1a. Howon

Howon meets Myungsoo on one of those days when things are a blur – he had just finished redrawing the storyboard for the short film project he’s doing with Sungyeol; he hasn’t slept for the last 48 hours since Sungyeol panickedly told him the junior they got to act in their film suddenly fell sick. While Sungyeol had been running around trying to cast someone last minute, Howon had been desperately trying to rework a backup storyline for in case Sungyeol failed and they had to write their only main character out from their short film. As luck would have it, the second after Howon puts down his pen from barely finishing the last panel in his storyboard, Sungyeol calls.

“Howon, I found someone to act for us!”

Couldn’t you have told me this earlier, Howon blurrily thinks, but only manages a weak, “That’s great, I’m going to crash for 2 hours,” before he hangs up and tries to put his Americano to his lips.

Try is the key word here, because Howon’s scarcely raised his arm before someone runs towards him from the bend down the corridor, knocks the full cup of coffee out of his hand.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” the guy gasps, half-turning around but not stopping regardless. He must really be rushing, Howon vaguely thinks, barely noticing the dark mop of hair over clear eyes, but definitely noticing the all black outfit. Americano stains won’t show up, he thinks with a faint hint of humour only the very tired can manage, too exhausted to laugh. The guy’s long disappeared from the lobby before Howon realises he’s still standing there in the middle of a brown puddle, ice cubes at his feet, and he sighs, the remnants of coffee from his fingers, before he finds tissues to clean up.

So much for sleep.

The thing is, a quick nap and shower later, when Howon’s reaching the park where he’s supposed to meet Sungyeol to film their short film, the same guy who’d knocked over his drink is there, standing right in front of the camera, in front of Sungyeol.

The guy’s eyes widen a little, which would be amusing if Howon has more energy to laugh, but given his current state, all Howon does is turn to Sungyeol, who thankfully catches on that he needs an explanation for  the stranger standing in the middle of their set-up.

“That’s Myungsoo, the guy who agreed to fill in as our main character.”

“Ah,” Howon says, but then Myungsoo smiles a little, a weird shy thing that doesn’t quite fit his blank look earlier, and Howon notices Myungsoo has a dimple. “Ah,” he says again, except this time, it means something a little different.

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1b. Woohyun

Woohyun meets Myungsoo properly for the first time in a café, with Howon on his side.

“Hello, I’m Nam Woohyun,” he says, standing up to bow slightly to Myungsoo once the guy reaches their table. Woohyun puts on his cutest grin, the one with the small dimples in his smile lines, but Myungsoo only blinks once at him, then turns to Howon.

“I…”

Howon’s hesitant, looking between the both of them, and Woohyun wants to squeeze his hand, remind him that it’s okay, that he’s here no matter what, but he doesn’t want to draw attention to their status as together in front of Kim Myungsoo, Howon’s previous boyfriend, especially with why they have asked to meet Myungsoo. So Woohyun doesn’t, waits instead for Howon to continue.

“Why don’t we sit down and get some drinks first?”

Myungsoo looks at the both of them, eyes wide but oddly blank, and Woohyun wonders if it’s hardness he sees in the gaze.

“I’m Kim Myungsoo,” Myungsoo eventually mumbles, pulling the chair out to sit. “And sure, drinks are fine. I’ll get an –”

“Americano?” Howon asks, voice initially sure, then turning uncertain towards the end.

“…Yeah,” Myungsoo replies, still standoffish, and Howon blinks a little, puts on a smile, but Woohyun senses the conflict in his boyfriend’s actions. Myungsoo doesn’t seem to notice – or if he does, he doesn’t seem to care – and Woohyun’s not so sure he likes this guy much, despite what he’s heard Howon say about him. Still, once Howon leaves to get their orders, Woohyun decides he should try to be friendly.

“So Myungsoo-ssi, what do you do?”

Myungsoo raises a brow, the movement slight but judgmental all the same. Woohyun tries not to let his smile falter.

“I’m a photography student. And I’m going to cut to the chase here because I’m not sure what’s going on, but is there a reason why Howon asked to meet me here?”

The “with you” at the end of the question is unvoiced, but Woohyun hears it all the same. He supposes if he was in Myungsoo’s shoes, he’ll be confused why his ex-boyfriend had asked him out for coffee and brought his current boyfriend along as well. Unfortunately, this is something Howon should be answering, not him, so Woohyun can only grin a little wider, tries n