Weeks later.

“You have 0 new messages— “ Zelo hangs up before the robotic woman could finish her sentence. He lies down on the couch, slamming his long legs down onto the armrest petulantly. Zelo is extremely irritated by the fact that his voicemail has been empty for more than a week and the calls are never from his mother. The allowance still comes in on time, but that’s not why he’s waiting for her call though. Zelo huffs with impatience as he glares at the telephone which never fails to disappoint him with each ring. Sometimes, the money in his bank increases by more than it should have, which makes Zelo even more upset as he imagines his mother putting in more money to his account as she listens to the suggestion of her partner to give more to him. He doesn’t want his money. Zelo scoffs. Sometimes he imagines her adding extra allowance because she is guilty for neglecting him and pays him for her lack of attention towards him. The more he thinks about it, the angrier Zelo gets. He throws his legs over the couch and stalks to his room before slamming his door shut and turning the stereo up louder than he is allowed during night time. The music on the radio blasts loudly through the speakers as he dives into his bed, grabbing pillow and shoving his face into it, screaming and shouting incoherently. He kicks and thrashes his arms, beating his bed and jumping on it until he feels better. The DJ on the station cues a new song, the slow-moving melody coaxing Zelo to silence.

I can’t fight this feeling any longer

And yet I’m still afraid to let it flow

What started out as friendship

Has grown stronger

I only wish I had the strength to let it show

Zelo blinks at the light above his head. Why does this sound so much like… him? His thoughts trail to the gummy smile and the wide eyes under the raised eyebrows when he daydreams. It’s been so long since Yongguk stayed over. Zelo misses him so much. If Yongguk was here, he won’t be thrashing in his bed, he won’t even have time to think about his mother because Yongguk will occupy every part of his mind.

Zelo closes his eyes and sighs. He feels for the familiar softness on his bed and a smile tugs on his lips when he finds tigger, the only tangible thing left from Yongguk’s sleepovers. He is lonely, yet again. And Yongguk is the cause of it. Zelo sighs again.

He raises tigger to his eye level.

“I miss you…”

>>>>>>>>>> 

Yongguk smiles when the radio starts playing the familiar lyrics he knows vaguely.

I can’t fight this feeling any longer

And yet I’m still afraid to let it flow

What started out as friendship—

Wait. Yongguk’s brows crease. This sounds oddly familiar to him like… a song about him? What started out as friendship… and the first thing that comes to his mind is Zelo. Yongguk coughs. This is too strange. No way. He shakes the thought away and continues scrolling through 9gag until his mind flashes a memory that makes his face flush. He almost drops his phone when he remembers his deed in Zelo’s house—bathroom to be more specifically. He could make any excuses to justify his act but it is still absolutely strange for a healthy teenage boy to kiss—no, scratch that—touch his lips to another healthy teenage boy’s lips. Yongguk bites on his fingers. .

But that was absolutely unavoidable. Zelo looked like a precious little thing with his lips moist and glistening in the shower so much that he had to ki—

Oh just shut up, brain.

He can hear himself mocking himself. He pinches the bridge of his nose, forcing his brain to stop whirling embarrassing thoughts inside his mind.

Groaning as he saunters out of his room to get a drink, Yongguk hears an unfamiliar voice in the house. A woman. He grabs the railings of the long stairs and peers at the door.

His father and a woman at the door.

The two stand at a respectable distance from each other as they exchange words but the friendliness between the two makes Yongguk’s brows crease. He sees the woman following his father into the house, looking around curiously at their spacious house as she carries her bag in front of her. Yongguk catches a clearer sight of the office lady, her hair tied into a long pony tail and looking relatively young compared to his father. He squints his eyes. That old man better not be up to something. He saunters down the stairs, disgruntled by the unexpected guest. He avoids looking in their direction when he makes his way to the kitchen to get a drink.

He reaches out to open the fridge door but Maria beats him to it.

“There’s a guest in the house.” She takes out a carton of orange juice and puts a can of soda into Yongguk’s hand in midair.

“I can tell.” Yongguk mutters with a roll of his eyes.

“What’s wrong with you.” Maria looks at him with an amused glance as she pours out the juice into two glasses.

“What what’s wrong with me?” Yongguk frowns and pops his can open.

“I don’t know.” Maria shrugs her shoulders and walks out of the kitchen with the filled glasses on a tray.

Yongguk huffs. Well, he is in a bad mood and he has all the right to be. And it’s not because of his Dad. Neither is it because of that woman.

He rolls his eyes and walks out of the kitchen to retreat to his room but is stopped by two pairs of eyes on him as he tries to go up the stairs as unnoticeable as possible.

He glances at his father who turned to look at him, looking almost like he expects Yongguk to come over so he can introduce him to his woman.

Yongguk resists the urge to roll his eyes apparently and steps up the stairs while drinking from his can, very unhappy with the pairs of eyes he feels on his back as he makes his way back into his little hole of a room. He’s gonna hide there and not come out until the irritable two leaves.

He plops down on his chair, clicking aimlessly on his desktop, browsing through music videos and scrolling through random websites which none seem to catch his interest. A grimace forms on Yongguk’s features.

He feels a strong feeling of disapproval and unhappiness when he sees his father with that woman who he assumes to be associated to his father in a business aspect but he can’t help b