Ji Soo kicked the back of the seat Yun Ho was sitting in and asked, “Who the fuck is he? You better start explaining.”

Yun Ho’s back hurt from the kick. He didn’t turn, saying, “Kyu already explained it to you. What don’t you understand?”

“How? How didn’t I know about this, but you know him?” He asked.

“I’ve known them since they were kids, that’s why! How long are you two dating? Must you know everything?” He questioned.

“And the car? And where is his home? His parents don’t live in Seoul,” he said.

“Ask him!” Yun Ho answered, fed up.

*

In the convenience store, Kyu Hyun followed behind Chang Min like a lost puppy. He seemed so excited and different, but at home, Chang Min was quiet.

He was running around grabbing everything he thought would taste good and placed it in the trolley that Kyu Hyun was pushing.

Kyu Hyun stopped beside him by the refrigerators, saying, “You’re buying everything except the damn ice cream.”

Chang Min smirked and said as he looked at him, “Well excuse me, my husband gave me too much money, so I need to spend it.”

“Why are you doing that?” He asked.

Chang Min looked at him confused, “Doing what?”

“Calling me your husband. Are you doing that on purpose?” He asked.

Chang Min’s smile dropped as he placed the different drinks in the trolley and said, “But it’s true, at least that is what I believed for ten years.”

After a moment of silence, Chang Min said, “Let’s go, you ruined my mood.”

He went to the freezer and got out a bunch of ice creams, and went to the till. Kyu Hyun was already letting them ring up his items.

They went to the car and placed everything in the trunk. When Chang Min climbed in, he saw he was sitting next to Yun Ho and not Ji Soo. He smirked. He climbed into Yun Ho’s lap and lounged with ease.

From the front, Ji Soo thought Chang Min was going to put up a fuss, but he was happy.

Kyu Hyun climbed in and when he saw Ji Soo sitting beside him, he almost said something horrible. They drove off and he dropped the other two off at the back and when Ji Soo saw they were heading towards his home, he asked, “Why don’t you drop him off first?”

“Because we stay in the same place,” he answered simply.

“Which is where exactly?” He questioned.

Kyu Hyun took him to an apartment many times, thinking it was his home, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

Kyu Hyun sighed. It looked like he couldn’t keep this lie up anymore. He reached over to Ji Soo and held his hand. Squeezing it tightly, he said, “Don’t worry so much, okay?”

They dropped Ji Soo off, then they dropped Yun Ho off.

Chang Min was lying on the seat eating a strawberry ice cream as the car drove. He was looking out of the window at the stars with not much going through his mind.

Kyu Hyun, who was driving, had been sober since he met Chang Min in the club and right now, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders knowing that Chang Min was safely by his side and not gallivanting about in the streets.

*

When they arrived at the house, he parked the car in the garage and turned in his seat, only to find Chang Min fast asleep. The shirt he was wearing wasn’t covering him anymore, and it revealed his perfectly sculpted body.

Kyu Hyun frowned, looking at him. He looked good, but why hadn’t he seen this before?

Looking at his face, he tried to think of what Chang Min usually wore, but he couldn’t picture it.

He tried waking him up but Chang Min wasn’t getting up, instead he slapped his hand away and turned around while he complained.

Carrying him into the house, from the side door, he went to the bedroom and placed him down gently. He took off Chang Min’s clothes and dressed him in some yellow tracksuit pants and a white shirt that he found in the cupboard.

Now that he was looking at him, Chang Min always wore baggy clothes. No wonder he never took an interest in him.

Sitting on the bed after taking a shower, he looked down at Chang Min and thought about how they got into this situation.

He recalled how perfectly toned he was, but how could he have gotten such a perfect body if he always stayed at home?

Maybe he went to the gym?

Come to think about it, he knew nothing about Chang Min.

Well, it’s not like he wanted to get to know him—shit, just happened, and it stayed that way.

Looking back at Chang Min, who was lying down, his mind tried to recall the night they had sex all those years ago, but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around it. All he could remember was that Chang Min felt so good wrapped around him, but the exact feelings and emotions he felt? He couldn’t remember it at all.

Maybe it was because of the events that took place?

*

Ji Soo stared at his boyfriend of eight months and said, “Explain it to me clearly. How do you know him?”

Kyu Hyun decided to set things straight with Ji Soo and the sooner the better, the events taking place recently were getting out of hand and it was all because he was overthinking things.

He took Ji Soo’s hands in his and shook his head. “I told you the truth last time. My parents really adopted him, but he wanted to live on his own. Chang Min and I share a lot of things, including the house we live in and the car. My parents don’t talk about him because they felt burdened after they adopted him. Things weren’t going in their favour a few years later, so when he moved out they were happy, but they haven’t forgotten him. It’s just easy this way.”

Ji Soo still didn’t understand it. “So why didn’t you tell me? You had a brother all this time, but you never told me about him.”

“We don’t really get along,” he said.

“How? But you live together,” he questioned.

Sighing, he answered, “Yes, we do, but we don’t even speak. He lives in the same house. We share everything and he does what a woman is supposed to do, or you could say he has already taken your place in our home.”

“So, he is your husband?” He said, pulling his hands away.

Kyu Hyun shook his head. “What do you mean?”

“Adoption is like marriage, isn’t it?” He questioned.

Kyu Hyun could see that this conversation was already heading in the wrong direction and sat up straight. He fixed his jacket and said, “I asked you out to talk about that. He and I are in a difficult situation that our parents put us in so it can be said that he is my spouse. Whether he and I accept that, it won’t even matter. We have to be together and now that he knows about you, I don’t think what we have between us can continue.”

Ji Soo stood up and looked at him, stunned, “So what? You are breaking up with me because your brother, not brother, knows about us? Do you like him? What about what we have been through?”

Looking up at him, Kyu Hyun could barely feel anything. All he felt inside was how he betrayed Chang Min, who still thought of him as a husband all these years, but how many people did he sleep with while he had someone already by his side that continued to cater to his needs?

He looked down, feeling conflicted, saying, “Ji Soo, I’ve had many partners and never once thought of how he would feel. I’m the one in the wrong and I’ve dragged you into this too and I just feel that it’s wrong. I can’t explain it to you, no I won’t. I’ve never needed to explain how things in my life go.”

He stood up and looked at Ji Soo, saying, “I’m sorry for having to do this to you, but I’m ending it here. I don’t want no drama from you, nor do I want you to go looking for him. Block my number and don’t come looking for me.”

Ji Soo panicked and grabbed Kyu Hyun’s arm, “Hyun-ah don’t do this. I love you.”

Kyu Hyun looked at the hands holding him and pulled his arm out. Looking at him, he said, “I don’t love you and you know it. All I’ve been doing is using you to pretend that Chang Min doesn’t exist and you—all you’ve been doing—is using my money that you have no right to and I let you. Just stop before you get ahead and I know about the other guys you have been flirting with.”

They stared at each other for a moment then Ji Soo said, “Fine, fuck off then. You were boring anyway.”