"It was you... The one I fell in love with. This entire time, it was you."
***
It all started with the end.
Han Jisung─an orphan whose only goal for the future is to build a better life for himself and his sister─and Lee Minho─also known as...
Listen to "Done For Me" by Punch for this chapter.
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By the time Chan picked up Jeongin from the brothel, a week later than he said he would, he had already renovated a room in his penthouse for him.
It was nothing special since he didn't keep up with trends and didn't know what teenagers liked for sure, but he tried to buy nice things for his new roommate, such as... a single Girls' Generations poster that was clumsily taped to one of the gray walls, a smart TV, a PlayStation and an old badminton set.
When Jeongin saw it, he thanked Chan for the kindness, but thought it was weird that there was no bed. Chan told him not to worry about it and go take a nap on the couch because he didn't have enough time to assemble a bed yet. In reality, he did buy a bed, but after assembling it on his own at 3am after work, it broke, so he had to buy another and seek assistance.
"Okay... Mhm... So, basically we have to put the mattress aside and gather all these pieces together before─ Hyunjin, will you get the fuck up and help me?"
"No," Hyunjin said from the carpeted floor, where he was lying on his stomach, limbs spread out.
Chan threw the instructions at him; the paper landed on his butt like a feather. "Mate, I'm gonna fucking kill you," he warned, only half-joking. "You said you were going to help me today."
"Then kill me! What's the point of life, anyway?" Hyunjin whined, rolling over to lie on his back instead. "My scars are red, my tears are blue, depression is a literal war, you against you."
"God." Chan cringed. "The hell's gotten into you?"
"It's Minho hyung. He won't let me be with the love of my life."
"That Seungmin guy again?"
"Yes, him. Hyung gave him a different job and now he has to watch Han Jisung at a brothel in the opposite part of the city. That's so far away! How am I going to see my love now?"
Chan pushed the windows open and hummed to the refreshing breeze, fighting the urge to throw a shoe at Hyunjin. "It ain't the end of the world or a reason to become emo now, is it?"
"It is the end of the entire world for me," Hyunjin said, kicking his feet. "Seungminnie and I are like Romeo and Juliet! I became Minho hyung's assistant just to see Seungmin more often, but no matter what I do for Hyung to let us be together, he won't. He keeps saying that loving someone who's not even his own person would distract me from my important captain duties. But how is that true? Seungminnie is more than a stupid contract or a stupid tattoo. Minho is so cruel."
Chan said nothing.
"Aaah! He's literally so cruel. This is why my blood pressure is so high all the time! I'm so sad!"
"Enough weeping. I need to assemble this bed right now or I'll lose my sanity."
"You see, I would normally help, but right now I'm too heartbroken to do it."
