Taemin stayed in the armchair even after he stopped crying, an unfocused gaze resting on nothingness. How long he remained in that position, he had no idea either. As far as he was able to ascertain, the world stopped moving when Minho left, then everything else just blurred away with time, leaving him completely emotionless and numb by the time he realised that he was alone. 

Small, unsupported and abandoned. 

Pathetically alone.

“Okay,” Taemin sighed and closed his burning eyes, letting them rest for a while. After all those tears, there was barely anything left to shed. In fact, he had absolutely nothing. The lounge was dimly illuminated by the sconces while the rest of the lights remained off. It didn’t matter much, then. Taemin would rather hide in the dark than staring himself in the mirror, leaving alone for people to look at him in such a condition.

Though, after a while, he had to get up and move to the bed resignedly. Taemin doubted he could get some shuteye regardless of how physically and emotionally exhausted he was feeling at that moment, but trying shouldn’t hurt so, trying he did. Stepping into the bathroom, he waited as the lights flickered before coming on. The brightness was so blinding that he had to squeeze his puffy eyes for a good one minute, adjusting to the new surroundings after leaving the fairly dark lounge. Then, he peeled them open again.

The gasp that left his lips was rather inadvertent. Staring at himself in the mirror, Taemin looked like an entirely different person. His nose was red, eyes were swollen and there was vivid stickiness of drying tears on his high cheekbones. If there was one word that could succinctly describe his condition at that time, it was certainly ‘appalling’. 

Just simply broken.

Emotionally fraught and utterly wrecked.

Taemin hated that. He hated looking so weak, admitting fragile in front of his own reflection after going through such a concoction of emotions all day long. He didn’t need the reminder that his life was ed upside down, that he lost the best friend in his husband and the husband as a person altogether simultaneously. He didn’t need people—things—to take the honour and shove the tip of the knife deeper into the open, bleeding wound on his heart. 

Time was all that Taemin needed to recollect the broken deets, piece himself together then start thinking again. He needed a plan; of where to go and what to do after this. The second he received the cert, he should know how to be independent, because there will be life after divorce, however difficult, with the hope of happiness to seize. It took thrice of the pain to feel twice as much, so Taemin expected the journey to be harsh and excruciating. Maybe it will become tolerable after some time, but not very soon. Not so soon, that was for sure.

Which was pretty pitiful, really, since Taemin was already on his tod before he met Minho. Technically, he had been there. He knew how depressing and lonely it could be. That should suffice in helping him to be more prepared this time, no?

No.

Because he was not the same person who he used to be. The old Taemin didn’t give a about anyone entering or infiltrating his life, knowing very well that they would eventually find their way out without being ushered or forced to. He learnt that getting emotionally attached was cursed and mental, so he strayed away from any potential relationship and stayed ‘comfortably incarcerated’. 

Even so, Minho changed him for the better while they were together. Minho taught him that it was okay not to be okay, for Taemin who always tried to muster the most cheerful smile and convince everyone that everything was fine by the world when the world itself was on the verge of collapsing. Granted, the younger man preferred to keep everything to himself for the first few months. Took him a while longer to finally let go, but the first outburst of emotions was, as Taemin would call it, abysmal. He was sobbing like a dolt and Minho’s shoulder was soaked with his tears. Still embarrassing whenever he thought about it, but what happened, happened.

Because after all, the pragmatic person, too, fell in love.

“Shh, I’m here,” Minho normally said while rubbing up and down Taemin’s back, a comforting gesture that even he didn’t realise doing. Out of instinct, that one. “Don’t hold back.”

Taemin scoffed dryly, bending slightly to splash water to his face. While it was comforting to recall the good things, the reality was he lost it all. That was when Taemin decided to stay home a little longer. Not for Minho; not for himself either. He just felt like it’d be easier if he stayed in one place while the documents were being passed back and forth. It seemed highly unlikely that Minho will ever come back to rekindle, anyway. All he could do was wait and see where life took him next.

Work, on the other hand, was… well. Good for him, the company that he worked for was in the vicinity of both their shared home and his own apartment. Therefore, either option would be bearable for the man to commute back and forth. People suggested that getting yourself immersed in work could reduce the pain of divorce by a notch, but trust him when he said that was not to be the case.

For Taemin, his position in the company will always link him back to Minho. Not in a sense that Minho was his boss or anything, no. Office romances were not their thing, essentially. Just that, he was parachuted into position because of Minho. Before this, Taemin generated income by being a freelance writer. In his career bubble, he was both the business owner and the worker. Given that self-established privilege, he got to decide when and where to do his job, how much he wished to get paid and the overall daily schedule. It was easy for a fact that he enjoyed working remotely.

Then came Minho to help him expand his client base. Minho was a cultured man manoeuvring comfortably in the business world. A numbers person, basically. He knew his way in and out of the maze without having to skulk around; always standing tall and would never ever budge. His gaze could freeze the warmest of hearts in the hall and his way of presenting himself was utterly terrifying - so strong that people could break a shiver if they happened to stare a little longer. It was to be expected, though, since he was one of the youngest CEOs on the Fortune Global 500 list.

So suddenly (the sarcastic monstrosity purely intended), a company was in dire