Kyuhyun pulled Ryeowook aside while they dressed for their performance, looking around to make sure no one was within hearing distance.  “I need you to do me a favor.”

            “What’s that?” Ryeowook asked, fixing his hair in the mirror.

            “I need you to promise me that you'll love me unconditionally and ignore anything I’m about to do in the next couple hours.”

            Ryeowook bit his lip as he looked up at his boyfriend.  “Kyuuuuu, what are you planning?”

            “I’m going to ensure the future happiness of our dear friends, once and for all.”

            “By doing what?” Ryeowook asked.

            “Oh, just a little revenge against Jongwoon for being naughty all afternoon.”

            Ryeowook grinned.  “I was wondering what you thought of that.  What’s your plan?”

            “I’m going to pay him back, that’s all.  Just promise me that you won’t interfere and don’t get mad at me for anything I do with Minnie,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at Jongwoon.

            “As long as you shower me with affection the moment we get back home.”

            “Anyway you want it, babe.”

            “Deal,” he said, poking him in the stomach.  “You’re about to have a very long night!”

            Kyuhyun winked at him and then walked through the doors to the next room, where the cordi noonas were styling Sungmin’s hair.  A few hours ago, he listed off a half dozen things for his hyung to do before their performance.

            Sungmin looked just a touch feminine almost all the time and managed to act effortlessly cute no matter what he did.  That was all find and dandy—probably the reason Jongwoon initially fell for him—but it wasn’t going to make him think twice about letting him go.  Kyuhyun also knew that, on the flip side, Sungmin could dress and act like a god as well.  Teased hair, dark eyeliner, black attire, and wiping that sweet smile right off his face was all that Sungmin needed to transform into his hot, naughty alter ego.  It not only changed his look.  Whenever Sungmin felt this confident about his looks, he tended to act the part.

            Kyuhyun walked up behind the chair and looked at Sungmin through the mirror.  “Perfect!”

            “Are we ready?”

            “Oh, I’m ready,” swore Kyuhyun.  “Jongwoon is going to regret messing around.”

            Sungmin smiled and thanked the girls for making him look irresistible and Kyuhyun reminded him to clear the smile off his face before walking into the next room.  This wasn’t a game, it was revenge.  There would be no mercy.

            Jongwoon was chatting up Ryeowook before the concert started, trying to look more entertained than he really was for when Sungmin and Kyuhyun walked back into the room.  The moment they returned, he intended to ignore them, but the moment that he spotted Sungmin, he did a double take. 

            Neither of them were even looking his direction as they conversed.  Kyuhyun had his arm wrapped around his waist and bent his head down to whisper into Sungmin’s ear.  Sungmin’s smirked and just looked up at Kyuhyun suggestively before walking away from him, but Kyuhyun managed to smack his before he left his side.

            Before Jongwoon could even process the whole scene in his head, Ryeowook grabbed his arm and led him to the door.  “It’s time to head up, Sungie!”

            Jongwoon looked over at him, confused, but said nothing as he was lead down the hall and up the stairs towards the stage.  Kyuhyun was probably just telling Sungmin a dirty joke or something, he told himself.  And slapping was common among all of them at the apartment.  He had almost forgotten it by the time they walked onto the stage and began performing their newest hit.  It took all his concentration to get the moves right, not being the best dancer in the group, and he barely looked around at anyone except the audience.

            When the first couple songs were done, they had the chance to chat for a few minutes and introduce themselves and he made his way over to Ryeowook’s side and wrapped his arm around him before glancing over to Kyuhyun to see if he noticed.

            Kyuhyun was across the stage from him, his back to them as he posed for a picture with Sungmin in front of screaming fans and kissed him on the cheek.  Jongwoon froze in place as he watched them change positions and pressed their cheeks together and make a heart with their hands for another picture.

            Ryeowook elbowed Jongwoon and laughed, pointing at them.  “The return of KyuMin!”

            Jongwoon turned to Ryeowook and studied his face, not detecting a shred of anger or jealously from him as he watched them playfully touch one another.  In fact, he looked more amused than anything.  “I’m sure the fans will eat it up,” Jongwoon flatly responded.

            “I’m so glad that you told Kyuhyun that it was okay if he dates Minnie.  They look so cute together!” Ryeowook said, clasping his hands together and grinning at the couple.

            “Kyuhyun?” Jongwoon asked.

            “Yeah, he said that you two talked about it this morning.  I think that they’re a better fit than you and him,” Ryeowook said, turning away from them and waving at a group of fans that were calling his name.

            Jongwoon was forced to turn his gaze away from them when it was his turn to talk and they didn’t interact much as they spoke to the audience themselves but the minute their next song started, No Other, one that they’d decided no longer to dance to in a group and would walk around the stage during instead, he noticed them begin heading down one of the runways, hand in hand, looking each other in the eye as they sang.

            Shindong happened to walk past him before he decided what direction he wanted to go and grabbed ahold of his arm, dragging him in the opposite direction.  He tried to ignore them, stopping to greet his fans and then closing his eyes during his singing parts but every now and then, he glanced over across the sea of fans to the other runway.  Kyuhyun and Sungmin began to dance with one another, innocently enough at first, but soon Kyuhyun began to sway back and forth and gripped Sungmin’s hips, drawing him closer.

            Jongwoon felt his face heat up and ran back to the main stage along with everyone else, intent on doing what he set out to do in the beginning and make Kyuhyun jealous of him and Ryeowook.  Sure enough, as the song came to a close, he rejoined him and wrapped his arms around him affectionately, well within view of Kyuhyun.

            When the next song began, Feels Good, he kissed the eternal maknae on the cheek, knowing that Kyuhyun and Sungmin were just off to the side, behind them.  When he looked back at them over his shoulder, right as Kyuhyun began singing his part, Sungmin came up behind him and started to run his hands over Kyuhyun’s chest and abs, his lips as Kyuhyun sang.

            Jongwoon gripped Ryeowook so tight, the youngster yelped in pain and Jongwoon immediately apologized.  He released Ryeowook and began to wonder if Kyuhyun had in fact asked Sungmin to go out with him.  He’d refused to answer Jongwoon when he wondered who was interested in Sungmin and now he began to regret pretending he didn’t care about him.

            After kissing him several times a day for nearly a week and sleeping in bed next to him almost every night, he’d almost forgotten that the whole thing was just an act.  It felt real.  The way that Sungmin touched him and the way he urgently kissed Jongwoon back made him believe that there was something more between them than just friendship.  But they’d never actually discussed what seemed to be developing between them.  Not even once.  Jongwoon had never even hinted that he felt something more because he thought that Sungmin already knew.

            Jongwoon was so frazzled, he almost forgot to sing his part.  Once he was done, he walked around the stage trying to calm down.  He concentrated on not missing his bit during Hyukjae and Shindong's part.  If he had better self-control, he would have stopped himself from looking over at Sungmin when he began to sing but he couldn’t talk himself out of it.

            As Sungmin brought the microphone to his mouth, standing sideways to the audience, Kyuhyun stood in front of him and placed his hands on Sungmin’s chest and then slowly lowered himself to his knees, running his hands down Sungmin’s body as he went, and then grabbed his once he was kneeling in front of him.  Then Sungmin reached his free hand down and touched the back of Kyuhyun’s head and smirked at the audience.

            Jongwoon snapped.  If Ryeowook hadn’t picked that exact moment to wrap his arm around Jongwoon’s, just as he started singing his own lines, Jongwoon would have thrown Kyuhyun off the stage and into the swarms of obsessed fangirls and then carried Sungmin off stage with him and kissed him senseless.

            One moment Jongwoon was enraged, the next he felt sick, and then he felt like crying.  This continued in cycles over the course of the next few hours and there was never a chance for him to get near Sungmin, even when Kyuhyun wandered away from him for a second, because someone always pulled him away.

            It wasn’t until they lined up at the end, when Jongwoon felt that there was almost no hope left for him, that he felt a hand slip into his and squeeze.  Jongwoon looked over in shock as Sungmin turned his way, their eyes connecting.  Jongwoon let the wall around his heart drop and put everything into that gaze to tell Sungmin that he was completely captured by him.  He silently pleaded with his eyes that Sungmin reject Kyuhyun and stay with him.  Just when Jongwoon found his voice and thought he could manage coherent sentences, they all made their bow and then waved good-bye to the audience.  The next thing he knew, both Sungmin and Kyuhyun were gone.

            Jongwoon rushed down to the dressing rooms and searched everywhere.  He spotted Hyukjae watching him and ran up to him.  “Have you seen Min?”

            “I think he already left,” he said, pointing to the exit door.  “He just grabbed his bag and took off.”

            “Where?”

            Hyukjae shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t know, he just left with Kyu.”

            Jongwoon rushed to the door and ran down the hall and up the stairs to the back exit, searching for Sungmin but when he reached the doors, security informed them that they’d already left.  Jongwoon took out his phone and dialed Sungmin’s number, pacing back and forth in the secured lot, but it went straight to his voicemail. 

            He stared down at his phone, unable to move from that spot, and began to wonder how everything in his life had just managed to fall apart in the last twenty-four hours.  Why didn't he say anything last night when he had the chance?  It felt wrong when Sungmin climbed into his own bed to sleep.  He stared up at he ceiling for hours, wanting to tell Sungmin how he felt, that he needed him to stay with him, even when everything with Kyuhyun and Ryeowook was done.  But he lost his nerve.  And now he'd lost much more.

           Jongwoon crouched down to the ground, buried his face in his hands, and began to cry uncontrollably.