Just like they did it since seven years now, Sungmin and Hyukjae sat on Hyukjae's bed, backs against the wall, blankets over their legs and a cold bottle of beer in their hands.
It was a ritual between the two close friends when they needed some time alone and someone to talk with, whenever one of them was depressed by anything.

They knew that it helped them to talk about it, especially with someone you trust unconditionally.

Sungmin leaned his head against the white wall behind him and turned his head a little to look into Hyukjae's face, who was sitting motionlessly next to him and stared at the opposite wall.
Sungmin took a small sip of his beer and placed the bottle between his thighs, when he reached out his hand to poke Hyukjae's side.

“Out with it”, Sungmin said silently and wrapped his hand around the bottle again, turning it slowly around in his small hands.
They were sitting here for about an hour now, but instead of telling Sungmin the whole truth about this weird confession today, Hyukjae kept silent and put away one beer after the other.

“There's nothing to say”, Hyukjae mumbled huskily and with glassy eyes, raising the fourth bottle of beer onto his lips. He frowned a little, when only two or three drops of beer pearled from the bottle neck – it was already empty again.

Before Hyukjae could grab the last bottle of their six-pack, Sungmin forestalled his friend and put the bottle out of his reach. “Stop this now”, he said a little angered and eyed his friend reproachfully. “Drowning yourself in alcohol doesn't help.”

“Drowning myself sounds quite good right now...”

Sungmin rolled his eyes, but a silent laughter pearled from his lips. “Don't become a drama queen, Hyuk. That's Heechul's part.”, he said silently and took another sip of his beer. He frowned a little, since his drink wasn't cold and carbonated anymore

“Hey, you're engaged...”, Sungmin said silently and gave his friend a soft smile. He reached out his hand and placed it on Hyukjae's knee, slightly rocking it back and forth. “Aren't you supposed to be the happiest man alive?”

Hyukjae didn't attempt to give Sungmin an answer. He lowered his head and looked on his left hand, slowly turning the silver ring around on his finger. After another endless seconds filled with silence, Hyukjae sighted deeply and nodded.
“Yeah, I know”, he mumbled quietly, but he didn't sound that confident.

Hyukjae had no idea how he could explain the whole situation to Sungmin properly. The events were too confused and entangled with each other, so that it was (even for Hyukjae) hard to understand them.

Besides, he didn't know how much he wanted to tell his friend about his relation to Donghae... No one knew about their affair and actually Hyukjae didn't want to let anyone know. Probably they had some suggestions about his and Donghae's close relation with each other, but – at least in Hyukjae's opinion – it was enough if it kept at that...

Hyukjae cough silently and ran his hand over his tired face.

“Ji-Eun and I dated about five months ago for the first time”, he finally started to mumble, but he kept his eyes down on his lap. He was slowly over the soft fabric of his blanket and the silver ring was reflecting the dim light from the lamp on the ceiling. 

When Hyukjae bought their engagement rings, he had chosen some very plain and simple ones – for him, a thin silver ring without any embellishments and for Ji-Eun a ring with a tiny diamond in the middle. He knew that it wasn't usual for a man to have an engagement ring, too, but Hyukjae had hoped that the ring would help him a little to face the situation completely.

But – until now – the ring didn't achieve this effect at all...

“I knew her from several TV-Shows and performances and we so got into a conversation and... yeah, decided to meet again – just for some coffee, nothing special.”
Hyukjae shrugged his shoulders slightly and took a lungful of air, keeping it in his chest for some seconds before slowly breathing it out again. “I really liked her”, he admitted silently and started to turn the ring around. “We got along with each other and she's a really kind and pretty girl... We laughed a lot, it was easy to talk to her and after some dates, we finally kissed and – well, you know what I mean...”

Sungmin smiled slightly and winked. “Yeah, I know”, he said teasingly and took the last sip of his – awful – beer, before putting the empty bottle on Hyukjae's nightstand. “So she was the reason why you had often been out in the evenings or the whole night, mh?”

A silent nodding confirmed Sungmin's suggestion and the elder man gave his friend a soft smile. Again, he reached out his hand and placed it on Hyukjae's knee. “I'm really happy for you, Hyuk”, Sungmin said honestly and grabbed their last bottle of beer. He took a small sip and handed the bottle over to Hyukjae, who gratefully took it to drink a little, too.

“I'm pretty sure you're the only one who is glad about it”, Hyukjae said silently and started to scratch on the bottle's label. “I know my decision is quite... fast and maybe the other members can't comprehend it, but I'm sure it will work with Ji-Eun... I'm not getting younger and even when I was younger I always said to myself that I want to have a family when I turn 30 – at the latest...”

Again, Sungmin nodded slightly and squeezed Hyukjae's knee.
“I can understand that... I thought so, too, but... my attitudes changed a little”, he said chuckling and winked slightly, before his face turned serious again.

“You're the only one who knows what's good for you, Hyuk. I'm sure, the others are glad about it, too. It was just really surprising...”, Sungmin added silently and hesitated a little, but finally he spoke out his next thought, too:
“We all had just... supposed that you're maybe more interested in... guys, you know? In Donghae, to be more precisely...”

Sungmin winced a little, when Hyukjae sat up abruptly and his hand slid down from Hyukjae's knee. The beer bottle rocked dangerously and some small drops of the drink were spread all over the mattress.

Hyukjae's face became hard and an angered expression rushed over it. “I'm not gay, Sungmin.”

Lifting his eyebrows in surprise, Sungmin raised his hands in an defensive gesture. “Okay, okay.”, he said confused and shrugged his shoulders. “We just thought that because you and Donghae had often ---”

“I'M NOT A ! GOT IT?!”

Hyukjae had jumped to his feet and was eying his best friend furiously, hands clenched to fists and a pulsing vein building up on his temple. Hyukjae's whole face was grimaced in anger and Sungmin opened and closed his mouth like a fish.
'What the hell?!', he thought confused, but right when he found his voice again and was about to speak, the silent closing of the front door sounded through the dorm.

Within the fraction of a second, Hyukjae's face turned from anger to his former desperate expression again and with one last glance at Sungmin, Hyukjae headed to the door and stepped out in the hall.

“Donghae?!”, he called out towards the door and fastened his steps, nearly running down the hall, but when he went around the last corner, there were only Heechul and Jungsoo standing in front of him. No Donghae, not even a tiny indication of his presence.

Heechul interrupted his silent conversation with Jungsoo and turned his head towards Hyukjae. An apologetic smile appeared on his lips, before he slightly shook his head. “He's isn't here, Hyuk. But he's okay”, Heechul said softly and kicked his shoes carelessly on the floor, before he wrapped his arm around his dongsaeng's shoulder.

“B-but where is he?!”, Hyukjae mumbled silently and swallowed hard. He needed to talk to him... He truly needed to talk to him!

Exchanging a short glance with Jungsoo, Heechul hesitated a little to tell Hyukjae the truth. He wasn't quite sure how his friend would react, especially because his breath smelled of alcohol and his condition seemed to be a little... weak right now.

Gladly, Jungsoo made the decision for him.
“Siwon found Donghae in front of his apartment and they decided that it's better if he stays there for some nights”, Jungsoo said as calm as possible and placed his shoes tidily on the shelf, before he grabbed Heechul's shoes, too, to do the same.

An disbelieving expression slid over Hyukjae's face.
“Why is he at Siwon's?!”, he asked loudly and jealousy was slowly crawling up his throat. He detached his body from Heechul and turned towards the door.
This bastard! He knew that this would happen! Hyukjae was pretty sure that Siwon had a crush on Donghae and he would shamelessly exploit this situation now, if he didn't ---

Before Hyukjae was able to leave the dorm, Jungsoo grabbed his arm and held him back. “Hyukjae. Let him take some time”, the elder man said insistently and looked straight into the younger's eyes. “I think you know best that it was a shock for Donghae.”
Even if Jungsoo had truly tried to stay fair-minded, he couldn't banish the reproachful tone in his voice, that made Hyukjae's shoulders sink in now.

After some endless seconds in which Hyukjae was standing motionlessly in front of the door, he nodded slightly and let his hand slid down from the door knob. His posture was absolutely helpless and though Hyukjae was a mature man, Jungsoo felt like standing in front of a little child right now.
Calmingly, Jungsoo wrapped his arm around Hyuk's shoulders and pulled him softly down the hall.

“I think we all need some rest now”, he said silently and dragged Hyukjae towards his room, where Sungmin was coming out right now. He carried the empty beer bottles and gave Hyukjae a brief glance, before he went down the hall and entered the kitchen – without a single word.

Hyukjae swallowed hard and started to chew on his lower lip, while Jungsoo dumped him in his room and switched on the bedside lamp.
“Go to bed now, Hyuk”, he repeated silently and turned out the ceiling lamp, before he gave his friend one last, understanding smile and shut the door behind his back.