It was Friday after school and the entire school was already gossiping about Woohyun’s older girlfriend. It was safe to say that the four boys who knew of the plan were beyond surprised. Sunggyu heard the girls buzzing about it all day and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. That girlfriend they were talking about at the moment was supposed to be him after all. He text everyone the news only to be told that they already knew. Maybe that would shut Gyuri up once and for all.

“This worked a little too well, don’t you think?” Dongwoo asked once they were all standing outside around Woohyun’s bike.

“You underestimate the power of gossip, Dongwoo,” Hoya stated, patting the man’s shoulder.

“Well I’ve never been part of it, Mr. Popular,” Dongwoo retorted as he hit the hand away none too gently.

“Well, some girl was standing near me, she looked like she wanted to talk to me… so I made sure she heard everything…,” Woohyun explained as he ignored the slight bickering of those two.

“Well, whatever the case may be, this worked. Good job,” Sunggyu praised, patting the younger male on the head, making him grunt in annoyance and try to smack the hand away. Luckily, Sunggyu retreated when he saw his intentions.

Myungsoo simply laughed at his brother’s misfortune. He was filled in by his brother when they returned to lunch and so he was caught up with everything that was going on. He felt bad for Yeunja, especially since they became close friends.

“Well, anyway, I really think you should stop offering her rides,” Sunggyu said, all traces of playfulness gone.

They all turned their attention to him at those words. Woohyun sighed when he realized Sunggyu wasn’t going to drop it.

“We already talked about this—”

“I want you to stop.”

“I’m not going to do it,” he answered, staring back unwaveringly, “I won’t until Yeunja decides it on her own.”

Sunggyu’s jaw tightened and his retort was forced down his throat as his sister finally showed up. She was out of breath and seemed worried. After greeting everyone, she turned her attention to Woohyun.

“So, Woohyun, I’ve been hearing all day that you’ve got a girlfriend. Is it true?” she asked, glancing at her brother to see his reaction. She was impressed that he could keep his poker face.

“Oh, you have? News gets around quick here. Yeah, I do,” he answered with a smile.

“Oh, really…? Is she older…?” she asked, wanting to get all the info at that very moment. She wanted to know what kind of women he liked. Maybe she’d be able to pick out similarities between his girlfriend and her brother. There was never a lost cause after all, at least not when she was involved.

“Yeah!” he answered happily.

“Is she prettier than Aecha?” she asked, elbowing him teasingly, resisting the urge to turn her gaze to her brother.

“Well… I don’t know about that…,” he responded carefully, suddenly very aware that Sunggyu was there. Dongwoo tensed up a bit and Hoya turned his attention to the red head, wondering what Sunggyu’s reaction could be. He was surprised to see the red head flushing while glaring at his own sister.

“No one can beat her, right?” she asked as she continued to nudge the male playfully, “She’s the prettiest you’ve ever seen, isn’t she?”

Woohyun felt himself go hot in the face, blushing as he tried to rack his brain for something else to talk about and very uselessly coming up with nothing. Sunggyu made it clear that he wasn’t happy he was interested in his older and married sister (not that he could blame him, he wasn’t about to become a home-wrecker either), and Yeunja wasn’t helping his case at all. He didn’t want to get on Sunggyu’s bad side because of that. They were friends now, after all.

Sunggyu huffed loudly before turning away, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone as he began to walk home, completely forgetting about the argument he was having with Woohyun beforehand. It was odd how his sister could make him switch his anger to someone else so easily.

The perks of having siblings that know him all too well.

Dongwoo gave Woohyun a look, one that said ‘you screwed up,’ before saying goodbye in a rush and taking off after his best friend.

Stupid Yeunja! The red head thought as he practically power walked the first block away from the school. She was being unfair. How could she go and say those stupid things? How could he let himself get affected so much?

“Hey! Gyu! Hold on!” the red head sighed as he slowed down considerably, waiting for the pink haired male to reach him.

The male reached him moments after and he stopped. Dongwoo’s breathing was a little heavy as he adjusted his backpack, “Quite a sister complex you got there... I’ve never seen you do that before...”

“It’s not a sister complex! Yeunja was talking about…!” he stopped his sentence when Hoya reached them as well. There was no way he was going to let Hoya know about how he was abused (well, not abused) by his own sisters. How pathetic was that?

“Wasn’t that a little extreme?” Hoya asked, a bit winded as well. Damn those textbooks in his backpack.

Sunggyu only groaned as he pressed his palms against his temples.

Hoya was laughing. He was laughing a little too hard. Sunggyu glared at him before taking a pillow and hitting him as hard as he could with it, but it didn’t help.

“Woo-Woohyun…!” he managed to say between his laughter before falling over on the red head’s bed, laughing some more.

Sunggyu sighed as he watched the other. His lips eventually quirked up as well as he realized how ridiculous the whole thing was. Woohyun falling for an Aecha impostor that also happened to be a guy dressed in drag. He finally asked something that was bothering him for a while, the entire week to be precise (and perhaps it was just the thing to get him to stop laughing).

“By the way, why the heck have you been stuck to us like a leech?”

It worked like a charm.

“Is that how you speak to your close friends?” Hoya asked, his laughter gone when he realized he was being compared to a parasitic-like worm.

“Is that how you react to your close friends when they tell you a secret?” he countered.

“…Fine,” he relented, chuckling as he sat up, “It’s because I’ve been worried about Yeunja… She’s like my sister too, you know.”

Sunggyu didn’t say anything, simply nodding at the male, “But wow Gyu, I haven’t been here in a while…,” he stood and was opening the balcony doors at the foot of the bed.

Nothing changed except maybe a few things on the walls and the covers of the bed. The keyboard that was resting next to the desk that was to the right of the doorway was new, as well as the guitar that rested on its stand next to it. The bed was still directly across the door, lengthwise. The T.V. was new and a lot bigger than the one he used to have. It was resting on a small black metal and glass entertainment system with his game console and games sitting orderly on the shelves. The middle shelf was full of CD’s. Nothing but American, English and Korean bands’ discs lined it up with a few pop artists thrown in here and there.

There was a small bookcase to the left of the entertainment system that was filled. There were a few mangas and books sitting on those shelves. There was also a huge mirror hanging on the wall above it. The room was painted a pastel blue that coordinated well with the sheets and pillows of the bed.

“Hmm, I wonder why?” Sunggyu said sarcastically, turning to Dongwoo in his mock wondering, “Why do you think so, Woo?”

“Hmm… maybe because he dumped us for a whole team,” Dongwoo said without any heat but definitely in a teasing manner.

“Hey, I like a little variety. I had to change it up a bit, you know,” he answered back in the same manner.

Sunggyu scoffed, “What an . Do they treat you better? Do they do the things we did for you?”

“They’re a little rough, but it’s okay, I like it. But you guys know you are my number one right?” Hoya asked, sending a couple of suggestive looks their way.

“Woah, woah! I think we should stop there, this is getting a little weird,” Dongwoo interrupted with a fit of giggles.

Hoya laughed as well before walking out into the balcony. The afternoon was slowly turning into evening but the sun was still up high in the sky. Hoya remembered the afternoons they used to spend playing video games or playing with Sunggyu’s sisters. The red head’s house was always lively with so many people living in it. He remembered liking that about visiting him and staying over but once he found his own hobby, he gravitated towards it. He never really felt himself lonely after that. He has an older brother, six years older, and he already had his life made. He had his own life to attend to and no longer had time for his younger brother. His parents weren’t workaholics and they were always there when he needed them, but it was still lonely when there was no one his age around to play with.

He owed a lot to Dongwoo and Sunggyu, even if they had no clue. He could have made a bigger effort to hang out with them sooner but he always had some excuse. Although those weren’t entirely lies, practice, skirmish matches and actual matches kept him busy most afternoons during his sophomore and junior years. He was regretting that now. Sunggyu’s house hadn’t changed at all since the last time he was there and that made him happy. He was greeted by everyone like family. He remembered why Dongwoo and Sunggyu were his best friends. He smiled slightly.

“That’s kinda creepy, man,” he heard someone say and he looked around.

The voice sounded awfully familiar. The owner of the voice was confirmed when he turned to the neighbor’s backyard to see Woohyun standing there.

“I’m creepy? What the hell are you doing here? Spying on Sunggyu’s sister?” he asked, a little disturbed that Woohyun would be sneaking into people’s backyards.

“I live here,” he stated bluntly before muttering, “.”

Hoya stared at him for a second, taking in the information slowly before abruptly disappearing into the house, making Woohyun raise a brow in question.

“Woohyun’s your neighbor?!” Woohyun chuckled, his brows raising when he heard that. For a cool guy, Hoya could be quite dramatic at times.

“Yeah…?” Sunggyu answered calmly, giving him a look as well.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“It slipped my mind…?”

“Well now I understand why he gives her rides on a daily basis. I thought he was pinning after her!” Hoya exclaimed, the expression on his face declaring the epiphany he had at that moment.

It made Sunggyu giggle, “You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah well, thanks for filling me in with the details,” he said, giving him a glare.

“Speaking of details, Mr. Witchcraft down there prefers older women,” Sunggyu declared, trying to emphasize the fact that he really wasn’t interested in Yeunja.

“Older women…?” a poorly contained laugh escaped the athlete’s lips before he began to laugh at full blast, “You mean like you?” he asked between breaths.

“The !” Sunggyu yelled, annoyed. He was glad the male found it so funny. It weakened him enough to be thrown out into the balcony. He made sure to lock the door and draw the curtains before turning to Dongwoo who was laughing at the situation.

Sunggyu sighed dramatically, “You guys were made for each other.”

Hoya sat on the dark wooden beach chair that was out on the balcony. It was generously cushioned and he leaned back, letting out a sigh as his body relaxed from all the laughing. He couldn’t help the fact that he thought it funny. Woohyun was such a suave and cool guy, so to know that he didn’t recognize that he fell for a guy was funny, at least to him.

“Did you just get kicked out of the room?”

The dark haired male sat up and looked over the balcony railings. Woohyun was still standing there, next to the trash bins. So the guy was taking out the trash. Cute.

“Say, why don’t you come over?” the other asked, ignoring the question.

“I don’t think Sunggyu wants to see me right now,” the junior stated.

He really wasn’t sure what he would be facing if he saw the red headed senior. He was a little embarrassed at how easily Yeunja’s words turned him into a fool. He could have handled the situation differently, he realized it later, but he completely drew blanks in that instant.

“Bull,” Hoya waved his hand in dismissal before an idea popped into his head, “He actually threw me out here to ask you to come over.”

Woohyun’s brow rose in obvious disbelief. He’d never been invited over before. He didn’t see why that would suddenly change out of nowhere, especially when Sunggyu got mad at him earlier.

This guy is pretty smart, Hoya thought as he saw his face, “He says he feels bad for overreacting and he’s being a little…uh… stubborn about how to apologize. I’m making this easier for him, man. Trust me.”

Woohyun looked away towards the street. A car passed by their quiet houses, before making up his mind, “Alright. I’ll be there in a bit.”

Sunggyu sighed as he stared at his hands, absentmindedly picking at his nails. He and Dongwoo were having a serious discussion and he was nervous at what the conclusion to it was going to be.

“This is a big deal, you know?” the red head finally said, in a low voice, “The only ones who know are my family and you. I don’t want this to go public.”

“I know. I’m on the same boat as you,” Dongwoo assured him, “but I don’t think it’s a good idea to let him know… at least not yet.”

“So… I guess we should keep our preferences to ourselves for now then?” Dongwoo nodded and just as Sunggyu got up to go open the balcony doors to finally let the jock in, there was a knock at his door.

“Who is it?” he asked as he changed his direction. He opened the door to reveal the object of his frustrations.

He was about to close the door on him again when the younger guy quickly spoke, “Hoya told me you wanted me here.”

That definitely stopped his movements, “That bastard,” he mumbled before turning and heading to his original destination.

“Come in. Let’s play video games.” Dongwoo invited as he stood from the desk’s chair he was residing on and grabbing two controllers.

“How dare you invite people into my room!” they heard Sunggyu yell once he was outside, making the two guys that were inside chuckle.

“It’s almost like watching a drama,” Woohyun commented when he heard Hoya apologize before yelling for help.

It was another Thursday after school. Hoya made it his duty to follow Sunggyu and Dongwoo home every day. As a result, they all ended up in Sunggyu’s room, some doing homework, others playing video games and sometimes watching some sort of show or movie. Woohyun and Myungsoo were over all week as well.

The bullying incident kind of blew over. Haneul mentioned to Sunggyu that Yeunja was fine. She didn’t see any more bruises on her.

Everyone gathered around the brother’s bikes. They were waiting on her to show up so that everyone could get going. Dongwoo and Woohyun were talking about a show they just started the night before while Hoya and Myungsoo talked about the computing class they shared, with Sunggyu occasionally throwing in his two cents.

There was a sudden commotion by the side doors of the school, around the area where they were all waiting. The red head ly to see that a large crowd formed a little ways away from the school building. Students were rushing in from all sides, trying to see what all the fuss was about.

“A fight?” Hoya asked no one in particular as he craned his neck to try and see who it was. He left the group to approach the mob but stopped a little ways away, “Hey, Ilhoon!”

The lower classman stopped to address the other, “Hey what’s up?”

“What’s going on over there?”

“It’s Gyuri. She’s picking a fight with the junior again,” the guy answered as he gestured with his hand, telling his friends to wait for him.

“Again?” Hoya asked, not liking the immediate conclusion he drew.

“Yeah, you know, the same one from last week?”

The senior groaned before thanking the teen. He quickly turned to the guys again, “It’s Yeunja!”