“What should we drink to? Health?”

“You think all of this is healthy?” Woohyun asked, gesturing to the patio table filled with several varieties of alcohol. They’d stopped by the convenience store in Woohyun’s neighborhood and bought one of every alcoholic beverage that they had, whether they liked it or not. It was just that sort of night. 

Woohyun sank lower in his seat as he continued musing, “None of it is. Not the booze, not our crushes.”

“It was a turn of phrase, Woohyun,” Sunggyu stopped him from saying anything else. He opened up a beer can for Woohyun and shoved it into his hand in order to keep his mouth busy too. “No need to get so ing sentimental.”

“Fine. Just make a ing toast so that we can get started,” Woohyun grumbled and sat back up. “You’re taking too long. You’re all talk but…”

“Shut your trap, you jabbering harlot. I’m getting there,” Sunggyu cursed as he poured soju into a paper cup. A cup for a fest, it was only fitting. When he was done, Sunggyu raised his cup, and Woohyun raised his beer for the toast. “Okay, then, to...to you. For being a good friend and putting up with me for so long.”

“Who’s getting sentimental now,” Woohyun teased and knocked his can against the cup. No clink, obviously, but they drunk it all the same. Then Woohyun did the next toast. “The next drink is for you, brother.”

“Alright,” Sunggyu took it and smiled. “To me! Because someone out of the two of us needed to be the handsome one.” Woohyun glared at him, and so Sunggyu amended it. “The smart one?”

“I’ll allow it.” Woohyun agreed. “To you!” he cheered. And then the both of them downed their first drink.

Now, their third one, third drink and toast. “This one,” Woohyun started as he got up from the table. Sunggyu followed him, while still pouring his soju. Woohyun raised his glass to the shop and the poor, lone girl inside of it. “Is for this store and to the lovely cashier who didn’t give us the side-eye for buying so much booze.”

“To the girl in the yellow vest! Our neighborhood’s newest hero!” Sunggyu cheerfully added.

“My name is Yoo Jiae,” the cashier snapped back.

“To Yoo Jiae!”

Then there was the fourth toast, followed by the fifth and sixth, and now Woohyun didn’t even know which one they were on. But he couldn’t think of what else to toast to but...“To...alas...Love.”

“Hm, hell no,” Sunggyu spat back (and literally spat all over Woohyun). He had moved onto a soju box, with a straw hanging from the corner of his mouth. “I don’t wanna drink to that. Love . It hurts my friend. How could I like it?”

“Is it not hurting you too?” Woohyun challenged as he struggled to find a full beer can among a sea of empties.

“I’m not like you. I’m different,” Sunggyu insisted, hand over his heart. “How many times do I have to say that?”

“At least five more times,” Woohyun retorted. Sunggyu did say it again, 10 more times, just to show how different he was. Or well, he tried to. He tongue was heavy with booze and slipped all over the place, causing the two of them to collapse into a giggle fit before Sunggyu could get it out the 10th time. “You’re tipsy,” Woohyun remarked while giving the other a light shove.

“You too.” Sunggyu did the same, giggling shyly.

Woohyun let out a deep sigh and cradled his head in his hands as he looked at the other. “How could anybody not like you? You’re cute.”

“Right? I’m mother ing precious,” Sunggyu agreed very enthusiastically. So it was accompanied by a shower of spit. “I’ll treasure myself.”

But it didn’t matter to Woohyun. He was too sauced to notice. “Me too,” he concurred. He lifted a can that he hoped was full for one last toast. “We don’t need anybody else. We don’t need anyone else’s love. We’re enough!”

“Damn straight!”

Without anything else to toast to, the two men just began ranting, sometimes at the same time. But all of their rants kept circling around the same topics: their wounded hearts and egos.

“Don’t come with us,” Woohyun tried his best to mimic Sungyeol. But it was really just him talking in a goofy voice. Sunggyu scoffed at it, and Woohyun scoffed too but at something else. “Can you believe he said that? It’s not like I go on every date they have!” he shouted and slammed the can against the table, crushing it. “Sungyeol is stupid. I hate him...ah, owie!”

Sunggyu had kicked him under the table. His head was now on the table and he played with a soju cap with his fingers. “Don’t say bad things about the man...I like,” he ended muffled, his head hidden in the crook of his elbow.

“Oh so you do like him,” Woohyun teased the other, joining him on the table.

“Yeah,” Sunggyu whispered, blinking slowly.

Woohyun tapped the other as he joked, “You wuv him.”

“I don’t ‘wuv’ anybody. I’m a man. I lov…” Sunggyu stopped suddenly. “Mother ing aigoo!” he cursed and snapped up straight. “I see what you were trying to do there.” 

Woohyun sniggered, “I almost had you.”

Sunggyu rolled his head around and settled on glaring at the other. “I’m not that drunk to fall for your tricks,” he said as he did so.

Woohyun sat back up too. “But you’re drunk enough to finally admit that you like him more than you act like you do,” he argued. “Friggin’ poser.” Sunggyu tried to ignore him and just poured himself another drink. “Why don't you try to get over him, hm?” Woohyun was far better at mimicking Sunggyu than Sungyeol, lisp included. “It should be as simple as that, right?”

“Haha. I'm a ing moron, I get it,” Sunggyu accepted the tease and the following fact: “It's not easy.” He drained his drink in the now crumpled paper cup. When he was done, he cradled his cheek in his hand and sighed. “Sungyeol is...such a cool guy.”

Woohyun watched the other carefully, who was playing sadly with his cup before settling on filling it back up again with more booze. Woohyun took it from him and drank it. Sunggyu was too shocked to say anything, so it was the perfect time to bring this up, “You know, for as much as I know you like Sungyeol, which is a ing lot, I've only heard you call him a ‘cool guy.’”

Sunggyu snorted. “What? Should I say that he sparkles like a dandelion or some greasy   like that?” 

“First of all,” Woohyun began as he shoved a finger into the other’s face, “ it's a daisy. Get it right. If you wanna mock me, at least have the decency to do it properly, Second...actually yeah, I'd love to hear you say something like that.” He pulled away, giving Sunggyu the room and the floor. “Go ahead. Try. I won't make fun of you.”

Sunggyu cocked an eyebrow. “Promise?”

Woohyun stuck his pinky out. “Promise.” They hooked pinkies together and seriously shook on it. Woohyun then urged the other, “Just say whatever comes to your mind. Sungyeol’s eyes are…”

“Brown! Uh, big! Brown and big like a really big....” Sunggyu face-palmed at what he just said.

“Yah,” Woohyun started. “You at this.” 

Sunggyu pouted and hit the other. “You said you wouldn't make fun of me.”

“That's only because you're holding yourself back,” Woohyun argued. “Don't think. Just speak from the heart. Sungyeol’s eyes…”

Sunggyu leaned back and tilted his head as he thought. Woohyun expected the other to give up in a second, but instead he said, “Make me think of autumn? They can be cold, but it's mostly warm, comfortable. And his eyes change like the leaves on the trees.” He then shook his head and swore, “Aish, that's so friggin’ lame.”

“No, it's beautiful. Keep going,” Woohyun encouraged him. He’d never seen Sunggyu like this before, and he was really enjoying it. “Sungyeol smells like…”

“Butterflies. Hm, yup definitely butterflies. He ing smells like butterflies. I can't tell you why, but he just does,” he replied with a shrug. “ing butterflies,” Sunggyu spoke under his breath. Woohyun laughed. This was incredible. This was beautiful. Not only was Sunggyu had more booze in his veins than blood, but now he was coated in grease, just like Nam Woohyun. At the laughter, Sunggyu shivered and then glared at his friend. “Nam Woohyun, what the did you just do to me?”

“I made you just as lost in love as I am,” Woohyun mused as he poured the other a drink. “Maddening isn't it?”

“Yeah,” was all Sunggyu said as he took the drink. But he had more to say after he finished it. “You know the most infuriating thing about it is? I can't even say that good guys finish last or that Myungsoo doesn't deserve him because, , we both know that isn't true,” his voice was nothing but mumbles near the end because he was pouting too much. “He's a much better guy than I am.”

“I agree.” Because Myungsoo wasn’t here, Woohyun could finally indulge himself and let his grease freely flow forth. “A million times better! Myungsoo is…”

“Of course you do,” Sunggyu stopped the grease back up. He sighed once again and wiped a hand down his face. “But, even knowing that, I can’t stop.”

“Same,” Woohyun replied, rolling a can in his hands. It wasn’t hard for Woohyun at all to admit this: “I’m in the same spot. Sungyeol isn’t a bad guy. He’s a cool guy.” Sunggyu laughed into his drink at that, and Woohyun did too, albeit painfully. If he had to lose in love to someone, at least it was to someone like Lee Sungyeol, who put his life on the line for any competition no matter how insignificant. He would put his life on the line for Myungsoo. Heck, Sungyeol probably already had. He really, really deserved Myungsoo. It was easy to admit, but it didn’t mean Woohyun bore it easily. In fact, it made it all harder. Especially since Woohyun didn’t even think he could stand by their side anymore. Not because of his out-of-control jealousy (which didn’t help), but because he felt like didn’t deserve that spot. He just felt too dirty. All of these feelings, his lust, it was all dirty. He was a dirty, jealous gremlin.

“Hyung,” Woohyun called to the other hopefully. “Do you think I deserve Myungsoo?” Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t as dirty as he thought. Maybe he could be deserving.

But Kim Sunggyu was an honest bastard through and through. “I want to say ‘yes,’” he replied after some thought.

Woohyun pouted. “Then why won’t you?”

“Because I don’t know if I’m saying it just to make you feel better.”

Woohyun waved a hand in the air and dismissed all of this honesty. It was doing them no good. It never did anyone any good, especially drunk people who are drowning in booze and denial. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Like what?” Drink was dribbling from Sunggyu’s chin as he spoke. Practically a Silenus in the making.

“Yoo Jiae-ssi!” Woohyun now called out to the poor, trapped cashier, who shot an annoyed glare at them as she aggressively stocked the shelves. “Tell us a story,”

She stood up and showed them the box knife in her hand that she was using. It flashed in the dim light. “I can tell you a story about how two drunk men met their unfortunate end by bothering a young cashier who was just trying to do her job,” Jiae offered and stabbed the knife into a box, where it stood, shaking.

Woohyun looked from the knife up to her and began clapping. “Ooh, a scary story! I like it! Tell us!”

Jiae sighed and returned to stacking the shelves. “Buy some more merchandise first. Then I’ll tell you,” she bargained.

“Call!”

While the two drunkards stumbled around the store for more food and booze, they got distracted and separated from each other. Woohyun was cooling himself off, sticking his head in the ice cream freezer. Jiae kept pulling him out but when she turned around, he’d just dive back in. Eventually, she just sat on top of the cooler in order to get him to stop. And it did. So Woohyun decided it was probably time that he found his buddy.

“YAH! KIM SUNGGYU!” Woohyun shouted in the small store as if he was shouting across the Grand Canyon. “YAHO! KIM SUNGGYU!”

“Yeah?”

Oh, that voice sounded small, and much much closer than Woohyun anticipated. That was probably because Sunggyu was just around the corner, in the next aisle. Oh look! There Sunggyu was! Holding a pack of nuclear ramyun in his hands. You know, the type with the fire-breathing chicken on it. When he noticed Woohyun was at his side, Sunggyu wiped his face and turned around, back towards Woohyun.

Not like that every stopped Woohyun before, especially a drunk Woohyun, he just clung onto Sunggyu back like a leech, with his head hooked over the shoulder. “Why are you buying that? You hate spicy food,” Woohyun slurred. He then rubbed his cheek against the other. “Is it for me?”

Sunggyu didn’t move. He just kept staring down at the package and sniffed. “Woohyun, why doesn’t he like me?” he whined. “I’m a cool guy.”

“Well, hyung, I think he might be interested in other chickens.”

Sunggyu threw the ramyun package at Woohyun face, and it tumbled onto the ground, broken, like Sunggyu’s heart. “I’m talking about Sungyeol! Not this ing chicken!” he cried.

Jiae now stood in front of them, shaking her head and clicking her tongue. “You’re buying this,” she stated as she bent down to pick up the busted up ramyun. On her way up, she snagged some hangover tonics. “And this. Anything else? I’m ringing you guys up and throwing you out of the store.”

The two of them followed her to the register, where Woohyun slumped over the counter and looked up at the disgruntled cashier hopefully. “Myungsoo’s love?”

Jiae eyed them and then said, “I’ll go see if we have some in the back.” With that, she left to go into the back room.

“Oh my god, do you actually have that? I can buy it?!” he shouted after her (but mostly to the door that closed behind her). Woohyun grabbed Sunggyu by the collar and pulled him in all too close. “Yah, ask if they have Sungyeol’s.”

Sunggyu’s glassy eyes cleared, now sparkling with drunken hope. He looked towards the back room, about to ask if his dreams could come true. And they just might. Jiae poked her head out of the room, smiling brightly. 

“We’re out! No more love left in the store!”

“Aw, .”

Jiae had never seen two men more desolate and gloomy in her whole life. She had to get them out of her sight ASAP.

They say that there are 5 (or 7) stages of grief. Woogyu were on stage 17. They were so beyond grief and far from acceptance that normal, rational human behavior was nothing more than an itty bitty spec in the distant. They couldn’t even see it with binoculars or the Hubble telescope.

“I can’t have his love. I can’t even buy it,” Woohyun whined as he hugged his precious cream bun. The bun was bursting under his tight embrace, but he didn’t care. He looked up to Sunggyu. “Is it because I’m short? Does everyone like taller guys?”

“I do,” Sunggyu replied and then slurped his nuclear ramyun. He immediately spat it back out (and all over everything). “Fricking hellfire, not made for human consumption, bull.” He pushed the cup ramyun away, but a few seconds later he came right back to it.

“That’s right. You like tall men too,” Woohyun mumbled, nodding his head lower and lower until his chin knocked against his chest. He sighed out everything he had. But then he gasped, taking it all back in. He just had a brilliant idea! “What if I dye my hair red like his? How would that look?”

“Nah,” Sunggyu muttered and coughed. Damn, those noodles were way too spicy and burning him all up from the inside out. He was cherry red all over (his shirt too because he kept spilling the cup ramyun). He gestured with his chopsticks. “You’re more of a water type, like squirtle. You look like squirtle. Dye your hair blue.”

Woohyun high-fived his chopsticks. “Good point!” he cheered. “It’s closer to black.”

“Is his favorite color black?”

“Yep,” Woohyun chirped.

“Then just keep it black.” Sunggyu then went back to slurping his noodles and coughing.

“Oh!” Woohyun exclaimed. He then pat the coughing man on the back. “You’re so smart. Any guy would be glad to have you.”

“Wouldn’t he?” Sunggyu said that with way too much pride, given that he was covered in bright, red ramyun broth. He then frowned. “Wait. Is Myungsoo smart?”
Woohyun giggled to himself, thinking back to his crush. “Brilliant,” he beamed.

“Damn it,” Sunggyu cursed in a whisper. He whimpered and looked defeated. “What can I beat him in?”

“Hm,” Woohyun hummed as he used all of his two functioning brain cells to answer this question. He then found the answer after much struggle, “Your...hair...is straighter.”

“Assa byong!” Sunggyu cheered and pumped his fists, while knocking things off of the table. He then pulled at his hair to show the other. “Look! Look! At how straight it is! Like a pin!” He then let it go, and his hair was a friggin mess, but Sunggyu was smiling proudly. “That’s right, straight hair is best.”

“I don’t know,” Woohyun began, cradling his head in his hands as he looked up at the beautiful stars in the sky, shining, sparkling much like Kim Myungsoo’s aura (in Woohyun’s head). “It’s kind of cute when his hair curls around here.” Woohyun played with the hair behind his ears as if they were his. If only they were, if only he could...

“Hey hey, HEY!”

Woohyun snapped out of it. “What?”

“How does this smile look?” Sunggyu was trying to replicate Myungsoo’s signature dimple smile, but failed. It’s hard to do when you have no dimples at all, even though Sunggyu had tried poking a few into his cheeks.

“Stop. Just stop. You’re embarrassing yourself,” Woohyun begged as he grabbed the other’s hands and held onto them. He looked him straight in the eyes. “Get a hold of yourself, Kim Sunggyu! You...Your natural smile is the best! You’re a handsome guy!”

Sunggyu giggled at the compliment and held onto Woohyun’s hands too. “You don’t need to be tall! You have a big presence!”

They swung each other’s hands for a few moments, inflating the other’s ego with more compliments...until they later delved into insults because of course it did. They were Nam Woohyun and Kim Sunggyu. This was just how they were.

But to everyone else, Woogyu’s relationship was an enigma. They were close, for sure. But how close? It was hard to tell. One moment they would be fighting like cats and dogs, and then in the next, they’d be literally singing of love to each other. And that was the Woogyu that Myungsoo stumbled upon. It was obvious that the two were drunk out of their minds. And it was impressive that they could still hit most of the notes to K.Will’s “Please Don’t.” But Myungsoo refused to be impressed at the moment. He refused to be happy at all. Why? It was simple.

Nam Woohyun wasn’t supposed to be drinking. The man had just recovered from pancreatitis. Did he want to send himself to the hospital again? It seemed like it. Genuinely, it seemed like Nam Woohyun had a death wish. 

Well, Kim Myungsoo was stomping over towards them like the gloomy death-bringer himself, Hades, glowering right at Nam Woohyun as he did so. But Woohyun was too into the song to notice the man looming behind him.

But Sunggyu did. “Hey! An ugly man is coming!”

“Huh? Oh!” Woohyun was startled when he saw Myungsoo next to him. His face was flushed from alcohol and even his big smile reeked of booze. “What do you mean ‘ugly’? The most handsomest guy in the neighborhood is coming this way.”

Myungsoo scoffed. “Wow, just how much did you guys drink?!” he lectured at them.

Sensing that Myungsoo was angry, the two of them tried to cheer him up in the exact wrong way. “Beautiful and lovely, Kim Myungsoo!” Sunggyu cheered.

“Are they drunk out of their minds?!” Myungsoo asked Jiae who was sweeping the trash around them.

“Take them home, please. Save me,” she earnestly pleaded with him.

“Accounting fairy, Kim Myungsoo!” Woohyun added to the cheers.

Myungsoo glared down at Woohyun who was tipping his chair backwards to see him. And then the chair actually tipped over. Myungsoo caught it (and him). “You’re really trying to die, aren’t you?” he whined and groaned as he propped the chair back up.

His cries fell on drunken deaf ears. “Shin-mol-nam, Kim Myungsoo!” Woogyu cheered.

“Sunggyu-ssi!” Myungsoo barked. Maybe he would have more luck with him. “You should have stopped him from drinking. You know how delicate his condition is right now! He just got out of the hospital!”

Sunggyu stopped cheering and waved his hand. “Woohyun is a water-type. Squirtle. He needs to drink. He’s fine,” he spoke with such dumb confidence.

So much that it drove Myungsoo nuts. “Wah!” he cried as he stomped away from the table, tugging at his hair. He then came back to continue yelling at Sunggyu, “What do you mean? He’s still recovering! Aish!” he cursed when Sunggyu hid himself from Myungsoo by pulling his stained shirt over his head. But Myungsoo’s attention was taken away from Sunggyu by a small tug on his hand. It was Woohyun, grinning up at him. Myungsoo frowned and whined quietly, “Why are you doing this?”

Woohyun tugged at the other’s hand again and giggled. “Why don’t you sit down since you’re here? Hm?” he asked. “Right next to me.” Not like there was really any spot at the table for Myungsoo, but he was tempted for a moment to do it.

But then he saw the mess of empty bottles, cans, and boxes onto the table. No, Myungsoo wouldn’t join them because he had to put an end to all of this, for Woohyun’s sake. So he didn’t take a seat next to Woohyun, but he knelt next to him. “Are you okay?”

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Woohyun slurred through his smiling lips. “Hyung drank all of this. He’s Blastoise.” He gestured over to Sunggyu who was nodding proudly.

Myungsoo snapped back up and snapped at them. “You’re not pokemon! You’re human!”

“Hydro-pump!” Sunggyu shouted and made weird noises with his mouth, like he was spraying water at Myungsoo, a dumbfounded Myungsoo. “I bet you can’t do that. I win!”

“What the…”

Myungsoo was interrupted from getting as close as he’s ever been to cursing someone out by Woohyun suddenly standing up. Woohyun was frowning and staring at Myungsoo bitterly. “If you aren’t going to sit down, BEAUTIFUL AND LOVELY KIM MYUNGSOO,” both Woohyun and Sunggyu chanted that line together. Then Woohyun continued in a dead tone, “...then I’m leaving.” Woohyun tried to walk away, but his legs were just as drunk as the rest of him were. He stumbled as soon as he got up with those jello legs. Myungsoo caught him before he could hit the ground.

“Oh! What about food?” Sunggyu had gotten up too, stabilizing himself with the table. “I’m hungry.”

“Hey,” Myungsoo talked down to the man in his arms, jostling him around until Woohyun stood on his own two feet. “When was the last time you ate? Did you drink all of this without food?”

“I’m okay. I ate,” Woohyun mumbled as he tried to move away from the other, but Myungsoo was reluctant to let him go lest he fall flat on his face. 

Myungsoo sighed and grabbed the empty wrapper from the cream bread. He knew Woohyun well enough to know which of the empty food containers were his. The man had a massive sweet tooth. “This?” Myungsoo showed the wrapper to Woohyun who then looked immediately down to his feet. “This isn’t food. I mean, it technically is food, but…Let’s get some rice in you. And maybe a few painkillers...maybe some antacids and...”

“Sounds good to me!” Sunggyu chirped and popped up next to Myungsoo. He clung onto the accountant’s arm now instead of the table. “Where are you taking us?” 

Myungsoo sighed, looking from the man hanging onto his arm to the man that he was clinging onto to (and who was trying to run away). Myungsoo wound his arm around Woohyun’s and turned to Sunggyu. “You coming too?”

“Yep!” Sunggyu rest his cheek against Myungsoo’s shoulder. “Pretty please?”

How was he supposed to say no to that? “Fine, come with me,” he mumbled. And with a man on each arm, Myungsoo drug them back to his apartment. The two drunkards cheered him on the whole way.

“Beautiful and lovely, Kim Myungsoo! Accounting fairy, Kim Myungsoo! Shin-mol-nam, KIM MYUNGSOO!”

The cheering finally died down when they went into the apartment. Sunggyu suddenly became silent when he noticed Sungyeol’s shoes in front of the door. He’d asked if Sungyeol was there. But he wasn’t. Sungyeol had gone to his own place that night, after the movie. It had been a pleasant night, a good date. They kissed and did all of that. But neither of them were in ‘the mood.’ They were just tired and wanted to go home. So they did. Sungyeol wasn’t there, but he had been and left his shoes behind. 

Sunggyu must’ve felt like he was encroaching because after that, he became silent and polite. He only spoke to thank Myungsoo for the fried rice and for offering his sofa, on which Sunggyu was now passed out and snoring away.

Woohyun, on the other hand, was still just as noisy as he was outside of the apartment. He was chattering away and narrating Myungsoo’s cooking as if it were a show. Half of it didn’t make much sense, since Woohyun’s tongue was sluggish from the alcohol and his brain even more so, but it was still funny and energized the tired Myungsoo. It fascinated him as well. How could Woohyun still eat and chatter away with his eyes closed and head on the table? It seemed like Woohyun was trying to fight off sleep as much as possible. Why? Why wouldn’t he just pass out like Sunggyu did?

Well, honestly, Myungsoo knew why. But it was better to pretend like he didn’t know. If he acknowledged it, if he acknowledged Woohyun’s earnest feelings, there’s no telling what would happen. It was better to stay trapped inside of the walls of this love triangle. That way, they could still be friends. They could still take care of one another as friends do.

Like right now, Myungsoo was helping the stumbling and fumbling Woohyun into his shoes and coat. “Hold on,” he muttered as he spun Woohyun around and slowly zipped up his coat for him, all the way up. Half of Woohyun’s face was covered by the high collar of the coat. After that, he grinned at his friend and said, “It’s cold out there.” But Woohyun wouldn’t smile at him (not like Myungsoo could see his mouth anyways, but he could tell by Woohyun’s serious gaze). “What?”

“I’ll do anything, if you date me.”

Myungsoo blinked a few times and stared blankly at him. What? Did he really just say that? No. No, Woohyun didn’t mean to say it. He’s drunk, out of his mind. He didn’t mean it. Myungsoo took a step back. “I’m with Sungyeol. We’re trying to make it work,” he reminded the other.

“Oh, right,” Woohyun’s small voice was even smaller because it was blocked by his collar. He then spun around on his heels. “Forget it.” And left.

“Hyung,” Myungsoo called after him, following him out of the door. “Are you okay to go home like this?”

“Eung,” Woohyun grunted and wobbled as he spun back towards Myungsoo. He regained his balance and pointed across the street. “I just live over there, and I’ve sobered up.” Really? Had he? Myungsoo was not assured by Woohyun’s words, especially since he was teetering back and forth just standing still. But it was only just across the street. Woohyun should be able to make it even in this state. 

But Myungsoo still didn’t feel good about it. “Are you sure you can make it home? You look like you can’t even stand up on your own.”

“I can,” Woohyun insisted. He was now walking down the hall, with his hand on the wall to keep him up. And it worked until Woohyun had hit the stairs. The first step nearly took him out.

Myungsoo caught him, hands under the other’s armpits, and lifted him back onto his feet. “Let me take you home, please,” he offered more assertively. 

Woohyun removed the other’s hands from him and jogged a few steps down, until he got to the first landing. “That won’t be necessary,” he said, looking back up at the other. “Look, I’m fine by myself.” He waved to the other before setting off again. “Good night, Accounting Fairy Kim Myungsoo!”

“I don’t believe you,” Myungsoo grumbled to himself, staring at the empty stairs. Nam Woohyun had never been ‘fine’ by himself. He’d never been good with being alone. Heck, he could barely even take care of himself, landing in the hospital every other month. Myungsoo reckoned that his next hospital visit would be even sooner with how horribly Woohyun had been treating his body.

So Myungsoo went over the edge of his rooftop apartment and hung over the rail as he watched Woohyun cross the street into his own place. To Woohyun’s credit, he did make it and only stumbled into only trashcan (the only trashcan on the block btw). Yet Myungsoo’s heart wouldn’t feel at ease until he saw Woohyun enter his apartment. Only then would he know that Woohyun was safe.

But why did Myungsoo feel so uneasy? Was this pity? Woohyun often accused him of that. And while, yes, Woohyun’s existence could be pitiful; it just made one want to take him home and feed him all of the sweets that he desired. What Myungsoo was feeling wasn’t pity. It was care. He really cared for Nam Woohyun.

And it hurt that Woohyun couldn’t see that.

Ah, now Myungsoo could feel at ease, seeing Woohyun’s mop of hair going up the steps. He was on the rooftop now, making his way to his apartment door. But, oh wait, what was this? Woohyun didn’t make it to the door and chose to lay down on the wooden pallet outside of his house.

Myungsoo snorted and shook his head. This was why he made sure to watch until Woohyun made it ALL the way home. In his heart, he knew Woohyun wouldn’t. It was just a feeling.

“You really are trying to kill yourself.” 

Myungsoo had walked over to Woohyun’s apartment and was now standing in front of him. And he was freezing. He had come over without grabbing his coat or even his outdoor shoes. His slippers exposed his poor little toes. Myungsoo crouched down to Woohyun who was rubbing his eyes awake. “You’re going to freeze to death out here,” Myungsoo told him.

“Myungsoo, just let me die,” Woohyun whined, still rubbing his eyes. “I’m too embarrassed to live on anymore.”

Myungsoo snorted. “What are you going on about?” He placed a hand over Woohyun’s knee and began shaking it. “Come on. Let’s get up.”

“No!” Woohyun flopped onto his stomach, his claws holding onto the edge of the pallet.

“Fine,” Myungsoo spoke gruffly and stepped onto the pallet too. He maneuvered himself until he was hovering over Woohyun’s body. He pulled at Woohyun’s shoulder, to get him to flip over, and Woohyun did, looking up at Myungsoo wide-eyed. And those wide eyes grew only wider when Myungsoo’s hands traveled down his body, from his shoulder to his chest to his...coat pocket. Myungsoo dug his hands into the pocket and pulled out Woohyun’s apartment keys. “I'll be back.” 

Myungsoo chuckled to himself, knowing that Woohyun was just lying there in shock as he unlocked the door and went inside of the apartment. He should really stop teasing Woohyun, given the present circumstances. But it was fun. And it wasn’t like Woohyun was going to remember it come morning. Myungsoo froze and frowned. What? Were those his actual thoughts? Huh? It was fun to ? When did he become someone like this? When did he become a big meanie?

And why did it always come at Woohyun’s expense?

Myungsoo sighed and shook his head. He needed to finish his task and go back home. This wasn’t good. 

He went into Woohyun’s bedroom and grabbed a pillow and a blanket. Then he marched back outside and plopped them next to Woohyun, who had been still staring blankly up at the stars. “I'll let you sleep out here but I won't let you freeze to death,” Myungsoo announced to him. He made Woohyun get up a bit so that he could tuck the pillow underneath his head. But after he put the pillow down, Woohyun still stayed up, stiffly. “Go ahead, lay down,” Myungsoo insisted. Woohyun snapped out of it and finally laid down, letting Myungsoo drape the blanket over him and tuck him in. Like a little Woohyun bean burrito. “Warm?”

Woohyun popped his head out from under the blanket. “No.” 

“Do you need another blanket?” Myungsoo offered. “I can go get you one.”

“I need you,” well, that wasn’t the answer Myungsoo anticipated. Woohyun sat up, looking the other right in the eye. “Sleep with me.”

“Hm? Wh-what?” Myungsoo sputtered.

“I'm cold, and I don't want to be alone. Sleep with me.”

“What?” Myungsoo repeated, standing up and taking a step back. He turned around. “What are…”

“, aish!” When Myungsoo turned back, he saw Woohyun with the blanket over his head and kicking his feet wildly. “I'm saying all kinds of tonight!” Still with the blanket over his head, Woohyun finally stood up from the pallet. “Forget it, Myungsoo. Forget it all. I didn't say anything.” He then tried to run into his apartment like that. But it didn’t turn out so well. He fumbled so much with the door knob that Myungsoo couldn’t stand it and opened it up for him. Before going inside, Woohyun, the sheet ghost, bowed to Myungsoo. “Good night. I'm going to sleep by myself now.”

Myungsoo wish that he could laugh at that. Normally he would. But his heart felt too heavy now.

Maybe he did pity Woohyun. But was that a bad thing?

Myungsoo pitied Sunggyu too. He didn’t know Sunggyu too well, but it seemed like the teacher was going through a rough time. Judging by the amount of empties on the patio table hours earlier and how much sober Sunggyu was than his friend, Kim Sunggyu had a tolerance that was only formed through habit. This guy, Myungsoo decided as he threw a blanket onto the passed out body on the couch, this Kim Sunggyu should hang out with them more often, without alcohol. They could be good friends to him, if he’d let them. 

Myungsoo stood up with a groan and looked out the window, at the apartment across the way. “If Woohyun didn't want to be alone, he could've stayed.” 

And then Myungsoo remembered the key in his pocket.

Woohyun woke up the next day with a splitting headache, a heart full of regret, and a new friend in his bed. Among the smiling mandu plushies scattered around him was a fierce-looking stuffed tiger. Curious, Woohyun picked the tiger up and sniffed it.

The tiger smelled like moonlight.

Sunggyu woke up with a headache as well, but that was something that he was sadly used to, as was this weird cotton-y feeling in his mouth. Water, he needed water. Normally he had some on his nightstand for this reason. But his nightstand wasn’t there. His bed wasn’t there. He wasn’t in his apartment. He didn’t know where he was. Well, it had been some years since he had an experience like this, but normally he would be in a bed and not a couch with a...Sunggyu rolled over onto his side and saw his tall drink of water.

“Oh, it’s Sungyeollie,” Sunggyu said with his dry, raspy voice. He reached over and pinched Sungyeol’s cheek. This was a dream, of course, because why would Sungyeol be there if it wasn’t a dream? And why would Sungyeol let Sunggyu pinch his cheeks over and over again? “Our cool Sungyeollie,” Sunggyu cooed as he squeezed Sungyeol’s face between his two hands. “What are you doing here?”

“I’d like to ask you the same,” Sungyeol spoke and finally wiggled out of the other’s reach. “What are you doing on Myungsoo’s couch?”

“Myung…” that name sounded familiar. Wait, wasn’t that the name of...Sunggyu sat up straight. “Where?” Everything from the night before came flooding back to him. Every last thing. “Holy mother ing !” Sunggyu cursed and jumped up from the couch. In his haste, he knocked Sungyeol onto his as he sprinted out of the apartment.

He even passed by a confused Myungsoo who was standing at the doorway to the kitchen, wearing an apron. “What’s…”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Sunggyu drowned out everything with his scream and slammed the door behind him. And he did not stop screaming until he got somewhere safe.

“I told you not to wake him up!” Myungsoo stood there with his hands on his hips, reprimanding his boyfriend. “Now he left without having breakfast.”

“Sorry,” Sungyeol muttered. He got up from the floor, flushed and oddly out of breath for someone so in shape. Myungsoo wondered if he screamed along with Sunggyu but couldn’t hear him. Possibly. Myungsoo nearly screamed himself out of shock. Sungyeol wiped his hands on his sweatpants. “Let me wash up. I’ll be back,” he mumbled and walked into the bathroom.

“Okay,” Myungsoo replied. He was distracted. He’d planned on breakfast for three, but he doubted that Sunggyu was going to run back in again. So he was making adjustments for that in his head, but he was even distracted from doing that. Kim Sunggyu, Myungsoo had an idea where that screaming man was going.

He walked over to the window, where his suspicions were confirmed. Sunggyu, still screaming, was darting across the street towards Woohyun’s apartment. Myungsoo crossed his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing on the rooftop, where Kim Sunggyu appeared a few seconds later. He was no longer screaming, but was bent over huffing and puffing. Myungsoo’s arms tightened. Eventually, Sunggyu regained his breath enough to stumble across the rooftop. He made a beeline for a flower pot with a dead bonsai in it. Sunggyu picked it up and took the key hiding underneath it. With that key, Sunggyu unlocked the door and went right inside...of Woohyun’s apartment.

Myungsoo cocked his head and frowned in thought. “What’s going on with those two?”

“Hey, where are the towels?” Sungyeol asked.

“In the dryer,” Myungsoo answered, eyes still on the window.

“What are you looking at?” Sungyeol sang the question as he strode over to his boyfriend. And then he saw it. “Oh.”

Woohyun was shoving Sunggyu back out of his apartment. The both of them were shouting at each other about who knows what. Then Sunggyu gestured right over to Myungsoo’s apartment, almost pointing right at the window. Sungyeol gasped and instinctively covered himself. And it was then when Myungsoo noticed that his boyfriend was completely . But before he could say anything, a shout broke out.

“WOOHYUN-AH!” Sunggyu shouted. He was now on his knees, hanging onto Woohyun’s hand, begging. And Woohyun gave into his friend, helping him onto his feet. Grateful, Sunggyu clung onto Woohyun’s back as they both waddled back inside. The door closed behind them. Scene end.

“What going on with those two?” Sungyeol asked, still covering his precious jewels.

“I don’t know,” Myungsoo replied. He then looked the other up and down. “Why are you ?”

Sungyeol finally lifted his hands and waved back behind him. “I’m washing up,” he answered. He then wiggled his eyebrows. “Do you wanna join me?”

Myungsoo pointed over to the kitchen. “I’m making breakfast.”

“Oh, right,” Sungyeol muttered. “Well then, I’ll wash up and then we can eat.”

“Eung,” Myungsoo hummed, flashing his boyfriend a happy smile, which fell when the bathroom door closed.

What was happening between those two?

Well, they were having breakfast too. And Woohyun made Sunggyu beg for it and for his forgiveness. His friend had given him so much for running away from Myungsoo, and here came Sunggyu, running and screaming, to little ole Woohyun. 

But Woohyun couldn’t hold his grudge against Sunggyu for long. He knew exactly how Sunggyu felt. They were both patients at the Heartbreak Hospital. There was no need to mock him for an illness that they both had. What they needed now was healing... and a large portion of hangover soup.

While Woohyun was cooking, he thought that Sunggyu went over to his bed to nap until the food was ready. But then the man came out of the bedroom almost as soon as he came in.

“Oh, what’s this?” Sunggyu sounded amused as he came into the kitchen, tossing the stuffed tiger up in the air and catching it.

“No! Don’t touch SooSoo Kitty!” Woohyun cried and he snatched the tiger mid-air, away from the fiend. Woohyun then brought it close to his chest and pet it, soothing it. “You’ll ruin it!”

“What?” Sunggyu spoke with a laugh. “What did you just call it? Wa-wait. Did you just smell it?” He was in a giggle fit now.

“Eung,” Woohyun grunted and buried his face into the tiger, sniffing it again deeply.  “It smells like moonlight”

“Oh my God,” Sunggyu stopped laughing. “It’s Myungsoo’s. Did you steal it from him?”

Woohyun shook his head and clung onto the tiger more tightly. “He gave it to me.”

Sunggyu scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m sure he did,” he grumbled as he sat down at the table. He then sprawled his upper half all over the table. Woohyun supposed that he’d take the nap there, so he tried to go back to the soup. But he was wrong again. “Hey,” Sunggyu piped up.

“What?”

“Let’s stop.” Woohyun spun around and looked at the other. Sunggyu was sitting up straight now, staring down at this twiddling thumbs. He was nervous but serious all the same. “Let’s just give up on them. It’s going nowhere. We’re just hurting ourselves. And if we keep it up, we’ll hurt them too.” 

Woohyun cocked his head, staring at the other. Did..did Sunggyu possibly know what he said to Myungsoo last night? No, no he couldn’t have. Woohyun sighed and turned his attention back to the soup. “It’s not that easy.” 

Things just slips out. The love keeps slipping out. Not just from Woohyun’s mouth but from his eyes, from every orifice, from every single pore. Woohyun couldn’t hide it. Only a fool could think that they could control love.

“No, it’s not, but I was thinking...maybe we could get over them together.”

Oh that got Woohyun’s attention again. He spun around to face the other, who was now standing up and standing closer to him. This was interesting. “Okay. How do you suggest we do that?” Woohyun wanted to see where this was going.

Sunggyu took another step and said, “You know that old saying: if you can’t love the one you want, love the one you’re with?” Sunggyu’s breath was now hitting his face. It was hot and...didn’t smell as bad as it should, honestly. It had been awhile since they’d gotten this close, with this sort of mood.

Woohyun finally put down the tiger. He stood up straight. Their chests bumped. “Are you saying we should date?” his voice was low.

“That’s exactly...what I might be saying.” Woohyun had to laugh at that. Even now, Sunggyu was still beating around the bush, playing coy.

So Woohyun had to ask, “Are you sure?” Sunggyu nodded, but his eyes were still downcast. Woohyun took him by his cheeks and lifted his head until they stared at each other. “Are you sure that this is what you want to do?”

“If you don’t want to, you can just say no,” Sunggyu gave him an out.

But Woohyun didn’t need it. He knew exactly where this was going to go. 

“No, let’s give this a try.”

And Nam Woohyun leaned in.

Wouldn't you like to know ehehehehe