It was already deep in the night, when Sungmin was slowly making his way back to his and Kyuhyun's bedroom, knowing for sure that he couldn't avoid the coming confrontation.
Sungmin had retarded it as long as possible, but when the kitchen was clean, the living room was tidied up and the laundry was done, Sungmin simply couldn't find any sensible work anymore.

Sungmin quietly opened the wooden door and entered the dark room behind it, throwing a brief glance at the shape of his boyfriend on the bed. He cleared his throat silently and whispered a silent “Kyuhyun?”, into the room. “Are you still awake?” 

A silent rustling was heard in the darkness and Sungmin heard a deep breath due to his friend. “Mh...”, Kyuhyun mumbled finally and the bedside lamp was , making Sungmin squint his eyes a little. He threw another brief glance at his friend, before he slowly took off his working clothes.

“Did I wake you up?”, he asked silently, but Kyuhyun shook his head.
“I stayed awake...”

Sungmin felt Kyuhyun's reproachful glance in his back, when he tidily put his clothes over a chair and went into the bordering bathroom to brush his teeth. Through the huge mirror over the sink, he was able to look into the bedroom where Kyuhyun was sitting motionlessly on his bed, covers around his waist and hands folded on his lap.

While moving the toothbrush slowly through his mouth, Sungmin smiled a little when his eyes met Kyuhyun's, but the smile he got back wasn't cheerful at all.

Both of them knew that they had to talk about this critical topic again, and even if it was deep in the night, Sungmin wanted to get it behind them as soon as possible.
He truly wanted to make Kyuhyun understand his reasons and – the most important part of it – to let him know that he still loved him – holy God, that he still loved him more than anyone else.

Sungmin went into the bedroom again and sat down on the mattress next to Kyuhyun. He grabbed his blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, pulling his legs against his bare chest.
“Are you mad about me?”

Kyuhyun turned his head a little and eyed his friend with tired eyes. He seemed to hesitate some seconds, but with another deep sight, Kyuhyun finally shook his head.

“I'm not mad, Min”, Kyuhyun said silently and shove his hand under Sungmin's blanket. He placed it on one of Sungmin's feet and smiled a little, when the ice-cold skin was underneath his palm – Sungmin ALWAYS had ice-cold feet, and Kyuhyun had to suffer every night, when Sungmin shove them between Kyuhyun's calves to warm them up.

'I'll miss this...', Kyuhyun thought with a thick lump in his throat, while his fingers were slowly over Sungmin's ankle. Of course, he didn't know for sure if Sungmin will leave, but the look in Sungmin's eyes and the posture of his body, did only leave a tiny rest of hope over...

“How long do you think about leaving yet?”, Kyuhyun mumbled silently, without raising his glance at Sungmin's face again. He felt his boyfriend's hand in his messy hair, and a light shiver ran down his back.

“Some weeks...”, Sungmin answered honestly and played with the light brown curls. Kyuhyun's heart clenched a little. 'That long?', he thought filled with bitterness, but he tried to shove these thoughts aside.

“Before your father's employees bashed me, I was able to accept the situation... “, Sungmin continued silently and lowered his hand, after one last slight pulling on Kyuhyun's curls.
“Actually, I had never had a bad life here, you know? I was living in a huge house, I had a safe job, I had you and Donghae and Siwon... But when they punched me, I realized that I'm not safe here, you know? Maybe I had food and shelter and a handful of friends, I realized that I have to fear your father's business, even if I'm not directly concerned...”

A heavy twitch ran through Kyuhyun's chest, when he remembered the horrible sight of Sungmin's injured face after the incident on Kyuhyun's first task... Feelings of guilt were filling up Kyuhyun's head again and, unknowingly, he clenched his fingers a little around Sungmin's ankle.

Sungmin raised his glance at looked at Kyuhyun, reading his mind immediately.
“It wasn't your fault”, he said for the thousands time and grabbed Kyuhyun's hand underneath his blanket. He slowly entangled his fingers with Kyuhyun's and squeezed them slightly. “But this incident showed me that I expect more from life than this...”

The words came only hesitantly, choking Sungmin and – simultaneously – choking Kyuhyun, too.

Kyuhyun nodded slightly and breathed in deeply, so that his chest was swelling in a large bow. After keeping the air inside his lungs for a while, he slowly exhaled it and closed his eyes.
“So, you're decision is firm?”, he asked hardly audible and even without opening his eyes again, he knew the answer deep in his heart.

“You can come with me...”, Sungmin said just like countless hours ago. Hope was filling his shivering words and he clenched his hand a little around Kyuhyun's.

Kyuhyun opened his eyes again and freed his hand carefully from Sungmin's grip.
Placing both of his hands on Sungmin's neck, Kyuhyun slowly shook his head again and pain was seeping out of every pore of his body.

“If I leave, he will definitely search for us...”, Kyuhyun said scarcely audible and moved his fingertips slowly over Sungmin's plain skin. He didn't avert his eyes from Sungmin's, even if waves of pain were flooding his body, while shiny tears built up in his boyfriends eyes.

“When you mentioned this topic this morning, I... saw the despair in your eyes, and... and I thought about it the whole day... I want you to know that even if I truly don't want to face it, I will accept your decision, Min... I'll be glad if you are in safety and when you are able to live the life you want to have – even if it is without me.”

Kyuhyun's voice became weak and a silent sobbing escaped Sungmin's throat. He pressed his palm against his lips and tried to lock the tears in his closed, but they simply flow over and ran down Sungmin's cheeks. He shook his head to make Kyuhyun stop talking, but Kyuhyun knew that there was no going back now.

“When I stay, there is a chance that he didn't attempt to find you – and if he, however, does, I can prevent it.” Kyuhyun was choked by his own tears and Sungmin started to shiver all over his body.
He placed his hands on Kyuhyun's lower arms, ignoring the tears that were constantly rolling down his cheeks.

Kyuhyun smile was full of sorrow, while he slowly over Sungmin's neck.

“I have decided to let you go, Minnie, 'cause this is the only way I can protect you...”

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I guess there's nothing left to say, right?