For the second day in a row, Wooyoung woke up alone.

He didn't mind though, because as soon as he sat up the weight of the previous day came crashing into him and he immediately buried his face in his knees.

All he could see was the pain on Jongho's face, the few rare times he would even look at Wooyoung. It was mixed in with the sad look San gave him too before comforting him.

He was nothing but trouble for both of them... And all he had done was bring them pain.

Tears pooled in Wooyoung's eyes as he sniffed and rubbed his nose. He placed a hand on San's pillow.

It was cold, indicating that he had been awake for some time now.

Dreading what needed to happen next, Wooyoung pushed himself out of bed and sniffed once more.

He was still in his suit from the night before, but his jacket was draped over the back of a chair in the corner.

After picking it up, he walked slowly into the main area while keeping his head bowed.

He instantly heard the tapping of keys from a keyboard and his eyes flicked to the island in the kitchen.

San was sitting in one of the bar stools with his glasses perched on his nose and a hard look on his face. His lips were pursed in concentration and he hardly blinked.

Wooyoung was almost scared to make his presence known, but he knew he needed to just get this over with. So he cleared his throat and peered at San from under his eyelashes.

The older looked up at him and gave him a quick, small smile. "Good morning." He said before turning back to his laptop.

That was like a stab in the heart.

Wooyoung took a step back and swallowed. He knew his mind was taking him to places that he shouldn't be going, but that simple action felt like the loudest rejection. And to make it worse, now he didn't know what to do with himself.

He turned and looked at the elevator and was tempted to just walk over to it and leave without saying another word.

But then San let out a long sigh and closed his laptop while rubbing his temples. "Why are you just standing there?"

The words held an inquisitive tone behind them, but there was nothing harsh about it. Even so, Wooyoung bit his tongue and looked at the ground.

He heard the stool San was sitting on scrap against the floor and everything seized up to the point where he didn't think he could move a muscle.

"Hey, come on. Come sit down, you look like you're about to pass out." San wrapped an arm around Wooyoung's shoulder to guide him to the couch. "I need you to take a deep breath baby."

The younger tried to do so, but he still couldn't bring himself to look at San. Not after everything he had done.

And yet San was willing to sit there and rub his back and try to comfort him.

"Why?" He finally asked, although the word caught in his throat and it came out as more of a croak.

He felt San's hand stop on his back and it sat there for a second, then the comforting weight was gone.

San let out another long sigh before placing his elbows on his knees and bringing his fingers to his lips. "I know... That you must be in a lot of pain, or be confused... And to be honest I am too."

Here it comes... Wooyoung wrapped his arms around his stomach and closed his eyes.

"I guess for me, I didn't realize you were seeing someone else. I suspected things, because I'd notice your face light up sometimes when you received a text. But I never felt like it was my place to ask because we haven't been seeing each other very long." San paused. "For it to be Jongho, though..." He let out a nervous laugh and finally looked at Wooyoung. "It must be the blonde hair, right?"

Wooyoung lifted his head up and looked at him with wide eyes. Was he really trying to make a joke right now?

"I won't tell you what you should do." San continued. "But I want you to know that... I still want to keep seeing you. I really like you, Wooyoung. Maybe I should have made my intentions clearer sooner, but I'm saying it now." He turned so he could fully face the younger. "I want to be your boyfriend."

Wooyoung didn't know what to say. How was San being so calm about this? Was he not as hurt by this?

"I won't make you chose, but I will say that I have no interest in an open relationship." San's eyes narrowed a little and his tone got a little harsher.

There it was... That's what Wooyoung was waiting for. He flinched and looked down at the couch.

"That's exactly what got my dad into trouble, and I will have no part of it. If you are looking for a relationship, then I am offering one. I want one. But if you would rather be with Jongho..." San once again sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "God, for it to be Jongho..."

"I-" Wooyoung squeezed his eyes shut when he felt more tears coming. "I didn't know... I s-swear. I didn't..."

"I believe you. How you are acting right now has told me that much. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that fate can be unusually cruel. That's why you need to do everything you can to protect yourself and be able to take care of yourself." San stood up and held out a hand for Wooyoung to take. "Come on, I know you need some time. And I probably do too, mostly because I have a lot of work that needs to be done. I'll call Pierre to take you home."

Wooyoung nodded and let San walk him to the elevator. When it dinged, the older squeezed his hand once before letting it go and stepping away.

No words were said between either of them, mostly because Wooyoung didn't want to say anything else to mess things up.

But he did glance up as the doors closed and saw that San was already walking away.

He did everything he could to fight back the tears, swallowing several times to just give him something to distract himself.

As promised, Pierre was waiting with the limo. He opened the door, allowing Wooyoung to slip inside with a forced, "Thank you."

The bodyguard nodded and gently shut the door. When he slipped into the front seat, he glanced at Wooyoung in the rear view mirror. "If I may ask, is everything ok?"

Wooyoung just closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Is there anything I can do for you? I'm sure that if you and Mr. Choi had a fight, you will work through it."

"Can... Can I ask you something?" Wooyoung started to wring his wrists due to his anxiety, but he had a long car ride ahead of him, and he needed some answers.

"Always."

"What is San's relationship with Jongho?" He could feel the words catching in his throat as he spoke.

Pierre's eyebrows rose in shock, but his eyes never left the road as he turned onto the long stretch of highway that would take Wooyoung home. "I'm surprised to hear you ask about this. Has Mr. Choi not mentioned anything to you?"

"No. I met him last night though." Wooyoung said, not wanting to give the man the full story.

"Well, Mr. Choi is a little over a year older than his brother. I know that his brother runs a very large farm a couple of hours away and actually does pretty well for himself, but he doesn't really like to consider himself a part of the family sometimes." Pierre pursed his lips. "If I tell you something, it doesn't leave this car." He glanced at Wooyoung in the mirror.

"Sure, I won't say anything." Wooyoung answered, suddenly feeling his anxiety skyrocket even more.

"Mr. Choi and Jongho are half brothers. They share a father, but different mothers. Their father was... Very adventurous in his young and ended up sleeping around a lot. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a few other half siblings out there somewhere, but as far as I know they are the only ones. Their father... He ended up being forced to chose one woman to marry for the sake of the company, otherwise his father would disown him. They had to do everything they could to cover up the scandal, so he ended up picking Mr. Choi's mother, simply because he was the oldest."

Wooyoung felt his chest constricting as the driver continued.

"Now this was when the boys were still very young, but Jongho definitely had the worst of everything. The pain of being rejected, it drove his mom to turn to drugs to cope with the pain of losing the love of her life. It ended up killing her. Mr. Choi's mother was more than happy to take Jongho in and raised him as her own son, I believe he even calls her Mom, but I don't think he will ever forgive his father."

At that point, Wooyoung wanted to disappear. No, he wanted to turn back time... he had unknowingly done the same exact thing to Jongho and San that their father had done...

He was a monster.

No wonder Jongho especially had been so hurt when he found out that Wooyoung had been seeing San as well.

Wooyoung covered his mouth and closed his eyes. He knew Pierre had to be watching him in the mirror, but he didn't care anymore.

The pain was too much for him to handle.

And the worst part was that he didn't feel like he even deserved to be in pain. Not after what he did.

The rest of the ride was silent and Wooyoung offered a soft thanks to Pierre when exiting the limo. He couldn't bring himself to say anything more than that. There was no doubt the bodyguard was suspicious of a few things now, but he didn't really care.

Wooyoung dragged himself up the stairs to his apartment and forced the door open.

He was greeting by Nova scampering over to him and that just drove the nail further into his heart.

She let out a few high pitched meows and stood up on her hind legs, which allowed Wooyoung to scooper her up and bring her directly to the crook of his neck.

The kitten started to rub her head against his neck and was purring gently.

No longer able to contain himself, Wooyoung pressed his back against the front door and slid to the floor. He let every thing out. The ugly sobs that came from him were only interrupted when he choked on the air he was trying to inhale.

How was he supposed to fix this? Could he even fix it?

He felt like San was as ok with this as he could be, but Wooyoung desperately wanted to call Jongho and just beg for forgiveness.

Wooyoung had no idea what he was going to do. Maybe it would be best if he distanced himself from both of them for awhile. That way he could figure out what it was that he truly wanted.

Or maybe he should just do what he does best and disappear...

He didn't really feel like moving again, but thankfully neither of them lived around him so avoiding them wasn't going to be a problem.

After another small meow, Wooyoung pulled Nova away from his neck and smiled when she placed her paws on his nose.

One thing was for sure, even if she would be a constant reminder, Wooyoung knew he could never give her up. She would be his companion for now.

Wooyoung sighed and brought her to his chest. "What a mess I've made, huh? I just can't seem to do anything right in life, can I?"

Nova chirped and started to play with one of the buttons on his shirt.

"I think some time alone would be good. Just you and me. That way I can't hurt anyone." He added, staring at the far wall.

Jongho's face flashed in front of his eyes again and Wooyoung closed them before turning his head to the side. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

His whimpers took over once more, filling the empty apartment.

And they consumed him so much that he didn't notice footsteps shuffling around just on the other side of his front door...