Chapter 8

Spin the Devil's Bottle

“You ready soon?” Woohyun asked from the doorway where he was waiting for Sunggyu to dress up. “Almost” came a muffled answer as Sunggyu pulled yet another shirt over his head. Woohyun smiled to himself. He liked to think that the man was doing this all for him. Things were finally going the way he wanted.

Woohyun's smile turned to a crooked smirk when Sunggyu finally came to view. He was rocking a tousled hair and eyeliner with an all-black attire to match.

“Baby, you look so good right now that I'm thinking of canceling our plans.” Woohyun said as he wrapped an arm around Sunggyu, who was crouched and awkwardly trying to put on shoes. He straightened up and turned to face Woohyun, pushing a bit further away from his embrace. “Let's just stay here and lock the bedroom door” Woohyun was whispering between light kisses, true to his nature not the least bit embarrassed by the words coming out of his mouth.

Sunggyu didn't return the pecks, his brows were furrowed intently. “You're on testing period, so don't test me” he warned. “When have I ever” Woohyun said so mock-innocently that even a preschooler would have found it offending. Sunggyu stared back with a frown, his lips tightly closed for a few kissing attempts, but it didn't take all that long for him to be coached into action himself.

It was actually Woohyun who broke the kiss, his upper lip a little like a satisfied cat; “Thanks for that, but I thought you wanted to be there by 8 pm.” The slightly flushed Sunggyu quickly finished his shoelaces and followed Woohyun outside.

“What's he doing here?” Sunggyu asked, quickly letting go of Woohyun's hand. He should have gotten used to the idea of unexpected things happening now that he was going around with Woohyun, but this was ridiculous. Over the street, leaning on Woohyun's car there was Sungyeol, looking decisively bored.

“Oh, him? He kind of latched on to me, I think something's up with him and your cousin. Sungyeol's avoiding him”, Woohyun said cheerfully, ignoring Sunggyu's despairing expression; “But there's no way Sungjong's not there!” Woohyun tapped the side of his nose knowingly and Sunggyu realized that he was playing his mind-games again. They were too close to Sungyeol for him to say anything but he sent Woohyun a “this did not start well”-look.

* * *

The small hotel room Hoya and Dongwoo had rented was filled with a cozy athmosphere. After what had happened last time Dongwoo hadn't uttered a word about bringing Myungsoo along and now the three musceteers were reminescing their past adventures peacefully. That is until Sunggyu and his entourage arrived and things soon spiraled to a state of complete chaos.

If we try to take the knot of feelings appart from the top;

Sungjong's heart fluttered a little when he saw Sungyeol come in, bowing his head to apologize for the intrusion. Sungyeol's eyes soon picked out Sungjong, sitting on one of the beds, all skinny legs and burning eyes under precisely cut dark hair. He looked better every time they met if that was even possible.

Sungyeol hadn't prepared for this (and this was deffinitely Woohyun's doing) and he had to divert his eyes soon. It's not like anything had happened last time; there was just this odd feeling that had been there when they'd said goodbye... After that he couldn't bring himself to visit Myungsoo anymore. Whatever, Sungyeol wasn't one to dwell on things, and he certainly wasn't about to find out why he had been feeling so bloody awful for the past few days. Bad digestion, perhaps?

Why was Sungyeol here? Dongwoo was puzzled, Hoya annoyed. This was their going-away party, meant for the close circle. Woohyun had every reason to be there; Dongwoo had actually been the one to intoroduce him to Sunggyu. Hardly anyone, however, knew about their private past and they had both agreed to keep it that way. But it never did make Dongwoo exactly cheery when Woohyun displayed his affection towards the red-haired indie rocker publicly. And now it seemed that their relationship had taken a leap forward if Woohyun's close proximity to Sunggyu was anything to go by.

The group had barely found their places on the growded room, much less gotten over the 'how are you's when Woohyun decided to take matters into his own hands. His tone was nothing if not festive when he made his sudden toast; ”It's so sad that you gyus are leaving already. In light of everything I want to make this evening memorable. My suggestion; let's play spin the bottle!"

”That's like the lamest game in the universe” was Sungyeol's first response. After that, primarly out of principle, Hoya was forced to side with Woohyun. ”You are just scared”, he scoffed contently. Woohyun had a dangerous grin on his face; ”Let's do it! I've never had the chance to try before”, he lied blatantly. Sunggyu's apprehensive expression paired perfectly with Sungjong's watchful one as they had a quick mental debate to decide which one was going to stop this madness on its tracks. Sungjong won for once.

”What's so fun about a secret circle for 13 year olds?” Sunggyu asked moodily. Woohyun reached for the suspicious bag he'd sneaked under Sunggyu's watchful eyes and looked absolutely jubilant as he pulled out a bottle; ”It's a drinking game!”

Everyone stared at the bright red liquid lurching innocently enough inside its thick glass vial. ”It's 48% liquor mixed with nagamori-chilis” Woohyun elaborated, producing a jumble of curiosity where everyone suddenly wanted to have a taste. ”Nononono, this-” Woohyun set the bottle in the middle of the floor; ”is the punishment”.

”Now, because I was the one to initiate the game, I think I should get the first spin.” Woohyun said and before anyone had had time to object he'd already spun the bottle. ”It only stopped on me because the bottle is ill-shaped for this” Hoya complained when he realized he would be the one to start. ”Don't insult the bottle” Woohyun said, making Hoya all but roll his eyes; ”Fine, whatever.” Woohyun, on the other hand, looked like he was on top of the world; ”So, what's it gonna be, truth or dare? And remember; if you can't do it you have to accept the punishment”.

”Dare.” Hoya chose with s tip of his eyebrows. Woohyun's smile was wolfish. ”I dare you to put an ice cube down your pants until it melts”, he ordered. ”Yeeah, I think Imma go with the booze” Hoya said without mulling it over too much. ”Suit yourself, chicken” Woohyun shrugged and everyone watched in anticipation as Hoya sniffed at the bottle warily before taking a generous gulp.

It was like those few moments after a nuclear bomb's gone off when you can only see the explosion; Hoya's eyes started watering instantly, his face flushing silently. Then the soundwave came. I do not feel the need to repeat the things said here, but after Hoya's verbal assault on Woohyun and his near family, some pretty emphatic banging on the wall was heard from the room next to them. Hoya returned to a relatively normal state only when he had his tongue soaking in a glass of banana milk. ”You're evil”, he snarled at Woohyun.

”That can't be legal man.” Dongwoo managed to utter from the midst of his laughing. Everyone suddenly had new respect for the bottle. It seemed to ooze maliciousness.

After the situation had somewhat calmed down (and Sunggyu had very loudly insisted that he wouldn't take part in the punishment) Hoya spun the bottle, making it stop while pointing at Dongwoo, who's laughing suddenly subsided. ”Truth or dare?” Hoya asked. Somehow he managed to look dangerous even with his tongue hanging out like a hound's.

”...Dare?” Dongwoo asked after a quick mental battle. He knew that Hoya knew way too much of his to ask nice questions. ”Fine. I dare you to the floor” Hoya ordered, making everyone except Dongwoo howl with laughter. ”Who knows what's gone on over here” Dongwoo was distressed, but after Hoya raised one of his expressive eyebrows in the direction of the bottle he took a deep breath and went on to give the suspiciously yellow-brownish fitted carpet a proper French kiss.

”Forget it, I think you're totally overreacting, give me the bottle” Dongwoo decided only a few millimeters above the ground after being faced with what looked like the remnaints of something that one day might have been a peanut.

Hoya, of course, hadn't been overreacting, and soon Dongwoo found himself bickering over the same banana milk that his mate was hoarding.

The next spin hit Sungjong, who tried desperately to message through his eyes for his hyung to be gentle when he picked the dare. Dongwoo's eyes politely told him "No", and he ordered the timid maknae to go outside and yell ”I am a superstar” for five times while everyone else snickered at the reactions of the shocked passerby's from hiding. Sungjong came back with a healthy blush and a substantial irritation, enough so that Woohyun's expression when his turn arrived was somewhat worried.

”Oh, it's Mr. Lets play a game! Truth or dare?” Sungjong asked mock-cheerily. Woohyun made his best attempt at a cheesy smile: ”Is that even a question? All men pick dare”. Sungjong thought for a moment, silencing everyone else when they tried to throw in ideas. Not-so-surprisingly everyone was eager to make Woohyun's life miserable.

”I want you to get in the shower with all your clothes on” Sungjong finally said. ”I knew it; you just want to see me with my shirt all glued to my chest. Darling, you need only ask and I'll take the whole thing of” Woohyun said, getting a glare from both of the cousins. ”And the shower should be set to freezing” Sungjong added.

Soon Woohyun was leaving dark stains on the carpet, a triumphant smile on his bluish lips. He set his eyes on each of the people in the small ring as if contemplating already what he'd put them through given the chance. Then he spun the bottle rather ostantiously, making it stop while pointing at Sungyeol. Sungyeol who suddenly felt like falling through the floor.

Why did he have to get the meanest person in the room? Although Hoya's dare hadn't sounded all that bad. God knows what Woohyun would ask him if he picked the truth. Besides everyone else had gone with the dare, and he did sort of want to feel like he had the right to be here, part of the group. These thoughts raced through Sungyeol's mind when he heard his mouth stagger; ”D-dare. I pick dare.”

Woohyun took of his drenched cardigan and shook a few droplets from his hair before opening his mouth; ”I want you to make out with Sungjong”.