𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙧 | jaeyong

. e l e v e n .

walking down the cold night on the sidewalk has never been gloomy again. for taeyong to remember, this was the second time he's walked down a poorly lit sidewalk, with no people surrounding him, under the cold cold night.

the first time he did, it was a whole different emotion compared to what he feels now. though, walking back on his own alone did remind him of the bitter times he had of what he felt years ago before parting with jaehyun.

maybe i wasn't meant to come back. he thought. maybe he's right, i should just leave to keep them in peace.

he felt his heart crush in pain as he played jungwoo's voice inside his head multiple times.

"how could you do this to me?" he whispers.

taeyong had his head down, not once making eye contact with the person he hurt. he should've told him. he should never have lied.

sure, it's going to cause chaos eitherway, even so, they betrayed him. like no other.

"taeyong, you were my friend. i befriended you, i trusted you. how dare you?" a tear escaped taeyong's eye as if he was being scolded by his mother.

the lavender lace fabric sat still on the table and no words escaped taeyong's mouth as he figured that jungwoo finally found out.

"please tell me it was just a one time thing." jungwoo found it hard to let out those words but he had to know the truth.

but taeyong couldn't say that. because it wasn't a one time thing. because they did it again. if he says what jungwoo wanted to hear, he'd be lying again. "god, taeyong. there was more?!" suddenly, jungwoo's voice raised.

"it's not what you think--"

"it's not what i think?!" he yelled. people from outside the private room could probably already hear but jungwoo didn't care. "you had sex with my fiance and you did it again! i don't know how many times but you did! do you know how much it hurts?"

so much anger filled jungwoo that no tears can even escape. no matter how hurt he is now, he just can't let a single tear slip out. "taeyong, we're getting married. jaehyun isn't just a boyfriend, he's going to be my lifetime partner. you're already ruining a relationship. are you that ruthless?"

"i'm sorry." he replies as a whisper.

"you're sorry because i already caught you." jungwoo said. "if i didn't, it'd still be going on." he grabbed his bag and stood up.

"we were better without you." and it's like a knife went through him, hitting his heart. "taeyong, i think it's best if you leave us alone."

taeyong's tears came pouring out. he just hurt his good friend. the friend that had no other intention but be good to him from the very beginning.

it wasn't jungwoo's fault he's not as good as taeyong in bed. it wasn't jungwoo's fault they didn't know a single thing about taeyong and jaehyun's past. it was all taeyong's and jungwoo had done nothing wrong.

maybe the only thing he didn't realize was wrong was befriending the stripper from his fiance's bachelor party. or hiring a friend to strip for his fiance.

but to jungwoo, nothing will ever be the same now. as much as he wants to forget it all, it's going to stick in his mind. even if he gets married to jaehyun, it's going to be stamped inside his head. that his husband was a cheater. he's going to marry a cheater.

taeyong's phone vibrated in his hand. a message was sent. he thought maybe jungwoo's friends are already giving him death threats of some kind. but no, it was jaehyun.

"hi im so stressed out from work. jungwoo's not here can u come over?" it read.

another tear slipped out of his eyes and they quickly fell to the ground. no, i'm sorry, you don't get to have sex with me again. he thought.

"i hope you know the extreme measures ten would go just to get revenge on you." johnny chuckled softly.

it's been a few days and taeyong has been dodging calls, texts, and any other form of messages. he was so close to throwing his phone or maybe just changing his number. but then, johnny called him. he remembered that johnny knows things and maybe this was a heads up for something bad about to happen.

but it only turns out that johnny was giving him another job. johnny learned what happened from ten and no one else knew but him and ten. now, he's offering a job for a friend who's about to get fired by his boyfriend.

"yeah well, i hurt his best friend so i'm already assuming the worst. i'm prepared to be kicked out of the company, if that's what you want to hear." a soft snicker came out of taeyong's mouth. and as much as he is hurt now as well, he just have to pretend everything's okay and he's fine.

he's been doing it for years, he's pretty much mastered it already.

"ten would go on background checks to make sure you're not working for me anymore. i'm sorry he can be pretty ruthless sometimes." he said. "but in my defense, i did tell you to back off already and you didn't listen. i talked to you about this right?"

"yes, i know john. but jaehyun came to me, what was i supposed to do?" taeyong furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

"i don't know? ignore him, maybe? remind him that he was getting married? it's your fault too, you know." and then taeyong rolled his eyes so hard, he almost got a headache. "whatever. just tell me what i need to do." he answered.

"i'm writing you a letter of recommendation. i've used a few of my connections just to get you to transfer to another company. i may be ten's boyfriend but i'm still your friend." johnny said with a smile which taeyong gave back. "i've set you in an interview with a company from a close friend of mine in paris. all you need to do is fly there."

"you are a life saver, johnny. thank you so much for helping me despite of ten and everything that happened. i know jungwoo didn't tell you guys anything yet." taeyong smiled genuinely.

"yeah, he doesn't wanna tell everyone what happened but i only got that from ten." taeyong took a sip of his coffee and sighed. "i'm a very bad friend." he says.

"well, let's face it, you are. but there's gotta be a reason. i'd like to think you didn't do that because he was just hot as he is, right?"

taeyong looked down on his cup of coffee, watching intently as the liquid circle around using the spoon. "he's my ex." he finally says.

johnny widens his eyes. "we were together since the end of high school until i graduated college. then i got accepted to fashion school, they sent me everything, plane tickets and such, they took care of all my expenses."

johnny only kept quiet and watched him as he told the story while sipping on his coffee. "i thought he was going to be supportive. but i should've seen it coming, he doesn't like it when everyone leaves him. then he found out about it, he found the letter they sent me and the ticket. he ripped it apart and we fought for hours. we yelled at each other for hours."

taeyong could only sigh remembering the whole story. "i tried to reassure him that everything would be okay, but he really didn't want me to leave. i was so scared he'd leave me but he was already making me choose. paris or him. and i just can't choose one thing over the other."

"crap. that's deep." johnny said, brows furrowed. "yeah, so i chose paris. might be the worst decision of my entire life."

"he said he's not about to start a long distance relationship so he just chose to offer a break up. i told him to wait but we did break up. there was no closure for years, then i came back only to find out that he's getting married."

johnny could only sigh and hold taeyong's hand. "i'm sorry, tae." no he, himself, doesn't even know what to feel now. hearing taeyong's side of the story sure changes a lot of things. but no matter, the happenings as of the moment is still not right.

"please don't tell that to anyone. you're the only one i told that to." taeyong smiled softly wiping a tear he didn't even realize fell down. "by the way, shouldn't you go? won't ten be mad if he finds you here with me?" he asks.

"yeah, i should get going. ten would really freak."