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Chapter Text

They were in high school when they met. It was all a coincidence when they began to hang out together. They kept on seeing each other at school or outside and, inevitably, they began talking and became friends. Soon enough, they got close and on the umpteenth sleepover at Soobin’s, Yeonjun kissed him. They became boyfriends but decided to keep it private, only they would know about it.

Then, they entered university and everything was going well until it wasn’t anymore.

Yeonjun couldn’t believe he had said those words. How could he? That was the century’s mystery.

“Wh-what did you say?” Soobin said, his voice breaking.

“Let’s break up.” Yeonjun repeated.

After almost 5 years of being together, without any preamble, Yeonjun dropped a bomb.

“You can’t be serious, are you fucking kidding me?” Soobin asked, suddenly angry.

Yes, get angry at me, that’s all I deserve.

“I’m dead serious.” The pink haired guy managed to say, trying his best to hold the tears back and keep a straight face without looking at Soobin.

Soobin got closer and grabbed him by his collar.

“Fucking look at me and say it again.” He almost growled.

Yeonjun looked up at Soobin and almost broke.

“Let’s break up.” I love you. I love you so much.

Soobin let go of him and took a few steps back.

“Go away. I don’t want to see you ever again.” He said, his voice almost a whisper and Yeonjun could see that he would cry any second now.

Knowing that if he saw Soobin break he could go back on his words and ruin both their lives, he just stayed silent and went out. He closed the door behind him and felt his heart break when he heard Soobin wail but forced himself to go.

Yeonjun stayed in his car for a while before he finally found it in himself to get out and walk to his parents’ house’s door. He didn’t bother ringing the bell, he pushed the door open and went in, making his way to the living room, ignoring every maid that greeted him.

“You better keep your promise.” He said, looking at his parents with fire in his eyes.

“I never break a promise. You’ll be able to live as freely as you want until you’re 28.” His dad said, not even looking at him.

“Good.” Yeonjun said and went out, slamming the door behind him and making his way back to his car.

He sat down behind the steering wheel, looked one last time at this house he hates and, finally, let his tears fall.

Yeonjun truly believed that he was the stupidest man in the whole damned world. What the hell was he doing here? What if he saw him? Yeonjun shouldn’t have listened to HueningKai. He shouldn’t have come back to Korea one week earlier in the first place. He should have stayed in the US, getting ready for when all hell would break loose. But no, he had decided to act on impulse, take the first plane to Incheon and, here he was, looking at Soobin from a distance, hand in hand with his husband, smiling widely.

Yeonjun was probably hurting but he had been hurting every day for the last 6 years so he couldn’t really tell. He just sighed, trying to engrave this image of Soobin in his mind and went to his car, driving to his penthouse.

When he arrived, he made himself some coffee and sat down in front of his TV, hesitating if he should turn it on or not. His phone rang and he picked it up

“Did you go?” HueningKai asked

“I did. I regret it but I did. He still looks as beautiful as ever. I hope he didn’t see me.” Yeonjun answered, sighing.

“Well, he saw you. I mean, he thinks he saw you. He told me he thought he saw someone who looked like you but with black hair. But he’s convinced himself he hallucinated because he kept thinking about you all day.”

“Why would he think about me? I broke his heart and he thinks about me on his wedding day? That’s nonsense.”

“You were his first love, he never loved someone as much as he loved you. Not even Jiwoo. To be honest, I don’t really know why they got married.”

“Stop saying that, Huening-ah. They love each other, that’s why they got married. I’m sorry but I’m tired. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Rest well, hyung. See ya.”

Soobin was shocked to say the least. Choi Yeonjun, his ex-boyfriend had become the CEO of Red Fox group, the biggest company in South Korea and maybe of the whole world. He had short black hair now and he looked so pale under all those flashes. Soobin remembered that he never particularly liked being the centre of attention so he didn’t understand what had happened. The biggest shock to him was discovering that Yeonjun wasn’t just loaded but filthy rich, a first-generation chaebol’s son.

“I don’t get how they can let that young man become such an important CEO. What if he messes it all up?” Jiwoo, Soobin’s husband, said.

They were watching the morning news before going to work.

Soobin had been with Jiwoo for 2 years and they had decided to get married 6 months ago. Jiwoo was the one to propose and Soobin had naturally said yes. He had felt weird at first because he had always imagined that, one day, he would get married to Yeonjun. But as time went by, he grew accustomated to the idea that Jiwoo was going to be his husband, not Yeonjun. It made him feel upset and guilty to still think about Yeonjun, even 6 years later. Soobin loved Jiwoo, that’s why he had been excited to get married to him. But on the D-Day, he could have sworn he had seen Yeonjun. He had told HueningKai about it and the latter had told him that it couldn’t be possible since the other had went God-knows-where after breaking up with him.

But seeing Yeonjun on TV now, Soobin was sure Yeonjun had been there, there was no other explanation. The only Yeonjun Soobin had known had blonde and pink hair. How could he have seen him with black hair if he hadn’t been there? Soobin sighed and turned to Jiwoo.

“I don’t think they just made him CEO out of the blue. He must have been studying and working hard to get there. Just because he’s the former CEO’s son doesn’t mean a thing.” Soobin replied.

“I don’t know. It’s a bit strange in my opinion. Everyone knows Choi Minju but no one knew he had a son.”

“Maybe they didn’t want him to be in the spotlight before he became CEO. It can be hard to live as a very rich kid. You never know if people befriend you for your money and not for who you are.” Soobin explained, remembering the first time Yeonjun had told him he was rich. He was worried to show this side of him to Soobin, not wanting him to be his friend just because he was rich. But Soobin had told him that he had befriended him before knowing he was rich and that it didn’t change a single thing.

“You seem to know a lot about it.” Jiwoo said, looking suspiciously at Soobin.

“I knew someone, long ago.” Soobin evasive.

Soobin had never told Jiwoo about Yeonjun and he didn’t plan on ever telling him. Not that he still had feelings for Yeonjun, of course not, but he didn’t want Jiwoo to get jealous or to feel weird about it.

“Anyway, let’s go to work, shall we?” Jiwoo said, getting up.

“Isn’t it too early?” Soobin asked, turning away from the TV.

“I have a very important meeting today and I can’t be late. I’m sorry I won’t be able to drop you off, baby.” Jiwoo apologised, kissing Soobin on the cheek before going out.

Soobin stared at the door for a few seconds before turning back to the TV. He saw Yeonjun trying to get into his office building, reporters all around him and turned the TV off, getting ready for work.

“Hi, hyung!” HueningKai greeted him.

Soobin was the proud owner of a little bookshop just outside of Myeongdong. When Soobin was asked about what he wanted to study in university, he had answered literature because he loved books. But when asked about what job he’d like to have, he could never answer. After Yeonjun broke up with him and disappeared from Earth, he started reading a lot of books to escape the harsh reality. One day, as he was telling HueningKai about the book he had been reading, the latter had told him that it would be awesome if he could open a bookshop. Soobin had read so many books it was like there wasn’t a single book in the world he didn’t know of. Soobin thought about it for a while, finding the idea quite appealing, and succeeded in opening his bookshop. Thankful to HueningKai, Soobin had hired him and they had been working together for almost 3 years. That’s actually where Soobin had met Jiwoo. Jiwoo had been looking for a light book to read before going to sleep and, to thank Soobin for helping him, he had given him his number.

“Hi, Kai-yah. How have you been?” Soobin asked, going to put his things on the coat rack behind the counter.

“I’ve been well! How was your honeymoon?”

“It was cool. We went to Jejudo and had a blast to be honest. We went to this fun amusement park about sex it was hilarious to see everyone getting photographed sitting on this gigantic penis.” Soobin giggled. “But I’m glad to be back, I missed my baby.”

“I missed you too, hyung.” HueningKai replied, smiling.

“I meant the shop, actually. But I missed you too.”

For lunch, Soobin and Kai went to eat at a Chinese restaurant a few streets away. They always went there because they loved the chef, Kim Seokjin. He was a sweetheart and his food was the best the two friends had ever eaten.

At some point while they were eating, HueningKai brought up Yeonjun. Kai was the only one who knew about Yeonjun besides Soobin’s family. Kai had been friends with both Soobin and Yeonjun in university so, of course, he knew they had been together.

“So… Have you heard about Yeonjun hyung?” HueningKai carefully asked.

“I did.” Soobin simply answered.

“And, what do you think of it?”

“I don’t care to be honest. He’s not in my life anymore, I couldn’t care less about what he’s become.”

“Hyung, I know you don’t mean that. Last week you were thinking about him. It was your wedding day and you thought of him. You even thought you saw him.” HueningKai insisted.

“It doesn’t mean a thing. And, by the way, I understood this morning that I had actually seen him. He was here, in Korea, just last week and he went to see me on my wedding day. On my wedding day, for Heaven’s sake. The same wedding day we’ve always talked about before he broke up with me as if I had only been a fling all these years.” Soobin said, his voice raising as he got angrier as he talked.

HueningKai sighed and took Soobin’s hand in his.

“Hyung, you’re talking like you would have liked for Yeonjun to come greet you. You know he would never do this. He prefers seeing you happy even if that means he’s not the one making you smile.”

“You sound like you know a lot about him. Like you’ve been–” Soobin cut himself and HueningKai adverted his eyes.

“You knew all along where he was and you never told me.” Soobin said, his voice almost a whisper.

“Not all along. It’s just… I don’t know, one day he texted me, asking about you. It was a few months after your breakup. We kept talking afterwards, that’s all.” HueningKai replied.

“Where was he?” Soobin asked.

He knew he shouldn’t ask that but he was curious. His first love had disappeared 6 years ago and he needed to know where he had been all along.

“He was in the US. He was getting ready for becoming the CEO of his dad’s company.”

“You knew he was a chaebol too?”

“We talked a lot over the phone in almost six years. By the way, I’m sorry but I was the one to tell him about your wedding. I figured he wanted to see you on your most important day.”

Soobin almost scoffed and immediately felt guilty. His wedding day should be the most important one but when he thought about it, the most important day of his life was the day Yeonjun kissed him for the first time. It was ages ago but he could still feel his lips as if that kiss had happened yesterday.

“I don’t care anyway.” Soobin stated and HueningKai sighed, knowing the topic was closed.

Soobin was looking at the papers and at his phone. He had signed them and was now wondering what he should do. He wasn’t sad, he was feeling light, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. For the first time in months – even years – he didn’t feel guilty thinking like that. After some moments, he got up, shooting a text to HueningKai and went out. Ten minutes later, Soobin was entering his favourite bar, the Magic Island. He went to sit at the counter, Taehyun immediately coming to him.

“Hey, Soobin, long time no see.” He said, smiling.

“Yeah, I’ve been busy being married. It’s been what? Five months? Six months?” Soobin asked.

“I don’t know but that doesn’t matter. What does, though, is that you came back. Let me pour you a drink. What do you want?”

“I don’t know. What do you usually give just divorced men?”

“They usually ask for a whiskey. But I think you’d prefer a cheap beer.” Taehyun said, immediately grabbing a bottle of beer and emptying it in a glass.

“Good choice. How did you know?” Soobin asked, impressed by how easy it was for Taehyun to always choose just what Soobin needs.

“You look more like a man who came to drink for fun than to drown his sadness. I’m sorry for you, by the way. Wanna talk about it?” Taehyun asked, looking concerned.

“Long story short: I had been with him for two years when we decided to get married. I discovered that he was a selfish piece of shit who didn’t really give two fucks about me, always going out to drink with his co-workers. Even cheated on me two weeks ago so I decided I was done and came home with the divorce papers. He tried to talk me out of it but he eventually signed the damned thing and left my house. Here I am now, waiting for HueningKai who’ll, hopefully, arrive at some point.” Soobin said, turning to look at the door. When no one entered, he turned back to Taehyun.

“Well, he was a piece of shit. It’s a shame you had to get married to discover who he really was but better late than sorry.”

“I guess.”

Just then, the door opened and Soobin didn’t bother turning around to look. He would drink his beer, waiting for HueningKai to arrive. Someone sat down beside him but stayed silent, not ordering anything yet.

“What would you like, sir?” Taehyun asked.

“A whiskey, please.” The man said and Soobin stopped breathing.

That voice. He could recognise it anywhere. Yeonjun.

He turned to look at his side and found Choi Yeonjun, wearing a white shirt with ripped jeans, looking at him.

“Long time no see, Soobin-ah.”

Chapter Text

Yeonjun thought a lot about it. HueningKai called him out of the blue to tell him that Soobin was divorced and was waiting for him in their favourite bar, Magic Island. Yeonjun was like, ‘ok, what do you want me to do with this information, celebrate?’. But then, HueningKai told him to go there instead of him. Yeonjun wasn’t sure about it but HueningKai told him to trust him so he did. He wore something casual, going to a bar in a suit on a Friday evening would be weird. He also wanted to look normal to Soobin, he didn’t want to come off as the new CEO of South Korea’s biggest company.

When he arrived, he stayed in his car a few minutes. Was he really going to do that? Show up in front of Soobin who was freshly divorced? Some part in him thought it wasn’t fair for his ex-lover. But the majority wanted to see him, to have him a bit closer again, to be able to talk to him. Yeonjun wasn’t expecting anything though. Maybe Soobin would shout at him, tell him to get lost, to go away and, if that really was Soobin’s wish, Yeonjun would. But, if Soobin let him talk, he would explain everything to him. Why he acted the way he did and why he’s able to tell him everything now.

Yeonjun gathered his courage and got off his car, walking to the bar’s entrance. He pushed the door and was met with Soobin’s back at the counter. He could recognise him anywhere, anytime. He walked up to the counter and sat right beside Soobin. He didn’t order until the bartender looked at him.

“What would you like, sir?” he asked.

“A whiskey, please.” Yeonjun answered, turning to look at Soobin. “Long time no see, Soobin-ah.”

Soobin looked at him as if he had grown two heads. It was surely disturbing to see your ex, six years after he broke your heart and disappeared. Soobin stared for a few seconds before frowning.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he coldly asked.

“I’m here to drink. What are you doing here?”

“How did you know I was here?” Soobin asked before sighing deeply. “HueningKai is dead meat, I’m going to kill him once I see him tomorrow.”

“Don’t blame him. He told me to come but I was the one to agree.” Yeonjun calmly said.

“And you’re the biggest asshole I’ve ever met for even thinking of coming.”

Yeonjun was prepared for something like that but it still hurt. When did the pet name ‘love’ turned into ‘asshole’? Was that what Soobin thought of him?

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry for coming but I thought–”

“Let me stop you right there. I just got divorced and I’m not in the mood to be in the same place as you or talk with you.” Soobin downed his beer in one go and looked at Yeonjun again. “You hurt me so much when you broke up, it was so sudden.” Tears gathered in his eyes. “And I hate you for it. But I hate myself more because since that day I can’t stop thinking about you, about what I had done for you to break up with me and disappearing without an explanation.”

“I can tell you everything. I promise. You just have to give me a chance to explain myself.” Yeonjun pleaded.

“Not right now.”

“When? Tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”

“I don’t know. I have to go.” Soobin said, getting up and calling Taehyun over as he had gone to the other side of the counter when the two men began talking.

“Are you going already?” he asked, looking sad.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back soon. Can I pay you some other time?”

“It’s on the house, don’t worry. See you.” Taehyun said and Soobin left the bar, leaving Yeonjun alone at the counter.

“You know, he’s playing the divorcee card but he didn’t really love that guy.” Taehyun said, talking to Yeonjun. “I’ve known him for some years now but I can tell that no matter how many guys he dated, he never got over you. Sorry for eavesdropping by the way.”

“It’s okay. And, for the record, I never got over him either.” Yeonjun said, finishing his glass and putting a fifty thousand wons bill on the counter and leaving the bar as well.

It wasn’t until two weeks later that Yeonjun received a text from Soobin. He was calling him to meet at the café they used to go to when they were in university. It was a cosy café hidden between two make-up stores. Most of the people there were students who sought some calm to work on assignments and have cheap but good coffee. Yeonjun had so many memories there, he wondered why Soobin had chosen this specific café. He could have called him to the convenience store or even the karaoke. But he had chosen this café. The same one they had their first public kiss in. The same café where a friend of Yeonjun’s dad had seen them and the very reason why he had to break up with Soobin. Maybe Soobin had noticed that things began to get weird since that day. Yeonjun tried to shake those thoughts away. It wasn’t the time to get all emotional yet.

Yeonjun stood outside the café for some time when his phone buzzed.

‘Have you arrived yet?’

Beomgyu, his manager, was asking him.

Yeonjun still remembered how they had met. When he arrived in LA, six years ago, Yeonjun had gotten lost in the airport. He, by chance, stumbled upon a Korean guy who looked around his age and was giving out flyers about some new fried chicken restaurant. Yeonjun took one of his flyers and, to thank him, Beomgyu had told him to not go there but to follow him to a better fast food. After talking some time with him, Yeonjun offered him a job: being his manager and full-time friend. Beomgyu, after hearing how much he’ll be paid for being his manager, immediately said yes and they had been friends since.

Yeonjun smiled at the memory and texted him back.

‘Yes. I don’t know if I’ll have the balls to go in.’

‘You better go in and win him back’

‘Okay, okay stop, you nosy mf’

Yeonjun put his phone in his pocket and entered the café.

He immediately spotted Soobin. He was sitting at their usual table, the one they always sat at because it was far from the windows and they could see everything that was happening around them.

Yeonjun walked to him, his legs feeling like jelly. He sat down and a waitress came to him.

“What would you like, sir?”

“I’ll take an americano, please.”

She bowed and went away.

Yeonjun looked towards Soobin and met his eyes. Soobin looked at him, expression blank but Yeonjun still found him the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

“Hi.” Yeonjun greeted him.

“Explain.” Soobin sternly said.

Straight to the point I see. Okay, let’s go.

“I broke up with you because of my dad.” Yeonjun began. Soobin looked unimpressed and he took that as a sign to go on.

“My dad, the ex-CEO of the Red Fox Group, found out that we were together. He has no problem with me being gay but he has a problem with people like you. People who aren’t rich. People he calls commoners.” Yeonjun paused, gauging Soobin’s expression.

“And? What happened?” he asked but his voice was less cold than earlier.

“He threatened to make your life harder than it already was. Your parents had a lot of problems at the time and he told me that if we kept on seeing each other, he would find a way to break your family so you would never get up again.”

Just thinking about what his father had said made him boil with rage. At the time, he had cried, begged his father to leave Soobin alone, to let him stay with him because he loved him. Now, he was just so angry his hands were trembling but he calmed down.

“I know that’s not an excuse and I’m not trying to make one. I just thought that you’d like to know the reason behind all this mess.” Yeonjun quietly said, not daring to look at Soobin.

Soobin cleared his throat and put his hands flat on the table.

“Thank you for telling me this. But I have a question. Why did you leave? Couldn’t you have stayed, at least as a friend?”

“You know I couldn’t have stayed as a friend. But I made a deal with my dad. If I broke up with you he had to leave you alone. To be sure he would keep his promise, I told him that even if I didn’t want to, I’d go to the US and study so I could become the company’s CEO when he retires.” Yeonjun answered.

“But it’s not fair. You had to make two sacrifices and him only one.” Soobin said, frowning.

“With my departure, he also lost his only son. Even after all this time, I can’t look at him without thinking of what he made me do. I will never forgive him.” Yeonjun answered.

At that moment, the waitress came with Yeonjun’s coffee and left right away. Soobin stared at his face for a few seconds before looking around him.

“It all started here, right? All this mess, like you said.” Soobin asked and Yeonjun nodded.

“The kiss we shared. Our first and last public kiss. One of my father’s friends saw us.”

“But why didn’t you tell me he was blackmailing you? I would have understood. Maybe I would have followed you to the US.”

“I couldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t have allowed you to follow me there. You had your own dream here. And you would have waited for me, right? Six years is a long time.” Yeonjun stated.

Soobin looked at him, making his heart beat like crazy. Yeonjun was still head over heels for Soobin but was it the same for the latter?

“You’re right. I would have waited for you.” Soobin admitted, blushing lightly.

Yeonjun was at a loss for words. He couldn’t believe Soobin told him that. It made hope bloom inside him. Did Soobin still love him after all? Did he still have a chance?

Silence took place between them as they looked at each other. For a second there, Yeonjun felt like they were back six years ago, their eyes and hearts full of love, looking at each other, and he knew Soobin felt the same.

“I couldn’t take all that time away from you.” Yeonjun said, breaking the silence. “And now that I see you, I know I made the right choice by leaving. You got your dream job and you even got married.”

“But I’m divorced now, it didn’t work out. And my job is the only thing I have besides my friends and family.” Soobin replied, sounding bitter.

“It’s better than nothing. I don’t like my job, I don’t have a family anymore and my only friend is my manager. I’m always alone. I’m young, too young for some people, no one takes me seriously. I may be the CEO but no one believes in me.” Yeonjun paused, thinking about his words. “Shit, I sound like a brat. I’m not trying to tell you that my life is worse than yours because it isn’t. We all have difficult lives, we all face hardships and we all have regrets.”

“I agree with you.” Soobin looked at his watch. “Look, I have to go now but maybe…” he looked away “maybe we could meet again sometime this week to catch up?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d love to.” Yeonjun answered, a genuine smile growing on his lips.

“I’ll text you.” Soobin said and got up to leave.

He had made a few steps when he stopped and turned around.

“What– what’s your biggest regret?” he asked, almost inaudibly.

Yeonjun’s smile fell and he looked Soobin in the eyes, more serious than ever.

“Leaving you. Leaving you is my biggest regret.”

Chapter Text

“You’re back sooner than I expected.” Taehyun said as Soobin sat down at the counter, twenty minutes after his meeting with Yeonjun.

“I need a whiskey.” Soobin simply replied.

“Was it that bad?” Taehyun asked, pouring Soobin’s drink.

Soobin shook his head.

“I wish it had gone bad. I wish I couldn’t see how much he still loves me when I looked into his eyes. I wish he didn’t have such a strong effect on me.” He said and downed his drink in one go.

“Wow, you better slow down, dude.”

“I want him so bad. I want him to be mine again but he hurt me so much. But I also know he didn’t want to and I trust him to not make the same mistake twice.”

He paused for a bit, tapping his empty glass, silently telling Taehyun to fill it up again.

“He told me his biggest regret was leaving me.”

Taehyun stayed silent for a few moments, watching Soobin drink.

“He never got over you.” he finally said, making Soobin look at him.

“What?”

“The other day, we chatted a little and he told me he never got over you.”

Soobin stared at him for a few seconds, not understanding.

“What the hell did you tell him so he admitted this to you? And don’t try to lie, I know you pushed him to tell you this.”

“First of all, I didn’t push him.” Taehyun said, pouting. “I just told him that you never loved Jiwoo and never got over him. He told me he felt the same.”

“I can’t believe it! How could you tell him?! And I acted all cold with him, he must have thought I looked so stupid!” Soobin whined, covering his face with his hands.

Taehyun softly smiled at his friend’s cuteness.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s actually a good thing I told him.”

“How can that be a good thing? It’s so humiliating!” Soobin asked, pouting.

“You just told me you wanted him to be yours again. If you’re sure about it, I just showed him a way to your heart. The choice is his to take it and yours to let him come to you.” Taehyun explained.

Soobin stopped pouting, thinking about Taehyun’s words.

“You’re a fucking philosopher, Taehyun-ah. But you’re right. I’ll let him come to me but if he takes too much time, I might push him a little bit. That’s okay, right?” Soobin asked, a bit unsure.

“It’s totally okay, Soobin-ah. As long as you’re sure about what you want, you can do whatever.” Taehyun replied, smiling.

“I’m feeling a lot better now.” Soobin stated, downing the rest of his whiskey. “I’m going home then. Thanks for the therapy. How should I repay you?”

“How has HueningKai been doing lately? I haven’t seen him in a while.” Taehyun asked, blushing.

“He’s been doing well. But you have his number, you can just ask him if he wants to hang out, you know?” Soobin teased him.

“Oh, shut up.” Taehyun replied and Soobin laughed out loud, saying goodbye to his friend and going home.

“I knew you’d be waiting for me.” Yeonjun said as he entered his apartment.

Beomgyu came up to him, his whole body buzzing with excitement.

“How did it go?” he avidly asked.

Yeonjun got rid of his shoes and jacket and went to sit down on his couch. He was living in a duplex on the last floor of one the tallest buildings in Seoul. It had five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a sauna, a study room, a kitchen and a living room. Yeonjun loved his living room. The window extended from side to side of the living room, showing a breath-taking view of Seoul. Yeonjun loved sitting on his couch, facing the window, to think about life while drinking.

He sat down and was surprised to find the view less breath-taking. Maybe because he had seen Soobin previously.

“It was super awkward at first. He sat there, all cold and told me to explain everything to him. I thought it would end there, that I’d explain myself to him and that he’d just go home afterwards. But he seemed to understand what I told him, which position I was in at the time and he asked me why I didn’t tell him my father was blackmailing me. He told me he would have followed me to the US.”

“He did?!” Beomgyu exclaimed, gasping.

“And I told him I wouldn’t have let him do this, that he had a dream here, in Korea. And I tried my luck. I asked him if I was right when I thought that he would have waited for me. I thought he would deny it but he confirmed it. We stayed in silence for some moments before I told him that, in the end, I had made the right choice. But he disagreed with me. He told me that even if he got married, it didn’t work out, that his job was all he had besides his friends and family. Then, I told him that I didn’t like my job, that I didn’t have any family and that you were my only friend. That because I was young, it didn’t matter if I was the company’s CEO since no one believed in me.”

“I believe in you.”

“And it means a lot to me.” Yeonjun said, smiling to his friend. “I finished by saying that I didn’t want to play the victim and that we all face hardships in life, that we all have regrets. He told me he had to leave and, I still can’t believe it, he told me we could meet again to catch up. I told him I’d be happy to and just as he was about to leave, he turned around and asked me what my biggest regret was.”

Yeonjun paused, not feeling bold enough to tell Beomgyu. By chance, his friend understood and talked for him.

"You told him it was leaving him.” He softly said and Yeonjun nodded.

Why did he feel tears welling up in his eyes? He didn’t cry in front of Soobin – what a relief! – so why did he suddenly feel emotional talking about it with Beomgyu? Yeonjun hated himself when he got all emotional and began to cry to evacuate.

“It’s okay, buddy, you can cry. Let it all out.” Beomgyu said, hugging Yeonjun tight.

Yeonjun cried for what felt like hours. He felt helpless but also hopeful because he had seen the open door when Soobin told him to meet again. But he was tired and stressed because of his and Beomgyu’s plan. What if it didn’t work out? What would happen to him then? And what if Soobin wanted them to stay friends? Yeonjun was sure he would never be able to only be friends with Soobin.

“Do you feel better?” asked Beomgyu when the tears finally stopped.

Yeonjun nodded, not trusting his voice yet and got out of Beomgyu’s embrace.

“Well, if you want my opinion on what happened, I’ll gladly tell you.” Beomgyu said, making Yeonjun smile.

“I think that the fact he stayed after you were done tells something about how he feels about you. I don’t know if he still loves you but I can tell he still cares about you and maybe more than both of you think. And he wants to see you again so that’s a very good sign. I know that you don’t think you can be friends with him but why not try it out? I know it was hard for you being without him all these years and I don’t want to remember those days.” Beomgyu said, looking at Yeonjun.

Yeonjun instinctively brought his hand to his wrist before letting go and nodding to Beomgyu’s words.

“You’re right.”

“Now, about no one believing in you, I can’t deny it. If only your father knew what you’re up to, he would literally die on the spot.” Beomgyu stated, giggling.

“I think he will when he finds out.” Yeonjun replied, laughing too. “If we succeed.”

“We will. There’s no way we won’t be able to. And, maybe you’ll have Soobin in your arms to celebrate with him.”

“I hope so.”

Two days later, Yeonjun was waiting for Soobin in a fancy café close to his place. When Soobin texted him and told him to choose a place, that was the only one that came to his mind. The café’s name was a bit cheesy for Yeonjun but he thought it suited him well and maybe Soobin would like it too. He hadn’t ordered anything yet, wanting to order together with Soobin. He was once again nervous about meeting him but also excited because he knew that Soobin wanted to meet him to catch up and not only to talk about their past.

Just then, a waitress stopped in front of his table as Soobin sat in front of him.

“What would you like to drink?” she politely asked.

“Um, I’ll take a lemonade.” Yeonjun answered before looking at Soobin. “What about you?”

“I’ll take an iced tea please.” Soobin softly answered.

The waitress bowed and walked away.

Soobin looked back at Yeonjun and smiled.

“Hi.” He cheerfully said.

“Hi. How are you?” Yeonjun asked, a bit taken aback by the change in demeanour compared to the last time but glad he wasn’t as cold anymore.

“I’m fine. How about you?”

“Good. I hope it didn’t take you too long to come all the way here.”

“It was alright. I chuckled seeing the café’s name. It’s so alike you.” Soobin said, his eyes disappearing as he smiled.

Yeonjun’s heart stopped for a second. He still couldn’t believe Soobin was so pretty. He had almost forgotten how happy it made him to see Soobin smile. He quickly got back to his senses and chuckled.

“Yeah. I like it though. Run Away. It’s quite a unique name for a café, right?”

“Indeed.”

They looked at each other for a few moments. Their moment was cut short by the waitress who had come back with their orders. They quickly thanked her and resumed in looking at each other but the magic wasn’t there anymore.

“So… how are you today?” Yeonjun asked, realising that he had already asked that.

“You already asked me, you know that.” Soobin stated.

“Yes. I’m sorry. But how have you been since last time?” Yeonjun asked, genuinely curious. He wondered if Soobin had felt just like he had: helpless, sad but also hopeful.

“I’ve been well. I met with Taehyun from the bar last time. Kai told me they had a date soon.” Soobin explained, giggling, his eyes sparkling as he talked about his friends.

That was something Yeonjun loved about Soobin. The way he loved his friends unconditionally. They were all equally precious to him and he cherished them all. Yeonjun suddenly wondered if Soobin would ever love him again, the way Yeonjun loved him.

“What about you?” Soobin asked, pulling Yeonjun out of his reverie.

“I’ve been busy with work, actually. There’s a lot of things going on right now, that’s why I decided to meet you here.”

“Are you going to have to go soon?” Soobin asked and his sad tone of voice was both cute and heart breaking for Yeonjun.

“Well, today I didn’t wanna go to the office so I worked from home. As the boss that’s one of the many advantages I have. But I unfortunately also have a lot of things to do.” Yeonjun paused, unsure of his next move. Well, here goes nothing I guess. “You can come home with me if you have nothing else to do. I’ll be a bit busy for a while but we could still hang out together.”

Soobin smiled so wide Yeonjun thought he was going blind.

“That’s fine. Let’s finish our drinks and let’s go.”

Soobin had so many things to think about. First of all, he had never seen a tallest building than the one Yeonjun lived in. Secondly, never had he been in an elevator for so long. He figured that it did take quite some time to get to the 54^th floor. When Yeonjun opened the door to his penthouse, Soobin’s jaw dropped. He was only standing on the doorway but he could already see how spacious it was. The first thing that caught his attention was the view. Soobin had never seen such a big patio door in real life and he wasn’t disappointed.

“Follow me, I’ll give you a tour.” Yeonjun said and Soobin did as he was told.

They firstly went to the kitchen; it was small but fully equipped and Soobin knew he’d be dreaming about baking with this brand-new oven. Then, Yeonjun showed him to the bathroom that was on the first floor.

“What do you mean by ‘first floor’?” Soobin asked and Yeonjun smiled.

“I mean that there’s a second floor.”

“But I haven’t seen any staircase.” Soobin said, looking around him.

Yeonjun put his hand on the wall next to the bathroom’s door and pushed. The wall opened and a staircase appeared.

“What the hell! This is so cool!” Soobin exclaimed, absolutely amazed. “And what’s up there?”

“My five bedrooms, two other bathrooms, the sauna and the study room.” Yeonjun explained, going up the stairs.

“A sauna?”

“Yes. I have a jacuzzi in there, it helps me relax when I’m too tired.” Yeonjun simply answered, a little smile on his lips.

Soobin suddenly imagined Yeonjun in his jacuzzi but with a faceless person, kissing them. He frowned and shook his head, forcing this thought out of his mind.

“You wanna see the study room?”

“Of course.” Soobin answered, smiling.

It was a little cosy room with a bookcase on every wall and three very comfortable-looking armchairs. Soobin already loved it.

“Have you read them all?”

“No. Some of these books aren’t interesting.”

“Then why do you have them?”

“They are my father’s. He doesn’t want me to throw them away so I put them all in the same place.” Yeonjun said, pointing to a little corner on the bookcase opposite of the door.

“So you’ve read all the books here except those?”

“Yeah. I had a lot of free time in America. And reading reminded me of you.” Yeonjun said, blushing and adverting his eyes.

A short silence took place before Soobin spoke.

“I still love reading. I own a bookshop.”

“I know. You've always loved books, so I was very happy when HueningKai told me you opened your own bookshop..”

Soobin shouldn’t have been surprised that Yeonjun remembered this. He always had been very attentive when Soobin talked, catching on the littlest things and memorising them right away just to bring them up at random times.

Soobin smiled.

“Didn’t you say you had work to do?”

“Yeah. Let’s go back down.” Yeonjun said and they went back to the living room.

“Well, make yourself at home, I’ll be sitting in the kitchen to work. If you need anything, just tell me.” Yeonjun said, awkwardly standing in front of Soobin.

They stood in silence, staring at each other, appreciated their newly found and fragile closeness. They had forgotten how comfortable it was to be in the other’s presence. They felt safe around each other and they were able to tell the other how they felt through their eyes. Yeonjun smiled and Soobin immediately smiled back.

“I’ll let you work then. I’ll be in study room if that’s okay.”

“No problem. Enjoy yourself.” Yeonjun said, chuckling and Soobin made his way back upstairs.

When he was gone, Yeonjun grabbed his laptop on the couch and made his way to the kitchen.

“Come back to your senses, Choi Yeonjun. You have so much to do.”

Soobin was really amazed by the amount of book there were in the room. He found it was a shame there was no windows. He liked reading in front of a window, unable to stop himself from staring at the scenery when he wanted to take a break from reading. But he couldn’t complain. He was in paradise, he was quite sure of this, and inside Yeonjun’s house. Yeonjun’s house was Soobin’s paradise. He felt silly at the thought but told himself that it wasn’t far from the reality. Being with Yeonjun had always felt like being in a dream and even after all those years, he still felt the same. Soobin smiled and randomly picked a book.

An hour and a half later, Yeonjun wanted to take a break and went to find Soobin. He climbed up the stairs and opened the door of the study room to find him sleeping on the armchair. He looked so young and peaceful when he slept, Yeonjun always loved looking at him sleep. He always had troubles sleeping and watching Soobin sleep made him feel at ease and helped him to fall asleep. He smiled to himself and decided to wake him up.

“Soobin?” he tried but Soobin didn’t budge. “Soobin-ah?” he tried louder this time but to no avail.

He remembered that Soobin was quite hard to wake up in the mornings. He used to kiss him to wake him up but he knew he couldn’t do that now. Yeonjun sighed and tried shaking him up.

“Soobin-ah, wake up. I’m taking a break, come drink with me.” he said, speaking loudly.

Soobin whined. Yeonjun smiled.

“I have beer.” He added and Soobin’s eyes stirred open.

“Cass?” he drowsily asked.

“Of course.” Yeonjun answered.

Soobin smiled.

“The book was boring anyway.”

Chapter Text

“Here you go.” Yeonjun said, handing a can of beer to Soobin who was sitting on his couch, facing the view.

“Thanks.”

Soobin immediately opened it and took a big sip. Yeonjun sat down beside him at a reasonable distance and opened his own can.

“I really like the view.” Soobin said.

“It’s beautiful, right? It’s my favourite thing in the world. When I was in America I could see all New York from where I was living. When I came back, I wanted to have the same kind of place.” Yeonjun explained.

“I kinda envy you right now. I’d love to have this view at my house.” Soobin said, pouting, making Yeonjun laugh.

“I’d gladly let you stay here you know. Lately the view is a bit less beautiful.” Yeonjun stated, taking a sip.

“Why?” Soobin asked, wondering what could make this breath-taking view less beautiful.

“Because you’re prettier.” Yeonjun admitted, staring straight into Soobin’s eyes.

Soobin stayed silent for a few seconds before adverting his eyes.

“Don’t say things like that.”

“I’m sorry. I had to get it out, I’m really sorry.” Yeonjun apologised, adverting his eyes too.

“Stop. Please, don’t get my hopes up.” Soobin said, his voice wavering.

Yeonjun stayed silent, drinking more of his beer.

They stayed in silence for some time, drinking. They didn’t dare looking at each other, the atmosphere was already awkward as it was, it would be worse to catch the other staring. When they were done, they put their bottles on the floor and stared at the view some more before Yeonjun got up.

“Well, I still have work to do.” He said in a little voice. “You can stay or go, whatever you want.” Yeonjun said, finally looking at Soobin.

Soobin looked back at the same time and time stopped. Soobin stood up too and got closer to Yeonjun.

“Can I say something that I’ll probably regret?” he asked.

“If you know you’ll regret it, you better not say it.” Yeonjun replied.

“I’m still gonna tell you. Like that, we’ll be even.” Soobin said and Yeonjun waited. “I really, painfully wanna kiss you right now.” Soobin spoke, taking a step closer to Yeonjun, bringing them almost chest to chest.

“Soobin-ah.” Yeonjun almost whispered.

“I know you wanna kiss me too. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Soobin. I can’t do this to you or to myself.” Yeonjun said, taking a step back.

Soobin had forgotten how much rejection could hurt. He was pretty sure what he had felt six years ago couldn’t compare to what he felt at this moment.

“Okay.” he said, his voice breaking.

He turned around and began to make his way to the door when Yeonjun caught his hand.

“Soobin-ah, listen to me.” Yeonjun said, his voice softer than it had ever been. “I know what you’re thinking right now. I didn’t reject you.”

“You totally did.” Soobin replied, snatching his hand out of Yeonjun’s hold and turning around to face him.

He must have looked so pitiful with tears in his eyes, on the verge of crying because his ex, the one who hurt him but he still longs for, won’t kiss him.

“I did not. We just reunited. We both changed a lot and have our own issues. Kissing each other right now would just make everything even more complicated.” Yeonjun took Soobin’s hands in his and squeezed them. “I badly want to kiss you too, you can’t even imagine. But I know it’s not the right time. And you know it too.”

Soobin adverted his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Don’t cry, please. It’s not the right time now but it will come.” Yeonjun said, drying Soobin’s tears with his hands.

“I’m not crying. I gotta go.” Soobin said but not moving at all.

“Do you want me to drive you back home?” Yeonjun gently asked.

“It’s okay. you have work. I’ll just take a cab. See you next time.” Soobin said, finally going to the entrance, putting his shoes on.

When he was done, he turned to look at Yeonjun once again and they both knew why. Yeonjun smiled and got closer to Soobin, leaning to kiss him on the cheek.

“See you next time, Soobin-ah. Be careful on your way home.” He said and Soobin nodded, going out the door.

“You did what?!” HueningKai exclaimed, choking on his water.

“I told him I wanted to kiss him.”

“And how did he react?”

“He rejected me. He told me it wasn’t the right time but that it will come.” Soobin deeply sighed. “I know he’s right and it makes me furious because it still hurt. We know each other so well, we both wanted to kiss each other but we couldn’t. I hate my life.”

“Hey, it will come. You just have to be patient. He must be dealing with a lot of things, he’s a CEO.” HueningKai said, putting his arm around Soobin’s shoulders.

“Yeah. But enough about me. Have you been texting Taehyun?”

HueningKai blushed and it made Soobin smile.

“I have. I really like him. I’m so excited for our date, I can’t wait.” He admitted.

“I’m happy for you. The both of you. He’s been asking about you a lot lately. I think you’ll be a great couple.”

“Don’t say things like that! It’s embarrassing!” HueningKai whined, hiding his face in his hands as Soobin laughed.

“You are the stupidest guy I’ve ever met.” Beomgyu said, handing Yeonjun a glass of water.

“You know I did the right thing.” Yeonjun replied, drinking the water in one go.

“I still find it stupid. If he was ready to kiss you, you should have gone with the flow.”

“Maybe he was but I wasn’t. I’ve missed him so much these few years and I have so much things going on, I can’t let myself be distracted. Even if he’s the love of my life.” Yeonjun stated, pausing. “I wanted to kiss him but I thought it was too soon for us to take that step.”

“Okay, I get it. You did the right thing, Jun-ah. I’m proud of you.” Beomgyu said before helping Yeonjun to get up from the couch – he had been there since Soobin had left an hour ago.

“Let’s get to work now or you’ll have to wait too long to kiss Soobin.”

A week later

“I forgot to tell you I have a cat the other day because he was staying with Beomgyu, my manager.” Yeonjun said as he entered his apartment, followed by Soobin.

“You always said you’d like to have a cat. What’s it name?”

Yeonjun smiled to him and went to sit on his couch.

“Nunki!” he called.

Little footsteps were heard and suddenly a grey cat appeared, elegantly jumping on the couch and nuzzling Yeonjun’s leg.

“Did you miss me? I bet you had a lot of fun with uncle Beomgyu.” Yeonjun cooed at the cat, scratching its ears.

Soobin watched Yeonjun play with his cat for a few moments before going to sit beside him. The cat looked at him for some seconds before turning back to Yeonjun and sitting on his lap.

“She’s shy. Reach out with your hand and let her smell it. If she likes it, she’ll bow her head to let you caress her. If she doesn’t like it, she’ll just come back to me.”

Soobin stretched his hand out and waited. Nunki looked at him and slowly approached him. She smelled his hand and after a few seconds, licked his fingers and bowed her head. Soobin smiled as he began to caress her and she began to purr.

“She warmed up to you pretty quickly! It took her days to get close to me!” Yeonjun exclaimed, pouting.

“I guess I’m just too irresistible.” Soobin said, smiling. “She’s so cute though. Why did you name her Nunki?” he asked as Nunki climbed on his lap.

“It’s the name of a star. I thought it sounded cute.” Yeonjun replied, playing with the hem of his shirt.

Soobin knew Yeonjun was lying when he began to play with his shirt. It was a habit he already had when they were in high school. He weighed the pros and cons for a second and decided to make him spill.

“What star?”

Yeonjun looked at him, his cheeks pink and Soobin found himself thinking he was too cute to be true. Yeonjun adverted his eyes.

“You’ll think it’s creepy.” He almost whispered.

“You’ll never know if you don’t tell me.” Soobin said with a smile.

Yeonjun sighed.

“It’s the second most important star in the Sagittarius’ constellation.” Yeonjun said, quickly looking away and putting his hands under his thighs.

“Sagittarius? But why– oh.” Soobin said, quickly understanding.

He stopped petting Nunki, a little smile on his lips.

“That’s not weird. That’s cute.” He stated, getting closer to Yeonjun.

Yeonjun looked at him, his lips parted and Soobin swore he never looked more kissable than right this instant, looking at him with his eyes wide.

“You’re always thinking about me, I find it endearing.”

Last night, Soobin had decided to be honest. He was sick of only opening the door for Yeonjun, he wanted to take his hand and gently show him the way to his heart. He was being too careful, which was understandable, but Soobin was over it now. He knew that Yeonjun wouldn’t make the same mistake again and Soobin trusted him more than ever.

Nunki jumped down and strutted away, letting Soobin get even closer to Yeonjun, to the point that their thighs were touching.

“Yeonjun-ah, look at me.” he softly said, grabbing his hand.

Yeonjun instantly looked at him, his cheeks pink and his eyes sparkling.

“It’s okay. It’s nothing embarrassing, you know. I always think about you too.” He said, caressing Yeonjun’s hand with his thumb.

“Soobinie…” Yeonjun whined, closing his eyes.

Soobin hums and Yeonjun opens his eyes.

“There are things you don’t know. You can’t make a move without knowing them.”

“Then tell me.”

“It’s not as simple.”

“But it’s just me. You can trust me.”

“I know. But I’m scared.”

“Take your time. When you’re ready.”

Yeonjun looked at him, his right hand going to his left wrist. This didn’t go unnoticed by Soobin but he looked at Yeonjun, confused.

“I-I had a hard time in the US. I knew it would be hard to live without you after all we’d been through. And– and it was so overwhelming sometimes, I was in so much pain–” Yeonjun began, his voice breaking as some tears began to fell.

“Yeonjun-ah.” Soobin said, serious.

He took Yeonjun’s left hand and rolled up his sleeve. He caressed the faded scars lightly, as if afraid that it would hurt Yeonjun.

“It’s okay. There’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. We all deal differently when in pain and even if it saddens me that it was the only way for you to cope, I accept it. They are a part of you now and it doesn’t change my feelings at all. Stop crying.” Soobin softly said, his other hand drying Yeonjun’s tears.

“What f-feelings?” Yeonjun asked.

“The ones I have for you. The same ones I had six years ago. Even if I tried to move on, I couldn’t. I’m scared to admit it but you’re the only one for me, Yeonjun-ah. You’ve always been and you’ll always be.”

Yeonjun sniffled but smiled. Soobin smiled back and cupped Yeonjun’s face. He brought their foreheads together and when he saw Yeonjun close his eyes, made their lips collide.

It was so good to feel Yeonjun’s lips again after so long. Soobin felt butterflies go wild in his stomach and tears well up in his eyes. It was going too slow for him so he took Yeonjun’s bottom lip between his and felt a rush of electricity from his head to his toes. He had forgotten how powerful it felt to feel so close to Yeonjun, how alive it made him feel. It was both an unknown and familiar feeling but it made him feel so good.

He felt Yeonjun’s hands go to his nape, pushing his head towards him, encouraging him to kiss him with more vigour. Knowing that Yeonjun was as desperate as him made him unbelievably happy so he complied. He managed to make Yeonjun straddle him without breaking the kiss and when Yeonjun parted his lips, he wasted no time to slip his tongue between them. It was messy and they were breathing in each other’s mouth but it was also sweet. Like two lovers reuniting Soobin thought and, well… it was the case in some way.

When Yeonjun began to squirm on Soobin’s lap, the latter took it as his cue to break the kiss.

“Are you okay?” he asked, panting.

He took a good look at Yeonjun and noticed his flushed face, blown pupils and messy hair. But what surprised him the most was the fact that he had his hands on Yeonjun’s waist, under his shirt, and that his skin was burning.

“I am fine.” Yeonjun replied, equally as breathless but wearing a wide smile. “I just don’t want us to go too fast if you get what I mean.” He added.

“Oh, of course.” Soobin said, letting go of Yeonjun. If his hands felt cold all of sudden, he didn’t mention it.

Yeonjun looked apologetically at him and sat back beside him.

“For the record, I loved kissing you after so long. It felt good.” he said, adverting his eyes.

“I loved it too. Really.” Soobin replied, taking Yeonjun’s hand once again and bringing his wrist to his lips, leaving a chaste kiss there.

“So, shall we play with Nunki before we get carried away once again?” he asked, making Yeonjun laugh and, just on cue, Nunki came back in the room, jumping on the couch and going right to Soobin’s lap, agreeing with his plans.

Chapter Text

When Yeonjun arrived at the office the next day, he hadn’t talked to Beomgyu yet about what had happened. But kissing Soobin made him decide to finally hold a meeting with the major shareholders of the company. Yeonjun was the CEO but he couldn’t take any decision for the company without buying the shareholders’ parts. Beomgyu had wanted him to hold a meeting a few days ago but Yeonjun had refused, being too focused on what was going on with Soobin. But he was now ready to talk with all those old men and buy their parts. He had to succeed.

He looked at his watch. 8:50A.M. Yeonjun was wondering who would come first between Beomgyu and the old men. He sighed and made his way to the biggest meeting room. Thanks to the elevator, he arrived in no time and just as he sat down at the head of the table, the door opened, revealing Beomgyu.

“Jun, what’s happening? I just saw the mail about today’s meeting. You should have told me beforehand!” he said, looking panicked but wearing a smile on his face.

“Sorry, it’s just that I have a lot of things to tell you but I need to get this out of the way first.” Yeonjun replied and right when Beomgyu was about to say something else, the door opened, revealing Lee Joonyoung.

Lee Joonyoung was Yeonjun’s father’s rival. When Yeonjun’s father had announced he would step down, Lee Joonyoung had thought he would become the CEO since everyone thought Choi Minju didn’t have a child. The shock he must have been in when Yeonjun appeared, almost 30 years younger than him, claiming he was the new CEO. Since that day, they had both silently agreed that they would hate each other.

“Good morning.” Joonyoung said as he entered, going to sit at Yeonjun’s right, his back to the door.

The old man always made it a point of honour to never address Yeonjun as the CEO but only as someone who was younger than him. Yeonjun, on the contrary, did his best to be as respectful as possible, just to annoy the old man.

“Good morning, sir. I’m glad you could come this early in the morning.”

“Of course, if you’re calling a meeting, I should come.” Lee said, a fake smile on his lips.

Yeonjun smiled back, noting how he made his best to say ‘you’ and not ‘the CEO’.

Beomgyu took a chair and went to sit right behind Yeonjun, just like he always did during meeting.

From then, every shareholder entered the room, one after the other, briefly greeting Yeonjun.

When the 5 shareholders had arrived, Yeonjun waited some seconds before talking.

“Good morning to all of you. I called this meeting quite urgently and I’m sorry for this but I have to discuss something very serious with you. I’d like to buy your shares of the company.” Yeonjun stated.

Silence took place for a few seconds before Lee Joonyoung laughed.

“Are you being serious? Do you know how much it’ll cost to buy all of our shares?” he asked, a smirk on his old face.

“Of course, I wouldn’t ask otherwise.” Yeonjun calmly replied, anger beginning to boil inside him at the old man’s words. He really thought of Yeonjun as a little naïve child.

“Sir, it will cost a lot if we agree to sell you our shares.” Kim Bohyun said.

“I know and I’m ready to pay. However, I’d appreciate if you could kindly give me your shares.” Yeonjun replied.

Everyone but Kim Bohyun snickered.

“Do you really think any of us would just give you his shares?” Joonyoung asked.

“I would.” Kim Bohyun said.

Yeonjun wasn’t too surprised by Kim’s words, he had been prepared for such an answer from the old man. He was probably the only one, besides Beomgyu, who took Yeonjun seriously, who really considered him as the CEO.

“Are you crazy, Kim?” Joonyoung exclaimed.

“Lee, let’s not lie here. We’re all rich now, thanks to Minju who trusted us enough to give us some parts of his own company. He gave them to us for nothing and we accepted because we were his friends. At least I was. And now, we’re all living comfortable lives. Why couldn’t we trust his son now and give him our parts?” Kim Bohyun reasoned.

The three other old men nodded, taking Bohyun’s words into consideration.

Yeonjun felt his heart beat a bit faster. If Bohyun really was ready to give him his parts and he could convince the other three, that would save a lot of Yeonjun’s money. He could pay Joonyoung if he wanted, it would still be a lot cheaper than the price he and Beomgyu had calculated.

“Look, I can give you until tonight to give me an answer if you’re not sure about what to do or need to talk about it with someone else. Just be aware that I’d do anything to buy your parts.” Yeonjun stated, looking at every old man.

“And why do you so badly want our parts? You’re surely planning something out.” Lee Joonyoung asked, frowning.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but this is none of your business. I don’t think you out of all people need to know what I’m going to do once I become the only holder of the company.” Yeonjun quietly replied, making the 4 other men chuckle.

Lee Joonyoung glared at him and turned his head to the others, making them stop chuckling.

“Sir, I am ready to give you my parts for free. Let’s sign the papers now if you have them.” Kim Bohyun said, taking a pen out.

Yeonjun politely smiled and took a folder out of his briefcase. He took a sheet of paper out of it, signed it and gave it to Kim Bohyun who signed it as well before giving it back to Yeonjun.

“It was a pleasure to work with you even if it was for a very short time. I know I made the right choice.” Kim Bohyun said, getting up and bowing to Yeonjun before going out of the room.

“Is anyone else going to sign this paper for free or should I take my chequebook out?” Yeonjun asked, arching a brow.

Everyone but Lee Joonyoung began to mumble uncoherent words between the lines of ‘No, no, no, there’s no need, Sir!’ and ‘Give me just one second to find my pen, Sir!’.

After signing three other sheets for free, Yeonjun find himself alone in the room with Beomgyu and Lee Joonyoung.

“I’ll never sign for free, Choi.” Joonyoung spat.

“I know damn well you won’t. I knew this when I sent the mail and I’m ready to pay you. Your parts cost about 20 million won.” Yeonjun stated, taking his chequebook out of his jacket. “Beomgyu, can you remind me the exact amount, please?”

Beomgyu hastily took his phone out of his back pocket and read out loud.

“20 378 352,18 won, Sir.”

Yeonjun wrote it on the cheque, signed it, tore it and gave it to Lee Joonyoung.

“There you go, Lee. You can go pay your cheque in right now if you wish.” Yeonjun said, giving the old man the stink eye.

Joonyoung took the cheque and got up.

“You are one arrogant son of a b*tch, Choi Yeonjun. I know you’re going to ruin this company and when it’ll happen, I’ll be in the front row to see you fail so I can take your place right away.”

“You can always dream, old hag.” Yeonjun said, a smirk gracing his lips now.

Joonyoung glared at him one last time before walking out the door. When the door finally closed, Yeonjun let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding and started to cry.

Beomgyu quickly got up, went to lock the door and immediately sat down beside his friend, hugging him tight.

“We did it, Jun. We fucking did it.”

Soobin was seriously getting worried. It had been days since the last time he had seen Yeonjun. He had sent him a few texts to meet up but the other always turned him down saying that he had too much work. After the fifth time in three days, Soobin had gone to the bar to talk with Taehyun.

“Maybe I scared him with the kiss. He told me he didn’t want us to go too quick. Maybe I was being too hasty? Oh my gosh, what did I do Taehyun-ah?” Soobin whined, sipping on his tequila.

“Calm down. I’m sure he’s just very busy. He’s a CEO, he surely has a lot of things to do.” Taehyun replied, typing away on his phone.

“Yeah, I guess… But still, he was being very cold in his messages. He always sends emoticons but this time he didn’t send a single one!” Soobin said, sounding dispirited.

Taehyun giggled and typed something on his phone.

“Are you texting HueningKai?” Soobin asked.

“Yeah.” Taehyun said, putting his phone in his back pocket. “He didn’t tell you about our date?”

“He did tell me he enjoyed himself and that he really likes you but that’s about it.” Soobin replied, finishing his glass.

“I really like him too. It was a lot of fun to spend a whole afternoon with him. I knew he was cute and that we had a lot in common but having him just for myself for hours… damn, the things I wanted to do but couldn’t!”

“Let me stop you before it gets TMI!” Soobin laughed. “But if you wanted to kiss him, you should have, he was waiting for it.”

“I knew I should have done it!” Taehyun whined, pouting.

“Don’t worry, he found it cute. And you’ll have another date soon anyway, he’s planning on texting you about it soon.” Soobin explained, taking a bottle of whiskey from behind the counter and pouring himself a drink.

“Aren’t you gonna get in trouble by telling me all this?” Taehyun asked, smiling at how comfortable Soobin looked, helping himself.

“Nah, he’s pretty open about his feelings anyway, isn’t he?” Soobin asked and Taehyun nodded. “I’m just giving you some more information. I find the two of you cute.” Soobin added, taking the glass to his lips.

Just then, Taehyun’s phone buzzed. He unlocked it and read HueningKai’s text.

“He’s asking me on a date tomorrow.” Taehyun said.

“See? I told you about it so, you’re not freaking out.”

“I am freaking out. But calmly.” Taehyun replied, smiling and typing a reply. “He wants us to have dinner at his place.”

“Oh, seems like he wants to wine and dine you.” Soobin joked, making Taehyun blush. “Don’t be nervous though. He would never do something you wouldn’t feel ready for.”

“I know that, he’s such a sweetheart. I’m just so ready for it I’m afraid I’ll scare him away.” Taehyun replied.

“Kai is wild, nothing could scare him away. Unlike Yeonjun who apparently got scared by a make-out session.”

“Hyung, you did not scare him out. He’s busy. Why would he lie to you? You know he’s crazy for you.”

“It’s just that we have a complicated story and I don’t wanna mess up. I also miss him. Soobin said, pouting.

“Then tell him you miss him. I’m sure he does too. And maybe he doesn’t have time to meet up but maybe he’s got time for a phone call?”

“I’ll try calling him later, I just wanna drink for now.”

Yeonjun was writing a mail when his phone rang. Soobin was calling him.

“Hello, Soobinie?” he answered.

“Yeonjunie? It’s Soobin.” Soobin replied.

“I know.” Yeonjun replied, giggling. “What’s up?”

“I didn’t know if you would answer. I glad you did, I have something to tell you.”

Soobin’s voice sounded a bit raspy and his words were slurred. It made Yeonjun smile wide.

“Soobinie, are you drunk?”

“’Lil bit. But shhh don’t tell Yeonjunie! I have something I wanna tell him.”

Yeonjun did his best to hold his laughter in.

“What is it?”

“I wanna tell him that I miss him. I badly wanna kiss him again but I think he got scared.” Soobin said, sounding sad.

It broke Yeonjun’s heart to hear this because he badly wanted to see Soobin too but he had been busy with the company. He hadn’t been able to sleep for a few nights already and needed his energiser.

“You didn’t scare me at all. I’m just very busy right now. But I’m happy you called me, I needed to talk to you. I was very tired but hearing your voice made me feel better already.”

“I’m sorry to hear you’re busy. But I’m glad to hear that I was able to cheer you up. Now I’m going to drink a lot of water and go to sleep or I’ll feel very bad in the morning.”

“Go do that, sweets. Good night.”

“Good night. I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” Yeonjun replied and the call ended.

“Was it Soobin?” Beomgyu asked as he came back in the study room with snacks.

“Yeah. Apparently he had been out drinking and he called me because he missed me. He told me he was afraid he scared me away with the kiss. I told him I missed him too and that I was very busy.”

“He’s sweet. And I’m sorry you can’t see him but we’ll soon be done with everything and we’ll be free to do whatever we wanna do with whoever we want to.”

“I know. Let’s read the contract and mail again so we can reply asap.” Yeonjun said, returning his attention to his laptop but with a small smile gracing his lips this time.

Chapter Text

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Soobin shouted.

“Quiet, I can’t hear anything!” HueningKai exclaimed, turning the TV’s volume up.

Soobin had invited HueningKai for a sleepover so he could tell him everything about his last date with Taehyun. They weren’t prepared to hear that the Red Fox Group was being sold to an American company in the morning news.

“We assume that Choi Yeonjun, now former CEO of the Red Fox Group, had to buy the parts of the shareholders to be able to sell it completely to an external company. It of course is a shock for the business world as no one could have expected such an action from the youngest CEO in the world. He hadn’t said a word about his motivations but we are expecting a press conference soon.” Was saying the reporter, in front of the Red Fox Group’s building.

Soobin was stunned. When Yeonjun told him he was busy, he thought he was only doing paperwork or was avoiding him because of their kiss. Indeed, he was doing paperwork but not just any paperwork, he was going to sell his company.

“I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.” Soobin said, unable to think coherently.

“I know. I can’t either.” HueningKai said, a short silence taking place before adding “Your boyfriend is now a chaebol himself.”

Soobin looked at him, suddenly coming back to reality.

“Is that really all you understood from this? That he is one of the richest men in the world? All I can think about right now is how tired he must have been when I called him, drunk as hell, to tell him I missed him as he was preparing to sell his company! That’s so embarrassing!” Soobin whined, gulping his coffee down, burning his throat.

“Hyung, you’re the most dramatic person I’ve ever met, I hope you know this.” HueningKai began, his tone disbelieving. “You’re most likely going to end up dating the love of your life, and a chaebol at that, and all you can think about is how embarrassing it was to tell, I repeat, the love of your life that you missed him?”

“The size of his wallet doesn’t matter to me, that’s all I’m saying.” Soobin replied, his face red.

“The size of his dick though, is a whole other topic.” HueningKai muttered, earning a punch on his arm.

“Are you sure you wanna do this? You can still cancel everything.” Beomgyu asked, as serious as ever.

“The whole world knows now, I need to give some sort of explanation.” Yeonjun replied, taking a deep breath in and exhaling slowly.

Yeonjun had been doing cardiac coherence for the last five minutes, trying to regulate his heartbeat before the press conference.

“I wonder how Soobin reacted.” Beomgyu said and Yeonjun glanced at his phone.

He was so tempted to turn it on to see if Soobin had texted him but he knew his dad had been calling him nonstop so he stopped himself.

“I guess we’ll know later. The time has come.” Yeonjun said, getting up.

“I’ll be there the whole time but good luck.” Beomgyu said, giving Yeonjun an encouraging smile.

He opened the door of the little waiting room he had been in since this morning and stepped on the stage. He was immediately assaulted by reporters, taking pictures of him, the flashes blinding and the shutters deafening. He quickly sat down and closed his eyes for a quick second before looking at all the reporters. He tapped the microphone twice and everything went silent, the reporters raising their hands.

“I won’t take any question for now, you can lower your hands.” Yeonjun said, his voice more confident than he was.

Everyone hesitated before doing as told.

“After buying the shareholders’ parts, I, Choi Yeonjun, decided to sell my company, Red Fox Group to an American business man who will now have the right to do whatever he wants with it. We have been talking for a couple months now and he signed a contract stating that he is obliged to not fire anyone who’s already working for the company. I took this decision for personal reasons. That’s all.” Yeonjun explained and when he was done, everyone raised their hands once again.

He scanned the room and saw a tall woman he had met a couple of times already and pointed at her so she could ask her question.

“Kang Yewon from Business Korea. I understand that you bought all the shares so you could sell the company and this for personal reasons. Was your father, Choi Mujin, aware of your intentions?” she asked.

“No. He discovered everything this morning, just like everyone else.” Yeonjun answered before pointing at another reporter.

“Lee Haewon from Dispatch. You said you’ve been talking with this American business man for months but you haven’t been CEO for this long. Was selling the company always your intention?”

“Yes. Again, for personal reasons, I had decided that once I became CEO I would sell the company to whoever made a decent proposition. This man, whose name I won’t reveal, made a very good proposition and accepted my conditions in a heartbeat. I was determined to get rid of the company.” Yeonjun explained and got up.

“That’s all for today.” He added and quickly left the room as the shutters started again and the reporters began shouting their questions.

He heard Beomgyu close the door and turned around.

“It’s official, Jun. You’re free.”

It had been six years since the last time Yeonjun had been inside his parents’ house. He still hated it as much as he did as a teenager, it was too clean, too perfect and it disgusted him. When his mother had called him, she had been gentle on the phone but he knew his dad was absolutely furious about what he had done. But he was prepared for anything that would come his way.

Yeonjun entered the living room and immediately spotted his parents sitting around the dining table. Yeonjun approached them and sat right in front of his father, a maid bringing him a glass of water. He drank from it and stared right into his father’s eyes.

“Do you realise what you’ve done?” his father asked, his voice low.

“I actually do. I’ve freed myself from any responsibility and link with you.” Yeonjun answered.

“You’ve sold the work of a lifetime to a total stranger!” Mujin bellowed, pointing an accusing finger towards his son.

“The work of a lifetime for you means nothing to me!” Yeonjun replied, raising his voice. “Because of this stupid company you didn’t allow me to be with the man I loved! Do you know how much I suffered while in the US? I can bet every fucking penny I have you don’t.”

“You sold my company just to get back at me because I didn’t allow you to date this commoner?”

“I did and there’s nothing you can do about it now.”

Yeonjun and Mujin stared at each other for a few moments until Mujin adverted his eyes.

“Get out. I don’t have a son anymore.” He muttered.

“As if you ever had one to begin with.” Yeonjun said before storming off.

Back in his car, Yeonjun tried his best to regulate his breathing. When he deemed himself calm enough to drive, he decided to go see Soobin. Where would he be? At home or at work? Yeonjun guessed he would be at work but called HueningKai to be sure.

“Hello? Yeonjun hyung?”

“Hey, Kai, is Soobin with you?” Yeonjun asked.

“No, he decided to keep the shop closed today. He’s waiting for you at home. You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I know. I’ll to you later then.”

“Hyung?”

“Yes?”

“I’m proud of you.” HueningKai said and hung up.

When the bell rang, Soobin knew it would be Yeonjun behind the door. He wanted to have some explanation but he was also afraid to open the door. He didn’t know if Yeonjun’s decision had something to do with him but he hoped it did. He hoped it was a good thing for their relationship. He still hesitated before opening the door. He looked through the peep hole and Yeonjun looked so worried, gnawing on his bottom lip. Soobin took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hi.”

“Hey. Can I come in?” Yeonjun asked, his voice almost a whisper.

“Sure.” Soobin said and Yeonjun followed him inside.

It felt a bit awkward because it was Yeonjun’s first time in Soobin’s own apartment. When they were together, they used to share a university dorm.

Soobin led the way to his living room and sat on the couch, Yeonjun quickly doing the same. He dared take a look on his surroundings and loved the way the decoration screamed Soobin. Everything around him looked soft and cosy.

“So?” Soobin asked, pulling Yeonjun out of his reverie.

“Y-yes. Sorry. I think there’s some explaining to do.” He began.

“Indeed.”

“I sold my company because I didn’t want to be associated to my dad anymore. I also didn’t want anything to come between us again. The company was my dad’s and it’s because of it, because of the status it gave my dad that we had to be separated. I know I’m also at fault but I still wanted to get rid of it and of the responsibilities that come with it.” Yeonjun explained, not even bothering to breathe.

After some moments of silence, Soobin took Yeonjun’s hand.

“You’re not at fault. You didn’t have any other way and I want to leave this behind us. I don’t want to forget this part of our lives because it brought us here but I also want to get over it. I’m over it. About the company coming between us, I get why you did what you did and I’m proud of you. You didn’t let anyone choose on your behalf, you acted by yourself, for yourself. That’s very admirable.”

A tear rolled down Yeonjun’s cheek.

“I’m sorry.” Yeonjun said and Soobin smiled.

“I love you.” Soobin replied, kissing Yeonjun.

They kissed slowly, languidly, until Yeonjun stopped crying. When they finally broke apart, they looked at each other, taking in the other’s beauty.

“I love you too. I never stopped loving you.” Yeonjun replied, a smile gracing his lips as Soobin caressed the back of his hand with his thumb.

“The same goes for me.” Soobin said, making Yeonjun lie down on the couch and hovering over him, catching his lips in a more heated kiss.

They kissed feverishly, their bodies heating up, both feeling desire grow inside of them. When Soobin pushed Yeonjun’s shirt up so he could touch his nipples, the latter grabbed his wrist.

“Wait.”

“What is it?” Soobin asked, getting worried that he had gone too far, too quick.

“It’s just… I haven’t done it since. I couldn’t flirt with anyone else so to sleep with someone that wasn’t you… it was inconceivable.” Yeonjun admitted.

“You trust me, right?”

“With my life.” Yeonjun instantly replied.

“I’ll take good care of you. Relax and let me do the work.” Soobin softly said, getting rid of his and Yeonjun’s shirts before peppering kisses all over Yeonjun’s torso, making him shiver.

Soobin had always been a caring partner, Yeonjun remembered this very clearly. He always took care of Yeonjun’s pleasure before his and made sure the aftercare was done properly.

Soobin made his way up to Yeonjun’s neck, leaving open mouthed kisses there and sucking lightly, making Yeonjun whine. Soobin felt pride bloom in his chest and nibbled on the skin before kissing Yeonjun on the lips.

“I love the sounds you make, baby.”

Yeonjun blushed at the praise and the nickname, it had always been his favourite.

Soobin then kissed Yeonjun’s shoulder, making his way down his arm to his scars. He kissed each of them carefully, whispering ‘you’re perfect’ to Yeonjun who felt like crying but held his tears back. He felt so loved, it was crazy. It’d been so long since the last time he had felt like this during sex and the last time had been with Soobin.

Soobin then took Yeonjun’s trousers off, throwing them away before beginning to leave purple marks on his thighs.

“If I had to choose my favourite part on your body, it’d be your thighs.” Soobin said, his breath hot on Yeonjun’s thighs making him shiver. “They’re firm and soft at the same time and the skin there is so smooth.” He whispered, resuming on his ministrations.

“More, Soobin-ah, please.” Yeonjun shyly said, his thighs trembling from sensitivity.

Soobin smiled and took Yeonjun’s underwear off. His cock was already dripping and Soobin felt once again pride bloom in his chest at the sight. He went to kiss Yeonjun on the lips.

“Let’s take this to the bedroom, shall we?” he asked and Yeonjun nodded, gasping when Soobin picked him up and made his way to the bedroom.

He gently laid Yeonjun on the mattress before leaning over him to grab the lube and condoms in the nightstand. When he had retrieved them, he found that Yeonjun had tightly closed his legs.

“No need to be embarrassed, love. It’s only me.” he softly spoke, caressing his sides

“I know, I just can’t help it.”

Soobin kissed his forehead and took his hand.

“I love you. You’re beautiful. I’m going to take care of you.” he told him, squeezing his hand.

Yeonjun nodded, squeezed back and opened his legs. Soobin smiled sweetly and put a pillow under his back before coating his fingers with lube.

When his fingers made contact with Yeonjun’s rim, the latter gasped, the lube cold against his burning skin but it soon heated up as Soobin circled his rim, pushing from time to time but not enough to insert the finger yet.

“Soobin, please.” Yeonjun whined, shutting his eyes as Soobin finally pushed the first finger in.

It was so hot inside Yeonjun and so tight, Soobin struggled to push his finger further. He kept on caressing Yeonjun’s body so he could relax and once his finger was fully in, he slowly began to thrust it in and out, liking the way Yeonjun’s breathing sped up and the little pleasuring sounds he was making as he grew accustomated to the feeling. Soon enough, he was asking for a second then a third finger and Soobin kept on drawing random patterns on his smooth skin, helping him relax as he whispered praises.

“Can- can I touch you before we go further?” Yeonjun asked as Soobin began to take his trousers and underwear off.

“Of course, baby.” Soobin said, lying down on the bed and letting Yeonjun do whatever he wanted.

“You’re so hard. Did it turn you on so much to touch me?” Yeonjun asked.

“You’re so hot, my body naturally responded.” Soobin softly replied. “But nothing turns me on more than making you feel good.”

“The same goes for me.” Yeonjun said, taking hold of Soobin’s cock, making him moan as he pumped it once, twice before kissing the tip. “Let’s see if my gag reflex is still as inexistent as it was.”

Yeonjun didn’t waste one second as he licked Soobin’s length up and down before opening his mouth and going as far as he could, relaxing his throat. Soobin gasped at how hot and wet Yeonjun’s mouth felt and decided to focus on Yeonjun’s head so he didn’t buck up into his mouth. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Yeonjun, even if he desperately needed more friction. Fortunately, after testing the waters, Yeonjun noticed that his gag reflex hadn’t come back and he allowed himself to go lower, engulfing half of Soobin’s dick before going back up. Soobin moaned, his hand going to Yeonjun’s hair, grabbing them slightly and pushing on his head, silently asking him for more. Yeonjun hummed and picked up a fast pace of sucking Soobin, loving the way his body remembered how he used to do in the past.

Soobin was a moaning mess, his breathing ragged and when he pulled a bit harshly on Yeonjun’s hair, it was to prevent himself from coming too soon.

“How was it?” Yeonjun asked, breathless, his voice hoarse and his lips wet with spit and precum.

“Thank you, I loved it.” Soobin replied, kissing Yeonjun on the lips before making him lie down on his back again.

He generously coated his dick with lube and positioned himself in front of Yeonjun’s entrance.

“Relax, baby.” He said and began pushing inside Yeonjun.

Yeonjun released a wanton moan, so loud Soobin would have thought he was hurting him hadn’t it been for Yeonjun’s pleasured expression. Soobin was glad he had taken his time with prepping him so he would feel nothing but pleasure. When he was buried to the hilt, Soobin waited so Yeonjun could get used to the stretch and him to the tightness. His dick kept twitching as he waited, licking and sucking on Yeonjun’s nipples to keep himself occupied.

“You can move, Binnie, it’s okay.” Yeonjun breathily said, caressing his hair.

Soobin got up on his elbows and put one of Yeonjun’s hands over his head, intertwining their fingers. He slowly pulled out a little before pushing back in, testing the waters. When Yeonjun whined, he took it as his cue to pick up a rhythm. He pulled almost all the way out and slammed back in, Yeonjun arching his back, the air being knocked out of his lungs in a silent moan. Soobin kept going quick and hard, revelling in Yeonjun’s pleasured sounds and expression as he squeezed his hand. Yeonjun put his free hand on his nape and pulled him closer to him, kissing him once on the lips before pulling him flat against himself, his nails piercing the skin on Soobin’s back while he sucked hickeys on his neck.

Never in his life had Soobin come so fast. He understood that he had a thing with pleasuring Yeonjun. The moment the latter came, clenching hard around his cock and letting the most wanton and loudest moan yet, Soobin came too, grunting in Yeonjun’s ear. He slowly pulled out and lied next to Yeonjun, their hands still clasped together, both of them breathless and floating. They were wearing silly smiles on their faces but they were so happy. After some time, Soobin moved to get up but Yeonjun held him back, his eyes pleading.

“I have to clean us up, love. Then we’ll cuddle. Okay?” Soobin softly spoke, caressing Yeonjun’s cheek.

Yeonjun nodded and Soobin smiled wide, going to the bathroom to grab towels to roughly clean them up. When done, he didn’t bother and just threw the towels to the ground and went back beside Yeonjun, manoeuvring him so he laid his head on his chest.

They lied down in a comfortable silence until Yeonjun spoke, his voice soft as ever.

“Thank you, Soobin-ah.”

“For what?”

“For everything. For letting me close once again. For becoming my friend once again. For letting me love you right and coming back to me. Thank you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too. More than anyone.”

Some months later, Yeonjun and Soobin were lying naked in Yeonjun’s bed, looking at each other through the mirror on the ceiling, smiling wide.

“People always say ‘You only get married once’. They’re right. It’s the second time I’m a married man but it’s the first time I feel like a married man.” Soobin said, extending his arm out in front of him and admiring his ring.

“And why’s that?” Yeonjun asked, extending his own arm and intertwining his fingers with Soobin, making their rings clink.

“Because I actually married someone I love unconditionally and who loves me back the same way.”

Soobin said, looking at Yeonjun next to him and randomly thought that his reflection didn’t do him justice. He was so much more beautiful in the flesh.

“I do love you unconditionally.” Yeonjun confirmed, sweetly kissing Soobin – the love of his life and now husband.