"That ing ," Jaejin muttered, hands grasped around his steering wheel. "If he hadn't—"

His husky giggle.

Short bursts of memory began to invade Jaejin's mind with images of that bastard. His grip tightened into a knuckle-whitening clutch.

Those bright, twinkling eyes.

"If he hadn't—If he hadn't ing—"

And that y half-smile.

Jaejin's words were choked down by inelegant frustration, and he exhaled a slow breath out his nostrils as he let his emotions simmer.

"That ing ," he croaked again, defeated, shoulders slumping and fingers loosening as he finally allowed memories of that night to conquer his consciousness.

The savory aroma of Korean barbecue traveled through Jaejin's nostrils, transported by the light breeze of the cool, autumn air. The atmosphere was twinged with a faint, smoky gray that dispersed from the hot metal of a blackened grill, manned by a young man with narrow eyes and a perpetual ghost of a smile. Choi Minhwan turned a charred slab of meat over, his sloppily-rolled sleeves threatening to spill over the open flames. An undersized apron hung loosely from his neck, stained with ruddy splotches of brown.

Jaejin had just arrived at a casual, private barbecue thrown for the relaxation of young Korean idols, the sprawling home filled with unfamiliar faces. He swiveled his head around, catching the eyes of a familiar face.

Minhwan offered his lone band mate a smile from afar. Without question, he simply waved his tongs in the direction of an open fence, wordlessly accompanying the gesture with a jerk of his head.

Before Jaejin had a chance to respond, Minhwan had returned to his task at the grill, attention cast downward.

Understanding his friend's taciturn nature, Jaejin made his way through the paved pathway to the grassy area behind the fence.

As he entered, Jaejin immediately spotted Hongki slouching back at a small plastic table, surrounded by a group of attractive Korean idols, arm draped over the side of his chair and legs lax in a wide spread. The men and women were chattering excitedly, some giving demure giggles while others guffawed uproariously. Jaejin made his way over the table, shuddering as he noticed some of the stranger hairstyles the younger men were sporting, reminding him of his bowl cut days and of the time he had that squirrel tail slathered across his scalp—or as it was professionally known, "an undercut."

Hongki stopped midway in his laughter once he noticed his approaching bandmate. His gaped mouth chomped down into a toothy grin, and his eyebrows jumped upward, above exuberant eyes.

"Jaejin!" he squealed and stood up to sling an arm around his bandmate, squeezing tightly as he pulled him roughly to his side.

"Ah..." Jaejin struggled to speak, eyes sweeping over at the amused stars. Although he was accustomed to Hongki's affectionate behavior, it was still slightly embarrassing in front of his peers. "Hi, Hongki."

"I made new friends!" Hongki declared, motioning to the table. One of the aforementioned new friends gave a small wave.

"That's great," Jaejin replied with detached politeness. "Is Key here yet?"

"Key?" Hongki repeated, the tips of his eyebrows meeting together at the center of his scrunched forehead. His lips twisted into a slight snarl. "Why would you want Key when you have me?"

"He's my best friend," Jaejin replied simply.

"Hmph." Hongki gave a petulant pout and withdrew his embrace, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hongki's disapproval went unnoticed by his oblivious friend because as soon as Hongki had let go of Jaejin, a slim, boyish figure sauntered into the yard.

The young man's blond hair glinted brightly in the sunlight as he swiveled his head around, looking for a friend that he could sidle up to.

"Key!" Jaejin yelled out.

Key's head snapped to the sound of his name.

"Jaejin!" he exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in a while!"

He pulled his friend into a brief hug, one that was eyed with distate by a certain curly-haired idol.

"Hongki, you too!" Key chirped, his tone friendly. "How've you been?"

"Fine," Hongki replied tersely.

"Good, good," Key, who hadn't really been paying attention to his answer, replied automatically. "So where're the others? Seunghyun and Jonghun?"

"They went to go buy some beer or something for the party," Jaejin answered. "What about your bandmates? Jonghyun...?" The last word was accompanied by a small smirk.

"Who knows?" Key laughed, brushing off the question. "You said something about beer?"

"Yeah, you know how those two are. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they brought some really hard liquor."

Key grinned. "Sounds fun."

"Shiiit, Key, you were right," Jaejin slurred. "That was fun as ff."

Jaejin's head laid against the warmth of Key's side, whose arm was wrapped comfortably around his best friend. The faint whir of the taxi cab wheels hummed as it drove, hiccuping every so often at a bump in the road.

Key looked down. "Damn, Jaejin, you really can't hold your liquor," he remarked with a teasing smile.

Jaejin burrowed his head deeper under the crook of Key's arm, hiding his half-lidded eyes and reddened face under the folds of Key's jacket. "Mmmm, don't ruin my fun."

Key let out a warm chuckle. "Amateur," he said fondly and reached his hand up to ruffle his friend's disheveled black hair.

"At least I'm not a duck by day and a e by night," Jaejin mumbled.

Key simply chuckled in response to his drunk friend's unintelligible babbles, fingers still entangled in Jaejin's hair, absentmindedly.

A drunk Hongki watched the two on the opposite side of the cab with a scowl, his upper lip curled upward and his eyes squinted in disdain. "Stooop beeeing..." he paused, contemplating the best conclusion to his sentence. "Stupiiid," he finished lamely. His drunken mind did not allow for a proper insult.

The considerably more sober Key raised an eyebrow at the outburst, amused. "You're a mean drunk, aren't you?"

"Nah, he's always like that," Jaejin answered, his voice muffled under Key's arm.

"You knooow, if Jaejin weren't so druuunk, he wouldn't be soooo..." Hongki's tongue swirled inside his mouth, struggling to conjure up the appropriate words from his alcohol-addled mind. "Touchy touchyyy..." He raised his hands up in front of himself, opening and closing his palms to demonstrate.

At this, Key was taken aback.

Oh... That's right... He's only acting this way because he's drunk.

The realization came with a frown. Key stiffly shifted his arm so that it laid limp at his side, withdrawn from its place around Jaejin's shoulder.

He then looked up at Hongki and gave a quick laugh, the kind reserved for unintentionally offensive comments by earnest variety show hosts: hollow and practiced.

"Yeah," Key said, with sad eyes that sat mismatched against his smiling face. "Jaejin's the loving kind of drunk, isn't he?"

"Alright, here you go," Key grunted, pulling Jaejin up and out of the cab.

Jaejin teetered as he tried to gain balance on the level ground.

"You too, Hongki." Key hoisted up the fidgeting boy, who was kicking and demanding to be let go. Key used his lithe arms to restrain him, exhaling* an exasperated "Calm down!"

Once the two F.T. Islanders were upright in front of their home, Key guided them to their door. He deftly swiped the key from Jaejin's pocket and twisted it into the knob on the door.

"Rest up, guys, okay?" Key commanded. He smirked. "You're gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow."

Jaejin mumbled a dopey yet sincere thanks while Hongki grumbled a half-hearted, almost sarcastic one.

Key slapped the two men on their backs in response, flashing them a cheeky smile. "No problem."

He then turned around to return to the cab and raised a hand up as goodbye. He caught a snippet of a caustic "...bastard" aimed his way.

"Damn," Key said to himself, shaking his head. "Hongki really is one mean drunk."

"Jaejiiiiin!" Hongki sang. "I loooove yoooou!"

"You're just saying that 'cause you're drunk," Jaejin retorted, tone raised to that of a child.

"Nooooo, I really doooo!" Hongki insisted.

"Nuh uh," Jaejin replied back, shaking his head vehemently at the notion. "You dooon't."

"I do!"

Without warning, Hongki snatched the front of Jaejin's shirt, jerking Jaejin's body forward. The fabric bunched tightly in Hongki's fists.

Disoriented from the sudden movement, Jaejin turned his head up at his band mate. "What are you—"

His breath caught in his throat as he met Hongki's face.

Hongki's eyes held a piercing stare, dark irises ensnaring Jaejin in their gaze. Jaejin found himself speechless, and he wavered under Hongki's watch, eyes flitting downward and face flushing a warm red.

Hongki leaned in close, mouth slightly open, his breath tainted with the scent of alcohol. "I really do," he repeated, lowly.

The intensity in his eyes lingered for a second before subsiding to a familiar warmth. He released his hold on Jaejin's collar.

"But how do yooou feel about meee?" Hongki asked, the playful tone back in his voice.

"Y-You?" Jaejin stuttered, cheeks still red from a reason he rationalized as inebriation. His voice quavered as he tried to regain his composure from whatever the hell had just happened. "You're... uh... something."

"Something?" 

"Somethiiing... special...?" Jaejin offered, the words easing out of his mouth through a coat of cheap liquor.

A small smile crept onto Hongki's face, a thin, almost lopsided curve that accompanied the cloudy look that had appeared in his eyes.

Jaejin swallowed.

There it was. That quirk of his lips, that somehow suggestive slight of a smile. The one that enraptured Jaejin every time he saw it.

Despite his alcohol-addled haze—or perhaps, because of it—Jaejin found himself excited.

"Special, huh?" Hongki said and came closer to Jaejin, impulsively grabbing his hand.

Jaejin's head snapped toward his taken palm in surprise and then back up at Hongki.

He gave a slow nod. "Yup," he confirmed. "Special."

Hongki roughly pulled on Jaejin's arm, leading the two to stumble down the bedroom hallway.

"We'll see about that."