For a moment every person in the room was completely quiet. If it had been a funny movie tumbleweed would have been blowing by.

“Hansol, what the ?!” Momentarily forgetting that there was someone from outside their group present, Jun broke the silence.

Hansol stood up straight again and placed his hands in his pockets as he took a few steps away from Seungkwan, who was just staring at him with wide eyes, “I'm not going to punch him. That's all.”

“What do you mean 'that's all'!?” Chan yelled at him, “There's a long way between not punching someone and kissing them!”

“Actually, there's a thin line between love and hate.” Hansol said with a wink.

“Don't make jokes right now! What's going on?” Jisoo asked him, more confused than angry.

Hansol sighed and ran his hand through his hair, “I'm not going to punch him because I'm in love with him.”

“What?” Chan scoffed. “You love rich boy over here all of a sudden?”

Hansol shrugged. “It's not all of a sudden. It's been going on for months. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys anything, but seeing as we're not in an actual relationship I figured you didn't really needed to know. Oh and there's the whole gang thing. But, yeah, I'm in love with Boo Seungkwan. Over-dramatic, can't be quiet for even one minute Boo Seungkwan. He might not feel the same way, but there you have it. Whatever.”

The other three looked at their friend in total disbelieve. Almost simultaneously they started berating him with questions and critique.

“Months!?”

“There you have it? Have you completely lost your mind!? I can't even begin to-”

“I'm in love with you too!” A voice louder than the others spoke.

They all gaped at Seungkwan who had just spoken up. Seungkwan had also surprised himself with his outburst. Jisoo sat down on the couch. “What is going on in here on this day!? I am so tired and confused.”

The room was quiet again. Hansol looked at Seungkwan and Seungkwan looked at him. “You're not just saying that because you're tied down to a chair and want to get away without being punched in the face?” Hansol asked him.

“I am not. I...I didn't want to fall in love with you. I've tried so hard not to. I've tried denying it. I even said some mean things to you that I didn't mean. But, yes, I'm in love with you.” It was weird to finally admit it and to say it out loud. Tied to a chair surrounded mostly by people who didn't like him.

Hansol got closer and squatted down in front of the chair with his hands lightly leaning on Seungkwan's knees. He reached his hand up and his thumb along Seungkwan's jaw. He got up just enough to be able to reach Seungkwan's lips again. With Hansol's lips still on his own Seungkwan felt his hands being freed. He pulled away from the kiss to find out what was going on, suddenly reminded of the presence of the other three people in the room.

“Hansol, can you get his legs?” Jisoo said as he put the rope he had just untied on one of the desks.

“Shua, why are you calling him Hansol in front of an outsider?” Jun whispered to him, “And why did you untie him?”

“Look. I don't know exactly what's going on, but clearly these two like each other and have gone beyond the point of formalities such as that. Or doesn't he call you Hansol? Just how close are you?”

“He calls me Hansol whenever we're alone.” Hansol explained as he finished untying Seungkwan's legs. “I told him to call me that the first time we...”

“We don't need the details!” Chan interrupted.

“Don't we?” Jun asked in return. “I'm still very confused and not very okay with this. Whatever this is.”

Jisoo nodded in agreement “Look, I may have untied you, but that doesn't mean I don't expect some sort of an explanation from you two.”

“Guys, I know this is very unexpected and I will totally talk to you about all of this, but I really need to talk to Seungkwan first. So, ehm, excuse us.” With that Hansol grabbed Seungkwan's hand and dragged him outside. His friends were too flabbergasted to say anything at this point.

Once outside he let go of Seungkwan's hand. “Are you ready to admit that what is going on between us is more than just “stress relieve”, more than just ?”

Seungkwan looked down, “I'm really sorry for what I said to you. I just...I didn't mean that you're not good enough for me or anything. It's just...no-one except my closest friends even know that I'm gay and they all kind of...don't like you.”

“I didn't ask for us to go public. I only wanted you to acknowledge that we weren't just buddies. No-one else had to know. It would have been enough if we knew, you know.”

Seungkwan looked up with a weak smile, “I'll admit we're more than buddies, but you kind of ruined the whole secrecy thing by kissing me in front of your friends.”

Hansol got a little closer and gave him a soft smile, “Don't worry about my friends, all right? I'll talk to them. They may not like you, but I'm pretty sure they like me so I'll get them to not tell anyone if that's what you want.”

Seungkwan nodded. Hansol got closer and held one of his hands. “So, ehm, can we be a couple now? Even a secret one, if you want.”

Seungkwan took a moment to think, “I...I think I'd like that, but...”

“But what, Boo?”

“You have to do something for me first.”

“What's that?”

“I need you to come with me to our hangout and apologize to my friends. Especially Soonyoung.”

Hansol groaned, “Do I have to? And which one is Soonyoung again?”

Seungkwan frowned. “Hoshi. And yes you have to. If you want to be my boyfriend that is. And if you don't want to end up in jail. They still need to make their official statements. Maybe if you apologize and I tell them I'm in love with you I can convince them to drop any charges against you.”

Hansol smirked, “You'll tell them about us?”

Seungkwan sighed, “I think I have to. I can't think of any other reason why I would cover your .”

“You can cover my anytime you want.”

“Seriously. Now is not the time for ual innuendos, Hansol.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He let out a big sigh. “Okay, fine. I'll go with you to apologize to your friends. What I did was pretty stupid and I am actually sorry.”

Seungkwan smiled at him, but his smile fell when he remember Hansol's friends who were still inside. “What about your friends? Don't you have to talk to them?”

“Oh yeah, I guess. Wait a sec.” He let go of Seungkwan's hand and walked back inside. Seungkwan followed, but stayed near the entrance.

“Oh look, if it isn't Romeo.” Chan said sarcastically. “Have you come to delight us with your tale of forbidden love?”

“Eh, not really. I don't have time right now. Here's the short version of what happened: we started hooking up and then we fell in love. Now I have to go to the Ruby hangout to apologize to his friends so he'll let me be his boyfriend. Oh and so I don't go back to jail I guess. See ya.”

Everyone, Seungkwan included, stared at Hansol in disbelieve that this was his only explanation of the situation, but Hansol was already out the door. He looked back and gestured at Seungkwan to follow him. Seungkwan, however, told him to wait a minute and took a step inside.

“Joshua? I just wanted to let you know it really wasn't us who got you expelled. I know I can be a pain in the , but you always write good articles and I appreciate your effort at the newspaper. Even if you don't always write the right ones...”

Jisoo looked at Seungkwan, trying to decide if he was being genuine. He decided to give him the benefit of the doubt this time, for Hansol's sake. “Thank you for saying that, Seungkwan. I guess. And I'm willing to believe it wasn't you. But how do you know it wasn't one of your friends?”

“They would have told me. They always tell me everything.”

“Just like how you always tell them everything?”

“I...” Seungkwan didn't quite know how to respond to that. It was true he had been lying to them for months. But there would have been no reason for them to keep getting Jisoo expelled a secret.

“Seungkwan, come on!” Hansol shouted from outside. “You said yourself they would make their police statements soon and I'm not sure the prison allows conjugal visits!”

Seungkwan gave the three men in the room an awkward nod and walked out.

<>

Seungkwan had called Soonyoung from the car to make sure they were all at the hangout and hadn't gone to the police yet. He told him to wait because he needed to talk with them. Seungkwan told Hansol to wait outside the Ruby hangout while he would go in and explain the situation to his friends first. He cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. His friends were all there.

“Seungkwan, there you are! What the hell is going on?” Soonyoung said as soon as he spotted his best friend coming in. “First you ask me not to go to the police station yet and now I just got off the phone with the police and they told me someone bailed that er out yesterday.”

“I know.” Seungkwan said. He tried to stay calm, but his heart was already pounding in his chest. “I bailed him out.”

Seungcheol got up from where he was sitting and looked at Seungkwan, “You did what? Why?”

“There's something I need to tell you guys and I really need you to listen to me, okay?”

“Okay...” Soonyoung said hesitantly. He knew Seungkwan and he was about to tell them something he knew they didn't want to hear.

“Vernon is waiting outside.”

Soonyoung shot up, his face angry, “What!? He's here? What the . I'm going to kick his a-”

Before he could continue and walk to the door Seungkwan blocked his path. “Wait! Please listen to me first. Please.”

They all sat down again and waited for Seungkwan to start talking.

“I brought Vernon here today because he's going to apologize.”

Soonyoung scoffed and shook his head, “Why would he do that and why should I even listen to him?”

“He's going to apologize because he knows that what he did was irresponsible and he regrets doing it. He's also doing it...” Seungkwan took a breath, “...for me.”

“For you?” Mingyu asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well...it started a few months ago. I ran into him on the street and he started talking to me and...” he stopped. He wasn't sure what to say, how to explain.

“And, what? Spit it out Kwan.” Seungcheol was starting to get impatient.

“We hooked up.” He didn't look at his friends. He was afraid of what their faces would look like right now. He hadn't even told them the worst part about being in love with him.

“Wow. I did not see that coming.” Mingyu said.

“You had with Vernon?” Soonyoung asked. His voice was cold, emotionless.

“Y-yeah.”

“Seungkwan I can't believe you'd hook up with someone like him.” Mingyu added his two cents.

“Like you're one to judge Mingyu!” Seungkwan fired back. He wasn't the first one of them to have with someone from another gang.

“And?” Soonyoung asked. “What does this have to do with him being here right now? One hook up explains , Seungkwan.”

Seungkwan averted his eyes again. The look his best friend was giving him was anything but friendly. “We...we didn't just hook up one time. We hooked up many times after that and...it became less and less about and even though I tried really hard not to, I fell i-”

“No.” Soonyoung cut him off. “Stop talking right now. Don't you dare finishing that sentence, Seungkwan.”

“But, I-”

“No, shut up! You're not going to tell me that that piece of is here today to apologize because you're in love when just yesterday, yesterday, Seungkwan, he ran his motorcycle through my house? Are you ing kidding me.” He slammed his fist on the coffee table and Seungkwan flinched. None of them had ever seen him this angry, not even yesterday.

“I...he...he made a mistake. I said some mean things to him and they thought we were responsible for getting Joshua expelled!”

“I can't believe what I'm hearing. You're actually defending him. He must have a made out of gold for you to betray your friends like this.”

“It's not like that! Please, just-”

“Seungkwan? Is everything okay? I'm coming in now, I'm bored outside and I heard yelling and stuff.” Hansol announced as he opened the front door.

“Oh, if it isn't golden .” Soonyoung said, venom dripping from his voice.

“It's Vernon, actually.” Hansol said.

For a moment Seungkwan was afraid Soonyoung would attack Hansol, but instead he turned around and started walking towards the stairs leading up.

“Come on guys, let's play a game of billiards while golden and knife-in-my-back leave.”

“Soonyoung, please! Just hear him out!”

“Don't come here again Seungkwan. You're out. Go be a Carrot for all I care.”

Seungcheol got up and followed Soonyoung upstairs. Mingyu gave Seungkwan a semi-apologetic look before following as well. Seungkwan was frozen for a moment but quickly followed them too, with Hansol on his heels. “Come on guys. Let's talk about this!”

There was no response from them. They just started to play.

“Guys, please. Stop ignoring me!”

“Cheol can you hand me that cue stick.”

“I know I shouldn't have lied to you, but I didn't plan for this.”

“Sure, here you are.”

“It started way before the motorcycle.”

It was like he was talking to a wall or like he had turned invisible.

“Please stop ignoring me. Please...don't cut me out like this.”

Seungkwan's ears were ringing. He had expected them to get angry, even yell, but he had also thought they would at least listen to what he had to say. He had though that despite getting angry they would also try to understand how he felt. He didn't expect them to cast him out and act like he didn't even exist anymore. They were his best friends. They were his family. His vision was getting blurred from the tears that were stinging in his eyes. He was only barely aware of a hand pulling him away from the scene.

<>

They sat in Seungkwan's car in silence. Hansol was in the driver's seat, he didn't think Seungkwan should be driving right now. He wouldn't be able to see the road clearly seeing as silent tears were running down his face. He was looking out the window, pretending he wasn't crying, but Hansol knew.

“Seungkwan? Do you want me to drive you home or something? Or, somewhere else?”

“Can you just...drive for a while? I don't really care where to.”

Hansol started the car and drove. He wanted to say something to comfort Seungkwan, but he couldn't find the right words. So he didn't say anything. For a moment he considered placing a hand on Seungkwan's leg for comfort and tell him it would be okay, but he was afraid Seungkwan wouldn't want him to. So he didn't say or do anything except drive.

After a little while Seungkwan wiped his tears away with his sleeve and took out his phone.

<>

Soonyoung's phone buzzed and he quickly checked the message. It was their group chat. He read the message and threw his phone across the room, breaking it against the wall. In all his life he had never felt so betrayed, disappointed and sad at the same time. The other two were startled by the sudden outburst, but didn't say anything. They hadn't said anything since Seungkwan left. Mingyu checked his own phone.

Soonyoung, Seungcheol, Mingyu. I'm really sorry and I hope you'll be willing to talk to me soon and let me explain better. I know I'm asking a lot, but please don't press charges against him. For me. I love you guys.

<>

Seungkwan was staring at his phone. Seungcheol has removed you from the 'Rubies' group chat.

“Give me your phone.” Seungkwan said and held out his hand.

Hansol didn't ask why and handed his dingy old phone to Seungkwan. They were at one of the cities look out points, leaning against the hood of the car. It was quiet with no-one else around.

Hansol looked over to see what Seungkwan was doing with his phone and saw him go into his contact list. He looked up his own number and for a moment Hansol thought he was going to delete it, but instead he changed the contact name from 'not Boo Seungkwan' to 'Boo Seungkwan♥' and handed the phone back.

“Hansol?” Seungkwan said without looking at him.

“Yeah?”

“I'm probably a bit of a mess right now and I know it's the first time you've seen this pathetic side of me, but...please don't break up with me right now. Not after all that.”

“W-what? Break up with you? Does that mean we're dating now? Like, boyfriends and stuff?”

Seungkwan sniffed. He could feel tears stinging his eyes again. “Aren't we?”

“I don't know!” Hansol said surprised. “You said I had to apologize to your friends and technically I didn't so...”

“But you came with me. You were going to apologize. Weren't you?”

“Well, yes. But then your friend freaked out and they all shunned you and- oh, I'm sorry Boo. Don't cry.”

Hansol quickly wrapped an arm around Seungkwan's shoulders and pulled him closer. Seungkwan held onto Hansol's waist and hugged him tight. He felt Hansol kiss the top of his head. They stayed like that for some time until Seungkwan pulled away. He took a few deep breaths and smiled at Hansol.

“Come on. It's time to go. I have a ton of homework and you have about a million messages from your friends so I think you should talk with them. Or do you want me to come with you?”

“No, no that's okay. But are you sure you're okay being alone right now? I can talk to my friends later.”

Seungkwan took Hansol's hand in his own, “No, it's okay. I'll be okay. No need for both of us to lose all of our friends in one day. Or...” Seungkwan's weak smile fell completely, “Do you think your friends will react the same way mine did? I mean, I didn't destroy anyone's house or anything, but of course they don't like me. I'm a stupid rich boy.”

Hansol reached out and Seungkwan's cheek. “Nah, it'll be fine. I might not be able to convince them to invite you for Christmas or anything, but I can make them accept the fact that I like you and that you like me. I don't think they'll be okay with you becoming a Carrot though, at least not right away.”

“That's okay. I don't want to be a Carrot. No offense, but if I can't be a Ruby, I'd rather not be anything. I'll just be...Boo Seungkwan...the one without friends.”

“Don't be too sad, Boo Seungkwan. You have a pretty hot boyfriend now, right?”

Seungkwan scoffed and shook his head, but there was an unmistakeable smile on his face, “This guy...”

Hansol bit his lip and smiled. He leaned in and gave Seungkwan a soft kiss on the lips.

<>

Hansol had been dropped off near the Carrot hangout by Seungkwan before he went home. He had been gone for hours and he figured his friends wouldn't be too happy with him right now. He announced he was in love with a member from another gang, then he ran of with said member and didn't reply to any of their messages. He hadn't even read their messages. He figured they'd just repeat whatever they had to say in person anyway. He opened the door and found all his friends inside.

“Hey, guys.”

“Well, well. Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence.” Jun said dramatically.

“Hansol, we've been doing some talking in the time you were gone. Please sit.” Jisoo said as he gestured to a chair that was placed opposite the couch.

“Ehm...okay.” Hansol sat down and after seeing what happened with Seungkwan and his friends he couldn't help but feeling nervous. It didn't help he was sitting on a chair and his three friends all sat next to each other right across from him looking very serious.

“As we understood it you somehow fell in love with Boo Seungkwan, a Ruby. Yes?”

“Yes, we-”

Jisoo held up his hand to silence him. “And he is in love with you too. Yes?”

“Y-yes.”

“Are you dating?”

“Well we weren't before, but we talked about it and-”

“Short answers please, Hansol.”

“Yes. He is now my boyfriend, yes.”

Jisoo sighed. “All right. Here's the deal. We are willing to accept your relationship, but only in the understanding that we are not in any way obligated to like him or any of his friends. We will be civil to him whenever we see him with you, but he is still part of the Ruby gang and we can't promise what happens if we meet him in that context. However, we won't make any trouble with them if they don't make any trouble with us. Also, you can't invite him to movie nights. That's Carrots only.”

Chan nudged Jisoo and he added, “Oh, and no PDA in front of us.”

“Wow. You guys reacted a lot better than Seungkwan's friends did. Thanks. Really.”

“Yeah?” Chan asked. “How did that go? Do we need to find you a cheap lawyer?”

“Oh , right. I don't know actually. I haven't heard from the police, or maybe I did. I haven't checked my phone for any missed calls.”

“So I take it that it didn't go so well with the apologizing?” Jisoo asked.

“I didn't actually get to the apologizing. His friends kind of freaked out when Seungkwan told them he was sleeping with me and they really freaked out when he said he was in love with me. Then they told him to leave and that he was out and they just...ignored him.”

“That's harsh.” Jun commented.

Chan shook his head, “I don't know. I kind of understand it. What if Seungkwan had been the one who got Shua expelled? Would we still be so willing to accept him dating Hansol? I don't think so.”

“But we wouldn't just start ignoring Hansol, would we?” Jun offered.

“No, I'd probably kick his .”

“Oh please, you are smol.” Jisoo laughed.

“I'm bigger than that Woozi and I bet your he can break a bone or two.”

Jisoo turned to Hansol, “So Seungkwan lost all of his friends because his boyfriend is an idiot and then that idiot leaves him alone? I know I'm single and don't have that much dating experience, but that doesn't seem like something a good boyfriend would do.”

“Wow, Jisoo. We've barely accepted Hansol dating this guy and you're already taking his side?” Jun said almost offended.

“There is no side. Now that our Hansol is someone's boyfriend I'm going to enjoy pointing out all the things he's doing wrong. Regardless of who the other person is.”

“Hey I came here to talk to you guys, because you are my friends! Besides, I offered to stay with him he told me I needed to go and talk to you guys. He said he was fine.”

“If you say so.”

“Congratulations Hansol, you're already a lousy boyfriend.” Jun added teasingly.

“Wha- I am not!”

“I still can't believe you're actually dating that rich boy. What do you guys even talk about?” Chan asked.

“Just...stuff. Many things.”

“I'll give you one thing. He has a sweet .”

“Jun! Don't look at his !”

“I have to agree with Hansol on this one, Jun.”

“What? I'm just giving you a compliment about your lover. I don't particularly like his personality so-”

“Hey!”

“I'm kidding. I'm sure he's delightful once you get to know him or once he shuts up.”

The teasing went on for some time, but Hansol was willing to take it all. In fact, he felt quite happy and grateful towards his friends. They weren't angry with him. They didn't tell him to leave. They also didn't like Seungkwan yet, but that was okay because he was sure they would at some point.

_______________________________

*I don't know why Chan has such an attitude, he's just...direct.
*Does Hansol seem too indifferent about what he did? He doesn't actually know Soonyoung's background and exactly what he destroyed I guess, so...he's sorry but at the same time he doesn't like any of them except Seungkwan.
*Are the Rubies overreacting or is Seungkwan in the wrong here?
*I don't know how police works...like...can you even just drop charges like this?? xD

Thank you guys for all the love so far!! I started writing the next chapter but somehow I'm adding a whole thing between Seungkwan and his dad that wasn't really in the original plan (well part of it was) so it might seem a bit...too far away from the main story?