The next day, however, Woohyun took a few steps backwards, back into the depths of unrequited love and pining. And his resolve to accept the circumstances crumbled along with it. All because he saw Myungsoo’s instagram post. He’d posted a photo from the night before of only two beer glasses with the caption “a night out.” There was no mention of who he was with, and it looked like it could have been just a regular date with no Woohyun as the third wheel. It was as if Woohyun wasn’t there at all.

Now, typically, this would probably help any reasonable person to fall out of love and not back into it. However, reason, Woohyun didn’t have much of it these days. Instead, his pining increased manifold, and he wondered over and over again if that was his beer glass or Sungyeol’s. It could’ve been his. Or it could’ve been his and Sungyeol’s glasses. Woohyun began racking his brain, trying to remember where he’d put his glass that evening.

Before he could remember, he was interrupted by a phone call. When he answered it, he gruffly said, “Hold on, I’m in the middle of something.”

“What can be more important than me?” the person on the other side argued.

Woohyun sighed as he walked outside of his school gates while waving goodbye to some of his students. “A lot of things are more important than you, hyung,” he retorted, still smiling brightly at his students as he walked away.

The man on the line scoffed. “I know you. You’re done for the day, and I know that you have nothing else better going on. So just talk with me until my bus comes. I’m bored,” he exposed the other. He had a point. No one knew Woohyun better than Kim Sunggyu. Although Sunggyu had started out as Boohyun’s (Woohyun’s brother) friend from middle school, when they attended the same college and were both a part of the music education department, Woohyun and Sunggyu became much closer than Sunggyu and Boohyun had been. Now Sunggyu was Woohyun’s oldest friend and, in some sense, a colleague too. He was the music teacher at the high school which Woohyun’s school fed into, so several of Woohyun’s former students then became Sunggyu’s. So Sunggyu really knew almost every facet of Woohyun’s life well.

And so when Kim Sunggyu said that Woohyun had nothing else going on, Woohyun really didn’t. But Woohyun wasn’t about to admit it. “I have more friends than just you, hyung,” he replied. “What if I had plans with them?”

“You don’t because you’re avoiding them,” Sunggyu pointed out. Woohyun whined at that. He really wished that the other didn’t know him this well. “I’m right, aren’t I? I mean, what else can you do when you have a little crush on your friend who is dating your other very good friend?”

“I’m not!” at least Woohyun could point out that Sunggyu was wrong on one account. “I went out with them last night.”

“Wait,” Sunggyu muttered and then dropped his voice as he whispered into the phone. “Did you really go on a date with them? Didn’t they just start dating?”

“Eung,” Woohyun grunted. “And it was alright,” he ended with a heavy sigh, which told Sunggyu that it wasn’t “alright.”

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu started out in a soft voice. “Have you ever thought of, I don't know, not liking him?”

Woohyun scoffed. His heart wasn’t something he could turn on and off so easily. “I try! I really do!” he exclaimed. He’d been wanting to get over this crush ever since Sungyeol introduced him to Myungsoo. Even back then, he knew that his feelings were going to be in vain, that he’d only end up getting hurt. But here he was, still stuck in a one-sided love because... “I'm trying to be reasonable but then...his eyes sparkle like daisies and he smells like the moonlight and his voice...is so nice, like...like...like cotton candy! It melts. Wait no, it makes me melt. I'm the cotton candy. Hold on. How does this work?” Because Woohyun was already lost in love, and in his similes too.

“Woohyun, are you high right now? Did you take some bad medicine?” Sunggyu was genuinely worried for his friend.

Woohyun heaved another great sigh. “Yes, love is my drug, and it's a bad and bitter pill,” he lamented.

Sunggyu snorted and replied, “You need help.”

“I know. I know. It's just…” Woohyun paused to gather himself. He was getting too worked up right now. He sat down at his own bus bench and waited for his bus to come. When he did, he felt a bit more composed and continued, with his head hanging down and in a low voice, “I'm miserable. I don't want to feel like this. I don't want to be in freakin’ one-sided…” He stopped to raise his head and his voice, “Hey!”

“What?”

“You wanna date or something?” Woohyun suggested. “Do you wanna love me?” He then hung his head again and kicked his loafer against the pavement. “Someone needs to. I'm adorable and loveable, damn it,” he grumbled.

“Hell, no,” Woohyun had expected as much from Sunggyu. After all, he knew Woohyun well enough to know that Woohyun had asked in a fit of disappointment. But Sunggyu had a suggestion of his own, “But do you wanna get dinner with me tonight?”

“That's fine too,” Woohyun replied, perking up. “Pick me up at 7! It’s a date!”

“It’s not a date!” Sunggyu snapped.

“Just let me have this!” Woohyun barked back and then happily said, “Bye,” before hanging up the phone.

Woohyun still wasn’t perfectly happy, but he was a bit content. This was the first time in awhile when Sunggyu suggested that they have dinner first. He knew that Woohyun needed some quality time with his best friend.

And Woohyun knew exactly where they could go.

Woohyun was leaning against the side of the restaurant, waiting for his “date” to arrive. And when he caught sight of him, his eyebrows flew up. Sunggyu was dressed in tight, black jeans with rips at the knee and a large grey turtleneck sweater, the collar hitting hit under his chin. And to top it all of, Sunggyu actually brushed his hair and shaved. This wasn’t the typical disheveled, sweatsuit adorning, Sunggyu that Woohyun was used to catching up with after school hours. Something was up.

“You're rather dressed up for dinner at a mediocre place,” Woohyun pointed out, and he peeled himself away from the wall, walking up to the other. “Are you trying to impress me?” he teased the elder, nudging him in the shoulder.

Sunggyu scoffed, as if it were ridiculous, but there was an anxious look in his eyes. He was hiding something. “One of us needs to look decent,” he retorted nevertheless.

Woohyun looked down at his own outfit. He was wearing shorts that were a bit on the shorter side, in spite of the chiller weather, but he was wearing several warm layers on top: a hoodie with a long down coat. And Woohyun hadn’t even bother to restyle his hair after a long day of work. Why should he? He was only meeting with Sunggyu. “I am heartbroken. This is how heartbroken people look,” he defended himself and gestured to Sunggyu to follow him inside. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

When they stepped inside, Sunggyu remarked, “This place looks familiar.” His voice sounded a bit happier than Woohyun expected it would be while saying something as mundane like that. He looked over and, indeed, Sunggyu was happy. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“Have you been here before?” Woohyun asked.

“I hope so,” Sunggyu muttered lowly and then tried to bite back his smile. He knew that he was acting suspicious. So he hurried over to sit down at a table (the entire place was empty and the woman in the front told them to sit anywhere). When he sat down, Sunggyu had his usual frown on his face.

Woohyun walked over slowly and eyed the other curiously. “You’re acting weird,” he noted and then sat down.

“What of it? I am weird,” Sunggyu accepted all too quickly. He wanted to divert all focus off of him, as was evident by his next statement, “So let’s talk about your ty love life. I know you want to.”

Woohyun’s eyes darted around him. “I don’t know if this is really the place to do it,” he mumbled lowly. They were at the Lees’ restaurant after all, but Woohyun knew that Sungyeol wasn’t working that night. He’d messaged Sungyeol earlier asking if he’d be there, and Sungyeol wasn’t. He was going on a date tonight and was quite excited about it and proceeded to tell Woohyun every detail about it. It was just dinner and a movie, but Sungyeol made it sound like the best thing ever (and to Woohyun, a simple date like that with Myungsoo did seem like the best thing ever). So after receiving that information, Woohyun decided that if he can’t have love because of Lee Sungyeol, then he’d exact his revenge by eating all of the chicken in this establishment on Sungyeol’s tab. And Sunggyu, the new chicken fiend, was going to help him.

The plan was perfect, until it took an unexpected turn.

“Oh, it's him !” Sunggyu gasped, perking up and looking over Woohyun’s head.

But Woohyun kept his eyes on his friend. “Who?” he asked.

Sunggyu lowered his gaze back to his friend and leaned too far over the table. He was practically out of his chair. And he whispered excitedly to the other, “Remember that one time I got drunk at the chicken restaurant…”

“What time was that?” Woohyun interrupted with whispers of his own. “You drink a lot. A whole lot.”

“Sh! Let me finish!” Sunggyu snapped in his usual tone and raised his hand, acting like he was going to hit Woohyun, who didn’t even flinch. He knew Sunggyu wasn’t going to. He never did. And sure enough, half a second later, Sunggyu lowered his hand back onto the table and continued whispering, “I was with Minseok and his tall girlfriend, who set me up with her weird classmate and Minseok and I turned him into a drinking game because he practically only spoke in movie quotes…”

Woohyun pulled away, nodding. “Oh yea. I remember now,” he muttered.

As he moved away, Sunggyu moved in closer because he wasn’t done yet, and he was practically laying across the table now. “We went for a second round at a chicken place, and that guy is right behind you,” he hissed. Woohyun tried to turn around and look, but Sunggyu grabbed him by the cheeks and forced his head straight. “Don't look!” he begged. His eyes were big and grave.

“Why not?” Woohyun challenged as he peeled the hands away from his cheeks. “I don't remember you mentioning a guy the first time you told the story.”

“I did!” Sunggyu was adamant, sitting back down in his chair and placing a hand over his heart. “He was the son of the owner. And his hair! I told you about his hair! I told you that I told him that his head was on fire.” He was now wagging his finger at Woohyun with every word he said.

“Oh right,” it was all starting to sound familiar to Woohyun. Sunggyu had just mentioned the thing about “fire” as if it was the most clever thing that he ever said, but Woohyun was starting to realize that there was more to it, much more. A smile was cracking on his face as he prodded the other to continue, “So…”

“He’s looking over here now. Don't look!” Sunggyu shouted again when Woohyun began turning his head. Woohyun cackled, seeing how flustered the other was. But then a great, big smile spread across Sunggyu face, although it trembled a little out of nervousness. “I think he remembers me,” he whispered. He then fixed his hair, brushing it out of his eyes, as he asked, “Should I go over and talk to him?”

“Hyung!” Woohyun exclaimed. It obviously wasn’t the reply Sunggyu was looking for, as was evident by his new pout, but Woohyun couldn’t help but to exclaim that. Things had fallen into place now. Woohyun now knew what was going on. Ever since that night months ago, Sunggyu had been hooked onto going to chicken restaurants. They never could order in. They always had to go to the restaurant, and go to a different one every time. Sunggyu said that the chicken was fresher at the restaurant as opposed to ordering in. And that made sense, so Woohyun never really questioned it. And now that he was questioning it, Woohyun found his answers. Sunggyu just wasn’t interested in chicken places; he was interested in this place in particular, interested in the guy. He’d been looking for this place but was too drunk at the time to remember where it was. All Sunggyu could probably remember was this guy and the chicken. And even though Sunggyu hadn’t really spoken about the guy to Woohyun, that alone spoke volumes. When Sunggyu plays things really closely to the chest like this, it means he’s serious. He must’ve felt a connection with this guy.

“You like this guy ,” Woohyun said in a teasing voice. “I haven't see you like this for awhile.”

“Shut up!” Sunggyu snapped and his cheeks flushed with pink, unable to take this teasing. But then, just a second later, he asked very seriously, “So should I?”

At that moment, another piece fell into place. This establishment, son of the owner, with hair like fire, it had to be him, but at the same time, it couldn’t be.

“I'm gonna look,” Woohyun announced and he turned around, ignoring the “no” slipping through Sunggyu’s mouth and the hands clawing at his shoulders. And when Woohyun saw who it was, his heart sank. Sungyeol wasn’t supposed to be there tonight, but there he was, getting them beer behind the bar. Sungyeol put down the glass he just filled and caught Woohyun’s eye. They waved to each other. And slowly, Woohyun turned back around with his gaze stuck on the table.

“You know him?” Sunggyu sounded surprised, and how could he not be.

“Hyung,” Woohyun called out to the other and bit by bit, raised his gaze up to the other. “Hyung, that's Sungyeol.”

Sunggyu furrowed his brows in confusion as he repeated. “Sungyeol?”

“Yep,” Woohyun replied and drug a hand down his face. Did he have to explain it? Explain what ty situation that they were both in?

“Wait...your friend Lee Sungyeol?!” Nope, Sunggyu got there on his own. He had finally realized who his guy really was.

“Yes,” Woohyun replied.

“Aish. ing . God damn it. Everything can just go to Hell and rot. I just want to ing die. I hate everything. I hate my life,” a long string of curses poured from Sunggyu’s mouth, and Woohyun, truthfully, was kinda entertained by it. It was nice to not be the only one going crazy. Sunggyu began rubbing the sides of his head with the heels of his hands and lowered it more and more and more until it finally hit the table with a thud. “Man, I'm so embarrassed right now.”

“Wait...let me get this straight,” Woohyun said in a strained voice, trying to hold back his laughter. “All of this time when you've been obsessed with trying new chicken places, you were really looking for the owner’s son?”

“Shut it. I'm trying to die,” Sunggyu grumbled, his voice muffled by the table.

But Woohyun couldn’t. He had to say: “And you didn't think it would be my friend who you know has parents that own a chicken place? , I’m pretty sure I told you that Sungyeol had red hair too.”

“Honestly,” Sunggyu began and raised his head. His hands traveled through his hair, down to his lips, and he kept them there. “I didn't think it would be the same person,” he admitted in a small voice.

“Why?”

Sunggyu let his hands fall to the table with a slam. “I didn't think your friend would be that cool,” he hissed.

Woohyun frowned. “Why would you think that?”

“Because he's your friend!” he yelled. But then he must’ve realized that he was shouting in a nearly empty restaurant and that Sungyeol could probably hear him because he moaned lowly, almost like he was in pain. “He's with your other friend, right? The one you like?” No, he’d realized something else.

“Yup,” Woohyun drawled that out. He thought Sunggyu already thought of that, but by the looks of his reaction, which was hitting his head against the table again, Sunggyu hadn’t. So Woohyun spelled it out for him: “Looks like we’re in the same boat now.”

Sunggyu raised his head again and pointed at Woohyun. “No,” he spoke like a reprimand. “Your boat is far ahead of mine. I haven't even set off yet. I'm still on shore. I was just intrigued by him. But you are way out in the open waters. With a sinking ship,” he corrected the other. He then folded his arms and sat back in his chair, shrugging his shoulders. “I'm fine. I'm not like you,” he spoke as if he didn’t just have a mental breakdown moments earlier.

That was enough to put Woohyun back into his sour mood. “Thanks for that,” he grumbled.

A few seconds later, Woohyun had something to be truly grateful for: Sungyeol came by to drop off their drinks. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be working tonight,” Woohyun reminded him.

“I did, but I had to switch” Sungyeol revealed as he placed a drink in front of Sunggyu, who practically had his back turned to him and was facing the window. Sungyeol turned to Woohyun. “Daeyeol has a date night and asked to switch.”

“Aw little Baby Yeol is growing up,” Woohyun cooed.

Sungyeol clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Not fast enough. He’s in his freaking twenties now and still trying to do aegyo,” he exposed his little brother. “I caught him practicing it in the bathroom for tonight.”

Woohyun winced at that. “Daeyeol is weird,” he commented.

“Tell me about it,” Sungyeol agreed. He then shrugged. “But he’s family, I guess.” Woohyun snorted and took a sip from his beer. Sungyeol might be acting all nonchalant about his baby brother, but he did end up sacrificing his own date night for Daeyeol. He loved his family.

But he didn’t love being behind the counter of an empty restaurant, waiting for customers that might not come. “Hey, this might be awkward, but do you mind if I join you?” Sungyeol asked. “This place is empty and I’m seriously bored right now.”

“Sit down. It's fine,” Woohyun offered, scooting down to allow Sungyeol to sit next to him in the booth. And as he slid, he smirked at Sunggyu. He gestured at him too as he said, “I know he won't mind.” At that, he felt a sharp pain in his shin. “Ow!” he yelped. Sunggyu had kicked him and now he was glaring at Woohyun, which looked scarier now since Sunggyu had pulled up his turtleneck to cover all of his face except the eyes. Woohyun gulped.

“Are you sure?” Sungyeol asked as he sat down. “I don't want to interrupt anything?”

“You're interrupting nothing. Promise me,” Woohyun assured him. “This…” he paused as he pulled down Sunggyu’s turtleneck back underneath his chin. “...is Kim Sunggyu.”

“Ah.” Sungyeol sounded surprised, and when Woohyun looked over at him, Sungyeol appeared to be too. After a few moments of sitting there with his mouth agape, his lips quirked up into a smile. He was laughing as he said, “Then I’m not interrupting anything at all.”

“Hm?” Sunggyu hummed as he hastily folded his turtleneck like it should be. He gave the other a small smile. “You know me?”

“Eung,” Sungyeol grunted. Woohyun kept his eyes on Sungyeol, watching his every move. Did Sunggyu leave as much of an impression on Sungyeol as he did on Sunggyu? “Woohyun’s mentioned you before.” Nope, it didn’t seem to be the case.

Sunggyu looked disappointed by that response, so Woohyun tried to cheer him up, “I only said good things about you, hyung.” Sungyeol snorted at that.

Sunggyu glared once more at Woohyun. “What have you been saying about me?” he growled.

“I honestly...can’t remember,” Woohyun confessed with a cheeky smile. He had said so much, and maybe not all of it was entirely good.

But before Sunggyu could press him even more, Sungyeol cut him off, “Oh, we should get Myungsoo in here. Myungsoo has been dying to see the legendary Kim Sunggyu.” And before anyone could object, Sungyeol had already pulled out his phone and started texting his boyfriend.

“Why?” Woohyun asked with a slight whine.

Sungyeol didn’t even look up from his screen as he replied, “He’s curious like that. He wants to know everyone important to his friends, especially Woohyun.” He ended by gesturing over to Woohyun with his phone, who was blushing a bit, from the alcohol to be sure, not because of anything else.

“Yah,” Sunggyu called out to his friend. “Am I important to you?” he asked with a cocky grin.

“Eung,” Woohyun answered. He then smiled with a cocky grin of his own. “You pay for my meals.”

Sunggyu frowned and grumbled, “So I’m just a wallet.”

“Wallets are important too,” Woohyun joked.

A cackle came from his side. Sungyeol finally put down and phone. Still laughing, he told Sunggyu, “Yup, this is exactly as I imagined you would be.” Woohyun whipped his head over to study the accountant. He was confused. Sungyeol had always said this, that, and the other about Sunggyu, and most of it was conflicting. But if you guessed everything about a person, then you’d probably end up guessing correctly at one point.

Sungyeol’s phone then dinged. He read the message. “Myungsoo said that he’d be here in a bit,” he announced to the other two.

The other two who only had this to say (dimly) in response, “Great.”

Sungyeol left after a few more moments and comments to put in their order. While he was in the kitchen, Myungsoo came bursting through the door. After he did, he looked around the room, and when he saw Woohyun, they waved to each other. “Hello, Myungsoo,” Woohyun greeted the other, not smiling.

“Hello!” he said back and waved more. When he stopped, he scurried off into the kitchen because Sungyeol had called out to his boyfriend to join him back there for who knows what. To talk about their day? To hug? Kiss? Woohyun didn’t want to think about it, and honestly, he couldn’t over Sunggyu’s cursing.

“Mother ing flying duck,” Sunggyu tore into it when Myungsoo ducked into the kitchen. He leaned over the table and hissed to his friend, “You didn’t tell me that he looked like that. Please tell me he’s an or something.”

Woohyun rolled his eyes, “Right, like I’d be in love like this with an ,” he whispered back.

“Damn it, you’re right,” Sunggyu mumbled as he pulled back into his sit. “He’s probably some nice, sweet…”

“Woohyun!” The two men followed the call and saw Myungsoo sticking his head out of the kitchen. “Do you want fries too?”

“Uh, sure,” Woohyun responded.

“Okay, we’ll be done soon,” Myungsoo promised and flashed them a smile before ducking back into the kitchen.

After he did, Sunggyu kept looking back and forth between Woohyun and the kitchen doorway until he finally burst, “His eyes actually sparkled! Did you see that?” Sunggyu groaned and threw back his head, asking the ceiling, “This is real life?” He pulled his turtleneck back up over his face and closed his eyes. “I wanna die. I’m so embarrassed.”

Yep, Sunggyu was wading in waters as deep as Woohyun was.

“Hyung...what exactly happened between you and Sungyeol that night?”

Sunggyu brought down his head and pulled down the neck of his sweater again. “It doesn’t matter,” he muttered. “ He’s forgotten about it.” He then guzzled down most of his drink. Woohyun sighed as he watched him. He hated when Sunggyu got like this. After he got his fill, Sunggyu slammed the glass back down on the table. “Yah!”

“What?” Woohyun barked back, not even flinching.

“Why are all of your friends handsome?”

Woohyun scoffed, “Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Because you’re you !” Sunggyu shot back. “It’s unexpected that you have such handsome and cool friends. You’re kinda lame,” he ended with a diss.

Woohyun leaned closer to the other. “You know, some people would say that I’m handsome too,” he retorted.

“Who are those people?” Sunggyu challenged him. “Show them to me.”

Woohyun’s gaze drifted over to the kitchen. He was almost, sort of, positive that someone in there would think he’s handsome. But instead of calling them out, Woohyun face Sunggyu again. “You know, you’re my friend too,” he pointed out. “If you think all of my friends should be lame like me, what does that make you?”

“Your one cool and very handsome friend!” Sunggyu responded, while holding up one finger.

“Then I got Myungsoo now. I don’t need you,” Woohyun retorted.

“Oh, you need me, believe me,” Sunggyu insisted and then gestured with his head at Woohyun to look behind him. Woohyun did turn around and saw Sungyeol and Myungsoo walking out, carrying plates full of food, while whispering and nudging each other. “Look at those two,” Sunggyu spoke lowly. He then clicked his tongue. “I can’t believe you went on a date with the both of them.”

“They invited me,” Woohyun grumbled as he turned back around.

“Are you that desperate to be with Myungsoo?”

Woohyun looked up at Sunggyu and jutted out his chin. “If you were in my shoes, what would you do?” he turned the situation around. “They don’t know how I feel. They don’t know what they do to me. And it’s better that they don’t.”

Sunggyu nodded in understanding. “So you act like you’re cool with everything and support them. Like a good friend,” he added in a soft voice.

“Like a good friend,” Woohyun repeated he sighed and glanced behind him again, at the couple. Sungyeol had forgotten to add something to his dish and rushed back into the kitchen, and Myungsoo, his eyes followed Sungyeol, closely. Myungsoo always stared at Sungyeol like that, and lately it felt like Myungsoo avoided even looking at Woohyun when they were alone together. He’d just zone out. That was because Sungyeol was Sungyeol, and Woohyun was only a friend. That was all.

Woohyun lowered his gaze and sat back straight in his seat, not looking at anything himself. “And that’s why I need you,” he muttered, with eyes still downcast. “Someone needs to know that I’m not okay, and someone needs to tell me that I’m not a bad person even though I want their relationship to burst into flames, crumble into dust, and die.”

“You’re a bad person,” Sunggyu said instead. Woohyun looked up at him and pouted. However, Sunggyu’s gaze wasn’t on him either. It was behind him, and Woohyun could guess what he was looking at. “But I want that too...I mean, I would want that, if I were in your position,” he quickly amended. He sighed and lowered his head. “I’m a bad person too,” he mumbled before grabbing his drink and finishing it. And Woohyun was going to try to do the same. It was the only way that they both could get through the night.

The alcohol helped to improve the night, as did the food and conversation. Woohyun started to feel bad for dreading to hang out with the new couple when he always ended up having a decent time. And with Sunggyu there, whenever the couple got too couple-y for comfort, Woohyun would just look at his old friend. At least he had someone now who understood him.

And luckily, it seemed like Sungyeol and Myungsoo got along with and liked Sunggyu (just like how Woohyun expected that it would turn out). Sunggyu would probably be invited to more of their outings, as the fourth person to their party. Woohyun much preferred that to being the third wheel, especially when the couple’s focus was on Sunggyu, quizzing him about himself, about Woohyun, and about their relationship. It allowed Woohyun to mentally take a break and try to think of nothing as he ate and drank.

When he was zoning out himself, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Woohyun looked over. When did Myungsoo end up sitting next to him? Myungsoo gave the other a grin as he dropped his hand from the shoulder and propped his head up with his hand. “What’s on your mind?” he asked. “It seems like something is troubling you.”

Woohyun eyed him up and down before answering truthfully, “Something is...your Instagram post.”

“What?” Myungsoo was surprised, maybe even a little flustered. “What about it?”

“I wasn’t in it,” Woohyun mumbled, eyes downcast and barely moving his lips. “It was of just two glasses. Like I wasn’t there at all.”
“Aigoo,” Myungsoo cooed. Woohyun raised his eyes to see Myungsoo pulling out his phone. “Was that all it is?” he chided the other as he pulled up something on his phone. Once he found what he was looking for, Myungsoo slid the phone over to Woohyun. It was opened to that dreadful, hurtful (to Woohyun) Instagram post. Woohyun frowned until Myungsoo told him, “Swipe.”

“Huh?”

“Swipe the screen,” Myungsoo repeated and mimicked the movement to show Woohyun what to do.

And when Woohyun looked down at the phone and gave the post a good look, he finally realized that it was one of those posts with multiple pictures. Woohyun groaned and moved his head to the side, hearing Myungsoo chuckle at him. But he did what he told and swiped the screen. After the beer glasses was a photo of Woohyun’s watch, resting on his chair. The third photo was of his and Sungyeol’s  backside. At that time, Sungyeol had his arm around Woohyun’s shoulders and was instructing him how to get a strike. Then the end of the post wasn’t a photo but a video. A bowling ball was rolling down the lane, straight as an arrow, and knocking all the pins down in one shot. It was a strike! And Woohyun could hear all three of them cheering in the background. Woohyun smiled as he watched the video replay.  

“You were there. Why would I pretend like you weren’t?” Myungsoo asked him.

Woohyun locked the screen and slid the phone back over to the other. “Because it was you first date with Sungyeol,” he explained.

Myungsoo shrugged. “We’ll have others,” he sounded a little too casual about this.

“Really?” Woohyun challenged with a snort. “Because you’re spending your second date with us.”

“What’s wrong with this?” Myungsoo asked, straightening up in his seat. “I’m having fun. Aren’t you?”

“Oh,” Woohyun muttered, not knowing what else to say.

Myungsoo chuckled and mimicked him, “Oh.” And doing that made him laugh some more. When he calmed down, Myungsoo added, “And it’s interesting.” Woohyun shot a puzzled look at him, so Myungsoo clarified, “I finally met the Kim Sunggyu.”

Woohyun snorted and leaned in while lowering his voice so the man across the table couldn’t hear, “And what did you think?”

Myungsoo leaned in and replied seriously, “I thought he’d be taller”

“Right?” Woohyun exclaimed with a laugh. He pulled away a lightly hit the other. “With the size of his ego, he should be as tall as Mount Fuji.” Myungsoo laughed again, more loudly, drawing glances from the other two across the table, but Woohyun didn’t care. He just laughed at Myungsoo laughing.

Woohyun had take a giant leap yesterday, but he fell back to the start today. He loved Myungsoo, probably more deeply than ever now. And he wasn’t going to get over it any time soon.

But at least he had Sunggyu now. Woohyun looked up and saw his old friend and Sungyeol talking to each other, about aliens or whatever else those two crazy kids were into. And Sunggyu was laughing like Yeol was the funniest person alive. Woohyun could see the tears seeping out of his eyes. But Sunggyu furtively wiped them and fixed his hair again. He wasn’t laughing anymore but nodding “coolly” to whatever Sungyeol was saying now. Woohyun snorted at his fellow teacher. Sunggyu was trying to show his “charisma,” as if it made any difference. Woohyun glanced over at the man sitting next to him, who was watching the two men across from them with a smile on his face. Woohyun tucked in his lips and returned his gaze back to Sunggyu. He snorted. He just caught Sunggyu glaring at Myungsoo. Sunggyu must’ve heard Woohyun because soon their gazes met. Knowing that he got caught, Sunggyu flushed and lowered his head.

Oh yeah, Kim Sunggyu was definitely in the same boat as Woohyun, and the both of them were sinking fast, drowning in the seas of jealousy.

Love lines are crossing all over the place! So far, only one lines up perfectly: the happy Myungyeol couple. But at least Woohyun isn't going crazy on his own! Like a good friend, Kim Sunggyu is going crazy with jealousy along with him. Will it land them into trouble? Most likely.

*Myungsoo voice* Wait. Where's Woohyun? I haven't heard from him in days. Where did he go?