Taecyeon felt weightless during his walk home. A sense of enlightenment had washed over him and filled him to the very core with feelings of courage and warmth. He felt proud of himself and he was sure Nichkhun would too. Finally, after waiting for so long, he had stepped up and talked to Junsu on his own. He could still remember every expression Junsu held when they were together, the soft, complacent look in his eyes was enough for Taecyeon to know that he was no longer a threat. Taecyeon contemplated skipping home, but he knew it would be really hard to explain if his neighbors saw him. He was content with humming his favorite tune to himself as he walked, turning into his driveway and walking towards the door. He took his key out, tossing it up and catching it, and opened the door. The smell of home cooked food wafted to his form, encasing him in memories of past. He entered quickly, reflexively thinking of his mother, only to be met with the sight of Nichkhun and Jay occupying the couch and watching something, and Wooyoung exiting the kitchen wearing an apron. Taecyeon blinked, standing stiffly in the doorway as he tried to understand the sight before him.

“Welcome home Taec Hyung,” Wooyoung called, and Taecyeon felt himself sigh. It had been a long time since someone welcomed him home. It had a refreshing feel to it. He stepped inside and kicked off his shoes, finding it hard to stop smiling.

"What are you guys doing here?" Taecyeon found it rather odd that Nichkhun and Wooyoung were over without telling him. Nichkhun simply shrugged and continued to watch the drama playing on the tv and Wooyoung replied while he turned back to the kitchen to check up on the kimchi brewing.  

"Actually we weren't busy at all so we decided to come over." Taecyeon smiled, unaware of the sad glances his friends and cousin were sending him. Nichkhun patted the spot next to him and Taecyeon gladly walked over and took a seat. The atmosphere felt oddly tense and Taecyeon had a feeling that a little birdie told the Khunyoung pair about his mother running off on him. He looked over at Nichkhun only to see his orange haired friend look away quickly. Taecyeon sighed heavily, his mood from being with Junsu quickly deteriorating. He rolled his eyes at Jay's and Nichkhun's terrible excuse for acting and grabbed the remote from the orange haired boy to turn the TV off.

"I know what your all doing-"

"THE FOOD IS READY!" Wooyoung yelled from the kitchen, also trying and failing at being a distraction.

"And I'm fine. Really."

"How do we know you won't do that again?" Everyone in the room tensed as the atmosphere grew heavy.

"I promise I won't do anything stupid like that again. It was a mistake, and I regret it. But I'm really alright."

"What makes this any different?"

"Junsu does. He makes everything better. When I'm with him, this is nothing to me. I've lived alone for a long time now, so this isn't so bad. I can stop expecting her to come home."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Ended abruptly, which is totally my fault. I don't have a laptop anymore, which is why I've taken so long to update. I do have a backberry now so I wrote this chapter. I'm not sure what the layout looks like now, but please let me know so I can fix it. I love you guys. :))