A thousand stars twinkled mockingly down at him. Feet stuck in place by his own fears and poor self confidence, he watched desolately as his heart crumbled like ashes in his chest. Against the balcony a beautiful girl buried her head in the place where Jiyong’s neck met his shoulder. In his place.

From his position in the shadows, Seunghyun choked back a sob and stared in silent misery as Jiyong wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. A look of pure determination written in the sly curve of his lips and the dark glint in his eye. He’d seen that look often enough to know what it meant. Jiyong had found something he wanted and he would get it.

For a brief moment, Seunghyun was overwhelmed with the urge to step out of the shadows cloaking him. To rush forward and warn the girl about the heartbreak that she was getting herself into. But he knew she wouldn’t listen. He hadn’t listened. Besides, the darker part of him didn’t want to caution her. She deserved the inevitable conclusion that awaited her for throwing herself at Jiyong like some common . A little voice in the back of his head taunted that he wasn’t any different.

 As if he knew that he was there, Jiyong turned his hypnotizing eyes toward Seunghyun. Ears burning, Seunghyun jerked his gaze away. He stared down at the crisp lines of his tuxedo. Perfectly pressed black jacket over a dark purple shirt buttoned with precision. Black slacks belted with leather and a classic silver belt buckle. His polished, specially ordered black shoes that were hand crafted in Italy. He was not a person that was usually concerned with fashion, but he had planned a very important night and wanted to look the part.

Tears of frustration pricked at the back of his eyes, a few stray drops even managing to slide down his cheeks before he ripped off his glasses and forcefully brushed them away. Determined not to make a fool of himself anymore, Seunghyun quietly snuck back inside to the party without a backward glance to the balcony.

The mournful sound of the violin seemed to echo the cracking of his heart as he moved around the crowded room, grabbing champagne flutes as he walked and downing them like water. Masked faces flashed by interspersed with only a few familiar ones. It was supposed to be a masquerade party after all.

 Needing to be someone else just for a little while, aching for it even, Seunghyun picked up a discarded mask from an abandoned table. Elegant silver cloth bordered in black gems covered the upper half of his face. Dizziness began to set in, but he pushed it aside carelessly and instead focused on the blonde guy staring at him from the loveseat on the back wall.

A pleasant sort of numbness had begun to settle into his bones. His chest burned deliciously as he downed another shot of something or other and single mindedly made his way over to the blonde.

“It’s impolite to stare,” he stated matter of factly as he sat down. Heat seared through his pants when he pressed his thigh unabashedly against the stranger’s. The stranger laughed low and nice but not the laugh that Seunghyun wanted to hear.

“A man doesn’t dress like that without the intention of being ogled by everyone.”

“I only wanted one person to notice…”

The person next to Seunghyun turned toward him. Deep brown eyes peered at him with concern from behind a red feathered mask. “Then I’d say he’s a fool.” Seunghyun’s eyes fluttered shut as lips grazed his cheek. A quite voice murmured in his ear, “Luckily, I am not.”

Something akin to a groan escaped Seunghyun’s mouth. Too drunk to care about the people dancing around the dimly lit ballroom, he twisted until his mouth messily landed on the blonde stranger’s. It was fine as far as kisses go. In fact, it was probably in the top five of his entire life, but it wasn’t right. The lips weren’t plump enough or firm enough. Or curved in a cruel smirk like he wished they were. And there was a distinct lack of… something. Something unnamable that could make his thoughts stutter to a halt and his hands itch to touch and feel and hold.

The blonde pulled away after only a few moments. He smiled with a sad knowing look and gripped Seunghyun’s shoulder companionably. “You’re not into this.” A statement made without judgment.

“No. I-”

“Hyung, I need to speak with you. Now.” A very irritated looking Jiyong stood mere inches in front of Seunghyun’s legs. His hands were shoved into his front pockets, the jacket of his tuxedo nowhere to be seen. Probably wrapped around that girl from the balcony.

In his drunken haze, anger rapidly outweighed shock. What right did Jiyong have to be upset when it was his heart that had been viciously torn apart? He scoffed indignantly. “Can’t you see that I’m busy making a new friend?”

“Actually, I need to-” the blonde began sliding toward the other end of the loveseat in a hurry.

Jiyong interrupted the blonde stranger with a frustrated shout. “Yah, Choi Seunghyun! Come with me or else!”

“Or else what?” he asked in a dark tone.

Clearly pissed off, Jiyong roughly grabbed Seunghyun’s wrist and dragged him out of the ballroom. Seunghyun struggled but after he stumbled and nearly fell he decided to simply comply. He must’ve drunk more than he thought.

“Where are we going?”

The only answer he got was a sharp tug on his wrist that sent him tumbling forward into a dark room. A loud click alerted him to the fact that Jiyong had locked the door behind them. Seconds later, moonlight flooded in through the floor to ceiling window, illuminating their surroundings. There seemed to be a large bed and other bedroom furniture.

Seunghyun felt guilt try to poke holes in his anger because of the unhappy pout that tugged at the corners of Jiyong’s lips. Deflating, he sank down on the edge of the bed and hung his head down.

“Let’s just stop this now. Ji,-”

“No.”

“-it’s not working. People in relationships don’t hurt each other like this, and-”

“No.”

“-I think we should stop.”

“No!” Jiyong growled. Strong hands pulled Seunghyun’s face up and removed his mask. Jiyong was on his knees in front of him, cradling his face in his hands, trailing his thumbs over his cheeks. It took all his effort not to lean into the touch like a cat. “I forgive you for kissing him, hyung. You’re drunk. It’s not your fault.”

Shocked, Seunghyun laughed humorlessly and shook his head. He gently pulled Jiyong’s hands away from his face and pushed them away. “What about the girl on the balcony Jiyong? You weren’t drunk.”

“I knew that was you in the corner! Why didn’t you come out?” Jiyong grabbed Seunghyun’s face again, forcing him to look directly into his eyes. “It was just a hug, and I did it for you.”

“You touched someone else for me? Ha. I’m not an idiot!” he shouted. Jumping up from the bed, he stormed over to the window.

Jiyong snorted in disbelief. “Yes, you are!” he shouted right back. He disappeared into a dark corner of the room where Seunghyun could barely make out the edges of a chair. When he turned back to the window he was carrying his tuxedo jacket. He shoved it toward Seunghyun. “You told me before that you’ve always wanted it for your collection but you couldn’t find one. I looked online and found her. We emailed back and forth a few times and decided to meet here. She had one and in exchange for it all she asked for was a hug and an autograph.”

Carefully, Seunghyun unfolded the jacket. A hard lump began to form in his throat. Inside of the jacket lay a limited edition Animal Frog Be@rbrick. He picked up the plastic case reverently and carefully peaked at the foot. It was signed.

His ears burned for the second time that night, this time in shame as he tried to clear his throat and force his vocal chords to cooperate. “Y-you did this for me…”

“That’s what I said. You should learn to listen-”

Seunghyun slid his hand into Jiyong’s platinum blonde hair, so much prettier than anyone else’s, and smashed their lips together hungrily. He moaned happily as Jiyong bit his bottom lip and pulled it into his mouth. His couldn’t think past the need to get closer and the secure feeling of Jiyong’s arms wrapped around his shoulders like an anchor. His hand traveled down to Jiyong’s neck, loving the way that he could feel Jiyong’s heartbeat against his palm and his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed around Seunghyun’s tongue.

Needing to catch his breath, he pulled away and rested his head in the place where Jiyong’s neck met his shoulder. Still breathing heavily, he couldn’t keep from nuzzling forward and the exposed skin, on it until it a tiny purple mouth shaped circle surfaced. Jiyong’s laughter shook through both of them and Seunghyun had never felt more content in his life. Smiling shyly, a blush coloring his dimpled cheeks, he pulled the key from his trouser pocket and placed it in Jiyong’s hand.

“Jiyong, I wanted tonight to be special because I had something important to ask you. I know,” he blushed darker and had to force himself not to look away. “I know that we’re not always perfect together. We fight and have stupid misunderstandings. And I hate the way that you leave empty water bottles and soda cans all over the place. But… But I want to wake up next to you every day and fall asleep with you every night. I want to argue with you over what to watch on the television and where I should put my toy collections. I want Gaho to sleep at the end of our bed, and I want to take him for walks together. So will you move in with me?”

Seunghyun swallowed thickly as Jiyong just stared at him. It took a moment for Seunghyun to think past his fear of rejection and place that specific look. Pure determination written into the sly curve of his lips and the dark glint in his eye. The look Jiyong got when he saw something he wanted and was sure he would get it.

“Seunghyun, you’re never going to get rid of me now.”

He laughed happily, the deep noise danced around the room. He gingerly held his Animal Frog in one hand while pulling Jiyong tightly against him with the other hand. “That’s what I’m counting on.”