On Friday night, Minseok and Yixing were sitting in a subway that was en route to Hongdae. Named after Hongik University, the district was known for its urban music culture and its indie scene. It was a hot spot for college students since it boasted a wide range of gourmet eateries,  fashion shops, bars, and clubs. The youthful pair would fit right into the crowd that was full of fresh faces. Drained from the stresses during the week, Yixing was eager to relax and have fun. Minseok sat at the edge of his seat, ready to bounce out of the subway car.

Once they got out, they climbed up the stairs together. Coming out, they noticed the dark night illuminated by streetlights, shopping centers, and electric signs. The alluring scent of food stands wafted in the air. Large crowds gathered in the streets to watch street performers. It was as if the city never slept. The anticipation for weekend freedom was palpable, and Yixing couldn’t wait.  

“Honestly, I applaud myself. We definitely picked the perfect night to come. You wanna know why?” Minseok asked with a wide grin.

“Why?”

“Because, I heard 10cm  is supposed to be performing!,” Minseok boasted.

Yixing turned to his friend and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? No. No way. There’s no way they’re performing here, tonight. You have to be kidding.”

10cm, also known as Ten Centimeters, was a band that Yixing and Minseok filled half their conversations with almost everyday. When Yixing visited Hongdae for the first time, he had listened to a rendition of one of their songs at a cafe and was instantly hooked. Once he had asked the performer the name of the song, he immediately went to the music store to buy their album. For a year, the CD was the only thing he would listen to in his car. Meeting this band was basically one of Yixing’s lifetime dreams.

“My mother didn’t raise a liar,” said Minseok. “Come on now, let’s go. We better hurry, or they might not let us in.” The shorter male grabbed Yixing’s hand and speed-walked in the direction of the club.

“How are we even going to get tickets though?,” wondered Yixing out loud.

Minseok pulled two tickets out of his pocket and waved them in Yixing’s face. “This is how.”

Yixing’s mouth dropped. “How much did they cost? I’ll pay you back on Monday.”

“Don’t worry. Consider this as my graduation gift to you,” Minseok explained, waving his hand dismissively.

“No way! You can’t! Please let me pay,” Yixing retorted.

“I’m not taking your money. You’re my lovely dongsaeng, Yixing-ah. This is my treat for you for keeping me company all these years at the shop. Without you, I would’ve quit a long time ago,” Minseok replied with a wink.

Minseok was someone who cared very little about the hierarchies of Korean relationships. For him, age was truely a number. He didn’t like to nitpick about the levels of respect he should give and receive. So when he invoked the hyung card, Yixing couldn’t help but notice it and responded accordingly.

“Fine. But I’m in charge of closing shop every day until I leave,” Yixing insisted.

Minseok let out a light chuckle. “So you’re repaying me by reducing my pay hours? Gee, thanks.”

Yixing burst out out in raucous laughter. After that, Yixing and Minseok were already at the club before they knew it. The club was a metallic building covered with flashy lights and had a sign on top with its name. The vibrating thrum of the music from inside could be heard outside. The exterior of the club was lined with people, who were all standing behind a rope barrier. Burly security guards dressed in black suits stood by the front door, only letting people in at their discretion.

Yixing and Minseok took their places in line, hoping that they would get in soon. Minseok pulled out his phone and texted to pass the time. Yixing wondered if the line would ever end. He knew that he couldn’t miss out on his favorite band. He was still shocked from Minseok’s last-minute surprise. After almost an hour of squirming in line, they reached the front door. Then, all they had to do was get past the security guards.

“Names?,” asked a security guard.

“Kim Minseok and Zhang Yixing,” responded Minseok.

The security guard glanced down at his clipboard. He squinted at the list of names for a few seconds before he said “I see a Kim Minseok but I don’t see the other one.”

“What do you mean? I have two tickets for the concert!”

“Both of those tickets are under your name. I can’t let in someone who’s not on the list.”

“What?! That makes no sense! Why in the world would I buy two tickets for myself?”

The security guard shrugged. “Sorry, rules are rules.”

Yixing turned around to look at his friend. “It’s ok, hyung. You can go inside by yourself,” he consoled.

“No! Absolutely not! If they won’t let you in, then neither will-”

“That won’t be necessary. These two are with me.” Suddenly, two arms wrapped around Yixing and Minseok’s shoulders.

These words, coming from this stranger’s mouth, were almost like magic. The security guard automatically stepped aside, allowing the pair to enter. Yixing turned to his side, wondering who the mystery person was. What he found was a tall and slender twenty-something guy with gelled hair. He was wearing a gray t-shirt that showed off his muscles and ripped jeans. The man was devastatingly attractive, and not just in looks. He also projected an aura of confidence that made Yixing want to physically retract.

Eventually, the three stepped inside into the packed venue. Yixing felt claustrophobic, enough for him to remove his jacket. At this action, he felt the stranger’s piercing eyes bore into him. He looked up and down at Yixing.

Yixing spoke up first, despite all the questions that floated in his head. “Hi. Thank you so much for letting us in.”

“No problem,” responded the man.

“Um, not to be rude, but who are you? And why did they let us in?” asked Yixing.

The man chuckled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Jongsuk, and my father is the owner of this club.” He extended his hand out for a handshake. “So I get certain perks, like letting in anyone who I think is cute.”

Yixing shook his hand back. He looked around for Minseok. However, he saw his friend already heading for the bar. Yet, Minseok looked back at his friend and gave him a thumbs up.

“Thank you very much.” Yixing gave him a small smile.

“Would you like a drink? Our bartender can make a mean vodka martini.”

Yixing nodded. “Sounds great. Lead the way.” The two walked over together to the end of the bar.

It was not uncommon for random people to hit on Yixing, and Yixing wasn’t uncomfortable with the attention. Due to his bulky, muscular figure combined with his innocent face, people were allured. They wanted to figure him out, to see who he really was. When Yixing first started developing into his adult body, he shied away from the lingering gazes and the purposeful compliments. But now, Yixing handled himself graciously, and people were surprised to find out that he wasn’t as naive as he looked. Although Baekhyun was the only one he really loved, he still enjoyed a good time as much as the next guy his age.

“So, Jongsuk, I know who your father is, but who are you?,” Yixing asked with a smirk.

Jongsuk blinked and his eyes almost indiscernibly widened. “I’m a nightclub promoter for a couple of clubs around the area, including this one. I couldn’t help but overhear earlier, but you had tickets for 10cm?” He jabbed a finger at himself. “Well, I’m the one that brought them here.”

Yixing picked up the drink that had been ordered for him. “Really? Interesting,” he said nonchalantly.

“Yep. Now, I’ve said so much about myself, but I don’t even know your name!”

Yixing gave a polite smile. “I’m sorry. My name is Yixing. I’m a music major who’s about to graduate college. I’ll soon be a composer for SM Entertainment.”

“Impressive. Your folks must be proud.”

“Yes, very,” Yixing said as he sipped his drink.

Jongsuk joked as he patted Yixing’s arm. “Well, maybe one day, we’ll be playing your songs in here. Who knows?”

“Maybe, only if you don’t lose all your customers from playing idol songs.” Somebody bumped into Yixing, which brought Jongsuk closer into his personal bubble.

“Then you just have to mix it up, write songs that fit both indie and Inkigayo,” Jongsuk murmured into his ear.

Yixing shot him a wry grin. “Easier said than done.”

“You never know until you try.”

After a few minutes more minutes of conversation, Yixing thanked him again for letting him in and bid him farewell. Jongsuk grabbed his hand and he felt something slip into it. At that point, Yixing was somewhat tipsy, so he didn’t care to look at it, and just settled for putting it in his pocket.

Yixing searched for his friend Minseok, since he had already left the bar. After exchanging a few texts, he figured out that his friend was at the front of the stage and had saved a spot for him.

“There you are! I looked everywhere for you.” Minseok exclaimed.

“Here I am,” Yixing said.

“Man, was that dude was so coming onto you. How was he?”

Yixing felt somewhat out of it. He cursed his low alcohol tolerance levels, as he could feel a headache already coming. “Yep. Great.”

“He’s hot. I would definitely sleep with him if I was single.” commented Minseok.

“Yeah,” Yixing groggily answered.

At around ten, the concert finally began. The band performed a few of their hit songs, guaranteed to be known by anyone who was into the underground music scene in Hongdae. Although Yixing previously felt like taking a giant nap, the presence of Ten Centimeters awoke him. He figured he would probably never see the band again, so he should appreciate the one-in-a-lifetime chance. Minseok and him avidly mouthed all the lyrics to the songs. Minseok even got the attention of the band’s vocalist and waved to him. It was a fun time filled with good music and the company of close friends. Yixing didn’t want the night to end.

Unfortunately, the band performed their last song and had to say their goodbyes. After a thunderous applause, they bowed and left the stage. Yixing already missed them.

Yixing and Minseok had a few more drinks, then stepped out of the club. They took a few steps out in the streets before Yixing could clearly hear his stomach grumble.

“I completely forgot. I didn’t eat dinner. Oops,” Yixing said.

Minseok lightly smacked his head. “You dummy. How could you drink on an empty stomach. Anyways, let’s get something to eat.”

“Then let’s go to the convenience store.”

“Are you kidding me? This is our night out, we can do better than that.”

Minseok led him into a small cafe that was open at late hours, mostly for college students looking for food after a night of partying. The cafe was chic and had a sleek aesthetic. When they were seated, they ordered bulgogi with several side dishes and grilled it on the grill on top of their table. They also munched on kimichi to appease themselves while the meat was cooking.

Eventually, they stuffed their faces with the cooked beef dish. Yixing laughed at Minseok, who looked like a tiny squirrel chewing nuts as fast as it could. The same could also have be said about the rate at which Minseok was downing soju. Luckily, Minseok didn’t get easily drunk, so Yixing didn’t worry about him passing out.

Yixing’s mini-headache was somewhat quelled after the meal and also probably by the alcohol leaving his system. He laid back in his chair and patted his stomach. He felt so full he wanted to get out of his tight pants and into sweats. But otherwise, he felt content, and a little bit sleepy.

After fighting about who would pay the check (Yixing stubbornly refused to let Minseok pay for him anymore), they left and headed back to the subway. Both of them took the same train back, but Yixing was supposed to get off a few stops before Minseok.

Yixing got off the train and told Minseok to get home safely. He walked a few blocks back until he reached his apartment. He waved the doorman hello, walked through the lobby, went into the elevator, and pressed the ‘3’ button to get to his floor. While walking to his door, he grabbed his keys from his jacket. At the door, he fidgeted with the lock for a few seconds until he got it open.

The first thing he witnessed was Baekhyun on the couch in the dark room. He was droopy-eyed and mindlessly stared at the TV. The TV played an action film with loud sound effects. Baekhyun looked like he would fall asleep at any second. Yixing tried to get to his room without being noticed, but Baekhyun turned around and looked up to him.

“Hey,” Baekhyun greeted, followed by a long yawn. “Where’d you come back so late from?”

“Nowhere. Just went out with one of my coworkers.”

“What? Like a date?,” Baekhyun asked, his interest suddenly piqued.

Yixing shook his head. “No, he’s just a friend.”

“Oh, you mean Minseok.” Baekhyun slumped. “You could’ve just told me that.”

“Yep.” Yixing yawned with his mouth wide open, covering the saliva that he was spitting. “‘Kay, goodnight Baek.”

----

Baekhyun watched Yixing’s figure retreat through the hallway into his room. He noticed something fall out of Yixing’s pocket. Baekhyun was about inform Yixing of it, but at that moment, Yixing had already entered his room. He considered going inside his room to give it to him, but he sensed that Yixing didn’t want to be bothered by him.

In fact, Baekhyun saw very little of Yixing these days, which was abnormal, even for him. He used to constantly feel Yixing’s presence even when he was a hundred feet deep in homework and his job. But now, even though Yixing acted normal around him, he felt like Yixing secretly wanted nothing to do with him. Baekhyun was terrified that he had done something wrong, but he didn’t know how to fix it. His chest physically ached whenever he thought about what it’d be like if he lost Yixing. He hoped it would never come to that.

Baekhyun turned back and fished around the couch to find the remote. When he shut off the TV, he got up and stretched his arms in the air. He made a similar trip down the hallway, only to stumble upon what Yixing had dropped a few minutes earlier. He bent down and picked it up.

Baekhyun gripped a small white business card. It had the name ‘Kim Jongsuk’ written on top in bold cap letters. It stated that he was a freelance nightclub promoter and provided a litany of phone numbers and email addresses. On the bottom of the card, an arrow pointing to the right was drawn. Baekhyun guessed that it meant that there was something on the back of the card, so he flipped it over.

On the other side of it, a message was messily scrawled in black pen. Hope we can meet again, it said, followed by another phone number, which presumably a personal line.

Baekhyun stared at the card for a few seconds. He didn’t know what to feel. Knowing that Yixing already had a job waiting for him, he didn’t think that his older friend had acquired the card for professional reasons, especially with the suggestive message written on the back of it. He supposed he should be happy for Yixing and support him in his dating endeavors. But Baekhyun wondered why Yixing wouldn’t mention this to him. He’d never usually been someone to hold back about such matters.

Baekhyun took the card with him and went to his bedroom. In it, he opened the lid of his laptop and went on a search engine. He typed in the name on the card, and hundreds of websites popped up. Most of them showed events for the various clubs that he had worked for. He also saw several Facebook profiles with the same name. After clicking a few profiles, he found what he thought was probably the person Yixing had met.

Baekhyun wondered why he had suddenly been reduced to Internet-stalking his friend’s potential partners. Brushing the thought away, he took a cursory glance at the guy’s pictures. He saw a few pictures, most of them which were him tagged in his friend’s pictures of him where he was passed-out drunk.

As he went through the guy’s internet history, he felt a bad vibe. On a surface level, there was nothing wrong with him. Yet, he also didn’t think that he was the kind of guy Yixing would date. Yixing didn’t even enjoy going out that much, which this guy clearly did. But, then again, who was he to judge someone off a few Facebook pictures?

However, Baekhyun would be lying to himself if he thought that his problem ended there. Especially after Yixing’s last girlfriend had broken up with him, he realized that Yixing was very misunderstood. As possessive as it sounded, he felt like he was the only one who truly got him. His stomach twisted at the thought of Yixing getting his heart broken again by someone who didn’t care about him the way he cared about them.

All he wanted was to hold Yixing in his arms again. He imagined Yixing’s soft locks, keeping his arms over strong back, placing a soft peck on his-

Suddenly, Baekhyun’s stomach flipped, his heart thudded, and he could feel blood rush to his ears. Wherever his thoughts were headed, he didn’t dare examine them any further. He shook his head, as to dispose of any more thoughts of Yixing or anybody related to him. He deeply hated the way his body had betrayed him. So he stiffened, forcing himself to feel numb. From that moment on, Baekhyun thought only of his lover, the one he was going on a trip with to fix their relationship.

Chanyeol, Chanyeol, Chanyeol, Chanyeol, he repeated to himself until his name sounded like meaningless gibberish.

Once again, thanks for reading! Sorry this was kind of late. And thanks for all the comments and subscribers, I really appreciate it!