Woohyun swallowed. It was like trying to stuff a square peg into a triangle shaped hole. He had been trying to practice what he was going to say to Sungkyu. He had decided to approach this like just another acting job. He was good at his job. Better. He was great! He had even written himself a script he had memorized. It was not the most original thing he had ever acted in, proving to himself that he was better suited as an actor than a screen writer. It was pretty much a medley of all the romantic comedies he had seen, but when he imagined himself and Sungkyu as the protagonists, his stomach turned inside out. Something wasn't right. It wasn't their story. Did they even have a story to tell? Yes, it was true that Sungkyu got under his skin and frustrated him to no end, making him unsure whether he wanted to strangle him with his own bare hands or make love to him all night long, but that didn't mean he wanted to play Cinderella and the prince with him. What if he confessed and Sungkyu swooned all over him, admitting that he was head over heals over him, wanting a serious relationship right away, demanding to move in with him, or worse, have a shotgun wedding. Woohyun felt the blood drain from his extremities as he cringed. Thankfully, Korea was still in the beginning stages of accepting homouality, so they couldn't get married even if they wanted to. As for the rest, Woohyun didn't want to think about it. He had a bad enough stomach ache as it was. But what could he do, they were doctor's orders.

“Sungkyu-ya... eh.. -sshi...” Woohyun tripped over his own tongue as he called Sungkyu over as he was leaving work. He looked genuinely surprised to see him. He could never read his expressions properly though, not knowing if he regarded this as a good surprise or a bad one.

“Oh, hey.. What are you doing here? Eunji is working late tonight, so she's not coming to pick me up.” Sungkyu explained with a cryptic softness about him.

“I know. That's why I'm here.” he blurted out, feeling his chest constricting, making it harder to breathe. He could feel he was influencing the atmosphere, making it awkward. He tried to take a deep breath to regain control, but his lungs wouldn't allow it.

“Huh? You came here to walk me home? Aren't you a little too busy for that?” Sungkyu asked, there was a flash of brightness that shone behind his eyes, but it only lasted a split second, so Woohyun wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not. “Mr. Bigshot Actor, and all that.” Sungkyu snorted. The cute wrinkle on Sungkyu's nose that appeared for a mere nanosecond as he snorted sent an army of butterflies into action, systematically attacking his organs until nothing was left. He had only seen Sungkyu in such good spirits once before.

“Did you have a good day?” he asked a bit too cheerfully, trying to delay the inevitable.

“It was alright..” Sungkyu shrugged with pouty lips. His lips drove him nuts, more now than ever. He just wanted to kiss that pout away and teach his lips a lesson.

“Okay, so.. I kind of came here for a reason. ..he..he..” Woohyun let out a feeble laugh, rubbing his hands together, for he had no clue what else to do with them.

“Yeah, I kind of figured.” Sungkyu said all-knowingly, but Woohyun got the feeling he was disappointed. Maybe it was just his imagination again. “So.. spit it out.” he looked him right in the eyes. Woohyun could feel all the blood in his body rush to his cheeks. He tried to shoo it away with concentrated mind power, but to no avail.

“Ehm.. yeah.. I... I... uh... I...” Woohyun stammered like an idiot. Never in his life had he appeared so uncool. So lame. He mentally kicked himself. They were just words. Three little words. He was bigger than this. It was not like he had never said them out loud before, both on and off screen. But that was all for show. They worked wonders for the box office, and for keeping his fans coming for more and they helped in managing his herd of suitors. He had never really meant them though, or maybe in some form or another, but not really. Did he mean them now? Why was he having trouble getting them out the moment he needed to the most? Looking into Sungkyu's impatient eyes, he realized he wasn't afraid of Sungkyu overreacting and becoming clingy, he was afraid that he would not react at all, or worse, reject him on the spot.

“Yes?” Sungkyu was growing ever more impatient.

“I.. ah ...I think you're hot.” Woohyun couldn't believe his own ears. He would have denied having said this if he hadn't recognized his own voice. That was not what he was going to say, but somewhere between his brain and mouth, the words had gotten lost in translation. Every muscle cell in his body constricted, waiting for a response.

“Oh, I know.” Sungkyu said in what was probably supposed to be a nonchalant, carefree tone, but he wasn't fooling anyone. “..but... does your girlfriend know that?” he added with a stony expression. He had disappeared back behind his reinforced fort walls, doors bolted shut, denying him entry. Woohyun felt all his energy drain away, his heart sinking to the bottom of his gut.

“..does she even know where you are right now? So while she's hard at work, you use the opportunity to go behind her back, huh? So what did you expect would happen, that we would have a quickie out back by the dumpsters? Then go back home and watch a movie with Eunji, acting like nothing ever happened?” Sungkyu was livid, but in a calm, scary way.

Woohyun opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't come up with a single word to say. How was he going to explain that he was fake-dating Eunji to get close to him. That just made him sound like a stalker. Okay, it wasn't exactly like that, fake-dating Eunji kind of just happened, collateral damage one might call it. But was he going to believe that? A guy that was this protective over his best friend was not just going to shrug and welcome him into his arms. What could he do to make this better? He was lost for words. There was nothing he could say. Normally he was level expert at bullting people, but his powers failed each and every time he was around Sungkyu. He really was his kryptonite.

“You're barking up the wrong tree, dude. Try another park because this one is 'no dogs allowed'.” Sungkyu said, his voice cold as ice, before emotionlessly turning his back on him and walking away.

__________________________________________________

AN: Happy Infinite comback!! YAY!! XD