They’ve been sending each other sly looks for hours.

Sunggyu can’t help himself, and he doesn’t want to, either. Because having with Woohyun has changed something very significant between them. Sunggyu doesn’t even think it’s the actual act that’s making the difference. It’s more like the emotional connection, and knowledge that for the first time in his life, he’s been completely open and thread bare with someone else, is what matters.

It’s terrifying in one way, and electric in the next.

“Toss me a pin,” Sunggyu requests, pulling up a sheet from the pan of water in front of him. It started out warm, but it’s close to sunset now, only an hour or so away, and the water’s gone cold.

The two of them are in the back area of the cabin, cleaning laundry by hand, which is not Sunggyu’s favorite activity ever, but it passes the time easily enough.

Woohyun reaches for the nearby pail of pins they have, and walks a few over to Sunggyu. It’s really just an excuse for Woohyun to give him a dirty kiss and whisper dirtier promises at him, but Sunggyu’s a little love struck right now, so his response time is decidedly lacking.

“You guys make me sick,” Dongwoo announces from where he’s sitting on the back steps. He has pieces of a curtain rod in his hands that he’s trying to put back together, curtsey of Jiyeon who’s been toddling around the house with dangerous efficiency. Everything she touches ends up broken or on the floor, much to her delight, and the curtains in the bedroom she sleeps in are the latest victim.

“Whatever,” Woohyun huffs out, going back to his own bucket of water. “You don’t even have to be out here. You chose to come out here.”

Dongwoo’s eyes narrow. “I have to oversee the washing of the bed sheets, thank you. I won’t ever be able to sleep in that bed again unless I’m one hundred percent convinced that it’s clean.”

Sunggyu rings out a sheet and then tosses it over the line that he and Woohyun put up hours ago. A couple of pins keep it in place, and when he’s satisfied, he says, “I’m surprised you aren’t demanding we burn the bed. If you knew the things Woohyun can do with his tongue--”

“Ahh! No!” Dongwoo flails wildly. “Sunggyu!”

Woohyun says loudly, “I’m pretty sure if I didn’t love you before, I would totally love you now.”

Sunggyu squats back down for the rest of the laundry that needs to be scrubbed clean. It’s not just soiled sheets that they’re doing, but everyone’s laundry. Sunggyu still has shirts and socks and pants to get through, but he doesn’t think he’ll make it before the sun goes down. They may have come to the island with very little, but they’ve accumulated quite a bit over the past few days.

He can’t help sneaking another glance over to Woohyun who is diligently scrubbing away and navy blue sheets while sticking his tongue out at Dongwoo. Woohyun is childish, but in moments like these, Sunggyu kind of envies him a little.

“Can you two hurry it up?” Dongwoo requests. Sungjong finished dusting hours ago and I think Sungyeol is done with the kitchen by now. We’re just waiting you.”

Sunggyu pays him little mind. Hand washing laundry is a little more time consuming than he thinks Dongwoo realizes. The resort area does actually have several washers and dryers, dozens of them in the staff quarters, but with well over a hundred people who’ve all decided to try and wash at the same time, the wait is quite long. It’s easier in Sunggyu’s opinion to just dedicate a half day to washing by hand and be done with it for a week or so.

Maybe less, considering how good of a kisser Woohyun is, and how weak Sunggyu seems to be with receiving them.

“What about you?” Sunggyu accuses. “I don’t see you in there doing the windows and bathroom.”

The delegation of chores is an inevitable fate. Sunggyu does not like living in filth, and he likes the idea even less since they have two children with them.

“I will, I will,” Dongwoo says, distracted by the curtain rod. “As soon as I figure this out. Seriously, how does a toddler break something like this?”

“I don’t know,” Sunggyu says honestly, because the rod looks bent and there’s nothing hard for it to have fallen on in the bedroom. “But I think we need to start baby proofing. Jiyeon is walking, even if she still expects us to carry her around. She’s getting into things and the last thing we want is for anything to happen to her because one of us isn’t looking.”

Sunggyu wonders if this will be his life from now on. Will he mark the passage of time by Jiyeon, like a father?

Woohyun adds in, “We can do that tomorrow, I guess.”

Lifting his hands from the water, Sunggyu looks down at the wrinkled skin. Will this be his life, too? Scrubbing laundry like he’s back in a feudal era? His day filled with worry over what to make for dinner, and how to stretch the supplies they have?

“Gyu?”

Sunggyu looks up and he’s surprised to see Woohyun standing next to him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sunggyu stands slowly, his back cracking. “Think thinking.”

Woohyun gives him a kind smile and replies, “Maybe we should stop for the day. We got about half the laundry done, and it’s getting cold out here. We can finish tomorrow.”

“You mean I can finish,” Sunggyu throws back, but there’s a smile on his face. “Don’t forget, you and Dongwoo promised to teach Sungjong how to fish tomorrow.”

In fact, this is the most important thing Sunggyu thinks they can do at the moment. Their rations are more than enough food to hold them over, and they’re certainly not going to bed hungry at night, but protein is something Sunggyu has noticed is severely lacking from their diet. They have finishing supplies, and there’s a small alcove still within resort territory just over the nearby hill. They don’t need permission to visit it, and Sunggyu knows there are small rowboats anchored there. If they can bring back fish to supplement the protein in their diet, Sunggyu will feel at least a little better.

“Oh yeah,” Woohyun says, in a way that promises he’s only just now remembering.

Dongwoo, who’s certainly been listening to their conversation, announces confidently, “I’ve been going fishing with my dad since I was Jiyeon’s age. I know we’ll bring back a lot of fish. Maybe enough to start trading that fish with other people for things we need.”

Like toothpaste, Sunggyu doesn’t say out loud.

As much as Sunggyu would like to keep at the wash until sundown, even he has to admit that he’s exhausted. And tomorrow he won’t have Woohyun to distract him, even if it means he has to do the rest of the laundry by himself.

Cautiously, Sunggyu asks Dongwoo and Woohyun, “You think it’s safe to leave the laundry up?” There hasn’t been a case of theft yet, and so far everyone is getting along like they’ve been neighbors for years, but Sunggyu doesn’t know if they can be too careful.

“It’s fine,” Woohyun assures. “Let’s get back in and figure out what we’re going to have for dinner. Maybe Sungyeol’s already started it?”

Before any of the three of them can make it back inside the cabin, the backdoor opens sharply, and Sungyeol is blocking the way.

Sunggyu calls out, “We were just coming to find you.”

“Sunggyu,” Sungyeol says, an odd weight to his words. “There’s someone here for you.”

“For me?” Sunggyu turns a finger on himself. Maybe it’s Yongguk, who Sunggyu’s been trying to forge a real friendship with. Or Tao, who’s Chinese and through the oddest circumstances, is now stuck here with the rest of them, still trying to grasp the language, and apparently convinced that Sunggyu is his new big brother. “Who is it?”

“Sunggyu.”

It hits Sunggyu like a fright train, and he doesn’t even need to ask anymore. He knows exactly who’s here for him, and he can’t believe he’s forgotten.

“Dongwoo,” he says sharply, hoping that today will be the day he’s obeyed, “go inside with Sungyeol. I need to talk to Woohyun.”

“What about …” Sungyeol thumbs inside the cabin.

“Tell him to wait.”

And miraculously, thirty seconds later it’s just Woohyun and Sunggyu.

“Who’s here to see you?” Woohyun asks with frown.

Sunggyu tells him carefully, “It’s Kenji. I forgot I’m supposed to have dinner with him tonight.” At the blank look on Woohyun’s face, he adds, “To find out what he knows about Hoya? Do you remember me saying this at all?” The information was wrapped up in their first fight ever, so Sunggyu can’t be sure. “Woohyun?”

“You’re going to have dinner with him?”

Sunggyu nods. “I didn’t want to say anything to Sungyeol or Sungjong to upset them, but I don’t think Hoya is in a good place. The sooner we get to him, the better. Dinner was the deal I cut with Kenji for information.”

Evenly, Woohyun inquires, “Even though we’re together now?”

“We were together when I made the deal. And considering what we did last night, and what that means, I seriously hope you realize that there’s nothing romantic associated with this dinner tonight.”

Woohyun runs a hand through his hair and sighs out, “Nothing romantic on your end.”

“I can’t control what he feels. Only what I do.”

“Sunggyu,” Woohyun says, “I promised you the other day that I would never try to control you again. I would never cross that line and endanger what we have. But I don’t like this. I’m not going to lie and say I’m okay with my boyfriend having dinner with another man.”

Sunggyu finds himself leaning forward, pressing his lips against Woohyun’s. It’s meant to be a soft, quick, reassuring kiss, if only to reassure Woohyun. But kissing Woohyun is never simple, and Sunggyu loses himself too easily. By the time his senses come back to him his knees are locked together, Woohyun’s tongue is in his mouth and dinner with anyone else is the farthest thing from Sunggyu’s mind.

“You did this on purpose,” Sunggyu accuses, having to use both hands to push himself

away from Woohyun.

“Did what?” Woohyun asks smugly.

“Woohyun …” Sunggyu finds his words cut off by another kiss from Woohyun. Only this time it’s slow and intimate, and toe curling in its own way.

“I understand why you have to have dinner with him,” Woohyun says, his fingers brushing over the blush on Sunggyu’s cheeks. “And even if I don’t trust that guy to keep his hands to himself, I trust you to keep him in his place. Because you’re coming home to me.”

“And you are just so amazing?” Sunggyu teases.

“I can’t help it if others pale in comparison.”

Sunggyu is getting better at reading Woohyun’s moods. He’s getting better at picking up the smallest of nuances that hide beneath the constant smile on Woohyun’s face. And right now, even though they’re joking around, and Woohyun seems impossibly confident, Sunggyu can detect the nervousness in him.

“Don’t get a big head,” Sunggyu chastises, then he grips Woohyun’s chin and drops a last kiss on his lips. “And yes, for the record, I will be coming home to you tonight. So if you’re so bent on acting territorial like a Neanderthal, chew on that while I’m gone.”

Woohyun sighs wistfully. “I really love you.”

Sunggyu only shakes his head as he takes the steps up to the cabin, Woohyun trailing behind him.

“Where is he?” Sunggyu asks, emerging into the living area. He scans the open floor plan of the cabin quickly, hoping to avoid an incident between Woohyun and Kenji.

“Still outside,” Sungyeol says from near the front door. It’s obvious he’s been peeking out the window next to it. “Dongwoo and I let loose Sungjong on him. In fact, he may not even be there when you go out. We know Sungjong can run the strongest into the ground.”

Woohyun laughs out, “You guys are the best.”

Unfortunately, when Sunggyu does open the door he’s greeted by the sight of an at ease Kenji leaning on the railing, while Sungjong bounces adamantly around him. At least a little part of him is upset he doesn’t get to turn around and go back to his friends.

“Ready?” Kenji asks, his face lighting the moment he sees Sunggyu.

Sunggyu nods, but pulls a little at his shirt. “I’m not exactly dressed for dinner, though. I was doing laundry.”

“You look fine,” Kenji says, and he sounds like he means it. “You don’t need to dress for dinner. Not between friends.”

In all honesty, Sunggyu feels a little better. Kenji’s all but cleared the air with one sentence.

“Sungjong,” Sunggyu says, pressing a hand over his head. “Go on back inside and help Sungyeol get started on dinner.”

Sungjong gives an enthusiastic goodbye to both of them, and speeds off.

“Sorry,” Sunggyu says, heading away from the cabin with Kenji. He tries to pretend like he doesn’t know Woohyun is watching him leave from the living room window. “Sungjong can be a little much.”

Kenji leads the way looking not even a little affronted. “Are you kidding me? He’s nothing compared to my little sister Sakura.”

The way he uses a present tense makes Sunggyu nearly miss a step and ask, “Is she here?”

“No,” Kenji says quickly. “She’s not on this island, but Japan had a little more warning than South Korea did. It seems like Europe, North America and South America were hit first, and everyone else just after. Japan had time to evacuate about half the population. She and my mother are somewhere safe, and don’t think for a second I don’t know how lucky I am that they are.”

They head back to the building that Kenji’s office is located in, and this time Sunggyu feels a million times more comfortable. As they walk they talk about their families. Sunggyu shares how Yunho saved his life, and Kenji makes note of a brother also serving in the Japanese military.

Sunggyu doesn’t know what he was expecting when Kenji invited him for dinner. Maybe a candlelight, romantic dinner for two. But instead they end up in the military’s dinning hall, where plenty of men are eating already, some are playing cards, and the atmosphere is light.

“We’re back here,” Kenji says, and they go into a smaller room, still populated, but clearly where the higher ranked soldiers eat.

Dinner is actual beef. Sunggyu tries not to salivate too much when he realizes what the military is eating, at least in comparison to the civilian population.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Kenji says. “But we’re not holding out on you. The beef is a personal thank you from one of the former dairy farmers. He was separated from his daughter when all of this began. She was safely evacuated from Toyko at the time, where she was attending university, but he had no way to get to her. The military agreed to get him on a ship going towards the island she’d been evacuated onto. He donated the whole of his farm to those sailors as his thanks. I have a friend who sent me his share. All the meat and milk will be gone by tonight, but I’m happy to share with you and the others.”

The beef tastes like heaven. It tastes so good Sunggyu can’t bring himself to feel guilty for enjoying it while others go without.

“Milk?” Kenji pushes a glass towards Sunggyu. “This is the last of it, remember? We’ll all be back to powdered milk by tomorrow.”

Sunggyu gulps down half the glass, then asks, “I need to know about Hoya.” He has to focus. This is the reason he’s here, not for good food.

“He’s okay,” Kenji says through bites of his own food. “I talked to a superior of mine again today. He’ll be out of the detention center by tomorrow and back to his assigned area. He’s in good health and I think my superior is even thinking of recruiting him for some work that needs to be done at the National Park on this island. He’s proven to be good with his hands, and the area needs some attention and care before the public can be let back in.” Kenji leans forward. “The public needs to be let back in soon. I don’t think I need to tell you how much the people here need to feel safe and fall into a routine. We need to get the markets back up and running, and people back into the fields. Tourist areas need to open again.”

“Where is he exactly,” Sunggyu asks.

“On the east portion of the island. We’re on the west.”

This is not what Sunggyu wants to hear. He knows he can’t simply run off and rescue Hoya from whatever trouble he’s gotten himself into like Sunggyu is Superman, but the heavy distance between them is not a good sign.

Kenji assures, “This is a good thing, Sunggyu. Your friend is okay. And next week the first day passes are going to be issued. You can put your name on the list right now, and you’ll have one waiting for you as soon as they’re being handed out.”

“Next week?” Sunggyu puts his chopsticks down, his appetite absolutely falling away from him. How can next week be the best offer anyone can come up with? Sunggyu and the others have already been separated from Hoya for so long. And part of Sunggyu fears that Hoya will start to believe he’s been abandoned.

Sunggyu wonders if he isn’t fighting hard enough to get them all back together.

“Sunggyu?”

“It’s okay,” Sunggyu hears himself say. But it really isn’t.

“You look …” Kenji trails off.

Hoya is going to hate him. Sunggyu can’t think of anything else. When they’re finally together again, Hoya is going to hate him for not doing more. He’ll be angry and confrontational and maybe he won’t even want to be around them anymore. Or maybe he just won’t want to be around Sunggyu. He’ll certainly blame Sunggyu. How can he not?

“Sunggyu.”

Sunggyu pushes back from the table a little, glad there are so many other people in the room that he’s not drawing attention. “I’m sorry. I don’t feel well.”

“I thought you’d be happy?”

“I need to go back.” Sunggyu stands abruptly. He has to get away. He has to … not go back, actually. He can’t go back to the others and tell them that they have to wait even longer. Sungjong and Dongwoo are especially counting on him, and he’s only letting them down.

His stomach feels like it’s going to turn in on itself. It hurts so badly he almost doubles over.

“Hey.” Kenji’s by his side suddenly, supporting him as Sunggyu bends forward. “Come with me.”

Sunggyu can barely get his feet under him as Kenji leads him out of the room, their nearly untouched food behind him. His surroundings blur and all Sunggyu can see is turn after turn, white wall after white wall, beige carpet and tackled ceiling. He doesn’t know where he’s going, only that he has to go.

“Lay down.”

Sunggyu is pressed onto something soft and he gladly sinks in.

“Do you need me to get a doctor for you?”

Sunggyu frowns, Kenji’s face spinning above him. “Doctor?”

Kenji chuckles. “More like medic. There are a couple practicing physicians on this island, but no one near us. The hospital is further out, but we’re still trying to get it back up and running. There are, however, several medics in my regiment, and I can get one and be back in five minutes.”

“No.” Sunggyu reaches out for him, cold fingers wrapping around Kenji’s wrist. “I just … need a minute.”

One minute turns to two, and two to five. Five minutes becomes ten, and at the fifteen minute mark Sunggyu feels strong enough to sit up in the bed he’s lying on. His thoughts are still like acid, eating away at his stomach and his heart, but he’s less panicked, even if he’s generally just sadder.

“Where am I?”

From across the room, Kenji gives a grand flourish and says, “I was kind of hoping to get you in my bed eventually. This is not how I wanted it to happen, however.”

Sunggyu’s throat seizes up. “I’m in your bed?”

“Bedroom,” Kenji clarifies from his spot at the tiny table in the corner. There are two chairs attached to it, and he’s occupying one of them. The room also boasts a dresser, small bookstand, and not much else. It’s less luxurious than where Sunggyu’s living, even sharing with many people. “But don’t worry. I won’t try and take advantage of you. I’m only interested in willing partners.”

Sunggyu throws his legs over the side of the bed, plants his feet on the floor and breathes deep. “Sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

“It looked like you were starting to have a panic attack. Are you okay now?” The skin around Kenji’s eyes is creased with lines of worry, and Sunggyu feels horrible for making him shoulder such a burden.

It also makes Sunggyu that much more appreciative of Woohyun. The last time he had a panic attack when the ship was being attacked, not that panic attacks are anything normal for him, Woohyun was there. Woohyun held him and made Sunggyu feel better just by lending him strength. To have to recover himself now, without Woohyun, is twice as hard.

“I’m okay,” Sunggyu says. He accepts bottled water from Kenji, screws off the top and downs at least half of it. “Sorry.”

Kenji gives him a firm nod. “You’re already looking better. There’s a little color to your face. But honestly, Sunggyu, I thought you’d be happy to know your friend is okay and you can go visit him in four or five days.”

Sunggyu rolls the bottle of water between his hands and asks, “Do you know that we were all on the same ship before coming here? Me and my friends? We lived cramped together, without much freedom, scared that every day was going to be our last. But we had each other, and when any one of us needed support, we were there. We spent most of our time together, and in a lot of ways, the support we had for each other was the most important thing to any of us.”

“So you’re more like brothers,” Kenji says, and Sunggyu wants to weep with relief.

He settles for saying, “I keep imagining myself in Hoya’s place. Alone and scared. I would give anything for the people I cared about the most to come for me, and make sure I wasn’t alone anymore.”

“You will,” Kenji tries to say.

“But after how long?” Sunggyu has never felt so helpless in his life, not even compared to the moments spent sitting in a tiny room, safe and sound, while millions of people die around him. “And how do I tell my friends that they have to wait? How do I let them down like that?”

Kenji gets to his feet and makes the quick trek to the bed. He sits comfortably next to Sunggyu and says honestly, “If you’re family like you claim you are, then they’ll just accept what you tell them. Maybe they’ll be upset and angry, and if they are, you can’t do anything about that. But I think that because you mean so much to them, they’ll also understand that you did your very best. They won’t blame you, Sunggyu. Trust me. You’re too amazing for them to blame.”

“You sound confident.”

Kenji says back, “That you’re amazing, or that your friends will trust you to wait a little longer? I’m confident about both, for clarification, but especially on the amazing part.”

Sunggyu is just starting to pull himself back together, breathing easily enough, getting himself back under control, when Kenji makes his move. Sunggyu doesn’t even see it coming, not until Kenji is holding the side of his face in place so that he can kiss Sunggyu with dry lips.

It takes Sunggyu half a second to realize what’s happening, and half second more to react.

“I told you!” Sunggyu shouts, more frantic than anything, shooting to his feet. He’s put at least teen feet of distance between them, almost half the length of the room, before he adds, “I’m not interested in you. Why would you do that?” The panic is starting to build again.

Kenji leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Why? Because you’re attractive and funny and smart and--”

“Taken!” Sunggyu realizes he’s shouting now, but it can’t be helped. “I’m taken and you knew that!”

“By who?” Kenji asks with a grimace. “That boy from the bonfire?”

It occurs to Sunggyu that just because he didn’t see Kenji at the bonfire, doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.

“He’s not a boy,” Sunggyu says fiercely, unwilling to see Woohyun disrespected even the slightest. “He’s my boyfriend and I assure you very much, he’s a man in every way that counts.” It’s maybe a little petty to hint at ual relationships between himself and Woohyun but it does the trick in making Kenji sit back in surprise.

Sunggyu continues for good measure, “I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear enough the past few times I told you I wasn’t available, but let me be explicitly clear. I love my boyfriend. I am in love with him. And nothing you do or say will change that, or make me even the slightest inclined to want to cheat on him.”

“I could--”

Sunggyu reaches for the door, still a little unsteady on his feet. “I don’t know how else I can say this,” he snaps out. “I came here, against my boyfriend’s wishes, because you wanted to make a deal, and because you said you could handle just being friends. I don’t know if you just said that to get me here, or if you just can’t honor your word. Frankly, I don’t care.”

Kenji rocks up to his feet. “Wait. Just wait a second.”

Ruthlessly, Sunggyu tells him, “I’m going to apply for my day pass tomorrow. I want my name first on the list, and I expect to get it the second it’s available to me. If you try to stop me from getting that pass, simply because I turned you down, I’ll find some way to get in touch with your superior. You will not stop me from getting to my friend, and you won’t try and use my friend to get closer to me.”

“Sunggyu!”

Sunggyu slams the door behind him, breathing hard. But there’s no time to rest. He knows Kenji is likely to come after him, feeling their conversation not over. And this thought drives Sunggyu forward, twisting around corners, trying to decipher signs in kanji that might lead towards the exit.

When he finally makes it outside, out of breath and turned around, he doesn’t know where he is. Not right away. But being lost doesn’t stop him. He has to put as much distance between himself and Kenji as possible. There are lights in the distance, probably belonging to the resort’s main area, and he heads down towards them at a jog.

The moment the first cabin comes into view, relief surges through Sunggyu. The brightly lit area is filled with plenty of people, enough to get lost in, and Sunggyu slides past them on his way home.

He decides, mere minutes from the cabin, that if Kenji comes after him, he’ll set Woohyun on him, violence be damned. And maybe Dongwoo, who seems like he’ll fight dirty when pressed into it.

Everyone is gathered around the kitchen table when Sunggyu comes through the door. He’s got the duplicate cabin key card still in his hand, the one less than a day old, and remembers only a second after crossing the threshold to wipe his face of any of the fear he’s been feeling on his way home.

“That was fast,” Sungyeol says, standing. “We weren’t expecting you for at least another hour. Maybe more.”

Sunggyu deliberately doesn’t meet Woohyun’s heavy gaze as he says, “The food wasn’t that good, and neither was the company. I would rather be here any second of the day.”

“Okay,” Sungyeol replies a little awkwardly. “Are you still hungry? You know I make too much every time.”

The beef was amazing, but the plain rice and average side dishes Sungyeol prepared taste even better to Sunggyu, who hops up on the nearby countertop. Maybe it’s all in his head, but he’d rather eat the rationed and issued food any day, if it means getting to be with his family.

Jiyeon goes down for the night fairly quickly afterwards, and Sungjong heads off to work on a giant puzzle away from earshot.

This is when Woohyun asks, “What’s wrong?” Dongwoo and Sungyeol wait patiently for his answer.

“Nothing is wrong,” he says a little peevishly, then offers an apology to Woohyun. He tells the three men in front of him, “Hoya is okay. That’s what I found out. He’s healthy and starting next week we’re going to get permission to go and see him. Day passes start next week. I’m going to get the first one, and that’s when we’ll bring Hoya back. I know this isn’t much more than we knew before, but at least it’s something.”

Dongwoo makes a disappointed face and Sunggyu braces for the worst.

“Thank you,” Sungyeol says, and Sunggyu doesn’t even realize at first that the words are being directed at him. “For everything, Sunggyu. We know you didn’t want to deal with that guy, but you did, so we could find out about Hoya.”

Sunggyu doesn’t even realize how badly he needs to hear the words until Dongwoo and Woohyun are echoing Sungyeol.

“Something is really bothering you,” Woohyun says hours later. Everyone’s already gone to bed and though it’s supposed to just been Sunggyu’s on the first watch, Woohyun’s been with him from the start. The both of them are curled up on the living room sofa, a warm breeze through cracked windows drifting in around them. “You can’t hide it from me. I can tell.”

Sunggyu says pointedly, “Of course there’s something wrong with me. I wanted to get us closer to being back with Hoya, but the truth is, we’d be in the same place even if I hadn’t gone tonight.”

Woohyun shrugs. “I don’t know about that. Anyway, that’s not what I mean, and I think you know that.”

Sunggyu sticks his feet pointedly into Woohyun’s lap for a massage. “Maybe I just don’t want to give you the satisfaction of thinking you were right about Kenji.”

Woohyun’s fingers, which have been rubbing Sunggyu’s feet, pause. And Sunggyu has never, not once, heard Woohyun sound so terrifyingly vicious, as when he asks, “He tried something with you, didn’t he?”

Head tilting back, Sunggyu closes his eyes against the soft light of the room coming from the single lamp in the corner. “He certainly didn’t just want to be friends.”

“I knew it,” Woohyun hisses.

“Oh, shut it,” Sunggyu says, reaching over and pinching Woohyun’s shoulder. “You’ll be happy to know I told him to back off right away. I also mentioned that I have a boyfriend, and under no circumstances would I consider cheating on you.”

The pleasure that engulfs Woohyun’s face makes him look even more attractive. “You said I was your boyfriend.”

“Start rubbing again,” Sunggyu demands, wiggling his toes in Woohyun’s lap. “I told Kenji not only do I have a boyfriend, but that I love said boyfriend very much. Understand?”

Woohyun’s hands curl around Sunggyu’s toes. “You did?”

“I did,” Sunggyu confirms. “I was mean about telling him no, too. That should make you really happy.”

Sunggyu gives a surprised sound as he’s pushed back onto the sofa by Woohyun who crowds over him, kissing his forehead, then dropping to his mouth. “I love you, too.”

“You sure say it enough,” Sunggyu says, trying to sound firm.

“Oh, come off it.” Woohyun settles himself between Sunggyu and the sofa, hooking an arm around Sunggyu’s waist. “You like how much attention I pay to you. You like how much I tell you how pretty you are and how much I like you. Just get down off that high horse of yours and admit it.”

Just this once, Sunggyu lets himself give in. Just this once.

“Fine,” he grunts out, scratching his fingers gently into Woohyun’s scalp. “I like it when you say you love me. Satisfied?”

The kiss that Woohyun gives him in response, sending a flash of heat through his body due to its intensity, is answer enough.