Hwanhee wasn’t there when Dongyeol came home. He figured that he must have gone home. Hwanhee’s mom was probably glad to see that her son was still alive since he slept over at his best friend’s place way too often. Dongyeol wished his own parents remembered to check in with him once in a while.

He wondered where in the world their so-called ‘business trip’ had taken them this time and if they would come home to announce their ‘divorce’ once again. It was always like this. His parents would go away, get into fights, come back and announce their divorce, only to make up a week later with expensive gifts. Dongyeol almost wished that they would go through with that damn divorce already so he might get to see at least one of them more often.

Dongyeol shrugged and banned his own parents from his mind for now. He couldn’t stop thinking about the disinterest Kogyeol’s mother had shown when she heard about the accident. How could she not even have the slightest bit of worry? And why did she surround herself with brutal idiots that treated her own son like trash?

Dongyeol shook his head and headed to the kitchen to cook himself some ramen. This whole thing with Kogyeol’s mom kind of made him think if his own parents would care if he got into an accident...

~

A week passed and Kogyeol still didn’t wake up. Wooseok tried his best to be there for Jinwook. He practically forced the older to eat and tried to make him sleep. Dongyeol was also busy with looking out for Hwanhee. The slightly older boy still hadn’t gone to visit Kogyeol and he looked like an absolute wreck.

“Maybe seeing him will make it better?” Dongyeol suggested one and a half weeks after Kogyeol’s accident. Hwanhee shook his head. “I can’t...”, he said. “You need this, Hwanhee. You’ll only feel worse if you keep pushing it up”, Dongyeol told him.

“What I need is more of this”, Hwanhee argued and took a swig from the soju bottle in his hands. Dongyeol didn’t know where he got the liquor from but the older had already shown up at his place drunk. He took the bottle from his friend before he could bring it to his lips.

“Give me that!” Hwanhee exclaimed and made grabby hands at the bottle. He got up with wobbly legs when Dongyeol held it out of his reach. “You shouldn’t drown your guilt in alcohol! Go visit Kogyeol; talk to him!” “You don’t understand...”, Hwanhee slurred.

“Damn right, I don’t! It’s not like you did it on purpose! Jinwook needs our support right now and all you do is drown in self-pity”, Dongyeol yelled. “Just...give me the bottle...”, Hwanhee said, stumbling forward, colliding with his best friend in the process. Dongyeol still held the bottle away from him but their faces were only inches apart now.

Before Dongyeol knew what was happening Hwanhee pressed his lips onto his. They tasted like alcohol which wasn’t surprising at all. Dongyeol reacted quickly, pushing his friend off of him with force. Hwanhee stumbled backwards onto the younger’s bed.

“You don’t get to do that! You can’t just go around, playing with my feelings only because you feel like !” Dongyeol shouted, still too shocked by what had just happened. He turned away from his friend and ruffled his own hair in frustration. He only turned back around when he heard the door slam.

Hwanhee was gone.

Dongyeol threw the bottle across the room only to watch it shatter at the wall. He should go after Hwanhee, he really should but for some reason he couldn’t move from his spot for a few seconds.

That is, until his confusion and anger faded and realization kicked in. Hwanhee was drunk and full of guilt. Dongyeol shouldn’t let his own feelings get in the way if his friend was like that. He checked the time on his phone as he left his house. It was almost 4am. Hwanhee was nowhere to be seen. Dongyeol wanted to hit himself. How could he let him get away like this?

He tried to call Hwanhee while walking around aimlessly, trying to find a sign of him. Of course, Hwanhee didn’t pick up. Dongyeol slowly started to panic. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Wooseok’s name and clicked the call button.

“Dongyeol? What the hell, man...it’s 4am...are you okay?” his friend’s sleep-filled voice came from the other side of the line. “Hyung, I need your help...”, the younger said. “Is everything okay?” Wooseok questioned, now sounding slightly more awake and worried.

“Hwanhee...he got drunk and we kinda fought and he left...”, Dongyeol babbled. “Dongyeol-“ “Please, I need you and your car. What if he hurts himself? Or gets hurt! I know you’re pissed at him but...”, he trailed off. He felt like crying and Wooseok seemed to sense that.

“Alright...stay where you are...”, he said. “I’m in front of the grocery store near my house. Please hurry!” Dongyeol said. “Okay, got it. I’ll be right there...”, Wooseok answered and hung up.

15 minutes later Dongyeol sat on the passenger’s seat of Wooseok’s car, staring out of the window in order to look for Hwanhee. “What did you two even fight about? You never fight...”, Wooseok asked, his eyes focus on the road.

“Just...stuff...”, Dongyeol said. A few seconds passed in silence before he spoke up again. “He got drunk because he feels bad about Kogyeol...and then he...” Wooseok gave the younger a short side look when he trailed off. Dongyeol was still staring out of the window.

“He kissed me...”, he admitted. “Why? I mean...he’s the straightest person I know...” Wooseok questioned, sounding slightly tensed up even though Dongyeol didn’t pay it much mind. “I don’t know...”, he answered. “So I pushed him off. Even though...I didn’t really want to...but it was wrong. He didn’t kiss me because he likes me but because he feels bad.”

“But you like him?” Wooseok asked. Dongyeol didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. “Hey, maybe we should check the stadium. You know that they never lock the back door”, Wooseok suggested. Dongyeol nodded as they made their way to the ice hockey stadium.