Two days passed Hongjoong spent resting in bed and replenishing his health. The doctor had found no internal wounds or broken bones on him, though he was supposed to rest his hands for a while so his bruises wouldn't get worse. His leg injury had required stitches, but thanks to Seonghwa's clean and warm home, Hongjoong wouldn't die of his lacerations. The doctor had noted, with a worried frown, that Hongjoong would have if he still lived in the sickness-infested community houses.

Unnecessary to say, Seonghwa was quite proud of his role in Hongjoong's recovery, even if it was such a small one. He dropped by from time to time with flowers to see Hongjoong, but was early to leave whenever the two of them grew too shy around each other. For each colourful blossom, he swore up and down that they had no meaning and he only wanted to gift them to Hongjoong, so he had something to look at that brought life into the rainy, boring room. However, as Hongjoong looked up those flowers in the late hours of the night after Seonghwa had left his chamber, he found they had meanings like 'get well soon', 'I admire you', and 'you are beautiful.' Hongjoong doubted the last one. He looked battered and bruised, and Seonghwa was convinced Yunho had chopped off Hongjoong's hair to mess with him. It gave Hongjoong an excuse not to wear a wig, but his scabbed, bruised injuries had him look more like a stray cat that Seonghwa had picked up rather than a pretty lady.

With each time that Seonghwa left the room smiling about the minutes, they spent with each other while Seonghwa hid his bashfulness as he brought Hongjoong flowers, Hongjoong's resolve crumbled. He found it too sweet how Seonghwa came in to hand him these gifts in person after hiding so cowardly all this time. He relished in Seonghwa's muttered compliments that Hongjoong looked good even with his hair short. He also caught his heartbeat quickening whenever someone knocked on the door and instead of the three servants, it was Seonghwa who peeked his head in.

Two days after his drowning incident and a lot of sleep, Hongjoong felt much better. He could speak as much as he wanted again, and his fingers throbbed less when he held a book. Tomorrow, he wanted to join dinner downstairs again so he wouldn't have to eat by himself.

When a soft knock on the door interrupted Hongjoong's readings, he glanced at the flower on his bedside table in surprise. Seonghwa had brought it in the morning, so Hongjoong already got a flower for the day. Did Seonghwa come to say good night? Hongjoong was sure it was him, since he could tell the difference between Seonghwa's modest knock and Jongho's polite one.

"Yes?" Hongjoong put his flower bookmark into his page and looked up. Seonghwa's head peered inside, and a shoulder clad in a white shirt and a green vest matching his pants followed.

"Were you on your way to sleep?" Seonghwa asked. His dark eyes flickered over Hongjoong's curled form propped up in his gigantic bed.

"Impossible," Hongjoong chuckled. "Sleep needs to come with a bigger army to rip my books from my hands."

Seonghwa stepped in with a grin tugging on his plush lips. In his hands, he carried another flower and an unfolded letter. His long fingers cradled both with great care as he came to sit by Hongjoong's side.

"I'm happy you could find such an enjoyable pastime with them."

"People in the slums would kill each other for this chance. There is so much to learn, so many worlds to flee to. What brought you here?"

When Hongjoong eyed the letter, Seonghwa handed him the flower first.

"Here, take this. I remembered you told me about your zodiac being Scorpio, so I figured you were born in November. This is your birth flower." Seonghwa nodded his chin at the sweet flower with the big head that drooped from the narrow stalk. The many petals were long and thin, and they formed a kaleidoscope of petals that crowned the middle. The sweet purple hues looked nearly blue on the lower rim.

"What is it called?"

"A chrysanthemum. It means... something. Look it up later."

Interested, Hongjoong's eyes flicked to his book. Before he could reach for it, Seonghwa cleared his throat and jostled the letter. The bold interruption had Hongjoong chuckle.

Seonghwa hid his blush by opening the letter with an exaggerated gesture. Once it was smoothed out, he breathed in.

"San wrote to us. I will read it to you."

Hongjoong relaxed into his pillows and listened to Seonghwa's smooth voice as he read San's cursive handwriting.

"Dear Seonghwa, dear Hongjoong,

I write to ask about both of your well-being, though I am most concerned with Hongjoong's recovery. I hope you are healing well and that you two look out for each other in these hours of nightmares and suffering. By all means, if Wooyoung can be of any help, don't be shy to call out to him.

As for me, I've been kept busy these past few days. We followed Hongjoong's trail to chase down the Ripper and found him injured where he had hidden away in the sewers under the city. Upon our approach, a fight broke out and he injured two police officers. Due to his weakness after his run-in with Hongjoong, we could successfully detain him. Currently, he is under strict observation in the high-security Newgate Prison. There is no more doubt about his identity, and the court will vote on his punishment soon.

I believe that without Hongjoong's help, more people would have needed to die before we could apprehend Yunho. During his interviews, Yunho said a lot of things about Hongjoong that worried me greatly, hence why I wanted to reach out.

I hope my delight over having triumphed over this brutal man doesn't overshadow my concerns. Once I am not needed here all day anymore, Wooyoung and I will come by and check on you in person. I want to express my gratitude for your fight with Yunho, and my utmost relief that you survived this encounter. This success wouldn't have been worth anything if you would have been sacrificed for it.

May we arrange a meeting soon, then we can discuss everything. Until then, I pray for your fast recovery and for an amicable understanding between the two of you.

Love
San

P.S. Wooyoung wishes you the best, too."

Touched by the hearty letter, Hongjoong smiled. San's trouble and excitement bled into the lines and created a mixture of emotions, but Hongjoong's heart relished in his care. Despite not being that close with each other, San cherished their friendship.

Seonghwa let the letter sink into his lap before he looked at Hongjoong.

"I hope you know how heroic you were. It's not my place to claim how many people you saved since there is still a lot more suffering where you come from, but I hope you know your feat helped us a lot. Though I wish you wouldn't have had to go through it." Seonghwa's eyes settled on Hongjoong's bruised hands.

Hongjoong hadn't been too candid about the night he spent trapped with Yunho. He shuddered from the memories alone and he was far from ready to talk about his experiences. It wasn't hard to guess that Seonghwa burnt with curiosity about the night that had left Hongjoong maimed. So far, the earl kept a polite ignorance and silently focused on helping Hongjoong regenerate to the best of his ability. Now that San had brought it up again, the questions shone in his eyes, unsure if they could be worded.

"I didn't get caught by him in some martyr complex. I was just lucky in my defence. Just like those other women, my run-in with him might as well have ended lethally."

Seonghwa had confessed his anguish for Hongjoong that night. He had mentioned his fear when Hongjoong vanished from their game and his dread when he found Hongjoong's gloves on the ground. He had alerted San and the police to search the surrounding area, but they hadn't found the place Hongjoong had been locked up in. Their panic had brought them back around to the Thames, where a lucky bobby had seen pieces of Hongjoong's skirt among the masses of water.

At first, Seonghwa had thought Hongjoong was no more but a dead body discarded by the Ripper. Hongjoong could only imagine the alleviation crashing down on him when Hongjoong returned to the world of the living.

"Hongjoong, I've been wondering."

Hongjoong ripped out of his thoughts about Yunho's grin and his knife glinting in the flickering light. When his eyes met Seonghwa's, the earl shared his pain. He didn't know what Hongjoong saw, but he could guess that they were distressing memories.

"The injuries you sustained are disparate from those of the other victims."

"Most of them were because I fought him, yes," Hongjoong muttered.

Seonghwa tilted his head.

"Why did he act so extraordinary towards you? How was there an option to fight, and to live? Throats are slid alarmingly fast, and you spent several hours with him. Please believe me I am incredibly relieved to see you healthy, but how could you live?"

Hongjoong exhaled.

There it was. The question that connected the dots to the secret Hongjoong had spent many weeks to uphold. A crumbling facade, a falling mask. The charades Hongjoong played all this time had come to the centre of the stage for its grand finale.

Hongjoong's fingers clutched the blanket insecurely. He had no more reason to run. He could lie, could sneak away yet once more, only to be eaten up by remorse the next time Seonghwa kissed him.

He shouldn't hide anymore. If Seonghwa had become this invested in Hongjoong's status, he deserved to know the whole truth.

"There has been something I wasn't quite... honest about with you, earl," Hongjoong began. Seonghwa drew his brows together but said nothing.

For a moment, Hongjoong tried to find the right words. He tried to piece them together in any way that wasn't crude, that veiled the deception, but he got nowhere worthy of Seonghwa's worry for him.

So instead, Hongjoong got up from the bed. Seonghwa looked alarmed by the sudden movement and his hands stretched out when Hongjoong staggered, but the distance between them was too big. Hongjoong took a step back to look at the puzzled earl on his bed.

Hongjoong pulled his blouse over his head first. They had made two-pieced sleepwear out of one of his nightgowns since it eased tending to his injuries. His shoulder gave a stab of pain when he shifted it, then the white fabric tumbled into a heap on the floor.

Mouth agape, Seonghwa watched as Hongjoong's marred and unattractive skin came into view. His bare chest garnered many glances from the earl, none as secret as he hoped them to be.

Hongjoong bit his lip when he hooked his thumbs under the rim of his skirt. No more hesitation.

Seonghwa's eyes bulged out of his head.

"Lady Hongjoong, what-"

"Wait a moment. I will show you and then you get to talk." Barely upholding his brittle confidence, Hongjoong pushed with trembling hands.

The soft fabric of the skirt pooled around his feet.

Hongjoong stood with his eyes lowered and hands balled into fists. His body was bare to the chill air of the room and nothing else protected it from Seonghwa's scrutiny.

With another exhale, Hongjoong steeled himself and looked at Seonghwa. The earl sat in disbelief, eyes flickering between Hongjoong's crotch and his face every so often.

"I'm a man," Hongjoong whispered. "That's why... Yunho had no interest in me."

Seonghwa blinked as if he didn't trust his eyes. Uncomfortable, Hongjoong crossed his arms in front of his chest while he watched the pieces falling together behind Seonghwa's eyes. The male body in front of him explained everything that had ever bothered him about Hongjoong.

"I didn't tell you because I feared your reaction, but recently, guilt plagued me. I couldn't bear being in your arms while you thought you held a woman." Hurt was evident in his voice, no matter how much he tried to veil it.

Seonghwa remained in icy silence. Each second passing had Hongjoong's spirits sink. He cursed himself for not telling Seonghwa sooner, cursed Yeosang for establishing this horrible dynamic. Perhaps Seonghwa and he never would have become lovers if he knew, but the pain of that imagination was less painful than this silence.

Hongjoong gulped and stared at the ground between them. His heart raced in panic, even if the beats had become heavier as it tried to get an answer about its helplessness. Hongjoong forced it to wait.

The bed creaked when Seonghwa stood. Hongjoong expected him to leave and to think about it for a while before returning, but the opposite happened. When he rose from the bed, he took Hongjoong's counterpane with him.

Hongjoong dared lift his head to look at the earl when he wrapped the blanket around Hongjoong's shivering, ruined body.

"Don't undress in front of a man who desires you, fool," Seonghwa said. His voice was heavy with all the information he still had to swallow. Hongjoong studied his pale features, the bewildered eyes.

Instead of saying more, Seonghwa just hugged Hongjoong. His hands were careful on Hongjoong's body as he wrapped Hongjoong's blanket-covered form into his embrace. Clutching his blanket, Hongjoong leaned into the touch. He shook like a leaf.

"Are you angry?" Hongjoong whispered into the earl's shoulder.

Seonghwa hummed into Hongjoong's hair.

"Not angry, perplexed. I'll have to think about this."

Hongjoong nodded shakily. That was something. The weight lifting off his chest soothed him, even if he still had a lot to explain. Perhaps Seonghwa would accept it. Perhaps he would allow Hongjoong to stay, even if their relationship froze once more.