“This is pathetic, Kyuhyun.”

“What?” He responded absently, tapping away at his phone. His brows were furrowed, lips drawn into a thin line.

Changmin watched his longtime friend with a mixture of awe and pity. “You don’t take rejection well, do you? I’m pretty sure Ryeowook isn’t interested.”

At the sound of his crush’s name, Kyuhyun perked up, completely undeterred by the rest of Changmin’s words. “He just needs some convincing. We talk a lot.”

“You ask him out,” his friend corrected slowly, trying to make sure there was no confusion, “and he says no. That’s not talking ‘a lot’, Kyu.”

“But when he’s not turning me down, we’re talking about interesting things,” he argued.

Changmin sighed. “Okay, what do you talk about?”

“Mostly work,” Kyuhyun admitted, “but both of our jobs are very interesting, so of course we’d spend time chatting about it.” His phone buzzed and immediately, Kyuhyun reached for it, checking the message and smiling giddily. He began composing a response as Changmin watched on warily.

“By any chance, are these work conversations about when he’s coming to style you for a performance?”

Kyuhyun shrugged nonchalantly, not looking up from his phone. “Maybe. So what?”

“That’s not a conversation. That’s called scheduling an appointment.”

He shot Changmin a glare. “Why are you so nosy? There are plenty of relationships that start like this.”

“Because you’re practically harassing someone!” he blurted, frustrated and tired. He had been trying to explain to Kyuhyun why this was all such a bad course of action, but the man was deaf to his words. For whatever reason, he refused to listen to reason when it came to Ryeowook. At first, Changmin figured Kyuhyun was merely intrigued by a beautiful stylist--who hadn’t been at least once in their career?--and would get over it soon.

He had never been more wrong.

Months had passed. The amount of times Kyuhyun had requested Ryeowook to be his stylist were bordering on an exclusive contract. Most of the entertainers in their network had become quite familiar with Ryeowook and were even beginning to request his services after hearing Kyuhyun’s glowing reviews and seeing his even more stunning makeup.

If anything, Changmin had a deep inkling that Ryeowook was only growing more adamant about not being personally involved with Kyuhyun as their professional careers became more intertwined. An unknown stylist who suddenly launches a successful career after a popular idol hires them multiple times? That could lead to so many scandals if it ever got out that they were dating.

He doubted Kyuhyun realized he was digging his own grave. 

“Harass is a strong word,” Kyuhyun replied, testily. He shot Changmin a look before returning to his phone. A small smile crossed his lips as he tried to suppress a chuckle.

“What did he say?” Changmin sighed.

“Nothing, nothing,” he brushed off, still giggling. “He just used a cute emoticon.”

“Have you ever actually met him outside of work?”

Kyuhyun paused, actually thinking about it. After a moment, he snapped his fingers, grinning broadly. “One time, we went to the same coffee shop and then I walked him to his office.”

“Kyu?”

“Yeah?”

“I really hope you succeed one day.”