jaehyun woke up feeling like absolute shit.

quite unsurprising considering everything that had happened to him the day before.

the ceo let out a groan, one of his hands reaching for his temple where a pounding headache attempted to kill him first thing in the morning, and the other blindly looking for his phone around the bedside table to look at the time.

11:37am, he had overslept, but well, what if? it's not as if someone would be expecting him at office. the company was dead anyway, so jaehyun might as well never go back to work.

holding the phone with one hand, jaehyun unlocked it and – as much as he knew it was a bad idea – opened the message app to see if taeyong had answered to his texts of the day before.

but well, let's be honest, even before checking them, he already knew that he wouldn't have received anything from the secretary. and this didn't fail, when he opened his conversation with taeyong, the last messages he had sent were on the very bottom of their conversation page, and the small 'seen' mention wasn't even visible.

jaehyun bit the inside of his cheek as his eyes roamed around the screen, falling on the small phone icon at the top right corner of the page. he hesitated a few seconds, staring at it and placing his finger over it before removing it. but well, at some point, the temptation of talking to the korean male was so high that he pressed the button and continued looking at the screen as a call was made.

he waited expectantly for a few seconds, holding in a breath in apprehension, but unfortunately, he fell on taeyong's voicemail before it could even ring. he sincerely hoped that it wasn't because taeyong had blocked him but just because his phone was dead or switched off.

another groan left jaehyun's lips as he locked his phone, burying his face in his pillow to muffle the sound of his frustrated whining.

he hated how everything had turned out. sure, he was the only one to blame, and what he had done was far from being respectable, but he knew things could have turned out better if he had been able to choose what parts of the secrets he spoke out and what parts he kkept buried deep inside of him.

but fate had decided otherwise... it had just thrown back at jaehyun all the bad he had done in his life, as if he deserved everything that was happening for everything he did in the past.

after moping around for a while, jaehyun rolled on his back on the bed, grabbing his phone and unlocking it again. he checked his messages with taeyong, disappointedly realising that they still hadn't been seen. but well, as if it was expecting that to change in the span of minutes.

with a sigh, jaehyun clicked on taeyong's contact, making his details appear on the screen. jaehyun just stared at them for a while, his eyes scanning the small picture that he had set as taeyong's contact picture with nostalgia.

in his study of taeyong's contact details, jaehyun realised that there was still a way to contact taeyong that he hadn't tried.

in fact, jaehyun had two different phone numbers registered under taeyong's name, one of them being taeyong's personal phone, the one with which jaehyun and taeyong exchanged messages, and the other being taeyong's business phone which jaehyun had called a few times in the beginning, but to which he had never sent any messages.

well, judging by the format of the phone number, it didn't seem like it could receive messages. it more seemed like it was a fix line that was located directly in the boy's office. the kind of phone that he would be picking up during his work days and to which he would robotically let out an all-made introduction like 'nakamotors, taeyong speaking, how can i help you?'.

jaehyun looked at this phone number for a while.

it was the middle of the day, so taeyong was surely at office. plus, there wouldn't be jaehyun's personal phone registered on taeyong's fixed line, so taeyong would answer the phone anyway, not imagining that jaehyun could be trying to reach him from there.

all it took for him to decide himself were a few seconds. the need to talk to taeyong, to hear his voice and to know he was safe being so intense that he couldn't resist for much longer.

he held his breath as he clicked on taeyong's business number, placing his phone to the ear while waiting for it to ring on the other side.

he waited expectantly, his eyes staring at his ceiling as he wondered what he'd even say when taeyong would answer. would the secretary hang up immediately if he told his identity? and would taeyong recognise his voice?

jaehyun's mind was clouded with all sorts of stressful questions, but the biggest question in his mind remained whether taeyong would answer his call or not. because yes, all of those stressful questions were of no utility is taeyong never answered his business phone.

"nakamotors, yuta's secretary speaking, hello."

jaehyun's heart missed a beat as he realised the phone had been answered, his eyes widening as he sat up on the bed, trying his best to remain calm when his whole mind was a mess.

"h-hello..." he stuttered, unable to form a sentence. all he wanted was to hear taeyong's voice, to have something good happening to him in the nightmare-like life he was currently living. he needed to hear the male that had been running on his mind day and night, the man responsible for his happiness.

"how may i help you?"

jaehyun blinked a few times, not recognising taeyong's melodious voice.

he pulled the phone from his ear for a second, checking the contact which did read 'taeyong'. but there was no doubt, the person talking wasn't taeyong. he didn't have the same intonation, the same way to talk, the same giddiness which always made jaehyun smile so much.

"i-isn't it taeyong?" jaehyun questioned, the words leaving his mouth before he could think.

"oh, no. i'm his replicant." the person said, confirming jaehyun's thoughts. "taeyong is on leave for a few days. i'm replacing him in the meantime."

jaehyun hummed slowly, all of his hopes dying in a snap of fingers as realisation hit him.

taeyong wasn't at office. he wouldn't be for a few days.

yuta had surely let him take a few days off after what happened, just the time for taeyong to regain his spirits and feel better.

"hello? are you still here?" taeyong's replicant asked as jaehyun was silent for a long while.

"yes sorry." the korean male cleared his throat. "huh... is mister nakamoto available today or does he have appointments?"

"let me check right away." the guy said before jaehyun heard a few clicks of his mouse. "he doesn't have anything, no."

"okay, i'm coming to the headquarters then. thank you." jaehyun immediately nodded.

"wait, who are y- "

but before taeyong's replicant could ask his question, jaehyun had hung up and thrown his phone back on the bed.

he needed to see yuta, he needed to talk to him.

him and teyong were close friends, he'll surely have news of him. he'll surely be able to reassure jaehyun.

☏

yuta couldn't concentrate on his work, which was something quite rare.

he had always been very confident working under pressure and with lots of things at stake, but right now, something was off, and the japanese ceo couldn't seem to concentrate.

thank god he didn't have any appointments that day, because he wasn't sure he'd be able to present well if he needed to act like the vicious ceo others thought he was.

yuta blamed his unability to concentrate on the fact that taeyong wasn't in the office with him, but he knew very well that it was much more than that. his mind was still clouded with the events of the day before, between jaehyun's secrets being revealed and sicheng's betrayal, there was no way yuta could push his thoughts aside and work as if nothing was happening. because yes, there was pretty much too much happening at the same time right now.

another factor which disturbed yuta and prevented him to work was the replacement secretary he had found while taeyong wasn't here. he was a nice man, and he had been one of the applicants when yuta had posted the job offer for the position, but yuta had preferred hiring taeyong. and well, he was glad he had.

this guy was nothing like taeyong. taeyong was bubbly, down on earth and always had the right words to make yuta laugh. this one just did his work without talking, typing loudly on his keyboard boringly. it had only been a few hours, but yuta was already missing taeyong sitting in his office with him.

the japanese male looked over the secretary's desk, frowning when he realised the man wasn't there anymore. but then, two voices were heard from the corridor, one of them being that of the replicant secretary.

yuta stood up from his desk, heading there to see who was the second person the secretary was talking to. and well, let's say he saw red when his eyes fell on the unwanted visitor.

"you..." yuta let out, eyes throwing daggers to his rival. "you dare showing up here after everything you did you asshole?!"

"i-i just need to talk to you..." jaehyun replied as the secretary looked between the two males, not fully understanding what was happening between them.

"you're the last person i want to talk to." yuta spat. "i swear if you don't disappear from my sight right now, i'll strangle you to death, you snake!"

"yuta please- "

"shut the fuck up!" the ceo continued screaming at his rival, all of the anger and frustration from the past days resurfacing now and urging him to beat the other to death.

"i just want to know how taeyong is doing..." jaehyun admitted before yuta could make him leave.

the japanese male stayed silent for a few seconds before scoffing loudly.

"you just want to know how taeyong is doing?" he repeated, staring at jaehyun with a frown. "but do you really deserve to know?"

"yuta..."

"after everything you did? after playing him like he had no feelings? after betraying him?" yuta continued, his words getting harsher with every second passing. "do you deserve to have the slightest idea what has been going on with taeyong?"

"i'm worried about him, i really am." jaehyun confessed.

this earned another scoff from yuta. "now's a bit too late for that, don't you think?"

"i just need to know if he's doing aright. i know he wouldn't want to see me, but i just need to know how he's doing." the korean ceo continued, pouring his heart out in his words, hoping they would sound sincere to the other male. "i... i really care for him... i just realised it too late..."

yuta stared at him some more, his arms crossed over his chest.

he badly wanted to punch jaehyun, but he was holding himself with all of his might, knowing that this wouldn't be what taeyong or sicheng wanted.

"do you really think i'm going to believe you after all those lies and secrets?" the ceo questioned with a brow raised.

"i know you won't." jaehyun replied honestly. "and i can't blame you. but i just need to get all of it off my chest."

"go see a therapist, then." yuta snorted. "that way he'll also be able to help you with your mental problems at the same time."

"i want to tell you the truth." jaehyun continued, ignoring yuta's mean words.

"and i don't want to hear it."

jaehyun looked into yuta's eyes, finding nothing but hate and anger there.

he couldn't really blame him, and he didn't expect to find anything else to be honest, but it hurt a lot.

for the past months, as much as yuta and him were rivals and as much as jaehyun learnt to hate yuta and his business, he had somehow grown attached to him as well. he was very happy to see him at each congress or seminar day, having someone his age to hang around instead of staying with the other old ceos. they weren't friends, not exactly. but now that whatever was between them was broken, it seemed like jaehyun had lost a friend.

"i'm giving you one minute." yuta stated with a sigh, seeing the despair in jaehyun's eyes. "but i'm warning you, as soon as this minute is over, i'm kicking you out and i'll use violence if you refuse."

the korean's eyes widened slightly, his heart felling somehow lighter as he had been offered a chance.

"thank you yuta."

"be quick." the japanese male sighed.

"okay so... the first thing you have to know is that my father has always been an asshole." jaehyun started.

"yeah, it runs in the veins. explains a lot of things actually." yuta commented.

"he threatened to take the business again from me if i didn't succeed overpassing nakamotors again. so, i had to find a solution. but it seemed obvious that i wouldn't be able to beat you because your cars were more adapted to this era than mine, so it's obvious people would prefer yours to mine and that your business would keep growing. so, what i thought i could do was to make you fail, cause you to embarrass yourself for example, and then have people stop following you." the korean male explained without a filter, and judging by the way yuta's brows furrowed, the ceo was trying his best not to snap at him. "i realised that taeyong seemed very distracted when i was around, and i guessed that it was because he was starting to grow feelings for me. and i took advantage of it. i was imagining that maybe, if i made him fall harder, he'll trust me and he'll end up telling me more about nakamotors and also you. and this way, i'll have information to make you sink. this was my original plan."

yuta hummed, nodding his head as he stared at jaehyun.

"you're not helping your case there, you know it, right?" he asked.

"i followed my plan, meeting with taeyong, and making him fall for me. it was almost too easy, he seemed completely into me. but he never shared anything about you or nakamotors. he is a very good secretary, he knows how to keep secrets."

"there's a reason why i hired him, you know?" yuta tsked, looking away from jaehyun in fear to pounce on him because of what he was saying and how awful it was.

"i tried harder, constantly asking him about work, but he never shared anything. even when he was drunk, nothing slipped past his lips."

"look, i believe the minute is over, so if you could come to the part that is supposed to make me change my mind about you, i'd appreciate it." yuta said annoyingly.

"what you need to know is that in the process of making him fall and playing him, i fell for him unexpectedly. i started developing feelings for him, wanting to see him day and night, constantly hoping that i could be close to him... i fell in love with him." jaehyun confessed, heaving out a sigh as he looked at his feet. "i never expected that mister hu would say what i had done out loud at the congress. if he hadn't, i'd have been able to keep what was my initial plan to myself and just date him for real. but fate decided against it."

yuta stayed silent for a while, regaining his spirits and trying to calm himself down not to hit jaehyun – because despite his truthful and sincere words, yuta still wanted nothing more than to smash his fist in the boy's face.

"my turn to speak now." the japanese male declared. "you are a monster, a freak, an asshole, a jerk, a bastard, a jackass, and a cruel piece of shit. i can't believe you could even think about doing something so inhumane and morally wrong. let alone to someone as pure and innocent as taeyong."

jaehyun's head lowered in shame at yuta's words.

"he was genuinely happy, he always had this stupid smile on his face, and he was always looking forward to the end of the day when he could meet with this date that made him so happy. and i was genuinely proud of him for finding someone who cared enough for him. but now that i know it has been you since the beginning, and now that i am aware of the shit you pulled, i only hope i had told taeyong against it." the japanese male continued, venom laced in his voice. "but no, all i did was to push him furthers in the arms of my business rival, a man that was playing his feelings just to become leader in the industry. someone who was pretending to care about him."

"i wasn't- "

"i know you have feelings for him now." yuta cut jaehyun's words. "but the sole fact that it started with you absolutely not caring for him is unforgivable, you monster. you deserve all of the shit that is happening to you right now. you deserve to be unhappy and to have your business failing."

"i know..." jaehyun sighed. "i know i deserve all of that, but please, as taeyong's lover... i also deserve to know how he is doing... he's not answering to me, but i know he'll surely be talking to you, so please, i beg you... tell me how he is doing..."

the japanese ceo glared at jaehyun, hating the way he made himself look so miserable when he had been the one to mess up everything in the first place.

"you really want to know how he's doing?" yuta raised a brow.

"there's nothing more i want right now." jaehyun replied with a nod, looking expectantly at the other ceo.

"well, i'll tell you. and that way, you'll surely understand the gravity of your acts." yuta shrugged. "taeyong isn't talking to me either. and that is because after the shit you pulled at the congress, he ran away and got into a car accident. he's at the hospital right now and he still hasn't woken up after the emergency surgery he went through!"

jaehyun saw his life flashing in front of his eyes at yuta's words, his heart suddenly aching in his chest and his whole body tensing.

taeyong had had a car accident.

taeyong was in the hospital.

taeyong hadn't woken up yet.

and this was all jaehyun's fault.

if only he hadn't taught taeyong how to drive, he'd have run away by foot.

if only he hadn't decided to play with his feelings, taeyong wouldn't have learnt about it at the congress.

if only he had told taeyong his true feelings, the secretary would surely still be fine and happy.

this was just the consequences of his stupid actions.

"h-he... h-he's in the hospital?"

"yes, jaehyun. he's in the hospital." yuta spat back. "and- "

the ceo's words were cut by the sound of the secretary's business phone ringing. taeyong' replicant who had been staring next to the two ceo hurried to the phone and picked it up.

"nakamotors, yuta's secretary speaking, hello?" he said as soon as he answered.

the two ceos looked at him as he hummed a few times before muttering a "thank you" and hanging up.

he then looked at the two ceos with a small smile. "it was the hospital. taeyong has just woken up."

both male's eyes widened simultaneously at the information.

"i'll go see him!" yuta declared immediately, rushing to his desk to grab his phone and wallet.

"which hospital is he in? i'm coming as well." jaehyun asked.

"oh, certainly not." yuta shook his head. "you have no right to go and see him after what you did to him."

"i need to see him, yuta. i need to see how he is doing!"

"i won't let out get close to him again, asshole!"

the two ceos fought verbally as they got into the lift, screaming at each other all the way down until they reached the parking, still spitting mean words to each other's face.

"tell me in which hospital he is, dipshit. i don't care if you don't want me to go, i'll visit him anyway!"jaehyun spat.

"i'd rather die than telling you!" yuta retorted. "i swear if i see you visiting him i could kill you."

they continued their bickering, jaehyun following yuta across the parking while pleading him to tell him the hospital in which taeyong was at, and the japanese male categorically refusing to share any information.

at some point, yuta stopped walking, his eyes staring at an empty parking spot before sighing.

"just tell me in which bloody hospital he is, yuta." jaehyun growled, earning an annoyed huff from the other.

"okay, let's make a deal." the japanese male rubbed his temples.

"there's no deal to make. which hospital is he in?" jaehyun tsked.

"i'll tell you the hospital he is in. but under one condition." yuta stated.

"what is it?"

"you're driving us there."

jaehyun frowned, looking at the japanese ceo questioningly.

"taeyong had an accident with my car, so just drive me there, visit him and then everybody's happy. okay?" yuta explained.

and well, jaehyun had never been this happy in this life. "better than not going at all. let's go." he was quick to say, grabbing yuta's wrist and pulling him towards his own car which was parked a few levels underneath.

and this was how the two rival ceos had ended up spitting profanities at each other's face in jaehyun's car as they drove all the way to the hospital to visit taeyong after he woke up.

☏

the two ceos ran for their lives side by side as they got to the hospital taeyogn had been admitted in. the second jaehyun's car had been parked, both of them has jolted out of the vehicle in the direction of the hospital reception.

for the first time in their lives, they had cooperated without fighting, helping each other find their way across the maze of corridors that was this hospital until they found taeyong's unit. and once they got there, neither of them hesitated to barge inside the room taeyong was in.

"taeyong!" yuta exclaimed as soon as he got in, rushing to the secretary's side.

the said male was surprised by the sudden interjection, but as soon as he recognised his friends, tears started forming in his eyes.

"y-yuta..." he breathed out, stretching his arm out towards the japanese male, allowing him to see the iv drip that was attached to his hand to help him after the surgery.

"it's okay, yong, i'm here." yuta spoke reassuringly, taking the korean's hand between his warm palms and holding it comfortingly.

taeyong looked drained. it truly seemed like he had been through a lot, both mentally and physically, which was the case.

his face was scattered with small cuts and bruises, some of which had been covered by band-aids, and others which had been let bare; one of his legs was held into a cast from the ankle to the thigh, and the other foot was wrapped in a small bandage. his arms were wrapped in bandages as well, leaving little to no skin to show.

and more than looking hurt, taeyong looked utterly tired, as if the surgery had deprived him from a long night of sleep.

"does it hurt a lot? a-are you in pain?" yuta questioned, looking worriedly at taeyong's body. "what did the doctor tell you?"

"yuta... i'm so sorry..." taeyong replied, making the ceo frown.

"why are you apologising? there's nothing to apologise for, you- "

"i'm sorry i dated jaehyun without telling you." taeyong cut yuta's words. "i-i'm so sorry i went out with your rival behind your back..." he continued, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks, immediately alarming the ceo.

"taeyong, god, it's okay, it's fine." the japanese male hurriedly said, using his fingers to wipe the tears from the other boy's face. "i also dated sicheng behind your back, so there's no problem. we're even."

"i-i'm sorry..." taeyong continued apologising, crying harder and causing his sore body to ache even more.

"yong, please, stop apologising for that, it's okay..." yuta reassured him. "and if you're feeling guilty about it, just remember that you are not the one to blame."

taeyong sniffed, letting out a small groan of pain as the action hurt him.

he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have a friend like yuta, rushing for him to the hospital as soon as he woke up from surgery, and telling him that everything was okay. actually, he couldn't believe that yuta hadn't reacted badly to the news of him and jaehyun being together. taeyong had imagined yuta to go berserk after learning that the date taeyong had been hiding from yuta was no one else than his business rival. but well, at the same time, perhaps that yuta was being nice for the moment because taeyong had had an accident, and then, when everything would og back to normal, he'll process the news and start blaming taeyong.

taeyong couldn't imagine how betrayed yuta may feel later on. yuta and him used to have no secrets between them. they could share everything and anything with each other. but now, taeyong had kept a secret from him, and this had caused a major problem.

this made the secretary think that there was another secret that he had kept since the beginning. one that he had always been scared telling yuta about. but well, as much as revealing secrets hurt people, it hurt even worse when you learnt them from someone else. and after everything he made yuta go through by hididng his relationship with jaehyun, taeyong truly didn't want his ceo friend to learn about his other secret from someone else that him.

"y-yuta..." the secretary called, still crying.

"what is it, yong?" yuta questioned, looking at the secretary with fond yet worried eyes.

"i-i'm sorry for having an accident and breaking your car..." he stuttered, more tears leaving his eyes.

"taeyong, it was an accident, these things happen. you can't predict them. what's important is that you're alive and healing." yuta immediately said. "that's the only thing that matters, you don't have to apologise for something you have no control over."

"b-but..." taeyong sniffed, his cries intensifying. "i-i... i-i'm sorry i t-took your car despite not having a d-driving licence..."

there they were. the words that taeyong dreaded so much. spoken out loud in yuta's presence.

yuta; his boss, and accessorily, the ceo of the leading company in the automobile sector, or in other words, a company that produced cars.

and here had taeyong just admitted out loud that he didn't have a driving licence when he had kept that fact hidden ever since he had met yuta for the first time.

"w-what do you mean, you don't have a driver's licence?" yuta asked, his tone more surprised than angry.

"i-i... j-jaehyun has been teaching me how to drive his car for a few weeks... b-but other than that... i have n-no experience... i-i... i d-don't know how to drive..."

the words that escapred taeyong's mouth rung in yuta's brain as if it was echoing on each corner of his head. his eyes were wide and his mouth agape, an intense wave of shock taking over him as his eyes were on his secretary who was crying with his head held down.

he slowly processed the words, the connexions being almost instant in his mind and filling the gaps he couldn't seem to fill before. so, this was why taeyong never let yuta join him when he was supposed to drive. so, this was why taeyong kept refusing being gifted a nakamotors car. it all made sense now.

and soon enough, the wave of shock that had hit yuta square in the face dissipated as the words taeyong had spoken out made sense to him. but before it could dissipate fully and allow yuta to reassure taeyong about this matter, the shock morphed into something close to anger. his jaw clenghed, his hands balled into fists and in a snap of fingers, he turned around, face red and brows furrowed as he glared at the other ceo in the room.

"you knew he couldn't drive and you let him take my car?!" the japanese male yelled, taking a menacing step towards the other ceo.

a while ago, when the two of them were coming to the hospital, between the few profanities they spat to each other, jaehyun had told him how he had seen taeyong driving away in yuta's car, and how the korean male hadn't stopped pressing onto the gas pedal despite jaehyun urging him to stop.

but now, he was realising that the accident could have been avoided. taeyong wasn't only driving while having his mind disturbed. he was driving while having his mind disturbed and he was driving without any clear knowledge on how to drive. in fact, it was a miracle that he was still alive right now and that he hadn't been more injured considering the circumstances.

"jung fucking jaehyun, why did you let him run away with a car?!"

the words yelled by yuta across the hospital room made taeyong lift his head in curiosity. he hadn't noticed it before, but jaehyun was standing there, looking right back at him with worried eyes – or was it really worry?

"w-why is he here...?" taeyong asked, eyes widening as the air in his lungs suddenly started lacking.

"sorry?" yuta turned around to look at his secretary, his mind previously too angry at jaehyun to be focused on taeyong and understand his words.

"m-make him leave." the korean secretary stuttered out.

"taeyong..."

it felt weird, hearing the man that had played him so bad speaking his name; that same man he loved so much and hoped to be with in the future; that same man who. had given him so much hope but that had betrayed him; that same man that was the reason why he was in this hospital right now.

and considering all of that, he was the last person taeyong wanted to see right now. he was suffering enough physically, he didn't need to suffer mentally as well having to face him.

"go away..." taeyong whispered, looking right into jaehyun's eyes.

"please, i wanted to- "

"no!" taeyong exclaimed, his body jolting slightly at the sudden scream, causing him to hurt.

"taeyong- "

"leave me alone!" taeyong continued yelling, painful tears leaving his eyes. "i don't want to have anything to do with you anymore!"

"please- "

"i hate you!"

those words hurt jaehyun deep to his heart.

he couldn't say that he wasn't expecting them, because after everything that happened, he knew that there was a high chance taeyong hated him, but he didn't imagine taeyong would spit those words at him like that, trying so bad to let the words out that he ended up hurting himself.

actually, he didn't exactly know what he was expecting, walking into taeyong's hospital room after he had an accident which had been partly caused by him and his stupidity. but well, apparently, you reap what you sow, and jaehyun hadn't sown anything else but brambles and nettles, so it was to expect that it was going to hurt when reaping them...

and so, despite how painful the decision was for him and his broken heart, jaehyun decided to listen to taeyong's words and leave the room. but of course, not before saying what he had on his heart.

"please know that despite everything that has been said, at some point, i wasn't pretending anymore..." he stated. "i truly care for you, and my feelings are genuine. wanting to play with your feelings was the biggest mistake and the greatest decision of my life. the greatest decision, because it brought me to like you; but the biggest mistake because it condemned us to never have a real relationship..." the ceo of jung corporation continued, heaving out a long sigh. "but now that everything has been unveiled, please know that i won't let go. i'll try everything to get back to you, even if this means that you will never return my feelings..."

taeyong choked on a sob as those words left jaehyun's mouth, his hands immediately lifting to cover his face as the tears couldn't stop falling down.

"g-go away! i don't want to see you ever again!" the secretary let out with the last strengths he had left.

jaehyun didn't need more.

with a nod, the businessman turned on his heels, ignoring the pang in his heart killing him more at each step he took towards the door. and after staying frozen for a second with his hand on the handle, jaehyun finally accomplished taeyong's wish, walking out of the room and blocking out the sound of taeyong's desperate cries and yuta's pointless comforting words.

and this is how jaehyun broke down himself.