the flight back to seoul was excruciating. he kept thinking of taeyong and how to make this work. he was jittery the entire ride and minhyung was getting jittery now too.

he called his ex-husband about the twins switching places and immediately booked a flight to unswitch them back. or so taeyong thought.

when they got to taeyong's house, or what jaehyun likes to call his old house--memorable and indelible, there were the kids already waiting outside for them. they rose from the steps and approached the car that drove into the driveway.

sungchan, without knowing a thing, hurriedly hugged his newfound father and asked, "dad, i missed you! are you staying for good now?"

mark and minhyung looked at each other and back to meet their dad's eyes. they were staring intently in their father's eyes like they were intimidating their own dad to say the right thing.

"i have to find your papa first, okay? is he inside?" he chose to dodge the subject and just came for the man he was supposed to see.

"papa left for a meeting. he told us to tell you that it was urgent and he'll meet you for dinner." it seems oddly unconvincing that he looked at his twins and they just shrugged off their shoulders. "alright." he sighed and accepted.

jaehyun began to take their bags out the car and asked the house helper to bring them in while he deals with his excited son.

"dad, how long are you staying? are you bringing mark hyung back to america? will you bring me to america too? how about papa? will you bring him to america too? daddy, what if we all have a vacation in america?" the youngest boy asked one after another while he pulled his dad inside the house.

ahh, my heart is already aching, sungchan-ah. jaehyun thought.

in the house, jaehyun prepared himself to meet the ex-husband. he went to see what kind of clothes he brought, what should he wear for dinner. even if it is just dinner with the family, he insisted to wear something that would catch taeyong's eyes. it's like he was preparing to court taeyong all over again.

ahhh, good times that was. he thought. indeed it was a rather nice memory. his favorite flowers that he bought with the last of his savings just to give on his most special days. the food he tried so hard to learn from the internet so he wouldn't skip meals. and the memorable dates they had every late night that they had to jump out their windows so their parents wouldn't see.

all that so he could get that sweet yes. but then, they just believed that great moments are not meant to last forever.

but oh, here we are, he's trying again. for the second time, that is.

a knock on the door was heard and he swiftly turned to see. "mr. jung? i was asked by your children to bring you to the restaurant."

"right. did they get there already?" he asks.

"they're on their way, sir."

"okay, i'll get dressed then we can go." he says and the helper closed the door. he sighs, whatever your plan is, this better be worth it.

when he finally settled on a fancy turtle neck and some slacks, he grabbed everything necessary and went straight out the door. he wouldn't want his kids and taeyong waiting so long for him so he insisted to hurry his ass up.

stepping out the car, he went for the receptionist and quickly asked. "good evening, sir. do you have a reservation?"

"hi, yes. i have a reservation under the name lee taeyong."

"ahh yes. right this way, sir. mr. lee is already expecting you."

as they walked through the restaurant, his heart thumped piercingly. he didn't expect for the man to lead him out of the restaurant and out the glass doors into a private garden.

the décor was rather splendid. trees that were surrounded with fairy lights, roses scattered on the ground. it suddenly occurred to him that his children might be behind all this.

but then, he noticed that the table was only set for two. and there was taeyong, sitting as confused as he. "taeyong?"

"jaehyun? where are the kids?" the man quickly asked. not even a 'hi' or 'good evening' heard from him.

"i thought they were with you?" he answered back.

"no. mark called me and said he reserved a table under my name and that they'll be with you here."

promptly, a waiter entered their private garden. "good evening, mr. jung and mr. lee. why don't you sit and relax, your children asked us to tell you that they are with your assistant and they will be arriving shortly."

as he spoke, he opened a bottle of their favorite 1975 chateau lafite.

that's odd. taeyong thought. ahh, sungchan-ah.

who would've thought? jaehyun starts to think. the kids really planned this well. they even got the wine served in our wedding. how did they know that though?

eitherway, they both sat and quietly wished for their children to actually come. for all taeyong knows, this has got to be one of their antics again.

meanwhile, jaehyun stared at the wine glass in front of him. ahh, how the times have changed. he thought. he reminisced the times he drank this kind of wine and that was a lot of years passed.

the only time he drank this was the night of their wedding and their wedding anniversaries together. since the divorce, he never touched this drink again. all the wine that was served during their special nights, he never drank it again. wine for their wedding, honeymoon, first date, anniversaries, he never went anywhere near it. although he has a bottle of them stacked in a secret place, he never once opened it.

"so..." he nervously tried to initiate a conversation.

"so..." taeyong replied back.

now, why would he make me more nervous than i already am?

"how's life?" seriously man? is that the best you've got?

taeyong made a weird face but answered anyway, "i'm good, i-i guess." he cleared his throat. "congratulations, by the way. with roseanne. you two look great together." and he gave out a genuine but weak smile.

now it was jaehyun's turn to give out a weird face. "no, taeyon--"

"it's fine, jaehyun. i bet the kids will like her. she's such a beautiful woman, after all." not as beautiful as you.

"you got it all wrong." jaehyun interjects. "we're not together. goodness, we had a few brief interactions but that was it."

i sound like i'm trying to imply something else. he thinks. why did he even try to explain in the first place? taeyong might think it's weird.

"o...kay? i don't see why you need to tell me that. it's pretty clear what the media was trying to prove, though." taeyong replied.

what the heck?

"oh. oh okay, so you rely on the media?" jaehyun questions making taeyong give a look of utter surprise. his tone was going off and he adds, "with a few words from a freakshow filled with fake news in showbiz, you think you have the whole story laid out for you?"

tayeong was rather baffled. jeahyun's tone was definitely raised as if suggesting a rather rough ending for the both of them.

"what are you implying, jaehyun?" taeyong raises his eyebrows.

"i don't know, taeyong. you seem to think that everything you see in the news about me is all true even if you know it would hurt you." however harsh it may sound, it was true.

"you don't know how to ask me about everything that's going on. you just conclude everything then you go on with it. you don't even know the truth." he adds.

even more baffled, taeyong gasps in surprise. "did that just come out of your mouth, jung jaehyun?"

"do you even realize that was the exact same thing you did before we broke up? the one very reason we had a divorce. because that's exactly what you did to me, you didn't listen too, did you?" he exhales as he finishes.

"and now you have the guts to say that to me." he covers his mouth with both his hands and exhales more.

in an attempt to fix everything one last time, even they didn't know it could lead to this. an argument right before dinner? of course, it's a hopeless case between them now, it's going to be argument after argument. they can't even have a decent conversation.

"oh my god, jaehyun." he breathes. "we're exactly how we were 10 years ago." his eyes starting to pool.

how can this happen? jaehyun thinks. "do you realize that?"

jaehyun looks down. how can i lose control? over this? now i've actually made things worse. there's no way they're coming up from this again. their relationship have officially reached rock bottom.

with the years they had, jaehyun honestly thought there might still be a chance. but no, for some it may seem that they make it work, but for someone who made it 10 years without proper closure, it's hardly ever gonna happen.

jaehyun can see that now.

how much time he had put to wait for the perfect moment. for letting taeyong to cool off. he waited 10 years to see if things could go back to the way it was.

this is a no go.

"this doesn't stand a chance, huh?" he starts.

you found somebody new

taeyong looks at him, gaze locking in his, glistening from tears that are begging to fall.

"this relationship. it's not gonna work. not anymore."

why?

you put me in the past

"we made it 10 years with our children understanding our own worlds. i'm sure they'd understand if we actually don't try to patch things up anymore."

but i don't want this to end.

i don't even know if our memories will last

"i'm sure they would understand, jaehyun. they're our children."

but i wouldn't. even if i want to understand, i couldn't.

"i think it's time to stop trying to make things work between us. we had one shot before and we blew it."

but if by chance it doesn't work out with her

for every lifetime, i want you to know that you'll always have a chance to get back with me. even if you don't want to, i'd want to. jaehyun thinks.

"i'm sorry this had to happen to us, taeyong."

even if i don't have a chance with you, you would with me.

you'll always have a chance with me in my world

all of a sudden, they hear a soft thud on the grass.

it came from a box held by sungchan who, by now, had tear-stained cheeks and a frowning face. he ran away from there, away from their parents, away from his brothers, everyone.

the twins also had tears pooling their eyes, concluding in their minds that they can't make their plans work anymore. it's all useless. it's all going to waste.

game over, minhyung-ah, makeu-yah.

"you're not even going to try anymore?"