Chapter Five

Yongbae walked into his room smiling, but it quickly disappeared when he saw Jiyong sitting at his desk.

“What are you doing?” Yongbae asked quietly. Jiyong turned around slowly in the chair and Yongbae was surprised when he saw his face. Their leader wasn’t the calm and collected man that he was used to seeing. His eyes were red, indicating that he may or may not have been crying. He had dark circles under his eyes, possibly because he was stressed about their new album and he hadn’t gotten much sleep. Staying up to organize everything for everyone had definitely taken a toll on him. Yongbae also noticed that instead of the sleek hair that he usually presented himself with, it was messy. It looked like he hadn’t run a brush through it in days. Yongbae frowned, “Are you okay?” he asked. For some reason, the part of him that still cared about him couldn’t exactly walk away and ignore him. Jiyong shook his head,

“No. I’m not okay. Nothing is okay.” He said. Yongbae looked behind him, wondering if Seunghyun would come back anytime soon.

“Um…” he didn’t really know what to say. Jiyong had ruined the easygoing friendship they had once had. “I’m sure maknae wouldn’t mind talking to you.” He suggested. Jiyong rolled his eyes,

“I want to talk to you.” He exclaimed, throwing up his hands. Yongbae shook his head,

“You don’t get to.” Yongbae said fiercely. Jiyong looked up at him surprised at his sudden forcefulness. Yongbae sighed. “Look, Ji…I just need to start sticking up for myself. I need to move on, and you need to be okay with that. It’s not fair to me.” Jiyong ran his hands through his hair, frustrated with the man in front of him.

“Yongbae. Come on. After all we’ve been through you can’t even talk to me for five minutes? We’ve been best friends for years!” he exclaimed.

“But like I said, when you broke up with him, these things kind of changed.” Seunghyun said from behind Yongbae. Yongbae whirled around and sighed in relief.

“You. You just stay out of this.” Jiyong said, pointing a finger at him. Seunghyun shook his head.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that anymore. I can’t stand in the background and watch what you do to him.” He said.

“And what? You think you can do better?” Jiyong said, laughing to himself.

“I know I can.” Seunghyun said, placing a comforting hand on Yongbae’s lower back. Jiyong clenched his fists.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked angrily.

“A better job than you ever did.” Seunghyun retorted.

This whole time Yongbae had stood still and quiet. He didn’t know what to say or do to make this better. His mind couldn’t grasp what exactly was even going on around him. But at Seunghyun’s answer, he couldn’t help but speak up.

“It wasn’t all bad.” Yongbae said quietly. Seunghyun looked down at him, waiting patiently for him to elaborate what he meant. “He was my best friend for a long time, and…for the first years…a good boyfriend.” He said. Then he looked at Jiyong. “Ji, I loved you, there’s no doubt about that. I don’t think I will ever stop. But what you did…I don’t know if I can forgive you for that. I can forgive you for forgetting our dates every once in a while. I can forgive you for forgetting our anniversary after coming home completely wasted. I can even forgive you for saying someone else’s name in your sleep…but cheating on me…with seven different women…I can’t forget that.” Yongbae said. Jiyong looked at him, obviously surprised. Yongbae smiled sadly. “Come on Ji, did you honestly think that I didn’t see the lipstick on your shirt when you came home late from the club? That slight hint of perfume? You didn’t even bother fixing your clothes afterwards. I mean…did you even try to hid it?” he asked. Jiyong shook his head,

“No…Yongbae I didn’t…”

“You can’t even make up an excuse. You’re completely stuck.” Yongbae said. He was honestly surprised at how brave he sounded now. Jiyong let his hands fall to his side, looking completely defeated. “Look…I feel weird too okay. I’m used to you being my best friend, always being there for me and talking to me about things. I feel like there’s this hole…where my best friend used to be…maybe one day we’ll be able to fix things and be friends again. But right now…you trying so hard…it’s not fun for me. It’s just making me angrier. So you need to leave me alone. If you want to have any chance at being a part of my life again…you just need to leave me alone.” He finished.

Seunghyun stood in the background smiling to himself. He had been waiting for Jiyong to hear this kind of speech from Yongbae for a long time. The fact that he had gotten to witness it was like icing on the cake.

Jiyong looked like he had been slapped across the face. He had never heard Yongbae speak that way. He wasn’t used to it. He didn’t even know how to respond to it. He just nodded his head slowly.

“Okay.” He said. Yongbae raised his eyebrow.

“What?” he asked.

“Okay…I’ll leave you alone.” He said again. Yongbae frowned, slightly surprised that he agreed to it.

“Really?” he asked, wanting to be absolutely sure he had heard him correctly. Jiyong hesitantly nodded.

“If that’s what it takes to get you back…then I’ll do it.” He answered.

“I didn’t say you would get me back.” Yongbae said. “I just said we could maybe be friends again. There’s nothing definite about any of this.” He clarified. Jiyong bit his lip but nodded anyway. “Okay.” Yongbae said, not really knowing what else to say. Jiyong took a deep breath and nodded, beginning to walk towards the door, making sure to strop and glare at Seunghyun on the way out.

Once they were alone, Seunghyun chuckled slightly. Yongbae turned around to him and smiled sadly. Seunghyun reached forward and gently cupped the younger’s cheek.

“You were brave.” He said. Yongbae leaned slightly into the touch.

“Not really.” He said. “I just spoke my mind for once instead of keeping it all in.” Seunghyun nodded,

“How did it feel?” he asked. Yongbae shrugged,

“I guess it felt kind of good.” He said, “It isn’t something I’m used to doing.” He said.

“Unless it’s about your music. You usually have no problem speaking your mind about that.” He said.

“That’s because it has to be perfect!” he exclaimed, smiling and punching the taller man gently. Seunghyun chuckled,

“Just get ready to go.” He said, pushing him towards the bathroom and walking out of the room.

Jiyong watched as Seunghyun walked back into the kitchen and glared at him when they met each other’s gaze.

“What do you want G?” he asked.

“I want to know what your game is.” He stated simply.

“I’m not playing a game. Why would you think that?” he asked.

“Because I think you feel guilty.”

“And why on earth would I feel guilty?” Seunghyun asked.

“Because you’re one of those seven women.” Jiyong said, crossing his arms. Seunghyun froze and bit the inside of his lip.

“What? Do you think that being there for him and making him feel better is going to make up for sleeping with his boyfriend.”

“Shut up!” Seunghyun yelled, grabbing Jiyong by the collar.

“What’s he going to say when he finds out that your one of the people his boyfriend cheated with?”

“Just shut up!” Seunghyun exclaimed, shoving Jiyong away from him.

“Just be careful Seunghyun.” Jiyong continued, “I don’t know how he’ll react when he finds out that you’re just playing him.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.” Seunghyun said weakly. Jiyong frowned,

“Then what…did you actually fall for him or something?” he asked. Seunghyun looked away. Jiyong laughed. “I can’t believe this…that kid turned you gay!” he exclaimed. “You can’t honestly believe that it will work right? A relationship has to have trust and honesty. You can't have that if it’s literally based on a lie.” He said. Seunghyun shook his head, not wanting to listen to anything he had to say. Jiyong looked at him with pity. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Seunghyun.” He said as he starting to walk away, “I’d think very carefully about your next move.