“Have a drink.” Jeonghan suddenly appeared in front of Seungcheol with an opened bottle of beer. “No way. I’m on the job.” He shook his head as Jeonghan frowned at him. “Ok then you’re dismissed for the night.” His eyes sparkled under the rows of strung fairy lights as he handed the bottle over. “You can leave if you want.” Jeonghan was suddenly aware of Seungcheol’s agitation and he pulled the beer back and took a sip of it. “Did you have plans tonight? I told you she could come….” 

Seungcheol shook his head. “No, well I mean I guess we did, but I didn’t know…..” he looked around at everyone having fun and suddenly realised it had been a long time since he enjoyed himself. He took the beer from Jeonghan’s hands and took a huge sip and Jeonghan smirked. “I just had my mouth on that.” He winked and Seungcheol found himself blushing. The feeling quickly passed as Jeonghan grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to a long table laid out with food. “Eat something please. I haven’t seen you eat all day.” Seungcheol took a plate and filled it up before Jeonghan was pulled away to dance by Minghao and Seungcheol found himself sitting next to Jihoon.

The silence was comfortable for a little but Seungcheol’s curiosity got the better of him. He watched Jihoon’s forlorn expression and had to ask. “So…. What happened with you and Soonyoung?” Jihoon turned to him in surprise before taking another huge sip of his beer. “I ed up. That’s what.” 

Jihoon sighed heavily and put the beer down and pulled his hands inside his hoodie despite the warm night. “I love my work and I’m in the studio sometimes 18 hours a day. Soonyoung wanted to do more, travel more, be together more. I couldn’t see past my own needs and the more unhappy he got the more I stayed at the studio. I pushed us apart for my work and when I finally realised I was destroying us I caught him sleeping with his personal trainer. Seokmin.” 

Jihoon sighed and Seungcheol felt suddenly sad for the man. He understood him a little too well. “How can you sit here and watch them together?” Seungcheol asked quietly and Jihoon sniffed a little. “I still love him. It makes me happy to see him so happy. He was never that happy with me.” Jihoon searched around for a new beer in the cooler next to the chairs and cracked it open before handing it to Seungcheol. He took another one for himself and smiled as he watched Soonyoung clamber onto the inflatable unicorn laughing hysterically.

“I couldn’t love him the way he needed me to. I’m glad someone else can.” Seungcheol stared at the short music producer as they sipped their beers in silence. He’d never heard anything so selfless in his life. “What about you though?” Seungcheol asked quietly and Jihoon just shrugged. “What about me? ‘I’ll move on too eventually. Or maybe I won’t. Who knows? I’ve been making amazing music since the breakup.” He drank the rest of the beer and dropped it onto the pile of empty bottles next to his chair. “Are you offering to help me get over him?” Jihoon’s frown turned quickly into a smirk and Seungcheol blushed again. What was wrong with him? This is why he didn’t drink. It went to his head too quickly.

Seungcheol sat back and drank down his second beer before looking for a third. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Jihoon said about putting work over love. He could feel the love radiating out of Jihoon every time he looked at Soonyoung. He remembered what Jeonghan asked him about feeling the spark of love, of attraction and desire, and he wondered if he would leave Luda if she wanted him to choose between her and his work. 

A sick feeling washed over him, awareness encour