The sky was dark and it was raining, but Jihoon felt as bright as a sunny day because Mingyu was smiling. They ran through the empty streets of their neighborhood, hands intertwined, drenched clothes sticking to their bodies.

They had arrived in front of Mingyu’s door. Mingyu got one hand fumbling in his pocket for keys, Jihoon was still panting from the run, and their hands were still intertwined.

After getting in, they finally let go of their hands to take off their shoes. Mingyu took them off quicker, dashing inside as soon as he was done. Not long after he went back with a towel in his hands.

“You look like a sewer rat,” he said as he draped the towel over Jihoon’s head and started brushing it against Jihoon’s hair.

“Shut up.” Jihoon laughed.

Mingyu was laughing too before he abruptly stopped. His eyes were clouded with something Jihoon couldn’t fathom. But it was something that Jihoon had often seen in Mingyu’s eyes lately. Something sad.

Jihoon was still wondering about those eyes when he saw them getting closer. Then he felt something soft on his lips.

Jihoon and Mingyu had held hands and hugged, but they had never kissed since that day. To be honest, Jihoon had been longing for the second time, yet he didn’t expect it to feel this bitter. Before he knew it, he felt something wet on his cheeks, and the lips that were on his went shaking.

“Oh my God... I’m sorry, Jihoon...” Mingyu’s voice was a whisper. His breath brushing against Jihoon’s nose.

“It’s not your fault.” Jihoon’s voice was equally weak.

“It is,” Mingyu said as he wiped the tears on Jihoon’s cheek with his thumb. That something in his eyes grew in intensity and it brought pain to Jihoon’s chest.

“I’m hurting my own best friend.” His soft voice sounded like a cry of pain to Jihoon’s ears.

“Mingyu...” Jihoon threw his arms around Mingyu and pulled him closer, slightly bending him so that Jihoon’s chin was on his shoulder.

He said with his gentlest voice. “Let’s go back.”

Jihoon felt Mingyu nodded against his back. They stayed like that until Jihoon’s cheeks were dry and Mingyu stopped shaking.

---

When Jeonghan head the MCs calling his name, and the roar of cheer that followed splits seconds after, he felt his head went blank. His fingers were so numb that he could feel the surface of the trophy only moments after it was pushed into his hands. He didn’t even know what he was babbling towards the mic. At least he knew that it was decent enough; his fans continued to abuse their vocal chords and the other performers gave him supporting smiles and congratulatory pats.

He was still in a daze when he walked into the back stage (or, to be exact, dragged there by his manager and stylist, he was too confused to walk by himself). In his absentminded state, Jeonghan opened the door and saw some of his most favorite people; Jihoon standing next to the sofa with a huge smile that brought warm bubbles to Jeonghan’s chest and at the same time chills to his skin (Are those white things Jihoon’s teeth? What in the world--); Wonwoo looking at him with twinkling eyes from the sofa, his head leaning on Jun’s right shoulder; Jun with his lips forming an endearing smirk, his right arm draped over Wonwoo and his left arm over—

Mingyu.

Mingyu had his head held up straight but his body still leaning towards Jun. He gave Jeonghan a full smile, complete with his signature canines, but his eyes bore a mixture of uncertainty and something that looked a lot like guilt. Jeonghan knew because he’d seen them in the mirror many times.

Jeonghan took some steps closer to them.

“Guys, I... What to say... I have a lot to say, why won’t the words come out, I...”

“Let’s just skip the speech. I’m starving,” Jihoon said, still grinning from ear to ear. The others chuckled and expressed their agreement.

Jeonghan couldn’t help but laugh too. When he calmed down, he said, “No, please, let me say this. This first win wouldn’t have been possible without you guys. Thank you.”

For a moment the five of them said nothing, only staring at each other with ear splitting grin. The silence wrapped Jeonghan in a comfortable warmth.

“Okay, Wonwoo. Check with the diner. Tell them we’re coming,” said Jihoon after a while.

Wonwoo whined while he snuggled further on Jun. “Why me?” Jihoon glared as a reply but Wonwoo looked undeterred. He just turned his head to meet Jun’s eyes.

“Give me your phone,” Jun said, and Wonwoo put it on his hand.

Jihoon scoffed. “Boyfriend doesn’t seem that different from the babysitter status, Jun.”

Jun chuckled. “You’re right.”

Jeonghan let out a high pitch squeal that made everyone turned their heads. “You guys are sooo cute. Lovey dovey like that.”

Wonwoo made a gagging sound and pulled his head from Jun so fast that Jeonghan worried be might hurt his neck. “Stop. It makes me feel... Ugh. Ew.”

“Aww, you’re embarrassed,” Jeonghan said in a sickly sweet tone. This time the gagging sound came from Jihoon.

“Of course! It’s disgusting!”

“What?! There’s nothing disgusting from being affectionate with your significant other.”

“I refuse to be categorized as lovey dovey couple.” Wonwoo insisted with face scrunched up. Meanwhile Jun just looked at Wonwoo with a combination of amusement and fondness.

“Aww.”

“Knock it off. I still remember how vomit-inducing you and Mingyu were. I don’t want to be like that.”

Jeonghan stiffened at the words. If Wonwoo noticed, he didn’t let it show.

“You’re right. They were pretty gross,” said Jihoon. Jeonghan wondered how Jihoon’s smile could seem unchanged while his own felt strained.

“Ha, ha. Sorry,” Mingyu said with a playful not-really-sorry tone. His eyes still carried some hesitation, but his smile was relaxed just like Jihoon.

Jeonghan tried his best, but all he could do was to lift the corner of his lips slightly. He felt disappointed in himself. He was the most immature in the room. A kid who couldn’t let go of what's done.

Determined to change that, Jeonghan said, “You should learn from them. Be a lovey dovey couple”, as he flashed what he hoped as a less awkward smile towards Jihoon and Mingyu.

Jihoon just rolled his eyes. “But we’re not a couple.”

“What?”

Jeonghan couldn’t believe what he just heard, but Jihoon was not the type to joke and Mingyu looked at him straight in the eyes, despite still looking a bit stiff. Wonwoo and Jun didn’t even bat an eyelid. It seemed like it was nothing new to them.

Before Jeonghan could say anything else, he heard his manager’s voice, telling him to greet his fans via SNS. He went out the room for a few minutes and when he got back, Jihoon was the only one left.

“The others went first. Come on,” Jihoon said as he walked towards Jeonghan.

“Wait.” Jeonghan said as he stood still in front of the door. “Why? You’re the one who can make him happy.”

Jihoon looked unfazed. “You want him to be happy and yet you’re dumping all the troublesome work on me.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You’re right. It’s not.” Jihoon’s eyes turned softer. “What you meant was you’re afraid. Afraid of hurting him, hurting you.”

Jeonghan had some trouble understanding Jihoon’s words at first. To him the problem was simple. Mingyu and him were not meant to be. It was hard to accept, but it’s simple. What Jihoon implied was not.

Jeonghan did receive his first music show win, but he still had a lot of work to do until he became an established singer. He was almost finished with university but had to take a leave before he finished his graduation paper. Recently he started working on the paper again with his supervisor, but it was not as easy as his friends made it look like. His sister was starting to get frustrated with him for “not being there when she needed him”. He wasn’t sure that he could handle more.

Jeonghan didn’t realize he was lost in thoughts until he felt something warm pushing against him.

“You’ll be fine.” Jihoon said as he wrapped his arm around Jeonghan, patting the latter’s back.

“But... I...” Tears streamed down Jeonghan’s face as soon as he opened his mouth.

“We’re all here for you.” Jihoon cradled Jeonghan in his arms, making Jeonghan bending a little, but not in an uncomfortable way. They stayed like that until Jeonghan’s body stopped shaking.

Jihoon let go of Jeonghan and looked up to him, reaching to his cheeks to wipe the leftover tears. “Look at this mess. Oh well, let’s just say you got deeply touched by your win and cried your heart to me.”

Jeonghan laughed between his sniffles. “Thanks Jihoon.”

Jihoon smiled.

---

“Ow! What was that for?” Soonyoung let out a shriek of protest that lacked of real anger.

“For giving a creepy stare at me.” Jihoon answered as he unrolled his notebook and put it back on the table.

“Creepy stare? What? This is my look of appreciation.”

“For what.”

“This. Spending time with you. It’s something that needs to be appreciated.”

“Well, go appreciate it then.” Jihoon leaned over the table and grabbed Soonyoung’s face on its sides, titling it not quite harshly (but not that gentle either) towards the clock tower not far from the gazebo they were in. “Appreciate the time and don’t look over here again. You’re disrupting my lyric writing chi.”

Soonyoung gasped and looked at Jihoon with a serious face. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get in the way.” He turned back to face the clock and stayed like that for a good amount of time until Jihoon couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“You’re a fool, you know that?”

Soonyoung faced Jihoon again to answer, “Of course.” Judging by his wide grin, he seemed quite satisfied about that. Jihoon thought that it’s admirable.

“Hey.” Jihoon said after Soonyoung turned towards the clock again. “Just, stop looking at the clock.” The words did the trick and Soonyoung turned his head for the nth time in the past hour. Poor Soonyoung’s neck.

“Want to go the bay tomorrow?”

“Oh! They’re having that carnival, right? I’m in!” Soonyoung’s face lit up before confusion ran through it. “But I thought everyone’s busy? Jun’s got practice for the competition, Jeonghan’s recording all day, Wonwoo’s learning to cook from Mingyu...”

“Yeah, I know, wait—What did you say about Wonwoo?”

“He wanted to make healthy foods for Junhui so he’s learning how to cook, and who cooks better than Mingyu? You didn’t—Oh, no, don’t, Jihoon. Bless Wonwoo’s soul.” Soonyoung ended with a worried tone. He must had sensed Jihoon’s plan from the wide grin on Jihoon’s face.

“But those girls, what do they call themselves? Wonhui fans? They’d love to hear this, don’t you think?” Jihoon said, not even trying to hide the smirk in his voice.

“You know Wonwoo hates having his love life exposed like that.”

“Exactly.”

“...You’re still hung up on the time Wonwoo dropped your expensive coffee to the floor.” Soonyoung squinted his already small eyes, looking suspicious.

“Yes, I am. I get hung up on things.” Jihoon replied nonchalantly, but it seemed that Soonyoung took his relaxed attitude in a different way. The blond still had that playful smile on hanging on his lips, but his eyes lost their playful glint. Jihoon smiled gently at the sight.

“So, Sunday. You going? I know, we’re not going with them.” Jihoon added the last few words when he saw the confusion on Soonyoung’s face.

“Oh. Uhm, okay.... You sure?”

Jihoon raised his eyebrows in a challenging way. “Why not?”

Soonyoung wiggled his eyebrows in what looked like an attempt of a smug look. “Because I’ll make it a date. Not a hangout between two friends.” It would’ve been convincing if only his eyes didn’t look so hesitant.

“Not sure you can make it feel like a date. You’ll probably fool around and it won’t feel any different like right now.”

Jihoon’s smile turned into a smirk and it seemed to do the trick. Soonyoung looked visibly more relaxed when he said, “Ooh, it’s a challenge then?”

“It’s on.”

“Deal. Now, get back to writing! So you can relax tomorrow and have the best date of your life!”

Soonyoung smiled when Jihoon laughed, and Jihoon thought that he loved seeing the twinkle in those eyes.

---

“I want to go back to 20 minutes ago and tell myself not to say yes to a ride from you,” said Jeonghan as he hold onto his seat belt.

“Hey, I’m not that bad. Jun-hyung and Wonwoo-hyung didn’t complain,” Mingyu whined.

“That’s because they were too tired. They couldn’t even walk to the train station even if they wanted to.” Jeonghan saw how the couple tightened their grips to each other and scowled every time Mingyu made a rather rough turn. He’s pretty sure that would’ve expressed their dissatisfaction if they hadn’t been so burned out.

After what felt like an eternity (at least to Jeonghan), they arrived in front of the building of Jeonghan’s label. Jeonghan said his thanks and Mingyu replied with a hum before he reached to the back of the car, producing a small bag.

“This one is Jisoo’s because it’s the strongest.” Mingyu said while pulling out a blue bottle from the bag and showing it to Jeonghan. “I made some for you guys too. It’s good for prevention. Can’t have all four of you down with sore throat.”

Jeonghan accepted the bag with eyebrows raised. “Did I sleep through the last one year of my life because I don’t remember anything about you being buddies with Jisoo.”

Mingyu gave him a dry laugh but his eyes were gentle. “Just making sure he’s not dragging you down. The four of you need to be in good shape for the joint concert to go well, okay?”

“You know what.” Jeonghan looked at Mingyu straight in the eyes. “You’ll make a great manager.”

“No, thanks. I’m content with my current job, and I don’t want to be dragging your lazy everywhere.”

“I’m not saying to be my manager. Seungkwan and Seokmin might want to hire you. Especially Seungkwan. He’s been complaining about his manager a lot.”

Mingyu laughed, his head thrown back and his canine showing. Jeonghan thought it was at the most beautiful sight in the world.

“You get off at 7, right?” Mingyu nodded in response. “Wanna grab some drinks?”

“I don’t think Wonwoo-hyung and Jun-hyung will be up for it. They must be deep in sleep by now. And Jihoon’s out of town.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jeonghan said casually (he hoped it appeared so).

“Hmm...” Mingyu visibly stiffened and Jeonghan understood. It’s been a while since they went out with just the two of them. Jeonghan could sense that Mingyu had been avoiding it too, because they knew things will happen if they do, and they were not sure they could handle it any better than the last time.

But now Jeonghan thought differently. Despite still having that knot in his stomach, he was convinced, was willing to convince himself, that this time they could. So he gave a smile as he waited for Mingyu’s answer.

After a few moments Mingyu returned Jeonghan’s smile with his own while saying, “I’ll pick you up later.”

Jeonghan smiled wider.

---

“Jihoon.” Mingyu entered the room with careful steps so as to not drop the cake on his hands.

“Kim Mingyu you’re the best.”

“I know.” Mingyu said proudly and Jihoon squinted at him, half-dumbfounded, half-amused.

“Jeonghan-hyung got the band ready and Jun-hyung took care of the balloons. All that’s left is to wait Wonwoo-hyung to bring Soonyoung-hyung here.” Mingyu’s words earned a nod from Jihoon.

It took Jihoon a moment to realize that there was something on his face that made Mingyu looking at him in glee.

“He’ll love it,” said Mingyu as he pulled Jihoon for a side hug. “I mean, you got him a self-written song for a birthday present. Even got a whole band to perform it. He’ll be ecstatic.”

“And excited Soonyoung is supposed to be a good thing? Have you forgot that time with the cereal?”

Mingyu laughed, making Jihoon shake with him. The shaking eased Jihoon’s tensed muscle and for the first time Jihoon realized (and reluctantly admitted) that he was indeed nervous. The realization brought a smile to his lips.

“I must thank Soonyoung-hyung.”

Jihoon looked up to give a questioning look and saw Mingyu looking back at him.

“I can’t believe I’d live to see Lee Jihoon do such a cheesy thing.”

Jihoon blinked a few times before replying nonchalantly. “I’ll be a fool for love.”

A few moments of silence before they both made gagging sounds. The sounds later turned into joyous laughter, a beautiful music to Jihoon’s ears.