"So if we're going to play the perfect couple, we should get to know each other a bit better, don't ya think?" Woohyun began according to the plan he had laid out in his head.

"Oh, eh, yeah, sure, of course!" Eunji giggled on the other end of the line. "Actually, I already know quite a bit about you. But you're right, it would be suspicious if someone found out you don't even know my last name." she laughed brightly, clearly not holding it against him that he hadn't even bothered to learn her full name.

"Hey! Of course I know your last name!" he lied. She snorted in disbelief. "No really, it's.." he prolonged the s-sound while he tried to decide between Lee, Park or Kim. At times like this it sure came in handy that most people in Korea had the same three last names. "Kim!" he said with determination, like he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Ay, that was just a lucky guess!" She chuckled as she protested the injustice of his dumb luck.

"No, I swear, I knew it by heart, there was no foul play, just earnest dedication and a trusty memory." he grinned triumphantly.

“You swear, huh? You really are way too good of an actor. For a moment there you had me doubting my own name, thinking it might actually be Kim Eunji, when it has been Jung Eunji since I was born!” she burst into a fit of laughter.

“Jung! I meant Jung.. I was like thinking Jung, but my mouth said Kim for some reason, weird, right?” he tried for a desperate save, but neither of them was buying it.

"So do you want to go to a café or something after work, have a good old-fashioned study session, get our facts in order?" she smoothly changed the subject, saving his .

“Uhm, well, a café would be nice, but unless you want to have coffee with me and about a hundred papparazzi, I don't think that's going to happen any time soon.” he pointed out, trying to lead her to the conclusion he wanted.

“Huh, yeah, I hadn't thought of that. Hmm.. that pretty much rules out public places... man, being a celebrity is hard. So.. uuh... I don't know... you want to maybe.. come over to my place? It isn't much though... and my roommate will probably be home...” her voice turned a bit awkward, he imagined her cheeks reddening.

“Hey, that's perfect! Good idea!” he replied enthusiastically, wrapping her around his little finger.

“It really isn't much of a...” she continued apologizing but he cut her off before she had a chance to change her mind.

“See you at 8 PM tonight then. Later!” he concluded and hung up the phone, not giving her the slightest opportunity to back out.

Her roommate was probably going to be home, huh. So he might see Sungkyu. His stomach made a loud complaint. “Shh, that was the whole point in the first place!” he told it as he opened his wardrobe, verifying what he already knew. He had nothing to wear.

“Hey.” Woohyun tried to sound normal, forcing his breath to conceal how nervous he was.

“Hey..” Sungkyu said reluctantly, looking really uncomfortable but not surprised to see him walk through his front door.

“So... are you two an item now?” he asked, acting aloof, like he didn't really care either way.

“Yep!” Woohyun heard himself exclaiming, putting his arm around Eunji's waist and pulling her to his side, like she was his. He could feel Eunji stiffen up, but she didn't resist him nor correct him. He didn't get why he had said yes though, his heart sinking in disappointment. The point was to win Sungkyu over, not push him even further away. Sungkyu was allowed to know the truth, in fact, he needed to know the truth if he was to fall madly, deeply in love with him. Then, why?

His self-reflection was momentarily distracted by what he was seeing, he couldn't believe his eyes. He had thought they were in some kind of a shabby foyer, expecting it to lead to at least a half decent apartment, but he realized this was all there was. The entrance led straight into the living room, that was pretty much the same size as his bathroom, and not nearly as fancy. People actually lived like this? He was shocked. He felt like he had been transported to some third world country, like he was participating in one of those outreach shows, volunteering for the poor.

“I'll give you two love bugs some space then...” Sungkyu announced decidedly, reaching for his coat that was hanging on a bare nail that had been nailed right into the wall next to the door. There was no way in hell that Woohyun was going to hang his own coat on that thing, it could have tetanus, rabies or worse. He just wanted Sungkyu's coat to keep hanging there, wishing it was there instead of currently hugging Sungkyu's remarkably plain body.

“No, stay, you idiot. Let's have a fun night in.” Eunji confiscated his coat, hanging it back up. Woohyun felt so thankful to her, he almost put his hands around her again, but thought better of it and just patted her on the shoulder instead.

“Yeah, stay.” Woohyun sent him a smile, but it somehow turned out kind of awkward. He wasn't sure why he always turned into this dorky failure when he was around Sungkyu, and only when he was around him. He was Woohyun for heaven's sake, Korea's greatest star, shining brighter than all the others. Why then did he fall from the sky and land right on his face each time Sungkyu was around?

“And that pretty much sums up my entire childhood.” Eunji giggled, taking another sip of her beer. Apparently Eunji was a super fan, she knew all the answers when it came to his life story, so they had spent most of the time going through the highlights of her surprisingly eventful life. For some reason he had assumed she had had a very boring, normal life. But on the contrary, she had gone through some amazing hardships and come out with her smile still attached. So it was actually quite inspiring, he thought.

Sungkyu had mostly kept to himself, sipping his beer in quiet, except for a few times when he didn't feel Eunji did her own story justice, taking over the narrative himself and it was the cutest thing Woohyun had ever seen. When Sungkyu talked about Eunji, his face lit up, like someone had the light inside of him. And every time, Woohyun got this seething burn in his chest, as if someone had spilled acid in there and it was eating its way through his organs. He was jealous. He wanted to be the one to turn on his light. Why couldn't he be the one? He didn't get it.

A few times he had tried to turn the focus towards Sungkyu, for he was much more interested in hearing about his life than Eunji's, but Sungkyu was so guarded that it was impossible to steal even the smallest detail from the vault that was his personality. It only made him more curious. And the way Sungkyu used his lips while talking was driving him completely insane. He had never seen so many different ways of pouting, his lips constantly drawing attention to themselves. They wanted a kiss, he was sure of it. And he wanted to kiss them, he wanted nothing more. But the only thing he could do was imagine how it would feel like, his stomach fluttering at the thought.

“Let's watch a movie, guys!” Eunji suggested, her cheeks rosy red from the alcohol. Without waiting for their approval or opinion, she stood up and headed towards the sofa in the living room, elegantly exiting the cramped kitchen nook in which they were sitting. She planted herself right in the middle of the sofa, firing up the TV that was probably the most valuable thing they owned. It was clearly secondhand, but still in pretty good condition.

Sungkyu followed right on her heels, sitting down next to her, leaving an empty spot on her other side. Woohyun wanted to sit next to Sungkyu, but that was obviously not on the table, nor on the sofa for that matter. Why did Eunji have to sit in the middle, else he could have spent a whole movie next to him, and who knows what could have happened. At the very least, Sungkyu would have been forced to stay in his presence for more than only a few minutes, destined to realize that he was hopelessly in love with him and couldn't live without him, because that was just the effect he had on people. He couldn't help it.

He was about to sit down in his assigned spot when he thought better of it. Instead, he took a step to the side, slowly, rudely, lowering his behind into the nonexistent space between Eunji and Sungkyu. Luckily they both took the hint, after some forceful guidance, as he unapologetically squeezed between them. Eunji willingly moved to the other side of the couch, letting out a low giggle, while Sungkyu resisted for as long as he could, but when he realized he had lost the battle, he clung so desperately to the arm of the sofa, it was as if he was trying to become one with it. He was so squished up against it, that he had managed to create a gap between them. Woohyun sighed in disappointment. The whole purpose of this had been to get closer to Sungkyu, but he wasn't having it. Even though no part of them was touching, Woohyun still got goose bumps down his arm that was next to Sungkyu. It was as if he could feel the charged air around him, Sungkyu-air.

“Wait.” Woohyun stole the remote from Eunji, he wanted to confirm what he thought he had seen. He scrolled up and there it was, as clear as an HD television set could get, his name on one of the folders. Intrigued, he clicked on it. He thought he heard a quiet wince from Sungkyu's direction, maybe he was getting tired of trying only to fill up half the space he usually did.

“Wow. Do you seriously have all of my movies?” he asked Eunji in surprise. He knew she was a fan, but this was definitely going the extra mile. Nice.

“Well, actually, they're Ss..” she started, but Sungkyu interrupted her.

“Actually some of them are missing! They're not all there.. so yeah.. probably like 2-3 very hard to find early-career movies that aren't part of the collection, you see.” he explained, oddly agitated..

“Oh, well, you know what, I'll see what I can do. They might have them at the studio. What a guy isn't prepared to do for his favorite girlfriend!” Woohyun gave Eunji a charming wink.

“Oh, so you have many?” Sungkyu retorted, being a total smartass, though it didn't have the same zing to it as it would have, had he been sitting straight like a normal person, instead of looking like a scared cat stuck clinging to a tree it had no way of getting down from by itself.

“Behave, you there, of course he doesn't. And thanks in advance for that thoughtful gift.. after all, it's the thought that counts.” Eunji beamed at Woohyun, using the opportunity to reclaim the remote, finding them a movie to watch.

Shortly after the movie started, Sungkyu put his hand on the sofa, right in the gap between them. It was driving Woohyun crazy. He was so aware of it, that there was nothing else that registered in his brain. He wasn't even sure what movie they were watching. But what did it mean? Had he put it there to support himself so he could be as squished as could be into the corner of the couch? Or was it a signal, did he want him to hold it? Or was he just resting his hand there, randomly, like normal people did? What was the right answer? He couldn't think. His whole body was on alert, blocking every sane thought that dared come within two feet of his head.

Desperate for air, he tried to hide the fact that he was almost hyperventilating. He felt light-headed, dizzy. Maybe he was actually experiencing the side effects of oxygen deficiency. Was the air in here thinner than normal? Slowly, smoothly and on its own accord, his hand crawled down his side and slid down onto the sofa. Their hands were now side by side, albeit not touching. He swallowed. It was as if everything else had disappeared. Eunji, the television, even the sofa itself. The only thing that existed were their two hands and the strong, unavoidable feeling that they should be joined together.

Holding his breath, he moved his hand a fraction of an inch closer, careful not to go too far though, he didn't want to accidentally touch Sungkyu's hand and scare it away. Then he waited. He didn't know what he was expecting, but he had thought at least something would happen. Either Sungkyu would move his hand out of danger, or perhaps, maybe, just maybe he would move his a little closer too. Neither of these scenarios happened. In fact, nothing happened at all. He wasn't sure how to interpret that, so he moved his hand even closer. And still nothing happened. He felt like he was going out of his mind. Was this how mental torture felt? It was insufferable.

In the end, to put himself out of his misery, he ever so carefully reached out with his little finger until it came into contact with the side of Sungkyu's hand. His heart was pounding so hard he could hear it, it was like being in the front of a parade with those giant drums going ballistic. His whole being had gone into a fight or flight state, waiting to see what would happen. If Sungkyu freaked out, he would be out of there so fast, they would start to doubt whether he had ever been there in the first place. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Any time now. Three Mississippi. Nothing happened. He was resting his little finger up against Sungkyu's very real skin, skin that had nerve receptors which were sending signals to his brain this very moment, telling him there was something pressing up against his skin and drawing the conclusion that it was probably the person sitting next to him. Sungkyu knew what was happening. There was no way he didn't know. Yet his hand remained where it was, it didn't budge, not even a little bit.

Pushing his luck, he ever so slightly moved his finger, attempting to gently the edge of Sungkyu's hand. Still neither Sungkyu nor his hand showed any reaction at all. He couldn't believe it. He wasn't completely sure how he was supposed to take this, but it definitely was not a rejection.

“Should I make some popcorn? And get some more beers maybe?” Eunji suggested, totally immersed in the movie.

“I'll do it!” Sungkyu all but shouted, jumping up and scurrying off to the kitchen.

Woohyun sighed. It was nice while it lasted. So nice. Too nice.