly opened his eyes and grabbed the device on his bedside table, only using his arm and not moving his body. He stared at the screen for a moment before answering the call.

The caller was Jongin.

“H-hello?” Kyungsoo answered hesitantly. He wanted to forget about Jongin for a while, yet the other male just wouldn't let him.

“Hey, Kyungsoo. Is everything alright? I saw Chanyeol leave earlier.” Jongin asked. There was genuine concern in his voice.

Kyungsoo pondered for a moment. Did Jongin wait outside all that time?

“I’m okay. Sorry we didn’t get to finish dessert, by the way. I had no idea that he was coming. He was the one who broke up with me, you see. But I’m glad that we had that talk. We finally cleared things up.” Kyungsoo didn’t know why he was sharing this to Jongin. Perhaps because he had no one else to talk to. He tried messaging his friend Jongdae earlier but there was no reply. Jongdae had been out of the country for almost a month now, traveling with his wife.

“It's fine, don't worry about it. I should be the one apologizing for what I did. I don’t have the right to in. I’m sorry. So, how are you feeling, Kyungsoo?” Jongin wanted to know. Earlier, Kyungsoo looked distraught and that was why Jongin stood up for him. It felt like Kyungsoo needed saving.

Kyungsoo shifted to his side on the bed as he held the phone to his ear. “I’m completely fine. I’ve already accepted everything.” And he really did. Kyungsoo was tougher than he gave himself credit for.

“Well, congrats on being a free man, Kyungsoo.”

That made Kyungsoo chuckle. “Thanks, I guess.”

There was a moment's pause, then Jongin suddenly said, “We should celebrate your freedom then."

Kyungsoo's brows furrowed. “What? Are you serious?” Do people really celebrate break ups? He had never done it before in his life.

“Yes, I’m super serious. Don’t worry, leave it all to me. You just have to show up. And you can’t say no, I’ll nag you until you say yes.” Jongin declared with determination.

Kyungsoo knew Jongin was the kind of man who was true to his word, so he didn't have any other choice but to agree. Jongin did say that they should eat out the next time, and according to him, this was the perfect opportunity for that. They would be having dinner at a restaurant (Jongin's choice) tomorrow night. And Kyungsoo repeatedly reminded himself that this was not a date. It’s just another dinner, nothing more.

Kyungsoo promised himself before that he would do his best not to get involved with Jongin. But it was true that promises were made to be broken, because look at where he was now. Kyungsoo was standing outside Jongin’s apartment unit again. He glanced at his outfit (his favorite denim jacket on top of a black shirt, dark gray jeans, and black sneakers) one more time and hoped that he wasn’t overdressed for the occasion. Breathing out a deep exhale, Kyungsoo pressed the doorbell. And he was stupefied the moment the door opened.

Jongin was wearing a brown oversized coat, a black turtleneck long-sleeve shirt, dark pants, and black leather shoes. His usually unruly hair had also been styled sleekly. His good looks standing out even more. Kyungsoo had to pause for an instant. Clearly, he wasn’t the one who was overdressed for tonight. He wasn't complaining, though.

“Are we going or you’re just going to stare at me all night?” Jongin asked with a smirk. He carefully picked his outfit for tonight and he felt proud of himself from Kyungsoo’s reaction.

Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, right. Let’s go.” He didn’t mean to gawk. It was simply hard not to. “Where are we going, anyway? You still haven’t told me.”

Jongin merely smiled. “You’ll see.”

This was Kyungsoo’s first time in this restaurant. He rarely ate out so he knew little about the must visit places in town. Jongin on the other hand seemed to be familiar with the place. It was a fine dining restaurant with a bar. The bartender greeted Jongin warmly as he and Kyungsoo were walking to their table, accompanied by the head waiter.

Before they had a chance to sit down however, someone called out Jongin’s name. He and Kyungsoo turned around at the same time. Kyungsoo’s eyes grew wider when he saw who it was. It was the woman he saw being cuddly with Jongin at the parking lot of their apartment. What was she doing here?

Jongin waved to the woman, smiling from ear to ear, his mouth even opening wide with delight. Kyungsoo felt a pang in his chest. Did Jongin invite his girlfriend to join them without telling Kyungsoo? He wanted to run away from there at once.

“So, you must be Kyungsoo.” The woman suddenly spoke, showing off her beautiful smile and perfectly white teeth.

Kyungsoo stopped planning his escape for a second. How did she know his name? “Y-you know me?” he asked her with hesitancy.

“Of course, Jongin told me all about you. And he is right, you are cute.” She replied. There was a satisfied smile on her face.

“Uhm…” Kyungsoo trailed off, glancing at Jongin for some kind of explanation. He had no idea what to say.

Jongin shook his head lightly. “Kyungsoo, meet Heejong.” He gestured towards the woman. “My older sister. She’s the manager here.”

Huh? Older sister? Kyungsoo was perplexed. This beautiful woman was Jongin’s sister? Not his girlfriend? But now that he was seeing her up close, Kyungsoo could see the resemblance. She and Jongin had the same eyes, and smile.

Heejong hugged Kyungsoo without warning. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo stiffened, not knowing how to react.

Jongin hurriedly pulled his sister away. “Stop scaring him, sis.” He turned to Kyungsoo. “Sorry, my sister doesn’t know the meaning of personal space.” He looked pointedly at her. She just beamed at him and shrugged.

And it dawned on Kyungsoo that Jongin’s sister had no problem with showing skinship. That was why she was sweet like that to her brother. It was Kyungsoo’s fault for assuming something else about their relationship. He wouldn’t tell a soul that he actually felt relieved with the revelation, however.

They were finally seated and done ordering their food. Kyungsoo was looking around the place, amazed with everything. Heejong had left their table and was now busy with her duties. She gave them red wine and appetizer, on the house. Being a soju man, Kyungsoo had never tasted wine before. It was exquisite.

“Sorry about my sister.” Jongin said, after tasting the wine himself. “You don’t have to worry, she’s totally harmless. She just needs to control herself sometimes. Or most of the time, to be honest.”

Kyungsoo chuckled. “She’s nice. I like her.”

“You don’t have to say that just because she gave us free stuff.” Jongin said jokingly.

“I’m serious. And that’s not the reason why.” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. Then he remembered what Heejong said earlier. “So, you told her about me?”

Jongin nodded. “Yeah, I did. I’m close with my sister. I tell her everything. What I do, where I am, the people I meet, who pissed me off. Stuff like that.”

“And that I’m cute.” Kyungsoo added, smirking. He took another sip of his wine as he looked at Jongin.

Jongin coughed a little. “Yeah…that too.” He grabbed a piece of the appetizer quickly and shoved it in his mouth. Jongin would call Kyungsoo cute or pretty just to , but now that it came from his sister, it felt different. He didn't want Kyungsoo to think that Jongin was being weird for talking to his sister about him. Jongin thought that maybe he should refrain from telling his sister everything from now on.

The food was great. They cleaned up their plates in no time. Jongin offered to pay for everything, but Kyungsoo stubbornly insisted that they should split the bill. In the end, Jongin surrendered. The night would be wasted if they kept on fighting over a measly bill. Kyungsoo thought that they would go straight home after dinner, but Jongin said that it was still early and they should enjoy the night since they were already outside. Kyungsoo just agreed (because why not, Jongin did have a point) and followed wherever Jongin was taking him. Jongin told him it was a surprise. As they rode a taxi to get there, Kyungsoo mentally prayed it wasn’t anywhere dangerous.