It’s been a really long time since Sunggyu has to do this – sit on the cold floor with a pack of unopened beer beside him, next to a softly sniffing Woohyun who’s surrounded by a comforter and a growing pile of crumpled tissues. He doesn’t say anything, just sits and watches the condensation on the beer cans pool and make a dark patch on the thin parquet. Woohyun’s face is splotchy and red, and he’s dabbing tissues against his eyes. The tissues are almost translucent from how wet they are, but Sunggyu doesn’t comment on it. He merely reaches over, pulls a couple more sheets out from the steadily emptying box by Woohyun’s feet and hands them to Woohyun without a word.

Woohyun doesn’t say anything, but he takes the tissues from Sunggyu’s outstretched hand with a little sniff. It’s almost a thanks, one that’s not verbalized but then again, they’ve been friends for so long that it’ll be embarrassing to say it. Sunggyu blinks a little slowly, notices that Woohyun sees it, because the corner of his lips twitch a little although it doesn’t settle into the smile he always wears outside his apartment. It’ll be awkward to acknowledge the moment though, so Sunggyu grabs the beer pack and pulls out a can. Woohyun won’t be drinking it; he never does in all the times Sunggyu has bought beer over for such situations, and Sunggyu’s not sure why he still does it. The sound of the tab popping as Sunggyu opens the can is too loud in the room, but it doesn’t cover the steady sniffling sounds Woohyun makes as he tries to cry his heart out as silently as possibly.

Then again, when has it ever?

It’s a guy this time. But it might have just as easily been a girl. Woohyun has always fallen for people based on who they are, rather than because of their gender. It’s just another one of those things that Sunggyu accepts easily without questioning because that’s just how his best friend is, has been, since they were kids. It’s one of the constants he’s always known, just like how he knows Woohyun is the one who got dumped this time, like all the other times before it. It’s almost always for the same reason – even if it starts off well, whoever Woohyun dates eventually finds him too overwhelming, the way he gives and gives but never asks for much in return.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a guy or a girl. It doesn’t matter if they like the way Woohyun is always accommodating and willing to give at the start. It doesn’t matter. Eventually they feel burdened by his generous love. Eventually they feel like they cannot ever love him as much as he loves them. Eventually they walk away. The only constant through all these is Sunggyu, who has to sit through the slow torturous process of seeing Woohyun piece himself back together, like what’s happening right now. These are the constants, and these are what Sunggyu knows how to handle – has had to handle too many times before – but this time there’s something a little different.

Sunggyu sees the guy who was Woohyun’s boyfriend until just two days ago walk into the school cafeteria, and he senses, rather than sees Woohyun freeze. He’s about to suggest that they leave since they’re almost done eating anyway, but the guy’s at their table too fast, and Sunggyu doesn’t get a chance to.

“…hey,” the guy says, a little serious with a dash of cautiousness thrown in, but there’s a slight smile on his lips as he looks at Woohyun.

After what feels like too long but is probably just a second or two, Woohyun replies, “Hey, Dongwoo.”

There’s a smile plastered on Woohyun’s face, stretched wide and raising his cheeks a tad. It’s not his real smile – that much is quickly obvious, especially when the expression he had on just seconds earlier had been a pretty stoic one. But it’s not an entirely fake one either, Sunggyu realizes after a while, because Woohyun’s eyes aren’t just sad. Sure, there are hints of sadness in them, but Woohyun’s gaze is different from all the other times Sunggyu has seen him look at an ex in public after a breakup. There’s something else, something Sunggyu doesn’t quite catch, as Woohyun tilts his head up to look at the standing guy, but Sunggyu doesn’t know what. He wants to get up and leave already, wants to drag Woohyun away from this uncomfortable situation, but Sunggyu doesn’t. He doesn’t because this is Woohyun’s issue to deal with, and he cannot make his decisions for him. So he stays where he is on the hard plastic chair, and wonders if Woohyun or Dongwoo would speak first.

It’s Dongwoo who breaks the silence.

“I… was serious when I said I still want to be friends with you, you know. Even though we… broke up.”

Sunggyu has to stifle a snort, but Woohyun takes the statement with much more grace than he did, nodding thoughtfully. After a while, Woohyun looks back down on his hands, instead of at Dongwoo, and says, “I know. And… I do too. But I need some time.”

Dongwoo doesn’t say anything after that, just nods and almost reaches over to pat Woohyun’s shoulder before he quickly retracts it and says instead, “That’s alright. I know I’m probably asking too much, wanting to remain friends even after the break up but I really do like you, Woohyun. Just… maybe not as a boyfriend.”

It sounds like the most terrible thing one can say to an ex after a breakup, but Sunggyu’s not the one talking to his ex post-breakup here, nor the one on the receiving end of such a callous message, so he just observes Woohyun’s face freeze a little before a smile is conjured onto his face again, and he smiles at Dongwoo. “I know.”

And there it is, the reason why Woohyun always gets dumped. He gives too much, because he loves too hard.

Sunggyu’s in a café shuffling his foolscap into a neat pile after a group work session with Hoya when he sees Dongwoo for the second time that day. Unlike the first time when he spotted the guy once he walked in the cafeteria entrance, this time Sunggyu has his head down while packing his bag, so he only notices Dongwoo’s presence when Hoya greets Dongwoo. He’s known Hoya for a while now; they tend to do projects together when they have the same modules because they work well together, but he doesn’t exactly initiate conversation with him outside of class much. It’s the reason why he had never known that Hoya knows Dongwoo, or that he seems to, in fact, know Dongwoo quite well, from the way he’s grinning and shoving Dongwoo as the other tries to steal his coffee.

“Hey, Sunggyu,” Dongwoo says after he swallows the sip of coffee that he did eventually manage to steal from Hoya after much protest.

“Hey,” Sunggyu replies, b