iii.

Apart from the confusion and turmoil that raged in Yesung’s mind for months after, there were no lasting consequences of that second drunken kiss. Hyukjae didn’t even seem to remember, in fact, and continued to crash in Yesung’s bed as though he owned it, and Yesung maintained a safe distance from a drunk Hyukjae lest his impulses take control of him.

And for a few months, things were great. They hung out, as they normally did, explored various cafes and talked late into the night, just as they had done before, and nothing had changed, because why should it? Yesung was good at keeping secrets, even from his best friend, as he should be, given the very non-platonic feelings he’d harboured for all these years that he kept well under wraps.

And things were perfectly normal even when Yesung found himself at the after-party of Hyukjae’s graduation ceremony; the latter had practically begged him to be his “plus one”, and Yesung hadn’t been able to refuse, of course.

The party wasn’t bad, the house they were in was dimly lit and spacious, and Yesung had found a nice little corner of the living room to relax in. The people there were loud and cheerful, mostly wrapped up in their own circles, eager to spend whatever little time they have together before parting for further studies or jobs or whatever lay in the future.

The future…

Yesung hadn’t expected to land a job still in the same town he’d always lived in, but he wasn’t complaining. The company paid well, he could live comfortably at home while helping with bills, and most importantly, Hyukjae was there, at least for the time being, and Yesung couldn’t imagine being apart from Hyukjae, even though that was something he would never admit.

He wondered what the younger would do, now that he had graduated from university. He had always seemed rather clueless in terms of ambition, only taking up a commerce degree at his parents’ insistence to help with their business, even though Hyukjae himself wasn’t so keen on the matter, just too scared to really refuse.

Speaking of Hyukjae, he’d disappeared for quite a while, leaving Yesung all alone in a room full of people he barely knew, wondering why he’d even been asked. Yesung was aware he wasn’t the best of drinking buddies, hadn’t even touched alcohol since the time Hyukjae had been lamenting over his failed love life over two years ago, (and had fortunately not fallen head over heels for anyone since), but now the younger had been missing for half an hour, and Yesung was beginning to tire from scrolling through SNS.

A shift in the crowd caught his attention a few minutes later; it was Hyukjae pushing his way through the throngs of people, practically beaming with excitement, and Yesung knew straight away that this would not bode well for him.

“Hyung!” Hyukjae yelled over the noise of chatter and music, “Hyung, you won’t believe what they’ve set up upstairs!”

Yesung sighed. “Is it a karaoke machi-”

“It’s a karaoke machine!” Hyukjae grabbed his hand, and Yesung was quick enough to pull away before the other could yank him out of his chair.

“Hyukjae, please, I’m not going to sing karaoke right now.”

“Hyung no, why???” Hyukjae pouted, and Yesung averted his eyes, well aware that looking at that imploring face meant that he’d probably give in right away. “You love karaoke!”

“Okay, no, you love karaoke, and I like it when it’s just the two of us, not your entire university batch!”

“Come on hyung, it won’t be so bad, please?” Yesung could feel his heart waver, but he was determined to stand firm. 

“Hyukjae no, I really don’t want to make a fool out of myself in front of so many people.”

“Hmph.” Hyukjae crossed his arms and flopped down onto a chair, looking sulky. Yesung sat down beside him, figuring that his friend would soon forget the refusal and continue partying, but apart from getting up twice to get more bottles of beer, he did not look up again.

And Yesung knew of this tactic. It was rare for Hyukjae to use it on him, considering his pleading very rarely even reaches the refusal stage in the first place, but damn it if it didn’t work better than the puppy dog eyes. If there’s