They stumbled out of the gaming center several hours later, laughing whole heartedly and chattering obnoxiously. Some people stared at them but most others ignored their presence. It was just some kids being crazy, nothing new.

Sungmin punched Minho’s shoulder affectionately, while his other hand clutched his pained side. “I can’t believe you lost to that little girl!” he exclaimed, shaking with uncontained giggles.

“Shut up!” Minho retorted, unable to help the laughter pouring from himself, “I would’ve beaten her but did you see that scary- guy with her? I bet I would’ve gotten beat up in the back alley!”

Their blabbering didn’t cease as they staggered down the sidewalk, trying to hurry back to the cab before it left without them. Minho had had the brain capacity to keep track of time. They were just rounding the corner and in sight of the North Star when Sungmin felt the boy beside him slow down.

“W-What’s up?” Sungmin breathed, trying to control the meaningless laughter. It was all jus the aftermath, the extra energy that needed to be released. His eyes trailed after Minho’s gaze and he too sobered up.

“Key…?” he mumbled, watching his lover amble down the street with Jonghyun. They weren’t quite holding hands, nor were they quite cheating. But Minho could feel it when he saw them turn to one another. Jonghyun and Key’s eyes were simply drawn to each other, absorbed in whatever they were conversing about. Minho’s ability to read the air had always been a point of internal bragging, but now, he sort of wished it didn’t exist.

Sungmin took Minho’s hand, looking up at him, “Hey, it’s probably not what it looks like. They’re not even holding hands or anything—”

“—no it’s okay,” he interrupted, still staring at the two people just a few feet in front of them, “I’m not…upset. Not really, at least.”

Just then, the pair of college students turned around, faces falling when they saw Minho and Sungmin watching them so blatantly. Key pushed away from Jonghyun so fast it looked like he was about to fall over. The latter saw the action and Minho just had to smile knowingly when he saw hurt and betrayal race across Jonghyun’s face.

“H-Hey!” Key called, hurrying over to try and brush off whatever chemistry had been bubbling between him and his roommate.

Minho moved back, taking Sungmin with him. Their hands were, Sungmin thought with great dread, locked and laced.

“What’s going on…?” Key asked, eyes clouding as he glanced down at his lover holding someone else’s hand. “Minho?”

“I guess we’ve both been lying,” he said, “I mean, as you can see, I’m not exactly being very loyal, Key.” Minho waved the interlocked fingers. “You probably saw it coming though right? I’ve always been like this.”

Key’s palm left a searing streak where he struck Minho’s cheek. Tears shook his flaring eyes. “What the hell? Obviously you’re lying! You’re always lying! There’s nothing going on between Jonghyun and me, so stop being stupid and let go of Sungmin’s hand!”

“Minho…,” Sungmin whispered, heart racing at the escalating fight, “just—” but he didn’t get to finish his sentence.

“—I love Sungmin, so stop calling me a liar!” Minho yelled, letting his eyes fall to where Sungmin was staring up at him. “I…love you. That’s the truth.” He swallowed hard, taking a careful breath. “Key, I’m saying I love someone else. So…let’s stop playing. We don’t need to anymore.”

“I don’t believe you.” Key shook his head, “If you really love someone then you won’t idly stand back. I know you, Minho. You’re not that passive. You would’ve tried to get Sungmin way back when you first realized it. By the way you’re speaking it sounds like you’ve been keeping it a secret.”

Jonghyun came up beside Key then, entire disposition screaming confusion.

“Look—”

“—Prove it.”

Minho blinked, surprised by the proposition. “Prove it?” he repeated.

“Yeah. Show me that you love him. Tell me why you love him.”

Sungmin stepped between them then, eyes still wide with shock. His voice came out mechanical, “We really need to go. I’m sorry. We’ll meet you tomorrow and finish this all.”

There wasn’t a chance to argue as Sungmin snatched Minho’s hand, dragging him down the street as fast as possible. He wasn’t thinking straight and the longer Key rambled, the harder it was to absorb everything.

Oh, and they didn’t want to be stranded in the city overnight. That was definitely a bad thing.

They tumbled into the backseat of the North Star and caught their breaths. Minho was the first to recover and he turned to Sungmin. “Why the did you just do that?!” he exclaimed. “Now Key’s gonna have even more reason to at me!”

“Well sorry for trying to help!” Sungmin snapped, “We couldn’t just run away without telling him clearly…everything.” He blushed, the confession beginning to take its toll.

Minho fell silent as well, only starting to regret his rash outburst. It was even worse than that night they were trapped in the basement. This time he couldn’t lie. There really was no way out.

Was this what he wanted?

If he had really wanted to tell Sungmin how he felt, how come he felt regretful now?

“You…what you said back there…,” Sungmin couldn’t finish the sentence, instead covering his face and looking out the window.

Minho sighed, deciding there really was nothing else he could do but keep telling the truth. Lying for so long had really messed him up. It never felt like such a bad thing to keep his feelings hidden but now, as he tried to say them out loud, he was finding it exceedingly difficult to make sense of it all.

Of course he knew how he felt…but expressing it had never been part of the deal.

“I,” he paused, scrambling to find better words, “you…well…”

Sungmin was quiet for only a second. “Where’s the smooth talker?” he mumbled softly, nudging at a joke.

Minho flushed in the dark, dropping his head. “Be quiet…,” he chuckled humorlessly, “this is hard for me…I was never planning to tell you.” Speaking without thinking seemed to be working. Maybe he would just say what he wanted.

He had already confessed right? Was there any need for flowery language and sweet embellishments? That’s what all those stupid romance movies called for. There was a lot of staring into each other’s eyes and crying too.

What the hell was wrong with them?

Oh whatever.Minho continued staring at the patch of dirty floor beneath his sneakers. “I didn’t want you to know because I knew you wouldn’t believe me. I couldn’t tell you that I’m in love with you because you would say I’m just trying to pull something. Oh my god, I thought I could do this but I can’t.” He groaned into his hands, head spinning from the too fast events.

Life was fast wasn’t it?

It really would never be like the movies. When he was with Sungmin, he knew just how different the real world and a movie were. They couldn’t start out hating each other and then fall in love within the course of a time-elapsed 180 minute video.

“How long?” Sungmin asked softly, not really thinking as he spoke. Everything was coming off reaction based and he couldn’t really give a better reason than the fact that adrenaline was making his blood pound hard in his ears.

Minho muttered, “Since the night you told me about your story.”

“That’s…a long time.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“What are you going to do about Key?”

“I’m not sure. You sort of killed the mood.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They fell into silence.

Sungmin bit his lip, considering his options. There were so many things that could’ve been done or said… “We’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“We?”

“Yes, we.”

Minho finally lifted his head as the taxi parked in front of the school. “Are we still friends?” he asked quietly, feeling a bit pathetic for needing reassurance.

“We’re still friends,” Sungmin replied, flashing a smile, “thanks for today. I really do feel better.”

“I’m glad,” he nodded awkwardly, “so…see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

And then they were out of the car, sprinting in opposite directions to their dorms.

I need to breathe…