They debut as Super Junior ’05 in 2005, when Heechul is 22, Donghae is 19, and Jessica is 16.

The two men have both come to a silent understanding, and try to put their feelings behind them for the sake of their career.

They try to convince themselves that they are content with their platonic stance with the girl they love.

It still hurts.

It’s 2007, and the three friends still remain close.

The two men, ages 25 and 22, keep their silent promise to each other, remaining close to the now 18 year old girl, but never too close.

The two are alone in a training room waiting for the other members, when suddenly Jessica barges in, a huge smile on her face.

“Donghae oppa! Heechul oppa!” she says with an infectious smile, pulling the both of them in for a hug. The two unconsciously smile back at her, light blushes on their faces. She pulls back from the two, completely unaware of their racing hearts. “Good, you’re both here. I have great news!”

“What is it?” Heechul asks. “You must be in a good mood if you’re showing skinship to us.” he teases.

She blushes lightly at the skinship comment, but ignores it in favor of sharing her good news.

“I’m debuting this August!”

Donghae, the more affectionate of the two men, immediately envelops Jessica in another hug, bouncing up and down in his excitement at her news.

“Congratulations, Sooyeon-ah! That’s amazing!” he grins widely, but abruptly lets go, remembering Heechul’s presence. Glancing at the older boy’s flat expression, he scrambles to remedy the suddenly awkward atmosphere. “Maybe we can all perform on stage together one day! Wouldn’t that be great?”

She nods her head eagerly, laughing with mirth.

“Congrats, Sica.” Heechul says, offering up a hand for a high-five which Jessica immediately returns.

“I’m so happy I caught you guys here. Don’t tell anyone, but...” she looks around conspicuously, as if looking around for any eavesdroppers. Her voice drops to a whisper. “You guys are the first ones I’ve told. Not even my family, DBSK oppas, or the other Super Junior oppas know yet. I came looking for you two straight after receiving the good news.”

Before the two can reply, her phone buzzes, and she quickly takes it out to check the message. “Oh! I gotta go. It’s my new manager.” she says with a hint of disappointment. Quickly, she pulls the two back in for one last hug and heads for the door. “Let’s go out later, okay? My treat for you guys being such good friends all these years!”

The two watch as the girl skips out of the room, remaining silent, letting everything process. The words “good friends” echo in both their minds, leaving a somewhat hollow feeling in their hearts amidst the excitement and proud feeling they had upon hearing Jessica’s news.

Donghae faces Heechul, heaving a sigh, a wry expression on his face.

“It’s better like this, isn’t it, hyung?”

Heechul can only offer Donghae a bittersweet smile in consolation.

“It seems so.”

“Before debut, Donghae and I both liked the same girl. I knew Donghae liked her, so I hoped that Donghae and she could be together. That’s why I would always say something good for Donghae in front of the girl, but one time the girl asked me, ‘How come when I meet with you, you always say something good for Donghae? And why does Donghae also say nice words for you to me?’

As a result, both of us failed to be with the girl… but Donghae said that it is better like this…”

-Kim Heechul recounting a story on an episode of Young Street

And we are done! That was the last chapter. Last links regarding the story:

• The inspiration for this entire fic

I have a couple of oneshots drafted, so look forward to those!

Thanks for reading.