As far as Junsu was concern, he would never let Changmin out from the door since the phone call but Changmin would have none of it. He didn't want to seem like a damsel in distress and he proved his point by stating he wasn't a girl in the first place. Junsu agreed with what he said but even if Jaejoong liked to be a uke in a relationship, he was aggressive. Junsu had told him times and times again that he was invincible, that with Yihan by his side he was untouchable. He could get away with practically anything.

So, even if he did anything that was lawfully wrong to Changmin the punishment would only be just a peck on the hand to him.

But Changmin was a stubborn man. Even though he hid himself in his room for three days in Junsu's house, he couldn't take it anymore after it. He was bored and he missed Gramps so much. He returned to the cat spa after he took the days off, and found himself sticking well to Gramps the kitten.

Even when almost everyone in the spa was talking about him behind his back, he had to endure it so that he could work. He had been through a lot before. He was an Asian star, already on the top of the world so he was used to critics and haters. Even in DBSK, they criticized him for only specialising in screaming notes and his voice wasn't special at all. He was hurt at first but Jaejoong said it's okay because his screams were the best and they were jealous because they couldn't scream like him.

"Changmin," Changmin turned around to see Kyuhyun with a broom in his hand. He was going to sweep the floor in the lounge but stopped when he saw Changmin came to work.

"Hey," Changmin smiled at his current best friend.

"You looked terrible."

"Really?" Changmin touched his own face with his hand. "I guessed I couldn't see it without a mirror," Kyuhyun smiled weakly at him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Kyuhyun sighed. He shook his head, his furrowed brows told Changmin he wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"You're not. Have you been skipping sleep?" Changmin couldn't admit to him that he could barely sleep even in Junsu's arms. He was jumpy and sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night terrified.

Jaejoong had really gotten under his skin and he would never let go anytime soon.

"I'm just...maybe a bit tired lately." Changmin told Kyuhyun, and the latter could only nod.

"I wanted to ask more. But I'll leave it here." he said finally giving up. Kyuhyun petted Gramps' head and Changmin smiled when his purr grew louder. Apart from Changmin, he liked Kyuhyun but because Kyuhyun likes other cats too he let Changmin be in charge of Gramps alone.

Changmin prayed so that Jaejoong wouldn't come to the spa today so that he could avoid complications. Somehow he was wondering if he was regretting his own decision to come out today. It was one thing to convince Junsu to let him work, and now he started to worry over simple thing like if Jaejoong would come over or not.

Kyuhyun swept the floor of the lounge while Changmin brushed the fur of one Turkish van cat that was always favoured by the customer due to the beauty of it. Everything went on so well today so far. But Changmin didn't want to conclude the day yet.

It was past lunch hour and most of the workers went out to buy meals and eat. But Changmin stayed. Kyuhyun stayed too, and he just told Changmin he wanted to go on a diet. Changmin was hungry, too but he had brought food that Junsu cooked him from home. Junsu himself asked him to not go out from the spa until he come and bring him home.

"Do you want to share?"

"No. It's okay, I already ordered black been ramyun for me." Kyuhyun said. Changmin smiled as he sat down and opened his prepared food. Junsu cooked him rice with a lot of side dishes. Even though the presentation of the food wasn't as good as how his Jaejoong's was, Changmin knew they were delicious. He had never doubt Junsu's cooking ability.

Once the black bean ramyun order came, Kyuhyun ate together with Changmin.

"Who cooked those for you?"

"My -- umm, housemate," Changmin didn't want the complications of telling anyone that he was living in Kim Junsu's house.

"Woah, really? He's really nice then," Changmin nodded.

"He is."

"Is that why you aren't interested in Lawyer Jung?" Changmin stared at Kyuhyun. That question was so randomly asked that he forgotten how to answer it.

"It's..."

"He came to find you yesterday," Changmin's brows knitted. "Manager Sung told him you're sick."

"I really am."

"He should've called you." Changmin decided not to comment anything. Kyuhyun was suspicious but Changmin's feelings weren't toys to be played with. He must have a reason to avoid Yunho now after the commotion four days ago. He saw them fight and it wasn't pretty. "I believe you, you know."

"What?"

"About Lawyer Jung. That both of you are only friends," that brought a smile onto Changmin's face even though Kyuhyun knew it might be a forced one.

"Thank you for understanding."

"But I still can't believe that you're his friend." Changmin could only smile. Kyuhyun scratched his head. "I don't want to ask even though you really intrigue me, Changmin-ah. But even if you're willing to tell me, I don't know if I could bear the burden that comes with it." Changmin put down his chopsticks, his eyes stared directly at Kyuhyun. There was something in his tone that told him he was suspicious but careful.

"What do you mean?" Kyuhyun looked down on his meal. This conversation would lead to a different route and if they continued and Kyuhyun knew the secret that Changmin had kept, their relationship would change. Kyuhyun would never be comfortable and at ease around Changmin, ever again.

"I want to ask. The questions that are inside of my head are dying to be answered that it messed with my flow of thinking. I want to take care of you, Changmin because you're new here." Changmin was touched and since Kyuhyun was always a person with a playful and naughty personality it was weird to see Kyuhyun with that deep frowns. It never occurred to Changmin that Kyuhyun thought of him that way. He just meant to stay here in this world, and went through everything as ignorant as he could. He didn't want to be attached to anyone and now here Kyuhyun was telling him this.

"I know I've been a nuisance. I'm sorry." they stared into each other's eyes and now Changmin knew how Kyuhyun actually looked out for him.

"Things I wanted to ask, things that I've asked you before were only fractions of them. I didn't really want to know at first but for the sake of gossip I wanted to. I had to." both of them chuckled lightly. "Your relationship with Lawyer Jung, your sudden existence here, and how did the Kim Jaejoong know you..." his voice trailed off and he watched Changmin in wary. Changmin's mouth gaped open silently. "I don't want you to answer." Changmin closed his mouth. "That's it. I wanted to know, dig deeper and boast at our colleagues, but I can't."

"..." Changmin had lost his appetite to eat. Gramps had woken up from his century-long nap and the tip of Changmin's fingers before he bite them playfully. But his bite was not as powerful as the kittens of the same age. He was weaker.

"I don't want to know. I have not the courage to keep the secret." Kyuhyun tilted his head and their eyes met. Changmin could see there was fear in it. "I don't want to be dragged in, I want to be there for you but please don't tell me anything."

"You're right." Changmin sighed and he put the chopsticks and the spoon inside the food container and started to cover it back. He couldn't eat right now. "You shouldn't know anything."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I won't let you know too." Kyuhyun looked disappointed but more of to himself rather than to Changmin.

They eventually came to a silent agreement. Changmin wouldn't talk about Yunho, or Jaejoong anymore and Kyuhyun wouldn't ask. They would keep quiet if other people ask, so that no one would know or had any idea about Changmin.

***

Because they had made a pact with each other, they were able to being neutral with each other again. They were already laughing and playing around after their stomach filled.

But after two hours after lunch hour ended, Yunho came to the spa. He was apparently not searching for Changmin but to check if Jaejoong came by and saw Changmin who was talking to a toddler. Changmin was particularly irritated by the toddler that played with Gramps rather roughly.

"Changmin?" Changmin turned around, nearly gasped when he saw Yunho appeared. The other helpers started to alert their friends and those who started to pay attention to what Changmin would do next. Changmin was still awkward because of their last encounter. Yunho gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't get mad at you," Changmin could feel himself blushed. He was immediately attracted to this gentle Yunho, the one who took care of him like his own brother. It's not that he was attracted ually or like he's falling in love like how he did with Junsu.

He wanted to say he forgave Yunho already and he too was sorry he yelled at him. At least, Yunho tried to make it up to him as soon as possible. He looked sincere too.

Changmin neared Yunho and found himself smiling back at the older guy. Yunho looked relieved but he was still contemplating about something in his mind. Changmin couldn't even find the right words to reply to Yunho who was waiting for him to say something.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to work."

"I called you," Changmin blushed even more violently.

"I can't answer the phone. I'm sorry." Yunho approached Changmin and touched his left lower arm. Changmin instinctively pulled his arm back. Somehow just now, even for an eon, he could see defiance in Yunho's eyes. It might be only his imagination but he swore it was there but he desperately brushed it off. He laughed lightly to ease off his heart.

Yunho was still the same Yunho. Their misunderstanding and argument last time shouldn't be dragged in now.

But he was a lawyer, a prosecutor. The nature of them should be to scare people and to convince the juries. Shouldn't he be doing something about Jin Yihan's smuggle case right about now? How did he have so much time to kill that he always comes by his cat spa?

"Shouldn't you be investigating and revising cases right now?" Changmin asked. Yunho's brows rose for a moment and he smiled back warmly. He was in a good mood definitely. Why?

But wasn't it a good thing that Yunho's in a good mood?

Changmin watched Yunho as he told him about a case that just recently happened but was completely deviated from the case that involved Jin Yihan? Yunho was so enthusiastic about the case that Changmin didn't have the heart to stop him from telling him details. Yunho that he knew was enthusiastic and passionate, that made it easy for him to easily driven wrongly. That's why Changmin stayed with him, he had to make sure Yunho would always be on the right track and not derailed. It wasn't Jaejoong's job anymore, the burden was shifted onto his own shoulders. It was a hard task, a very heavy one but he loved his Yunho so much that he wasn't going to make him down.

"We should go out more often," Yunho suggested.

"But I don't want people to start talking about us." Changmin answered and realised he had made a snarky remark. He didn't want to make Yunho upset.

"Okay, then."

"Just...please focus on your work. I don't want you to become distract because you're influenced by anyone," anyone meant Jaejoong but Changmin couldn't bring himself to speak the name out loud. It was like not speaking Voldemort's name out loud in Harry Potter's world.

Yunho gazed at Changmin, his face dazed and confused but then he forced a smile. But he didn't talk about it. He said goodbye and asked if Changmin wanted to have dinner with him but Changmin told him that he already promised Junsu he would come home for a meal together. There was a sad expression on Yunho's face but Changmin had to close one eye on it, so he would be a bit heartless. He was helpless when Yunho made that pleading eyes on him even in his world but he was prone on listening to what Junsu want more.

Yunho left Changmin after their brief, empty conversation and the day ended quickly after that with the hustle bustle in the cat spa. With the time going by so fast, Changmin found himself grooming Gramps at the end of the day when Junsu came. Even though Junsu was quite popular, there's still some helpers who didn't recognise him. Junsu swayed himself inside, and with a killer smile almost all the girls in there were swooned by it.

Junsu was really good looking, Changmin was excited to see him again after a hectic day like this. Changmin waved at Junsu and hastily he ran to the back to remove his apron and prepared to go home. He found Kyuhyun who was preparing his bag too. Their eyes met.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Kyuhyun exclaimed. Changmin blinked, and he shrugged. "You're going home with Kim Junsu? Who are you exactly? My God!" Changmin opened his mouth. "No, no. Don't tell me, I don't want to know. Keep the secret!"

"I should know better," Changmin laughed and he ran back to find Junsu was waiting for him. Junsu took Changmin by the hand and took the helpers by surprise. They went inside Junsu's car and drove off for the day.

***

Even though Junsu promised Changmin to stay by his side always, by the end of the week Changmin realised that Junsu had become work-focused again. He started to come to pick up Changmin later than usual and always look exhausted. He did his work, composing songs and checking his students' assignments late at night too. So, he spent less and less time with Changmin. Changmin always find himself slept alone at the end of the day, their meal time was rushed and their conversations during it were shortened.

Junsu was becoming too busy.

And Changmin became lonely again when Junsu started to spend his time at the academy later than usual.

Changmin was starting to feel secure again after a while being paranoid. He had come to work with Junsu (or sometimes by bus) and had come home from work with a bus ride. Junsu was going to have another orchestra practice that he had to conduct. He had to lead this one too and the performance was coming near. Changmin couldn't stop Junsu if he wanted to do his work that he loved s much.

Changmin wanted to tell Junsu that he felt safer now, and Junsu needed to focus more on his own work.

"You don't have to drive me to work anymore, hyung,"

"Why?" Junsu was flustered, surprised because he himself felt relieved, but he needed to ask.

"You're busy." Junsu gave him a weak smile and he squeezed Changmin's hand. They were preparing to go to sleep together; it was a rare occurrence lately.

"I'm sorry. I'm glad you understand,"

"I used to be busier than you,"

"Sure you want to use your time here to rest," Changmin smiled. He almost forgot that he was not from here. He had become a bit too comfortable he forgotten his root. "If one day you're given a chance to return, would you?"

Changmin looked at Junsu's eyes, tried very hard to read them. But Junsu was an expert in hiding his emotions. He grasped Junsu's hands tighter. His hands were cold. He held on to his lover's hands, felt his own palms clammy. They were cuddling on the bed, this time Changmin spooned Junsu, his S-shaped back felt so good against him. He was warm. They even spent their time in the shower together before they retreated to bed.

"I don't know." Changmin answered. "I miss them because they stopped appearing in my dreams."

Junsu turned around and cupped Changmin's face in both hands. They shared an innocent kiss.

"Why did they stopped appearing?"

"I don't know." Junsu rubbed Changmin's lower lip with his thumb. Changmin kissed the thumb lovingly. Everything about Junsu was delicious. Everything about him was beautiful, addictive. Adjectives that Junsu used to describe Changmin were more suitable on him.

"I will have to be ready if you will leave me." Changmin shook his head.

"How could you say that to me, hyung?" but Junsu could only smile and Changmin felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his heart. He pulled Junsu in for a passionate, hungry kiss. Somehow Junsu was telling him the gravity of their situation. "I can't live without you." Changmin whispered as he wrapped his arms around Junsu.

"You live fine before this,"

"It's because I'm not in love with my Junsu." Junsu pouted. "But now I’m in love with you."

Junsu didn't answer. He closed his eyes instead, and sighed.

Was it too much of a burden to hear something like 'I love you'? Changmin could only blame himself.

"I'm sorry but I love you," Changmin said again, and he found Junsu's expression was sad.

"Then, let's make love." Junsu buried his face in Changmin's neck, and the next thing he knew he was in heaven.

A/N annyeong everyone! it's me, again! i don't want Kyuhyun  to know because I love him in this story and he shouldn't know anything that would lead him to harm! so...yes, basically Kyuhyun seemed like a coward, didn't he? but i think he made a right decision.

moving on, i am sooooooo touched with your comments, and it had geared me up to a brand new level! please look forward to the next update! thank you thank you so much for your love and support to the story!