Sungjong paused between bites. It had been about a month since graduation and about a month since he'd last seen Sungyeol, but the image of a death glare was imprinted on his brain, causing him distress everytime he thought about it. He knew Sungyeol didn't like him--he could tell. What he couldn't understand was why. As long as he could ever recall, he'd never done anything to wrong anyone else, but he could be wrong. 

He couldn't understand. He could have asked Hoya or Dongwoo or even Myungsoo, but he felt like none of them would understand, so he wouldn't ask.

Taking a bite, he was reminded that Myungsoo wanted to hang out and talk today. He received a text from the elder, asking to go over, and he figured why not. They hadn't hung out in a while (like four days), and he really seemed to want to talk about something important--he didn't explicitly say so, but he could read between the lines.

Checking the time, he figured he was done with his food. "Alright, I'm going over to Myungsoo-hyung's house," he told his mother, handing her his half-full plate. He hugged her and started towards the front door, slipping on his shoes.

"Be safe and come back when you feel like it but not too long," she smiled at Sungjong and waved as he left.

On the walk over, Sungjong felt a bit nervous; he didn't have a good reason for it, but he had a bad feeling in his gut. Maybe it was about whatever Myungsoo wanted to touch upon.

Probably.

It took a good fifteen minutes, but he eventually made it and knocked on the door, waiting outside. Moonsoo was the one to open the door, surprised to see Sungjong, "Hyung invited you over, right?" He looked to the side inside the house, pausing. "Actually he's taking a shower right now, so he'll be out in a bit. Come on in," he offered, stepping away and starting towards where he assumed the living room was. 

Nodding, he stepped inside and removed his shoes, following the younger to the living room and standing towards the entrance, arms wrapped lightly around his midsection. His mind wandered to wondering what Myungsoo wanted to talk about once again, feeling strangely unsettled. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the audio of the television, allowing the voices and noise of some variety program to settle him. 

It wasn't much longer until he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind, and he almost immediately relaxed at the familiar feeling and scent of Myungsoo.

"Let's go to my room--Moonsoo seems to be very involved in his movie," the elder mumured in his ear, nearly pulling a shiver from Sungjong. He nodded and agreed quietly, Myungsoo's hand grasping his as he pulled away. Flushing lightly, he allowed Myungsoo to tug him along to his room. As he stepped inside and looked around, Myungsoo closed the door and moved to his bed, gesturing for Sungjong to join him.

Sungjong sat beside him, only to have him wrap his arms about his waist loosely, resting his chin on Sungjong's shoulder and sighing softly.

Moments passed as Myungsoo got progressively more clingy, one hand resting on his hip, the other playing with his hair, while his legs were more or less wrapped around Sungjong's hips and lower body. By this time, Sungjong had relaxed quite a bit, moreso due to the fact that Myungsoo's aura was calming when he was at ease.

"Hey Jjongie?"

Sungjong hummed as both an inquisition and acknowledgement.

"Why did you forgive Sunggyu-hyung?" he questioned lazily, though Sungjong could tell it was more or less forced to be nonchalant.

He involuntarily tensed a little bit, feeling uncomfortable with the possible routes this conversation could take, but quickly relaxed as he began to talk. "I guess...I figured there was no way I couldn't forgive him. I mean, it's not like he really did anything harmful. Sure, cruel words were spoken, but he never actually did anything too bad." He sighed softly, "I felt like he deserved to be given a second chance, since he seemed to be struggling with the stigma against liking another male." He stared at the ceiling, "I didn't pity him, per se...but I felt bad. I felt like if he had gone with how his heart dictated, he would have been in a bad position himself, you know? And I've suspected for a long time that he liked me--why else would he bully me for so many years?"

He shook his head then, feeling Myungsoo's hand unmoving as it continued to play with it, "And he never really said anything that others hadn't said before--it seemed like a bit of a bluff to divert unwanted attention." He had reasoned this many times, since he knew it would come up in conversation at some point. 

"Sunggyu-hyung...he's not a bad person, just...misguided, I would say," finished Sungjong, sighing shakily. Myungsoo felt his tension and was unsure whether to continue inquiring as he wished, so he gave it a bit more time, until Sungjong had resumed the previous comfort and relaxation.

He continued to play with his hair before speaking again, "What do you think about Sungyeol?" Immediately, Sungjong tensed up at the mention of the name.

"I...I don't want to talk about him." Sungjong grit out, trying not to let his distress get the best of him. Sungyeol brought too many bad feelings, what with all the bullying, unreasonably harsh words and insults, but the worst part was that Sungjong could see himself forgiving Sungyeol despite everything.

"But...he's not really that bad; he's really funny and weird and is a good friend--"

Sungjong jerked away from Myungsoo, feeling extremely discomforted by the elder and his words. "Stop, hyung--I don't want to talk about this!" He nearly raised his voice, but managed to keep it to a strained and upset tone as he controlled himself from leaving. He knew that Myungsoo became distressed when people raised their voices around him--he was sensitive.

"But if you let him--"

"Hyung, I don't want to talk about this or him," he interrupted, pulling away from him completely and getting to his feet. "I'm leaving, Myungsoo-hyung. I...I need to go," he murmured, hurrying away from Myungsoo and from the house without looking back or reconsidering to apologize. He needed to get away from the topic of Sungyeol, and just be away from the bad feeling of having Sungyeol as the topic of conversation--he felt upset and needed to see someone else he trusted, someone he was comfortable with, so...Hoya-hyung.

It wasn't as if he had no other alternatives, but...he trusted Hoya to be able to make him feel better when nobody else could--Dongwoo was good when he was tired, but not for when he was upset, honestly. So his feet carried him to Hoya's place, where he knocked on the door and waited for the elder to answer the door.

It didn't take long, and when he did, he immediately picked up on his younger friend's distress. "Come on to my room," he told him as he ushered him inside. He let him slip his shoes off as he rubbed his back before leading him to his room, where Sungjong nearly collapsed into a fit of sobs. Hoya carefully led him to his bed, where he wrapped his arms around him and hugged him--he did he best to comfort the younger, since he knew asking about it would probably distress the younger. 

He only held him and rubbed his back while he got out all that he needed to, of course. Naturally, he was curious, and he would ask when he'd settled down. Until then, though, he would find something to get him back on track emotionally and mentally. Maybe dancing? Now that Sungjong was dancing, maybe they could practice together. He could teach him a dance or two, maybe. 

As he rubbed his back, he noticed that Sungjong was settling down. When he looked at Hoya, his eyes were slightly swollen, his nose runny and red with flushed cheeks. Hoya smiled fondly and reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his box of tissues, handing the younger a few. He tousled his hair gently as Sungjong blew his nose and wiped his face.  

"I...I look really ugly, right?" Sungjong murmured softly, looking down. Hoya suppressed a sigh--he should have known better than to be surprised in the least. He knew that Sungjong had some deep-seated insecurities that had developed over the years, but they were baseless, honestly--at least to Hoya.

"Honestly? Not really," Hoya reassured him, taking a tissue and dabbing at his eyes. "You're one of the best-looking people out there--y, cute, and handsome--the whole package, really." He grinned when Sungjong hit him, looking away with a flushed face.

"Y-you...you're too greasy, Hoya-hyung..." he murmured, covering his mouth slightly as the words came out in more or less as a mumble. 

Hoya grinned, "But it's true, you know? You deserve to be confident in everything you do, Sungjong, and nobody has the right to tell you otherwise." He smiled, Sungjong's hair before flushing lightly, looking away. "Sorry. That's a bit out of place, right?" 

Sungjong flushed and looked away, biting his lip lightly. "Hoya-hyung...do you, by any chance...?"

Hoya picked up on it, before nodding a little, flushing hard enough that his ears turned red.

"Yeah, I have, for a long time." Hoya looked at him and grasped his hand tightly but not so much so that it would hurt him, "But I never said anything because I didn't want to lose you if I tried something and it became awkward and estranged between us--I really didn't want that to happen, Jjongie..." He looked down then, and Sungjong's gaze softened.

"Hoya-hyung...I..." He really didn't know how to respond, but Hoya continued instead.

"I mean, we don't have to date, and you don't have to accept my feelings; I just don't want things to become super awkward, and I wasn't really expecting this..." he continued to ramble on mindlessly, and Sungjong couldn't help but smile and laugh softly, stopping Hoya's words.

"I...I'm okay with it, to date some..." Sungjong bit his lip, flushing darkly and looking away as he fidgeted, "B-but we have to go on one date before I can make a decision!"

Hoya looked taken aback and shocked. "You...wha...?" His mouth was hanging open, eyes widened as his brain registered Sungjong's words. "Really?" He started laughing and his grin was extremely wide as he hugged a flushing Sungjong tightly. "I'm so happy!"

Sungjong whined softly before smiling himself.

After it settled down and Hoya was more or less clinging comfortably to Sungjong and playing with his hair, Hoya decided to bring it up, "So why did you come over anyway? I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, but still; it'd be nice to know."

Sungjong tensed slightly before nodding and taking a shaky breath, "Myungsoo asked me about...about Sungyeol-ssi..." He bit his lip, "I didn't...I didn't want to talk about it--I didn't expect him to pull that kind of turn in conversation..." He felt himself getting upset again and closed his eyes to take a deep breath and calm himself. "He...wanted me to forgive Sungyeol and be friends like with Sunggyu, but it...it wouldn't be the same," he murmured, brow furrowed. "Sunggyu-hyung didn't intend to be cruel--he just didn't want to be ousted himself; Sungyeol-ssi on the other hand..."

"He's perfectly fine even without having bullied you. Argh, it infuriates me knowing that he had no real reason behind starting , and that you of all people had to deal with it!" His arms wrapped about Sungjong's waist tightened more the angrier he got, until he realized Sungjong's discomfort. "Ah, sorry..."

Sungjong shook his head, "It's okay. I feel better seeing that you're getting angry and worked up--that someone cares so much." He smiled then, "Thank you hyung."

Hoya flushed lightly, "It's no problem." He grinned then, "Wanna go on our date tomorrow? I have no work, and we can go to Lotte World."

Sungjong grinned, "Alright! It's your treat, of course!" 

Hoya grinned and hugged him again, "Of course, naturally."

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

a/n: Hallo again, it's been a while, huh? I got some hojong to treat Sungjong with~ I think he deserves it. I'm really sorry if the flow is a bit odd, but I'm out of practice quite a bit ;3; I want to do the date next but idk I feel like I want to continue the plot, but I can incorporate plot and oooh~ excitement and romance drama~ myungjong v hojong, which shall win out~? I'm really sorry if Hoya seems a bit ooc with the affection, but I'd like to think he's super affectionate behind closed doors ;w; and now for some hojong (there aren't as many as I would hope but I like ;w;