Woohyun’s house

The following day, Sunggyu woke up with a severe headache, not that it was something new; he couldn’t tolerate alcohol but didn’t seem like he wanted to stop and continue drinking. Likewise, waking up in Woohyun’s house wasn’t new; Sunggyu usually ends up on Woohyun’s bed or couch, and this time, it was Woohyun’s bed.

Sunggyu frowned as he passed by Haeun, which the little girl mirrored; she doesn’t like to see his face too, “Ugh, does it have to be your face!”

“Huh?”

“Does your face have to be the first thing I see!”

Haeun crossed her arms to her chest, “well, maybe next time, sleep in your bed at your house!”

“Omg! Did you forget I’m your samchon!”

Haeun rolled her eyes and said before walking past him, “please, don’t remind me.”

“Y-Yah- you seriously-” Sunggyu messed his hair, frustrated, since when she talks back like that! “Aish, I don’t like you.”

“ME TOO”, Haeun yelled back.

Dining table

And, of course, breakfast was ready for the two, Woohyun didn’t want either one of them to leave the house on an empty stomach, “Good morning, Appa.”

Haeun hugged her father, and he hugged her back; the one thing that comforted him was her hugs. Woohyun avoided Sunggyu’s eyes after what happened between them last night, something he didn’t want to recall. It wasn’t the first time Sunggyu came to his house drunk and argued, but this time was different; Sunggyu crossed the line and Woohyun hated himself for forgiving him. Woohyun would gladly give him excuses.

“Morning”, Sunggyu couldn’t see Woohyun’s face properly; the latter avoided him, so he didn’t know if he was mad.

“Hmm, morning”, Woohyun placed the cup of coffee in front of Sunggyu, “enjoy your meal.”

Sunggyu caught Woohyun’s wrist, making the latter look at him at the sudden move, which gave the celebrity a closer look at his friend’s face, “your lips-”

Woohyun retrieved his hand and turned his face, “will heal.”

Sunggyu hesitated to ask Woohyun whether it was his fault his lips were bruised or was because of something else. Seeing the situation, Haeun felt she needed to clear things for these adults.

“You did it.”

“What!”

“Haeun, be quiet”, Woohyun warned.

“What, it’s the truth!”

“Haeun!”

“Is that one of your lies to get rid of me, missy?” Sunggyu folded his arms to his chest and raised his eyebrows, “because it’s not going to work.”

“I wish!”, Haeun got off the chair and carried her bag, “I’m taking the school bus today.”

“Says who!”

“Me! I’ve already emailed school” Haeun looked at the two before she walked away, “Appa and samchon need to talk.”

“Haeun-”

“Bye, Appa, see you after school”, Haeun hugged her father, then looked at Sunggyu and said before leaving “, I hope I don’t see you after school.”

“BRAT!!”

“Sunggyu, calm down.”

“But she-” judging from how Woohyun looked at him, Sunggyu knew his friend was dead serious and mad, so he stopped talking.

When Haeun was out of the picture, Sunggyu got off the chair to examine Woohyun’s face; what happened last night between them!

But Woohyun brushed Sunggyu’s hand gently and smiled, “don’t listen to her; drink your coffee; it will get cold.”

“Who cares about coffee!” Sunggyu held the doctor’s chin to look closely “did I do this?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it does!”

“You were drunk; you didn’t mean it.”

“Omg”, Sunggyu backed a little, letting go of Woohyun’s face, “so, it’s true! I thought she wanted to make me angry.”

“It’s okay, Sunggyu; it’s not like you meant to do this.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember any of this.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

The tears Woohyun were trying to hold broke Sunggyu’s heart; what happened between them last night, “then help me remember with you.”

“It’s not important”, Woohyun checked the time, “I’m late to work; finish your food and lock the door before you leave.”

“Woohyun, wait-”

“Have a good day, Sunggyu.”

And just like that, without giving Sunggyu a chance to say or do anything, Woohyun left the house fast.

Hospital

Woohyun winced when Hoya cleaned his bruised lips, “are you going to tell me what happened?”

“…” Hoya pressed on the wound, making Woohyun wince again, “Ahh, watch it.”

“Do we need to report this?”

“No.”

“Was it a patient family member?” Woohyun shook his head a no, “were you robbed on your way here?”

“No.”

“Then it must be someone we know” the way Woohyun looked up at Hoya confirmed the doctor’s doubts, “who was it?”

“Let it go already; we have many patients.”

“Was it Sunggyu?” Hoya said, making Woohyun stop, which again confirmed it, “he left the house drunk. Did he pass by your house?”

“…”

“Fine, don’t speak; I’ll report this as abuse then-”

Woohyun held Hoya’s hand and stopped him from leaving, “stop. Whom are you going to report?”

“Sunggyu, of course”, Hoya held Woohyun’s chin “that is not from a slap; did he hit you with something?”

“No! and please, I don’t want any trouble; I don’t want to report anything” of course, Woohyun won’t allow it; Sunggyu is famous; playing with his reputation isn’t something he wants “fine; I’ll talk, just don’t tell anyone.”

“Araso, talk.”

.

.

.

Last night

“Was it worth it?”

“Huh?”

“Cheating on me”, Sunggyu looked at Woohyun “was it worth it?”

“I never cheated on you”, Woohyun got off the steps and offered a hand for Sunggyu, “let’s go inside; it’s cold out here.”

Sunggyu took the offered hand and hugged Woohyun immediately, “sleep with me, Woohyun.”

“S-Sunggyu!”

“Just for the night, please?”

“No.”

“YAH.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you because you’re drunk; let’s go inside.”

“You’re right”, Woohyun turned to look at Sunggyu when he stopped walking, “I would never ask you to sleep with me if I was sober; nobody wants to sleep with a pathetic cheater.”

“You’re weak”, Woohyun got closer to Sunggyu’s face, “you can’t say these words to me when you’re sober because you’re weak, Kim Sunggyu-”

SLAP

Woohyun didn’t get to walk away when Sunggyu slapped him hard enough that his lips bled; he then grabbed Woohyun’s shirt and pulled him closer to his face, “I used to love you.”

“Hmm, me too”, Woohyun tried to release himself from Sunggyu’s iron grip but failed, “let me go!”

“Whatever.”

And Sunggyu did; he tried to take only two steps away from Woohyun but couldn’t get any further, his head spun, and suddenly everything went black, likely Woohyun was close enough to catch him before his head hit the hard ground.

Like a good friend, Woohyun carried his friend to his bed, got a towel and water to cool down his body temperature and slept comfortably. And boy, how much he hated himself for caring so much about this selfish man. Woohyun caressed Sunggyu’s hair warmly until he wasn’t frowning in his sleep anymore; he then covered him and was about to get off the bed when a hand caught his wrist.

“Please, stay; I’m sorry.”

“I know you are”, Woohyun caressed Sunggyu’s cheek, “sleep; I’m not going anywhere.”

.

.

.

Back to the current time

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?”

“I wish I was.”

“You’re trying to convince me this is from a slap?” Woohyun nodded, “impossible unless Sunggyu’s hands are iron.”

“He was wearing rings.”

“You have to tell him; he needs to know.”

“Howon, you promised to keep this between us.”

“I meant I’m not going to report it but not keep it from Sunggyu.”

Woohyun walked away from Hoya, and the latter followed him, “that’s why I don’t share things with you; I hate everything, I hate my life-”

“Wait”, Hoya grabbed his friend’s arm and stopped him, “Araso, I’m not going to tell him, don’t be mad, calm down, uh?”

“I don’t want you to tell him because I don’t want to talk about the past.”

“Hmm, I understand”, Howon knew he might not get an answer, but he was curious, “if you two loved each other this much, why did you break up?”

“Because, as he said, I cheated on him.”

“Come on, Hyun, I know you’re not like that.”

“How do you know?”

“Woohyun~.”

“Dr Nam, Dr Lee, we have an emergency”; Woohyun was thankful to the nurse who interrupted their conversati