As the sound of Hyunseung’s footsteps grew further away I slid down the wall, eventually dropping to the floor. My mind replayed the scenes of the last 20 minutes over and over again in my mind. I didn’t mean to upset Hyunseung’s, but I couldn’t accept it. It wasn’t right, I was brought up to believe that two men should never be in a relationship, but here were two of my own friends in a homoual relationship. I wish I could accept it for their sakes, but it really wasn’t right. I can’t and won’t accept it, maybe someday it’ll be different but not now, definitely not now. It would mean admitting things to myself that I can’t bear to think about.

--

The living room had fallen eerily silent since Dongwoon’s outburst. Other than the sound of Hyunseung’s return, you could have sworn that the members weren’t even breathing. Nobody knew what to say or do; they didn’t want to upset the situation further, although it couldn’t get much worse. In the entertainment industry, you can’t afford to be a homophobe, everybody which way everyone swings and not a thing is said about it. It’s like a public secret. If you were to go shouting your mouth off about how you hated gay people, you could find yourself with some very powerful homoual enemies, so mouths are kept firmly shut.

At least that meant Junhyung and Yoseob could act comfortably around other entertainers, and somewhat around fans since Junhyung’s close friend Hara offered to become his ‘beard’. But the members feared what might happen if everyone found out, the whole of Korea. There are many people out there far less forgiving than fellow entertainers or fans; as if being gay was something to ask forgiveness for. So strangely enough it was Dongwoon whose career may be endangered, although the members would never let word of the incident escape the walls of their dorms, they were in this together.

Eventually, one by one the members retreated to their rooms, assuming Dongwoon had already headed to bed, and finally the night finally scraped to a close.

--

Junhyung was abruptly awoken by someone slamming the door of the door he shared with Yoseob, Kikwang and unfortunately Dongwoon; who was presumably responsible for the slamming of said door. Lamenting the loss of sleep he groaned and rolled over, only to find himself face to face with a blissfully asleep Yang Yoseob, the trigger for Dongwoon’s rude awakening.

Almost as if compelled by sheer cliché, Junhyung took the opportunity to study Yoseob’s face. When sleeping, Yoseob almost seemed more serious, as it was unusual to see him without a bright grin adorning his round face. Junhyung was – as he always was when he saw Yoseob asleep – tempted to prod Yoseob’s ever-so-cute button nose. Being so close to Yoseob’s face, Junhyung could see the small imperfections on Yoseob’s skin, scars from spots and otherwise. But rather than marring Yoseob’s soft skin, it – to Junhyung at least – gave the younger male more character. There was nothing Junhyung hated more than a person without a story.

Cliché couldn’t help but push Junhyung a little farther as his hand reached out to brush a stray strand of hair away from Yoseob’s eyes. The contact made seemed to wake Yoseob as his eyes started to flutter open and Junhyung quickly shifted backwards. “Morning Junnie.” Yoseob mumbled, trying to rub the tiredness from his eyes. “Morning Seob. How come you didn’t sleep in your own bed?” Junhyung asked, ruffling Yoseob’s already messy bed hair. “I couldn’t sleep…sorry Junhyung-ah…” Junhyung ruffled Yoseob’s hair once more, “There’s nothing to apologise for. Come on let’s go get washed up and get breakfast, we don’t want to hold everyone up.”

Once refreshed and dressed, the two headed into the kitchen, and would forever be left wishing they hadn’t. The waves of hate that Dongwoon was sending towards the ‘couple’ were quite frankly, depressing. The thick air of awkwardness from the night before had rece more, and it was making it difficult to peacefully eat breakfast.

Finally Dongwoon finished eating his food first and excused himself from the table with a pointed – and still hate filled – look towards Junhyung and Yoseob. Despite Dongwoon’s depressing attitude, his departure immediately lightened the atmosphere of the room and the members began to engage in some idle chatter as they finished up their breakfasts. They hoped the situation with Dongwoon would at least simmer down, lest it affect their on-stage performances, but they knew Dongwoon was at least professional enough to know better.

--

Weeks had passed since the ‘incident’ and Junhyung and Yoseob had grown closer than ever but hadn’t yet attempted to kiss again, their ‘couple’ activities were limited to hand holding and cuddling, strangely not very different from how they acted as friends. Dongwoon’s attitude seemed to be improving, he was talking to the ‘couple’ again, and respectfully tried to feign indifference to their actions. It was definitely a start, and Kikwang was to be thanked for the progress.

The short singer had taken on the role of bugging the maknae at every given chance, and everyone knew, none could resist the charms of one Lee Kikwang. Bit by bit, Dongwoon was egged on to be a little kinder, in return for ice cream or in return for not having to do the dishes for a week. It may be black mail, but hell, it was working. Perhaps even a little too well.

----

Guess who finally updated? That's right, your least favourite author ^^v I hope I can make it up to you guys, so let me know what you'd like to see in the fic and I'll see if I can add it in!