Things were rather suddenly, and inexplicably, back to normal. Youngbae wasn’t sure what was going on; one minute Seunghyun was a mess waiting to happen, and then almost overnight he was back to the way that he had always been. But even though Seunghyun was treating him the way that he always used to, and  going out only on the weekends...Youngbae felt weird. It had been a month since Youngbae had sung Seunghyun to sleep over the phone, a month since he had admitted to preferring a boyfriend over a girlfriend, and he was really...well, confused.  

Seunghyun still made a point of badgering him at least once a week about going out to meet people and he still made a point of trying to beg off. But it didn’t matter. No matter how much it seemed like everything was back to the way it had been before Seunghyun’s strange fall into abusive amounts of alcohol consumption, Youngbae wasn’t comfortable anymore.

That was why Youngbae refused to go out to clubs every week. No, it wasn’t because he didn’t want to drink or meet new people; it was because he felt uncomfortable around Seunghyun. Something had shifted in their relationship, at least on Youngbae’s side, and he didn’t know why. All Youngbae knew was that it had started when he felt like he needed Seunghyun to know that he was gay, and became even worse when he sang the man to sleep over the phone.

“Has Jiyong filled out the contract agreement for that new book about the Prince?” Seunghyun asks, his deep voice breaking through Youngbae’s distracted thoughts.

Youngbae blinks for a couple of moments, reminding himself that he’s at his desk, before looking up at Seunghyun. “Um, I don’t...I don’t think so?” He says, and mentally winces at the look of confused concern that crosses Seunghyun’s face.

“You weren’t paying attention, were you?” Seunghyun asks, and Youngbae wishes that Seunghyun were trying not to laugh instead of looking concerned.

“Ahh, no, sorry.” Youngbae says, ducking his head down to avoid Seunghyun’s stare.

Seunghyun lets out a deep sigh and Youngbae can hear him lean back in his chair. “What’s up, Bae?” He asks, and Youngbae actually winces at the use of his nickname.

“Ahh, nothing, really. I’m perfectly fine.” He says, trying to hide the slight crack in his higher than normal voice by shuffling through the papers on his desk. “Which document did you want?” He asks.

“Jiyong’s contract agreement for the new book he is writing.” Seunghyun says, and Youngbae makes the mistake of looking up. Seunghyun was staring straight at Youngbae, his arms folded over his chest as he watches. Youngbae takes in the serious expression and feels himself swallow reflexively.

He looks down quickly, trying to make it seem like he was focusing properly. He finds the contract and flips it open. After a quick perusal he nods and looks over at Seunghyun’s desk, but Seunghyun wasn’t there. “Where...?” He mutters quietly, dragging his eyes from the desk and over toward the door slowly.

“Ahh, looks like he has.” Seunghyun says, his voice low and close. Youngbae is only barely able to stop himself from jumping, restricting his reaction to his eyes flying open in shock and his heart thumping painfully in his chest.

“When did you...” Youngbae starts, but he stops as Seunghyun reaches over his shoulder and grabs the contract out of his hands.

“His first deadline is next month,” Seunghyun says rather conversationally as he walks, no struts, back to his desk. Youngbae watches him walk away, his eyes glued to the older man’s back, and nods silently in response. Seunghyun stops at his desk and turns around, “Do you think he’ll make it?” The small smile that was tilting up the corners of Seunghyun’s mouth was almost too much for Youngbae to handle.

Youngbae registered, rather dimly, that Seunghyun was trying to be funny; and truthfully if it were just the month before, Youngbae probably would have laughed politely and shaken his head while saying something about how Jiyong marches to his own drum. But not now, not today. No, today his brain is having trouble making all of the correct connections, today he can’t make his mouth work properly or his heart stopping trying to pound its way out of his chest. He nods, and Seunghyun tilts his head to the side, clearly on the verge of asking another question, but he’s interrupted by the phone on Youngbae’s desk.

The loud ringing knocks Youngbae out of his reverie, and almost out of his chair when he jumps in surprise. He grabs the receiver, forcing himself to drag his eyes away from the smirk that was making its way onto Seunghyun’s face. He calms himself just enough to answer the phone without his voice cracking.
***

Seunghyun had no idea what had gotten into Youngbae recently, but he couldn’t deny that he was enjoying it. The stuttering and open-mouthed stares were some of his favorite parts, and only sometimes did he feel bad for getting so much enjoyment out of them when there was obviously something going on with Youngbae to make it happen. In the end though, he couldn’t make himself care enough about why Youngbae would stare at him, because he was too busy enjoying how flustered he could make the man.

That’s awful. He sighs at that thought and pushes himself up from where he was leaning against the front of his desk. He turns his gaze from Youngbae talking on the phone and moves to sit behind his desk. He fingers the papers in front of him for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. His drinking had most definitely gotten better, he had forced himself to control the random urge to drink at the thought of Youngbae and had focused it so that he would only go out on the weekends, like normal. It had only been about three weeks of his life that he had been out of control, but it felt like forever, and he was immensely grateful of the fact that he was able to go back to normal.

But the thoughts of Youngbae hadn’t stopped, and somehow, somehow he knew that they wouldn’t. The younger man plagued his mind at all times, which was why he only felt a little bad for enjoying how flustered Youngbae was getting. It was a new thing, too. Youngbae never got flustered unless girls were hitting on him, ever. He was always ridiculously collected and he always smiled brightly and...yeah. Seunghyun drops the pen he had somehow picked up during his musing and tries to focus on his work. He starts re-reading Jiyong’s most recent contract and so is only dimly aware when Youngbae gets off of the phone.

They work in silence for another half hour before Seunghyun gives up trying to pretend that he cares about the terms and conditions of Jiyong’s contract. He looks up and sees Youngbae idly twirling a pen between his fingers while biting his lip and staring off into space. The sight brings a soft smile to Seunghyun’s face and he decides, rather impulsively, to ask Youngbae to come out with him this Friday night.

“Hey, Bae?” He says, his voice sounding much lower than his ears were used to. Youngbae jerks slightly and turns toward him. “What are you doing on Friday night?”

Youngbae is silent for a moment, his mind obviously trying to work up an answer while his jaw very visibly works to speak. “Ahh, nothing after I leave the studio.” He says, but it comes out uncertain and a little choppy and Seunghyun thinks that just maybe this week Youngbae will say yes.

“Ahh, good, good. I was wondering if you wanted to come out...” He lets the sentence hang and tilts his head to the side just a little. Youngbae opens his mouth and starts to shake his head so Seunghyun cuts in, looking down at his hands. “I just figured that since we haven’t really hung out in a while...and I promise not to try and force you onto every breathing person in the vicinity...” He looks up at the end and Youngbae has a small smile on his face. The younger man lets out a soft chuckle and and shakes his head.

“Aish, Seunghyun. Alright, I’ll come out.” Seunghyun allows his face to split into a wide grin. “What time? I don’t get home until after 5:00pm, and I’ll need to eat...”

Seunghyun just shakes his head. “No, don’t worry. I get home around then also. I’ll come get you and we can grab something to eat before heading out...how does that sound?” Like a date. Seunghyun’s mind says, but he very skilfully ignores the sarcastic comment and focuses entirely on Youngbae.

“Alright, I guess that sounds good.” He says before dropping his gaze back to his desk. Youngbae wasn’t quick enough though, as Seunghyun managed to catch a glimpse of his friend’s face turning an interesting shade of pink as he tried to look away.

Interesting. He thinks, but he can’t help the smile on his face as he thinks it. Seunghyun felt far more excited for Friday than he had in a long time, and he really wasn’t very certain why. It’s because you’ve got a date with Youngbae. His mind suggests, causing him to scowl and look out the window. It wasn’t a date. So what if he was going to take the younger man to dinner and then to a club? That wasn’t a date, it was what friends did...right?

Then why did he feel so giddy at the thought of actually being alone with Youngbae?