Cross my heart and hope to lie

Chapter Two

Yesung

Yesung blamed it on the food.

Standing on the doorway of Siwon's house, with the smell of tomato sauce and oregano coming from inside, his stomach had inevitabily started to gurgle – that's why he had suddenly left to catch up with Heechul at the sushi bar. It was the only plausible explanation.

He kept repeating, like a mantra, that he wasn't a coward, even after two days from the matter, and he was already away from that area of the city. The other night, after a few hours of whines and begs – and also some threats – he had finally accepted to live at Heechul's apartment – at least he would have one less thing to worry about.

He was hopeful: he would find a job soon and then he could help his friend with the rent – the perfect way to start off a new and better life, in his own opinion. Even if he had to sleep on the floor.

To his surprise, he had found out that Heechul was actually already sharing the apartment with Kyuhyun – another childhood friend of him, who worked for the Agency, too, but as an IT engineer.

It really was a funny situation.

When they were children, they all had promised that, once they would become adults, they would move to Seoul and live together under the same roof. But even if they had always lived in the same city, all of them had spent their lives separately, everyone busy with his own work. Then, while Yesung was gone, Kyuhyun had met Heechul and had asked him if he still remembered the promise they had made years before. That's how they ended up in the same apartment, like they had planned to do back in their hometown. Yesung was the only one missing but now – as Heechul had pointed out during their short trip from the hotel to the condominium – it would finally be the three of them once again.

Yesung smiled as old memories passed through his mind but forgot about them soon as two long arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind, making him jump a bit in surprise.

-Hyung!- a warm and velvet voice called him happily, and Yesung's smile became wider: he could recognize that voice everywhere.

-Kyuhyun-ah!- he said, turning around to hug the other, who had just got back from work, judging by the black suit he was wearing.

-You know I was actually thinking that Heechul was loosing his mind when he told me about you being still alive, and I was ready to call a doctor when he left in order to bring you here, but now that you're actually here... Oh good God, I'm so glad you aren't dead!

-I'm glad I'm not dead, too- Yesung laughed, still wrapped against the spare body of his dongsaeng. He had never seen Kyuhyun act like this, since he had always had refind mannerisms and a reserved personality. Still, it was sure as hell that he wasn't complaining at all about the attention the younger was giving him.

His happiness was contagious.

Heechul had cooked dinner. Or, to put it in a better way, he had taken out of the fridge the left-overs of the day before and he had put them in the microwave. Yesung started to wonder if he will ever eat home-made food again, as his chopsticks grabbed a bite of warmed up ramen. The eldest of the group was talking non-stop about his day at work – particularly focusing on a chinese model that had caught his eyes. Yesung and Kyuhyun were both listening, sometimes sinking in their own thoughts just to be brought back to reality by a loud yah!, are you listening to me or not?!

It was only when they were already washing the dishes that Kyuhyun voiced out what he'd been spacing out about for the whole evening:

-Yesung-hyung, are you coming back to the agency?

The red haired man froze in the middle of the kitchen, showing his back to the younger. He sighed deeply, before uttering: -No, I'm not.

-Are you sure?- the IT engineer persisted: -You don't even want the other know that you're alive?

Yesung shook his head: -No, Kyu. The less, the better, remember?

He could almost feel Kyuhyun and Heechul exchange meaningful looks as they were communicating with their eyes behind his back. Since Kyuhyun didn't speak another word, the ex-spy assumed the eldest had won that stare battle and he felt free to walk out of the kitchen and reach the bathroom. He closed the door, but he still heard Heechul hissing: -You couldn't shut up for once, could you?

Yesung sighed and leaned against the door: he needed a bath and some time to relax.

* * * * *

The library was still the same, just like the last day Siwon had brought him there with his car. Yesung couldn't believe that the place where he had pretended to work for a whole year was the one where he was going to actually work to pay his rent. He smiled, looking at the books that were surrounding him and he read a few titles, looking for a familiar one that would remind him of old times. Just when he was about to grab a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the owner of the library – an old and cheerful old lady – came back with a sheet of paper in her hands. She handed it gently to Yesung and she smiled:

-These are your shifts, you can start tomorrow morning at eight.

-Thank you- Yesung smiled kindly and bowed, before turning around and leaving the room. He read his shifts as he opened the door to leave the building, and he didn't see a man walking towards him with his eyes glued to the display of his phone. They both bumped into each other, since no one was looking ahead. Yesung jumped, surprised and ashamed, muttering “Uhm... I'm sorry”, as he glanced at the man in front of him, who was still looking at his phone. Yesung froze for a second on his spot when he recognized those features. He blushed and hurriedly walked past the taller one, without even waiting for an answer.

As soon as he went around a corner, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to calm his heart down: it seemed like it was going to explode since the moment he had bumped right into Choi Siwon's arms.

Siwon

Siwon groaned as his phone beeped in the exact moment he stopped in front of the library. He got out of the car and took his phone, reading the new message as he started walking. He sighed one more time and rolled his eyes: apparently another tv show wanted him as a guest for its next episode. He couldn't decline, also because he didn't really mind. He simply had a lot of things going on at the moment and he was actually hoping for a bit of relax. Too bad he couldn't catch a break.

He answered shortly at the message his menager sent him and he wasn't aware of what – or who – was surrounding him – not until his arms hit something for a short second. He heard a stutter and the thing whispered “I'm sorry”, before walking away. Realizing it was actually another human being, Siwon drifted his gaze from his phone to his right, where the other was already disappearing, drowning in the crowded sidewalk. He stood there for a few seconds, before walking inside the building, ignoring the strange feeling that was slowly growing inside his stomach – again. He had felt it the night before as well – right after opening the door to an absolutely empty garden. He kept thinking about that: despite the fact that Eliza was firmly sure that someone was at the door – and that she wasn't going insane – no one was actually waiting for him. He had shrugged it off, at the moment, thinking that maybe it was nothing but a prank played by some children of the neighbourhood. But as the hours passed by, that strange feeling never left. It had been gripping his stomach, tighter and tighter, and even at that moment, between the shelves of the library, Siwon couldn't brush it off. He felt as if he was missing something, something that had just slipped away from his fingertips.

He just couldn't get what.

Siwon sighed, leaning against the seat of his new automobile. He had already lost the count of all the hours he had to spend in that damn car. He missed cruising in the various streets and lanes of Seoul, or riding his bicycle in the park near his house. He hadn't had enough time for such things, lately. The new up-coming drama in which, again, he was the leading actor, had been taking a lot of his time, sometimes he had to film during the night, too. He couldn't even spend some time with Eliza, since when he was at home during the morning, she would be at work, teaching English in an high school nearby.

The actor smiled a bit, thinking about his girlfriend. They had been living together for one month already and, yes, maybe they had rushed things a bit, but he wasn't regretting anything. After all, he was happy and she was happy, too. That was what mattered, wasn't it? Eliza was still the main reason behind his smile. Donghae had pointed out more than once that, maybe, they had to slow down a bit. But Siwon didn't care. It was as if he was happy beyond measure and he couldn't deny the fact that Eliza was the one who could make him forget those horrifying months during which he had almost turned himself into a machine devoted to work and nothing else.

That girl was partly the reason behind his dimpled smile.

As he kept on driving carefully in the middle of Seoul, whistling calmly, he looked aroundand smiled as a sunbeam hit his face. It was one of those rare days in which the shy sun of December would come out of his house made of clouds, just to show his face to the world for a few minutes.

Novelty songs were playing on the radio, sneaking in his ears and distracting Siwon from his random existential thoughts about his life. Turning around a corner, he looked at the crowded sidewalk on the right as he stopped at the red traffic light. Bluntly observing the people around him, he spotted a familiar figure walking along with the flow.

Siwon blinked a few times and shook his head.

It couldn't be possible.

He was just imagining things one more time.

Sure, it wasn't the first time in which, just by glancing around, he would notice someone who looked like Yesung. But every time this happened, he would look better and notice how the similiarity was scarcely evident.

He rubbed his eyes – ready for another failure – but when he stared again at the crowd beside him, that person was still there, a few meters away from him, staring at the shop window of a bookstore.

He slid down the window and yelled:

-Yesung!

Too bad his voice was soon covered by the sound of various car horns since the traffic light had turned green and the other drivers were getting impatient, Siwon being the one stopping the traffic. The actor was forced to go down the street but as soon as he found a free parking lot, he left the car and ran back to the bookstore.

That person wasn't there anymore and he couldn't repress a curse.

He was already ready to turn around and go back to his car, when he recognized the red shirt. The guy was walking down the sidewalk a few meters after him. Red hair, slim body and thin arms.

Siwon wasn't sure of what he was doing, but something pushed him forward.

He started to walk in a fast pace as he shouted one more time:

-Yesung!

To his surprise, the figure stopped dead. It took him a few seconds to slowly turn around, meeting the face of the man who had previously yelled at him.

And now it was Siwon's heart time to stop dead.

* * * * *

Notes: I'm incredibly sorry for this late update but I've been so busy with my homework (again) you have no idea. And I know it's shorter than the other, I promise they will be as long as the previous – or even longer – from the next.

Since school is starting in a matter of days, I'll update again next week but then I think I'll be able to update every fortnight. But I promise I'll at least try to update every week.

Thanks to all of those who subscribed and commented this fic: thank you, thank you, thank you~!

Let me know what you think about this, please?
And sorry for any mistake!

*hugs everyone*