Seunghyun remembers kissing Jiyong, he remembers snuggling back into the guy’s arms and loving the warmth he found there. Though he can’t quite remember how he got here…

Sat at the bar merely looking on as the show-off Seungri entertained his new found audience with the ability to mix fancy cocktails. Now Seunghyun’s all for brightly coloured drinks with stupid little umbrellas poking out of the top, but he can’t help feeling a little worried about something. Something at the back of his mind nagged him, it was something unknown, something of which even a fancy cocktail couldn’t distract him from. Jiyong was right beside him idly watching the show, laughing and nudging Daesung as Seungri flipped the cocktail mixer under and over his arm. Seunghyun realised that he’d had a few drinks, he could feel the comforting bubble of alcohol encircle him, and the bar looked a lot more exciting than what it once had. With a slight turn of the head Seunghyun felt heavy but not out of place, obviously he wasn’t completely drunk yet. His eye line dropped a little and he noticed the empty cocktail glasses that were in front of him, two, three, actually there was about six. Then he felt an arm land clumsily on the back of his neck, frightening the life out of him, he looked up at the person and smiled, it was Mihyun. She was beaming, grinning like the cat that got all of the cream, and when she shouted her Brother’s name her words were slurred.

“Seunghyunganutterdrinlease” Was what Seunghyun swore he heard. His only reply was to laugh in her face which apparently meant that he wanted a full blown conversation. “I’m so so sooo proud of you~ I wish we could go out and do stuff more like this. When you were sad I was sad and now you’re happy I can be happy and I’m glad” She leant forward and Seunghyun was barely able to catch her, Mihyun was completely off her face drunk. “I used to sit outside your room and listen to you when you cried, I did this” She reached one hand forward and laid her palm flat on the bar counter. “And I thought that might help, like my hand would seep into the wall and I’d make you happy again but it didn’t and that made me feel worse. One time Ma sat with me and we listened, we love you so much and we don’t care” Mihyun used the hand which was on the bar to push herself back up. “We’d have Gingeroo’s friends laugh at us and one of them spat at Ma once, it was sooo gross but we didn’t want to believe them, you know? We told them to go jump off a cliff because you are our little babo and we love you, we do” She slammed her Brother hard on the back before jumping up and near enough rolling over to Daesung who looked just as drunk as she was, Seunghyun watched her like a hawk.

At first her admission was sweet and it delighted Seunghyun’s excited heart to hear such things. But now that nagging voice was back, telling him that he should’ve known that his family would’ve suffered too, telling him how selfish he’d been and for once Seunghyun had no alternative argument. With a sigh and little nudge Seunghyun’s eyes blinked back into focus, Jiyong was staring at him holding out some devil red concoction for Seunghyun to drink though it wasn’t a happy stare, it was a stare as if to say what the hell is wrong with you? Are you deaf?

“Seunghyun I asked you a question” Though the words sounded forceful Jiyong’s sympathetic expression told another story. He looked rather antsy, annoyed in a caring subtle kind of way which he was trying to unsuccessfully hide.

“And I have no answer” Seunghyun defiantly giggled, now who was the misbehaving child? He didn’t mean to sound like such a smart arse but he felt awfully giddy, control was apparently no longer apart of his rationale.

“Did you even hear my question?” Jiyong raised an eyebrow, an amused smile twitched at his tight lips, something felt weird but what exactly- “Seunghyun?!”

“Erm…” Seunghyun shifted a little on his stool so that he was now able to see Jiyong in his full agitated glory. “Has anyone ever told you how cute you look when you’re angry?” That’s it, change the conversation and make Jiyong laugh. Seunghyun puffed his cheeks out and pouted. “Ah look at me I’m so cute with my annoyed face, watch as my eyebrow flies off into outer space!” He reached up whilst making an explosion noise and acted as if his hand had just departed the Earth forever. Jiyong wanted to be angry, anyone could see the steam which was currently trying to escape his ears, but he smiled and then laughed. Victory!

“I guess you’ve had your limit…” Dammit! Jiyong noticed, Seunghyun be cool, pretend to be an adult and tell him that you’re not drunk.

“I am not cool” Seunghyun tried to sit up straight but automatically slouched. “I am a drunk and not an adult” Now that didn’t sound right, what was his point again? “Gimmie” Change tact again, clever move, Seunghyun reached for the glass but Jiyong slid it about an inch down the bar to Daesung who caught it and drank the whole thing in one swift swig. Wow it was as if the pair were in sync. “That was mean!” The cheeks puffed back out again and Jiyong’s smile evolved into a mischievous smirk.

“Well neh!” Jiyong simply stuck his tongue out in reply.

“Neh to you too buddy” Seunghyun stamped his foot on the ground, the bar stools just weren’t high enough and he felt like Godzilla on them. Blast Jiyong and his perfect legs, Seunghyun’s attention travelled southward taking a few minutes to look at the guy’s legs. Jiyong’s body language was casual but still wary, he sat in on himself and his arms hugged his petite chest whilst his legs were neatly tucked together, knees resting together, and his feet perched on the bottom bar of the stool. He fitted onto the stool perfectly as if the thing had been made for him. Apparently Seunghyun stared for way too long because before he knew it one of Jiyong’s perfect legs seemed to kick out and gently tap Seunghyun’s stamping foot, well now they weren’t so perfect. “Ouch!!” Seunghyun growled, immediately withdrawing his legs from the area and sulking. “I don’t like you anymore…” He mumbled turning away from Jiyong.

“Well I don’t like you either” Jiyong retorted swivelling on his stool and jumping to his feet.

“Bugger off” Seunghyun huffed some more when he felt Jiyong pinch his shoulders “I said bugger off!” But he didn’t mean it and Jiyong didn’t rise to the bait, he just started to laugh in reply.

“But but Seunghyunnie~” Jiyong cooed effectively giving Seunghyun a shoulder massage.

“Bugger you off” Seunghyun faintly grumbled. Jiyong persisted and to tell you the truth Seunghyun enjoyed the massage, enjoyed the adorable way in which Jiyong hummed his name, he didn’t jump away from his stool and he didn’t protest any further.

“Seunghyunnie~” Jiyong tunefully sang over and over again until Seunghyun responded.

“Yongie, yongie, yongie~” Seunghyun fired back the tune but in a much lower scratchy tone, adding an element of much needed sarcasm to his voice.

“That’s cute” Jiyong sincerely pointed out “I like it!”

“Ah you two!” Daesung’s voice cut in before Seunghyun could decide on a less cute nickname; Turtle head, dummy, hamster, grumpy dragon… “It’s your first date and you’ve already given each other pet names” Daesung’s words didn’t slur as much as Mihyun’s had and he looked a little bit more sober, but not by a lot. “You make us feel sick”

Seunghyun’s ears pricked up.

“With your cuteness!” Daesung added with a glowing smile.

“Ah shut up!” Jiyong playfully thumped his friend and Seunghyun slowly turned around to face the rest of the troupe. He didn’t like the sound of that despite how fluffy and smiley Daesung looked.

“I can just see all the rainbows, unicorns and ” Daesung continued to tease Jiyong who took it all in his stride, still laughing.

“Just because you’re jealous” Jiyong smirked as he jumped back onto his stool.

“Yeah right jealous of you gays, I don’t think so” Daesung rolled his eyes as his bright smile faded “I could never be with a guy, I don’t even know how you do it”

“I’ll tell Bae you said that and he’ll kick your arse” Jiyong still laughed though this laughter was starting to annoy Seunghyun, why wasn’t Jiyong getting as offended as what he was? “Anyway” Jiyong looked back at Seungri who was a little further down the bar showing some unsuspecting girls his bar tricks. “I’m sure if you ask you’ll find out the answer to your question”

“Ooh I’m so scared!” Daesung feigned fright. “What’s he gonna do set his boyfriend on me? I could take him!” He pretended to raise his fists into the air and spar with an imaginary guy.

“Well I think it’s cute!” Mihyun’s ducked head appeared just in front of Daesung. “And it doesn’t matter who you love just as long as you do” She flicked Daesung on the ear.

“Exactly” Jiyong laughed as Daesung flinched “And you’d really pick a fight with a gym instructor? You deserve every punch you get” He continued laughing. Seunghyun’s head was spinning, he felt sick and parts of the conversation continuously replayed over in his mind. It was then he discovered what had been bugging him.

It wasn’t fair for Daesung to treat him like that, to assume things when he didn’t even know Seunghyun. Sure he was quite obviously one of Jiyong’s closest friends and it was all probably meant in good humour but it riled him up something rotten. Seunghyun liked Jiyong and Jiyong liked him, why did people have to define that as something different? Something that required its own name? Why did Jiyong put up with this and not slap his friend straight across the face? Pardon the pun. Why do people feel the need to categorise love? Who’s to say whose love is wrong and whose is right? Whose is different and whose is normal? Love isn’t normal, it’s not clear cut and composed, it’s messy and scary and one of the best feelings in the world. And then he heard the word, that word, the one that made him feel uncomfortable.

“Gay” Seunghyun didn’t catch the rest of the sentence and he was surprised to find that the voice who had spoken the word belonged to Jiyong. He didn’t hear the word in its context but hearing it from the very mouth of the person that he liked, well it was a little bit of a wakeup call.

“I need air” The weight of Seunghyun’s thoughts tricked him into thinking that he was sober so when he tried to stand up and his legs wobbled he fell against a rather stunned Jiyong.

“Seunghyun?!” Jiyong breathlessly called out. “What’re you doing?”

“Air” Seunghyun could only repeat the one word his head was too dazed and annoyed.

“You want to go outside?” Daesung offered but Seunghyun didn’t bother to look at him. Instead he nodded and tried to stand up, the club lights made him feel dizzy and before he could fall over again Seunghyun felt a pair of hands grab him. Being pulled back up onto his feet Seunghyun blankly stared at his saviour, it was the angelic Jiyong and he looked seriously worried.

“Dae I think it’s time to head home” One arm went behind Jiyong’s head and rested along his neck whilst the other hung loosely in the air, Jiyong moved Seunghyun into a more comfortable position and placed his free arm around Seunghyun’s hips. Seunghyun felt like a ragdoll but the thought wasn’t there long because he suddenly felt sick, so incredibly sick and not to mention faint.

“But” Mihyun protested “We can’t go back to ours like this?” And that was the last thing Seunghyun heard before he out.

Comfortable that was right word to describe how Seunghyun felt, his body shifted and the familiar smell of fresh sheets stirred the sleeping man awake. He smiled and stretched as he rolled over onto his front, that was a nice sleep he thought, though the cushioned comfort soon vanished into thin air when Seunghyun couldn’t recognise where he was. He was in a bed, in a small room, which wasn’t his. Then the aftermath of last night kicked in and Seunghyun slapped a hand up to his mouth violently fighting the urge to be sick, he scrambled out of the bed and over towards the nearest door. When he felt a breeze Seunghyun froze by the exit, he took one small look downwards at his attire and let out a little yelp, he was wearing a baggy white t-shirt and blue sweatpants. How in the heck did he- He yelped again when the thought hit him, he couldn’t remember how last night ended.

After taking several minutes to panic because he was in an unknown place, Seunghyun mustered up as much bravery as he could and turned the door handle. The bedroom led out into a cramped little hallway and Seunghyun looked up then down it, he had no idea which way to go so he went left. Dozily staring down the corridor and trying to memorise every single tiny detail about the place, hoping that he just might recognise something, Seunghyun turned into a statue when he heard his name being called.

“Excuse me Seunghyun but that’s Daesung’s bedroom” This voice was new, he didn’t recognise it and so he spun around to see the person. All he could see was a silhouette of a lean figure down the opposite end of the hallway. “Dead end I’m afraid” The voice nervously laughed, it wasn’t Jiyong but that was Daesung’s bedroom. Suddenly he remembered what Jiyong had said at the park, he had two roommates, so that kind of clarified where he was. Seunghyun was in Jiyong’s apartment then he panicked again, had he slept in Jiyong’s bed? With Jiyong?

“Ah…” Seunghyun answered after a strange tongue-tied minute of silence.

“Come down this way and I’ve got a message to pass onto you” Seunghyun followed the voice as it spoke and when he reached the voice he was pleasantly surprised.

The guy stood before him was ripped, his muscles bulged in places that Seunghyun didn’t even know existed, and just to confuse things this dude was stood wearing an luminous pink tracksuit. He looked friendly but not in an exaggerated, fake, kind of way. And the guy didn’t smile, well his mouth didn’t, though his eyes were another story. Seunghyun was puzzled, how could someone look this happy without even smiling? He felt ridiculous for asking such questions.

“It’s nice to meet you I’m Youngbae, well my friends call me Bae so you can call me Bae too” The man now known as Bae stuck his fist out causing Seunghyun to flinch. “Oh no, it’s a fist pump, you ball your fist up too and we bump them. It’s kinda my trademark thing” He waved his fist a little. Shrugging Seunghyun balled his fist up and carefully nudged the other guy’s, this was weird but he felt sort of cool doing it. “See, it’s fun isn’t it?” Bae laughed at Seunghyun’s awkwardness but not out of spite and actually the sound actually made Seunghyun feel better. “Anyway enough of that, I’ve gotta give you this note. Jiyong told me to give it you and he also told me to profoundly apologise for his disappearance. Come on you can read it whilst I make you some breakfast, you hungry?”

Regardless of his reply Seunghyun was dragged into the kitchen by the wrist, which Bae was now holding, and plonked down on a high kitchen chair. Having a look around as Seunghyun was being dragged he noticed that Jiyong’s apartment looked just like something out of a university/college guide. The walls were a plain cream hue and covered by dissimilar band posters which fought with each other just for a tiny bit of wall space. The furniture was mismatched and looked mostly broken, what was supposed to be the kitchen spilled out into what looked like a living area with just a counter bar separating the two rooms, but the guy’s weren’t messy actually the surprise was due to the weighty realisation of just how small the place was. Seunghyun wondered how one guy managed to live here let alone three in such a cramped space, he would hate it but then again the place probably had its perks.

After sitting down at the kitchen counter Seunghyun was passed the note, he nearly snatched it out of Bae’s hand though the guy didn’t look annoyed by this instead he looked happy about it. Looking down at the note it read, in rather rushed but still managed to look fairly neat handwriting, that:

Seunghyunnie~ I’m so sorry but I was called into work at last minute, please make yourself at home and get plenty of rest. I’ll be home later and we’ll have lunch together O.K? Bae should be about, don’t worry about Mihyun she’s with Daesung because they wanted to spend the day shopping together. I’ll explain the rest later, just feel better soon! Love Yongie. X

A smile burst from Seunghyun’s mouth as he read the note, home, Jiyong had let him into his home and he wanted Seunghyun to stay there. He cared and it was if Jiyong knew every single question that Seunghyun would have asked if he had been awake at the time of Jiyong’s departure. The note left no questions and the previous worry of what might’ve happened felt O.K because he had been with Jiyong so he felt safe. Seunghyun folded the note up and slipped it into the one pocket of identity-unknown’s sweatpants. A question enabled Seunghyun to get his head out of the clouds and he puzzled over the agonising decision.

“I can make a mean rice porridge for you or we’ve got some stuff for a fry up, it depends on what you fancy, I’d say a fry up is the perfect hangover cure although it’ll take longer to cook. The choice is yours…”

“I’m not hung-over?” Seunghyun shook his head, he hadn’t been that drunk.

“Dude you were freaking hilarious! When everyone got back you were singing something about a dancing elephant, Jiyong nearly shoved his socks in your mouth ‘cause you wouldn’t shut up…”

“Really?” Seunghyun anxiously cleared his throat then tried to calm down by thinking about Jiyong, though this time that didn’t work and his worried insides knotted together. “I’ll just have some porridge please” The feeling of wanting to be sick was eerily gone and replaced with a new urge to eat everything in sight. Bae, still chuckling to himself, nodded and gathered his cooking instruments and ingredients. Whilst Bae cooked he filled in the gaps

“Yeah really, but the funniest part was when everyone went to bed. Mihyun insisted that she dress you and Jiyong got a little offended over it, you must’ve known ‘cause you came storming out of the bathroom and demanded that Jiyong be the only person to touch you. Jiyong thought that he’d won some sort of personal victory and got all happy about it but then he soon regretted it after having to chase you around here for about an hour trying to get you to cooperate. In the end Daesung tripped you up and we pinned you down as both Jiyong and Mihyun dressed you, I’ve never ever seen anything that was funnier than that” Seunghyun’s cheeks were scarlet by this point although this didn’t stop Bae from continuing the story. “We all couldn’t stop laughing and when that ordeal was finally over we all went to bed and I could just hear you getting really upset about something. You sounded as if you were about to cry and Jiyong must’ve asked you if you were O.K because the next thing everyone hears is you screaming at the top of your lungs that the aliens are gonna invade. I nearly pissed myself and Daesung shouted through the wall ‘If they do they’ll come for the noisiest people first’ which caused you to actually cry. I think Jiyong would’ve been real angry if I couldn’t hear him actually dying of laughter. After that you just kinda half cried, half laughed until you fell asleep then the rest of us could actually get some sleep, I’ve never laughed so hard before…”

So, Seunghyun concluded, he had been that drunk and he was hung-over. He sat in silence trying to form some of reply which would make sense but he just couldn’t, he’d never been that drunk before, it was scary. Thus Bae continued to talk once more

“You must be hilarious at parties” He was stirring something in a saucepan as he spoke and Seunghyun could just smell the food, his stomach let out a little yearning grumble. “I can see why Ji likes you so much, you’re so funny and you’re not too bad on the eyes. Ji’s quite outgoing so you two fit together nicely” Bae lifted the pan from the cooker and served the porridge into two dishes which were sat on a side counter. It was nice how casual and free flowing Bae seemed to be, he didn’t seem at all put off by entertaining a total stranger in his apartment. Hang on, “Ji’s quite outgoing”?

“Here you go!” Bae grinned as he pushed a dish and a spoon in Seunghyun’s direction, the man on the receiving end of food could only gratefully smile and wolf down the entire contents of the dish. Man, Bae was an amazing cook and Seunghyun was eating, actually eating a full proper meal, which was an achievement in itself. Before now he’d barely had an appetite and only snacked on a few bits and bobs whenever he thought he needed something to eat. But now, now he was really enjoying the food and he liked the taste and the heat which warmed him up nicely and-

“Whoa slow down there mate!” Bae walked around the counter and sat beside Seunghyun on an oddly lower bar stool. “You’ll give yourself indigestion” One hard gulp later and Seunghyun tried to slow his pace right down. “So Seunghyun, you’ve gotta spill the beans I’m dying to know all about you. Is Ji your first boyfriend? Have you dated guys before? Do your parents know?”

Now hang on, you slow down there mate. Seunghyun nearly choked on his porridge and stopped eating.

“Why do you want to know stuff like that for?” He puzzled.

“Because I’m a nosy sod that’s why” Bae chuckled again. His laugh was strange, Seunghyun thought, because it was never a light giggle, it had a slight boom to it as if he laughed with all of the air in his lungs. It was loud and kind of infectious. “O.K I’ll start then, if I tell you things about me” He started eating his own porridge “You’ll have to tell me things about you in return” Seunghyun wasn’t quite sure how to react to this intrusion of his personal privacy although with all things considered he was probably the intruder. For some weird reason he nodded. “My first boyfriend” Now Seunghyun really choked because Bae was… No, he couldn’t be, he was far too… Normal?

“Was back during my later school years” He smiled at his porridge as if he envisaged fond flashbacks of his past in amongst the grains of rice. “And it was funny because we grew up together so I assumed that we were just playing but we were old enough to know what we were doing. Actually you already know my first boyfriend” Bae looked up from his dish and heartily smiled “His name is Kwon Jiyong I don’t know if you know him…” He laughed once Seunghyun realised what he had said.

“Jiyong was your first boyfriend?” Seunghyun gaped whilst a thousand thoughts whizzed through his malfunctioning brain.

“Yeah, it was kinda funny though because we helped each other through all the emotional crap and after a while we just sort of fell into this pattern. We experimented, you know just kissing, and phoned each other every other day but it just got to the point that we were just best friends who both happened to be gay. So we decided to just stay friends and quite honestly he’s been my rock, it’s hard being gay in a place where no one talks about it, but with Ji I had someone who I could rant to and know that I wasn’t alone” Bae was still looking at Seunghyun who was a bit numb from the information. “Did you ever find it hard? You know to be yourself?”

“Uh…” Well that was a tough question, one of which Seunghyun was personally avoiding.

“It’s tough isn’t it? You know people have these built up ideas of who should be what and what they should do and it’s crazy because we’re all just people, trying to live and love” Bae’s eyes returned to the porridge and he started to drag his spoon along the middle. “People come in all different colours, it shouldn’t matter” Seunghyun let out a little breath and returned his eyes to his own porridge, Bae was so right, the guy had vocalised all of Seunghyun’s thoughts without even knowing it. It felt bizarre to hear these thoughts spoken in actual words from someone else, although Seunghyun would never have been able to word it in such a philosophically refined way, Bae had a beautiful way with words and it made Seunghyun feel as though he wasn’t such an idiot for thinking that way.

“That’s true” Finally Seunghyun was able to say something. His brain silently cheered.

“Yeah” Bae sighed then shoved a huge spoonful of porridge into his mouth. “Your turn” He mumbled through a full mouth.

“O.K” Seunghyun thought about the best way to approach this, he could lie and make up something or he could tell the truth. He wanted to prove to himself that he had changed, that he was a new person and so he swallowed a certain amount of pride down with his porridge. “I guess we have something in common” He replied whilst glancing over to Bae who looked up at him completely intrigued.

“We do?”

“Yeah, Jiyong’s my first” Seunghyun smiled at the words, it sounded so pleasant, Jiyong was his first in everything. Despite the fact that he had no clue as to where their relationship status actually stood “But don’t say anything to him because we’re not really at that stage yet” He quickly added.

“Aww” Bae hummed under an airy breath. “That’s so sweet!” That seemed to cheer him up and Bae started to smile again. “You’ll be so good for him you know, Ji’s had his fair share of crap to deal with” Oh? Now Seunghyun was the intrigued one.

“What do you mean?” He curiously asked whilst resuming his devouring of the tasty breakfast.

“Well, this stays between you and me, but Ji’s always been an overachiever. He’s always been exceptionally good at everything he does though his downfall is that he’s too humble, too afraid to move on, and so he gets stuck in a rut. Working at the shopping mart is just a waste of his talents, he told you he took a photography course right?” Seunghyun nodded. “I thought that he was going to be an amazing photographer and so did his peers, they were all ting themselves when they had to put a show on because Ji’s work would be the focus point without him even meaning to. Anyway, it came to their final exhibition and Ji pulled out, no explanation as to why. All he said to me was that he’d lost his inspiration and couldn’t be bothered with something which was inherently useless. It ‘cause he was so good, I’ll have to show you some of his portfolio when we’ve finished eating” Again Seunghyun nodded.

“I’d love to see it” He added reflecting the smile which Bae was currently beaming at him. Seunghyun’s thoughts wandered off, Jiyong had mentioned his photography course and how he liked to go on random walks to take photo’s but he never said anything more. Did he take photographs of landscapes? Seascapes? People? Seunghyun pictured all the possibilities.

“Well let me just shove these in the sink and I’ll show you” Bae reached forward and grabbed Seunghyun’s dish, the latter had no idea that he’d totally finished eating.

“Is there anything I can do?” Seunghyun bumbled on, quickly becoming embarrassed by the fact that he was in someone else’s home and not doing a thing to help out.

“Nah it’s cool, I’ll save it for later” Bae wandered over to what Seunghyun presumed was the sink (it was already full of dishes, plates and other miscellaneous used items) and balanced the stack of dishes on a teetering pile of plates. It was a little disgusting but Seunghyun knew he had no right to make those sort of snap judgements and to be honest he felt free here, the place had an easy going atmosphere though Seunghyun couldn’t decide whether that was due to Bae’s friendly nature or the actual place itself. “I’m going to kill Daesung!” Bae’s threat from the sink caused Seunghyun’s wandering eyes to jolt upwards. “That little bastard never washes his dishes” He cleared his throat and turned to face Seunghyun. “Do you remember Daesung?” A polite smile swept across Bae’s face.

“Yes” Seunghyun barely replied

“Knew as much, you can’t forget an arsehole like that” Bae laughed and walked back over to Seunghyun. “He’s got a good heart, don’t get me wrong, but he’s such a bonehead sometimes. He never washes his own stuff, leaves his clothes everywhere, and expects me and Ji to look after him all the damn time like he’s a child” Seunghyun didn’t know whether to laugh with Bae or politely nod and change the conversation so he did nothing. “Though we’d be completely lost without the bastard, come on I’ll show you Ji’s photos…” Bae reached out and grabbed the baggy arm of Seunghyun’s t-shirt, tugging him away from the chair and back down the hallway.

“Oh and I’m sorry about the clothes” Bae carried on talking whilst they walked. “I couldn’t find anything smaller that would fit you, you know you’re really lanky, not that that’s a bad thing though” He smiled when Seunghyun wearily glanced at the guy. “You can keep them, we’ll save them for you and hopefully you’ll stay around more often. It’s nice to see Ji happy, bloody idiot woke me up with his cheerful singing and no one, I mean no one, should be that happy at six o’clock in the morning” Seunghyun thought they were going to walk back into Jiyong’s bedroom but when they reached that familiar door they entered the room opposite. He smiled at Bae’s sense of humour, acknowledging that he was a pretty funny guy.

“Welcome to my humble abode” Bae dropped Seunghyun’s shirt from his grip and held his arms out in front of them. “Magnificent isn’t it?” Magnificent wasn’t the right word but maybe impressive was. The walls were checked with white and black paint and the floor was covered with a rich feathery black carpet which tickled at Seunghyun’s bare feet as they walked further into the room. In the middle of the room sat a double bed, obviously Bae was the guy with the biggest room although Seunghyun hadn’t been into Daesung’s room before (nor did he ever want to) making it seem as if it was poor Jiyong who had been left with the short straw. Opposite the bed hung a few centimetres from the wall sat one of those huge fancy flatscreen TV’s and then below that sat a ton of consoles and jumbled games. Bae’s room was your typical guy’s idea of heaven; neat but packed to the brim with ultra-masculine goodness. Seunghyun liked it, a lot.

“It’s really nice” Seunghyun mumbled like an expectant child in a sweet shop, his eyes darted around gazing at all the games, gadgets and gangster movie memorabilia.

“Thanks” Bae clapped a hand on Seunghyun’s back then wandered over to a set of drawers. “Now you can’t say anything to Jiyong about this, he would actually kill me and we wouldn’t want that would we?” A brief smile flashed at Seunghyun before Bae rummaged through the bottom drawer.

“Why not?” Seunghyun puzzled whilst itching at the side of his forehead, if he liked Jiyong’s work (which he knew he probably would) then he wanted to tell Jiyong just how talented he is, what was wrong with that? “I mean, not that way, I don’t want you to die…” Seunghyun recovered after receiving a shocked glance from Bae.

“Well…” Bae sounded nervous and it sounded strange coming from such a collectively cool guy. “Take a seat on my bed a sec” Seunghyun nodded and carefully propped himself on the edge of Bae’s bed, watching the guy’s back until he was sat down beside Seunghyun. Jiyong’s portfolio was just a plain black A4 folder and as Bae flipped open the folder Seunghyun’s heart felt as if it had stopped. “Jiyong tried to bin his portfolio, let’s just say that we fell out about it, Daesung was on my side, we were fed up with Jiyong’s erratic behaviour and we tried to convince him to get his work out there. He told us in no polite terms to get lost so Dae and I spent a whole day, whilst Ji was at work, riffling through the guy’s garbage until we found this. I said that I’d keep it and when the time was right I’d give it back to Jiyong but I don’t think I’m the right guy to do that anymore”

“What are you saying?” Seunghyun frowned, his eyes still focused on the first photo.

“Look I’m not making any snap judgements about you guys and your relationship but just from the way Ji talks about you I can tell that it’s more than just a fling, he really cares about you and I hope you really care about him”

“I do” Seunghyun smiled at the thought.

“So I think you should be the guy to get Ji back on his feet again. Now I know you haven’t known each other for long and this might seem like a bit much… But I’ve known Jiyong for pretty much my entire life and never, ever, has he connected with someone as quickly as he’s connected with you. Apart from me and Dae he finds it difficult to meet people and it’s just nice that he’s found someone. Anyway, I’m gonna shut up now so have a flick through and see what you think” Bae abruptly stood up “Oh I’ve got a couple of errands to run so have a good look through and I’ll be back soon” He patted Seunghyun’s shoulder before walking out of his room and closing the door.

“By-” Seunghyun’s goodbye was cut off by the sound of the door shutting, it kind of sounded like Bae had left on purpose and so Seunghyun felt a little thankful for the guy’s sudden departure. He had a lot to think about and this would give him time to mull Bae’s information over whilst at the same time marvel at how wonderful Jiyong’s work was.

The first photo, which Seunghyun had been looking at for the past five minutes or so, was of a park scene. He turned the folder sideways and leaned a little into it, the photo was beautiful and it must’ve been taken quite early in the morning as there was a light fog rising from the grass. In the middle of the photo a long winding path trailed upwards and faded into the smoky distance, trees sat either side of this path and the added effect of black and white made the photo look mysteriously nightmarish. The beauty of the park ultimately contrasted with this unsettling feeling of emptiness, Seunghyun shivered but then smiled when he realised just how much he was able to feel from just one photo. Excitement and desire forced Seunghyun’s hand to flick the page, then the next and the next, until that is one photograph caused him to nearly faint. He lurched backwards and almost dropped the thing on the floor, the photograph was of an entirely person and once Seunghyun had recovered his senses he inspected the photo closer. No it couldn’t be…

The person was facing away from the camera though their head was tilted down and to the side, capturing their rather amazing side profile. Seunghyun’s eyes were immediately drawn to the person’s behind and he had to practically tear his eyes away from it, the photo was definitely shocking but it was also, what was the right word, soft? Sweet? The shot was of the person’s entire body down to the backs of their knees, warts and all, and the person’s hair was rather long just gently hanging around the person’s shoulders, with a few loose strands curling down their back. Upon noticing the person’s hair Seunghyun automatically assumed that they had to be woman and on top of that the person’s body looked far too skinny to be anything but. Though when his eyes finally settled on the person’s face, examining every single tiny detail from the person’s nose to their one visible eye and tear stricken cheeks Seunghyun almost fainted. He recognised those precious features; those softly curved lines and uniquely rounded jaw. It was definitely Jiyong.

Now the photo could’ve looked a little on the brash side if it wasn’t for the look on Jiyong’s face, said face expressed a bittersweet serene gloominess. He was undoubtedly sad but looked oddly happy about it. Suddenly the ness seemed irrelevant. Jiyong was stripped down, vulnerable, it was as if his very soul was on show, and it was beautiful. So beautiful that Seunghyun sniffled, he could read Jiyong’s body language and it hurt, it hurt to see such a raw emotionally charged portrait of someone that he liked. For some reason Seunghyun slipped the portrait out of its plastic cover and held it up in the air, the rest of the portfolio slid from his knees and onto the bed next to him as he leaned back blissfully unaware that he was making himself at home on another guy’s bed.

This had to be the most beautiful thing that Seunghyun had ever seen. The lighting was remarkable and it was as if everything around Jiyong glowed though, what Seunghyun found heart-breaking, Jiyong himself did not. The light dimmed at the edges of his skin, casting flickers of shadow along his back from the glow of a back light, a sigh escaped Seunghyun’s open mouth whilst his eyes searched for more clues. The light from one of Bae’s window caused Seunghyun to notice that on the back of the photo he could see some writing, he turned the photo over and stared at it.

“Breathe.”

It was one word but it spoke volumes to Seunghyun, he remembered Jiyong’s note with the same title and once he turned the photo back over it suddenly made complete sense. Jiyong was lonely, cut off from the rest of the world for no particular reason at all, and he hated it. Seunghyun cleared his throat, he felt as if he was choking from the discovery, the tears that had been threatening to escape finally did and Seunghyun didn’t try to sniffle them back in. Jiyong had felt loneliness too. The one who provided Seunghyun’s life with unbridled happiness experienced the exact opposite.

After a while Seunghyun was able to stop crying and he hurriedly placed the photo back into its plastic pocket when he heard a pair of keys click in a lock. He wiped his watery eyes on his t-shirt and quickly regained his composure, it didn’t take long for the person to shuffle their way into the apartment and call out for any sign of life.

“Seunghyun?” He froze when it wasn’t Bae’s voice, bugger! It was Jiyong. He shoved the portfolio under Bae’s pillows and sprang up to the door, upon opening it he almost collided with Jiyong who looked utterly bewildered. “Seunghyun?!” Jiyong repeated once more.

“Jiyong!” Seunghyun smiled and swiftly pulled a dozed Jiyong into his arms. “You’re back!”

“Yeah I texted you, didn’t you get my text or do I still not have the right number?” Jiyong sounded exhausted and Seunghyun could tell by the raspy flare of irritation in his usually soft voice.

“I’ll have to check my phone, sorry!” Seunghyun pulled back and released Jiyong from the embrace. “I, uh- I’m sorry for last night” He could feel his cheeks burning up but he knew he had to say something about it. “I don’t really remember that much but, uh, Bae told me what I did” The irritation in Jiyong’s face seemed to fade and instead that happy go lucky smile returned. “And, uh, I don’t think the aliens are really going to invade…” He looked away from Jiyong and down to his bare toes, he wiggled them. Jiyong burst out laughing which Seunghyun took as a good, but still embarrassing, sign.

“Don’t worry about it” Seunghyun felt a cold hand gently squeeze his arm and he looked up to see Jiyong’s radiant giggle. “And anyway I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard”

“Well I’m glad I could at least entertain you” Seunghyun smirked and in response Jiyong did that thing where he nibbled on the edge of his bottom lip. Seunghyun stared remembering how last night he had kissed those lips, not just once but twice and had immensely enjoyed the feeling. He could feel that familiar heat rising within his chest and a breath was lost somewhere in the back of his throat.

“Good” A sudden grip on Seunghyun’s hand tugged him back down the hallway and into the living area. “Oh I forgot, I, err, have to go back to work in a bit. Actually I should really be there now but, well I’m supposed to have a break so I’m having a break” Jiyong let go of Seunghyun’s hand and dived onto the sofa. “I couldn’t stop worrying about if you were O.K or not” He reached out for Seunghyun’s hand again and pulled him, with no protest Seunghyun fell beside Jiyong on the sofa. “I take it you don’t drink that often?”

“Not particularly, no” Seunghyun admitted shifting about a little bit. “Do you?”

“Not really” Jiyong yawned and stretched his arms out in front of them. “I’m a bit of a lightweight as you probably saw last night”

“Yeah…” Seunghyun could feel his hands sweating so he tried to wipe them on the tops of his trousers. “Then I returned the favour huh?” He managed to sigh and smile at the same time.

“Yeah” Jiyong smiled too “What was the last thing that you remember about last night?” Seunghyun looked from his still moving hands and up to Jiyong who looked as if something was presently bothering him.

“Truthfully…” Seunghyun thought his answer out loud. “The last thing I can clearly remember is the balcony then somehow we got back inside the bar and after that it’s kind of a bit fuzzy…”

“Ah I see” Jiyong looked a little relieved though he didn’t say anything else, Seunghyun watched him from the corner of his eyes as Jiyong’s eyebrows furrowed together. Something was still troubling him and a little silence filled the air as he thought, Seunghyun wondered what was going on inside Jiyong’s head. However, before Seunghyun could ask what was going on the front door slammed open in front of them and Bae hurled himself into the apartment. Both Seunghyun and Jiyong jumped in their seats, scared to death of the unexpected noise.

“ all the men!” Bae angrily kicked his shoes off and allowed them to land wherever they flew to.

“That sounds like an exhausting achievement” Seunghyun mumbled earning him a dig in the ribs and a contained laugh from Jiyong.

“What’s the matter Bae?” Jiyong politely asked.

“Just them all! Aish I give up on the lot of them!” He tore his puffy black coat off and threw it to the floor. “Dickheads the lot of them, not one single decent er in the entire population!!” He jumped onto a recliner which sat opposite Jiyong and Seunghyun’s sofa and tugged at the lever. “Oh it was only a bit of fun they say, it was fun whilst it lasted they add, and I’ve come to the realisation that I’m not gay they conclude” The recliner lurched backwards leaving only Bae’s still feet in view. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, I didn’t mean for this to get so deep, but one day I want a family and I can’t have that with you. You’re the only guy I’ve ever been with, I don’t actually like men - Ah!! I’m just sick of the bull! Of course you’re not into men, of course not, bloody liars! Maybe if you stopped ing them then maybe, just maybe, you could live your blissfully ignorant lives elsewhere!!”

Seunghyun had never heard so many curse words in a single sentence before but for some reason he felt seriously guilty. He watched as Jiyong scooted off the sofa and over to Bae, once there he climbed onto the arm of the recliner and offered his arms out to his friend. All Seunghyun saw was Bae’s arms reach out and pull Jiyong down into the recliner then the next thing he heard were muffled cries.

“I thought that you were happy with Jay?” Jiyong tried to soothe his friend but to no avail.

“Yeah but he wasn’t ing happy with me!” Bae seemed to be one of those guys who wore their hearts on their sleeves, Seunghyun started to admire him for this trait. “I’d ask you what in the hell you’re doing here Ji if I didn’t need you right now” Bae sternly added.

“Well I came back to see how you and Seunghyun were getting on” Jiyong quickly answered “And I brought lunch, for later” Seunghyun kept still thinking that if he did this he would become invisible and not invade what was obviously a very personal conversation.

“Ah I completely forgot!” Suddenly the recliner jolted upwards and Jiyong was almost propelled from the bloody thing that is, if it wasn’t for Bae holding him around the waist. “Seunghyun I’m sorry, how did you get on?”

“Don’t worry about me” Seunghyun’s voice cracked from the pressure of both Bae and Jiyong’s expectant stares. “I’ll, uh, I want to get a breath of air so…” He slowly stood up “I’ll be back, you guys just-just” Shuffling sideways away from the sofa Seunghyun quickly made his way to the door which Bae had walked through and left. He figured that Bae needed some space to talk to Jiyong about what had happened to him and Seunghyun, a total stranger, didn’t need to eavesdrop on their conversation.

The only thing left out of Seunghyun’s reasoning was a coat and a pair of shoes, he gazed around the outside hallway and folded his arms as tightly as he could, and it was freezing out here. Though Seunghyun didn’t want to walk back into the apartment so the only thing he could do was leave, he wandered along the hallway and noticed the choice of a lift or some stairs. Seunghyun pressed the button for the lift and waited until the doors dinged open then he climbed inside. Once inside he looked at the all buttons by the lift door and you could just tell that the lift itself was clearly old by the way in which the doors jittered close. There were a grand total of five buttons and on each one a little piece of paper was cello-taped to it; Floor 1, Floor 2, Floor 3, Floor 4 and Rooftop. Hmm… The rooftop sounded intriguing so Seunghyun pressed the button.

The lift came to a sharp halt and for a moment Seunghyun felt as if he was about to die, though that was a little over dramatic because the lift finally dinged meaning that they had reached their destination. Seunghyun clambered out of the lift, the instant shock of the cold clawed at his feet and he desperately wanted to call the death-trap back. Resisting the urge Seunghyun moved forward observing the rooftop which was fairly plain, you know just a normal roof, and he walked over to the very edge of the building. As he wandered around the cold no longer felt like such a shock and he quickly became numb from the feeling but that didn’t stop Seunghyun from keeping his arms folded together and shivering. Sniffling back the cold he stared at the beautiful view before him; Seoul was truly open for business and he affectionately remembered why he had wanted to move here with his parents in the first place. He’d been excited by the whizz of the city, the life which thrived here and then he remembered Mihyun’s slurred words from last night. He sighed in a deep breath of fresh air and pondered, that plan had been entirely messed up by none other than yours truly…

No, Seunghyun shook his head, he wasn’t going to dwell on the negatives, he was a positive guy now and anyway if his life hadn’t turned out this way Seunghyun would have never Jiyong. And he didn’t want that, he was thankful for meeting such a person that could stir a feeling of warmth in what used to be his frozen insides. Happiness was a current feeling and Seunghyun was going to stick to feeling this way.

He decided there and then that he was going to make things better, and if Seunghyun couldn’t do that for himself, he was going to do it for Jiyong. That guy deserved everything and so much more. Seunghyun turned his back on the city skyline and sat down on the roof, bringing his knees up to his chin, he huddled in on himself. This made him sufficiently warmer and he closed his eyes, enjoying the comfortable feeling. Bae’s words started to repeat over and over in Seunghyun’s mind and he found himself smiling at the thought that Jiyong liked him, Jiyong had kissed him, and even though he’d only just met Bae the guy honestly spoke about how happy Seunghyun made Jiyong. Seunghyun had the ability to make someone happy and that someone wasn’t just anyone, it was Jiyong who made him feel the same way.

This led Seunghyun to wonder why he had felt a little angry last night, what it was that instigated his need to escape, and then he remembered. It wasn’t as if he was uncomfortable with the idea of being close to Jiyong, emotionally and physically, but it was bugging him how people felt the need to comment on his private relationship. Yes it was definitely a relationship Seunghyun knew that they were more than cosy friends, heck he even wanted that, now a new turn in the road of Seunghyun’s life presented itself:

Was he actually gay? Did he like men? Like really like men? Or was it more of a passing infatuation with someone who had shown him just a slither of kindness?

No it couldn’t possibly be the second simply because Seunghyun wanted to stay right by Jiyong’s side at all times, he loved and simultaneously missed him, and then Seunghyun winced. That only left one other answer…

Seunghyun had never really felt any kind of attraction to anyone before and the more he thought about it the more puzzled he became. Sure he found people good looking but he’d never wanted to kiss them, not in the way that he found himself wanting to kiss Jiyong again. Though last night, Seunghyun remembered, he had found that barman, oh what was his name again? Pretty good looking, he even enjoyed the little flirting and the fluttering of eyelashes when the guy had offered himself in the place of something sweet.

Maybe he did like men, maybe saying that he only liked Jiyong was a bit of a cop out, but he just didn’t know. Seunghyun couldn’t remember ever having those weird teenage crushes on celebrities or classmates he was always just content with being someone’s friend. Ever since meeting Jiyong, though, he wanted to be more of a friend. He wanted to be the guy’s partner in everything, to witness Jiyong’s life first-hand and if that meant that he had to put up with stupid people’s judgements and snickering remarks then he’d do that. He’d just have to put up with it.

Seunghyun’s mind was made up with the simple reasoning of just how happy Jiyong made him feel, that slither of kindness and happiness was more than anything that Seunghyun had wanted in his whole life. Jiyong was obviously gay and he was happy about it so… Seunghyun could be too, if he could just let go of these thoughts and feel. Feeling was good. Feeling was wonderful.

Time just seemed to slip away from Seunghyun as he sat on the rooftop and contemplated life, so much so that he didn’t notice when someone cautiously approached him. When said person knelt down in front of him and gently tried to shake him to see if he was still alive it felt as if life was being shocked back into Seunghyun’s frozen body. He opened his eyes to the touch and his heart rate slow down as he smiled out the other person’s name. 

“Jiyong?”

“Seunghyun what are you doing out here without a coat and some shoes on? Huh you’ll catch a cold” It was now Seunghyun noticed that Jiyong was carrying a blanket and he tenderly wrapped it around Seunghyun as he spoke. Once he had finished talking Jiyong ran his arms up and down the sides of the blankets trying to warm Seunghyun up.

“I thought that Bae needed some space” Seunghyun mumbled, his voice weak from not speaking.

“Don’t be silly, Bae’s an open book, don’t worry about anything, O.K?”

“O.K” Seunghyun repeated with a nod.

“Now the question is are you alright? Why do you look so distant?” Jiyong shuffled and sat down in front of Seunghyun so that his open legs were tucked around Seunghyun’s, he still kept trying to warm Seunghyun up with his hands and the latter smiled at their sudden closeness.

“I was just thinking…” Seunghyun mumbled again as his eyes glanced up from his shivering knees and into Jiyong’s welcoming orbs.

“About?”

“Well… I, uh” Seunghyun cleared his throat in a last ditch attempt to regain control over his own voice. “Us” He simply answered.

“What about us?” That look of concern from earlier on the sofa reappeared on Jiyong’s face, obviously he had been thinking about them too.

“What we are” Seunghyun took a moment to glance away from Jiyong, he was sure that his stomach could’ve won a gold medal in gymnastics by now.

“Seunghyun, I don’t want you to rush into anything that you don’t want” Seunghyun felt a soft hand glide past his chin and over to his cheek, Jiyong pulled his gaze back. “I could tell that what Bae said worried you-”

“What?” Seunghyun looked directly into Jiyong’s eyes, he wanted to get lost in the gorgeous sight and stay this way forever.

“I’ve been where you are and it’s O.K, if you want us to just be a bit of fun or just friends I don’t mind” Seunghyun felt a little stung by this but Jiyong continued. “I don’t want you to feel pressured by anything and last night, well, it was wonderful but you were vulnerable and I shouldn’t have taken advantage of that, I should’ve just took you home, I’m so sorry” Jiyong gently pinched Seunghyun’s cheek then retracted his hand. “When we first met you told me that you weren’t gay so I didn’t get my hopes up and if you just kissed me because you thought that’s what I wanted then you’re wrong. I’d rather keep you as a close friend then lose you because I’ve made things awkward”

“Jiyong…” Seunghyun breathed.

“No it’s fine, I’m used to it” Jiyong shrugged though the mask of smile on his face broke Seunghyun’s heart. “You just have to tell me how you feel”

“I meant everything that I said last night” Seunghyun spoke up, finally the power returned to his vocal cords. “Absolutely everything, I love you Jiyong Kwon and that’s never going to change. I’d rather die than lose you and this discovery, it made me think about us, and you’re the only person who can make me feel this way and I want to feel this way all the time. You make me think about the positives, dream about the possibilities and I can’t even begin to thank you enough for everything that you’ve done for me. I want to be in your life and I want to hold you, I don’t want to be a stupid shadow anymore, I want to be your Seunghyun. And I want us to grow together, to branch out into the world and make a place for us. I find myself wanting to do all those ridiculously cheesy things like matching couple outfits, taking stupid selcas, and eating ice cream together. And I only ever want to do those things with you. I have to admit I was worried about what other people might think, about how I’ll be labelled as some gay guy but I don’t care about that as much as I care about you. People already think bad enough of me already and so why should I give a damn about what else they'll think?” Seunghyun gripped the edge of the blanket and opened it. “You make me want to be a better person and I want you to be the very best that you can be, because you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me”

“Seunghy-Seunghyun?” Jiyong’s tongue tripped on his words and he looked blank, so beautifully blank. Seunghyun dropped the blanket and grabbed Jiyong’s legs, lifting them into the air slightly and sliding his own legs underneath the unsuspecting guys. He then gently placed Jiyong’s legs over his and pulled Jiyong close, once they were sat close enough Seunghyun lifted the blanket back up and wrapped them both in it. He could feel the heat from Jiyong’s body begin to warm his own up.

“And I’m already awkward” Seunghyun added with a gleaming smile “So you don’t have to worry about things becoming that way” He slid his hands onto Jiyong’s back and trapped the edge of the blanket there. Jiyong smiled

“I love you too Seunghyun Choi”

At the exact same time both Jiyong and Seunghyun leaned in for a kiss and because of their awful timing their noses bumped together. Both let out a painful sigh then laughed

“See awkward?” Seunghyun raised a playful eyebrow causing Jiyong to burst out laughing and he shook his head when Seunghyun leaned in again.

“The moment’s passed now” Jiyong laughed opting instead to lean against Seunghyun’s chest. Seunghyun couldn’t help but laugh too and they giggled together wrapped up in the comfort of their love, both extraordinarily happy to finally be on the same level. When the shared laughter subsided Jiyong quietly asked “Does this mean that you’re my boyfriend now?” He asked the question almost too quietly as if he was afraid of being rejected.

“Do you even have to ask that question after what I’ve just told you?” Seunghyun nudged the top of Jiyong’s head with his chin. “After all that, everything I said, and you-” Jiyong leaned away from Seunghyun and stared up at him.

“Oh just shut up and kiss me you idiot!” Jiyong interrupted whilst slipping his hands around Seunghyun’s cheeks and pulling their faces together into a light heavenly kiss.

Kissing Jiyong Bonus Moment.

Once Bae closed the apartment door, after letting a furiously panting Jiyong back in, he shuffled over to the sofa and flopped on it. Jiyong perched in the recliner looking as if he was about to die but Bae shrugged and buried his head into the sofa. He heard Jiyong mumble something about being happy and he groaned as a perfectly clear answer, he loved seeing his friend happy but come on, how happy can one person be?

Bae realised that he needed sleep and so he pushed himself up and off the sofa, glancing around he noticed that Jiyong was gone. He remembered how Daesung had skipped off to his room previously and so he wondered if Jiyong had done the same. Wandering down the corridor Bae was almost assaulted by Jiyong as he crashed straight into his roommate, a little dizzy he asked

“What in the heck are you doing Ji?!” Bae dusted himself off and straightened his jacket before offering a hand to the fallen Jiyong. Now it could’ve been embarrassing if Bae was Daesung but he wasn’t so it was O.K, Jiyong latched onto Bae’s grip and he pulled the much lighter man off the ground.

“Sorry Bae, I was just, well I put my phone somewhere and I thought that maybe I’d lost it in the recliner somehow so when I remembered I tried to run into…”

“Yeah and hit me on your way!” Bae laughed, he couldn’t stay mad at Jiyong for long. “Anyway aren’t you tired, why are you still dressed?” He tugged at the baggy green hoody which Jiyong must’ve just changed out of his work clothes and into.

“Oh” Jiyong suddenly blushed as if he had been caught red handed doing something he shouldn’t. “I am ready for bed” He tugged down the sleeves of the hoody and smiled “I can only fall asleep wearing this, don’t laugh at me, but when I first met Seunghyun, he made me wear it because it was cold and since then I just can’t give it back to him” The redness of Jiyong’s blush seemed to turn the rest of his body into a tomato and Bae laughed.

“Pass me a bucket, please!” Bae sidestepped Jiyong and leant against his bedroom door. “Ugh! Young love, it makes me sick” He continued to laugh as Jiyong offered yet another apology and resumed his jog back into the living area. Bae rolled his eyes as he closed the door “I hope they realise how lucky they are” He grumbled as he jumped onto his bed and sank his head face first into his plush cushions. The comforting moment was quickly ruined by something sharp digging into the bridge of Bae’s nose, he jumped up onto his knees and shifted the pillows, Jiyong’s portfolio. Bae slid off the bed and returned it to the drawer “I’ll give it to Seunghyun when I next see him” Bae concluded before jumping back onto his bed and falling asleep.

New header, I hope you guys like it! This is an extra long chapter so I hope that explains why there's been a bit of break between my last upload. And Bae's POV was just a one off extra bonus! Let me know what you think :) Love to all you wonderful folks! Oh and I've nearly finished the next chapter so not long to wait now!