3 Paths to Love

Chapter 59

Seunghyeon grimaced as Kwangsun blinked. "Uh..."

Daehyun raised his eyebrow and with an amused smirk, he turned back to the costume, humming as he took a sip of his tea.

Clearing his throat, Seunghyeon stepped into the room. Daehyun turned around, his face dull and a shadow of a beard on his chin. Seunghyeon gulped.

"Hi, Hyung," he said and sat across Daehyun. Glancing up at Kwangsun, Seunghyeon patted the seat next to him. "Can he stay?"

Daehyun paused for a moment. "I don't see why not."

Kwangsun nodded and set the tray down. He sat close to Seunghyeon; a sturdy presence compared to the pile of goop Seunghyeon felt like.

"How have you been?" Daehyun asked, settling back against the couch.

Seunghyeon glanced down and shrugged. "I've been good. But um..." Seunghyeon scrunched up his nose. He had so many questions. How was Myungsuk? How was Taeyong? Why do you look so tired?

"Myungsuk is doing better."

Seunghyeon snapped his head up, meeting Daehyun's comforting gaze. "Really?" he asked in a whisper.

Daehyun nodded. "I spoke to him before I came here. He's still upset, but seems to be willing to forgive you two."

The tip of Seunghyeon's nose burned and his eyes blurred as he smiled. "Thank Gods." Kwangsun gently rubbed his back and Seunghyeon felt his mind relax, but not entirely. "What about Taeyong-hyung?"

Daehyun sighed heavily. "We were in the hospital all morning–"

"What?" Seunghyeon jolted upright. "What happened?"

"It's okay." Daehyun held out his hand and glanced over at Kwangsun.

Kwangsun nodded and rubbed Seunghyeon's back. Seunghyeon furrowed his brow at the two of them. He leaned back and raked his fingers through his hair.

"He just had a false alarm. Along with the stress, we thought he was in labour," Daehyun said.

Seunghyeon paled. "o-Oh." His mind blanked, except for the big, bold words: You could have missed the baby's birth.

"But he's fine now, right?" Seunghyeon asked.

"More or less."

Seunghyeon sighed, deflating in his seat. He dropped his head onto Kwangsun's shoulder and scrubbed his hands over his face. This was all his fault. He shouldn't have made up his mind without telling Taeyong, who was dealing with everything along with being pregnant. They also should've been more honest and open with Myungsuk. And that he shouldn't have left when he did.

His chest ached. But Taeyong's words hurt so much.

"Seunghyeon, look at me."

Seunghyeon peaked up, rubbing the tears away as Daehyun sat forward, holding his gaze. It gave Seunghyeon a strange sense of deja vu.

"I'm not asking you to forgive him. Nor am I saying his current situation is because of you," Daehyun explained. "But you three are brothers and have been there for each other since the day you were born. All I ask is for you to come home and give him the chance to apologize and make it up to you."

Seunghyeon let out a deep sigh. "I, uh..." He gulped and turned to Kwangsun. "What should I do?"

Kwangsun smiled weakly. "It's up to you." He leaned over and tucked a piece of Seunghyeon's hair behind his ear. "Whatever decision you make, I'll stand by you. No matter what."

Seunghyeon's ear tingled and a calm washed over his body. Nodding, Seunghyeon turned to Daehyun. "So, Myungsuk wants to forgive him, yeah?"

"I believe so. And you too."

Pursing his lips, Seunghyeon sat up, folding his hands in his lap. "Fine. I'll come back. But–" Seunghyeon squared his shoulders. "I want to start looking for my own place."

Daehyun nodded, cracking a smile. "Of course. That's all I ask for." He said. "I think the four of us need to sit down and figure out how to fix Myungsuk and Insoo's situation."

Seunghyeon nodded. "Yeah..." Seunghyeon sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I bet Insoo's just waiting for Myungsuk to call and it'll be good."

Daehyun chuckled. "I told Myungsuk the same thing."

Stifling a laugh, Seunghyeon fondly shook his head. He turned to Kwangsun "Is that okay with you?" he asked, biting his lip.

Kwangsun nodded. "Of course, Kitty," he whispered. "Actually–" Kwangsun sniggered and sat up. "I've been taking mental notes on how to deal with you three. You three together are like a storm."

Daehyun and Kwangsun laughed. "That is a very accurate observation," Daehyun said.

Seunghyeon scoffed and crossed his arms, pouting. "You guys are so rude," he huffed. "I knew I should've gone somewhere else."

Kwangsun chuckled and swung his arm around Seunghyeon's shoulder, kissing the top of his head. "Speaking of which," he said and turned to Daehyun. "How did you find where Kitty was?"

"Oh yeah." Seunghyeon furrowed his brow. "I thought you'd check Eomma and Appa's apartment."

"We did," Daehyun said. "But when we didn't find you, I did some digging and found this address."

Kwangsun raised his eyebrow. "That feels like an invasion of privacy."

Daehyun smirked. "I'll make it up to you."

Kwangsun smirked and pointed his finger at him. "I'll hold you to that."

Fondly shaking his head, Seunghyeon pushed Kwangsun's hand down, giggling. "If you're trying to land yourself a job, I'm going to fight you."

"What?" Kwangsun laughed. "I'm just doing what I can."

"Well"–Daehyun smirked and stood up–"I should get going now. Seunghyeon, you can come tomorrow after tonight," he said, tilting his chin to the costume.

"Oh, right," Seunghyeon looked over at his creation. Somehow, he wasn't that excited to go out anymore.

Daehyun's phone rang, cutting through his thoughts. He watched Daehyun get it and pull it out from his pocket. "It's Taeyong."

Seunghyeon stiffened and glanced over at Kwangusn as Daehyun answered. Immediately, Taeyong's inaudible yelling came through the speaker. No... wailing? Seunghyeon blinked and sat up. Was Taeyong crying? Seunghyeon got up from his seat and stood closer.

"Daehyun, please. He's with Insoo but I don't know where they are," Taeyong said through the speaker.

"Taeyong, breathe," Daehyun said. "We'll find him. As long as he's not alone, it's okay. Try to calm down. It'll be okay."

"No, no no. It's not okay. I can't be alone. We all need to be together," Taeyong sobbed.

"Why? What's the matter?"

Seunghyeon gulped when there was a pause. He glanced at Kwangsun and the two of them stood close as Taeyong took in a shaky breath.

"Because this time," Taeyong's breath hitched. "This isn't a false alarm."