Fashion Week passed in a daze. From the multiple runways to the dozens of after parties, there was never a dull moment for Jiyong. Despite how much he missed his boyfriend, he was happy to see some of his old friends and catch up them.

One friend in particular was especially happy to see the young man, so much so, that he was the one who picked him up from the airport when he first arrived, and whom Jiyong had spent almost every possible moment with while in New York.

If Seunghyun had Daesung as his closest friend, then Jiyong had Youngbae. Both became friends because they were new comers in the industry at a young age. Youngbae was one of the first designers Jiyong had worked with and they just seemed to click.

As their time passed together in New York, Youngbae could tell there was something different about his old friend. He could see a change in him, a spring in his step, a glow in his face, and he couldn’t take not knowing what it was anymore.

After one of the smaller shows, the two agreed to grab some dinner and drinks, and eat at a small park, just the two of them. Youngbae knew that if he got the younger man intoxicated enough he would become an open book and confess anything. So with a greasy burger, fries, and a handful of beers in Jiyongs system, Youngbae started his interrogation.

“So, how’s Korea been?”

“It’s been going pretty well, business is good.” Jiyong took a sip of his already half empty beer. “Seungri says that I have a waiting list of people who want to work with me, but I won’t believe it till I see it. What about you? I saw that a pretty famous actress wore your dress on the red carpet.”

Youngbae chuckled. “Yeah, that’s as big as it’s gotten since you left, you know, other than being here at fashion week.”

“But didn’t you take a break? You took some time off to work on a couple collections, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, but who cares about what I did during my time off. I want to know what’s been going on with you. You seem so different since the last time we met, like almost another person.”

With the alcohol starting to take effect, all Jiyong could do was smile into his drink.

“Ah ha! See I knew there was something you weren’t telling me,” Youngbae said, pointing at the younger man with one of his french fries and then stuffing it in his face. “You know you can’t hide anything from me, so come on, spill it.”

Jiyong shook his head as he set down his drink and proceeded to take a bite of his burger, stalling as long as he could.

“Come on!”

“Notgunnatellyounething,” Jiyong mumbled with a mouth full of food. He grabbed for his beer to wash it down, but Youngbae was faster.

“Nope, not getting another drop until you tell me, did you meet someone?”

“Meybay,” he mumbled again reaching for the drink in the older man’s hand.

Youngbae it pulled back.

“Oh just give me the damn beer,” Jiyong yelled after he swallowed the food, snatching his beer, and guzzling it.

“What’s his name?”

It took Jiyong longer to answer than he thought it would, only for the fact that he didn’t know exactly what to tell Youngbae. With the alcohol starting to take over his mind, he wanted to shout to world that he was dating one of the hottest actors in Korea, but he still had some common sense tucked away.

“Umm, his name’s Seunghyun…”

“What does he do?”

 Again another pause.

Youngbae scrunched eyebrows together knowing that the younger man was holding something back. He decided that Jiyong just didn’t have enough alcohol in him, so when he saw that he’d finish the one he was on, he pushed another can towards him.

“He’s kind of in the same field as us…”

Jiyong tipped his head back taking a big gulp trying to avoid the topic yet again. He kept drinking beers like they were water and he had been stranded in a desert for weeks. Youngbae knew that if he kept poking the subject Jiyong would eventually confess what he was keeping to himself.

 “So… what? Is he a photographer, designer, model, makeup artist… or something else?”

“Something else…”

“Oh for gods sake Jiyong, Just tell me already!”

Looking at his friend’s frustrated expression Jiyong busted out in a fit of giggles, alcohol completely taking over him.  Once he calmed down he told Youngbae about who Seunghyun really was and how they’d met.

While listening to his best friend talk, Youngbae could see how happy he truly was with his new life in Korea. A small weight was lifted off him after worrying about the younger man for the past year. He knew that his moving there was a big step in his life and he was grateful that he had adjusted, and even found someone that made him happy.

After finishing off the remaining beers and their dinner, Youngbae knew it was time to head back downtown. Also a big clue was for the fact that Jiyong could barely form complete sentences or properly stand up without any sort of help, from consuming almost all the beers they had bought. So he hailed a cab and took his friend back to his place where he was staying for his time in the city.

Jiyong was one of those giggly I-love-everyone drunks. For the entire ride back the apartment, he kept talking to the driver, from how much he appreciated him for driving them, to telling him how much he loved having Youngbae for a best friend and how he missed him, to trying to roll down the window and yell into the night how much he loved his boyfriend. But as soon as he started leaning out the window, Youngbae clapped his hand over his mouth and pulled him back in.

He had forgotten how crazy and Un-Jiyong-like the younger man acted when he gets drunk, but he was having fun spending time with him, regardless of always having to be one step ahead of his antics.

Once they arrived at his apartment he pulled Jiyong out of the cab who was saying endless goodbyes to the cabbie. They made their way through the lobby of the building, and again Jiyong had to stop and say hi to every single person they ran into, and really all Youngbae could do was just roll his eyes and drag him into the elevator.

Finally they made it to his door and in the short amount of time in the elevator ride, Jiyong had quieted down and was almost falling asleep as he waited for Youngbae to unlock the door. Stumbling inside, the first place Jiyong went was the bathroom, with Youngbae laughing at his zombie-like sleepwalk down the hall, as he made his way towards it.

The older man went into the kitchen to get some water, because he knew both of them needed to drink something that wasn’t alcohol. He grabbed some bottles of water and as he turned around he heard Jiyong making his way back down the hallway, still half asleep.

He watched as the younger man struggled to get his jacket off, getting his arms tangled and tugging at the fabric. He tried his hardest not to laugh as he saw him pout and furrow his eyebrows in frustration. Honestly, he was like a little kid trying to take off cloths that were too big for him.

“ S’not funny.” Jiyong mumbled as he heard a snicker escape Youngbae.

“Yeah it kinda is actually.”

“I jus wanna go sleep. I can’t sleep with this stuuuupid thing on” He rambled.

Seeing him till struggling, the older man decided to be a good friend and help him get ready for bed. He pushed him into the spare bedroom where Jiyong had been sleeping for his stay, knowing that any minute he would probably fall over, and he knew Jiyong would be grateful to him in the morning if he fell on to his bed.

As soon as they made it into the room, Jiyong’s phone started ringing. And if Youngbae thought he had seen it all, he was mistaken. Jiyong spun around, flailing his arms around in his drunken sleepy state and d himself to find his phone. Once he found it, he looked at the caller id and his face lit up in a giant smile as he answered the phone.

One minute earlier

All the way across the world, Seunghyun was in his apartment pacing in his living room, as he argued with himself on whether or not to call Jiyong. He hadn’t really heard from his boyfriend since he had gotten to New York other than a few small text messages here and there.

He had been a nervous wreck ever since he had left Jiyong standing in the parking lot, when he finally told him he loved him, days ago. He still was adamant about wanting to hear Jiyongs reply in person, but now he would give anything to hear his voice once again if only it was to say hello.

After shaking his head to clear all the random worries that were running through his mind, he check the clock for the thousandth time, just to make sure it was night over in New York. He looked at the phone that was in his palm, surprised that it hadn’t taken the form of his hands from how hard he was clutching it, and pressed button to call Jiyong.

He in his breath and held it as he waited for the young man to answer.

“Seunghyun-ah! Tis my lovely boyfriend! I miss you soooooo much! You should come see me. Right now!”

He pulled his phone away from his ear to make sure he had called the right number. Seeing Jiyong’s caller id picture and shaking his head again, he brought the phone back up to his ear and could hear Jiyong giggling into the phone.

“Umm hello… Jiyong?”

“Heeeeelllllllooooo!”

“Are you ok?”

He heard another laugh.

“I’m wonderful now that you called me.”

Seunghyun could hear how his words were slurring together and he smiled to himself.

“Are you drunk?”

“Maaaybeeee…”

He heard some ruffling noises coming from Jiyong’s end.

“Yah! Bae s-stop it! I’m trying to talk to my boyfriend.”

Seunghyun’s heart stuttered at hearing that Jiyong was with someone this late at night. He heard more ruffling sounds and then a voice that was not’s Jiyong’s.

“I’m just trying to take this off of you.”

His stomach dropped. Not only was someone there with Jiyong, but whoever this person was, he was helping his boyfriend take his clothes off. His head started spinning as he listened to the man and Jiyong have an argument.

“Jusss don’t worry about it!”

“Look, it’s almost off Ji.”

“No stop it, I wanna talk to Seunghyun-ah.”

“Ji just stand still for one more second- no wait!“

Seunghyun’s jaw dropped as he heard a large amount of commotion on the other end. Mixtures small screams, giggles, and lots of muffled noises, which only led him to think that the younger man might’ve dropped the phone.

“Jiyong! Jiyong! Is everything ok? What’s going on? Who’s with you?”

Instead of a direct reply he heard Jiyong’s distant voice.

“Mmph… Youngbae get off me! This isn’t your bed, silly!”

Seunghyun brought his hand to cover his mouth from shock after hearing his boyfriend utter those words. He was in a trance, almost like looking at a car wreck, it’s gruesome, you can’t look away, but for him, he couldn’t make himself hang up. His heart was racing and he became slightly dizzy so he walked over and sat on the edge of the couch, listening to what was going on miles away.

“Seunghyun-ah!”

He heard what was probably Jiyong grabbing for the fallen phone.

“Lovely boyfriend! You still there? Bae is funny. He was helping me take my clothes off and we fell onto the bed.”

Seunghyun felt like he was going to be sick. His boyfriend was on a bed with another man while he was completely intoxicated. He had no idea what was going on, who this Youngbae person was, or anything. He knew that he wasn’t in the right mindset to continue talking to him.

“Jiyong, I can’t talk to you right now. Not like this. Not after what I just heard.”

“No! Don’t hang up, I miss you! Youngbae getting off the bed and leaving now, so its ok.”

“Jiyong, I… I just can’t. Goodbye.”

He ended the call and stared at his phone, replaying everything over in his head trying to think of a reasonable explanation. But no matter how much he truly trusted his boyfriend, all that kept coming to mind was the possibility of him sleeping with another man at this very moment.

He saw a droplet of water appear on his phone screen and only then did he realize that he was starting to tear up. But he quickly wiped the tears away and went to his bathroom, wanting to take a blazing hot shower to burn away the heartache that was forming in his heart.

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I started that fantasy AU fic I talked about, so if you want to check it out, its here: Breathing Fire.

~Dreamertechie