There was a tension between them they had never experienced before. Yunho found himself to be careful with his glancing in Jaejoong’s direction, and if their eyes happened to meet, he quickly looked away. There was a striking sense of nervousness coursing through his veins, as he did not know how to deal with the current situation. Jaejoong hadn't said a word whatsoever ever since he had entered, and Yunho wasn't sure whether it would be okay to start a conversation.

The elevator made a soft 'ding' sound, and the doors opened. Yunho waited for the other to step out first. He didn't, so they just stood there, looking ahead as if they were watching the sun set, only less romantic.

Suddenly, Jaejoong opened his mouth, his voice slightly trembling. “I... I lo –” He started.

But Yunho quickly interrupted him, he wasn't sure why, though. “Should I drive you home?”

Jaejoong drew a sharp breath, doing his best not to let all of his feelings flow out at once. This entire day had already been emotionally taxing enough. “No, Yunho, listen. I'm trying to say that I –”

Yunho started to fiddle for his car keys. “Now where did I put them?” He had raised his voice a bit so Jaejoong would get the hint and stop, but he didn't seem to get it.

“I loved you.”

He halted every movement as his eyes slowly travelled towards the man next to him. He stared. Despite it being impolite, he was actually shamelessly staring at him.

He noticed that Jaejoong’s eyes were flooded with tears, and was biting his bottom lip harshly, doing his best to keep them from falling. He closed his eyes before finally stepping out of the elevator. Yunho followed him without fully realising.

They walked for a very brief moment, then Jaejoong abruptly stopped; he dropped his head and brought his hands up to his face.

Yunho took another few steps so he was standing in front of the other man. He was more than taken aback when he saw he was crying. Because it was more than simply shedding tears; it was letting out a pain running so deep it felt as if he was pouring his heart out, and Yunho wasn't sure if he was the right person to be there at that moment. He wanted to place a hand on Jaejoong’s shoulders to give him at least some feeling of reassurance, or he would have preferred to pull him in for a hug, but he figured he’d better not. Seeing him in pain like this, he found something he still wasn't able to handle. He wanted to touch him, but seeing their past; he couldn't just go ahead and do that simply because he wanted to. Things were so much more complicated than that.

“I loved you,” Jaejoong repeated, rendering Yunho yet again speechless.

Yunho stared at him once more, then sighed. “You don't ha –”

“No,” Jaejoong interrupted. “You need to know I did.”

He was still heavily crying and it was sort of hard for Yunho to comprehend what the other man was saying in between his violent sobs, but for some reason he did. It had to be an old remainder of the past. He couldn't deny that they once knew each other better than they had known their selves.

“I didn't even get to tell him,” he started.

As he saw Yunho didn’t understand, he explained: “my father.” He cried even louder, “and now I will never have the chance to.”

His cries had become uncontrollable, no longer caring about the volume of his voice.

“Your father died?” Yunho carefully tried. He was doing his hardest not to pull him into his arms.

Jaejoong didn't reply, but it was pretty obvious that that was it. Yunho felt helpless and useless. Seeing his once best friend fall apart at the seams in front of him, was not exactly what he had planned his Saturday to turn into.

He didn't know what came over him when his hands moved towards Jaejoong’s face, bringing them up the other man's chin, then sliding his hand further to his neck so he could softly caress his cheek, wiping away some tears in the process.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, as he pulled him close to his chest.

He repeated those words over and over and over for what seemed like forever. After a while he wasn't even sure whether he was apologising for what happened to Jaejoong, or for what had happened between them in the past and how he had reacted to everything. He figured he was apologising for that as well as he leaned his chin on top of Jaejoong’s shoulder. It felt good to have him in his arms again. It felt right.

“I'm so, so sorry.”