Chapter 9   

Sneaky  

Seungyoon stood in the well lit bathroom staring at his neck. Three small blueish bruises lined the crease of his neck even if it was days since Mino had left them behind.  

He figured it was a sign of Mino’s jealousy since they had been created on the day he found out about his and Zico’s planned "date" that weekend, even though he personally never thought of it as a date. As far as he knew had the two of them yet to make up and become friends and so now he was slightly dreading how their cinema trip would go that same evening.  

His worries for the evening would have to wait though, because now he was about to face the potential wrath of his roommates. He had decided to tell them about him and Mino.  

Mainly because he felt that he really needed someone to talk with about his budding romance, but also because keeping it hidden would get increasingly difficult anyway.   

And so he walked out of the bathroom and sat down on one of the chairs by the kitchen table watching Seunghoon cook while Jinwoo was to his side on the couch just hanging out.  

    "I got something I want to tell you" he began, suddenly doubting himself and his decision.  

    "You have feelings for Mino, we know" Seunghoon said with his back to him holding up the spatula triumphantly.  

    "Wait, what?" he asked looking to Jinwoo expecting him to elaborate.  

    "And he got feelings for you" Jinwoo said nodding towards his scarf that he’d been wearing constantly except that one day he wore a turtle neck sweater that made him look very odd.  

    "How long have you known?" he asked looking from one to the other.  

    "Not very long" Jinwoo said smiling sweetly, but Seunghoon finally turned towards him and told him he’d known since he cooked them all dinner, maybe even before that.  

He shook his head at himself wondering why he even had attempted to keep it from them to begin with.Then he moved on to mentally going through his list of things he wanted to ask about, but before that had Seunghoon announced that it was dinnertime.  

Mino sat in his room, any moment now Zico would be home and then it would be showtime. Tonight was the evening for their cinema trip and he wanted some things sorted before the three of them were off.  

Surely if Zico knew about his feelings he would back off. They’d know each other for years, he’d be happy had finally found someone he liked. Or would he?  

Inspecting his image in the wardrobe mirror he sighed. Zico was kind, but stubborn as hell, there was a chance he wouldn’t listen, he knew that, but he would still try to convey how serious he was about this.  

He picked up his phone and went to sit in the living room to wait. 

Half an hour later and Zico arrived carrying his usual computer bag and a paper bag full of groceries.  

    "I need to talk to you" he said right away before Zico could get any chance to avoid him.  

    "Then talk" Zico said simply dropping his bag by his room before he began unpacking his groceries.  

    "It’s about Seungyoon" he began.  

    "I figured. What about him?" Zico asked looking over at him while holding a broccoli mid-air.  

    "I really like him, he says he likes me too" he said deciding to keep it simple.  

    "Good for you" Zico said stuffing the broccoli into the fridge with a bit more force than necessary.  

    "So I’m telling you as a friend to back off, I really like him" he said, trying not to sound too anxious or angry, but even if he was experiencing both emotions as he spoke, because he was confident Zico could charm anyone he wanted if he tried.  

    "I hear you, but I honestly think he is too good for you. How many girls have I watched crying heartbroken over the years because of you? What makes you think this time will be different?" Zico was leaning backwards on the kitchen counter pointing a leek at him while speaking like some lecturing parent.  

He sighed, this was what he had feared from the beginning. Zico weren’t wrong although he made it sound worse than it was. Yes he had been the one who had dumped them, but one cheated on him, two of them was dating several others, one was so clingy it was just too much.. Realizing it had been more than five girls the last year he cringed a little.  

    "While I on the other hand haven’t found anyone I liked since breaking up with my boyfriend just after new years" Zico reminded him with his back to him throwing the leek and some garlic into the the fridge.  

    "I know" he began, but in that moment had Jihoon walked in with one of his colleagues from work.  

He began giving them details about his trip and wished them all a happy weekend oblivious to the bad mood filling the room before he arrived. They both wished him and his friend a great weekend and watched him get his bag. Once he left they went back to looking at each other.  

    "Let’s just see how it goes" Zico said smiling. Mino didn’t like this at all, he didn’t like having this kind of competition and he definitely didn’t like sharing his time with Seungyoon with others. On the other hand was there no denying he got the upper hand, Seungyoon didn’t even know that Zico liked him, or he wouldn’t have acted like he did the other day.  

He went to shower while Zico began cooking, while he was mid-shower had Zico poked his head through the door asking if he wanted soup and it had taken him everything he got not to spray him down with water from the shower as he poked his head out around the shower curtain.  

    "Yes, now get out!" he said sounding even angrier than he had intended to.  

A couple of hours later and they were both waiting in the hall for Seungyoon.  

The whole scenario felt a bit mad to him. To anyone else it would look like it was three friends out to see an action movie, but to them it was far from it.   

    “So what’s your plan?” Mino asked Zico staring straight ahead at the wall trying to act cool. 

    “You just do you and I’ll be around to pick up the pieces once you mess up” Zico said with a shrug.  

    “There won’t be any pieces for you to pick up, not this time” he replied with confidence, but secretly he felt really annoyed by how certain Zico was that he would manage to ruin everything on his own. On the other hand could it just be a mind game by Zico, attempting to provoke him into to making mistakes. 

    “If you say so” Zico said, looking over at him as he spoke this time. He keept his stare straight ahead as he knew seeing Zico’s smiling face would just piss him off more.

He was saved from their awkward conversation by Seungyoon who showed up in that moment wearing what had become his signature scarf over the last couple of days and he knew exactly why that was.  

Just thinking about his reaction and how cute the tiny bruises had looked on his skin made him smile. What would make him smile even more was if Zico was to see them, if only so that he would realize exactly how much of a disadvantage he was at.  

They took the bus down to the city center acting cheerful enough, talking mainly about school and the song they would start recording together the next day. They needed all the time they could get if they were to record and practice their new songs to be ready for the festival which was quickly coming closer as the September days flew by.  

Seungyoon had been unsure if Mino would be able to get a ticket so much later and even more worried if he would get a seat next to them, but because their seats were so far back had it worked out fine.  

Taking their seats he figured it might be best if he was in the middle as there was obvious tension between the two still although they had acted pretty civil against each other so far.  Being in the middle he ended up as the resident popcorn holder as they had bought one huge popcorn bucket to share. As the movie progressed had they kept bumping hands and laughing about it.  

Especially Zico got terrible timing, almost grabbing his hand in stead of the popcorn on several occasions.  

Mino’s approach to the movie situation had been somewhat sneaky too, as he half way through the movie had given up on the popcorn snacking to rest his hand on Seungyoon's thigh instead. Occasionally squeezing it when there was an intense action scene which made him loose all focus on the film.  

Once they stepped out of the theatre had he felt like he was soaring, the movie was amazing and despite everything had he enjoyed the time they spent together the three of them.  

Walking to the bus stop they chatted excitedly about the film. It was pretty obvious by the ending that there would be a sequel and they were soon discussing quite passionately how they thought the sequel would go.  

Both he and Zico had dressed warmly for the trip as they would be taking the bus back and forth. Staying at the stop waiting he could see Mino shivering in his grey blazer. Since he was wearing his winter coat had he no issues with letting Mino borrow his scarf.  

Unwrapping it from his neck he threw it over Mino’s shoulders before saying:  

    "Don’t get sick, we got a song to record tomorrow"    

Mino thanked him and began wrapping the long scarf around his neck. He couldn’t help but to notice an exchange of glances between the two, but neither said another word as