(Youngjae's Perspective)

Work was a bit more of a drag with Yongguk off on vacation. Less so because of the work and more so because of his coworkers. Youngjae didn't dislike them, it was just that they were too misaligned in interests to get along as anything more than coworkers.

But he kept in mind that Yongguk's absence was a blessing in disguise. Not for Youngjae, but for his boyfriend!

Getting that first message from Yongguk was a rollercoaster ride because he'd sent a novel in text form. First, Youngjae was enraged at the presence of Daehyun's ex. Then he was majorly concerned for his boyfriend's well being. And lastly relieved that his friends had taken Daehyun under their wing.

When he was asked to let Zelo know that Daehyun was okay, Youngjae wasn't sure how to go about it. Did he just let Zelo read the essay length message on his phone? Did he explain the message himself? Or did he just tell him that Daehyun was fine and not to worry?

Youngjae settled for the latter based on the situation he found himself in when he went up to chat with him.

Zelo had been alone and in the middle of a sobbing fit when he answered the door. Makeup smeared, cheeks stained with runny eyeliner and tears, and he managed through sniffles and hiccups to tell Youngjae that he was worried Daehyun wasn't going to come back. The exact phrasing stuck in Youngjae's brain the same distraught and strained way Zelo had said it.

“I'm just worried Daehyun's gone for good? He promised he'd come back, but his parents are ing snakes, Jae hyung! They'll do whatever it ing takes to get their way and Daehyun doesn't have a disobedient bone in his body and I can't ing take losing him to those s again-”

Calming Zelo down from that was a task in itself, way harder than calming Daehyun down from his panic modes, but Youngjae succeeded and figured it was best if he didn't give Zelo more to worry about. So he simply told him that some good friends had come across him on their vacation and were keeping a vigilant eye on Daehyun to make sure he was okay. Ever since then, Zelo was practically glued to Youngjae's hip.

Was it for distraction? Was it so he was immediately there whenever an update from Yongguk or Jieun came in? Or was it because he didn't want to be alone and Jongup was currently in the middle of spending all his spare time with Hyunsik to help him move and still wasn't telling Zelo about it?

Whatever the case was, he now had the equivalent of a puppy at his heels!

Which mainly meant that Zelo was constantly treating Youngjae to meals in exchange for being a model. When the near daily updates came in from Yongguk or Jieun, he was usually having his face maneuvered around to get the best angle, or he was seated across from Zelo at Shortstub's.

Most of the informative messages were the same. They did a thing with Daehyun and he was fine. A few did stick out for their various reasons...

Like Jieun's first message telling him that she finally got to meet his boyfriend! That message being 'Hot damn what a man you've hooked, Youngjae! You better stake your life on keeping such a cutie happy!'

But Yongguk mainly liked to send pictures. Not of himself, but of various scenery and also Daehyun and Jieun, some of them together. Other than getting those and realizing his boyfriend was incredibly photogenic, having actual picture confirmation put Zelo more at ease over just words.

The main picture message that stuck out from Yongguk was a sneakily taken one of Daehyun doing Jieun's makeup in the bathroom with the caption of 'Does he know what he's doing?'

Youngjae was sure his response of 'His best friend is in training to be a cosmetologist, it'll be fine!' did little to reassure Yongguk.

The message of his with no picture that stuck out was simpler. 'Walked onto the deck to find Jieun and Daehyun drunkenly gushing about us... I think we're doing something right with our lives, Youngjae!'

The thought of Daehyun gushing about him made Youngjae feel all warm and fuzzy, and if he hadn't sworn off alcohol, he'd probably gush about Daehyun, too! But he didn't have to be drunk in order to do that. He'd do that any time of day, free of charge!

Of course, Youngjae also got picture confirmation from both of them on their engagement! Yongguk's message was just the picture, but Jieun's was captioned with the declaration of 'This man could've proposed in just his boxers with stinky morning breath and I still would've said yes!'.

Right now was one of the times Youngjae seated in Zelo's bathroom while his friend swatched colours on his wrist. Zelo already primed Youngjae's face and pinned the fringe out of the way, he was just deciding what sort of look he wanted to go for today.

Youngjae couldn't help but notice that his friend was a bit distracted, though. After watching him stare at the colours on his wrist for a solid minute, Youngjae asked, “You good?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine.” Zelo's nod was unconvincing, so Youngjae sent further question in the form of a brow raise. Zelo sighed. “It's the usual, Jae hyung... I'm just trying to ing remind myself of what you told me. If we don't ing believe in him, then how the can he believe in himself, right?”

Youngjae hadn't said it with the s in there, but Zelo got the spirit of it at least. Youngjae stood by the words, too! The best way for Daehyun to stand up for himself was if he knew he had people who believed he could. Having that support system would make him more likely to take the chances on what he wanted rather than what other people wanted from him!

He made a noise in affirmation as Zelo finally began to dip into his palette. Youngjae closed his eyes in preparation and tried not to flinch when Zelo began to dust colour on one of his eyelids.

Then a message buzzed through his phone, and Youngjae peaked his free eye open to see a new message from Yongguk. “It's from Yongguk. Do you want me to check it now?” Despite asking, Youngjae already knew the answer he was going to get.

“Yeah!” Zelo backed up so Youngjae could better read his phone screen.

Yongguk – 16:36

He's finally free.

The two of them stared at Youngjae's phone as their minds processed the short message. “What the does that mean?” Zelo questioned frantically. “Is that a good thing? It better be a good thing, Jae hyung!”

'I'm sure it is... What else could it mean?' But it clearly wouldn't sit right with Zelo if that was all they got. “Give me a second, I'll ask for clarification.”

Me – 16:37

Zelo asked if that was a good thing?

Yongguk – 16:38

Definitely good! Daehyun stood up to his parents yesterday, and they let him go.

Zelo was practically vibrating in spot from that news. “It actually ing worked, Jae hyung!” he exclaimed excitedly. “The belief we were sending his way got through to him, and he kicked their asses!”

After making sure to let Yongguk know they were happy for Daehyun and proud of him, Youngjae put his phone back into his pocket. “I doubt he physically fought them,” he countered amusedly as Zelo got back to doing Youngjae's eyeshadow with renewed vigor.

“Don't take this from me, Jae hyung,” he pouted, still clearly happy but voice more distant due to his concentration on doing makeup.

Youngjae chuckled, but otherwise said nothing. Instead, he let himself be pleased at the turn out of things and figured it would be reason to celebrate upon Daehyun's return!

About an hour later, and Zelo was finally finishing up. Why Youngjae agreed to the rhinestones, he didn't know. But Zelo wanted to put three by each eye, along the edge of the eyeshadow he'd done. “You know, I've always wanted to make that mole under Daehyun's eye look like a little heart,” he admitted quietly, focused intently on placing rhinestone number one properly. “It would be cute as .”

Youngjae was worried that talking would make him move to much and mess up Zelo's placement, so he just hummed his agreement. 'It would be pretty cute!'

Zelo was in the process of placing rhinestone number two by Youngjae's right eye when the sound of clattering came from the living room of the apartment. “Jongup must be back,” Zelo said, setting his stuff down on the sink and pulling Youngjae up from his seat in the dining chair that had been dragged into the bathroom. “Let's take a break and chat with Jongup for a bit. I can finish the rhinestones later.”

Youngjae blinked in an unimpressed manner. “You really want me to go out there with an incomplete look?”

Zelo shrugged. “It's just Jongup. It'll be fine.”

Not even bothering to take out the pins holding back Youngjae's bangs, Zelo strolled out of the bathroom to meet up with Jongup. Rather than follow immediately, Youngjae pouted at himself in the mirror with the thought that he could just take the pins out himself and say no to the remaining two rhinestones. That probably wouldn't deter Zelo, though...

So Youngjae went to follow after his friend, but then he heard Zelo speak. “Hyunnie hyung, are you alone today?”

Youngjae paused in the bathroom doorway, stunned by the fact Hyunsik was actually here and barely caught his response. “Uh... technically, I'm here with Jongup?”

Jongup awkwardly chuckled. “Yeah... I thought you were out with Youngjae hyung today, Zelo...”

“I mean, I plan on heading out with him later? For the dinner I buy him in exchange for being my model stand in,” he clarified hesitantly. Then he peered down the hallway with a questioning look and caught Youngjae lingering in the doorway. “You gonna come out, Jae hyung?”

Now that they were aware of his presence, Youngjae couldn't just hide in the bathroom like he wanted, but could he really be blamed for trying? Hyunsik had avoided all sorts of contact with him for months. There was no way it wasn't intentional at this point! Youngjae didn't want to go out there and have Hyunsik scrambling to leave just because of his presence! Just because Youngjae wasn't important on the friend list didn't mean Jongup and Zelo weren't, and if Hyunsik wanted to hang out with them, then Youngjae didn't want to be the reason why he didn't!

With a little sigh, Youngjae quashed the parts of him that were feeling bitter to join them out in the main area. 'There's no right place for those sorts of feelings, Youngjae...'

“Hey stranger,” Youngjae greeted, purposefully letting his eyes linger on Hyunsik. “Been a while, huh? How've you been?” Even in successfully shoving away the thoughts of immediately questioning Hyunsik's reasoning for abandoning their friendship like a passing fad, some of those residual feelings seeped into Youngjae's tone if the nervous way Hyunsik looked back was anything to go by.

“Uh, yeah... It has, huh?” Hyunsik agreed, now looking anywhere but Youngjae as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “I've been... alright. Definitely been better, but uh... I've also been worse...”

“Everything okay, Hyunnie hyung? You seem a bit... off,” Zelo noted, vocal tone b with suspicion.

“Yeah, uh... Everything's just peachy!” Hyunsik assured. He gave a thumbs up, and the smile he flashed was one of the fakest smiles Youngjae had ever laid eyes upon.

Clearly, Zelo thought the same. “That doesn't look or sound like someone who thinks everything's just ing peachy...” Zelo's eyes narrowed into a squint. “What the hell is going on?”

Hyunsik looked like a deer caught in headlights, and Jongup scrambled for a response. “We just didn't think you guys were going to be here, that's all...”

Zelo directed his squint to Jongup rather than Hyunsik. “Jongup, why are you being so damn shady?” he questioned.

“I'm not...”

“Yes you are!”

“Zelo, don't give Jongup like this!”

“Then someone please tell me what the is going on!”

Youngjae confusedly watched the others have an awkward three way stare down. With Zelo flitting his gaze between the other two in search of answers. With Hyunsik looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here. And with Jongup like he'd found himself stuck in the middle of a high school fight between two friends...

Then his eyes caught sight of something. On the floor by Jongup's and Hyunsik's feet, blocked mostly by the couch, was a cardboard box. Something they must've brought in with them since it wasn't out here before Youngjae had been dragged back into the bathroom.

Youngjae cleared his throat, adding his own stare into the mix. It was almost like they'd forgotten his presence entirely with the way they all looked back at him. “What's that you brought with you?” he asked, eyes falling to the box by their feet.

“Um... That's...” Jongup rubbed at the back of his head. “It's something for Zelo...” he admitted quietly.

“Me?” Zelo blinked out some of his anger and searched between the two of them for answers in a much less confrontational manner. “Why do I get a thing?”

Hyunsik gulped and picked up the box from the floor and moved it up to the coffee table. Seeing more of it, the hastily resealed box had 'HIDE' written on the top. “It's um... Maybe it's less for you, and it's more... you'd know what to do with it better?” he explained.

Zelo furrowed his brows. “What sort of cryptic ...”

Jongup and Hyunsik proceeded to have a conversation with their eyes while Youngjae contemplated the situation at hand. Whatever was going on, it didn't really seem like he had a place in it, just that he was watching events that had nothing to do with him unfold...

Their inaudible conversation halted with Hyunsik's defeated sigh. Then he turned his attention to Zelo. “It's a box of things I found while packing my own to move out,” he clarified quietly. “Jongup helped me look through it and we determined that it would be best to give it to you rather than leave it buried in the back of the closet.”

The range of emotions Youngjae saw cross Zelo's face at those words ranged from low key distress all the way to unbridled rage, and it was like he couldn't decide which was more important to let out with the way his face was contorting. His face was reddening to the shade of a ripe tomato, and Youngjae swore steam was coming out of his ears and nose.

Youngjae was honestly worried about what was going to happen. 'Is this going to come to blows? I've never had to break up a fight before!'

Even Jongup was off put by it, and there wasn't much that bothered him. “Zelo?” he meekly called out.

That lit a fire in his soul. “What the happened?” Zelo roared, hands flailing out wildly and narrowly missing hitting Youngjae. He stomped forwards, hands gripping the back of the couch so tightly his knuckles blanched. “Did she hurt you? Do I need to go off on a ? I'LL RIP OUT HER SPINE AND USE IT AS A ING WHIP!”

“Zelo, please calm down!” Youngjae urged, but his frantic plea fell on deaf ears.

Zelo made some sort of strangled noise of exasperation between a growl and a huff before continuing, “Why the wasn't I told anything? I would've helped out if you'd just ing asked! Or are you ing avoiding me like you do with Jae hyung?”

Hyunsik shoved a menacing finger Zelo's way. “It's not my fault you always left when I came by to visit!” he shot back.

“That's because the chicken that you called your girlfriend was with you! I'd have stayed if you left her stank back home!”

“You're seriously going back to that? You apologized, you little !”

“I ing lied!”

Jongup and Youngjae could only listen as the other two continued to go back and forth. Hyunsik decided to stand on the couch to appear taller than Zelo in a mediocre attempt of intimidation, and it didn't even give him a centimeter of height over the other.

Whatever this was, it seemed to Youngjae like it was something Zelo and Hyunsik just needed to get out, so he instead walked around to the other side of the couch to maybe distract Jongup.

Dejectedly, Jongup sighed as he continued to watch the verbal altercation. “This is exactly why he didn't want to tell Zelo, you know...”

“They'll wear themselves out eventually,” Youngjae assured, brows furrowing slightly. Zelo and Hyunsik were both stubborn, but that matching quality had never clashed so intensely before. “So what is up with this box?”

Jongup reluctantly brought his attention away from the shouting match and to the box on the coffee table. “I guess you'd be an okay person to give this to, as well,” he mumbled. “I'm pretty sure these things belong to Daehyun hyung...”

“Wait, what?” Youngjae fumbled with the edges of the lid, narrowing his eyes in thought. 'What does Daehyun have to do with this?' The shouting match going on in the background didn't make it easy for Youngjae's brain to focus on that thought.

After getting a nod of confirmation from Jongup, Youngjae lifted the lid to take a peek inside.

There was a near transparent container with sorted beads, another transparent container with tweezers and string, a handful of various bracelets, a bubblegum pink handheld fan like the ones Zelo loved to collect, and a photo album. The photo album had a picture of a much younger Daehyun, child Zelo, and an older woman with an arm around them both on the front.

With the way Hyunsik and Zelo were still going at it in the background, Youngjae's brain went into overdrive to piece everything together.

Daehyun's stuff, things he'd said he lost when he moved out of his parents' house, was at Hyunsik's now ex-girlfriend's place. Which insinuated that Daehyun lived there at one point, and Youngjae recalled Daehyun saying he'd lived with his girlfriend for a few years before he'd broken up with her for cheating on him. Hyunsik left to move in with his long term girlfriend, and two weeks later, Daehyun was living in Hyunsik's old apartment...

This train of thought led Youngjae to one conclusion. Daehyun's ex, who just the thought of talking about caused him to panic, was the same woman that Hyunsik now called his ex.

Youngjae let the lid fall closed, frowning as he turned to observe the two who were still shouting like they weren't in a three story apartment complex with people listening. Their current back and forth was Zelo refusing to explain why he never liked Hyunsik's now ex, and Hyunsik countering that if Zelo couldn't give a reason then his hatred was invalid.

Youngjae's eye twitched, and something in his brain snapped. 'They need to be calmed down before anymore damage is done!' “Would the two of you just be quiet for one minute?” he loudly interrupted, succeeding in getting them to zip it and stare dumbfounded at him. “Sit down on the couch,” he ordered.

They obediently took a seat next to each other on the couch. Hyunsik gently plopped down where he'd been standing, and Zelo climbed over and sat on the other end. Both were still fuming with crossed arms and the refusal to look at the other.

Youngjae looked over at Jongup, who was awkwardly shuffling in place. “I... I don't feel like I should be here right now,” Jongup admitted quietly, staring at his feet.

Both Zelo and Hyunsik spoke at the same time with the similar note that this was Jongup's apartment. They glared at each other, but thankfully kept any retorts down.

“And whose fault is it that he doesn't feel welcome in his own home?” Youngjae questioned, raising a brow. “Because I'm pretty sure it's the two people sitting here who've been angrily yelling at each other like nothing else around them exists.” Jongup let out a little sigh while the two on the couch went rigid. “Jongup, if you feel like you should leave, go for it. I'll take care of these two.”

After a moment of consideration, he nodded. “Good luck, Youngjae hyung,” he said with a little wave before making his exit.

As soon as the door closed, Youngjae brought his attention back to the two on the couch. “We're going to have a civil discussion. Understand?”

The two of them nodded stiffly.

Now that he had them hunched on the couch like kids ready for a scolding from their umma, it was time to get to the bottom of things. 'But where do I start? Maybe if I just play referee?'

“How long are you going to make us sit here in silence?” Hyunsik asked impatiently.

Youngjae crossed his arms and frowned. “Until you two can talk to each other without yelling,” he bluffed.

Zelo tapped his foot impatiently. “You don't know what to do, do you?”

“It'd be easier if you two weren't powder kegs ready to blow,” Youngjae observed, slightly annoyed. He gave it a few more moments of thought before making a decision. “Zelo?” After a noise in question from the one he'd mentioned, Youngjae asked, “Why won't you explain why you don't like Hyunsik's ex?” He stiffened, but offered no answer. Youngjae pinched the bridge of his nose. “Would you rather me just tell my theory, or would you rather say why yourself?”

At that, Zelo looked a bit panicked. “W-what?”

“Your choice, Zelo. Either you say it, or I say it. Because I don't think I'm wrong based on what's in that box,” Youngjae declared firmly.

Zelo tugged at his hair in exasperation, eyes squinted shut while he grumbled to himself. The grumblings were an inaudible argument that Youngjae and Hyunsik confusedly tried to decipher to no avail. With a defeated sigh, he slumped, hands finally falling into his lap. “It's because she's my best friend's ty ex girlfriend.”

Before Youngjae could comment that his conclusion was correct, Hyunsik quirked up a brow and said, “So you hated her because she and your best friend didn't work out?”

'Looks like I'm playing referee, then.'

“I'm not that ing shallow, Hyunnie hyung. I don't hate anybody unless they deserve it,” Zelo bit back in both tone and stare. “And I hate her because she ed him up.”

“Certainly you're exaggerating,” Hyunsik huffed.

“I'm not!” Zelo seethed. He was about ready to go off again, but he took a few breaths to bring himself back down instead. “Look, I've ing known him since I was a damn baby. When I say she ed him up, I say it because I know what he was like before her.”

Hyunsik rubbed at his temples. “If you're so sure she ed him up, then what did she do to do that, huh?”

“I don't ing know much, he doesn't like to talk about it,” Zelo responded, much quieter.

“How am I supposed to believe you if you don't even have anything to back it up?” Hyunsik interrogated.

Zelo frowned and crossed his arms. “If he doesn't want to talk about it, I'm not going to ing make him,” he retorted. “All he's told me other than the request to not ing ask about it is that she yelled a lot and that she cheated on him.”

Youngjae squinted at that. 'So I know more about that than Zelo?'

Hyunsik tilted his head slightly at that last bit. “Uh-huh...”

“It's not like you can get proof to back up this type of , Hyunnie hyung,” Zelo said, displeased at Hyunsik's somewhat dismissive tone. “It's one person's word against another, and I am one hundred percent going to believe Daehyun over anybody who defends that any damn day."

“I'm not saying I am defending her,” Hyunsik sighed exasperatedly. “It's just hard for me to believe this. If it's such a big deal, why the wasn't I told about it?”

Zelo stared down at his tapping feet. “When your best friend asks you to do something, you ing do it. Right? You can't say you wouldn't have done the ing same if Jongup came to you and asked!”

Youngjae raised a brow at that and finally spoke. “So Daehyun asked you not to say anything?”

“I wouldn't say that,” Zelo started, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees, looking up at Youngjae almost desperately. “I- After I told him what I learned, I... I made a deal with him. I told him I'd keep my mouth shut only if Hyunsik and Sunhwa were happy together. If there were no red flags, it wasn't our place to intervene. But if it came out that she was ing mistreating him, then I'd speak the up. Like I'm doing now, I guess...”

Hyunsik narrowed his eyes at the man on the couch next to him. “What you learned?” He got a gulp and a nod in response. “Zelo, what did you learn?”

Zelo sighed dejectedly. “Daehyun only thought he was cheated on for a short bit, maybe a year at most? But... when you introduced your girlfriend of four years to me and Jongup... that's how we learned it went on for far longer than he ing thought.”

“Are you saying what I think you're saying?” Hyunsik questioned, and at Zelo's slight nod, he began to run his fingers through his hair nervously. “This... You can't be serious. There's...” he paused, brows furrowing while his brain went into overdrive. “Why did you just let me go on obliviously? She cheated on him first, but him still being with her means she technically was cheating on me, too!”

“Would you have ing believed me if I'd told you then?” Zelo interrogated. “Because how I see it, if I ing told you, and you asked her for confirmation, of course she'd ing deny it! And why wouldn't you believe your lover of four years over someone you'd known for only half a year and a complete stranger? Why bother telling you if you wouldn't ing listen?”

Youngjae didn't disagree with that logic. He remembered when Yongguk told him about how he'd tried to warn the man his ex girlfriend had on the side when they'd been dating about her, and that man basically laughed in Yongguk's face. Knowing the type of man Daehyun was, not being listened to when he was genuinely wanting to warn someone of danger would be absolutely devastating and a huge blow to his ability to heal.

“I still feel like I deserved to know,” Hyunsik grumbled, resting his head in his hands. “I... I have a lot of to think about... Maybe I should-” Cutting into Hyunsik's words was a sudden avalanche of message notifications, both Youngjae's and Zelo's phones going off with their different notification sounds mixing together. “Damn, you two sure are popular all of the sudden,” Hyunsik said as he leaned up and raised a brow.

When Youngjae checked his phone to see a staggering amount of messages from Daehyun, he had an idea of what happened. Daehyun had finally hit a point where his phone had service enough to send the things he'd been trying to send throughout the whole trip. Yongguk had said Daehyun was still doing that even with Yongguk and Jieun acting as messengers.

Daehyun had sent something about what happened with his ex after the boat left port. Youngjae hated that his boyfriend had been put into that situation, but he was proud of him for standing up to her. Just like he was proud of him for standing up to his parents!

Most of the other messages were similar to what his friends had sent with the addition of Daehyun admitting that he thought Yongguk and Jieun were adorable together, and also that he was thrilled that Yongguk trusted him to keep Jieun busy while he was finishing up the last touches of his proposal plan! He also noted that Jieun kind of reminded him of Hyosung except for with a dating life and less exuberant. Then lastly, his own message about his parents disowning him.

But one message was different than the rest. There were a few typos strewn about, but not enough that Youngjae couldn't translate what was being said.

Daehyun :) - 18:10

Thank you for loving me so kindly, sweetheart... Maybe one day I can tell you how much I love you without feeling so scared... But until then, I wish you'll continue to be patient with me as I learn to love myself more too...

If he had to guess, this particular message had been sent during the time period Daehyun and Jieun had gotten drunk and Yongguk found them gushing about them. Youngjae couldn't help the slight upturn of his lips. It was a satisfying feeling to know he'd had such a profound effect on his boyfriend!

After sending a response and pocketing his phone, he saw Zelo still holding his phone but looking at Hyunsik. “This would've been the moment I told you your girlfriend was a two timing , but um... I think we're a bit past that now.”

“You think?” Hyunsik retorted. Then he sighed a tiny bit before heaving himself off the couch. “Look, I... I think I need some space for a bit. So I can... process all of this. I'll check in later. I promise.”

Before he left, Youngjae chipped in, “Be sure to let Jongup know your end of things, okay?”

Hyunsik hummed. “Yeah... I put that kid in a real rough spot asking him to not tell you anything, Zelo. Please don't be mad at him for that.”

Zelo ducked his head. “...I won't.”

--

A/N:

My apologies that it's been a bit, it took way more to write the scene with Hyunsik than I thought it would. ^^;