Chapter 3: Moon Cycle

 

“You’ll die tonight!” Hakyeon shrieked as he battled the other man. Once they were friends, but in the middle of war, friendship seemed to lack all meaning. Determination grew inside of him and he was ready to kill to receive his victory, his reward.

 

“Never!” Hyuk hollered back, striking out at Hakyeon’s person with a series of very skilled attacked. Gasping as his life was cut down significantly by the blows, Hakyeon went on the defensive in an attempt to cut down the damage.

 

“Idiots.” Hongbin’s voice cut through their battle cries and both men gave him an annoyed side glance, game controllers gripped tightly in their fists. “This isn’t even that big of a deal. It’s just a game.”

 

“Leave them alone, Hongbin. They’re having fun.” Wonshik rolled his eyes, leaving over the back of the couch behind Hakyeon. “Do the combo I taught you! It’ll stun him.”

 

“I don’t remember how!” Mashing the buttons frantically with his palm, Hakyeon watched in horror as his life bar quickly depleted. “Damn it! Hyukkie~ Stop~”

 

“Nah. I want to win this.” Chuckling, Hyuk effortlessly controlled his character, pushing him closer to death. “If you didn’t want to risk this, you shouldn’t have suggested the bet.”

 

“Forget the bet.” Wonshik ruffled Hakyeon’s hair and laughed. “Sanghyuk, why do you have a full Sailor Moon cosplay in your closet?”

 

“Why wouldn’t he?” Jaehwan’s question was all they needed to dismiss further inquiry. It was an anime nerd thing and that was all they could hope to understand of the situation.

 

“Taekwoon!” Hongbin continued to complain, turning to the only person he could hope to have his back. “Tell them they can’t go through with the bet.”

 

“No.” The quiet man’s reply startled all of them except Hyuk, whom landed the killing blow, leaping to his feet with a shout of joy. “As long as nobody looks up Hakyeon’s skirt, I don’t mind if he has some fun.”

 

“Who said I would enjoy having to be Sailor Moon?” Hakyeon groaned, sitting the controller down on the coffee table in defeat. “I wanted to see Hyuk in a skirt.”

 

“Well. You lost so you get to wear it.” Smirking, Hyuk retreated to his room with Jaehwan. “Hurry up, Hakyeon! We’re going to make you look beautiful!”

 

“No watching him change!” Taekwoon yelled after them as Hakyeon stood to follow the weirdos. Why had he thought he could beat Hyuk at a game the younger man had already had much more experience playing? He had been cocky and now he was going to play the price.

 

“I’m coming, you punks.” Accepting his fate, Hakyeon shuffled into Hyuk’s bedroom, pouting as he did so. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this…”

 

“It was your idea.” Chuckling, Hyuk handed the outfit to Hakyeon as soon as he entered the room. “You should have known better.”

 

“I should have.” Whining, Hakyeon grabbed the outfit, shooting his nerd friends a playful glare before he headed into the bathroom. A few minutes later he slipped out of the bathroom, disgruntled at just how perfectly the outfit fit his thin form. If he hadn’t know better, he would have sworn it was made for him.

 

“Sit.” Jaehwan pushed Hakyeon down on the bed, grinning. “It’s time for your makeup. Hyuk, the kit.” Hakyeon watched curiously as Jaehwan held his hand out and Hyuk promptly deposited a surprisingly large makeup kid into it.

 

“I have so many questions, Hyukkie.” Laughing, Hakyeon raised his eyebrows at his friends. “But I’m not sure I want to know the answers. Especially if it’s some weird Hongbin thing.”

 

“It’s not.” Hyuk assured him but offered no other explanation for the makeup or the outfit. “Close your eyes and let Jae and I work our magic.” Doing as he was told, Hakyeon tried to prepare himself for the horrors that may come.

 

A half an hour later Hakyeon was released from the fine tuning his friends had been doing on his face. A mirror was into his hands and he took a deep breath, not ready to see the train wreck the two men had managed to preform on his features. After only a short moment of stalling, he opened his eyes and gasped in shock. He. Looked. AMAZING!

 

“When did you two get so good at this?” He eyed the other two suspiciously as he lowered the mirror. “Like. I use makeup from time to time but this is glamour level skills. I’m impressed.”

 

“Okay. Can you keep a secret?” Jaehwan sat beside Hakyeon on the bed, looking both nervous and excited. “Hyuk and I have a secret life.”

 

“You have a what?” Raising his eyebrows, Hakyeon wondered if maybe he should run away before he got murdered or molested. Because that was the natural response to have when finding out someone you thought you knew had some kind of private life where they had women’s clothes and make up skills. It was some Silence Of The Lambs type of junk and he wasn’t ready to be a skin suit.

 

“It’s not as weird as he’s making it sound.” Sighing, Hyuk shook his head, beginning to scroll through his phone as though he was searching for something.

 

“Then what is it?” Hakyeon scooted away from Jaehwan slightly, still not sure if he should gtfo as soon as possible or not.

“We run a popular cosplay blog and we dress as male and female characters. Whichever our followers suggest.” Hyuk handed his phone to Hakyeon, looking a little sheepish and nervous. “We were Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon last week.”

 

“... That is amazing.” Scrolling through the phone, Hakyeon’s smile grew with every picture he saw. His friends were ridiculously good at cosplay, He never would have guessed. “I am going to need the link to this because it may be my new favorite thing.”

 

“What’s taking so long?” Taekwoon barged into the room, appearing irritated that they had taken so long to return to the group. “You two better not be over stepping your-oh…” A blush spread over his cheeks and his words faltered.

 

“Taekwoonie, are you okay?” Cocking his head to the side, Hakyeon watched Taekwoon struggling with his words in curiosity. Had he suddenly fallen ill or something?

 

“I… I…” Taekwoon watched him for a long moment, clearly malfunctioning in some way. “Get changed.”

 

“Nope. He has to wear in for three hours.” Crossing his arms over his chest, Hyuk shook his head, defiant. “Out there. In front of people. That was the bet.”

 

“I don’t mind it too much, Taek.” Smiling, Hakyeon stood up, giving the grumpy man an encouraging thumbs up. “I can manage for a few hours so don’t worry about me too much.”

 

“.… Don’t sit by Wonshik.” Taekwoon growled before storming out of the room, cheeks still pink.

 

“I think he’s jealous.” Jaehwan giggled, nudging Hakyeon with his elbow.

 

“I know he’s jealous.” Laughing, Hyuk high fived Jaehwan. “It means we did a really good job.”

 

“Taekwoon is just being Taekwoon, you guys.” Now it was Hakyeon’s turn to blush. Taekwoon didn’t even have a reason to be jealous. They were friends. Takewoon was very protective of him. That was all there was to it. At least as much as Hakyeon could tell. But he had been known to be pretty oblivious to advances and romantic hints. Without further ado, he allowed his friends to lead him into the living room.

 

“Damn, Hakyeon. You look amazing.” Wonshik beamed at him as Taekwoon dragged him down to sit beside him on the couch.

 

“A lot of that is thanks to those two.” Hakyeon gestured to Jaehwan and Hyuk gratefully. “They really worked some magic on my face.”

 

“No. A lot of it is just because you’re beautiful.” Wonshik winked at him, causing him to blush and fidget with the Sailor Moon wig.

 

“Oh come on, Wonshikkie~” Shaking his head, Hakyeon shyly batted at Wonshik’s shoulder. “You don’t need to flatter me.”

 

“I mean. You had a great face to work with, Hakyeon.” Hyuk chimed in, looking him over from his seat in the living room. “You really do look fantastic.”

 

“.… Take it off.” Hongbin demanded, covering Hyuk’s eyes with his hands, a scowl on his face. Instead of being irritated by Hongbin’s possessiveness, Hakyeon decided to play it off in a humored attempt to further irritate his irrational friend.

 

“Wow, Hongbin.” Fanning himself with his hand, Hakyeon gave his best attempt at a scandalized but flirty tone, feigning the emotions with every fiber of his being. “I appreciate that you find me so stunningly y that you want me to get , but your boyfriend is sitting right next to you.”

 

“Hey, Hakyeon. Down for a three way?” Winking, Hyuk blew him a kiss only to receive a rather hard punch to his thigh from his boyfriend. “Ow.”

 

“Guess not. Sorry buddy.” Chuckling, Hakyeon blew him a kiss back before Taekwoon stood and pulled him to his feet, marching him into the bedroom to change. It was too bad. He was actually kind of enjoying the outfit. Maybe he’d have to challenge Hyuk again when Taekwoon was at work. Or maybe he’d just have to see if he could get in on their secret cosplays. Either way.