Youngjae watched the sleeping boy next to him. The words the boy had said still echoed through his mind. It was too much for him to comprehend.

Now that he knew how much Daehyun had suffered all this months, he felt like an . He had been so busy drowning in his self-pity that it didn’t even cross his mind for a single second that the older could have been miserable as well.

Even more important, now it all made sense to him, such as why Himchan and Junhong had forgiven him without hesitation, because there was nothing to forgive in the first place.

All the times he had been suffering didn’t seem to be as bad anymore since he knew what Daehyun had been going through.

Not only that Daehyun’s father didn’t want to accept him the way he is, but all the times he had to force himself to be nice to Sunhwa, even though he didn’t like her.

Daehyun had told him how she had dragged him around the shops, not only making her buy expensive things, which he happily did to ease his guilt, but he also became her personal assistant with the job to carry all of her bags.

Sunhwa had forbidden him this and that, even meeting his best friends was a no go unless he wanted to experience one of her irrational hissy fits. She kept clinging on him like a bubble gum under a shoe.

But the thing that had affected Youngjae the most was the fact that Daehyun hadn’t spoken a single word with his sister for half a year. He knew that she had behaved like a but he was the reason for her behaviour nonetheless and he felt like it was partially his fault, he felt guilty.

He genuinely hoped that they would make up soon, they were family after all.

Daehyun had been crying when he had confessed all of this and had eventually cried himself to sleep. It had broken Youngjae’s heart to see the older so frail. When Daehyun had begged him for forgiveness, he didn’t need to think about it for even a split second.

Eventually he had started crying himself when Daehyun had been clinging on his shirt as if his life would depend on it. Youngjae had pulled the older closer, holding him just as tightly as he rocked the other in his arms.

It was almost lunch time but Youngjae couldn’t bear to wake him up, he didn’t want to rip him out of his seemingly calm sleep.

They were friends now. Youngjae knew that he still had some feelings for the older, and he was pretty sure that Daehyun felt the same. But it was too much, too quick.

After all they never had the chance to really get to know each other and Daehyun had just broken up with his girlfriend, even though he never really had considered this to be a real relationship. Everything about their current situation made it sound so wrong to have more than a friendship.

A friendship between the two only seemed to be logical and Youngjae was happy with that.

There was a soft knock on Youngjae’s bedroom door that he answered with a hum, as quiet as possible. His mother stuck her head into the room hesitantly, smiling when she spotted her son. Youngjae put his index finger on his lips and pointed at the sleeping figure next to him, asking his mother to be quiet.

“He’s so cute,” she cooed with a low voice as she observed the sleeping boy. “Who’s that?”

“Daehyun,” Youngjae whispered.

“THAT Daehyun?” she asked, her eyes widening in surprise. Youngjae nodded and bit on his bottom lip, trying to stop the grin that threatened to spread on his lips as he saw his mother smiling.

Of course he had told his mother about Daehyun, even though he didn’t have a lot to tell about him, and barely anything positive at that. But the content smile on his mother’s face made him feel happy.

She had accepted Daehyun already by the look of it, it seemed to be a kind of charm that the older possessed, to make people adore him on the first sight. If Daehyun’s father would be like his mother, he would have never suffered that much.

“I saw your shoes downstairs and was worried. Why are you not in university?” Youngjae’s mother wanted to know.

“The morning has been quite dramatic for him, so I decided to bring him here, I’m sorry,” Youngjae apologized, his head hung low.

“Don’t say sorry my baby boy,” she cooed, nudging his arm playfully. “I thought you were ill, that’s all. It’s okay to skip lessons once in a while, especially if it’s for love.”

“Mum,” he whined, feeling embarrassed.

“I will go and make some food for you, make sure to wake him up soon,” she announced.

“You better prepare a lot, he eats like a pig,” Youngjae chuckled.

Youngjae decided to keep observing the sleeping Busan beauty for a few more minutes before waking him. It was the first time he saw him sleeping and he looked so innocent and peaceful that Youngjae wanted to savour that moment for as long as he could.

He looked at Daehyun longingly as he lifted his hand to brush a few strands of Daehyun’s hair aside to get a better view of the beautiful face that was hidden beneath.

His touch must have tickled the older though, he started scrunching his nose cutely before he blinked a couple of times and opened his eyes, looking up to Youngjae who was sitting next to him.

Daehyun seemed to be confused and Youngjae noticed the insecurity in Daehyun’s puffy eyes. But the way they simply looked at each other made Youngjae feel warm inside and his heartbeat sped up.

“Did you sleep well?” Youngjae asked, smiling widely. The older’s cheeks tinted a slight shade of pink as he nodded and he took Youngjae completely off guard when he buried his head into the younger’s lap.

“I’m sorry,” Daehyun mumbled into the blanket with a sad voice.

“Shh,” Youngjae cooed and started brushing his fingers through the older’s soft brown locks.

“Let’s not talk about that anymore. We said we will start anew so let’s only look into the future from now on.”

Daehyun nodded, smiling gratefully with his eyes closed as he enjoyed the younger’s touch.

“I’m sorry too, though. Very sorry.”

“Shh,” Daehyun said and his back to face the younger. They both smiled at one another, their eyes were sparkling equally. They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the moment of comfortable silence between them.

“We better get up now, my mum is making lunch. She can’t wait to meet you,” Youngjae said with a grin.

Daehyun shot up immediately, frantically trying to tame his messy bed hair. Youngjae started laughing at the cute action.

“Don’t worry, she already saw you when you were asleep. She’s your fan already,” he laughed.

Daehyun’s hands fell to his sides slowly and he smiled bashfully.

“Let’s go, you must be hungry,” Youngjae stated.

Youngjae was excited. He hadn’t felt this good in a long time. Everything just seemed perfect to him right now, he would change not a single thing in his life. Okay, maybe there was one thing that came to his mind as he thought about it further.

***

A smile was glued on Daehyun’s face, in fact, he had smiled so much that his cheeks were hurting. His eyes were itching, probably from crying so much the previous day, and he felt slightly embarrassed when he thought about his emotional breakdown n Youngjae’s arms.

But the fact that they were finally on good terms again had completely clouded his system with a feeling of complete satisfaction. It was impossible to not smile.

On top of that, he had spent almost the whole day with the younger, until his father had demanded to see him in the early evening.

His father hadn’t been very happy about him breaking up with Sunhwa, but he had kept his promise much to Daehyun’s surprise. It would probably take his father a while to get comfortable with the situation but Daehyun hoped that his father wouldn’t only respect his decision but also accept him the way he is.

But his father had actually asked if Daehyun had met the boy from Busan again and the sheer attempt to try and show interest made Daehyun even happier.

His nervousness about meeting Youngjae’s mother had been completely unnecessary. He had never met a woman who radiated such a motherly warms, apart from his own one of course. Youngjae’s father had been a different case, though. When Daehyun had introduced himself politely, he had been thrown completely off guard when Youngjae’s father had asked “Daehyun? The heartbreaker?”

Both, Youngjae and Daehyun had been visibly uncomfortable and the younger’s cheeks had turned a crimson red, but thankfully Youngjae’s mother had saved them from any further embarrassment.

Youngjae’s father, despite being a busy businessman, had turned out to be nowhere near as intimidating as Daehyun had expected from his first impression, and overall the day had been really nice.

The food of Mrs. Yoo had been heavenly, Daehyun missed proper homemade food and he knew he wouldn’t hesitate to accept her invitation to ‘visit whenever he liked’.

Everything was slowly falling into its destined place and Daehyun couldn’t be any happier.

He was nervous when he entered the university, he wasn’t sure about how to greet Youngjae now that they were friends again. A handshake? A hug? It was silly to be worried about simple things like this, it came automatically and he couldn’t help it.

He didn’t know but he decided to go with the flow and accept whatever the younger would offer him.

He could see them from afar, Youngjae, Yukwon and Jaehyo, and he nervously brushed his fingers through his hair that he had spent ages on looking good. His final goal was still to win Youngjae’s heart, so from now on he would make sure to put a lot of effort into impressing his object of desire.

Jaehyo was the first to greet him by giving him a brotherly pat on his shoulder as he half-hugged him.

“Good morning,” Daehyun said bashfully

“Hey there, little heartbreaker,” Jaehyo said, smiling stupidly.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” Youngjae grumbled and pulled Daehyun away from Jaehyo and into a hesitant hug. Daehyun instantly wrapped one arm around the younger’s waist, trying not to be too obvious as he squeezed the younger’s hip gently.

“Hey,” Yukwon said, stretching his arm for a handshake. He smiled but it looked like it was forced.

“So, are you two… you know?” Jaehyo asked, gesturing between Daehyun and Youngjae.

“No,” Daehyun mumbled, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“Sunhwa has calmed down, by the way.” Jaehyo chirped. “She hates you, of course. But I cheered her up,” Jaehyo stated, grinning smugly.

“Let me guess how you cheered her up,” Yukwon laughed.

“Hey, I’m a man. And she liked it. A lot,” Jaehyo winked. “You don’t mind Daehyun, do you? I mean, now that you’re not into women and stuff.”

“It’s cool,” Daehyun reassured his friend with a smile. “She suits you better anyway,” Daehyun added.

“What’s happening between you two now? No, wait. What has happened? This is going since you’ve met in Busan, isn’t it?” Jaehyo wanted to know

“We had a misunderstanding or something like that,” Youngjae answered calmly.

“And that’s why you disliked him so much?”

“Yeah, kind of. But we’re friends again now,” Youngjae confirmed.

“Friends?”

“Yes. Friends.”

***

The scratching of pens on paper was the only noise in the recording studio. Two young men, both wearing large headphones, were in their own world as they were writing down the lyrics for their newest compositions. Occasionally, one of them tapped with the pen on the paper in concentration.

Each of them was the best in his year and both were rumored to be the best of the whole university. The people said that there was no one better than Bang Yongguk and Woo Jiho. Both of their styles were different, each of them having his own unique colour. While Yongguk was notorious for his deep voice, Jiho had made himself a name for his fast rap. The depth of their lyrics was something they had in common, though.

Especially in the music department the rivalry was strong, but there was no sign of resentment between the two top students. It was far from it, they pushed and supported each other, gave the other strength when he lacked motivation.

Yongguk sighed deeply and took the headphones off, rubbing his ears to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling the leather had left on his skin. Jiho noticed the other’s motions and dropped his black ball pen on the sheet of paper.

“Break?” Jiho asked. Yongguk nodded.

“I’m getting a headache, wanna grab a drink?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t mind something to eat either,” Jiho cheered. Yongguk took his phone out of his pocket, dialing his boyfriend’s number.

“Hey my love,” Himchan chirped on the other side of the line.

“Hey Channie, are you still in uni?” Yongguk wanted to know.

“No, I’m about to have dinner with Youngjae and Daehyun. Do you remember the little Italian bar we’ve been on my birthday?” Himchan asked.

“Yeah I do, would you mind if Jico and me will join you? We want to grab a snack before we resume working.”

“You don’t need to ask, silly. We will wait for you,” Himchan said.

“Okay, see you in a few,” Yongguk said and hung up.

“We’re going to join Himchan, Youngjae and Daehyun for dinner,” Yongguk informed Jiho.

“Sounds good,” Jiho chuckled. “Hearing those two names in the same sentence is something I need to get used too, though,” he laughed. Knowing which persons the other meant, Yongguk nodded and joined the laughter.

When they arrived at the small but quite fancy looking bar, they immediately found their friends who were sitting around a big table with enough space for them to join. Yongguk smiled when his eyes fell on two additional glasses of coke that obviously Himchan had ordered for them.

He looked around, observing the environment. It had been a few months, but nothing had changed. The walls were still painted in a warm orange colour, the lamps hanging from the ceiling still provided a comfortable light at each table and the dark furniture still looked clean and neat.

They approached the table where Himchan and the others were waiting for them, and when they got closer, Yongguk noticed a large plate full of garlic bread and a few dips sitting on the table.

Himchan got up to embrace his boyfriend and then Jiho. Yongguk smiled even wider when he noticed that Daehyun and Youngjae were engrossed in their own little world, blabbering excitedly about something.

Apparently they hadn’t even realized their arrival as Daehyun was waving with a slice of bread as he gestured while he was speaking.

“Don’t mind them,” Himchan chuckled. “I’m so glad you two are here, they are unbearable,” Himchan complained.

Jiho laughed and sat on an empty chair next to Youngjae. The scratching of the chair on the ground had distracted Youngjae from his conversation and the younger turned his head.

“Hey! You’re finally here. I’m starving,” he muttered. When Jiho sent him a questioning look, he added: “We waited with our orders until you guys arrived. But we got you some drinks.”

Jiho grabbed a slice of the baguette and took a huge bite. “Chank you,” he mumbled with a full mouth.

Until their orders arrived, they helped themselves with the delicious garlic bread. Youngjae had to stop Daehyun from eating everything by himself, earning a lot of pouts from the older.

When the waitress arrived with plates of various kinds of pasta, Daehyun’s eyes lit up in delight. This didn’t last very long though as his smile fell instantly when the cute waitress shot Youngjae an inviting smile when she placed the food in front of him.

Jiho was having hysterics at the scene that played in front of him, with Himchan and Yongguk joining his laughter. Youngjae was oblivious about what was going on around him, sending Daehyun, the only one who wasn’t laughing apart from him, a questioning look. But Daehyun only hid his face behind his bangs as he was looking down to keep his flushed cheeks being unnoticed.

Youngjae let this slip and focused on the plate full of pasta with a creamy sauce instead.

Himchan and Yongguk both had ordered seafood pasta, their taste was similar and they often found themselves laughing when they unintentionally picked the same things.

Jiho was engrossed into his plate of gnocchi with green pesto. Youngjae thought it was weird watching him eating something that wasn’t Korean for some reason.

The creamy chili sauce was just perfect for Youngjae’s liking. It was spicy, very spicy and rich. He loved pasta. Every time he ate pasta, he thought that he needs to eat it more often, but unfortunately it never came to that.

He noticed Daehyun eyeing his plate as he chewed happily. The sight was cute, the way the tip of the fork was stuck between his plump lips looked endearing. From afar he heard the others talking, something about their music. He heard it but his mind was too busy watching the person in front of him to actually remember details from the conversation right next to him.

He smiled when he saw that Daehyun’s eyes were still glued on his food and he shoved his plate carefully towards Daehyun whose eyes lit up when their gazes met. Daehyun didn’t hesitate to pull Youngjae’s plate closer and lifted his own plate to place it in front of Youngjae.

The amount of food was smaller since Daehyun ate much quicker, but he wouldn’t have been able to finish his own serving anyway. He ignored Himchan’s cooing, dug in and enjoyed the sweet flavor of the tomatoes on his tongue. The spaghetti Bolognese was a welcoming change after his spicy one, next time he would order it too.

When he was finished, his stomach felt like bursting. He rubbed soothing circles on his belly and leaned back in his chair.

“Daehyun,” Yongguk said after he had finished eating, making the boy turn his head.

“I need to ask you for a favor,” Yongguk announced.

“Sure. What is it?” Daehyun asked.

“Next weekend I have another performance in the club I work at and I wrote a new song that requires someone who can sing.” Yongguk said warily.

“No way,” Daehyun screeched, sounding scared.

“Come on, you’re good! You will enjoy it,” Yongguk begged.

Daehyun chewed on the inside of his cheeks nervously, thinking about his friend’s request. After a few seconds of debating he sighed, knowing that he will regret his decision.

“You owe me,” he mumbled.

Yongguk’s lips stretched into a wide grin, showing his infamous gummy smile. “Thank you, you’re the best,” Yongguk cheered.

Daehyun smiled. He knew that he was the one who owed his friend a lot for supporting him and putting up with him all the time. If this made Yongguk happy, he would do anything.

It was Daehyun’s turn to show that he is worthy their friendship.

A/N: 

Hey! It took me a while. The chapter was actually done a few days ago but the charger for my netbook broke and I had to wait until I finally got a new one today.

Anyway, so much friendship. Daehyun and Youngjae. Daehyun and Jaehyo. Yongguk and Jico. Daehyun and Yongguk. 

I hope you liked it! The chapters seem to get longer again xD Seems like a habit. Thank you again for all your lovely comments!