"I-I can't do this.." Jisoo was hyperventilating. He couldn't breathe, he began to crumble, doubled over holding his stomach as he curled up against the side of the elevator. "You will," Seungcheol said calmly, "he deserves your honesty." Jisoo continued to panic and Seungcheol ignored him. More out of not knowing what to do, rather than any sort of malice, he just wasn't going to let Jisoo get out of spilling the truth. "Right," Seungcheol said as the elevator doors opened, "time to face the consequences."

The doors opened to reveal a very uncomfortable Wonwoo facing a very interested Jeonghan as they conversed over hot coffee. Chan Chan was playing by their feet and they both looked up in surprise when the two men walked towards them. Wonwoo cocked an eyebrow and Seungcheol slightly nodded. Years of working together hadn't waned their instincts, they barely needed words to communicate, and with one gesture, Wonwoo knew that both he and Seungcheol had been right.

"Jeonghan I'm sorry," Jisoo prostrated himself on the floor in front of the surprised man. "I wrote the first few letters. I was scared for you, you needed to take your safety seriously, and I-I I..."Jeonghan looked over to Seungcheol who nodded. "Jisoo wrote the first few letters. Including the one with Chan Chan's eyes scrubbed out. He did not, however, do anything after that. So your stalker is real. And Jisoo is sorry. But this is your decision to make Jeonghan. I can't tell you what to do about this."

Seungcheol frowned at Jisoo still sprawled on the carpet. "Also my apartment looks straight into yours. If the blinds are open, I can see you all the time. I'm sorry I just....." Jeonghan shushed him. He'd known of the extent of Jisoo's feelings for a long time. He knew the tall kind-eyed man's feelings for him went far beyond the professional or the friendly. He knew he was in love with him.

But he also knew it was a superficial kind of love, the kind that would fade once reality was exposed, the kind built on an image. Jisoo didn't love the real Jeonghan, he loved the public one, the idol and singer and angel. He never tried to get to know whom Jeonghan really was inside. He never took into account the fact that over the five years they had been together as manager and idol Jeonghan had grown up. He'd changed and matured and wanted to break out of his skin and fly. He wanted to be free of the stagnant chrysalis he'd been trapped in for what felt like forever.

Jisoo was in love with the caterpillar.

Seungcheol wanted to crack open the cocoon and marvel at the butterfly.

"I forgive you, "Jeonghan said and Jisoo sat up in shock. "Just like that?" he asked and Jeonghan nodded. "Yes. Just like that. Jisoo you did the wrong thing but your heart was in the right place and I know you didn't mean to hurt me." Jisoo nodded with sparking eyes of unshed tears. "Plus I have to be grateful. If you hadn't scared me into hiring a bodyguard I wouldn't have met Seungcheol." His smirk wiped Jisoo's face into a sad scowl but he nodded. His plan had backfired and he only had himself to blame.

"I'll give you guys some time alone. Keep the doors locked and don't open them to anyone," Seungcheol said and Wonwoo got up to follow him out of the apartment. They rode the elevator down to the ground floor and headed a few buildings down to get coffees and pastries at a busy convenience store.

"You were right," Wonwoo said. "So were you," Seungcheol smiled as he chewed his chocolatey Danish dropping flaky pastry all over his shirt. "Yeah but you knew it was the manager." Seungcheol nodded. "I didn't want to seem jealous but my instinct told me something was wrong. All I could think of was you saying no one's prints were found on the letters besides Jisoo's. And that day, the day the photos of us buying Chan Chan were taken, Jeonghan took an odd call from him. The kind of call you make to hear someone's answers when you already know what they should be." Wonwoo nodded. He knew the kind of call Seungcheol was talking about.

"When I walked into his apartment I knew for sure. He'd told me it was on the third floor. But it's not. I could see you working on the couch, I could see Jeonghan playing on the floor with Chan Chan, I could see everything. All this time, years and years, he's been watching his every move. It's kind of creepy. But, deep down, I'm sure it comes from a sad place not a bad one."

Seungcheol bit down on the pastry again and chewed slowly. "I'm not threatened by him," Seungcheol said with his mouth full and Wonwoo laughed. "Who are you trying to convince Cheol? Yourself?" Wonwoo had chosen an egg tart and his delicate neat eating was a constant source of fascination for the messy Seungcheol. "You could have told Jeonghan to fire him and he would have." "I know," Seungcheol nodded, "but I think this has finally ended it. Plus we need him. Who else could take on Jeonghan as a manager? The guy is impossible."

Wonwoo laughed loudly showing rows of straight white teeth and his signature adorable nose scrunch that always made women swoon in front of him. "He's a lot," Wonwoo said. "I can't believe you guys still haven't had sex yet." Seungcheol choked a bit on his coffee. "He told you that?" "Yeah. He told me you guys jerked each other off though. He also asked me about your ex-girlfriends, what they looked like, if I knew of things you like to do or have done to you, he even asked me if you talked about things you liked being done to you or what positions you would like to try." Wonwoo finished off his egg tart and unnecessarily wiped his clean face and hands with a paper napkin. "He thinks you don't want to do it. He thinks you don't find him attractive enough."

Seungcheol sighed heavily. "I wish he'd just talk to me instead of making assumptions..." Wonwoo frowned at him. "You're thick as shit Cheol. You have some sort of sudden gay panic?" Seungcheol shook his head. "I just think of him as more fragile than he actually is. And I know he hates it, he gets enough of it from everyone else, but it's hard...." "You know what else is hard? Jeonghan's dick waiting weeks and weeks for you to get on it!" Wonwoo laughed as Seungcheol's phone buzzed.

He was surprised to see a notification from his ex-girlfriend and quickly opened it. "Got a text from Luda," he said to Wonwoo as he furrowed his brow and chewed his bottom lip. The message made him cold all over and he passed the phone over to Wonwoo to read the message.

"Sorry to bother you Cheol but your cousin is looking for you. He came to my work and asked me if I knew where you had moved to as he'd been past your apartment a few times and you weren't home. I said I didn't know but I gave him your number. Hope that was okay."

"Wonwoo, I only have one cousin. She's twelve." Seungcheol said with a look of panic on his face.

Wonwoo immediately cracked the back of the phone open and pulled out the battery. He pulled the SIM card from the slot and pocketed all the bits and pieces in his long coat. "Time to get a new phone Cheol," he said as they both stood up.

Time to go pay Luda a visit.