Sungmin feels horrible for wishing bad fortune on Zhou Mi and Heechul’s marriage, but it’s probably the only thing that will make her feel better about her relationship at the moment.

After seeing her old “friend” at work, he had adamantly insisted that she meet his wife. She really didn’t want to, after all, seeing couples these days made her sad, but Zhou Mi always had a way of making her give in to anything. The first impression she had was how he could have married someone so horrible. Heechul, like her husband, had a strong personality, but her’s was the definition of a . Every word out of the redhead’s mouth seemed to be a complaint or a derogatory comment toward her spouse. When Zhou Mi’s wide smile falter as his wife’s behavior, Sungmin decided that she wasn’t a good match for him at all.

Heechul sent Zhou Mi out to buy Tupperware (which they so desperately needed, according to her) and left Sungmin feeling very awkward and angry with the older woman.

“Sungmin, could I confide in you?”

Sungmin almost drops her jaw at the sudden change in Heechul’s tone of voice. All the informal language she was using with her husband was replaced by respectful honorifics, which weren’t technically needed with Sungmin being younger. She nods, mostly curious as to what such a bi=polar woman would want to entrust her with.

“I know I haven’t made a good impression, with my constant negative statements, but recently I’ve changed a lot.” She shifts nervously in her seat, looking very vulnerable and nothing like the aggressive woman she was moments ago. “I don’t have too many friends here, and I’m telling you because Mi tells me all about how you’re engaged and have two kids. My mother passed away when I was really young, so I don’t have anyone else with this sort of experience, and my mother-in-law is in China, and-“

“You’re pregnant.” It’s a statement, not a question. Sungmin had seen a picture of Heechul before visiting and the woman in the picture and sitting in front of her was very beautiful, but in person her milky skin took on a richer color.

Heechul bites her lip and nods. “And you’re afraid Mi won’t like it?” This is a question, one of the immediate questions that came to her own mind when she was pregnant the first time.

“Oh no!” Heechul’s eyes widen. “The two of us have always been talking about how we want to start a family soon. I know he’ll be happy, but I want to surprise him with this on his birthday. I just couldn’t keep it a secret anymore, and I thought who better to talk to about it then someone who’s been through it.”

Sungmin’s sure the look of shock never left her face that day, even when Zhou Mi returned and Sungmin made up an excuse to leave. She had gone home and thought for a while about the situation. When was the last time anyone had confided in her? How could she help someone when she was uninterested during her own first pregnancy and had purposely gotten pregnant again to keep Kyuhyun?

She had been over to visit the pregnant woman everyday after that, whether Zhou was there or not, becoming unlikely fast friends with her. Today, she had brought Junghwan with her, as Kyuhyun was working and he was still too young to be in daycare. Heechul was ecstatic to play with the infant and hardly put him down.

“Eonni, could I ask you a question?” Sungmin was finishing up changing Junghwan’s diaper while Heechul watched in an attempt to learn.

“Of course, what is it?” The older woman immediately picks up the baby and rocks him in her arms.

“Why did you choose to tell me about your pregnancy? Why not any of the friends you already had?”

Heechul pauses, thinking over her words. “Well, like I said, Mi has told me all about you have kids, so I knew you would know about what I’m going through and help me take care of myself.”

“Take care of yourself?”

“I… I used to have a issue with eating; I still do sometimes.” Heechul locks her gaze with Sungmin, looking slightly embarrassed, but determined to get her story across. “My ex-boyfriend cheated on me a lot, but I loved him and wanted to be with him forever at the time. Mi was my best friend then and kept trying to convince me that Hankyung wouldn’t stop hurting me as long as I stayed, but I wouldn’t listen. Eventually, I tried to change myself because I thought there was a something wrong with me that caused him to cheat. I changed my hair style and color constantly, changed my whole wardrobe, and lost weight for him. But after he moved back home and I knew everything was over, I couldn’t stop losing weight. I was wasting away when Mi stepped in. He gave me the love I needed to recover and to want to keep pushing on.”

“Wow… I would have never imagined you’ve been through that…” She also would have never imagined that the one of the many men she slept with was using her as another person in his infidelity. He had seemed so nice all the times they spent together.

Heechul smiles genuinely and runs a finger over the soft skin on Junghwan’s cheek. “It’s okay, I’ve grown from it. But I do have a habit of not taking care of myself, which is more important now that I have another life to think of. Mi helps, but it’s important to me to have another person to be responsible to if I relapse.”

“I don’t have any friends.” Sungmin blurts out. “I-I mean, I have Kyuhyun, but I don’t have anyone I get along with enough to talk to like this.”

“Then we’ll both benefit from this friendship, hmm?” The cute girl nods and looks up as Zhou Mi comes in from work and almost squeals at the sight of his wife holding a baby. 

Sungmin hangs back from the couple for a couple of hours and watch as they play house. Zhou Mi’s eyes light up and he looks so natural as he soothes Junghwan’s cries when he gets sleepy. Heechul, though awkward, looks like she’s ready to be a mother and raise a child with her husband. Nothing like Sungmin was years ago.

She left soon after to put the baby to bed, but she can’t help but remember the look the married couple gave each other before she left. Heechul had just kissed the sleeping baby’s forehead and turned to look at Zhou Mi who had been closely watching her actions. The look was very brief, but Sungmin could see the amount of love they held for each other. In that look, she saw that the two of them would do anything for each other, even sacrificing their lives if it ever came to that.

Their relationship was perfect, exactly what Sungmin always wanted. Maybe that’s why she wished for something awful to happen to them. Maybe it would tell her that all relationships were doomed, and it wasn’t just her relationship that was falling apart.

Kyuhyun enters the apartment not long after her. His shoulders are hunched over and his head is down, probably from a stressful day at work, she supposes. But his hair is unkempt and his clothes are wrinkled, definitely not how he usually comes home.

“Are you okay, Kyuhyun? You seem different today?” She walks over to him and places a hand on his forehead, slightly surprised when he didn’t flinch away from her touch. “You don’t have a fever. Do you feel bad?”

He nods slightly and gathers all his courage to look her in the eye. “I cheated on you.” The hand on his forehead is quickly pulled away, but only so she can land a hard slap on his cheek.

“Who was she?” The look on Kyuhyun’s face tells her that it wasn’t a girl, something she already knew when the question was asked. Some sick part of her just wanted to confirm her worse nightmare. “How could you?!” she yells, slapping him again. “You promised you wouldn’t! Even if you hate me, can’t you at least control your ! We have two kids together and you’re still playing around like this? You stupid, worthless, gay, high school dropout!” Hot, angry tears are running down her cheeks as she shoves Kyuhyun backwards with each sentence. He’s silent and takes the insult and shoving without any inclination to fight back, making her angrier and sadder. “Say something!”

“I’m sorry.” Slap.

“Get out. I don’t even want to smell you right now.” Kyuhyun opens his mouth to protest, since he really doesn’t have anywhere to go, but Sungmin cuts him off. “Leave before I take the kids, and you won’t see them ever again.” He absolutely hates how she always uses Sunkyu and Junghwan to win her arguments, but he believes that she’s capable.

“Appa?”

Their five-year-old pokes her head from her room, clutching a stuffed dog. Her hair is messily tied at the top of her head and she’s dressed in a pink gown. Her eyes are wide and worrying from the yelling that woke her up.

Sungmin turns away, hoping to hide her tears so Kyuhyun’s the one to rush over to her and place a kiss on her cheek. “What are you doing up, sweetie? It’s past your bedtime.”

“You were fighting… are you leaving?”

He lifts her up and hugs her tightly. “I’m going out just for tonight, but I’ll pick you up school tomorrow, okay?”

“I don’t want you to go,” she mumbles sadly and wraps her arms around Kyuhyun’s neck.

“How about I sing you to sleep, hmm?” He feels her nod into his neck so he carries her back to her bed and tucks her into bed before he asks what she wants to hear. To Kyuhyun’s dismay, she requests a love song, one he always sang when he was happily in love with Siwon. After she falls asleep, he quietly goes to the master bedroom and packs an overnight bag. He can hear crying coming from behind the closed bathroom door.

While leaving, he wonders why the two of them are doing this to each other. It may have worked the past couple of years, but now, everything that could go wrong, was.

-

Donghae starts to regret going to Siwon when Kyuhyun shows up on his doorstep, blind drunk. The only other time he’s seen his friend like this is the day Sungmin came back, which was the start of more drama than his life needed, and two days after Siwon left when he realized that things were really over. Kyuhyun was usually good with dealing with his problems in non-harmful ways, but when it came to matters like these, he just wanted to forget.

“Hyung~” Kyuhyun hangs onto his friend as soon as he opens the door, which leaves him in a dilemma. He’s been avoiding physical contact with his friend for months, so he knows, for his sake, he should call a taxi and send the drunk man home. But as a best friend, he knows Kyuhyun came there for a reason, and he should keep him there until he’s sober enough to tell him the reason.

The usually calm drunk is very clingy tonight and insists on sleeping with Donghae in his bed. Kyuhyun finally lets go when they’re lying in the soft full sized bed and flops onto his back. “Hyung, I’m sad.”

Donghae lies on his side facing Kyuhyun. “I know.” He pulls a pillow under his head so he can continue looking at the man whose eyes are shut tight. “I wish there was something I could do for you.”

“Make me feel better,” he mutters, rolling on his side to look back at his best friend. Donghae opens his mouth to ask what the younger means but is cut off by a pair of chapped lips on his. The lips are eager and desperate as Kyuhyun clings to the older man’s neck and rolls them over so he’s lying on his back with Donghae hovering over him. 

The orange-haired man wants nothing more than to kiss back, but when he pulls away, he knows this isn’t right. He looks down at the man below him whose cheeks are tear-stained and his eyes are bloodshot, only part of it from his drunkenness. “Hyung,” he whines. “Please… I need this”

“No…” Donghae rolls off his friend and sits on the edge of the bed facing away from him. “You don’t want this. You’re just upset.” He easily deflects another kiss from the drunken man and stands up. “You should go to sleep, okay? We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Hyung…” No further protests are made though as Kyuhyun’s eyes slowly fall shut and he passes out, whether from the gross amount of alcohol or emotional exhaustion, Donghae doesn’t know.

-

Everything’s as it should be in the morning when Kyuhyun wakes up complaining of a headache. That is, until he asks Donghae if he would witness his wedding as soon as possible.

“Are you seriously going to marry her? You don’t love her. You probably never will. What’s wrong with you?”

“There’s too much to lose if I don’t marry her… If I don’t do it now, I’ll change my mind and lose everything I’ve worked for these past two years. If Sungmin agrees, will you come to the registry office?”

“No.”

Kyuhyun frowns. “Why not? You’re my best friend, and I want you to be there.”

“As your best friend, you shouldn’t know that I’m not gonna sit around and watch you make stupid decisions. I hate you being with her. That’s not to say that she’s a bad person, but the two of you aren’t good together. Ever since she’s come back, you’ve been different… not as happy.” Donghae pulls his friend into a hug, ignoring the way his heart is fluttering. “Please stop punishing yourself for cheating on Siwon. You’re being given a second chance.”

“I’ll just find someone else,” he mumbles, unable to look his friend in the eye as he pulls away. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Hyung.” 

“Kyuhyun-ah… seriously, don’t.” The only reply he gets is the wave of a hand as Kyuhyun leaves the house, still fully clothed from last night.

-

Sungmin’s sitting at the kitchen table, clad in a robe and sipping hot coffee. She spent most of the night crying into her pillow, but now she just feels empty. She’s not exactly sure what she should do. Logic tells her that she lost; it’s time to give up on Kyuhyun, but the stubborn part of her refuses. She couldn’t just leave and take the kids; that was never a real threat because she couldn’t survive on her own, but she couldn’t leave without her own children. For a few seconds, she considers having another baby, but Junghwan’s still too young and Kyuhyun hasn’t touched her in over a year.

She jumps when Kyuhyun, not having heard him coming in, clears his throat from the doorway. “What are you doing back here? I thought you went crawling back to that man,” she spats bitterly. She shots him a look and turns back to staring into her coffee cup.

“Sungmin, let’s get married today.”

She chokes on air and spins around to face her fiancé. “W-what? That isn’t funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny. I really want to marry you as soon as possible. It’ll be good for... for the kids. And us.” Though his face tells her that he doesn’t believe any word of it, his actions reinforce his words as he comes behind her and wraps his arms around her slim waist. Her heart doesn’t race like it used to, but she does feel a glimmer of happiness.

“Do you at least like me like you did when we first met? Do you ever feel those butterflies anymore?” Kyuhyun hums in response to her second question; she didn’t exactly ask if he felt those butterflies for her. “Then there’s no reason to keep from getting married now, huh?”

“As soon as you find two witnesses, we’re ready to go.” Sungmin nods and pulls away from Kyuhyun to look at him. He locks eyes with her, looking very serious about his decision, but there’s no real joy underlying that expression. She figures it’s the closet thing she’ll ever get to a profession of love from him. Quickly, she runs off to look for her mobile phone to call up Zhou Mi and Heechul.

*~*~*

“Where have you been?” Donghae wastes no time questioning his friend as he closes the door to Kyuhyun’s office. “I know we had a small disagreement, but you don’t usually take off work for a whole week to avoid me.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Kyuhyun sighs. “I was on a vacation… with Sungmin.”

“Why would you suddenly-“ The silver band on the young man’s ring finger creates a glare as he types away on his computer. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Please tell me you didn’t actually marry her.”

Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and draws his hands under the desk where they’re not visible. “Most people would say congratulation.”

“Most people aren’t stupid enough to marry someone they don’t love. Especially, when the person they love is back in the picture.”

Kyuhyun shrugs. “Is that all you’re here for? I need to start work.”

“Actually, I was told to tell you that you’re wanted in the head office as soon as you get the chance.”

“I’ll go now before I start.” The brunette stands up and straightens his tie. “CEO Park is probably still trying go convince me to talk to Siwon.” He groans and walks toward the door to his office. “How many times do I have to say no before he quits?” As he leaves the office, he misses the knowing look that crosses his friend’s face.

He’s fully prepared to outright tell the CEO that he has no intention of ever agreeing to his wish, so he’s at a loss for words when he enters the room and is slammed into the door as soon as he closes it.

“I want you.” A low voice whispers in his ear, making him shudder. He attempts to protest but is cut off by rough lips and nipping at his. His lips have a mind of their own as they respond just as eagerly. Hands move up and down his sides, finally coming to rest at his hips. “I miss you everyday.” Siwon presses their foreheads together, trying to catch his love’s attention while Kyuhyun seems determined to stare at the hands on his midsection. “Where have you been for the past week? I wanted to surprise you last Monday.”

“Honeymoon,” Kyuhyun whispers, knowing very well that he’s not speaking loud enough for the other to hear. His left hands ghosts over Siwon’s right as he contemplates giving in to the touch but snatches it away as if he’s been burned. He’smarried he reminds himself. Siwon makes a small noise of confusion, but continues to lower his hands until they rest on Kyuhyun’s belt, positioning themselves to undo the leather strap. “No, Siwon,” Kyuhyun weakly pushes away the hands. He doesn’t remember his ex-boyfriend being this forward, but he’s not sure if he exactly dislikes it. “I’m married.”

The hands freeze in the middle of their actions when the words register in his mind. “...Married?” Kyuhyun bites his lips and nods, closing his eyes so he no longer has to see the devastated look on the older man’s face. “You’re married. Well then, I’m. Why. Congratulations.” When the familiar touch leaves his waist he opens his eyes to see Siwon retreating back to his desk while straightening his clothes.

“Are you mad at me?” he asks quietly, like a child questioning their parent.

Siwon sits down and unnecessarily leafs through a stack of papers. Kyuhyun suddenly remembers the old days when they first started dating and he got joy from simply watching his boyfriend work. When they lived together, sometimes he would play with Sunkyu in Siwon’s office until she fell asleep. He would then watch Siwon typing away at his computer, exchanging glances every now and then. The memory makes him sick and happy all at the same time.

“Of course I’m not mad, Kyuhyun. You’ve made a huge life decision, and I’m happy for you. Is that why you were away? Did you have fun with Sungmin?” Kyuhyun shrugs a bit. Honestly, the newlywed couple didn’t do too much on their vacation. They talked quite a bit, talking like old friends, reconnecting in a way. They didn’t get too physical, a few closed-mouth kisses and he really missed his kids, who were staying with Zhou Mi and Heechul, but it was nice enough. “Well you may leave and get back to work. I’m sorry for taking up part of your time.”

The brunette awkwardly half-bows and turns slightly toward the door. “I could always use another friend. We… get along… very well, y’know, and we were once best friends, and I would like, love if we could be like that again.”

“Hmm, I’ll think about it.” Siwon doesn’t even look up from his computer as he replies. Kyuhyun takes it as a signal to leave and does just that.

Donghae is still waiting in his office when Kyuhyun comes back. “So, you really married that woman?”

“She’s not that bad, Hyung. We get along a little better than before, so it’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be.”

“But do you love her?” Donghae grabs his friend’s hand and forces him to face him. “Do you think you’ll ever love her like you love him?”

They both know the answer, so Kyuhyun sees to reason to respond and releases his hand from Donghae’s.

*~*~*

Junghwan stares up as his mother as she coos at him and kisses his cheek. She frowns slightly at his unresponsiveness, but smiles again when he starts giggling at being poked at his round belly. “Hwan is so docile sometimes. He’s very unlike any other baby, but I hope this means he’ll grow up to be strong-minded.”

“I can see that,” Heechul comments. “He’ll break the hearts of all women with his mountain-like personality. Maybe you should have named him *Sandeul, huh?”

“And I suppose you’ll name your child *Kang,” Sungmin replies back sarcastically.

Heechul sticks her tongue out and extends a middle finger at her friend. Sungmin laughs and throws a set of baby keys at the older woman. She really enjoys this, the fact that Heechul opened up so much to her in such a short time. The pair now acted like a pair of lifelong companions.

Their laughter is interrupted by the sound of the home’s doorbell. Heechul growls and wonders out loud who could be visiting. When she stands up, Sungmin glances at her midsection for a sign of the life inside of her. While she’s still very thin, there is a slight roundness to her belly. Sungmin supposes Zhou Mi has noticed the change, but probably hasn’t brought it up due to Heechul’s past weight issues.

“Hannie!”

Curious, Sungmin makes her way, Junghwan still in her arms, from the den to the front room where she can see Heechul hugging a familiar blonde man. Her heart skips a beat and starts racing. How could she not be nervous from seeing someone she used to regularly sleep with? Someone she helped cheat on his girlfriend. Speaking of which, why was the aforementioned girl hugging a man who had hurt her so much?

“Hankyung! What are you doing here?” Heechul pulls back to look at the man’s face, but doesn’t drop her arms from his neck. “I thought you went back home!”

“I did, but I missed you and Mi. Are you excited to see me? Usually, you almost tackle me and expect me to carry your weight.” Heechul scowls and lightly punches him in the shoulder.

“Yah! We both know I’m a toothpick, and of course I missed you. I just have some circumstance that prevent me from… Anyway, come meet my friend, Sungmin and her son.” The redhead drops one of her hands to Hankyung’s and pulls him in. Her eyes widen a bit at the surprise of Sungmin being right behind her, but they’re still bright from the joy of seeing her friend. “Min! This is Hankyung. I’ve told you about him, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.” Sungmin curtly replies. Specifically, remembers him being the cause of Heechul’s former depression and eating disorder.

Heechul seems to sense what her friend is thinking and shakes her head. “Don’t worry. Things may have ended back between us romantically, but we’re still best friends. Mi is too.”

“Nice to see you again, Miss Sungmin.” Hankyung bows slightly and smiles in a way that makes Sungmin’s stomach flip. “You look the same as always, except I see you’ve become a mother. Congratulations.”

Sungmin wants to explain that she’s already been a mother longer than he knows, but her words seem to be stuck in so she only nods. Is it the guilt of all the bad things she did that makes her regret marrying Kyuhyun? Or is it the beautiful, blonde, Chinese man who flirts with her the whole afternoon?

*~*~*

To anyone else, the two look like a perfect family as they push the shopping cart through the store with Sunkyu perched in the child seat. Junghwan blinks sleepily from his sling that’s hanging from this father. Kyuhyun’s fingers are intertwined with Sungmin’s in what could probably be considered an intimate gesture, but to Kyuhyun it feels like a form of affection between friends.

They’re shopping for food for dinner as it’s Zhou Mi’s birthday and along with the news of Heechul’s pregnancy, they’re preparing a dinner. Sunkyu reaches out and pulls a box of cookies into the basket. Sungmin tells the girl no before putting the box back on the shelf. The five-year-old pouts but doesn’t speak up like someone else her age would.

“What was Sunny like when she was little? Was she always this obedient?” Sungmin feels slightly awkward asking about her own child’s childhood, but she feels it’s even more awkward to never ask.

“Mmm. She was really loud the first couple of weeks, but after S- my friend helped me, she was very calm for the most part.” Sungmin nods and leans into Kyuhyun in an affection way. Suddenly, she pulls away quickly and untangles her fingers from his. Kyuhyun frowns and stops to turn to her and is taken aback by the site of her slightly bowing to a tall blonde man.

“Ah, Sungmin, I didn’t expect to see you so soon. How are you?” Hankyung smiles that smile that makes Sungmin’s heart race. She moves slightly away from Kyuhyun and starts fidgeting with her fingers in a way Kyuhyun vaguely remembers. “Who’s your friend?”

Sungmin looks back at Kyuhyun as if she’s surprised he’s standing beside her. She hesitates, debating whether or not she could get away with not referring to the relationship between them. “I’m her husband,” he answers, after he sees she’s not answering anytime soon, feeling his stomach drop slightly. He wouldn’t call it jealousy exactly, but what happened to her being so madly in love with him?

“Really?” His face shows no hint of surprise. Sunkyu looks over the strange man with the same look her father is giving him and decides she doesn’t really like him too much. The blonde man simply laughs as the 5-year-old crosses her arms and turns away from him. “So, I heard you’re having a get together with Mi and Heechul. Room for one more?”

Hankyung’s forwardness had been the initial reason the woman had been attracted to him. He was very dominant in their odd relationship, always calling Sungmin and setting up a meeting time. Originally she assumed that she was more into being the dominant female in her relationship, but she loved the feeling she got when Hankyung took control. So, she can’t help but nod when the man basically invites himself.

Before he walks away, she nervously gives him the time and the address to their apartment. Kyuhyun shoots her an incredulous looks and continues pushing the shopping cart down the aisle. “What’s wrong with you?” Sungmin follows him and pulls on his arm. He stops in his tracks and turns toward her, fire in his eyes. “Are you jealous?” She feels somewhere between shocked, disbelieving, and happy over the younger’s jealousy, but somehow she feels that the jealousy might be justified. Hankyung makes her heart race like Kyuhyun hasn’t in years.

“No, it’s just. I’m committed to this now, and I expect you to be too.” He pulls his arm away and continues down the aisle, not really paying attention to where he’s going.

“I hope you know that you’re being very ridiculous, Kyuhyun. If anyone should be mad, it should me. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have a husband who… wholikes boys?” Kyuhyun stops again to turn back in look back at Sungmin, but this time his eyes are sad and hurt.

“Let’s just finishing shopping, okay?” he mutters pitifully. Sunkyu senses the change in her father’s emotional state and reaches out to place a small hand on his cheek. He forces out a smile and kisses her palm to reassure her that he’s fine.

Sungmin tentatively slides her hand back into the brunette’s, and though he doesn’t pull away, it doesn’t feel as friendly as before.

-

Laughter erupts from the kitchen as Heechul, once again, corrects Hankyung’s Korean. “I’ve been in China for about 2 year, give me some credit.” He playfully lands a light punch on Heechul’s arm, and the two smile widely at each other. Sungmin studies them carefully; noting that the look they give each other is very different from the ones shared between Zhou Mi and Heechul. It makes her wonder: what kind of looks did she give her husband? And did she and Henry share the same friendly look even though he was in love with her?

Henry.

She hadn’t heard from him in years. Not since the last time they spoke face to face. Was he over her? Of course, he was, she wasn’t great enough to keep someone interested for so long.

She’s brought out of her thoughts by a hand on her knee. Automatically, she knows who the hand belongs to, as it’s resting on her left knee and Kyuhyun is definitely to her right. Hankyung doesn’t do anything for anyone to suspect what he’s doing, but Kyuhyun is suddenly scowling at the oldest Chinese man.

When their plates are clean, they retreat to the living room. Zhou Mi, Heechul, and Sungmin pile onto the couch while Kyuhyun and Hankyung pull up chairs from the kitchen. The five adults talk and joke for a while, trying their best to keep their voices down as the kids sleep.

It’s late, almost 11 when Zhou Mi announces that he and Heechul should be returning home. “This is one of the best birthday’s I’ve had! Thank you so much for the dinner, Shengmin and Gui Xian. Is it okay for me to call you that?” he directs towards Kyuhyun. The younger man shrugs and nods slightly. He’s been very quiet since dinner.

“Oh, but there’s one more present,” Sungmin grins and looks over at Heechul who is visibly nervous. “But you’ll have to wait for a while. Right, Noona?”

Heechul’s eyes widen slightly, but she’s able to compose herself enough to smile naturally at her husband. “You’re gonna make a great father someday. Someday soon.”

It’s Zhou Mi’s turn to be taken off-guard. “Are you serious? If you’re lying, I swear, I’m not taking you shopping on your birthday. Are we really having a baby?” All of this is said in Chinese, so only Hankyung is able to laugh at the outburst. Heechul frowns reminding him that they’re in Korea and that he should go back to China if you he wants to speak Chinese. Zhou effectively wipes the frown off her face by showering her face with kisses. Kyuhyun and Sungmin turn away in embarrassment. Hankyung looks at Sungmin.

The couple leaves soon after, still kissing as they stumbled out the door. Hankyung, who Kyuhyun things is well overstaying his welcome, relaxes on the couch next to Sungmin on the couch. Kyuhyun shoots daggers at both of them before announcing that he’s going to bed. He hopes this sends the message to their houseguest to leave, but the older man waves to Kyuhyun as if he’s the one intruding.

After Kyuhyun leaves, the two acquaintances start catching up on the years they’ve missed. Hankyung tells about how he helped his mother out for a while before he grew too unhappy and his mother insisted that he go back to Korea. Sungmin admits how she ran away from raising Sunkyu and how even though the two or married, they’re further apart than ever.

“But it has to be a little better than it was in the beginning. You had another baby since, so there must be something still there.”

Sungmin shakes her head and leans her head back to stare at the ceiling. “Yeah, we did try at the beginning, but after a while I knew things were starting to go downhill. So, I might have, maybe, stopped taking birth control and got pregnant to make him fall back in love. I figured he was the happiest in our relationship when I had Sunkyu, so I thought maybe… But now I know it was a stupid move.”

The door to the master bedroom slams open, making the two jump and turn, and Kyuhyun is standing there still in his dress shirt and pants, jaw-dropped and eyes wide. “You what?” Sungmin can only stare and grip the arm of the couch. “You had Junghwan to make me stay?” The couple stares at each other for a few tense seconds. Hankyung snakes an arm around the girl’s waist as she visibly starts to tremble. Kyuhyun’s eyes dart around the room, his brain working on overdrive. He disappears back into the bedroom to retrieve his phone and crosses the pair on the couch to leave the apartment.

The two are shocked, but neither of them pull away from the intimate embrace. Sungmin doesn’t even think she has tears left for Kyuhyun.

-

The taxi driver keeps glancing back at Kyuhyun, having seen the passenger count the bills in his wallet. Where he’s going, Kyuhyun’s not sure of yet, but he’s positive that he doesn’t want to go to jail. His original plan was to stay at a hotel, but once he got into the cab he discovered his lack of sufficient funds. He could go to Donghae’s and ask for the money, but he knows his best friend would question why exactly he needed a hotel, and the whole thing would end with an ‘I told you so’.

He doesn’t need that right now.

So, he dials one of the few numbers he knows by heart. It hasn’t been in his contacts for over two years, but amount of times he dialed it before Sungmin returned has ingrained the number in his head. The line rings 5 times before Siwon answers, Kyuhyun lets out a sigh of relief; he was sure the other wouldn’t pick up after the first two rings. 

“Hello?” His words get caught in his throat at the sound of the deep, smooth voice; he’ll never get over how much it affects him. “…Kyuhyun?”

“Where are you?” He winces at how much he sounds like a worrying girlfriend.

Siwon lets out an impatient sigh and Kyuhyun can hear shuffling and whispering in the background. “The office. Why?”

Kyuhyun glances out the taxi window to see that they’re a few blocks pass his workplace. Quickly, he instructs the driver to turn around, he does so, but not without grumbling under his breath. “I’ll be there soon.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Kyuhyun chews on his bottom lip slightly. He feels stupid for automatically assuming that the older man would be completely okay with seeing him. Maybe he should just go to Donghae’s. “Oh…alright. I’m sorry.” He hates how miserable he sounds, but he’s doing his best not to completely breakdown and beg for his company.

The cab stops in front of the corporate building, and the driver expectantly looks back at Kyuhyun for his payment. He’s about to instruct the driver to keep going, on to his best friend’s house, when the man in question exits the building. He promises to pay the driver and jumps out of the car to meet his friend.

“Donghae!” The orange-haired man looks very taken off-guard, which is made obvious by him almost dropping the bag that’s hanging over his shoulder. Kyuhyun narrows his eyes at his friend. “What are you doing here?”

“Work,” Donghae curtly replies. “Weren’t you having dinner tonight?”

“Yeah, but… Anyway, could I borrow some money for the cab and catch a ride back with you? I need a place to stay for the night.

The older man nods his head and opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by Siwon exiting the building looking very annoyed. Kyuhyun glances down at the phone in his head, surprised to see that he never ended the call to him. He pulls out his wallet and pays the waiting cab driver who carefully counts the bills before pulling off. “Go on in, I’ll meet you in my office,” he directs towards Kyuhyun. “I’ll call you later.” The last statement is directed toward Donghae who smiles and waves goodbye.

Over and over he tries to tell himself that the fire burning inside of him is the anger from the Sungmin situation. Yeah, that’s it.

They’re both silent as they make their way to Siwon’s office. The only sound for a while is the quiet ding! of the elevator as it passes each level. Kyuhyun sniffs a little, crying, but not wanting to alarm the other man. He turns his body toward the side of the elevator and tries to discretely wipe the tears away, but of course, Siwon has already seen. He attempts to put an arm around the crying male’s waist, but Kyuhyun pulls away, claiming that he’s fine.

A very fluffy black-and-white cat is perched at Siwon’s desk when they enter and it immediately jumps off the desk to wind itself around its master’s legs. Siwon picks up the cat and lovingly kisses it behind the ears, earning a satisfied purr.

“He’s pretty,” Kyuhyun comments through the tears. Both of them seem determined to ignore the fact that he’s still crying.

“She. Her name is Dae-Jung. Usually, she stays at home while I work, but as you see, I’m working late tonight, so I brought her down so she’s not too lonely.” Dae-Jung stares at Kyuhyun as Siwon sets her back down on the ground. His mind runs through the scenario of being viciously scratched up, but the cat seems to find the young man acceptable enough to rub against his leg. His nerves seem to calm down a bit when he picks the animal up, so he sits down with the cat and silently pets it as Siwon continues working away on his desktop. “Everything okay at home?” he asks after a while.

Kyuhyun shrugs and stares down at the sleeping cat in his lap. “I love my kids; I wouldn’t trade them for anything. But Sungmin. Why. How could anyone have a child for the sole purpose of trapping someone in a loveless relationship? I don’t know what to do or where to go, so can you please just let me stay here for the night?”

“There’s not really anywhere comfortable to sleep; I’m going home myself in a couple of hours. Maybe there’s a friend’s house I can drop you off at?”

Kyuhyun shakes his head. “I’ll just keep you company for those hours and sleep in my office until the morning. I’m troubling you enough as it is.”

They stare at each other for a few seconds. Siwon is thinking hard, while Kyuhyun is simply staring, his mind is too exhausted to overanalyze this moment. “Sleep at my house, and I’ll take you home in the morning.” His words leave no room for argument.

- 

How long has it been since Kyuhyun’s been in his bed like this? Buried in the black comforter, the young man sleeps away, obviously to the older watching him. The drive home the night before had been less nerve wrecking than he expected because Kyuhyun had quickly fallen asleep 15 minutes into the trip. At his apartment, he carries the sleeping man to his bedroom, knowing that he won’t be able to sleep that night anyway. Last night, he promised himself that the second the clock hit 8am, he would take Kyuhyun back home.

At 11:32 he still doesn’t have the heart to wake him up.

Luckily (or unluckily), Kyuhyun wakes up within the next few minutes and peers over at the man sitting on the bed beside him. He looks comfortable, Siwon notes. They both look comfortable.

“I’m in your bed.”

“Mmhmm.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“I love you. You know that, right?”

“…Yeah.”

But they both know that Kyuhyun won't leave Sungmin. The past two years could not be undone, and they knew they would have to live with being close enough to touch, but an invisible wall would always be between them.