The expression etched on Wooyoung’s face said he was in deep thought: brows knit together and lips set in a line. In one hand, his thumb was unconsciously tapping against the black screen of his phone at a rhythm only known to him. Junho was mum, staring at the boy beside him and completely taken aback by the comment about Chansung. When Wooyoung finally looked over, his face was set as if he had finally come to a decision.

“Hey Junho, can I ask you something?”

Junho merely stared but stayed quiet, knowing that Wooyoung would continue nonetheless.

“Are you and Khun going out?”

Junho’s eyes flew open in surprise at the sudden question. “What?”

The other male quickly shifted his attention away from Junho’s gaze along with a small shrug of his shoulders. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry…” Wooyoung trailed off, fidgeting as he spoke.

Normally, Junho would have denied it on the spot but Wooyoung’s interest in his answer poked his curiosity. Junho knew that he shouldn’t be playing with a situation like this, but he couldn’t help it.

“What makes you say that?” Junho asked casually, hiding his amusement.

“I dunno,” Wooyoung replied automatically. “You guys just seem really close.”

“Really? You and Chansung are close too—”

“Oh, that’s not what I mean…” Wooyoung was waving his hands in front of him as he spoke. “It’s just, I heard from a friend of a friend that you guys were dating. And, she’s kinda talkative so I wasn’t sure if it was true or not, but you guys do seem really friendly with each other...”

“Ahh...” Junho let out, finally understanding. Sure we pretended to date a long while back, but since Khun and I are often together, the rumors never really stopped. He sighed inwardly. And I probably should have paid more attention to how I acted with Khun in front of him. A sudden spark of mischief in his eyes, Junho looked back up to add, “Well, what do you think?”

Wooyoung opened his mouth to reply but soon closed it instead, seeming to decide against his answer.

I probably shouldn’t torture him anymore, Junho thought to himself. “We’re not,” he amended firmly, shooting the other boy a reassuring smile, “we’re just really close friends.” Junho’s eyes stayed trained on Wooyoung as he finished, “Are you relieved?”

Wooyoung remained quiet with pursed lips but with the last comment, Junho was sure he saw the corner of Wooyoung’s mouth twitch upwards.

Junho let out a small laugh. “No worries, Khun’s single.” He leaned back on his chair, his expression shifting as he narrowed his eyes at a sudden thought. “Why so serious? I mean before anyway.”

“It’s just that,” Wooyoung hesitated, seemingly unsure of how to phrase his question. “The other day, you mentioned coming by after I got off work, but then Khun showed up instead, telling me how you just ditched him.” The boy paused and bit his bottom lip before continuing, “And it just kinda seemed like…” he trailed off, too embarrassed to conclude his thought.

Junho bit his bottom lip. He’s pretty clever. Not that I was being sneaky about it; but I can see why it’d confuse him. Junho did a mental headshake. It’d be weird if I set him up with my own boyfriend, if Khun and I were actually dating anyway. Instead of directly addressing said embarrassing situation, he continued to balance on the two hind legs of his chair. “I can tell you put a lot of thought into it,” Junho concluded with a grin. 

Wooyoung responded with a smirk, a pink tint touching his cheeks before a sudden ring made him refocus on his cellphone. He opened it and scanned it before saying, “Hey, I gotta go. It seems like my parents aren’t too happy that I’m not home to say hi to Leemae. Even though I see her all the time,” he added, his eyes still on his phone as his thumbs worked the screen. “Now it makes sense that you have a thing for Chansung…”

Startled by the abrupt change in topics, Junho leaned too far back on his chair and he let out a small yelp as his limbs flailed to regain balance. He automatically shut his eyes as he landed with a crash on his back, pain shooting up from the back of his head and arms. He groaned and opened his eyes, and blinked. And blinked again. Wooyoung’s face was mere inches away from his, the boy’s face in a grimace in an effort to hold himself up, off of Junho.

“Sorry, you fell, and I tried to help but I wasn’t looking, and I tripped over my bag…” Wooyoung stammered, slowly pushing himself up from the floor and away from the intensely close breathing space he was sharing with Junho. He pulled himself up, offering his hand to other boy.

Junho gratefully accepted it as he was pulled off the ground. He rubbed the back of his head and replied, “Déjà vu eh?”

“Yeah,” Wooyoung replied with a tiny smile. “Except this time instead of almost running you over I almost—”

He hesitated and Junho chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I can already think of someone who would have liked being in my position, and I’m sure you would have preferred him over me.”

Wooyoung’s already pink cheeks went scarlet and Junho let out another laugh. Wooyoung pressed his lips together, but Junho could tell the boy was beaming on the inside.

“I gotta go Junho,” Wooyoung said almost regretfully as he turned to pick up his bag. “You should talk to Chansung,” he added with a smirk, before heading out the door.