There’s something scary about Sunggyu’s gaze. It’s a look Woohyun has never had directed at him before, the one Sunggyu reserves for only when he’s giving someone a piece of his mind. Woohyun holds himself tightly, bracing for the words to come, but all Sunggyu says is –

“We need to talk.”

Woohyun blinks. He has been trying to say that since earlier, Sunggyu sidestepping his request to do just that, but maybe he shouldn’t mention that now. Instead, Woohyun opens his mouth, ponders over each word he says before he voices them in case he ends up saying something wrong, “Yeah, talk to me, please. What’s wrong?”

There’s a long silence as Woohyun watch Sunggyu think – and Woohyun knows he’s thinking, because there’s that familiar furrow of brows and tensed lips – before Sunggyu says, slowly, like each word needs to be carefully constructed, “You… haven’t given me time to wrap my mind around this, you know. You basically just admitted to liking me and then told me that things should stay the same in the same breath and that’s… that’s not how things work.”

Woohyun looks at him, momentarily speechless. “I-I… no? I didn’t mean it that way?”

The furrow between Sunggyu’s brows deepens, and Woohyun tries to explain, “What I mean is, you don’t need to worry about the matter on my account. Like, yeah, I like you… that way… well, sort of… but I don’t really expect you to reciprocate or anything. You can just be yourself, the way you usually are before you found out, you know.”

Sunggyu’s grim expression doesn’t change, and Woohyun tries not to shrink, quickly adding, “Also, I’ve actually been trying to give you space. Why did you think I waited until now to ask you what’s wrong?”

The moment he says that last bit, Woohyun thinks that it might have been better if he hadn’t, because Sunggyu avoids his gaze, turning away. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought that up, the fact that he had been actually been trying to give Sunggyu space by not messaging him too much, by not probing the whole past week even though it was obvious that Sunggyu was bothered by something (this thing). Maybe saying it in that way makes it sound like the matter is more about him than Sunggyu and that’s not what he means and –

Woohyun catches himself mid-thought. Since when did he have to be so careful with what he says around Sunggyu? Shaking his head to clear that train of thought, Woohyun his dry lips, considering whether he should try clarifying that anyway, when Sunggyu interjects.

“Is that what you were trying to do?”

Woohyun jerks his head up at the question, tries to recall everything he had said earlier. “Uh…yeah?”

The expression on Sunggyu’s face shifts to something that’s more akin to discomfort than anger, but Woohyun’s still not entirely sure what it means. He had thought he knew all of Sunggyu’s expressions, knew the way his eyes twinkle or fume to reveal his many emotions, but apparently he didn’t, because Woohyun has no clue what Sunggyu is thinking right now. In the end, he just waits for Sunggyu to speak. But after a long, strained silence, all Sunggyu says is –

“I… need time to sort out my thoughts about this.”

The first thing on the tip of Woohyun’s tongue is that Sunggyu doesn’t need to think so hard about this, that Woohyun doesn’t mind if his one-sided feelings aren’t reciprocated – he had told Sunggyu as much earlier – but then Woohyun remembers that Sunggyu had basically told him that he needs time and space to think this through, and who is Woohyun to dictate what Sunggyu should or shouldn’t do? So instead of that first reaction, Woohyun puts on a smile he doesn’t quite feel, loosens the arms he had wrapped around his own body during the conversation and tries to sound casual.

“Alright. Is there anything I can do?”

Sunggyu looks at him properly for the first time in what feels like too long since this exchange started. “Yeah.”

Woohyun waits. Watches Sunggyu take a deep breath before he speaks again.

“…Give me a week. Don’t contact me.”

Woohyun thinks his eyes widen before he realises what he’s doing, and Sunggyu probably picks up on that surprise (the faint trace of hurt) because he adds in a softer tone, “I… I just need to be sure that whatever I decide is my own decision and not affected by you. I…” Sunggyu bites his lips at the last word, like he wants to say more, but then he just shrugs. “…yeah. Yeah.” He shrugs again, the movement jerky and awkward.

Woohyun has to clear his throat twice before he figures out what to say. “Oh-kay. I… That’s reasonable, I guess.” Standing stiffly where he is, Woohyun finds himself staring at the floor of Sunggyu’s apartment, wondering when the air around him and Sunggyu got this awkward. He can’t remember how long it has been since he felt this uncomfortable around his best friend, and it’s so weird (so unnatural) that Woohyun doesn’t know what to do with himself. He’s about to make up some exc