“Alright Myungsoo – let’s get to work.” Sunggyu’s eyes were lit up dangerously.

It was after dinner and to be honest, Myungsoo almost asked for seconds just to prolong having to go through with these bad boy lessons. Woohyun was more than happy to offer him seconds and thirds of dessert (then again, who could ever say no to more than one serving of Woohyun’s warm peach cobblers with cold vanilla ice cream) but Myungsoo could only eat so much. Even if he wanted to inhale buckets of Woohyun’s peach cobbler – which, he sometimes did – he knew that there was a limit to how much food he could stuff inside of him.

So now he was back in Sunggyu’s living room, his belt nearly bursting at the seams, and preparing himself for Sunggyu’s bad boy lessons. He probably shouldn’t have eaten so much food because he could feel his stomach starting to ache. Or maybe that was just the pain of his life in general.

Woohyun had gone back to his room to catch up on a Netflix show or something, either way he was now alone with his brother. And the look that Sunggyu was now giving him could never be a good sign. Last time he had that dangerous gleam in his eyes, Myungsoo was getting framed for eating chips.

“So… I don’t really know how to be a bad boy,” Myungsoo told him as he sat down.

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“O-…Oh.”

Sunggyu narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “That’s all you have to say? Oh?”

“Well, I mean… what else am I supposed to say?” Myungsoo looked down at himself and shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”

“See, right there is your first problem. You let yourself get walked all over. I just insulted you, didn’t that hurt?!”

Myungsoo blinked. “…Was it supposed to?”

“Yes!” Sunggyu exclaimed.

“Oh.” Myungsoo shrugged again. “It didn’t really hurt my feelings though. My feelings don’t get hurt very easily.”

Snapping his fingers, Sunggyu suddenly said, “Wait a second, that’s good! I can work with that. You can be a cold bad boy.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, the kind of bad boy who doesn’t have any feelings and puts up a front. I can definitely work with that…” Sunggyu smiled into the distance. “Or maybe just a standard bad boy will be fine.”

Myungsoo made a face and sank into his chair. “I don’t know… hyung, I’m not too sure if this is a good idea. Maybe I should just… wait for him to notice me?”

Sunggyu scoffed and replied, “Oh. Oh yeah? And how’s that been working out for you?”

Pouting, Myungsoo crossed his arms. “It hasn’t…”

“My point, exactly.”

“But it just doesn’t feel right!” Myungsoo said suddenly. “I don’t know, becoming a bad boy just seems so… wrong. You know what I’m saying?”

Sunggyu nodded. “No, I understand. I get your worries. But you’ll be able to express yourself more freely after you become a bad boy, believe me.” He chuckled and continued, “It definitely worked for me. It’s a growing experience.”

“Being a bad boy was a growing experience?” Myungsoo asked. He scoffed this time, the mere thought of it just ridiculous. “That doesn’t sound true.”

“Listen to me, Myungsoo, the only way you’re going to get his attention is if you change your image.” Sunggyu put it frankly.

“But what’s wrong with my image?” Myungsoo whined. “I like my image… It’s friendly.”

“Friendly?” Sunggyu scoffed at the word. “Well, your current image isn’t getting you a date, now is it?”

“…No.”

“Exactly.”

Myungsoo exclaimed, “But I can’t be a bad boy! That’s not who I am!”

“It’s not who you are,” Sunggyu reassured him, “it’s just an image so that Sungyeol will like you. You can start showing him your friendlier side once you score a date with him. Alright?” Myungsoo nodded and Sunggyu gave him a reassuring clap on the back. “Now, let’s start by untucking your shirt.”

“What? No!” Myungsoo’s hands reached down to cover the bottom of his shirt. “Don’t untuck my shirt!”

Sunggyu shot him the most judgmental look that Myungsoo had seen in a while. Squinting, he sputtered out, “Are you serious, you won’t even untuck your shirt?!”

“You can’t! It needs to stay tucked!”

“What the hell, Myungsoo – just untuck it!”

“No, that looks so messy!”

Sunggyu placed his hands on hips and scoffed, “Are you even my brother? I never realized I had such a straight-laced, goody-two-shoes as my little brother!” He glared and spat, “If you don’t untuck your shirt right now, I will untuck it for you.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, you don’t think I will?” Sunggyu challenged. His eyebrow raised as he stared at Myungsoo with the intent to intimidate. “You think I can’t tackle you on the floor and untuck your shirt?”

“I’ll scream for Woohyun.”

“Tattle-tale.”

“Assaulter.”

“Myungsoo, you’re twenty-four, come on.”

“You’re twenty-seven and you called me a tattle-tale!”

“Just untuck your shirt!”

“No!”

“I’m telling you right now, I will tackle you.”

“Sunggyu, you are a grown man.”

“Don’t test me.”

“Hyung.”

“I’ll do it.”

Myungsoo threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “This is ridiculous! We’re grown men fighting over whether or not my shirt should be tucked in!”

“Well, it wouldn’t be a fight if you just untucked it.”

...

“This is weird. I look weird.”

“No, you look great. Ten times hotter than before.”

“But it’s so… tight.”

“You look amazing.”

Myungsoo stared at himself oddly in the mirror. “Hyung, where did you even get these clothes?”

Sunggyu smiled proudly, clapping Myungsoo on the shoulder. “I’ve always had these ever since high school. I haven’t been wearing much of it lately though, so it’s about time I passed it down to my baby brother.”

“Hyung, these pants are a little short–”

“You’re just tall, it’ll be fine,” Sunggyu reassured him dismissively. “You have to admit, you look a lot hotter than you did when you stepped into my apartment today.”

Myungsoo tilted his head, eyeing the torn jeans and the leather jacket combination with high skepticism. The shirt Sunggyu had given him to try on was a little too showy as well. It was too tight and all the giant holes in the shirt were filled with mesh – not that mesh was much better than holes to begin with. It was too…

“…Airy. It’s way too airy,” Myungsoo told his brother as he raised his arms and turned slowly. “I should not feel this much air against my body when I’m wearing a jacket.”

Sunggyu scoffed and waved the comment away with his hand. “It’s fine, okay. And besides, this is just an example. It’s not like I was about to let you go to work in a hole-y mesh shirt anyways.” He pulled out a black shirt from his closet and handed it to Myungsoo. “You should go to work in this shirt instead.”

Myungsoo took the shirt in his hands and thought it over. It was a black and a button up. It seemed work appropriate. But then he turned it over and realized that the entire back of the shirt was just see through mesh. “Hyung!” he exclaimed in annoyance.

“What?”

“I can’t wear this to work! My entire back will be exposed!”

“Yeah, but it’s hot. You have a nice back, show it off.”

Myungsoo frowned. “That’s not the point! I can’t be so risqué at work!”

“Just wear a jacket over it, it’ll be fine.” Sunggyu pulled out a white blazer from his closet. “This would look good.”

Myungsoo squinted at him in disbelief. “Do you have a mall in there or something? Where do get so many clothes in my size?”

Woohyun looked over from the queen sized bed he was on. He paused his Netflix show and pulled out his earbuds to reply, “Sunggyu spends a lot of money when he shops for stuff he never even wears.”

Sunggyu turned back. “Well, obviously they’re being used now.”

Rolling his eyes, Woohyun focused his attention back on his show. “Whatever,” he sang.

Sunggyu laughed mischievously and left Myungsoo’s side for a moment to hop onto his bed and land a wet kiss on Woohyun’s cheek. “I love you,” he said loudly.

“Gross!” Woohyun laughed as he wiped his cheek. “Go away, I’m trying to watch Daredevil!”

Sunggyu responded by kissing him loudly on the cheek again. Myungsoo stared at them from the mirror he stood in front of him. As much as he loved Woohyun, he was never going to get over how mushy his older brother became around his fiancé. But he smiled anyways. At least they were a cute couple.

His brother was still borderline disgusting though.

If the breezy, mesh shirts weren’t enough, Sunggyu was now coaxing him into actually acting like a bad boy. He said something about changing the way Myungsoo talked so that he would have a more dangerous edge to him. Personally, Myungsoo didn’t see the appeal of being edgy, but if it would get Sungyeol to notice him, then he would try it out.

Sunggyu had already given him a long breakdown of how he should and should not behave. Apparently there was a difference between spacing out and brooding and Sunggyu needed him to brood instead of space out. And also, Sunggyu had recommended himself that Myungsoo kept his frame loose and carefree. Because apparently, those were important details in a bad boy.

“You have to be like John Bender,” Sunggyu told him passionately, as if John Bender was his favorite celebrity and not some hoodlum from a high school movie. “You have to channel that inner bad boy that doesn’t care what other people think. Be bold.”

“I-I mean… I guess so,” Myungsoo murmured. “I just don’t know if I can change my personality overnight.”

“Technically you have the whole weekend to. Which reminds me, I should come over tomorrow to help you with more of this bad boy stuff. But for now, let’s just work on saying things.”

“What am I supposed to say?” Myungsoo asked. “I can’t imagine any scenario of me saying anything and still acting like a bad boy.”

Sunggyu placed his hand to his chin in deep thought. “Hmm… that’s true, you don’t really know how to act yet. Let’s do this then – I’ll pretend to be Sungyeol and you can practice.”

Myungsoo’s face contorted into shock. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“You’re not nearly as hot as Sungyeol– ow, ow, okay never mind.” Myungsoo rubbed his arm sorely, the pain from Sunggyu’s hit not yet fading away.

Sunggyu shook his head. “I’m here to help you get a guy and you insult my looks.”

“I didn’t even insult you! Sungyeol just happens to be fifteen times hotter than you, okay, he’s a gorgeous specimen.”

With an incredulous stare, Sunggyu responded, “See, this is exactly why he hasn’t noticed you – you just talk about him but never talk to him.” Myungsoo pouted as Sunggyu continued. “So that’s exactly why you’re going to practice talking to him now.”

“What–”

Sunggyu took a couple steps back. “Pretend I’m Sungyeol, okay? Now ask me out.”

Myungsoo frowned. “That’s weird.”

“Just do it,” Sunggyu sighed, massaging his temples. “You make being bad so stressful, honestly. You overthink it way too much. Simplify your head a little bit.”

“Oh… okay.” Myungsoo looked down and scratched his head sheepishly. “I’ll try my best to be bad.”

Sunggyu nodded his head in confidence. “Alright. Now ask me out.”

Coughing, Myungsoo started. “U-Um… Hey, Sungyeol.”

Sunggyu flipped his hair and placed a hand on his hip in one swift motion, confusing Myungsoo. Rolling his eyes, Sunggyu continued, “Oh, hey Moonjoo,” he said in a high voice.

“Hyung!”

“What, I’m being Sungyeol.”

“Sungyeol is not like that!” Myungsoo argued. “He’s not a sassy and condescending person with a high voice!”

Sunggyu shrugged innocently. “Well, you’re going to have to impress my version of Sungyeol if you ever plan on impressing the real one.”

“Hyung,” whined Myungsoo. But with the serious look on Sunggyu’s face, Myungsoo knew this was a battle he wasn’t going to win. “Fine,” he replied gruffly. “Let’s just get it over with.”

Sunggyu cleared his voice again, his words spoken in the most annoying pitch that Myungsoo had ever heard in his life. “Moonjoo,” he screeched out. “Sit down as I tell you about my day today! Blah, blah, blah, I totally saw this bad boy, he was so hot, blah.”

“He doesn’t talk like that!”

“Pay attention.”

“Ugh.”

“Ahem, anyways – oh my god, Jay Park is so hot, let me his abdominals please. Speaking of which, I’m working on getting abs so I’m on this new green diet, blah, blah, blah – Myungsoo!”

Myungsoo shook his head and blinked. “Huh?”

“Why are you listening to me as if you actually care about what I’m saying?!” Sunggyu snapped, his hands landing on his hips.

“Well– because–… I would always be interested in what Sungyeol was saying,” he murmured.

“But that’s not the point!” Sunggyu cried out in exasperation. “Seriously, I have never met anyone who was bad at being bad.” He sighed. “Let’s try something else, okay? Come here and bump into me as I walk by.”

Myungsoo stood up hesitantly. “How is that being bad…?”

“Please. Just do it.”

“Alright, alright,” Myungsoo sighed. He closed his eyes and imagined Sungyeol instead. He imagined how thrilled he would be once he saw this new side of Myungsoo. He imagined the way Sungyeol’s eyes would sparkle when Myungsoo talked to him without screwing up his words.

But when he opened his eyes it was a little hard to imagine his crush standing in front of him when it was really Sunggyu.

He continued with their tiny exercise anyways and pretended to bump into Sunggyu as he walked past him. Sunggyu exclaimed in that annoying high voice again but Myungsoo closed his eyes and imagined himself impressing Sungyeol instead. So he flipped his hair, lidded his eyes and made his gaze look as broody as possible. Then with a small smirk, he proceeded to say:

“Oh sorry – I’m a bad boy.”

Any confidence he had deflated when he saw how disappointed Sunggyu looked at his words. Sunggyu sighed and buried his face in his hands. “We have a lot to work on tonight,” he muttered.

...

“Babe…? Baby, what are you still doing up?”

Woohyun walked into his living room tiredly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His fiancé and Myungsoo were still up, talking about something or other. He had been so busy watching his show earlier, he didn’t even know what they had been talking about. But seeing that they were both still up at such a late hour, it must have been somewhat important.

“Oh, what are you doing up?” Sunggyu asked in a hushed voice, rushing over to his side quickly. He ran his hand through Woohyun’s hair and pecked his lips. “You should go back to sleep, honey.”

“You should come to bed too. It’s nearly one in the morning,” Woohyun said softly.

“I’ll come to bed once Myungsoo and I are finished, alright?”

“No, it’s alright – I should be heading home anyways,” Myungsoo said. “I’ll take all your advice to heart tonight, hyung.”

“Good to hear that. And you’ve definitely improved from when we started. You should ask him out on Monday and see how it works out.”

Myungsoo smiled as he put on his shoes. “I will! Thanks for offering to help me out, again. I appreciate it!”

“If you ever freeze up and forget what to say, just imagine me on your shoulder telling you what to do.”

With a laugh, Myungsoo agreed. “Alright, I will. See you guys for dinner next week?”

Woohyun nodded sleepily. “See you next week. Do you want chicken wings next week?”

“Chicken wings sound great, Woohyun-hyung. I’ll see you guys then, okay? I’ll get going now! Good night!”

“Night!” Woohyun responded as Myungsoo left. He turned back to Sunggyu and asked, “What was that all about? What advice did you give him?”

Sunggyu smiled down at his fiancé and led him back to their bedroom. “Nothing for you to worry about, darling.”

...

“Wow.”

“Please don’t say anything.”

“Yeah, but… you look… good?” Sungjong raised an eyebrow at Myungsoo new outfit, feeling mildly impressed. “Black looks really nice on you. Or at least… it gives you a different feel.”

“Yeah,” Myungsoo agreed. He ran his fingers through his hair, which was gelled up. “It’s a good change.”

“You look great,” Sungjong complimented him. He snickered to himself. “There wasn’t a particular reason… that you dressed like this. Right?”

Myungsoo almost flushed – almost. But the imaginary Sunggyu on his shoulder whispered, ‘Don’t blush. You have to be cool, be smooth. Even in front of your friends.’

Instead, Myungsoo blinked and took in a deep breath. Running his hand through his hair once again, he shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s not like a need a particular reason to be like this. No need to overthink it, Jong.”

Sungjong nearly spit out his water at Myungsoo’s cold statement. It was so… out of character. He stared at Myungsoo and took in how he was staring off into the distance, bored. The way he stared into nothing wasn’t an empty gaze like it normally was, but it looked as if it was full of dark, intelligent thoughts. Even Myungsoo’s aura had changed.

It was weird. And frankly, Sungjong wasn’t sure if he was a fan of it all.

Myungsoo leaned back in his chair carelessly, the edge of his jacket crinkling up. Under normal circumstances, the guy would have straightened it faster than Sungjong could even catch. But now he just left it there. Like the wrinkles didn’t even bother him. Sungjong didn’t understand it.

“I’m going to get some coffee,” Myungsoo stated, standing up. He stalked over to the coffee machine without another word. He wasn’t really going to drink the coffee was making – coffee was always a little too bitter for his tastes. But he knew a certain somebody was going on break right about now and that somebody was going to make coffee.

He could hear Sungyeol’s distinct voice coming into the breakroom as he finished making a cup of coffee. Lifting the cup, he turned around the exact moment that Sungyeol stopped at the counter.

“Coffee?” he asked, offering Sungyeol the cup. ‘Smooth.’

Sungyeol’s face was full of clear surprise but his eyes lit up at the cup of coffee. “Oh, wow – for me? Did you make this for yourself?” His fingers hovered about the cup hesitantly.

Myungsoo shook his head. ‘Coolly, coolly,’ his shoulder Sunggyu reminded him. “You can have it. I don’t want it.”

“Really?” Sungyeol curled his fingers around the cup. “…Thanks.”

“It’s really nothing,” Myungsoo replied with a nonchalant shrug. He kept his face stoic and calmed down all the raging butterflies that filled his stomach. In retrospect, maybe he shouldn’t have skipped breakfast that morning because now there was nothing in his stomach but those butterflies and it made him want to fall over.

Sungyeol smiled up at him with that legendary smile and Myungsoo had to clench his fists together to not melt into a puddle of feelings. He knew his knuckles were turning white as Sungyeol told him, “Thanks so much! You saved me a lot of time making my own coffee.” He took a sip out of the steaming cup.

Myungsoo smiled– (‘Don’t smile – smirk. Smirk, you fool.’) –smirked and chuckled lightly. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Really, thanks though, Myungsoo.”

Myungsoo’s heart flared up and nearly exploded – Sungyeol knew his name.

“Also, I’m sorry for calling you the wrong name last week,” the taller told him earnestly with a smile. “Joon laughed at me the entire weekend and kept making fun of me. And I wanted to apologize because I felt bad.”

“Oh, that?” Myungsoo laughed it off (even though being reminded of the Moonjoo incident hurt him every time). “It’s okay, honestly. It’s a simple mistake that can be forgiven. Depends on if I feel like forgiving you.” ‘Smooth, real smooth.’

Sungyeol’s eyebrows raised in what Myungsoo could only could describe as interest. He felt his head spin a little bit but he kept his balance for the sake of keeping his eyes on the beautiful boy in front of him. Sungyeol’s lips quirked up in a small smile. “Oh, really. I’m… surprised I never really noticed you before… Have you always worked here?”

“Yeah, I’ve been here for a while,” Myungsoo replied. ‘Keep it vague and mysterious.’ “Can’t remember how long though. Although, I’ve been noticing you for quite a while.”

A small chuckle came from Sungyeol’s lips as he lifted the coffee to take another sip. “I see. Well, I believe we’ll be seeing more of each other.”

Is this what flirting is? Myungsoo thought to himself. ‘Yes,’ Shoulder Sunggyu replied. ‘This is what flirting is. It’s a bad boy privilege, so keep up the good work.’

“You’ll be seeing a lot of me, I’m sure,” Myungsoo agreed with a certain degree of feigned arrogance. He cleared his throat and pushed up his sleeves so that when he leaned on the counter, his muscles could be just a little more defined.

Sungyeol nodded, peeking his eyes curiously over the top of the coffee cup. “I’m sure I will be.”

Myungsoo glanced at the clock – his break was nearly over. “Anyways, I’ll see you around. I have to get going.” He turned away to leave when Sungyeol spoke up again.

“Thanks again for giving me your coffee. And sorry for calling you Moonjoo,” he chuckled softly. “If I could thank you in any way, just let me know.”

Myungsoo turned around with the most dangerous twinkle in his eyes he could muster. “Just let me know when you’re free and I’ll take you out on a date.” He finished it with a wink and turned around confidently. He didn’t even stop for a moment to catch the bewildered and amazed look on Sungyeol’s face. He didn’t even bother to notice Sungjong’s face of equal astonishment.

With gusto, he stalked out of the break room with his head high and his confidence higher. He wanted to raise his arms into the air and scream in joy. And maybe he should have since he had just scored a potential date with his crush.

‘You did it bro! You’ve scored yourself a date!’

It was amazing how this image change could make a whole minute of conversation more successful than the months he spent watching from afar. Maybe this whole bad boy thing wasn’t such a bad idea.

A/N: :]]]] Introducing Myungsoo's awkward transition into a sort-of-bad-boy. Along with his companion, Shoulder Sunggyu. I have no idea where that came from, but it's working so it's staying lol 

Wow Moonjoo is 2 smooth now. So smooth and bad, even Sungyeol is noticing him ahahaha. That was a smooth coffee trick there, Myungsoo, I see you. 

Hope you liked the update! Make sure to subscribe for future chapters and to upvote if you are pleased! Leave a comment down below with your thoughts or predictions :))) and I'll see you in the next chapter!! ^^

Now so long, Myungsoo's gotta run and do some bad boy business. (so bad, amiright-)

¤ Quinnie ¤