“Do you really mean that?” Sungjong asked, smiling as Myungsoo continued to wipe away his tears.

“Of course I do,” Myungsoo answered. Still sensing a flicker of doubt in Sungjong’s eyes, he continued speaking. “Besides, there’s always the chance that you’ll be able to walk again.”

The smile slowly disappeared from the younger boy’s face. “Yeah…there’s a chance. There’s no guarantee.” Biting his lip, he turned his head away from Myungsoo to stare at the ceiling.

“Yah,” Myungsoo protested. “Where did your positivity go?”

“Wherever the feeling in my legs went,” he said, sniffling. “Both things are gone, probably for good.”

Myungsoo shook his head. “Don’t talk like that,” he pleaded, “please.”

“I can’t help it!” Sungjong shouted. His voice weakened as he clenched his hands into fists. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in a chair. Even if you say you’ll love me forever, things could change. Won’t it get tiring, always waiting for me to catch up? I’ll hold you back. People will pity you, and look down on you because you’re with a cripple.” He spat out the last word like it was poison.

“I don’t care.” Myungsoo took Sungjong’s small hand in his own. “If people judge us, we don’t have to listen. And you would never hold me back. Before I met you, I was headed towards disaster. Do you know that? Do you realize how much you’ve helped me?”

No answer came from Sungjong, but he kept his eyes locked on Myungsoo.

 “You remember the first time you met me, don’t you? In art class?”

Sungjong nodded hesitantly.

“I barely spoke to you. Before you came along, I had never bothered to interact with my classmates. I was always alone, and I didn’t know how to talk to people. Even when I wanted to make friends, I didn’t know how, and I came off as cold and unresponsive. So when you started talking to me…I was shocked. No one had ever taken the time to get to know me before. At first, I didn’t know how to respond to you, so it made me happy when you decided to draw and write with me instead. Then, slowly, I became more comfortable with you.” Myungsoo clutched Sungjong’s hand even harder. “For the first time, I was able to have a full conversation with someone. You have no idea how amazing that feels, to finally feel normal. I mean, look at me,” he laughed. “I’ve been talking nonstop ever since I got here.”

The younger boy thought for a moment, and then slowly nodded his head. “You’re right,” he said. “You have been talking a lot more. But…was that really all because of me?”

“Yes,” Myungsoo replied immediately. “I never would have made progress without you. You were my first friend, the first person to ever treat me like something other than an outcast. So don’t say you’ll hold me back, okay? You won’t, I promise.” He brought Sungjong’s hand up to his lips and kissed it softly, causing the younger boy to giggle.

“You romantic dork.”

 “Huh?”

“Help me sit up,” Sungjong commanded, a playful grin spreading across his face. Nodding obediently, Myungsoo carefully s his arm around Sungjong’s back and slowly pulled him up into a sitting position. Once he was upright, Myungsoo propped up a pillow behind him.

“Are you comfy?” he asked, adjusting the pillow until Sungjong nodded. He started moving back towards his seat, but was stopped by Sungjong’s fingers curling around the fabric of his shirt. Confused, he sat down on the edge of the bed and tipped his head to the side. “What is it, Jongie?”

Sungjong responded by tugging on Myungsoo’s shirt. A light blush had spread across his face. “Come here,” he said, laughing when Myungsoo’s cheeks turned bright red. “Closer…closer…” he repeated, until their faces were just inches apart. “Guess what?” he asked, smirking mischievously.

Myungsoo gulped nervously. “What?”

“I love you,” Sungjong whispered, giggling slightly. Then he tugged on Myungsoo’s shirt once more and brought their lips together.

At first, Myungsoo wasn’t sure what to do. He had never kissed anyone before. Where do I put my hands? Am I supposed to move? What’s the difference between casual kissing and making out? Questions filled his mind, but he fought to keep them away. After a while, as Sungjong’s lips traveled over his, Myungsoo relaxed. Eventually, Sungjong tilted his head slightly to deepen the kiss and Myungsoo almost instinctively wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist, pulling him closer.

“Well, it’s about time.”

Upon hearing another person’s voice in the room, Myungsoo’s eyes shot open and he stumbled backwards, tripping over a chair and falling to the floor. When he recovered from the fall and stood up, he found himself standing face-to-face with Sungjong’s father, who was watching him with a look of pure amusement on his face.

“Dad!” Sungjong squeaked from his bed. “Could you knock next time please?”

“Sure thing, Jongie. I wouldn’t want to interrupt you two lovebirds.” Mr. Lee winked suggestively at his son, and then at Myungsoo.

Myungsoo remained rooted in place, watching Sungjong’s father with wide eyes. “S-sir? You’re okay with this?” He was shocked by how calm he was after walking in on his son kissing another boy.

“Of course I am!” Mr. Lee exclaimed, throwing his head back and laughing. “I’ve been waiting for you two to get together for months.” He laughed even harder when he noticed how wide Myungsoo’s eyes were. “Don’t worry, I fully approve. And I’d love to let you two continue, but your friends just got here. I wasn’t able to convince the front desk lady that they’re all my sons, so they’re waiting outside in the lobby.”

“I’ll go see them,” Myungsoo said. “Is that okay, Jongie?” he asked, turning to Sungjong.

Sungjong grinned. “Sure. Just make sure you visit me tomorrow, okay?”

“Tomorrow? Why not later today?” Myungsoo asked, confused.

“I know you didn’t get much sleep last night,” he explained, looking slightly worried. “You should go home and rest.” When Myungsoo began to protest, Sungjong waved his hand to shush him. “Sleep. You need it. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

With a reluctant sigh, Myungsoo agreed. Then he awkwardly cleared his throat, waved goodbye to Sungjong, bowed to his father, and shuffled out of the room. The entire way back to the lobby, he was facepalming. “Did I seriously just do that?” he mumbled to himself. “I waved to him. Smooth, Myungsoo, very smooth.” He was still grumbling and smacking himself when he emerged into the waiting room, where his friends were waiting.

The five of them were scattered around the room, and were in varying states of mental instability. Woohyun and Sunggyu were sitting in chairs against the far wall of the room, and seemed relatively calm. Woohyun had his head in his hands and Sunggyu was anxiously playing with his fingers. Dongwoo and Hoya were at the opposite end of the room. While Hoya remained quiet and focused his eyes on the floor, Dongwoo was a blubbering mess and was cuddled up against his boyfriend, sniffling every few seconds. Sungyeol was sitting near them on the floor, clutching a teddy bear. When the group of boys heard the sound of a door opening and spotted Myungsoo walking into the room, however, they all jumped to their feet and stumbled in his direction.

Dongwoo, being the closest to the door, got to Myungsoo first and nearly tackled him to the ground. “Myungsoo! How is he? Is it bad?” he asked, his eyes red and watery.

“We heard about his legs,” Sunggyu said solemnly, before Myungsoo could reply to Dongwoo’s questions. “Is he dealing with the news well?”

“He’s okay,” Myungsoo said. He shuffled his feet, uncomfortable with the number of people surrounding him. “He’s sad, but he’s staying strong.”

“That sounds like our Jongie,” said Sungyeol. He had been standing at the back of the group, but now was making his way forward. When he reached Myungsoo, he pushed the stuffed bear he had been holding into his arms. “Take this to him, okay? I know he likes stuffed animals.”

Myungsoo nodded, and Sungyeol turned away and walked to the other side of the room. After a few moments the boys heard him sniffling, signaling that he was crying. Sunggyu, Woohyun, and Dongwoo all went to comfort him, leaving him with Hoya.

Hoya moved closer to Myungsoo to get his attention. “How long have you been here?” he asked.

“Since yesterday,” Myungsoo replied, yawning. “I slept here.”

“Why didn’t you go home?”

“My dad wouldn’t have let me leave again.”

“Ah,” Hoya said, furrowing his eyebrows. “You can’t stay here forever though, Myungsoo.”

“I know,” he sighed, “but I can’t go home. Not for a day or two, at least.”

“Stay with me then.”

“Huh?” Myungsoo looked up at Hoya, shocked. “Really? You’d let me do that?”

Hoya laughed. “Of course! It’s not a big deal. Dongwoo’s coming over tonight anyways, so my mom’s already gotten an extra mattress out of the basement.”

“Won’t Dongwoo need that, though?” Myungsoo asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Nope. He’ll be sleeping with me,” he said, smirking mischievously. “He always does.” When he noticed that Myungsoo’s face had turned bright red, he burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, we aren’t going to do anything. We’ll keep things G-rated.”

Myungsoo laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. “Good. Um…when can we go to your place?” he asked, yawning. “They aren’t going to let you in to see Sungjong until tomorrow at the earliest.”

“We can go now,” Hoya replied. “Let me just get Dongwoo.” He left Myungsoo for a moment and walked over to where the four other boys were still gathered, huddled together like a group of small children with Sungyeol in the center. After a little coaxing, Myungsoo watched as Hoya turned around and gave him the “okay” sign. Before long, they were headed out the door.

Myungsoo ended up falling asleep in the car. He wasn’t sure exactly when he passed out, but when he woke up he found himself staring into the eyes of a very large dog. “AHHH!” he screamed, sitting up and scooting backwards until he smacked himself against a wall. The dog responded by sneezing and walking away.

“Are you afraid of dogs, Myungsoo?” Hoya asked, laughing.

Myungsoo shook his head. “No. He just scared me, that’s all,” he said, stretching his arms. “Did you guys carry me inside?” he asked, observing his surroundings. Hoya’s room was spacious and welcoming, but it was also very messy. Pillows were everywhere, and papers were scattered across the floor.

“Yeah, we did. And sorry for the mess, by the way. I was helping Dongwoo sort through his college brochures earlier, and I forgot to clean them up.”

“College brochures?” That’s right, Dongwoo’s a senior, he thought. “Has he decided which one he wants to go to?”

Hoya bit his lip. “He’s considering one in Japan, and one in America. I was hoping he would lean towards the Japanese one, but so far…he’s leaning towards the one in the States.” He looked disappointed as he eyed the pile of brochures in front of him.

Myungsoo was just about to ask Hoya more questions when Dongwoo came bursting out of the bathroom and jumped onto Hoya’s bed. “All clean!” he sang, happily drying his hair. “I feel so much better.”

“Good,” Hoya said, grinning. After he helped Dongwoo dry his hair, the two of them climbed into bed. “You’ve been sleeping all afternoon, so you might not be tired anymore. I left some chips out for you downstairs if you get hungry,” he said as he reached to turn out the lights.

“Thanks, Hoya.” Myungsoo smiled at his friend and curled up in his bed on the floor. He wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while, that much was clear. Too many things were on his mind. In particular, he needed to figure out how he was going to approach his father. No matter what, he was going to deal with some serious punishment, but the question was…how much?

a/n: Hey guys~ thanks for being so patient with me and waiting for this chapter! I hope you liked the fluff :3 I want to bring the stories of the two side couples back into the mix a bit, so look out for them in the next few chapters. And as always, thank you for subscribing, commenting, and supporting my story! It means a lot to me ^^