Chapter 6

Just One Step

"C'mon, don't be mingy! One dance is all I’m asking" Sungjong pleaded. He was sitting on a bed of grass in a park with Hoya and Dongwoo, spending precious time with them before they had to leave again. Sungjong really wanted to see how his hyung's had progressed from when they had danced together. He had a feeling that they had avoided the subject, which was funny since he had made the decision to quit all by himself.

Hoya gave in and took out his cell. "You know I can't resist those puppy eyes" he defended himself to Dongwoo. "I know you can't resist the chance to show off" Dongwoo said while backing further away from Hoya's potentially painful fists. Hoya didn't take the bait; he concentrated on finding a fitting background song instead.

"Okay, this should be okay. You can't really see it since we were wearing masks, but we danced on the music video for this one" Hoya said and Dongwoo peeked over his shoulder. "Yeah, this one was fun" he approved. "Just press play when it looks like we're ready" Hoya instructed Sungjong.

Even with the crappy audio of a hand phone’s speakers and nothing but soft grass under their feet, Dongwoo and Hoya gave a spectacular performance. Proud of his silly hyung's, Sungjong couldn't stop smiling.

***

Sungyeol was standing on an empty street, looking exceptionally dashing in a set of clothes he'd "borrowed" from the set of his latest photo shoot. But the way he was acting was somewhat peculiar; he'd stroll in circles, and then pause for no apparent reason, constantly checking his cell. He'd suddenly look up towards the terraced house on the other side of the street and smile, then quickly lower his head and sigh in despair.

"He looks like a crazy person" a short man with bubblegum pink hair remarked. For some reason he was crouching behind a corner nearby, silently observing the celebrity's strange behavior.

"You look like a crazy person" Hoya said and pushed Dongwoo with his foot, almost causing him to fall flat on his face. Dongwoo jumped up, flailing a bit indignantly. The taller of the two reached out pinch a tuff of pink hair and scrunched his nose disapprovingly; "I don't think this was what Sungjong meant when he said we needed a new style. Couldn't you find a manlier color? I mean, who has pink hair?"

"Nicky Minaj. It's cool. And would you just keep your voice down" Dongwoo said and peeked around the corner again to check if Sungyeol had noticed anything. "Cool isn't exactly the adjective I was going for. Try kooky." Hoya whispered, but Dongwoo was adamant; "Kooky is good. Kooky gets noticed, and that's exactly what we want, right?"

Hoya rolled his eyes but decided to abandon that fight for now; "Whatever. Why are we hiding anyway?" "We want to see what he's here for. Wouldn't want to ruin Sungjong's best chance in a relationship, would we? You know he hasn't had it easy" Dongwoo said. Hoya was the image of disapproval again; "Oh, I think we would. He's hardly the best our Jong could get; that guy's nothing but an overly haughty beanpole."

Completely unbeknownst to the conversation going on some thirty steps away, Sungyeol seemed to have finally made up his mind. He turned to walk away.

That is when it happened. The image of the first time he'd seen Sungjong, when everything else had faded away, appeared in his mind like the first flower of spring, leaving behind the same kind of unexplainable happiness. Sungyeol stopped on his tracks and touched his forehead. The cut had almost disappeared, but somehow he could still feel soft fingertips there when he closed his eyes.

Before he could have time to change his mind again Sungyeol marched over the street and up the stairs to the second floor. He could almost hear blood rushing through his veins as a reaction to fight or flight kicked in. Despite that he managed to knock on the door. The sound of feet echoed behind the door and Sungyeol opened his mouth, a dozen different hello's and explanations on his tongue.

None of them had quite prepared him for the sight that appeared when the door opened.

"You" is all Sungyeol could get out when he found himself face to face with the guy of whom his fist had been the last thing he'd seen. Myungsoo, deadpanned as always, stared back at him; "We don't want to buy anything".

"What? No, wait!" Sungyeol grabbed the door when Myungsoo tried to close it. "Hey, Sungjong it's me" he called over Myungsoo’s shoulder. "He's not here, genius" Myungsoo said. "Oh... When is he coming back?" Sungyeol asked. Now that he'd gotten this far his competitive side was kicking in; he was not about to turn back this easy. Trust Woohyun to not remind him about the roommate when he gave this address, though.

"He said he'd be back by 8 pm" Myungsoo said reluctantly when Sungyeol wouldn't let go of the door. "That was twenty minutes ago" Sungyeol said worriedly. "Can I come in and wait for him?" he asked.

Myungsoo tilted his head, a trickle of emotion on his face now. "Really?" he asked. Sungyeol had a carefully constructed look of "why not?" on his face when he said; "If it's not too much of a bother". "No, I mean really? Did I hit you hard enough to knock out your memory?" Myungsoo seemed incredulous. Sungyeol shrugged; "What's past is past".

Of course that wasn't really what he thought, but he was an actor, after all. And for some reason seeing Sungjong again was more important than payback. Payback could always come later...

***

Earlier that same day Sungjong was standing outside a building as well, debating with his feet that refused to step on. Like Sungyeol he was wearing his favorite attire, his hair styled to a tee. "This is stupid" he said after he'd watched the fifth person step inside since he'd gotten here. He turned to leave.

That is when he saw a billboard with a familiar face. It was Sungyeol, plastered on the side of a truck that was waiting for the traffic lights to change. In the image he was looking somewhere far away, looking every bit as distant as in the press conference. A creature of a beautiful, specless world. Suddenly Sungjong felt like he wanted to be dazzling enough to earn a place in there, amongst the stars. Suddenly he felt like he could be, if only he took this one step forward. 

This all appeared to him within the second it took for him to turn back around. Before he knew it he was inside the lobby, asking for Ye Ranji.

And then it was all possible.

***

When Sungjong came back home he found Sungyeol and Myungsoo sitting side by side, too immersed in a video game to really even notice his arrival. "Hey" Sungyeol waved without turning. Then he seemed to realize what was happening, cause an erratic scream of; "Pause, pause, pause!” left his lips.

"What's going on?" Sungjong asked curiously as he took of his shoes. It was the second time within a week that he came home to find surprise visitors.

"We're playing Tekken" Myungsoo answered blankly while Sungyeol stood awkwardly with his hands in his pockets. He had realized only now that Sungjong might not like him intruding his life like this. "I was waiting for you and that's why I'm... here... now?" he staggered. Sungjong gave him a friendly smile that immediately disarmed Sungyeol. "Hope you didn't have to wait for long" he said. "Nah, it was fine..." Sungyeol said, surprised that it was actually Sungjong doing the apologizing.

"Are you going to finish the round or just surrender now?" Myungsoo cut in the conversation. "Go on" Sungjong laughed; Sungyeol had clearly been conflicted.

Sungyeol resumed his place on the floor while Sungjong sat on a chair and watched the newly formed duo's game with amusement. Even though Sungjong was a guy himself, sometimes he just couldn't understand how their brain worked. But if a light beating was what it took for those two to be friends then that was fine by him.

Unless this was something that would complicate matters even further, Sungjong realized and bit his lip.