He called it.

Didn’t he call it?

Youngbae knew the moment she stepped inside his apartment that things didn’t go well.  Her eyelids were puffy and traces of tear tracks were still visible along the outer-corners of her moon-shaped eyes.  When she ambled forward and shut the door, he could see the tip of her nose rubbed raw where she had been none-to-gentle with the wad of tissues that were still tightly fisted against her side.  He kept the tone of his voice light, but there was nothing he could do to prevent the cloak of sympathy from masking his usual cheerful brown eyes.

“So how’d it go?” Youngbae asked, feeling his heart lurch slightly at her upturned heart broken face.

She gazed miserably at his chest, barely shaking her head, before flopping lifelessly onto the sectional like someone had just pulled the plug from her.  She lay motionless, staring up at the ceiling, sniffling quietly to herself.

He bit his inner cheek to stop himself from smiling.  He was a cad, he knew.  It was totally inappropriate.  She looked so forlorn, like the world had just ended.  And here he was – feeling smugly superior.

Youngbae walked round and tugged at her ankles, lifting them up so he could make room for himself.  The faint scent of Arabica beans and cinnamon teased his nose as he repositioned her red Chuck Taylor low-tops across his jean-clad thighs.  Perching his arm along the backside of the couch, Youngbae peered down at his friend of three years and watched a myriad of emotions swirl in the depths of her dark caramel colored eyes. 

She wasn’t always this pathetic, he jokingly chided to himself.  In fact, there was a time when he found her kind of… cute?  Was that a compliment?  He wasn’t sure with females nowadays.  Not that she would take it that way now, knowing what he knew.  When he met her at Teddy hyung’s Twosome Studio’s opening that one fateful cold February night years ago, he could only remember the aura of authority that clung to her small frame as she earnestly ordered the staff to their places.  The way she effortlessly handled the massive crowd of people with a smile on her face, even as the stress of the evening wore on.  And the look of adoration in her eyes when they were introduced… Only, it was directed towards his best friend instead of him.

But he was used to being looked over; used to being the wingman.  So he had shelved her in his “friend” category and never looked back.  And it was for the better, it seemed.  For she became his outlet during times of stress.  A “coffee-break” friendly face that he could talk to and generalize with that wasn’t part of his world.  One that didn’t judge or have any desire to pursue a networking relationship with him to further her own ambitions or goals in life.  No, she was a good friend.  And he… well, he was about to test the limits of their friendship right about now.   

Youngbae lifted a sardonic eyebrow, a whisper of a smile on his lips.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“Shut up.”

Her tone lacked anger, only quiet resignation. 

He smirked and glanced knowingly away.  He could hear the sounds of her thoughts churning inside her head, could see from the corner of his eye how stressed out she was just by the way she was fidgeting with the zipper of her oversized shapeless black sweatshirt hoodie.  She started rubbing the tips of her toes together, a subtle anxious habit he knew she did whenever she was lost in thought.

“Hey now…” he coaxed gently, clamping his hand over her ankle to still her movements.  The heat from his palm radiated through her plain white anklet crew socks and penetrated her senses.  Her eyes warily met his.

Youngbae studied her face from above, thinking over the words he was about to say.  He gave her a small lop-sided grin.  “It can’t be that bad, right?”

She stared up morosely at his face.  He was always so clueless when it came to women.  Couldn’t he tell that she was upset?  Her eyes constricted tightly while her lips downturned into a small pout.  “How would you feel… if you found out…”

He watched her sniff indelicately, a slight pinched look on her face.

“… that you’ve been in love with gay man for an entire year?”

He stared at her with shocked surprise, the light in his eyes flickering with suppressed laughter.  He worked his jaw back and forth, doing his best to keep the corners of his mouth from curving up but the damn thing just wouldn’t obey.  Against his will, Youngbae choked out a laugh, clearing his throat in the process with a quick fist rub to his mouth. 

“You know what I mean!” she growled with irritation, shoving him hard against his chest.  She eyed the way his eyes crinkled up at the corners with pure annoyance and swung her legs off his lap.  With set in a downturn frown, she could only stare sullenly at the way his lips kept quivering over and over – flashes of his white teeth peeping through to taunt her with every passing second.  She tsked under her breath and looked disgustedly away, folding her hands across her torso.

She turned her body away from him and gazed off into the distance, fuming over her misery.

Fuming over her stupidity.

Youngbae slowly rubbed at his chest, tempering the rest of his laughter away.  He knew he was wrong… so, so wrong.  But the manner in which she confessed was too funny to resist.  And damn you, Jiyong!  He took a deep breath and felt more in control of himself, trusted himself to not become a sadist in the midst of her agony.  Knowing them, they would laugh about this later.  But right now, she needed him.

As he peered at her through his lashes, Youngbae felt his heart go out to her.  With a heavy sigh, he straightened and shifted closer towards the edge of the seat, clasping his hands lightly between his spread legs.  He gently laid a hand on the upper part of her back, patting her - his sorry, lame, attempt to console her.

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better… you’re probably not the first one.”  She whipped her head round so fast that he automatically drew his hand back.

“You knew?” her eyes accused him.

, that came out wrong.  He grinned sheepishly and started scratching the back of his neck.

“Ah, well….”

“Omo!  Of course you knew!” she cried out loud, cringing in mortification.  She covered her entire face with her hands and braced her elbows on her knees.  “I… I c-can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” her voice shook.

The smile on his face slowly died.  Damn.  She was really upset.

“I… I didn’t know you were actually going to do it,” he pitifully replied.  “I thought it was just a crush.”

She looked over at him, her eyes full of pain and embarrassment.  “What part of, ‘Hey!  I think I’m going to ask Jiyong oppa on a date’ did you not think I was going to do?!” she asked heatedly.  She sprung up off the sectional and glared at him.

Youngbae his lips nervously.  He needed an even playing field if he wanted to salvage their friendship.  He slowly stood up as well, feeling better already as he toppled her height.  Even though it was mere centimeters, it definitely gave him a boost in the confidence department to continue.  Because there was no way he was going to admit he did anything wrong.  No, he was just being a good friend.

“Well, what did you exp