In the end, the weekend came and left and Dongwoo never left the apartment once. Since he had canceled all his class in anticipation for their trip to Bukhansan, he didn’t have to worry about work. He answered Sunggyu’s calls, which only came late at night as Dongwoo got ready to fall asleep. Sunggyu was still busy, apparently tying up loose ends was a lot more work than he had originally anticipated. Dongwoo understood.

Monday found Dongwoo rolling out of bed, slightly groggy and not at all optimistic about the upcoming day. Which, even he had to admit to himself was a little out of character. Still, Dongwoo tried his best and did all his normal day routines, eating a balanced breakfast, brushing his teeth and showering. After triple checking that he had everything he needed, he set out to the studio.

His day continued as mundane as ever, except Dongwoo just couldn’t bring himself to smile as widely or to laugh as readily as usual at jokes. If anyone asked, Dongwoo would just say he felt sick, which was true. He did feel sick. He felt a little dizzy and his stomach felt like it weighed a ton. Not to mention his heart, which felt kind of warped in his chest, like it was a little too big. 

But still, Dongwoo tried to go through his classes as enthusiastically as he could, he didn’t want to hinder the students’ behaviour or their classes. Besides, if he acted fine for long enough, eventually it would happen, right?

At the end of the day, Dongwoo felt so exhausted he didn’t think he could make it to Howon’s class. So he just went home, showered and took a nap. Dongwoo was slowly brought out of sleep as he blinked himself awake. It took him a moment but then he heard the buzzing. 

He got off the couch slowly, then sort of shuffled/ stumbled over to the intercom, expecting some package or other for Sunggyu- and secretly hoping that it was maybe Sunggyu, who forgot his keys when he left this morning. But when he pressed the button and cleared his voice, he wasn’t expecting the sound of Howon's voice. 

It didn’t take long for Howon to be seated on Dongwoo’s couch, noting Dongwoo’s dance shoes haphazardly thrown near the entrance of the door, or the wilting bottle of flowers above it. He decided not to make any comments about it. 

When Dongwooo reappeared from the kitchen nestling a bowl of cookies and two mugs of hot chocolate in his hands and gainst his chest, he just flopped down onto the couch next to Howon. Dongwoo felt a little bad about missing Howon’s class, so he had brought out the most delicious cookies he could remember buying. 

But Howon didn’t pay any attention to the food on the coffee table. Instead, he turned to Dongwoo and sighed.

“Dongwoo, you should know cookies aren’t going to cut it. You should have gotten ice cream.”

Dongwoo snorted as Howon smirked. 

“But seriously, is this about what happened Friday? Didn’t you say this has happened before? Him missing your anniversary? Shouldn’t you be… I don’t know, used to this?”

Picking up his mug of hot chocolate, Dongwoo only blew at it before he replied. 

“I should be right? But I don’t want to be used to it. I want to have a relationship where my husband won’t miss our anniversaries and where I don’t feel cold at night. And won’t be suffering from blue balls.”

The last part wasn’t necessary but Dongwoo thought maybe it would make the situation more apparent to Howon that way. But Howon only chuckled a little at the sentence.

“Maybe you should talk to Sunggyu about this. You’re clearly upset about it, and I don’t think I can handle another class where my favourite student is absent.”

Dongwoo took a sip of hot chocolate and only sighed. He really didn’t want to talk to Sunggyu about it. He knew he had to, of course. But he understood the problem, he knew why Sunggyu had to miss their anniversaries or why sometimes Dongwoo had to deal with being lonely. And also, Dongwoo knew. He knew that talking to Sunggyu wouldn’t solve anything. Of course he wanted to believe otherwise, but he knew that Sunggyu loved Dongwoo and his work equally. Or maybe he loved his work more, after all, it was a little more permanent and submissive than himself. 

Dongwoo sighed again. 

“Hey, I can actually feel your head burning. Don’t overthink things too much, you’ll just depress yourself more. Why don’t you go get some proper sleep and put away your shoes? If Sunggyu comes home tonight to this messy place what do you think he’ll say?”

When Sunggyu finally came home sometime after 12 on Monday night, Dongwoo was already sound asleep. His shoes were in their rightful place in the shoe cupboard, the dishes were washed and dried and Dongwoo had even lighted a few candles before he slept so it would smell like oranges. He had also gotten rid of the flowers, they were starting to look more gross than pretty. But he left the bottle there. 

In the morning, Dongwoo rolled out of bed and had showered before he realised that the bed wasn’t empty. Sunggyu was laying under the sheets, still asleep and half . Dongwoo had to take a moment to step out from his shock. Sunggyu was actually home. And then Dongwoo had to try to suppress the urge to wake him up and kiss the out of him. He felt incredibly deprived from any Gyu- loving.

So Dongwoo just continued with his normal morning routine. The only thing different he did this morning was prepare a proper breakfast for the both of them. He would have to leave for the studio in less than 10 minutes and Sunggyu still hadn’t woken up. But Dongwoo wasn’t about to wake Sunggyu up just to hear his voice not through the phone or to touch his hand. So Dongwoo settled for a kiss on Sunggyu’s cheek and threaded his fingers with Sunggyu’s before he left.

Howon entered Dongwoo’s second class just before it started. While Dongwoo was going over what he had taught them last week, he heard the studio door swing open and he saw the dancer gingerly step into the room.

They had grinned knowingly at each other before Dongwoo continued.

During his lunch break, Dongwoo invited Howon to eat out with him. They were sitting at the same dessert house from a few nights ago and Howon couldn’t help but laugh and giggle along with Dongwoo, who was definitely in higher spirits today. It boosted Howon's mood by a ton in turn.

As Dongwoo was unlocking his apartment door, he was still chatting non- stop as Howon stood by and grinned. Dongwoo was positive that Sunggyu would be home tonight, at least early enough for them to have dinner together. And although Dongwoo didn’t know why, Howon always walked him back to his apartment as if he was at risk, but he wasn’t complaining. At least there was someone besides his mother who would listen to him speak and ramble on despite his broken, excited speech.

When Dongwoo stepped into the apartment, he gave Howon a hug and shut the door. 

“You’re home.”

Dongwoo jumped so high, he was sure the ends of his hair touched the ceiling. Spinning around immediately, he met Sunggyu’s eyes. 

“Gyu! You scared the crap out of me! What are you doing home?”

Sunggyu gave him a tight smile. Dongwoo left the grin on his face as his eyes dimmed a little in confusion at Sunggyu’s expression. 

“I thought I’d come home early and we could have a nice dinner.”

Dongwoo clapped his hands together, his rings clinking together. 

“That’s a great idea, Gyu! I was just planning the same thing!”

The last of his smile slid of Sunggyu’s face at Dongwoo’s reply. Sunggyu took a step closer and grabbed a hold of Dongwoo’s wrist.

“But wouldn’t you rather have dinner with that guy at the door just now?”

Dongwoo dropped the hand that was still hanging mid- air after the other was almost torn away. He left the other in Sunggyu’s quickly tightening grip.

“Gyu, what are you talking about? Why are you so angry?”

Neither of them made a sound for next few minutes. And Dongwoo only stared into Sunggyu’s eyes, worried about how tired they looked and how dark they looked under the dim lighting of their entryway. 

Then Sunggyu dropped Dongwoo’s hand. Dongwoo watched as Sunggyu took a deep breath then pulled a hand through his hair before he gave Dongwoo a tired smile.

“Sorry, baby. I’ve been so tired, I’m so sorry about that. It’s just… people at work have been talking. I just… forget that ever happened.”

Sunggyu leaned in for a kiss and although Dongwoo was still confused and a little surprised at what just happened, he leaned in as well. They kissed for a few seconds, with Sunggyu’s hand resting on Dongwoo’s jaw. 

They had dinner together that night, the first time in over 4 months. And they also finally had their amazing anniversary . 

The next morning found the pair tangled up in bed, and as usual, Dongwoo woke up first. Dongwoo propped his head up on his palm as he watched his husband sleep next to him. Sunggyu’s hair was tousled up crazily, and some bits were a little clumpy. The observation put a little smirk on Dongwoo’s face as he thought about how it came to be. 

Dongwoo disentangled himself then set about his normal morning routine, before preparing breakfast for the both of them. With Sunggyu’s tired eyes burned into memory, Dongwoo kissed Sunggyu as deeply as he could with the other asleep before he left for the day. 

A couple days passed in this fashion, with Sunggyu actually in their apartment during normal hours. They had dinner together and more, and more (Dongwoo insisted on bulking up in case another crisis came up). But just like a trembling soap bubble, Dongwoo’s little ideal world burst.

On Sunday morning, at 4 in the morning, Sunggyu woke up suddenly. Dongwoo was jolted awake as well, because he had been spooning Sunggyu, his arms wrapped tightly around the thinner male. Sunggyu had reached for his Blackberry in the dark, when he heard it ring. 

There was a rushed goodbye and an “I love you” before Dongwoo sat back down on the messy covers of the bed in the dim room. There was another crisis. But Dongwoo could feel the gravity of the situation, and he only wanted to help. But he didn’t know a damn thing about finance, business or fraud. So he turned off the lights and got under the covers, screwed his eyes shut as tightly as he could until he eventually fell asleep. 

That Sunday, Dongwoo came into class looking a little disheveled. He couldn’t seem to think straight all morning, forgetting to eat his breakfast as time slipped by him when he wanted to take a second to think about Sunggyu, and then he came to class with- not on purpose- mismatched socks, and the wrong pair of pants. Dongwoo laughed it off, then told his students to practise what they had learnt and he would make rounds to correct them.

The truth was, Dongwoo was just too tired to conduct a proper lesson today. And when Howon found him with his head bent against the mirrors in the studio as Dongwoo slept after the dismissal of his last class, he only sighed. 

Dongwoo woke up only a few hours later. In a dark room, and as he felt around the sheets for his phone to check the time, he realised that the last thing he remembered was being in the studio. So why was he at home, lying in bed?

Just as Dongwoo was about to get up and get something to eat, the door creaked open. In came Howon, with a tray of food in his hands.

“Howon?”

“Dongwoo, I see you’re awake. You fell asleep in the studio so I brought you home. I know where you keep your keys anyways.”

Dongwoo layed back down on his pillow as Howon retreated and left the tray on the dining table. When he returned, Howon sat on the edge of Dongwoo’s bed.

“What time is it?”

“It’s almost 10. I brought you home then went to my class and when I returned, you were still sound asleep. I thought you’d be hungry because you didn’t have dinner. Did you even have lunch?”

Dongwoo paused for a moment.

“Actually, no. I haven’t eaten a single thing today.”

Howon fixed Dongwoo with a disapproving glare.

“No wonder you’re so tired then.”

When Howon finally left at a little past 12, after Dongwoo had convinced him he was fine, Dongwoo couldn’t fall asleep. He had his phone in his hand, and he was waiting for a call from Sunggyu. He usually called around 10 but there were no missed calls or messages. Nothing.

Dongwoo waited around for another hour before his eyes started drooping as he stared at his blank screen. 

It was the fourth day that Dongwoo hadn’t seen Sunggyu and he had only received one call so far. The call had come at 12 at night, when Sunggyu was just calling to hear Dongwoo’s phone’s automated response, just to hear his voice before he pulled another all- nighter. But Dongwoo was awake, waiting for Sunggyu’s call. So when he scrambled to pick it up, the both were surprised as they answered. Then they had had a nice 20- minute chat about their day and they had a playful argument over who loved who more before they hung up. 

Dongwoo was feeling listless today. It was Friday evening and his last class had just left. Dongwoo had had a proper class today, but he had tripped and sprained his ankle during the last move, when his mind suddenly escaped him and thought about what Sunggyu was eating for dinner. When he had fallen, he had automatically reached a hand out, and when he felt the painful throb of a twisted ankle, he had cursed. The first time he had cursed in a long, long time. 

His students had fussed over him, every single one of them advising him to go see a doctor as soon as class was over. Many even forced him to dismiss them early. So he did, but he wasn’t planning to see a doctor. As Dongwoo limped around the studio to pick up any leftover plastic water bottles, he thought about how he had to take a cab to get home, even though his apartment was only a few kilometres away. He couldn’t walk very much on a sprained ankle. 

Saturday morning, and Dongwoo was forced to call the school to ask for sick leave. His ankle had swelled up in the middle of the night and he didn’t think he could even leave his apartment, let alone teach a class. He shuffled around in the morning, eating breakfast and gathering some items that he let fall to the bed as he crawled back in. After taking some painkillers, Dongwoo spent the remainder of his day reading and listening to music. 

Howon came over on Sunday, during lunch and he brought lunch. So they had eaten together and had watched a movie before Howon left Dongwoo back on his bed, with his stomach full but a little hurt from laughing so much. Dongwoo fell asleep easily that night. But Dongwoo had woken up at 12 AM. His eyes opened and they adjusted to the darkness as his brain slowly woke up and registered the ringing of his phone. Dongwoo d around in the dark before he felt the familiar shape and immediately picked up, knowing it would be Sunggyu.

“Gyu?”

“Dongwoo.”

The seriousness in his tone immediately further woke Dongwoo up.

“Gyu, is something wrong?”

“I don’t like Howon being in our apartment so much.”