As time passed and Sungjae became more accustomed personally to Myungsoo over the next few months, he learned a lot more about him, yet there was always something off-putting about his behavior, like he wasn't quite as invested emotionally as he could be. He knew it probably had something to do with the fact that Sungjae wasn't Sungjong, but hopefully Myungsoo hadn't picked up on it. He'd hoped that enough time had passed so that Myungsoo could have adapted to any differences from Sungjong.

"Hey, remember our second date?"

It was out of nowhere, and they were in the quad, Myungsoo sitting and reading his book while Sungjae rested his head in his lap, reading his own book. Looking away from the text, he nodded, "Yeah, the karaoke date, right?" He was lying, but it wasn't like Myungsoo knew, right?

Myungsoo hummed in agreement. "Yeah. Which song was your favorite song we sang together?" He didn't look away from his book as he spoke.

Sungjae pursed his lips as he tried to think of a song Sungjong would sing with Myungsoo. "Hm...'Nagging'. I love IU's songs," he smiled as he looked back at his book, missing the way Myungsoo's grip tightened slightly on his book momentarily.

"Yeah?" Sungjae nodded and smiled, turning the page. "Do you want to do another karaoke date tonight?" Sungjae looked away from his book again and grinned.

"Yeah, sure. What time?" Sungjae looked up at the other, admiring his looks, even from such an unflattering angle.

"How about the same as last time? Seven at the same place," he half-smiled, glancing at him for a moment before returning his attention to his book.

"Alright, I'll tell Hoya-hyung and Sungjong." Hopefully tonight they could break the awkwardness that Sungjae felt between them. Hopefully they could get closer, since that was something that Sungjae had wanted from day one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had told Hoya through text but talked to Sungjong about it face to face. Even though Sungjong was far from the mess he was in the beginning, he knew that he would never completely get over Myungsoo; it was to the point that he still avoided him but he didn't react too negatively whenever he came over for dinner. He just mostly avoided eye contact and conversation but didn't ignore him when addressed--just stayed formal for the most part.

Sitting in his lounging chair, he looked over at Sungjong who was reading. "Myungsoo and I are going on a date tonight," he said, nodding at the other.

Sungjong looked up from his book at him for a moment before nodding and putting on a smile that wasn't even close to reaching his eyes. "That so?"

"We're going to karaoke," he further informed him, pursing his lips.

Turning his head back to his book, he nodded again, "Well, be safe and have fun." 

And Sungjae knew that it was a good idea to end the conversation at this point. Carrying it further would result in: a--Sungjong being even more uncomfortable; and b--it just wasn't a good idea to hold a conversation about Myungsoo with Sungjong. Even though enough time had passed so that Sungjong wasn't hurting as much, the fact that he was still at least a little attracted to Myungsoo made him susceptible to discomfort at the very least.

Nodding, he got up and started getting ready for his date in less than an hour. Searching through his clothes, he found comfortable choices that still looked good. Stripping to his underclothes, he looked himself over in the mirror and examined his body. Myungsoo had told him he looked fine, and it wasn't like he had any qualms about his body--in fact, he was relatively well-toned. Compared to Sungjong, he definitely looked more masculine, and people would comment on it to him, but he never said anything negative to Sungjong. 

He knew that Sungjong had his insecurities--being called feminine just because of his less-muscled frame and slightly more delicate tendencies and graceful movements, but that was mostly contributed to the fact that he was a dance major and he was really built for dancing more than anything. That was something Sungjae could never hope to master.

Shaking his head, he got back to changing and getting dressed well enough to semi-impress and checking himself in the mirror before grabbing his wallet and keys and sending a quick message to Myungsoo.

'I'm on my way. You there yet?'

"Alright, I'm going. See you tonight," he told Sungjong, closing the door and telling the same to Hoya, leaving the house and locking the door. His phone vibrated in his hand as he stuck his wallet in his pocket.

'Yeah. I paid for two hours. See you when you get here.'

Sungjae