A week had passed, and Heechul still hadn’t gotten over Hankyung’s betrayal. He had begun to revert back to his old habits; hardly speaking to anyone, shutting everyone out, and locking himself in his bedroom the minute he got home. His brothers had taken a notice to Heechul’s behavior, and had become worried. “Guys, we gotta get him and Hankyung back together,” Donghae stated after Heechul had locked himself in his room yet again.

          “How are we gonna do that?” Sungmin wondered.

          “Yeah, Heechul won’t even talk to Hankyung,” Eunhyuk reminded.

          “We gotta get Hankyung to just come over and keep him in the same room with Heechul until they talk to one another. I know that Heechul misses him, he wouldn’t be acting this way if he still didn’t care about Hankyung,” Donghae suggested.

          The four peeked into Heechul’s room and saw the raven haired teen lying on his bed, staring at the wall, eyes red from crying. “God, he looks like he’s slipping back into a depression,” Yesung muttered.

          “He’s been through this before?” Eunhyuk asked.

          “Yeah, Heechul was extremely depressed before we were adopted. Meeting Hankyung really helped him find his happiness again,” Donghae replied.

          The next day was dark and dreary, which really went with how Heechul was feeling. He didn’t even have the want to, to get out of bed that day. “Heechul, it’s time for school,” Leeteuk said quietly as he shook the raven haired teen.

          “I don’t wanna go,” Heechul muttered. “Please don’t make me go.”

          Sighing, Leeteuk ran his hand over Heechul’s hair and whispered “Okay sweetie, you don’t have to go today.” After he left Heechul’s room, Leeteuk looked at Donghae, Yesung, Sungmin, and Eunhyuk and stated “Find a way for Hankyung to come over here; Heechul’s not even getting out of bed today.”

          “Alright, we’ll talk to him,” Donghae promised.

          “He won’t talk to me, I’ve been trying to call and text him all week, but he won’t reply,” Hankyung replied as Donghae approached him at his locker.

          “Come talk to him in person, he needs you,” Donghae responded.

          “I think he made it very clear that he doesn’t want anything to do with me,” Hankyung said.

          “Hankyung, Heechul was in a dark place before he met you, you mean more to him than anyone else he’s ever met. If you truly were nothing to him, then he wouldn’t be reacting the way he is,” Donghae explained. “Please just try something. Do you still love him?”

          “Of course I do, I never stopped loving him, and I never will,” Hankyung stated.

          “Then tell Heechul that to his face. He needs to know that you’re not going to give up on him like everyone else has done,” Donghae said. Hankyung nodded before heading to class.

          “Did you talk to Hankyung?” Leeteuk asked that afternoon as he picked up the boys.

          “Yes, he’s going to try and help even more. He’s been calling and texting Heechul all week, but has had no luck,” Donghae informed.

          “Okay, I really hope they can make up; Heechul seemed so much happier with him,” Leeteuk responded.

          Heechul however had not moved from bed all day. He had cocooned himself in his blanket and lie alone all day. Listening, he heard his brothers come home, and rush upstairs. There was a knock on the door followed by Donghae asking “Heechul, can I come in?”

          “Sure,” Heechul muttered almost inaudibly.

          “How’re you feeling?” the brunette wondered as he sat down next to his brother on the bed.

          “My heart hurts,” Heechul said.

          “Heechul, why don’t you talk to Hankyung? He’s really concerned about you,” Donghae replied quietly.

          “No he’s not, he doesn’t care about me,” Heechul mumbled as he buried himself deeper in the covers.

          “Just answer one call from him Heechul, please. Afterwards, if you don’t wanna talk to him then you don’t have to,” Donghae requested.

          After a moment of silence, Heechul replied “Fine, but one time and only one time.”

          Donghae gave a small smile before standing up. “Thanks man, well I really hope you feel better. I’m gonna go out here with the others for a while. Come get us if you need anything.”

          A couple of hours later, Hankyung pulled up next to the curb beside the house and got out. Standing in the front yard near Heechul’s window, Hankyung pulled out his phone, dialed Heechul’s number, and looked up at the window that led to his bedroom. “C’mon Heechul, please answer,” Hankyung muttered as his phone rang.

          Inside Heechul’s room, the raven haired teen felt his phone vibrate against his bed. Slowly picking it up, Heechul sighed but in remembering his promise to Donghae, he answered. “Hello,” he said quietly.

          “Heechul, please listen to me,” Hankyung begged.

          Hearing Hankyung’s voice made Heechul develop new tears in his eyes. “What do you want?” he asked.

          “I wanna come inside and talk to you face to face,” Hankyung requested.

          “Where are you?” Heechul wondered as he sat up.

          “Come to the window and see,” Hankyung replied. Heechul slowly stood up and strolled over to the window. Pulling back the curtains, he saw Hankyung standing in his front yard, looking right up at him. “Please Heechul, let me prove to you that everything you saw was wrong,” Hankyung pleaded as thunder began to roll in the background and rain began to fall.

          “What makes you think I should trust you?” Heechul questioned as he looked down at the teen.

          Hankyung didn’t even notice that he was getting soaked in the falling rain; all he cared about was keeping Heechul on the phone and their eyes fixed on each other. “You’re right, you shouldn’t trust me, but please give me a chance to explain,” Hankyung asked. “I don’t mind standing right here until you feel comfortable letting me in.”

          Hearing more thunder boom and become louder, Heechul reluctantly said “Fine, c’mon in.”

          That was all Hankyung needed before he hurried inside the house. He was soaked from head to toe, but at least he was inside. Hankyung ran upstairs and stopped right outside Heechul’s room. Feeling his heart pounding, the teen walked into the room and saw Heechul slumped over against his wall. “Hi,” he muttered.

          “Hi,” Heechul echoed. “You’re soaking wet.”

          Hankyung looked down at himself and replied “Yeah, but I don’t mind it.” He slowly walked over to Heechul. “Did Siwon explain everything to you, and tell you it was his fault?”

          “Yeah, he told me,” Heechul mumbled.

          “And what did you say?” Hankyung wondered.

          “I told him to off,” Heechul stated.

          “I’ve been trying to call and text you all week but your phone has either been off or gone straight to voice mail,” Hankyung informed.

          “I know, I ignored everything,” Heechul responded.

          “Heechul listen to me, I never meant for any of this to happen. I wasn’t planning on Siwon doing that to me, and I told him to leave me alone. I told him I loved you and only you, and I still do Heechul,” Hankyung whispered as he moved closer to the raven haired teen and gently ran a hand through his hair.

          “You promised me you’d never hurt me,” Heechul reminded as tears began to fall from his eyes. “Do you remember that? You said that you would never betray me, that I should trust you because you weren’t like the others. You said that you loved me.”

          Heechul slid down to the floor and began to cry harder. Hankyung knelt down beside him and held a hand in his. “I do love you Heechul, I’ve never loved anyone more than I do you,” Hankyung promised. “I’m sorry this happened, but I will do everything in my ability to make sure that no one comes in between us again.”

          Looking up at Hankyung, Heechul cried “How can I trust you? You’ve scarred me worse than anyone, because I trusted and opened up to you.”

          “Because unlike everyone else, I actually mean it when I say I love you,” Hankyung stated.

          Standing up, Hankyung slowly pulled Heechul to his feet and tilted his face up to meet his, wiping his tears away with his thumbs. Gently, Hankyung kissed Heechul’s lips lovingly and slid his arms around his waist. Heechul grabbed Hankyung’s rain soaked shirt and clenched it in his fists. Truthfully, he had missed the way Hankyung kissed him and feeling his lips against his made Heechul’s heart pound faster as his heart began to repair itself. Pulling away from each other for a moment, both boys panted for breath as they looked in each other’s eyes.

          Hankyung nudged his face against Heechul’s face before kissing his neck. Heechul suddenly remembered how much he enjoyed the sensation of Hankyung kissing him there and gasped quietly. “Did I hurt you?” Hankyung wondered as he shot his head up.

          Heechul nodded. “Keep going,” he whispered.  

          As Hankyung continued to kiss Heechul’s neck, Heechul gently ran his hands up under Hankyung’s shirt and traced his fingers over the self-harm scars on his abdomen. Hankyung pulled off of Heechul’s neck and kissed his lips again as ran his own hands up the back of Heechul’s shirt, and gently touched his wounds. He looked at Heechul and the back of his hand over his cheek before Heechul removed Hankyung’s soaking wet shirt. “Is this what you want?” Hankyung asked. Heechul nodded. “Are you sure?” In response, Heechul kissed his lips again. “Okay.”

          Heechul removed his own shirt before walking over to the window and closing the curtains. Hankyung walked up behind him and hugged Heechul’s waist as he rested his head on the raven haired teen’s shoulder. Placing his hands on top of Hankyung’s, Heechul felt Hankyung begin to kiss every scar, every burn mark, and every needle mark that plagued his back. The raven haired teen began crying silently. No one had ever kissed his wounds; no one other than his brothers had seen his wounds. “Hankyung,” Heechul whispered.

          “Yes?” Hankyung replied as he picked up head up and rested it back on Heechul’s shoulder.

          Turning his head to look at Hankyung, Heechul stated with tears rolling down his face “I still love you.”

          “I still love you too Heechul,” Hankyung confirmed as he turned Heechul to him and kissed his lips once more. Heechul wrapped his arms around Hankyung’s neck before jumping up and wrapping his legs around his waist. Hankyung held Heechul against him protectively as he walked them both over to Heechul’s bed.

          Hankyung gently lay Heechul down and hovered over him. He bent his head and kissed Heechul’s neck before running his lips down his chest; then placing them back on Heechul’s lips. “Hankyung,” Heechul whispered again.

          Running a hand through Heechul’s hair, and resting their foreheads together, Hankyung stated “I want you Heechul; I want you more than anything in the world. I wanna be with you for the rest of my life, kiss you every day and make love to you every night. I wanna protect you from the world, and be the only one who ever touches you again. I love you and I mean that with all my heart.”

          As Hankyung planted a kiss on Heechul’s lips, Heechul ran his hands over Hankyung’s back and muttered “I want you too Hankyung; you and only you.”

          Smiling, Hankyung began to undress himself and Heechul completely. The rain fell hard, the lightning flashed, and the thunder boomed loudly outside; but Heechul and Hankyung didn’t hear, they were too focused on each other.