Blinking, Sunggyu looked around. It wasn't even like anyone could tell what he was looking at anyway--that was one of the good things about having suspiciously small eyes, honestly. Other than that, the teasing he received from Woohyun and other friends would be enough to drive him nuts. They were only intermediate schoolers too! What kind of sense did that make?

Truthfully, though, as he stood at the gate seemingly staring off into space, he was looking for a particular younger student to pass by with his friends. 

He'd arrived earlier than usual, and was standing outside of the primary school, waiting for the familiar voice.

"Hyung! Wanna come over today and play?"

Sunggyu's head turned in the direction of the voice and laughter, watching them quietly. He didn't say anything, but when the youngest waved at him as he trailed behind, he couldn't help but blush and wave shyly.

Sungjong grinned at him, happy and carefree like he was supposed to be--he was a kid after all.

"Ah, Dongwoo-hyung! Hoya-hyung! Wait for me!" He hurried off, and Sunggyu watched him, still flushing lightly, his heart racing a bit.

He jumped and nearly screamed when he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder, but instead bit his tongue. He frowned at Woohyun and punched his arm, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Woohyun in response whined and rubbed his arm, pouting. "But Gyu, I called you from over there before I came over!" he whined, pointing in the direction he came from.

Sunggyu shook his head, his eyes automatically moving to where Sungjong and his friends were.

Woohyun's eyes followed as well, and he felt like teasing his older friend a little--normally he'd hold back, but it seemed like a good time as any. "I didn't know you liked them younger," he grinned, nudging his friend with his shoulder.

Sunggyu jumped, eyes widening slightly, "Wh-what do you mean?"

Woohyun kept his grin, "That girl's in basic school, right?" He pointed to where Sungjong was with Hoya and Dongwoo, whining as Hoya no doubt .

"Girl?" He looked over and frowned. "But Sungjong's a boy..." he murmured. Woohyun blinked as he heard the murmur.

"Boy?" Woohyun looked at Sunggyu, eyes slightly widened as he tried to get a good understanding of the stuation, before grinning and punching his arm, "You like boys?" He made to fake-gag, grinning, "Gross!"

Sunggyu felt himself freeze and his blood go cold as he heard his friend react. He was going to tell Woohyun sometime in the future, since he really liked Sungjong, but this wasn't what he was expecting. Did this mean that his friend found Sungjong gross? Or the fact that Sunggyu liked only Sungjong despite the fact that he was a boy? Or even Sunggyu himself? Just because he liked Sungjong? He felt dizzy and his chest hurt a little from his heart racing so much.

Sitting down from where he stood, Sunggyu took a moment to calm himself down. His brain got to working quickly on a defense that would lead to the least amount of accusations and trouble from Woohyun and other friends.

Shaking his head, he looked up at Woohyun who was squatting beside him at this point, eyebrow raised in concern and confusion as to his friend's reaction. "Hey...I was just kidding. You okay?"

Sunggyu didn't hear him past his pounding pulse in his ears. "I don't like him, Hyun. I don't like boys--you're right, that's gross."

Woohyun frowned but didn't protest--after all, arguing with his friend would probably be a bad thing. So instead he grinned again, patting him on the back, "Whatever you say, Gyu!"

He glanced over at Sungjong and the two others with him. He really was pretty for a boy, it was obvious, even from this distance--it was kind of weird for Woohyun, but he could see how Sunggyu could like his face.

Then again, they themselves were secondary schoolers, so what did they really know?

~

As time passed, Sunggyu never really got over his crush, but when confronted by his friends a year later after they had noticed Sunggyu paying quite a bit of attention to Sungjong and watching him whenever possible, he protested their accusations. "What are you guys talking about? How could I like a guy?" he scoffed, playing it off as a ridiculous assumption. He felt himself start to panic, though, and he felt himself

"Then tell his friends that--they've been bothering us because we know you!" one of them whined.

Hoya stepped forward after nudging them out of the way, a near-scowl set on his features. "Why do you watch our friend? Do you like him or something?"

Sunggyu felt himself immediately tense the moment he saw Hoya's expression. He felt indignant over the fact that he was speaking informally, though. "Yah! How dare you speak informally to an elder?"

Stepping closer, Hoya grabbed his collar, immediately intimidating the elder. "Do you like Sungjong?"

Everyone held their breaths as Sunggyu grabbed his hands, hoping the God that his hands weren't shaking nearly as bad as he thought they were, and pried them from his collar. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he steeled himself against the other. "That kid? The fat one?" He scoffed but internally winced at his own words, "Like I could ever like a kid like that--what am I? A ?"

The others burst out laughing, with the exception of Woohyun who was feeling very uncomfortable. He shifted his weight and stared at the scene, noting accurately Sunggyu's own discomfort through his posture and body language. His smirk and amusement seemed forced, as Woohyun had known him long enough to be able to tell.

Hoya growled, "What the hell?" He pulled away harshly, throwing Sunggyu's arms to the side as he clenched his fists. "Whatever--I'm out." He glared as he stepped away, "I'd kick your , but Sungjong wouldn't like that."

"Do you like him?" one of the others taunted, promptly earning a kick to the shin from Hoya as he left.

"Don't go after him," Sunggyu warned, knowing they wanted revenge (even though the damage was completely warranted), "It's not worth it--you know you have better things to do than getting suspended."

Woohyun looked to his friend worriedly but said nothing.

Sunggyu, on the other hand, felt more than a little upset for more than a few reasons--overall, though, he knew there was no going back from this point on, and he'd have to somehow continue to defend himself against Hoya's suspicions

~

Until today, anyway. 

There was something that was unsettling about seeing Sungjong again, looking...gorgeous, actually. He'd lost weight, that much was obvious, but there was something about it that felt like it was somehow his fault. He'd liked Sungjong for years, as he thought about it, and the feeling never went away--he felt like seeing his transformation of sorts was enough to trigger something in his conscience and somehow made him want to try and reconcile and just not give a crap about what others thought since he was graduating later anyway.

He'd talked to Woohyun about it too, since the other was surprisingly perceptive (he'd said that he'd been watching for years and acting accordingly but thinking a lot), and he said that it was okay to feel however he felt--that it had always been that way--but to prepare and brace himself for the worst.

And here they were, waiting on the rooftop for Sungjong and his two friends, Sunggyu restraining himself from pacing.

Woohyun looked at his friend worriedly, sensing his anxiety and nervousness, "Are you sure you want to do this, Gyu? I mean, considering that you've probably damaged any semblance of self-esteem he may have ever had, and who knows if he'll even forgive you--"

"I know this, Woohyun! I'm prepared for him to hate me and make a fool of me in front of everyone--I've been preparing for this since I resolved to tell him," Sunggyu sighed, closing his eyes and leaning against the railing of the rooftop beside the other.

"I guess the day of your graduation is as good a day as ever, I suppose, then." Woohyun sighed softly and stared at the door as they waited.

Meanwhile, Sungjong was fidgeting nervously, uncomfortable and all-around anxious from anticipating what Sunggyu wanted to talk about. He hoped that it would be something good, but with bullies, you never knew, honestly. Sungjong didn't want to assume the worst, though, so he tried to keep a positive mindset. As the bell rang signalling the end of the day, he collected his things and waited for Hoya and Dongwoo at the very least, Myungsoo soon following suit and keeping close to Sungjong, before heading to the rooftop.

Stopping at the door, he had to stop, feeling like his whole being was trembling. Myungsoo hugged him from behind, clinging to him in an attempt to soothe both Sungjong's and his own anxiety that was building off of Sungjong's. It worked well enough, and Hoya mussed Sungjong's hair before opening the door and the three of them following the youngest out onto the rooftop.

Sunggyu stood from his leaning position and approached, stopping a good three meters' distance for good measure. "Lee Sungjong."

Sungjong involuntarily flinched as he heard the same thing he'd always heard from the elder. "Y-yes...?" He felt himself relax a little (he hadn't realized he'd tensed so much) when he felt a hand--Dongwoo's--rubbing soothing circles onto the small of his back.

Sunggyu looked uncomfortable and even a little bit upset--given that he realized that this wasn't a good way to start things off.

A moment of strained silence passed before Sunggyu spoke up again, "I want to say that I'm sorry."

Sungjong looked at him, eyes slightly widened; he wanted this, but he didn't expect it all the same; however, his mind worked quickly at formulating the next words.

"I know I've been a ty person, bullying and terrorizing you for years, but I suppose I should explain the reasoning behind the bullying. I don't expect for you to ever forgive me for the words I've said and the actions I've committed--"

"I forgive you."

Sunggyu's head shot up, taken aback at the other's words, "You..."

"I forgive you," Sungjong repeated, smiling a bit timidly. "I was always prepared to forgive you, Kim Sunggyu."

Sunggyu's face heated with humiliation and embarrassment, "Th-then..."

Everyone was equally surprised, but those on Sungjong's side were a bit more apprehensive towards the elders.

Woohyun stepped in then, "I suppose that asking for forgiveness isn't out of the question either?"

Sungjong shook his head, "I forgive both of you. I have a feeling you both had a deeper meaning behind carrying on with it."

"Actually, Woohyun just followed suit; I'm really sorry for everything, Sungjong. I...The reason I'd bullied you for years and years was...because..." Sunggyu swallowed, his suddenly dry lips.

"Because you liked him," Dongwoo murmured, earning widened eyes from the younger three. "Isn't that right?"

Sunggyu bit his lip, face flushed from embarrassment, before nodding, "Honestly, yes. Since we were kids,"

Sungjong flushed lightly, looking away and hiding his shaking hands in his pockets. "I..."

Sunggyu looked at Sungjong then, "I know it's not really in my place to ask this of you, but is there any chance that we might...?"

Hoya frowned, "Are you dumb? You're asking for an awful lot, you know."

Sunggyu nodded, "Of course I know; I feel like I'll never be able to do this ever again, though..."

"Kim Sunggyu."

The eldest looked at the youngest, trying not to flush in response to the other's rather attractively flushed face and endearingly timid posture and nervous movements--he wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"I...in regards to that sort of thing, I don't think we can anytime soon, but I'll keep it in mind." His eyes flickered to the eldest's face as he his lips, "Can we at the very least be friends?"

Sunggyu was speechless--not only had he received a maybe to his confession, but also a chance at getting closer to the object of his affections. It wasn't until Woohyun reminded him to say something that he responded, "I...Of course! Call me hyung! I'll be good to you, I swear! I ed up really badly in the past, but I'll make it up to you!" he promisded, and Sungjong could see the sincerity in his face, posture, and hear it in his voice. He laughed and his eyes seemed to disappear with the great big grin he was sporting.

Sungjong nodded timidly before he almost-squeaked in response to being enveloped in one of the biggest bear hugs (after Dongwoo, of course) he'd experienced in a long time.

Hoya and Myungsoo tensed visibly at the display of affection, frowning and glaring none-too-discretely. The lessened their silent hostility when Sungjong was released and comfortably nestled between his best friends.

"Let's get ice cream--my treat!" Sunggyu offered, leading them off of the roof.

Woohyun followed after quietly, having said nothing as he left the rooftop.

Sungjong leaned against Myungsoo, head rested against his shoulder, sighing tiredly. "I feel better," he murmured softly, as Myungsoo rubbed soothing circles on his back.

"Are you okay?" he questioned softly, nodding at Dongwoo and Hoya to get moving on so he could handle Sungjong for a bit.

Sungjong hugged him, closing his eyes as he steadied his breath, "I feel a little tired, but I'm fine, hyung. Thank you."

Myungsoo smiled and his hair, "Alright, if you say so. Let's get going." He patted Sungjong's back gently before following behind the younger.

'If that was his response to a confession by Kim Sunggyu, what about from others?' Myungsoo pondered silently, watching Sungjong's steps as they joined the others.

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

a/n: So I managed to get this chapter done after much struggle! cries school is so hard and I'm going to be slowly working at doing the next chapter, not only for this one but the other fic, so please wait patiently~ ;3; I love you all, as always, and I shall be getting to sleep bc it's 1:40 am here