The walk back from the store was a long one, especially long since Woohyun’s head was hanging down the whole time and he was dragging his feet. He was ashamed. Why had he said that? What was going to happen next?

Woohyun was running through all possible scenarios in his head. Myungsoo would probably tell Sungyeol because they had no secrets between each other. Then what? Sungyeol could potentially just laugh at it, confident that Myungsoo could and would love no one else but him. Sungyeol could even pity Woohyun because he knew that Woohyun wasn't the type to do this intentionally and that Woohyun was just a slave to his own heart. Or worst case scenario, the confession would cause an irreparable divide between the three of them that they could never be friends ever again.

Or was that the best case scenario? A definite end to this one-sided love because if they couldn't be friends than how could they be lovers?

And as he ran through scenarios in his mind, not once (or yet) did Woohyun consider what Myungsoo would do. He couldn't guess. Myungsoo would do whatever he would do. And none of these scenarios ended with Kim Sunggyu waiting for Woohyun on the wooden pallet outside of his apartment.

But there Sunggyu was with a large, lumpy plastic bag next to him. And he looked upset and cold, but mostly upset.

“Where have you been?” Sunggyu barked as he rocked back and forth on his , hugging himself tightly.

“Eating,” Woohyun answered and stood in front of him.

Sunggyu stopped shivering and looked the other up and down. “Can you?” he asked. His voice now was small and tender.

Woohyun sighed. He was tired of people looking at him like that, so he sat down next to Sunggyu instead, looking up at the night sky so that he wouldn’t see Sunggyu’s worry (or Myungsoo’s apartment). “A bit,” he replied, letting out a breath, which turned into an “omph” as Sunggyu began patting his back.

“Don’t push yourself,” the elder urged him. He then tossed the large bag into Woohyun’s lap. It was surprisingly light. Woohyun quirked an eyebrow up at the other, and Sunggyu responded with a smirk and, “If you feel hungry, eat these instead.” He pointed to the bag.

Woohyun kept his eyes on the other and that sly smile as he opened up the bag. Sunggyu was up to something. Whatever was in this bag, Woohyun was sure that he wouldn't find it nearly as funny as Sunggyu did. And he was right. After he opened up the bag, Woohyun looked down and saw that it was filled to the brim with mandu plushies all with smiles that Woohyun couldn't muster. “Haha very funny,” he replied dryly and closed the bag.

“Right?” Sunggyu didn't care if the other didn't enjoy the joke. He was sniggering and enjoying this enough for the both of them. “I thought they looked like you.”

“Should I be offended?” Woohyun retorted. He quickly opened up the bag again and looked at the plushies. They were all so round and smiling almost dumbly, which made sense. Mandus didn't have brains, but Woohyun did. He raised his gaze and glared at the other.

“Only if you want to be,” Sunggyu said as the younger looked into the bag. And when Woohyun glared at him, he added with a large grin, “They’re cute.”

Woohyun softened at that. The corner of his mouth turned upwards. “Am I cute?” he asked.

“You know you’re cute,” Sunggyu said right back without a thought and without much tenderness.

Woohyun’s lips fell again. He closed the bag, gathering the edges of the bag into his fist and clenched it tightly. “I don’t feel like it now,” he spoke through his barely moving lips. He then hung his head, shaking it. “I feel...pitiful.” Was that even the right word? It was the only one that Woohyun could think of. Maybe it did suit him. And it was the one thing he didn’t want to be. Woohyun thought back to his conversation with Myungsoo back at the hospital and winced. Yup, that was a painful memory.

“Eh,” Sunggyu muttered as he nudged the other. “Pitiful things can be cute too! Like a sad, homeless puppy.”

Woohyun smacked his friend’s face with the bag. Maybe this gift was good for something after all, and doing that made him feel better. So Woohyun hit Sunggyu again and again. “You’re not really helping to improve my mood, hyung. I got a home. I’m not a puppy, or one of these things. I’m a man,” he ranted.

Sunggyu grabbed the bag with both of his hands before it could hit him again. “Sungyeol thought they looked like you too,” he defended himself.

“You were with Sungyeol?” Woohyun was so surprised that he let go of the bag and let the other keep holding it.

“Yeah,” Sunggyu answered tentatively, shirking under Woohyun’s gaze. He looked down at the bag and began tossing it in his hands.

Woohyun kept his gaze steady on the other. “You need to be careful. Don’t be like me,” he warned Sunggyu.

Sunggyu scoffed and raised his head, showing his smirk. “I promise not to go on any dates with them like you did,” he teased the other. And he quickly noticed how much that stung Woohyun because half a second later, he wrapped his arms around the younger and pulled him in for a hug. It was nice, but far too short for Woohyun’s liking. He barely had enough time to feel the hug, settle into it, before Sunggyu was already pulling away. So Woohyun pouted.

“Are you okay?” Sunggyu asked. Woohyun nodded, but he also felt his lip jutting out even more as he did. Sunggyu saw it too. “You don’t look like it. Smile, punk. Smile!” Sunggyu tried to lift the corners of Woohyun’s mouth with his fingers, but Woohyun fought it. “Or not. Do what you want.”

“I can’t!” Woohyun whined as kicked his feet in frustration.

“Ogu ogu,” Sunggyu cooed and tickled the other underneath his chin. He chuckled when Woohyun shot him another dark look. Sunggyu moved his hand from under his chin to Woohyun’s shoulder. He gripped it and began shaking his friend. “Stop being sulky, or at least not out here. It’s cold. Come on, let’s go inside,” he said and then patted his shoulder a few times before getting up. Sunggyu stretched and added, “I’m hungry.”

Woohyun scoffed, “I just came back from the hospital, and you want me to cook for you?”

“I’m not going to make you do that,” Sunggyu replied, screwing his face in disgust. “Who do you think I am?”

“Kim Sunggyu,” Woohyun retorted and showed his friend a cheeky grin.

Surprisingly, Sunggyu smiled too. “I can’t even be mad at that,” he replied and poked at the other’s cheek, looking very pleased with himself. And Woohyun’s smile widened. His mood was slowly but surely being lifted. Sunggyu always managed to do that; he always made Woohyun feel better in his own weird way. Like these plushie mandus, they weren’t so bad. They were nice and squishy. He could see himself having a lot of fun with them. He could throw them at Sunggyu, and maybe he’d do just that. Woohyun began giggling to himself as he opened the bag. And when he had pulled out the first dumpling and was poised to throw it at the other, it was perfect timing because Sunggyu’s back was turned against him and was waving to someone across the way. He was distracted. But...wait, waving? Woohyun lowered his arm. Who could Sunggyu be waving to except…“Oh! Myungsoo-ssi, good evening!”

Woohyun’s eyes flickered over to the rooftop next door. Once he caught sight of Myungsoo walking up to the edge of his own rooftop with a frown creasing his face, Woohyun dropped his gaze to his feet. The mandu plushie tumbled from his hand to the ground. “Hello, Sunggyu-ssi. It’s nice to see you again,” Myungsoo greeted in return.

“Really doesn’t look like it,” Sunggyu mumbled out of the corner of his mouth to Woohyun, who still didn’t move a muscle. “I’ll see you some other time, Myungsoo-ssi,” Sunggyu yelled out to the neighbor. His hand then gripped Woohyun’s shoulder. “Go say good night to your friend,” he ordered.

“No!” Woohyun yelped as he ran straight for the door, unlocked it, and darted inside, shutting the door behind him. Woohyun slumped against the door, panting, heart pounding in his chest. Myungsoo, he must’ve finally gotten home from the store. Woohyun didn’t expect their first encounter after his big confession to be so soon. Well, it went as well as Woohyun could’ve ever hoped for. He didn’t combust on the spot into fiery flames of embarrassment, he didn’t he blurt out that Myungsoo looked like Adonis under the glow of the moonlight (or some other lame confession like that), and he didn’t vomit. So all in all, running away from Myungsoo seemed to be a good strategy. Woohyun was going to have to keep that in mind.

But leaning against the door didn’t turn out to be the best idea. He nearly fell backwards back out onto the roof, but luckily Sunggyu was there to catch him (or shove him back into the apartment). “Uh, what was that about?” Sunggyu asked as he stepped inside and tossed the bag of plushies into the corner.

“I’m...I’m going to get over Myungsoo,” Woohyun tried to sound determined, but all he really sounded was weak and pathetic, yet again.

“Good!” Sunggyu didn’t seem to pay any heed to how Woohyun had said it. He was just glad that Woohyun had said it at all. “That’s a great idea. That’s a really good idea. A really really…”

“I get it!”

“I like you.”

It had been a full day now since Woohyun confessed, and every so often, his words would pop back into Myungsoo’s mind. It felt like water being thrown at his face.

“I like you.”

He shivered. Myungsoo didn’t know what to do about this. Woohyun liked him, but he liked Sungyeol, a lot, a whole lot. And Myungsoo was pretty dang sure that Sungyeol liked him back. Were they actually involved in a love triangle? What was going to happen to the three of them? Should Sungyeol know? He really wanted to be a good boyfriend to Sungyeol. To be a good boyfriend, you have to be honest. It had taken them years to finally get to this point. Myungsoo didn’t want to screw it up. To top it all off, Sungyeol was his best friend. So now losing Sungyeol would be like losing two important people in his life.

While Myungsoo was figuring out all of the angles in the new triangle that he found himself in, he heard his front door being unlocked. Sungyeol came into the apartment, looking happy and blissfully unaware. Yea, it was better to keep it that way. And it’d be best if Myungsoo “forgot” it happened too.

“So,” Sungyeol began as he threw himself onto the couch and his boyfriend at the same time. “Do you want to go out? I’m in the mood for a little,” he then pretended to drink from an imaginary glass. Myungsoo took a moment too long to respond, so Sungyeol lightly slapped his face. “Yah, stop zoning out. Did you hear me?”

“I did,” Myungsoo insisted. “I was just thinking that we could try something new.”

“New? Oh, I like the sound of that!” Sungyeol exclaimed as he sat up. “What is it?”

“Hm,” Myungsoo hummed for a second and then put a finger to his lips. “It’s a secret.”

“Eh hey!” Sungyeol bolted upright and puffed out his chest. “Kim Myungsoo, I am your best friend! We have no secrets between each other.” Myungsoo froze. No secrets? None at all? Myungsoo didn’t have any secrets at the moment, none at all. If he had one he’d “forgotten” it already. Sungyeol gave his startled boyfriend a cheeky smirk and popped off from the couch (which terrified Myungsoo inexplicably). “So let’s call it a ‘surprise’ instead. Let’s go!”

“Myungsoo,” Sungyeol sounded utterly disappointed. And Myungsoo rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. He could imagine the fanciful thoughts Sungyeol had about where they were going. Amusement park? No. Movie theater? Nah, that was for some other time when they were out of ideas about what to do. Escape Room? Well, Sungyeol looked like he wanted to escape from this but no. At least this place had plenty of alcohol. Sungyeol turned to his boyfriend and said, “This is a supermarket.”

“I thought we could make something together tonight,” Myungsoo finally revealed his plan for the night.

“How domestic of us.” Sungyeol’s enthusiasm was still mighty low but he began walking down the aisle. “We’re acting like a old couple, and we’re not even a month into our relationship.”

“It’s been years actually,” Myungsoo reasoned. He thought it was a good idea. It could be fun. And he knew that Sungyeol could be easily convinced that it could be. “We’ve been together for a long time. We already are an old couple.”

“Yeah, you have a point,” Sungyeol was slowly getting into this idea. His step was already lighter. He spun around and began walking backwards as he talked to Myungsoo. “, we’ve even already met each other’s parents.” Myungsoo nodded. Sungyeol sighed and spun back around. Myungsoo could tell what he was thinking. He was thinking it too. There were no jitters, no nervousness, no “getting to know you better.” They knew each other pretty dang well already. They were so comfortable with each other that Myungsoo had already Sungyeol plenty of times before they’d officially started dating. It wasn’t a relationship the either of them were used to having, because they didn’t have anyone else in their lives like each other. But Myungsoo thought that was a good thing.

“I thought we could make something new for the both of us,” Myungsoo suggested. The best for an old couple like them to spice things up is to try something new. “It’s an Italian dish.”

“Italian?” Sungyeol stopped and turned towards Myungsoo again. “What is it?”

“Lason-nana.” No that’s not how you say it. “Lason-ana?” Nope that sounded even more wrong coming out of Myungsoo’s mouth.

“Lasik-na?” Sungyeol repeated. He then snapped his fingers. “Ah ah! La-SANG-na!” He was certain he got it.

But Myungsoo wasn’t. “Lasik-ana?” he mimicked the other and tilted his head.

“No, Lang-na,” Sungyeol tried to correct Myungsoo’s pronunciation, but it suddenly sounded wrong to Sungyeol. “Wait...Lang-ana? How did I say it?”

Myungsoo shrugged. He was more at a lost about how to say this dish than before, but he was certain that it was...“Pasta, we’re making pasta!”

And pasta they did buy and tried to make. Myungsoo had printed out a recipe, and they bought all of the ingredients that it called for (and then some). When they came back to Myungsoo’s place, they began to prepare the ingredients, like cooking the meat and the pasta. But it was growing obvious that Sungyeol was getting antsy. He was spewing out pure . “How do Italians even cook?” he started. “I bet it's not with chopsticks.” Sungyeol took his chopsticks out of the frying pan and started snapping them at Myungsoo. “We should try to be authentic, be like the Italians.” He then switched to English: “When in Rome.”

“We are Korean,” Myungsoo retorted back in English, but he soon switched to Korean. “Of course, we cook like Koreans do. It’s comfortable.” He grinned at his boyfriend. Cooking with chopsticks was as comfortable as standing close to Sungyeol just like this.

“Oh, I know. I know how to be Italian!” Sungyeol exclaimed and then dashed off, rummaging through the bags of groceries and Myungsoo’s cupboards. “Italians cook with...these!” He appeared back at his boyfriend’s side with red wine and wine glasses.

Myungsoo wasn’t sure if Sungyeol knew any Italians or if Sungyeol was even close to being correct, but all he knew was that it was...“Perfect.”

After building up a decent buzz, polishing off a bottle of wine, and finishing the prep work, the two dummies realized that neither of them owned a pan to cook the dish in...or an oven. Luckily Woohyun (who liked to think he was a talented cook but always burned tonkatsu) had both and lived next door. Sungyeol thought it was funny. Woohyun regularly crashed their dates, and so they were going to crash his apartment with their date. And being the good friend that he was, Sungyeol texted Woohyun with a warning that they were coming over to use his oven. But maybe the warning wasn’t advanced enough because Woohyun opened the door looking, well, not good.

Woohyun still welcomed them in anyway in spite of looking like he’d lost his lover in a war. So Sungyeol opened up another bottle of wine that he’d brought with him and poured him a glass. A sad and sober Woohyun was unbearable, but a sad and tipsy Woohyun was slightly more entertaining.

“Did you get rejected or something?” Sungyeol asked as he handed Woohyun the glass. He was somewhat distracted because Myungsoo was struggling with the oven. And he’d gone into “stubborn-mode,” which meant Myungsoo was going to figure the oven out and he was going to do it all by himself.

“Yeah, something happened,” was all Woohyun would say on the matter.

“Something?” Sungyeol repeated and his focus was now entirely on Woohyun, the little pale looking man (who was just as engrossed in stubborn-mode Myungsoo as Sungyeol had been). And that’s when he remembered. “Ah! You were discharged yesterday! No wonder why you look like a mess! Should you even be drinking in your condition?”

“No,” Woohyun mumbled but then took a large gulp from his glass. The look in his eyes said “take this glass away from me if you dare.” And Sungyeol didn’t. You never take a bone away from a dog baring his teeth.

“Suit yourself. If you get sick again, it’s your own damn fault,” Sungyeol put in his two cents and then dropped it.

Woohyun put down his glass and his eyes returned to Myungsoo who was mumbling curses under his breath. Sungyeol watched him too. It was amazing. The oven should be a simple kitchen appliance, but since Myungsoo never used one before, it was making it far too difficult for himself. Like now, Myungsoo was waiting for the oven to finish pre-heating before he declared that they could move onto the next step. He just wanted to make sure that he did it right, Sungyeol knew that. He also knew that Myungsoo was as stubborn as an . There was no moving him.

“What are you making anyway?” Woohyun asked.

“Lasing-ana,” Sungyeol spoke in his best Italian accent, which wasn’t good at all judging by Woohyun’s unimpressed face. “It’s a pasta dish.”

“Lasagna?” Woohyun suggested.

“Is that how you say it?” Sungyeol clicked his tongue and cocked his head. “I don’t think so. It doesn’t sound right,” he concluded.

Ding! The oven was finally at the right temperature. Myungsoo spun around and gave them a proud grin. “I set the oven. Now all that’s left is to assemble the layers,” and that was the cue that Sungyeol had been waiting for.

“That’s my job!” he exclaimed and put down his glass. While rolling up his sleeves, he gave his boyfriend additional instructions: “While I do that, cheer up Woohyun. He’s got discharge depression again.”

“O-oh, okay,” Myungsoo stammered for some reason. And then he asked the same question Sungyeol had earlier. “Should you be drinking?”

“Oh, will you look at the time? I got to go! Bye!” By the time Sungyeol craned his neck back to his friend, Woohyun was already at his door, putting on his shoes. Woohyun looked past Myungsoo and told Sungyeol, “You know where the spare keys are. Lock the door on your way out.” Then he was gone.

Sungyeol scoffed and returned to laying down his pasta brick. “He’s not even wearing a watch, that weirdo,” he remarked. “Where do you think he was running off to?”

“More like what was he running away from?” Myungsoo amended.

“Ah! Us!” Sungyeol exclaimed, grasping the situation. “Do you think we intimidated him? Do we make him feel like a third wheel? Do we act too much like a couple? Should we tone it down?” he asked. Myungsoo didn’t respond, and there was no reason why he should because the true answer was: “Woohyun’s too sensitive. It’s not like we kiss in front of him or anything.”

“No, we don’t,” Myungsoo muttered as he pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. He finished drinking the wine in front of him, which he probably didn’t even know was Woohyun’s. Myungsoo put it down and continued, “I think he has to get used to it. He needs to get used to me and you together.”

“True,” Sungyeol agreed. “Next time, let’s make out in front of him, hm?” he suggested. But it didn’t go over well with his boyfriend. “It was a joke!”

When the pasta (whatever it was called) finished baking, the happy couple relocated back to Myungsoo’s place and ate the pasta brick. It was good and probably close to what it was supposed to taste like, Sungyeol reckoned. He also reckoned that it was an all around good date. He’d never cooked like this with his previous lovers (Myungsoo knew that). He’d also never purely cuddled a lover for so long on a couch (Myungsoo might’ve not known that). But Sungyeol supposed that his love life needed a change like this.

Sungyeol’s real life also underwent a change. It’s amazing how after you’ve been introduced to someone, you see them everywhere. And that was exactly what was happening between him and Sunggyu. He saw the man walking on the other side of the street on his way to work. He saw him at the pharmacy when they were both refilling prescriptions (Sunggyu refused to show his and bolted out of the store once he got his bottle of cream). They even stopped by the same coffee shop on the way to work. Sungyeol didn’t even naturally run into Myungsoo (outside of work) this often, and they basically had the same routine.

It’s funny how life works. When you want to casually and coincidentally run into someone like this, you don’t. And when you don’t want to, you do. It wasn’t that Sungyeol didn’t like Sunggyu. It was just awkward, complicated and awkward.

So they might as well plan to meet intentionally, Sungyeol concluded. And there was one thing that he’d still very much so like to do, and Sunggyu promised he’d do it. “Hey,” Sungyeol stopped the other from leaving after picking up his morning coffee (always an iced americano, it didn’t matter what the weather was like outside, it was always an iced americano). “Do you remember that time you said that you’d go waterskiing with me?”

Sunggyu didn’t just stop but he leaned against the counter where you pick up drinks. There was something forcibly cool about the maneuver and how he replied, “I can recall.” Sunggyu put a lot of effort into acting like he didn’t care.

It put Sungyeol on the verge of laughter, but he managed to not and asked, “Do you still want to? The weather seems good for it this weekend.”

He saw Sunggyu’s eyebrows arch in shock underneath his light brown bangs. “This weekend?”

“Yeah, I kind of already scheduled it with my boat guy, to be honest with you. I got excited,” Sungyeol confessed. He learned in life that it was sometimes better to do things first and ask for forgiveness later. “It’s been awhile since I’ve done it, and I’m just...I just want to do it, okay?” he whined. Sunggyu shifted at that and tugged on the collar of his black button down. He was about to give in, Sungyeol wagered. So he delivered the final blow, “Will you come? Everything will be prepared for you. All you have to do is show up.”

“Sure.” Victory!

“I was just about to call you. How are you feeling? Are you ting like a normal human being now?”

Woohyun cringed and hoped that the other wasn’t in a public place when he asked that. “Can’t you start a conversation like a normal, civilized human being?” Woohyun hissed. He wasn’t in public. No, he was at home. But it still didn’t matter. Woohyun wasn’t in the mood to talk about his bodily functions, especially not with Sunggyu who loved to tease.

“I do when I’m talking to one,” speaking of teasing. “I’m kidding, but also I’m not. Seriously how are you doing?” Sunggyu’s voice softened with concern.

So Woohyun finally answered. “My body is fine,” he paused to sniff and rubbed his heart over his pink sweatshirt. “But my heart…”

“Oi, don’t tell me! I’m only interested in your body!” Sunggyu interjected, loudly.

“What they say is true. All men are wolves,” Woohyun grumbled and pouted.

After a heavy sigh, Sunggyu asked, “Did you call me for a purpose or did you just want to whine to me about your one-sided love again?”

“I called to ask you what your plans are for this weekend,” Woohyun said. “I’d much rather complain about my one-sided love to you in person rather than over the phone. You hung up on me last time.” Woohyun had called Sunggyu after leaving his apartment for the couple to do whatever in. He was on the verge of a hysterical fit, and when Sunggyu hung up on him, Woohyun fell right into it. He bought 5 bottles of disinfectant, 7 candles, and a bundle of sage in order to cleanse his apartment of every trace of them. It didn’t work, and Woohyun was considering moving...or burning it down.

“I couldn’t understand you! And I’m not a ing therapist,” Sunggyu argued. “If you insist on treating me like one, then I’ll insist on charging you like one. And I’m not cheap, let me tell you that.”

“Some friend,” Woohyun mumbled as he crawled into his bed and under his fluffy comforter. It seemed like a good time to hide away from life right now. Not even his best friend could deal with him right now. How could he possibly deal with himself?

“I know. Aren’t I great?” Once again, everything was a joke to Kim Sunggyu.

Woohyun pulled the covers from his face. “You’ll be the greatest friend in the whole universe if you hang out with me tomorrow,” he tried to flatter the other.

But he still got rejected, well, sort of. “I can hang out with you tomorrow night, but I’m busy during the day,” Sunggyu responded.

“During the day? You have day plans?” Woohyun gasped.

“Yes, Woohyun. I have plans during the day. I’m not a ing vampire.”

“I know, but it’s still weird for you,” Woohyun replied. He sat up in his bed, as if that would make him think more clearly. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going waterskiing with Sungyeol.”

Woohyun tried to clean up whatever crap was in his ears because surely Sunggyu didn’t just say that. “Sorry, I misheard you. It sounded like you said that you were going waterskiing with Sungyeol,” he muttered.

“It sounded like that because that was what I said,” Sunggyu didn’t sound irritated like he often did when he had to repeat himself. No he sounded guarded, vague, and quiet. Woohyun became quiet too. “Hello? Woohyun? Are you there? Did you hit the mute button again? HELLO?!” Sunggyu shouted at the phone.

“I’m here. I’m just in shock,” Woohyun spoke up and laid back down. None of this made sense. “Hyung, why did you agree to go? You can’t swim”
“I know. It just...it just slipped out,” Sunggyu defended himself, his voice as small as his courage.

“Then tell him the truth!” Woohyun exclaimed and bolted upright again. His head was spinning. He closed his eyes and pulled lowly his pink hood over his head. “Sungyeol will understand. He will just find someone else who…”

“No! There’s no reason that he has to know,” Sunggyu objected, getting loud again. It made Woohyun jump. “I’m going.” That was that, according to Sunggyu at least.

“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?” Woohyun asked but he still tried to convince the other of how absolutely horrible of an idea it was. “Are you really going to waterski without knowing how to swim?”

“Isn’t swimming something innate, like running? Breathing? Dogs can swim innately! If a dog can do it, so can I!” Sunggyu reasoned. It honestly sounded like something that he’d repeated to himself over and over and over again in order to amp himself up for waterskiing. “And what if I’m so good at waterskiing, I won’t have to swim? I just have to stay upright the whole time, right? It can’t be that hard,” that was the most flaw-ful logic that Woohyun had ever heard.

“No, you’re going to , and you’re going to die.”

“Then I died for love. You, of all people, should be proud of me,” Sunggyu snapped back. “Don’t try to talk me out of this.” Then he hung up. Woohyun didn’t even cry this time and Sunggyu still hung up the phone.

“Bye! Love you 3000 too!” Woohyun said to the dial tone. He then shut off his phone and tossed it far away. No more talking to other people today. People and the energy out of him. He pulled the covers high up on him again as he mumbled, “I need new friends, especially since hyung is set on dying tomorrow and Sungyeol is...” he stopped himself. No he wasn’t going to finish that. He was going to stop himself from thinking about that again. Instead Woohyun rolled over onto his side, facing where he’d lined up all of the mandu plushies. “Hello, new friends!”

Yes, Woohyun was done with people, but he wasn’t done talking. He talked to his mandu brethren until he fell asleep.

Waterskiing was one of Sungyeol’s favorite things, he was reminded of that today. It was just something about the hot sun, cool water, and the wind whipping past his face that gave him a sense of tranquility, while at the same time, he got a mad rush from trying to stay balanced on a small board behind a speeding boat. He loved things that had such a contrasting duality like that.

But he also came to a few new conclusions that day, most within the first five minutes of him meeting up with Sunggyu. First of all, Sunggyu was definitely gay or at least interested in men. The proof laid in how Sunggyu’s eyes had lingered on Sungyeol a bit too long when he’d first come out in his wetsuit, especially at his arms where Sungyeol had very defined muscles that no one really expected him to have. And those leering eyes kept veering off from Sungyeol’s face when they were talking. Sungyeol couldn’t fault him for that though. He was proud of how well he maintained his physique, and the wetsuit, which clung onto him like a second layer of dark skin, highlighted every inch of his body...except where he was wearing swim trunks, of course. Also, Sungyeol might’ve checked out the other too (there’s no harm in looking!). It was difficult not to notice earlier that Sunggyu had a rather broad chest when the buttons of his shirt often strained around that region. But Sungyeol wasn’t able to tell how broad it really was until now, and man, it was pretty thicc. That was the other conclusion that Sungyeol came to. The last conclusion that he had was that Kim Sunggyu might be afraid of the water.
When they were climbing into the boat, Sunggyu was clinging onto the side with white knuckles and he stayed very low to the ground. Every time the boat rocked, Sunggyu gasped and reached for whatever or whoever was nearby (which was Sungyeol, more often than not). Sunggyu couldn’t even bother to look cool anymore. The Kim Sunggyu coolly leaning against the counter at the cafe in a button-down and slacks was long gone. All that was left was a pale and trembling Sunggyu, who kept making sure that his life vest was tight and secure.

Sungyeol loved dualities, and so he was greatly entertained by this. And so he decided to help the poor guy out before he threw up all over the boat. Also Sungyeol still wanted to waterski and didn’t want to get kicked off the boat. “Hey,” Sungyeol called out to the other who was struggling to stand upright without clinging on to something. Every time Sunggyu took a step forward, unaided, he looked like a one year-old learning how to walk for the first time. So Sungyeol grabbed a hold of him. “Let’s get you into that seat, okay?” he suggested and nodded over to the one seat on the boat with a seatbelt.

“N-no, it’s fine,” Sunggyu’s voice gained strength the more he talked. “So who goes first? Me or you?”

“I go first and you go never,” Sungyeol retorted. Sunggyu opened his mouth to argue, but Sungyeol shut him up with this: “Sunggyu-ssi, if you can barely stand on the boat, how will you be able to stand on the board? I won’t make you, no, I won’t let you do it. I can’t have your death on my conscious.”

“I won’t die,” Sunggyu feebly argued.

“Do you want to do this? Honestly?” Sungyeol cut straight to the point. “Do you?” Sunggyu let out the quietest “no” that he ever heard in response. “Okay, so let’s sit you down and strap you in.”

“Okay.”

“I’m still going to waterski, is that okay?”

“It’s fine,” Sunggyu mumbled as he sat down and was being buckled in by Sungyeol, who was kneeling at his side.

“Why did you agree to do this if you’re scared of water?” Sungyeol asked and checked to see if the belt was tight enough. He looked up and the color was already returning to Sunggyu’s face. It was mostly a red color though, all over his cheeks and ears.

“Because I’m a ing idiot,” Sunggyu cursed, which made Sungyeol laugh. “I didn’t want you to think that I didn’t like you, if I refused. So I didn’t.”

Well, Sungyeol was thinking the opposite right about now. “Well, let’s make you less of an idiot,” he proposed. “After I’m done here, I’m gonna teach you how to swim.”

The color drained from Sunggyu’s face again. “What?!”

Myungsoo had been thinking a lot about triangles lately, ever since he found himself in one. There were different types of triangles: equilateral, isosceles, scalene, acute, right, obtuse, and a combination thereof. The type of triangle you had depended on the lengths of the sides and the magnitudes of the angles. Given all of that, what type of triangle was his love triangle?

Well none of the parties involved were a right angle because none of them were straight, that was for certain. Myungsoo considered himself to be an acute angle because he was a cutie. Sungyeol was obtuse (for obvious reasons). And Woohyun? Well, if Sungyeol was obtuse than Woohyun would have to be a-cutie too.

Okay that was settled. But what about the lengths of the sides? The distance between the Myungsoo-angle and the Sungyeol-angle had to be short, right? Or shorter than the rest of the sides because they were together. Than what about the distance between the Myungsoo-angle and the Woohyun-angle? Or the Sungyeol-angle and the Woohyun-angle? How would that all figure out?

Myungsoo tried calculating it and drawing it out, but he eventually put down his pencil and ruffled his black hair. What was he doing? He couldn’t solve this issue like he could solve a math equation. The only way he could solve it was if he faced it head on.

So he went over to Woohyun’s apartment and asked him to dinner. And Woohyun accepted.

They went to get stir-fried chicken (Myungsoo’s choice). And while it wasn’t bizarre for them to be silent when eating, Woohyun barely said a word before or during eating. He wouldn’t even look at Myungsoo if he could help it. Yeah, the length of their side was great and it was getting longer and longer as time passed. And Myungsoo wasn’t sure if he was okay with that happening? He didn’t want to give Woohyun false hope, but at the same time, Woohyun was his friend.

Finally one of them was brave enough to break the silence. “Are things...okay between us?” Woohyun asked in a whisper.

“Why shouldn’t they be?” Myungsoo replied and put on a smile. He was still certain that they could get through this.

“Because...of what I said...the other night,” it took forever for Woohyun to say it, and he wouldn’t look the other in the eye as he did.

“Well,” Myungsoo began and then hummed in thought before he concluded, “It’s okay.” The lighter he treated this issue, the easier it would be to overcome it, or so he thought.

“Really?” Woohyun was skeptical.

“I can’t tell you how to feel so…” Myungsoo’s voice drifted off. He wasn’t sure how to finish that.

But he didn’t need to. “True,” Woohyun agreed, but he still didn’t relax.

“And I’m not wavering,” Myungsoo declared, loudly. The whole restaurant could probably hear.

“Good.” But it didn’t seem like it still. Woohyun was tense.

“Right, it’s all good.” Maybe the more they said it was “good” the good-er it would become?

No, that’s not how it worked, that’s not how life worked. That was evident when Myungsoo reached over to pick off a stray piece of rice from Woohyun’s puffy cheeks. Woohyun didn’t say “thank you.” He didn’t ignore he. Instead he slammed down his utensils and glared at Myungsoo.

No, things weren’t good at all.

Sungyeol came to another conclusion very quickly: Sunggyu had control issues. When he wasn’t in control, he had an issue with it. Right now, when they were wading out in the middle of the lake, Sunggyu was flipping out because his feet couldn’t touch the bottom. It didn’t matter that the life vest was keeping him afloat; Sunggyu thought he was drowning. Sungyeol couldn’t get close to the other because he was flapping his arms too much.

“I don’t like swimming! I don’t like it!” Sunggyu exclaimed. “The whole point is ing stupid. Immersing yourself into something you can’t breathe in and hoping not to die.”

“I don’t think that’s how swimming goes,” Sungyeol argued with a chuckle as he tried to swim closer to the other. “It’s fun,” he insisted. “Come on, hold my hands. I’ll lead you around.”

Sunggyu did, very quickly, probably happy to have something to anchor himself on. And Sungyeol swam them around in a big circle, trying to get the other used to the water and be friends with it. “See, this is fun,” Sungyeol said after a while, when they were closer to shore. He could feel the bottom every time he kicked.

“Eung,” was all Sunggyu would let himself say. For the most part, his mouth was tightly closed and his chin was held-up high, doing his best not to get any of the water even near his mouth.

“Okay, how about we take off the life vest then,” Sungyeol suggested and reached for the clips on the other’s vest.

“What?!”

Sunggyu didn’t have time to shove Sungyeol away before the life vest was detached from him. He shook it off with all of his subsequent flapping. Sungyeol watched him for a few seconds, laughing, because Sunggyu could touch the bottom if he swam just a bit closer to shore. But he didn’t. No, instead Sunggyu was sinking, somehow. And Sungyeol began to freak the out. He reached for the somehow-drowning man, and Sunggyu grabbed hold of him and pulled himself closer...and pulled himself onto Sungyeol’s back. His arms were tight around Sungyeol’s neck, and his legs around the waist. Sungyeol could feel Sunggyu’s whole body shaking against his back.

“What are you? Some kind of monkey?” Sungyeol complained. His hands clawed at the arms around his neck. “Let go!”

“No, NO!” Sunggyu shouted. His grip tightened. His cheek pressed against the other’s. “I don’t wanna die.”

“You aren’t going to die.” But Sungyeol just might, with Sunggyu’s arms wringing his neck. “Loosen! Loosen! I..can’t breathe!” Finally, Sunggyu listened, to that at least.

“But I don’t have the life jacket anymore. Without it...I won’t have a life,” Sunggyu whined. His chin fell onto Sungyeol’s shoulder. Sungyeol sighed and his arms cupped around Sunggyu’s bottom, holding him like the baby he was. At least the elder should feel more secure now.

“Look, it’s over there if you want it,” Sungyeol said. He let go of Sunggyu with one arm and pointed at the life vest that was floating past them. “Swim and get it!”

Like Hell if Sunggyu was going to let go of Sungyeol. Instead he tried to reach for the vest while still clinging to the other’s back. “I can’t reach it!” he whined.

“I guess you’ll have to swim to get it,” Sungyeol said again.

“Haha,” Sunggyu mocked a laugh. He then loosened his hold on Sungyeol, letting his hands rest on his shoulders. “ You swim,” he urged the other. He tugged at Sungyeol’s shoulders as if they were reins. “Come on! Go!”

“I’m not a boat,” Sungyeol argued, only in word. He still swam over and grabbed the vest. He then lifted it over his head. “Here. Take it.” Sunggyu didn’t. Instead his hands traveled down from Sungyeol’s shoulders to his chest. He was fixing to hug Sungyeol’s neck again. “Why aren’t you taking it?”

“If I take it, then I have to let go,” Sunggyu murmured under his breath. Sungyeol sighed. This man was a coward. How did he ever think Sunggyu was cool? Sungyeol began propelling the both of them forward, Sunggyu immediately hugged his neck when he did. “Woah! Where are you going?”

“Back to shore,” Sungyeol muttered. “This is ing stupid.”

“Thank God,” Sunggyu probably wasn’t even aware that he’d whispered that into Sungyeol’s ear, but it made Sungyeol laugh.

Out of all of the things that he imagined Woohyun’s best friend Kim Sunggyu to be, this surely wasn’t one of them.

When they got to shore, they changed and made their way to the parking lot. The loose sweatsuits they were wearing now were a far cry from the wetsuits earlier, especially Sunggyu’s which reached his knee, but at least the man seemed confident again. “Next time, we’ll try in a pool,” Sungyeol said.

Sunggyu stopped in his tracks. “Next time?”

“You don't want to learn how to swim?” Sungyeol asked.

The other shook his head. “Not really.”

“What to do? I still want to teach you,” Sungyeol spoke in a sing-song voice as he unlocked his car. He saw it as a challenge now. And honestly with the polar ice caps melting at an accelerated rate, Sunggyu needed to learn how to swim in order to survive.

“Why? You enjoy seeing me suffer,” Sunggyu grumbled and unlocked his own car.

“Yes,” Sungyeol quickly answer. Sunggyu whipped his head around to glare at the other, which only made Sungyeol smile. He explained, “You always look like you have your together. So when you don't, I like it. A lot.”

Sunggyu scoffed and grinned. “That's all kinds of weird,” he retorted.

“I'm weird,” Sungyeol admitted without shame. “So...do you want lessons?”

Sunggyu paused for a beat too long. It was obvious that he wasn’t used to being this vulnerable, especially since Sunggyu appeared to be convinced that water was going to kill him. So Sungyeol was surprised when he answered, “Fine.”

Things weren’t fine; they weren’t good; they weren’t right. But as Myungsoo had concluded earlier, the three of them weren’t in a right triangle. No, a love triangle is the completely wrong triangle to be in.

Myungsoo and Woohyun were in complete silence again as they walked back home from the restaurant. Maybe he was forcing it. Maybe it was too early for them to hang out as friends. Those were the conclusions that Myungsoo came to.

The silence between them broke when the child of the neighborhood convenience store owner ran up to them (Both Myungsoo and Woohyun were accustomed to play with the kid whenever they dropped by the store). Woohyun immediately scooped the small girl up into his arms and smiled. It was the first time Myungsoo had seen him smile all night.

After the two men cooed over the girl, Myungsoo asked her (and Woohyun) “Do you want oppa to buy you some ice cream?”

They both nodded.

And now the three of them were sitting outside of the store, eating their ice cream (except Myungsoo had a popsicle). It was almost like the other night, when Woohyun had said those things that he shouldn’t have. Well, there was the little girl wedged between them, so that was different. Also Woohyun didn’t say anything, but maybe that was for the best.

The silence was uncomfortable but safe.

When they finished dessert, they wished a good night to the little girl and continued the walk to their apartments. Woohyun was the first to speak again: “You need to stop being so nice to me.”

“Why?” Myungsoo debated. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Woohyun combatted. “It’s making things harder for me. So just stop, please.”

“Hyung,” Myungsoo began, but Woohyun was already several meters in front of him. He was running away. The distance between them was growing longer. It should be for the best.

But Myungsoo didn’t want to lose a friend, and he didn’t want to be mean to him either.

Dramas made love triangles look so simple, but in reality, they were difficult and incalculable.

Luckily, Myungsoo didn’t have much time to dwell on the complexities of triangles again because Sungyeol waiting for him at his apartment, lounging on the couch and watching tv. “Back already?” Myungsoo asked as he slipped off his shoes.

“Eung,” Sungyeol grunted and sat up on the couch. “I didn’t get much waterskiing in.”

Myungsoo walked over and gave him a peck as a greeting. He then asked, “Why not?”

Sungyeol snorted. “Sunggyu’s afraid of water. Can you believe it?”

“Sure, seems plausible,” Myungsoo replied. He walked into the kitchen and raised his voice so that his boyfriend could hear, “Woohyun always said he was a coward.” He poured himself a glass of water.

“He did?” Sungyeol sounded closer. Myungsoo looked behind him. Yep, Sungyeol followed him into the kitchen. And now he was drinking his glass of water. “I don’t remember that,” Sungyeol muttered after gulping down the water. He then got really excited as he continued to tell the other about his day, “But listen, Sunggyu was so afraid of the water that he clung onto my back, like this.” He jumped onto Myungsoo’s back, arms slung around his neck and legs locked above his hips. “And he made me carry him back to the dock.”

“Should I carry you back then?” Myungsoo asked cheekily and glanced at the other out of the corner of his eyes.

“Oh? Where?” Sungyeol muttered in surprise. Myungsoo didn’t answer, but instead he darted back into the living and threw Sungyeol down onto the couch. Sungyeol then rolled onto his back and looked up at his boyfriend. “You know, I half expected you to throw me onto your bed,” he stated as he propped his head up with his arms.

“Oh, that would’ve been good,” Myungsoo admitted, bashfully. He turned around again and offered Sungyeol his back. “Should I do it now?”

After a moment or two of thought, Sungyeol rolled over on his stomach and muttered. “Nah, the moment is over.” He then lifted his legs, making room for Myungsoo on the couch, and Myungsoo did sit down as soon as there was room. “Besides, like I said, I half expected it. The other half of me knew you’d just toss me to the nearest place.”

“You make it sound like you’re trash,” Myungsoo joked.

“I’m recycling!” Sungyeol joked back.

Myungsoo rolled his eyes and smiled. “You make it sound like you’re disposable then,” he remarked. His hand rested on Sungyeol’s legs, lightly massaging his calves.

Yet Sungyeol tensed under his touch. “I have been dumped quite a bit, haven’t I? Maybe I am disposable,” he grumbled.

Myungsoo retracted his hand and moved up the couch until he was hovering over his boyfriend and looking him right in the eye, or as best as Myungsoo could with the other still laying on his stomach with his cheek pressed to the couch cushion. Sungyeol had to know how serious he was. “Not to me,” Myungsoo said in a low whisper. He kissed Sungyeol’s neck.“To me, you’re not trash or recycling but a treasure. My treasured friend,” Myungsoo whispered into his ear and then carefully laid himself on top of Sungyeol, hugging him. Really Sungyeol never would have to worry about Myungsoo tossing him aside, not with Myungsoo clinging onto him so tightly like this.

Sungyeol peeled his boyfriend away slightly so that he could roll onto his back again. Afterwards he hugged Myungsoo back to his chest, one hand was on the back of Myungsoo’s head and the other arm was behind his own head. “Did you eat already?” Sungyeol asked.

Myungsoo nodded against his chest. “Eung, I went with Woohyun.”

“I should’ve known. He’s like my substitute, isn’t it?” Sungyeol laughed at his own joke. He enjoyed it so much that he didn’t notice that Myungsoo wasn’t laughing with him. Instead, he just asked, “Do you mind if I order something? I’m starving.”

“Go ahead,” Myungsoo muttered and clung onto Sungyeol more tightly. There was no true substitute for Sungyeol, no replacement. There was no one like him in the world. Sungyeol was Sungyeol, and Woohyun was Woohyun. Obtuse and acute. They were in comparable.

“Myungsoo,” Sungyeol called to him and Myungsoo lifted his head up. “You kinda have to get off of me so I can order.”

“Oh right!”

Woohyun had waited until he saw Myungsoo enter his apartment before he left his. When he got home, he noticed that the lights were on in Myungsoo’s place, which meant Sungyeol was there. And Woohyun just needed to forget about the both of them for the night.

However, since Sungyeol was home, that meant Sunggyu was probably home too. So Woohyun went over to his best friend’s place uninvited. And Sunggyu looked just as pleased to see Woohyun at his doorstep as Woohyun was to be there. But he still offered his friend his couch for the night, which was more than Woohyun expected honestly. Part of Woohyun thought that Sunggyu would tell him to grow some balls and spend the night at his own place. But Sunggyu didn’t. He didn’t want to be alone that night.

Woohyun had a feeling why that was.

“Did you indulge yourself enough?” Woohyun asked as he was settling himself on the couch. Sunggyu had just come out of the shower with just a towel around his waist. His pale chest no longer matched his neck or face due to the lack of appropriate sunscreen application. Woohyun would have to lecture him on the dangers of sun damage later.

“Hm?” Sunggyu hummed in confusion.

“Sungyeol, did you get enough of him today? Did you indulge enough in the fantasy of you and him together?” Woohyun restated the question and hung himself over the edge of the couch.

“I don’t know if you could call it a fantasy because we hung out together in reality, you weirdo,” Sunggyu retorted and began to brush his teeth.

“You know what I mean. Don’t be sassy!” Woohyun reprimanded him. He got up onto his knees, hands clutching onto the back of the couch. “It's never gonna happen between you two. They really love each other.”

“I know!” Sunggyu yelled, with his mouth full of toothpaste and spraying it everywhere. He then spat it out and pointed his toothbrush at his friend. “I'm not like you! I can stop!” He corrected himself, “I did! I did stop! I don’t like Sungyeol like that anymore. I swear on my mom’s grave!”

Woohyun rolled his eyes and sat back down on his . “Your mom is alive,” he reminded the other.

“I swear on my grandmother’s…”

“She’s alive too, isn’t she?” Woohyun interrupted him.

“Not my paternal grandmother,” Sunggyu combatted. He then mimicked his friend’s words from earlier, “Don’t be sassy.” After a quick rinse of his mouth and gargle, Sunggyu continued in his own voice, “Anyway, I'm just being a friend to your friend so that we can all be friends. Pretty magnanimous of me, right?”

“Yeah sure, whatever,” Woohyun grumbled and laid down on the couch. He heard Sunggyu’s footsteps move down the hall and into his bedroom. He must be getting changed, Woohyun concluded. He looked down at what he was wearing. He hadn’t changed all day, which meant that he was still wearing the red track suit that he’d worn when he ate dinner with Myungsoo. He cringed, rolled over, and buried his face in his pillow. Why couldn’t Myungsoo ask him to eat when he was wearing a suit or at least jeans? No, it was Woohyun’s y luck that he’d been wearing his seven year-old track suit with worn knees and a stain he just discovered that was on his stomach.

He was going to burn it when he got home.

“Have you eaten yet? I’m starving,” Sunggyu interrupted Woohyun’s self-pity party.

Woohyun sat up again. How should he answer? What answer would receive the least amount of scolding from Sunggyu? What would happen if he didn’t answer at all?

Woohyun had taken too long to think about it. Sunggyu was now in front of him and staring him down, daring Woohyun to lie to his face. And Woohyun couldn’t, “I ate.”

“With Myungsoo?” Sunggyu guessed. Woohyun nodded. “Did you indulge enough in the fantasy of you and him together?” Sunggyu spat back his own words.

Woohyun groaned and fell back down onto the couch, burying his face into the pillow. “Shut up! It was his idea! He asked me!” his shouts were muffled by the cushion. Surprisingly, Sunggyu had nothing to say in response. Woohyun hazarded to raise his head and glance up at him. Sunggyu was just standing there with his arms outstretched. Woohyun sat up, confused. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t act like you don’t want this,” Sunggyu replied.

“ it. I want it,” Woohyun grumbled, got up from the couch, and went into his friends arms.  They hugged each other, tightly. Woohyun was reminded of how Sunggyu looked when he invited him in earlier, alone and sad. The both of them could stand to have more affection and tenderness in their lives. Woohyun thought he had a solution: “Hey, can we share your bed tonight? You can pretend that I’m Sungyeol.” His answer from Sunggyu was a hard shove, which made him fall back onto the couch. When he recovered, Woohyun saw Sunggyu dart back into his room. “I was being serious! We can help each other out!” he shouted at him.

“The you were!” Sunggyu shouted back. “Trying growing a full ing foot first and then we’ll talk!”

“I’m going to sneak into your bed in the middle of the night! You can’t stop me!” Woohyun warned.

“I’m locking the door!” Sunggyu punctuated that with a slam of his door and click of the lock.

“Well,” Woohyun muttered as he laid back down onto the couch. “I guess he can stop me.”

At least someone could. Woohyun wished that he could stop himself too.

He didn’t want to be like this, but jealousy was growing inside of him.

Sunggyu kept his word and locked the bedroom door when he went to bed that night, but when Woohyun literally whimpered and pawed at the door like the pathetic puppy that he was, Sunggyu opened it for him. Woohyun wouldn’t call what they did that night “cuddling,” but it was just comforting to have someone’s back pressed up against his when he slept. He wasn’t as alone in this world as he sometimes felt that he was.

Sunggyu might not have died this episode, but would he be able to survive the next?

Can Woohyun resolve his love before he turns into a green-eyed monster?

Will Myungyeol ever be able to figure out how to say "lasagna"???

Find out in the next episode! When that will be posted...I don't know!