As expected, the crash came suddenly – catching them by surprise.

Nearly one month after Ryeowook appeared, they had decided to meet at a bar to share a few drinks and relax after a particular busy and rough week. Hyukjae had been forced to go by Donghae – his mind was a jumbled mess of not so pleasant thoughts, so he wanted to stay at home eating junk food and watching sad movies on the TV – but it was something that was proved to be impossible for him to do, because Donghae had appeared in his apartment and dragged him out saying something in the lines of “you disappeared and stopped replying to us ever since Ryeowook came along” , “the poor boy wants to be friends with you too, you know?” and so Hyukjae found himself in that dreaded bar, a glass of beer in his hand and some snacks right next to him just so he had something to chew on, waiting for the others to show up.

He had never been a fan of drinking in an empty stomach, had tried to go for anything aside from alcohol since he forgot to eat earlier in the day but Kyuhyun was pushing him to drink and had promised that later he would pour him some soju if he wanted – and after those words Hyukjae regretted stepping outside his house, decided to drink his beer with small sips just so he could buy a little more time. It was getting warmer the longer he took and the taste was turning far from pleasant but he endured it and tried to refrain himself from drinking more because he would not be able to handle his alcohol no matter how hard he would try. He succeeded in his mission for long minutes, had even managed to finally talk to Donghee like a normal person again without wanting to crawl back to his house to drown in his depression, but failed completely once Jongwoon arrived – with Ryeowook right beside him.

Just looking at the petit male standing close to Jongwoon made his stomach knot in something he was unsure of what it was, but he already disliked it. His hands started to tremble so much he had to force himself to finish the drink and pour more on his cup so he had something to distract him, heart pounding painfully against his chest it was nearly unbearable. All those emotions made him want to hide himself in a hole and never come out again, want to kill Donghae for putting him in this position, want to kill Jongwoon for doing this to him – he was unsure of what Jongwoon was doing, but whatever it was, he absolutely hated it. Luckily for him, Donghee was a very nice distraction, ignoring his obvious state of panic to continue talking about the most recent job he got, spending some minutes explaining how it was in a dance studio and that Hyukjae could visit him there if he ever wanted to. He just hummed along with what he said halfheartedly, more focused in ignoring the two people now sitting not that far from him and downing a glass of soju.

He managed to succeed in ignoring them for the most part, until Donghee had to leave his side to take care of Donghae who was already looking a little more than tipsy while talking with Kyuhyun. As if he was waiting for a good moment to corner him, Jongwoon sat beside him right then, wrapping his arms around his shoulder in what was supposed to be one of his sweet, nice gestures that he used to do with him, but just the touch bothered Hyukjae. He made sure to let that be known by brushing Jongwoon’s arm off him and took another gulp of the drink, pouring more on his glass, not even registering what Jongwoon was saying as his body started buzzing and a tingly feeling started bothering him. Still, he continued drinking, not wanting to talk or face Jongwoon in any state where he could remember the conversation – as long as he was sober, he would run from him until he was not able to anymore.

The glass almost fell from his hand when Jongwoon held his wrist, stopping him from drinking again. Some of the liquid spilled on his clothes and on his hand due to the sudden movement, his eyes shifting to look down at the wet spot in his jeans to avoid looking at Jongwoon’s concerned face. “I think you should stop drinking before you do something you will regret,” Jongwoon’s words were spoken in the most gentle, caring way he could muster. Just the sound of his voice made Hyukjae’s body shiver and tremble, eyes closing as he took a deep, shaky breath. “You hate drinking this much, you might get sick because of it.”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Hyukjae dismissed his concern with a wave of his hand, raising his free hand to pry Jongwoon’s fingers open and pull his wrist away from his hold. “Why do you care if I get sick or not, anyways?” He downed the liquid in one go, hoping it would ease the discomfort in his throat. “You were ignoring me for the last few weeks, I’m surprised you d