Hyunseung keyed in Yoseob’s birthday into the electronic lock at the side of Doojoon’s bungalow door. The light turned from red to green and a soft click sound was heard. Hyunseung raised his eyebrow to Junhyung before they both entered the well-designed bungalow. 




It had been eleven days since Yoseob left, and it had been eleven days since Doojoon stayed at home, waiting for Yoseob, in case he returned to get his stack of cheques, or his clothes, or his passport, or his shoes, or his toothbrush, or any of his belongings.




The bungalow was quiet, almost tranquil. There was an eerie silence that filled the place, as if it was gloomy and lonely, as gloomy and lonely as the man who appeared from his study room to greet his guests. A tiny smile bloomed on his lips, it was so tiny and so brief that Hyunseung would have missed it if he blinked at that moment, “Doojoonah, how are you?”




Doojoon walked to the open kitchen and prepared glasses for the upcoming dinner. Junhyung counted six glasses on the kitchen counter. “I’m fine, Seungah, just a little tired. Kikwang and Dongwoon coming?” Doojoon asked. 




Hyunseung nodded, “Yeah, they are coming. Doojoonah?”




Doojoon answered with a soft hum and Hyunseung said, “Doojoonah, don’t you think you might want to, you know,” Junhyung shot him a never-ask-him-that-question-look, and discreetly shaking his head. Hyunseung continued, “you know, change your door password or something?”




There was no response for a while and Hyunseung felt like shooting himself dead in the brain, but Doojoon turned to him and smiled, a tiny little smile, “If I do that, then he won’t be able to come back, right?” 




Hyunseung felt like he deserved to die in Doojoon’s hands. 






One glass was left on the kitchen counter, while five other glasses were filled with cold drinks on the dining table. Dinner was awkward, it was not enjoyable as usual, when Yoseob was still here, when Doojoon was still happy and funny and not-so-sullen-and-depressed. Even Kikwang’s confusion and Dongwoon’s witty remarks did not help much to lift up the mood. 




Doojoon cleared his throat and said, “Actually I have something to tell you guys.”




Everyone paid their fullest attention to Doojoon, partly relieved that he started talking, partly anxious to hear the news he was going to share. He cleared his throat again, “Junhyung, I know you are really close to him, but please don’t start judging immediately.” Doojoon did not look at Junhyung, instead he was staring at his three-quarter full plate.




“I paid Yoseob to stay with me.”




It finally came out and Doojoon looked up to see reactions, to see expression. Disgust or disappointment or disapproval or shock or anything at all, but nothing. Four expressions did not change.




“Uhmmm…… So, Hyung?” Dongwoon furrowed his eyebrows, not getting the point that Doojoon tried to send across. 




Doojoon put down his spoon, “So I paid him to stay with me and be my so-called boyfriend. He was not my boyfriend or my partner or my companion or whatever you call it. He was not, I paid him to act that way, to be that way.” Doojoon was still searching for slight changes in the other’s expression.




Kikwang spoke softly, afraid to break the serious atmosphere, “We kind of sort of….like…..knew about this.” Dongwoon casually chimed in, “Yeah, Hyung. Think about it, who would want to stay with you and put up with all of your ideas and strange behaviors.” Hyunseung sent the maknae a deadly glare and mouthed something close to “Yah, meet me after this, you punk” when he heard a soft chuckle from Doojoon. 




“Doojoonah,” Junhyung’s voice was soft but calm and steady, “to be really honest, I have been Yoseob’s confidant for a long time and I am aware of this since the very beginning, and most of us know about this. Anyway, you two are disgustingly in love with each other. So….. I don’t see your point.”




Now, there was shock in Doojoon’s face, surprised. He was quiet, staring at four confused faces that stared back at him, four friends who did not get his point at all. It was a couple of minutes when Doojoon finally nodded and smiled softly. He was wrong to think that his friends would ever judge him in any way at all. That was not how they built their friendship. Doojoon nodded a few times more, before his smile widened, the widest smile Hyunseung and Junhyung and Kikwang and Dongwoon had seen in the past eleven days.




“Thanks, guys.”






Kikwang and Dongwoon were the first to leave after dinner, Hyunseung and Junhyung stayed a little more to help cleaning up before the maids came in tomorrow. Doojoon and Hyunseung stood in the foyer, waiting for Junhyung to get their jackets in the coat closet. Under the dimmed lights, Hyunseung saw everything, the vulnerable eyes, the hollow cheeks, the tired eyebags, a forlorn expression on Doojoon’s face, uncertainty and hope clearly written all over his face. 



And Hyunseung had had enough of this, of them being stupid and misunderstood, so he stood in front of the elder and said, “Doojoonah, Junhyung is going to kill me. But listen carefully,” he leaned in, “Yoseob is working at a nice little hotel near Mokpo Medical Centre. Find him there, you guys need closure.” 




Doojoon blinked at him a few times, he wanted to smile but his lips refused to move, he wanted to cry but his tears had dried up, he wanted to reach out and hug Hyunseung but blood stopped flowing to his limbs.




“Seungie, are you ready?” Junhyung called out from the closet door, balancing two jackets in one hand. Hyunseung turned around and called out back, “Yeah, I’m ready!” and made to run to the door when he heard a small voice, “Thank you.”




Hyunseung spun around and smiled, “Go to bed, Doojoonie. You look like .”




That night, Doojoon packed his clothes and arranged his trip to Mokpo. He kept the ring in a black velvet box and shoved it into his pocket, it’s going back to the finger of its rightful owner.