Myungsoo and Sunggyu chose a spot off to the sidelines of the main bar. The two sat in silence. Myungsoo slowly sipped the alcohol from his cup while Sunggyu swirled his drink back and forth, unable to break the barrier between them.

When the younger took the last gulp of his drink and sat his glass on the bar table, Sunggyu stopped him.

“Where are you going?”

The boy scratched his head, “The bathroom?”

“Oh okay.”

Sunggyu took out a small packet of white powdery pills when he was positive Myungsoo was nowhere to be seen.

Just do it, it won’t kill him. Everything will be fine in the morning. Without further hesitation, he ordered second drink for the boy and dropped not one, but two pills into the dark liquid. Sunggyu watched as the pills sank to the bottom of the cup and quickly dissolved, forming tiny bubbles to the surface of the drink. There was no time for regret, it had already been done. The substance added in had already disappeared, as if nothing had happened. He smiled when his target was locked into place, heading his way.

“Here, I got you another one when you left,”

Myungsoo took the drink he was passed. He drank it without suspicion or second thoughts.

“Be a man and finish it in one go,” the older advised. Everything will be fine in the morning, Sunggyu told himself again in his head.

The younger took a deep breath and tilted his head back, letting it rest on the cushioned seats.

“Tired?”

 Myungsoo shook his head, “I’m fine, but I do feel more relaxed now. You know hyung, I had a lot of memories with Sungyeol in this bar. It’s weird how you brought me to this one out of all the bars and clubs on this street.”

Sunggyu felt his heart tense up. He somehow felt…bad? “Let’s forget about that guy tonight, alright?” 

“He’s not that guy, hyung. He’s the guy.”

The older could feel that the pills were slowly working up the other. Myungsoo was vulnerable now and his words were all over the place, opening up to him.

“He’s the guy that I’m willing to come out with. He’s the guy I’m willing to give up my carrier for. I don’t give a what others will think. I want him.”

Sunggyu looked that the heart broken boy fallen in front of him. It scared him. The fact that he was going to break him into smaller pieces than what he already was. The fact he didn’t have a clue what was going to happen when he wakes up, on the cover of every magazine, scandal reveled. A scandal that had been planned, a scam that he was in charge of.

“I’m sorry, Myungsoo, hyung is so sorry for what you have to go through,” he pulled the younger into a warm embrace, his back.

“It’s fine hyung, it’s not completely your fault. If I had made up my mind before hand, maybe Sungyeol would have been next to me right now.”

Sunggyu clenched onto the younger’s shoulder tighter, feeling remorse.

“But I’m scared, I’m actually so scared that he has given up on me already. I’m scared that he going to leave me for Woohyun.”

“Just cry it out, a man can cry when he’s drunk.”

And that being said, Myungsoo did cry. As if he was at home alone, he let his tears fall onto the older’s lap.  As if his image didn’t matter anymore, he spoke with a stutter and broken up sentences. Sunggyu stayed still, staring into the darkness. The loud music didn’t bother him. He heard nothing but the sniffling sounds from the boy next to him. And when they died down, he knew it was time to move on with his schedule.

Sunggyu managed to get Myungsoo out of the club successfully with the help of one of the bartenders. He caught a cab off the busy night streets and headed to a hotel. After up all the weird looks he was given the whole trip, he flung the boy onto the bed when he got into the room. Myungsoo wasn’t even responding to anything, he was sound asleep, unable to take note of anything. If he were thrown into the ocean, Sunggyu was sure he would just sink to bottom.

I’m sorry, Myungsoo. This is all for your own good.

____________________________________________________________

Myungsoo woke up finding himself, face planted on the pillow, having trouble breathing. He flipped himself so he was facing the sunny weather shining through the opened window.

“You’re awake now, I see.”

Myungsoo turned to where the voice was coming from. He saw Sunggyu sitting on the glass table in front of the bed.

“What the hell happened?” the younger rubbed his eyes, still half asleep.

“Seems like you had a really good night, mmm?”

“What?”

Sunggyu got on his feet and picked up a hot pink bra off the hotel carpets and a matching thong with the other hand. “How big were her s exactly?” He referred to the relatively large bra.

“What the !” Myungsoo was now wide awake. “There’s no way…”

“Yeah, way. I saw you leaving the club with another woman last night, I didn’t know she was that hot until I came to get you this morning.

“Where did she go?”

“Ehh, not sure, she told me to she left these here so you’d remember your wonderful night.”

“I swear to god I-”

“Myungsoo, you don’t have to explain, you’re a man now. And how many rounds did you guys go through? This is pretty crazy .”

The younger got off the bed to see what the older was referring to exactly. The sight scared him. His bed was surrounded by multiple condoms.

“No. no.” He sat back down onto the bed.

“Well, I’d say it’s something worth celebrating.”

“Hyung, I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“Well-” Sunggyu stopped to pick up his phone, “hello? What? Okay, I’ll check.” He looked at Myungsoo, who had his head down.

“Dude, I think we’d better check the news sources. You’re on them.”

“WHAT?”

Sunggyu pulled up multiple magazine web sites, all featuring a certain scandal. “Oh , you’re in deep .”

Myungsoo took the phone thrown towards him, reading all the titles displayed. Kim Myungsoo’s scandal. Pictures of him with a blur faced woman were everywhere. His face was clearly shown in the photographs, denying was impossible.

“Hyung, I swear, I didn’t know what happened last night. I don’t remember anything, what are we going to do?”

“I think it’s best if we see the boss. He’s outraged.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

Sungyeol was awaken by the sixth consecutive ring from the hotel phone.

“Hello?” He half answered and mumbled.

“Hey, have you read the news yet?”

“No, Byunghyun It’s nine in the morning and I’m still hiding under the sheets.”

“Well, I think you should.”

“Well, I think having a good rest is more important right now, so whatever’s on the news will have to wait.”

“L hyung is in trouble,” the boy took a deep breath which could be heard in Sungyeol’s ears. “He’s caught in some scandal.”

“I don’t have the time to care about him. I’m moving on.”

“But-”

“What use is it if I read about it? How am I going to help? What good will it do? Look, I know you really care about me, but I just don’t want to get involved with these matters anymore.”

“Hyung, you’ve already been involved and you can’t just back out all of a sudden without saying a word. It’s just going to make matters worse.”

“Well, I’m sorry for interrupting your stupid idol lives, Byunghyun. I’ll promise to never get involved. I’m hanging up.”

“Wait-” but the other had already hung up before the younger could say anything else.

Sungyeol slammed the phone onto the machine and sunk deeper into the mattress and bed sheets, almost covering his entire body. He couldn’t breathe property anymore. He felt stuffy and he wish he could have blamed it on the lack of efficient air flow, but his eyes were already welling up. He really disliked himself for being so weak and frail, but he managed to get up from under the heavy blankets and the television screen. He flipped through all the channels until he found one that was bound to broadcast star news. His heart began to beat faster every extra second he had to wait. Commercials, one after another, drove him nuts. When was Myungsoo’s story going to appear? Is it even worthwhile to wait for it? God, he wished he still had a phone. When he spent about a good twenty minutes waiting and having the urge to fall back asleep, he finally heard the boy’s name. He turned up the volume to make sure he listened to every single word clearly, without any mistakes. Pictures of Myungsoo with what seemed to be an undressed long haired girl appeared. He observed. His hands were clenched onto the blanket he had thrown away just moments ago. His knuckles were turning white from the strong grip, but they were also trembling from shock and his pa