"Ya, why are we doing this again?" Myungsoo asked while rubbing his hands together to provide some warmth as he watched Sungyeol finish painting whatever he was painting on the side of the famous banpo bridge. It's been three months, day by day, since Sungyeol let him tag along every time he had some drawing he wanted to do. At first it was more out of curiosity and then it slowly became their thing. No one but them had that moment. And as time passed by Myungsoo faced another dilemna. What was he supose to do with the dare? He wanted to call it quits for the sake of friendship for the man in front of him but that would mean losing him as a friend. Indeed another rule of the game was that if someone quits before the dare is accomplished he had to cut all ties with his victim. But honestly Myungsoo didn't really want to do that. Firstly because Sungyeol made him feel good. Whenever he was angry, frustrated or just sad, Sungyeol always had something to say to brighten his day. It was weird how in such a short amount of time, Myungsoo's entire existence got evolve around Sungyeol. And that honestly scared the crap out of him. He had to get away he knew or he was going to really be screwed up but how was he suppose to do that. Sungyeol has somehow slowly crawled under his skin. Making him realize stuff he didn't know about himself before. Like photography for example. When Sungyeol agreed to let him tag along the very first time, he asked him to take shots on the entire making of the drawing and slowly he actually found himself enjoying it. After that one time, which Sungyeol really liked the shots, he suddenly became his personal photographer. Not that he minded. Sungyeol, who finally finished the last layer of paint, turned to him with his killer grin and said

"Done."

"Good for you", Myungsoo said sarcastically as he captured once again the painting. The drawing was a kaleidoscope of painting. All smashed together. Unless you took really the time to study it, you would only see a mixture of painting. But in reality, it was something beyond that, or at least that was what Sungyeol said. Myungsoo wouldn't know much because even though he studied it throughly, it remained a clash of paint to him. When the last shot was finally taken, Myungsoo turned to Sungyeol and asked

"Tell me, what is this painting about?"

"Oh gee, very subtle man", Sungyeol said with a laugh as he packed his material with extra care.

"I'll let you figure it out yourself", he continues, unaware of the embarrassed look Myungsoo send his way for having asked such a question. Don't get him wrong, he usually is more observant when it came to Sungyeol's drawing but this time, for some reason, he couldn't decipher the message behind the drawing. Myungsoo was about to insist more when Sungyeol suddenly straightens up and looking somewhat alerted, he whispered

"Someone is coming this way." And indeed a vigil appeared from a distance, holding his baton with a hand and the other his torch. Sungyeol didn't linger long as he pulled up the cape over Myungsoo's head and without a word of warning, he grabbed him by the hand and pulled him away as they began to run. It didn't take long before they lose the man tailing them. Mainly because Sungyeol had some sort of GPS on every area that presented an avantage to lose the cops or anyone working for the law. No matter the number of time, he was forced to run, Myungsoo really couldn't get used of this nocturne adventure. How Sungyeol handle the stress was seriously beyond him. As soon as they were sure they lost the vigil, Sungyeol turned to Myungsoo and asked with concern

"Are you ok?" Myungsoo looked at the camera that belonged to Sungyeol who was firmely clasped in his hand and answered weakly

"Yeah. How about you?" Sungyeol flashed him a toothy smile and with a thumb up, he said

"Never better." Myungsoo rolled his eyes to his friend overbearing confidence and asked while putting delicately the camera in his bag.

"What now?"

"I'm suddenly in the mood for meat, what do you think? A late night dinner? Are you in?"  Sungyeol proposed, making it nearly impossible to refuse with the pouty face he gave. Hell, Myungsoo really was getting soft. But why was it only with Sungyeol? He had actually noticed that most of his weak moments were always in presence or because of Sungyeol. And the knowledge of such behaviour seriously annoyed him to no end. He was clearly losing it. But why? Somehow blaming it to the sake of friendship seemed utterly ridiculous. Dongwoo is his best friend and yet there's only a small amount of things he allowed himself to do for the latter. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for him to pull away. If the price of winning meant his sanity, can he still do it? He wondered, giving a side glance to the guy next to him that was dragging him to who knows what meat restaurant. 

The place that Sungyeol picked was by far a restaurant. Actually it was a local stand, located on the modest area of Gangnam. And once again, Myungsoo wondered how Sungyeol would even know places like this with his background.

"Ajuhssi, how is business doing these days?" Sungyeol cheerfully asks the man holding the stand with a familiarity that confused Myungsoo. The old man, who was probably around his mid forties, let out a loud laugh and said

"I've had better days. But anyway, i haven't seen you around for quite some time now Yeollie. Where have you been?"

"Oh you know, i've been sort of busy. But how's ajuhma? Still as fierce as ever?" The old man laughed again and answered in a playful tone

"She's still making me live a living hell if that's what you mean. So tell me, what i can get you?"

Sungyeol smiled fondly at him then grabbed Myungsoo by the shoulders and as he pushed him forward, he said

"This guy right here is new around here. So can you give me the best barbecue meat you have ajuhssi."

"Aish that kid. Everything here is good so don't insult me."

Sungyeol let out a chukle then quickly said apologetically

-"Arasseo, arasseo. Sorry ajuhssi."

The old ajuhssi faked a pouty look, which only made Sungyeol laugh even more, he asked

"So tell me, how do we call you handsome kid?" Myungsoo inwardly cringed at the adjective kid then answered politely

-"Kim Myungsoo sir."

"Aigoo so polite", the old man remarked in an impress tone. Sungyeol smiled proudly at Myungsoo then squeezing him affectionately by the shoulders, he said

"Of course.  He's my dongsaeng after all."

For some reason, the proud tone Sungyeol had used actually fluttered his heart. But it didn't mean anything.... Right? Gosh, why was he acting so weird. He had to think about his next move instead of letting himself be distracted like this. When they finally got their orders, Sungyeol thanked the old man, promising him to come over more often, and then he lead him to a bench not far from the stand. When they were both seated, Myungsoo asked, in a voice he hoped uninsterested

"So how do you know this place?" Sungyeol ate an incredible piece of meat and answered, with great difficulty

"I used to come here with my mom and my little brother. My mother was actually from this place before she married my dad. And the ajuhssi we talked to was her neighbor. They were close so i guess it wasn't a surprise that i got close to their daughter Hye mi. So for that reason we came here very often. But then, she died and i just stopped coming."

Myungsoo didn't really know what to say to comfort Sungyeol. He was after all really bad with word, so what was he suppose to say to someone who lost a very close friend. Was there any words that can be said in those kind of moments anyway? Slowly, as if Myungsoo was scared of disturbing the night, he approached the meat to his mouth when he interrupted his move at the following words said by Sungyeol. Words that made something fall deep in his stomach.

"I actually was in love with her. Hye mi had been my best friend and my first love. The day we found out she had cancer were probably the darkest days of my life. I was around eight when they told us. Juk sin Ahjussi was the one who told me. I can still remember him crying, asking me to stay by his daughter's side until the very end. It does sound kind of selfish now that i think about it, but i'm actually quite grateful. I was able to say goodbye then. Even if it was painful."

Myungsoo hated it. What he felt. The overwhelming feeling of disappointment. Of what? He wasn't sure. But somehow it felt like it was connected with the fact that Sungyeol actually loved someone. That there was someone special in his life. The thought of him even loving someone made him boil. Just what was wrong with him? Was he jealous? For what? That he experienced a genuine love?

"Is she the girl who made you start painting?" Myungsoo asked in a blank tone although he already guessed the answer. 

"Yeah. Partly. I continued mostly because of my dad. As you probably have guessed my dad is a rather busy man. If he's not at work, he's probably with one of his many mistresses. As for my mom, she's slowly drowning in her dellusions about a perfect family. My brother and i are just trying to stay as far away as possible from each Other. So you can say, it isn't so great back at my house. But it used to be different. We used to be... happy. I guess the richer you get, poorer you'll get morally."

Myungsoo looked away, having a serious talking issue. Sungyeol must've sensed it cause he immediately looked at him quite embarassed and said

"Oh i'm sorry. I didn't mean to ditch all this stuff on you. If..."

"How does it feel like?" Myungsoo suddenly interrupted him. Sungyeol frowned at the question and asked

"How does what feel like?"

"To be in love?" Why he even asked that question was beyond him, but somehow he felt like he had to know. Maybe then he will be able understand a few things. Sungyeol remained silent for a while then answered

"It depends on whoever the person is. But you know, falling in love is not a choice. It comes from the heart. The age doesn't matter then or the different status or even the gender. Love remains love."

"How do you know it's love?"

"Well, you are constantly in need of seeing said person. Talking to that person. Being close to that person. And it makes you want to be better. Or unconsciously at least, you'll be doing things you wouldn't normally do. But mostly, everytime that person touches you or sees you, your heart just starts racing. It's like being breathless without running. But wait, why are you suddenly asking me those questions? Could it be that you're in love?" Asked Sungyeol with a frown. Myungsoo forced a laugh and said

"What? No. I was just curious", Myungsoo quickly answered as he nervously, a trait he didn't know he possessed, munch on a piece of meat. 

Sungyeol didn't seem to buy his explanation but he didn't press further, thankfully, so Myungsoo turned back his attention to his meat with one thing or rather a disaster slightly confirmed. He was incredibly screwed. Could he be in love with this goofy, choding (1) and lazy guy next to him? No way!  For as far as he knew he wasn't gay so being in love with a guy was just downright ridiculous.  Even impossible to consider! How can he, Kim Myungsoo be in love with anyone. Whether it's a guy or a girl, it was just beyond ridiculous. His mind was seriously getting messed up. 

After thanking the ahjussi, Sungyeol lead him to the nearest bus stop. Strangely, Sungyeol was very silent and that was very much making Myungsoo nervous. Sungyeol weren't the type to be silent or at least not this silent. When they reached the bus stop, Sungyeol suddenly turned towards Myungsoo and with a weird emotion held in the black of his eyes, he said

"My birthday is tomorrow. would you want to do something together?"

"Mwo?" Asked Myungsoo confused. As far as he knew, Sungyeol's birthday already passed so what was he going on about now? Sungyeol looked up for a moment to the cloudlest sky and explained in a somewhat sad voice

"Let's make it tomorrow my birthday, ok? Not to celebrate my coming to this world but to celebrate our friendship. What do you think? Would it be possible?" Sungyeol then looked at Myungsoo and the hope laced to his voice was enough to completely set Myungsoo's heart in an breathtaking race. What was the meaning of this? Did the meat he ate was expired? It was probably the fact, for him to react like that.

(1) In korean, it refers to elmentary kids.