Kyuhyun didn’t reply to Siwon. The latter had called “End Game” and that was it. Any more communication would be useless and stupid. He had his freedom in a sense, even if the cost had been tearing down the walls of a man he had once respected so much.

On the bright side, he told himself that if Siwon recovered, perhaps he would be able to find his own path – one without so many cold traditions and underhanded compulsions.

The town was small and quiet, just like Kyuhyun had remembered from the few times he had accompanied Ryeowook on a visit home. Back then, he had jokingly said that he was meeting his future parents, but now, as he stood on the front step of the Kim household, his palms were sweating.

There were children laughing and playing in the neighborhood, but he ignored the sounds, utterly focused on the heavy door before him. It seemed so intimidating…as if daring him to try and do this again. Rejection could be waiting for him on the other side.

Kyuhyun steeled his nerves. If rejection was waiting for him, he wanted it. No, more than that, he needed to be rejected. He and Ryeowook had been dancing to different tempos their entire relationship, and now was the time to settle everything and make the music stop. They had to settle it all because Kyuhyun didn’t think he could handle another day of not knowing and regretting and wishing.

“Are Mr. and Mrs. Kim not home?”

He spun around, surprised. Pushing his sunglasses up, he bowed his head to the couple rolling a baby stroller towards the front door. “Excuse me,” Kyuhyun mumbled, trying to back away. Clearly his nerves had been scared back into wobbly nothings.

The couple exchanged a look and then chuckled. “Don’t worry,” the woman waved her hand, “So handsome and polite…you must be a friend of our Wook, right?”

“Uhm, yes,” Kyuhyun said slowly, “how do you know Ryeowook?” he asked, confused. Then his eyes darted down to the giggling baby and his body relaxed and tensed simultaneously. Those bright eyes…that smile… Kyuhyun crouched down, watching the baby reach out to him. Looking up at the couple, they nodded at him gently.

Without much more hesitation, Kyuhyun took the two chubby hands, swinging them gently, up and down, back and forth, watching the miniature Hyungsik crow and shine. “Are you…,” he continued letting the baby cling to his fingers, moving them around, “uh…I mean, are you Hyungsik’s parents?”

“Did Ryeowook tell you about us?” Mrs. Park questioned, amused at her son’s apparent fascination with the handsome stranger.

“A little,” Kyuhyun responded softly, eyes drifting back down to the innocent, “I guessed though. Your youngest son really resembles his older brother.”

“Dae-Jung is certainly a tiny, and probably spunkier Hyungsik,” Mr. Park remarked, chuckling warily, “Our first son was much calmer and subdued in his earlier years. But this little one…,” he touched the baby’s head soothingly. “He is very energetic and earnest, always reaching out to people who are feeling upset.”

Kyuhyun nodded, smiling a little at the baby who made a face. “He must have known what I was thinking.”

“What’s your name, young man?” Mrs. Park asked, fingers brushing his shoulder.

He looked up, flashing a faint grin. “My name is Cho Kyuhyun. It’s nice to meet you.” He stood up, reluctantly releasing the baby to properly bow.

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Kyuhyun,” she responded, laughing softly and nodding towards the Kim house. “Let me see if they’re home. They should be.”

“Ah, thank you,” Kyuhyun mumbled, flushing slightly.

Within seconds, the door was opening and Mrs. Kim immediately recognized Kyuhyun, hurrying up to hug him. He returned it, patting her back gently. “Oh, it’s just good surprise, after good surprise,” Mrs. Kim sighed, rubbing his back fiercely, “I’ve missed you, Kyu-ah! You stopped coming just when I thought about making you my future-son-in-law!”

He laughed at her joke, not showing how much he warmed up by hearing that. They ushered him inside and he immediately looked around for Ryeowook. To his dismay, the other male wasn’t around. Mrs. Kim seemed to notice his disappointment and chuckled.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be back tonight,” she assured, “Ryeowook is helping his auntie with her garden today.”

Kyuhyun smiled a little, embarrassed. “Sorry, I just have something important to talk to him about.”

“It’s okay,” Mrs. Kim squeezed his arm comfortingly, “you have time here. He’s not going anywhere.”

The next couple of hours were spent with the two mothers shooting question after question at Kyuhyun who answered each with varying levels of dread, flattery, and exhaustion. All the while, he kept his hands busy with Dae-Jung who sat and played on his lap. The baby would on the pacifier once in a while, but then spit it out when Kyuhyun tickled him a little.

“You’re really good with kids. Have you thought about having any?” Mrs. Park teased.

“I’m usually not liked by children,” Kyuhyun confessed, “I’m a little too awkward I think.” He chuckled nervously, lifting Dae-Jung up and bouncing him until the baby was giggling. “This is the only exception.” This family has so many exceptions… He thought with a mixture of feelings.

Mrs. Kim checked her watch, seeing that the time was half past six, “Oh my, I forgot that we have reservations tonight, don’t we?” She looked over at Mrs. Park and then the two women were calling to their husbands in the living room.

Kyuhyun looked at them, confused.

“We’re getting dinner together,” Mrs. Kim explained, “and Ryeowook is supposed to be babysitting Dae-Jung until we get back later tonight. He should be home in a few minutes. Do you think you could watch Dae-Jung until then?”

Mrs. Park nodded, “She took the words right out of my mouth,” the mother of the baby laughed, “I trust you, Kyu-ah. Do you think you could handle him until Ryeowook gets here?”

“Uhm, sure,” Kyuhyun said uneasily, suddenly praying ten-fold that Ryeowook would make his appearance soon.

In a few minutes, the two couples were ready and heading out the door, calling goodbyes to Kyuhyun with easygoing attitudes. He really wondered if they were all such carefree folk in that neighborhood. To leave their baby with stranger was very strange. Then again, Kyuhyun probably couldn’t see what they saw as parents and aged adults.

Turning the baby around, he supported Dae-Jung bum as he held his head to his shoulder and walked into the living room. Barely inside the carpeted area, Kyuhyun heard the front door unlocking.

He swiveled around, Dae-Jung pushing away from him in confusion. Kyuhyun smiled apologetically at the baby who just stared back blankly.

In his mind, he kept repeating that he needed to be calm and collected and absolutely, positively normal. There was no need to get all bent out of shape at seeing Ryeowook. He was just another—

But then, there he was…so beautiful and delicate and although skinny, unbelievably breathtaking. Kyuhyun stared – gawked really – until Dae-Jung caught a strand of his hair, pulling harshly.

Kyuhyun winced, looking down to see annoyance on the baby’s face. A smirk graced the man’s lips. “Jealous?” he teased.

The tiny figure tugged harder on his hair and Kyuhyun relented, making soft, pained noises. Satisfied, Dae-Jung released him and hugged him as best as a baby could.

“K…Kyuhyun?”

He looked up, seeing Ryeowook approaching him slowly. There was uncertainty and confusion, and near panic on his face. Kyuhyun’s eyes widened in alarm and he quickly swallowed, speaking in a flurry as he remembered all of those reports Siwon has sent him. “Please, just listen for a moment,” Kyuhyun stated, rocking Dae-Jung as his nerves came back full force, “I tried to contact you back in February to tell you that I got that CD. I wrote you a letter apologizing for everything and for just being an ignorant person. I never knew people could love like that and I was shocked when I watched your videos.”

He was teetering back and forth on his heels, trying to calm himself with the steady heartbeats of the child in his arms, “I know that it’s probably too late for you to want me back at all…not after what I did to you. But I couldn’t just stay still any longer. I didn’t know if you got that letter and then I got your reply…or well, a fake reply, I guess. It just put me over the edge. I knew it was fake, but the handwriting made it feel so real. I knew that I didn’t want a real letter like that to come ever. I don’t want to read that you never want to see me again. I also don’t want to know that you despise me, because I love you. I love even though you’re damaged. I love you even though you refused to marry me. I’ll still….sadly, I’ll still love you after you reject me today. But—”

“—be quiet for a second.”

Kyuhyun’s mouth shut tight and his arms tensed around the baby. Dae-Jung was still as well, apparently catching onto the atmosphere just a bit.

Ryeowook sank down to the dining room table’s chair, head in his hand. He looked about ready to throw up, or maybe cry. Kyuhyun wasn’t positive. “Are you…okay?” he asked tentatively, taking a step closer.

“How much do you know about the last four months?” he demanded in a quiet, serious voice.

“Ninety-percent,” Kyuhyun answered softly.

“What happened to Siwon?” Ryeowook hadn’t known the man too personally, but he had had enough encounters with him to understand how calculating he was.

“For now, he’s gone…completely. I don’t know when…if he’ll be back to try and…I don’t know.” Kyuhyun dropped his gaze, happy to have his human organizer taking everything step by step.

“What letter did you write?”

“It was to you after I got the CD.”

“How did you get the CD?”

“It was in my office.”

Ryeowook muttered something about Changmin and then shook his head, working desperately to keep calm and not lost to his emotions. Oddly enough, even with the situation as it was, he felt more in balance. Kyuhyun’s present had always done that. It made him feel safer and more open and just…lighter.

“…Do you know how much you scared me?” Ryeowook looked up at him, needing a true response to that particular question. Above all else, it was what had haunted him – not because he had been scared of Kyuhyun, but that he had cringed away from someone who meant so much more to him than was feasible.

“I would spend the rest of my life showing you why that was a fluke,” Kyuhyun whispered.

“Are you proposing again?” he asked ruefully.

“I’ll propose to you as many times as you want. This isn’t one of those times though.”

Ryeowook cracked a smile, but it faded. “You told me you would find a new fiancée and that you’re moving on from everything.”

“And before I uttered any of that bull—” Kyuhyun stopped himself, looking down at the baby, “—hockey…,” he saw Dae-Jung giggle and he scowled back at the boy, “I told you so many better proven things. I’m not asking you to forgive me for treating you so badly…for breaking you. I know what I did. I just didn’t know that you would fall apart.”

“You didn’t think I would ever feel so much for you?” he asked with a hint of resentment, “I didn’t think I would either.”

Kyuhyun didn’t even flinch, though he felt like he should’ve. “…let me ask you a question now.”

Ryeowook looked up.

“Why did you choose to let me in?” Kyuhyun stared back at him seriously, eyes hard and soft, thoughtful and guarded. “Why didn’t you just stay locked up? What made me so worth it?”

He was quiet for a long time, simply staring at Kyuhyun and then staring at something past him, and finally back at Dae-Jung – not Kyuhyun, but the baby. It was clearer than day. Ryeowook’s lips parted and he let his hands slacken into loose fists.

“There is no reason. That’s why.”

Kyuhyun didn’t seem to get it.

Ryeowook smiled a little, eyes flickering with wariness. “I promised I wouldn’t fall for anyone who had specific things I liked. I didn’t want to replace Hyungsik, but I wanted to love someone in the same way: unconditionally.” He peered at Kyuhyun. “You’re so full of faults, Kyuhyun, but I fell for you anyway. That’s why you’ve always been worth the effort. When someone asks me what I like about you, I can’t answer them…because I don’t know why. I just do. You demand my affection and you crave it and that’s all I really need to love,” his voice faded a bit, but then he looked up and saw Kyuhyun was standing barely six inches away from him, “…well, that’s all I need to love you unconditionally.”

“You…,” his face was reddening at an alarming rate, arms tightening around Dae-Jung, “you love me, Ryeowook?”

He stood up, taking the baby before Kyuhyun could accidentally hurt him. “Yeah,” Ryeowook cradled Dae-Jung who snuggled close to him, “I love you, Kyuhyun…despite it all. I can’t help it. I hate it. I hate everything that you’re capable of making me feel. I hate that from your carved place in my heart, you can wreak so much havoc. I hate that you’re so flippant and unpredictable. I hate that in one second you can speak so bluntly and make me waver.”

“You can hate me to the ends of the earth,” Kyuhyun said softly, placing his hands delicately on the slender male’s hips, “As long as that space in your heart is all mine, I'll keep showing you that I love you no matter how you think of me.”

Their lips hovered barely an inch apart, one tiny hand slapped over Kyuhyun’s mouth. The man blinked, puzzled. Dae-Jung was staring at him with a childish grin.

“Fine,” he sighed in defeat, tilting his head and pressing the softest of kisses to Ryeowook’s cheek.

The latter chuckled, heat crawling up his neck, as he felt himself dropping from whatever frenzy had been devouring him for the past months. “…Tomorrow I want to take you somewhere.”