Violet: the color of imagination. Creative, individual.

Sunggyu’s week went smoothly, normally. The only thing that had changed was Sungyeol’s actions. First, he wasn’t scaring Sunggyu as often as before – he still did it sometimes though, because it was too fun. Second, he kept saying that Sunggyu was creepy, because he ‘looked happy’. The latter wasn’t sure how he was supposed to take that comment, so he just shrugged it off. He didn’t know where the other had gotten that idea though, because he didn’t feel happier than usual. In fact, he had felt in some occasions kind of bored by his reports and he was always leaving work on time, no longer getting lost in the reassuring black characters on the white page. And when he got home, cooked his gray meal and read his gray book before going to his gray bed, he couldn’t stop a strange lonely feeling that was definitely not there before.

On Thursday evening, he got a phone call. Sungjong. He smiled, like every time his little brother called him.

“Hello little devil!” He heard a groan at the other end of the line.

“I told you to stop calling me that!” The laughter that followed contradicted that sentence though. “How are you? Miss me?”

“Of course, my life is so vain without you! I can’t stop thinking about you and I spend entire nights looking out the window in hope that I see a shooting star so that I can pray for you and-“

“Okay, you can cut the crap now.” They both laughed. Sungjong was the only person with whom he acted like that – like a child. He knew he could tell everything to his younger brother, who somehow always managed to bring a smile to his face – something that Sunggyu wasn’t really known for.

“How are you? And why are you calling? You always call when you need something.”

“What?! Can’t I just innocently ask my brother how he has been?” He sounded offended, but Sunggyu knew his brother better than to fall for his act. He just waited in silence and his cute brother just gave up on his own. “Actually, I really don’t need anything this time. Well, just a roof above my head actually. I don’t have classes on Friday, so I thought I could go to town this week-end and stay at your apartment. If… I’m not a bother. I thought staying from Friday to Sunday would be nice.”

Sunggyu smiled. His brother could never be honest enough to actually tell him he missed him, but he knew it anyway. “Of course, you know you can come anytime. I haven’t had a slave to cook for me for a while, so I guess you would do.”

“Last time, you got sick because of my cooking.” Sunggyu grimaced at the thought.

“Yup, I had forgotten that. On the other hand, I still have plenty of instant noodles.”

They chatted a bit when Sunggyu suddenly remembered something. “Oh Sungjong, I forgot but I’m actually going out on Friday.” Only silence could be heard on the other end of the line and he knew the reactions his brother would have, just like everyone. Three. Two. One…

“Going OUT? Like out, out? Sunggyu, are you feeling well? Don’t tell me you have a boyfriend?! I have to be the first person to know if you do, you promised meee!”

Sungyu chuckled. “Calm down Sungjongie. Yes I’m going out, like in a bar out, yes I’m felling quite well, thank you and no I don’t have a boyfriend. Of course, you would be the first to know.”

“Mmm… this is still weird. Who are you going with? Dongwoo and Hoya?” Sunggyu immediately caught the tone of his brother when he said the two names. He knew his little brother liked his two friends. They knew each other quite well, since they had been friends for years and Sungjong was always happy to see them.

“Nope, I’m going alone actually.” Sunggyu left the explanation at that because he knew his brother would go crazy from the lack of information about his weird actions.

“Kim Sunggyu! What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you really my brother? Or maybe… you are some vengeful ghost that ate Sunggyu’s soul and took his place? Please, let my brother go, he’s a really nice person, even though he’s a little dense, stupid and solitary…”

“Yah! Thank you for that! So actually, I’m going alone because Hoya and Dongwoo have their anniversary, but I’m meeting there with the barman, who is…” Who was he? His friend? Not really. A weird person that had a tendency of getting him drunk and who just happened to be very handsome? The second proposition was closest to the truth, but it meant he would have a lot of explanation to do and he was really hungry at that very moment. “… a friend?” His tone clearly indicated that he wasn’t really sure about the last part though.

Sungjong squealed at the other end of the line. “Are you having a crush on a barman? Because that’s actually very y, you know?”

“You should really stop watching so many dramas. He’s just a friend.” I guess.

“Well I definitely have to come with you on Friday then, because I have to meet that friend who can drag you out of you apartment!”

“You can’t come. It’s not a place for little kids like you. I’ll just by you some candies and go on my own.” Sunggyu laughed at the mental image of the face he knew his brother was making at that exact moment.

“Yah! I’m twenty now you know! Twenty! And I’m pretty sure I get drunk more often than you anyway!”

“I know, I know. I finish work at six, so how about you come to drop your things in my apartment then meet me at the office, so that we can go grab something to eat and go directly to the bar? You haven’t lost the key, right?”

He smiled at the indignant scoff he heard from his brother. “Of course I still have the key! But ok, let’s do that then, since you seem to get to that bar really quickly.” Sunggyu was really glad his brother could see his bright red cheeks through the phone. Something made him think that he still knew though.

“Ok, see you tomorrow then! I’m hanging up, I’m starving!”

“You’re always starving! I don’t know why you’re not overweight yet… Or maybe you are now?”

“Goodbye, Sungjong.”

“Hahaha wait! Good-”

Sunggyu hung up, a smile still on his face. Seriously, that child would never change.

* * *

The next day was calm and peaceful. Maybe too calm? Sunggyu thought about it a few seconds and realized it was because he hadn’t seen Sungyeol at all. No sneaky attacks, no loud laughter, no disturbances. He looked at the clock: five fifty. He looked at his screen again and cursed inside. Why was it that the only day he wanted to get off work on time, he had an urgent report that needed to be done quickly? He took his phone and sent a text to Sungjong, saying that he would probably be ten minutes late. He concentrated on his report once again.

Fifteen minutes later, he looked at the screen with satisfaction, sent his report, stretched and turned off his computer. He was about to get out when he heard a door shutting loudly. He looked in that direction and saw Sungyeol, who had just slammed the door of his boss and boyfriend, Myungsoo. Sunggyu wasn’t sure how to describe the look on his friend’s face. He would describe it as somewhere in between anger and sadness. He slowly made his way to his flustered friend and carefully dropped a hand on his shoulder. Only then did the man seem to notice his presence.

“Sungyeol, are you okay?” He scanned his friend who, without any warning, broke into tears. Sunggyu panicked. He didn’t know what to do with crying people. So he awkwardly patted his head in a hope that it would help. However, the tall man just dropped his head on his shoulder and started crying there, so Sunggyu just passed his arms around the other man’s waist and patted his back. It was at that exact moment that Sungjong decided to make his entry.

“Sunggyu! I asked the secretary where your office was and she said I could go up and-” A second passed. “Eeerr… Am I interrupting something?”

Sunggyu, who wasn’t really comfortable with the position he was currently in, felt even more uncomfortable at the thought that someone had seen him like this, even if it was his brother. On the plus side, Sungyeol had stopped crying, probably not wanting to cry in front of a total stranger. Sunggyu let go of his friend and turned to his brother.

“Calm your imagination Sungjong. He’s Sungyeol, a friend of mine. You’ve never met him, but I think I’ve already talked about him, right?” He then turned to his colleague, who was wiping his tears and was trying his best to look as if he hadn’t just been seen in an awkward situation. “Sungyeol, this is my little brother, Sungjong.”

Sungjong, being the easy-going person he was, made his way to Sungyeol and shook his hand with a smile. “Nice to meet you! I’ve heard a lot about you.” He turned to his brother, asking him a silent question. Sunggyu smiled and nodded. He reported his attention to the tall man in front of him. “Since you don’t seem… very well, do you want to come with us? We’re going to grab something to eat then we’re going to a mysterious bar where Sunggyu’s mysterious friend works.” Sungyeol cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at Sunggyu.

“You go to bars? And you have friends?” Sunggyu facepalmed himself. Seriously, why was it so inconceivable for everyone that he could have a social life – at least the beginning of one?

* * *

They had decided to just go to a fast food before going to the bar. So there they were, sitting at a round table in the corner of a room flooded by a way-too-white artificial light. Sunggyu didn’t know how, but somehow Sungjong had made the taller man talk about his problems. It was one of the powers of his little brother: he was really nice and friendly and he could get people to open up very fast. Not like himself.

“… so I went to see Myungsoo to tell him that I was tired of hiding all the time, just because he was my boss.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said it was one of the conditions of our relationship from the beginning and that he didn’t have the time to talk about it anyway. When I asked him if his work was more important than me, he sighed and said that we would talk about that later because he really needed to finish whatever it was that he was doing.” Sungjong was looking at him with a sympathetic look, encouraging him to continue. “I mean, that answered my question in some way. So I got mad and said that he should go out with his computer if it was that important. I went out and slammed the door.”

Sunggyu then asked something. “Didn’t you think that maybe he was really busy, or that this secret thing is also for your own good?” Two death glares at once. Okay, he really should let Sungjong deal with this problem. Sungjong sighed.

“Sunggyu isn’t wrong though. But still, Myungsoo should have tried to listen to you and definitely not treat you like that.” Sungyeol slowly nodded and brought his head down, tears forming in his eyes once again. But before he could start to cry again, Sungjong slid an arm under his, another under Sunggyu’s and got them up. “Now it’s getting too depressing! Let’s go to that bar and have fun, ok?”

When they got in the bar, Sunggyu didn’t hesitate this time and walked directly towards the bar. There wasn’t any band that day, but instead, it seemed to be karaoke night. When the piercing voice of a girl reached his ears, Sunggyu really regretted the bands. He sat on a stool and his brother sat next to him while Sungyeol sat on the other side of the younger. Woohyun noticed him immediately, put a couple of glasses in front of a customer with a smile and went to meet him.

“Hi! Here you are again. It wasn’t too difficult to leave your apartment?”

A pout formed on Sunggyu’s face. “I really shouldn’t have brought Hoya and Dongwoo. Anyway, I told you I’d come, right?”

Woohyun laughed and Sunggyu thought that laugh was definitely beginning to be one of his favorite sounds. “True.” He turned to Sungjong and Sungyeol. “You brought other friends, some that won’t laugh at you too much?”

Sunggyu opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when Sungjong beat him to it. “I’m Sungjong, Sunggyu’s little brother. This is Sungyeol. And I probably have more secrets to reveal about Sunggyu than both Hoya and Dongwoo.” He winked and Woohyun couldn’t help but laugh.

“Now, that’s interesting! I’ll go make you all a drink then you can tell me all those little secrets.” He turned around to go make the drinks and Sungjong turned to his brother.

“Sunggyu is that really your friend?” Sunggyu nodded. “Now don’t try to make me believe that you don’t want more with that y barman!” Sunggyu sighed and proceeded to repeatedly bang his head on the wooden counter.

“Why is it that everyone is telling me that? Can’t I have a y friend?! Look at Sungyeol! He’s handsome, but I never wanted to jump on him! I’m not an animal, you know!” At the mention of his name, the tall man seemed to get out of his thoughts and finally reacted, in the form of a slightly disgusted face. “Thank you Sungyeol, now that’s flattering.”

The man stuck his tongue at him and apparently seemed to think it was time for him to know what was going on. “So, who’s that barman anyway? How did you meet him when you barely get out of your apartment?” Sunggyu told the story once again. He was just finishing his story and the two men were still looking at him in with their mouths open at the thought of Sunggyu getting drunk with an unknown man who went as far as to take him home when Woohyun came back.

“I was starting to think that these two seemed more… normal than your other friends, but I’m taking that back. They have a bug or something?” Sungjong got out of his trance and threw him a glare that only made the man laugh. “Anyway, here are your drinks. Tonight is violet, the color of imagination and creativity.” Anybody could tell that he was enjoying this little game, just by the way he was announcing it like he would announce a show. This time, Sunggyu didn’t waste any time and directly sipped at the gray liquid. The taste was surprising. It was simple and complex at the same time. It was more acid and bitter than the orange one, but Sunggyu still liked it. A lot.

Woohyun must have seen it on his face, because he chuckled and said: “I’m starting to wonder if I’m actually making good cocktails or if you just like anything.” But his question was soon answered, when the two other men tasted the drink and opened their eyes wide. Sungjong was the first one to speak.

“Woah, this is so good!” He turned to Sunggyu. “I think I’m going to stay at your apartment more often from now on!”

Sunggyu chuckled and messed his brother’s hair. “I won’t let you! You’re too young to be an alcoholic.” While they were bickering, Sungyeol was drinking his cocktail a little too fast considering his alcohol tolerance. When he put down his now empty glass, Sunggyu stopped messing with his brother and looked at him.

“Sungyeol, don’t act stupid.” But the man just looked at him with a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, I was just really thirsty and this was too good. Don’t look at me like that, I’m not going to be drunk with just one glass!” However, when he asked Woohyun if he could have another, the barman looked at Sunggyu first, who nodded. He thought the situation was quite funny. It was like looking after two little brothers instead of one. Just like last time, every time he could, Woohyun went back to them. And Sungjong was too happy to have someone eager to listen to all the embarrassing stories he had about his brother, to the latter’s distress. He talked about Sunggyu being scolded because of him when they were little, about how he always had the best grades in school but still wasn’t able to follow a simple recipe... Sungjong even mentioned some ex-boyfriend, and knowing his brother, Sunggyu knew he had done it on purpose, to let the man know he was gay. Smooth. Somewhere along the line, Sungyeol started to tell stories too, how he would get reprimanded for staying too late at work, or how it was almost impossible to get him to a public place. Woohyun would laugh at the stories, sometimes asking for more details. Sunggyu, on the other hand, didn’t even bother to smack the back of his brother’s head anymore and decided to stay silent and just observe Woohyun instead. He was really happy when, after a few more drinks, the two men agreed to go sing a song on the karaoke.

Woohyun looked at him with a smile. “Seriously, you keep saying that your friends are embarrassing, but I’m starting to think you’re doing it on purpose!”

Sunggyu groaned and said in a falsely annoyed tone. “Shut up and serve me one more of these drinks, I think I deserve it.” The barman let escape a small laugh and went to prepare one more violet drink. To Sunggyu’s surprise, when he came back, on his side of the counter, he had two drinks in his hands. He sat next to Sunggyu, gave him one of the glasses and kept the second for himself. Sunggyu looked at the glass, then at Woohyun, who laughed once again.

“Why are you so surprised? Am I not allowed to drink?”

Sunggyu felt stupid all of a sudden. Of course, Woohyun would drink as well, he was a barman after all. “It’s just that… I never saw you drink before.”

“Well, I’m not supposed to drink during my shift. Not too much anyway, so I usually don’t even start. Imagine if even the barman is drunk!”

Just as he was finishing his sentence, a familiar and slightly drunk voice echoed in their ears. Sungyeol. Sunggyu turned around when Sungjong started to sing along with him. Both of them were singing at the top of their lungs and the scene in itself was really funny, mostly because Sungjong had to support Sungyeol so that the latter wouldn’t stumble off the stage. Sunggyu turned back and he couldn’t help but smile again when he saw Woohyun sitting close to him. Since when did he even smile that often?

“You know what I’ve been thinking?” Sunggyu held his breath at the question and at all the possibilities that could be hiding behind it. His only response was to shake his head. “You should try going on that stage as well.” Sunggyu immediately gave the barman his are-you-kidding-me look, even though behind it, he could feel an ounce of something else… disappointment? Woohyun laughed. “Come on, don’t give me that look!”

“I’m not… the kind of person who goes on a stage in front of so many people to sing a song on a karaoke. Sungjong is.” There wasn’t any hard feeling in his voice or any trace of low self-esteem that usually accompanied this kind of sentences. No, it was a simple statement, said with a smile.

Woohyun scanned his face for a few seconds before taking his wrist and pulling him off his stool. “Didn’t I tell you that today’s color, violet, was the color of imagination and creativity? Tonight you are just the kind of person you want to be! Come on.” Before Sunggyu could protest, he was dragged all the way to the scene, just as the duet made of his brother and his drunk friend came down. Woohyun selected a song, dropped a microphone in Sunggyu’s hand and pushed him on stage. At that moment, Sunggyu hesitated between getting out of this bar and never come back or killing Woohyun, getting out of this bar and never come back. However, when the first notes of the song stated playing – and hopefully he knew it –, he thought, the alcohol in his blood probably helping him with his decision, that singing the song wouldn’t kill him. The worse thing that could happen was humiliating himself in front of his handsome friend and making a new story for Sungjong to tell.

He closed his eyes and started to sing along with the melody blasting through the speakers. It reminded him of other times, when he was younger and he would spend his days singing. At the time, never would he have imagined a life without singing. However, he became an adult in the meantime, and he had just forgotten to keep singing. However, that night on that stage, he suddenly felt so good, so happy and so free that he asked himself why on earth he had stopped in the first place. He opened his eyes and looked directly at Woohyun, whose jaw was hanging as low as it could. He hoped that was a good reaction though. His performance got him a few claps from a couple of drunk people and he came down from the small stage. He went right to Woohyun.

“Thank you. I think I needed it.” It seemed the barman was still unable to say a single word. “Yah! Don’t exaggerate now!”

“I… I’m not! You never told me you sang!” Sunggyu chuckled.

“Because I don’t. Usually. This was a great experience though.” Then, he felt his heart skip a beat when he realized he didn’t know where Sungjong and Sungyeol were. He looked around and his eyes went wide – as wide as they could – at the scene before him. There they were, in the middle of a make-out session. Sunggyu’s brain went blank as he saw Sungyeol pin his baby brother against a wall while devouring his lips.

Woohyun saw the look on Sunggyu’s face change and he grabbed him by the arm before the man could jump on Sungyeol and probably beat him to death. “Sunggyu, stay calm.” The man slowly turned his head in his direction and surprisingly seemed to control his anger. Instead of going to where the two men were, he made his way out of the bar, followed by a worried Woohyun. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. When he heard the person on the other end pick up, he didn’t even wait for him to speak.

“Myungsoo, your ing boyfriend spent the whole evening complaining and crying about how you acted like a ing jerk to him and now he’s totally drunk and making out with my little brother. You’d better come here really quick, before I chop his ing head off. I’m in that bar two streets away from the company, in front of the park.” He didn’t wait for an answer and just hung up. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and turned around. He was almost surprised to see that Woohyun had followed him outside.

The latter hesitated before asking: “Am I dreaming, or did I just read ‘boss’ on your screen?”

Sunggyu nodded and leaned against the wall. “Yep. Not my fault if Sungyeol is dating the boss.”

“But… aren’t you going to get into trouble?” Sunggyu shook his head this time. Silence engulfed them, only disrupted by the music coming from the bar and the sound of the few cars passing by. Sunggyu realized he wasn’t acting in a really polite manner. He sighed.

“Sorry, you must think this is stupid. Sungjong is a grown man and he can do whatever he wants, but…” He didn’t bother to finish his sentence.

Woohyun looked at him with his understanding smile and put a hand on his forearm. “Of course not. I would probably react the same way if I had a little brother.” Sunggyu didn’t know how to answer. Maybe an answer wasn’t even needed. He just stared back into Woohyun’s eyes and got lost in those two black orbs. He was feeling like the hand on his arm was sending electricity into every corner of his body. He had no idea how long they stayed like that, just looking at each other, before Woohyun started to inch closer, way too slowly for Sunggyu’s taste. He came closer and closer, until their faces were only inches apart. He could feel the other man’s breath in his skin and couldn’t take his eyes away from the tempting lips in front of him.

“Sunggyu! Where is he?!” Sunggyu jumped in surprise and shot his head in direction of the voice, his cheeks burning. Myungsoo. Why the hell was he there?! Oh, right. He had called him just now. . It took him a few seconds to gather his thoughts, and the first thing that came to his mind was that it was quite funny to see a very worked up Myungsoo in casual clothes, so different from the impeccable boss he saw every day. He made a gesture for him to follow him and went into the bar again, without looking back at Woohyun.

Hopefully, the two men were exactly where he had left them, still making out shamelessly in public. Sunggyu’s anger shot back in him instantly. He looked at Myungsoo and saw that, at least, he wasn’t the only one. The latter quickly made his way the two men, grabbed his boyfriend and, without a word but after throwing a death glare to Sungjong, he left the bar, dragging behind him a confused and drunk Sungyeol. Sunggyu then made his way to his brother, who knew from the look on the elder’s face that he’d better not say anything for now.

“We’ll talk about that tomorrow, and I hope for you that you have a very good excuse for kissing my friend, who his going out with my boss.” Sungjong gulped and nodded. Sunggyu turned around and looked over at the counter. Woohyun looked at him and put a glass down on the wooden surface, before serving a customer. Sunggyu turned to his brother once again. “Go call a taxi, I’ll be right out.”

The younger did as said and immediately left the bar. Sunggyu took a deep breath and went to the counter. He grabbed the drink and downed it in one go. Woohyun came to him and looked at him with a worried face. “You’re alright? Don’t kill Sungjong okay?” It was like nothing had happened. Maybe Sunggyu had just imagined it after all. But when he nodded and turned around to leave, he felt a hand on his arm and looked at the barman once again, who seemed to hesitate.

“Sunggyu, I was thinking that maybe… Would you like to have dinner with me one of these days, when Sungjong is gone?”

A smile formed on his own on Sunggyu’s face and his voice spoke before he could think about it. “Sure.”

When he saw the huge smile and the other man’s face, he thought it was fine not to think too much if it meant seeing that beautiful smile.

Aaand that was chapter 3! :D Hope you liked it, don't forget to comment! :)

Yup, Woohyun sure knows when to ask people out! xD *not awkward at all* And I know some Mungyeol fans will be really mad at me... sorry! :p

I'm really busy these days, do I haven't finished the whole thing yet, so no double update for you guys, sorry! ><'