"Please Kyuhyun, you said you'd have helped me! I'm not saying that I don't want to let you go. I don't love you and you'll be better off with Ryeowook by your side, this I know for sure, but...please, let's get a divorce after the baby's birth, not now. I will feel way safer for a little while more..."

After a 18-hour-long flight, with almost no rest, the chance of a very quick shower and a bite of a salted croissant to fill the stomach, Kyuhyun was still drowning in millions troubles.

He had arrived in Paris at the crack of dawn with Jiwon after him. The two could just get a little time to check in two different hotel rooms before meeting again to talk about what was to be planned from that day on. No contacts with each other - unless it was for health purpose since Jiwon didn't speak any French - no visits, no tricks, no strange appearances in front of Ryeowook, but most importantly the only person ever allowed to get in touch with the girl was Siwon, nobody else.

Even if keeping a huge distance between France and Korea, Kyuhyun still felt Eric's hulking presence like a cursed shadow sticking to his back wherever he went. He could only pray never to meet the man even on the other side of the planet.

In the meanwhile he stood in front of a tall, rather ancient-looking building and reminisced the promise made to his lover.

"I'll come back to you completely free from my obligations, ready to love you even more and better than before"

Kyuhyun nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other, sometimes he would lift his head up high to the clear sky and dumbly smile as the fluffy, cotton clouds were swept by the light breeze and changed their shape, becoming either a messy tangle of curls or well distinguishied objects, fancy animals...he was ready to swear that two clouds had just crashed together to give birth to a baby giraffe. 

Being completely free from his obligations meant that he had to show up in front of Ryeowook as a legally divorced man, instead he was still...stuck in a deal that may have cost him dearly. 

The weather was incredibly hot, sultry, a prelude of the approaching near summertime, and standing exposed to the full sunlight of that very early afternoon made him feel incredibly dizzy and sleepy. What would he give in order to comfortably slump down on a soft mattress and rest his tired limbs for quite long? No, he simply couldn't, not today.

He took off his jacket, intently began to roll up his shirt sleeves and rested his cardigan neatly folded on his forearm, crossing them while he waited on the sidewalk, lightly rested against a tall lamppost in front of the building entrance.

It was an apartment like many others and probably he would have never paid too much of his attention to the golden sign plaque right near the main entrance, if not for the indications he was given by Zhou Mi, though a bit skeptically.

The building hosted a private practice, or better Zhou Mi's friend's private practice, the one who was thoroughly following Ryeowook's case and tried to help him with his issues, just like he had promised to do right before leaving Korea, four months before.

Kyuhyun couldn't simply hide his excitement at the idea of knowing for certain that his loved one was somewhere inside that building, so close. Ryeowook was having one of his weekly appointments with the doctor and, when done for the day, he would soon be appearing, walking through the door totally clueless of the big surprise that was awaiting him outside.

"I need to tell him though..." Kyuhyun sighed, too nervous, and ruffled his hair as a flash of discomfort ran along his spine at the thought of feeling the urgence to explain every single lie and relieve not only his shoulders of such a pressing weight, but also - and more importantly - his relationship with the pianist.

Kyuhyun was just too thrilled; he had skipped lunch, a proper rest, and though he allowed himself to at least change clothes and make himself nice, presentable enough in front of his lover's eyes, he had got there with great advance and now paced the same square of concrete sidewalk either in a circle or back and forth, just to kill the time. Despite boredom, his heart never decreased its foul, crazily fast pounding, and for that he was totally trapped in his high anticipation, one that for weaker people would have probably meant immediate collpase, but that he was trained enough to bear, when dealing with such a contrasting swing of deep emotions.

Finally, from the farther end of the front gate a very distinguishable high-pitched voice could be heard focusedly mumbling over the phone a set of confused questions.

Useless to say that Kyuhyun's face brighted up and that his eyes eagerly studied the small shadow slowly approaching, he was almost on the verge of tearing up in joy after recognizing the familiar clothes he hated so much, but that Ryeowook loved and found comfortable enough to wear pretty much everywhere.

When the pianist, usually too perfectionist when it came to his personal fashion style, was too lazy or had too little time to think of a nicely coordinated outfit, he simply wore that very particular tracksuit: an aquamarine green set with antique pink flowers printed everywhere. That day there was no exception. Ryeowook was wearing his loved suit on a black tank top, that showed his prominent collarbone from underneath the half-ped jacket, and white sneakers. His backpack and a pair of lucid black sunglasses completed the look.

"I simply thought we could have had dinner together tonight, that's why I said... Zhou Mi, what does it mean that I would probably be busy tonight, when I perfectly know I'm not?! Don't end the call when I'm still speaking to you!" enraged, he ended up talking to the mute phone, flashing the little device with a death glare.

"If I were you I'd trust Zhou Mi's words, because I'm planning to take you out for dinner" Kyuhyun grinned from his spot under the lamppost, while holding arms folded across the chest and incredibly keeping calm, whereas all he wanted to do was springing forwards to embrace the little man.

Finally exposing his identity to the bright sunlight and still raging against the phone, Ryeowook swiftly lifted his chin up high and couldn't control his astonishment upon recognizing both voice and presence from the only man he would have never imagined to meet so soon, not even in his wildest dreams.

"K-Kyu...Kyuhyun?" he exclaimed from behind both hands, which clamped his mouth to keep from shouting out of wonderment. 

"Happy to meet me, baby?" the taller one smirked and straightened his back, ready to walk towards Ryeowook and delete the few steps that still separated them.

Without too many compliments, Ryeowook ran to Kyuhyun and sprang in the arms that were spread open in a warm invitation of love: "Kyuhyun!" finally he gasped in relief and hugged Kyuhyun as tight as he could.

"Hey, slow down!" Kyuhyun amusedly scoffed, lifting his head up high as he took in the crash of their two bodies and welcomed the lovely, petite one in the burning flame of his longing desire. At first Ryeowook stood with his head under Kyuhyun's crook of the neck, profiting of that apparently long-lost warm shelter to touch with his physicality his lover's closeness, but soon he felt like being also in need to see with his eyes that Kyuhyun was truly holding him tight. 

Therefore he pulled away from the little shelter and, while being still held between Kyuhyun's arms, Ryeowook set his teary eyes on Kyuhyun's facial features, recognizing everything he loved and more, especially that sensation of satisfaction issued by the tender smile that was owning his lips: "Am I allucinating or you're truly with me, Kyu? How did you know where I was?"

Kyuhyun didn't need to answer that question, not through useless and powerless words at least.

He grasped the man by his hips and pulled Ryeowook closer, his left hand moved from the man's body to gently lift his sunglasses and rest them on his head, now finally able to take a better look at the charming crescents that were Ryeowook's sparkling dark, almond shaped eyes. Lost in his contemplation, Kyuhyun risked to be late to catch the right timing for a kiss, however he rushed to delete his dumb grin from his lips and, while cupping Ryeowook's cheek, his fingers slowly crept on the man's neck, travelled to his nape and slipped through his hair in order to pull him closer to his lips.

One simple peck was enough at the beginning to ignite electric sparks between them.

Cautious for any reaction, Kyuhyun pulled a little bit away even though he stood only a few inches far from the other man's face. Ryeowook snapped his eyes open, too startled for the sudden loss, but Kyuhyun was smiling and he was affected to do the same.

Rubbing their noses together, they said in unison: "Zhou Mi..." confirming the only reason for Kyuhyun to know where Ryeowook exactly was.

Kyuhyun hummed in reply and stayed a long minute to admire in awe the creature he had the chance to hug. With a giggle, Ryeowook soon tiptoed to reach again for Kyuhyun and, a bit too arrogantly, he pressed his lips onto his lover's where he began to move slowly in a kiss; then he increased speed and passion, so that the taller man was forced to run after him and adjust himself to such a demanding action.

A little moan escaped as Kyuhyun's tongue slipped past his lips and softly the seam of his lover's, asking for entrance and, upon being granted it, he met Ryeowook's tongue to engage a dance with. Other moans were audible from the petite man and each one of them reached Kyuhyun's ears as a marvelous, intimate melody that he thought to have forgotten due to the long distance. But now, it took him just one hidden note, while taking turns to recognize each other's warm mouths, to hear the familiar reaction that always affected Ryeowook and usually caused him a pretty severe loss of breath.

"Does this...look like an allucination to you?" Kyuhyun asked after parting from the deep kiss and glancing down at the blushing mess he had made of Ryeowook, who immediately checked around the pedestrians, who didn't seem to care much but that from time to time had discreetly taken glances at the couple's doings.

"You're embarrassing me!" Ryeowook giggled and proceeded to smack Kyuhyun right into the chest, before his palm could slowly move in circle and soothe the hit spot.

"I don't care about others, but if you feel good you can hit me as long as you want. I won't complain because it's another way to be touched by you, anyway" Kyuhyun grabbed Ryeowook's wrist nonetheless and brought that frail hand to his lips, kissing it slowly on both back and palm.

"Are you here for me?" Ryeowook looked at him directly into his eyes, not hiding the huge hope he was silently nurturing within his eyes. He would have died there if Kyuhyun were to tell him about an upcoming scheduled departure to Korea, once again.

"No, I'm actually here because I missed the view from the top of Eiffel Tower and thought of allowing me a short vacation..." Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and began teasing the other man, who immediately frowned, not liking the tease "You're so silly! Of course I'm here for you!" Kyuhyun proclaimed and bent once again to snatch another quick kiss from the pianist "I missed you so bad and couldn't live without you anymore, baby. My only mean to live is through breathing your scent, feeling your warmth to heat my body, your touch to soothe my pain..."

"You're talking too much! Shut up and kiss me again, now!" Ryeowook grumbled and this time entoured his lover's neck to pull him down for another kiss, scared to be melting if Kyuhyun were to keep on bragging about what he liked the best from him.

"Oh no, no, wait a minute" Kyuhyun swiftly dodged the kiss, even though a bit unwillingly "Before kissing you again, I should think of a punishment for you after being put to wait like an idiot for your never coming calls and texts during the past few months" he explained with a small grin, as he ducked his chin and locked eyecontact with his blushing lover.

"About that...uhm, I-I need to talk with you, there are some things..." Ryeowook began in a whisper, loud enough for Kyuhyun to be heard.

"No, wait!" Kyuhyun moved his hands and was now grasping Ryeowook firmly by the shoulders, inciting the man to lift his head up high and not hide any discomfort while speaking. Those words scared him. Any lover, who was rightfully lost in the depths of a strong feeling like Kyuhyun was, could be logically scared upon hearing such words, especially if pronounced with quite a lot of hesitation "What does it mean that we need to talk? Are you...are you going out with somebody else? Please, I could accept anything but that!" Kyuhyun frowned, already frustrated and a bit angry.

Ryeowook tried to stay still and calm down, but Kyuhyun's suspicions were just surreal and he brutally snapped out: "What?! Of course not, you idiot!" he hollered in a frown and smacked once again Kyuhyun's chest, hitting him quite harder than before so he could receive a proportional amount of pain for the stupid blabber he had just blurted out "How little faith you have in your future husband, Mr. Cho!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Kyuhyun urged to say, a bit at loss, but more relieved than ever "It's just that...I couldn't get through at all and when I did, you sounded so distant, I honestly suspected that somebody else could have caught your attention, while in truth your mine and, and..." short on breath, Kyuhyun was cut off by another tender kiss, so that Ryeowook could make him stop blurting out all that huge nonsense.

"You said it, right? I'm yours, and there's no one in the entire universe that could make my heart flutter like you do, even now that you're looking so cutely threatened by an enemy in love that doesn't exist can make me feel extremely wanted and appreciated" the pianist smiled almost glued to Kyuhyun's lips, as he stood on his toes and gently gripped the taller man's nape as a support.

"What is it then?"

Ryeowook took a look at the other people walking by and grimaced in discomfort for being indiscreetely eyed: "Let's go somewhere else to talk, okay?" he suggested and quickly grabbed Kyuhyun's hand, slipped his fingers through his lover's and began walking down the street.

"Are we going somewhere in particular?" Kyuhyun asked, letting the man drag him along and occasionally smiling for such tenderness.

Ryeowook shrugged, totally clueless about his destination, they were just strolling around until a pretty isolated place could magically appear and appease his needs of privacy.

In the meanwhile, as they were pressed side by side like if fearing of losing touch, Kyuhyun carefully studied his lover's appearance "You're beautiful as ever, sunshine" Kyuhyun smiled, already conscious that his fiancé was about to tear up for the sweet words.

He took his time to stare Ryeowook from head to toe and his mouth dumbly parted in awe: the petite man looked way better and healthier than the last time he had allowed himself to hug him tight. His hair was a few inches longer, but it kept the same, loved softenss, not to mention that vague yet distinguishable scent of vanilla shampoo; Ryeowook seemed to have reaquired those couple of lost kilos, but his fit shape couldn't look healthier as it was reflected in both his wide, delighted smile and twinkling, bright eyes, two stars that shone ever so strongly, upon recognizing the man, whose return by his side he was faithfully waiting for.

"I was waiting for you to say it" Ryeowook grinned and looked up at his partner in that bright way of his.

"We're still a bit too narcissist, I see" Kyuhyun squeezed his hand and pulled him to a stop in front of a red traffic light.

"Hey, I am diligently working on that! Plus, you didn't have to spoil me each and every single day of my life by saying so, it's your fault!"

While they waited for the light to switch to green, Kyuhyun leaned over and planted a loving peck on Ryeowook's temple: "It is, and I'm proud of it, I love you a lot the way you are"

Kyuhyun still looked at his other half totally mesmerized by the surreal glow that surrounded the man he loved.

It was as if months and months without keeping contact could truly help them to strengthen their bond and base it on a pure relationship made out of sole trust. Longing was applied when their love was too overwhelming to ignore, but it greatly improved the thin limit of endurance while being separated for so long. Kyuhyun, who knew the truth behind their forced separation, was so rushing and impatient to meet Ryeowook again, but this one, though completely left in awe in front of the huge surprise, was handling it better than expected.

Despite facing an undoubtedly emotional reaction, Kyuhyun thought he would have found a still broken soul in the other man and he was ready to catch all his lover's tears and a whole lot of consecutive heartbreaking sobs after meeting, but what surprised him the most was that Ryeowook was gleaming in joy and looked even more radiant than the sun itself.

No, if Kyuhyun had thought that he was lucky enough to find his old Ryeowook, the one who dreamt of a flawless world, still behaved a bit too childishly and accidentally disappeared under the heavy layers of violence, now he wasn't surely taking into account the meeting with this beautiful stranger that had slowly, yet earnestly, learned to live in complete harmony with the surrounding world, in its every shade, the good and the bad one.

It was early to state it, but Ryeowook seemed to have grown a lot while being distant from Kyuhyun.

His little child within had faced a lot of ups and downs: he was strained of his innocence to the last drop, and when the dark shadow of a ghostly beast had threatened his existence, he was forced to crumble down, only to rise again stronger than ever. Always cherished and protected, that little child in Ryeowook's soul had blossomed into a wonderful and self-conscious being, that couldn't do anything but improve the already genuine man's vitality.

Greatly thanks to the weekly sessions with the psychologist, Ryeowook looked as if he had finally sorted out all his unresolved issues to fix them all one at a time.

Meeting that new, improved man wasn't totally a bad thing, it wasn't a true stranger. That was always his Ryeowook, the man he was still too crazily in love with, just showcasing his better sides, which for once didn't involve any insecurity. Kyuhyun felt somehow lighter and finally ready to leave behind some of those same fears and concerns that he had willingly taken in, so to relieve Ryeowook of his heavy burdens. 

As they walked and enjoyed each other's presence without saying much but occasionally giggle in front of the surreal fact that they were truly together, the two men found themselves quietly walking around the famous Luxembourg gardens, a free access open space property of the French Senate in the center of the capital, already dressed in colorful stains of flowers, massive extensions of grass fields, scented fruit trees and protected by high iron gates.

Ryeowook must have unconsciously dragged Kyuhyun there, since he was quite fond of the garden and, despite loving each of Paris green areas, he found that one particularly pretty for its many colors worn during both spring and summertime.

Of course like many other places around the city, those gardens were quite crowded as well, but not as much as other tourist attractions - like for example the Trocadero gardens or the Champ de Mars at both sides of the Eiffel Tower - and therefore still kept a sort of privacy for the both of them.

Kyuhyun followed Ryeowook when this one had found a lone marble bench to sit on alongside a running fountain. The pianist placed his black backpack on to the side, so he could lean on Kyuhyun's shoulder and rest there his head while letting out a couple of contented sighs.

He let the younger man entour his waist with an arm and soon Kyuhyun was brushing his hand up and down Ryeowook's hip, in order to have him relax in the hug.

Nothing disturbed them: neither the incessant twittering of the birds flying above, playing hide and seek in the tree branches, or children running and screaming on the other side of the field, where some tourists were having a nice relaxing afternoon under the warm sunbeams. Not even the typical noise of the cars bottled up into the usual traffic jam reached them from outside the gates.

They finally had each other again and that was more than enough, better than any sound, better than any unwanted interruption.

"So...what was it you needed to tell me about?" Kyuhyun lifted his head to the sky and his eyes wandered in the deep blue, while his hand stopped Ryeowook's hip and loosely held him by the side.

"I want to apologize to you" Ryeowook mumbled, as he entoured Kyuhyun's waist with an arm, and the other was rested across his fiancé's chest, it in a gentle motion "About me avoiding your calls... I have a reason, I did it on purpose, but it costed me very much to behave like that"

"Why? Why did you do it?" Kyuhyun placed his free hand over Ryeowook's and stopped him from caressing him further.

With a long sigh, the pianist joined Kyuhyun's attentive look at the deep blue sky from his comfortable spot on the man's shoulder and said: "Many things crossed my mind during the past four months, honestly - he began, stirring curiosity in Kyuhyun, but also a tad of sorrow for the bitter decision that the man had to opt for at the very beginning - I came back here and I felt totally down and broken after witnessing your marriage, how could I feel if not this?"

"I-I'm sorry" Kyuhyun murmured, feeling his heart shrink in pain, but it was somehow soon soothed when Ryeowook's fingers moved from under his own grip and curled to grasp his shirt.

"Don't be, there's no reason for you to be sorry. It's been just quite weird, I mean...under other circumstances, it wouldn't make sense to watch your own fiancé proceeding with a marriage to a person that isn't you, right?" Ryeowook lowered his eyes and he was now studying the way some pebbles rolled under the sole of his shoe, raising a bit of dust.

"But your words that day kind of reassured me, especially the promise you made of coming back to me. At first I didn't believe it and I couldn't understand why you were doing it, but you looked extremely worried and troubled about it, and I eventually figured out that something quite heavy had really happened in order for you to be stuck with such a deal. And by the way, now you need to tell me everything about it!" the pianist briefly changed topic and looked Kyuhyun intently from behind his sunglasses.

Kyuhyun gulped without moving his stare from a nearby peach tree and simply nodded to the request.

"Anyway, during the first days my mind always travelled to that terrible moment and I struggled very much in order to accept your decision. I needed to tell myself to trust you and keep faith in us, after all we waited much longer before becoming a couple at the beginning, what could some more months be for us? Nothing, if only I didn't take into account that I missed you so bad"

"It's okay, I missed you too!" Kyuhyun's voice rose to confirm that and his grip around Ryeowook's waist tightened, so that the little man was pulled stronger that before into his lover's arms.

The pianist shook his head and the initial excitement on his face became a gloomy, serious frown, perhaps too serious then, because Kyuhyun could feel a couple of unpleasant shivers roll down his spine: "You don't understand..." Ryeowook roughly exhaled as he got ready to continue his explanation and touch a topic that apparently disquieted him very much "I missed you and couldn't figure out a way to temporary live separated from you. Months passed and it was still too much to bear, I couldn't accept our separation at all. I ignored work, the house, I even refused to attend meetings with the doctor, Mimi's friend, right before starting the therapy. I..." he stopped for a moment and hid his watery eyes from Kyuhyun's glance, too ashamed to voice his concerns "...I reached the bottom of my existence these past few months"

Kyuhyun clutched his lips in a tight line as his face darkened in worry at those words. He turned to the man on his right side and took Ryeowook's whole body into his arms, rocking him lightly while the man sought refuge on his chest and occasionally sobbed: "Won't you tell me what that means, uh?" he encouraged his older lover, who drew in a sharp breath and tried to calm down. Pulling a little bit apart, but still keeping his head low in shame, he explained: "I was simply feeling tired and unworthy, so I tried to give up on life itself"

"W-what!?!?" Kyuhyun widened eyes in horror and by mistake shook Ryeowook up with a bit too much of strenght, unable to control his shock after such a revelation, which he still couldn't believe to be true "You didn't, did you?" his voice rose again, too much upset.

"I...was playing the piano one day and indulged in some sleeping pills, which I took and washed down with one of your red wines" Ryeowook hid his face in both hands. Now also the sunglasses lens were dirty with dry tears that had previously flowed down his cheeks "Mimi found me unconscious on the keyboard after work and took me straight to the hospital. Believe me, it was the only way..."

"For what?! For what, was this the only way?! Oh my God, Ryeowook! I almost lost you again, and I didn't know what was happening over here at all!" Kyuhyun shouted, too shocked to believe his ears, but also too careless in front of the high chance to attract strangers' attention. He didn't want to listen to any complaint, any more word and quickly wrapped Ryeowook as tight as possible into his arms, the only place he could have been safe and sound.

One arm firmly entoured the man's thin waist, while his other hand found its way on Ryeowook's hair, where he intently caressed him as the pianist gripped Kyuhyun's shirt on his chest and tried to keep from sobbing.

"I kept dreaming about you, you were nowhere but in my mind and I thought we could never be reunited again so I preferred to join you there, in the dreams of a perfect life together" the pianist explained, bursting into a torrent of tears and taking off his glasses, so that Kyuhyun's hand could cup his face better and hold him closer.

"You...you really didn't believe that I would have come back to you? Ryeowook, you're hurting me" Kyuhyun admitted, much disappointed to discover such a shocking truth.

"I know! I'm sorry, okay? I really am!" Ryeowook sobbed even louder as he was held against Kyuhyun's chest and there he let out all the mixed feelings bottled up since their separation "Days went by and I was standing alone to face a fight that was the size of a war. I only wanted you, I only wanted to build a family with you, and yet my dream was labelled as impure and never realizable, not when you were engaged in a forced marriage with another person. I kept thinking about it a lot after being discharged from the hospital, and with Zhou Mi we reached a sort of deal at home. I was never to talk to you or about you, before you could come back to me, like you did"

"Is this considered to be a logic plan, Ryeowook? What if..."

"No, listen first!" Ryeowook silenced Kyuhyun by placing his hand on the man's mouth and pleaded for a confrontation with his puffy eyes "It was risky, I know. But I was literally going insane for a person that wasn't by my side, I were to forget about you for a while if I wanted to work out on my unresolved issues in complete freedom and with much more calm. First of all I accepted the doctor's advices and slowly, very slowly to the point that I often lost my patience, I came out of the little soundproof-like bubble that I had drown into after the violence. It worked more or less like a shield to protect me from our ual life, which I saw like an incredible source of pain instead of pleasure, love and respect, because my mind was scared to re-create the night when I was . I pushed you away in fear to associate you, the figure of the man I love the most, with that...that 's identity, therefore in order not to confuse you for a hateful and brutally violent person, who almost ruined my life, I preferred to totally extinguish any source of physical pleasure that I could have enjoyed through making love with you. I still don't know if it worked, obviously I didn't have any mean to try it out, but I'm more confident. The result might not be excellent after the first time, but I'm not scared anymore at the idea of being one with you, in truth I'm kinda anticipating that time" a little bit embarrassed, he curved his lips in a shy smile, hoping to reassure his fiancé.

Kyuhyun didn't look amused at all and kept examining Ryeowook with a concerned frown plastered on his face: "What about keeping silent all this time? If only I had known what your little, overworking mind was up to, I'd have come back sooner! There's no way I could leave you alone to your clumsy suicidal attempts! Not when I'm the main reason for stirring you so many" he scolded the man.

"Not calling or texting you was part of the plan. If I could manage to keep distant from you, then also my mind would have slowly pushed you away. Not that I wanted to, but it was much easier to deal with longing feelings and nostalgia. Forcing myself the idea of being alone could help me to heal better from both accidents. It was hard, really hard, because all I wanted to do was talk to you, talk about you, dream you, listen to your voice and see your face through our videocalls, but that would have only made me drown into depression. Impatience to feel you again by my side was huge! I couldn't allow myself to make another mistake, not before you could come back to me, anyway. That's why I cut our contacts to that extent, It's because I didn't want to really go insane, surely not for meeting a brand new someone, like you dared to say. There's no way I could ever do something similiar!" Ryeowook explained without stopping for a second. The faster he eradicated that last root of pain, the better it would have been for the both of them.

"I don't know whether I must be happy or very worried about it, baby..." Kyuhyun sighed as he wiped away Ryeowook's tears and looked at how those two dark jewels shone brighter than ever, enhanced by some lucid pearls of water "...I feel so guilty"

Ryeowook energetically shook his head, while his small, frail hands gripped Kyuhyun's collar and pulled the man closer: "Don't be. Everything's over now. Look at me, can you see it? I made it in the end, I'm reborn and I am already climbing back the stairs to resurface from the bottom of my darkest well of fears"

He approached Kyuhyun and pressed his lips with the other man's in a tender, heartfelt, sincere kiss "Mimi was there, he was there like the first time and helped me a lot to overcome this situation. I'm not that weak anymore, these tears are the last I'll ever shed for what has happened between us, because now that you're with me everything will be better and brighter and happier, right?" he smiled, looking sure and condifent of knowing what his words truly meant. 

His smile contrasted a lot with those slightly puffy, red eyes, but Kyuhyun could feel all the man's sincerity conveyed through it, because that smile was wider than ever and burnt like the sun itself, spreading uttermost warmth.

Kyuhyun sighed and kissed him back, already too eager to those loved lips, slip his tongue into Ryeowook's mouth and caress him softly from the inside. It was no rushed, violent, overly passionate kiss, instead it was slow and intimate enough to have them both melt in a pool of love, which was they needed the most on that very same moment.

"I promise you that now we will always stick together, and maybe you will be even fed up with me pampering you all day long" Kyuhyun whispered, taking his time to thoroughly savour Ryeowook's lips.

"No, I won't complain, even if you were to be a pain every single day from now on, and I expect you to make up for the temporary loss. This means travels, holiday, dates and...quite a lot of love to spice things" Ryeowook blushed, making Kyuhyun snigger in complicity as the man held the other one tight and drew in a sigh of relief "Now, it's your turn to update me with what has happened in Seoul" Ryeowook demanded, and Kyuhyun almost choked on his saliva as he gulped down another mounting wave of persisting troubles and infinitely corrected lies.

His mind rushed to work and look for a way out of worries. Ryeowook would have been delighted and prorably thrilled in relief after knowing that Jiwon's child wasn't Kyuhyun's, but how was he supposed to react at the news of his fiancé being still legally married to the girl?

He was about to open mouth, his only mean to freedom, when Ryeowook moved in his arms to a more comfortable position, where he placed his head on Kyuhyun's shoulder again, and istinctively looked for the man's left hand, just so he could feel their mutual connection while interwining fingers together.

However, it took him less than a second, if possible, to feel that there was something wrong in the way their hands didn't link that perfectly anymore. It wasn't what he was used to feel - perfectly filling each other's space - instead it was as if they had both forgotten each other's palm shape, but not because they wanted to. There was a stranger element in that hand grip and Ryeowook immediately pulled Kyuhyun's hand to examinate it at a closer look.

"W-what is this?" he frowned while turning Kyuhyun's hand upside down and moved his fingers along the strange piece of jewelry that trapped one of Kyuhyun's.

Kyuhyun nervously tried to clear his throat, already at a loss for words.

"You...this can't be, Kyu" Ryeowook silently gasped as he realized what that golden band was and what it meant "Don't...don't tell me you haven't divorced yet?!" he asked, his voice rising to slightly caress the highest pitch of hysteria.

"I was about to tell you!" Kyuhyun couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out, sweating cold in fear of provoking an unexpected reaction in his fiancé.

"Oh my God, Cho Kyuhyun!" Ryeowook unconsciously tightened his grip on Kyuhyun's hand and squeezed it too much, on his way to manifest his surging anger and disappointment "You came here and after all those promises, you're still married to her?!"

"I've got a lot to tell you, Ryeowook! If only you could let me explain..."

"What's there to explain?" Ryeowook deftly moved as if he had just received a command issued by a remote control. He hopped down from Kyuhyun's lap and walked a couple of steps away from the bench with hands in hair, frustrated. He stopped and turned around to face Kyuhyun again: "Our promise, did you forget it? You said you would have come to me only after fixing this situation, that means and includes your successful divorce!"

"I know..." Kyuhyun followed the petite man with his eyes, concerned about him and scared for that raging scene.

"What am I, a fool? You said and swore that as soon as we got reunited, there would have been nothing and no one to separate us! I was so looking forward to this, to have you completely mine again, do you know what this means?"

"That...you're quite the possessive fiancé?" Kyuhyun tried to crack a joke and shyly smiled, but what he got as a result was Ryeowook fuming angrier than before.

"No! I've just told you what happened to me and you're yet again joking around! Do you have a little respect for me, for us? When will you behave as the serious man concerned about what is going on with our relationship?" Ryeowook dejectedly slumped both arms along his sides and looked elsewhere, because bearing Kyuhyun's dumbstruck, idiotic frown was too much to handle, and it would probably be a straight insult to his intelligence.

Kyuhyun sighed and stood up, walking towards Ryeowook with arms stretched forwards, ready to block the other man in his hug again. A bit scared that Ryeowook might have attacked him again, he soon spoke: "I'll be that man right away, if only you could let me talk. To do that, you need to stop a little while, take a deep breath and listen to me carefully" he murmured and his deep, suave voice had probably never sounded that soothing before. He genlty tucked Ryeowook's chin and held it high so to force him to lock eyecontact: "This ring doesn't mean anything, it's there out of habit and it will soon be gone. Bear with the wait, because it'll be worthy"

"How much exactly do I have to wait?" Ryeowook hissed, a bit more poisonous than normal.

"Until the baby's birth, then papers will be processed and we will begin all the needed procedures for separation that lead to final divorce. Yesung's working on that already" Kyuhyun tried to kiss Ryeowook on a cheek, but the pianist swiftly dodged the gesture, leaving Kyuhyun a bit startled, but understanding of what was going on.

"Fantastic, that's other three months, right?"

"A little less actually, but yeah" Kyuhyun nodded in confirmation "Anyway, I've got another thing to tell you"

"Will it worsen my mood more than catching you with your ring on did already?" Ryeowook threw him a bad sideway glare and tightened his lips, not pleased to see Kyuhyun giggling.

Then he curled his nose and scoffed a tiny bit, rolling eyes for that seemingly mockery, but had quite no strength to oppose Kyuhyun's words and let him finish: "The baby is not mine" he announced, with a glimpse of a relieving smile on his lips.

The pianist froze.

Popping his eyes wide, he looked at Kyuhyun to gather any kind of confirmation through his look, but couldn't find anything to say otherwise if not a small pleased snigger: "Don't fool me, you look suspicious. Are you saying it just so I can believe your bull and forgive you right here, right now?!"

"Unbelievable!" Kyuhyun scoffed quite astonished. He looked down at his lover and muttered: "Ryeowook, I thought you would have showed yourself a bit happier and relieved, I'm not saying to throw a party for it, but this is no bull. How can I lie about that, when I was the very first one to be terrified over it?"

"You're telling me that, after almost six months of sufferings, this baby has no longer meaning into our lives and that you're not the father...and I should believe that?" the pianist kept his frown, now holding his arms corssed over his chest while Kyuhyun still hugged him tight and showed no sign to let go.

"Yes...please?" Kyuhyun decided to resort to his most powerful weapon and pouted ever so childishly, showing all his secret and well hidden cuteness, aware that Ryeowook - the true pout-master - couldn't ignore him so easily. In fact, as he tried to look anywhere but Kyuhyun, Ryeowook's eyes were always diverged towards his love's direction and that silly grimace had almost immediately great impact on him: with heart filled of renewed hope, Ryeowook decided to stop fighting Kyuhyun and look straight into his eyes: "A-are you serious?" he whispered, strained of patience, but attempting at showing his best and most understanding side.

"The story's way longer, and I'll tell you all about it. But what you need to know right now is that I never ended up sleeping with Jiwon" Kyuhyun ducked his face forwards and rubbed his cheek with Ryeowook's, feeling that his words were slowly affecting his lover, since Ryeowook felt a little less resistant to Kyuhyun's hug and was about to abandon himself yet again into it.

"Well, I did find myself in the same hotel room, but we never...got intimate, okay? Never!" Kyuhyun corrected himself and quickly pecked Ryeowook's cheek, in fear that the man could pull away with an unexpected move.

"What's happened then? How come you're married with a woman you don't love, if the child we suspected to be yours is actually not?" Ryeowook exhaled, tired but focused hard at following the explanation at his best. Kyuhyun's lips on his face were quite distracting though.

"It was all a well-planned trap. She needed a fake father in order to protect the baby from bad people and so she enacted our one-night-stand, not that I did anything to prevent that to happen and I'm sorry..." Kyuhyun rushed to explain, hoping to be able to cuddle a little bit more with Ryeowook in his arms, but this one surprisingly let out a low groan and planted both hands on his chest, so to push him away.

"You can't understand what you're talking about, can you?" Ryeowook glared at him and Kyuhyun frowned, confused for having to bear with those words and rejection "You let her shamelessly use you, when all you had to do instead was to protect me! Because of her we lengthened our staying in Korea, we risked to break up, I was by a psycho and you married her as that were the cherry on top of the cake! Kyuhyun, she ruined us, how can you be so chill about being taken advantage of?!"

"I...I know, I was angry, I am angry at her a lot!" Kyuhyun reproached, shrugging as a self-defense.

"No, you should be furious like me!" Ryeowook stomped a foot on the ground and a thin cloud of dust rose from the gravel road "Let me tell you straight once again...because of her, because of the trick she played, because she took you away from me and acted the role of the martyr, I fell into depression and attempted suicide!"

At those words Kyuhyun shivered for the second time. He was right. If there hadn't been Zhou Mi to watch over him, Ryeowook might have been probably long gone, and that was only because of a stupid trick, a trap set in order to keep them away. 

"Ryeowook..." he tried to approach the other man and walked some steps forwards. Ryeowook stretched both arms and kept them as a measure to stay away from Kyuhyun "No, don't!" he snapped.

"Baby, don't be like this" Kyuhyun sighed, on the brink of despair. What was he doing? He should have been siding with his lover from the very beginning, instead of showing comprehension for what Jiwon had done.

"Don't baby me, I said! Don't even come near me, Cho Kyuhyun!" shutting eyes, Ryeowook shook his head and stepped back, but since he couldn't see where he was going, Kyuhyun could profit of his little lost orientation sense and swiftly grabbed him by the waist. Back-hugging the petite pianist, Kyuhyun was able to chain him to his body and this time he wouldn't have let go: "Please, I can't bear to listen you reject me" he whispered into his ear and Ryeowook shuddered at once "There's no need to repeat my neverending list of faults. I was the one at wrong here, I am the one who needs to fix it all, now! But I don't want to keep thinking of Jiwon, it'd be like waking up every morning and personally choose to be sad and grumpy over trying to have a nice day. Which one would you pick out of the two?"

Ryeowook didn't reply, not immediately, but he did when Kyuhyun incited him to answer by humming again into his ear: "H-happiness..." he answered in a low whisper.

"See?"

"This doesn't make me forget how much hurt I am though!" Ryeowook insisted.

"We need to stop thinking about her and her baby, because it's no longer a big deal in our lives. Now it's only you and me, and our bright future ahead" Kyuhyun explained.

"How can it be any bright if you're still married to somebody else? Heaven only knows how long your divorce might take!"

"Gosh, Ryeowook! Why are you so obsessed with it?" Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and for a while loosened his hug, which he soon tightened again because he could feel Ryeowook stirring in the hold.

"Obsessed you say? Kyuhyun, I should have been the one walking down the aisle and claiming you as my husband, not a childhood friend whose existence I didn't even know about in the first place!"

"Can't you hear yourself? You're obsessed by this marriage thing! What if divorce fails to be accepted, uh? We can perfectly live together even if a stupid paper says that I'm her husband! I'm fine with that, as long as I am aware of the strong feelings I nurture for you and nobody else, you should do the same instead of complaining!"

"Say that again, I dare you to say that your divorce might fail, and I swear this is the last you'll se of me!" red in the face, Ryeowook hysterically snapped at him, reaction - his - that didn't help him to feel better at all since Kyuhyun's winding hold was about to suffocate him.

"Why are you threatening me, when you didn't even want to marry me at the beginning!" Kyuhyun attacked him.

"I never said that I didn't want to..." Ryeowook tried to reply, but he was cut off by Kyuhyun's fury "I tried to propose on that damn Christmas night and all you could say was that you thought I had drunk too much champagne for blabbering things on our marriage! Have you forgotten it already?"

"I..." Ryeowook gasped, at loss for everything - words, ideas, breath - to state back his position on the topic. That was true, and he had even considered that Christmas night to be the very one moment that cursed their lives, because Ryeowook thought to be the only one at fault for dealing with such a miserable turnover of events "...I thought we could have waited a little more, just a little while. I dreamed of a nice proposal, dinner out maybe but..." a lone tear gathered on the corner of his eye and soon Kyuhyun sighed, the sight of Ryeowook's crying was always too hurting. 

He moved a hand and with the back of his forefinger wiped that teardrop away, so to cup Ryeowook's face again and smile: "I'm here to fix everything" Kyuhyun whispered and Ryeowook unconciously found his way to rest a little bit on his lover's shoulder, where he sighed. The taller man then proceeded to his hair and rested his chin atop of his head, inhaling that way some of the sweet shampoo, a scent that was making him instantly drunk.

"Isn't erase any kind of wrongdoing supposed to be the ultimate goal you set, when arranging those appointments with the doctor? I'm now here to do the rest, that is loving and cherishing you from the bottom of my heart. Let me do that right now, and even if I am still married with her it doesn't mean that I won't go back to be a single man, no matter how long the trials will take. Remember what I promised? I'll be free for you, because you're the biggest prize one could ever dream to come across in his life"

Kyuhyun smiled and kissed Ryeowook's head, before the latter one could lift his face and let him kiss on the lips too. Slowly and sweetly, they were sealing their promise that way and Ryeowook was completely abandoning himself to Kyuhyun, this time any more sad or scared to face and fight adversities together.

"Instead you're the biggest idiot I could ever have met in my life" Ryeowook shook his head after the kiss.

"Why?"

"Because I won't let you win this easily. You're right, I set some self-achievement goals and I reached them all, now I'm challenging another one" he explained, biting lips as the words that he was about to say would be probably costing him too dear.

"What is it?" Kyuhyun asked, curious.

"I'm keeping away from you until you can come back to me as a single man" Ryeowook shut his eyes and let out a long, deep sigh.

"W-what?! Are you kidding me?!" Kyuhyun froze, flabbergasted for such a ridiculous plan that Ryeowook's mind was processing then.

"Not at all! You wanted to have your time to fix this, I'm giving you plenty other! Plus, I don't feel good to know that I'm dating a married man"

"Oh, gosh...no! Don't you dare! Is this a sort of punishment?!"

"It is" the pianist stubbornly pouted.

"Won't you be suffering the loss too?"

"You forget that I had to mentally work on that, so I'm perfectly able to endure it all and I will, now that you're back in Paris. The idea makes me feel better, but I'm not ready to plunge into our former troubles again. I mean, I got rid of mine, now it's your time to get rid of yours, that means Jiwon, her baby, and most importantly that damn marriage you've got going on between the two of you" Ryeowook nodded as he proceeded to explain his point of view.

"So...what does this mean? No cuddles, no kisses, no..."

"Oh no, sweetie. You'll be having nothing from me for the time being. I hope you've already got yourseld a hotel room ready, because I won't let you inside our house tonight, nor the followings"

Kyuhyun didn't think of being able to widen both eyes and mouth more than what he had already done, or he would have probably suffered a facial paralysis then: "It's my place too, though!" he reproached, a bit childishly, like a kid did when not allowed to have an ice cream.

"Technically, it's not. The lease has got my and Mimi's signatures on it"

"How can you be so cruel?!" Kyuhyun shook him by the shoulders, to which Ryeowook winced a little bit, but kind of expected that to be among Kyuhyun's wide range of reactions of astonishment.

"I'm not. I'm simply trying to take things without too much excitement, when in truth nothing's been solved yet. Can you understand my point of view?" he pouted again and this time it was his turn to cup Kyuhyun's face and hold it close to his, so they could intently look into each other eyes.

Kyuhyun tried to dive into Ryeowook, but couldn't grasp any meaning behind such a foolish decision the pianist was trying to establish: "Honestly? No, I can't. We're here now, we're finally together again! We can solve it all by simply joining forces and in the meanwhile enjoy each other too!"

"I want that, oh if I want that, Kyu. But, I'm worried that while we work so hard to sort things out, there will be yet another problem to ruin our plans. So, before that happens, I won't let myself be too hyper by your return until you can be mine only, and you said it'll take another couple of months until the baby's birth, regardless of the paternity"

Kyuhyun looked elsewhere, deeply hurt by Ryeowook's final decision. How was he supposed to cope with it, when he knew that his lover could be found now under the same sky and not on the opposite side of the world anymore? How could one set his heart at peace in front of such a thing, when Kyuhyun's only wish had always been the one of never letting go of Ryeowook again. Now it was the other man's wish to stay away for a little while, and he could also understand why Ryeowook wanted to make sure of being granted the chance to be together without anyone to disturb, or he himself would have gone crazy before yet another trouble could interfere in their lives.

However Kyuhyun was really fed up with all this pull and push thing. When was he going to live calmly and indistrubed his life as a married man, when could he stop looking for peace and finally enjoying it while growing old with Ryeowook by his side? 

"Yes, but I said it because I still need to protect you and...never mind" Kyuhyun slumped shoulders, looking defeated "Can I still meet you though, right?" he sighed, nurturing a small last hope.

Knowing the result of his actions, Ryeowook tenderly glanced at Kyuhyun, gently his cheek and feeling his lover leaning into his touch: "You can, silly. Of course you can, but..."

"But?"

"I want you to keep it down" the pianist revealed "Let's pretend we are in our early stage of relationship. Ask me out, don't rush too much and respect my spaces, simply put you need to discreetly woo me all over again"

"All over again?!" Kyuhyun protested, his hand moved to grab the pianist's and stopped him from caressing him further. Holding that hand in his, he voiced out his fears: "Ryeowook...I'm starting to think that you've been doing this because you need to find a way to silently break up with me..." he was scared just to thinkabout such a remote possibility, not to mention what kind of inner turmoil was investing him right when he had to speak up.

"No, Kyu, that's not it" Ryeowook giggled, probably thinking that side of Kyuhyun was too cute to handle "I love you, I love you more than anything else, but I'm scared that I could grow on hate you if there were to be something wrong in our bond right at this delicate stage. That will make me suffer even more, that's why I want to be careful. When everything will be over, I swear no more brakes and rules between us"

Still holding tight that soft hand, Kyuhyun stayed silent for a minute that lasted an eternity before he could resign himself to Ryeowook's stange wish: "So, have you really made up your mind now? Am I seeing you walk away from me again?" he asked, fighting hard to keep his voice steady and not having to deal with a cracking one.

"This is not a final farewell, Kyu... This is just a temporary goodbye" Ryeowook bitterly smiled, before he could promptly hug Kyuhyun around his neck and dive under the crook of it, completely hiding his flushed face and some persisting tears.

"How am I supposed to react to that? Is it okay for me to let you go and say that I won't be affected by it? I don't want this to be a goodbye, I want to wake up every morning and have you there with me, so I can greet you as sweetly as possible every single day of my life..." Kyuhyun still complained, this time tired to fight for a lost cause. He brought a hand in his hair and wildly ruffled it in distress.

"Do you think that I'm fine with this?" Ryeowook's voice came out as a suppressed echo muffled on Kyuhyun's clothes.

"No, I don't. But you look fairly okay, how is it possible?!"

"I'm trying to put all my efforts into it, but believe me when I say it's difficult"

"Then don't go! Don't leave me right now! We are one, we can overcome it, I need to be by your side to protect you now more than ever" Kyuhyun rushed to say, pressing both hands on Ryeowook's hips so to pull him closer than possible.

"Are we still threatened by bad people? Kyu, tell me! Are we?" Ryeowook insisted, scared to leave his safe spot now that he was pressed chest to chest with the man he loved, whose heartbeat ticked all his time.

"Yes, we are..." Kyuhyun roughly sighed, strained of the smallest drop of patience as his hands on Ryeowook's back were moving up and down to warm him up and give him the nedded comfort "...but if I haven't told you anything about it yet, it's because I can't at the moment. I want you to be far away from all of this"

"Then we need to keep away from each other a little while more, we would be an easy target together" Ryeowook trembled in Kyuhyun's arms and his hair tickled the man under his jaw.

"We would be an even easier one if we stay away, though" Kyuhyun tried to convince him "Damn me for saying this but, what if something bad happened to you and I am not there to help you? I might sound tragic, but I won't ever forgive myself over it" he shuddered at the thought of all the tough challenges that Ryeowook had to fight on his own all this while ever since their first meeting: an envious student pointing at him a gun and threatening to kill him, a psycho who him, the suicide attempt. Even though Ryeowook looked extremely fine and totally healed from his scars, nobody could convince Kyuhyun that another accident of the sort might not happen to his lover anymore.

"Kyu, stop it! Please, it's already difficult this way, there's no need to add up onto our neverending list of troubles, okay? Look at me, I'm here, I'm fine, I'm healthy and I'll patiently keep on waiting. I trust you and I know everything will be alright in the end, we will go back to walk down the path that destiny has drawn for us, we're just taking some kind of wrong detours right now, nothing that cannot be fixed with a little patience and hard work"

"Ryeowook, you changed" Kyuhyun suddenly blurted out, disquiet for mistaking that stranger for his Ryeowook, since his lover would have never given up on their relationship that easily, not even after experiencing all the world's existing pain.

"No, I didn't. I just evolved and matured, but this won't make me change the way I feel for you" Ryeowook blushed and bit his bottom lip. Okay, maybe traces of the man he was crazily in love with could be found in that other Ryeowook too.

"Prove it" Kyuhyun challenged him then, hoping to feel his lover's feelings closer than ever.

Ryeowook lightly chuckled then. Kyuhyun was typically greedy, not even in the most difficult times he would show understanding, instead he would have always asked for tons of confirmations, that time there was no exception. The petite man purposely ground his hips once, just so his stomach could perfectly be glued with Kyuhyun's and feel the warmth of their bodies, he slowly caressed the taller man's neck, letting his fingers travel on his nape, where he designed little circles before curling some locks of Kyuhyun's hair and then approached him. With faces that were gradually meeting each other and deleting any stupid, annoying gap, Ryeowook found Kyuhyun's soft lips to peck and taste, as if his mouth were the juicy, forbidden fruit from the Original Sin tree.

Softly, he pressed his lips on to Kyuhyun's and them with the point of his tongue before he could begin to move on them and set a gentle pace with little demanding sloppy kisses: "Is this enough?" he breathed, intent at looking Kyuhyun's lips so close and his own after tasting them, convinced to savour their taste even after parting.

"I don't know...I might need another kiss to say it" Kyuhyun finally smirked very close to Ryeowook's mouth and plunged himself in to the way he loved owning Ryeowook the best, senslessly kissing him until he was deprived of his breath. His mouth, greedy and rushing, ate Ryeowook's and soon unleashed his curious tongue, allowing it to meet the other man's and therefore engaging their usual whirling dance. Ryeowook began to softly moan, enjoying each of those warm in his mouth as he braced himself and literally clasped Kyuhyun's sleeves to support himself in the dominating hug.

His moans became a bit louder and his breaths were shallow, almost inexistent. But the worst arrived when Kyuhyun kept of pulling him against his body, because his lower half detected the unexpected poking presence of his lover's tight jeans. Kyuhyun was already aroused and that happened after some innocent kisses, he couldn't imagine if he had allowed himself to another kind of action what would have happened, since the both of them had been longing for each other's physical presence ever since Ryeowook's abuse.

"Let me go now" Ryeowook parted a bit unwillingly, while Kyuhyun didn't what to know of letting him go "Or, you won't be able to control yourself anymore" he planted both hands on Kyuhyun's shoulders and pushed him a little bit away, so he could look down at where their bodies were still joint. Kyuhyun did the same and blushed, ashamed for the evident reaction: "I'm sorry"

"There's nothing wrong, Kyu. You want me and I want you, this is the natural response of our bodies" Ryeowook his cheek and tilted head onto the side, looking too cute to be true.

"What about dinner?" Kyuhyun nodded and quickly tried to change topic, a bit unease for the fact that the more he wished to own Ryeowook, the longer he would have to wait before actually taking him "I wanted to take you out tonight"

"We'll have it another day" Ryeowook smiled.

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes then, angry for being turned down. Ryeowook had consented to meetings at least, wasn't dineer out merely a meeting? If not, where were supposed to be his damn, secret meetings with his legit fiancé? "Can I at least call you later?" he asked, sounding a little hurt puppy from a dog shelter with his wailing in hope to have found his future adopting family.

"I was hoping to hear you say that. I want to get your lullabies over the phone, I kind of miss them"

"Gosh, just let me go back home with you and..." Kyuhyun wanted to express his frustrations. Why bothering with some lullabies over the phone, when he would have gladly stayed awake to whisper him in the ear loving words all night long, while cuddling, hugging and caressing each other in bed? But Ryeowook placed a finger on his lips and silenced him: "I'll be waiting for your call, love" he removed his finger and slowly kissed Kyuhyun again.

"I love you, sunshine. More than what you can ever imagine" the taller man wailed again, already desperate for having to soon open arms and let him slip away from his hug.

"I know, and I love you more. Bear with me, please" Ryeowook pecked his cheek and leaned in to briefly rest his forehead against Kyuhyun's.

"Take care, Ryeowook" one exhaled, slowly retracting his hands on the pianist's hips and then freeing him of the hold.

"You too, Kyuhyun" the petite man replied, in a whisper mixed with love, regret, longing and many other feelings. He turned heels and left Kyuhyun standing like an idiot, frozen on his spot, while all he could do was forcing himself to hold his head up high and not turn around. One mistake and he would have probably run all over again towards the man he was purposely leaving, even if for just a little while. Kyuhyun's powerless gaze on his back had never felt that burning before.

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A/N: OMG! It took me forever, but finally this chapter is up! Since I've been receiving many request for this update, I expect you to flood me with comments and opinions! ù.u 

We're back in Paris (a city I love very much and that I try to visit at least once or twice a year, now it's been quite a while that I don't fly over there, but I'll try to resume my tradition once successfully move in London again...*crosses fingers*) and Kyuhyun's just made a surprise appearance in front of Ryeowook!

Ryeowook's changed a little bit, his character is always growing and improving, he's evolving like a Pokémon okay, bad comparison lol and he's now setting the rules of the game. He's had too much troubles already while bearing the forced separation and, espite knowing that the baby is not Kyuhyun's, he prefers to wait a little bit more before completing their reunion once and forever, he's worried that someone could always pull some strange tricks and separate them again. Plus, Kyuhyun's still legally married with Jiwon, and he doesn't want to be haunted by that thought while living again with Kyuhyun. Therefore he suggests to go back to some occasional dates, phone calls, meetings, sporadic kisses and caresses, but nothing else until Kyuhyun is free to be fully his. 

This was the unexpected turnover I was hinting at in the previous chapters notes.

I mean, I gave it a thought for a while and I came to the conclusion that, if I were in Ryeowook's shoes and had to deal with a fiancé stuck in a marriage with someone else, regardless of the tiring pull and push, I'd be really, really angry if he were to appear before me without a successful divorce! è.é What do you think? Do you agree with my/Ryeowook's pov, or you'd have thrown everything into the sea and gone back to your fiancé? Ryeowook wants Kyuhyun to patiently endure a little bit all he had to handle for this while like a sort of punishment. But he loves Kyuhyun, so it's nothing too drastic...hopefully XD

Chapters to go until we reach the end: probably 3 or 4 at the very most. I'm sorry if this is having some slow updates, but I just want ot be able to convey the right feelings at the right time T-T I'm such a problematic writer...XDD Thank you for bearing with me all this long! Comment, subscribe and upvote if you haven't done it yet! Till the next time... xxx