Recording for a radio show is finished and Infinite sluggishly makes their way back into their van. Everyone’s tired, but Hoya and Dongwoo are giggling on about something, Woohyun and Sunggyu are discussing something heatedly, Sungjong’s completely absorbed in a new zombie game on his iPad (he’s starting to look like one himself) and Sungyeol… Sungyeol looks beautiful. Ah- Sungyeol looks beautiful while staring into the sky. Which Myungsoo later realizes by following his gaze, has a large number of shining, glittery stars.

Unconsciously he walks next to Sungyeol, breathing in the faint scent of coffee and cologne. He knows that earlier on, Sungyeol spilled a little of his Americano on his black jeans and didn’t bother to clean it – but Myungsoo saw.

He saw by complete accident. Really.

 

It’s not often he gets to walk with Sungyeol or to talk to him. Idol life is busy, with schedules everyday and the fact that they talk considerably more to the camera than to each other. Especially when Sungyeol’s so damn attractive – not just in one way, but more – he’s the vibrant presence that everyone wants a piece of. That everyone always wants to befriend. People just can’t help but like him.

Really like him.

 

“Pretty, right?” Sungyeol’s raspy voice tiredly whispers as he continues gazing at the dark night sky. Myungsoo nods eagerly and breaks out into a satisfied smile. “Very.” Myungsoo tears his gaze away from Sungyeol for a little to look at the stars. They are pretty.

Myungsoo feels strangely content as his legs move in sync with Sungyeol’s close beside him, and he feels his heart flutter.

“Yeol-ah,” then Myungsoo struggles a little to catch up with Sungyeol’s quick, long legs. “How are you going to celebrate the New Year?”

“Sleeping.” He replies easily, glancing at Myungsoo a slight bit with mischief in his bright eyes before looking straight ahead again. Myungsoo’s eyes crinkle as he smiles, watching Sungyeol’s profile as they near the van.

Smart, Myungsoo thinks, when they get inside. The crinkle that follows the curve of his eyes is still there.

He quietly asks Sungjong the same question on the way back to their dorm and when he replies with the same answer, Myungsoo tells him that that’s stupid.

 

-

Myungsoo thoughtfully glances at Sungyeol as what he recognizes as the older boy's feet pad across the living room tiredly. He watches him from his spot on the couch, eyes following as Sungyeol drags himself from the kitchen on one end, into their room on the other end and from the soft oomph he makes, Myungsoo assumes that he collapses onto his bed.

Myungsoo sighs in resignation as he slumps further into the couch.

That night, he sleeps on the couch and doesn’t go into the room until the next morning’s schedule.

 

-

The Infinite members are at the dorm when Myungsoo decides to get some advice.

“Hyung.”

Sunggyu’s chomping on his vegetables.

“Hyung.”

His chomping gets louder.

“Hyung!!” Myungsoo raises his voice a notch, nudging Sunggyu on his side.

“What?” Sunggyu narrows his eyes at Myungsoo, tone laced with irritation.

“I have something to ask you…”

“Regarding?”

 

He continues chomping.

 

“Ahhh- You know…”

Sunggyu doesn’t even bother probing.

 

“Hyung!” Myungsoo takes his bowl away from him and puts it at the far end of the table.

“What, Myungsoo?? Can you just cut to the chase?” Sunggyu scolds, swallowing his vegetables. “Why are you so wishy-washy?”

His expression softens when he sees a small knit of frustration on Myungsoo’s lower forehead.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, hyung…” Myungsoo turns away from Sunggyu, giving the latter a small smile as he offers him his previously snatched-away bowl. “You can just eat.”

 

Woohyun plops down beside Sunggyu then, and all is forgotten about Myungsoo as the two bicker over who gets to shower first later. Myungsoo sighs and he walks off back into his room.

-

 

They are backstage, twenty minutes to a music show performance when Myungsoo approaches Dongwoo. “Hyung,” Myungsoo starts cheerfully, “I need to ask you something.”
 

“Myungsoo-ah!” Dongwoo puts an arm around Myungsoo’s waist and walks them to a corner in the room. “What is it?”

“Well I um… Promise not to tell…” Myungsoo holds up a pinky for Dongwoo to hook. He knows Dongwoo can keep a secret. And, well, he’s nice. Dongwoo hooks his pinky and gives him a wide, goofy smile.

Myungsoo can’t help but chuckle.

 

“Ah… How do you tell if someone likes you or not?” Curiosity glows in Myungsoo’s eyes and he tries to seem all innocent and curious but he knows Dongwoo knows the moment he sees light bulbs lighting up in Dongwoo’s head as he grins and-

“Oh, oh is it a girl?”

Okaaaay, maybe he doesn’t.

“Well, um, kind of…?”

“Ah um, well then…” Dongwoo scratches his head. “Actually I’m not sure… I’ve never really had much experience to be honest…” He grins at Myungsoo sheepishly. “Maybe Hoya will know a bit more?”

 

It’s just like Dongwoo to think Hoya knows everything.

 

Myungsoo doesn’t ask Hoya though, because Hoya is an awkward turtle and awkward turtles that are named Lee Howon don’t usually know much about love besides love for dancing.

The option of consulting Woohyun’s expertise is also struck out when he observes Woohyun checking out Sunggyu every chance he can get throughout the entire day. Off and on camera, with a truckload of Woogyu fan service to boot. It’s disturbing and Myungsoo doesn’t really want to ask Woohyun about anything regarding relationships if his are like… like that.

 

-

“HYUNG CAN I JUST PLAY MY GAME IN PEACE?!?” Sungjong sulks and folds his arms in irritation when Myungsoo tugs onto his sleeve.

“Please Sungjong, it’s important…” Myungsoo pleads, almost tired of constantly needing to ask for attention from his band mates.

Sungjong puts his iPad down and straightens up when he sees Myungsoo’s expression.

 

“It’s about Sungyeol-hyung, huh.” Sungjong says monotonously after he stares at Myungsoo for a while, and plays with his nails.

“You- …Yeah... How did you-”

“You’re pretty obvious, hyung, from the way your eyes are always on him, and how you’re always trying to subtly walk by his side…”

 

Myungsoo’s face flushes in a thin shade of red.

 

“Gosh, I’d say you’re even worse than Woohyun-hyung.”

“What?? No!! I can’t be worse than Woohyun…” Myungsoo’s eyes widen in horror and his hand touches his face in disbelief. “I’m not like that!”

“Oh, but you are.” Sungjong retorts, unamused.

“It’s like your eyes only see him.” He continues hastily, clearly having kept this to himself for a long time. “Oh, and have I mentioned how you smile downright excessively when he talks to you? I wonder if your cheeks actually get tired from stretching so much when he’s around you, hyung. You will definitely need botox by the time you're thirty if you go on like this!”

“I-”

 

“Oh my god hyung, and that’s not the end.” Sungjong waves his hands in the air to emphasize his point. “You practically worship him, don’t you? I saw your googly eyes when you watched him sleep just last week. Man, it was such a good show. Tracing his jawline like it’s made of the thinnest glass, and looking at his closed eyelids, observing his chest rise and fall so beautifully,”

“You’re exaggerating!!” Myungsoo covers Sungjong’s mouth, a mortified expression etched onto his face, as he stumbles about making sure no one overheard. “I was just making sure he wasn’t cold and everything-”

Thank god the other members were out buying dinner.

 

“I’m not, Myungsoo-ah, I’m really not. You didn’t even notice me peeking in from the doorway.” Sungjong shakes his head and glares at Myungsoo. Oh god, he’s dead serious. Myungsoo’s heart does a little flip. “From the way you act, observing you stalking Sungyeol is like my second favourite thing to do besides playing Left 4 Dead.”

Myungsoo's mouth opens as he stares at Sungjong, dumbfounded. Sungjong rolls his eyes. Then he looks like he just remembers something, and Myungsoo closes his eyes tightly waiting for the next spur of words to escape the maknae’s mouth. There’s more isn’t there…

“And let’s not forget about the interview when you said he was the prettiest member, what were you thinking hyung?”
 

Myungsoo’s eyes snap open. He must defend himself this time, he will defend himself this time-

 

“I wasn’t-”

“Exactly!! Hyung, be more careful with your feelings next time okay? Your creeper mode should not be on when you’re on-camera!” Sungjong points a finger at Myungsoo. “It’s called professionalism!”

Myungsoo gives up arguing against Sungjong’s accusations and nods in defeat.

 

“Alright, where were we?” Sungjong stares out into the door towards the living room momentarily before turning back to Myungsoo- “Right! You had something to ask about Sungyeol-hyung?”

At this point, Myungsoo feels like he’s been stripped of all his pride.

 

He nods weakly.

“Look, just confess.” Sungjong sighs. “It’s better for everyone that way.”

“I… I just don’t know if Yeol likes me back.” Myungsoo feels his heart return to the cold aching void it was the other night he spent on the couch. “He never looks at me for more than two seconds.” He looks down as he says this, hiding his eyes.

“So that’s your problem?” Sungjong narrows his eyes.

“…Yes?”
 

“If you don’t take a leap of faith, you’ll never know, hyung…” Sungjong starts off warily. He knows this problem means a lot to his hyung and he didn’t want to go about it the wrong way. “Personally I think Sungyeol-hyung does like you… But maybe he just-” Sungjong stops abruptly, eyebrows knitting together in thought. “Maybe he’s shy, hyung.”

Myungsoo feels his eyes sting a little. “I just don’t want to get hurt.” He whispers, loud enough for Sungjong to hear. He avoids Sungjong’s gaze, and looks out into the doorway. He hears the dorm’s door being unlocked.

 

They’re back.

 

“Hyung, you have to try. Promise me you’ll try. There’s a chance, and there’s quite a big chance he might return your feelings. You have to do it.”

Myungsoo searches Sungjong’s eyes for assurance, and he sees the younger boy’s iron-will and determination. “Thank you,” Myungsoo says softly, a small smile as he looks at his beloved friend. “Thank you.” As he walks out of Sungjong’s room, into his own.

The rustling of plastic bags and Sunggyu’s voice “Guys, the food is here!!” remind Myungsoo that he is really going to do it. He is going to confess.

 

It was to be a long night for Myungsoo.

 

-

During dinner, Sungjong whispers something to Dongwoo.

Dongwoo moves his pillow from his original room with Sungyeol and Myungsoo to Sungjong and Hoya’s room.

Later on Myungsoo hears someone (probably Dongwoo) roar “SLEEP-OVER!!!” and the combination of hysterical laughter from Hoya and Dongwoo in the other room and he chuckles a little. Shortly, Sungjong walks by his room and mouths a hwaiting and a wink before disappearing again.

He waits for Sungyeol to come back from the bathroom. He’s going to do it. After so long of only looking at Sungyeol, he was about to find out if his feelings were mutual. It has been a year since Myungsoo started falling in love with Sungyeol’s cheerful and genuine personality. But it has also been a year since he started hurting.

 

As if on cue Sungyeol enters the room, towel over his disheveled hair, hand rubbing at it as he stifled a yawn. He doesn’t spare Myungsoo a glance. He crashes onto his bed just as Myungsoo realizes his chance are slipping. I can’t let Sungyeol sleep like this…

“Yeol-ah!” Myungsoo calls a little too loudly, as he bounces off to close the door. “Yeol!” He runs to Sungyeol’s bed to sit beside his lone figure.

“Yeah?” Sungyeol manages, and Myungsoo can tell he’s trying hard to stay awake.

“Can we talk?”

“Okay.” Sungyeol gets up to sit beside Myungsoo, glances at Myungsoo for nothing more than a second and re-directs his gaze to the calendar on the wall beside the door. Myungsoo frowns at this.

“I need to tell you something.” Myungsoo tests, unsure about everything that was happening and what he was feeling. Sungyeol’s seemingly lack of reaction- or interest, for that matter, kind of broke his heart.

 

Abruptly, something changes in Myungsoo’s resolution and stiffly, he asks, “Why don’t you ever look at me?”

Sungyeol turns to Myungsoo with an eyebrow raised and for a change, actually looks into his eyes. Sungyeol’s focus on his eyes doesn’t sit very well with Myungsoo – it seems a little too… too concentrated?

“Myung, why does it matter to you?” He curiously stares at Myungsoo and Myungsoo uncomfortably shifts a little from his position on the bed.

 

Hysterical laughter from a faraway place pierces through the tension, and giggling, they both look at the door, mentioning at the same time, “Dongwoo.”

Myungsoo finds his smile again, and now that Sungyeol is looking at him, he realizes the crinkle in his own eyes is back. It’s funny what Sungyeol can do to him. Sungyeol has a small smile of his own now, and he shyly looks down at his lap.

 

This is weird, this is really weird.

 

“Yeol-ah.”

Oh to hell with it.

“I think I love you.”

 

It doesn’t feel as bad as Myungsoo always imagined it to be. He is extremely comfortable with Sungyeol, after all. He dreads the reply a little though, and he tries to find Sungyeol’s gaze. Sungyeol is still looking at his lap, but his darn bangs are blocking his eyes-

Sungyeol turns his head then, looking into Myungsoo’s eyes and he’s nibbling at his lower lip. “Really?”

Myungsoo feels hope bubbling up in his chest. He nods slowly-

 

Sungyeol. He feels Sungyeol against his lips. Sungyeol’s lips are against his.

Oh my god.

 

Myungsoo’s mouth opens in shock and Sungyeol takes advantage of that opportunity, shifting his body to face Myungsoo’s, putting his hands on Myungsoo’s face to steady him and angling his own to make it more comfortable, letting his tongue gently Myungsoo’s. Myungsoo’s eyes close at this point and he tries to reply, his own tongue teasing Sungyeol’s and Sungyeol’s bottom lip slowly. He feels it quiver in excitement, and he smiles into the kiss. Sungyeol smiles back, and he pulls away. His face has the most adorable blush and Myungsoo his lips slowly before he leans forward again to capture his soft, pink lips. It’s a daring move, but Myungsoo is sure now. He’s sure about everything he felt in the past year.

Passion overtakes the pair as Sungyeol lets his tongue pepper light touches all over the inside of Myungsoo’s mouth, soft pressure against Myungsoo’s lips. They keep it delicate but passionate, and soon the shy couple pull back again for air.

 

“Myung…” Sungyeol coos softly. “The reason why I try not to look at you…” He clasps their hands together. “is because it’s really too hard not to do this.” He eyes Myungsoo’s lips and quickly leans in to give him a soft peck.

“Sorry, Myung-ah. Kekeke.” Sungyeol looks softly into Myungsoo’s gaze and touches his nose lightly. “I didn’t know you felt this way.”

Myungsoo’s lips curve up into a smile, reaching his eyes as always. He smiles harder than he ever has, though, and he finds it hard to stop.

“You’re an idiot.” Myungsoo laughs, melodic waves of sound reaching Sungyeol’s ears, “Sungjong said I was painfully, painfully obvious.”

 

As an afterthought, Myungsoo mentions, “Worse than Woohyun-hyung.”

“What??” Sungyeol gasps, shocked by what Myungsoo had just told him. “Worse than Namgrease? But he’s a gone case!” Sungyeol shrieks. Myungsoo chuckles.

“I’m sorry Myungsoo-ah. But I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t look at you without my eyes wandering to your lips and feeling like I wanted to lean in and…” Sungyeol pauses, looking earnestly into his partner’s eyes. “Kiss you.”

Myungsoo feels his face getting red and he tries his best to force down his smile.

 

“I’ll look at you from now on,” Sungyeol continues seriously. “I promise.”

Myungsoo feels like his chest is about to disintegrate from the sheer amount of fondness he feels for the boy in front of him gathering inside of his heart.

 

Sungyeol suddenly distorts his face into that of an owl’s and manages to say “I love you, Myungsoo-ah.” in his best impression of an anime voice that sounds remotely like Myungsoo’s.

Myungsoo bursts into laughter, draping himself over Sungyeol’s sitting form, into something that feels like a hug. Sungyeol is smiling widely, his cheeks pushed upwards to give his face a gorgeous glow. Myungsoo pulls back when his laughter dies down, and he once again looks at Sungyeol’s beautiful smiling face.

“I love you.” Myungsoo repeats, trying not to sound like an anime. It comes out soft and soothing and filled with love, and his lips curve up again.

“Your smile looks really so much nicer in comparison to how it looks in my peripheral vision.” Sungyeol muses out loud.

 

“You would’ve known that if you’d bother to look at me…” Myungsoo teases, and wraps his arms around Sungyeol’s body. Sungyeol’s eyes sparkle with love and Myungsoo didn’t need to ask to lean in again, for the umpteenth time that night to press his lips against Sungyeol’s, feeling each other’s breath tickle their faces.

 

-

The next morning, Sungjong sets an alarm a little earlier than normal.

He tiptoes over Dongwoo’s figure strewn across the floor and closes the door behind him. He quietly walks down the hallway and sneaks open the door to Myungsoo’s room. He peeks in and his eyes search the room for his two hyungs.  He sees Myungsoo’s bed empty, before turning to see-

 

Oh.

Myungsoo has his face buried in Sungyeol’s chest, with Sungyeol’s face buried in Myungsoo’s hair. Both of them are sleeping peacefully, bodies moving in sync as they breathe. They’re in an awfully adorable position, and Sungjong can’t help but let out a small squeal. He closes the door as he tiptoes out, and smiles to himself.

I’m a ing genius.

He goes back into his room and tumbles onto his bed.

Where can you find a matchmaker like this?

Sungjong closes his heavy lidded eyes.

Myungsoo-hyung owes me for giving him a ing epic New Year, seriously.

Sungjong makes a mental note to make Myungsoo do something for him in the future, before he slowly drifts back to sleep.