Jonghyun woke up to the smell of bacon on the stove the next morning. His right arm automatically d the bed for Key, but he wasn’t there. So he was in the kitchen…

His left arm then reached for his alarm clock. 10:54a.m.

He blinked. The numbers were still there, mocking him.

! He was late for work!

Jonghyun shot out of bed and ran to the kitchen to tell Key to ready the car, but the younger just greeted him with a smile on his face and calmly told him that his secretary had cancelled all appointments for today due to ‘family matters’.

“The American client is willing to wait.” Key hummed, placing a few strips of bacon beside a pile of pancakes.

“Oh,” Jonghyun said, by way of reply. He honestly didn’t know what to make of this Key. Normal, cooking Key.

“By the way, I took the liberty of taking Hyunjin to school today. I even talked to his teachers! They say he is well-behaved and very creative and outspoken, can you imagine? Our Hyunjin? As expected, he really is our-”

“Key, we need to talk.”

Key froze for a moment, and then continued flipping the bacon. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“You’re going to say I need help. That this can’t go on any longer. That, maybe someday, Hyunjin will have to watch his Papa get cuffed and sent away. And that we’ll get through this as a family.”

Kibum turned off the stove and served the bacon.

“I understand that,” he stopped to blink back tears. “I do. But…I’m scared, Jjong. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t, I don’t know whether I’ll survive or not, but I want to try. I want to be part of this family. I want to watch Hyunjin go to high school, graduate, get a girlfriend and get married. I want to grow old with you and become grandparents with you. I want to sob in bed with you while we lament about how time passes so fast that Hyunjin’s actually growing up.”

Key walked over and took the shorter man’s hands in his own.

“I want it. All of it. But if I want it, then something else has to go.” Key gestured behind him where several bags were sitting that Jonghyun hadn’t noticed before.

 “I’m going to eat breakfast with you, and then I’m going to a place where I can reflect on my actions for a while, so I can get better.” By now both of them found it hard to control the wetness in their eyes that seemed to spill over.

“Tell Hyunjin that Papa’s just taking a small break away for a while. Tell him I’ll be back.”

Jonghyun nodded.

They took his bags and now it was just the two of them, the staff excusing themselves to let the couple say their goodbyes.

“So,” Jonghyun started, not looking Key in the eye for fear breaking down again. “When are you getting out?”

“I honestly don’t know. When I kick the habit, I guess,”

“Hyunjin and I are gonna miss you,” he sniffed, “A whole lot,” then the floodgates broke and Jonghyun pulled Key in for a tight embrace. “Come back soon,” he choked, “Hyunjin needs you. I need you.”

Key released himself from the hug, and swiped at Jonghyun’s wet cheeks. “I know,” he smiled weakly, “I know.”

Key pulled him in for one last kiss, before he backed away to let Jonghyun get in the car.

As Jonghyun pulled away in his car, he could hear Key, “Drive safe! I’ll write every day!”

But what really made his vision blur again was the weak “I love you, bye,” as he turned the corner.

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