He lifts the photo from the vat in front of him with the tongs. It drips slightly, still wet. But it came out great. The colors are vibrant and bold and it’s glossy and smooth, just perfect.

Letting a small sigh escape his lips, he studies the picture more. Sungjong was right-he really had captured the young boy’s expression perfectly.

He looks softer in this one, delicate. Breakable almost. His features are gentle and he’s in the middle of a light laugh when Myungsoo had taken this picture.

He’s beautiful.

Setting it down slowly on the tray beside him, he moves on to the next vat and lifts that picture out. In this photo, Sungjong is staring at the camera with an expressionless face. And yet…even through the paper, Myungsoo can see something stirring in his eyes. He can’t tell what it is exactly but it makes his friend look that much more alluring.

Shaking his head of such thoughts, he tries to hurry and get the remaining pictures. The shoot last night had been a nightmare. He had lost track of how many times he just wanted everyone to be quiet and calm down.

But he’s glad that he had at least something to look forward too. He knew when he got home, he would have all the time in the world to get all of Sungjong’s pictures together.

Well, all the time until four which was when he had another appointment.

But until then, this time belonged to him.

Coming through the entrance to his apartment complex, Sungjong nods a polite hello at the person sitting behind the desk. The so addressed man, named Sungkyu waves back before submerging himself back into his book. Sungkyu may be only a concierge, but he is quite kind to Sungjong, almost like an older brother figure sometimes. It can be quite welcoming, especially if Sungjong had been having a bad day.

He opens his mailbox, peering into the small space to see if Myungsoo had really kept his promise. And…there. At the back of the slot, there rests the little brown book that Myungsoo had shoved at him the day before. So he hadn’t forgotten.

Smiling slightly, he reaches in and pulls it out, clutching it in his hand. Grabbing his other mail, he makes his way to the stairs, a little half-smile still on his face as he continues to stare at the book.

So Myungsoo had come through. How kind of him. It’s not that Sungjong didn’t expect him too, he trusts Myungsoo, he just didn’t think it would be so quickly. He just doesn’t want all of Myungsoo’s efforts wasted on him. He has much better things to be doing then get photos together of a lost cause.

Not knowing where that thought had come from, Myungsoo finds himself on his floor. He walks to room 310 and unlocks the door, hoping that Sungyeol isn’t here today. He shouldn’t be, it’s a Thursday and Sungyeol usually works until six. It’s only five-fifteen now, so he has some time to himself.

He shivers, feeling the coldness of his room as he opens the door. A chill blows out of his room and sweeps through him, casing goose bumps to break out on his skin. Scowling, he steps inside.

He hates having his home cold. He hates the cold and since he freezes very easily, he tries to keep it decently warm. But Sungyeol loves the cold, especially when…when they’re together. He claims it relaxes him. Sungjong claims it gives him a cold. But of course, that doesn’t matter.

Sungjong drops the junk mail on the granite island, barely glancing at it. His eyes are still riveted on the scrapbook in his hands. Taking a seat on the couch, he props his feet up on the coffee table and proceeds to flip through it.

“Wow,” he murmurs as he leafs through the pages. “Wow.” That’s really the only word that he can use to describe what he’s seeing.

He knew Myungsoo was talented, that much is obvious. But these pictures…these pictures are amazing. They look the work of a seasoned professional and Myungsoo is only twenty-four. How is it he has such wonderful artistic abilities?

He’s mesmerized by the photos in front of him, unable to focus on what’s going on around him.

So entranced by the scrapbook, he doesn’t hear the footsteps moving towards his door or the jiggle of the doorknob. A harsh knock reminds him where he is and what he’s doing.

“Crap,” he mutters, taking a desperate glance at the clock near the window. Its hands show that it’s six forty-five. He had been sitting there for a long time.

“Sungjong! Open up!” Sungyeol demands from the other side of the door, mentally cursing himself for leaving the duplicate key at home. Impatience is clear in his voice.

“Coming!” Sungjong calls, scrambling from the couch and taking a quick look around to make things are in their proper places. Even if it’s his house, Sungyeol has a very particular way of wanting things in the right places.

He makes his way towards the door, running a hand through his light brown hair and hoping that this time might be a little gentler then last.

“Took you long enough,” Sungyeol says by way of greeting as Sungjong opens the door. Sungjong rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything. Sungyeol leans closer and plants a quick kiss on Sungjong’s lips, causing the other boy to clench his fist tightly, making him realize he is still holding the doorknob. “Let’s go.”

Sungyeol pushes past Sungjong as he sighs and wipes a sleeve across his mouth, trying to rid all traces of Sungyeol off of him. For now.

It was odd though. When Sungyeol had leaned in, for a moment, Sungjong had seen Myungsoo’s face swim before his eyes.

“You turned up the temperature,” comments Sungyeol, going over to the thermostat. Sungjong nods and settles himself back on the couch.

“Yeah. It’s freezing in here; you know I get cold easily.” He watches Sungyeol as he punches in numbers, probably lowering the temperature to about thirty degrees cooler.

While gazing at him, his eyes flicker around the room before stopping on the scrapbook from earlier. Crap! He had forgotten to put it away. What will Sungyeol say when he finds it?

Sungjong slowly reaches for it, keeping his eyes on Sungyeol’s back the whole time. When his fingers are about to graze the cover, Sungyeol turns around abruptly and Sungjong immediately pulls his hand back.

He silently hopes that Sungyeol didn’t see. Because if he did and if he thinks Sungjong is hiding something from him, things will not go over well.

He doesn’t like when things don’t go over well. It’s too much, so much that it scares him and actually makes him afraid. He’s afraid.

Sungyeol walks over to the coffee table and picks up the newspaper that Sungjong had gotten earlier. He breathes a sigh of relief as Sungyeol scans the front page. But then his blood turns ice cold as the other sets it down and picks up the scrapbook.

“What’s this?” he asks causally. Sungjong fights to keep his breathing normal so Sungyeol doesn’t get even more suspicious.

“It’s…” Sungjong searches for words, unsure how to respond. His mind grasps at different responses, each one more ridiculous then the last.

Sungyeol continues to leaf through the pages, his eyes widening a little bit with each page he turns. Sungjong sits with his hands clenched tightly, trying to control his himself. He wants to grab the book right out of Sungyeol’s hands. He wants to snatch it away and hide it so he can be the only one that will see the pictures. Him and Myungsoo.

“Sungjong,” Sungyeol starts warningly, his eyes accusing. Sungjong scowls at him, throat closing up. He’s afraid. He admits it, he’s scared. He’s scared of what Sungyeol can do, what he can do to him and he’s scared because he knows what Sungyeol can do to him.

“I…I have to go,” mumbles Sungjong, rising from the couch. Sungyeol makes a move to grab his arm but he jerks away, flinging himself towards the door and getting out of his apartment as fast as he can.

He races down the stairs to the lobby where Sungkyu is still reading. Without looking behind him, he makes it through the front door, chest heaving, before leaning against the side of his apartment building. There’s another building right next to it, so he’s in the little alley created by the two.

He slumps down, arms on his knees and buries his head on top of them. He tries to slow his breathing, known it’s not doing any good to freak out.

Why did he bolt so suddenly? Why did he run away at the first sign of danger? Why is he letting Sungyeol have this effect on him? It’s unhealthy, it’s wrong, he needs to stop it…

But he can’t. He physically cannot do anything about it. And he doesn’t know why.

There’s a problem and he doesn’t know who he can trust. But he can’t face this all by himself.

He needs to stop letting Sungyeol have this kind of power over him. It’s messed up and screwed up and he really needs to pull himself together. No one should be so commanding over another. It’s not right.

Leaning his head back against the bricks, he closes his eyes and tries to steady his breathing. The one thing that had distracted him from his misery, that had brought him actual joy, is now entangled in Sungyeol’s hands. What can he do?

He fishes around in his pocket, praying that he remembered to pick up his key. How humiliating would it be to go back up there and ask Sungyeol to let him back into his own house?

To his relief, his fingers brush the metal of the key that’s deep in the folds of his pocket. There’s one less thing he has to worry about.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there, letting the fear slowly leak out of his veins and the humiliation and anger finally leaves him. When he had told Myungsoo that he was afraid to break anything, it wasn’t a complete lie. He’s scared of that but he’s more anxious about being broken himself. Things shattering inside him. He got broken long ago and has no way to be put back together because just the thought is too painful and he is constantly reminded that he can’t leave.

A?N: So now you've gotten a closer insight on Sungjong and Sungyeol's relationship. Based off of that and the fact Sungyeol doesn't seem to be happy, what do you think will happen next? Leave a comment below and thanks for reading!