The next morning, it took Wooyoung a few minutes to remember where he was and what had happened, but as soon as he felt the hot breath against the top of his head he knew instantly.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Jongho sleeping peacefully next to him. The younger's lips were parted just a touch, but were also pushed out in a little pout. His one hand was resting just below his chin, while the other arm was resting gently on Wooyoung's waist.

The sound of his low, even breaths was comforting.

Wooyoung smiled at the already showing bead head, the stray strands of blonde hair on Jongho's head were sticking up in all directions.

After a few more minutes, he extended his neck and placed a soft kiss on Jongho's nose before slipping out of the bed.

He walked over to grab his backpack before stepping into the bathroom. They hadn't discussed it, but he didn't see Jongho getting upset with him taking a quick shower.

And he kept it quick. All he wanted to do was rinse off, so he was out in less than five minutes.

When he was drying off and getting dressed, he heard his phone vibrate.

Without fully paying attention, he his the green answer button and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"

The other end was silent.

"Hello?" Wooyoung said again, pulling the phone away from his ear. It was listed as an unknown caller. "Is someone there?"

"Did you miss me?" A low voice said on the other end.

Wooyoung felt his heart drop. He never thought he would hear that voice again. Not after what happened. "L-Luke?"

"Why did you leave without saying goodbye? I've been trying to find you for months now."

"You told me you never wanted to see me again. How did you get this number?" Wooyoung's pulse raced through his body.

He couldn't believe this was happening. This was yet another part of his past he had wanted to run away from...

"I have my ways. You know I can get anything I want. And I want you baby." Luke's words washed over him, as silky and sweet as they did years ago.

"That's not what you said the last time I saw you." Wooyoung tried to keep the tremble out of his voice as he spoke. He couldn't let himself fall into that trap. Not again.

"I made a mistake. Please, can we meet? I want to talk to you and work things out."

"What, so I can be you're little fuck toy again? I don't think so. Don't call me again Luke." Wooyoung hung up the phone and set it down on the counter.

He took another moment to collect himself before stepping back into the bedroom.

Jongho was sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees and chin in his hands. But he sat up and smiled as soon he saw Wooyoung. "Hey."

"Hi." Wooyoung felt all his stress instantly melt away. "I hope you don't mind that I took a quick shower?"

"Not at all. Are you hungry?"

"Starving." Wooyoung followed Jongho into his kitchen. "Can I actually fix you breakfast?"

The younger paused and looked at him. "You don't need to do that. You're my guest."

"And that's why I want to do it. Plus it's been a long time since I've had the chance to cook anything. Now stop being so damn polite and sit down." Wooyoung laughed and pushed Jongho into a chair. "How long before you need to get to work?" He asked as he started to poke around in the fridge.

"I was thinking about taking the day off. I haven't had one in awhile."

Wooyoung bit his lip and smiled, still hiding behind the door. "And what would you... Maybe we... Be doing on said day off?"

Then he felt large hands sliding over his hips and up his sides. "Well, I guess that depends on you." Jongho said as he wrapped his arms around Wooyoung's waist. "But I know I'm not ready for this to end yet."

Wooyoung placed his hands over where Jongho's were clasped against his stomach and patted them. "Me neither. So go sit down and let me destroy your kitchen."

"This should be entertaining." Jongho chuckled and returned to his seat.

Wooyoung pulled out what he needed to make omelettes and fell into an easy routine. His muscle memory kicked into high gear as he beat the eggs and sliced through different meats and vegetables.

He had almost forgotten jut how much he liked cooking. He made a mental note to talk to Marcus about when he would be starting full time. It would be nice to not work so much and to be making more money. Then maybe he could afford to start cooking again.

When they sat down to eat, Jongho praised his cooking several times before he fell silent and started pushing his food around.

"Jongho? Is everything ok?" Wooyoung asked, setting down his fork.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

Jongho pursed his lips. "I didn't mean to overhear, but I did... Your phone call I mean. You said something..."

Wooyoung felt his stomach drop. "Oh."

"Who was that?" Jongho looked at him and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Luke." Wooyoung started wringing his hands. "He was... I don't even know what's to call him. He was someone I kind of used to see in high school. It ended up being toxic and when he ended it, that gave me one more excuse to leave home."

Jongho reached under the table to take Wooyoung's hands in his. "What did he do to you?"

Wooyoung turned to look to the side. This wasn't exactly how he pictured today going.

"Woo, I heard what you called yourself." The younger's whispered, leaning closer. "Is he going to start causing problems?"

"I don't know. I honestly never expected to hear from him again. He... He's not a nice person. But in high school, I was still uncertain of who I was. My parents kept pushing me to find a girlfriend, but he had taken an interest in me I guess." Wooyoung felt his cheeks heating up as he remembered what happened. "He told me that I was handsome, but beautiful. And that he wanted to get to know me. I felt things for him that I didn't understand. He convinced me to go to a party with him one night, his older brother was in college so he snuck us in."

Jongho shifted in his seat. The worried look on his face told Wooyoung that he knew where this was going.

"We ended up getting drunk. I was hesitant at first, but Luke was kind and like I said, felt so different around him. Almost like... Like I had finally unlocked a part of myself that I didn't know existed. We ended up hooking up that night..." Tears came to his eyes and his chest started to feel tight. Getting away from home had made him forget just how much Luke had hurt him. "We, um, we continued to hook up in secret for a few months. My home doesn't support anyone who is different, so no one could know about us. There were several nights that we would get drunk together, he even convinced me to do drugs with him a couple of times. I'm not proud of it."

Wooyoung closed his eyes, letting the tears in them run free. He took a deep shuddering breath.

"He was a year ahead of me, so after he graduated it was harder for use to see each other, but he always seemed to make it happen. Then when I graduated and told him I had been accepted at the same college, he said he wanted to end things. That he was done just fooling around and it was time for him to get serious." He sniffed and felt his jaw tremble. "I tried showing up on campus and waited for him at his dorm room. Only to see him come back with a girl on each hip. After he let them into his room, he dragged me from the door and told me he never wanted to see me again."

He opened his eyes when Jongho started to brush his thumbs across his cheeks, wiping away the the tears. "He's an idiot. And, quite frankly, a jackass. I'm so sorry that happened to you." He said gently.

Wooyoung tried to force a weak smile. "Well, that's just one of the reasons why I left home. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. We were having such a nice time..."

"You did nothing. He's the one who decided to call. Will you let me know if he tries to contact you again?" Jongho asked, his voice turned slightly harsh.

"Yes." Wooyoung nodded.

"Thank you." Jongho got out of his chair and moved so he was crouching right in front of the older, but his hands didn't leave his face. "You aren't just some... Some fuck toy. Got it? I want you to get that out of your head." When Wooyoung nodded, he pulled Wooyoung forward to give him a gentle kiss.

Wooyoung felt himself melt into it.

He had one thing he could thank Luke for, and that was showing him this side of himself.

"Now let's clean up. What would you like to do today?" Jongho asked after pulling away. "I want to see that beautiful smile again."

Wooyoung ducked his head and then leaned forward so his forehead was tucked into the crook of Jongho's neck. "I don't care. Just being with you is enough."

"Well I have something I think will cheer you up." Jongho pulled him from his chair and the two of them worked together to clean the kitchen.

Then, after pulling their boots on, they step outside into the nice morning air. Bailey ran up, barking happily and rubbing up against Jongho's legs. His entire body seemed to wag as he begged for attention.

Jongho found a stick and threw it off to the side as hard as he could. Dirt flew behind the dog as he scrambled after it. He then proceeded to trot around them like getting the stick was the proudest moment of his life.

The younger led Wooyoung into a smaller barn that was stacked high with hay. He placed a finger to his lips and started to walk to the far corner.

Wooyoung followed him and peeked around one stack and had to cover his mouth to block any sound from coming out.

Curled up in the corner was a black cat with white feet. She watched them with wide yellow eyes that never blinked. And it was understandable why. She was on guard as six kittens played in the hay at her feet.

When they detected Jongho and Wooyoung, a chorus of tiny meows erupted from them as they hobbled never to see what was going on.

A tiny orange colored on stretched up and pawed at Wooyoung's leg. With a quick nod from Jongho, he bent over and picked the kitten up. She had to be one of the softest things he had ever felt and she was just a little bigger than his hand.

"Hi there." Wooyoung cooed, holding her up to his face. She meowed and splayed her tiny toes while reaching for his face.

Then another one, who had somehow managed to climb up behind him, jumped onto his shoulder and had to cling to him to keep its balance.

Wooyoung couldn't help but laugh before sitting down and letting the others start to crawl on him.

This was just want he needed to cheer up and wash away the pain from the random call.

He and Jongho just spent the rest of the day milling around his farm. He got another little tour, but they spend most of the afternoon in his house just enjoying each other's company.

When it came time for Jongho to take him home, the were both quiet. Neither one wanted the day to end, but before he knew it, Jongho was watching him walk up to his apartment after one final parting kiss.

Wooyoung waved goodbye and watched him drive away until his truck disappeared around a bend.

Then he leaned against the wall and let out small sigh.

He was not looking forward to returning to his run down apartment and spending the night alone. But that was where he was at in life, so he accepted it and walked slowly up the three flights of stairs to his makeshift home.

One day he would have a better life.