It is ten to one and he can feel every thudding of his heart, one by one. Anticipation accumulates with each passing second knowing that it will happen soon.

Eight to one now and his legs are trembling a little. He reaches for the elastic band that holds his tight brief over his private area just to make sure that he did wear it. Satisfied, he pulls his coverlet further up to his chin, inhaling once, exhaling once and repeatedly telling himself to just sleep.

Too fast, the clock is, because there is only four minutes left. No, three minutes now. The hand he folds under his head begins to worry as his long fingers pulling at the hair behind his neck.

Two minutes and he can hear the creak, the familiar sound that blares into his ears and straight to his mind like a siren.

One minute.

The soft beep of his watch under his pillow signifies that it is time. Sharp one in the morning, officially no longer Thursday and no, it is not the clock that tells him this.

It is the extra warmth of another presence on his bed, the languid movement of the hand under his shirt, the rough finger tracing numbness along his spine, the dip of the hands under his tight brief that ends with it cupping one side of his and the most atrocious of all, the drop of endless kisses peppering his cheek, chin and neck all too intimate to be talked upon.

And then there is the deafening whisper just behind his ear, the command of something he can’t really decipher but sound so demanding that leaves him to nothing but absolute submission.

Sungyeol inhales.

The sound of the electronic keypad being unlocked earns him a long grim growl and a slow retreat from the one hovering over him. The way the fingers slowly travel away from any part of his body pricks with strong dissatisfaction. He keeps his eyes close though and his body silent as the creak of his bed vanishes together with the other’s weight.

Someone opens the door to their bedroom.

‘How’s Sungyeollie?’

Sunggyu. He wants to jump, to run into Sunggyu’s or maybe hide behind him and forces the elder to do his job as a leader and protect him. He wants to do this so much, if only the hand is not caressing his head right now and calmly replies Sunggyu’s question.

‘He sleeps a lot. I think it will be fine,’

‘Good. Thanks, Myungsoo. Come out for dinner. You haven’t eaten, right?’

He waits until he is sure both of them are out of the room to properly breathe again. Glancing to the slightly open door, he coughs into his blanket before hiding his face under the material and blinks in the limited space.

It has been a month of Myungsoo coming over to him and doing all of the things they only do during fan service. At first, they are just those little fleeting touching; his hand suddenly secured in Myungsoo’s for a moment and then it is gone or he is walking after taking his packed lunch and a hand suddenly rests just above his hip before Myungsoo waves for Dongwoo to take his food. Then one day, he realizes that Myungsoo will be leaning on his shoulder as they are waiting for the elevator to move to their level as well as having Myungsoo’s arm securing his waist when he is about to wander off.

Still, Sungyeol does not pay much heed to any of the occurrences despite how regular they are being commenced. It is Myungsoo after all; hugs whoever he wants, holds whoever’s hand, whispering nonsense into any willing ears. He tries to ignore the insistent whisper telling him that those are always done in front of the camera, in public, in front of a third person because it is just not possible that he is treated differently. They are best friend. Always.

Last week however turned the proud friendship wall he put around him into a nervous jelly pudding. Both of them were left alone at the practice room because Sungjong was sick and had to be taken to the hospital by Sunggyu. And because Sunggyu was not the epitome of motherhood, he dragged a very reluctant Woohyun along with his usual key word, ‘I’m the leader.’ Sungyeol had laughed at Woohyun but then again, the man didn’t look all that reluctant when Sunggyu wrapped his dainty fingers around the other man’s wrist.

‘Woohyun is stupid.’

He turned to grin at the comment as Myungsoo took a seat right beside him. By now, he knew that both of them were not going to abide to the promise of continuing their practice made just before Sunggyu left. ‘He is. Bet Sungjong wished his favorite Howon-hyung is around. Infinite-H is so filled with schedule these days, too bad for him,’

‘At least that leaves us relatively free,’

Sungyeol chuckled. ‘You don’t care if the girls are no longer worshipping L-sama?’

Myungsoo chuckled and turned his whole body to face Sungyeol. ‘Who said there are only girls?’

He pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them close. ‘You don’t have fan boy. You only have girls after you. I on the other hand, have fan boys.’ He grinned, proud.

‘Right, that one guy long ago that accidentally yelled your name,’

‘He did not accidentally do that. And did you see your face. You look as if you are going to murder him. Jealous much?’ He picked more, having fun at the way Myungsoo’s jaw getting a little too hard and square. He had been teasing Myungsoo that day, about how he got himself a fan boy. He didn’t hate his fan girls of course, but the idea that he appeal to fan of the same gender gave him a little pride, and the fact that he felt cool was part of the greatness too. The other members had applauded him, even joking about how grateful they were that Sungyeol brought fan boys into their fandom, everyone but Myungsoo it turned out. And so the reason why he was grinning, ready to keep on with the tease.

Myungsoo’s reply though was the start of the change later.

‘I was, and still am very jealous.’

Had he paid more attention to the way the tone fell an octave lower than Myungsoo’s usual quip, he wouldn’t have laugh. But he didn’t and he let himself laughed to his heart’s content, even rolling on the floor at one point. Myungsoo came over him not so long after that and stared down at him with a quite strange twinkle in his eyes. Enjoying the laughter, he jokingly slithered his arms around the younger’s shoulder and laced his fingers at the base of Myungsoo’s dark hair while naively pulling the boy closer to him.

‘Sorry yeobo, but you have to live with the fact that I have an avid fan boy, maybe the numbers are growing as we are speaking,’

As per usual, Myungsoo just stared deep into his eyes -and probably for a very short moment lower than his eyes- but it wasn’t long until the younger smiled. ‘Don’t worry, you can make it up to me.’

He didn’t know back then how serious that one sentence was when he agreed so readily. Like a little kid being seduced by a piece of candy, he laughed as he gave his full consent while teasingly puckering his lips a couple of times until his phone vibrated a few feet away from him.

His promise to Myungsoo was forgotten the moment he pushed the boy away and groaned as Sunggyu’s name flashed on the screen, and remained forgotten until they were left in their van alone while the manager went to fetch Howon and Dongwoo for their next schedule when Myungsoo suddenly pulled all curtain close and turned to him, looking so serious Sungyeol was sure he had pissed the younger off unknowingly.

With fingers moving to his earphone –wanting to take it out in preparation to listen to whatever Myungsoo was about to say, he his lips as he parted them. The question was so closed at the tip of his tongue when Myungsoo leaned in and buried his face at the corner where his neck met his shoulder. He gasped in surprise, hands already forgetting his initial intention and grabbed on Myungsoo’s thick jacket while pushing the shoulders away. Myungsoo didn’t budge; not even flinching as he naturally wrapped his arms around Sungyeol’s waist.

‘Kim Myungsoo! What the hell?’ He pushed, punching even. But both actions resulted in making their bodies closer than before. His breathe hitched when he felt a pair of lips resting above that one vein on his neck to which surprisingly made him fluttered his eyes close in a sudden wash of coziness he had never felt before. The lips were probably opened now because he can feel the warmth over at one spot. And then the bite came.

He wasn’t sure if he had been screaming, thanks to the loud song engulfing his auditory. But he felt like he did and from the way his mouth was palmed and a pressure was put on it, he was quite sure it wasn't much of a imagination. His fingers held on the lapel of the jacket more as he felt his skin being , aggravating a whole new feeling of a sensation that he couldn’t put int