author: jwhong005 / written: 20121202 / pairing: broken!u-bomb / rating: pg / cr: tumblr

Minhyuk hadn't felt so happy and so disappointed at once before. He felt remorse when he left home to begin his training and later again when he was let go from Brand New Stardom. However, his best friend was always there for him, there to make him happy again. That feeling came over him but in a different manner this time. 

Years later he realized that it was impossible for his best friend to be the one always putting on a smile for him. Instead he found himself sitting in the living room of his friend's apartment, looking at a girl who he was lessed than pleased to see. She was petite with a nice frame and small smile but her arms were a bit scraggly, making her appear a bit sickly if you just looked at her body. But that didn't matter because Minhyuk couldn't change Yukwon's mind. They were together. They met each other at a club while Minhyuk had known Yukwon for seven years and met at school. He chose her over him.

"I'm happy for you," Minhyuk said, faking a smile as he bowed his head to his friend's respective other. "I hope that you're happy as well."

Yukwon of course nodded, and put his arm around the girl's shoulders, bringing her a bit closer to his body. "Thanks, hyung, that means a lot, you know, having your approval and everything."

A painful hour of sitting across from them nearly gave Minhyuk a headache as he listened to how they met in large detail and it continued into how their first date went and so on until they decided to become an official couple. Minhyuk, not wanting to let the other down, just continued to not his head and wear a small smile that was fake underneath the layers of disappointment that he refused to let show through. But even in a situtation as such, Yukwon knew that something was wrong.

"Do you feel ill, hyung?" Yukwon asked when Minhyuk announced he had somewhere to be and had to leave early. "Perhaps you should go see a doctor. The holidays are over, I'm sure you can get right in if you hurry."

"Just feeling a bit under the weather," Minhyuk answered, shaking his head, tired of pretending that he was alright. "I have to go still. I'll see you around then, right, Yukwon-ah?"

"Of course, hyung!"

-

While the week dragged on, Minhyuk did his best to avoid his best friend, not wanting to see that beautiful smile directed at someone who wasn't him. It was selfish but he couldn't do it. Not when it was her that he was looking at it most of the time. Yukwon was disappointed that they weren't getting together as much as they had before but didn't question it. He had someone to be with nowadays.

The next time Yukwon asked Minhyuk to tag along on a couple outting, Minhyuk once again declined.

"Is there something wrong, hyung?" Yukwon tried once again as he had before, holding his girlfriend's hand while all three of them sat in the small café.

Minhyuk had been enjoying the time alone to himself not thinking about Yukwon this time around when of course the two had to show up at his table and sit down. Before, it had always been okay when he did that. But that was beforer he brought along any company with him.

"I'm feeling a bit under the weather still. I'll get better though. I've been taking allergy pills." Minhyuk responded, holding his coffee mug tight between his two hands, expressionless.

The girl spoke up now, trying to appear friendly. "My umma is a doctor. You can go see her and she can give you something to make you feel better."

As the eldest of them all opened his mouth to speak, Yukwon turned to coo how cute his girlfriend was, pinching her cheek and whispering a short, affectionate phrase in her ear. Minhyuk's stomach dropped and he looked away, his knuckles turning white around the ceramic mug. He had been enjoying his day alone to a point where he had almost wished that this was a bad dream and he would wake up soon.

"I have to go." 

Getting up from where he sat, Minhyuk made a quick getaway, leaving a few bills on the table from where he once sat so that he wouldn't have to stay longer than needed. He was sure he left a few dollars too many but that was alright. He would be willing to sacrifice something small just to get away.

Unlike all the times before, Yukwon didn't follow.

"You and I are gonna stick together, right, hyung?"