Of Fake Smiles and Broken Hearts

five

Warning (not really): Short update. Typos. Grammatical errors. 

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Kyungsoo woke up in his room the next morning.

There are four bedrooms in their house. The guest room at the end of the hallway, Jongin's room, Kyungsoo's room, and the master's bedroom, which they rarely use. They were supposed to sleep on the same room (because sleeping on the same bed is too much to ask), being husbands and all. The night after their wedding, they slept on the same bed. Both were staring up at the ceiling, the low humming of the air conditioning machine lulling them to sleep. Kyungsoo doesn't think that Jongin noticed when he climbed out of the bed and slept on the couch instead. They slept on the same bed again the following night. And then when Kyungsoo was about to drift off to never land, he felt it. He felt the bed dip and creak.

He woke up to see Jongin sleeping on the couch that day.

From that day onwards, one of them waits for the other to sleep before transferring on the couch. This went on for a few weeks. And when Jongin moved his things to the next room, Kyungsoo found no reason to stay in the master's bedroom and slept on the room opposite to Jongin's.

That night, they felt free.

Kyungsoo sits up and rubs his eyes with his fists. His eyes darts to several things in the room when it suddenly dawns on him. He isn't in his room. Kyungsoo stands up in panic, eyes wide and alert all of a sudden. The room is white decorated with notes plastered on the wall and a few posters of football players here and there. There's a large television mounted on the wall opposite the bed and two book shelves on his right. The room was clean despite the manly aura. Kyungsoo walks around the room and looks at the framed pictures on top of the shelves. He sees his face.

Kyungsoo's heart quickens. He picks it up and looks at the younger version of him. He was smiling in the photo, but he was looking elsewhere. It was a candid shot of him and Kyungsoo wonders when it was taken. He puts it back on the shelf when he notices another picture. This time, he knows it immediately. It was taken just last week at a party he was invited in.

It was a picture of Krystal and Jongin smiling at the camera.

He bit his lower lip. He didn't know that she was there. Kyungsoo shakes his head and puts it back slowly when the door opens, revealing Jongin wearing a simple shirt and jeans. It reminded Kyungsoo when he first met him, when he was still happy and young, when Kyungsoo wasn't a part of his life yet. Now, Jongin looks more mature. Uptight. Unhappy.

"Hyung," Jongin says and Kyungsoo's heart clenches in pain because it has been so long.

Jongin looks at him with a small smile, as if it was forced. "We have to go now."

"I'll be ready in a moment." Kyungsoo answers. The taller male nods his head and leaves the room. Kyungsoo looks around again and reluctantly moves towards the door. He woke up in Jongin's room.

The thought made him happy, to say the least. As Kyungsoo exits the room, he tries to ignore the urge to look back at the pictures again. His heart had enough and it's only eight in the morning.